A quantitative method of palaeolake-level reconstruction using ostracod assemblages : an example from the Bolivian Altiplano

This paper provides quantitative information concerning the response of ostracods to environmental variability in order to reconstruct past environments. Ostracod faunas from modern sediments of Bolivian lakes and swamps were studies. Ostracod distribution is controlled by several ecological characteristics such as lake-level and water chemistry. Statistical results indicate that three transfer functions (on water depth, Total dissolved Salts and water in Mg/Ca ratio) can be developed, from ostracod species frequencies in lacustrine sediments, with some restrictions for the tow last ones (Resume d'auteur)

Preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru

A preliminary checklist of the Cerambycidae, Disteniidae, and Vesperidae (Coleoptera) of Peru is presented. Within Cerambycidae, we record five subfamilies, 55 tribes, 345 genera and subgenera, and 714 species. Within Disteniidae, we record one tribe, six genera, and 11 species. We also record one subfamily, one tribe, one genus, and two species within Vesperidae. Four new country records are recorded: one species in the tribe Anacolini (Cerambycidae: Prioninae): Cycloprionus flavus Tippmann, 1953; and three species in the tribe Onciderini (Cerambycidae: Lamiinae): Cacostola simplex (Pascoe, 1859); Marensis simplex (Bates, 1865); Trachysomus cavigibba Martins, 1975. In addition, 161 species recorded are known only from Peru

Late Quaternary palaeohydrology of Lake Huinaymarca (Bolivia)

L'analyse des associations d'ostracodes présents dans les échantillons prélevés dans les sédiments du lac Huinaymarca permet de retracer l'évolution hydrobiologique du lac (variation du niveau lacustre, variation de l'oxygénation par rapport à la position de la thermocline, interconnections avec les différents bassins du lac) au cours des dix derniers millénaire

Ostracodes; witnesses of the Plio-Quaternary boundary in the North Eastern Atlantic preliminary results

Proceedings of the 1" R.C.A.N.S. Congress, Lisboa, October 1992The 2,4 MY crisis is an important event for the upper Neogene ofNorth Atlantic. A new climatic system occur and widespread during the Quaternary and is characterized by glacial and interglacial alternance. To follow the different steps of this crisis, we have choosen a borehole situated in the Cotentin peninsula (Normandy, France) and used ostracodes such as markers. The interpretation of quantitative and qualitative data from the ostracode fauna analysis shows that bathymetry was around 40 and 60 meters with slight fluctuations, excepted during Praetiglian event where the zone was outofwater. The morphologicalvariability analysis offour species (the best represented in the core), show a low variability between the basement and 80 meters. Beyond this limit and after 10 meters, characterized by very low values, the variability increases to very high values to the top of the core. Present data; Abe et Choe, 1988; Peypouquet et al, 1988; Carbonel et al., 1990 a, 1990 b; show that there is a close link between seasonal contrast intensity and ostracode intraspecifical morphological variations. The carbonates balance at the interface water / sediment, were ostracodes live and moult, is related and reflects the intensity of the seasonal contrast. After the Praetiglian event, an increase of the seasonal contrast occurs during the Tiglian A and the lower Tiglian B

On the Upper Cretaceous age and affinities of Neocyprideis lusitanicus (Ostracoda)

Guernet & Lauverjat (1986) described a new species, Neocyprideis lusitanicus, from sediments deposited near Aveiro, Portugal. For these authors, some associated fossils (Molluscs, planktonic Foraminifera) indicated a Pliocene age. That seemingly was the first record of Neocyprideis in post-Miocene sediments in Europe. A recent study of Upper Cretaceous material from the same region showed an abundant Neocyprideis fauna, associated with Charophyta. These Neocyprideis could be assigned without any doubt to N. lusitanicus. Therefore, N. lusitanicus appears as an Upper Cretaceous species, reworked in much later sediments, not Pliocene but Quaternary, as indicated by the planktonic Foraminifera assemblage. This interpretation is supported by: 1 - the incompatibility of the Neocyprideis (restricted to lacustrine-lagoonal environments) with abundant planktic Foraminifera; 2 - the occurrence of N. lusitanicus with Charophytes and non marine, cretaceous vertebrates but without the same Foraminifera. Neocyprideis lusitanicus is a valid species, clearly different from the other late Cretaceous species (N. coudouxensis and N. murciensis) as well as the Early Miocene described species (N. aquitanica, N. janoscheki)

