Northern Coastal Plain Research Articles

Avaliação da aplicação da Resolução CONAMA 04/94 na definição dos estágios sucessionais de fragmentos florestais da Floresta Ombrófila Densa de Santa Catarina

Na Mata Atlântica, a conversão de áreas florestadas em outro tipo de uso do solo fica condicionada, entre outros, à classificação do estágio sucessional da floresta, sendo que diferentes estágios refletem em diferentes tamanhos e possibilidades de uso. Os parâmetros empregados na definição dos estágios sucessionais deste Bioma encontram-se descritos em resoluções específicas para cada estado, sendo que a resolução CONAMA 04/94 é própria para as florestas de Santa Catarina. Este estudo objetivou avaliar a aplicação dos critérios quantitativos da Resolução CONAMA 04/94 na definição dos estágios sucessionais da Floresta Ombrófila Densa, tendo como estudo de caso os fragmentos florestais da planície Norte do estado de Santa Catarina. Ao todo foram avaliados seis fragmentos localizados em diferentes unidades pedológicas, sendo avaliados o DAP e a altura média dos indivíduos, além da área basal e espécies indicadoras. Os resultados demonstram que a CONAMA 04/94 ignora características fitofisionômicas particulares das planícies arenosas do norte do estado. Também é demonstrada a incoerência do texto da CONAMA 04/94 na definição dos parâmetros estruturais e espécies indicadoras. Os resultados sugerem a necessidade urgente de revisão do texto da Resolução CONAMA 04/94, uma vez que os fragmentos florestais do estado podem estar sendo sujeitos a usos de solo incompatíveis com os definidos nas políticas públicas.

A contribution to late Middle Paleolithic chronology of the Levant: New luminescence ages for the Atlit Railway Bridge site, Coastal Plain, Israel

The Atlit Railway Bridge (ARB) prehistoric site is located on the northern coastal plain of Israel, within natural caves which formed in calcareous aeolianites (kurkar), perhaps during a high sea-stand. Flint artifacts belonging to the Levantine later Mousterian tradition and faunal remains were found embedded in the kurkar infill of two caves. The aeolianites in which the caves had developed were previously constrained by IRSL50 dating of feldspars to be older than the last interglacial highest sea-stand (Frechen M. et al., 2004; Chronology of Pleistocene sedimentary cycles in the Carmel Coastal Plain of Israel. Quaternary International 121, 1–52), providing a maximum age for the artifacts.Samples for luminescence dating were collected from the infill of the two caves (II and III), from the same deposits as the archaeological finds. Both quartz and alkali feldspars (KF) were extracted and measured using four different luminescence signals: optically stimulated luminescence (blue OSL) and violet stimulated luminescence (VSL) on quartz; and the infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) post-IR-IR290 signal and the IR50 signal corrected for anomalous fading on KF.The ages obtained from analyses of the different minerals and signals mostly agree within errors. The new luminescence ages date the sediment infill in Caves III and II to ∼90 ka and ∼70 ka, respectively, indicating that hominin occupation of this locality is coeval with the nearby Skhul Cave and Layer B in Tabun Cave.

Keys to the Mammals and Mammal Skulls of the Northern Coastal Plain of Virginia

Keys to the Mammals and Mammal Skulls of the Northern Coastal Plain of Virginia

Angiosperm pollen grains in sedimentary profiles from two forest areas in the northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil

Pollen grains preserved in sediments are excellent for paleoenvironmental reconstitution because they indicate the plant origin and its environment. For such reconstitutions, reference palynological catalogs serve as the basis for the taxonomic determination of such preserved material. This study was performed to provide reference pollen for future paleoenvironmental studies. Here, we present taxonomic descriptions of 35 angiosperm pollen taxa, extracted from two Quaternary sedimentary profiles: Pirataba forest profile (29°15′S – 49°51′W) and Faxinal forest profile (29°21′S – 49°45′W), Torres Municipality, extreme northern coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, corresponding to the last 23,000 years according to radiocarbon dating. Ecological data and pollen illustrations accompany the taxonomic descriptions. The analysis provided distinct reference pollen taxa from varied habitats for paleoenvironmental studies of the last millennia in deposits of the coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil.

