AMS radiocarbon dates and pollen analysis of ODP Hole 175-1078C

ODP Site 1078 situated under the coast of Angola provides the first record of the vegetation history for Angola. The upper 11 m of the core covers the past 30 thousand years, which has been analysed palynologically in decadal to centennial resolution. Alkenone sea surface temperature estimates were analysed in centennial resolution. We studied sea surface temperatures and vegetation development during full glacial, deglacial, and interglacial conditions. During the glacial the vegetation in Angola was very open consisting of grass and heath lands, deserts and semi-deserts, which suggests a cool and dry climate. A change to warmer and more humid conditions is indicated by forest expansion starting in step with the earliest temperature rise in Antarctica, 22 thousand years ago. We infer that around the period of Heinrich Event 1, a northward excursion of the Angola Benguela Front and the Congo Air Boundary resulted in cool sea surface temperatures but rain forest remained present in the northern lowlands of Angola. Rain forest and dry forest area increase 15 thousand years ago. During the Holocene, dry forests and Miombo woodlands expanded. Also in Angola globally recognised climate changes at 8 thousand and 4 thousand years ago had an impact on the vegetation. During the past 2 thousand years, savannah vegetation became dominant.

XRF scanning, pollen and spores of ODP Site 108-659

Pliocene vegetation dynamics and climate variability in West Africa have been investigated through pollen and XRF-scanning records obtained from sediment cores of ODP Site 659 (18°N, 21°W). The comparison between total pollen accumulation rates and Ti/Ca ratios, which is strongly correlated with the dust input at the site, showed elevated aeolian transport of pollen during dusty periods. Comparison of the pollen records of ODP Site 659 and the nearby Site 658 resulted in a robust reconstruction of West African vegetation change since the Late Pliocene. Between 3.6 and 3.0 Ma the savannah in West Africa differed in composition from its modern counterpart and was richer in Asteraceae, in particular of the Tribus Cichorieae. Between 3.24 and 3.20 Ma a stable wet period is inferred from the Fe/K ratios, which could stand for a narrower and better specified mid-Pliocene (mid-Piacenzian) warm time slice. The northward extension of woodland and savannah, albeit fluctuating, was generally greater in the Pliocene. NE trade wind vigour increased intermittently around 2.7 and 2.6 Ma, and more or less permanently since 2.5 Ma, as inferred from increased pollen concentrations of trade wind indicators (Ephedra, Artemisia, Pinus). Our findings link the NE trade wind development with the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere glaciations (iNHG). Prior to the iNHG, little or no systematic relation could be found between sea surface temperatures of the North Atlantic with aridity and dust in West Africa.

Jornadas de Trabajo sobre Historia Reciente (7 : 2014 : La Plata). Actas

Tabla de contenidos: Los alemanes y la Shoah en Colombia, un ejercicio de Historia Oral / Lorena Cardona González. Sobre la categoría de "trauma histórico" para pensar la memoria social / Maximiliano Alberto Garbarino. El estudio de la historia reciente y la memoria colectiva / Ayelén Colosimo. Memoria y espacio biográfico en el peronismo / María Belén Boetto. Esbozos para una epistemología de la historia reciente / Florencia Levín. El reeslabonamiento de la resistencia / Florencia Espinosa. Fotos de la DIPBA en el Museo de Arte y Memoria / Florencia Larralde Armas. Carnaval / María Daniela Alegrucci. A favor de la disidencia / Cristian Secul Giusti. Políticas de Memoria en la post dictadura / Tamara Salinas Rivas. Memorias en disputa / María Delicia Zurita. Memoria y conmemoración / Renato Dinamarca Opazo. Malvinas como relato escolar / Manuela Belinche Montequin. Repensando actos escolares y efemérides / Sofía Breccia, María de los Angeles Gregorio. Paseo de la Memoria de Berazategui / Juan Manuel Facciolo, Mariana Edith Troncoso. Enseñar historia argentina reciente / Yésica Billán. Enseñar Historia Reciente / Rodrigo Edgar Saguas. La Historia Reciente Latinoamericana en las aulas / Mariana Ponisio. Un estado de la cuestión acerca del "Industricidio" en (de) Tucumán y su impacto en el mundo del trabajo rural azucarero entre los años 1966 y 1970 / Pedro García Posse. Proletarización y militancia fabril del PRT - La Verdad (1968 - 1972) / Martín Mangiantini. Elementos para la discusión sobre la formación de una vanguardia obrera revolucionaria en la transición histórica argentina (1969-1976) / Walter Koppmann. Para una historia reciente de la UOCRA La Plata / Rafael Farace. Migrantes limítrofes y su inserción en el mercado laboral del sector de la construcción / María Eleonora Paoletti. "Queremos autonomía y no tiranía" / J. Sebastián Califa. Las disputas en la autonomía universitaria en la UBA entre 1966-1973 / Guadalupe Seia. Las repercusiones de la "Masacre de Trelew" en Bahía Blanca y Punta Alta Dominella,Virginia. La Revista Siguiendo La Huella del Movimiento Rural de ACA (1958-1972) / Leonardo Hernán Fernández. Configuraciones del Movimiento Cromañón / Laura Codaro. "Lo que hicimos desde las bases, lo podíamos hacer desde arriba" / Fernanda Tocho. Un período breve en un pequeño lugar / Luciana Mingrone. Infancia y revolución en el PRT-ERP / Mariela Peller. ¿Intelectuales para la contrainsurgencia? / Alberto Bozza. Los intelectuales liberal-conservadores argentinos ante el ocaso del 'Proceso' y la transición democrática / Martín Vicente. La recepción cristiana de Paulo Freire en Argentina (1968-1974) / Federico Brugaletta. Doctrina de la Seguridad Nacional y representaciones de la figura del 'subversivo' en "Las muñecas que hacen ¡pum!", de Gerardo Sofovich (1979) / Eliana Laura Ferradás Abalo. Arte y militancia / Débora Ermosi. "Que todos los chicos se metan, opinen, intervengan" / María Lucía Abbattista. Violencia y represión en el humor gráfico de Chaupinela y HUM (1974-1980) / Mara Burkart. "No hay revolución sin canciones" / Jimena Alonso. "El cumpleaños de Juan Angel", un punto de quiebre en la vida y obra de Mario Benedetti / Manuel Martínez Ruesta. La Palabra Armada / Mariela Stavale. Reforma curricular, intelectuales y perfiles docentes en la Escuela de Visitadoras de Higiene Social y Enfermería de la UNLP entre 1960 y 1969 / Néstor Arrúa. La formación de docentes universitarios durante la última dictadura cívico-militar / Mónica L. Paso. La Universidad Nacional de Córdoba y la "formación de las almas" durante la dictadura de 1976 / Marta Philp. El proceso de normalización universitaria en la Universidad Nacional del Sur / Rocío Laura Zanetto. La batalla de Ensenada / Marina Illanes. Complicidad civil y represión hacia los trabajadores durante la última dictadura militar argentina / Marina Florencia Lascano. Prisión política y destierro en la Argentina dictatorial / Silvina Jensen, Ma Montero.

