Abstract We present the first analysis of vegetational change in far western equatorial Pangaea (New Mexico, USA) during the Middle–Late Pennsylvanian transition (determined by conodonts and fusulinids) of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age. The study is based on the largest database assembled from this region: 28 of 44 quantitatively analysed floras from 14 of 26 stratigraphic levels. Most sampled floras are ‘mixed’, both below and above the boundary, including both hygromorphic and mesomorphic/xeromorphic taxa. The taxonomic data were recalibrated morphometrically focusing on foliar traits of lamina width and venation. All data were examined using stratigraphic credible intervals, capture–mark–recapture analyses, and resampling analyses. Results indicate no substantive taxonomic turnover across the boundary. This stands in marked contrast to patterns in mid-Pangaean coal basins where there is a large wetland vegetational turnover. However, plant and physical geological data indicate that immediately following the boundary in New Mexico, and for approximately half of the Missourian Stage, floras previously dominated by hygromorphs become overwhelmingly dominated by mesomorphic/xeromorphic taxa. Although expressed differently, the western Pangaean physical and palaeobotanical patterns parallel those from mid-Pangaean coal basins and suggest a widespread environmental change.

Abstract Creating accurate soil maps at large scales using traditional methods is a timeconsuming and expensive process. However, remote-sensing techniques can provide spatially and spectrally contiguous data in a timely manner. For this study, 20 root zone soil moisture maps derived from Landsat images during the growing season were used for the detection of soil boundaries. A split moving-window analysis along two demonstration transects in, respectively, a semi-arid desert and riparian area located in the Middle Rio Grande Valley of New Mexico showed that remotely sensed root zone soil moisture can reveal subsurface trends that can be used to identify soil boundaries that do not have a strong surface expression. Overall, the use of multiple remotely sensed root zone soil moisture and Landsat images for soil boundary delineation shows great promise of becoming a valuable tool in the field of digital soil mapping.

We studied the oxidation state of Fe in silicate glasses produced during the first atomic bomb blast at the Trinity test site (New Mexico) by X-ray absorption–near edge spectroscopy (XANES). The sample consists of green glass resulting from melting of the quartz-bearing sand present at the test site; some relict unmelted sand is still fused to the bottom of the sample. Comparison of the pre-edge peak data with model compounds of known Fe oxidation state and coordination number shows that in the Trinity glass sample, Fe is in the divalent state and, on average, in a mixture of 4- and 5-fold coordination. XANES spectra collected at various heights of the sample, from the bottom of the sample up to the exposed surface, show no variation of the pre-edge peak and, thus, of the Fe oxidation state with the distance from the sand-glass interface. However, XANES analysis of a portion of the sand at the bottom of the sample shows Fe to be a mixture of Fe 2+ and Fe 3+ , with a Fe 3+ /(Fe 2+ + Fe 3+) ratio close to 0.5. This demonstrates that during the nuclear explosion, the ground rock was instantaneously reduced, transforming all the iron from mostly trivalent state to almost exclusively divalent. Pre-edge peak features (intensity and energy) are consistent with those of tektites from the Ivory Coast studied here and with literature data of tektites from all the other known strewn fields (Australasian, Central European, and North American). The reduction of Fe to divalent state during Trinity glass formation, the homogeneity of the Fe oxidation state within the glass, and the Fe structural role suggest that this glass represents a good analog of tektite glass.