Señales de depredación en los Gastropoda procedentes de un yacimiento pliocénico de Molins de Rei (Barcelona). Implicaciones paleoecológicas

En la presente nota se da una lista ampliada de la fauna malacológica del yacimiento pliocénico de la Plaça de les Bruixes (Molis de Rei, Barcelona). Los fenómenos de coacción que se describen nos muestran su utilidad a la hora de definir las condiciones ambientales y paleogeográficas del lugar donde habita la fauna.

Señales de depredación en los Gastropoda procedentes de un yacimiento pliocénico de Molins de Rei (Barcelona). Implicaciones paleoecológicas

En la presente nota se da una lista ampliada de la fauna malacológica del yacimiento pliocénico de la Plaça de les Bruixes (Molis de Rei, Barcelona). Los fenómenos de coacción que se describen nos muestran su utilidad a la hora de definir las condiciones ambientales y paleogeográficas del lugar donde habita la fauna.

Carbon balance of Fibre-Based Package

Customers are more and more interested in the environmental impacts of the products they purchase. Different labels give the required environmental information to consumers and the labels might affect to the consuming decisions. The European Union has set a plan for sustainable consuming, which encourages industry and commerce to calculate carbon footprints for the products. A term “carbon footprint” means carbon dioxide emissions across the product lifecycle. In this thesis, carbon footprints are calculated for two different fibre-based packages. In the end, greenhouse gas emissions from fibre-package production are compared to greenhouse gas emissions from PET bottle production. The data for mill processes is exact and monitored in the mill. In addition, data was gathered from raw material and material suppliers, customers, official records, KCL-eco databases and literature. The data for PET bottle is sourced from literature. End-of-life operations affect greatly on the carbon footprint of a fibre-based package. The results show that the carbon footprint is smallest when used packages are recycled. Recycling saves also natural resources. If used packages are not recyclable for some reason, it is recommended to use them in energy production. Through waste incineration fossil fuels could be substituted and greenhouse gas emissions avoided.

Estudio de los Muricidae del Plioceno del Empordà (Catalunya, España). Descriptiva y sistemàtica

En el present treball es descriuen 7 espècies de Muricidae (Neogastropoda, Gastropoda) procedents del Pliocè de l'Empordà (Girona, Espanya). Per això s'ha tingut en compte tant el material nou com el procedent de les coleccions ja existents. Quan el nmero d'individus ho ha permès, la descriptiva ha estat acompanyada per les següents dades numèriques: valor màxim (M), mínim (m), mitjana (x), desviació típica (s), variança (s2), intervals mitjana y variança, així como el coeficient de correlació (r).

New beetles (Insecta: Coleoptera) from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain.

Three beetles remains from the Lower Cretaceous lithographic limestones of Spain are described. We classified them into two new genus and three new species. One specimen named Tetraphalerus brevicapitisn.sp. was placed in the Cupedidae, and both Megacoptoclava longiurogomphia n.gen., n.sp. and Bolbonectus lithographicus n.gen., n.sp. in Coptoclavidae.

Upper Eocene-Lowermost Miocene charophyte succession in the Ebro Basin (Spain). Contribution to the charophyte biozonation in Western Europe

A charophyte succession has been established in nineteen sections and eight isolated outcrops from the Ebro Basin, ranging from the Priabonian ro the Aquitanian. Most assemblages were recovered fmm continuous sections and their abundance and diversity allow to define a new zonal scheme for the Upper Eocene-Lower Miocene of Europe. The new zonation includes nine subdivisions, based on the distribution of thirty-two species and directly correlated with the mammal standard levels. Changes in diversity, occurring mainly in the Middle and Upper Oligocene, have been related to climatíc variations. A new species, Chara sp. A. is also described and figured.

