Environmental evidence of Valencia lagoon coastal barrier stabilization from 8500 BP to Present. Climate and eustatic variations

Abstract The Albufera de Valencia is one of the largest lagoon in the Spanish Mediterranean. Two continuous borehole cores reaching depths of 8 and 14 m in the northern part of the lagoon underwent sedimentological, micropaleontological and biological study. The organic content was also analysed, and 14C radiometric dating and amino acid racemization were performed. Study of the content of benthic foraminifera and n-alkanes and alkanoic acids in the lagoon sedimentary record identified several periods. The core records showed seven different environments: alluvial; freshwater marsh; brackish marsh; brackish lagoon; brackish lagoon with marine connection, backbarrier flat, and backshore. The…

Dating of the hominid (Homo neanderthalensis) remains accumulation from El Sidrón cave (Piloña, Asturias, North Spain): an example of multi-methodological approach to the dating of Upper Pleistocene sites

The age of Neanderthal remains and associated sediments from El Sidrón cave has been obtained through different dating methods (14CAMS, U/TH, OSL, ESR and AAR) and samples (charcoal debris, bone, tooth dentine, stalagmitic flowstone, carbonate-rich sediments, sedimentary quartz grains, tooth enamel and land snail shells). Detrital Th contamination rendered Th/U dating analyses of flowstone unreliable. Recent 14C contamination produced spurious age-values from charcoal samples as well as from inadequately pretreated tooth samples. Most consistent 14C dates are grouped into two series: one between 35 and 40 ka and the other between 48 and 49 ka. Most ESR and AAR samples yielded concordant age…

The MIS 5 palaeoenvironmental record in the SE Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula (Río Antas, Almería, Spain)

Se realiza un estudio detallado del episodio cálido MIS 5 en la zona sureste de la Península Ibérica. Se realiza la reconstrucción paleoambiental a partir del estudio polínico y biomarcadores de un sondeo perforado en la costa de Almería. La cronología se estableció a partir del método de racemizaciónd e aminoácidos.Landwards of a MIS5 bar, a borehole core (SRA) was analyzed to establish the relationship between the lagoonal record and the raised beach deposits in the surroundings of the Antas river mouth and to reconstruct the Pleistocene palaeoenvironmental evolution 5 of the southern Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. 63 samples were recovered for amino acid racemization datin…

We expose the preliminary results of the archaeological excavations developed between 2000-2002 in Sidron's Cave, according to the three main objectives that concern the human fossil record: the anthropological characteristics, how and when they arrived there and the relation between fossils and culture. We conclude preliminarily that the record belongs to Horno Neanderthalensis, archeological remains to the Middle Paleolithic techno-complex, and they are in a secondary position.

Evidence for Holocene sea level and climate change from Almenara marsh (western Mediterranean)

AbstractIn the Almenara marsh (western Mediterranean), four cores were analyzed to establish the relationship between the marsh record of the Almenara marshlands and the environmental factors responsible for its evolution during the Holocene. One hundred and eighty-six samples were collected for sedimentologic and paleontological study: 63 for biomarker analysis; 5 for amino acid racemization (AAR) dating; and 5 for 14C dating. Litho and biofacies analyses identified distinct paleoenvironments, with the presence of a marsh environment alternating with inputs of alluvial material and marine sediments. Biomarkers indicated the constant presence of terrestrial (herbaceous) plants, together wit…