Mdulo V.
Comunicacin cientfica
Tema 4. El lenguaje en la comunicacin cientfica
Eugenia Angulo
Ignacio Fernndez Bayo
Coordinan
Colabora
Tema 4
La lenguaje en la comunicacin cientfica
Presentacin
1. La palabra: herramienta de trabajo
2. Nacimiento de la comunicacin entre cientficos
2.1. Las primeras academias
2.2. Las primeras revistas cientficas especializadas
3. Comunicacin pblica de la ciencia
3.1. Base de los procesos de comunicacin
3.2. Casos de encadenamiento de prdida del mensaje
4. Los lenguajes especializados
4.1. Condiciones de textualidad
4.2. Caractersticas del lenguaje cientfico
4.3. Ejemplos de textos cientficos
5. Dilemas de la comunicacin de contenidos complejos:
necesidad de comunicacin pblica
5.1. Anlisis y valoracin de los hechos
5.2. Paradoja del periodista cientfico
5.3. Caso particular: los breves de prensa
5.4. Teorema del lector inexistente
5.5. La prctica de la comunicacin cientfica
5.6. El lenguaje de los gneros periodsticos
Aclaracin de conceptos
Bibliografa
Lecturas de ampliacin
Lectura 1. Del paper a la noticia pasando por la nota de prensa
Lectura 2. Declogo del divulgador cientfico, Manuel Calvo Hernando
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Presentacin
El contenido de este tema sirve para presentar al alumno la evolucin que los
esfuerzos de comunicacin de los procesos cientficos han sufrido a lo largo de
la historia. As, se repasa el inicio de las primeras publicaciones cientficas, as
como su intencionalidad, hasta llegar a los actuales paper y su diferenciacin
ya clara de los textos de periodismo y divulgacin.
Esta evolucin resulta necesaria tambin para conocer y profundizar en el uso
del lenguaje y en los gneros y formatos que hoy en da abundan en contextos
periodsticos y de divulgacin.
Como objetivos principales del tema figuran:
1. Comprender cmo surge la comunicacin cientfica y sus contextos.
2. Conocer las peculiaridades de los lenguajes especializados en el contexto
periodstico.
3. Adquirir habilidades para enfrentarse a los dilemas derivados de una
comunicacin de contenidos complejos.
Autores
Eugenia Angulo es qumica y Mster en Periodismo y Comunicacin de la Ciencia, la Tecnologa y el
Medio Ambiente por la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Tras trabajar en investigacin cientfica en las
universidades de Strathclyde (Glasgow, Escocia) y Glasgow, traslada su profesin al rea de la
comunicacin cientfica. Ha sido redactora en la Oficina de Informacin Cientfica de la Universidad Carlos
III de Madrid y actualmente trabaja como periodista especializada en la empresa de divulgacin cientfica
Divulga. Es co-autora de los libros Nobel, El Olimpo de los Cientficos y del Anuario de Ciencias de Caja
de Burgos 2007-2008.
Ignacio Fernndez Bayo estudi Ciencias de la Informacin (UCM, 1977), Geografa e Historia (UNED,
1978-83) y Geografa (UAM, 1985-87). Desde 1980 se dedica al periodismo cientfico y ambiental. Ha
trabajado o colaborado en Ciencia y Pensamiento (1980-83), Conocer (1984-87), diario El Pas (desde
1985), El Globo (1987-88) y El Nuevo de la Ciencia y la Tecnologa (1988-1989). Entre 1989 y 1995 fue
responsable de ciencia, salud y medio ambiente de Diario 16, y de 1997 a 1998 de la revista Manifiesto.
Ha publicado unos 3.500 artculos en unos 40 medios escritos y ha participado medio centenar de veces
en programas de televisin y radio.
Colabora desde 1993 con la editorial SM en la elaboracin de unos 70 libros de texto de fsica, qumica,
biologa, geologa, tecnologa, matemticas y ciencias sociales. Es autor del libro La voz de la Gioconda
(1997, Ed. Celeste) y coautor de El futuro que viene (Temas de Hoy, 1997). Coordina desde 1998 el
ciclo de divulgacin cientfica de la Caja de Burgos y dirige desde 2007 su Anuario de Ciencia. Ha sido
asesor del CSIC para la divulgacin (1998-2000), del Ao Mundial de las Matemticas (2000), y de la
Comunidad de Madrid para organiza la Feria Madrid por la Ciencia (1999).
Es vicepresidente de la Asociacin Espaola de Comunicacin Cientfica (antes Asociacin Espaola de
Periodismo Cientfico), miembro del Comit Cientfico del Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologa y vocal
de la Asociacin de Amigos de la Casa de las Ciencias de La Corua.
En 1989 recibi el Premio de Periodismo Cientfico del CSIC y la medalla de plata de este organismo; en
1993 y en 1996 el Premio Casa de las Ciencias de divulgacin.
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As como los matraces, las probetas, los telescopios, las reglas de clculo o los
bisturs, son las herramientas de trabajo para aquellos que se dedican a la
ciencia, las palabras y su ordenacin precisa, lo son para todo aquel que quiera
hacerse entender. Profesores, alumnos, periodistas, ejecutivos, banqueros,
cientficos, compradores; comunicar un mensaje es una tarea a la que la
humanidad se dedica a diario, con distintos grados de suerte, en todas las
partes del mundo.
Sin embargo, y a pesar de la evidente importancia del correcto uso del idioma,
en los pases de habla hispana existe un creciente desprecio hacia el lenguaje
de negativas consecuencias culturales y profesionales. Segn Manuel Calvo
Hernando 1 , padre del periodismo cientfico en Espaa, se pierden el amor a
las palabras y la preocupacin, no ya por escribir bien, sino por expresarse
correctamente. En otros pases, numerosos autores advierten de que este mal
tambin acecha, cual ave de dudoso agero, a sus idiomas. En esta lnea, el
escritor alemn Ernst Jnger declara en su Eusmeswill que la decadencia del
lenguaje no es tanto una enfermedad cuanto un sntoma. Se estanca el agua
de la vida. La palabra tiene todava significacin, pero no sentido. Es cada vez
ms desplazada por las cifras. Es incapaz de poesa, ineficaz para la oracin.
Los placeres groseros sustituyen a los del espritu [...] Y as, con el pretexto de
facilitar la comunicacin, despojan al pueblo de su lengua.
Sentiremos mejor lo que sentimos, pensaremos mejor lo que pensamos,
cuanto ms profunda y delicadamente conozcamos sus fuerzas, sus primores,
sus infinitas aptitudes para expresarnos, afirm Pedro Salinas en su clebre
conferencia Defensa del lenguaje pronunciada el 24 de Mayo en la
Universidad de Puerto Rico. El acadmico Lzaro Carreter llegaba an ms
lejos cuando escribi: Millares de manazas y chapuceros estn maltratando el
lenguaje. Basta leer con atencin gran parte de lo que se dice o se escribe para
consumo pblico: aunque en una hojeada superficial parezca sano, fijando la
mirada se advierte que, en grandes zonas, el tejido est fofo, exange y
agusanado.
Este grave deterioro en el uso del idioma es un problema importante del uso de
la lengua comn pero cobra an ms importancia en la complicada labor que
es la difusin de la ciencia. La complejidad y exigencia propias del lenguaje
cientfico se convierten en una barrera aadida que crece a medida que la
ciencia se especializa en pequeas parcelas de conocimiento y los niveles de
cultura cientfica se estancan. Hace un siglo, cualquier hombre de ciencia se
explicaba en un lenguaje inteligible para el profano o, al menos, para el hombre
culto o simplemente instruido. Los trminos empleados solan tener la
significacin derivada de su raz lingstica, el griego o el latn. Todo esto ha
cambiado.
1
http://www.manuelcalvohernando.es/
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2.2.
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M-P
E: emisor
R: receptor
Vector, soporte o canal por el que circule el mensaje
P: prdida
M-P: unidad mnima que puede soportar la accin de comunicacin
Posteriormente Roman Jakobson, importante estudioso de la comunicacin,
introduce los conceptos de cdigo y contexto como variables del proceso de
comunicacin, en lo que se ha venido a llamar el Paradigma comunicativo de
Jakobson.
