p wave velocity measurements for preliminary assessments of the mineralization in seafloor massive sulfide mini cores during drilling operations highlight it is important to develop systems able to detect and classify mineralized zones from waste materials while drilling deep water seismic p wave velocities vp were measured on 40 sms and unmineralized mini cores the porosity was back calculated from vp the results were compared with electrical resistivity measurements using archie s law it is possible to observe that metallic conduction exists abstract deep sea mining exploration for seafloor massive sulfide sms deposits is currently increasing at present most exploration activities are surficial and use indirect methods to identify potential sites and perform first assessments for a proper resource estimate however drilling is inevitable by using seabed drill rigs exploration costs can be reduced considerably sms deposits are normally found at depths between 1000 and 4000 m and in order for deep sea mining to be implemented reliable technologies are needed additionally the development of geophysical systems that can detect and classify mineralized zones from waste materials while drilling could decrease costs and speed up offshore operations by limiting the amount of drilling of unmineralized materials this paper shows how the physical properties of sms can be used to discriminate between host rocks and mineralization seismic p wave velocities vp were measured on 40 sms and unmineralized mini cores by back calculating the porosity from vp comparing the results with electrical resistivity measurements and using archie s law it is possible to observe that metallic conduction exists for deep sea mineral exploration the combination of seismic tests electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility could support the preliminary discrimination of mineralized samples in the cores while drilling at the seafloor

the 8 2 ka event from greenland ice cores we present a collection of high resolution chemistry and stable isotope records from the plateau of the greenland ice cap during the cold event 8200 yr ago using a composite of four records the cold event is observed as a 160 5 yr period during which decadal mean isotopic values were below average within which there is a central event of 69 yr during which values were consistently more than one standard deviation below the average for the preceding period four cores in north south and central greenland show differences at decadal and shorter timescales it is not yet clear if this represents significant spatial differences in response the results show clear evidence for colder temperatures and a decrease in snow accumulation rate however the changes in chemical concentrations for the ions looked at here are small suggesting only minor changes in atmospheric circulation for this event apart from the decrease in methane concentration greenland ice cores give only weak evidence for effects outside the north atlantic region

the holocene archaeological sequence and sedimentological processes at ifri oudadane ne morocco abstract the coastal site of ifri oudadane is one of the most important sites in the mediterranean maghreb recent excavations have provided a stratigraphy featuring the transition from epipalaeolithic hunter gatherers to neolithic food producers this transitional process could be defined by various features the sedimentological field description revealed a change from homogenous sediment to more structured deposits and similar to the so called fumiers that are characteristic of animal husbandry in caves and shelters around the mediterranean sedimentary units identified in the deposits were confirmed by geochemical and micromorphological studies within the early neolithic deposits coprolites and calcite spherulites testify to the penning of ovicaprides inside the shelter radiocarbon analyses date the change from epipalaeolithic to neolithic to approximately 7 6 ka calbp preliminary results from archaeozoological and archaeobotanical studies prove the existence of domesticated species in neolithic deposits finally together with pottery and notched blades new artefact categories appear reflecting changing settlement behaviour associated with neolithic lifeways given the richness of the archaeological material from ifri oudadane which is still under study the sequence is a key site for the mediterranean zone of nw africa it has a considerable role to play in the development of future neolithisation models for the western mediterranean

simulations of the 2004 lava flow at etna volcano using the magflow cellular automata model since the mechanical properties of lava change over time lava flows represent a challenge for physically based modeling this change is ruled by a temperature field which needs to be modeled magflow cellular automata ca model was developed for physically based simulations of lava flows in near real time we introduced an algorithm based on the monte carlo approach to solve the anisotropic problem as transition rule of ca a steady state solution of navier stokes equations was adopted in the case of isothermal laminar pressure driven bingham fluid for the cooling mechanism we consider only the radiative heat loss from the surface of the flow and the change of the temperature due to mixture of lavas between cells with different temperatures the model was applied to reproduce a real lava flow that occurred during the 2004 2005 etna eruption the simulations were computed using three different empirical relationships between viscosity and temperature