Los vertebrados fosiles del Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, l'Anoia, CataluÑa), una sucesion de localidades del Aragoniense superior (MN6 y MN7+8) de la cuenca del Valles-Penedes. CampaÑas 2002-2003, 2004-2005

Se presenta una síntesis del registro de vertebrados fósiles del Abocador de Can Mata (els Hostalets de Pierola, cuenca neógena del Vallès-Penedès), con especial énfasis en los aspectos taxonómico y bioestratigráfico. Este macroyacimiento incluye por el momento una sucesión de 91 localidades de micro- y/o macrovertebrados muestreadas, repartidas a lo largo de unos 300 m de serie estratigráfica, abarcando un intervalo de tiempo de más de un millón de años correspondiente al Aragoniense superior. Durante los 28 meses de trabajo de campo desarrollados a lo largo de las campañas 2002-2003, 2004 y 2005, se han recuperado más de 15.000 restos de macrovertebrados fósiles y más de 1.300 dientes de micromamíferos (cantidad que se verá incrementada en el futuro cuando haya finalizado el lavado y triado de los sedimentos acumulados). Se presenta por primera vez una lista exhaustiva del conjunto de localidades y su contextualización estratigráfica, además de una lista faunística actualizada y una propuesta de biozonación local. La gran riqueza fosilífera de la zona y el enorme esfuerzo de muestreo, combinados con los requerimientos de la legislación vigente sobre protección del patrimonio paleontológico, explican el éxito de la intervención paleontológica. En conjunto, la ampliación del vertedero de Can Mata, con el adecuado control paleontológico, proporciona una oportunidad única para investigar la composición faunística de los ecosistemas terrestres del Aragoniense superior en el suroeste de Europa.

Continental faunal exchange and the asymmetrical radiation of carnivores.

Lineages arriving on islands may undergo explosive evolutionary radiations owing to the wealth of ecological opportunities. Although studies on insular taxa have improved our understanding of macroevolutionary phenomena, we know little about the macroevolutionary dynamics of continental exchanges. Here we study the evolution of eight Carnivora families that have migrated across the Northern Hemisphere to investigate if continental invasions also result in explosive diversification dynamics. We used a Bayesian approach to estimate speciation and extinction rates from a substantial dataset of fossil occurrences while accounting for the incompleteness of the fossil record. Our analyses revealed a strongly asymmetrical pattern in which North American lineages invading Eurasia underwent explosive radiations, whereas lineages invading North America maintained uniform diversification dynamics. These invasions into Eurasia were characterized by high rates of speciation and extinction. The radiation of the arriving lineages in Eurasia coincide with the decline of established lineages or phases of climate change, suggesting differences in the ecological settings between the continents may be responsible for the disparity in diversification dynamics. These results reveal long-term outcomes of biological invasions and show that the importance of explosive radiations in shaping diversity extends beyond insular systems and have significant impact at continental scales.

Los nummulítidos (Nummulites y Assilina) del Paleoceno Superior-Eoceno Inferior de la cuenca pirenaica: Sistemaáica.

Se ha realizado el estudio sistemático de los nummulítidos pertenecientes a los géneros Nummulites y Assilina del intervalo Paleoceno Superior - Eoceno Inferior de la Cuenca Pirenaica, a partir de muestras procedentes principalmente del sector meridional de la cuenca. Los taxones descritos se han comparado con especímenes procedentes de otras cuencas de la Mesogea: Alpes suizos (Schlieren- y Gumigelflysch) y austríacos (unidades alóctonas helvéticas), norte de Italia (Verona y Vicenza), plataformas marinas adriáticas (Eslovenia y Croacia), península de Crimea (Ucrania), Cuenca de Haymana (Anatolia central, Turquía), y Salt Range (Pakistán). Se han descrito 98 taxones de nummuiítidos -entre especies y subespecies-, de los cuales: - 66 taxones del género Nummulites, pertenecientes a los grupos de N. perforatus, N. partschi, N. rotularius, N. minewensis, N. globulus, N. laevigatus, N. distans, N. heberti y N. spirectypus. - 32 taxones del género Assilina, pertenecientes a los gmpos de A. spira, A. exponens, A. subgranulosa, A. ammonea, A. canalijera y A. alpina. En este trabajo -y siguiendo las consideraciones de Loeblich y Tappan (1987)- Assilina integra las denominaciones gen6ricas tradicionales de Assilina y Operculina.

Magnetoestratigrafía de las sucesiones del Mioceno medio y superior del Vallés occidental (Depresión del Vallés-Penedés, NE España): Implicaciones biocronológicas y cronoestratigráficas.

