Are Damped Lyα Systems Large Galactic Discs?

The hypothesis that damped Lyα systems (DLAs) are large galactic discs (Milky Way sized) is tested by confronting predictions of models of the formation and evolution of (large) disc galaxies with observations, in particular the zinc abundance distribution with neutral hydrogen column density found for DLAs. A pronounced mismatch is found, strongly hinting that the majority of DLAs may not be large galactic discs. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Clay mineralogy, grain size distribution and their correlations with trace metals in the salt marsh sediments of the Skallingen barrier spit, Danish Wadden Sea

To understand the behavior of trace metals in the salt marsh at Skallingen, Danish Wadden Sea, we investigated a profile from surface to 25?cm depth of the salt marsh sediment, focusing primarily on clay mineralogy and grain size distribution of the sediments and their relationship with trace metals. The clay assembly of the sediment consists of illite, kaolinite and much less chlorite and smectite. The major clay minerals of illite, kaolinite as well as chlorite correlate very poorly with all the trace metals investigated, due probably to the weak competing strength of these clays compared with the other adsorbents and to low availability of the mobile trace metals in the system. Correlation between trace metals and clay minerals may therefore be used as an indicator in environmental assessment. Fine grain fractions of the sediment increased markedly after salt marsh invasion in about 1931 but decreased after 1964. This increase was contributed mainly by the grains finer than 20???m while the fraction of 40?C63???m actually decreased soon after the invasion. The relation between most of the trace metals and grain size distributions is close in general but far from linear. The drastic turning point is observed at about 30???m, around where the correlation coefficient r drops from 0.8 to 0.1. Adsorption is the controlling mechanism for the behavior of trace metals in the salt marsh. Fe/Mn (hydr)oxides and organic matter play the key role.     

Ice-free conditions in Novaya Zemlya 35 000–30 000 cal years B.P., as indicated by radiocarbon ages and amino acid racemization evidence from marine molluscs

Novaya Zemlya was covered by the eastern part of the Barents–Kara ice sheet during the glacial maximum of marine isotope stage 2 (MIS 2). We obtained ¹⁴C ages on 37 samples of mollusc shells from various sites on the islands. Most samples yielded ages in the range of 48–26 ¹⁴C Ky. Such old samples are sensitive to contamination by young ¹⁴C, and therefore their reliability was assessed using replicate analyses and amino acid geochronology. The extent of aspartic acid racemization (Asp D/L) indicates that many of the ¹⁴C ages are correct, whereas some are minimum ages only. The results indicate that a substantial part of Novaya Zemlya was ice-free about 35–27 ¹⁴C Kya, and probably even earlier. Corresponding shorelines up to >140 m a.s.l. indicate a large Barents–Kara ice sheet during early MIS 3. These results are consistent with findings from Svalbard and northern Russia: in both places a large MIS 4/3 Barents–Kara ice sheet is postulated to have retreated about 50 Kya, followed by an ice-free interstadial that lasted until up to ca. 25 Kya. The duration of the MIS 2 glaciation in Novaya Zemlya was calculated by applying the D/L values to a kinetic equation for Asp racemization. This indicates that the islands were ice covered for less than 3000 years if the basal temperature was 0^oC, and for less than 10 000 years if it was −5^oC.     

Galaxy evolution in Hickson compact groups: the role of ram-pressure stripping and strangulation

Galaxies in compact groups tend to be deficient in neutral hydrogen compared to isolated galaxies of similar optical properties. In order to investigate the role played by a hot intragroup medium (IGM) for the removal and destruction of H  i in these systems, we have performed a Chandra and XMM–Newton study of eight of the most H  i deficient Hickson compact groups. Diffuse X-ray emission associated with an IGM is detected in four of the groups, suggesting that galaxy–IGM interactions are not the dominant mechanism driving cold gas out of the group members. No clear evidence is seen for any of the members being currently stripped of any hot gas, nor for galaxies to show enhanced nuclear X-ray activity in the X-ray bright or most H  i deficient groups. Combining the inferred IGM distributions with analytical models of representative disc galaxies orbiting within each group, we estimate the H  i mass-loss due to ram-pressure and viscous stripping. While these processes are generally insufficient to explain observed H  i deficiencies, they could still be important for H  i removal in the X-ray bright groups, potentially removing more than half of the interstellar medium in the X-ray bright HCG 97. Ram pressure may also have facilitated strangulation through the removal of galactic coronal gas. In X-ray undetected groups, tidal interactions could be playing a prominent role, but it remains an open question whether they can fully account for the observed H  i deficiencies.     

Holocene sedimentary and environmental development of Aarhus Bay,Denmark – a multi-proxy study

Holocene sedimentation patterns and environmental development in Aarhus Bay, Denmark, were reconstructed based on proxy analyses of two sediment cores (M1 and M5). Together, the two cores offer an opportunity to examine the history of the area during the past c. 10 000 years. The investigation consisted of acoustic mapping and multi-proxy analyses of the sediment cores including macrofossils, sediment physical properties, sediment accumulation rates, grain size, and X-ray fluorescence elemental counts. Radiocarbon dating of the two sediment successions revealed that they cover the periods c. 10 000–3700 cal. a BP (M1) and c. 4400 cal. a BP to the present (M5). The data from the M1 site indicate the presence of a near-shore lake environment between c. 10 000 and 9000 cal. a BP. The first intrusion of marine water into the area is dated to c. 9000 cal. a BP. In the following c. 1300 years, brackish-water conditions prevailed in the area characterized by a mixture of taxa from marine, limnic and terrestrial habitats, reflecting a shallow estuarine environment. Around 7700 cal. a BP full marine conditions were established, accompanied by a marked increase in sedimentation rates. The changes to full marine conditions and higher sedimentation rates are probably due to a significant sea-level rise leading to flooding of former land areas and intensified erosion. A subsequent distinct decrease in sedimentation rates around 6350 cal. a BP is presumably linked to a previously documented sea-level drop about this time. Continuous sedimentation ceased around 3700 cal. a BP in the central part of the bay, most probably due to a major sea-level lowering involving widespread erosion. In the eastern and deeper part of the bay, sedimentation continued until today. Fully marine conditions prevailed there for at least the last 4400 years.