major features and forcing of high latitude northern hemisphere atmospheric circulation using a 110 000 year long glaciochemical series the greenland ice sheet project 2 glaciochemical series sodium potassium ammonium calcium magnesium sulfate nitrate and chloride provides a unique view of the chemistry of the atmosphere and the history of atmospheric circulation over both the high latitudes and mid low latitudes of the northern hemisphere interpretation of this record reveals a diverse array of environmental signatures that include the documentation of anthropogenically derived pollutants volcanic and biomass burning events storminess over marine surfaces continental aridity and biogenic source strength plus information related to the controls on both high and low frequency climate events of the last 110 000 years climate forcings investigated include changes in insolation of the order of the major orbital cycles that control the long term behavior of atmospheric circulation patterns through changes in ice volume sea level events such as the heinrich events massive discharges of icebergs first identified in the marine record that are found to operate on a 6100 year cycle due largely to the lagged response of ice sheets to changes in insolation and consequent glacier dynamics and rapid climate change events massive reorganizations of atmospheric circulation that are demonstrated to operate on 1450 year cycles changes in insolation and associated positive feedbacks related to ice sheets may assist in explaining favorable time periods and controls on the amplitude of massive rapid climate change events explanation for the exact timing and global synchroneity of these events is however more complicated preliminary evidence points to possible solar variability climate associations for these events and perhaps others that are embedded in our ice core derived atmospheric circulation records

pollen taphonomy of cave sediments what does the pollen record in caves tell us about external environments and how do we assess its reliability cave sediments may contain important long term records of past environments and human activity pollen provides key evidence since it disperses widely and is relatively durable we still know relatively little about the dispersal of pollen into caves and its preservation within cave sediments compared with our relatively detailed knowledge of pollen taphonomy in other sedimentary environments pollen taphonomy in caves is dependent on a variety of transport pathways and seems to be very contingent on local circumstance the airfall component of cave pollen assemblages often seems comparable with airfall spectra in the landscape outside the cave but bees birds and bats may transport considerable quantities of pollen into caves and the entrance flora may also be significant cave sediments are rarely waterlogged and pollen within them can be subject tomicrobial and chemical degradation sedimentation in caves is often episodic with episodes of storage and deposition sometimes redeposition of sediment which means that biostratinomic preservational factors become very significant comparison with sequences outside caves is difficult because few caves are found in landscapes where there are comparable pollen records from lakes and bogs here we review the factors affecting cave pollen taphonomy and hence the reliability of palynological analysis of sediments from caves with suggestions for future investigation

evidence for a widespread climatic anomaly at around 9 2 ka before present 1 the 8 2 ka event was triggered by a meltwater pulse mwp into the north atlantic and resultant reduction of the thermohaline circulation thc this event was preceded by a series of at least 14 mwps their impact on early holocene climate has remained almost unknown a set of high quality paleoclimate records from across the northern hemisphere shows evidence for a widespread and significant climatic anomaly at 9 2 ka b p this event has climatic anomaly patterns very similar to the 8 2 ka b p event cooling occurred at high latitudes and midlatitudes and drying took place in the northern tropics and is concurrent with an mwp of considerable volume 8100 km3 as the 9 2 ka mwp occurs at a time of enhanced baseline freshwater flow into the north atlantic this mwp may have been despite its relatively small volume sufficient to weaken thc and to induce the observed climate anomaly pattern

chronostratigraphy site formation processes and pollen record of ifri n etsedda ne morocco abstract the rock shelter of ifri n etsedda is located at the southern flank of the kebdana mountains north east morocco at an altitude of around 300 m a s l twenty one radiocarbon ages attest an occupation of the shelter between 10 0 and 6 0 ka cal bp comb decorated pottery also known from other late neolithic sites of the area suggest a later occupation the presence of both epipalaeolithic and neolithic deposits offers the opportunity to study the neolithic transition in the area although the ifri n etsedda deposits contain a short hiatus next to the ifri oudadane shelter west of the melilla peninsula it is one of the few sites in the area allowing this approach the paper combines stratigraphic sedimentological and micromorphological studies in order to reconstruct the complex site formation processes pollen analysis offers exciting insights into environmental change human land use and subsistence strategies a short overview about the artefact assemblage allows the reconstruction of occupation history and a first placement of the site within the archaeological context of the area the epipalaeolithic occupation seems to be clearly bipartite and the ongoing study of the lithic assemblage promises the possibility of further subdivision in the area for the first time discontinuities of the epipalaeolithic might be connected to early holocene rapid climate change events rcc the neolithic occurred at about 7 2 ka cal bp marked by the appearance of pottery perforated snails ovicaprides and cereals hunting gathering and the use of terrestrial molluscs still played an important role during the neolithic as the main occupation phase the late early neolithic between 6 7 to about 6 0 ka cal bp appears striking similarities to other contemporary sites such as el zafrin at the nearby coast and the mtlili open air sites within the lower reaches of the moulouya river suggest that ifri n etsedda is part of a larger settlement cluster providing particular adaptations to mountainous landscapes

