Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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New early Eocene vertebrate assemblage from western India reveals a mixed fauna of European and Gondwana affinities
- Abstract The Ypresian Cambay Shale Formation at Vastan and Mangrol lignite mines in Gujarat, western India, has yielded a rich vertebrate fauna with numerous taxa of European affinities. Here we report a new, approximately contemporary vertebrate assemblage from two fossiliferous layers in the nearby mine of Tadkeshwar. These layers have yielded a similar mammal fauna with the co-occurrence of the perissodactyl-like cambaytheriid Cambaytherium thewissi, the adapoid primates Marcgodinotius indicus and cf. Asiadapis cambayensis, and the hyaenodontid Indohyaenodon raoi. The presence of these species in both Vastan and Tadkeshwar mines and at different levels suggests that the deposits between the two major lignite seams represent a single land mammal age. Apart from the aforementioned species there is a new, smaller species of Cambaytherium, and a new genus and species of esthonychid tillodont. This fauna also contains the first large early Eocene vertebrates from India, including an unidentified Coryphodon-like pantodont, a dyrosaurid crocodyliform and a new giant madtsoiid snake. Among the Tadkeshwar vertebrates several taxa are of Gondwana affinities, such as Pelomedusoides turtles, dyrosaurids, and large madtsoiids, attesting that the early Eocene was a crucial period in India during which Laurasian taxa of European affinities co-existed with relict taxa from Gondwana before the India-Asia collision. Our results suggest that terrestrial faunas could have dispersed to or from Europe during episodes of contact between the Indian subcontinent and different island blocks along the northern margin of the Neotethys, such as the Kohistan–Ladakh island-arc system. Gondwana taxa might represent remnants of ghost lineages shared with Madagascar, which reached the Indian subcontinent during the late Cretaceous; alternatively they might have come from North Africa and passed along the southern margin of the Neotethys to reach the Indian subcontinent. These dispersals would have been possible as a result of favourable paleogeographic conditions such as the particular Neotethys conformation during the beginning of the early Eocene.
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Histology and growth of Iguanodon bernissartensis
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Environmental impact assessment in line with the EU Nature Directives
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Dinosaur ecology and climate in Eastern Siberia during the Late Cretaceous inferred from stable isotopes
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Changes in bottom shear stress, due to aggregate extraction in the area of the Hinder Banks (Belgian Continental Shelf)
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WP4 – Sediment plume dilution and disperion, Activity Report 1 January 2015 – 31 December 2015
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Synthesis report on the effects of dredged material disposal on the marine environment (licensing period 2012-2016)
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MOMO activiteitsrapport (1 januari – 30 juni 2016)
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Dynamics of suspended particulate matter in coastal waters (Seine Bay)
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A tri-modal flocculation model coupled with TELEMAC for suspended cohesive sediments in the Belgian coastal zone
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Mud dynamics in the harbor of Zeebrugge
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MOMO activiteitsrapport (1 januari – 30 juni 2017)
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Evaluatie van de Beleidsondersteuning door de Institutionele Actoren. Management response van KBIN.
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Answering the key stakeholder questions about the impact of offshore wind farms on marine life using hypothesis testing to inform targeted monitoring
- Stak eholder s need scientific advice on the environmental impacts of offshore wind (OW) before the facilities are installed. The utility of conventional environmental monitoring methods as a basis for forecasting OW impacts is limited because they do not explain the causes of the observed effects. We propose a multistep approach, based on process-oriented hypothesis testing, targeted monitoring and numerical modeling, to answer k ey stak eholder questions about planning an OW facility: Q1 —Where do we place future OW farms so that impacts on the ecosystem are minimized? Q2 —Which species and ecosystem processes will be impacted and to what degree? Q3 —Can we mitigate impacts and, if so, how? and Q4 —What are the risks of placing an OW facility in one location vs. another? Hypothesis testing can be used to assess impacts of OW facilities on target species-ecological process. This knowledge is transferable and is broadly applicable, a priori , to assess suitable locations for OW (Q1). Hypothesis testing can be combined with monitoring methods to guide targeted monitoring. The knowledge generated can identify the species/habitats at risk (Q2), help selecting/developing mitigation measures (Q3), and be used as input parameters for models to forecast OW impacts at a large spatial scale (Q1; Q4).
