The origin and age of driftwood on Jan Mayen

Analysis of the wood anatomy of 481 driftwood specimens from Jan Mayen shows that Larix spp. constitute approximately 70% of the trees, while sawn logs are dominated by Pinus spp. by approximately 69%. A total of 356 driftwood samples from Jan Mayen and a small number of samples from Bjørnøya in the Barents Sea and the Troynoy Island in the Kara Sea were analysed by dendrochronological methods. A driftwood Pinus chronology was dated absolutely using chronologies from living trees of Pinus sylvestris in the lower proximity of the Angara River, a tributary of the Yenisey in Siberia. About 27% of the pine logs measured on Jan Mayen were found to originate in the same region, with end years concentrated in the 1940s and 1950s. A similar source was also found for Pinus driftwood logs on Bjørnøya and Troynoy. The results confirm and further delimit the source areas of the Yenisey driftwood established earlier from driftwood logs on Svalbard and Iceland. A subordinate source of both Pinus and Picea logs on Jan Mayen is northwest Russia, from the Kola Peninsula to the Pechora River. The Transpolar Drift Stream is believed to be the main distributor of driftwood from Siberian and northwest Russian sources to Jan Mayen, via the East Greenland Current. Dendrochronological dating reveals a strong, continuous input of ice-rafted driftwood from the Kara Sea. Radiocarbon datings from Jan Mayen show surface deposits of driftwood to be less than 500 years old, due mainly to extensive degradation of older wood and little or no land uplift.     

Occurrence of pumice on raised beaches and Holocene shoreline displacement in the inner Isfjorden area, Svalbard

Finds of pumice on raised beaches in the inner Isfjorden area are reported. Pumice is abundant in two zones, and four levels can be distinguished in some areas. The highest lying level has the greatest concentration of pumice and is dated to a maximum of 6, 500 years B.P. Tentative correlations with pumice levels from other places in Svalbard indicate approximate ages of 6, 000, 4, 100, and 3, 100 years for the lower levels in inner Isfjorden. A shoreline displacement curve based on the pumice levels and on 10, 000 year old driftwood is presented.     

Thermophilous molluscs on Svalbard during the Holocene and their paleoclimatic implications

Five species of guide fossils from the Holocene warm period in Svalbard are considered: Mytilus edulis, Modiolus modiolus, Arctica islandica, Littorina littorea and Zirphaea crispata . These are now extinct in Svalbard; Zirphaea crispata , especially, requires considerable higher water temperatures than occur there today. Known radiocarbon dates on Mytilus, Modiolus and Zirphala are given. Thirty-four dates on Mytilus edulis show that it lived in Svalbard from before 9500 BP to about 3500 BP, and probably again around 1000 BP. Five dates on Modiolus and Zirphaea indicate a climatic optimum in Svalbard from about 8700 BP to 7700 BP. The most favourable places then had conditions similar to the northeastern coast of Finnmark, northernmost Norway, today. Mytilus edulis is considered a good climate indicator, and a future warming of the marine climate in Svalbard could be indicated by its eventual re-immigration into the area.     

Dynamics of the last glaciation in eastern Svalbard as inferred from glacier-movement indicators

Glacial striae and other ice movement indicators such as roche moutonées, glacial erratics, till fabric and glaciotectonic deformation have been used to reconstruct the Late Weichselian ice movements in the region of eastern Svalbard and the northern Barents Sea. The ice movement pattern may be divided into three main phases: (1) a maximum phase when ice flowed out of a centre east or southeast of Kong Karls Land. At this time the southern part of Spitsbergen was overrun by glacial ice from the Barents Sea; (2) the phase of deglaciation of the Barents Sea Ice Sheet, when an ice cap was centred between Kong Karls Land and Nordaustlandet. At the same time ice flowed southwards along Storfjorden; and (3) the last phase of the Late Weichselian glaciation in eastern Svalbard is represented by local ice caps on Spitsbergen, Nordaustlandet, Barentsoya and Edgeøya.
The reconstructed ice flow pattern during maximum glaciation is compatible with a centre of uplift in the northern Barents Sea as shown by isobase reconstructions and suggested by isostatic modelling.     

