Sobre el origen del Mapa Geológico de España. El Mapa Geognóstico de los alrededores de Burgos de Felipe Naranjo y Garza (1841)

En el año 1841 se publicó en la revista Anales de Minas, acompañando a una memoria explicativa sobre la geología y minería de la provincia de Burgos, una cartografía geológica a escala próxima a 1:350.000. En el mapa se definen ya los tres principales rasgos litoestructurales que forman la geología de la provincia de Burgos. La memoria, por su parte, además de la geología, incide en la minería de la zona estudiada, en la que destaca la descripción de las salinas de Poza de la Sal. El autor, Felipe Naranjo y Garza (1809-1877), fue uno de los primeros ingenieros de minas españoles que, desde los múltiples puestos que desempeñó en la administración, destacó por su contribución al desarrollo de la geología en España y en sus intentos de modernizar la industria minera. En el presente trabajo pretendemos dar a conocer esta precoz cartografía geológica y analizar dicha obra científica situándola en el contexto en que se encontraba la geología española en la primera mitad del siglo XLX

Redefinition of the Ilerdian Stage (early Eocene)

The Ilerdian Stage was created by Hottinger and Schaub in 1960 to accommodate a significant phase in the evolution of larger foraminifera not recorded in the northern European basins, and has since been adopted by most researchers working on shallow marine early Paleogene deposits of the Tethys domain. One of the defining criteria of the stage is a major turnover of larger foraminifera, marked by the FO’s of Alveolina vredenburgi (formerly A. cucumiformis) and Nummulites fraasi. There is now conclusive evidence that this turnover was coeval with the onset of the Carbon Isotope Excursion (CIE) and, consequently, with the Paleocene-Eocene (P-E) boundary, a temporal correspondence that reinforces the usefulness of the Ilerdian as a chronostratigraphic subdivision of the early Eocene in a regional context. However, in addition to the paleontological criteria, the definition of the Ilerdian was also based on the designation of two reference sections in the southern Pyrenees: Tremp (stratotype) and Campo (parastratotype). In both sections, the base of the stage was placed at the lowest marine bed containing A. vredenburgi specimens. Using the CIE as a correlation tool we demonstrate that these two marine beds occur at different chronological levels, being older in Campo than in Tremp. Further, we show that both beds are in turn younger than the lowest strata with Ilerdian larger foraminifera at the deep-water Ermua section in the Basque Basin (western Pyrenees). Since the age of stage boundaries must be the same everywhere, the choice of these stratotype sections was misleading, since in practice it resulted in the Ilerdian being used as a facies term rather than as a chronostratigraphic unit. To eliminate that conflict, and yet be respectful with established tradition, we propose to redefine the Ilerdian Stage following a procedure similar to the one used by the International Commission on Stratigraphy to establish global chronostratigraphic standards, namely: by using a “silver spike” to be placed in the Tremp section at the base of the Claret Conglomerate, a widespread lithological unit that in the Tremp Graus Basin coincides with the onset of the CIE. The redefined regional Ilerdian Stage becomes thus directly correlatable to the lower part of the global Ypresian Stage, as currently defined by the International Commission on Stratigraphy

Protective effect of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of human cardiotrophin-1 against left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension

OBJECTIVE: Experimental and clinical evidence supports a role of cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) in the development of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between human CT-1 genetic background and LVH in essential hypertension. METHODS: A total of 900 individuals were genotyped for the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of the human CT-1 gene. Serum CT-1 levels were assessed by ELISA in 681 individuals. Left ventricular parameters were determined by two-dimensional echocardiography in 297 individuals. RESULTS: The prevalence of the GG genotype of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism was reduced in essential hypertension (8.4% in normotensive individuals, 4.9% in hypertensive patients, P = 0.046 versus CC/CG individuals) and in LVH (11.5% in nonhypertrophic normotensive individuals, 12.2% in nonhypertrophic hypertensive patients, 2.6% in hypertensive patients with LVH, P = 0.008 versus CC/CG individuals). Apart from this, GG individuals presented lower serum concentration of CT-1 (GG, 147.1 ± 10.5 fmol/ml; CC/CG, 187.1 ± 4.8 fmol/ml; P = 0.036) and left ventricular mass index (GG, 91 ± 6 g/m; CC/CG, 119 ± 3 g/m; P = 0.002). Multivariate analyses showed that the 1742(C/G) polymorphism was a significant determinant of both left ventricular mass index and serum CT-1, after adjusting for confounding factors. Finally, in-vitro studies supported the functionality of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of the human CT-1 gene is associated with LVH in hypertension and that the GG genotype may have a protective role. It is suggested that CT-1 is one of the mediators of this association

Protective effect of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of human cardiotrophin-1 against left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension

OBJECTIVE: Experimental and clinical evidence supports a role of cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) in the development of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). The goal of this study was to investigate the relationship between human CT-1 genetic background and LVH in essential hypertension. METHODS: A total of 900 individuals were genotyped for the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of the human CT-1 gene. Serum CT-1 levels were assessed by ELISA in 681 individuals. Left ventricular parameters were determined by two-dimensional echocardiography in 297 individuals. RESULTS: The prevalence of the GG genotype of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism was reduced in essential hypertension (8.4% in normotensive individuals, 4.9% in hypertensive patients, P = 0.046 versus CC/CG individuals) and in LVH (11.5% in nonhypertrophic normotensive individuals, 12.2% in nonhypertrophic hypertensive patients, 2.6% in hypertensive patients with LVH, P = 0.008 versus CC/CG individuals). Apart from this, GG individuals presented lower serum concentration of CT-1 (GG, 147.1 ± 10.5 fmol/ml; CC/CG, 187.1 ± 4.8 fmol/ml; P = 0.036) and left ventricular mass index (GG, 91 ± 6 g/m; CC/CG, 119 ± 3 g/m; P = 0.002). Multivariate analyses showed that the 1742(C/G) polymorphism was a significant determinant of both left ventricular mass index and serum CT-1, after adjusting for confounding factors. Finally, in-vitro studies supported the functionality of the 1742(C/G) polymorphism. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the 1742(C/G) polymorphism of the human CT-1 gene is associated with LVH in hypertension and that the GG genotype may have a protective role. It is suggested that CT-1 is one of the mediators of this association

The angiotensin-converting enzyme insertion/deletion polymorphism is associated with phagocytic NADPH oxidase-dependent superoxide generation: potential implication in hypertension.

The objective of the present study was to analyse the influence of the ACE (angiotensin-converting enzyme) gene I/D (insertion/deletion) polymorphism on NADPH oxidase-dependent O(2)(*-) (superoxide radical) production, and to investigate the clinical implication of this association in hypertensive subjects. A case-control study was performed in a random sample of the general population composed of 189 normotensive subjects and 223 hypertensive subjects. The ACE polymorphism was determined by PCR. NADPH oxidase-dependent O(2)(*-) production was quantified in phagocytic cells by chemiluminescence. MMP-9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9), a marker of atherosclerosis previously reported to be associated with NADPH oxidase overactivity, was quantified by ELISA in plasma samples. The distribution of genotypes was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium. The I/D polymorphism was not associated with hypertension. NADPH oxidase-dependent O(2)(*-) production was significantly higher in D/D (deletion/deletion) than in I/I (insertion/insertion) and I/D, both in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Interestingly, plasma levels of angiotensin II were significantly higher in D/D than in I/I and I/D, both in normotensive and hypertensive subjects. Plasma levels of MMP-9 and systolic blood pressure values were significantly higher in D/D than in I/I and I/D hypertensive subjects, whereas no differences were found among genotypes in normotensive subjects. Interestingly, NADPH oxidase-dependent O(2)(*-) production positively associated with plasma MMP-9 levels in hypertensive subjects, which remained significant after adjustment for age and gender. In conclusion, in the present study we have reported for the first time an association of the D/D genotype of the ACE I/D polymorphism with phagocytic NADPH oxidase-mediated O(2)(*-) overproduction. Within the group of hypertensive patients, D/D cases also associated with increased blood pressure values and with enhanced plasma levels of MMP-9

Reconstruction of the Exhumed Mantle Across the North Iberian Margin by Crustal-Scale 3-D Gravity Inversion and Geological Cross Section

Recent models support the view that the Pyrenees were formed after the inversion of a previously highly extended continental crust that included exhumed upper mantle rocks. Mantle rocks remain near to the surface after compression and mountain building, covered by the latest Cretaceous to Paleogene sequences. 3-D lithospheric-scale gravity inversion demands the presence of a high-density mantle body placed within the crust in order to justify the observed anomalies. Exhumed mantle, having ~50 km of maximum width, continuously extends beneath the Basque-Cantabrian Basin and along the northern side of the Pyrenees. The association of this body with rift, postrift, and inversion structural geometries is tested in a balanced cross section across the Basque-Cantabrian Basin that incorporates a major south-dipping ramp-flat-ramp extensional detachment active between Valanginian and early Cenomanian times. Results indicate that horizontal extension progressed ~48 km at variable strain rates that increased from 1 to ~4 mm/yr in middle Albian times. Low-strength Triassic Keuper evaporites and mudstones above the basement favor the decoupling of the cover with formation of minibasins, expulsion rollovers, and diapirs. The inversion of the extensional system is accommodated by doubly verging basement thrusts due to the reactivation of the former basin bounding faults in Eocene-Oligocene times. Total shortening is estimated in ~34 km and produced the partial subduction of the continental lithosphere beneath the two sides of the exhumed mantle. Obtained results help to pinpoint the original architecture of the North Iberian Margin and the evolution of the hyperextended aborted intracontinental basins. ©2017. American Geophysical UnionAgencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI). Grant Numbers: CGL2015-71692-P, CGL2016-80687-RPeer reviewe