scholarly journals Charcoal kilns as a source of data on the past iron industry (an example from the River Czarna valley, Central Poland)

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 12-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paweł Rutkiewicz ◽  
Ireneusz Malik ◽  
Małgorzata Wistuba ◽  
Agata Sady
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Change ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Iron Industry ◽  
Charcoal Production ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Central Poland ◽  
Iron Smelting ◽  
Charcoal Kilns

AbstractCharcoal was the primary fuel used for iron smelting and processing until the end of the 19th century. It was produced through burning piles of wood called charcoal kilns. The aim of the study was to identify and record traces of charcoal kilns related to past ironworks in the valley of the River Czarna (Małopolska Upland, Central Poland). Detailed analysis was conducted in areas adjacent to historical centres of iron processing in Maleniec, Kołoniec and Machory. A quantitative analysis of the traces of charcoal kilns in the topography was done based on DEM from airborne LiDAR. Soil profiles were analysed at the sites where traces of charcoal kilns were identified from DEM. Radiocarbon dating and palaeobotanical analyses were performed for selected charcoal from kiln remnants. In the study area we identified over 11,500 charcoal kilns. The radiocarbon age of these charcoals indicate that the charcoal kilns under study were used in the 15th, 18th and 19th century. Thus the results suggest that the iron industry in the studied area is c 100 years older than the historical written sources indicate. Palaeobotanical analyses show that coniferous trees were used for charcoal production. The large number of traces of charcoal kilns and their wide spatial distribution indicate that past charcoal production has had a significant impact on the environment and landscape change in the River Czarna valley and adjacent areas.

RADIOCARBON RESERVOIR AGES IN THE HOLOCENE DEAD SEA

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 1453-1473
Author(s):  
Nurit Weber ◽  
Boaz Lazar ◽  
Ofra Stern ◽  
George Burr ◽  
Ittai Gavrieli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dissolved Inorganic Carbon ◽  
Dead Sea ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Organic Debris ◽  
The Dead ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Continuous Deposition

ABSTRACTThe sources and fate of radiocarbon (14C) in the Dead Sea hypersaline solution are evaluated with 14C measurements in organic debris and primary aragonite collected from exposures of the Holocene Ze’elim Formation. The reservoir age (RA) is defined as the difference between the radiocarbon age of the aragonite at time of its precipitation (representing lakeʼs dissolved inorganic carbon [DIC]) and the age of contemporaneous organic debris (representing atmospheric radiocarbon). Evaluation of the data for the past 6000 yr from Dead Sea sediments reveal that the lakeʼs RA decreased from 2890 yr at 6 cal kyr BP to 2300 yr at present. The RA lies at ~2400 yr during the past 3000 yr, when the lake was characterized by continuous deposition of primary aragonite, which implies a continuous supply of freshwater-bicarbonate into the lake. This process reflects the overall stability of the hydrological-climate conditions in the lakeʼs watershed during the late Holocene where bicarbonate originated from dissolution of the surface cover in the watershed that was transported to the Dead Sea by the freshwater runoff. An excellent correlation (R2=0.98) exists between aragonite ages and contemporaneous organic debris, allowing the estimation of ages of various primary deposits where organic debris are not available.

scholarly journals Landscape Change in Mediterranean Farmlands: Impacts of Land Abandonment on Cultivation Terraces in Portofino (Italy) and Lesvos (Greece)

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theo Van Der Sluis ◽  
Thanasis Kizos ◽  
Bas Pedroli
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Landscape Change ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
Aerial Photographs ◽  
Landscape Changes ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mediterranean Landscapes ◽  
The Mediterranean

Abstract The Mediterranean landscape has been rapidly changing over the past decades. Many regions saw a population decline, which resulted in changing land use, abandonment of marginal lands and colonisation by shrubs and tree species. Typical features like farming terraces, olive yards, and upland grasslands have been decreasing over the past 50 years. This results in a declining biodiversity and loss of traditional Mediterranean landscapes. In this paper we assess the landscape changes that took place in two areas, in Portofino, on the Italian Riviera, and Lesvos, a Greek island near the Turkish coast. We compared land use maps and aerial photographs over the past decades to quantify the land use changes in these two areas. Additional information was acquired from farmers’ interviews and literature. We found that changes are related to societal changes in the appraisal of agricultural land uses, and to the urban expansion, tourism and recreation. These diffuse processes are a result of policy measures and autonomous societal transformations. This is confirmed by the results of two interview surveys: between 1999 and 2012 agricultural land use in Portofino regional Park and buffer zone further marginalised, and the associated landscape changes are perceived as a substantial loss of character and identity. This problem is emblematic for large parts of the Mediterranean. Comparing different landscapes reveal similar processes of landscape change, which can be related to similar driving forces. Based on such comparisons, we learn about possible trajectories of change, and ask for a comprehensive approach to land use management.

