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    Ambient noise analysis for characterizing sub-surface dynamic parameters
    (London [u.a.] : Institute of Physics, 2020) Setiawan, B.; Saidi, T.; Yuliannur, A.; Polom, U.; Ramadhansyah, P.J.; Ali, M.I.
    Ambient noise analysis of horizontal to vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) method has been used widely to provide reliable estimates of the site fundamental frequency and to constrain the inversion of near-surface shear wave velocity. The present paper focuses on the site measurement using the aforementioned analysis by means of the HVSR method for characterizing sub-surface dynamic parameters in the City of Banda Aceh, Indonesia. A Guralp CMG-6TD broadband seismometer was used in this study to cover a wide frequency range from 0.033 Hz to 50 Hz in standard operation. The instrument was deployed at two different sites (i.e. Location#1 of Blang Padang and Location#2 of Stadion Dirmutala) in the City of Banda Aceh for at least 2 hours for ambient noise recording. This continuous of 2 hours' microtremor time series was separated into 30 minutes record from which the site fundamental frequency and shear wave velocity of the measured site were deduced. The later sub-surface dynamic parameter was validated using another technique of reflection seismic. This investigation suggests the fundamental frequency of 0.45 Hz at Location#1 and of 0.65 Hz at Location#2. The estimated shear wave velocity of the top 30 m, Vs,30 of this investigation is 165 m/s at Location#1 and 156 m/s at Location#2. Both the site fundamental frequency and shear wave velocity are important for infrastructure design in the high seismic region of Banda Aceh, Indonesia.
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    Chronostratigraphy of silt-dominated Pleistocene periglacial slope deposits on Mt. Ślęża (SW, Poland): Palaeoenvironmental and pedogenic significance
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2020) Waroszewski, Jaroslaw; Sprafke, Tobias; Kabala, Cezary; Musztyfaga, Elżbieta; Kot, Aleksandra; Tsukamoto, Sumiko; Frechen, Manfred
    Slope deposits with aeolian silt admixture are a widespread parent material of soils in the temperate zone but may be neglected when rates of soil production are quantified. The concept of periglacial cover beds differentiates slope deposits with or without aeolian silt admixture; yet there is a remaining debate on processes and the timing of their formation. A previous study done by us at Mt. Ślęża, SW Poland, concluded that slope deposits with variable aeolian silt admixture, or its lack, have a significant influence on the pathway of soil formation. The present work builds upon this finding, by adding further granulometric and micromorphological data from three representative profiles along a toposequence, in order to refine our understanding of local slope deposits and soil formation. Additionally, seven numerical ages using luminescence dating provide a chronological framework for our reconstructions and allow linking the forming processes of these pedosedimentary records to regional palaeoenvironmental conditions. The oldest aeolian deposits are of Middle Pleistocene age (>280 ± 19 ka) with interlayered palaeosol (marine isotope stage [MIS] 9 or older). Late Pleistocene slope deposits encompass the maximum loess thickness and are dated to MIS 2. Luminescence ages from the upper layers indicate shallow reworking, which we tentatively correlate to the Younger Dryas (YD). Two profiles with thick loess mantles have strong clay illuviation features, presumably formed during the Holocene. However, weak clay illuviation in the third profile with a thin loess mantle (having an age of YD) over granite regolith seems to have occurred before the Holocene, as only fragmented clay coatings (probably MIS 2 pedogenesis) could be found. © 2020 The Authors
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    Multiproxy approach to the reconstruction of soil denudation events and the disappearance of Luvisols in the loess landscape of south-western Poland
    (Amsterdam : Elsevier, 2022) Loba, Aleksandra; Zhang, Junjie; Tsukamoto, Sumiko; Kasprzak, Marek; Beata Kowalska, Joanna; Frechen, Manfred; Waroszewski, Jarosław
    Loess landscapes are highly susceptible to soil redeposition processes and thus may provide detailed insights into the record of denudation processes. Using optically stimulated luminescence dating and the soil micromorphology of 12 soil profiles, we reconstructed a complete record of denudation processes in south-western Poland. The first episode of soil redeposition took place around 9.1 ka. The denudation events that followed were attributed to the Neolithic (6.4 ± 0.3 ka), early Bronze Age (3.8 ± 0.2 ka), early and late Middle Ages (1.5 ± 0.1 ka and 0.7 ± 0.03 ka, respectively) and early Modern (0.4 ± 0.02 ka). As a consequence of the denudation processes, the soil cover in the studied area had been strongly reshaped. The predominant Luvisols had experienced progressive erosion processes that led first to a significant shallowing of the eluvial and argic horizons (truncated Luvisol) and, after some time, to their complete removal. Further thinning of the loess mantles had exposed geological substrates with very weak pedogenic alternations, thus pushing their transformation towards Regosol types. Similarly, Regosols occurred in toeslopes where freshly eroded material had been deposited, and where diagnostic horizons had not yet developed. Modern soil erosion rates in the studied loess area have considerably increased, and it is estimated that the Luvisol status may be completely transformed within approximately 80–300 years, if not sooner, due to progressive climate change.
