Preliminary Estimate of the Reservoir Age in the Lagoon of Venice

The Lagoon of Venice was formed about 6000 years ago due to the marine transgression associated with the late Pleistocene sea level rise. Already by the time of the Republic of Venice (727–1797 AD) it was recognized that the future of the city and its many historical buildings was strongly correlated with the future of the lagoon itself. During the centuries many engineering projects such as modification of the fluvial systems, construction of coastal barriers, and dredging of navigation channels were carried out to preserve the lagoonal environment. The present-day lagoon is the result of all these processes and covers an area of 540 km2 with an average depth of 0.6 m. A series of radiocarbon age determinations carried out on material obtained from cores collected in the Lagoon of Venice indicate within the sedimentary units the existence of a number of discontinuities and slumping events due to the highly active lagoonal environment. The evaluation of data obtained from a variety of different materials—both terrestrial and marine—allowed us to determine for the first time the marine reservoir effect in the lagoon of Venice. The discussion includes a comparison with other relevant measurements and a possible explanation to the relatively high reservoir age (1200–1300 yr)

Late Quaternary sea-level change and early human societies in the central and eastern Mediterranean Basin : an interdisciplinary review

This article reviews key data and debates focused on relative sea-level changes since the Last Interglacial (approximately the last 132,000 years) in the Mediterranean Basin, and their implications for past human populations. Geological and geomorphological landscape studies are critical to archaeology. Coastal regions provide a wide range of resources to the populations that inhabit them. Coastal landscapes are increasingly the focus of scholarly discussions from the earliest exploitation of littoral resources and early hominin cognition, to the inundation of the earliest permanently settled fishing villages and eventually, formative centres of urbanisation. In the Mediterranean, these would become hubs of maritime transportation that gave rise to the roots of modern seaborne trade. As such, this article represents an original review of both the geo-scientific and archaeological data that specifically relate to sea-level changes and resulting impacts on both physical and cultural landscapes from the Palaeolithic until the emergence of the Classical periods. Our review highlights that the interdisciplinary links between coastal archaeology, geomorphology and sea-level changes are important to explain environmental impacts on coastal human societies and human migration. We review geological indicators of sea level and outline how archaeological features are commonly used as proxies for measuring past sea levels, both gradual changes and catastrophic events. We argue that coastal archaeologists should, as a part of their analyses, incorporate important sea-level concepts, such as indicative meaning. The interpretation of the indicative meaning of Roman fishtanks, for example, plays a critical role in reconstructions of late Holocene Mediterranean sea levels. We identify avenues for future work, which include the consideration of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) in addition to coastal tectonics to explain vertical movements of coastlines, more research on Palaeolithic island colonisation, broadening of Palaeolithic studies to include materials from the entire coastal landscape and not just coastal resources, a focus on rescue of archaeological sites under threat by coastal change, and expansion of underwater archaeological explorations in combination with submarine geomorphology. This article presents a collaborative synthesis of data, some of which have been collected and analysed by the authors, as the MEDFLOOD (MEDiterranean sea-level change and projection for future FLOODing) community, and highlights key sites, data, concepts and ongoing debates

Probing the early universe and dark energy with multi-epoch cosmological data

Contemporary cosmology is a vibrant field, with data and observations increasing rapidly. This allows for accurate estimation of the parameters describing our cosmolo- gical model. In this thesis we present new research based on two different types of cosmological observations, which probe the universe at multiple epochs. We begin by reviewing the current concordance cosmological paradigm, and the statistical tools used to perform parameter estimation from cosmological data. We highlight the initial conditions in the universe and how they are detectable using the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation. We present the angular power spectrum data from temperature observations made with the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) and the methods used to estimate the power spectrum from temperature maps of the sky. We then present a cosmological analysis using the ACT data in combination with observations from the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe to constrain parameters such as the effective number of relativistic species and the spectral index of the primordial power spectrum, which we constrain to deviate from scale invariance at the 99% confidence limit. We then use this combined dataset to constrain the primordial power spec- trum in a minimally parametric framework, finding no evidence for deviation from a power-law spectrum. Finally we present Bayesian Estimation Applied to Multiple Species, a parameter estimation technique using photometric Type la Supernova data to estimate cosmological parameters in the presence of contaminated data. We apply this algorithm to the full season of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey IT Supernova Search, and find that the constraints are improved by a factor of three relative to the case where one uses a smaller, spectroscopically confirmed subset of supernovae. A thesis submitted in candidature for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Oxford Trinity Term 2011.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Vegetational and environmental changes in the eastern Venetian coastal plain (Northern Italy) over the past 80,000 years

