Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Monitoring climatological, hydrological and geochemical parameters in the Père Noël cave (Belgium): Implication for the interpretation of speleothem isotopic and geochemical time-series
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Paleoclimate reconstruction in the Levant region from the geochemistry of a Holocene stalagmite from the Jeita cave, Lebanon
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Water release patterns of heated speleothem calcite and hydrogen isotope composition of fluid inclusions
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Geochemistry of sclerosponges and bivalves
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Mg, Sr and Sr isotope geochemistry of a Belgian Holocene speleothem: Implications for paleoclimate reconstructions
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Calculation of past dead carbon proportion and variability by the comparison of AMS <sup>14</sup>C and TIMS U/Th ages on two Holocene stalagmites
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Holocene climate variability in Europe: Evidence from ?<sup>18</sup>O, textural and extension-rate variations in three speleothems
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Un outil néolithique en contexte gallo-romain ? Biographie de la petite hache polie en omphacitite de Roly « La Crayellerie » (comm. de Philippeville, Prov. de Namur, BE)
- Errera M., Cattelain P., Jadin I. & Pétrequin P., 2020. Un outil néolithique en contexte gallo-romain ? Biographie de la petite hache polie en omphacitite de Roly « La Crayellerie » (comm. de Philippeville, Prov. de Namur, BE). Notae Praehistoricae, 40/2020 : 181-193. / Abstract. The small polished omphacitite axe from Roly “La Crayellerie” (Philippeville Municipality, Prov. of Namur, BE) was found in the foundation of the eastern wall of the south-western hypocaust of a Gallo-Roman “villa”. Its classic description points out that the present size of the object suggests an axe originally a little longer, broken flush with the shaft of a deer antler sheath. This wide trapezoidal axe with a wide butt, carefully polished, is then the subject of typological comparisons and dating, which make it possible to place it at the end of the period of circulation of the alpine jade axes, in the 4th-3rd millennium. Spectroradiometric circulation of the raw material pinpoint its origin in the Bulè and Porco valleys, and more generally in the southern foothills of the Mount Viso massif (Piedmont, Italy) or in the morainic deposits closer to the upper Po valley. During successive exchanges, the small axe from Roly crossed the Alps, the Savoie, the Saône valley and the Paris basin to reach the current territory of Belgium, 650 km as the crow flies. These “alpine jades” were valued for their tenacity and their exceptional resistance as a clearing or woodworking tool and are in fact part of a general movement of the most tenacious, the rarest and the most luminous rocks, from the Mont Viso massif towards North-Western Europe, in the context of unequal/inegaliterian societies. However, Roly’s axe does not stop in the 3rd millennium. It was again picked up from a Neolithic site in the Roman period for another purpose, potter’s tool or ironing smoother, before it was finally abandoned at the end of the 2nd century AD... Keywords: Roly “La Crayellerie”, Philippeville Municipality, Prov. of Namur (BE), stone axe, jadeite, omphacite, eclogite, Mont Viso massif (Piedmont, IT), long-distance exchanges, Neolithic and Chalcolithic, technical signification, social signification, ideological signification, Roman period, end from the 2nd century AD. / Résumé. La petite hache polie en omphacitite de Roly « La Crayellerie » (comm. de Philippeville, Prov. de Namur, BE) a été retrouvée dans les fondations d’un mur de l’hypocauste