a review of tephra transport and dispersal models evolution current status and future perspectives abstract tephra transport models try to predict atmospheric dispersion and sedimentation of tephra depending on meteorology particle properties and eruption characteristics defined by eruption column height mass eruption rate and vertical distribution of mass models are used for different purposes from operational forecast of volcanic ash clouds to hazard assessment of tephra dispersion and fallout the size of the erupted particles a key parameter controlling the dynamics of particle sedimentation in the atmosphere varies within a wide range largest centimetric to millimetric particles fallout at proximal to medial distances from the volcano and sediment by gravitational settling on the other extreme smallest micrometric to sub micrometric particles can be transported at continental or even at global scales and are affected by other deposition and aggregation mechanisms different scientific communities had traditionally modeled the dispersion of these two end members volcanologists developed families of models suitable for lapilli and coarse ash and aimed at computing fallout deposits and for hazard assessment in contrast meteorologists and atmospheric scientists have traditionally used other atmospheric transport models dealing with finer particles for tracking motion of volcanic ash clouds and eventually for computing airborne ash concentrations during the last decade the increasing demand for model accuracy and forecast reliability has pushed on two fronts first the original gap between these different families of models has been filled with the emergence of multi scale and multi purpose models second new modeling strategies including for example ensemble and probabilistic forecast or model data assimilation are being investigated for future implementation in models and or modeling strategies this paper reviews the evolution of tephra transport and dispersal models during the last two decades presents the status and limitations of the current modeling strategies and discusses some emergent perspectives expected to be implemented at operational level during the next few years improvements in both real time forecasting and long term hazard assessment are necessary to loss prevention programs on a local regional national and international level

modvolc near real time thermal monitoring of global volcanism modvolc is a non interactive algorithm developed at the hawaii institute of geophysics and planetology higp that uses low spatial resolution 1 km pixel size infrared satellite data acquired by the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer modis to map the global distribution of volcanic thermal anomalies in near real time modvolc scans the level 1b modis data stream on a pixel by pixel basis for evidence of pixel and sub pixel sized high temperature radiators once a hot spot has been identified its details location emitted spectral radiance time satellite observation geometry are written to ascii text files and transferred via ftp to higp from where the results are disseminated via the internet http modis higp hawaii edu in this paper we review the underlying principles upon which the algorithm is based before presenting some of the results and data that have been obtained since its inception we show how modvolc reliably detects thermal anomalies at a large number of persistently and sporadically active volcanoes that encompass the full range of common eruptive styles including erebus antarctica colima mexico karymsky kamchatka popocatepetl mexico etna italy and nyiragongo democratic republic of congo amongst others we also present a few cautionary notes regarding the limitations of the algorithm and interpretation of the data it provides

aspects of the chemical and microscopic characteristics of plant ashes found in archaeological soils abstract ash from plants occurs in archaeological soils all over the world it is particularly significant in cave deposits but is also found on open air sites where dissolution has been discouraged by aridity deep burial or calcareous surrounding sediments this paper describes the main microscopic characteristics of ash as well as providing details and illustrations of their origin from plant mineral and organomineral compounds chemical summaries are presented which reflect the major trends in phytomineralogy and highlight some additional groupings running through plant physiology emphasis is placed on the importance of understanding the complete range of transformations acting on ash as a result of heating and cooling followed by weathering and dissolution finally some future directions for ash research are suggested both from within the central topic of plant ashes and extending to other types of ash

conclusion recommendations and findings of the red seed working group red seed stands for risk evaluation detection and simulation during effusive eruption disasters and combines stakeholders from the remote sensing modelling and response communities with experience in tracking volcanic effusive events the group first met during a three day long workshop held in clermont ferrand france between 28 and 30 may 2013 during each day presentations were given reviewing the state of the art in terms of a volcano hot spot detection and parameterization b operational satellite based hot spot detection systems c lava flow modelling and d response protocols during effusive crises at the end of each presentation set the four groups retreated to discuss and report on requirements for a truly integrated and operational response that satisfactorily combines remote sensors modellers and responders during an effusive crisis the results of collating the final reports and follow up discussions that have been on going since the workshop are given here we can reduce our discussions to four main findings 1 hot spot detection tools are operational and capable of providing effusive eruption onset notice within 15 min 2 spectral radiance metrics can also be provided with high degrees of confidence however if we are to achieve a truly global system more local receiving stations need to be installed with hot spot detection and data processing modules running on site and in real time 3 models are operational but need real time input of reliable time averaged discharge rate data and regular updates of digital elevation models if they are to be effective the latter can be provided by the radar photogrammetry community 4 information needs to be provided in an agreed and standard format following an ensemble approach and using models that have been validated and recognized as trustworthy by the responding authorities all of this requires a sophisticated and centralized data collection distribution and reporting hub that is based on a philosophy of joint ownership and mutual trust while the next chapter carries out an exercise to explore the viability of the last point the detailed recommendations behind these findings are detailed here