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    Copper-iron bimetal ion-exchanged sapo-34 for NH3-scr of NOx
    (Basel : MDPI, 2020) Doan, Tuan; Dam, Phong; Nguyen, Khang; Vuong, Thanh Huyen; Le, Minh Thang; Pham, Thanh Huyen
    SAPO-34 was prepared with a mixture of three templates containing triethylamine, tetraethylammonium hydroxide, and morpholine, which leads to unique properties for support and production cost reduction. Meanwhile, Cu/SAPO-34, Fe/SAPO-34, and Cu-Fe/SAPO-34 were prepared through the ion-exchanged method in aqueous solution and used for selective catalytic reduction (SCR) of NOx with NH3. The physical structure and original crystal of SAPO-34 are maintained in the catalysts. Cu-Fe/SAPO-34 catalysts exhibit high NOx conversion in a broad temperature window, even in the presence of H2O. The physicochemical properties of synthesized samples were further characterized by various methods, including XRD, FE-SEM, EDS, N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms, UV-Vis-DRS spectroscopy, NH3-TPD, H2-TPR, and EPR. The best catalyst, 3Cu-1Fe/SAPO-34 exhibited high NOx conversion (> 90%) in a wide temperature window of 250–600 °C, even in the presence of H2O. In comparison with mono-metallic samples, the 3Cu-1Fe/SAPO-34 catalyst had more isolated Cu2+ ions and additional oligomeric Fe3+ active sites, which mainly contributed to the higher capacity of NH3 and NOx adsorption by the enhancement of the number of acid sites as well as its greater reducibility. Therefore, this synergistic effect between iron and copper in the 3Cu-1Fe/SAPO-34 catalyst prompted higher catalytic performance in more extensive temperature as well as hydrothermal stability after iron incorporation. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
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    OSL-dating of the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition in loess from China, Europe and North America, and evidence for accretionary pedogenesis
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Constantin, D.; Mason, J.A.; Veres, D.; Hambach, U.; Panaiotu, C.; Zeeden, C.; Zhou, L.; Marković, S.B.; Gerasimenko, N.; Avram, A.; Tecsa, V.; Groza-Sacaciu, S.M.; del Valle Villalonga, L.; Begy, R.; Timar-Gabor, A.
    Loess deposits intercalated by paleosols are detailed terrestrial archives of Quaternary climate variability providing information on the global dust cycle and landscape dynamics. Their paleoclimatic significance is often explored by quantifying their mineral magnetic properties due to their sensitivity to local/regional hydroclimate variability. Detailed chronological assessment of such regional proxy records around the climatic transitions allow a better understanding of how regional records react to major global climatic transitions such as the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition. Logs of high-resolution magnetic susceptibility and its frequency dependence were used as paleoclimatic proxies to define the environmental transition from the last glacial loess to the current interglacial soil as reflected in nine loess-paleosol sequences across the northern hemisphere, from the Chinese Loess Plateau, the southeastern European loess belt and the central Great Plains, USA. The onset of increase in magnetic susceptibility above typical loess values was used to assess the onset of, and developments during, the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition. High-resolution luminescence dating was applied on multiple grain-sizes (4–11 μm, 63–90 μm, 90–125 μm) of quartz extracts from the same sample in order to investigate the timing of Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition in the investigated sites. The magnetic susceptibility signal shows a smooth and gradual increase for the majority of the sites from the typical low loess values to the interglacial ones. The initiation of this increase, interpreted as recording the initiation of the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition at each site, was dated to 14–17.5 ka or even earlier. Our chronological results highlight the need of combining paleoclimatic proxies (magnetic susceptibility) with absolute dating when investigating the Pleistocene-Holocene climatic transition as reflected by the evolution of this proxy in order to avoid chronostratigraphic misinterpretations in loess-paleosol records caused by simple pattern correlation. The detailed luminescence chronologies evidence the continuity of eolian mineral dust accumulation regardless of glacial or interglacial global climatic regimes. Coupled with magnetic susceptibility records this indicates that dust sedimentation and pedogenesis act simultaneously and result in a non-negligible accretional component in the formation of Holocene soils in loess regions across the Northern Hemisphere. The luminescence ages allowed the modeling of accumulation rates for the Holocene soil which are similar for European, Chinese and U.S.A. loess sites investigated and vary from 2 cm ka−1 to 9 cm ka−1. While accretional pedogenesis has often been implicitly or explicitly assumed in paleoclimatic interpretation of loess-paleosol sequences, especially in the Chinese Loess Plateau, our luminescence data add direct evidence for ongoing sedimentation as interglacial soils formed.
