Palaeogeography

A high resolution study of sediments, microfaunas (ostracods and foraminifers), and stable isotopes of ostracod shells from core PRD05, sampled from the Da'ao plain of the Pearl River Delta, provides new data about palaeoenvironmental changes during the Late Quaternary. The basal fluvial gravelly sediments of the core, representing the lowest deposits of the Quaternary at the core site, were possibly formed prior to the transgression associated with the last interglacial stage. This fluvial setting changed into a marginal marine setting during the last interglacial stage, any record of calcareous fossils were destroyed by subsequent dissolution during the last glacial phase, when the upper part of the deltaic sediments experienced subaerial oxidation, indicated by a mottled clay layer in the core. The postglacial sea-level rise in the South China Sea began at ~16,700 cal yr B. P. During the first phase of sea-level rise (from ~16,700 to 10,100 cal yr B. P.), a swamp environment ...

A Wound in the City Landscape. The Case of Lublin’s Podzamcze
The war damage suffered by the city of Lublin in 1939
–1944 was not as extensive as in many other cities and
towns of Europe. However, Lublin did not avoid both
damage during the war (in 1939 and 1944) and deliberate
demolitions carried out by the Germans during the occupation.
Particularly, the parts of the city inhabited in 1939
by Jews were subjected to destruction: Podzamcze and
Wieniawa. After the war, it was Podzamcze – due to its
central location in the structure of Lublin and the proximity
of the Lublin castle and the Old Town – that became
the object of attention of urban planners and architects.
The Podzamcze area was developed in a way different
from its historical urban layout. In the area where buildings
were demolished during the occupation, the road
network and land functions have been almost completely
changed. Work on Podzamcze was intensified during the
preparations for the Central Agricultural Exhibition in
1954. The southern part of this area, adjacent to the Lublin
Castle that ceased to function as a prison, was shaped
in a new way. The castle was showcased by the creation
of a large People’s Gatherings Square (Plac Zebrań
Ludowych) on the ellipse plan, while the area to the south
of the castle hill was composed as a garden space. Over
time, the northern part of the former Podzamcze, in 1954
the main place of the agricultural exhibition, became the
bus station and market.
Since the end of the twentieth century, Podzamcze has
again become the subject of urban planning, including
architectural competitions. In 2015, a new local spatial
development plan was adopted, but it did not meet expectations,
neither from the perspective of conservation and
protection of historical places, nor hopes of potential
investors. Currently, there is a desire to change the plan’s
arrangements in this area, especially in the context of the
height of new buildings, which can be a significant threat
to the historical landscape of Lublin.

Recently discovered outcrops of post-glacial Early Palaeozoic mudstones in northern Ethiopia have yielded a well-preserved assemblage of cryptospores (e.g., Rugosphaera rugosa, Segestrespora laevigata, Tetrahedraletes medinensis, Velatitetras laevigata and V. retimembrana). These palynomorphs represent the first biostratigraphic evidence of Early Palaeozoic sediments in NE Africa and have the potential to shed light on the postHirnantian plant colonization of Gondwana.

First clear data of land-living plants in form of cryptospores in Gondwanan sediments dates well back into the Middle Ordovician. However, the earliest macroplant remains do not appear before the Mid Silurian. In the time between, plant evolution on terrestrial environments in Gondwana was severely hampered by the Hirnantian glaciation event. The nature of the plants remains mysterious. How did they survive the glaciation and how did they recolonise once glaciated areas? First answers to these questions are expected from fine-grained early postglacial continental or marginal marine sediments because of their promising potential for macroflora preservation. However, such deposits are rare in Gondwana with the fossil record highly biased towards marine sediments.

This study is concentrated on Ludlow (to Pridoli?) miospores from the Los Espejos Formation at the Quebrada Ancha locality, Central Precordillera, San Juan Province, Argentina. The Ludlow age is in agreement with the age based on acritarchs. The assemblage of continental palynomorphs is composed of 43 miospore species (29 trilete spores and 14 cryptospores). A new synonymy is proposed: Chelinospora poecilomorpha is here considered a junior synonym of Clivosispora verrucata. In addition, specimens belonging to C. verrucata var. verrucata and C. verrucata var. convoluta are included in a new morphon. This study represents the second Late Silurian miospore assemblage described from South America; the first was from the Urubu River, Amazon Basin, northern Brazil. The Quebrada Ancha assemblages allow a reasonably good correlation with biozones established for the Upper Silurian from the Cantabrian Mountains, northern Spain. The dendrogram analysis between coeval miospore assemblages from...

A combined morphological and bionomical analysis was performed to clarify the position of a problematic species of the Meligethes lugubris group from Sardinia and Corsica (Coleoptera, Nitidulidae, Meligethinae). This species-group is represented by a dozen anthophagous species associated with Lamiaceae, and distributed from North Africa to Japan. The analysis was mainly focused on the specific distinction and formal description of a new species, M. foddaii Audisio, De Biase & Trizzino sp. nov., from Sardinia and Corsica. The species is morphologically scarcely distinguishable from the allopatric M. lugubris Sturm and M. gagathinus Erichson (both widespread in southern Europe). An identification key to Euro-Mediterranean members of the M. lugubris complex is provided. Combined morphological, ecological, phenological, and preliminary molecular data are presented to support the distinction of the new species. The palaeogeographical scenario explaining the likely Plio-Pleistocene differ...

A morphological analysis was performed in order to clarify the taxonomic scenario within the Hydraena evanescens complex (Coleoptera: Hydraenidae: Hydraeninae), including species associated with fast running waters in mountain areas of Corsica and Sardinia. The analysis was mainly focused on the specific distinction and formal description of a new species, H. rosannae sp. nov., from the Sulcis-Iglesiente region (SW Sardinia), morphologically distinctly separated from both the nearly parapatric H. tyrrhena Binaghi, 1961 (central and northern Sardinia) and the allopatric H. evanescens Rey, 1884 (Corsica). Two hypothetical palaeogeographical scenarios explaining the specific differentiation of the three species are briefly discussed.