d’une villa gallo-romaine. Après une description classique, on relève qu’une cassure à talon suggère une hache à l’origine un peu plus longue, brisée au ras de l’emmanchement d’une gaine en bois de cerf. Cette hache trapézoïdale large à talon rectiligne, au poli soigné, fait ensuite l’objet de comparaisons typologiques et de datations qui permettent de l’attribuer à la fin de la période de la circulation des haches en jades alpins, au 4e-3e millénaire. Les analyses spectroradiométriques de la matière première montrent la provenance des vallons du Bulè et de Porco, plus généralement aux avant-monts méridionaux du massif du Mont Viso (Piémont, Italie) ou aux dépôts morainiques plus proches de la haute vallée du Pô. Au cours d’échanges successifs, la petite hache de Roly a franchi les Alpes, traversé la Savoie, la vallée de la Saône et le Bassin parisien pour gagner l’actuel territoire de la Belgique, à 650 km à vol d’oiseau. Ces « jades alpins » étaient valorisés par leur ténacité et leur résistance exceptionnelle en tant qu’outil de défrichement ou de travail du bois et s’inscrivent en fait dans un mouvement général des roches les plus tenaces, les plus rares et les plus lumineuses, depuis le massif du Mont Viso en direction de l’Europe nord-occidentale, dans le contexte de sociétés inégalitaires. Cependant, la hache de Roly ne s’arrête pas au 3e millénaire. Elle a été à nouveau récoltée sur un site néolithique à l’Époque romaine pour une autre destination, esthèques de potier ou lissoir à repasser, avant un ultime abandon de la fin du IIe siècle après notre ère… Mots-clés : Roly « La Crayellerie », commune de Philippeville, Prov. de Namur (BE), hache polie, jadéitite, omphacitite, éclogite, massif du Mont Viso (Piémont, IT), échanges à longue distance, Néolithique et Chalcolithique, signification technique, sociale et idéologique, Époque romaine, fin du IIe siècle PCN.
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A diverse bird assemblage from the Ypresian of Belgium furthers knowledge of Early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin
- We describe an assemblage of 54 avian bones from early Eocene marine sediments of the Ampe quarry near Egem in Belgium. The fossils belong to at least 20 species in more than 11 higher-level taxa. Well-identifiable specimens are assigned to the Odontopterygiformes, Galliformes, Messelornithidae, Apodiformes, Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes (cf.Plesiocathartes), and Coraciiformes (cf. Septencoracias). Further specimens are tentatively referred to the phaethontiform Prophaethontidae and to the Accipitridae, Masillaraptoridae, and Alcediniformes. The threedimensionally preserved fossils from Egem provide new data on the osteology of taxa that are otherwise mainly known from compression fossils with crushed bones. The material also includes specimens that further knowledge of the composition of early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin. The comparatively well-represented small galliform species is clearly distinguished from the early Eocene Gallinuloididae and most closely resembles Argillipes aurorum, a largely ignored galliform species from the London Clay. The tentatively identified fossils of Accipitridae and Alcediniformes would represent the earliest fossil records of these clades. The bird assemblage from Egem includes relatively few seabirds (Odontopterygiformes, cf. Prophaethontidae) and is dominated by remains of terrestrial species (Galliformes, Messelornithidae). Arboreal birds (Halcyornithidae, Leptosomiformes, cf. Alcediniformes, Coraciiformes) are less abundant and aerial insectivores (Apodiformes) very scarce, which either indicates a taphonomic bias in the composition of the avifauna or particular paleoenvironmental characteristics of the nearshore habitats in that area of the southern North Sea Basin.
