Sediment-filled karst depressions and &lt;i&gt;riyad&lt;/i&gt; – key archaeological environments of south Qatar

Abstract. Systematic archaeological exploration of southern Qatar started in the 1950s. However, detailed local and regional data on climatic fluctuations and landscape changes during the Holocene, pivotal for understanding and reconstructing human–environment interactions, are still lacking. This contribution provides an overview on the variability of geomorphic environments of southern Qatar with a focus on depression landforms, which reveal a rich archaeological heritage ranging from Palaeolithic(?) and Early Neolithic times to the Modern era. Based on a detailed geomorphic mapping campaign, sediment cores and optically stimulated luminescence data, the dynamics of riyad (singular rawdha; shallow, small-scale, sediment-filled karst depressions clustering in the central southern peninsula) and the larger-scale Asaila depression near the western coast are studied in order to put archaeological discoveries into a wider environmental context. Geomorphic mapping of the Asaila basin shows a much greater geomorphic variability than documented in literature so far with relict signs of surface runoff. An 8 m long sediment core taken in the sabkha-type sand flats of the western basin reveals a continuous dominance of aeolian morphodynamics during the early to mid-Holocene. Mounds preserved by evaporite horizons representing capillarites originally grown in the vadose zone are a clear sign of groundwater-level drop after the sea-level highstand ca. 6000–4500 years ago. Deflation followed the lowering of the Stokes surface, leaving mounds where the relict capillarites were able to fixate and preserve the palaeo-surface. Abundant archaeological evidence of Early and Middle Neolithic occupation – the latter with a clear focus inside the central Asaila basin – indicate more favourable living conditions than today. In contrast, the sediment record of the investigated riyad in the south is very shallow, younger and controlled by surface discharge, deflation and the constantly diminishing barchan dune cover in Qatar over the Middle and Late Holocene. The young age of the infill (ca. 1500 to 2000 years) explains the absence of findings older than the Late Islamic period. Indicators of current net deflation may relate to a decrease in surface runoff and sediment supply only in recent decades to centuries. In the future, geophysical prospection of the riyad may help to locate thicker sedimentary archives and the analysis of grain size distribution, micromorphology, phytoliths or even pollen spectra may enhance our understanding of the interplay of regional environmental changes and cultural history.

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Late Neolithic Mondsee Culture in Austria: living on lakes and living with flood risk?

Climate of the Past ◽

10.5194/cp-9-1601-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 1601-1612 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

T. Swierczynski ◽

S. Lauterbach ◽

P. Dulski ◽

A. Brauer

Keyword(s):

Debris Flow ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Cultural History ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Flood Frequency ◽

Sediment Supply ◽

European Alps ◽

Late Neolithic ◽

Settlement Period

Abstract. Neolithic and Bronze Age lake dwellings in the European Alps became recently protected under the UNESCO World Heritage. However, only little is known about the cultural history of the related pre-historic communities, their adaptation strategies to environmental changes and particularly about the almost synchronous decline of many of these settlements around the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. For example, there is an ongoing debate whether the abandonment of Late Neolithic lake dwellings at Lake Mondsee (Upper Austria) was caused by unfavourable climate conditions or a single catastrophic event. Within the varved sediments of Lake Mondsee, we investigated the occurrence of intercalated detrital layers from major floods and debris flows to unravel extreme surface runoff recurrence during the Neolithic settlement period. A combination of detailed sediment microfacies analysis and μXRF element scanning allows distinguishing debris flow and flood deposits. A total of 60 flood and 12 debris flow event layers was detected between 7000 and 4000 varve years (vyr) BP. Compared to the centennial- to millennial-scale average, a period of increased runoff event frequency can be identified between 5900 and 4450 vyr BP. Enhanced flood frequency is accompanied by predominantly siliciclastic sediment supply between ca. 5500 and 5000 vyr BP and enhanced dolomitic sediment supply between 4900 and 4500 vyr BP. A change in the location and the construction technique of the Neolithic lake dwellings at Lake Mondsee can be observed during the period of higher flood frequency. While lake dwellings of the first settlement period (ca. 5800–5250 cal. yr BP) were constructed directly on the wetlands, later constructions (ca. 5400–4700 cal. yr BP) were built on piles upon the water, possibly indicating an adaptation to either increased flood risk or a general increase of the lake level. However, our results also indicate that other than climatic factors (e.g. socio-economic changes) must have influenced the decline of the Mondsee Culture because flood activity generally decreased since 4450 vyr BP, but no new lake dwellings have been established thereafter.