We review the Neogene geologic history of lowland Amazonia in an attempt to focus attention on areas of agreement, as well as areas in dispute, in this research arena. We reinterpret pre-existing hypotheses, present new data, and discuss new insights intended to support a unified synthesis of the Amazon Basin as a single sedimentary basin, albeit on a vast scale, during the late Miocene to middle late Pliocene. We document the Ucayali Peneplain as an isochronous, Pan-Amazonian geologic feature that formed following the early to mid-Miocene Quechua I orogenic phase of Andean tectonism. Peneplanation began possibly as early as ∼ 15 Ma and terminated abruptly near the beginning of the late Miocene Quechua II orogenic event at ∼9.5-9.0 Ma. Subsequently, a thin cover of sediments comprising the Madre de Dios Formation began blanketing most of lowland Amazonia, excepting only the eastern Subandean Fold-and-Thrust Belt and isolated highlands within the basin. The buried peneplain is readily observed in river cutbanks throughout Amazonia as the marked, often angular Ucayali Unconformity that separates eroded, older, often folded, faulted, and weathered, moderately to well consolidated Tertiary formations from unconsolidated, near horizontal, upper Neogene deposits. The dates of formation of major unconformities and subsequent depositional events at widely separated areas within the Andes of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru are coincident with that of the Ucayali Unconformity and deposition of the Madre de Dios Formation and suggest that the events are linked to a common cause, which is interpreted to be the still on-going collision between the South American and Nazca tectonic plates. The Madre de Dios Formation has three members, the oldest of which documents a short-lived, high energy depositional environment followed by a moderate-energy depositional environment, both occurring at a time when drainage from the basin was unobstructed. The upper two members record fluctuations between moderate and low energy continental depositional environments during a period when drainage from the basin was obstructed, disorganized, and took place over long distances with extremely low gradients. The sedimentology of the Madre de Dios Formation, particularly the thick, massive beds of clay, and the widespread presence of paleodeltas and associated geomorphic features on the Amazonian planato are consistent with the hypothesis that much of the upper two members formed as lacustrine and deltaic deposits within a gigantic lake, Lago Amazonas, or, more probably, within a complex series of interconnected mega-lakes that occasionally united to cover most or all of lowland Amazonia to a shallow depth from the latest Miocene until ∼ 2.5 Ma. The presence of the Ucayali Unconformity and the relatively uniform lithostratigraphy basin-wide of the fluvial, fluviolacustrine, and lacustrine sediments of the upper Neogene Madre de Dios Formation are consistent with the hypothesis that the Amazon Basin acted as a single, undivided sedimentary basin in the late Neogene. The biostratigraphic correlation across important modern drainage divides of both micro-and macro-sized, late Miocene

We review the Neogene geologic history of lowland Amazonia in an attempt to focus attention on areas of agreement, as well as areas in dispute, in this research arena. We reinterpret pre-existing hypotheses, present new data, and discuss new insights intended to support a unified synthesis of the Amazon Basin as a single sedimentary basin, albeit on a vast scale, during the late Miocene to middle late Pliocene. We document the Ucayali Peneplain as an isochronous, Pan-Amazonian geologic feature that formed following the early to mid-Miocene Quechua I orogenic phase of Andean tectonism. Peneplanation began possibly as early as ∼ 15 Ma and terminated abruptly near the beginning of the late Miocene Quechua II orogenic event at ∼9.5-9.0 Ma. Subsequently, a thin cover of sediments comprising the Madre de Dios Formation began blanketing most of lowland Amazonia, excepting only the eastern Subandean Fold-and-Thrust Belt and isolated highlands within the basin. The buried peneplain is readily observed in river cutbanks throughout Amazonia as the marked, often angular Ucayali Unconformity that separates eroded, older, often folded, faulted, and weathered, moderately to well consolidated Tertiary formations from unconsolidated, near horizontal, upper Neogene deposits. The dates of formation of major unconformities and subsequent depositional events at widely separated areas within the Andes of Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru are coincident with that of the Ucayali Unconformity and deposition of the Madre de Dios Formation and suggest that the events are linked to a common cause, which is interpreted to be the still on-going collision between the South American and Nazca tectonic plates. The Madre de Dios Formation has three members, the oldest of which documents a short-lived, high energy depositional environment followed by a moderate-energy depositional environment, both occurring at a time when drainage from the basin was unobstructed. The upper two members record fluctuations between moderate and low energy continental depositional environments during a period when drainage from the basin was obstructed, disorganized, and took place over long distances with extremely low gradients. The sedimentology of the Madre de Dios Formation, particularly the thick, massive beds of clay, and the widespread presence of paleodeltas and associated geomorphic features on the Amazonian planato are consistent with the hypothesis that much of the upper two members formed as lacustrine and deltaic deposits within a gigantic lake, Lago Amazonas, or, more probably, within a complex series of interconnected mega-lakes that occasionally united to cover most or all of lowland Amazonia to a shallow depth from the latest Miocene until ∼ 2.5 Ma. The presence of the Ucayali Unconformity and the relatively uniform lithostratigraphy basin-wide of the fluvial, fluviolacustrine, and lacustrine sediments of the upper Neogene Madre de Dios Formation are consistent with the hypothesis that the Amazon Basin acted as a single, undivided sedimentary basin in the late Neogene. The biostratigraphic correlation across important modern drainage divides of both micro-and macro-sized, late Miocene

