Geosciences

Preventive conservation of historic buildings is crucial to avoid extensive damage, yet assessments are often reactive. Following mortar detachment at the Basilica of Santa María del Pi, this paper presents a diagnosis using Non-Destructive Testing (NDT). The study employed Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) for subsoil analysis and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) for superstructure inspection. HVSR analysis differentiated fill material from compacted ground, revealing that most of the basilica rests on infilled soil, except the northern corner, suggesting differential settlement risks. Concurrently, GPR survey of vaults and roofs identified internal structures, specifically zones lightened with hollow ceramics, and mapped high-moisture anomalies via wave amplitude and velocity analysis. The study concludes that these methods are complementary, addressing distinct spatial domains. Integrating subsoil characterization with superstructure analysis provided a comprehensive diagnosis essential for long-term maintenance and preservation.

A new species of pectinid bivalve, Syncyclonema goyi sp. nov., is described in honour of Professor Antonio Goy, one of the leading stratigraphers who shaped Mesozoic studies in Iberia over the past half century. It represents one of the smaller fossil scallops currently known from the Upper Cretaceous of Europe, alongside a few boreal species previously assigned to the family Entoliidae. The type specimens have orbicular valves, almost smooth, with unequal auricles. The right valve is more convex and bears a well-marked paleal sinus. The sculpture of the shell is weak, exhibiting concentric growth lines and lamellae. However, nearly 90 very small, uniform radial striae are discernible beneath the outer shell layer. This species is frequent in open marine, fine-grained, inner shelf facies of the Tethyan West Portuguese Carbonate Platform, near the main localities of Coimbra, Tentúgal, and Condeixa-a-Nova, in the Baixo Mondego region of West Portugal. It mostly occurs in the upper Cenomanian beds of the Trouxemil Formation, with Euomphaloceras septemseriatum and Vascoceratidae ammonites.

In this paper, we present the results of a paleoanthracological analysis of the Lateglacial Kulikovo section (eastern Baltic, Kaliningrad region). This is proposed as a new methodological approach to studying the presence of woody taxa in Lateglacial vegetation. Woody vegetation is an important marker of environmental dynamics in post-glacial areas and one of the most important indicators of climate amelioration. Therefore, establishing the time of the appearance of woody vegetation during the Lateglacial period is essential. Paleoanthracological analysis revealed 22 macrocharcoal morphotypes, among which were the following indicators of woody (coniferous and deciduous) vegetation: wood, punky wood, needles, leaf stems, etc. The results indicate an almost continuous local presence of woody species in the study area since the Older Dryas, 14.0 ka. This conclusion is in good agreement with the available data on the presence of phytoliths of conifers and palynological data, indicating that from the end of the Older Dryas up to approximately 12.5 ka, the percentage of arboreal vegetation did not fall below 50% of terrestrial pollen, and over a significant part of the studied time interval it reached 70–80%. Paleoanthracological analysis can serve as both an independent method of studying the emergence of woody vegetation in a certain area and an important addition to the reconstruction of Lateglacial vegetation based on pollen data.