The Mohoș peatland is used as environmental archives of deposition for major (Al, Ca, Mg, Fe, and Mn) and minor elements (Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn). The intense mining activity of Cu-rich pyrite and polymetallic sulfide ore from Bălan districts during the past centuries with a strong pollution impact was the reason why the Mohoș peatland, located in the vicinity of a mining area, was selected for this study. The mineralogical and chemical compositions of the peat have been determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The identification of the main processes affecting the concentrations of the elements in peat was statistically evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA), and the identification of the main groups was determined by hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA). Our results revealed that the source of chemical and mineralogical peat samples is mainly geogenic with most of the elements being accumulated following the disintegration of parental material and through volcanic activity. For Pb, Zn, Ni, Al, and Sr, the concentrations were influenced by both natural processes and anthropogenic activities, such as mining, burning of fossil fuels, traffic activities, and metallurgy. Copper was influenced by anthropogenic activities. The distribution maps of trace elements were built only for the area in which the samples were taken.
Gabriel. 2020. The Volhynian (late Middle Miocene) marine fishes and mammals as proxies for the onset of the Eastern Paratethys re-colonisation by vertebrate fauna. Palaeontologia Electronica, 23(3):a43.
The neighbouring sites of Berești and Mălușteni (Eastern Carpathian Foreland, eastern Romania) have yielded the most abundant and taxonomically diverse Pliocene vertebrate assemblages described so far from the entire country. Some of the small mammals found here were described as new taxa, and occasionally reassessed during the past one hundred years, but most of the material collected initially remained unrevised. Here, we provide a taxonomic revision of all the small mammal material (insectivores, rodents, and lagomorphs) that could be found in three main collections. The studied specimens were assigned to the insectivore families Desmanidae (Desmana verestchagini and Talpa sp.), and Erinaceidae (Erinaceus sp.); to the rodent families Muridae (Mimomys sp. or Promimomys sp.; Allocricetus sp.), Sciuridae (Spermophilus cf. nogaici), Spalacidae (Pliospalax macoveii), and Castoridae (Trogontherium minus, Castor fiber); and to the lagomorph families Leporidae (Trischizolagus dumitrescuae) and Ochotonidae (Ochotona ursui). Compared to the faunal assemblages described from Central-Eastern Europe, the identified taxa (some confirmed, others reassessed as synonyms) support an Early Pliocene age for the vertebrate assemblages from Berești and Mălușteni. Both faunal assemblages are assigned to the Ruscinian, with the faunas from Berești being considered geologically slightly older than the ones from Mălușteni.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.