Biostratigraphy of Neoproterozoic strata based on invertebrate species from South America Adorno, R. R1,2; Do Carmo, D.A.1; Walde, Detlef, H.G.1; Denezine, M. L.C.1; Boggiani, P.C. 3; Sousa e Silva, S.C.1; Vasconcelos, J.R. 1; Tobias, T.C.1; Guimarães, E. M.1; Vieira L. C.1, Figueiredo, M. L.CF. F.4; Moraes, R.1; Caminha, S.A5. Suarez, P.A.Z.6; Pinho, D. 6 and Rodriguez, C.G.V. 1. University of Brasília -UnB. Institute of Geosciences 2. CPRM/SGB – Brazilian Geological Survey. 3. University of São Paulo. Institute of Geosciences. 4. PETROBRAS-CENPES-PDGEO/BPA – Research Center 5. Federal University of Mato Grosso State. Department of Geology 6. University of Brasília. Institute of Chemistry. ___________________________________________________________________________ It is proposed for discussion three biostratigraphic unities for Neoproterozoic strata in South America: Cloudina lucianoi/Corumbella werneri Interval Zone, Corumbella werneri Range Zone and Corumbella werneri/Cloudina lu...

High-resolution pollen analysis has been carried out on a sediment core taken from the Pliocene Camp del Ninots maar site, Girona, NE Spain. Cyclical variations have been observed in the pollen record, with periods characterized by the abundance of Abies, Larix, Cathaya, Tsuga, Engelhardia, Alnus and Botryococcus algae, alternating with periods characterized by abundant Poaceae, Cupressaceae, Ericaceae, Quercus and Oleaceae, most-likely representing humid and dry conditions respectively. The pollen variations seem to correlate very well with sedimentological changes, depicted by the lithology and magnetic susceptibility (MS) records. Humid periods correspond to low MS and dark clays, which are probably related to higher lake level, productivity and organic sedimentation in the lake. A cyclostratigraphic analysis on the observed cyclicity in the pollen record will help us understand the forcing mechanism of this cyclical variations and will also help us improve the chronostratigraphic framework for the sediments contained in this very interesting site.

Die Entdeckung eines unbekannten Fragments von Augustinus' erfolgreichem Werk 'Enarrationes in Psalmos', das um 800 in früher westgotischer Minuskel geschrieben wurde, gibt Anlaß, dieses neue Zeugnis im aktuellen Panorama der Studien und Editionen des Werks kodikologisch, paläographisch, buchtypologisch sowie text- und überlieferungsgeschichtlich einzuordnen. Die Studie kommt zu dem Schluß, daß das Fragment das älteste materiell erhaltene Zeugnis von Augustinus' Werk ist, das auf der Iberischen Halbinsel, vermutlich in der Pyrenäenregion, genauer gesagt am Bischofssitz Urgell, geschrieben wurde, und daß es zu einer eigenständigen Textfamilie gehört, die bisher nur in einer westfränkischen Abschrift aus der Mitte des 9. Jahrhunderts identifiziert werden konnte.

Die weiterhin sehr zeitaufwändige Erschließung unbekannter mittelalterlicher Textzeugnisse von der Iberischen Halbinsel, die auf den weitgehenden Mangel an modernen Forschungsinstrumenten zurückzuführen ist, nimmt der Artikel zum Anlaß, die Entwicklung eines elektronischen Portals zum postwestgotischen Text- und Handschriftenerbe zu fordern, die als koordinierte, länderübergreifende Teamarbeit der historischen iberischen Regionen konzipiert werden sollte.

Entre la documentación procedente de los monasterios cistercienses de la diócesis de Lugo – en concreto, Santa María de Meira, Santa María de Penamaior y Santa María de Ferreira de Pantón – para la Plena Edad Media (siglos XI-XIII), se conservan una veintena de pancartas, esto es, pergaminos con dos o más documentos. A través de este significativo número de ejemplares, el presente trabajo se aproxima al origen y finalidad de esta práctica diplomática, extrayendo las siguientes conclusiones: las pancartas nacen, primero, para confirmar aquellas acciones jurídicas anteriores que pueden ser impugnadas por el donante o sus herederos; en segundo lugar, para asegurar el registro escrito, ya sea en forma de cartas completas, resúmenes con lo esencial o noticias breves, ante la multiplicación de negocios hechos con pequeños nobles y campesinos acomodados de la zona; y, finalmente, para facilitar su consulta y custodia en el archivo monástico. Para demostrar dichas conclusiones realizamos un análisis
integral de las distintas piezas, atendiendo tanto a los aspectos materiales como a su contenido (soportes y morfologías, escrituras, autores jurídicos y artífices materiales, fórmulas, tradición, etc.).

Belkina, E. Manuscripts of Salmon ben Yeruham in the Сollection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts RAS: an Underestimated Karaite Figure of the 10th Century. Judaic-Slavic Journal. 2024. 1–2 (11–12). P. 189–206. (In Russ.)
Abstract: The article analyzes four unknown manuscripts in the collection the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences in St. Petersburg. They are the works of the 10th-century Karaite leader Salmon ben Yeruham. Until now, there are a few studies of his works: some publications of his commentaries on different Biblical books and only one publication of his Hebrew “opus magnum”, “The Book of the Wars of the Lord”. All four manuscripts from the collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Russian Academy of Sciences have not been introduced into scientific circulation or ever used by researchers of Karaism, so this article can be considered the first stage of research of the medieval Karaite manuscripts in the St. Petersburg collections. The first two manuscripts, items B60 and B61 in the Hebrew collection, contain the texts of Judeo-Arabic commentaries on the books of Ecclesiastes and Lamentations. Both manuscripts turned out to have belonged to a renowned Karaite leader Daniel Firuz or to members of his family in the 17th century. The other two manuscripts – the complete and fragmentary copies of “The Book of the Wars of the Lord” (manuscripts B78 and C145, respectively) – seem to be objects for an independent research. The former was created in the Karaite communities of the Crimea in the 19th century, and can serve the basis for the publication, translation and critical edition of this underestimated polemical work of the 10th century. The latter is a fragment presumably from the 16th century, written in the Sephardic, i.e. Spanish, script; it was not typical for Karaite manuscripts of the Middle Ages to be written in this script. This article presents general information on all four sources, a brief historiography of these works, and a more detailed paleographic and codicological research of the manuscripts.