scholarly journals The Mysterious 14C Decline

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wallace Broecker
Keyword(s):  
Age Differences ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Progressive Increase ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Last Deglaciation ◽  
Polar Ice ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Surface Ocean ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Last Deglaciation

Fundamental to the field of radiocarbon dating is not only the establishment of the temporal record of the calendar age-radiocarbon age offsets but also the development of an understanding of their cause. Although part of the decline in the magnitude of this offset over the past 40,000 can be explained by a drop in 14C production rate associated with a progressive increase in the strength of the Earth's magnetic shielding, it is clear that changes in the distribution of 14C among the Earth's active carbon reservoirs are also required. In particular, the steep 15% decline in the 14C to C ratio in atmospheric CO2 and surface ocean ΣCO2, which occurred in a 3 kyr-duration interval marking the onset of the last deglaciation, appears to require that a very large amount (at least 5000 gigatons) of 14C-deficient carbon was transferred to or within the ocean during this time interval. As no chemical or stable isotope anomaly associated with this injection appears in either the marine sediment or polar ice records, this injection must involve a transfer within the ocean (i.e. a mixing of 2 ocean reservoirs, one depleted in 14C and the other enriched in 14C). Although evidence for the existence of a salt-stabilized glacial-age abyssal ocean reservoir exists, a search based on benthic-planktic age differences and 13C measurements appears to place a limit on its size well below that required to account for the steep 14C decline.

Geomorphic evidence for active, co-seismic slip along a low-angle normal fault: Panamint Valley, California

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Kirby ◽  
Israporn (Grace) Sethanant ◽  
John Gosse ◽  
Eric McDonald ◽  
J Doug Walker
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Hazard ◽  
Normal Fault ◽  
Basin And Range ◽  
Detachment Fault ◽  
Airborne Lidar ◽  
Fault System ◽  
Seismic Slip ◽  
The Past ◽  
Detachment Faults ◽  
Fault Scarps

<p>The mechanical feasibility of co-seismic displacement along low-angle normal fault systems remains an outstanding problem in tectonics.  In the southwestern Basin and Range of North America, large magnitude extension during Miocene – Pliocene time was accommodated along a regionally extensive system of low-angle detachment faults.  Whether these faults remain active today and, if so, whether they rupture during large earthquakes are questions central to understanding the geodynamics of distributed lithospheric deformation and associated seismic hazard.  Here we evaluate the geometric and kinematic relationships of fault scarps developed in Pleistocene – Holocene alluvial and lacustrine deposits with low-angle detachment faults observed along the western flank of the Panamint Range, in eastern California.  We combine analysis of high-resolution topography generated from airborne LiDAR and photogrammetry with a detailed chronology of alluvial fan surfaces and a calibrated soil chronosequence to characterize the recent activity of the fault system.  The range-front fault system is coincident with a low-angle (15-20°), curviplanar detachment fault that is linked to strike-slip faults at its southern and northern ends.  Fanglomerate deposits in the hanging wall of the detachment are juxtaposed with brecciated bedrock in the footwall across a narrow fault surface marked by clay-rich gouge.  Isochron burial dating of the fanglomerate using the <sup>26</sup>Al and <sup>10</sup>Be requires displacement in the past ~800 ka.  The degree of soil development in younger alluvial deposits in direct fault contact with the footwall block suggest displacement along the main detachment in the past as ~80-100 ka.  The geometry of recent fault scarps in Holocene alluvium mimic range-scale variations in strike of the curviplanar detachment fault, suggesting that scarps merge with the detachment at depth.  Moreover, fault kinematics inferred from displaced debris-flow levees and from fault striae on the bedrock range front are consistent with slip on a low-angle detachment system beneath the valley.  Finally, paleoseismic results from a trench at the southern end of the fault system suggest 3-4 surface ruptures during past ~4-5 ka, the most recent of which (MRE) occurred ~330-485 cal yr BP.  Scarps related to the MRE can be traced for at least ~50 km northward along the range front and imply surface displacements of 2-4 meters during this event.  Thus, we conclude that ongoing dextral shear along the margin of the Basin and Range is, in part, accommodated by co-seismic slip along low-angle detachment faults in Panamint Valley.  Our results have important implications for the interaction of fault networks and seismic hazard in the region.</p>