GEOMORPHOLOGY AND MINERALOGY OF THE TOP METER BLACK SANDS NORTH WEST OF EL-BURBLLUS LAKE, KAFR AL-SHEIKH GOVERNORATE,EGYPT.

Geomorphologically, the study area comprises three geomorphic units, the foreshore zone, the backshoreflat and coastal sebkhas. El-Sahel (coastal) drain runs parallel to the shoreline. The coastal plain of study areais divided to northern and southern sectors; each sector covers an area of about 10Km2. The northern sector ischaracterized by relatively highly concentrated black sand especially the near shore area due to marine erosionand the southern sector is characterized by diluted homogenous sediments compared with the northern one.Along the shoreline of the study area, erosion and accretion phenomena are indicated by alternations ofhighly concentrated and low concentrated sediments, distribution of flaky, discoidal, spherical stones and mudballs. The north-western part of the northern coastal plain sector of the study area is characterized by the highlyconcentrated black sands extends from the fifth groin eastward about 2.5 Km. These deposits are affectedgreatly by a wave cut along the shore line. Rate of shoreline retreat along Abu-Khashabah beach in front of El-Matlaa Medak (road) was 43.66 m/y in the time interval between 2003 and 2012.The coastal plain of study area was covered by a total 561 collected samples at one meter depth from thesurface were collected within a grid pattern 200m×200m nearly parallel and perpendicular to the shoreline.The northern sector of coastal plain area is covered by 255 samples, whereas the southern sector covered by306 samples. Naturally highly concentrated black sands are deposited in a thin mantle near and parallel to theshoreline of the northern coastal plain sector. The highly concentrated black sands were scraped from themantle to a depth of about 30 cm.Separation of economic heavy minerals Concentrates using physical ore dressing technique is consideredcloser to reality; cheap and safe method than the heavy fluid technique.The average content (Av. cont.) and reserve tonnage for each economic mineral in the studied sectors are:magnetite has an average content 11.61% with a reserve 296055 ton, ilmenite has an average content 33.74%with a reserve 860370 ton, garnet has an average content 2.88% with a reserve 73440 ton, leucoxene has anaverage content 2.58% with a reserve 65790 ton, zircon has an average content 4.11% with a reserve 104805ton, rutile has an average content 1.26% with a reserve 3210 ton and monazite has an average content 0.05%with a reserve 1275 ton with a total average of economic minerals 56.23% and reserve of 1433865 tons.

Fungi, algae, and other palynomorphs in sedimentary profiles collected from two forests in the northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil

(Fungi, algae, and other palynomorphs in sedimentary profiles collected from two forests in the northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil). We present, for the first time, taxonomic descriptions of 13 fungi, eight algae, three acritarchs, and nine other palynomorphs preserved in two Quaternary sediment profiles: Pirataba forest site (29°15′S–49°51′W) and Faxinal forest site (29°21′S–49°45′W), Torres Municipality, northernmost coastal plain from Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. We aimed to provide taxonomic reference material for paleoenvironmental studies in the region. The profiles were collected using a Hiller Sampler, with a maximum interval of the last 23,000 years (according to radiocarbon dating). The samples were processed using HCl, HF, KOH, and acetolysis. Prepared specimens were examined by light microscopy. The palynomorphs were found during counts of a minimum of 300 angiosperms pollen grains in each sample (minimum number determined by plotting saturation curves). We present descriptions and illustrations of palynomorphs and relevant ecological data for the taxa. The high taxonomic diversity found will enable further studies of the vegetation and climatic changes on the northern coastal plain of southern Brazil.

CARACTERÍSTICAS POLÍNICAS DE MÉIS DE Apis mellifera L. (HYMENOPTERA, APIDAE, APINI) DA REGIÃO DO LITORAL NORTE, ESTADO DO RIO GRANDE DO SUL

The northern coastal of Rio Grande do Sul is filled with rare ecosystems and a biodiversity with a high environmental vulnerability, resulted especially by the urban development in this region. Nevertheless, there is still good part of the population in this region that keeps small farms, which have an intense apicultural activity, making this part of the state an important producer and exporter of honey. Honey is the final result of the flower's nectar transformation and dehydration process performed by the honeybees, and its characteristics depend mainly by the local existing vegetation. The objective of this work is to determine the floral origin of the different types of honey produced in the northern coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul, identifying different types of pollen and plant species used by Apis mellifera for the honey production. In qualitative analyzes, the most frequent taxas were found in: Eucalyptus sp., Mimosa sp., Ilex sp., Hovenia dulcis Thunb. and Sebastiana brasiliensis Spreng.. The different types of honey were defined as poliflorals. The botanical families Myrtaceae, Fabaceae and Asteraceae were present in all samples, but at different quantitative standards.

