A marine reservoir correction for the Houtman-Abrolhos Archipelago, East Indian Ocean, Western Australia

High-precision analysis using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) was performed upon known-age Holocene and modern, pre-bomb coral samples to generate a marine reservoir age correction value (ΔR) for the Houtman-Abrolhos Archipelago (28.7°S, 113.8°E) off the Western Australian coast. The mean ΔR value calculated for the Abrolhos Islands, 54 ± 30 yr (1σ) agrees well with regional ΔR values for Leeuwin Current source waters (N-NW Australia-Java) of 60 ± 38 yr. The Abrolhos Islands show little variation with ΔR values of the northwestern and north Australian coast, underlining the dominance of the more equilibrated western Pacific-derived waters of the Leeuwin Current over local upwelling. The Abrolhos Islands ΔR values have remained stable over the last 2896 cal yr BP, being also attributed to the Leeuwin Current and the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) signal during this period. Expected future trends will be a strengthening of the teleconnection of the Abrolhos Islands to the climatic patterns of the equatorial Pacific via enhanced ENSO and global warming activity strengthening the Leeuwin Current. The possible effect upon the trend of future ΔR values may be to maintain similar values and an increase in stability. However, warming trends of global climate change may cause increasing dissimilarity of ΔR values due to the effects of increasing heat stress upon lower-latitude coral communities

Owning humankind : fossils, humans and archaeological remains

Abstract: There are a myriad of laws, guidelines and unwritten agreements relating to human, hominid and hominin remains. Legal gaps and inadequate definitions of what constitutes a fossil have meant that a ‘finders keepers’ approach is often applied to the ownership and control of our ancestors' remains. Such shortcomings expose numerous legal and ethical conundrums. Should any one organisation, individual or government control access to recently-found remains, limiting opportunities to unlock the secrets of evolution? Given that humans can start fossilisation processes immediately after burial, at what point does it become appropriate to dig up their remains? And who should control access to them? Could any prehistoric Homo ever have imagined they would one day be exhumed and their remains laid out in cases as the centrepiece of a museum exhibit? This paper surveys a number of implications that arise from these foundational questions, and ultimately challenges the belief that human, hominin and hominid remains are self-evident ‘objects’ capable of clear ownership: rather they constitute creative cultural intersections, which are deserving of greater ethical consideration. Protocols for respecting, protecting and conserving remains while allowing a greater equity in access to information about our common ancestors are both desirable and urgently required

Sourcing obsidian: a new optimized LA-ICP-MS protocol

Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry [LA-ICP-MS] is one of the most successful analytical techniques used in archaeological sciences. Applied to the sourcing of lithic raw materials, it allows for fast and reliable analysis of large assemblages. However, the majority of published studies omit important analytical issues commonly encountered with laser ablation. This research presents a new advanced LA-ICP-MS protocol developed at Southern Cross GeoScience (SOLARIS laboratory, Southern Cross University, Australia), which optimizes the potential of this cutting-edge geochemical characterization technique for obsidian sourcing. This new protocol uses ablation lines with a reduced number of assayed elements (specific isotopes) to achieve higher sensitivity as well as increased precision and accuracy, in contrast to previous studies working with ablation points and an exhaustive list of measured isotopes. Applied to obsidian sources from the Western Mediterranean region, the Carpathian basin, and the Aegean, the results clearly differentiate between the main outcrops, thus demonstrating the efficiency of the new advanced LA-ICP-MS protocol in answering fundamental archaeological questions

