Stable carbon and oxygen isotope ratios of foraminifera from Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments

Detailed analysis of over 200 samples of uppermost Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments from Atlantic Ocean DSDP Sites 384, 86, 95, 152, 144, 20C, 21, 356, 357, and 329 provides new information on the temperature stratification of Paleocene planktonic foraminifera, the temperature and carbon isotopic changes across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, and the fluctuating temperature and carbon isotopic records through the Paleocene ~64.5-54 m.y.). There was a significant temperature rise across the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary both at the surface and in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. This temperature rise occurred before the basal Tertiary 'Globigerina' eugubina Zone, so that in the oldest Paleocene sample yet analyzed from the deep sea (Site 356) temperatures are already three degrees higher at the bottom and at the surface than in the Cretaceous. The temperature rise across the boundaryis more pronounced on the bottom and in samples from higher latitudes. Accompanying the temperature rise across the boundary there is a significant shift in the carbon isotope profile. In the basal Paleocene the foraminifera of the surface zone demonstrate very negative carbon isotope values (unlike in the Cretaceous of today's ocean), while deeper dwelling species have more positive values which then decrease to the bottom. The unusual carbon isotope gradients persist through the first three million years of the Paleocene until towards the top of planktonic foraminiferal Zone P.1 (G. trinidadensis Zone) the foraminifera record a profile more positive at the surface and decreasing towards the bottom (as in today's ocean). During the Paleocene there are two noteworthy rises in surface water temperature; the first around 62-61 m.y. (G. trinidadensis Zone), and the second near the base of the Globorotalia angulata Zone, 60-59 m.y. At this time surface temperatures at low to mid latitudes reached values near 25°C, while at mid-latitude Site 384 temperature highs near 22°C were registered. At a sample spacing of around one per million years, we have only produced some of the detail of these temperature fluctuations. The later Paleocene is generally cooler and there do not seem to be any large variations either through time or latitude. Middle-latitude sites average temperatures near 15°C at the surface, while high lower latitude site temperatures range near 18°C. The most salient feature of the bottom temperature record (based on multispecific samples) through the Paleocene is its lack of fluctuations. There is an overall temperature range of 5°C at these intermediate depth sites (paleodepth estimates between 1500 and 3000 m). Higher values near 13°C accompany the surface temperature peaks around 62 and 60 m.y., while low values near 8°C occur in Zone P.2 (61-60 m.y.). We detected no change in bottom temperature across the paleocene/Eocene boundary in the few samples studied so far. While there are several fluctuations in the carbon isotope values through the early Paleocene, the general trend is one of increasingly positive values at the surface and at depth. This trend culminates in the late Paleocene (upper Zone P.4, about 56-57 m.y.) with a major excursion in the carbon isotope values. At low latitudes the range between the surface and the deepest planktonic foraminifera is a delta13C of 4 per mil as compared with a range of 2 per mil today. The carbon values drop off slightly, but remain strongly positive through the remainder of the Paleocene at most sites. Accompanying the carbon isotope excursion at Site 384 is a productivity increase and a proposed rise in the CCD.

Distribution of coccoliths in surface sediments of the south-eastern South Atlantic Ocean

Recent coccoliths from 52 surface sediment samples recovered from the south-eastern South Atlantic were examined qualitatively and quantitatively in order to assess the controlling mechanisms for their distribution patterns, such as ecological and preservational factors, and their role as carbonate producers. Total coccolith abundances range from 0.2 to 39.9 coccoliths*10**9/ g sediment. Four assemblages can be delineated by their coccolith content characterising the northern Benguela, the middle to southern Benguela, the Walvis Ridge and the deeper water. Distinctions are based on multivariate ordination techniques applied on the relative abundances of the most abundant taxa, Emiliania huxleyi, Calcidiscus leptoporus, Gephyrocapsa spp., Coccolithus pelagicus and subtropical to tropical species. The coccolith distribution seems to be temperature and nutrient controlled co-varying with the seaward extension of the upwelling filament zone in the Benguela. A preservation index (CEX') based on the differential dissolution behaviour of the delicate E. huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa ericsonii versus the robust C. leptoporus is applied in order to detect the position of the coccolith lysocline. Although some samples were recognised as dissolution-affected, the distribution of the coccoliths in the surface-sediments reflects the different oceanographic surface-water conditions. Mass estimations of the coccolith carbonate reveal coccoliths to be only minor contributors to the carbonate preserved in the surface sediments. The mean computed coccolith carbonate content is 17 wt.%, equivalent to a mean contribution of 23% to the bulk carbonate.

