Search results for "FOSS"

First record of the enigmatic coleoid genus Longibelus from Sakhalin (Far East Russia): a contribution to our understanding of Cretaceous coleoid hab…

2021

AbstractA newly collected specimen of the enigmatic coleoid genus Longibelus is recorded from lower Turonian strata along the River Shadrinka in Sakhalin (Russian Far East). To date, this is the first record of Late Cretaceous coleoid cephalopods from the island and, in fact, from the entire Pacific coast of the Russian Federation. Lithological characteristics, coupled with published geochemical analyses (δ13C and Corg content), suggest the habitat of this coleoid taxon to have been the middle to outer (i.e. distal) shelf. Its provenance from the stratigraphical level that is known as the Scaphites Event, characterised by a mass occurrence of Scaphites and Yesoites, may be indicative of occ…

Emissions of Greenhouse Gases and Climate Politics in the Latvian Waste Sector

2015

According IPCC guidelines for determination of greenhouse gases in waste management (IPCC 2006) the quantity of greenhouse gases must be determined for the emissions of CO2, CH4, N2O for such treatment activities: disposal of solid waste, biological treatment of solid waste and incineration and open burning of waste. Presented report reviles the current situation of this field in Latvia and conclusions on its minimization actions. The data received from Latvian environmental data bases shows that the quantity of disposed unsorted municipal waste is rising and created sanitary landfill system with anaerobic digestion of bio mas (the content of it in the disposed waste reaches 40–50 %) is pro…

Allometries of maximum growth rate versus body mass at maximum growth indicate that non-avian dinosaurs had growth rates typical of fast growing ecto…

2014

We tested if growth rates of recent taxa are unequivocally separated between endotherms and ectotherms, and compared these to dinosaurian growth rates. We therefore performed linear regression analyses on the log-transformed maximum growth rate against log-transformed body mass at maximum growth for extant altricial birds, precocial birds, eutherians, marsupials, reptiles, fishes and dinosaurs. Regression models of precocial birds (and fishes) strongly differed from Case's study (1978), which is often used to compare dinosaurian growth rates to those of extant vertebrates. For all taxonomic groups, the slope of 0.75 expected from the Metabolic Theory of Ecology was statistically supported. …

Comment on “An early Late Triassic long-necked reptile with a bony pectoral shield and gracile appendages” by Jerzy Dzik and Tomasz Sulej

2017

Comment on “An early Late Triassic long-necked reptile with a bony pectoral shield and gracile appendages” by Jerzy Dzik and Tomasz Sulej

Environmental drivers and abrupt changes of phytoplankton community in temperate lake Lielais Svētiņu, Eastern Latvia, over the last Post-Glacial per…

2021

Understanding the long-term dynamics of ecological communities on the centuries-to-millennia scale is important for explaining the emergence of present-day biodiversity patterns and for predicting possible future scenarios. Fossil pigments and ancient DNA present in various sedimentary deposits can be analysed to study long-term changes in ecological communities. We analysed recent compilations of data, including fossil pigments, microfossils, and molecular inventories from the sedimentary archives, to understand the impact of gradual versus abrupt climate changes on the ecosystem status of a regional model lake over the last ~14.5 kyr. Such long and complete paleo-archives are scarce in No…

The seasonal water temperature cycle in the Arctic Dicksonfjord (Svalbard) during the Holocene Climate Optimum derived from subfossil Arctica islandi…

2015

Future climate change will have significant effects on ecosystems worldwide and on polar regions in particular. Hence, palaeo-environmental studies focussing on the last warmer-than-today phase (i.e. the early Holocene) in higher latitudes are of particular importance to understand climate development and its potential impact in polar systems. Molluscan bivalve shells constitute suitable bio-archives for high-resolution palaeo-environmental reconstructions. Here, we present a first reconstruction of early Holocene seasonal water temperature cycle in an Arctic fjord based on stable oxygen isotope (δ18Oshell) profiles in shells of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia) from raised beach deposits in Di…

Last Millennium hydro-climate variability in Central–Eastern Europe (Northern Carpathians, Romania)

2015

Proxy-based reconstructions of climate variability over the last millennium provide important insights for understanding current climate change within a long-term context. Past hydrological changes are particularly difficult to reconstruct, yet rainfall patterns and variability are among the most critical environmental variables. Ombrotrophic bogs, entirely dependent on water from precipitation and sensitive to changes in the balance between precipitation and evapotranspiration, are highly suitable for such hydro-climate reconstructions. We present a multi-proxy analysis (testate amoebae, plant macrofossils, stable carbon isotopes in Sphagnum, pollen, spores and macroscopic charcoal) from …

2017

Ranking among the largest volcanic eruptions of the Common Era (CE), the ‘Millennium Eruption’ of Changbaishan produced a widely-dispersed tephra layer (known as the B-Tm ash), which represents an important tie point for palaeoenvironmental studies in East Asia. Hitherto, there has been no consensus on its age, with estimates spanning at least the tenth century CE. Here, we identify the cosmogenic radiocarbon signal of 775 CE in a subfossil larch engulfed and killed by pyroclastic currents emplaced during the initial rhyolitic phase of the explosive eruption. Combined with glaciochemical evidence from Greenland, this enables us to date the eruption to late 946 CE. This secure date rules out…

Climate controls on the Holocene development of a subarctic lake in northern Fennoscandia

2015

International audience; Climate exerts strong control over the functioning of northern freshwater ecosystems, yet their resilience and responses to climate forcing may vary. We examined postglacial development patterns in subarctic Lake Varddoaijavri to discern the impact of direct climate controls, catchment influence, and ontogenic processes on the ecological functioning of the lake over the Holocene. Subfossil diatom assemblages together with the elemental and stable isotopic (delta C-13, delta N-15) composition of sediment organic matter were used to examine climate-induced changes in the structure of the phototrophic community and transport of terrestrial organic matter from the catchm…

Des os dans les fossés et des animaux dans les enclos : diversité des fonctions et limites des interprétations

1999

Des animaux vivants ont pu sejourner de maniere temporaire ou permanente dans certaines des enceintes qui parsement la Gaule au deuxieme Âge du Fer. Mais ils ont pu egalement y etre mis mort, manges ou abandonnes a la decomposition. La diversite des fonctions qu'ont pu remplir les enclos vis-a-vis de l'elevage et de l'usage des animaux est grande. Notre propos est d'essayer de voir dans quelle mesure il est possible de les restituer, et quels indices peuvent nous aider dans cette demarche.