Eocene to middle Miocene contourite deposits in Cyprus: A record of Indian Gateway evolution

Acknowledgements This work was funded through the Joint Industry Project (JIP) supported by BP (United Kingdom), ENI (Italy), TOTAL (France), ExxonMobil (United States), Wintershall Dea (Germany) and TGS (United Kingdom) within the framework of “The Drifters” Research Group at Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), and it is related to the projects CTM 2012-39599-C03, CGL2016-80445-R and CTM2016- 75129-C3-1-R. Financial support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is gratefully acknowledged (HU 804/11-1). We thank the Cyprus Geological Survey for scientific collaboration and support, in particular Costas Constantinou and Efthymios Tsiolakis. We thank A. Creaser, L. Hyslop (RHUL), D.A.W. Stow (Heriot-Watt University) and A. Viana (PETROBRAS) for valuable help and discussions during field campaigns. We are also grateful to S. Suklap and B. Docherty for their analysis on microfacies during their MSc. in 2016. Thanks to Dr. G. Blackbourn (Blackbourn Geoconsulting) for his petrographic analysis; F. Sierro (Univ. Salamanca, Spain), RPS Energy Ltd and PalaeoVision Ltd for their biostratigraphic analysis of the samples and A. Maestro (IGME, Spain) for the basemap in Fig. 1. A. de la Vara’s contribution is based on work done during her PhD at Utrecht University, supervised by Paul Meijer. We thank the editor, Gabriel Tagliaro and one anonymous reviewer for their positive comments which helped us to improve considerably our manuscript.Bottom current deposits (contourites) form in association with modern-day or ancient oceanic gateways. A paucity of examples in the ancient record and the lack of consensus on diagnostic criteria for differentiating them from other deepwater deposits limit our understanding of how they may record past global oceanic circulation, tectonic events and gateway evolution. This work describes an exceptional example of Eocene to middle Miocene deep-marine deposits located both onshore and offshore deepwater environments around the island of Cyprus. Multidisciplinary approaches were used to discriminate contourite facies associations, propose a sedimentary model, and interpret the relations with regional tectonics and the evolution of the nearby Indian Gateway. Contourite deposits appear in late Eocene to middle Miocene intervals interstratified with pelagic/hemipelagic sediments, turbidites and mass-transport deposits (MTDs). These deepwater deposits developed along a slope basin located on the upper plate of an active margin, evolving from a wide basin formed during a period of tectonic quiescent into a series of shallowing-upward, segmented sub-basins affected by compressional stress. The present study proposes a sedimentary model in which two contourite depositional systems developed: first in the Eocene (dominated by finer-grained contourites), and then during the latest Oligocene to middle Miocene (dominated by coarser-grained contourites). Both systems were buried by extensive marl deposits and record the respective influence of deep (circulating NW) and intermediate (circulating SE) water masses. The long-term evolution of the contourites reflects tectonic events that enhanced subduction processes south of Cyprus as well as exchange between the Neotethys Ocean and the Indian and Atlantic Oceans —until the final closure of the Indian Gateway by the end of the middle Miocene, when a new circulation pattern was established with the formation of the Mediterranean Sea. The contourites described here represent bi-gradational sequences that normally form in association with contouritic drifts, sometimes having the asymmetric top-cut sequence characteristics of plastered drifts and contourite terraces. The coarser (sandy) contourites, formed from the latest Oligocene to middle Miocene, consist of three packages associated with compressive and flexural phases. They pertain to I) Chattian (late Oligocene); II) Aquitanian/Burdigalian (early Miocene) and III) Langhian (middle Miocene). Evidence of enhanced bottom current episodes occurs toward the top of these packages before they are buried by later dominant marl deposits. The sandy contourites thus formed during the compressive phases, whereas the predominately finer-grained units formed during later flexural phases. The intermittent turbidites and MTDs (developed during compressional phases in combination with pelagic/hemipelagic sediments) represent the sediment supply for the contourite deposits after their winnowing and / or reworking. Our research found that the diagnostic criteria for discriminating ancient bottom current deposits from other deepwater deposits are related primarily to variations in sedimentary processes, current behaviour and its velocity, sedimentation rates and paleoenvironmental conditions. This highlights the importance of primary sedimentary structures, microfacies and ichnological features in making determinations at the sedimentary facies scale. Due to their common occurrence, sedimentary thickness (30-40 m), potential porosity and permeability, sandy contourites can form deepwater reservoirs for energy geosciences. In summary, this work demonstrates the role of plate tectonics and oceanic gateways in driving the paleo-oceanic circulation that, in turn, controls sedimentary processes and shapes the morphology of oceanic basins and continental margins. It also allows for comparison with other present-day and ancient continental margin deposits. Future high-resolution approaches and analyses of other geological settings could help resolve the sedimentary architectures of similar deepwater systems in terms of episodic tectonic processes —involving compressive-flexural stress variations. They control the Earth’s surface environment (sea-level, climate and oceanic circulation) over time by influencing sediment supply, packages of strata and types of contourite deposits.Joint Industry Project (JIP) supported by BP (United Kingdom), ENI (Italy), TOTAL (France), ExxonMobil (United States), Wintershall Dea (Germany) and TGS (United Kingdom) within the framework of “The Drifters” Research Group at Royal Holloway University of London (RHUL), and it is related to the projects CTM 2012-39599-C03, CGL2016-80445-R and CTM2016- 75129-C3-1-RDeutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) is gratefully acknowledged (HU 804/11-1