holocene climatic change in morocco a quantitative reconstruction from pollen data annual precipitation july and january temperatures were reconstructed from a continuous holocene pollen sequence from the middle atlas morocco using the best modern analogues method the reconstructions show a clear difference between the early and late holocene from 10 ka to 6 5 ka the climate was drier and warmer than during the period since 6 5 ka the average value of annual precipitation was 870 mm until 6 5 ka then rose to 940 mm between 10 ka and 6 5 ka january and july temperatures were about 4 c higher than the present both temperatures show a marked decrease between 7 ka and 6 ka after 6 5 ka july and january temperatures fluctuated between 21 and 23 c and 2 5 and 5 c respectively january temperatures show a period of intermediate values 3 5 c between 4 ka and 5 5 ka the reconstructed climate values generally match palaeolimnological data from the same core which show five intervals of low lake level during the holocene they are also consistent with regional scale cohmap simulated palaeoclimate that shows contrasting patterns of rainfall variation between the northwesternmost part of africa and the intertropical band

comparison of oxygen isotope records from the gisp2 and grip greenland ice cores recent results1 2 from the greenland ice core project grip summit ice core suggest that the climate in greenland has been remarkably stable during the holocene but was extremely unstable for the time period represented by the rest of the core spanning the last two glaciations and the intervening eemian inter glacial here we present the complete oxygen isotope record for the greenland ice sheet project 2 gisp2 core drilled 28 km west of the grip core we observe large rapid climate fluctuations throughout the last glacial period which closely match those reported for the grip core however in the bottom 10 of the cores spanning the eemian interglacial and the previous glacia tion there are significant differences between the two records it is possible that ice flow may have altered the chronological sequences of the stratigraphy for the bottom part of one or both of the cores considerable further work will be necessary to evaluate the likelihood of this and the extent to which it will still be possible to extract meaningful climate information from the lowest sections of the cores

risk evaluation detection and simulation during effusive eruption disasters lava ingress into a vulnerable population will be difficult to control so that evacuation will be necessary for communities in the path of the active lava followed by post event population infrastructural societal and community replacement and or relocation there is a pressing need to set up a response chain that bridges scientists and responders during an effusive crisis to allow near real time delivery of globally standard products for a timely and adequate humanitarian response in this chain the scientific research groups investigating lava remote sensing and modelling need to provide products that are both useful to and trusted by the crisis response community requirements for these products include a formats that can be immediately integrated into a crisis management procedure and b in an agreed and stable standard a review of current capability reveals that we are at a point where the community can provide such a response as is the aim of the red seed risk evaluation detection and simulation during effusive eruption disasters working group this book is the first production of this group and is intended not only as a directory of current capabilities and operational service providers but also as a statement of intent and need while providing a simulation designed to demonstrate how a truly pan disciplinary response to an effusive crisis could work

stability of phytoliths in the archaeological record a dissolution study of modern and fossil phytoliths opaline phytoliths are important microfossils used in archaeological and ecological research relatively little is known about the stability of phytoliths after burial under alkaline ph conditions they can dissolve and mechanical disturbances can cause a loss of their more delicate appendages here we present an experimental study of phytolith stability combination of solubility and abrasion modern and fossil phytoliths were extracted from wheat using new methods to minimize dissolution and by burning in an oven these assemblages were placed in a solution buffered to ph 10 and maintained under constant temperature and shaking conditions the silicon concentrations in the solution were monitored once a week for 5 weeks the phytolith morphologies in each assemblage were determined at the outset of the experiment and after 5 weeks the results show that there are differences in stability between various assemblages modern inflorescence wheat phytolith assemblages are more unstable than those from leaves stems burnt assemblages are less stable than unburnt assemblages and a fossil phytolith assemblage about 3000 years old is more stable than the modern wheat assemblages the results also show that individual phytolith morphotypes have different stabilities and as a result of dissolution and abrasion some morphotypes may resemble others this study further shows that archaeological and or paleo environmental interpretation of phytolith assemblages may change with the assemblage s state of preservation

