Search results for "mines"
showing 10 items of 2609 documents
Age and sedimentary record of inland eolian sediments in Lithuania, NE European Sand Belt
2015
We present a study based on four inland eolian locations in Eastern, Central and Southeastern Lithuania belonging to the northeastern part of the ‘European Sand Belt’ (ESB). Although there have been several previous studies of the ESB, this north-eastern extension has not been investigated before in any detail. The sedimentary structural–textural features are investigated and a chronology was derived using optically stimulated luminescence on both quartz and feldspar. The sedimentary structures and the rounding and surface characteristics of the quartz grains argue for a predominance of eolian transport. Additionally, some structural alternations and a significant contribution of non-eolian…
The north-eastern aeolian ‘European Sand Belt’ as potential record of environmental changes: A case study from Eastern Latvia and Southern Estonia
2016
Abstract The Latvian and Estonian inland dunes belong to the north-eastern part of the ‘European Sand Belt’ (ESB). These dunes are widely distributed over broad glaciolacustrine plains and Late Glacial alluvial deltas, considered to be potential sources for the aeolian material. Little is known about these aeolian sediments and their substratum; here we present a detailed sedimentary structural and textural characterisation together with a luminescence-based chronology. Through a comparison between grain-size, rounding of quartz grains and surface characteristics in medium/coarse (0.5–0.8 mm) sand, and the light mineral content, we found an alternation of aeolian and periglacial components.…
Luminescence dating of aeolian–coastal events on the Kristianstad plain, SE Sweden
2016
Aeolian–coastal sediments and landforms are excellent palaeoenvironmental archives, but chronological studies of coastal records are scarce in Sweden. In this study, we provide luminescence and radiocarbon ages of aeolian activity and coastal landscape evolution on the Kristianstad plain, SE Sweden, based on the investigations of two foredunes and two inland dunes at Åhus and Vittskövle. Additionally, we do a laboratory intercomparison of five young luminescence samples. The comparison shows a significant age difference most likely due to an instrumental difference. The equivalent dose cannot be determined accurately with the low irradiation times, and therefore, the results obtained from …
Late Quaternary coastal uplift of southwestern Sicily, central Mediterranean sea
2021
Abstract Mapping and luminescence aging of raised marine terraces and aeolian ridges along an ∼90 km coastal stretch in southwestern Sicily provide the first quantitative assessment of vertical tectonic deformation in this region, which spans the frontal part of an active thrust belt. We recognized a staircase of eleven terraces and nine related aeolian ridges. The elevation profile of terraces parallel to the coast shows a >90 km long bell-shaped pattern, onto which shorter-wavelength (∼10 km long) undulations are superimposed. Luminescence ages from terraced beach deposits and aeolian sediments constrain the position of paleoshorelines formed during MIS 5e, 7a and 7c, with a maximum uplif…
Tracking archaeological and historical mines using mineral prospectivity mapping.
2014
13 pages; International audience; The present study proposes a technological transfer from modern mining prospection to the field of archaeology, providing a methodology to facilitate the discovery of ancient mining sites. This method takes advantage of the thousands of geochemical analyses of streambed sediments, performed by national geological surveys to inventory mineral substances. In order to delineate geochemical anomalies, the datasets are treated following two different approaches: Exploratory Data Analysis and a fractal-based method often recognised as more powerful. Mineral prospectivity maps are then obtained by combining the results with a geographical information system. The s…
An aeolian or a glaciolacustrine record? A case study from Mieļupīte, Middle Gauja Lowland, northeast Latvia
2017
Abstract In the Middle Gauja Lowland, northeast Latvia, dunes are distributed over a vast glaciolacustrine plain that formed during the retreat of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Such a direct contact between aeolian and glaciolacustrine sediments can be used to infer depositional settings and decipher to what extent these sediments bear an aeolian component. Our proxies, although preliminary, reveal a limited range of variation in grain-size parameters, a significant presence of quartz grains with silica precipitation and matt-surface grains of various rounding degrees and massive structure combined with horizontal lamination. These are indicative of periglacial-aeolian depositional condition…
Initial quartz OSL and dust mass accumulation rate investigation of the Kisiljevo loess sequence in north-eastern Serbia
2020
The thick and apparently continuous loess-palaeosol sequences in the Vojvodina region of northern Serbia are recognized and well understood as some of the oldest and most complete terrestrial European palaeoclimatic archives. By contrast, there are few published records for loess profiles from other regions in Serbia. Here we address this knowledge gap by investigating an 8 m thick loess sequence exposed near the village of Kisiljevo in north eastern Serbia, describing the pedostratigraphy and environmental magnetic signatures in detail and placing these within a chronologic framework using quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) on the 4-11 and 63-90 μm size fractions. Our result…
Quartz OSL dating of late quaternary Chinese and Serbian loess: A cross Eurasian comparison of dust mass accumulation rates
2019
© 2018 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. Reconstructing dust Mass Accumulation Rate (MAR) from loess deposits is critical to understanding past atmospheric mineral dust activity and requires accurate independent age models from loess deposits across Europe and Asia. Previous correlations of loess in Europe and China have tended to focus on multi-millennial timescales, with no detailed examination of dust MAR at the two ends of the Eurasian loess belt on shorter, sub-orbital scales. Here we present a detailed quartz optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) chronology from the Serbian Titel Loess Plateau (Veliki Surduk loess core) and the Chinese Loess Plateau (Lingtai section). The luminescence ages pa…
Recombinant laccase from Pediococcus acidilactici CECT 5930 with ability to degrade tyramine
2017
Biogenic amines degradation by bacterial laccases is little known, so we have cloned and heterologously expressed, in E. coli, a new laccase from Pediococcus acidilactici CECT 5930 (Lpa5930), a lactic acid bacterium commonly found in foods able to degrade tyramine. The recombinant enzyme has been characterized by physical and biochemical assays. Here we report the optimization of expression and purification procedures of this laccase. DNA encoding sequence of laccase from P. acidilactici was amplified by PCR and cloned into the expression plasmid pET28a for induction by isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoipyranoside. Protein expression was performed in E. coli BL21(DE3) harboring pGro7 plasmid expres…
Investment in multiple defences protects a nematode-bacterium symbiosis from predation
2017
The act of predation often comprises multiple sequential steps whereby prey can employ defences at all or some of these stages to deter predation. However, investment in defences is costly unless they are outweighed by conferring some benefit to the bearer. One system that employs multiple defences is that of the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora and its symbiotic bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens. This nematodeebacterium complex infects and kills soil-dwelling insect larvae, in which they then reproduce and juveniles emerge 2 weeks later. Predation of the infected host cadaver at any point during infection is fatal for the parasitic colony inside. Infected individual…