geometry and distribution of regional joint sets in a non homogeneous stress field case study in the ebro basin spain abstract three regional joint sets striking n s e w and wnw ese affect the tertiary rocks of the central ebro basin from analysis of their chronological relationships and spatial distribution it is concluded that they correspond to two different tectonic events the n s set oldest and the e w set younger are present in the southern and central sectors while the wnw ese joint set predominates in the northern one the n s joints propagated in response to joint normal and fluid loads under an intraplate stress field with shmax oriented near n s related to forces caused by the convergence of africa iberia and europe and rifting at the valencia trough during the sedimentary infilling of the basin these joints are only present in the southern part of the area the e w joint set in the southern central sector records the same fracturing event as the wnw ese set does in the northern one its orientation was modified by the presence of the older n s set in the south which perturbed the regional stress field the younger wnw ese and e w joint sets are interpreted as unloading joints these propagated as a consequence of flexural uplift and exhumation related to isostatic rebound at the pyrenees and the ebro foreland basin a numerical approach is used to explain the inhomogeneous distribution of the n s joint set in terms of their absence being controlled by the depth of the water table at the time of their formation

sedimentary structures tentatively attributed to seismic events abstract fingerprints of earthquakes in the sedimentary record are as yet difficult to identify this is particularly true for failure phenomena dewatering slumping fault graded and turbidite structures that could have been triggered also by other kinds of energy input other promising candidates are strange biostratinomic features convex down stacking of shells current orientation in wave ripple accumulations as well as certain preservational features found in geosynclinal pelagic limestones but in every case verification of the seismic origin is still needed

palaeoenvironments of the last neanderthals in sw europe mis 3 cova del coll verdaguer barcelona ne of iberian peninsula abstract marine isotope stage 3 mis 3 was characterised by marked oscillations of extreme cold episodes with very short warm events during the stadial and several regional differences have been recorded in the ice cores and marine deposits the aim of this study is to reconstruct this period by evaluating both terrestrial and regional responses cova del coll verdaguer a site located on the iberian peninsula preserves a sedimentary deposit dated to between 34 and 56 ka bp and provides an opportunity for evaluating the impact of climate changes on the regional landmass during a period that coincided with the last neanderthal population on the iberian peninsula several dating methods including u series electron spin resonance amino acid racemization and radiocarbon 14c were applied to the site and the ages obtained show good agreement the biotic evidence obtained is substantial comprising floristic data from palynology and charcoal analysis and faunal data from large and small mammals birds and gastropods environmental reconstruction points to an initially open meadow landscape at the base of the sequence 56 ka that progressively changes to a woodland environment dominated by conifers 34 ka the presence of few thermophilous taxa in contrast with lower latitudes of the iberian peninsula is also detected the environmental conditions of mid altitude mediterranean limestone mountains for the last neanderthal populations appear to have been dominated by a forested landscape comprising boreal or mixed coniferous forest characterised by a low usable biomass with poor comestible plant resources and dispersed herbivore populations

the archaeology and paleoenvironment of an upper pleistocene hyena den an integrated approach abstract data of high resolution for reconstructions of archaeological site formation processes can be obtained only by the use of precise excavation methods and comprehensive recovery techniques using fine mesh water screening followed by meticulous sorting and quantitative studies of all the small organic components from the screens these methods are generally used at human occupation sites but are not often employed at paleontological or mixed human carnivore sites at the site of bois roche an upper pleistocene hyena den we have used these meticulous recovery techniques in combination with absolute dating geoarchaeological observations taphonomic analyses studies of microvertebrates and pollen analysis correlation of the site environmental data from pollen and microvertebrate assemblages with the vegetation record of a deep sea core taken in the bay of biscay have allowed us to constrain the ages provided by esr dating of bovid teeth and to reconstruct the physical environment of the site with a degree of confidence rarely achieved by the use of fossil remains from archaeological sites alone prior to our excavations the site was interpreted as containing a mixed assemblage with evidence of hyena activities and human occupation in situ quantitative analysis of the small organic components present in large quantities in the sediments deciduous hyena teeth coprolite fragments digested small bone fragments prove more than all other lines of evidence that hyenas were in residence at bois roche thus providing diagnostic criteria for distinguishing between occasional visitors and the main inhabitants of mixed human carnivore sites the analytical procedures presented in this paper have a value beyond the significance of the bois roche site because they can be applied to other sites