Morphological characterization of eighteen lakes of the north and middle coast of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

AIMS: The present study aimed at a morphological characterization of 18 lakes of the municipalities of Cidreira, Balneário Pinhal and Palmares do Sul, situated in the northern and middle coastal plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. METHODS: The morphometric survey was conducted in the summer of 2011/2012, based on echo sounder coupled with GPS and the application of remote sensing and GIS procedures. The morphometric parameters used for the characterization were: surface area, perimeter, perimeter development, volume, relative fetch, maximum depth, average depth, relative depth, median depth of volume, length and width. The statistical interpretation included Test of Normality, Coefficient of Variation, Correlation and Regression Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Discriminant Analysis and Principal Component Analysis. RESULTS: Eighteen lakes were described and five of them are presented by aerial photo and bathymetric map. They represent the proposed morphological lake types. The calculation of the coefficient of variation revealed larger amplitudes of parameters related to lake size than to depth. The application and interpretation of cluster analysis, confirmed by discriminant analysis, distinguished those lakes in five morphological groups, which differ mainly by size and subsequently by depth. The Principal Component Analysis identified the first component with positively charged variables of size and negatively charged relative depth, and a second component with positive charge of maximum and average depths. CONCLUSIONS: The low relative depths and the exposure to constant northeastern winds reduce the transparency of the lakes. Consequently, they are light limited by suspension of inorganic and organic matter. A property that limits the application of trophic state indices. The high dynamic of the water bodies produces an oxygenated sediment surface that facilitates the settlement by aerobic organisms all over the bottom area. The shallowness and the low median depths of volume are limiting factors for sustainable water supply management. The morphological characteristics of the coastal lakes make very difficult an accurate ecological assessment based on usual trophic state criterions and a sustainable water resource management using general guidelines.

A preliminary classification of coastal sand dunes of KwaZulu-Natal

Jackson, D.W.T.., Cooper, J.A.G., Green, A.N., 2014. A preliminary classification of sand dunes of the KwaZulu-Natal coast. In: Green, A.N. and Cooper, J.A.G. (eds.), Proceedings 13th International Coastal Symposium (Durban, South Africa), Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 70, pp. 718–722, ISSN 0749-0208.The 550 km-long KwaZulu-Natal coast broadly divides into a bedrock-framed southern section and northern coastal plain section, each of approximately equal length. Seven types of coastal dune are identified on this coast: estuary barrier dunes; mainland beach foredunes; prograded beachridge dunes; headland bypass dunes; transverse dune fields; parabolic/migrating dunefield; and climbing dunes. The development and distribution of the various dune forms is more strongly controlled by the geological setting, than the aerodynamic regime.

Process implications of chenier dates in Australia

Chenier plains record changes in the mode of coastal progradation between periods of mudflat progradation and coarse sediment deposition. There are several environmental forces responsible for these changes, and these include both intrinsic and extrinsic processes. In Australia, the causes of these changes are still not well understood. The majority of Australian chenier plain studies have been conducted within a relatively narrow spatial scope, focussing on one or two individual plains. Compiling and assessing times of chenier ridge building across multiple sites can provide a broader-scale perspective on chenier plain development trends, potentially revealing broader scale morphodynamic relationships that may exist across a large region. One such assessment was undertaken by Lees and Clements (1987), and since then many more chenier ridge ages have been obtained. Our understanding of late Holocene environmental changes and computation methods have since improved. A new statistical assessment of Australian chenier ridge ages revealed periods of simultaneous chenier ridge building across multiple northern and southern Australian coastal plains between 2400 and 1300 yr BP, and possibly again in the last 1000 years. Previously such results were explained in terms of Holocene climate changes, however the spatial separation between sites in this new assessment suggests that other broad-scale extrinsic processes may provide a better explanation. A possible candidate for such a process is late Holocene sea level changes. • We conducted a statistical analysis of chenier ridge ages from 23 Australian sites. • Our results indicate that ridge formation was not affected solely by local events. • A common phase of chenier ridge formation occurred from 2400 to 1300 yr BP. • Further widespread ridge formation has occurred in the last 1000 years. • We suggest that sea level changes may have played a role in chenier ridge formation.

