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Amphibians and Squamates from the Late Pleistocene of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (Belgium)
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Archaeological sites usually provide important information about the past distribution of the small vertebrate fauna, and by extension about past terrestrial environments and climate in which human activities took place. In this context, Belgium has an interesting location in North-western Europe between the well-studied zooarchaeological record of Germany and England. The Late Pleistocene (Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 2) locality of Caverne Marie-Jeanne (southeast of Belgium, Ardennes region) yielded a large collection of disarticulated bone fragments and numerous plant, mollusk, and archaeological remains. They have been collected during the first field campaign in 1943 and stored in the Quaternary collections of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. A recent revision of the rich micromammal fauna (31 taxa of insectivores, bats, and rodents among 9897 identified specimens, corresponding to a minimum of 4980 individuals) revealed the presence of the steppe lemming and the European pine vole. We present here the revision of the herpetofauna based on the 1970 Jean-Claude Rage’s study and the revision of the “indeterminate” small vertebrate specimens. It is now by far the largest Late Pleistocene collection of the Belgian institute with more than 20,500 recognized bones of amphibians and reptiles and covering the last 60,000 years. The herpetofaunal list now comprises two urodeles (Lissotriton gr. L. vulgaris and Salamandra salamandra), four anurans (Bufo gr. B. bufo-spinosus, Epidalea calamita, Rana temporaria and Rana cf. R. arvalis), three lizards (Lacerta cf. L. agilis, Zootoca vivipara and Anguis gr. A. fragilis) and three snakes (Natrix gr. N. natrix-astreptophora, Coronella austriaca and Vipera berus). This study highlights the first fossil record in Belgium for L. gr. L. vulgaris, R. arvalis, Z. vivipara, N. gr. N. natrix-astretophora and C. austriaca. This assemblage suggests a patchy humid landscape under colder and dryer climatic conditions in comparison with present ones. The study also underlines the importance to carefully reexamine old collections. Grant Information: Grant 2017-SGR-859 (Gov. of Catalonia, AGAUR), CGL2016-80000-P (Spanish Min. of Econ. & Comp.), RYC-2016-19386 (Ramón y Cajal), Synthesys BE-TAF-4385, -5469, -5468, -5708.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Analysing CO2 capture, transport, and storage chain options for cement industry in the LEILAC2 project
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In order to reach greenhouse gas emission reduction targets, atmospheric CO2 emissions from all industrial sectors need to be avoided. Globally, the cement production industry emits 2.4 Gt CO2 per year, or 7% of all CO2 emissions (IEA). While about a third of this could be reduced by using renewable energy sources, the remainder are process emissions from the calcination process. Lime or CaO is produced by heating limestone (CaCO3), emitting CO2. The Australian company Calix has developed a direct separation technology for capturing these process emissions; a pilot-scale installation is operational at the Lixhe cement plant in Belgium (Figure 1). The EU H2020-funded LEILAC2 project (Low Emission Intensity Lime and Cement 2: Demonstration Scale) upscaling and integrating a novel type of carbon capture technology. This technology aims to capture, at low cost, unavoidable process emissions from cement and lime plant. This large-scale capture plant will be installed at the Heidelberg Cement’s plant in Hannover, Germany, capturing 20% of a typical cement plant’s CO2 emission. Apart from the physical installation and operation of the capture unit, a business case will be developed for the downstream components of transport, use and geological storage for the captured CO2. In order to develop a business case, a very large number of options, combinations and scenarios for each these components need to be evaluated, taking into account the intricacies of for example dealing with geological data in economic calculations. The PSS suite of geo-techno-economic simulators has been developed by the Geological Survey of Belgium, specifically for creating forecasts on the deployment of CO2 capture and geological storage (CCS) technologies (Welkenhuysen et al., 2013). In PSS, investment decisions for the full CCS chain are simulated as a forecast in a non-deterministic way, considering uncertainty and flexibility. Especially for matching storage, these elements are essential. While capture in this demonstration project is a given, several scenarios will be analyzed: the current demo-scale, full-scale capture, and CO2-network integration. Due to its location, several CO2 transport options can be considered at the Hannover plant: from low-volume truck, railway or barge transport, up to ships and pipelines. Special attention is given to possible connections with ongoing and planned initiatives for infrastructure and hub development such as the Porthos project in the port of Rotterdam or the Northern Lights project offshore Norway. In the wider area around the capture location, North-Western Europe including the North Sea offshore area, there are many potential storage options available. Offshore storage options will be the primary targets for assessment, with many (nearly) depleted hydrocarbon fields and saline aquifers that are present in the southern North Sea. Storage aspects are treated as stochastic parameters, with for example storage capacity and injectivity of the reservoirs represented by probability density functions. In order to compare storage options, the degree of knowledge, uncertainty and economic and practical development feasibility of such a storage location needs to be assessed. An analysis of such storage classification systems is created by Tovar et al. (this conference). With the above-mentioned PSS method and CCS project development options, source-sink matching is performed to create forecasts on project and network development. Results will provide insight in the probability of preferred storage option development for steering exploration and development efforts, preferred transport modes and routes, the optimal timing of investments, and the influence of market parameters, such as the ETS price of CO2 emissions. Acknowledgments This research is carried out under the LEILAC2 project, which receives funding by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 884170. The LEILAC2 consortium consists of: Calix Europe SARL, HeidelbergCement AG, Ingenieurbüro Kühlerbau Neustad GmbH (IKN), Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Politecnico di Milano (POLIMI), Geological Survey of Belgium (RBINS-GSB), ENGIE Laborelec, Port of Rotterdam, Calix Limited, CIMPOR-Indústria de Cimentos SA and Lhoist Recherche et Development SA. References IEA, 2020. Energy Technology Perspectives 2020. https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-technology-perspectives-2020 Tovar, A., Piessens, K. & Welkenhuysen, K., this conference. Ranking CO2 storage capacities and identifying their technical, economic and regulatory constraints: A review of methods and screening criteria. Welkenhuysen K., Ramírez A., Swennen R. & Piessens K., 2013. Strategy for ranking potential CO2 storage reservoirs: A case study for Belgium. International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control, 17, 431-449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2013.05.025