The magnetostratigraphic analysis of the middle to late Miocene continental deposits from the Valles-Penedes basin, combined with its well-documented fossil mammal record, provides a well-resoluted chronology for the upper basin infill. It is based on the biostratigraphic and magnetostratigraphic cross-correlation of 18 sections throughout the alluvial and transitional/shallow marine sequences in the Western Valles area. The biostratigraphic framework consists of 24 mammal localities of upper Aragonian and Vallesian age. Correlation of the studied sections to the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS) is based on the distinctive pattern of local magnetozones, as well as the radiometric age of the late Vallesian fauna from the Bicorp Basin (9.6 + 0.3 Ma) and the known relationship of the late Vallesian assemblages with marine beds belonging to the planktonic forarninifera N16 zone. It has led to an absolute dating of the fauna1 events and a precise chronostratigraphy of the Vallesian marnrnal stage in its type area. The Hipparion First Appearance Datum (FAD) defines the lower Vallesian boundary and is dated at 11.1 Ma, at the base of chron C5r. ln. It is in good agreement with radiometric ages from the early Hipparion bearing sites in the Vienna Basin (1 1.1 * 0.5 Ma) and the classic Howenegg locality in Germany (10.8 * 0.3 Ma). It also agrees with the age of the turkish localities of Yailacilar (1 1.6 + 0.25 Ma) and Yenieskihisar-2 (1 1.1 * 0.2 Ma) with absence of Hipparion. Al1 these support the isochrony of the dispersa1 of Hipparion throughout the Mediterranean region. A possible isochrony at a larger geographical scale (Old World, Mesogea) must await more reliable ages of the Hipparion FAD in Asia and Africa. The Cricetulodon FAD that defines the MN9a/MN9b boundary occurs at the middle part of C5n. Assuming an on average constant sedimentation rate, this datum has an age of approximately 10.4 Ma. The earlyllate Vallesian boundary is marked by one of the most distinct fauna1 events of the late Neogene: the dispersa1 of the muridae Progonomys into Europe and North Africa, which coincides with an important macromarnmal turnover. The first extensive appearance of Progonomys in Europe (MN9íMN10 boundary) is dated at 9.7 Ma (C4Ar3r), showing a remarkable diachrony with the Himalayan region. F9i d lly, the FAD of Rotundomys bressnnus occurs in the upper part of C4Ar.ln (9.2-9.3 Ma). The Vallesian spans 2.4 Myr, from 11.1 Ma (CSr.ln) to 8.7 Ma (C4An), and correlates to the early Tortonian.

Un nuevo yacimiento de vertebrados en el Burdigaliense de Martorell (Provincia de Barcelona)

Se describe en la nota presente un nuevo yacimiento indito del Burdigaliense del Vallés-Penedés, cerca de Martorell y de la falla con la cadena litoral. Se da un resumen de la fauna encontrada y un corte estratigráfico detallado de la nueva localidad.

Pyrolyysiöljyn tuottaminen kiertoleijukattilaan liitetyllä prosessilla

Pyrolyysiöljy on biomassasta nopealla hapettomalla lämpökäsittelyprosessilla saatavaa nestemäistä polttoainetta. Kasvavien uusiutuvan energian käyttötavoitteiden myötä pyrolyysiöljystä on tullut kiinnostava vaihtoehto fossiilisille polttoöljyille. Suurimmat käytön haasteet ovat alhainen lämpöarvo, korkeat kiintoainepitoisuudet ja happamuus fossiilisiin polttoöljyihin verrattuna sekä eri raaka-aineista syntyvät ominaisuuksiltaan erilaiset pyrolyysiöljyt. Pyrolyysiöljyn kaupallinen tuotanto on vasta käynnistymässä eikä sen laadulle ole olemassa standardeja, joten eri valmistajien tuotteet voivat poiketa toisistaan huomattavastikin. Suomessa on Valtion teknillisen tutkimuskeskuksen (VTT) toimesta kehitetty Integrated Thermal Process (ITP)-konsepti, jossa pyrolyysiöljyn tuotantoprosessi on liitetty kiertoleijukattilaprosessiin. Prosessien yhdistämisellä voidaan parantaa kokonaishyötysuhdetta sekä hyödyntää laitosten yhteistä käyttöä ja polttoaineen hankintaa. Pyrolyysiprosessin tarvitsema lämpöenergia otetaan petihiekan välityksellä kattilasta, jossa poltetaan myös prosessissa syntyvät oheistuotteet. Tässä diplomityössä tutkittiin pyrolyysiprosessin vaikutusta voimalaitoksen toimintaan ja luotiin malli voimalaitoksen energiataseessa tapahtuvien muutosten arviointiin. Malli laskee sekä pyrolysaattorin että raaka-aineen käsittelyn vaikutukset voimalaitoksen sähkön- ja lämmöntuotantoon. Lisäksi mallin avulla voidaan arvioida pyrolysaattorin aiheuttama raaka-aineen tarve sekä voimalaitoksen lisäpolttoaineen tarve. Työssä tarkasteltiin myös pyrolyysiöljyn ominaisuuksia ja käyttökohteita, sekä tarvittavia muutoksia olemassa olevaan voimalaitokseen. Lisäksi arvioitiin tuotannon kannattavuutta. Mallia sovellettiin esimerkkivoimalaitokseen, jossa on harkittu pyrolyysiöljyn tuotannon aloittamista. Laskelmien perusteella pyrolyysiöljyn tuotannolla on sähkön- ja lämmöntuotantoa alentava sekä polttoaineen tarvetta korottava vaikutus. Pyrolyysiprosessin lisääminen nostaa voimalaitoksen kokonaishyötysuhdetta. Suotuisissa olosuhteissa öljytuotanto ITP-konseptilla näyttäisi olevan taloudellisesti kannattavaa.