Isotope analysis and heat flow measurements of Maria S. Merian cruise MSM21/4 on the western Svalbard margin

Methane hydrate is an ice-like substance that is stable at high-pressure and low temperature in continental margin sediments. Since the discovery of a large number of gas flares at the landward termination of the gas hydrate stability zone off Svalbard, there has been concern that warming bottom waters have started to dissociate large amounts of gas hydrate and that the resulting methane release may possibly accelerate global warming. Here, we can corroborate that hydrates play a role in the observed seepage of gas, but we present evidence that seepage off Svalbard has been ongoing for at least three thousand years and that seasonal fluctuations of 1-2°C in the bottom-water temperature cause periodic gas hydrate formation and dissociation, which focus seepage at the observed sites.

Öate Cretaceous to early Paleogene nutrient and paleoproductivity records of ODP Leg 171 sites

We evaluate phosphorus (P) and biogenic barium (bio-Ba) as nutrient burial and export productivity indicators for the Late Cretaceous and early Paleogene, combining these with calcium carbonate (CaCO3), organic carbon (C), and bulk CaCO3 C isotopes (d13C). Sample ages span 36-71 Ma (~1 sample/0.5 m.y.) for a depth transect of sites in the western North Atlantic (Blake Nose, Ocean Drilling Program Leg 171B, Sites 1052, 1051, and 1050). We use a multitracer approach including redox conditions to investigate export productivity surrounding the global Paleocene d13C maximum (~57 Ma). Reducing conditions render most of the bio-Ba record not useful for export productivity interpretations. P and organic C records indicate that regional nutrient and organic C burial were high at ~61 and ~69 Ma, and low during the Paleocene d13C maximum, a time of proposed global high relative organic C burial. Observed organic C burial changes at Blake Nose cannot explain this C isotope excursion.

Sedimentology and geochemistry of surface sediments from the Pagassitikos Gulf

Volos city and its port are situated in the northern part of Pagassitikos Gulf, a shallow, semi-enclosed marine area in central Greece. A wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) and pipeline operate in the same area. Muddy sediments with low carbonate contents cover most of the seabed, except for the Volos embayment and the western part of the gulf where sandy carbonates prevail. Bulk organic carbon contents and the organic carbon contents of the clay fractions are high in the vicinity of Volos embayment. High element (Pb, Cu, and Zn) contents and Igeo (geoaccumulation index) values were found for the clay fractions in the northern part of Pagassitikos Gulf. This enrichment is attributed to the discharge of raw domestic and industrial effluents of Volos city and port before the WWTP was installed. The dispersal of pollutants is essentially controlled by diffusion from point sources (city, port and WWTP) and is limited to Volos Bay. Relatively high Mn levels are ascribed to diagenetic formation of manganese carbonates (authigenic phase), whereas Cr and Ni are elevated due to weathering of ultrabasic formations on land.

Distribution of heavy minerals in sediment cores from the Laptev Sea continental margin and the central Arctic Ocean

