La agricultura marginal como fuente de sedimentos en el Pirineo Central

[Resumen] La agricultura cerealista ha ocupado grandes extensiones en los valles pirenaicos, en exposiciones solanas por debajo de 1600 m de altitud. En este artículo se estudia el papel de la agricultura tradicional en la producción de sedimentos y la degradación del paisaje. Por medio de parcelas experimentales puede afirmarse que la agricultura itinerante y el barbecho han dado lugar a pérdidas de suelo muy elevadas y explican la pedregosidad superficial de mu.chas laderas. En el caso de la agricultura itinerante (articas), la quema de matorral y la incorporación de cenizas al suelo como fertilizante no contribuía a mejorar sustancialmente la calidad de los suelos.[Abstract] Cereal cropping has occupied large extent in the Pyrenean valleys, on sunny aspects under 1.600 m a.s.l. In this paper the role of traditional farming on sediment yield and landscape degradation is studied. By means of experimental plots the authors conclude than shifting agriculture an fallow land have caused great soil losses and explain the surface stoniness in many hillslopes. In the case of shifting agriculture, the burning of the shrub cover and the use of ashes as fertilizer did not contribute to improve the quality of soil

Tethyan versus Iberian extension during the Cretaceous period in the Eastern Iberian Peninsula: insights from magnetic fabrics

This work investigates how anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) recorded the strain related to the Early Cretaceous extensional processes in synrift sediments of the Maestrat basin (eastern Spain). Forty-two sites, distributed throughout the Lower Cretaceous sequence with dominant gentle dips, were sampled. Minerals contributing to the AMS are mainly phyllosilicates. The parallelism between magnetic and sedimentary foliation seems to indicate that a primary (synsedimentary and early diagenetic) magnetic fabric was preserved at 84% of sites. Consequently, preferred orientations of magnetic lineations are interpreted to record the effect of extensional processes coeval with sedimentation and diagenesis during this period. At these 35 sites, two main magnetic lineation orientations are found, delimiting two large domains: a NE–SW orientation prevailing in the NW sector of the basin (parallel to the extension direction of the Iberian basin), and NW–SE to NNW–SSE orientations to the SE (parallel to the extension direction controlling the western Tethys margin). Directional variability demonstrates that the Maestrat basin is located at the boundary between two domains (Iberian and Tethyan) undergoing different plate-scale extensional processes. The subsequent Cenozoic tectonic inversion affected the synsedimentary magnetic fabrics at only a few sites at the borders of the basin, where compressive features are more developed

Multidisciplinary approach to constrain kinematics of fault zones at shallow depths: a case study from the Cameros–Demanda thrust (North Spain)

Determining transport direction in thrusts is one of the main issues to study deformation and to achieve reliable balanced cross-sections reconstruction of inverted basins and thrust systems. Anisotropy of Magnetic Susceptibility provides a tool to study deformation in fault rocks through the relationships between the magnetic susceptibility ellipsoid and deformational structures. The Cameros-Demanda Thrust (N Spain) shows a relatively simple history, with an average N-directed movement during the Cenozoic, and provides the possibility of determining the relationships between magnetic fabrics and transport directions in thrusts. The outcropping rocks are Mesozoic limestones in the hangingwall of the main thrust and Cenozoic conglomerates and Albian sandstones and coal in its footwall. Illite crystallinity and organic matter maturity indicate P-T conditions on the order of....The study of AMS in fault rocks (more than 400 samples distributed in 25 sites with fault gouge, breccia and microbreccia) in the Cameros thrust and its comparison with kinematic indicators (foliation, S/C structures and slickenside striations) indicates, in spite of the a priori simple relationships inferred from thrust geometry, a complex history of movements, changing from top-to-the-NW to top-to-the-NE along the history of Cenozoic thrusting. The transport direction is either oblique to the magnetic lineation and perpendicular to the strike of magnetic foliation, and can be checked with shear structures observed in thin sections and other kinematic indicators. The results obtained indicate that AMS can give clues about the transport direction in thrusts depending on the particular structures developed in each studied area

Panorámicas para un corte de la vertiente surpirenaica en la zona de estructuras oblicuas de Aínsa – Valle del Cinca

En la vertiente meridional de los Pirineos, la franja comprendida entre las latitudes 0º9’30’’O y 0º26’30’’E, que tiene su eje en torno al valle del río Cinca, tiene caracteres peculiares en su estructura: la dirección de los pliegues y cabalgamientos se aparta de la dirección pirenaica dominante..