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Animal husbandry at the Early Neolithic to Early Bronze Age site of Bademağacı (Antalya province, SW Turkey): evidence from the faunal remains
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RBINS Staff Publications
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Application of an 1-DV TCPBE model with Bayesian calibration to diagnose the flocculation potential in the laboratory experiments and field measurement
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Application of sediment composition index to predict suspended particulate matter concentration in the North Sea
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Apports de la chémostratigraphie "long-terme" (isotopes stables du carbone sur la matière organique) à la datation de mammifères durant le Paléogène
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Depuis quelques décennies, les rapides (« court-terme » - quelques dizaines à quelques centaines de milliers d’années) excursions d’isotopes stables (δ13C et δ18O) sur différents types de supports (roche totale carbonatée, nodules de paléosols, certaines espèces animales et végétales, matière organique totale ou spécifique) servent de jalons chémostratigraphiques éprouvés durant le Paléogène (Late Danian Event, PETM ou ETM-1, ETM-2, ETM-3, MECO, Oi-1, Oi-1a, etc). Récemment, les tendances isotopiques des mêmes éléments, utilisées à « long-terme » (quelques centaines de milliers d’années à quelques millions d’années) montrent une certaine utilité, particulièrement dans les coupes dépourvues d’autres informations stratigraphiques. Des coupes strictement continentales peuvent être ainsi corrélées avec les échelles chronostratigraphiques marines. A partir de plusieurs études de cas spécifiques au Maroc, Sud de la France (Corbières, Minervois, région de Montpellier, Provence), Angola et Belgique, la présente communication illustrera les contraintes, biais et perspectives de la chémostratigraphie (appelée également chimiostratigraphie) « long-terme » du carbone sur la matière organique totale. Des corrélations inter-régionales, voire inter-continentales (notamment avec le Wyoming, USA), sont mises en évidence en couplant bio- et chémo-stratigraphie, autorisant une discussion de l’évolution des mammifères dans différentes régions, y compris celles contenant des faunes strictement endémiques.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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Archeozoölogisch onderzoek over de transitie Romeinse-vroegmiddeleeuwse periode in België
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Areas Prone to Land Subsidence and their Evolutions in Belgium During the Last 30 Years
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PSInSAR analyses across Belgium using ERS 1-2, ENVISAT, TerraSAR-X and Sentinel 1 allowed to follow several ground movements areas during the last three decades. Several areas of regional importance are affected by land subsidence processes that have been observed during this period (i.e. the alluvial plain of the Schelde estuary in Antwerpen, a large area in the West Flanders province and one around Merchtem area). Other land subsidence areas associated to old coal mining both in Flanders (Campine basin) and Wallonia (Hainaut and Liège province) are affected by progressive uplifting conditions linked to the mining aquifer piezometric rebound. It is extremely important to follow the spatio-temporal behavior of these phenomena to forecast their influences and their effects on the urban developments.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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Au fond du fossé. Les céramiques de la fin du Second Âge du Fer du site de Latinne "Les Grandes Pièces" (Braives)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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Avancées récentes sur le Paléogène inférieur des bassins parisien et belge à partir des mammifères
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La compréhension progressive des différents réchauffements climatiques intenses du Paléogène inférieur (PETM, ETM-2, EECO…) a créé un intérêt évident pour une stratigraphie de plus en plus fine des bassins sédimentaires qui ont enregistrés ces événements. Ces derniers, identifiés sur base géochimique, demandent à être corrélés avec les événements biologiques qui en découlent et qui ont été, eux aussi, enregistrés dans ces bassins. Dans ce cadre, les bassins parisien, de Londres et de Belgique, formant le sud du Bassin de la Mer du Nord, représentent des modèles de choix pour la communauté géoscientifique de par leur reconnaissance historique et les étages internationaux Lutétien, Yprésien et Thanétien qu’ils ont respectivement permis de définir. Si les connaissances sur les dépôts marins ont fait d’énormes progrès notamment grâce aux études micropaléontologiques détaillées, qu’en est-il aujourd’hui des dépôts continentaux souvent délaissés par leur complexité à être interprétés? Vingt-cinq ans d’expertise en biochronologie mammalienne de notre équipe bruxelloise et de ses collaborateurs sont ici survolés, mettant en exergue l’utilité des mammifères en stratigraphie et paléogéographie. L’exposé porte tant sur des taxons marqueurs que des faunes entières issues de sites historiques ou nouveaux du Bassin parisien et de son complémentaire le bassin belge (Hainin, Maret, Rivecourt, Dormaal, Erquelinnes, Meudon, Sotteville-sur-Mer, Egem, Oosterzele…). Ainsi, des niveaux de référence de l’échelle biochronologique européenne des mammifères du Paléogène (MP) sont précisés, de nouveaux âges à mammifères européens sont identifiés et la stratigraphie tant à l’échelle locale que nord-ouest européenne est affinée. Malgré tout le travail accompli, les questions sont nombreuses et beaucoup reste à faire tant l’étude des faunes de mammifères est incomplète!
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RBINS Staff Publications 2021