Late- and postglacial history of the Great Belt, Denmark

On the basis of shallow seismic records, vibrocoring, macrofossil analyses and AMS radiocarbon-dating, five stratigraphical units have been distinguished from the deepest parts of the central Great Belt (Storebælt) in southern Scandinavia. Widespread glacial deposits are followed by two lateglacial units confined to deeply incised channels and separated by an erosional boundary. Lateglacial Unit I dates from the time interval from the last deglaciation to the Allerød; lateglacial Unit II is of Younger Dryas age. Early Holocene deposits show a development from river deposits and lake-shore deposits to large lake deposits, corresponding to a rising shore level. Lake deposits are found up to 20 m below the sea floor, and the lake extended over some 200–300 km2. The early Holocene freshwater deposits are dated to the time interval c. 10900 to c. 8800 cal. yr BP and the oldest shells of marine molluscs from the Great Belt are dated to c. 8100 cal. yr BP.     

GEOCHEMICAL RECOGNITION OF SPILLED SEDIMENTS USED IN NUMERICAL MODEL VALIDATION

A fixed link (tunnel and bridge, in total 16 km) was constructed between Sweden and Denmark during 1995-2000. As part of the work, approximately 16 million tonnes of seabed materials (limestone and clay till) were dredged, and about 0.6 million tonnes of these were spilled in the water. Modelling of the spreading and sedimentation of the spilled sediments took place as part of the environmental monitoring of the construction activities. In order to verify the results of the numerical modelling of sediment spreading and sedimentation, a new method with the purpose of distinguishing between the spilled sediments and the naturally occurring sediments was developed. Because the spilled sediments tend to accumulate at the seabed in areas with natural sediments of the same size, it is difficult to separate these based purely on the physical properties. The new method is based on the geo-chemical differences between the natural sediment in the area and the spill. The basic propertiesused are the higher content of calcium carbonate material in the spill as compared to the natural sediments and the higher Ca/Sr ratio in the spill compared to shell fragments dominating the natural calcium carbonate deposition in the area. The reason for these differences is that carbonate derived from recent shell debris can be discriminated from Danien limestone, which is the material in which the majority of the dredging took place, on the basis of the Ca/Sr ratio being 488 in Danien Limestone and 237 in shell debris. The geochemical recognition of the origin of the sediments proved useful in separating the spilled from the naturally occurring sediments. Without this separation, validation of the modelling of accumulation of spilled sediments would not have been possible. The method has general validity and can be used in many situations where the origin of a given sediment is sought.     

A REVIEW OF LICHEN GROWTH AND APPLIED LICHENOMETRY IN SOUTHWEST AND SOUTHEAST GREENLAND

This paper presents a critical review of previous lichenometric and lichen growth studies in southern parts of West and East Greenland. These studies include classic work from around Søndre Strømfjord, Sukkertoppen, Sermilik and Angmagssalik. Particular emphasis is placed on those studies examining the role played by climatic continentality on the growth rate of crustose lichens in Greenland. The latter part of the paper presents new data on lichen growth rates from Sermilik, between 2001 and 2006, in 22 different lichen species. Measurements show that different species grow at different rates and growth rates vary from site to site. In this study Rhizocarpon geographicum generally grows slowly (<0.2 mm a⁻¹) while other species such as Pseudephebe minuscula grow more rapidly (1.0 mm a⁻¹) in the same environment. Comparison with other studies shows that taxa-specific growth rates are slightly greater in West than in East Greenland – probably as a result of the slightly more favourable climate and higher precipitation levels. It is suggested that recent climate change, most marked in southern Greenland, will probably result in changed growth curves (over time) for species such as Rhizocarpon geographicum . However, only more precise growth curves and lichenometric dating curves can demonstrate such a phenomenon.     

The 'common vole' in Svalbard identified as Microtus epiroticus by chromosome analysis

The chromosomes were studied in six individuals from a population of Microtus from Grumantbyen, Svalbard, and in six Microtur arualis (Pallas 1778) from Lauwersee, Holland. It was shown that the voles from Svalbard did not belong, as earlier supposed, to the species M. arualis (2n = 46) but to M . epiroticus (Ondrias, 1966) (2n = 54). We suggest that the Svalbard voles were introduced by man between 1920 and 1960 together with hay on Russian ships from the vicinity of Leningrad, USSR.