Análisis de la resolución de problemas como estrategia de enseñanza de la biología

Solving-problems as a biology teaching strategy could make the process of comprehension easier and lead to the student's acquisition of knowledge. This paper analyses problem-solving as a basic element of the above strategy (method). For this reason it first proposes the definition of the terms «problem» and «problem-solving» inside practical teaching and secondly discusses the nature of solving as a method within the particular case of biology teaching-learning

A vision of epigraphy in light of the theory of communication: the frieze of the chapel of St. Gregory's College in Valladolid

A lo largo de los siglos las inscripciones han sido herramientas indispensables a la hora de transmitir un mensaje a una audiencia lo más amplia posible. En la actualidad los estudiosos subrayan la naturaleza comunicativa de las inscripciones. Por ello, este estudio pretende contemplar la epigrafía a la luz de las modernas teorías de la comunicación. La existencia de tres factores fundamentales —subjetivos, objetivos y práxicos— en el proceso de comunicación (según la propuesta del profesor Martín Algarra) constituye el fundamento de este artículo. Este marco teórico viene seguido del pormenorizado análisis de un ejemplo: el friso de la capilla del Colegio de San Gregorio de Valladolid. Esta larga inscripción ilustra a la perfección las cuestiones tratadas en la primera parte: los diferentes actores implicados en el acto de comunicación, los elementos objetivos de la inscripción y las acciones necesarias para expresar el mensaje y para interpretarlo a lo largo del tiempo.For centuries, inscriptions have been key instruments in the process of conveying a message to a wide audience. Today’s scholars underscore the communicative nature of inscriptions. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to see epigraphy in light of the modern theories of communication. The existence of three basic factors —subjective, objective, and pragmatic— in the process of communication (according to Martín Algarra’s proposal) constitutes the basis for the present work. This theoretical framework is then followed by a case study: the frieze of the chapel of St. Gregory’s College in Valldolid. The long inscription carved in it becomes a perfect example of the issues we consider in the first section of the article: the different actors involved in the act of communication, the objective elements of the inscription, and the actions needed in order to express the intended message and to interpret it throughout the centuries

Pseudodynamic tests on a full-scale 3-storey precast concrete building: behavior of the mechanical connections and floor diaphragms

A full-scale three-storey precast building was tested under seismic conditions at the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment in the framework of the SAFECAST project. The unique research opportunity of testing a complete structural system was exploited to the maximum extent by subjecting the structure to a series of pseudodynamic (PsD) tests and by using four different structural layouts of the same mock-up, while 160 sensors were used to monitor the global and local response of each layout. Dry mechanical connections were adopted to realize the joints between: floor-to-floor, floor-to-beam, wall-to-structure; column (and wall)-to-foundation and beam-to-column. Particular emphasis was given to the seismic behavior of mechanical beam–column connections, as well as to the response of floor diaphragms. Thus, the in-plane rigidity of three pretopped diaphragms with or without openings was assessed. In addition, two types of beam-to-column connections were investigated experimentally, namely hinged beam–column connections by means of dowel bar and emulative beam–column joints by means of dry innovative mechanical connections. Therefore, the seismic behavior of floor diaphragms and pinned beam–column connections in a multi-storey precast building was addressed experimentally. The results demonstrated that the proposed new beam-to-column connection system is a viable solution toward enhancing the response of precast RC frames subjected to seismic loads, in particular when the system is applied to all joints and quality measures are enforced in the execution of the joints