Present day distribution and historical biogeography of the tribu Ophidiini (Ophidiformes, Ophidiidae, Ophidiinae) from the East Tropical Atlantic (CLOFETA area) and North-East Atlantic and Mediterranean (CLOFNAM area)

The present day geographic distribution of the Ophidiini tribe (Ophidiidae, Ophidiinae) in the Clofnam (North- Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean) and Clofeta (Eastern Tropical Atlantic) areas is revised in this paper. Results show that Parohidion vassali is not a Mediterranean endemic species, and the presence of Ophidion barbatum in the Atlantic is confirmed. Moreover, the paper tries to analyse the historical events which could have caused the present situation of two genera, Ophidion and Parophidion, both in the Atlantic and in the Mediterranean. Although first fossil records of Ophidion and Parophidion date from the Pliocene, when considering all the historical events occurred from the existence of the Tethys Sea to the opening of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean formation, a much earlier origin of these genera seems to be more likely. The situation of Ophidion barbatum and O. rochei in the Mediterranean and Black Sea is also discussed

A macro-ecological perspective on crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis evolution in Afro-Madagascan drylands: Eulophiinae orchids as a case study.

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) photosynthesis is an adaptation to water and atmospheric CO2 deficits that has been linked to diversification in dry-adapted plants. We investigated whether CAM evolution can be associated with the availability of new or alternative niches, using Eulophiinae orchids as a case study. Carbon isotope ratios, geographical and climate data, fossil records and DNA sequences were used to: assess the prevalence of CAM in Eulophiinae orchids; characterize the ecological niche of extant taxa; infer divergence times; and estimate whether CAM is associated with niche shifts. CAM evolved in four terrestrial lineages during the late Miocene/Pliocene, which have uneven diversification patterns. These lineages originated in humid habitats and colonized dry/seasonally dry environments in Africa and Madagascar. Additional key features (variegation, heterophylly) evolved in the most species-rich CAM lineages. Dry habitats were also colonized by a lineage that includes putative mycoheterotrophic taxa. These findings indicate that the switch to CAM is associated with environmental change. With its suite of adaptive traits, this group of orchids represents a unique opportunity to study the adaptations to dry environments, especially in the face of projected global aridification.

Territorialisation des politiques énergétiques dans l'agglomération franco-valdo-genevoise : la planification énergétique comme opportunité de réaménagement des zones frontières ?