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The CORDEX.be initiative as a foundation of climate services in Belgium
- CORDEX.be is an initiative to gather the Belgian climate and impact modeling research into a network as the first steps towards the realization of a climate center. The climate network structure is naturally imposed by the top-down data flow, from the four participating upper- air Regional Climate Modeling groups towards seven Local Impact Models (LIMs). However, the CORDEX.be framework and guidelines are designed based on a user-oriented bottom-up approach. The proposed coordination framework could serve as a demonstration case for regions or countries where the climate-research capacity is present but a structure is required to assemble it coherently. The first aim is to contribute to the international climate community by a participation in the EURO-CORDEX project, that is, the production of regional climate projections. Second, since the “.be” stands both for beyond and Belgium, an ensemble of High-Resolution (H-Res) results over Belgium will be provided, at convection-permitting resolutions of ±4 km following uniform prescriptions. Third, these results will be coupled to seven local-impact mod- els the output of which will be translated to severity indices for extreme events. All results will then be gathered in a coherent fashion incorporating calibration and statistical downscaling for uncertainty estimation. Lastly, climate ser- vices provide information about climate and its change, and allow the tailoring of mitigation and adaptation strategies for specific users. Following interactions with stakeholders different applications are planned, demonstrating the use of the climate data. The methodology is based on two cornerstones: the downscaling and the multi-model approaches. Dynamical downscaling implies that low-resolution large-area model runs are required to force H-Res small-area model runs. Such dependency therefore naturally determines the timing, the network structure and data exchange within the ini- tiative. Also the downscaling approach, which is by nature a top-down approach, is combined with a user-oriented bottom-up approach since local impact models require very specific input of data that must be stored. Akin to interna- tional frameworks such as CMIP and CORDEX a multi-model approach is taken that allows uncertainty estimation, a crucial aspect of climate projections for policy-making purposes. However, due to the lack of H-Res model runs, a combination of all available climate information, both nationally and internationally must be supplemented with statistical downscaling approaches. The CORDEX.be framework provides the first building blocks for a research network which could be easily extended, both nationally and internationally, with the intention of providing climate services.
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Fishing at the Late Islamic settlement in Kharā’ib al-Dasht, Failaka Island, Kuwait
- The Kharā’ib al-Dasht settlement, located on the north-eastern coast of the island of Failaka in Kuwait, has been excavated systematically since 2013 by the Kuwaiti-Polish Archaeological Mission. The investigated area yielded remains dated to the Late Islamic period, from the late seventeenth to the nineteenth century. In the northernmost part of the site, a fish processing area was uncovered, while the remains of residential structures (houses 1 and 2), as well as a mosque, were discovered in the eastern part of the site. Concentrations of fireplaces, hearths and ovens were discovered inside the houses and courtyards of what seems to be the centre of the settlement as well as from the periphery of the site. Fishing was evidenced not only by the presence of fish bones but also by recovered fishing technologies, including the remains of stone fish traps that were discovered in the coastal waters near to the site. The excavations yielded 12,182 bones of marine fishes. Twenty eight families are represented, including six families of cartilaginous fishes. Ariidae bones were most numerous followed by Haemulidae,Sciaenidae and Carcharhinidae. The analysis of the assemblage shows that fishing could have been of great importance to the inhabitants of the settlement. Moreover, we attest different patterns in the fish assemblages between the two different parts of the village. The fish processing area can be seen as a workplace, while the daily activity took place in the village. These differences can also be used to shed light on the fishing techniques these people used.
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Diet, hygiene and health in Roman period northern Gaul: A multidisciplinary study of a latrine from an artisan household in the vicus Orolaunum (Arlon, southern Belgium, c. 250–280 CE)
- Botanical (macro remains and pollen) and animal remains, including intestinal parasites, from a latrine dated between c. 250 CE and 280 CE from the artisan quarter of the vicus Orolaunum (Arlon) have been studied. The results provide information on the diet and health of a non-elite and poorly understood part of the population in northern Gaul. The identified plant remains document a diet which include several Roman introductions to the region, but hardly any truly exotic imports. Also the remains of fish sauce have been identified, but this was a locally produced variety and possibly a cheaper version of the typical Mediterranean product. The results indicate that the diet of the household using the latrine was strongly influenced by romanisation and that the lack of exotic imports was most likely the result of a low economic status rather than a lack of interest for these products. The people using the latrine were also infected with both roundworm and whipworm, two intestinal parasites that were probably common in the population of northern Roman Gaul and which are spread when sanitation is ineffective.