Belkina E. M. Scribes, Customers, Owners of Yaphet ibn Ali ha-Levi’s tafsirs in the IOM RAS. Orientalistica. 2024;7(1):118-136. (In Russ.). https://doi.org/10.31696/2618-7043-2024-7-1-118-136.
Abstract: The Jewish collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts (St. Petersburg, Russia) preserves a set of 30 tafsirs (here comments on the Hebrew Scriptures) by the Karaite exeget Yaphet ibn Ali ha-Levi (10th cent. c.e.). A palaeographical and codicological analysis of these items made possible to attribute the manuscripts to several scribes, to date most of them by the 13th cent. c.e. and even to suggest a place of their origin (most probably Egypt). In the 17th cent. c.e. the items constituted a private collection of a Karaite Daniel Firuz. This learned Karaite very professionally filled in the gaps in the medieval manuscripts. It became evident that even the items, which do not bear traces of the hand of Daniel Firuz did nevertheless belong to the Firuz family personal library. The article shows how a palaeographic study par exellence subsequently became instrumental in discovering a whole corpus of items. In the 17th cent., these items did constitute an important private collection. This fact did help to identify some items currently preserved in the Jewish collection of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts as diverse volumes of what was originally multi-volume works. It also helped to establish the circulation of these sources in the Karaite diaspora in the Modern Era.

The Triassic-Jurassic (T-J) mass-extinction event is marked by isotope anomalies in organic (δ 13 C org ) and carbonate carbon (δ 13 C carb ) reservoirs. These have been attributed to a (rapid) 4-fold rise in pCO 2 as a result of massive flood basalt volcanism and/ or methane hydrate dissociation. Here we examine the response of marine photosynthetic phytoplankton to the proposed perturbation in the carbon cycle. Our high-resolution micropalaeontological analysis of T-J boundary beds at St Audrie's Bay in Somerset, UK, provides evidence for a bio-calcification crisis that is characterized by (1) extinction and malformation in calcareous nannoplankton and (2) contemporaneous blooms of organic-walled, green algal 'disaster' species which comprise in one case N 70% of the total palynomorph fraction. Blooms of prasinophytes and acritarchs occur at the onset and in association with a prominent negative shift in δ 13 C org values close to the first appearance of the Early Jurassic ammonite Psiloceras planorbis. Across the same interval we obtained palaeotemperature and palaeosalinity estimates from oyster low-Mg calcite based on Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and δ 18 O records. The results of our palynological and geochemical analyses strongly suggest that shallow marine basins in NW Europe during this period became salinity stratified, inducing anoxic conditions. The T-J boundary event shows similarities with the Permian-Triassic (P-T) mass-extinction event, which was also marked by extensive flood basalt volcanism, negative excursions in carbon isotope records, a bio-calcification crisis, the development of shallow-marine anoxia and mass abundances of acritarchs in the Early Triassic. This leads us to suggest that the proliferation of green algal phytoplankton may be symptomatic of elevated carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and oceans during mass-extinction events.

An abundant early Silurian brachiopod assemblage of 14 species, with strong affinities to the early Rhuddanian faunas of Britain and Baltoscandia, was recovered from ttre Akkerme Peninsula, on the western side of Lake Balkhash, southern Central Kazakstan. The occurrence of Stricklandkt lens mullochensis, which is ttre earliest member of the Stricklandinlostistricklandin lineage, dates this brachiopod assemblage as early Rhuddanian, within a stratigraphic interval from the Aki.dograptus acuminoLtus to the lower part of the Monagrapfus cgphtts graptolite biozones. Ttris is the first well documented record of early Rhuddanian brachiopods in Kazakhstan. The assemblage also includesMelfodiatrtlkulensis sp. nov. and Eospirlfer cirLghiztcus with well preserved spiralia. Ttre co-occurrence of Stricklondia lens mullochensis and hspirlfer cinghizictts has not been recorded previously and is regarded here as the most signiffcant difference between the early Rhuddanan brachiopod faunas of tJle Baltic (East-European) Plate and Britain; in contrast hspirlfer first appears in the two latter areas in the late Llandovery.

This study investigates long-term impacts of empires on local socio-ecosystems in western Anatolia (modern western Türkiye) over the past four millennia. We focus on Buldan Yayla Lake, located in a small mountain basin north of the Büyük Menderes (Great Meander) River valley. By examining palynological data alongside historical and archaeological records, we show how four major empires-Hittite, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman-shaped land use, vegetation, and resource management practices in a specific locality within a wider regional and transregional economic network. The ebb and flow of empire resulted in cycles of land use intensification and rewilding, resembling broader patterns of regional integration and fragmentation. The different administrative and economic structures of each empire, however, left distinct ecological imprints, with evidence of shifts from extensive pastoralism to specialised crop cultivation, or from olive-focused agriculture to one dominated by mixed agriculture. These shifts underscore both the variation and the adaptability of local socio-ecological systems within broader imperial networks and highlight the interplay of transregional and local factors in landscape transformation.