EMISOR: aquel que codifica, suele ser uno
RECEPTOR: mltiples, especialmente en periodismo
MENSAJE: informacin que se transmite
CDIGO: vehculo informacional, que no fsico. Se trata de un
mecanismo simblico, lingstico en ocasiones, de hacer entendible la
informacin del mensaje.
CONTACTO: tambin llamado vector o canal, es el soporte fsico
CONTEXTO: conocimiento previo que emisor y receptor presentan
sobre la informacin contenida en el mensaje.
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Estos son los componentes bsicos, el tomo qumico, sobre el que se edifica
el proceso de comunicacin para dar lugar a construcciones ms grandes. El
gran mrito de Jakobson, respecto a otras descripciones del proceso de
comunicacin, es haber introducido los conceptos de CDIGO y CONTEXTO.
La prdida (P) de parte de la informacin contenida en el mensaje es inevitable,
no hay proceso de comunicacin en el que no se pierda algo. En ocasiones, la
prdida puede ser tan grande que haga intil el proceso global. Pero es en la
comunicacin cientfica donde esta variable cobra especial importancia por los
problemas de contexto que normalmente presenta el receptor, de manera que
el periodista o comunicador deben convertirse en gestores de la prdida.
Existen, pues, dos elementos importantes en los que la prdida se produce:
1. Prdida cualitativa (elemento de calidad)
2. Prdida cuantitativa (elemento de cantidad)
P=m=Ae Be Ar Br
Ae = Cantidad de mensaje E
Be = Calidad de mensaje E
Ar = Cantidad de mensaje R
Br = Calidad de mensaje R
Ae Be > Ar Br
R2/E2
P1
R3/E3
P2
R4/E4
P3
R5/E5
P4
R6
P5
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c
c
P
P
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4.2.
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radical. (Del lat. radix, -icis, raz.) adj. Perteneciente 0 relativo a la raz. //
2. fig. Fundamental, de raz. // 3. Partidario de reformas extremas,
especialmente en sentido democrtico. . t. c. s. 4. Extremoso, tajante,
intransigente. // S. Bol. Dcese de cualquiera que parte de una planta que
nace inmediatamente de la raz. Hoja, tallo RADICAL. // 6. Gram.
Concerniente a las races de las palabras. // 7. Gram. Dcese de cada uno
de los fonernas que constituyen el radical de una palabra. // S. Mat.
Aplicase al signo con que se indica la ope- racin de extraer races. U. t. c.
s. M. // 9. Med. V. hmedo radical. // 10. Gram. Conjunto de fonemas que
comparten vocablos de una misma familia; as, amo-, en amado, amable,
amante, etc. // 11. Gram. raz // 12. Qum. Grupo de tomos que, en
general, no puede ser aislado porque no constituye un sistema saturado, y
que en las reacciones qumicas funciona como un solo tomo. // 13. Qum.
Agrupamiento atmico que interviene como una unidad en compuesto
qumico y pasa inalterado de unas combinaciones a otras.
De todos estos significados, cuatro son propios de la lengua comn y nueve
refieren a conceptos especializados (Botnica, Matemticas, Medicina,
Qumica -con dos acepciones- y Gramtica -con cuatro-)
4. Creacin de terminologa cientfica. Acrnimos. La necesidad de dar nombre
a los objetos y conceptos nuevos mantiene a la lengua comn, y en particular,
a la lengua propia de la ciencia, en una permanente actitud creadora.
Aparecen as los neologismos que pueden provenir prestados de otras lenguas
y entre ellos, lugar preferencial ocupan los acrnimos, palabras formadas por
las siglas o iniciales de otras. Es as el caso de HIFI (de la voz inglesa High
Fidelity), HITECH (High Technology), laser (Light Amplified by Spontaneus
Emission of Radiation), sonar (sound navigation ranging) o Talgo (Tren
Articulado Ligero Goicoetxea-Oriol)
De esta manera, los textos propios de la ciencia pueden clasificarse en:
a) de experto a experto
b) de experto a no experto (lego)
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a) Experto a experto
Formas textuales con informacin temtica especfica
Formas textuales primarias
Monografas
Artculos de investigacin
Informes de experimento
Ensayos
Tesis doctorales
Solicitudes de patente
Artculos enciclopdico
Artculos de diccionario
Formas textuales derivadas
Resmenes de tesis
Artculos de revisin
Informes de conferencia
Intervenciones en reuniones cientficas
Reseas de libros
Formas cuasi-textos
Informes de casos
Tarjetas de recogida de datos mdicos
Prescripciones
Catlogos tcnicos
Formas textuales conativas o directivas
Normas
Reglas de estandarizacin
Regulaciones
Instrucciones de servicios
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Aunque el profesor Ertl ha hecho contribuciones notables en todos esos campos, han sido
particularmente importantes las efectuadas en el campo de la catlisis heterognea. El
profesor Ertl ha conseguido explicar los procesos atmicos que tienen lugar en varias de estas
reacciones de catlisis, algunas tan importantes como la eliminacin por oxidacin de los
nocivos xidos de carbono o nitrgeno en los tubos de escape de los automviles. La
presencia de un catalizador en dicho tubo (tpicamente partculas de un metal como platino u
xidos de metales de transicin) acelera extraordinariamente la reaccin de oxidacin y la
convierte en industrialmente viable.
Hasta ahora, buena parte de nuestros conocimientos sobre catlisis estaban basados en el
puro empirismo siendo los trabajos del profesor Ertl los que han proporcionado el deseable
sustrato cientfico permitiendo vislumbrar los procesos atmicos que tienen lugar durante las
reacciones catalticas y abriendo perspectivas para la deseada, aunque todava lejana,
posibilidad de preparar catalizadores a medida.
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Polticos
Pblico
Periodistas
5.1. Anlisis y valoracin de los hechos
Una de las funciones del periodista es el anlisis, pero en comunicacin de
contenidos complejos, existe una gran dificultad a la hora de valorar la
importancia de los hechos lo que conduce a dos comportamientos errticos del
periodista que conviene evitar. Segn Santiago Grao Knobel, estos
problemas se pueden resumir en dos actitudes:
1. Mensajero de los Dioses
2. Martillo de Herejes
La primera, aunque tiende a desaparecer, est relacionada con un momento
primerizo del periodismo cientfico en el cual el periodista se consideraba
mensajero directo de los cientficos, los dioses, incapaces de manipular la
informacin. En ciencia, puesto que opinar y analizar es muchas veces difcil,
se suele dar crdito a aquello que venga de la fuente cientfica como va de
escape. El comportamiento de martillo de herejes es ms peligroso. Se trata de
periodistas caracterizados por ignorar a una determinada institucin.
5.2. Paradoja del periodista cientfico
El comunicador de contenidos complejos se encuentra siempre en la disyuntiva
de explicar mucho, corriendo el riesgo de que el lector pierda el inters ante
tanta cantidad de informacin, pero con el temor de que si no explica, la
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d
d
cajas negras
desconocido
De los desconocidos:
desconocidos
d
fundamentales
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Publicacin especializada
Artculo cientfico
% de contenido
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Debe tener siempre presente que no es, como a veces se ha dicho, un mero
traductor de la jerga de la disciplina de que se trate. Capturar al lector implica
emplear terminologa asequible, no necesariamente vulgar ni excesivamente
elemental, y llamativa. El periodista trabaja reanalizando los contenidos del
mensaje a comunicar, evalundolos con criterios diferentes a los de los autores
del trabajo y reordenando su jerarqua. Esto significa que con frecuencia se
altera el elemento o elementos ms destacados, lo que suscita fricciones con
los cientficos. Y entre los elementos a destacar suele encontrarse la posible
aplicacin de investigaciones que se centran en otros aspectos, ms bsicos y
alejados an de su desarrollo prctico.
