Search results for "feature"
showing 10 items of 4091 documents
Paleoclimatic control of biogeographic and sedimentary events in Tethyan and peri-Tethyan areas during the Oxfordian (Late Jurassic)
2005
International audience; The paleobiogeographical distribution of Oxfordian ammonites and coral reefs in northern and Central Europe, the Mediterranean area, North and East Africa, and the Middle East and Central Asia is compared with the distribution in time and space of the most important lithofacies. Interest in the Oxfordian is focused on changes in facies and in biogeographical patterns that can be interpreted as the results of climatic events. Paleotemperature trends inferred from oxygen isotopes and paleoclimatic simulations are tested against fossil and facies data. A Late Callovian–Early Oxfordian crisis in carbonate production is indicated by the widespread absence of Lower Oxfordi…
The Arrival of Steppe and Iranian Related Ancestry in the Islands of the Western Mediterranean
2019
A series of studies have documented how Steppe pastoralist-related ancestry reached central Europe by at least 2500 BCE, while Iranian farmer-related ancestry was present in Aegean Europe by at least 1900 BCE. However, the spread of these ancestries into the western Mediterranean where they have contributed to many populations living today remains poorly understood. We generated genome-wide ancient DNA from the Balearic Islands, Sicily, and Sardinia, increasing the number of individuals with reported data from these islands from 3 to 52. We obtained data from the oldest skeleton excavated from the Balearic islands (dating to ∼2400 BCE), and show that this individual had substantial Steppe p…
Pleistocene leopards in the Iberian Peninsula: New evidence from palaeontological and archaeological contexts in the Mediterranean region
2015
This study analyses the fossil record of leopards in the Iberian Peninsula. According to the systematic and morphometric features of new remains, identified mainly in Late Pleistocene palaeontological and archaeological sites of the Mediterranean region, they can be attributed to Panthera pardus Linnaeus 1758. The findings include the most complete leopard skeleton from the Iberian Peninsula and one of the most complete in Europe, found in a chasm (Avenc de Joan Guit on) south of Valencia. The new citations and published data are used to establish the leopard's distribution in the Iberian Peninsula, showing its maximum development during the Late Pleistocene. Some references suggest that th…
The Valencian coast (Western Mediterranean): Neotectonics and geomorphology
1996
Abstract An analysis of terrestrial and marine data has shown the coastal fringe of the emerged continent to be naturally divided into five distinct morphosedimentary sectors, whereas three clearly different large domains are visible in the submarine shelf. This geographic coastal space corresponds to an area of wide tectonic activity where the internal and external units of Betic Ranges meet, showing a morphological expression of the substratum structure. On the contrary, the continental shelf located to the North, in the Gulf of Valencia, is subsiding and has important accumulations of sediments as a consequence of the influence of units linked to the Iberic orogeny. The detailed analysis…
Speleothem δ13C record suggests enhanced spring/summer drought in south-eastern Spain between 9.7 and 7.8 ka – A circum-Western Mediterranean anomaly?
2019
South-eastern Spain is one of the driest regions in Europe and thus, prone to drought. Terrestrial climate records covering the late Glacial and Holocene from this area are sparse. Here, we present a flowstone record from Cueva Victoria, south-eastern Spain, which covers the late Glacial (15 ka) to the mid-Holocene (7 ka) including the Younger Dryas (YD). Between the onset of the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) and the early Holocene, flowstone δ18O values progressively decrease in accordance with sea-surface temperatures in the Alboran Sea, indicating an increase in precipitation in south-eastern Spain and a supra-regional signal of North Atlantic temperature change. At the same time, decreasing δ13…
Holocene environmental and climatic changes at Gorgo Basso, a coastal lake in southern Sicily, Italy
2009
Abstract We used a new sedimentary record to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and fire history of Gorgo Basso, a coastal lake in south-western Sicily (Italy). Pollen and charcoal data suggest a fire-prone open grassland near the site until ca 10,000 cal yr BP (8050 cal BC), when Pistacia shrubland expanded and fire activity declined, probably in response to increased moisture availability. Evergreen Olea europaea woods expanded ca 8400 to decline abruptly at 8200 cal yr BP, when climatic conditions became drier at other sites in the Mediterranean region. Around 7000 cal yr BP evergreen broadleaved forests ( Quercus ilex , Quercus suber and O. europaea ) expanded at the cost of open commu…
Provenance Analyses of the Volcanic Rock Grinding Stones from the Greek Colony of Selinunte, Sicily (Italy)-Constraints and Possibilities
2014
The petrography as well as the major and trace element compositions of the Selinunte grinding stones, made of grey vesicular lava, were analysed. By comparison with geochemical data from volcanic rocks in the Mediterranean, we were able to determine that only a minor number of the tools were extracted from the nearest volcanics of Mount Etna and the Hyblean Mountains, while the majority of the grinding stones were most probably imported from the Aeolian Islands, although an origin from the Aegean cannot be excluded entirely. The results are important in order to scrutinize trading connections, especially for the earlier times of settlement during the sixth century bc.
Dynamic landscapes, artifact taphonomy, and landuse modeling in the western Mediterranean
2002
The Polop Alto valley, in eastern Spain, is characteristic of many Mediterranean landscapes. It has been sporadically reoccupied over the course of at least 80 kyr. Its landforms have undergone various geomorphic processes resulting from late Quaternary environmental fluctuations. During the Holocene, the valley has been modified by millennia of extensive land clearance, cultivation, and terracing. As a result, the evidence for human activity and landuse is a cumulative, but discontiguous palimpsest of the most durable behavioral residues—primarily stone and ceramic artifacts—whose distributions have been affected by diverse natural and cultural formation processes. Human occupation of the …
Detecting the T1 cattle haplogroup in the Iberian Peninsula from Neolithic to medieval times: new clues to continuous cattle migration through time
2015
Abstract The spread of domestic animals through time is one of the topics studied by archaeologists to assess human trade and migration. Here we present mitochondrial analysis of 42 archaeological cattle ( Bos taurus ) bone samples, from 16 different sites in the Iberian Peninsula and covering a broad timeframe (from the early Neolithic to the Middle Ages), to provide evidence about the origin and dispersion of the T1 cattle haplogroup in relation to human contacts and movements. The presence of the T1 haplotype in one sample from an early Neolithic site close to the Mediterranean coast of Iberia, and its continuing presence in the Peninsula during Roman and Medieval times, clearly demonstr…
Future Projection of precipitation changes in the Júcar and Segura River Basins (Iberian Peninsula) by CMIP5 GCMs Local Downscaling
2021
The basins of the Júcar and Segura rivers, on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, present a special water problem and are of particular interest regarding climate change. These basins are very vulnerable to a possible scenario of decreasing water resources. Recent studies on historic rainfall since 1955 have indicated an ongoing loss of precipitation in their headwaters, especially in the case of the Júcar river. The aim of the present study is to perform climate projections for the precipitation variable for several future periods (2021–2040, 2051–2070, 2081–2100) and emission scenarios (RCPs 4.5, 8.5) within the Júcar and Segura River Basin authorities. For this purpose, a s…