ABSTRACT Sedimentation after wildfire is a profound disturbance to the biogeomorphic character of fluvial systems. Despite this significant alteration, field data focusing on the geomorphic processes and bed morphology that form the physical structure of habitat are limited, especially over a longer-term perspective. We report results of detailed field studies following two wildfires in the same steep fluvial system in the southern California Transverse Ranges three decades apart. Substantial channel sedimentation during storms following both fires altered physical elements of habitat, which included bed elevation, step height and spacing, pool depth and spacing, grain-size distribution ( D 84 ), and transport capacity (τ o /τ c ). The postfire sediment deposits buried bedforms, decreased D 84 , and increased τ o /τ c by an order of magnitude. Incision during subsequent storms initiated recovery that depended on the attributes of post-wildfire climate variability that characterize the semiarid Mediterranean-type environment. Step-pool bedforms reappeared or reformed during the decades between wildfires as the relatively fine gravel-sized post-wildfire sediment was transported downstream, thus reestablishing the physical elements of habitat characterizing the dynamic system.

Abstract In this study, the geochemistry and mineralogy of regoliths formed on Fogo Island (Cape Verde), a polygenic strato-volcano built during the Quaternary, are used to assess the geomorphological factors that control the early stages of basalt weathering. Fogo Island soils are mainly derived from relatively homogenous silica-undersaturated basaltic rocks. However, a discernible exotic component is recognized in areas most exposed to prevailing winds via ratios of non-mobile elements that are hosted in different amounts by basaltic rocks (e.g. Th, Sc and Ti). The weathering extent is evidenced by a relative depletion in mobile elements (e.g. Na, Ca, Mg) and an enrichment in non-mobile elements (e.g. Ti, Fe, Sc, Al), the decomposition of the most labile minerals (olivines) and the formation of secondary components (phyllosilicates and some Fe-oxides, such as hematite-goethite), along with the enrichment in quartz supplied from non-volcanic areas. Weathering depends on bedrock age and type (pyroclastic deposits v. lava-flows). In particular, soils covering older volcanic units tend to be more affected by chemical alteration than those overlying younger units. In addition, more intense weathering is observed in locations characterized by a combination of moderate elevation, slopes with low gradient and relatively high rainfall. The present investigation shows that even in low humidity environments recently formed basalts are affected by weathering, with the extent of chemical decomposition being mainly determined by the age of surface exposure and local orographic/climatic features.

Abstract In this paper, we present a detailed review of upper Pliensbachian–lower Toarcian kerogen assemblages from the southern areas of the West Tethys shelf (between Morocco and northern Spain) and demonstrate the use of the Phytoclast Group as a tracer of palaeoenvironmental changes in the early Toarcian. The kerogen assemblages in the studied sections from the southern areas of the West Tethys shelf are dominated by the Phytoclast Group and terrestrial palynomorphs, although punctual increases in amorphous organic matter, freshwater ( Botryococcus ) and marine microplankton (dinoflagellate cysts, acritarchs and prasinophyte algae) were observed at specific stratigraphic intervals. The opaque/non-opaque phytoclasts ratio was used to trace changes in palaeoclimate and other palaeoenvironmental parameters and reflect climate gradients associated with water availability during early Toarcian. During the Pliensbachian–Toarcian and Jenkyns events, changes in kerogen assemblages in the southern areas of the West Tethys shelf correlated with changes in the northern Tethys and Panthalassa shelf. The acceleration of the hydrological cycle associated with the aforementioned events was less intense in the northern Gondwana, southern and western Iberian basins, a reflection of the palaeogeographic position of these basins within the semi-arid climate belt when compared with the northern Iberian region and other northern areas of the West Tethys and Panthalassa shelf, inserted in winter-wet and warm temperate climate belts. Amorphous organic matter enrichment associated with the Pliensbachian–Toarcian and Jenkyns events reflects an increase in primary productivity linked with increased continental weathering, fluvial runoff and riverine organic matter, and nutrient input into marine areas, inducing water column stratification and promoting the preservation of organic matter.