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A sedimentary record of Holocene surface runoff events and earthquake activity from Lake Iseo (Southern Alps, Italy)

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683611430340 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 22 (7) ◽

pp. 749-760 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Stefan Lauterbach ◽

Emmanuel Chapron ◽

Achim Brauer ◽

Matthias Hüls ◽

Adrian Gilli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surface Runoff ◽

Large Scale ◽

Sediment Supply ◽

Small Scale ◽

Earthquake Activity ◽

Erosion Processes ◽

Seismic Surveying ◽

Matter Flux ◽

Event Layers ◽

Runoff Events

This study presents a record of Holocene surface runoff events and several large earthquakes, preserved in the sediments of pre-Alpine Lake Iseo, northern Italy. A combination of high-resolution seismic surveying, detailed sediment microfacies analysis, non-destructive core-scanning techniques and AMS 14C dating of terrestrial macrofossils was used to detect and date these events. Based on this approach, our data shed light on past seismic activity in the vicinity of Lake Iseo and the influence of climate variability and human impact on allochthonous detrital matter flux into the lake. The 19 m long investigated sediment sequence of faintly layered lake marl contains frequent centimetre- to decimetre-scale sandy-silty detrital layers. During the early to mid Holocene, these small-scale detrital layers, reflecting sediment supply by extreme surface runoff events, reveal a distinct centennial-scale recurrence pattern. This is in accordance with regional lake-level highstands and minima in solar activity and thus apparently mainly climate-controlled. After c. 4200 cal. yr BP, intervals of high detrital flux occasionally also correlate with periods of enhanced human settlement activity. In consequence, deposition of small-scale detrital layers during the late Holocene apparently reflects a rather complex interplay between climatic and anthropogenic influences on catchment erosion processes. Besides the small-scale detrital layers, five up to 2.40 m thick large-scale detrital event layers, composed of basal mass-wasting deposits overlain by large-scale turbidites, were identified, which are supposed to be triggered by strong earthquakes. The uppermost large-scale event layer can be correlated to a documented Mw=6.0 earthquake in ad 1222 in Brescia. The four other large-scale event layers are supposed to correspond to previously undocumented local earthquakes. These occurred around 350 bc, 570 bc, 2540 bc and 6210 bc and most probably also reached magnitudes in the order of Mw = 5.0–6.5.

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Late Neolithic Mondsee Culture in Austria: living on lakes and living with flood risk?

Climate of the Past Discussions ◽

10.5194/cpd-8-5893-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 8 (6) ◽

pp. 5893-5924 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T. Swierczynski ◽

S. Lauterbach ◽

P. Dulski ◽

A. Brauer

Keyword(s):

Debris Flow ◽

Bronze Age ◽

Cultural History ◽

Flood Risk ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Flood Frequency ◽

Sediment Supply ◽

European Alps ◽

Late Neolithic

Abstract. Neolithic and Bronze Age lake-dwellings in the European Alps became recently protected under the UNESCO World Heritage. However, only little is known about the cultural history of the related pre-historic communities, their adaptation strategies to environmental changes and particularly about the almost synchronous decline of many of these settlements around the transition from the Late Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age. For example, there is an ongoing debate whether the abandonment of Late Neolithic lake-dwellings at Lake Mondsee (Upper Austria) was caused by unfavourable climate conditions or a single catastrophic event. Within the varved sediments of Lake Mondsee we investigated the occurrence of intercalated detrital layers from major floods and debris flows to unravel extreme surface runoff recurrence during the Neolithic settlement phase. A combination of detailed sediment microfacies analysis and μXRF element scanning allows distinguishing debris flow and flood deposits. A total of 60 flood and 12 debris flow event layers was detected between 4000 and 7000 varve yr BP. Compared to the centennial- to millennial-scale average, a period of increased runoff event frequency can be identified between 4450 and 5900 varve yr BP. Enhanced flood frequency is accompanied by predominantly siliciclastic sediment supply between 5000 and 5500 varve yr BP and enhanced dolomitic sediment supply between 4500 and 5000 varve yr BP, revealing a change from regional floods to more local runoff events. Interestingly, during the interval of highest flood frequency a change in the location and the construction technique of the Neolithic lake-dwellings at Lake Mondsee can be observed. While lake-dwellings of the first settlement phase (ca. 5750–5200 cal. yr BP) were constructed on wetlands, later constructions (ca. 5400–4650 cal. yr BP) were built on piles upon the water, possibly indicating an adaptation to either increased flood risk or a general increase of the lake-level. However, also other than climatic factors (e.g. socio-economic changes) must have influenced the decline of the Mondsee Culture because flood activity generally decreased since 4450 varve yr BP, but no new lake-dwellings have been established thereafter.