Paleosol macromorphology, petrography and stable isotope geochemistry of carbonate nodules from Permo-Triassic (P-T) boundary strata of the central Karoo basin, South Africa are presented in order to evaluate their utility as geochemical archives of Permian-Triassic paleoatmospheric chemistry and their potential to provide a terrestrial carbon isotope chemostratigraphy for correlation with contemporaneous global marine δ 13 C records. Paleosol morphologies across P-T boundary strata of the central Karoo basin indicate the region was a poorly drained, seasonally to continuously flooded bottomland. Radiaxial calcite, microspar and micrite microtextures are observed in the calcite nodules associated with P-T paleosol profiles. Micritic calcite is typical of soil carbonate that forms in well-drained soils characterized by open-system gaseous diffusion between the soil and global atmosphere, whereas more coarsely crystalline textures and radiaxial calcite are more typical of crystallization in phreatic environments with limited gaseous diffusion between the soil and global atmosphere. In this regard, only those nodules composed of micritic calcite can be considered as a potentially reliable source of proxy information for paleoatmospheric δ 13 C values across the P-T boundary. The δ 13 C values of all carbonate nodules from two overlapping measured sections near Carlton Heights, South Africa range from -24.4‰ to -1.8‰, whereas micritic calcite nodule δ 13 C values range from -7.0‰ to -21.3‰. Comparison of calcite δ 13 C values with penecontemporaneous organic matter δ 13 C values indicate that calcite δ 13 C values b -10.6‰ cannot provide a record of atmospheric δ 13 C values. Rather, these more negative carbonate nodule δ 13 C values likely reflect calcite crystallization under poorly drained, swampy conditions characterized by a semi-closed chemical system that evolved independently of Earth's troposphere. Therefore, previously reported negative carbon isotope shift(s) measured from carbonate nodules in the Karoo basin P-T strata do not provide a record of atmospheric δ 13 C, and probably do not provide a viable carbon isotope stratigraphy that can be realistically correlated with global P-T marine carbon isotope stratigraphies.

This study provides paleographic evidence of halakhic reform in medieval Ashkenazic scribal practice through analysis of Torah scroll MS Rhineland 1217. Rabbi Samson ben Eliezer's fourteenth-century work Barukh She'Amar documented regional scribal errors, particularly broken letters in Lusatia where certain complex letters were written as disconnected components rather than unified forms. MS Rhineland 1217, written c. 1200 and used continuously through the nineteenth century, preserves evidence of systematic corrections made in response to these halakhic reforms. Scientific analysis reveals that originally broken letters were systematically corrected to unified forms, demonstrating the practical implementation and success of Rabbi Samson's standardization efforts. The manuscript evidence validates historical accounts of regional scribal variations and traces the transformation of Hebrew letter formation across medieval Jewish

This study investigates the Holocene evolution of the Laraquete-Carampangue strandplain on the tectonically active coast of south-central Chile using ground penetrating radar and light detection and ranging data. The Laraquete-Carampangue strandplain, on the tectonically active coast of south-central Chile, is a rare accretionary feature in a region dominated by rocky shorelines and limited sediment supply. The light detection and ranging data-derived digital elevation model reveals a complex geomorphology comprising 52 beach ridges, aeolian dunes, and fluvial paleochannels, while ground penetrating radar radargrams uncover marine and aeolian facies influenced by past seismic and climatic events. We interpret these units in the frame of past seismic and climatic events. Our geomorphological and stratigraphic findings suggest that the strandplain progradation was driven by relative sea-level changes associated with Holocene seismic cycles and climate change. We propose that the transition from drier to humid conditions in the late Holocene triggered the onset of dune formation at the end of the Little Ice Age. This integrated approach highlights the interplay of tectonic and climatic forcings in shaping coastal landforms, offering insights into their long-term response to environmental change.

En este trabajo, se presentan los resultados del análisis palinológico de las muestras tomadas en uno de los perfiles del sondeo estratigráfico de la Cueva de San Bartolomé (Sierra de Cameros, La Rioja). Los niveles estudiados coinciden con una ocupación de la Edad del Bronce, en la que se aprecia, a diferencia el paisaje actual, un predominio de vegetación de clara influencia mediterránea.

En este trabajo, se presentan los resultados del análisis palinológico de las muestras tomadas en uno de los perfiles del sondeo estratigráfico de la Cueva de San Bartolomé (Sierra de Cameros, La Rioja). Los niveles estudiados coinciden con una ocupación de la Edad del Bronce, en la que se aprecia, a diferencia el paisaje actual, un predominio de vegetación de clara influencia mediterránea.

A multi proxy approach was performed to characterize vegetation in southwestern Bulgaria during the end of the Early and the Middle Turolian (8.7-7.0 Ma). This period was marked by eustatic fluctuations in the Mediterranean Sea that are well documented. In order to estimate the impact of these marine events on continental landscapes, dental microwear and stable isotope profiles in enamel were used to characterize feeding habits of extinct bovids, and in turn vegetation. Analyses were made on permanent molars of fossil bovids from two Late Miocene localities: Hadjidimovo-1 (Early/Middle Turolian) and Kalimantsi (Middle Turolian). Carbon isotopes profiles of Tragoportax rugosifrons and Miotragocerus gaudryi from the Hadjidimovo-1 indicate a pure C 3 -based diet for the two boselaphini. Large inter-individual differences in absolute δ 18 O values were found for M. gaudryi suggesting little reliance on drinking water due to a browsing diet. Dental microwear shows that none of the bovid species exclusively grazed. In Hadjidimovo-1, microwear evidence suggests mixed feeding habits for Tragoportax rugosifrons, Gazella sp., and Palaeoreas lindermayeri and a leaf browsing diet for Miotragocerus gaudryi. Palaeoreas lindermayeri from Hadjidimovo-1 has a bimodal pattern indicating that its feeding preferences were tied to seasonal food availabilities. At Kalimantsi, Miotragocerus gaudryi show variations between individuals whereas Tragoportax cf. amalthea was an exclusive browser. Palaeoreas lindermayeri and Gazella sp. were also mixed feeders in Kalimantsi. Our combined approach shows no evidence for dense forested environments during the Early and Middle Turolian, and then supports previous hypotheses based on faunal analyses. Our results rather suggest that southwestern Bulgaria was dominated by open wooded landscapes where C 3 graminoids grew in abundance among the herbaceous layer. Finally, microwear data suggest that the proportion of dicotyledons such as forbs, bushes or shrubs was probably higher in the plant communities of Kalimantsi than in those of Hadjidimovo-1.