aster and field observations of the 24 december 2006 eruption of bezymianny volcano russia abstract an explosive eruption occurred at bezymianny volcano kamchatka peninsula russia on 24 december 2006 at 09 17 utc seismicity increased three weeks prior to the large eruption which produced a 12 15 km above sea level asl ash column we present field observations from 27 december 2006 and 2 march 2007 combined with satellite data collected from 8 october 2006 to 11 april 2007 by the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer aster as part of the instrument s rapid response program to volcanic eruptions pixel integrated brightness temperatures were calculated from both aster 90 m pixel thermal infrared tir data as well as 30 m pixel short wave infrared swir data four days prior to the eruption the maximum tir temperature was 45 c above the average background temperature 33 c at the dome which we interpret was a precursory signal and had dropped to 8 c above background by 18 march 2007 on 20 december 2006 there was also a clear thermal signal in the swir data of 128 c using aster band 7 2 26 m the maximum swir temperature was 181 c on the lava dome on 4 january 2007 decreasing below the detection limit of the swir data by 11 april 2007 on 4 january 2007 a hot linear feature was observed at the dome in the swir data which produced a maximum temperature of 700 c for the hot fraction of the pixel using the dual band technique this suggests that magmatic temperatures were present at the dome at this time consistent with the emplacement of a new lava lobe following the eruption the eruption also produced a large 6 5 km long by up to 425 m wide pyroclastic flow pf deposit that was channelled into a valley to the south southeast the pf deposit cooled over the following three months but remained elevated above the average background temperature a second field investigation in march 2007 revealed a still warm pf deposit that contained fumaroles it was also observed that the upper dome morphology had changed in the past year with a new lava lobe having in filled the crater that formed following the 9 may 2006 eruption these data provide further information on effusive and explosive activity at bezymianny using quantitative remote sensing data and reinforced by field observations to assist in pre eruption detection as well as post eruption monitoring

massive perturbation in terrestrial ecosystems of the eastern mediterranean region associated with the 8 2 kyr b p climatic event the climatic perturbation at ca 8 2 kyr b p is the strongest short term climate anomaly within the holocene it is generally attributed to a meltwater induced slowdown of the thermohaline circulation in the north atlantic model simulations and available proxy data suggest that it was strongest in the high to middle latitudes around the north atlantic based on new pollen data from tenaghi philippon northeastern greece we provide evidence for a massive climate induced turnover in terrestrial ecosystems of the aegean region associated with the 8 2 kyr b p event the reconstructed winter temperature decline of 4 c is much stronger than suggested by model simulations and proxy data from more northern latitudes of europe although the latter provide a direct downstream response to a north atlantic thermohaline circulation slowdown we attribute this discrepancy to mesoclimatic effects a stronger influence of the siberian high during the 8 2 kyr b p event may have enhanced the katabatic air flow from the mountains bordering the study site via a larger longer persisting snow cover our data demonstrate that high amplitude temperature anomalies and increased seasonality connected to the 8 2 kyr b p event may also have occurred in the lower mid latitudes much farther south than previously thought the magnitudes of these anomalies appear to have been strong enough to have seriously affected neolithic settlers in the northeastern mediterranean region

vtfs project development of the lava flow simulation code lavasim with a model for three dimensional convection spreading and solidification 1 the lava flow simulation code lavasim has been developed to give accurate predictions of volcanic disasters and to support evacuation plans the code uses three dimensional analysis with free surface evaluation including boundary transport between the melt and the crust it is therefore applicable to various types of lava flows and flow behaviors such as flood basalts subaqueous lava flows and levee formation heat transfer between the lava and the ground air and water and between the melt and crust of the flow is calculated by using appropriate relations the code has been verified by applying it to actual lava flows and the simulation results have been compared with observations of the izu osima flows of 1986 the lava flow rate temperature and properties were assigned values based on data from existing literature the comparisons demonstrated the code s capability for prediction of inundated areas and maximum flow lengths the present code is expected to be useful for real time prediction during eruptions in addition to assessing volcanic hazards and designing protection structures for existing installations against possible future lava flows

forecasting lava flow paths by a stochastic approach 1 a stochastic model named downflow is presented to forecast possible lava flow paths with the aim of hazard assessment and mitigation the model relies on the fact that lava flow emplacement is in many cases controlled by topography the potential inundation area of the flow is determined by considering a number of steepest paths over stochastic perturbations of the original topography since the code requires very short computational time and few input data the model proved to be a very useful tool to obtain real time predictions during the initial phase of an eruption the necessary topographic information can be obtained by photogrammetry radar altimetry or laser scanning techniques downflow has been successfully applied to a number of flows including the september 2004 lava flow where updated topographies were available

fire history reconstruction from black carbon analysis in holocene cave sediments at ifri oudadane northeastern morocco fire residues elucidate the where when and how of land use charcoal analysis provides insights into wood burning practices but is restricted by the size of identifiable particles the present paper is the first to apply a black carbon bc method to archaeological sediment deposits this method oxidizes charcoal and soot particles from the bulk sediment to benzene polycarboxylic acids bpcas independent of size our aim was to test the potential of bc analysis in order to elucidate the input from grass and wood fires and discuss the potential limitations of the method on sediments of the ifri oudadane rock shelter morocco sediments cover the cultural transition from hunter gatherers to food producing communities epipaleolithic to neolithic period 11 6 kyr cal bp which has previously been shown to affect the geochemical palynological and archaeological inventories of these sediments we found respective changes in bc specifically content was highest during the epipaleolithic with an avera