Pollen analysis of sediment cores from the mouth of the river Congo to Walvis Bay and Lüderitz

The distribution of pollen in marine sediments is used to record vegetation changes over the past 30,000 years on the adjacent continent. A transect of marine pollen sequences from the mouth of the river Congo (~5°S) to Walvis Bay and Lüderitz (~25°S) shows vegetation changes in Congo, Angola and Namibia from the last glacial period into the Holocene. The comparison of pollen records from different latitudes provides information about the latitudinal shift of open forest and savannahs (Poaceae pollen), the extension of lowland forest (rain forest pollen) and Afromontane forest (Podocarpus pollen), and the position of the desert fringe (pollen of Caryophyllaceae, Chenopodiaceae and Amaranthaceae). High Cyperaceae pollen percentages in sediments from the last glacial period off the mouth of the river Congo suggest the presence of open swamps rather than savannah vegetation in the Congo Basin. Pollen from Restionaceae in combination with Stoebe-type pollen (probably from Elytropappus) indicates a possible northwards extension of winter rain vegetation during the last glacial period. The record of Rhizophora (mangrove) pollen is linked to erosion of the continental shelf and sea-level rise. Pollen influx is highest off river mouths (10-2000 grains year**-1 cm**-2), close to the coast (300-6000 grains year**-1 cm**-2), but is an order of magnitude lower at sites situated far from the continent (<10 grains year**-1 cm**-2).

Pollen and organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages of sediment core GeoB9503-5

Pollen and organic-walled dinoflagellate cyst assemblages from core GeoB 9503-5 retrieved from the mud-belt ( 50 m water depth) off the Senegal River mouth have been analyzed to reconstruct short-term palaeoceanographic and palaeoenvironmental changes in subtropical NW Africa during the time interval from ca. 4200 to 1200 cal yr BP. Our study emphasizes significant coeval changes in continental and oceanic environments in and off Senegal and shows that initial dry conditions were followed by a strong and rapid increase in humidity between ca. 2900 and 2500 cal yr BP. After ca. 2500 cal yr BP, the environment slowly became drier again as indicated by slight increases in Sahelian savannah and desert elements in the pollen record. Around ca. 2200 cal yr BP, this relatively dry period ended with periodic pulses of high terrigenous contributions and strong fluctuations in fern spore and river plume dinoflagellate cyst percentages as well as in the fluxes of pollen, dinoflagellate cysts, fresh-water algae and plant cuticles, suggesting "episodic flash flood" events of the Senegal River. The driest phase developed after about 2100 cal yr BP.

Pollen analyses of sediment core GeoB9508-5

Millennial-scale dry events in the Northern Hemisphere monsoon regions during the last Glacial period are commonly attributed to southward shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) associated with an intensification of the northeasterly (NE) trade wind system during intervals of reduced Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC). Through the use of high-resolution last deglaciation pollen records from the continental slope off Senegal, our data show that one of the longest and most extreme droughts in the western Sahel history, which occurred during the North Atlantic Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1), displayed a succession of three major phases. These phases progressed from an interval of maximum pollen representation of Saharan elements between ~19 and 17.4 kyr BP indicating the onset of aridity and intensified NE trade winds, followed by a millennial interlude of reduced input of Saharan pollen and increased input of Sahelian pollen, to a final phase between ~16.2 and 15 kyr BP that was characterized by a second maximum of Saharan pollen abundances. This change in the pollen assemblage indicates a mid-HS1 interlude of NE trade wind relaxation, occurring between two distinct trade wind maxima, along with an intensified mid-tropospheric African Easterly Jet (AEJ) indicating a substantial change in West African atmospheric processes. The pollen data thus suggest that although the NE trades have weakened, the Sahel drought remained severe during this time interval. Therefore, a simple strengthening of trade winds and a southward shift of the West African monsoon trough alone cannot fully explain millennial-scale Sahel droughts during periods of AMOC weakening. Instead, we suggest that an intensification of the AEJ is needed to explain the persistence of the drought during HS1. Simulations with the Community Climate System Model indicate that an intensified AEJ during periods of reduced AMOC affected the North African climate by enhancing moisture divergence over the West African realm, thereby extending the Sahel drought for about 4000 years.

Pollen analysis, particle size analysis, end-member modelling and x-ray fluorescence measurements from sediment cores off Cape Ghir, Morocco

Understanding past human-climate-environment interactions is essential for assessing the vulnerability of landscapes and ecosystems to future climate change. This is particularly important in southern Morocco where the current vegetation is impacted by pastoralism, and the region is highly sensitive to climate variability. Here, we present a 2000-year record of vegetation, sedimentation rate, XRF chemical element intensities, and particle size from two decadal-resolved, marine sediment cores, raised from offshore Cape Ghir, southern Morocco. The results show that between 650 and 850 AD the sedimentation rate increased dramatically from 100 cm/1000 years to 300 cm/1000 years, and the Fe/Ca and pollen flux doubled, together indicating higher inputs of terrestrial sediment. Particle size measurements and end-member modelling suggest increased fluvial transport of the sediment. Beginning at 650 AD pollen levels from Cichorioideae species show a sharp rise from 10% to 20%. Pollen from Atemisia and Plantago, also increase from this time. Deciduous oak pollen percentages show a decline, whereas those of evergreen oak barely change. The abrupt increase in terrestrial/fluvial input from 650 to 850 AD occurs, within the age uncertainty, of the arrival of Islam (Islamisation) in Morocco at around 700 AD. Historical evidence suggests Islamisation led to population increase and development of southern Morocco, including expanded pastoralism, deforestation and agriculture. Livestock pressure may have changed the vegetation structure, accounting for the increase in pollen from Cichorioideae, Plantago, and Artemisia, which include many weedy species. Goats in particular may have played a dominant role as agents of erosion, and intense browsing may have led to the decline in deciduous oak; evergreen oak is more likely to survive as it re-sprouts more vigorously after browsing. From 850 AD to present sedimentation rates, Fe/Ca ratios and fluvial discharge remain stable, whereas pollen results suggest continued degradation. Pollen results from the past 150 years suggest expanded cultivation of olives and the native argan tree, and the introduction of Australian eucalyptus trees. The rapidly increasing population in southern Morocco is causing continued pressure to expand pastoralism and agriculture. The history of land degradation presented here suggests that the vegetation in southern Morocco may have been degraded for a longer period than previously thought and may be particularly sensitive to further land use changes. These results should be included in land management strategies for southern Morocco.

Arsenic speciation in edible alga samples by microwave-assisted extraction and high performance liquid chromatography coupled to atomic fluorescence spectrometry

Twelve commercially available edible marine algae from France, Japan and Spain and the certified reference material (CRM) NIES No. 9 Sargassum fulvellum were analyzed for total arsenic and arsenic species. Total arsenic concentrations were determined by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) after microwave digestion and ranged from 23 to 126 μg g−1. Arsenic species in alga samples were extracted with deionized water by microwave-assisted extraction and showed extraction efficiencies from 49 to 98%, in terms of total arsenic. The presence of eleven arsenic species was studied by high performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet photo-oxidation–hydride generation atomic–fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC–(UV)–HG–AFS) developed methods, using both anion and cation exchange chromatography. Glycerol and phosphate sugars were found in all alga samples analyzed, at concentrations between 0.11 and 22 μg g−1, whereas sulfonate and sulfate sugars were only detected in three of them (0.6-7.2 μg g−1). Regarding arsenic toxic species, low concentration levels of dimethylarsinic acid (DMA) (<0.9 μg g−1) and generally high arsenate (As(V)) concentrations (up to 77 μg g−1) were found in most of the algae studied. The results obtained are of interest to highlight the need to perform speciation analysis and to introduce appropriate legislation to limit toxic arsenic species content in these food products.

El sueño de vivir. Entrevista a la arquitecta española Carmen Espegel

Entrevista realizada a Carmen Espegel en relación a la vivienda del futuro.