The study of the Ordovician holdfasts of the Baltic Paleobasin revealed an explosive increase in the morphological diversity of echinoderms of the Baltic Paleobasin, up to 12 major morphological types in the Volkhov Regional Stage (Dapingian), reflecting an explosive growth in the taxonomic and morphological diversity of stalked echinoderms in general, but primarily crinoids. A sudden increase in the size and diversity of holdfasts at that time suggests a considerable increase in calcite production by stalked echinoderms and their adaptation to a wide distribution of a new type of substrate -hardgrounds and firm coarse-grained bioclastic substrates. The possibility of wide distribution of such substrates was due to a considerable increase, of at least an order of magnitude, in the carbonate productivity of benthic communities, whereas the rapid distribution of a new type of substrate and an explosive increase in the diversity and abundance of their inhabitants in the Baltic Basin was related to the appearance of positive feedbacks between the living and non-living components of this ecosystem. The existence of this positive feedback was due to cyanobacterial communities, the development of a biofilm on the substrate, and mineralization of an extracellular polymer substance, which led to the formation of hardgrounds and consolidation of the surface of the bioclastic substrates. The appearance in the Middle Ordovician of positive feedback between the expansion of the bioclastic substrates and an increase in carbonate production by their inhabitants, resulted in the Ordovician substrate revolution and explosive diversification of Ordovician benthic animals. Cyanobacterial films episodically appearing on the substrate, were an essential factor in the formation of this feedback.

Deep-sea foraminiferal stable isotope records (δ 18 O) indicate a long-term cooling trend that culminated in the Oi-1 glaciation near the Eocene/Oligocene transition at ~34 Ma. In the late middle Eocene, this trend was interrupted by a strong, transient warming event at ~40 Ma, known as Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum (MECO). The Monte Cagnero sedimentary section, located in the northeastern Apennines near Urbania (Italy), in the Umbria-Marche Basin, is an important middle Eocene to lower Oligocene section. We use magnetobiostratigraphy to study the impact of the closure of the Neo-Tethyan gateway on subtropical Eocene circulation to better understand global climate changes during the switch from greenhouse to icehouse conditions. The studied sediments consist of alternating reddish and greenish limestones and marlstones. We undertook high-resolution paleomagnetic, foraminiferal and calcareous plankton biostratigraphic analyses to construct an integrated age model. The magnetic mineralogy is dominated by a mixture of high-and low-coercivity minerals (probably hematite and magnetite). Environmental magnetic data indicate long-term trends in the concentration, grain-size and composition of magnetic minerals. These new biostratigraphy and magnetic results from Monte Cagnero suggest that the section provides a continuous and well-preserved interval for analyzing middle Eocene to early Oligocene climate variability.

that a regionally developed gap corresponding to the boundary interval between the stages (equivalents of the Chetaites chetae and Volgidiscus lamplughi zones) exists between the upper Volgian Craspedites nodiger Zone and the Ryazanian Stage. Recently, the presence of this interval was established in Yaroslavl oblast. In this paper, we publish for the first time a detailed description of the sections of the terminal part of the upper Volgian Substage, the majority of which have not previously been published, as well as illustrations of characteristic mollusks (ammonites and bivalves) from these deposits. For this stratigraphic interval, the recognition of the Volgidiscus singularis Zone, including the V. pulcher and V. singularis biohorizons, is substantiated. In this zone, ammonites are mainly represented by the genus Volgidiscus, but the pulcher Biohorizon also contains very rare Garniericeras, whereas the glacial boulders together with V. cf. pulcher contained Shulginites. The Singularis Zone has a high correlative potential and, at an infrazonal level, directly correlates with the uppermost zones of the upper Volgian Substage of the Subpolar Urals, northern Siberia, England, and the North and Barents seas. It is most likely that the biostratigraphically confirmed gap between the upper Volgian Singularis Zone and Ryazanian stage is absent. In both the Subpolar Urals and in European Russia, the terminal part of the Volgian Stage and the lower part of the Ryazanian Stage both contain ammonites of the genus Shulginites. Bivalves are represented mainly by the genera Anopaea, Camptonectes (Camptonectes), Entolium (Entolium), and Plagiostoma. The studied sections lack Buchia, one of the most characteristic taxa of the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary beds of the Panboreal Superrealm. It is proposed that the Volgian-Ryazanian boundary beds in the upper reaches of the Cheryomukha River (Rybinsk district, Yaroslavl oblast) are recognized as the Chudinovo Formation, the upper part of which contains numerous ammonites of the Singularis Zone.

This study re-evaluates the manuscript corpus attributed to the Serbian copyist Damijan-Iosif through the application of the Cyrillic Palaeography Toolkit, a digital instrument enabling detailed script analysis. By reassessing six manuscripts bearing his name or monogram and examining two additional codices previously linked to an anonymous collaborator, the study attributes them all to Damijan-Iosif. A further manuscript reveals the presence of a collaborator, distinguished through palaeographic and layout features. These findings shed new light on collaborative practices within the Hilandar scriptorium and demonstrate the potential of digital methodologies to enhance traditional palaeographic attribution frameworks in South Slavonic manuscript studies.