seismic methods in mineral exploration and mine planning introduction across the globe the mineral industry is seeking technology to improve exploration efficiency at depth and to help design safer and more productive mines seismic methods are increasingly used by this industry for a wide range of commodities including base metals uranium diamonds and precious metals seismic methods provide high resolution images of geologic structures hosting mineral deposits and in a few cases can be used for direct targeting of mineral deposits applications are not limited to only surface seismic surveys but also include borehole seismic methods such as vsp and crosshole imaging to date tens of 2d and 3d surface seismic surveys have been acquired in canada europe australia and south africa see malehmir et al 2012 to help in targeting mineral deposits at depth or for designing deep mines the steadily increasing usage of reflection seismic methods demonstrates that they are finally becoming recognized and established within the mining sector this brings new opportunities for geophysicists but also new challenges some of these challenges and opportunities are presented and discussed in the special section this special issue contains a wide range of topics from petrophysical studies to data acquisition processing and imaging as well as 2d and 3d seismic modeling of mineral deposits and their host rock structures papers from both industry and academia are presented which illustrate the importance of seismic methods not only in the hydrocarbon industry but also in the mineral industry malehmir et al review important contributions that have been made in developing seismic techniques for the mining industry with focus on four main regions australia europe canada and south

holocene climate variability although the dramatic climate disruptions of the last glacial period have received considerable attention relatively little has been directed toward climate variability in the holocene 11 500 cal yr b p to the present examination of similar to50 globally distributed paleoclimate records reveals as many as six periods of significant rapid climate change during the time periods 9000 8000 6000 5000 4200 3800 3500 2500 1200 1000 and 600 150 cal yr b p most of the climate change events in these globally distributed records are characterized by polar cooling tropical aridity and major atmospheric circulation changes although in the most recent interval 600 150 cal yr b p polar cooling was accompanied by increased moisture in some parts of the tropics several intervals coincide with major disruptions of civilization illustrating the human significance of holocene climate variability c 2004 university of washington all rights reserved

human manipulation of terrestrial gastropods in neolithic culture groups of ne morocco abstract shells of terrestrial gastropods helicidae sphincterochilidae are common in rock shelter sediments and open air sites of iberomaurusian to neolithic age in ne morocco excavations at numerous sites in the eastern rif yielded new sites with a rich record of well preserved terrestrial gastropods among which species of the genera otala sphincterochila and alabastrina dominate in sites with sediments younger than 7500 calbp such as taghit haddouch hassi ouenzga ifri oudadane ifri armas and mtlili a high percentage of shells were perforated in a regular manner narrow slots or squarish holes of a few millimetres width cut into the second or third whorl are regularly found in an apical position of the shell we interpret these as evidence of human manipulation of the shell in order to facilitate consumption of the snail body we discuss these new findings in the context of the settlement of this part of north africa by different cultural groups

seismic methods in mineral exploration and mine planning a general overview of past and present case histories and a look into the future abstractdue to high metal prices and increased difficulties in finding shallower deposits the exploration for and exploitation of mineral resources is expected to move to greater depths consequently seismic methods will become a more important tool to help unravel structures hosting mineral deposits at great depth for mine planning and exploration these methods also can be used with varying degrees of success to directly target mineral deposits at depth we review important contributions that have been made in developing these techniques for the mining industry with focus on four main regions australia europe canada and south africa a wide range of case studies are covered including some that are published in the special issue accompanying this article from surface to borehole seismic methods as well as petrophysical data and seismic modeling of mineral deposits at present high resolution 2d surveys mostly are performed in mining areas but there is a general increasing trend in the use of 3

catena linking of landscape geochemical processes and reconstruction of pedosedimentogenesis a case study of defensive constructions of the mid 17th century south russia abstract the catena concept along with previously proposed meanings of this term has recently acquired a soil evolutionary content the prospects of wider special and chronological study of dated pedotopocatenas include the possibility of a more detailed analysis of the mutual dependence of soil geomorphological relationships through distinguishing relatively homogeneous climatic stages of pedogenesis and denudation with this purpose the present study comprised earthen defensive constructions which within the rampart ditch system combine erosive trans accumulative catenas and accumulators of pedolithosediments the goal was to develop a system of the most information rich pedogenetic indicators to reconstruct the dynamics of erosion accumulative processes on the basis of dated earthen defensive constructions of a historical period using the example of a frontier rampart within a ditch from the mid 17th century soil samples were collected within the limits of the erosion and trans accumulative catenas as well as in the closing alignment of the ditch over the vertical profile in eight strata of pedosediments of up to 1 m high the granulometric composition concentration of macroelements and trace elements 25 metals and oxides in soils and in particles with sizes 0 01 mm in size the content of organic carbon and its qualitative composition the sum of the elements accumulated in the soil p ca k mg mn cu as well as the geochemical ratios which reflect the processes of leaching can serve as palaeogeographic tracers of the climatic variability at the level of intra secular changes under forest steppe conditions the history of the formation of pedosediments over 3 5 centuries in the forest steppe zone of eastern europe comprises two wet periods 1890 1935 1976 2013 when the average annual rates of pedosedimentogenesis were similar 2 80 2 85 mm yr 1 and two periods of geomorphological lull and a xeromorphic climatic condition span 1821 1890 and 1666 1741 these periods correspond to diminution of the average rate of accumulation of sediments down to 2 47 mm yr 1 the results of the present study suggest the need for purposeful research and wide inclusion of dated sites of the anthropogenic relief formation with flow geochemical series over the topographic gradient into studies of soil geomorphologic interrelations and calibration of mathematic models of natural processes using on site data

timing and structure of the 8 2 kyr b p event inferred from δ18o records of stalagmites from china oman and brazil oxygen isotope records of stalagmites from china and oman reveal a weak summer monsoon event with a double plunging structure that started 8 21 0 02 kyr b p an identical but antiphased pattern is also evident in two stalagmite records from eastern brazil indicating that the south american summer monsoon was intensifi ed during the 8 2 kyr b p event these records demonstrate that the event was of global extent and synchronous within dating errors of 50 years in comparison with recent model simulations it is plausible that the 8 2 kyr b p event can be tied in changes of the atlantic meridional overturning circulation triggered by a glacial lake draining event this in turn affected north atlantic climate and latitudinal position of the intertropical convergence zone resulting in the observed low latitude monsoonal precipitation patterns

volcanology 2020 how will thermal remote sensing of volcanic surface activity evolve over the next decade abstract volcanological remote sensing spans numerous techniques wavelength regions data collection strategies targets and applications attempting to foresee and predict the growth vectors in this broad and rapidly developing field is therefore exceedingly difficult however we attempted to make such predictions at both the american geophysical union agu meeting session entitled volcanology 2010 how will the science and practice of volcanology change in the coming decade held in december 2000 and the follow up session 10 years later looking backward and forward volcanology in 2010 and 2020 in this summary paper we assess how well we did with our predictions for specific facets of volcano remote sensing in 2000 the advances made over the most recent decade and attempt a new look ahead to the next decade in completing this review we only consider the subset of the field focused on thermal infrared remote sensing of surface activity using ground based and space based technology and the subsequent research results this review keeps to the original scope of both agu presentations and therefore does not address the entire field of volcanological remote sensing which uses technologies in other wavelength regions e g ultraviolet radar etc or the study of volcanic processes other than the those associated with surface mostly effusive activity therefore we do not consider remote sensing of ash gas plumes for example in 2000 we had looked forward to a golden age in volcanological remote sensing with a variety of new orbital missions both planned and recently launched in addition exciting field based sensors such as hand held thermal cameras were also becoming available and being quickly adopted by volcanologists for both monitoring and research applications all of our predictions in 2000 came true but at a pace far quicker than we predicted relative to the 2000 2010 timeframe the coming decade will see far fewer new orbital instruments with direct applications to volcanology however ground based technologies and applications will continue to proliferate and unforeseen technology promises many exciting possibilities that will advance volcano thermal monitoring and science far beyond what we can currently envision

the landslides and tsunamis of the 30th of december 2002 in stromboli analysed through numerical simulations on the 30th of december 2002 two tsunamis were generated only 7 min apart in stromboli southern tyrrhenian sea italy they represented the peak of a volcanic crisis that started 2 days before with a large emission of lava flows from a lateral vent that opened some hundreds of meters below the summit craters both tsunamis were produced by landslides that detached from the sciara del fuoco this is a morphological scar and is the result of the last collapse of the northwestern flank of the volcanic edifice that occurred less than 5 ka b p the first tsunami was due to a submarine mass movement that started very close to the coastline and that involved about 20 106 m3 of material the second tsunami was engendered by a subaerial landslide that detached at about 500 m above sea level and that involved a volume estimated at 4 9 106 m3 the latter landslide can be seen as the retrogressive continuation of the first failure the tsunamis were not perceived as distinct events by most people they attacked all the coasts of stromboli within a few minutes and arrived at the neighbouring island of panarea 20 km ssw of stromboli in less than 5 min the tsunamis caused severe damage at stromboli

