Search results for " evolution."

Linking tephrochronology and soil characteristics in the Sila and Nebrodi mountains, Italy

2017

Recent studies have demonstrated that soils formed on pyroclastic ash deposits are much more common in the Mediterranean area than previously assumed. These soils are an important key to understanding past volcanic events and landscape evolution. Chronological information in soils of Quaternary volcanic events, however, remains still poorly understood in southern Italy. Using a multi-method forensic approach, we explore the origin and age of volcanic deposits (soils) in Sicily and Calabria. The geochemical signature of the soil was compared to the chemical fingerprint of the magmas of potential source areas of southern Italian volcanoes. The results indicate that the investigated soils on t…

Unionid shells (Hyriopsis cumingii) record manganese cycling at the sediment-water interface in a shallow eutrophic lake in China (Lake Taihu)

2017

Abstract Aquatic eutrophication is becoming a serious environmental problem throughout the world. The utility of bivalves as bio-filters to improve water quality and reduce algal blooms has been widely acknowledged, but the potential usefulness of bivalve shells as retrospective monitors of eutrophication-induced environmental change has received little attention. Here, we present the first multi-year, high-resolution Mn/Ca shell records of the freshwater mussel, Hyriopsis cumingii (Lea, 1852) from a shallow eutrophic lake (Lake Taihu, China). Mn/Ca shell time-series of the two studied shells exhibit a high degree of synchrony after being placed in a precise temporal context by means of gro…

Oligo-Miocene lacustrine microbial and metazoan buildups from the Limagne Basin (French Massif Central)

2018

The Limagne Basin (French Massif Central) is an extensive continental lacustrine system accommodating microbial and metazoan buildups from Chattian to Aquitanian age. A description of these buildups and their associated biotic components in Grand Gandaillat and Crechy quarries provides insights into their spatio-temporal distribution patterns. Flats, cauliflowers, domes, cones and coalescent columnar morphologies have been identified with a main laminated mesofabric and laminated, columnar, filamentous and caddisfly-coated microfabrics. Two low-gradient margin models emerged based on the changes in the distribution, morphology and size of the microbial and metazoan-rich deposits through tim…

Microbiology and atmospheric processes: biological, physical and chemical characterization of aerosol particles

2008

Abstract. The interest in bioaerosols has traditionally been linked to health hazards for humans, animals and plants. However, several components of bioaerosols exhibit physical properties of great significance for cloud processes, such as ice nucleation and cloud condensation. To gain a better understanding of their influence on climate, it is therefore important to determine the composition, concentration, seasonal fluctuation, regional diversity and evolution of bioaerosols. In this paper, we will review briefly the existing techniques for detection, quantification, physical and chemical analysis of biological particles, attempting to bridge physical, chemical and biological methods for …

Massive Oe/Be stars at low metallicity: Candidate progenitors of long GRBs?

2010

At low metallicity the B-type stars rotate faster than at higher metallicity, typically in the SMC. As a consequence, it was expected a larger number of fast rotators in the SMC than in the Galaxy, in particular more Be/Oe stars. With the ESO-WFI in its slitless mode, the SMC open clusters were examined and an occurence of Be stars 3 to 5 times larger than in the Galaxy was found. The evolution of the angular rotational velocity seems to be the main key on the understanding of the specific behaviour and of the stellar evolution of such stars at different metallicities. With the results of this WFI study and using observational clues on the SMC WR stars and massive stars, as well as the theo…

2016

Gianluca Tramontana was supported by the GEOCARBON EU FP7 project (GA 283080). Dario Papale, Martin Jung and Markus Reichstein acknowledge funding from the EU FP7 project GEOCARBON (grant agreement no. 283080) and the EU H2020 BACI project (grant agreement no. 640176). Gustau Camps-Valls wants to acknowledge the support by an ERC Consolidator Grant with grant agreement 647423 (SEDAL). Kazuhito Ichii was supported by Environment Research and Technology Development Funds (2-1401) from the Ministry of the Environment of Japan and the JAXA Global Change Observation Mission (GCOM) project (no. 115). Christopher R. Schwalm was supported by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) gran…

The Synergistic Impacts of Anthropogenic Stressors and COVID-19 on Aquaculture: A Current Global Perspective

2021

13 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables.-- This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License

Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of ontogenetically old, long-lived bivalve shells (Arctica islandica) and their function as paleotemperature proxies

2011

International audience; The Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca ratios of many biogenic skeletons provide useful paleotemperature estimates. As yet however, it has remained largely impossible to obtain such information from bivalve shells. In the present study, metal-to-calcium values in the hinge plate (aragonite, outer shell layer) of four ontogenetically old (85 to 374 year-old) specimens of the long-lived bivalve, Arctica islandica, were measured on a LA-ICP-MS. The shells were collected alive in 1868, 1986 and 2003 from three different localities around Iceland. With increasing ontogenetic age and decreasing growth rate, a distinct trend toward increasing Sr/Ca (max. 5.17 mmol/mol) and Mg/Ca values (max. …

GJ 357 b: A Super-Earth Orbiting an Extremely Inactive Host Star

2020

Aims. In this paper we present a deep X-ray observation of the nearby M dwarf GJ 357 and use it to put constraints on the atmospheric evolution of its planet, GJ 357 b. We also analyse the systematic errors in the stellar parameters of GJ 357 in order to see how they affect the perceived planetary properties. Methods. By comparing the observed X-ray luminosity of its host star, we estimate the age of GJ 357 b as derived from a recent XMM-Newton observation (log Lx [erg s-1] = 25.73), with Lx-age relations for M dwarfs. We find that GJ 357 presents one of the lowest X-ray activity levels ever measured for an M dwarf, and we put a lower limit on its age of 5 Gyr. Using this age limit, we perf…

A new ichnofauna from the Permian of the Zat Valley in the Marrakech High Atlas of Morocco

2020

Abstract A new ichnofauna from the Permian of Morocco is described in details: it is the first Palaeozoic ichnofauna from the Zat Valley in Marrakech High Atlas. The new tracksite was found in the Tighdouine region, in the middle-upper Permian of the Cham-el-Houa Siltstone Formation. An abundant and diverse ichnoassemblage composed of both protostomian (probably arthropods and annelids) traces and vertebrate tracks is recorded. The presence of protostomian burrows and traceways, associated with tetrapod tracks corresponds to the Scoyenia ichnofacies. Protostomian traces are ascribed to Diplichnites gouldi, Diplopodichnus biformis, Scoyenia cf. gracilis and Spongeliomorpha carlsbergi. Tetrap…