Quantitative structure-sorption relationships of pesticides used in the sugarcane industry in the northern coastal area of Paraíba State, Brazil.

Sorption coefficients (K(oc)) are useful in the prediction of whether a pesticide will remain dissolved in solution or will become adsorbed onto soil particles after its application. Measuring this process experimentally is difficult, expensive and time-consuming. Hence, much effort has been directed toward estimating K(oc) through statistical modelling. In this study, we investigated the physicochemical properties of pesticides employed by a local sugarcane company, in the northern coastal plain of Paraíba state in Brazil, by using several molecular descriptors, among them, GRid INdependent Descriptors (GRIND). Quantitative assessment of the structure-property relationship (QSPR) model indicated that size, shape, octanol-water coefficient, solubility and the balance between hydrophilic and lipophilic regions, are all relevant to K(oc) values.

SIFTING THE SANDS OF TIME: GEOARCHAEOLOGY, CULTURE CHRONOLOGY, AND CLIMATE CHANGE AT SQUIRES RIDGE, NORTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA

Since 2000, East Carolina University has conducted archaeological research in the Tar River valley in the northern Coastal Plain of North Carolina designed to address poorly understood aspects of the region’s culture-history. In particular, survey and excavation along a portion of the Tar River have focused on problems related to Coastal Plain chronology, typology, and geoarchaeology. Here we provide an overview of testing done at one site, Squires Ridge, that contains stratified Woodland and Archaic period remains in a 1-m deposit of largely aeolian sandy soils. We suggest that the formation of the archaeologically stratified portions of sand ridges along the Tar River reflect millennial-scale climatic cyclicity representing regional manifestations of climate change during the Early to Middle Holocene. Sand ridges along the Tar River likely represent proxies of climate change, while the archaeology contained within them manifest human adaptations to such change.

Bryophyte and pteridophyte spores and gymnosperm pollen grains of sedimentary profiles from two forest areas of the Southern Brazilian Coastal Plain

This paper describes the spores of three bryophyte and 28 pteridophyte taxa, and pollen grains of three gymnosperm species preserved in two sedimentary quaternary profiles of Faxinal and Pirataba forests in the northern Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul, Southern Brazil (29°21′S–49°45′W and 29°15′S–49°51′W). We present these data as taxonomic references for paleoenvironmental studies in the region. The profiles were collected using a Hiller Sampler over an interval corresponding to the last 23,000 years, as determined using radiocarbon dating. The chemical processing of the samples followed standard methodology, using HCl, HF, KOH, and acetolysis, and light microscopy was used for analysis. The palynological material was found during the counts of 300 angiosperm pollen grains in each sample, controlled by saturation curves. The descriptions and illustrations are included as well as ecological data from the original organisms. The high taxa diversity found in this study will enhance subsequent plant successional studies, which is essential to paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the Coastal Plain of Southern Brazil.

Interaction between continental and estuarine waters in the wetlands of the northern coastal plain of Samborombón Bay, Argentina

On the Samborombón Bay coastline, located in the Río de la Plata estuary in Buenos Aires province (Argentina), a complex hydrological system has developed at the interface between continental and estuarine water, where significant wetlands develop. The main hydrogeological units, namely the shell ridges, the tidal plain and the marsh areas, have been identified using geomorphological criteria. Water table, hydrochemical and isotopic data have been used to determine their hydrological features, as well as those of the streams and canals. Evaporation processes, in particular, have been considered when depicting chemical and isotopic changes in surface waters in streams and marsh areas. The shell ridges represent a hydrogeological unit in which rainwater is stored, constituting a lens-shaped freshwater aquifer. In this unit, just as in the tidal plain, carbonate dissolution and ion exchange are the main processes regulating water chemistry. On the other hand, in the marsh and surface waters, processes such as mixing with estuarine water and evaporation predominate. These processes control water fluxes and the salinity of the wetland areas and, consequently, their ability to preserve the existing biodiversity. This study shows the importance of knowledge of hydrochemical processes in any proposal concerning the management and preservation of this type of wetland.