introduction to special issue on hard rock seismic imaging the exploration of non hydrocarbon resources is receiving increased attention worldwide particularly in terms of renewables e g geothermal energy or minerals both resources are often bound to hard rock environments which normally exhibit a strong degree of heterogeneity including faults and fractures on all scales land seismic surveys for characterizing geothermal reservoirs and mineral deposits are therefore facing the challenge of adapting the methods and tools developed for stratified sedimentary environments to strongly scattering crystalline rocks this comprises not only the pre processing of seismic data but also the imaging steps and furthermore the description and quantification of the resulting images this special issue of geophysical prospecting contains 16 papers resulting from a workshop titled hard rock seismic imaging during the 76th eage conference exhibition 2014 in amsterdam the objective of the workshop was to address all parts of the workflow from modelling and data acquisition design over data processing and imaging to interpretation general concepts and case studies were presented and the workshop attracted a large number of participants from both industry and academia from all over the world a brief introduction to the papers included in this special issue follows divided into the two main categories of the workshop mineral exploration and geothermal prospecting interested readers are also encouraged to check the two earlier special volumes on similar topics by eaton et al 2003 and the references therein and malehmir et al 2012 and the references therein

southern continuation of the wakeham group and robe noire mafic suite eastern grenville province from hydrocarbon targeted seismic reflection data on anticosti island quebec canada hydrocarbon targeted seismic reflection profiles acquired on eastern anticosti island quebec image subparallel reflections with significant continuity below the paleozoic st lawrence platform these intra basement reflections define a seismic unit with a relatively simple geometry characterized by broad open folds an array of subparallel markers and east northeast dipping faults the reflective seismic unit likely corresponds to the southern extension of the mesoproterozoic wakeham group and robe noire mafic sills that are exposed on the nearby north shore of the gulf of st lawrence in the eastern grenville province of quebec

flood frequencies reveal holocene rapid climate changes lower moulouya river northeastern morocco current high resolution palaeoenvironmental records reveal short term holocene cool ings one of these major holocene rapid climate changes occurred between 3 2 and 2 7 cal ka bp the sensitivity of river systems vis a vis slight and short term holocene climatic variations is a subject of controversy in the scientific community in this paper we present a 4 0 to 1 4 cal ka bp palaeoflood record from the lower moulouya river northeastern morocco to demonstrate the high sensitivity of semiarid rivers in the southwestern mediterranean towards holocene environmental changes the lower moulouya flood deposits are characterised by thick well stratified predominantly clayey to silty overbank fine sediments these cohesive sediments show evidence of excellent preservation conditions against fluvial erosion and contain a continuous record of mid to late holocene flood sequences the moulouya palaeoflood record can be interpreted in the context of regional and global high resolution proxy data revealing a strong coupling with holocene rapid climate changes the centennial scale moulouya palaeohydrological history will be discussed with palaeoenvironmental data from the same record palaeomagnetics sedimentary charcoal record anthracological analyses snail analyses to generate new ideas about the mid to late holocene hydrological cycle in the southwestern mediterranean the deduced features of pronounced lower moulouya flooding and the decreased fire recurrence during holocene cooling remain somewhat inconsistent with the interpret ation of other palaeohydrological and paleaoecological records from the southwestern mediterranean however enhanced lower moulouya flood frequencies between 3 2 and 2 7 cal ka bp agree with increased floodplain aggradation in other major river systems of mediterranean north africa copyright 2009 john wiley sons ltd

the biogenic origin of needle fibre calcite needle fibre calcite is one of the most ubiquitous habits of calcite in vadose environments caves deposits soil pores etc its origin either through inorganic indirect or direct biological processes has long been debated in this study investigations at 11 sites in europe africa and central america support arguments for its biogenic origin the wide range of needle morphologies is the result of a gradual evolution of the simplest type a rod this rod is the elementary brick which by aggregation and welding builds more complex needles the absence of cross welded needles implies that they are welded in a mould or under a longitudinal and unidirectional constraint before being released inside the soil pores the difference between the lengthening of the needles and the c axis can be explained by the existence of needles observed under a scanning electron microscope in organic sleeves which can act as a mould during rod growth complex morphologies with epitaxial outgrowths on straight rods cannot have grown entirely inside organic microtubes they must result from soil diagenesis after the release of straight rods in a soil free medium whisker crystals are interpreted as the result of growth and coalescence of euhedral crystals on a rod rhomb chains are considered to be the consequence of successive epitaxial growth steps on a needle during variations in growth conditions isotopic signatures for needle fibre calcite vary from 16 63 to 1 10 and from 8 63 to 2 25 for 13c and 18o respectively the absence of high 18o values for needle fibre calcite precludes a purely physicochemical origin evaporative for this particular habit of calcite as epitaxial growth cannot precipitate in the same conditions as initial needles needle fibre calcite stable isotopic signatures should be used with caution as a proxy for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in addition it is suggested that the term needle fibre calcite should be kept for the original biogenic form the other habit should be referred to as epitaxial forms of needle fibre calcite

3d magnetotelluric modelling of the alno alkaline and carbonatite ring complex central sweden thirty four broadband magnetotelluric stations were deployed across the alno alkaline and carbonatite ring intrusion in central sweden the measurements were designed such that both 2d models along