The Andes are a unique geological and biogeographic feature of South America. From the perspective of human geography, this mountain range provides ready access to highly diverse altitudinally arranged ecosystems. The combination of a geologically and ecologically diverse landscape provides an exceptional context to explore the potential of strontium isotopes to track the movements of people and the conveyance of material culture. Here we develop an isotopic landscape of bioavailable strontium (87Sr/86Sr) that is applied to reconstruct human paleogeography across time in the southern Andes of Argentina and Chile (31°–34°S). These results come from a macro-regional sampling of rodents (N = 65) and plants (N = 26) from modern and archeological contexts. This “Southern Andean Strontium Transect” extends over 350 km across the Andes, encompassing the main geological provinces between the Pacific coast (Chile) and the eastern lowlands (Argentina). We follow a recently developed approach ...

The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the methodology of researching the potential pottery raw materials of excavated material from the antique polis using the example of Olbia in the North Western Black Sea region. The historiography of the issue is considered and the main methods are defined. It includes fieldwork, laboratory
analyses and their interpretation, as well as an experimental component. The discussion is based on the descrip-
tion of the stages of fieldwork, the study of the macromorphological structure of the clay deposits, micromorpho-
logical and granulometric analysis of ancient ceramics and experimental products made of potential pottery raw materials. According to the obtained results, it can be said that the population of Olbia used local materials in pottery making, although their characteristics are specific for the preparation of the clay mass. A comprehensive study confirmed the ability to find out the raw material base of the ancient polis and the possibility of its application at other sites.

Full-waveform inversion (FWI) was applied on the Jumano and Sandhill 3D land seismic surveys, which were acquired over the Delaware basin with distinct acquisition configurations. The near-surface geology of the study area is characterized by interbedded thick deposits of late Permian salt and anhydrite introducing a high velocity layer system, in addition to the strong lateral velocity variation due to evaporite dissolution which is known as Cenozoic fill. Therefore, the characterization and definition of these velocity variations are crucial to produce reliable seismic images. While recent developments in FWI technology make it a powerful velocity model building tool, its application to land data, with strong elastic effects and poor data quality particularly at low frequency end, remains challenging. Hence, dedicated data preconditioning and enhancement workflows are required to address the low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and to account for the effects of topographic variations and near-surface complexity on the guided waves. We present a successful implementation of anisotropic land FWI case study, incorporating recent developments such as curvilinear propagation and enhanced template matching (ETM) FWI objective function. These allowed us to model free-surface multiples and relax the dependence on the starting model's quality without trapping at local minimum, meanwhile preserving the details obtained through FWI update. Wavelet inversion via FWI enabled us to jointly invert both Jumano and Sandhill datasets and provide a seamless FWI velocity update. The resulting shallow-velocity model updated using Refraction FWI demonstrated significant improvements in the consistency of imaging and accurate positioning of seismic events across different geological mini-basins.

The degree to which Permo-Carboniferous cyclothemic successions archive evidence for longterm variations in ice volume during the Late Paleozoic Ice Age is insufficiently resolved. Here we develop the sequence stratigraphy and onlap-offlap history for a 33-my interval of the Carboniferous using the U-Pb calibrated succession of the Donets Basin, Ukraine, in order to assess the relationship between sea-level, high-latitude changes in glacial extent, and climate. Integrated subsurface and outcrop data permit meter-scale correlation of 242 biostratigraphically constrained limestones and coals, and in turn individual cyclothems, across ~250 km of the Donets Basin. Rapid uniform subsidence and basinwide continuity of marker beds indicate Pennsylvanian deposition under relatively stable tectonic conditions. Three scales of sequences (avg. durations of ~140 ky, ~480 ky and 1.6 my) are recognized on the basis of stratigraphic stacking patterns and basinwide architecture of marine to terrestrial facies assemblages. The hierarchy of sequences and the geographic and stratigraphic positions of shifts in base-level sensitive facies across the Donets ramp permit the construction of an onlap-offlap history at a sub-400 ky scale. Major sea-level lowstands occur across the mid-Carboniferous boundary and during the early Moscovian. These lowstands coincide with glacial maxima inferred from highlatitude glacigenic deposits. The middle to late Pennsylvanian is characterized by a stepwise onlap, culminating in an earliest Gzhelian highstand, suggesting contraction of Carboniferous ice sheets prior to the initiation of Early Permian glaciation. The stratigraphic position of climate sensitive facies within individual Donets cyclothems indicates a turnover from seasonal sub-humid or semi-arid climate to everwet conditions during the late lowstand and maximum ice sheet accumulation. Comparison of the stratigraphic and aerial distribution of coals and evaporites in the Donets Basin with the onlap-offlap history further indicates everwet conditions during lowstands and inferred glacial maxima and drier climate during onlap and inferred ice sheet contraction at the intermediate (~0.8 to 1.6 my) and long (10 6 yr) time-scales. Taken together, the relationship between inferred climate and glacioeustasy suggests a likely teleconnection between high-latitude ice sheet behavior and low-latitude atmospheric dynamics.

Strata hosting the Lower Cambrian (Series 2, Stage 3) Chengjiang Biota (Maotianshan Shale Member, Yu'anshan Formation) occur throughout the eastern part of Yunnan Province, Southwest China. In this study, literature-based faunal inventories from 10 areas (representing 34 localities), together with 22,038 new specimens collected at three localities from three of the 10 areas, were analyzed quantitatively to assess large-scale spatial variation in taxonomic diversity and composition. Our analyses show substantial covariation between local paleoenvironmental settings and species diversity, and suggest the presence of three general taphofacies in the Maotianshan Shale Member, from west to east: low diversity (26 species) characterizes the Wuding area, where fossiliferous strata have undergone extensive bioturbation; high diversity (215 species) characterizes the Chengjiang-Haikou-Anning areas, where fossiliferous strata consist of stacked couplets of thin event and background mudstone layers; moderate diversity (55 species) characterizes the Malong area, where fossiliferous strata consist of indistinctly bedded shale showing fewer single-event layers but abundant background layers. In spite of variations in sampling effort between sites, spatial patterns in species diversity and community composition were controlled primarily by variation in depositional environments along a proximal offshore to lower shoreface gradient, which influenced both ecological and taphonomic factors. The offshore settings (Haikou-Chengjiang-Anning areas) show relatively high species diversity and exceptional preservation of soft-bodied fossils, reflecting rapid burial in distal tempestites. Relatively high degrees of bioturbation, time-averaging and hydrodynamic disturbance caused a substantial decrease in the quality of preservation and number of soft-bodied species in the Wuding and Malong areas. Arthropods are the most diverse group in most localities, followed by priapulids, poriferans, brachiopods, lobopods and hyoliths. This study shows that the Chengjiang Biota lends itself very well to high resolution characterization of spatial variation in taxonomic diversity, faunal composition and fossil preservation. Furthermore, the Chengjiang Biota may provide a unique opportunity to assess the roles of environmental factors, taphonomy and ecological controls on species diversity at local to regional spatial scales.