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    Loess landscapes of Europe – Mapping, geomorphology, and zonal differentiation
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Lehmkuhl, F.; Nett, J.J.; Pötter, S.; Schulte, P.; Sprafke, T.; Jary, Z.; Antoine, P.; Wacha, L.; Wolf, D.; Zerboni, A.; Hošek, J.; Marković, S.B.; Obreht, I.; Sümegi, P.; Veres, D.; Zeeden, C.; Boemke, B.; Schaubert, V.; Viehweger, J.; Hambach, U.
    Paleoenvironmental reconstructions on a (supra-)regional scale have gained attention in Quaternary sciences during the last decades. In terrestrial realms, loess deposits and especially intercalations of loess and buried soils, so called loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) are important archives to unravel the terrestrial response to e.g. climatic fluctuations and reconstruct paleoenvironments during the Pleistocene. The analysis of LPS requires the knowledge of several key factors, such as the distribution of the aeolian sediments, their location relative to (potential) source areas, the climate conditions that led to their emplacement and the topography of the sink area. These factors strongly influence the sedimentological and paleoenvironmental characteristics of LPS and show broad variations throughout Europe, leading to a distinct distribution pattern throughout the continent. We present a new map of the distribution of aeolian sediments (mainly loess) and major potential source areas for Europe. The map was compiled combining geodata of different mapping approaches. Most of the used geodata stems from accurate national maps of 27 different countries. Problematic aspects such as different nomenclatures across administrative borders were carefully investigated and revised. The result is a seamless map, which comprises pedological, geological, and geomorphological data and can be used for paleoenvironmental and archeological studies and other applications. We use the resulting map and data from key geomorphological cross-sections to discuss the various influences of geomorphology and paleoenvironment on the deposition and preservation of Late Pleistocene loess throughout Europe. We divided the loess areas into 6 main loess domains and 17 subdomains to understand and explain the factors controlling their distribution and characteristics. For the subdivision we used the following criteria: (1) influence of silt production areas, (2) affiliation to subcatchments, as rivers are very important regional silt transport agents, (3) occurrence of past periglacial activity with characteristic overprinting of the deposits. Additionally, the sediment distribution is combined with elevation data, to investigate the loess distribution statistically as well as visually. Throughout Europe, the variations, and differences of the loess domains are the results of a complex interplay of changing paleoenvironmental conditions and related geomorphologic processes, controlling dust sources, transport, accumulation, preservation, pedogenesis, alongside erosional and reworking events. Climatic, paleoclimatic, and pedoclimatic gradients are on the continental scale an additional important factor, since there are e.g. latitudinal differences of permafrost and periglacial processes, an increase in continentality from west to east and in aridity from northwest to southeast and south, strongly affecting regional sedimentary and geomorphic dynamics. We propose three main depositional regimes for loess formation in Europe: (1.) periglacial and tundra loess formation with periglacial processes and permafrost in the high latitude and mountainous regions; (2.) steppe and desert margin loess formation in the (semi-)arid regions; and (3.) loess and soil formation in temperate and subtropical regions. Loess deposits of (1.) and (2.) show coarser, sandier particle distributions towards the glacial and desert regions. In the humid areas (3.) forest vegetation limited dust production and accumulation, therefore, there is an increase in finer grain sizes due to an increase in weathering.
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    Eemian landscape response to climatic shifts and evidence for northerly Neanderthal occupation at a palaeolake margin in northern Germany
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Wiley, 2021-9-14) Hein, Michael; Urban, Brigitte; Tanner, David Colin; Buness, Anton Hermann; Tucci, Mario; Hoelzmann, Philipp; Dietel, Sabine; Kaniecki, Marie; Schultz, Jonathan; Kasper, Thomas; Suchodoletz, Hans von; Schwalb, Antje; Weiss, Marcel; Lauer, Tobias
    The prevailing view suggests that the Eemian interglacial on the European Plain was characterized by largely negligible geomorphic activity beyond the coastal areas. However, systematic geomorphological studies are sparse. Here we present a detailed reconstruction of Eemian to Early Weichselian landscape evolution in the vicinity of a small fingerlake on the northern margin of the Salzwedel Palaeolake in Lower Saxony (Germany). We apply a combination of seismics, sediment coring, pollen analysis and luminescence dating on a complex sequence of colluvial, paludal and lacustrine sediments. Results suggest two pronounced phases of geomorphic activity, directly before the onset and at the end of the Eemian period, with an intermediate period of pronounced landscape stability. The dynamic phases were largely driven by incomplete vegetation cover, but likely accentuated by fluvial incision in the neighbouring Elbe Valley. Furthermore, we discovered Neanderthal occupation at the lakeshore during Eemian pollen zone (PZ) E IV, which is chronologically in line with other known Eemian sites of central Europe. Our highly-resolved spatio-temporal data substantially contribute to the understanding of climate-induced geomorphic processes throughout and directly after the last interglacial period. It helps unraveling the landscape dynamics between the coastal areas to the north and the loess belt to the south.