Tsunami Chronology supporting Late Holocene Impacts

The Holocene Impact Working Group (HIWG) has identified the location of at least eight impacts into the worlds oceans in the Late Holocene. Each of these was capable of generating large tsunami that should have left a geological footprint on adjacent shorelines. We have identified from shoreline tsunami deposits five known impact events (Fig. 1), two of which are associated with impact craters identified by the HIWG. The other three are associated with legends and historical descriptions. This paper presents the chronology of tsunami events in New South Wales (NSW) and Western Australia (WA)-on opposite coasts of Australia, and in the UK that are linked to impact events.Рабочей группой импактных воздействий в голоцене (HIWG) определены места, по крайней мере, восьми импактных воздействий в Мировом океане в позднем голоцене. Каждый из них был способен сгенерировать гигантское цунами, все они должны были оставить геологический след на прилегающих побережьях. Мы определили по прибрежным отложениям цунами пять известных импактных событий, два из которых связаны с кратерами, выявленными HIWG. Остальные три связаны с легендами и историческими описаниями. В статье излагается хронология событий цунами в штате Новый Южный Уэльс (NSW) и Западная Австралия (WA) - на противоположных берегах Австралии, а также в Великобритании, которые связаны с импактными событиями

Tsunami deposits on the coastline of west Crete (Greece)

The eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean Sea in particular, are the most active seismic regions in Europe. Historically, numerous earthquakes have occurred in this part of the world and comprehensive tsunami recordings exist. Nevertheless, field evidence of tsunamis is rare, although many neotectonic movements certainly must have triggered very strong tsunami waves. Along the coastlines of western Crete, we found evidence for tsunami impacts, such as 1) bimodal deposits (large clasts floating in sands comprised of shell fragments); 2) dislocation of large boulders with tilting of biogenous notches; and 3) boulders (with Lithophaga or Cliona borings) weighing up to 75 tons thrown onshore and imbedded in strata of marine shells. This paper documents these deposits and discusses whether they originated from the sudden uplift that occurred in 365 AD. Moreover, numerical radiocarbon ages reveal the occurrence of two tsunamis dated to 5660 yrs BP and 500 yrs BP. Evidence for other tsunami impacts is discussed, but not supported by numerical dating due to the lack of suitable material

Documentation of the impact of hurricane Ivan on the coastline of Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles)

Situated just north of the Venezuelan coast around 12° to 13° N, the Netherlands Antilles are normally well outside the hurricane belt. Nevertheless, some of these powerful storms sent waves and swell of significant size to these islands, strong enough for impacts on the coastal geomorphology. Hurricane Ivan of September 2004, with Saffir–Simpson category 5 and around 250 km/h sustained winds less than 150 km north of Bonaire, was the most recent and one of the strongest of these events in history. Waves along the rocky eastern coastline reached heights of \u3e12 m. Our observations during the days of Hurricane Ivan on Bonaire Island include impacts on exposed and sheltered shorelines, transformation of beaches and cliffs, sediment movement on higher terraces, as well as boulder transport. The latter is important to distinguish storm wave-induced boulder movement from boulder movement by tsunami, which have affected Bonaire several times during the Younger Holocene

Tsunami imprints on the Leeward Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) and their relation to other coastal problems

Tsunami are one of the major natural hazards in the Caribbean. The historical record lists 88 tsunami, from local events to teletsunami, in the time period from 1489 to 1998. This study focuses on the spatial distribution and geomorphologic evidence related to coarse littoral sediment and boulder deposition by tsunami events of Holocene age in the Southern Caribbean. At a worldwide scale, these debris deposits represent the most extensive and impressive records of Holocene paleo-tsunami so far studied. Hitherto, the Leeward Lesser Antilles, consisting of the islands of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire, were not known to have had tsunami affecting their coastlines. The possible contribution of tsunami to configuring coastlines (e.g. the questions of embayment development, the coastal environment changes, and the absence of Holocene fringing reefs along the windward coasts) is discussed

Paleotsunami evidences from boulder deposits on Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire

The paleotsunami debris deposits of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire are investigated with regard to their geomorphologic characteristics, spatial distribution and their depositional history during the Younger Holocene. Differences between three distinctive formations – ridges, ramparts and boulder assemblages are highlighted and related to their origin within the coastal environment. Relative and absolute age determinations proved evidence for the occurrence of three paleotsunami events at 400-500 BP, 1500 BP and 3500 BP. The tsunamis approached the islands from a northeasterly direction leaving the most impressive geomorphic traces on Bonaire and due to shadowing effects reduced sedimentary effects on Curaçao and Aruba