Focussing on heavy-mineral associations in the Laptev-Sea continental margin area and the eastern Arctic Ocean, 129 surface sediment samples, two short and four long gravity cores have been studied. By means of the accessory components, heavy-mineral associations of surface sediment samples from the Laptev-See continental slope allowed the distinction into two different mineralogical provinces, each influenced by fluvial input of the Siberian river Systems. Transport pathways via sea ice from the shallow shelf areas into the Arctic Ocean up to the final ablation areas of the Fram Strait can be reconstructed by heavy-mineral data of surface sediments from the central Arctic Ocean. The shallow shelf of the Laptev Sea seems to be the most important source area for terrigenous material, as indicated by the abundant occurence of amphiboles and clinopyroxenes. Underneath the mixing Zone of the two dominating surface circulation Systems, the Beaufort- Gyre and Transpolar-Drift system, the imprint of the Amerasian shelf regions up to the Fram Strait is detectable because of a characteristical heavy-mineral association dominated by detrital carbonate and opaque minerals. Based On heavy-mineral characteristics of the potential circum-Arctic source areas, sea-ice drift, origin and distribution of ice-rafted material can be reconstructed during the past climatic cycles. Different factors controlling the transport of terrigenous material into the Arctic Ocean. The entrainment of particulate matter is triggered by the sea level, which flooded during highs and lows different regions resulting in the incorporation of sediment from different source areas into the sea ice. Additionally, the fluvial input even at low stands of sea level is responsible for the delivery of material of distinct sources for entrainment into the sea ice. Glacials and interglacials of climate cycles of the last 780 000 years left a characteristical signal in the central Arctic Ocean sediments caused by the ice- rafted material from different sources in the circum-Arctic regions and its change through time. Changes in the heavy-mineral association from an amphibole-dominated into a garnet-epidote-assemblage can be related to climate-related changes in source areas and directions of geostrophic winds, the dominating drive of the sea-ice drift. During Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6, the central Arctic Ocean is marked by an heavy-mineral signal, which occurs in recent sediments of the eastern Kara Sea. Its characteristics are high amounts of epidote, garnet and apatite. On the other hand, during the Same time interval a continuous record of Laptev Sea sediments is documented with high contents of amphiboles on the Lomonosov Ridge near the Laptev Sea continental slope. A nearly similar Pattern was detected in MIS 5 and 4. Small-scale glaciations in the Putorana-mountains and the Anabar-shield may have caused changes in the drainage area of the rivers and therefore a change in fluvial input. During MIS 3, the heavy-mineral association of central Arctic sediments show similar patterns than the Holocene mineral assemblage which consists of amphiboles, ortho- and clinopyroxenes with a Laptev Sea source. These minerals are indicating a stable Transpolar-Drift system similar to recent conditions. An extended influence of the Beaufort Gyre is only recognized, when sediment material from the Amerasian shelf areas reached the core location PS2757-718 during Termination Ib. Based On heavy-mineral data from Laptev-Sea continental slope Core PS2458-4 the paleo-sea-ice drift in the Laptev Sea during 14.000 years was reconstructed. During Holocene sea-level rise, the bathymetrically deeper parts of the Western shelf were flooded first. At the beginning of the Atlantic stage, nearly the entire shelf was marine influenced by fully marine conditions and the recent surface circulation was established.

Geochemistry and sedimentology of IODP Hole 307-U1317E

The Plio-Pleistocene intensification of Northern Hemisphere continental ice-sheet development is known to have profoundly affected the global climate system. Evidence for early continental glaciation is preserved in sediments throughout the North Atlantic Ocean, where ice-rafted detritus (IRD) layers attest to the calving of sediment-loaded icebergs from circum-Atlantic ice sheets. So far, Early-Pleistocene IRD deposition has been attributed to the presence of high-latitudinal ice sheets, whereas the existence and extent of ice accumulation in more temperate, mid-latitudinal regions remains enigmatic. Here we present results from the multiproxy provenance analysis of a unique, Pleistocene-Holocene IRD sequence from the Irish NE Atlantic continental margin. There, the Challenger coral carbonate mound (IODP Expedition 307 site U1317) preserved an Early-Pleistocene record of 16 distinctive IRD events, deposited between ca 2.6 and 1.7 Ma. Strong and complex IRD signals are also identified during the mid-Pleistocene climate transition (ca 1.2 to 0.65 Ma) and throughout the Middle-Late Pleistocene interval. Radiogenic isotope source-fingerprinting, in combination with coarse lithic component analysis, indicates a dominant sediment source in the nearby British-Irish Isles, even for the oldest, Early-Pleistocene IRD deposits. Hence, our findings demonstrate, for the first time, repeated and substantial (i.e. marine-terminating) ice accumulation on the British-Irish Isles since the beginning of the Pleistocene. Contemporaneous expansion of both high- and mid-latitudinal ice sheets in the North Atlantic region is therefore implied at the onset of the Pleistocene. Moreover, it suggests the recurrent establishment of (climatically) favourable conditions for ice sheet inception, growth and instability in mid-latitudinal regions, even in the earliest stages of Northern Hemisphere glacial expansion and in an obliquity-driven climate system.