leopards as taphonomic agents in the iberian pleistocene the case of raco del duc valencia spain bone accumulations created by carnivores during the pleistocene have been largely associated with the action of cave hyenas crocuta spelaea golfuss 1823 identified all over europe yet in recent years it has been shown that leopards panthera pardus linnaeus 1758 played a role in the creation of sites in the iberian peninsula in this study we present the taphonomic study of the bone accumulation of the pre solutrean level at the raco del duc cave south of the province of valencia where the dominant species capra pyrenaica schinz 1838 has been accumulated by leopards together with new data and other references taken from the bibliography we have summarised the main taphonomic characteristics of the sites accumulated by leopards the predator prey relationship has also been analysed and it has shown that during the pleistocene leopards in the iberian peninsula were specialised in catching goats showing similar behaviour to that of snow leopards said specialisation may have been due to the occupation of caves in steep areas where rupicolous fauna predominated

comparisons of impact flakes derived from hyena and hammerstone long bone breakage abstract archaeological interpretations of the agent of bone breakage are important for reconstructing site formation impact flakes or bone flakes created during bone breakage that exhibit features analogous to flakes produced during lithic reduction are often used as evidence of hominin marrow acquisition however it has long been acknowledged that carnivores mainly hyenas also create flakes with these features but the body of literature on these flakes is virtually non existent here we present and analyze impact flakes from hammerstone and hyena created assemblages and compare them to published research on hammerstone generated flakes in experimental and archaeological contexts impact flake frequencies in the experimental hyena assemblage occur at half the rate as found in the hammerstone created assemblages however hyena created flakes do display typical impact flake features at similar rates to those found in the hammerstone created assemblage finally we compare some frequencies of impact flakes found in other experiments and at archaeological sites due to equifinality impact flakes can only be used as supporting evidence rather than central evidence for understanding hominin marrow access especially when multiple agents of bone accumulation are present

cave deposits as a sedimentary trap for the marine isotope stage 3 environmental record the case study of pod hradem czech republic pod hradem cave located in the moravian karst czech republic offers an excellent opportunity for environmental reconstructions of marine isotope stage 3 mis 3 in central europe due to its detailed sedimentary record dated 50 000 to 28 000 cal bp identifying the natural environments of the middle to upper palaeolithic mup transition is necessary to understand the settlement strategies and related behaviour of both neanderthals and anatomically modern humans both of whom may have occupied the region at the same time a multidisciplinary excavation was carried out between 2011 and 2016 detailed analyses of the sediments vertebrate microfauna pollen and charcoal revealed minor but observable fluctuations in climate with little change in the surrounding vegetation the pod hradem palaeoenvironmental dataset is complex but generally reflects a predominantly glacial climate with a range of vegetation types and habitats during the late pleistocene followed by the warmer and more humid holocene the mup transition as recorded in pod hradem cave was a glacial environment interrupted by two relatively warmer periods central europe experienced extreme climate fluctuations during mis3 as recorded from different sedimentary archives but it seems that the pod hradem cave environment may have acted as a buffer zone ameliorating those extremes and providing a suitable refuge for both bears seeking winter hibernation dens and occasionally visiting humans

pollen analysis of hyena coprolites and sediments from equus cave taung southern kalahari south africa equus cave in quaternary tufa near taung in the semiarid woodland of the southern kalahari yielded 2 5 m of sediment in which a rich assemblage of bones and coprolites was preserved the fossils were accumulated mainly by hyenas during the late pleistocene and holocene pollen from coprolites reflects diet as well as vegetation over relatively large areas visited by hyenas while pollen from sediments represents more local sources the pollen sequence derived from coprolites and sediments demonstrates how the vegetation evolved from open grassland with small shrubs and occasional trees during the late pleistocene to open savanna with more small shurbs then during the last 7500 yr to modern savanna temperatures were not more than 4 c cooler and it was slightly moister than today during the late pleistocene phase it became gradually warmer but relatively dry before optimal temperature and moisture conditions developed around 7500 yr b p climatic conditions slightly less favorable for woodland occurred during part of the late holocene