New biostratigraphic and chronological data from three 50-m-long cores from the eastern end of the Lagoon of Venice, for the first time, extend knowledge on the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene to this sector of the Venetian plain. At a depth of 50 m, sediments were deposited during a forested phase attributed to Saint-Germain II. This phase is characterized by non-negligible amounts of Carya and Pterocarya. The overlying deposits show evident cyclicity of vegetation, with Pinus formations and a few pioneer elements alternating with Pinus formations with significant numbers of temperate taxa. All phases of climatic warming known for Europe, with the exception of the Hengelo interstade, appear to be present. These are the Oerel, Glinde and Moershoofd interstades (between 60,000 and 40,000 years BP), the Denekamp interstade (between 34,000 and 28,000 years BP) and the Tursac and Laugerie oscillations (around 22,200 and 19,200 years BP, respectively). The oldest Holocene transgressive deposits have been dated to 6840 years BP, and foraminiferal associations reveal transgressive facies of littoral and back-barrier environments, interdigited with paralic sediments deposited in environments of medium to high residence, in which fluvial sediments have been found. During the sea-level high-stand, coastal progradation was active; at the same time, littoral and back-barrier facies began to migrate south-east, leading to enlargement of the lagoon. During the phase of sea-level low-stand, between the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and the transgressive phase, the sedimentation rate averaged 0.93 mm/year; in the transgressive phase (between 6840 \ub1 40 years BP and 5060 \ub1 40 years BP), it averaged 2.7 mm/year, and during progradation (the last 5000 years) it was 1.4 mm/year

Landforms and Landscapes of Mount Etna (Sicily): Relationships Between a Volcano, Its Environment and Human Activity

Mount Etna is the highest relief in Sicily and represents a unique environment because of its long established and almost continuous eruptive activity, that has moulded its landforms and which has produced distinctive landscapes. Over the past 60 ka both destructive and constructive geological processes have produced the principal morphological features of the volcano such as the wide Valle del Bove depression, monogenic scoria cones and extensive lava flow fields. Relationships between Etna, its environment and human activity began in the Neolithic Period within the mountain foot region and have developed over millennia. Even though there has been a rapid rate of resurfacing by lava during historic times, the impact on human activity has been short-lived, recovery has been rapid and society has adjusted to the ever present hazard in distinctive ways

Preliminary Estimate of the Reservoir Age in the Lagoon of Venice

From the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Jerusalem, Israel, June 18-23, 2000.The Lagoon of Venice was formed about 6000 years ago due to the marine transgression associated with the late Pleistocene sea level rise. Already by the time of the Republic of Venice (727-1797 AD) it was recognized that the future of the city and its many historical buildings was strongly correlated with the future of the lagoon itself. During the centuries many engineering projects such as modification of the fluvial systems, construction of coastal barriers, and dredging of navigation channels were carried out to preserve the lagoonal environment. The present-day lagoon is the result of all these processes and covers an area of 540 km2 with an average depth of 0.6 m. A series of radiocarbon age determinations carried out on material obtained from cores collected in the Lagoon of Venice indicate within the sedimentary units the existence of a number of discontinuities and slumping events due to the highly active lagoonal environment. The evaluation of data obtained from a variety of different materials—both terrestrial and marine—allowed us to determine for the first time the marine reservoir effect in the lagoon of Venice. The discussion includes a comparison with other relevant measurements and a possible explanation to the relatively high reservoir age (1200-1300 yr).The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

Preliminary Estimate of the Reservoir Age in the Lagoon of Venice

From the 17th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Jerusalem, Israel, June 18-23, 2000.The Lagoon of Venice was formed about 6000 years ago due to the marine transgression associated with the late Pleistocene sea level rise. Already by the time of the Republic of Venice (727-1797 AD) it was recognized that the future of the city and its many historical buildings was strongly correlated with the future of the lagoon itself. During the centuries many engineering projects such as modification of the fluvial systems, construction of coastal barriers, and dredging of navigation channels were carried out to preserve the lagoonal environment. The present-day lagoon is the result of all these processes and covers an area of 540 km2 with an average depth of 0.6 m. A series of radiocarbon age determinations carried out on material obtained from cores collected in the Lagoon of Venice indicate within the sedimentary units the existence of a number of discontinuities and slumping events due to the highly active lagoonal environment. The evaluation of data obtained from a variety of different materials—both terrestrial and marine—allowed us to determine for the first time the marine reservoir effect in the lagoon of Venice. The discussion includes a comparison with other relevant measurements and a possible explanation to the relatively high reservoir age (1200-1300 yr).The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202