Search results for "Quaternary"
showing 10 items of 411 documents
The Greenland shark Somniosus microcephalus—Hemoglobins and ligand-binding properties
2017
A large amount of data is currently available on the adaptive mechanisms of polar bony fish hemoglobins, but structural information on those of cartilaginous species is scarce. This study presents the first characterisation of the hemoglobin system of one of the longest-living vertebrate species (392 +/- 120 years), the Arctic shark Somniosus microcephalus. Three major hemoglobins are found in its red blood cells and are made of two copies of the same a globin combined with two copies of three very similar beta subunits. The three hemoglobins show very similar oxygenation and carbonylation properties, which are unaffected by urea, a very important compound in marine elasmobranch physiology.…
Effect of quaternary ammonium salts on spectral properties of zinc octacarboxyphthalocyanine
2020
Abstract The paper presents results of the research on the influence of quaternary ammonium salts on UV–vis absorption and emission spectra of zinc octacarboxyphthalocyanine (ZnPcOC). Quaternary ammonium salts which show biological activity play a crucial role. In ZnPcOC solutions with a proper concentration of tetrabutylammonium salts (TBAX), a strong bathochromic shift band (λmax = 760 nm – “R” band) showing red fluorescence appears in time. The presence of tetrabutylammonium salt causes pH increase and, consequently, a gradual dissociation of carboxyl groups in ZnPcOC molecule. It seems that –COO— anions present in the ZnPcOC complex can interact with tetraalkylammonium cations, causing …
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…
Sedimentation close to the active Medlicott Wadia Thrust (Western Himalaya): how to estimate climatic base level changes and tectonics.
2017
16 pages; International audience; The Medlicott-Wadia Thrust (MWT) is one of the major active out-of-sequence thrusts in the Himalaya. Studies on Quaternary terraces in its vicinity have been performed using sedimentological, geomorphic and geochronological methods. We focus on the Riasi zone, south of the Pir Panjal range, in the Jammu and Kashmir region of India. The sedimentary units of Quaternary landforms have been mapped as a function of their location with respect to the thrust faults, their relative chronology, and their lithology. Three aggrading sedimentary units, five thin units above strath surfaces at the footwall of the fault system, and seven thin units above strath surfaces …
Late Quaternary Variations in the South American Monsoon System as Inferred by Speleothems—New Perspectives using the SISAL Database
2019
Here we present an overview of speleothem δ18O records from South America, most of which are available in the Speleothem Isotopes Synthesis and Analysis (SISAL_v1) database. South American tropical and subtropical speleothem δ18O time series are primarily interpreted to reflect changes in precipitation amount, the amount effect, and consequently history of convection intensity variability of convergence zones such as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the South America Monsoon System (SAMS). We investigate past hydroclimate scenarios in South America related to the South American Monsoon System in three different time periods: Late Pleistocene, Holocene, and the last tw…
Geomorphological evolution of western Sicily, Italy
2017
Abstract This paper proposes a morphoevolutionary model for western Sicily. Sicily is a chain–foredeep–foreland system still being built, with tectonic activity involving uplift which tends to create new relief. To reconstruct the morphoevolutionary model, geological, and geomorphological studies were done on the basis of field survey and aerial photographic interpretation. The collected data show large areas characterized by specific geological, geomorphological, and topographical settings with rocks, landforms, and landscapes progressively older from south to north Sicily. The achieved results display: (1) gradual emersion of new areas due to uplift, its interaction with the Quaternary gl…
Tectonics of the Northern Bresse region (France) during the Alpine cycle
2003
International audience; Combining fieldwork and surface data, we have reconstructed the Cenozoic structural and tectonic evolution of the Northern Bresse. Analysis of drainage network geometry allowed to detect three major fault zones trending NE-SW, E-W and NW-SE, and smooth folds with NNE trending axes, all corroborated with shallow well data in the graben and fieldwork on edges. Cenozoic paleostress succession was determined through fault slip and calcite twin inversions, taking into account data of relative chronology. A N-S major compression, attributed to the Pyrenean orogenesis, has activated strike-slip faults trending NNE along the western edge and NE-SW in the graben. After a tran…
Mammalian Faunas as Indicators of Environmental and Climatic Changes in Spain during the Pliocene–Quaternary Transition
1999
The study of mammal communities provides useful knowledge of paleoenvironments and paleoclimates during the Quaternary Period, and better documentation about the main fossil sites is making this task easier. Paleoecological reconstructions of this study are based on (i) rodent evolution and species richness, (ii) the cenogram method, and (iii) methods for quantifying climatic parameters. These analyses applied to a Pliocene–Quaternary faunal sequence of Spain indicate that a climatic change occurred at the end of the Pliocene when considerable cooling led to the onset of the glacial–interglacial cycles. Subsequently, during the Quaternary Period, alternating environmental patterns occurred,…
Oxygen isotope compositions of phosphate from arvicoline teeth and Quaternary climatic changes, Gigny, French Jura
2004
Oxygen isotope compositions of biogenic phosphates from mammals are widely used as proxies of the isotopic compositions of meteoric waters that are roughly linearly related to the air temperature at high- and mid-latitudes. An oxygen isotope fractionation equation was determined by using present-day European arvicoline (rodents) tooth phosphate: δ18Op = 20.98(±0.59) + 0.572(±0.065) δ18Ow. This fractionation equation was applied to the Late Pleistocene karstic sequence of Gigny, French Jura. Comparison between the oxygen isotope compositions of arvicoline tooth phosphate and Greenland ice core records suggests to reconsider the previously established hypothetical chronology of the sequence. …
A mitogenome sequence of an Equus hydruntinus specimen from Late Quaternary site of San Teodoro Cave (Sicily, Italy)
2020
Abstract Equus hydruntinus was a small equid that ranged from the Iberian Peninsula to Middle East. In Italy it has been considered present from the Middle Pleistocene to its extinction in the Middle-Late Holocene. E. hydruntinus shares plesiomorphic traits with other known Pleistocene equids. As a consequence, its classification has always been problematic. Genetic analyses on few fossil remains from Iran and Crimea have revealed that E. hydruntinus was more closely related to extant hemiones. To further investigate its systematic position, using target-enrichment capture and next-generation sequencing, we reconstructed a near complete mitogenome of a specimen from San Teodoro Cave from Si…