Browsing by Subject "Holocene"

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    Biomarcadores lipídicos y contaminación por metales en el registro del holoceno de la bahía de Cartagena (sureste de España): historia ambiental natural y antropogénica combinada en la Época Púnica y Romana
    (Universidad de Murcia, 2026-06-03) Torres, Trinidad; Sánchez-Palencia, Yolanda; Ros Sala, Milagros; Ortiz, José E.; López-cilla, Ignacio; Galán, Luis A.; Manteca, Ignacio; Rodríguez-Estrella, Tomás; Blázquez, Ana; Ramallo Asensio, Sebastián Federico; Sin departamento asociado; Cutillas Victoria, Benjamín; Ramallo Asensio, Sebastián Federico
    The paleoenvironmental conditions of Cartagena Bay during the Holocene were reconstructed through a multidisciplinary study with the main goal of identifying natural variations and anthropogenic processes in this coastal area. A total of 119 samples were collected for amino acid racemization dating, 3 for radiocarbon dating, and four sets of 80 samples each for sedimentological and paleontological analysis, mineralogical content, biomarker analysis, and trace element quantification. Two natural scenarios were identified based on variations in n-alkane indices and paleobiological content. The first period (6650–5750 cal yr BP) was characterized by the development of euhaline marine conditions with significant contributions of aquatic macrophytes and high biodiversity. After a hiatus, the area underwent a significant change, becoming a sparsely populated brackish marsh environment with increasing terrestrial plants, and possible periods of emergence with a greater presence of terrestrial gastropods (3600–300 cal yr BP). By combining trace element abundance and stanol distribution, this study also provides a novel approach to identifying the predominant influence of anthropogenic factors over the last three millennia on the coastal record of Cartagena Bay. The findings confirmed that lead mining and metallurgy began during the Bronze Age, with considerable contributions of this metal to the atmosphere during the Phoenician, Punic, and particularly Roman periods, compared to the Middle Ages. Copper and zinc pollution was also observed during the Punic and Roman periods and was first documented in the Middle Ages. In addition, fecal stanols were found, such as coprostanol, derived mainly from humans, and 24-ethylcoprostanol from herbivores, indicating for the first time a continuous presence of human populations and a significant contribution of pollution from 3600 cal yr BP, being greater at the end of the Bronze Age and during the Phoenician, Punic and Roman periods than during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when an intense process of urban regression is detected in the city.
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    El registro Pleistoceno y Holoceno de la cuenca de Mazarrón (sureste de España)
    (Universidad de Murcia, 2026-06-03) Torres, Trinidad; Ortiz, José E.; Sánchez-Palencia, Yolanda; Ros Sala, Milagros; Navarro Hervás, Francisca; López-Cilla, Ignacio; Galán, Luis A.; Ramallo Asensio, Sebastián Federico; Rodríguez-Estrella, Tomás; Blázquez, Ana; Sin departamento asociado; Cutillas Victoria, Benjamín; Ramallo Asensio, Sebastián Federico
    The evolution of the Mazarrón Basin during the Pleistocene and Holocene is reconstructed. Nine core samples drilled by the University of Murcia were studied with the objectives of: 1) defining the chronological framework; 2) reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental conditions; and 3) establishing its relationship with recent tectonics. A total of 158 samples were recovered for amino acid racemization dating, 4 for radiocarbon dating, 332 for sedimentological and paleontological analysis, and 110 for mineralogical analysis. These data allowed for the elucidation of the evolutionary phases of the Mazarrón Basin paleolandscape, a fault-controlled graben affected by several faults, primarily the Las Moreras and Rella faults. The ages of the sedimentary record and facies correlation indicate that the Las Moreras Fault controlled sedimentation during Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 7, while the Rella Fault was highly active during the Middle Holocene. During MIS 7, a brackish lagoon developed in the western area, overlying alluvial fan deposits. Subsequently, the area was uplifted, becoming exposed to erosion. Activity along the Rella Fault allowed sedimentation in the western part of the Mazarrón Basin during the Middle Holocene, while in the Late Holocene, sedimentation occurred in the eastern part. The Holocene transgression resulted in a temporarily floodable marshland inland, with varying salinity levels, from brackish to euhaline. Along the seafront, marine influence was evident but not dominant. Thus, during the Holocene, the Mazarrón Basin ranged from brackish to highly euhaline, with variable biological diversity linked to a close and probably discontinuous connection with the sea, restricted circulation, and long renewal times, reflected in the significant presence of halite. The record ended with recent alluvial/anthropogenic sediments.
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    Erosión y desertificación.-Changes in climatic conditions, vegetation cover and erosion during the Holocene in southeast Spain
    Bellin, N.; Vanacker, V.; Universidad de Murcia
    ABSTRACT The present-day landscape in Southeast Spain is the result of a long occupation history. To have a better understanding of the impact of human societies on soil degradation, we analysed the main shifts in vegetation cover, climate and human occupation for the last 12000 years. Our analyses use recently published information from continental and marine pollen series. The data suggest that climatic factors appear to be important driving factors of vegetation degradation induced by an increased aridity that is already recorded at about 5000 years ago.
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    Erosión y desertificación.-Human-induced erosion and sedimentation during the Holocene in the central Ebro depression, Spain
    Constante, A.; Peña-Monné, J. L.; Universidad de Murcia
    ABSTRACT Small secondary valleys in the Central Ebro Depression in northeast Spain have tended to be infilled with sediment, and record a complex sequence of accumulations and incisions of Holocene age. Level N3, the main accumulation level based on extent and depth, is characterized by a long period of sedimentation (from the Late Epipaleolithic to the end of the Late Roman period), the dominance of gypsiferous silt resulting from hillslope erosion, and a thickness up to 15 m. This deposit does not connect directly to the fluvial terraces of the Ebro River, and it accumulated over a long period of climate fluctuations. Thus, its evolution appears to have been largely independent of climate variability, but is closely related to human activities (deforestation, forest fires, farming development), particularly those associated with the main human settlements.
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    La costa de Almería, San Juan de los Terreros: cuantificación de los procesos naturales y antrópicos durante el Holoceno
    (Universidad de Murcia, 2026-06-03) Torres, Trinidad; Ortiz, José Eugenio; Sánchez-Palencia, Yolanda; Romero-García, Santiago; Sin departamento asociado; Cutillas Victoria, Benjamín; Ramallo Asensio, Sebastián Federico
    The paleoenvironmental conditions of the SE Iberian Peninsula (San Juan de los Terreros, Almería) during the Holocene were reconstructed using sedimentological, geochemical, and biomarker analyses. Based on a 14 m core, a chronology covering 7800 years cal BP was established, and five environmental units were identified, reflecting changes in water availability. Additionally, evidence of human influence dating back to the Chalcolithic period was detected, linked to mining and metallurgy.
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    Long-term vegetation history of a relict birch forest (Betula pubescenssubsp.celtiberica(Rothm.& Vasc.) Rivas Mart.) in the Toledo Mountains(central Iberia). Conservation implications
    Luelmo-Lautenschlaeger, R.; Morales-Molino, C.; Blarquez, O.; Perez-Diaz, S.; Sabariego-Ruiz, S.; Ochando-Tomas, J.; Perea, R.; Fernandez-Gonzalez, F.; Lopez-Saez, J. A.; Carrión García, José Sebastián; Biología Vegetal