Search results for "Sediment"
showing 10 items of 1648 documents
Segmentation and differential post-rift uplift at the Angola margin as recorded by the transform-rifted Benguela and oblique-to-orthogonal-rifted Kwa…
2010
29 pages; International audience; We analyse tectonic and sedimentary field and subsurface data for the Angola onshore margin together with free-air gravity anomaly data for the offshore margin. This enables us to characterize the mode of synrift tectonism inherited from the Precambrian and its impact on the segmentation of the Angola margin. We illustrate that segmentation by the progressive transition from the Benguela transform-rifted margin segment to the oblique-rifted South Kwanza and orthogonal-rifted North Kwanza margin segments. The spatial variation in the intensity of post-rift uplift is demonstrated by the study of a set of geomorphic markers detected in the post-rift succession…
Assessing the influence of confounding biological factors when estimating bioaccumulation of PCBs with passive samplers in aquatic ecosystems
2017
Passive samplers are promising surrogates for organisms, mimicking bioaccumulation. However, several biological characteristics disturb the passive partitioning process in organisms by accelerating or restraining bioaccumulation, resulting in species-specific body residues of hydrophobic organic contaminants (HOCs). In addition to site-specific characteristics and HOC concentrations, age, sex, diet, biotransformation capability and habitat-specific characteristics may affect body residues. Two passive sampler types, polyethylene (PE) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were deployed in a PCB-contaminated freshwater lake water and sediment, respectively, to assess their bioaccumulation predictio…
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace metal contamination of coastal sediment and biota from Togo
2011
The state of contamination of tropical environments, particularly in Africa, remains a relatively under explored subject. Here, we determined polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and trace metal concentrations in coastal sediment and biota samples (fish and mussels) from Togo (West Africa). In the sediments, the ∑21 PAH concentrations ranged from4 ng g(-1) to 257 ng g(-1), averaging 92 ng g(-1). Concentration ratios of low molecular weight PAHs (2-3 rings) versus high molecular weight PAHs (≥4 rings) were always lower than 1 (ranging from 0.08 to 0.46) indicating that high molecular weight PAHs were dominant in all sediment samples, and that PAHs originated mainly from anthropogenic combus…
Jurassic evolution of the Arabian carbonate platform edge in the central Oman Mountains
2005
International audience; The Jurassic Sahtan Group exposed in northern Oman was deposited in shallow marine environments at the edge of the Arabian Platform facing the Neo-Tethys (Hamrat Duru Basin). The upper Sahtan Group is made up of a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate unit overlain by pure carbonate deposits, assigned to a Bathonian and Early Callovian age on the basis of brachiopods and foraminifers. These carbonate depositional systems were composed of outer oolitic shoals that underwent subaerial exposure, and a deeper, somewhat restricted, gently dipping shelf interior. Oolitic material was shed off the platform edge into the deep-sea depositional complex of the Guweyza Formation. The Sa…
Sulfur isotope's signal of nanopyrites enclosed in 2.7 Ga stromatolitic organic remains reveal microbial sulfate reduction.
2018
18 pages; International audience; Microbial sulfate reduction (MSR) is thought to have operated very early on Earth and is often invoked to explain the occurrence of sedimentary sulfides in the rock record. Sedimentary sulfides can also form from sulfides produced abiotically during late diagenesis or metamorphism. As both biotic and abiotic processes contribute to the bulk of sedimentary sulfides, tracing back the original microbial signature from the earliest Earth record is challenging. We present in situ sulfur isotope data from nanopyrites occurring in carbonaceous remains lining the domical shape of stromatolite knobs of the 2.7-Gyr-old Tumbiana Formation (Western Australia). The anal…
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…
Temple-complex post-dates tsunami deposits found in the ancient harbour basin of Ostia (Rome, Italy)
2015
Abstract Detailed geophysical and geoarchaeological investigations carried out in Ostia, ancient harbour of Rome, revealed two different generations of harbour basins and also proved the repeated impact of high-energy wave events on the study area. West of Ostia, at the southern bank of the Tiber, a lagoonal harbour existed from the 4th and 2nd cent. BC but was affected by strong siltation. At the same site, a river harbour was subsequently established from the 1st cent. AD onwards. Fluvial deposits of medieval age finally document Tiber river bank erosion affecting the abandoned site. Within the sedimentary record, distinct high-energy event deposits were found and seem to be related to ts…
The relationship between water and air temperature in chironomid-based paleoclimate reconstructions: Records from boreal and subarctic Finland
2014
Fossil remains of larval chironomids are one of the most useful paleolimnological proxies to reconstruct Holocene paleoclimate. We investigate the within-lake distribution of chironomids in relation to water temperature and test the usability of intralake calibration in chironomid-based temperature reconstructions. We compare our findings against the traditional multilake calibration technique in Holocene sediment cores from Finland. The results show that intralake water temperature optima of common taxa correspond closely with mean July air temperature optima in a regional multilake dataset, with exception of a few vegetation-associated taxa. A calibration model based on intralake water t…
OSL dating of Middle Weichselian age shallow basin sediments in Western Latvia, Eastern Baltic
2012
Abstract This paper presents the results of the first attempt to date the Quaternary sediments of western Latvia in the southeast Baltic region, using luminescence. The analyses have been carried out on sandy sediments of the Jurkalne Formation that are located between upper and lower Scandinavian sourced tills. Previous publications on the origin of the Quaternary sediments in the region are reviewed and it is found that there are a wide range of explanations for their processes of formation and their age of formation. It is concluded that although the sandy sediments were deposited in freshwater environment although they contain both marine and freshwater fauna and flora, a property that …
Alternative chronologies for Late Quaternary (Last Interglacial–Holocene) deep sea sediments via optical dating of silt-sized quartz
2003
Abstract We summarize the results of a test on the potential of optical dating for the age assessment of Late Quaternary deep-sea sediments. Our approach combines a single aliquot regeneration (SAR) protocol for equivalent dose ( D e ) estimation on fine silt-sized quartz with a time-dependent evaluation of supported and unsupported long-lived radioisotopes within the deposited sediment matrix. For this purpose nine samples from two independently dated deep-sea cores from the Indian Ocean were obtained. The SAR analysis resulted in mean D e estimates with precisions ranging from 0.9% to 3.7%. Combination of these data with measured radioisotope concentrations resulted in stratigraphically s…