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    Two-Phase Fluid Flow Experiments Monitored by NMR
    (Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2020) Hiller, Thomas; Hoder, Gabriel; Amann-Hildenbrand, Alexandra; Klitzsch, Norbert; Schleifer, Norbert
    We present a newly developed high-pressure nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) flow cell, which allows for the simultaneous determination of water saturation, effective gas permeability and NMR relaxation time distribution in two-phase fluid flow experiments. We introduce both the experimental setup and the experimental procedure on a tight Rotliegend sandstone sample. The initially fully water saturated sample is systematically drained by a stepwise increase of gas (Nitrogen) inlet pressure and the drainage process is continuously monitored by low field NMR relaxation measurements. After correction of the data for temperature fluctuations, the monitored changes in water saturation proved very accurate. The experimental procedure provides quantitative information about the total water saturation as well as about its distribution within the pore space at defined differential pressure conditions. Furthermore, the relationship between water saturation and relative (or effective) apparent permeability is directly determined. © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2020.
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    Grain-size distribution dataset of supercritical flow sediments from a Gilbert-type delta that are associated with disaggregation bands
    (Amsterdam [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2022) Tanner, David C.; Brandes, Christian; Winsemann, Jutta
    This is a dataset of grain-size distribution in sub- and supercritical flow sediments of a Gilbert-type delta from an outcrop in North Germany. Thirteen samples of ca 2.5 kg were dried (at 105°C), and homogenised twice with a sample divider. A representative sample of 1-2 g was then analysed using laser diffraction. The grain-size distribution of the sand has a maximum between fine to medium sand, with a long fine fraction tail down to 0.06 µm and occasional coarse fractions (up to 1.5 mm) in some samples. Specific grain-size distributions correlate with the different sedimentary bedforms from which the samples were taken. This data is important for two reasons: Firstly, sedimentary structures formed by Froude supercritical flows are controlled by grain-size. However, few studies have provided grain-size datasets from the natural record, which often have a much wider grain-size distribution than experimentally-produced supercritical flow deposits. Secondly, the sands were deformed subsequently by disaggregation bands, a type of geological fault that only develops in porous granular materials, i.e. well-sorted, medium sand. The disaggregation bands are indicative of seismic or even aseismic, creeping movement of basement faults.
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    Late Pleistocene paleosol formation in a dynamic aggradational microenvironment - A case study from the Malá nad Hronom loess succession (Slovakia)
    (New York, NY [u.a.] : Elsevier, 2021) Bradák, B.; Csonka, D.; Novothny, Á.; Szeberényi, J.; Medveďová, A.; Rostinsky, P.; Fehér, K.; Barta, G.; Végh, T.; Kiss, K.; Megyeri, M.
    The geomorphological characteristics of the loess succession at Malá nad Hronom (Slovakia) mean that it provides a valuable opportunity for the investigation of differences in soil formation in various topographic positions. Along with the semiquantitative characterization of the paleosols (on the basis of physical properties, texture, the characteristics of peds, clay films, horizon boundaries), high-resolution field magnetic susceptibility measurements and sampling were carried out along four different sections of the profile. Samples for luminescence dating were also taken, in order to establish the chronostratigraphical position of the paleosols studied. The comparison of various proxies revealed the differences in soil formation in a dynamic aggradational microenvironment for the same paleosol horizons located in various positions along the slope. Contrary to expectation, paleosols developed in local top or slope topographical positions did not display significant differences in e.g. in their degree of development, nor the characteristics of their magnetic susceptibility curves. In the case of paleosols in positions lower down the slope, signs of quasi-permanent sediment input could be recognized as being present as early as during the formation of the soil itself. This sediment input would seem to be surpassed in the case of pedogenesis strengthened by the climate of the last interglacial (marine isotope stage - MIS 5). Pedogenesis seems to be sustained by renewed intense dust accumulation in the Late Pleistocene, in MIS 3, though compared to MIS 5, the climate of MIS 3 did not favor intense pedogenesis. Despite the general belief that loess series formed in plateau positions can preserve terrestrial records without significant erosion, in the case of the Malá nad Hronom loess this is not so. Compared to the sequence affected by erosional events in the local top position, the sequence affected by quasi-continuous sediment input in the lower slope position seems to have preserved the soil horizons intact. © 2020 The Author(s)