Search results for "sif"
showing 10 items of 30916 documents
Calcareous nannofossil response to Late Cretaceous climate change in the eastern Tethys (Zagros Basin, Iran)
2020
Abstract Coniacian to Maastrichtian changes in calcareous nannofossil assemblages have been investigated in the eastern Tethyan Shahneshin section (central Zagros Basin, Iran). The nannofossil assemblages are mainly composed of Watznaueria spp. (avg. 54%), Retecapsa spp (avg. 7.9%), Cribrosphaerella ehrenbergii (avg. 7.7%) and Micula spp. (avg. 5.7%). Throughout the late Campanian, there is a trend to lower abundances in Watznaueria spp. together with increasing abundances of C. ehrenbergii and Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis, which are considered in this basin as the main cool-water taxa. Our results reveal that, despite a diagenetic impact on calcareous nannoflora, a number of primary paleoe…
Planktonic foraminifera biozones and isotope stratigraphy of the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary in the western part of the Kopet-Dagh Basin, NE Iran
2018
Abstract A biostratigraphic study based on the planktonic foraminifera and isotope stratigraphy of the Cenomanian-Turonian interval has been undertaken in the western part of the Kopet-Dagh Basin (NE Iran). In this research, two stratigraphic sections including: Maraveh Tappeh and Qareh Galdy have been sampled and studied. Based on planktonic foraminifera, three biozones were assigned to this interval. These are the Rotalipora cushmani Zone, Whiteinella archaeocretacea Zone and Helvetoglobotruncana helvetica Zone, These biostratigraphic data confirm a gradual faunal turnover of planktonic foraminifera, at the Cenomanian-Turonian boundary in Whiteinella archaeocretacea Zone characterized by:…
Growth-increment characteristics and isotopic (delta O-18) temperature record of sub- thermocline Aequipecten opercularis (Mollusca: Bivalvia): evide…
2021
Abstract The shell δ18O of young modern Aequipecten opercularis from the southern North Sea provides an essentially faithful record of seasonal variation in seafloor temperature. In this well-mixed setting, A. opercularis shell δ18O also serves as a proxy for seasonal variation in surface temperature. Individuals from less agitated (e.g. deeper) settings in a warm climate would not be expected to record the full seasonal range in surface temperature because of thermal stratification in summer. Such circumstances have been invoked to explain cool isotopic summer temperatures from early Pliocene A. opercularis of eastern England. Support for a sub-thermocline setting derives from high-amplitu…
Biostratigraphy, Chronostratigraphy and Paleonvironmental Reconstruction of the Palermo Historical Centre Quaternary succession
2016
Marine deposits from the Palermo Plain were historically relevant for the Quaternary Period definition. Here we show lithostratigraphic, biostratigraphic and chronostratigraphic data collected on three boreholes in the Palermo historical centre that recovered 36.8, 42.0 and 52.0 metres of sediments overlaying the Numidian Flysch. Marine sedimentary sequences span from the Calabrian Stage (calcareous nannofossil Zone MNN 19d) to the Middle Pleistocene (dominance of medium-sized gephyrocapsids within the MNN 19f Zone) and also include a short Holocene depositional event. Calcareous nannofossil, benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages point to a shallow coastal environment, possibly < …
Neanderthal and carnivore activities at Llonin Cave, Asturias, northern Iberian Peninsula: Faunal study of Mousterian levels (MIS 3)
2018
Abstract This paper presents a study of the macromammalian fauna recovered from Mousterian levels of Llonin Cave. The sample is highly heterogeneous and comprises six species of ungulates, including Rupicapra pyrenaica, Capra pyrenaica, and Cervus elaphus, and seven species of carnivores, predominantly Ursus spelaeus, Crocuta spelaea, Canis/Cuon and Panthera pardus. The archaeozoological and taphonomic study of the remains shows preferential use of basal levels of the cave as a den for hyenas and leopards. Neanderthals were also present during this phase and they would have acted mainly on deer and some caprines, while the action of hyenas would mainly have been linked to scavenging of elem…
Changing patterns of eastern Mediterranean shellfish exploitation in the Late Glacial and Early Holocene: Oxygen isotope evidence from gastropod in E…
2016
Abstract The seasonal pattern of shellfish foraging at the archaeological site of Haua Fteah in the Gebel Akhdar, Libya was investigated from the Epipaleolithic to the Neolithic via oxygen isotope (δ 18 O) analyses of the topshell Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus . To validate this species as faithful year-round palaeoenvironmental recorder, the intra-annual variability of δ 18 O in modern shells and sea water was analysed and compared with measured sea surface temperature (SST). The shells were found to be good candidates for seasonal shellfish forging studies as they preserve nearly the complete annual SST cycle in their shell δ 18 O with minimal slowing or stoppage of growth. During the ter…
Regional coherency of boreal forest growth defines Arctic driftwood provenancing
2016
Arctic driftwood represents a unique proxy archive at the interface of marine and terrestrial environments. Combined wood anatomical and dendrochronological analyses have been used to detect the origin of driftwood and may allow past timber floating activities, as well as past sea ice and ocean current dynamics to be reconstructed. However, the success of driftwood provenancing studies depends on the length, number, and quality of circumpolar boreal reference chronologies. Here, we introduce a Eurasian-wide high-latitude network of 286 ring width chronologies from the International Tree Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) and 160 additional sites comprising the three main boreal conifers Pinus, Larix, a…
A Cretaceous carbonate escarpment from Western Sicily (Italy): biostratigraphy and tectono-sedimentary evolution
2020
Abstract The presence of a huge carbonate slope of Cretaceous age is recorded in some imbricated thrust sheets from the Maghrebian fold-and-thrust belt cropping out in northwesternmost Sicily (southern Italy). The sedimentological features of this escarpment, named as the Western Sicily Cretaceous Escarpment (WSCE), have been recently described. The present paper aims to provide a detailed bio-chronostratigraphic characterization of the different facies types that occur in the four lithostratigraphic units spanning the whole slope depositional system. The detailed biostratigraphic analysis and correlation of a number of well-exposed sections allowed to differentiate eight informal biozones …
Regional Tectonic Setting and Geological Structure of the Rhenish Massif
1983
This chapter contains an outline of the geological history of the Rhenish Massif and the development of its margins and surrounding areas. Section 2.2 gives some main aspects of the development of the Variscan geosyncline and orogeny and a short description of the pre-Variscan geological history of this region. Since the end of the Variscan orogeny many different epeirogenetic processes have occurred here (Sect. 2.3). During these long geological times uplift and subsidence changed in the different parts of the Massif and in the surrounding areas.
The owl that never left! Taphonomy of Earlier Stone Age small mammal assemblages from Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa)
2022
Wonderwerk Cave, in South Africa, is an exceptional site that has yielded a large collection of small mammal fossils in a stratigraphic sequence reaching back ca. 2 million years. Taphonomic studies undertaken to date, show that Tytonidae (likely Tyto alba) was the dominant predator during the Earlier Stone Age. They produced masses of pellets that formed a dense carpet-like surface that covered the cave floor at intervals throughout the sequence. This paper compares the taphonomic signatures of five different Earlier Stone Age small mammal assemblages from Wonderwerk Cave, including assemblages not studied before, as well as a modern pellet assemblage collected from inside the cave. These …