The aim of the article is to present a proposal for standardizing the naming of the Quaternary stratigraphic units in Polish and English. Despite the historic changes, most Quaternary stratigraphic names are derived from geographical regions, rivers, towns, and geological sites where sediments of a specific age have been identified. Some names were also adapted from stratigraphic divisions of other European countries. It is common practice to write the names of Quaternary stratigraphic units in Polish in capital letters. However, this contradicts the practice for pre-Quaternary stratigraphic units, which are always written in lowercase in Polish but start with a capital letter in English. In order to comply with standard geological conventions, it is recommended here that the names of Quaternary stratigraphic units are written in lowercase in Polish and in uppercase in English, where possible using the adjectival form (with the-ian suffix) in the latter.

The biogeographic significance of the Late Cretaceous Haţeg fauna is assessed using both faunal and phylogenetic analyses. Although extremely endemic at the species level, the Haţeg fauna is part of a larger European palaeobioprovince compared to roughly contemporary (Campanian-Maastrichtian) terrestrial faunas elsewhere in Europe. Phylogenetic analyses of five Haţeg taxa, calibrated by biostratigraphic occurrences provide evidence of long ghost lineages. The geographic distributions of kogaionids, Kallokibotion, Allodaposuchus, and Zalmoxes (together with their European sister taxa) may have arisen from vicariant events between western Europe and North America, while the distribution of Telmatosaurus is an example of European endemism of Asiamerican origin. While Haţeg seems to have acted as a dead-end refugium for Kallokibotion and Telmatosaurus, other faunal members (and their immediate sister taxa) are not restricted to Transylvania, but known otherwise from localities across southern Europe. In addition, Transylvania may have acted as an evolutionary cradle for kogaionids. Transylvania and the other southern faunas of Europe may represent a distinct division of the Late Cretaceous European palaeobioprovince. A boundary between this Tethyan Europe and the more western and northern cratonic Europe suggests something like the Wallace Line in the Malay Archipelago, in which two distinct faunal provinces with separate histories within a much larger, seemingly uniform geographic region are separated by a narrow boundary.

The Tekmen Member of the Seydiflehir Formation of the Silifke-Ayd›nc›k Nappe is exposed between the towns Silifke and Ayd›nc›k, in the central Taurides, southern Turkey. The member is composed of sandy limestones with interbeds of reddish shales. Distinctive depositional features of the carbonates and associated siliciclastics are suggestive of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic tempestite-type deposition in a shelf environment. The conodont fauna from the Tekmen Member includes taxa that are known from the Baltoscandian region and are referred to the Darriwilian, being the first Middle-Ordovician finding from Turkey. A late Darriwilian (late Lasnamägian to Uhakun) age migth be attributed to the Tekmen Member of the Seydiflehir Formation. This new finding suggests that deposition of the tempestites of the Seydiflehir Formation within the Gondwanan Tauride Platform was not terminated during the late Arenig but continued until late Llanvirnian. Additionally, it seems that the erosional event between the Middle and Late Ordovician may have important palaeogeographic implications for the Early Palaeozoic evolution of the Taurides in relation to the opening of the Palaeotethys later in Early Silurian.

The North Western Mediterranean Basin developed during the Oligocene-Miocene rifting of the Eastern Iberian-European magma-poor continental margin. The margin developed as a result of back-arc extension associated with the roll-back of the retreating Calabrian-Tethys subduction zone. Reinterpretation of 2D regional seismic reflection data suggests that rifting took place by hyperextension of the Iberian-European lithosphere. This process led to the seaward arrangement of distinct crustal domains, namely proximal, necking and distal, whose distribution has been partly controlled by the presence of transfer faults accommodating different amounts of backarc extension. The late post-rift Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) gave place to significant margin erosion and canyon incision whose lowstand sedimentary byproducts were largely deposited prior to the Messinian evaporitic sequences. Mesozoic-Cenozoic and Messinian to recent salt tectonics events have been recognized. Such new understanding yields a distinct regional hydrocarbon play concept for continental shelf to deep waters, including pre-salt, Messinian and post-salt plays.

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The aim of this article is to define the geomorphological characteristics of the eastern end of the Palamós Bay during the Roman period, in order to understand the relationship between human occupation and the surrounding territory. Geological methods are used in the study, which also uses archaeological data. This comes from the excavation of the Collet Roman villa and the Collet Est pottery workshop. The geological data were obtained from both intensive and extensive fieldwork carried out in the vicinity of the pottery workshop, located to the east of the Roman villa. This work consisted of the study of the stratigraphic sequence of fill of the present-day alluvial plain. As a result of this research, it was found that this plain is the result of the contributions (through a progradation system) from the Aubí stream, and other secondary streams, which filled an ancient marshland that was partially open to the sea. This provided to the local inhabitants an inland lagoon protected from the sea currents and winds. So, it was ideal for the arrival of ships and their loading and unloading. It also provided the inhabitants of the Roman villa and its pottery workshop a reserve of fishing resources.