Frequency shift on the potential-dependent surface-enhanced Raman scattering of pyridine: simplified models for metal and solvent effects

The electronic structure of adsorbates is altered when it interacts with a surface, modifying the properties of both entities and giving rise to interesting phenomena related to heterogeneous catalysis or molecular electronics. If such surface is a metallic substrate, the electrode potential can be used to tune this interaction. Potential-dependent Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) is a particularly useful technique to study the induced effects on the molecule when the metal-adsorbate surface complex is formed, as the observed frequency shifts of the vibrational modes can provide information about it. However, from the computational point of view, these systems are difficult to model, because the macroscopic metal cannot be modelled easily using quantum mechanics. As an approach, we propose a simple model using silver atomic wires with different size and charge bonded to the molecule (AgnPyq, n = 2,3,5,7 and q = 0 and ±1 for n even and odd, respectively) which has been developed by the group and provides a good description of the effect of the electrode potential on the chemical enhancement mechanism of SERS.1-3 Electronic calculations were performed using Density Functional Theory (DFT). In order to study the frequency shifts, solvent effects have been taken into account by using the Polarizable Continuum Model (PCM). We have used three different functionals (B3LYP, PW91 and M06HF) and two basis sets (LANL2DZ for all atoms and LANL2DZ for Ag and 6-31G(d) for C,N,H) and, in all cases, a good agreement is achieved in terms of amplitude and trend of the frequency shift for most of the vibrational modes, especially when solvent interactions are included. The method was extended to other metals and solvents giving results in agreement with the available experimental data.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Pseudodynamic tests on a full-scale 3-storey precast concrete building: global response

In the framework of the SAFECAST Project, a full-scale three-storey precast building was subjected to a series of pseudodynamic (PsD) tests in the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA). The mock-up was constructed in such a way that four different structural configurations could be investigated experimentally. Therefore, the behaviour of various parameters like the types of mechanical connections (traditional as well as innovative) and the presence or absence of shear walls along with the framed structure were investigated. The first PsD tests were conducted on a dual frame-wall precast system, where two precast shear wall units were connected to the mock up. The first test structure sustained the maximum earthquake for which it had been designed with small horizontal deformations. In the second layout, the shear walls were disconnected from the structure, to test the building in its most typical configuration, namely with hinged beam–column connections by means of dowel bars (shear connectors). This configuration was quite flexible and suffered large deformations under the design level earthquake. An innovative connection system, embedded in the precast elements, was then activated to create emulative beam–column connections in the last two structural configurations. In particular, in the third layout the connectors were restrained only at the top floor, whereas in the fourth layout the connection system was activated in all beam–column joints. The PsD test results showed that, when activated at all the floors, the proposed connection system is quite effective as a means of implementing dry precast (quasi) emulative moment-resisting frames

The first heavy-metal hot subdwarf composite binary SB 744

Aims. A radial velocity follow-up of the long-period sdOB+G1V type spectroscopic binary SB 744 revealed strong lines of fluorine and lead in the optical spectrum of the sdOB star and subsolar metallicity in the G1V companion. With high quality observations and Gaia astrometric data we aim at measuring the chemical composition and Galactic kinematics of the system to put it in context with known populations of hot subdwarfs. Such binary systems have high potential, as they give insights into the late stages of binary evolution as well as into the mysterious formation of stripped core helium burning stars. Methods. We have analyzed the optical spectra with homogeneous atmospheric models to derive surface parameters of the binary members from a direct wavelength space decomposition and independently measured the atmospheric properties of the cool com- panion. The two independent methods reached consistent results, which, amended with constraints from spectral energy distributions provided a subdwarf mass. The Gaia astrometry allowed us to derive the Galactic kinematics of the system. Results. SB 744 turned out to be an old, Population II system, that has gone through dramatic events. The hot subdwarf star belongs to the heavy-metal subclass of sdOB stars and we report super-solar abundances of lead, based on Pb iii/iv lines. The He abundance of the hot subdwarf is the lowest among the known heavy-metal sdOB stars. The presence of fluorine implies that SB 744 was once a hierarchical triple system and the inner binary has merged in the near past. As an alternative scenario, single-star evolution through late core helium flash and atmospheric mixing can also produce the observed fluorine abundances. The atmospheric metal over-abundances currently observed are perhaps the results of a combination of mixing processes during formation and radiative support