Elemental composition and petroleum-generating potential of the methylene chloride extracts from DSDP Leg 66 Holes

Organic geochemical studies on samples from Holes 487, 488, and 490 in the southern Mexico Middle America Trench provided an opportunity to characterize the organic fraction of the sedimentary section in an active trench environment and to project the petroleum-producing potential of the extracted lipid fractions. The samples were geologically young and of shallow burial history. Samples from Hole 487, located on the oceanic plate, range in age from late Miocene to middlelate Pleistocene. Samples from Hole 488, representing undifferentiated Quaternary sediment, were collected on the landward side of the lower trench slope. Miocene(?) to Quaternary sediments from Hole 490 were obtained from the upper slope immediately seaward of the inferred location of the continental crust.

Mediterranean cold-water coral measurements

This study presents aggradation rates supplemented for the first time by carbonate accumulation rates from Mediterranean cold-water coral sites considering three different regional and geomorphological settings: (i) a cold-water coral ridge (eastern Melilla coral province, Alboran Sea), (ii) a cold-water coral rubble talus deposit at the base of a submarine cliff (Urania Bank, Strait of Sicily) and (iii) a cold-water coral deposit rooted on a predefined topographic high overgrown by cold-water corals (Santa Maria di Leuca coral province, Ionian Sea). The mean aggradation rates of the respective cold-water coral deposits vary between 10 and 530 cm kyr?1 and the mean carbonate accumulation rates range between 8 and 396 g cm?2 kyr?1 with a maximum of 503 g cm?2 kyr?1 reached in the eastern Melilla coral province. Compared to other deep-water depositional environments the Mediterranean cold-water coral sites reveal significantly higher carbonate accumulation rates that were even in the range of the highest productive shallow-water Mediterranean carbonate factories (e.g. Cladocora caespitosa coral reefs). Focusing exclusively on cold-water coral occurrences, the carbonate accumulation rates of the Mediterranean cold-water coral sites are in the lower range of those obtained for the prolific Norwegian coral occurrences, but exhibit much higher rates than the cold-water coral mounds off Ireland. This study clearly indicates that cold-water corals have the potential to act as important carbonate factories and regional carbonate sinks within the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, the data highlight the potential of cold-water corals to store carbonate with rates in the range of tropical shallow-water reefs. In order to evaluate the contribution of the cold-water coral carbonate factory to the regional or global carbonate/carbon cycle, an improved understanding of the temporal and spatial variability in aggradation and carbonate accumulation rates and areal estimates of the respective regions is needed.

Strength of the Iberian intraplate lithosphere: Cenozoic deformations and seismicity

Previous studies about the strength of the lithosphere in the Iberia centre fail to resolve the depth of earthquakes because of the rheological uncertainties. Therefore, new contributions are considered (the crustal structure from a density model) and several parameters (tectonic regime, mantle rheology, strain rate) are checked in this paper to properly examine the role of lithospheric strength in the intraplate seismicity and the Cenozoic evolution. The strength distribution with depth, the integrated strength, the effective elastic thickness and the seismogenic thickness have been calculated by a finite element modelling of the lithosphere across the Central System mountain range and the bordering Duero and Madrid sedimentary basins. Only a dry mantle under strike-slip/extension and a strain rate of 10-15 s-1, or under extension and 10-16 s-1, causes a strong lithosphere. The integrated strength and the elastic thickness are lower in the mountain chain than in the basins. These anisotropies have been maintained since the Cenozoic and determine the mountain uplift and the biharmonic folding of the Iberian lithosphere during the Alpine deformations. The seismogenic thickness bounds the seismic activity in the upper–middle crust, and the decreasing crustal strength from the Duero Basin towards the Madrid Basin is related to a parallel increase in Plio–Quaternary deformations and seismicity. However, elasto–plastic modelling shows that current African–Eurasian convergence is resolved elastically or ductilely, which accounts for the low seismicity recorded in this region.