La comprensin del mensaje, una vez reestructurado, se completa con una
utilizacin adecuada del lenguaje: para captar la atencin del receptor, la
seleccin de contenidos a destacar se debe redondear con el empleo de una
terminologa formalmente atractiva. No es infrecuente que ello desfigure la
realidad del contenido o al menos as se lo parezca a la fuente, que interpreta
la transformacin (tanto de contenidos como de lenguaje) como un alejamiento
del rigor. El periodista debe evitar en cualquier caso varios riegos inherentes a
esta transformacin de los contenidos y al uso del lenguaje, que se producen
unas veces por prejuicios y otras por ignorancia:
Sobrevalorar el alcance de la informacin, despertando falsas expectativas
y amplificando la importancia real de lo descubierto. Esto resulta
especialmente frecuente y especialmente peligroso en temas de salud. La
biomedicina en la actualidad es un largo recorrido que se inicia con
investigaciones bsicas cuyos frutos prcticos son las ms de las veces
parcos y en cualquier caso tardan muchos aos en madurar. Es fcil
suscitar el inters del paciente y sus familiares por cualquier investigacin
que se refiera a su dolencia, de manera que deben evitarse expresiones
que induzcan a pensar que dicha investigacin va ms all de su alcance
real, incluyendo en el texto explicaciones claras que siten en su justa
medida las expectativas que pueda levantar. Debe contarse adems con la
especial predisposicin que este tipo de lectores tiene a concebir
injustificadas esperanzas ante cualquier posibilidad de tratar o aliviar su
dolencia.
Desdear la importancia de informaciones que contradigan sus propias
concepciones o sobrevalorar las que las reafirman. El periodista cientfico
veterano se va asimilando lentamente a sus fuentes habituales, adquiriendo
sus visiones y posiciones, lo que lleva a prejuzgar los contenidos que recibe,
o a consultar siempre a los mismos expertos para valorar la importancia de
la noticia. Este riesgo se aproxima a lo que Luis Miratvilles (fallecido
divulgador espaol que a finales de los 60 presentaba un programa de
ciencia en Televisin Espaola) denominaba el Sndrome del Especialista,
que padecen los periodistas que se van especializando en determinados
temas y acaban perdiendo la referencia del pblico al que se dirigen y
acaba parecindose al cientfico. Su lenguaje se tecnifica y poco a poco se
hace ininteligible para los no expertos.
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Gneros explicativos
Son los que intentan contextualizar un contenido de actualidad (y con un
concepto de actualidad mucho ms laxo). El reportaje es la forma ms comn
de este tipo de gneros, aunque existe una gran variedad, entre la que cabe
destacar la informacin de apoyo que con frecuencia acompaa a una noticia
importante e incluso las infografas destinadas a aclarar procesos o conceptos
complejos.
Existen muchos tipos de reportaje, y cada uno de ellos conlleva sus propias
formas de expresin y utilizacin del lenguaje. En general puede afirmarse que
es posible, e incluso deseable, el uso de un lenguaje ms complejo, con frases
subordinadas y terminologa ms amplia. Son gneros, en definitiva, en los que
la expresin literaria, sin excesos, es muy adecuada. El reportaje pretende
ofrecer una informacin ms detallada y completa sobre un tema concreto,
mostrando diferentes facetas, incluyendo diversas opiniones y reflexiones
(normalmente mediante citas) y permitiendo aportar explicaciones a temas
complejos, que en el caso de la ciencia suelen ser necesarios. Tiene vocacin
de ser ledo por completo, por lo que su estructura es diferente a la de la
informacin, y la forma de titular es mucho menos rgida que en la noticia. Con
frecuencia el ttulo carece de verbo, es breve y puede ser ambiguo, con dobles
lecturas. Los estilos difieren segn el tipo de medio. As, los peridicos suelen
incluir reportajes cortos y de carcter informativo, mientras que las revistas
pueden ofrecer reportajes mucho ms amplios y con tratamiento ms libre.
Aunque los titulares de reportaje de peridicos pueden ser muy explcitos,
suelen ser incompletos y exigen leer algo ms para captar la informacin.
Ejemplos de titulares del mismo peridico del 10 de enero de 2009:
Escaparates de imagen
El hombre que vala 5 millones
Desinformacin, anulaciones y caos en Barajas
Llevo 8 horas atrapada en el coche
Eslalon en el Retiro
Madurez bien entendida
Al igual que en los gneros informativos, se suele evitar la primera persona en
la redaccin de la noticia, aunque algunos gneros no solo no deben evitarla
sino que la exigen, como la crnica, entendida como la narracin de sucesos
que vive el comunicador en primera persona (como ocurre, por ejemplo, con un
enviado especial que acompaa a una expedicin cientfica en tierras poco
frecuentadas, donde la narracin en primera persona aporta fuerza al relato).
Gneros opinativos
Los gneros informativos deben narrar hechos, los explicativos deben
proporcionar una informacin ms amplia para contextualizar los hechos (lo
que exige a veces recabar opiniones, pero normalmente para contrastarlas
entre s), y existen por ltimo gneros que proporcionan argumentos y
opiniones particulares, unilaterales. Son los gneros opinativos, en los cuales,
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salvo en el caso del editorial (la expresin opinativa del propio medio) suele
emplearse la primera persona. El artculo y la columna son los principales
representantes de este apartado. Las formas y los contenidos son aqu mucho
ms libres.
El lenguaje utilizado no solo suele ser literario sino que admite expresiones,
como el cinismo y el sarcasmo (a veces se recurre a la descalificacin e
incluso, lamentablemente, al insulto), que deberan estar vedadas en otros
gneros. Remachando su carcter literario, sus contenidos incluso pueden ser
mera ficcin, utilizada o no como espejo de la realidad. En consonancia con
esta libertad expresiva, sus titulares varan enormemente, pudiendo ser largos,
cortos, ambiguos, directos, informativos, opinativos... Vanse algunos ejemplos
del mismo peridico ya sealado:
El atesmo viaja en autobs
La placa de la discordia
Ruedo ibrico
Nieva
El Gernika de los palestinos
El viento del este que empuj la nevada
Aclaracin de conceptos
(1) The Royal Society: Nacida en Cambridge en 1640, The Royal Society fue
constituida como sociedad en 1660 y dos aos despus fue reconocida
oficialmente por el rey Carlos II de Inglaterra. (Jos Mara Riol Cimas, Profesor
Titular de Bioqumica y Biologa Molecular en la Universidad de La Laguna,
Revista Semanal de Ciencia y Cultura, 27 de Septiembre de 2008, La Opinin
de Tenerife).
(2) Acadmie Royale des Sciences: La Academia del cimento, la academia
del experimento, se fund en Florencia en 1657 bajo el control de Fernando II,
soberano de Toscana, pero slo funcion durante diez aos. Durante la mayor
parte de su existencia estuvo fundamentalmente dedicada a la experimentacin
en el rea de la fsica. (Jos Mara Riol Cimas, Profesor Titular de Bioqumica y
Biologa Molecular en la Universidad de La Laguna, Revista Semanal de
Ciencia y Cultura, 27 de Septiembre de 2008, La Opinin de Tenerife).
(3) Ley Moore: Principio que asegura que el desarrollo de la tecnologa se
produce de manera exponencial, de modo que, por ejemplo, la aplicacin de la
Ley de Moore en los transistores, implica que se produzca la duplicacin del
nmero de transistores por pulgada en un circuito integrado cada dos aos.
(Moore, Gordon E, Cramming more components onto integrated circuits,
Electronics Magazine, pp 44,1965).
(4) Peer review: Es el sistema de revisin por pares que utilizan las
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conocimientos. Estos expertos no suelen tener contacto entre s y nicamente
CURSO IBEROAMERICANO DE FORMACIN DE AGENTES DE CULTURA CIENTFICA
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Najarro et al.,
ABSTRACT
We report a new site from the early Albian of the Basque Cantabrian Basin
(northern Spain) bearing a high content in amber pieces with abundant bioinclusions.
The amber-bearing deposit is integrated in a unit of non-marine to transitional marine
siliciclastics (Las Peosas Formation) included within a marine, mainly carbonate,
Lower Aptian-Upper Albian succession. Preliminary stratigraphic and sedimentological
survey in the area indicates that it corresponds to a regressive-transgressive depositional
setting, in which Las Peosas Fm. represents the regressive stage of the cycle.
