Age determination and planktonic foraminifera og ODP Site 159-958

Site 958 was drilled to monitor the late Neogene history of both continental aridity in northwestern Africa and the Canary Current distant from nearshore upwelling. Based on magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphic datums, variations in carbonate, coarse fraction components, and the species composition of planktonic foraminifers, as well as using the d18O records of Globigerinoides ruber (white), we established a splice between Holes 958A and 958B and a stratigraphic age scale deciphering Milankovitch cycles. Over the last 630 k.y., sedimentation rates amount to 2.9 cm/k.y., and to 2.05-2.53 cm/k.y. back to the base of the Pleistocene. Extremely low rates of 0.4 cm/k.y. and a reworking of fossils mark the late Pliocene. The first continuous, long, sea-surface temperature (SST) record from the center of the Canary Current, which is based on foraminifer species census data, depicts a general temperature decrease in the late Pliocene, lower SST and high seasonalities of up to 6°C ~2.0-1.6 Ma, a warmer interval from 1.6 Ma to ~0.85 Ma, again lower SST and higher seasonalities until 0.33 or 0.26 Ma, and a final warmer interval, lasting until at least 50 ka, possibly reflecting the attenuated dynamics of the Canary Current. Especially over the last 400 k.y., since Stage 11, glacial stages are hardly reflected by cold SST cycles, except for various abrupt and extremely short cooling events amounting to D6°C, which possibly result from North Atlantic Heinrich events. Similar, but not necessarily synchronous, events of short-term, extremely high values occur in the paleoproductivity and (d13Cbased) paleonutrient records, which indicate a generally low primary production averaging to 180 g C m**-2 yr**-1 at 50-330 ka and about 300 g C m**-2 yr**-1 back to the base of the Pleistocene. Near 1.2-1.6 Ma, the grain-size and magnetic susceptibility records document a significant increase in the discharge of south Saharan/Sahelian dust, possibly linked to increasing aridity.

Planktonic foraminifera distribution during the mid-Piacenzian warm period in the North Atlantic

The mid-Piacenzian (MP) warm period (3.264-3.025 Ma) has been identified as the most recent time in geologic history during which mean global surface temperatures were considerably warmer than today for a sustained period. This interval has therefore been proposed as a potential (albeit imperfect) analog for future climate change and as such, has received much scientific attention over the past two decades. Central to this research effort is the Pliocene Research, Interpretation, and Synoptic Mapping (PRISM) project, an iterative paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the MP focused on increasing our understanding of warm-period climate forcings, dynamics, and feedbacks by providing three-dimensional data sets for general circulation models. A mainstay of the PRISM project has been the development of a global sea surface temperature (SST) data set based primarily upon quantitative analyses of planktic foraminifer assemblages, supplemented with geochemical SST estimates wherever possible. In order to improve spatial coverage of the PRISM faunal data set in the low and mid-latitude North Atlantic, this study provides a description of the MP planktic foraminifer assemblage from five Ocean Drilling Program sites (951, 958, 1006, 1062, and 1063) in the subtropical gyre, a region critical to Atlantic Ocean circulation and tropical heat advection. Assemblages from each core provide evidence for a temperature- and circulation-driven 5-10° northward displacement of MP faunal provinces, as well as regional shifts in planktic foraminifer populations linked to species ecology and interactions. General biogeographic trends also indicate that, relative to modern conditions, gyre circulation was stronger (particularly the Gulf Stream, North Atlantic Current, and North Equatorial Current) and meridionally broader. A comparison of mid-Piacenzian and modern North Atlantic planktic foraminifer assemblages suggests that low latitude western boundary currents were less than 1 °C warmer while eastern boundary currents were ~1-2 °C warmer, supporting the hypothesis of enhanced northward heat advection along western boundary currents and warming of high latitude Northeast Atlantic source regions for the Canary Current. These findings are consistent with a model of reduced meridional SST gradients, with little-to-no low latitude warming, and more vigorous ocean circulation. Results therefore support the theory that enhanced meridional overturn circulation and associated northward heat advection made an important contribution, in conjunction with elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations, to the 2-3 °C global surface temperature increase (relative to today) and strong polar amplification of SST warmth during the MP warm period.

Diário da Constituinte [gravação de vídeo] : [programa n. 159]

Está pronto o calendário das sessões extraordinárias para o debate dos temas polêmicos da Assembleia Nacional Constituinte. O Deputado Bocayuva Cunha (PDT-RJ) espera a participação popular e que a sociedade possa acompanhar a posição dos partidos e dos constituintes em relação aos temas a serem debatidos. O PT quer discutir mais os temas sociais. O Deputado Vladimir Palmeiras (PT-RJ) declara que a bancada terá uma intervenção mais sistemática no Plenário, no sentido de afirmar que a redução da jornada de trabalho e a estabilidade no emprego são pontos essenciais para discussão do texto constitucional. Reunião do Grupo Interpartidário, com representantes do PMDB, PT, PDT, PCB e PFL, buscam o consenso. O Deputado Antonio Brito (PMDB-RS) afirma que a sabedoria de uma Constituinte é tentar estabelecer o que o país tem em comum, para criar uma Constituição duradoura. Na reunião interpartidária, os constituintes debateram os artigos do anteprojeto que tratam da censura, da criação de um conselho de comunicação social e da reforma agrária e definiram dezenove pontos em torno dos quais buscarão uma posição de consenso nas votações em Plenário. O Deputado Roberto Freire (PCB-PE) destaca a importância do diálogo entre os partidos. O Deputado Mário Covas (PMDB-SP) declara que há uma preocupação comum que é a de ter uma Constituição que reflita os anseios da sociedade brasileira. O Deputado Plínio Arruda Sampaio (PT-SP) afirma que há uma intenção dos grupos progressistas de comporem uma grande aliança para que esta Constituição represente um avanço. O Deputado Alceni Guerra (PFL-PR) defende que a Constituição deve representar o que pensa a sociedade brasileira e deve também ser flexível, para que tanto um governo de esquerda como um de direita possa governar o país. O Deputado Antonio Brito (PMDB-RS) ressalta que, pela primeira vez, os partidos estão negociando e que é isto o que deve ser uma Constituinte. Dom Luciano Mendes, Presidente da Confederação Nacional dos Bispos do Brasil (CNBB), entrega três emendas populares ao Presidente da Assembleia Nacional Constituinte (ANC) Ulysses Guimarães . Dom Luciano ressalta a importância das emendas populares.

The transport of aquatic animals by birds. [Translation from: Binnengewaesser 18, 156-159, 1950.]

A great deal has been written on the part which birds play in the dispersal of freshwater fauna. This article summarises literature on the dispersal of aquatic animals by birds and aquatic insects.