Toposequence of sandy soils in the northern coastal plain of Israel: Polygenesis and complexity of pedogeomorphic development

Catenary relationships of surface soils in the vicinity of kibbutz Shomrat in the Galilee coastal plain of Israel were studied including optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The research provides new insights into the local pedogeomorphic history and confirms that the study area is of different age than the central coastal plain of Israel. The soil toposequence is composed of polygenic red Hamra (Rhodoxeralf) on the hilltop, a calcareous Rhodoxeralf (Husmas) on the middle slope, both older than 250ka, and a complex pedosedimentary sequence in a lower position spanning Middle Pleistocene–Holocene OSL ages. The hilltop red Hamra is strongly reworked by soil burrowing animals, magnetically enhanced, and contains aged clay coatings and a few petrocalcic nodules. Micromorphology revealed a relict nature of cemented carbonate nodules and allowed us to establish a sequence of pedogenic episodes, e.g. rubification and clay illuviation that intermittently affected nodule growth and re-crystallization. All soils are dominated by interstratified illite–smectite, whose amount and expandability increase downhill. In the lowest topographic positions, soil development was compounded by additional fine-grained accumulation via eolian and slope processes which may have intensified during periods of geomorphic instability. Our data and interpretations suggest that to the north of Haifa Bay, coastal geomorphic surfaces are formed by late Mid-Pleistocene exhumed paleosol toposequences, which are sporadically overprinted by younger paleosols, and continue to function as presently active soils.

Number One Reef: An overstepped segmented lagoon complex on the KwaZulu-Natal continental shelf

This study of the bathymetry of the mid-shelf of the Durban Bight, KwaZulu-Natal revealed a series of previously undocumented seafloor features. These features were mapped using a high-resolution multibeam bathymetric echosounder and a detailed map of the seafloor topography was produced. We recognised several features that closely resemble features of contemporary segmented lagoon and lake systems: semicircular seafloor depressions, arcuate ridges, cuspate spits and prograding submerged barriers. Based on the striking similarity in morphology to Kosi Bay - a segmented lagoon system from the sandy northern KwaZulu-Natal coastal plain - a similar evolutionary model is proposed. This model is of an incised valley formed following a sea level lowering to the Last Glacial Maximum at about 18 000 BP. Thereafter, continued transgressive infilling occurred to a point where an extensive lagoon and back-barrier system was established. At this point, sea levels remained static, causing the net segmentation of the system and the slow closure of the tidal basins or circular depressions. This type of seafloor topography is rarely preserved and is the result of fortuitous cementation after deposition and the later removal of sediment that would ordinarily bury such features.

Geochronology and Landscape Development Along the Middle Río Quequén Grande at the Paso Otero Locality, Pampa Interserrana, Argentina

The Paso Otero Locality is a cluster of archaeological sites within the middle Río Quequén Grande basin located in the northern coastal plain of Argentina. The valley fill is Holocene alluvial, eolian, and palustrine sediment, including the top of the Guerrero Member (∼10,000 14C yr B.P.), upper Río Salado Member (∼3000 14C yr B.P.), and lower La Postrera Formation (∼2400 14C yr B.P.). Regional soils include the Puesto Callejón Viejo (10,000 to 9400 14C yr B.P.) and the Puesto Berrondo (∼4800 14C yr B.P.). Radiocarbon sampling of buried A‐horizons on both sides of the river produced 17 dates considered reliable. The geoarchaeological information allows exploration of the implications for the formation of the archaeological record. Similar geological processes of differential intensity have resulted in contexts of different archaeological resolution and integrity. The Paso Otero Locality provides both a local and regional view of late Quaternary events and processes for the middle basin of the Río Quequén Grande.