Liquefaction of Subsurface Soils During Earthquakes

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenji Ishihara ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Wave Propagation ◽  
Laboratory Test ◽  
Test Data ◽  
Soil Profiles ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
The Past ◽  
Field Investigations ◽  
Sandy Ground ◽  
Wave Propagation Method ◽  
Methods And Techniques

The following article summarizes the results of studies on liquefaction of sandy ground during earthquakes, which have been conducted by the author over the past few years. Case history studies on this subject made for the major earthquakes in Japan are described first, and then three soil profiles most prone to liquefaction are suggested. Principles and methods of laboratory studies on liquefaction are briefly introduced, and typical examples of recent test data are shown. In Section 3, methods and techniques of field investigations are described in detail and. their interpretation in relation to liquefaction prediction is suggested. Finally, a predictive method is suggested in which the laboratory test data are incorporated into analyses using the wave propagation method.

The Inception of the Iron Age in Temperate Europe

1976 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. G. E. Powell
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Asia Minor ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Heavy Duty ◽  
Iron Industry ◽  
Substantial Evidence ◽  
Major Step ◽  
Iron Smelting ◽  
Temperate Europe ◽  
The Alps

The first appearance of iron in Europe north of the Alps involves more than one story, and much, often ambiguous, evidence. It will be necessary to draw on Greece and Italy more than once in due course, but attention in the present state of enquiry should first be given to the region of the lower Danube, and territory stretching south along the Black Sea to the Bosphorus. This is not because of any abstract deductions that Thrace should form a necessary spring-board from Asia Minor into the depths of Europe, but because material is now coming to light that calls for special consideration on its own merits. A major step forward has resulted from excavations at stratified sites in the Dobrogea, in particular at Babadag (Morintz 1964), and at Cernatu (Székely 1966), and from the latter especially there is substantial evidence for iron smelting as well as forged products: iron strips as ready metal, but also shaft-hole and lugged axes, and blades for sickles, and other heavy duty tools. The chronological position of this iron industry remains open to discussion, and is bound up with evaluations of the pottery sequence especially as worked out at Babadag. The iron industry occurred in a level with pottery of the Middle Babadag style at both sites mentioned. Middle Babadag pottery continues shapes and motifs of the Early style, but decoration is executed with twisted and impressed cord, apparently a regional development.

Early Metal Working in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Recent Research

1994 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duncan E. Miller ◽  
Nikolaas J. Van Der Merwe
Keyword(s):  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Metal Working ◽  
The Past ◽  
Iron Smelting ◽  
History Of ◽  
Early Metallurgy ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Technical Terms

Thispaper is a review of the course of research during the past decade into the history of indigenous metal working in sub-Saharan Africa. It comprises three sections: a summary of the chronology of early metallurgy and the spread of metal working; a description of African metal working in terms of mining, smelting and smithing, with particular emphasis on recent interpretations of the iron-smelting technology; and a conclusion summarizing the main developments and some lines of future enquiry. A glossary of technical terms used in this paper is appended.

scholarly journals Chronology and Stratigraphy of the Imlay channel in Lapeer County, Michigan, USA

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan N. Luczak ◽  
Timothy G. Fisher ◽  
Kenneth Lepper
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sections ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Glacial Lake ◽  
Sedimentation Rates ◽  
Alluvial Fans ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Water Well ◽  
A Current

The Imlay channel in Lapeer County, Michigan was one of two outlets for the glacial Lake Maumee phase of ancestral Lake Erie. Fifteen new radiocarbon and optical ages from within and adjacent to the Imlay channel constrain sedimentation rates within the channel and the timing of regional deglaciation. For nearly 50 years the deglaciation of this region of Michigan has been based on a single age from the Weaver Drain site located near the Imlay channel, and a new radiocarbon age of 16.7–17.0 cal ka BP from 3 km east of the Imlay channel supports this long-standing deglacial age. On average there is a 14 m thick sediment fill within the channel. Radiocarbon and OSL ages reveal that much of the alluvial fill was deposited by 14.9 ka, and alluvial fans building into the channel stabilized in the early Holocene. Cross-sections along and perpendicular to the Imlay channel, built from geotechnical borings and water-well records, reveal a current-day bedrock sill elevation at 235 masl that would have permitted drainage of all stages of glacial Lake Maumee in the past.

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