La présente recherche traite des défis posés à l'action publique territoriale par la transition énergétique, transition désormais érigée au rang de priorité par les autorités françaises et suisses, comme plus globalement européennes. Elle prend pour cela appui sur une analyse des démarches de planification énergétique territoriale menées entre 2007 et 2014 sur le territoire franco-valdo-genevois (agglomération du « Grand-Genève »). Considérées comme des laboratoires d'expérimentation de la territorialisation des politiques énergétiques, ces démarches sont ici examinées selon une perspective institutionnaliste et pragmatiste visant à mettre lumière les éléments qui interviennent dans la délimitation du champ des possibles en matière d'action publique énergétique et territoriale. Ce positionnement découle des évolutions observées sur le territoire franco-valdo-genevois durant la période d'étude (chapitre 1). Il découle plus précisément du constat de récurrence de certains points de blocage rencontrés aussi bien dans les démarches de planification énergétique elles-mêmes que dans les travaux méthodologiques qui ont pu être réalisés parallèlement à ces démarches, dans le but d'en affiner les outils techniques et organisationnels de mise en oeuvre. Ainsi, le point de départ de la présente recherche est le constat selon lequel on peine tout autant à construire des solutions énergétiques appropriables et réalisables par les acteurs des territoires concernés qu'à reconfigurer les outils de production de ces solutions. De ce constat découle l'intérêt porté aux cadres institutionnels qui régissent ces planifications énergétiques territoriales. Définis comme l'ensemble des repères - formels et informels - qui rendent possibles en même temps qu'ils contraignent les interactions territorialisées entre les acteurs, ces cadres institutionnels sont placés au coeur de la grille de (re)lecture des expériences de planification énergétique territoriale établie au chapitre 2 de la thèse. En référence aux concepts institutionnalistes et pragmatistes sur lesquels elle prend appui, cette grille conduit à appréhender ces expériences comme autant d'enquêtes contribuant, à travers le travail de mobilisation et construction de représentations territoriales auquel elles donnent lieu, à l'équipement sociocognitif d'un champ d'intervention territorial spécifique. Partant de l'hypothèse selon laquelle les potentialités comme les limites associées à l'équipement sociocognitif de ce champ orientent les possibilités d'action collective, la réflexion consiste en une application de cette grille à une trentaine d'expériences de planification énergétique territoriale. Cette application s'effectue en deux temps, correspondant à deux niveaux de lecture de ces démarches. Le premier porte sur les dispositifs organisationnels et les modalités d'interactions entre les cultures d'action qu'elles réunissent (chapitre 3). Le second se concentre davantage sur les supports cognitifs (représentations territoriales) autour desquels se structurent ces interactions (chapitre 4). Présentés dans le dernier chapitre de la thèse (chapitre 5), les enseignements tirés de ce travail de réexamen des démarches franco-valdo-genevoises de planification énergétique territoriale sont de deux ordres. Ils portent d'abord sur les caractéristiques des cadres institutionnels existants, la manière dont ils orientent ces démarches et délimitent les évolutions possibles dans les modes d'action collective et plus particulièrement d'action publique qui y sont associés. Mais ils portent aussi sur les potentiels de changement associés à ces démarches, et sur les pistes envisageables pour mieux valoriser es potentiels, dont l'activation passe par des évolutions profondes des systèmes institutionnels en place. -- In France as in Switzerland, local authorities stand out as leading players of energy transition, a transition that requires an important renewal of public intervention instruments. It is the stakes and the conditions of such a renewal that the present work aims to examine, based on the experiments of territorial energy planning led on the franco-valdo-genevan cross-border territory. Conceived as initiatives of relocation of the energy supply system, these energy planning initiatives are examined through an institutionalist and pragmatic « reading template ». This « reading template » consists of seeing these energy planning initiatives as pragmatist inquiries aiming, through a collective work of cognitive equipment of the territorial franco-valdo-genevan field of intervention, at the reconstruction of the means of coordination between people about their material, organizational and political territory. It opens towards a double reading of the energy planning initiatives. The first one concentrates on the organizational dimension of these inquiries - i.e. on the cultures of action which they gather and the modalities of interaction between them - whereas the second focuses on the cognitive substance which represents the medium of the interactions. This double reading provides insights at various levels. The first one concerns the (cognitive) territorial field of intervention that these energy-planning experiments contribute to draw. A field which, although better and better characterized in its technical dimensions, remains at the same time limited and " deformed " so that it values more the fossil energy systems, from which we want to release ourselves, than the renewable ones, which we would like to replace them with. The second level of teaching concerns the processes of production of territorial knowledge (PPTK) which presides over the demarcation and « equipment » of the territorial field of intervention. Examined through the institutional norms and the culture of action at stake in them, this PPTK turns out to create a sociocognitive "cross-border" area, the kind of area that could shelter the desired reconfigurations...on the condition that they are beforehand correctly "equipped", in cognitive and also in organizational terms. The determining factor for the quality of this equipment is concentrated in the third category of teaching. Starting with the opportunities created by these energy planning experiments concerning the renewal of public intervention instruments, these elements also allow us to take a new look at the urban area project under construction in this cross-border territory, a project th t shows itself closely linked to the energy experiments through a common challenge of territorialisation.