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Cytotype distribution and chloroplast phylogeography of the Actinidia chinensis complex

BMC Plant Biology ◽

10.1186/s12870-021-03099-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Zhi Wang ◽

Caihong Zhong ◽

Dawei Li ◽

Chunlin Yan ◽

Xiaohong Yao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

Demographic History ◽

Wide Distribution ◽

Historical Demography ◽

Actinidia Chinensis ◽

Ecological Niche Models ◽

Subtropical China ◽

Modeling Tools ◽

Climatic Fluctuations ◽

Ploidy Levels

Abstract Background Plant phylogeographic studies of species in subtropical China have mainly focused on rare and endangered species, whereas few studies have been conducted on taxa with relatively wide distribution, especially polyploid species. We investigated the cytotype and haplotype distribution pattern of the Actinidia chinensis complex, a widespread geographically woody liana with variable ploidy in subtropical China comprising two varieties, with three chloroplast fragments DNA (ndhF-rpl132, rps16-trnQ and trnE-trnT). Macroevolutionary, microevolutionary and niche modeling tools were also combined to disentangle the origin and the demographic history of the species or cytotypes. Results The ploidy levels of 3338 individuals from 128 populations sampled throughout the species distribution range were estimated with flow cytometry. The widespread cytotypes were diploids followed by tetraploids and hexaploids, whereas triploids and octoploids occurred in a few populations. Thirty-one chloroplast haplotypes were detected. The genetic diversity and genetic structure were found to be high between varieties (or ploidy races) chinensis and deliciosa. Our results revealed that these two varieties inhabit significantly different climatic niche spaces. Ecological niche models (ENMs) indicate that all varieties’ ranges contracted during the Last Inter Glacial (LIG), and expanded eastward or northward during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Conclusions Pliocene and Plio-Pleistocene climatic fluctuations and vicariance appear to have played key roles in shaping current population structure and historical demography in the A. chinensis complex. The polyploidization process also appears to have played an important role in the historical demography of the complex through improving their adaptability to environmental changes.

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Holocene sea level and climate interactions on wet dune slack evolution in SW Portugal: A model for future scenarios?

The Holocene ◽

10.1177/0959683618804633 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 29 (1) ◽

pp. 26-44 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Manel Leira ◽

Maria C Freitas ◽

Tania Ferreira ◽

Anabela Cruces ◽

Simon Connor ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Sediment Accumulation ◽

High Energy ◽

Sediment Supply ◽

Dune Slack ◽

Ecological Stability ◽

The Holocene ◽

Climate Interactions

We examine the Holocene environmental changes in a wet dune slack of the Portuguese coast, Poço do Barbarroxa de Baixo. Lithology, organic matter, biological proxies and high-resolution chronology provide estimations of sediment accumulation rates and changes in environmental conditions in relation to sea-level change and climate variability during the Holocene. Results show that the wet dune slack was formed 7.5 cal. ka BP, contemporaneous with the last stages of the rapid sea-level rise. This depositional environment formed under frequent freshwater flooding and water ponding that allowed the development and post-mortem accumulation of abundant plant remains. The wetland evolved into mostly palustrine conditions over the next 2000 years, until a phase of stabilization in relative sea-level rise, when sedimentation rates slowed down to 0.04 mm yr−1, between 5.3 and 2.5 cal. ka BP. Later, about 0.8 cal. ka BP, high-energy events, likely due to enhanced storminess and more frequent onshore winds, caused the collapse of the foredune above the wetlands’ seaward margin. The delicate balance between hydrology (controlled by sea-level rise and climate change), sediment supply and storminess modulates the habitat’s resilience and ecological stability. This underpins the relevance of integrating past records in coastal wet dune slacks management in a scenario of constant adaptation processes.