post depositional bone destruction in cave sediments a micromorphological study of the mis 5a d cave bear strata of biśnik cave poland

subsidence rates and urban damages in alluvial dolines of the central ebro basin ne spain in the central ebro basin alluvial dolines develop on quaternary materials overlying neogene evaporites this process is very active analysing aerial photographs of different years important differences can be observed since the 1970s when the urbanisation of the area took place karst processes have damaged many buildings and infrastructures from the dates of construction and the repair of a number of buildings and pavements we calculate subsidence rates 12 120 mm year moreover we decided to monitor for around 4 years three dolines developed on urban areas to determine their subsidence behaviour a water level device with an error of 2 3 mm was utilised for this purpose the subsidence rates so obtained are 64 5 39 and 21 mm year which fit with the previous data from repaired zones

subsidence hazards due to evaporite dissolution in the united states evaporites including gypsum or anhydrite and salt are the most soluble of common rocks they are dissolved readily to form the same type of karst features that typically are found in limestones and dolomites and their dissolution can locally result in major subsidence structures the four basic requirements for evaporite dissolution to occur are 1 a deposit of gypsum or salt 2 water unsaturated with caso4 or nacl 3 an outlet for escape of dissolving water and 4 energy to cause water to flow through the system evaporites are present in 32 of the 48 contiguous states of the united states and they underlie about 35 40 of the land area karst is known at least locally and sometimes quite extensively in almost all areas underlain by evaporites and some of these karst features involve significant subsidence the most widespread and pronounced examples of both gypsum and salt karst and subsidence are in the permian basin of the southwestern united states but many other areas also are significant human activities have caused some evaporite subsidence development primarily in salt deposits boreholes may enable either intentionally or inadvertently unsaturated water to flow through or against salt deposits thus allowing development of small to large dissolution cavities if the dissolution cavity is large enough and shallow enough successive roof failures above the cavity can cause land subsidence or catastrophic collapse

bronze age barrows at longstone edge taphonomy and site formation the taphonomy of the small vertebrate fauna from longstone edge is compared and contrasted with the site formation processes of the bronze age round barrows from which they were recovered the microfauna may provide important clues about the site formation processes of the barrows including access to and exposure of the structures in different periods two contexts the earth barrow 1 and the burial cists beneath barrow 1 have rich small vertebrate faunas preserved and taphonomic evidence of breakage and digestion provides evidence of two predators responsible for the accumulation of the faunas the preservation context indicates that the predators were nesting or roosting on the ground three other contexts in barrow 1 subsoil stone mound underlying the earth mound and a later fissure cutting across the mound have only scattered remains and barrow 2 also has dispersed remains the taphonomy and site formation processes of the two longstone edge barrows complement each other but the nature of the evidence from the two sources is quite different taphonomy is a constructive discipline that adds information to animal and plant assemblages shows what processes were operating in the past and allows us to retrieve the original information of past ecosystems site formation processes and destruction of the structural elements that make up the barrows may show how the site was formed and how it has deteriorated over time attempts to refer to both subjects as aspects of taphonomy are misguided

an exclusively hyena collected bone assemblage in the late pleistocene of sicily taphonomy and stratigraphic context of the large mammal remains from san teodoro cave north eastern sicily italy a detailed taphonomic analysis of the large mammal assemblage from 1998 to 2006 excavations at san teodoro cave is presented taking into account the stratigraphic context of the deposits three not strictly contemporary fossiliferous levels having different lithological features have been detected here named b i b ii and b iii fossil remains are prevalently accumulated in b i and b ii the three levels are characterized by evidence of crocuta crocuta spelaea occupation represented by their skeletal remains coprolites and distinctive damages on the bones similar to fossil and modern spotted hyena dens from europe and africa a differential distribution of coprolites and small digested bones probably due to different humidity conditions has been recognized in b i and b ii and can be related to different topographic locations within the cave or to different climate conditions during the sedimentation phases the very low density of fossil remains in b iii which is the oldest level could indicate an area that was less inhabited by hyenas probably due to geomorphological conditions taphonomic comparison of the three fossiliferous levels of the san teodoro cave deposits points to a long term perhaps cyclic occupation of the cave by hyenas and confirms the cave as one of the most important pleistocene hyena dens in europe