Holocene shoreline displacement at Agardhbukta, eastern Spitsbergen, Svalbard

An emergence curve based on nine radiocarbon dated samples of mosses, shells, whale bones and driftwood has been constructed for Agardhbukta. Beach sediments and delta deposits were found up to c. 50 m above sea level, and the oldest date goes back to about 10, 000 yrs BP. However, the possibility of a higher marine limit cannot be excluded. The Agardhbukta curve shows a nearly linear uplift during the entire Holocene. It differs from the western Spitsbergen curves, where a transgression occurs, and is more similar to curves from areas further east in the Svalbard archipelago.     

Radiocarbon dated common mussels Mytilus edulis from eastern Svalbard and the Holocene marine climatic optimum

The common mussel Mytilus edulis is an indicator of milder marine conditions in the Arctic, with stronger Atlantic Water influx, during the Holocene and earlier interglacials. Twelve Holocene radiocarbon dates of mytilus from eastern Svalbard fall between ca 8800 and 5000 BP and roughly delimit the marine climatic optimum period there. The beginning of this period in the east coincides with the immigration of boreal extralimital molluscs to western Svalbard, indicating the culmination of Holocene Atlantic influence.     

Availability of suitable land-fast ice and predation as factors limiting ringed seal populations, Phoca hispida, in Svalbard

We examined the stability of fast ice areas in western and northern Spitsbergen, the area north of Nordaustlandet, the bays and sounds of Hinlopen Stretet and the large area in the northern part of Storfjorden. NOAA satellite imagery from 1974 and 1988 and NOAA (AVHRR) imagery from 1980-87 were used to determine the dates of freeze-up and break-up. The number of days of fast ice present before the nominal birth date of ringed seal pups were computed for all major bays and fjords. Ice thickness was then computed from these data. Known prime breeding habitat in Svalbard is found in areas near glacier fronts in protected fjords and bays, where densities of birth lairs are 5.46 km⁻², corresponding to a ringed seal female density of 2.6 km⁻². Most of the ringed seal breeding habitat in Svalbard, however, consists of flat fjord ice where snow accumulation is rarely deep enough to permit birth lair construction. In these areas pups are often born in the open. Based on breathing hole densities, the density of adult females in the flat ice areas in the breeding period was estimated to 0.98 km⁻². A preliminary estimate is that approximately 19,500 pups could be born annually in the fast ice of Svalbard. Annual recruitment could be quite variable given the unpredictable nature of the fast ice areas and the high predation mortality on newborn pups. Discrepancies between our calculated ringed seal production and numbers of seals required to feed the large polar bear population in the area signal cause for management concern.     

Holocene shoreline displacement in southernmost Spitsbergen

Three radiocarbon dates on marine organic material from southernmost Spitsbergen are presented, making it possible to compare the Holocene shoreline displacement in this area with that of other areas of Svalbard. The most distinct raised beach feature is the large beach ridge terrace about 10 m above sea level which most probably is the result of a marine transgression ca. 6500 years ago. Dating of 2700-year-old laminaria from about 2 m above sea level demonstrates a small rising of the land during the youngest Holocene.     

清代华北地区冬半年温度变化重建与分析

利用清代地方志中的异常初、终霜记载,根据器测时期华北初、终霜的早、晚与温度变化的关系,重建了1646-1910 年华北地区时间分辨率为5 年的冬半年温度距平序列,分析了期间的冷暖变化特征.结果表明：清代华北地区气候以寒冷为主要特征,冬半年温度平均较现代(1951-1980 年)约低0.55℃,最冷5 年(1656-1660 年)较现代约低1.42℃;清代华北地区冬半年气候存在“冷-暖-冷”的世纪波动,两个寒冷时段起讫时间分别为1646-1700 年(平均较现代约低0.77℃)和1781-1910 年(平均较现代约低0.58℃),1701-1780 年虽然相对较暖,但冬半年温度仍较现代略低(平均较现代约低0.36℃);从更高时间分辨率看,清代冷暖时段内同样存在较小的波动,清后期寒冷时段出现了两个“冷谷”.     