Internally, Las Peosas Fm. displays two smaller-scale regressive-transgressive cycles,
and the coals and amber-bearing deposits occur in delta plain environments developed
during the most regressive phase of the sequences. The amber pieces, named El Soplao
amber, are mainly flows and aerial masses as runnels. They show FTIR spectra similar
to other Spanish Cretaceous ambers. Plant cuticles are very abundant, and mainly occur
in levels associated with amber. They mostly belong to the genera Frenelopsis and
Mirovia. Other plant remains are a few leaves of the ginkgoalean genera Nehvizdya and
Pseudotorellia. Bioinclusions are represented by spiders and spider webs, and mainly
insects of the orders Blattaria, Hemiptera, Thysanoptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and
Diptera. Some insects belong to groups of scarce fossil record, such as the wasp
Galloromma (of the monogeneric family Gallorommatidae) and the biting midge
Lebanoculicoides (of the monogeneric subfamily Lebanoculicoidinae).
Keywords: Amber. Arthropod bioinclusions. Plant cuticles. Lower Albian. Spain.
Najarro et al.,
INTRODUCTION
Oldest ambers with micro- bioinclusions came from the Triassic of Italy
(Schmidt et al., 2006), but it is not until the Aptian in Lebanon that macro-bioinclusions
became abundant (Azar, 2000; Poinar and Milki, 2001). During the early Cretaceous the
amber-bearing deposits become more abundant in the geological record. This was
promoted possibly by the appearance of new groups of bark insects, mainly beetles,
associated with the rise and spread of some group of trees, such as the Araucariaceae
and/or Cheirolepidiaceae conifers, and by a palaeoclimate warmer than today due to
higher pCO2 levels and quite different ocean circulation and geography (Crowley and
North, 1991; Huber et al., 1995; Haywood et al., 2004). Coinciding with the beginning
of the expression of the moist megathermal zone of the Northern Hemisphere, the amber
deposits developed between 29N50N during the earliest Cretaceous and extended to
27N to near 70N during the mid Cretaceous (Morley, 2000). During these periods the
Iberian Peninsula was situated at low latitude, in the boundary between wet and warm
tropical paratropical climates associated to coal deposits and organic-rich rocks.
Early Cretaceous ambers bearing fossil inclusions are scarce, and such localities
are of great scientific interest. Examples of those are located in Middle East (Lebanon,
Israel and Jordan, see Poinar and Milki, 2001; Kaddumi, 2005), Charente-Maritime in
western France (e.g. Perrichot, 2004, 2005; Nraudeau et al., 2005, 2008), the Isle of
Wight, southern England (Jarzembowski, 1999) and northeastern Spain (e.g. Alonso et
al., 2000; Delcls et al., 2007). A review of amber localities in the literature was
compiled by Martnez-Delcls et al. (2004, see Appendix), but many did not bear
arthropod inclusions.
Cretaceous amber in Cantabria (northern Spain) is relatively abundant and has
previously been found in minor amounts at several localities (Delcls et al., 2007).
However, to date none of these localities have provided amber with arthropod
inclusions. An intensive geological survey in the Lower Cretaceous succession of
northwest Cantabria resulted recently in the find of a new locality (near Rbago village,
within El Soplao territory) with a remarkable accumulation of amber pieces with
abundant biological inclusions (named El Soplao amber) that are included within the
Lower Albian Las Peosas Fm. (Garca-Mondjar and Pujalte, 1982). This unit is
approximately equivalent in age and facies to the widespread Escucha Fm. deposited to
the south of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin (Barrn et al., 2001; Martnez-Torres et al.,
2003) as well as in other Mesozoic basins of northeastern Spain, such as the Maestrat
Basin (e.g. Salas and Martn-Closas, 1991; Querol et al., 1992; Salas et al., 2001;
Rodrguez-Lpez et al., 2007; Peyrot et al., 2007; Moreno-Bedmar et al., 2008). These
units basically represent littoral facies dominated by delta-estuarine deposits, which can
be laterally correlated in a NW-SE direction for more than 500 km, from north-eastern
Cantabria throughout the southeast Basque-Cantabrian Basin in the lava region
(Basque Country) and the Maestrat Basin in Teruel to the Alicante Province (Fig. 1).
All these areas, which trace the approximate location of the coastal line during the early
Albian, are characterized by the presence of coal-bearing deposits with common
occurrence of amber masses (Delcls et al., 2007). Besides the frequent occurrence of
amber masses in all these deposits, only a few localities show enough quantity to be
identified as an accumulation, and up to now, only in two of them were found important
amounts of bioinclusions in terms of quantity and quality, i.e. the lava deposits
(Peacerrada and Montoria; Alonso et al., 2000; Delcls et al., 2007) and the San Just
outcrop in Teruel (Delcls et al., 2007; Pealver et al., 2007b). Preliminary data of the
new amber accumulation discovered in El Soplao territory in Cantabria indicates that
2
Najarro et al.,
this is probably the biggest site of amber with arthropod bioinclusions found in Spain so
far.
The aims of this paper are i) to document this new finding of arthropod bearing
amber as an unusual concentration, as well as its related deposits in terms of main
stratigraphic and sedimentological characteristics, description of the associated plant
cuticles and bioinclusions, and the preliminary study of the amber geochemistry; ii) to
discuss the geological and depositional features that may help to understand the
palaeoenvironmental implications of these deposits in northern Spain and their
palaeogeographic scenario; and iii) to provide an appropriate framework for future,
more specific studies, on this exceptional new amber site.
METHODOLOGY
Sedimentological and palaeoenvironmental interpretations are based on
observations on the field. Four laterally correlative stratigraphic sections (i.e. Puente
Arrudo section, Rbago section, La Florida section and Plaza del Monte section),
belonging to Las Peosas Fm., have been logged at a metercentimeter scale. From
these data a W-E cross-section has been defined in order to display the main
depositional and palaeoenvironmental features and the stratigraphic distribution of the
amber and coal-bearing unit. When possible, rock sampling and measurement of
palaeocurrent orientations of selected structures were carried out to help in the
sedimentological interpretations.
Amber masses were acquired by collecting superficially during fieldwork in the
area. A palaeontological excavation will be carried out during October 2008 in order to
increase the collection of specimens. To characterize El Soplao amber, three Fourier
Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of three different amber samples and
one sample of recent kauri resin (Agathis australis) were obtained using an infrared
Fourier Bomem DA3 spectrometer, in the Molecular Spectrometry Unit of the
University of Barcelona (SCT-UB).
Palaeobotanical samples from the plant-cuticle-rich lutite accompanying the
amber masses were obtained by macerating the clayey sediment in hydrogen peroxide
and drying the organic residues in the air. The fossil plant fragments have been sorted
out both with the naked eye and under the stereomicroscope.
The amber was kept wet during screening in order to improve visibility and to
detect arthropod bioinclusions. Screening was done under a stereoscope using
transmitted and oblique reflected light. The amber masses were cut around the detected
arthropods and then polished to permit optimal study. Drawings of some specimens
were made with the aid of an image drawing tube Olympus V-DA mounted on an
Olympus BX51 stereoscopic microscope. Photomicrographs were made with a digital
camera mounted in the same microscope. The specimens are housed provisionally in the
Museo Geominero of the Instituto Geolgico y Minero de Espaa (IGME), in Madrid,
Spain.
GEOLOGICAL SETTING
The new discovered amber locality is located in El Soplao territory in
northwestern Cantabria (Fig. 2). This area, located just to the North of the Caburniga
fault, constituted the northwestern margin of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin during the
Cretaceous. The evolution and current structure of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin are
Najarro et al.,
related to the complex kinematics between the European and Iberian plates (Malod and
Mauffret, 1990; Olivet, 1996). The inception of the basin occurred during an early
rifting event, which took place during the Permo-Triassic. A second extensional phase
is related to the rifting and opening of the Bay of Biscay during the Late JurassicEarly
Cretaceous (e.g. Rat, 1988; Garca-Mondjar et al., 1996). Renewed extension and
perhaps strike slip along NWSE faults occurred during the AptianAlbian (e.g. GarcaMondjar et al., 1996; Martn-Chivelet et al., 2002; Soto et al., 2007). These tectonic
events resulted in the development of a number of extensional sub-basins bounded by
active synsedimentary faults, in which great thicknesses of sediments accumulated. The
studied succession was deposited in the North Cantabrian sub-basin (NCB) (Fig. 2),
which developed as an independent structural unit relatively less subsident for most of
the Cretaceous time (Martn-Chivelet et al., 2002; Wilmsen, 2005). The Caburgina
ridge (Fig. 2) was an EW trending fault zone, which behave as an elevated structure
that limited this sub-basin to the South. This palaeo-high represents a previous Variscan
structure reactivated as extensional faults during the Mesozoic (Rat, 1988; GarcaEspina, 1997).
