On The Supposed Onshore Extension Of The Penyu Basin, Peninsular Malaysia

The Penyu Basin is a Tertiary sedimentary basin located offshore Peninsular Malaysia. The basin is assumed to continue westwards beneath the Pahang River delta where as much as 115 m of Quaternary sediments overlie a bedrock of pre-Tertiary granites and metamorphic rocks. No Pliocene or older sediments beneath the delta have been reported. If the Quaternary sediments are considered as part of the Cenozoic Penyu Basin, the basin’s western limit may be delineated at the foothills of the coastal plain where those sediments onlap onto pre-Tertiary rocks. Therefore, any sedimentary rock of Tertiary age that may occur to the west of that limit most probably represents a separate basin.

Soil Chemistry and Clay Mineralogy of an Alluvial Chronosequence from the North Carolina Sandhills of the Upper Coastal Plain, USA

Temporal changes in soil development were assessed on fluvial terraces of the Little River in the upper Coastal Plain of North Carolina. We examined five profiles from each of six surfaces spanning about 100,000 years. Soil-age relationships were evaluated with inter-surface clay mineral comparisons and regression of chemical properties versus previously reported optically-stimulated luminescence ages using the most developed subsoil horizon per profile. Bases to alumina (Bases/Al2O3) ratios have negative correlations with age, whereas dithionite-Fe (FeD) concentrations are positively correlated with time and differentiate floodplain (<200 yr BP) from terrace (≥10 ± 2 ka) soils and T4 pedons (75 ± 10 ka) from younger (T1-T3b, 10 ± 2–55 ± 15 ka) and older (T5b, 94 ± 16 ka) profiles. Entisols develop into Ultisols with exponentially decreasing Bases/Al2O3 ratios, reflecting rapid weatherable mineral depletion and alumina enrichment during argillic horizon development in the first 13–21 kyr of pedogenesis. Increasing FeD represents transformation and illuviation of free Fe inherited from parent sediments. Within ~80–110 kyr, a mixed clay mineral assemblage becomes dominated by kaolinite and gibbsite. Argillic horizons form by illuviation, secondary mineral transformations, and potentially, a bioturbation-translocation mechanism, in which clays distributed within generally sandy deposits are transported to surface horizons by ants and termites and later illuviated to subsoils. T5b profiles have FeD concentrations similar to, and gibbsite abundances greater than, those of pedons on 0.6–1.6 Ma terraces along Coastal Plain rivers that also drain the Appalachian Piedmont. This is likely because the greater permeability and lower weatherable mineral contents of sandy, Coastal Plain-sourced Little River alluvium favor more rapid weathering, gibbsite formation, and Fe translocation than the finer-grained, mineralogically mixed sediments of Piedmont-draining rivers. Therefore, recognizing provenance-related textural and mineralogical distinctions is crucial for evaluating regional chronosequences.

Domestic Architecture at Letchworth (8JE337) and Other Woodland Period Ceremonial Centers in the Gulf Coastal Plain

Architectural remains, especially domestic architecture, are essential for understanding the ways in which households organized themselves socially and economically in the past. Unfortunately, these remains are infrequently identified from Woodland period (1000 BC–AD 1000) archaeological sites along the Gulf Coast, an area home to well-known ceramic and mortuary traditions during this time. As a result, our knowledge of Woodland period households in the region is scant. In this article I present a newly discovered house from Letchworth (8JE337), a large Woodland period ceremonial center in northwest Florida, and compare it to the few published examples of houses from this region. I show that domestic architecture along the Gulf Coast during the Woodland period is diverse, suggesting differences in the organization of households and the historical development of ceremonial centers.

Cultural Metallurgy—A Key Factor in the Transition from the Chalcolithic to Bronze Age in the Southern Levant

The causes of the disappearance of Late Chalcolithic society (Ghassulian) in the early fourth millennium bc remain obscure. This study identifies the collapse as the consequence of a change in the approach to metallurgy from cosmological fundament (Late Chalcolithic) to a practical craft (EB1). This endogenous transition accounts for the cultural recession characterizing the transitional period (EB1A) and the discontinuity in ritual practices. The new practical approach in metallurgy is firstly observed in the southern margin of the Ghassulian culture, which produced copper for distribution in the Nile valley rather than the southern Levant. Nevertheless, the Ghassulian cultural markers visible in the newly emerging areas of copper working (southern coastal plain, Nile valley) denote the survival of the old cosmological traditions among metalworkers of the EB1 culture. Their religious expression unveils the extension of the Ghassulian beliefs attached to metallurgy and their metamorphosis into the esoteric fundaments of the Bronze Age religions.

Croton bacupariensis (Euphorbiaceae), a new species from the Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Croton bacupariensis, an endemic species from the coastal plain of the State of Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil, is described and illustrated. The new species shares morphological features with Croton gnaphalii, but differs mainly by the habit, indumentum of leaves and morphology of pistillate flowers. In addition; C. gnaphalii occurs all over the Pampa’s grasslands of Argentina, Uruguay and Rio Grande do Sul.