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Technical Note: A mobile sea-going mesocosm system – new opportunities for ocean change research

Biogeosciences ◽

10.5194/bg-10-1835-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 1835-1847 ◽

Cited By ~ 123

Author(s):

U. Riebesell ◽

J. Czerny ◽

K. von Bröckel ◽

T. Boxhammer ◽

J. Büdenbender ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ocean Acidification ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Biogeochemical Cycling ◽

High Arctic ◽

Technical Note ◽

Plankton Community ◽

Small Scale ◽

Multiple Test ◽

The Baltic ◽

June July

Abstract. One of the great challenges in ocean change research is to understand and forecast the effects of environmental changes on pelagic communities and the associated impacts on biogeochemical cycling. Mesocosms, experimental enclosures designed to approximate natural conditions, and in which environmental factors can be manipulated and closely monitored, provide a powerful tool to close the gap between small-scale laboratory experiments and observational and correlative approaches applied in field surveys. Existing pelagic mesocosm systems are stationary and/or restricted to well-protected waters. To allow mesocosm experimentation in a range of hydrographic conditions and in areas considered most sensitive to ocean change, we developed a mobile sea-going mesocosm facility, the Kiel Off-Shore Mesocosms for Future Ocean Simulations (KOSMOS). The KOSMOS platform, which can be transported and deployed by mid-sized research vessels, is designed for operation in moored and free-floating mode under low to moderate wave conditions (up to 2.5 m wave heights). It encloses a water column 2 m in diameter and 15 to 25 m deep (∼50–75 m3 in volume) without disrupting the vertical structure or disturbing the enclosed plankton community. Several new developments in mesocosm design and operation were implemented to (i) minimize differences in starting conditions between mesocosms, (ii) allow for extended experimental duration, (iii) precisely determine the mesocosm volume, (iv) determine air–sea gas exchange, and (v) perform mass balance calculations. After multiple test runs in the Baltic Sea, which resulted in continuous improvement of the design and handling, the KOSMOS platform successfully completed its first full-scale experiment in the high Arctic off Svalbard (78°56.2′ N, 11°53.6′ E) in June/July 2010. The study, which was conducted in the framework of the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA), focused on the effects of ocean acidification on a natural plankton community and its impacts on biogeochemical cycling and air–sea exchange of climate-relevant gases. This manuscript describes the mesocosm hardware, its deployment and handling, CO2 manipulation, sampling and cleaning, including some further modifications conducted based on the experiences gained during this study.

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The development of small scale farming: two cases from the Commonwealth Caribbean.

Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science ◽

10.18174/njas.v16i4.17401 ◽

1968 ◽

Vol 16 (4) ◽

pp. 264-274

Author(s):

D.T. Edwards

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

The Other ◽

Small Scale ◽

Government Agencies ◽

Rapid Rate ◽

The Face ◽

Market Gardening ◽

Commonwealth Caribbean ◽

The Government

Two very different cases of small-scale farm development in the Commonwealth Caribbean are reviewed. One is Jamaican small farming, which responded little to considerable efforts made for its improvement by the Government agencies. The other is market gardening at Aranjuez, Trinidad where production grew at an extremely rapid rate in the face of intense and antagonistic competition between the market gardeners and without significant direct assistance by official agencies. The conclusions include a number of possible strategies for farm development, comprising individual or collective persuasion, coercion, creation of new farms, and environmental changes. T. A. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

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Social determinants of health and disease: the role of small-scale projects illustrated by the Koster health project in Sweden and Ametra in Peru

Cadernos de Saúde Pública ◽

10.1590/s0102-311x1992000300002 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 229-239

Author(s):

Maj-Lis Follér

Keyword(s):

