Landscape Dynamics in the Northwestern Mountains of the Iberian Peninsula: Case Study Ancares-Courel Mountain Range

Abstract. The synergetic use of meteorological information, remote sensing both ground-based active (lidar) and passive (sun-photometry) techniques together with backtrajectory analysis and in-situ measurements is devoted to the characterization of dust intrusions. A case study of air masses advected from the Saharan region to the Canary Islands and the Iberian Peninsula, located relatively close and far away from the dust sources, respectively, was considered for this purpose. The observations were performed over three Spanish geographically strategic stations within the dust-influenced area along a common dust plume pathway monitored from 11 to 19 of March 2008. A 4-day long dust event (13–16 March) over the Santa Cruz de Tenerife Observatory (SCO), and a linked short 1-day dust episode (14 March) in the Southern Iberian Peninsula over the Atmospheric Sounding Station "El Arenosillo" (ARN) and the Granada station (GRA) were detected. Meteorological conditions favoured the dust plume transport over the area under study. Backtrajectory analysis clearly revealed the Saharan region as the source of the dust intrusion. Under the Saharan air masses influence, AERONET Aerosol Optical Depth at 500 nm (AOD500) ranged from 0.3 to 0.6 and Ångström Exponent at 440/675 nm wavelength pair (AE440/675) was lower than 0.5, indicating a high loading and predominance of coarse particles during those dusty events. Lidar observations characterized their vertical layering structure, identifying different aerosol contributions depending on altitude. In particular, the 3-km height dust layer transported from the Saharan region and observed over SCO site was later on detected at ARN and GRA stations. No significant differences were found in the lidar (extinction-to-backscatter) ratio (LR) estimation for that dust plume over all stations when a suitable aerosol scenario for lidar data retrieval is selected. Lidar-retrieved LR values of 60–70 sr were obtained during the main dust episodes. These similar LR values found in all the stations suggest that dust properties were kept nearly unchanged in the course of its medium-range transport. In addition, the potential impact on surface of that Saharan dust intrusion over the Iberian Peninsula was evaluated by means of ground-level in-situ measurements for particle deposition assessment together with backtrajectory analysis. However, no connection between those dust plumes and the particle sedimentation registered at ground level is found. Differences on particle deposition processes observed in both Southern Iberian Peninsula sites are due to the particular dust transport pattern occurred over each station. Discrepancies between columnar-integrated and ground-level in-situ measurements show a clear dependence on height of the dust particle size distribution. Then, further vertical size-resolved observations are needed for evaluation of the impact on surface of the Saharan dust arrival to the Iberian Peninsula.

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Before the Celts: Cosmology, Landscape and Folklore in Neolithic Northwest Iberia

10.46472/cc.0122.0205 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (1) ◽

pp. 29-45

Author(s):

Fabio Silva

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Mountain Range ◽

The West ◽

North West ◽

The North ◽

Celtic Studies ◽

The Bronze Age ◽

Northwest Iberia

This paper applies a combined landscape and skyscape archaeology methodology to the study of megalithic passage graves in the North-west of the Iberian Peninsula, in an attempt to glimpse the cosmology of these Neolithic Iberians. The reconstructed narrative is found to be supported also by a toponym for a local mountain range and associated folklore, providing an interesting methodology that might be applied in future Celtic studies. The paper uses this data to comment on the ‘Celticization from the West’ hypothesis that posits Celticism originated in the European Atlantic façade during the Bronze Age. If this is the case, then the Megalithic phenomenon that was widespread along the Atlantic façade would have immediately preceded the first Celts.

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Identification of Ancient Irrigation Practices based on the Carbon Isotope Discrimination of Plant Seeds: a Case Study from the South-East Iberian Peninsula

Journal of Archaeological Science ◽

10.1006/jasc.1997.0154 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 24 (8) ◽

pp. 729-740 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

José Luis Araus ◽

Anna Febrero ◽

Ramon Buxó ◽

Maria Oliva Rodrı́guez-Ariza ◽

Fernando Molina ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Carbon Isotope ◽

Carbon Isotope Discrimination ◽

The South ◽

Isotope Discrimination ◽

Plant Seeds ◽

Irrigation Practices

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Mining off the Map: Fulongchang and Silver Mines in the Qing Empire’s Far Southwest

Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient ◽

10.1163/15685209-12341537 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 64 (3) ◽

pp. 251-301

Author(s):

Nanny Kim ◽

Yang Yuda

Keyword(s):

Local Governments ◽

Central Government ◽

Self Organization ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Governance Structures ◽

Social Self ◽

Mining Town ◽

Late Imperial ◽

Qing Government

Abstract A donation stele discovered in the 1980 records that the community of the Fulong silver mines raised some 4500 liang of silver to build a temple dedicated to the God of Wealth in 1814. The site in a remote mountain range in northern Yunnan evidently was a prosperous and populous mining town. Yet it appears in no government record. Centered on the case study, this paper provides insights into social self-organization of communities and the structures within the Qing government that allowed the operation of mines that were registered with the local governments and submitted taxes yet kept out of the communications with the central government. The analysis contributes a specific example of communal governance structures and explains the two layers in late imperial administration, one which was official and documented in gazetteers and central records, and another which was customary and usually undocumented.

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Impact of North Atlantic Oscillation on the Snowpack in Iberian Peninsula Mountains

Water ◽

10.3390/w12010105 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 105 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Esteban Alonso-González ◽

Juan I. López-Moreno ◽

Francisco M. Navarro-Serrano ◽

Jesús Revuelto

Keyword(s):

North Atlantic Oscillation ◽

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Sierra Nevada ◽

North Atlantic ◽

Snow Water Equivalent ◽

Mountain Range ◽

Winter Climate ◽

Mountain Ranges ◽

Iberian Range ◽

The Impact

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main atmospheric factor explaining the winter climate and snow evolution over much of the Northern Hemisphere. However, the absence of long-term snow data in mountain regions has prevented full assessment of the impact of the NAO at the regional scales, where data are limited. In this study, we assessed the relationship between the NAO of the winter months (DJFM-NAO) and the snowpack of the Iberian Peninsula. We simulated temperature, precipitation, and snow data for the period 1979–2014 by dynamic downscaling of ERA-Interim reanalysis data, and correlated this with the DJFM-NAO for the five main mountain ranges of the Iberian Peninsula (Cantabrian Range, Central Range, Iberian Range, the Pyrenees, and the Sierra Nevada). The results confirmed that negative DJFM-NAO values generally occur during wet and mild conditions over most of the Iberian Peninsula. Due to the direction of the wet air masses, the NAO has a large influence on snow duration and the annual peak snow water equivalent (peak SWE) in most of the mountain ranges in the study, mostly on the slopes south of the main axis of the ranges. In contrast, the impact of NAO variability is limited on north-facing slopes. Negative (positive) DJFM-NAO values were associated with longer (shorter) duration and higher (lower) peak SWEs in all mountains analyzed in the study. We found marked variability in correlations of the DJFM-NAO with snow indices within each mountain range, even when only the south-facing slopes were considered. The correlations were stronger for higher elevations in the mountain ranges, but geographical longitude also explained the intra-range variability in the majority of the studied mountains.

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Description of the female of Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988, an endemic moth species of the Tien Shan Range in Central Asia (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae)

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.4790.1.14 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4790 (1) ◽

pp. 198-200

Author(s):

VITALY M. SPITSYN ◽

GRIGORY S. POTAPOV

Keyword(s):

Pacific Ocean ◽

Central Asia ◽

Iberian Peninsula ◽

Apical Part ◽

Tien Shan ◽

Mountain Range ◽

The Pacific ◽

The Pacific Ocean ◽

Moth Species ◽

Morphological Differences

Seven Arctiine genera have recently been synonymized with the genus Chelis Rambur, 1866 using a comprehensive multi-locus phylogeny (Rönkä et al. 2016). The genus Chelis s. str. contains nine species, the ranges of which cover temperate and subtropical areas of Eurasia from the Iberian Peninsula to the Pacific Ocean coast (Dubatolov & de Vos 2010, Ortiz et al. 2016). Two species, i.e. Chelis ferghana Dubatolov, 1988 and C. strigulosa (Böttcher, 1905), are endemic to the Tien Shan Mountain Range. These taxa can be distinguished by morphological differences in the apical part of the valva.

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