Sedimentology and Evolution of the Fluvial-Deltaic System: A Modern Depositional Model Analog from the Red Sea Coastal Region, Saudi Arabia

Siliciclastic sediments represent important lithological unit of the Red Sea coastal plain. Their subsurface equivalents are important targets of groundwater aquifer and hydrocarbon reservoirs in the region. The lithofacies of the modern fluvial deltaic system has several distinct geomorphic units and sub-environments such as alluvial, fluvial, delta plain, aeolian, intertidal, coastal sabkha and eustuarine sediments. This study intends to characterize the lithofacies and the depositional environments and to produce an integrated facies model for this modern fluvial-deltaic system. The study might provide a valuable modern analog to several important subsurface Neogene formations that act as important hydrocarbon reservoirs and groundwater aquifers. The study integrates information and data obtained from landsats, maps and detailed field observation and measurements of facies analysis of the fluvial and deltaic along traveses from the Arabian Shield to the Red Sea coast. The lithofacies sediment analysis revealed four main lithofacies associations namely lithofacies A,B,C ad D. Lithoacies Associations A, which represents the oldest unit is dominated by coarse gravel with minor sands facies. While the lithofacies B is dominated byfine gravel and sand lithofacies, occasionally pebbly, vary from horizontal, planar to massive sands with minor laminated to massive silts and mud facies. The lithofacies in A and B show lateral proximal to distal variation as well as characteristic vertical stacking patterns. The Facies Association A and B indicates a change in fluvial depositional styles from gravelly alluvial fans to gravelly sandy fluvial systems. The lithofacies association C represents the recent fluvial system which consists of minor gravel lag deposits associated maily with various sand lithofacies of planner, horizontal and massive sand associated with massive and limainted sand and mud lithofacies. The lithofacies Association D is dominated with Barchan sand dunes local interfigger with muddy iinterdunes and sand sheets. Lithofacies D occupies rather more distal geomporphic position of the fluvial deltaic system that is adjace to coastal sabkha. The lithofacies associations described here document the evolution and development of the coastal plain sediments through space and time under various autocyclic and allocyclic controls. This included the tectonics and structural development associated with the Red Sea rifting and opening since the Oligocene – Miocene time. Others controls include the evolution of the Arabian shield (provenance) and the coastal plain through space and time as controlled by tectonics, sediment supply, climate and locally by autocyclic environmental This study might be beneficial for understanding the controls and stratigraphic evolution of the Red Sea region and will be of great value for reservoir and aquifer characterization, development and management. This modern analog model can also help in providing geological baseline information that would be beneficial for understanding similar ancient fluvial deltaic sediments. The study might provide guides and leads to understand the subsurface facies, stratigraphic architecture and heterogeneity of any potential groundwater aquifers and hydrocarbon reservoirs.

Rapid Ecological Integrity Assessment Metrics to Restore Wildlife Habitat and Biodiversity for Shortleaf Pine–Oak Ecosystems

Open woodlands dominated by shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) and oak are historically an important component of the landscape across the southeastern United States. These ecosystems support numerous wildlife species, many of which have declined in recent years as the amount and condition of their habitat have declined. Land managers and private landowners need guidance on how to efficiently and accurately quantify the condition and wildlife habitat value of the pine stands that they manage. Here we provide a set of rapid assessment metrics, based on NatureServe’s ecological integrity assessment (EIA) method, to (a) identify exemplary tracts that provide the best habitat for key wildlife species, and (b) monitor restoration efforts to assess progress toward the improved quality of existing tracts. To ensure an ecologically appropriate scaling of metrics, we distinguished six types of shortleaf pine–oak woodland: A.—Interior Highlands shortleaf pine–oak (including A.1—shortleaf pine–oak forest and woodlands; A.2—shortleaf pine–bluestem woodlands); B—montane longleaf pine–shortleaf pine woodlands; C—southern Appalachian pine–oak woodlands; D—West Gulf coastal plain shortleaf pine–oak woodlands; and E—southeast coastal plain and Piedmont shortleaf pine–oak woodlands. We relied on a narrative conceptual model and peer review-based indicator selection to identify a core set of 15 stand-level metrics (two were optional). Individual assessment points (thresholds) and ratings (Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor) were developed that were sensitive to the distinct attributes of each of the five shortleaf pine–oak and Appalachian pine–oak types. Values for the metrics can all be collected using rapid field methods, such as using basal area prisms and ocular (visual) estimates of cover. Protocols for the consistent application of these EIA methods are provided. A case study is presented from the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee. These methods provide improved and rapid EIA metrics for all shortleaf pine–oak ecosystems in the southeastern US to help guide conservation-minded landowners in assessing the biodiversity and priority wildlife values of shortleaf pine–oak and southern Appalachian pine–oak ecosystems.

Soil fertility management for groundnut in the lowveld of Mpumalanga and north coastal plain of KwaZulu-Natal provinces of South Africa

Smallholder groundnut production contributes substantially to food security in Mpumalanga Lowveld (MLV) and in Manguzi, the northern coastal plain (NCP) of KwaZulu Natal (KZN), both of which are dominated by infertile structureless sandy soils. A study was conducted to obtain information on the chemical properties of the soils to guide fertilizer management for optimizing groundnut production on these soils. Soil samples were collected from representative sites in MLV and NCP, and analysed for pH, calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), phosphorous (P), zinc (Zn) and manganese (Mn) in the peg-zone (0-10 cm depth), root zone (10-40 cm depth) and subsoil (40-60 cm depth). The soils were largely acidic, with pH mostly falling below 5.5. The basic cation concentrations were generally low, and so were Zn and Mn concentrations. Nonetheless, with the exception of P and Mn, the soil concentrations of the other nutrients analysed were within ranges considered adequate for vegetative and reproductive growth of groundnut, though Zn was marginally so. General fertility management recommendations to inform agricultural extension are provided for groundnut production on the sandy soils based on the chemical analyses of the soils.