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Balanus stellaris (Brocchi, 1814) cirripede rinvenuto nel Pliocene inferiore dell’Appennino settentrionale
- [Balanus stellaris (Brocchi, 1814) a barnacle from the lower Pliocene of Northern Apennines (Crustacea: Balanomorpha: Balanidae)] This is the first report of Balanus stellaris (Brocchi, 1814), an extinct fossil barnacle, recorded in the lower Pliocene of the northern Apennines, found in the Contrafforte Pliocenico Nature Reserve (Emilian Apennine, northern Italy), Site of Community Importance. After some brief geology notes on the discovery site, information on the species is given with a brief description. Mollusk remains belonging to the species Ostrea edulis (Linnaeus, 1758) have also been found at the base of the conglomerate.
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Status and Trends in the Rate of Introduction of Marine Non-Indigenous Species in European Seas
- Invasive alien species are a major worldwide driver of biodiversity change. The current study lists verified records of non-indigenous species (NIS) in European marine waters until 2020, with the purpose of establishing a baseline, assessing trends, and discussing appropriate threshold values for good environmental status (GES) according to the relevant European legislation. All NIS records were verified by national experts and trends are presented in six-year assessment periods from 1970 to 2020 according to the European Union Marine Strategy Framework Directive. Altogether, 874 NIS have been introduced to European marine waters until 2020 with the Mediterranean Sea and North-East Atlantic Ocean hosting most of the introductions. Overall, the number of new introductions has steadily increased since 2000. The annual rate of new introductions reached 21 new NIS in European seas within the last six-year assessment period (2012–2017). This increase is likely due to increased human activities and research efforts that have intensified during the early 21st century within European Seas. As Europe seas are not environmentally, nor geographically homogenous, the setting of threshold values for assessing GES requires regional expertise. Further, once management measures are operational, pathway-specific threshold values would enable assessing the effectiveness of such measures.
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Green amphibole distribution as a stratigraphic tool in loess sequences from Belgium: A review
- The use of heavy minerals as a stratigraphic tool in the study of loess sequences from NW Europe originated some 70 years ago. One major problem in using the available data sets is the heterogeneous stratigraphic context of the samples, given the complex historic evolution of the stratigraphic framework of loess sequences. This paper aims at presenting a review of the use of heavy minerals for stratigraphic studies in loess sequences from Belgium, focusing on the important role of green amphiboles. We provide the first synthesis of the available data for Belgium in a common and accurate lithostratigraphic framework, i.e. the loess lithostratigraphic units recently reviewed by the National Commission for Stratigraphy. A total of 121 samples studied by 4 different researchers and collected from 13 different loess sections are considered. We also document the detailed mineralogical composition of these green amphiboles based on new microprobe analyses. Our results show that the green amphibole content of regional loess deposits presents a remarkable consistency in their stratigraphic distribution. Five groups are defined here, covering the entire Pleistocene loess sequence, from MIS 11 to Weichselian. While GA distribution used alone is not a discriminatory criterion, it becomes most of the time discriminatory when combined with the palaeoenvironmental signature of the sequence deduced from pedostratigraphy.
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OSL chronologies of paleoenvironmental dynamics recorded by loess-paleosol sequences from Europe: Case studies from the Rhine-Meuse area and the Neckar Basin
- Loess-paleosol sequences (LPS) represent an important terrestrial archive for the reconstruction of the paleoenvironmental evolution during the Last Glacial cycle in Europe. In the Rhine-Meuse area and the southwestern Germany, there are only few numerical ages determined with state-of-the-art luminescence methods, which limits the robustness of established chronostratigraphies. This study presents a comparative dating approach using quartz and feldspar post-infrared (pIRIR290) optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) from fine- and medium-grained samples of five loess-paleosol sequences. Paleoenvironmental dynamics are reconstructed by high-resolution grain-size analysis.
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Liège/Rocourt : étude stratigraphique de la coupe de loess du site classé de la sablière Gritten.
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The Late Pleistocene loess-palaeosol sequence of Middle Belgium
- In Belgium, two areas show extended Late Pleistocene loess cover: the Hesbaye close to Liège and the Haine Basin around Mons. For decades, correlation between both areas remained problematic. Here we will show how, by way of complementary approaches, the records of the Haine and the Hesbaye could be inserted into a high resolution pedosedimentary sequence encompassing the major part of the Late Pleistocene and reproducible at the scale of the Belgian loess belt. Based on the pedosedimentary and palaeoenvironmental signatures of the Belgian sequence, comparisons are proposed with high resolution loess sequences of Eastern Europe and Central Siberia. They give access to well documented palynological data for the first part of the Late Pleistocene and to a strong climatic record on loess framed between 45 and 10 ka BP by long series of radiocarbon dates on charcoal and wood remains. The conjunction of these complementary loess records has further given way to a consistent proxy-correlation scheme linking a high resolution continental climatic record to the Greenland ice sequence.