Media diversity as a guarantee to cultural diversity: the promotion of identities from an international law approach

This article deals with several international instruments which provide legal guarantees for media diversity, which is essential for the promotion of cultural diversity. Based on several articles of the Convention of cultural diversity, the General Comment of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights No. 21 on the right to take part in cultural life, as well as the work of the UN Independent Expert on Cultural Rights, this article aims to identify legal tools for the establishing of measures promoting cultural diversity in the media. This article looks at the case study of Honduran Garifuna community radios. It emphasizes the importance of taking into account the economic aspects of cultural and communicational rights.

La popularización del fútbol en España. Análisis del fenómeno a través de la literatura especializada del fútbol (1920-1936)

La consolidación del fútbol en España se produjo a partir de los años veinte del siglo pasado. Entre 1920 a 1936 el fútbol adquirió todos los rasgos personales que hoy le caracterizan. En esta época surgió una literatura técnica y periodística especializada que se configuró como uno de los pilares más importantes para el desarrollo técnico deportivo y del espectáculo de masas. En torno a esta cuestión, el presente artículo busca un doble objetivo: recopilar la literatura técnica y periodística especializada publicada durante el período de 1920 a 1936, y reconocer el alcance social, técnico e ideológico de esta literatura futbolística en el proceso de configuración del fútbol en España. Para abordar este propósito hemos utilizado una metodología heurística y de análisis documental de las fuentes originales. Apreciamos que a través de estas obras podemos conocer mejor el contexto del espacio socio-deportivo del fútbol en España y, también, despertar nuevas líneas potenciales de investigación.

Los emigrantes en las áreas mineras y las ciudades de Hispania: religión, identidades y difusión cultural

En el presente artículo analizamos los desplazamientos de cultos indígenas hispanos desde distintas áreas de la Península Ibérica hacia los principales lugares de inmigración en Hispania: las áreas mineras y las ciudades. Proponemos que estos grupos de emigrantes rendían culto en su nueva residencia a las deidades que veneraban en sus regiones de procedencia como un medio de preservar su cohesión social y su identidad cultural. La dureza de la vida laboral en las áreas mineras reforzaba la necesidad de fortalecer los lazos culturales.

Low- vs. high-glycemic load diets: effects on postprandial plasma free fatty acids

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans en pacientes pediátricos

Antecedentes y Objetivos. Presentamos 3 casos de dermatofibrosarcomaprotuberans (DFSP) en pacientes pediátricos para documentar la presentación clínica poco frecuente de esta patología. Pacientes y Método. Realizamos un análisis descriptivo retrospectivo de los 3 últimos casos de DFSP en nuestro centro durante los años 2010-2013. Resultados. Una niña de 12 años remitida desde otra institución por DFSP en parte distal del muslo, en la que ampliamos bordes quirúrgicos de resección en 3 cm y practicamos cobertura con dermis artificial e injerto autólogo; tras 1 año de observación sin recidiva, realizamos reconstrucción del defecto mediante injertos autólogos de grasa. Otra niña de 12 años diagnosticada de Síndrome de Hamartomatosis Múltiple asociado al gen PTEN, que presentó DFSP en labio mayor derecho y en mama derecha, recidivante en esta última localización. Por último, un DFSP congénito en una paciente remitida a los 3 meses de vida con tumoración gigante de pared abdominal. El diagnóstico orientativo inicial con resonancia magnética con gadolino, solo se confirmó finalmente por los hallazgos histopatológicos de la pieza de resección; ni la punción aspiración ni la biopsia cutánea lograron confirmar el diagnóstico. Conclusiones. El DFSP es un tipo de sarcoma raro de la piel del niño y del adulto, localmente agresivo y con una alta tasa de recidiva. La escisión local amplia puede provocar mutilaciones y desfigurar al paciente; por ello la cirugía micrográfica de Mohs permite reducir los márgenes quirúrgicos.