Palaeoenvironment of the Valsequillo Basin, Mexico
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Basin Images
Valsequillo basin	Valsequillo basin	Valsequillo basin. A reservoir now occupies the lower areas of the lake basin	Valsequillo basin, Popocatépetl volcano erupting 10th January 2005
Valsequillo basin, and reservoir, Popocatépetl volcano in the distance	Other archaeological sites in the Valsequillo basin include Hueyatlaco, which is currently submerged under the Valsequillo reservoir.	Popocatépetl volcano .
Site Images
The Xalnene ash covers older lake sediments.	Footprints preserved in Xalnene ash	Close to the Cerro Toluquilla (volcano) the ash is around 5 metres thick, but the ash layer thins rapidly to 10 cm within 4 km north west of the Cerro Toluquilla	Rock shelter overlooking Valsequillo basin. Several early Holocene human skeletons were buried in the rock shelter
General view of quarry showing ash layer where footprints are preserved	Xalnene ash, covered by lake sediments	Mastodon skull found in the Valsequillo basin.	Footprint preserved in xalnene ash. Human foot for scale.
The Barranca Caulapan. Alluvial sequences rich in fossilised bones.	Footprint preserved in Xalnene ash.	Footprints preserved in volcanic ash	Close to the Cerro Toluquilla (volcano) the ash is around 5 metres thick, but the ash layer thins rapidly to 10 cm within 4 km north west of the Cerro Toluquilla
Local workers quarrying the xalnene ash for use as a building material	The Xalnene ash covers older lake sediments. The circular hole is where samples for OSL (Optical Stimulated Luminescence) dating were taken by Dr. Jean Luc Schwenninger (University of Oxford)	Locals now use the Xalnene ash as a building material, much in the same way as paving stones	Xalnene ash, covered by lake sediments
Lab Images
Fluorination line, used for oxygen isotope extraction from diatom silica	Samples being loaded into Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometer (IRMS) at the NERC Isotope Geosciences Laboratory.	Carbonate line, for preparation of carbonates for carbon and oxygen isotope analyses	Equilibration device for oxygen isotope analysis of water
One of the several Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometers (IRMS) at the NERC isotope geosciences laboratories.	Samples are weighed for isotopic analysis

 

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