Hurricanes and climate in the Caribbean during the past 3700 years BP

International audienceA multiproxy analysis of lacustrine sediments cored in Grand-Case Pond at Saint-Martin, north of the Lesser Antilles archipelago, reveals three distinct climatic periods for the last 3700 years. From 3700 to ~2500 yr cal. BP and from 1150 yr cal. BP to the present, carbonate mud deposition occurred in connection with pond lowstands. These periods were also punctuated by severe drought events, marked by gypsum laminae, and hurricane landfalls, leading to marine sand inputs into the pond. The intermediate time interval, from 2500 to 1150 yr cal. BP, is typified by black organic mud deposition, suggesting that hypoxic to anoxic conditions prevailed at the pond bottom. These were probably linked with a perennial pond highstand and reflect more uniform and wetter climatic conditions than today. The carbon isotopic composition of the ostracod Perissocytheridea bisulcata shows that the lowest δ13C values are recorded during the hypoxic periods, as a consequence of bacterial recycling of isotopically depleted organic matter. Such a climatic history agrees closely with that documented from other records in the Caribbean area, such as the Cariaco Basin, central coast of Belize or Barbados. By constrast, discrepancies seem to emerge from the comparison between hurricane activity recorded at Saint-Martin on the one hand and Vieques (Puerto Rico) on the other hand. We explain this apparent contradiction by a balance between two distinct storm paths in response to latitudinal shifts of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). Stronger storm activity over the Gulf coast and the inner Caribbean Sea is favoured by a southern position of the ITCZ in connection with dry climatic conditions. Plausible links with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) are also suggested

La longue séquence pliocène de Marchésieux - Résultats analytiques et premiers résultats

National audienceLe sondage intégralement carotté de Marchésieux a permis d'atteindre l'objectif fixé dans le projet AR42 du BRGM : l'analyse paléoclimatique du premier épisode glaciaire de l'hémisphère nord (Prétiglien, -2,4 Ma) et probablement le premier rafraîchissement de -3,1 Ma. Les 159,3 m de sédiments datés du Reuvérien et du Prétiglien ont déjà livré une quantité importante d'informations aussi bien climatiques que paléoenvironnementales. De par sa position géographique privilégiée et de par son environnement côtier, la "Longue sequence" de Marchésieux a précisé les modalités de la séquence de dégradation climatique en milieu continental et marin à nos latitudes moyennes. La méthodologie fortement pluridisciplinaire, le plus souvent il très haute résolution, permet d'affiner notablement les modalités de la réponse de chaque environnement au changement climatique, et apparaît, en ce sens, beaucoup plus riche que les études monodisciplinaires classiques. Ainsi, les réponses zoologiques, phytosociologiques, sedimentologiques et géochimiques au stimulus climatique externe peuvent être comparées et calibrées

Evaluating susceptibility of karst dolines (sinkholes) for collapse in Sango, Tennessee, USA

Dolines or sinkholes are earth depressions that develop in soluble rocks complexes such as limestone, dolomite, gypsum, anhydrite, and halite; dolines appear in a variety of shapes from nearly circular to complex structures with highly curved perimeters. The occurrence of dolines in the studied karst area is not random; they are the results of geomorphic, hydrologic and chemical processes that have caused partial subsidence, even total collapse of the land surface, when voids and caves are present in the bedrock and the regolith arch overbridging these voids is unstable. In the study area, the majority of collapses occur in the regolith (bedrock cover) that bridges voids in the bedrock. Because these collapsing dolines can damage property and cause even the loss of lives, there is a need to develop methods for evaluating karst hazards; such methods can be used by planners and practitioners for urban and economic development, especially in regions with a growing population. The purpose of this project is threefold: 1) to develop a karst feature database, 2) to investigate critical indicators associated with doline collapse, and 3) to design a doline susceptibility model for potential doline collapse based on external morphometric data. The study revealed the presence of short range spatial dependence in the distribution of the dolines’ morphometric parameters such as circularity, geographic orientation of the main doline axes and the length-to-width doline ratios; therefore, geostatistics can be used to spatially evaluate the susceptibility of the karst area for doline collapse using the probability of occurrence of these critical parameters. The partial susceptibility estimates were combined into final spatial probabilities enabling the identification of areas where undetected dolines may cause significant hazards