The sedimentary sub-basins started to undergo widespread contraction during the
Pyrenean Orogeny in the Late Eocene-Oligocene. Thus, the present architecture of the
study area is the result of the Alpine compressional stage that deformed previous
Mesozoic extensional and strike-slip structures and folded and trusted the sedimentary
infill. In El Soplao territory the amount of deformation observed is very limited, with
only gentle folding. This is probably because this area is the southwestern flank of the
NCB that overlies on the northern block of the Caburniga ridge, where the Palaeozoic
basement is covered by just a few hundred meters of sediment and deformation was
little transmitted.
STRATIGRAPHY
The bulk of the Mesozoic succession of El Soplao territory lies unconformably on
folded (Variscan deformation) Carboniferous basement (Fig. 3). It initiates with a
relatively thick succession of Lower Triassic continental red sandstones and mudstones
(Buntsandstein facies). Following the early Triassic continental deposition, the late
Triassic, Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous successions are absent in the studied area (Fig.
3), most probably because during the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous rifting stage, the
area to the north of the Caburniga Ridge was subjected to erosion and non-deposition.
Subsidence restarted again in the early Aptian and was accompanied by gradual marine
transgression. Thus, the AptianAlbian succession of El Soplao territory, object of this
study, unconformably overlies the Triassic strata and was dominated by shallow marine
carbonate deposition (Fig. 3). As a whole, the AptianAlbian succession of El Soplao
territory constitutes a lithosome of about 9 km long with wedge-shaped geometry
deepening and thickening eastward, towards the hangingwall slope of a tilted block
active during this time (Najarro et al., 2007). Thicknesses vary from about 600 m in the
deeper part of the trough (Bustriguado area, Fig. 2) to less than 200 m toward the
elevated parts of the tilted block to the west (Puente ArrudoRbago sections, Fig. 2).
The general stratigraphic and biostratigraphic frameworks of these materials have been
established by Ramrez del Pozo (1972) and Hines (1985), and have been recently
revised with detailed description of the main depositional systems and sequences by
Najarro et al., (2007) and Najarro and Rosales (2008). A simplified stratigraphy of this
interval is provided in Fig. 3, which has been adapted to follow the terminology by
Hines (1985) for the main lithological units.
4
Najarro et al.,
Najarro et al.,
The lower Unit P1 overlies the Reocn Fm. It ranges from about 11 m (Rbago
section) to 40 m (Plaza del Monte section) and it is characterized by an alternation of
bioclastic, oyster-rich limestones and bioturbated, nodular marlysilty limestones to
siltstones with very fine sand levels. The overall succession presents an upward
decrease on carbonate content and a progressive increase in the quartz silt and sand
contents of the marly intervals. This succession is interpreted here as a transitional unit
from a shallow carbonate platform to a siliciclastic estuary-delta bay, as a consequence
of a rapid change in the sedimentary conditions that accompanied to a relative fall in sea
level.
The middle Unit P2 contains the amber-rich deposit that has been recently
discoverein the Rbago section (Figs. 5A and 6). It lies on top of P1 ranging in
thickness from 25 m (Rbago section) to 60 m (Plaza del Monte section). This is a unit
of predominantly heterolithic sandstonessiltstones and carbonaceous mudstones
deposited in a broadly coastal estuarine and delta environments. Facies associations can
be grouped into three main depositional environments: 1) estuarine bay (lagoon) infill
facies association, interpreted as largely shallow subtidal, as not evidence of emergence
is noted. This environment includes delta-front distributary mouth-bar deposits,
deposited mostly, if not entirely, under marine conditions, and distal bar, nearshore to
offshore deposits; 2) wave and storm-influenced tidal flats and tidal bays; and 3) delta
plain facies association, with sedimentary facies that reflect deposition in both
distributary meandering channels (Fig. 5B and Table 1) and infilling of interdistributary
bays and restricted ponds areas (Figs. 5C and 6C) with high accumulation of coals,
plant cuticles (Fig. 5D) and amber masses (Fig. 6D). Due to the sedimentological and
palaeontological importance of this unit, more detailed stratigraphic characteristics and
environmental interpretation is given in the next section.
The Unit P3 deposited over the unit P2 (Fig. 5C) and is in turn overlain by the
Barcenaciones Fm. The thickness of the unit P3 varies from 13 m to the west (Rbago
section) to 40 m to the east (Plaza del Monte section) and is characterized by the
stacking of several meter-scale mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sequences. Their vertical
stacking presents a progressive increase in the carbonate content toward the top of the
unit. This unit is interpreted as a transition from tide-influenced estuarine bay (Fig 5E)
to a shallow carbonate platform system. Thus, a carbonate-siliciclastic mixed platform
is proposed. The contact with the overlaying Barcenaciones Fm. is taken at the base of a
marly-nodular limestone bed with large bivalves that indicates the definitive
abandonment of the siliciclastic system (Fig. 5F).
Sedimentary facies of the amber-rich deposit in the Rbago section
As noted above, the recently discovered site of amber accumulation is located at
the top of unit P2 in the Rbago section, where this unit is formed by three facies
associations (Fig. 6A and Table 1).
Facies association 1 (FA 1): wave-influenced intertidal flat
This facies association consists of heterolithic alternations of thinly bedded dark
coloured mudstones, siltstones and sandstones, stacked vertically in metric sequences
with a general fining-upward trend. The sequences range in thickness from 3 to 4 m.
This facies association displays 2 sedimentary facies. Facies 1 consists of 5 to 40 cm
thick, pale-yellow, very fine- to medium-grained, well-sorted sandstones. The basal
contacts are flat and sharp, while the contacts in the top are wavy due to ripples. This
facies is characterized by low angle and horizontal lamination, planar cross-
Najarro et al.,
stratification, flaser and wavy lamination and wave and current-ripples at the tops of the
beds. Both current and wave ripples are associated with flaser bedding, and current
ripples are seen as climbing in some places. Palaeocurrents have been measured in some
crests of the wave ripples obtaining a shoreline direction with an overall E-W trend.
Mud drapes occur frequently with thickness up to 0.5 cm. Mudclasts and coal fragments
appear locally. Bioturbation intensity ranges from uncommon to abundant but is
consistently characterized by a low diversity assemblage dominated by Skolithos and
track traces. Facies 2 is formed by mudstone to siltstones beds. It is relatively
sulphurous and ranges from 0.5 to 2 m thick. It may combine with facies 1 to form
wavy and lenticular bedding (heterolithic facies). Coal and pyritized trunk fragments up
to 20 cm long occur both concentrated at the base of beds and scattered within them.
Minor to moderate bioturbation and sulphur- and Fe-nodules are also present.
The presence of wave and current ripples occurring both as lenticular and flaser
bedding, along with the wavy lamination and wave ripples on some sandstone beds,
suggests a tidal- and wave-influenced estuarine bay environment (e.g. Reineck and
Wunderlich, 1968; Reineck and Singh, 1975; Dalrymple, 1992; Willis, 1997; Kuecher
et al., 1990; Folkestad and Satur, 2008). The suit of trace fossils described above may
occur in such an environment (Pemberton et al., 1992). The common occurrence of mud
drapes and the rhythmic bedding of sandstones and mudstones suggests an involvement
of tidal processes in the formation of this facies (Visser, 1980), but the occurrence of
wave-generated structures suggests that reworking was also controlled by waves. The
climbing current ripples indicate rapid deposition of sand (Reineck and Singh, 1975).
These deposits are interpreted to have been originated in an intertidal flat developed at
the inner part of an estuary bay.
Facies association 2 (FA 2): estuary bay (lagoon) infill
Facies 3 consists of weakly cemented, moderate to well-sorted, fine to coarsegrained sandstone, organized in a coarsening and thickening upwards sequence of about
6 m thick. Sedimentary structures grade vertically from large-scale trough crossbedding to planar cross-bedding with wave ripples at the tops. Mud drapes and mud
pebbles are also present in foresets. Although outcropping conditions prevent detailed
sedimentological observations and measurements, almost unidirectional diffuse
palaeocurrent features are observed.
The thickening and coarsening upward trend of this facies association suggests a
progradational character. The upward transition from trough cross-bedding to wave
ripples in the top suggests decreasing energy conditions. Moreover, the occurrence of
mud drapes and mud clasts suggests fluctuating energy conditions produced by tidal
processes occurring during deposition (Reineck and Singh, 1975; Dalrymple et al.,
1990; Shanmugam et al., 2000), where the mud drapes represent deposition under slack
water conditions between tides (Dalrymple et al., 1990; Kitazawa, 2007). The presence
of wave-ripple lamination also indicates some wave influence. As a whole, this facies
association is interpreted as a progradation of distributary mouth-bar deposits and sand
bars into a wave and tidal influenced estuary bay.
Facies Association 3 (FA 3): delta plain
This facies association is composed by very thin intercalations of silty to very
fine sandstones (facies 4) with dark organic and sulphurous-rich mudstones (facies 5),
which ranges in thickness from 0.7 to 2.5 m. Facies 4 is greyish-brown reaching a
maximum thickness of 10 cm. It presents wavy and lenticular lamination with current
Najarro et al.,
ripples, coal layers (up to 3 cm), sulphur-nodules, partially pyritized trunk fragments,
minor bioturbation as pyritized burrows, and amber. Facies 5 is mostly composed of
layers formed by the accumulation of leaves and other plant remains. These leaves are
very well preserved showing many original details and their venation patterns. When
present, the matrix between the plant-bearing levels is clayish. They also present small
pyritized moulds of marine gastropods and bivalves, sulphur-nodules (up to 6 cm), coal,
trunk fragments (up to 15 cm), and abundant amber masses. Although amber fragments
have been found in all the stratigraphic sections, the most abundance yield of both
stalactite-shaped and globular or kidney-shaped amber masses comes from the Rbago
section. At the top of this facies association a gypsum crust (up to 5 cm) incrusted by
serpulids has been observed locally. In addition, a pale-yellow silty rooting level with
associated white mottling also appears in the Plaza del Monte section at a stratigraphic
position laterally equivalent to this gypsum crust.
The dark organic-rich mudstone deposits are interpreted as extensive
accumulations of plant remains in restricted ponds and coastal lakes with a relatively
low input of clastic material (Dalrymple, 1992; Folkestand and Satur, 2008). Mudstones
were mostly deposited in anoxic interdistributary and coastal water ponds with a high
supply of continental organic matter transported by fluvial floods surely during storm
periods. The anoxic conditions within the ponds are inferred from the occurrence of
abundant sulphur-nodules, organic remains and by the exceptional preservation of the
leaves and other plant debris. Occasionally, the combined action of spring tides, storms
and overbank floods were important enough so that the silty and very fine sand layers
were deposited (Reineck and Singh, 1975; Noe-Nygaard and Surlyk, 1988; Dalrymple,
1992). This is also supported by the presence of some thin shell remains. Both, the
gypsum crust at the top of the infilling sequence and the root activity, which implies the
development of a horizon exposed to vegetative processes setting in a palaeosol
(McCarthy and Plint, 2003; Folkestand and Satur, 2008), suggest final subaerial
conditions (Dalrymple, 1992), which are coincident with the maximum regressive stage
within Las Peosas Fm.
Depositional sequences and facies model of the amber-bearing deposits
Regarding their distribution within Las Peosas Fm., the amber-bearing deposits
are mainly located towards the top of the unit P2, more precisely, in the dark organicrich mudstones originated in restricted interdistributary bays and ponds, which were
formed in a delta plain between meandering distributary channels (i.e. facies association
3; Fig. 5B and Table 1). The vertical stacking of the described facies association of the
unit P2 suggests that it displays internally two smaller transgressive-regressive cycles
with the coal-bearing deposits developing during the regressive phase of the cycles (Fig.
4). These deposits are underlain by shallow marine siliciclastic and carbonate deposits
formed under relatively higher sea-level conditions (Unit P1). In turns, the unit P2 is
capped by an erosive transgressive surface (ravinement), above which full-marine
limestones deposited (Fig 5C). These deposits represent a marked landward shift in the
siliciclastic coastal facies, displaying a retrogradational-agradational stacking pattern
(Unit P3). Therefore, the deposition of the amber-coal rich levels is coincident with the
maximum regressive episode of the estuary-delta progradation (Fig. 4) and represents a
relative sea-level fall. The same pattern in coal- and amber-rich deposits has also been
described in the Escucha Fm., which is equivalent in age to Las Peosas Fm., by
Martnez-Torres et al., (2003) in the south of the Basque-Cantabrian Basin, and in the
Maestrat Basin by Rodrguez-Lpez et al., (2005) in the Oliete sub-basin and Pealver
et al., (2007b) in the San Just outcrop, both in Teruel Province, among others.
8
Najarro et al.,
Najarro et al.,
A different type is the kidney-shaped mass, normally very large in size (up to
decimetric in diameter) and with an external surface slightly granulose that lacks
evidences of aerial exposure (Fig. 7D). Some authors considered that this type of
masses had formed by subterranean resin emissions from roots, probably explaining the
lack of bioinclusions in them. They are also abundant in the El Soplao outcrop, but less
than flow aerial masses. No occurrences of amber in coal with woody texture suggest
that this amber was not derived from resin caught in pockets within the trunks of trees.
Of gemmological interest, it was found one fragmentary mass (6 x 6 x 4 cm) of
blue amber (Fig. 6D), similar to the famous blue amber from Dominican Republic, the
only other area with this kind of amber. A fluorescent blue glow appears in this mass
under normal sunlight, and under ultraviolet light it glows a bright milky-blue. In
contrast, under artificial light this mass shows the typical reddish colour of the
Cretaceous amber.
10
Najarro et al.,
modeled (Sangesa and Arostegui, 2003; Permanyer, pers. com.) The FTIR analysis
(transmittance and absorbance) of the amber pieces of El Soplao shows that all three
spectra are practically identical. The IR spectra of all samples exhibited the same bands,
but with different intensities (Fig. 8). In absorbance all spectra show similar relative
intensity, but in the sample AMB80, that correspond to a red amber fragment, the
intensity decreases at wave-numbers 727 and 814, and increases considerably at
approximately the group of the wave-number 1714 (complex band), associated to
carboxyl groups (Fig. 8). In this sample we also observe a broad absorption bands at ca.
3460 and 1635, the signal due to the water or possibly due to weathering. The spectra
coincide in the main features with the previous results obtained from other Spanish
Cretaceous ambers (see FTIR spectra in Alonso et al., 2000; Chaler and Grimalt, 2005;
Pealver et al., 2007a, 2007b; Corchn et al., 2008). All the spectra are dominated by CH stretching bands near 2950 cm-1 (C-H stretching bands are small), C-H bending
between 1470 and 1380 cm-1, and the carbonyl bands close to 1700 cm-1. The lack of
the exocyclic methylenic bands at 880, 1640 and 3070 cm-1 is consistent with the high
maturity of the amber.
When compare the IR absorbance spectra between the amber sample AMB82,
an aerial stalactite, and the sample AMB83, a fragment of recent stalactite of the
araucariacean Agathis australis (Fig. 8), numerous differences may be observed, but
without a GC-MS studies the origin of the different intensity and several bands cannot
be possible known. The presence of the absorption maximum in the single-bond around
3081 cm-1 is typical in Agathis resin; however, it lacks typically in amber due to the
polymerization of the resin and the increasing of their maturity. In addition, the spectra
around range bands 1650-1700 cm-1, corresponding to the carboxyl groups, is very
different between the amber and the resin. The intensities of absorptions at wavenumbers 3400 and 1700 cm-1 decrease according to the increase of the maturity of the
samples. Other bands observed constitute an unresolved group near the wave-number
2930 cm1 (C-H st), the most intense band group in all Cretaceous spectra.
FOSSIL RECORD
Plant cuticles as compressions
Exceptionally well preserved plant cuticle compressions are very abundant in the
amber deposit (Fig. 9), appearing sometimes accumulated in levels up to 10 cm thick.
The palaeobotanical samples taken from these levels also show amber and woody
fragments but in a minor percentage than plant cuticle compressions (Fig. 9A-D). The
amber pieces show various shapes and colours from yellow to red (Fig. 9A), whereas
unidentified, small, dark, woody fragments are preserved as jets or charcoals (Fig. 9B).
Cuticle fragments of the conifer Frenelopsis, of the extinct family Cheirolepidiaceae,
are the most numerous components (Fig. 9C). The axes typically constitute cylindrical
internodes bearing apically a nodal whorl of three leaves (Fig. 9E). Some Frenelopsis
sp. cuticles also show the particular branching of axes borne in the internode (Fig. 9F)
(see Daviero et al. 2001 for architecture details). A female cone scale formed by several
layers of very thin cuticles (Fig. 9P) constitutes a doubtful record of the genus Alvinia
Kvaek (Kvaek 2000), and probably belongs to Frenelopsis as well. Otherwise, the
conifer Mirovia sp. of the extinct family Miroviaceae shows about the same quantity of
cuticle fragments (Fig. 9D). The leaves clearly display a white central line on one side
corresponding to the single middle stomatal groove, as well as a mucronate apex and
suction-pad-shaped base (Fig. 9G-H). Such leaves have been also described from the
Albian of Pyrenees (Cora) and Teruel (Rubielos de Mora) (Gomez et al., 2002). There
11
Najarro et al.,
are also present two conifer leafy axes of Brachyphyllum-type with tiny, helicoidally
arranged leaves (Fig. 9L-M). In addition, two ginkgolean leaves also appear. Nehvizdya
sp. shows obovate leaves with variable apex shapes (Fig. 9I) and attenuate base (Fig.
9J). The venation pattern showing several successive dichotomies and the presence of
resin bodies between the veins are clearly seen in the most transparent leaves. In Spain,
Nehvizdya penalveri has been reported only from the Albian of Rubielos de Mora in
Teruel (Gomez et al., 2000). The other ginkgolean leaves are represented by
Pseudotorellia sp. It shows narrow leaves with three stomatal bands located on one side
(Fig. 9K). This genus has also been described from the Albian of Rubielos de Mora in
Teruel (Gomez, 2000). In addition, it has been distinguished reproductive organs similar
to the genus Nehvizdyella Kvaek (Kvaek et al., 2005), which are probably ovules
associated with Nehvizdya (Fig. 9N-O).
Arthropods as inclusions
Up to now, the arthropods found as incluions in El Soplao amber are spiders and
insects. All specimens are small in size, less than 1 cm long, and are well preserved,
only with slight deformation due to pressure. Apparently, the degree of maturation of
the amber is slightly higher than in San Just and lava ambers, because the external
surface of the insects is dark, without a silverish gaseous film. That film produces silver
reflections under strong direct illumination and makes the appreciation of
microsculptural details easier. Formal taxonomy of the new taxa of arthropods will be
published elsewhere, mainly by Paul Selden spiders- and one of us during the
accomplishment of a Doctoral Thesis (R.P.F.) insects-. Thus, only a brief overall of
most important specimens follows here.
One of the most remarkable find is a virtually complete spider specimen, due to
the structure of its legs. The good preservation of the legs shows detailed structure of
the tarsal claws (Fig. 7E). Tarsi have large, pectinate paired claws with one row of nine
teeth and one small, non-pectinate median claw and numerous serrate bristles, like in
the Araneoidea specimen described by Selden (1989) from the Early Cretaceous
limestones of El Montsec (Lleida Province, northeastern Spain). Subsequently, this
specimen was described as Cretaraneus vilaltae by Selden (1990) and assigned to a
family of weavers of orb webs (Tetragnathidae) by Selden and Penney (2003). This
claw morphology is related to adaptation for an efficient handling of silk and
locomotion on an aerial web. Pealver et al., (2006) published the oldest web with its
prey, most possibly an orb web, from San Just amber. Penney and Ortuo (2006)
described a spider from lava amber, which presents three tarsal claws and accessory
setae, as the oldest true orb-weaving spider, but curiously without figuration and more
detailed description of this crucial structure. In El Soplao amber has been also
discovered a portion of an aerial spider web (Fig. 7F), which trapped a small wasp of
the family Megaspilidae. This new spider web has a different structure than the one
from San Just amber. Both spider specimen and aerial web found in El Soplao amber
shed light and support on the role of aerial webs in the palaeoecology of the Cretaceous
forests discussed by Pealver et al., (2006, 2008).
The insect orders found to date in this new outcrop are also the most abundant in
other Cretaceous deposits (Fig. 10). These orders are Blattaria (Fig. 10D), Hemiptera,
Thysanoptera (Fig. 10A), Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and Diptera; these two last are
especially plentiful (Figs. 10C-D).
Hymenopterans are represented up to now by the families Scelionidae (Figs.
10B and 10D), Gallorommatidae, and Megaspilidae (Fig. 7A). The extinct family
Gallorommatidae or false fairy wasps are among the smallest of Hymenoptera and are
12
Najarro et al.,
13
Najarro et al.,
The plant cuticle assemblage is more reminiscent of than the one from the
Albian of Rubielos de Mora (Teruel Province). However, the latter bed was poor in
amber and the identification at the species level must be completed to precise whether
or not amber production was specifically or environmentally determined. Araucariacean
trees are the suggested resin-producing plants during the Cretaceous, but leaf remains of
this group of conifers are absent from El Soplao assemblage, as it happens in other
similar Spanish deposits. Future palynological studies will complete our understanding
about the palaeobotanical context.
The abundance of fossil insects in the Early Cretaceous amber of El Soplao
(Albian in age) is particularly important for further evolutionary studies and
palaeoecological reconstructions. This abundance is a consequence of the unusual
concentration of flow amber masses (runnels and crusts) which are the richest in
bioinclusions. The El Soplao deposit likely originated during a period of abundant
production of fluid resin in the paleoforests, maybe coinciding with a warmer episode.
However, the unusual concentration of aerial amber masses might have been caused by
an uncommon selection during water transport.
Several specimens recorded in the El Soplao amber are very scarce in the fossil
record, for example some wasps and dipterans. This is the case of the wasp specimen
belonging to the extinct family Gallorommatidae, which is the oldest record of the
group. Discovering a new form of the rare dipteran Lebanoculicoides in El Soplao
amber indicates that this basal genus had a much more extensive distribution during the
Early Cretaceous. Thus, any new findings of fossil representatives of these groups
would be of particular interest.
Further investigations necessary to complete the study of the new outcrop will
be the taphonomical study of the deposit in order to know its origin, the palynological
analysis of the bearing-amber stratigraphic log, the determination of the plant species
represented as cuticles, and the taxonomical study of the arthropods included within the
amber. The palaeontological excavation that will be carried out during the current year
will be crucial to complete the research.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work is part of the Ph.D. Thesis of the first author (M.N.), which is
supported by a scholarship from the Instituto Geolgico y Minero de Espaa (IGME).
This study is a contribution of the IGME projects 275-CANOA 35006 Relacin entre
sedimentacin tectnica y flujo de fluidos durante la extensin del Cretcico Inferior en
la Cuenca de Santander; 491-CANOA 35015 Investigacin cientfica y tcnica de la
Cueva de El Soplao y su entorno geolgico, and the DGI project CGL200500046/BTE: "The amber of the Cretaceous of Spain: Palaeobiology, Taphonomy and
Biogeochemistry". The study is framed in a collaborative agreement among IGME,
SIEC S.A. and the Cantabrian Government (Regional Cultural, Tourism and Sports
Ministry). We are grateful to Dr. Jos Pedro Calvo Sorando (IGME) for his support and
engagement. We also express our thanks to Mr. Francisco Javier Lpez Marcano
(Regional Minister of Cantabrian Government) and Mr. Fermin Unzu (manager of El
Soplao Cave) for their efforts and promotion of the study of the new outcropt. One of
the coauthors (E.P.) benefits from a Ramn y Cajal contract of the Spanish Ministry of
Education and Science and another (R.P.F) benefits from an APIF grant of the
University of Barcelona. B.G. also received supports by the CNRS-UMR 5125 PEPS
14
Najarro et al.,
and the project ANR AMBRACE (No BLAN07-1-184190) of the French Agence
nationale de la recherche.
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FIGURE CAPTIONS
Figure 1. Map of the Iberian Peninsula showing the location of the Lower Albian basins
and El Soplao amber (Modified from Salas et al., 2001).
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Figure 2. Geological map of the North Cantabrian sub-basin within the BasqueCantabrian Basin (BCB), with location of the stratigraphic sections studied. A: Puente
Arrudo section, B: Rbago section, C: La Florida section, D: Plaza del Monte section.
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Figure 4. Stratigraphic correlation of the four studied sections (A to D in Figure 2). Note
the location of the amber deposit and the thickness variation of Las Peosas Fm. along
the W-E cross-section. P1-P3: Members of the Las Peosas Fm (see text for
explanation). FA1-FA3: Sedimentary facies association studied in Las Peosas Fm.
Amber is usually located coinciding with the P2-P3 units boundary.
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Figure 5: Field photographs of Las Peosas Fm. A) General view of the new discovered
amber-rich deposit in Rbago section within the unit P2. B) FA3: Distributary
meandering channel with trough cross-bedding, sigmoidal and horizontal stratification
and lateral accretion within the unit P2 in La Florida section. C) FA3: Delta plainrestricted pond facies within the unit P2, capped by an erosive, transgressive surface
(ravinement), above which marine limestones deposited (unit P3) (Puente Arrudo
section). D) FA3: Exceptionally well-preserved plant cuticle compressions that appear
associated to the amber-rich deposit in Rbago section. E) Detail of FA1 (waveinfluenced intertidal flat) constituted of interbedded mudstones-siltstones with wavy and
lenticular lamination and fine-grained sandstones. Unit P2 in Plaza del Monte section.
F) Marly level with high concentration of bivalves at the top of the unit P3 in Rbago
section.
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Figure 6: A) Simplified stratigraphic log of the Rbago section. Two regressivetransgressive cycles are defined. Note that the position of the amber deposit is
coinciding with the maximum regression of the second cycle, which is capped by a
gypsum-crust. B) High-resolution stratigraphy of the amber deposit. C) General view of
the amber deposit (scale: 1m). D) Example of a blue amber mass in situ.
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Figure 7. Amber masses and bioinclusions related to spiders from El Soplao (Rbago,
Cantabria). A) Runnel with a wasp of the family Megaspilidae -left arrow- trapped on a
spider web fragment (see detail of the spider web in 7F and two insects showed in
figure 10C -right arrow-. B) Runnel exposed in situ which contained a scelionid wasp.
C) Flow amber mass (crust) -arrow indicates some flows originated on liquid resin
which cover a copious flow of dark amber. D) Big kidney-shaped mass in two views. E)
Pectinate paired claws, adapted to an efficient handling of silk and locomotion on an
aerial web, present in an Araneoidea spider. F) Detail of the spider web fragment which
traps a megaspilid wasp. Images E and F were made with some consecutive pictures
taken at successive focal planes.
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P1
F1
FA1
F2
FA2
P2
F3
F4
Pale-yellow, very fine- to medium-grained, wellsorted sandstones. Mudclasts and coal fragments.
Minor to abundant bioturbation dominated by
Skolithos and track traces
Sulphurous mudstone-siltstones with coal and
trunk fragments. Minor to moderate bioturbation
Weakly cemented, moderated to well-sorted fine
to coarse-grained sandstones with mud drapes and
mudclasts
Silty very fine sandstones with coal layers,
sulphur nodules, trunks and amber
Vertical Stacking
Interpretation
Upward decrease in
carbonate content and
progressive increase in
siliciclastics
Transition from
shallow carbonate
platform to estuarydelta bay
Fining upward
Wave-influenced
intertidal flat
Coarsening and
thickening upwards
Estuarine bay
(lagoon) infill
Rhythmic alternations
Delta plain:
Restricted ponds
Fining upward
Delta plain:
Distributary
meandering
channels
Progressive increase in
carbonate content
Carbonatesiliciclastic mixed
platform
Wavy lamination
Low angle and horizontal
lamination; planar crossstratification; flaser and wavy
lamination; wave and currentripples
Wavy and lenticular
lamination
Large scale trough crossbedding; planar crossbedding; wave ripples
Wavy and lenticular
lamination; current ripples
32
Convocatoria
4 DE NOVIEMBRE A LAS 13:00 HORAS EN EL SOPLAO (CANTABRIA)
Idoia Rosales (IGME): Nuevos datos estratigrficos del yacimiento resumen de los trabajos realizados
durante la excavacin.
Enrique Pealver (IGME): Datos sobre el paleoincendio que dio lugar a la gnesis del yacimiento de El
Soplao.
Xavier Delcls (Universidad de Barcelona): Siete nuevos ejemplares de insectos extrados durante esta
campaa y avances sobre las futuras lneas de investigacin.
Rafael Lozano (IGME): Caractersticas pticas del extrao color del mbar de El Soplao.
-1-
Durante el acto se presentaran las muestras ms llamativas recogidas la semana pasada y se har una
demostracin in situ del comportamiento del mbar azul bajo diferentes tipos de iluminacin. Al finalizar,
habr fotos disponible para la prensa
Contacto
Unidad de Comunicacin
Instituto Geolgico y Minero de Espaa (IGME)
Lucia Durbn Carmona
Divulga S.L.
Tel:+34 696 931 676
E-mail: lucia@divulga.es
El Instituto Geolgico y Minero de Espaa (IGME) es un Organismo Pblico de Investigacin (OPI) con
carcter de Organismo Autnomo, adscrito al Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacin. El IGME tiene como
misin principal proporcionar a la Administracin General del Estado y de las Comunidades Autnomas que
lo soliciten, y a la sociedad en general, el conocimiento y la informacin precisa en relacin con las Ciencias
y Tecnologas de la Tierra para cualquier actuacin sobre el territorio. El IGME es, por tanto, el centro
nacional de referencia para la creacin de infraestructura del conocimiento, informacin e I+D+i en Ciencias
de la Tierra. Para ello abarca diversos campos de actividad tales como la geologa, el medio ambiente, la
hidrologa, los recursos minerales, los riesgos geolgicos y la planificacin del territorio. Las instalaciones
del IGME comprenden el edificio que alberga su sede central, el Museo Geominero, y la biblioteca; doce
oficinas de proyectos distribuidas por el territorio espaol; laboratorios, almacenes y una litoteca, y todas
disponen de los equipos y medios tcnicos ms avanzados. Para conocer ms acerca del IGME:
www.igme.es
HTU
UTH
El Ao Internacional del Planeta Tierra 2008 (International Year of Planet Earth) (IYPE) fue proclamado por
la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas en su Sesin Plenaria del 22 de Diciembre del 2005 para
2008. El objetivo del Ao Internacional del Planeta Tierra es mostrar formas nuevas e interesantes en las
cuales las Ciencias de la Tierra pueden ayudar a resolver los desafos actuales y futuros vinculados con
garantizar un mundo ms seguro y ms prspero. Se puede encontrar ms informacin sobre el Ao
Internacional del Planeta Tierra en: www.esfs.org (internacional) y en: http://aiplanetatierra.igme.es
(Espaa)
HTU
UTH
-2-
Tirada:
441.880
Difusin:
337.172
(O.J.D)
Superficie: 786,00 cm
Audiencia:1.180.102 Nacional
(E.G.M)
Ref: 2236733
General
2 Edicin
Diaria Ocupacin:
Valor:
05/11/2008 Pgina:
89.86%
26.256,59
29
1/1
Tirada:
309.245
Difusin:
228.588
(O.J.D)
Superficie: 584,00 cm
General
2 Edicin
Diaria Ocupacin:
Valor:
05/11/2008 Pgina:
85.1%
20.705,52
90
1/2
Tirada:
309.245
Difusin:
228.588
(O.J.D)
Superficie: 585,00 cm
General
2 Edicin
Diaria Ocupacin:
Valor:
05/11/2008 Pgina:
85.25%
23.068,71
91
2/2
Lectura de ampliacin.
Declogo del divulgador cientfico
junio 200
011
Direccin General de Divulgacin de la Ciencia, UNAM Nmero 11