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CARPOLOGISCH ONDERZOEK VAN BUIKHOLTESTALEN SINT- GILLISVOORPLEIN (SG 004)
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Stratigraphical reinterpretation of Devonian strata underlying the Mons Basin based on cuttings from the Saint-Ghislain borehole, Hainaut, Belgium
- It is revealed that the lowest 1010 m of the Saint-Ghislain borehole (-4393 to -5403 m), of which cuttings are available, constitutes a crucial source of information to investigate, amongst others, the deep geothermal potential within the Brabant Parautochthon, underlying the Mons Basin, Hainaut. The lithological succession of this interval was reconstructed based mainly on visual analysis and calcimetry of 852 cutting samples as well as four core samples. Additionally, palynological, magnetic susceptibility and X-ray diffraction analyses were conducted in order to complement the dataset. The lower section of the investigated borehole sequence mainly consists of grey calcareous shale while the middle section is dominated by blue-grey shaly limestone and the upper section is mainly composed of green shale. Palynomorphs found at -5261 m suggest an uppermost Givetian–Lower Frasnian age. A new lithostratigraphical interpretation of the deepest part of the Saint-Ghislain borehole is proposed. The lower calcareous shale from -5403 m to -5100 m is interpreted as the Bovesse Formation (Lower Frasnian) and at its base possibly uppermost Givetian. The overlying limestones from -5100 to -4790 m can be attributed to the Rhisnes Formation (Upper Frasnian), and the green shale between ca. -4393 and -4790 m, to the Bois de la Rocq Member (Famennian). These results open new insights regarding the geological interpretation of the basement underlying the Mons Basin. They also present a promising approach and example regarding interpretations based on cuttings. KEYWORDS: Brabant Parautochthon, Mons Basin, Frasnian, Famennian, geothermal energy, Saint-Ghislain borehole
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BrugeoTool: “All in One” Professional Geoscientific Tool of Brussels.
- Key words: Shallow geothermal, Resources assessment, Geoscientific tool, Brussels Since 2015, the interest in installing shallow geothermal systems has significantly increased in Brussels Capital Region (BCR). However, limited knowledge of ground conditions, lack of public awareness and an urban context restrict the development of shallow geothermal systems in the BCR despite the high potential of this technique in the area. The BRUGEO project was launched thanks to ERDF funding and aims to facilitate accessibility and the efficient use of shallow geothermal energy in the Brussels region. In this four years project (2016-2020), specific actions promoting the geothermal potential of the BCR are addressed: 1- Collect existing data related to the knowledge on Brussels subsurface (geological, hydrogeological, and geothermal data); 2- Conduct new laboratory and field tests in order to complete geological analyses and to assess geothermal parameters; 3- Map the geothermal potential for open and closed systems. The BrugeoTool was developed in 2020 conjointly with Brussels Environment and intends to be a useful tool at any stage of the process of a geothermal project for citizens, project managers as well as for experts. From the project manager side, BrugeoTool provides information on geothermal potential for open and closed systems, plans and controls the stages of a geothermal project, analyzes environmental constraints and helps to prepare the application for an environmental permit, and predesigns a geothermal installation using the Smartgeotherm tool developed by the Belgian Building Research Center. From the expert point of view, BrugeoTool allows to consult geological, hydrogeological, geothermal and environmental data in the form of maps (2D), it automatically draws up a lithostratigraphic (1D) log synthesizing the geological, hydrogeological and geothermal parameters, explores the Brustrati3D geological model (3D), evaluates the (pre) feasibility of a shallow (<300 m) vertical geothermal project for open or closed systems and carries out its pre-sizing. Finally, this webtool lets the citizens to familiarize themselves with the geology and hydrogeology of Brussels and its environmental context.
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Harde zandsteen onderbelicht
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A new physeteroid from the late Miocene of Peru expands the diversity of extinct dwarf and pygmy sperm whales (Cetacea: Odontoceti: Kogiidae)
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EXPLOITING 3 D MULTISPECTRAL TEXTURE FOR A BETTER FEATURE IDENTIFICATION FOR CULTURAL HERITAGE
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Sawflies containing toxic peptides
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Whelks, rock-snails, and allied: a new phylogenetic framework for the family Muricidae (Mollusca: Gastropoda)