Holocene settlement of the northern coastal plains, Northern Territory, Australia

The northern Australian coastal plains are relatively recent landforms that have undergone dynamic evolution over the last 10,000 years. Over 300 radiocarbon dates have enabled archaeologists and geomorphologists to provide a more detailed interpretation of human settlement and resource use. This paper provides a synthesis of the archaeological evidence and integrates it within the palaeo-environmental frameworks. It characterises the timing, pattern and nature of human-environment interaction in this newly formed landscape over the last 10,000 years.

Freedom in the making: the slaves of hacienda La Esperanza, Manatí, Puerto Rico, on the eve of abolition, 1868–76*

The article studies the experience of slavery and its abolition on the sugar plantation La Esperanza, on the northern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. It offers a snapshot of La Esperanza's slave crew and presents insights into the affective relationships slaves established among themselves. Based on census material and court records, the article focuses on slave agency and on the opportunities rendered by the political and administrative context created in the colony after the triumph of liberalism in Spain. As the abolition of slavery approached, the local court restricted planters' traditional rights to administer punishment to their bondsmen, who they now began to see as potential free citizens. Slaves responded accordingly and played a decisive part in the process of change, thus showing understanding of the law and its possibilities. The events described here will help depict how ‘freedom’ took shape and how the administration of justice was becoming an exclusive prerogative of the state and its already dense network of intervention. The slaves were quick to observe and partake in the rigorous truth-establishing processes of meticulous investigation and witness interrogation characteristic of the practice of ordinary justice as it began to break into the plantation.

Van der Ploeg, Jan Douwe: The New Peasantries: Struggles for Autonomy and Sustainability in an Era of Empire and Globalization

In the preface to this innovative, theoretically rich and provocative new book, Jan Douwe Van der Ploeg remarks that “much attention was given to the peasantry during the grand transformations of the last two centuries, and many of the resulting theories centred on the peasant as an obstacle to change and, thus, as a social figure that should disappear or be actively removed” (xiii–xiv). A professor at Wageningen University in The Netherlands, one of the foremost centers worldwide of critical agrarian studies, Van der Ploeg contrasts “the manufactured invisibility” of peasants with the their striking “omnipresence”—there are now more peasants than ever before in history and they still constitute some two-fifths of humanity. The argument of The New Peasantries is straightforward, even though the exposition is complex and at times a bit convoluted (the copious flow charts often help to clarify the sometimes prolix prose, though in a number of them— as in parts of the text—it’s easier to see the trees than the forest). For heuristic purposes Van der Ploeg distinguishes peasant, entrepreneurial and large-scale corporate or capitalist modes of agriculture. The boundaries between these three ideal types are, he acknowledges, blurry, since peasants increasingly engage in market-oriented production and entrepreneurial farmers, if they succeed, do so in large measure through expanding the scale of their operations and assuming corporate forms. He points to three key processes that shape the contemporary countryside: the industrialization of agriculture; repeasantization or the retreat of non-peasants or former peasants into “defensive” or “autonomous” peasant-like forms of production oriented significantly around subsistence; and “deactivation,” which refers to the “containment” or breakdown of any of the three main modes of agriculture and its disappearance or partial or complete transformation into one of the other modes. The “peasant condition” or “principle,” as Van der Ploeg understands it, consists of various interrelated elements that permit survival in a hostile environment; these include a “self-controlled resource base, ”“ coproduction” or interaction between humans and nature, cooperative relations that allow peasants to distance themselves from monetary relations and market exchange, and an ongoing “struggle for autonomy” or “room for maneuver” that reduces dependency and aligns farming “with the interests and prospects of the… producers” (32). He is appropriately appreciative of the tremendous heterogeneity of peasant farming, noting that “the big divide between capitalist agriculture (large scale, extensive) versus peasant farming (small scale, intensive) is repeated—in a miniaturized way—within peasant farming itself” (125). Three longitudinal case studies undergird Van der Ploeg’s analysis, one in Catacaos on the northern coastal plain of Peru, another in Parma, Italy, where Parmalat milk and parmigiano-reggiano cheese are produced, and a third in the Frisian Woodlands of The Netherlands. In the Peruvian case, the 1970s agrarian reform divided large cotton plantations into cooperative