The Sediment Green-Blue Color Ratio as a Proxy for Biogenic Silica Productivity Along the Chilean Margin

Sediment cores recently collected from the Chilean Margin during D/V JOIDES Resolution Expedition 379T (JR100) document variability in shipboard-generated records of the green/blue (G/B) ratio. These changes show a strong coherence with benthic foraminiferal δ18O, Antarctic ice core records, and sediment lithology (e.g., higher diatom abundances in greener sediment intervals), suggesting a climate-related control on the G/B. Here, we test the utility of G/B as a proxy for diatom productivity at Sites J1002 and J1007 by calibrating G/B to measured biogenic opal. Strong exponential correlations between measured opal% and the G/B were found at both sites. We use the empirical regressions to generate high-resolution records of opal contents (opal%) on the Chilean Margin. Higher productivity tends to result in more reducing sedimentary conditions. Redox-sensitive sedimentary U/Th generally co-varies with the reconstructed opal% at both sites, supporting the association between sediment color, sedimentary U/Th, and productivity. Lastly, we calculated opal mass accumulation rate (MAR) at Site J1007 over the last ∼150,000 years. The G/B-derived opal MAR record from Site J1007 largely tracks existing records derived from traditional wet-alkaline digestion from the south and eastern equatorial Pacific (EEP) Ocean, with a common opal flux peak at ∼50 ka suggesting that increased diatom productivity in the EEP was likely driven by enhanced nutrient supply from the Southern Ocean rather than dust inputs as previously suggested. Collectively, our results identify the G/B ratio as a useful tool with the potential to generate reliable, high-resolution paleoceanographic records that circumvent the traditionally laborious methodology.publishedVersio

Decrypting magnetic fabrics (AMS, AARM, AIRM) through the analysis of mineral shape fabrics and distribution anisotropy

The fieldwork was supported by the DIPS project (grant no. 240467) and the MIMES project (grant no. 244155) funded by the Norwegian Research Council awarded to O.G. O.P.'s position was funded from Y-TEC.Anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) and anisotropy of magnetic remanence (AARM and AIRM) are efficient and versatile techniques to indirectly determine rock fabrics. Yet, deciphering the source of a magnetic fabric remains a crucial and challenging step, notably in the presence of ferrimagnetic phases. Here we use X-ray micro-computed tomography to directly compare mineral shape-preferred orientation and spatial distribution fabrics to AMS, AARM and AIRM fabrics from five hypabyssal trachyandesite samples. Magnetite grains in the trachyandesite are euhedral with a mean aspect ratio of 1.44 (0.24 s.d., long/short axis), and > 50% of the magnetite grains occur in clusters, and they are therefore prone to interact magnetically. Amphibole grains are prolate with magnetite in breakdown rims. We identified three components of the petrofabric that influence the AMS of the analyzed samples: the magnetite and the amphibole shape fabrics and the magnetite spatial distribution. Depending on their relative strength, orientation and shape, these three components interfere either constructively or destructively to produce the AMS fabric. If the three components are coaxial, the result is a relatively strongly anisotropic AMS fabric (P’ = 1.079). If shape fabrics and/or magnetite distribution are non-coaxial, the resulting AMS is weakly anisotropic (P’ = 1.012). This study thus reports quantitative petrofabric data that show the effect of magnetite distribution anisotropy on magnetic fabrics in igneous rocks, which has so far only been predicted by experimental and theoretical models. Our results have first-order implications for the interpretation of petrofabrics using magnetic methods.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin

Rainfall is the key factor to understand soil erosion processes, mechanisms, and rates. Most research was conducted to determine rainfall characteristics and their relationship with soil erosion (erosivity) but there is little information about how atmospheric patterns control soil losses, and this is important to enable sustainable environmental planning and risk prevention. We investigated the temporal and spatial variability of the relationships of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield with atmospheric patterns (weather types, WTs) in the western Mediterranean basin. For this purpose, we analyzed a large database of rainfall events collected between 1985 and 2015 in 46 experimental plots and catchments with the aim to: (i) evaluate seasonal differences in the contribution of rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield produced by the WTs; and (ii) to analyze the seasonal efficiency of the different WTs (relation frequency and magnitude) related to rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield. The results indicate two different temporal patterns: the first weather type exhibits (during the cold period: autumn and winter) westerly flows that produce the highest rainfall, runoff, and sediment yield values throughout the territory; the second weather type exhibits easterly flows that predominate during the warm period (spring and summer) and it is located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. However, the cyclonic situations present high frequency throughout the whole year with a large influence extended around the western Mediterranean basin. Contrary, the anticyclonic situations, despite of its high frequency, do not contribute significantly to the total rainfall, runoff, and sediment (showing the lowest efficiency) because of atmospheric stability that currently characterize this atmospheric pattern. Our approach helps to better understand the relationship of WTs on the seasonal and spatial variability of rainfall, runoff and sediment yield with a regional scale based on the large dataset and number of soil erosion experimental stations