not only hyenids a multi scale analysis of upper pleistocene carnivore coprolites in cova del coll verdaguer ne iberian peninsula three morphotypes of fossil fecal material coprolites have been identified from the upper pleistocene site of cova del coll verdaguer ne iberian peninsula coprolites are commonly found in pleistocene records and also in places in which human and carnivore activities co occurred however coprolite identification is typically limited to hyenids the most readily recognizable fossilized feces owing to their distinctive shape and good preservation although non hyena carnivore coprolites are also likely to be present in these assemblages several criteria for a multi scale integrative analysis are proposed here for discriminating different morphotypes hence this analysis provides an opportunity to assess the involvement of several carnivores in bone accumulations to identify carnivores not specifically represented by skeletal remains and to evaluate interactions between humans and the carnivore guild especially medium and small carnivores

understanding the ancient habitats of the last interglacial late mis 5 neanderthals of central iberia paleoenvironmental and taphonomic evidence from the cueva del camino spain site the cueva del camino site pinilla del valle madrid represents the most complete mis 5 record from the iberian peninsula away from the mediterranean margin including a large accumulation of fossilized remains of small and large vertebrates and two human teeth the presence of carnivores mainly hyenas and humans suggests that the site should be interpreted as a spotted hyena den a human occupation or both during an earlier phase of excavation undertaken during the 1980s an anthropic origin was suggested for the accumulation at the site however research was resumed in 2002 leading to an increase in the number of vertebrate remains recovered as well as the recognition of new vertebrate species these have now been incorporated into the site s list of fauna in addition new palaeobotanical geochronological and stratigraphic data have been recorded and analysed and the human teeth identified as being of neanderthal origin floristic data pollen and charcoal remains obtained for the north sector of this site indicate an open landscape with pinus sylvestris nigra as the main arboreal taxon the available evidence suggests this accumulation to be the result of spotted hyena activity during a warm phase of marine isotope stage 5 mis 5 in an environment in which fallow deer was the most abundant herbivore

towards a middle pleistocene terrestrial climate reconstruction based on herpetofaunal assemblages from the iberian peninsula state of the art and perspectives abstract the pattern of the varying climatic conditions in southern europe over the last million years is well known from isotope studies on deep ocean sediment cores and the long pollen records that have been produced for lacustrine and marine sedimentary sequences from greece italy and the iberian margin however although relative glacial and interglacial intensities are well studied there are still few proxies that permit quantitative terrestrial temperature and precipitation reconstruction in this context fauna based climate reconstructions based on evidence preserved in archaeological or palaeontological sites are of great interest even if they only document short windows of that climate variability because a they provide a range of temperature and precipitation estimates that are understandable in comparison with present climate b they may allow the testing of predicted temperature changes under scenarios of future climate change and c quantitative temperature and precipitation estimates for past glacials and interglacials for specific regions latitudes can help to understand their effects on flora fauna and hominids as they are directly associated with those cultural and or biological events moreover such reconstructions can bring further arguments to the discussion about important climatic events like the mid bruhnes event a climatic transition between moderate warmths and greater warmths during interglacials in this paper we review a decade of amphibian and reptile based climate reconstructions carried out for the iberian peninsula using the mutual ecogeographic range method in order to present a regional synthesis from mis 22 to mis 6 discuss the climate pattern in relation to the mid bruhnes event and the thermal amplitude suggested by these estimates and finally to identify the chronological gaps that have still to be investigated

sedimentary record of pleistocene paleodoline evolution in the ebro basin ne spain abstract pleistocene fluvial deposits of the ebro river in ne spain are widely affected by faults fractures and tilting of beds based on the lithological geometrical and textural features of these deposits seven architectural elements have been differentiated gravel bars gb gravel filled channels ch sheets and channel fill sands sb are the most common elements and together with less frequent overbank fines ff characterize a gravel dominated braided fluvial system gravel lobes gl that draw progressive unconformities and are laterally related to u shaped or basin form mud deposits sediment gravity flow deposits sg and sands with slumps and convolute bedding sgs are not typical architectural elements of braided fluvial environments and they are interpreted in this work as related to syn sedimentary deformation our research proves that deformation is due to dissolution of the underlying tertiary evaporites with genesis of dolines the development of these karst structures involved both subsidence and sudden collapses that affected previous fluvial sediments small depressions dolines generated that were progressively filled by syn sedimentary deformed detrital deposits a model for the evolution of the doline fills is purposed that envisages several stages 1 gravitational processes caused remobilisation of previous fluvial gravels that were dragged to the created depression 2 flooding of the depression and development of a backswamp area that was progressively filled by fine sediments and gravel lobes as a consequence of the overflow of nearby channels 3 gravel lobes draw progressive unconformities revealing several subsidence episodes related to dissolution dragging and compaction 4 non deformed fluvial facies at the top of the series mark the end of the karstification influence osl optically stimulated luminiscence ages the first from the terraces of the ebro river demonstrate that karst has developed in this area at least since the late pleistocene and that the dolines have been filled in throughout several thousand years this large span time of doline evolution without anthropogenic influence should be considered for a better planning and management in hazardous areas

contrasting impacts of dansgaard oeschger events over a western european latitudinal transect modulated by orbital parameters abstract terrestrial and marine proxies pollen planktic and benthic foraminiferal oxygen isotopes alkenone and foraminifer derived sea surface temperatures ssts ice rafted debris from images deep sea cores md95 2042 and su81 18 37 n 10 w md99 2331 and md03 2697 42 n 9 w and md04 2845 45 n 5 w show that western european and offshore environments were strongly affected by dansgaard oeschger d o and heinrich h events we concentrate here on latitudinal variability in the forest cover extent and composition of western europe during the succession of d o events showing new pollen records for core md04 2845 and for marine isotopic stages mis 3 and 4 of core md99 2331 in general cold ssts characteristic of greenland stadials were contemporaneous with the expansion of semi desert or steppic vegetation while greenland interstadials were synchronous with the expansion of forest our data reveal that the amplitude of atlantic and mediterranean forest expansions differs for any given d o warming during the glacial period 74 18 ka in the western mediterranean d o 16 17 and d o 8 and 7 corresponding to minima in precession were associated with strong expansion of forest cover contrasting with weak expansion of forest cover during d o 14 and 12 the opposite pattern is revealed at the atlantic sites further north the strongest greenland warmings are recorded for d o 19 11 and 8 this contrasting latitudinal climatic scenario is compared with other northern hemisphere records revealing similarities between the mediterranean climate and the asian monsoon regime which may relate to a summer atmospheric teleconnection between the two regions comparable to the present day situation parallels between mediterranean climate enhancement and peaks in global methane ch 4 during the last glacial period suggest a significant role of monsoon activity in determining ch 4 emission from wetlands

structure and composition of the aleutian island arc and implications for continental crustal growth we present results of a seismic reflection and refraction investigation of the aleutian island arc designed to test the hypothesis that volcanic arcs constitute the building blocks of continental crust the aleutian arc has the requisite thickness 30 km to build continental crust but it differs strongly from continental crust in its composition and reflectivity structure seismic velocities and the compositions of erupted lavas suggest that the aleutian crust has a mafic bulk composition in contrast to the andesitic bulk composition of continents the silicic upper crust and reflective lower crust that are characteristic of continental crust are conspicuously lacking in the aleutian intraoceanic arc therefore if island arcs form a significant source of continental crust the bulk properties of arc crust must be substantially modified during or after accretion to a continental margin the pervasive deformation intracrustal melting and delamination of mafic to ultramafic residuum necessary to transform arc crust into mature continental crust probably occur during arc continent collision or through subsequent establishment of a continental arc the volume of crust created along the arc exceeds that estimated by previous workers by about a factor of two

a study of pleistocene and holocene hyaena coprolites abstract hyaena coprolites from a diachronic series of archaeological sites in israel were examined and compared with recent faecal material from striped hyaena dens and zoos three methods were applied in the analysis of all samples gross morphometrical attributes x ray diffraction and petrological thin sections this last method is an innovation in the field of coprolite studies and facilitates the long term preservation of the original textural characteristics and fabric of sections of the coprolite the combination of these three approaches facilitated among other things the assessment of hyaena diet in the past as well as in the present and determination of local environmental factors affecting the composition of the coprolite we also obtained some indication of changes related to ageing of the material

in situ u series dating by laser ablation multi collector icpms new prospects for quaternary geochronology the capabilities and potential applications of in situ dating of quaternary materials using laser ablation mc icpms are explored 234 u 238 u and 230 th 234 u can be measured with precision sufficient for dating at a spatial resolution of 100mm or better in samples that contain as a little as 1 ppm uranium moreover u and th concentrations and u series isotope ratios can be continuously profiled to determine changes in age that occur with sample growth e g in speleothems these capabilities additionally permit the dating of bones teeth and possibly molluscs which are subject to post mortem open system behaviour of useries isotopes and can be employed to elucidate processes of u series migration during weathering and diagenesis a drawback of laser ablation mc icpms is that it cannot in general provide u series age estimates with the high precision and accuracy of conventional tims or solution mc icpms methods however sample preparation is straightforward the amount of sample consumed negligible and it can be used to rapidly characterise or screen and select samples from which more precise and accurate dates can be obtained using conventional methods given further instrumental developments and the establishment of suitable matrix matched standards for carbonates and other materials we foresee that laser ablation mc icpms will play an increasingly important role in quaternary dating research r 2005 published by elsevier ltd

using experimental studies of recent faecal material to examine hyaena coprolites from the west runton freshwater bed norfolk u k abstract coprolites fossilized droppings found during the excavation of the west runton elephant in 1992 and 1995 were studied and attributed to the spotted hyaena crocuta crocuta on the basis of their distinctive morphology and content recent droppings of captive spotted hyaenas were compared with the coprolites in terms of size morphology and content and were used in simple laboratory experiments devised to improve understanding of their behaviour in depositional environments generally and their mode of burial at this locality specifically the coprolites are 22 32 larger than the recent droppings consistent with the interpretation that the european spotted hyaenas of the cromerian interglacial were larger than modern african equivalents the fresh spotted hyaena droppings are hard and durable sink rapidly through water and are able to withstand considerable trampling into sediment whilst maintaining a coherent form the droppings have a high threshold entrainment velocity in water far higher than that for silt or fine sand and consequently it is unlikely that the west runton coprolites were transported to the site with the host sediment this suggests three possible histories of deposition 1 the droppings were deposited around the elephant skeleton possibly by the same animals which caused damage to the skeleton and the fine sediment was then washed in around them 2 they were deposited by hyaenas while fine sediment was being deposited 3 they were deposited after the sediment was deposited and then they were subjected to faunal disturbance by trampling and scattering this approach studying the behaviour of in this case modern fresh droppings in experimental situations to answer specific questions may be of use in investigating other sites with similar natural depositional settings not necessarily involving faecal material

piping sapping erosion ii identification diagnosis although erosion of streambanks and other shorelines by emergent seepage is widespread this erosion mechanism termed piping or sapping has not been recognized as important to the overall erosion process the mechanism is complex and interactions with other bank and shore processes tend to mask the effects of piping sapping direct evidence water emerging from a soil face and carrying away soil particles is rarely encountered several types of indirect evidence are presented and illustrated in this paper including cavities formed by piping deposits of dislocated particles below piping zones blind gullies staining produced by persistent seepage outflow and particular types of localized failures slab toppling block shearing and tensile falls caused by undercutting due to piping sapping the interactions of this erosion mechanism with other erosion deposition processes are described the purpose of this paper is to facilitate identification and evaluation of piping sapping erosion particularly

gypsum karst features as evidence of diapiric processes in the betic cordillera southern spain in the triassic evaporite deposits of the betic cordillera halokinesis has played a fundamental role in the morphodynamic evolution of gypsum karst as evidenced by the morphology and distribution of dolines and poljes by data obtained from caves and from the types of water associated with evaporite domes distribution patterns of major exokarstic forms display a subcircular array with collapse sinkholes located in the centre of the domes and solution drawdown dolines on the outer limits of the diapiric forms in addition the least mineralized waters are situated in association with the caprock gypsum hypersaline waters which are also hotter drain deeper flow systems that flow out at the edges of the halokinetic structures the morphodynamic and hydrogeological information constitute a valuable tool for the correct interpretation of the tectonic structure of such complex areas

new taphonomic data of the 1 myr hominin butchery at untermassfeld thuringia germany abstract untermassfeld has provided a butchered bone assemblage and a mode 1 lithic record demonstrating hominin presence at a site which was classically viewed as paleontological this archaeological record was found during fieldwork and surveying in fluvial river banks and low to medium energy channel erosion sediments paleomagnetism and biostratigraphy has yielded an age for this hominin occupation close to the onset of the jaramillo subchron ca 1 07 myr in this paper we present new taphonomic data of the cut marked and hammer related bone material corresponding mainly to large sized herd species i e bison but also from cervids eucladoceros giulii and cervus s l nestii vallonnetensis and megafaunal species i e stephanorhinus hundsheimensis and hippopotamus amphibius antiquus distribution of skeletal elements and bone surface features suggests that this bone assemblage consists of animal remains with different taphonomic origins the assemblage formed during at most two or three sediment laden floods transporting both lithic tools and remains of animals that died of natural causes or were killed by predators the new taphonomic results presented here are important to analyze hominin colonization and adaptation to european mid latitude environments at 1 myr in competition for meat resources with large carnivores i e pachycrocuta brevirostris and panthera onca gombaszoegensis

interplay between tectonics climate and fluvial transport during the cenozoic evolution of the ebro basin ne iberia 1 three dimensional modeling that integrates fluvial sediment transport crustal scale tectonic deformation and lithospheric flexural subsidence is carried out to simulate the landscape and drainage evolution of the ebro sedimentary basin ne iberia the ebro basin underwent a long period of closed intramountain drainage as a result of tectonic topography generation at the pyrenees the iberian range and the catalan coastal range in the late oligocene the catalan coastal range underwent extension leading to the formation of the valencia trough nw mediterranean but the ebro basin remained closed for nearly 15 myr more before the ebro river cut through the remnants of the topographic barrier this drainage opening caused widespread basin incision that shaped spectacular outcrops of the syntectonic and posttectonic infill here we investigate the processes controlling these major drainage changes the modeling results constrained by a large data set on the tectonic and transport evolution of the area predict a closed phase characterized by a large lake in the central eastern ebro basin dry climatic conditions probably lowered the lake level and contributed together with rift flank uplift to prolong this endorheic basin stage the age and amount of reworked sediment after the opening are consistent with an onset of basin incision between 13 and 8 5 ma as a result of lake capture by escarpment erosion and lake level rise associated with sediment accumulation and wetter climatic conditions sea level changes in the mediterranean had no major impact in the large scale drainage evolution of the ebro basin index terms 1625 global change geomorphology and weathering 1824 1886 1815 hydrology erosion and sedimentation 3210 mathematical geophysics modeling 3344 meteorology and atmospheric dynamics paleoclimatology 8102 tectonophysics continental contractional orogenic belts keywords pyrenees drainage evolution lake sediment budget erosion flexure

climatic control on quaternary fluvial sedimentology of a fenland basin river england understanding and interpreting climate response from ancient fluvial deposits requires a combined approach of detailed sedimentological description and interpretation local climate proxies and the accurate comparison of these sequences with further independent climate records application of these multiple lines of evidence is particularly effective in the quaternary period where higher resolution and more detailed palaeoenvironmental reconstruction are possible this paper presents results from a devensian weichselian age sequence in northern fenland england that integrates these approaches detailed sedimentological description has identified three fluvial facies associations overlain by a period of ice wedge cast formation fossil plant and coleopteran material within these sediments have been studied to provide palaeoenvironmental reconstructions for the local landscape including quantitative temperature estimates using the mutual climatic range method on fossil coleoptera in addition joint application of radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence osl dating allows this sequence to be compared with the stacked marine isotope record although dates do not agree well at the limit of the radiocarbon technique sedimentological interpretations palaeoenvironments and global ice volume variations a proxy for climatic severity are all in agreement and show clearly how the river nene responded to subtle changes in climate and vegetation cover during the devensian weichselian stage the level of detail possible in this reconstruction shows the importance of this approach in understanding fluvial response to past climate changes

natural and human induced sinkholes in gypsum terrain and associated environmental problems in ne spain the central ebro basin comprises thick evaporite materials whose high solubility produces typically karstic landforms the sinkhole morphology developed in the overlying alluvium has been studied using gravimetry and ground penetrating radar gpr on stream terraces as well as analyzing the evolution of sinkhole morphologies observed in aerial photographs taken in 1928 1957 and 1985 the sinkhole morphologies give some idea of possible subsurface processes as well as an indication of the final mechanisms involve in sinkhole development on stream terraces and cover pediments the most commonly encountered dolines are bowl shaped in their morphology with both diffuse and scarped edges in contrast dolines developed in the gypsiferous silt infilled valleys have a funnel and well shaped morphology the diffuse edged bowl shaped dolines are developed through the progressive subsidence of the alluvial cover due to washing down of alluvial particles through small voids and cracks into deeper subsurface caves resulting in a decrease alluvial density future compaction of the alluvial cover will produce surface subsidences this type of dolines are associated with negative gravity anomalies in contrast the scarped edge dolines are formed by the sudden collapse of a cavity roof the cavities and cracks formed in the gypsum karst may migrate to the surface through the alluvial deposits by piping and they may subsequently collapse in this instance the cavities can be detected by both gravity and gpr anomalies where the voids are not deeper than 4 5 m from the surface these processes forming sinkholes can be enhanced by man induced changes in the groundwater hydrologic regime by both inflows due to irrigation ditch losses or pipe leakages and by outflows from pumping activities

sinkhole hazards along the eastern dead sea shoreline area jordan a geological and geotechnical consideration for the last four decades the level of the dead sea has been subjected to continual variation which among other important factors has led to the occurrence of much subsidence and many sinkholes in the southern dead sea area sinkhole activities occurred repetitively and were observed in open farms across roads near dwellings and near an existing factory thus causing a serious threat to the locals and farmers of the area and their properties this paper presents the main results from detailed geological and geotechnical studies of this area aerial photo interpretation and borehole drilling aided these studies parallel geophysical investigations vertical electrical sounding and seismic refraction and hydrological and hydrogeological studies were made by others in the same area to also investigate this phenomenon it was found that sinkholes are aligned to and follow old water channels and are concentrated parallel to the recent shoreline of the dead sea the development of subsurface cavities is associated mainly with the variation in the level of the dead sea over the four past decades the presence of regional salt intrusion under the surface of salt beds the fluctuation of the water table and continuous dissolution and the active tectonism of the area moreover this work showed that the area is still under active sinkhole hazards and other parts of the area will be inevitably affected by sinkholes in the future no practical engineering solution to this problem is feasible

palynological interpretation of the early neolithic coastal open air site at sa punta central western sardinia italy abstract the major goal of the present study has been to assess the ecological context of the early neolithic settlement under excavation in the coastal site of sa punta marceddi terralba sardinia italy where a trench of neolithic age has been brought to light based on the origins of the site s organic fossiliferous content the purpose of this work is to achieve an understanding of 1 the reasons why this location was chosen by en man and 2 its functions this research has enabled us to suggest a human paleoecological scenario over the course of the last three centuries of the 6th millennium bc in the inland area of the oristano gulf on the basis of pollen spectra and the phytolith morphologies recognised it is suggested that herbaceous vegetation covered the alluvial plain arable agriculture does not seem to have been practiced on the site but the record of coprophilous fungi and endoparasites along with clues that there were burning practices suggest livestock farming activity to date a univocal interpretation of the function of this trench is still lacking however it is the oldest and the only evidence in sardinia of a remarkable transformation of an open air space due to settlement