Search results for "Surface Processes"

Post-mortem alteration of diet-related enamel surface textures through artificial biostratinomy: A tumbling experiment using mammal teeth

2019

In the fossil record, teeth are often all that remains of a fossil organism. Dental microwear texture analysis (DMTA) is a common proxy for diet using dental wear features at the μm-scale, enabling comparative and quantitative assessments of various feeding traits in extant and extinct species. In extinct species, original diet-related dental wear features may be overprinted by post-mortem alteration including fluvial transport. Here we experimentally investigate the effects of mechanical alteration on diet-related 3D enamel surface texture (3DST) patterns of different mammal teeth. Post canine teeth of Equus sp., Capreolus capreolus and Otomys sp. are tumbled in sediment-water suspensio…

A regional analysis of the effects of largest events on soil erosion

2012

A large amount of geomorphic work is caused by a small number of extreme events that are mainly responsible for the time compression of geomorphic processes. The classic approach defines extreme events by their magnitude and they are quantified by certain deviation from a central value. Alternatively, we define extreme events as the largest events sorted by rank, whatever their absolute magnitude. In this case, events with equal rank from two different sites can be responsible for different magnitudes of geomorphic work, e.g., the amount of erosion. The new approach applied to soil erosion is that, whatever the magnitude of soil eroded, erosion is a time compressed process and the percentag…

Crystal fabrics and element impurities (Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, and Ba/Ca) in shells of Arctica islandica—Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions

2013

Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca and Ba/Ca values are heterogeneously distributed in shells of Arctica islandica. These patterns are largely associated with crystal fabrics (size, habit and orientation of crystals) or the processes controlling them. The outer sublayer of the outer shell layer (oOSL; homogenous and irregular simple prismatic crystal fabrics,) contained element/Ca values up to 62% higher than the inner sublayer (iOSL; crossed-acicular, crossed-lamellar, fine crossed-lamellar and irregular simple prismatic crystal fabrics). A gradual decrease in Sr/Ca and Mg/Ca values was observed from the outer portions of the oOSL toward the oOSL/iOSL transition zone. This chemical shift was accompanied by a gr…

Geodetic and geological evidence of active tectonics in south-western Sicily (Italy)

2014

Abstract Integrated geological, geodetic and marine geophysical data provide evidence of active deformation in south-western Sicily, in an area spatially coincident with the macroseismic zone of the destructive 1968 Belice earthquake sequence. Even though the sequence represents the strongest seismic event recorded in Western Sicily in historical times, focal solutions provided by different authors are inconclusive on possible faulting mechanism, which ranges from thrusting to transpression, and the seismogenic source is still undefined. Interferometric (DInSAR) observations reveal a differential ground motion on a SW–NE alignment between Campobello di Mazara and Castelvetrano (CCA), locate…

Predicting soil and plant water status dynamic in olive orchards under different irrigation systems with Hydrus-2D: Model performance and scenario an…

2018

The paper analyzes the performance of Hydrus-2D model to simulate the dynamic of soil water contents and transpiration fluxes in an olive orchard in which two different irrigation systems were used in 2011 and 2012. The relationship between measured midday stem water potential, MSWP, and simulated relative transpiration (ratio between simulated actual and maximum crop transpiration), Ks, was also identified with the aim to use the model for crop water status predictions. Finally, a scenario analysis was carried out for irrigation management purposes, by considering the level of crop water stress achieved in the different phases of the vegetative growth. The results evidenced that active roo…

Assessment of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to coastal hazards in the Caribbean Region

2014

ABSTRACT Lam, N.S.N., Arenas, H., Brito, P.L., Liu, K.B., 2014. Assessment of vulnerability and adaptive capacity to coastal hazards in the Caribbean region. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 473–478, ISSN 0749-0208. It has been documented that given the same type of climate related hazard and degree of exposure, the vulnerability of a region to the hazard and its resultant damages could be very different, depending on a number of natural and socioeconomic factors. An understanding of the factors contributing to the vulnerability of a region requires a goo…

Gully erosion susceptibility assessment by means of GIS-based logistic regression: A case of Sicily (Italy)

2014

article i nfo Article history: This research aims at characterizing susceptibility conditions to gully erosion by means of GIS and multivariate statistical analysis. The study area is a 9.5 km 2 river catchment in central-northern Sicily, where agriculture ac- tivities are limited by intense erosion. By means of field surveys and interpretation of aerial images, we prepared a digitalmap of thespatial distribution of 260 gulliesinthestudy area.Inaddition,fromavailable thematicmaps, a 5 m cell size digital elevation model and field checks, we derived 27 environmental attributes that describe the variability of lithology, land use, topography and road position. These attributes were selected f…

Screening for new accumulator plants in potential hazards elements polluted soil surrounding Peruvian mine tailings

2016

Abstract Tailings usually provide an unfavorable substrate for plant growth because of their multi-stress environment. Plants growing on naturally metal-enriched soils are of particular interest in this perspective, since they are genetically tolerant to high metal concentrations and have an excellent adaptation to extreme conditions. Soil and plant samples were taken in Peru, at a polymetallic mine (mainly Ag, Pb and Cu) in Cajamarca Province, Hualgayoc district. Top soils (0–20 cm) were analyzed for physical and chemical properties by standard methods. Total As, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations in top soils were determined by ICP–OES. Similar metals in plants were analyzed separately (aerial …

Evaluating functional connectivity in a small agricultural catchment under contrasting flood events by using UAV

2020

Cover crop management and water conservation in vineyard and olive orchards

2021

Abstract Sustainability in orchard crops is an important goal for farmers, decision-makers and consumers. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the importance of the soils in the Earth System to achieve sustainability and accomplish the Land Degradation Neutrality Challenge. Within the world agriculture land, olive and vineyards are within the eldest crops in the world, and they are also the ones with the highest degree of soil degradation. Cover crops (CC) are widely accepted as sustainable crop management that reduces soil and water losses, restores organic matter, increases biodiversity and fertility in degraded agriculture soils. The agriculture land must shift into…