Volumen 29 (2023): Edición 1 (April 2023)

Geological mapping undoubtedly plays an important role in several studies and remote sensing data are of great significance in geological mapping, particularly in poorly mapped areas situated in inaccessible regions. In the present study, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Band Rationing (BR) and Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) algorithms are applied to map lithological units and extract lineaments in the Amezri-Amassine area, by using multispectral ASTER image and global digital elevation model (GDEM) data for the first time. Following preprocessing of ASTER images, advanced image algorithms such as PCA, BR and MNF analyses are applied to the 9ASTER bands. Validation of the resultant maps has relied on matching lithological boundaries and faults in the study area and on the basis of pre-existing geological maps. In addition to the PCA image, a new band-ratio image, 4/6–5/8–4/5, as adopted in the present work, provides high accuracy in discriminating lithological units. The MNF transformation reveals improvement over previous enhancement techniques, in detailing most rock units in the area. Hence, results derived from the enhancement techniques show a good correlation with the existing litho-structural map of the study area. In addition, the present results have allowed to update this map by identifying new lithological units and structural lineaments. Consequently, the methodology followed here has provided satisfactory results and has demonstrated the high potential of multispectral ASTER data for improving lithological discrimination and lineament extraction.

The present paper discusses a palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Oligocene Ogwashi Formation (Niger Delta Basin, Nigeria) through morphometric analysis of pebbles, a research method essentially depending on the quantitative evaluation of pebble size and shape which change during transport processes in a range of depositional environments. The relationship of bivariate and ternary-diagram plots of independent functions was determined from freshly exposed sandstone sections in quarries at Ibusa, near Asaba, Nigeria. The grain size of pebbles ranges from fine (11.00 mm) to very coarse (41.33 mm), with a mean size of 21.05 mm (coarse pebbles). A bivariate plot of the flatness index vs maximum projection sphericity index shows 37% of the pebbles to fall within a beach (marine) environment, and 33% within a fluvial environment; the remaining 30% are uncertain. The maximum projection sphericity index vs oblate-prolate index bivariate plot indicates that 47% of pebbles fall within a marine environment and 22% within a fluvial environment, while the remaining 31% are uncertain. The sphericity-form ternary diagram plot shows that the pebbles primarily comprise bladed, platy, very bladed and very platy of near-equal proportions with minor elongate and very elongate stones, which suggests that the pebbles are diverse in origin. The sphericity-form bivariate plot indicates that the pebbles are largely of disc and blade shapes with a minor number of spherical and rod shapes. The near-equal proportion of pebbles in different segments of the bivariate and ternary diagram plots, and the wide distribution of the pebble grain sizes and shapes suggest the Ogwashi Formation is composed of redeposited sediments that likely were transported and deposited in a mix of marine and fluvial settings with possible transitional environments. In other words, the pebbles can be interpreted as marine-influenced fluvial sediments in marginal-marine settings.

Widely distributed freshwater carbonate sediments, i.e., limestone, dolomitic limestone and dolomite, developed in inter-dune alkaline ponds of the Danube-Tisza Interfluve in the centre of the Carpathian Basin during the Holocene. The key parameters that determine the formation of any given type of carbonate mineral (calcite, dolomite) are temperature, evaporation rate, pH and ion concentrations, in addition to CO₂ absorption by aquatic plants. CT analysis is capable of recording small-scale density variations attributable to compositional differences of sedimentary rocks. As the type and proportion of rock-forming minerals and other components is an artifact of past environmental and climatic conditions, CT values may act as potential palaeoenvironmental proxies. The present study compares variations in rock-forming components obtained for freshwater carbonates utilizing the CT method with already available geochemical and palaeoecological proxy data. Variations in molluscan ecology and isotope geochemistry, sedimentation times and CT-based rock density values all indicate the relevance of millennial-scale, climate-driven changes in carbonate formation. As previously observed, the emergence of colder conditions in the North Atlantic, which resulted in increased cyclonic activity and heavier rainfall in western Europe and the Danube watershed area between 10.3 and 9.3 kyr cal BP, resulted in the emergence of humid conditions favouring a rise in the groundwater table at our site and precipitation of calcite from pore waters as opposed to high-magnesium calcite. This is clearly reflected in a negative shift in CT density values in our dated rock samples.

Evolutionary processes lie at the base of the entire observable biodiversity, both at present and in the geological past (i.e., in the fossil record). For this reason, the teaching of evolution should receive more recognition than it currently has (e.g., in Poland) and become accurately applied from the early formal education stages onwards. To test the possibility of effective teaching of evolution to primary school pupils, workshops using non-standard learning methods (‘purposefully-framed play’) were organised during childrens’ university (UNIKIDS) courses of one-hour sessions for 33 groups, comprising several to 20 participants, aged 7 to 12. The final task for all participants was to predict future evolutionary processes by creating new species adapted to given environmental factors. Pupils effectively completed this task, but a few misconceptions also become clear. These workshop scenarios suggest that evolution can be taught effectively at least in extracurricular settings to primary school pupils, but for a detailed insight, a quantitative analysis and application of such scenarios in school programmes should be tested in future.