Assessing Perspective-Taking in Children through Different Formats of Deictic Framing Protocol

The modern behavioral account of human language and cognition known as Relational Frame Theory (RFT) has argued that deictic relations are key repertoires underlying the development of the ability to take the perspective of another individual. Several studies have employed a deictic framing-based test protocol as an assessment of perspective-taking. In recent years, the format of the protocol has been modified in different studies. However, no empirical investigations have compared the original protocol with the new formats. The present chapter reports two studies that investigated whether a deictic relational protocol based on modification from recent research demonstrated better performance versus traditional deictic relations measured, with typically developing children. Results of Study 1 showed that variability in the scenarios proposed by recent research could be the best option, although a series of modifications should be made for the target population. Results of Study 2 showed that a combination of both original and new protocols of deictic relations gave a better performance on the perspective-taking task in the sample used. This chapter supports the need to adapt perspective-taking protocol to the work with children

Complex network modeling of EEG band coupling in dyslexia: An exploratory analysis of auditory processing and diagnosis

Complex network analysis has an increasing relevance in the study of neurological disorders, enhancing the knowledge of brain’s structural and functional organization. Network structure and efficiency reveal different brain states along with different ways of processing the information. This work is structured around the exploratory analysis of the brain processes involved in low-level auditory processing. A complex network analysis was performed on the basis of brain coupling obtained from electroencephalography (EEG) data, while different auditory stimuli were presented to the subjects. This coupling is inferred from the Phase-Amplitude coupling (PAC) from different EEG electrodes to explore differences between control and dyslexic subjects. Coupling data allows the construction of a graph, and then, graph theory is used to study the characteristics of the complex networks throughout time for control and dyslexic subjects. This results in a set of metrics including clustering coefficient, path length and small-worldness. From this, different characteristics linked to the temporal evolution of networks and coupling are pointed out for dyslexics. Our study revealed patterns related to Dyslexia as losing the small-world topology. Finally, these graph-based features are used to classify between control and dyslexic subjects by means of a Support Vector Machine (SVM).Spanish Government PGC2018-098813-B-C32Junta de Andalucia UMA20-FEDERJA-086European CommissionNVIDIA CorporationMinistry of Science and Innovation, Spain (MICINN) Spanish GovernmentEuropean CommissionUniversidad de Malaga/CBU

Charge Transfer mechanism in the Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering of 2,2'-bipyridine recorded on a silver electrode

Nowadays, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) has become a powerful technique to investigate the electronic structure of surface-molecule hybrid systems due to the huge enhancement of the Raman signal. It is established that the origin of this enhancement has two main contributions; the electromagnetic (EM), related to surface plasmons, and the chemical mechanism, due to resonant charge transfer (CT) processes between the adsorbate and the metal. With the aim to investigate the SERS-CT of bipyridine and to identify charge transfer process, the spectra were recorded on silver electrode by using three different wavelengths (473, 532 and 785 nm) in a range from 0.0 up to -1.4 V electrode potential. The electrode potential was modelled in the calculations with atomic silver wires of different size and charge attached to the BPy molecule (AgnBPyq, with q = 0 for n = 2 and q = ±1 for n = 3, 5, 7) and were computed with Density Functional Theory (DFT). Although BPy shows a trans conformation in solution, a cis conformation was chosen for its chelating properties. The results indicate that the intensification of the ~1550 cm-1 band at negative potentials is due the Franck-Condon factors related to the resonant CT process from the metal to the BPy molecule.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech