Congo Contextual Data for Phytolith Analysis: Readme file

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                   NOAA Paleoclimatology Program
                               and
              World Data Center A - for Paleoclimatology
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NOTE: PLEASE CITE ORIGINAL REFERENCE WHEN USING THIS DATA!!!!!


NAME OF DATA SET: Congo Contextual Data for Phytolith Analysis
LAST UPDATE: 8/1999 (Original Receipt by WDCA Paleo) 

CONTRIBUTORS: Julio Mercader, Freya Runge, Luc Vrydaghs, 
Hughes Doutrelepont, Corneille Ewango, Jordi Juan

IGBP PAGES/WDCA CONTRIBUTION SERIES NUMBER: 1999-044

SUGGESTED DATA CITATION: Mercader, J., et al, 1999,
Congo Contextual Data for Phytolith Analysis, IGBP PAGES/
World Data Center A-Paleoclimatology Data Contribution Series #1999-044. 
NOAA/NGDC Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder CO, USA. 


ORIGINAL REFERENCE: Mercader, J., F. Runge, L. Vrydaghs, 
H. Dotrelepont, C.E.N. Ewango, and J. Juan, 2000,
Phytoliths from archaeological sites in the tropical forest 
of Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Quaternary Research, v54, No. 1, pp102-112, July 2000.
 
GEOGRAPHIC REGION: Democratic Republic of Congo, Central Africa
LATITUDE:  0-3 N
LONGITUDE: 27-30 E
ELEVATION: 700-1000 M A.S.L.

PERIOD OF RECORD: 1993-1995

FUNDING SOURCES: Ministerio de Educacion y Cultura, Spain

LIST OF FILES: readme.mercader1999.txt (this file), Monodfor.doc,
Mixfores.doc, Phytogra.doc, soilgeoch.doc (Microsoft Word format).


DESCRIPTION: 
Phytolith analysis from the Ituri rain forest, NE Democratic Republic of Congo. 
Two types of plant materials were studied: archaeological opal silica of 
Late Pleistocene/Holocene age from three granite rock shelters, and "off-site" 
opal silica from two subsoil forest plots. 

This archive contains 2 files describing the monodominant forest and mixed forest 
from which samples for phytolith analysis come from; a table showing taphonomic 
gradients of phytoliths, and another table showing the type of geochemical 
environments in which phytoliths were found. 

1)File: monodfor.doc  
Modern plot species composition in monodominant forest (Lenda 00.16)

2)File: mixfores.doc
Modern plot species composition in mixed forest (Edoro 16.23)

3)File: Phytogra.doc
Silica gradients: percentages of opal phytoliths through 
the sections of Matangai Turu NW, Makubasi NW, and Lengbe.

4)File: soilgeochem.doc
Soil analysis at the sites of MTNW, MNW, and Lengbe.