Environmental Changes ◽

Determinants Of Health ◽

Ecological Approach ◽

Small Scale ◽

Subjective Feeling ◽

Human Beings ◽

Pluralistic Society ◽

Health And Disease ◽

Health Project

Two different health projects are evaluated in this paper. The Koster Health project taking place at the Koster Islands in Sweden and the Ametra project going on among the Shipibo-Conibo in Peru. Both projects focus more on the determinants of health than on sickness and more on the individual's subjective feeling of illness than on the biomedically "objectively" recognizable disease. "Mobilization" and "responsibility"for the individual's own health are central concepts in both projects. In the theoretical part of the paper a human ecological perspective is suggested to analyse the interaction between human health and environmental changes. The author emphasizes the importance of interdisciplinary research when evaluating how the external determinants from the natural and social environment affect human beings and health. The human ecological approach is seen as a complement to the biomedical research. Health and disease are two poles in a continuum. In a pluralistic society we should struggle towards the pole of health.

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The Effects of Systematic Environmental Manipulation on Gait of Older Adults

Healthcare ◽

10.3390/healthcare8040386 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 386

Author(s):

Max Toepfer ◽

Alejandra Padilla ◽

Kevin Ponto ◽

Andrea H Mason ◽

Kristen A Pickett

Keyword(s):

Older Adults ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Small Scale ◽

Gait Patterns ◽

Double Support ◽

Single Dimension ◽

Adult Participants ◽

Gait Parameters ◽

Systematic Manipulation

Quantification of gait changes in response to altered environmental stimuli may allow for improved understanding of the mechanisms that influence gait changes and fall occurrence in older adults. This study explored how systematic manipulation of a single dimension of one’s environment affects spatiotemporal gait parameters. A total of 20 older adult participants walked at a self-selected pace in a constructed research hallway featuring a mobile wall, which allowed manipulation of the hallway width between three conditions: 1.14 m, 1.31 m, and 1.48 m. Spatiotemporal data from participants’ walks were captured using an instrumented GAITRite mat. A repeated measures ANOVA revealed older adults spent significantly more time in double support in the narrowest hallway width compared to the widest, but did not significantly alter other spatiotemporal measures. Small-scale manipulations of a single dimension of the environment led to subtle, yet in some cases significant changes in gait, suggesting that small or even imperceptible environmental changes may contribute to altered gait patterns for older adults.

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Highly Resolved Rainfall-Runoff Simulation of Retrofitted Green Stormwater Infrastructure at the Micro-Watershed Scale

Land ◽

10.3390/land9090339 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 339 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Sami Towsif Khan ◽

Fernando Chapa ◽

Jochen Hack

Keyword(s):

High Resolution ◽

Spatial Data ◽

Surface Runoff ◽

Spatial Databases ◽

Google Earth ◽

Urban Land Use ◽

Small Scale ◽

Runoff Reduction ◽

Intense Storm ◽

Green Stormwater Infrastructure

Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), a sustainable engineering design approach for managing urban stormwater runoff, has long been recommended as an alternative to conventional conveyance-based stormwater management strategies to mitigate the adverse impact of sprawling urbanization. Hydrological and hydraulic simulations of small-scale GSI measures in densely urbanized micro watersheds require high-resolution spatial databases of urban land use, stormwater structures, and topography. This study presents a highly resolved Storm Water Management Model developed under considerable spatial data constraints. It evaluates the cumulative effect of the implementation of dispersed, retrofitted, small-scale GSI measures in a heavily urbanized micro watershed of Costa Rica. Our methodology includes a high-resolution digital elevation model based on Google Earth information, the accuracy of which was sufficient to determine flow patterns and slopes, as well as to approximate the underground stormwater structures. The model produced satisfactory results in event-based calibration and validation, which ensured the reliability of the data collection procedure. Simulating the implementation of GSI shows that dispersed, retrofitted, small-scale measures could significantly reduce impermeable surface runoff (peak runoff reduction up to 40%) during frequent, less intense storm events and delay peak surface runoff by 5–10 min. The presented approach can benefit stormwater practitioners and modelers conducting small scale hydrological simulation under spatial data constraint.

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