Stratigraphic and Morphologic Constraints on the Weichselian Glacial History of Northern Prins Karls Forland, Western Svalbard

Uncertainty remains if ice–free marginal areas existed on the west coast of Svalbard during the Late Weichselian. Field mapping and correlation to well dated raised beach sequences on nearby Brøggerhalvøya reveal the existence of two generations of raised beach deposits on northern Prins Karls Forland. Distinct beach ridges rise up to the inferred Late Weichselian marine limit at 18 m a.s.l. Discontinuous pre–Late Weichselian beach deposits rise from the Late Weichselian marine limit up to approximately 60 m a.s.l. Expansion of local glaciers during the Late Weichselian is indicated by the limited distribution of a till that overlies parts of the older beach sequence. Stratigraphic data and chronological control indicate deposition in a shallow marine environment before 50 ka bp . Correlation to stratigraphic sites on western Svalbard suggests deposition at c . 70 ±10 ka. Glaciotectonic structures disclose expansion of local glaciers into the For–landsundet basin during stage 4 or late stage 5 high relative sea level. Palaeotemperature estimates derived from amino acid ratios indicate that during the time interval c . 70 to 10 ka the area was exposed to cold subaerial temperatures with low rates of racemization. Pedogenesis and frost–shattered clasts at the contact between c . 70 ka deposits and Holocene deposits further indicate a prolonged period of subaerial polar desert conditions during this time interval. The evidence suggests that the Barents Sea ice sheet did not extend across northern Prins Karls Forland during the Weichselian. It is inferred that during the Late Weichselian, ice was drained throughout the major fjords on the west coast of Svalbard and that relatively large marginal areas experienced polar desert conditions and minor expansions of local glaciers.     

台湾的红树林及其环境意义

本文概述了台湾现代红树林的分布及其与气候，海流，底质等环境条件的关系，并将台湾的红树林与邻区做了对比。中国东南部陆，海域沉积物中红树花粉的分布变化规律在一程度上反映了第四纪以来的环境变迁。     

Seismic mapping of the post-Caledonian strata in Svalbard

The status of seismic exploration work mapping the post-Caledonian strata in the Svalbard area is presented. Compressional wave velocities are very high throughout the area, around 4km/s in the Tertiary and Mesozoic layers. In the Permian section velocities exceed 5 km/s, with refraction velocities > 6 km/s in the calcareous rocks of the Gipsdalen Group (early Permian/Late Carboniferous). Apart from correlation with carbonate and chert lithology, high velocities reflect the high degree of consolidation and the low porosities of shales and sandstones in the post-Caledonian strata in Svalbard. In van Mijenfjorden seismic reflection events are observed down to 3–4 km depth and associated with Carboniferous and younger strata. The thickness of the Mesozoic layers in this part of the central Spitsbergen syncline seems to be greater than previously suggested, and there is an apparent eastward divergence between the Jurassic and the Triassic reflectors. In south-western Storfjorden, reflections interpreted to originate from Carboniferous and Permian strata might represent the seaward extension of the central Spitsbergen syncline. In the northern part of Storfjorden, carbonate layers within the Gipsdalen Group are interpreted to lie about one kilometre below the sea floor. A prominent fault zone in this area trends NNW-SSE, like the main structural elements on Spitsbergen. It shows block-faulting, presumably caused by extensional movement in late Devonian-Carboniferous time.     

Snow accumulation distribution on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, in 1997

A survey of the regional snow accumulation variability on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, was carried out during three field campaigns in May 1997. The survey was carried out along three transects from west-to-east approcimately at the following latitudes: 77°30', 78° and 78°50'degrees north. The altitudes span from sea level to 1000 metres elevation. Snow depth was measured with two different ground-penetrating radar systems, PulsEKKO (450 MHz) and GSSI SIR System-2 (500 MHz), pulled behind snow machines. Snow characteristics such as snow temperature, snow density and stratigraphy were measured in snow pits in nine areas, three along each transect. Our data suggest the following: (1)the accumulation-elevation gradients vary from 3 mm/100 m in the northeast to 237 mm/100 min the central-south with an average value of 104 mm/100m for all measurements: (2)snow accumulation was 38 to 49% higher at the eastern coast than at the western coast; (3) a clear minimum in accumulation (or continental climate) is seen for the central (inland) locations in the middle and northern transects while no such minimum exists along the southern transect; (4) a south-to-north gradient produces 55% and 40% less snow accumulation at the northern locations compared to the southern locations at the western and eastern coasts, respectively. These drops in winter snow accumulation occur over a distance of less than 200 km.     

Occurrence of the Mytilus edulis complex on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard: radiocarbon ages and climatic implications

Fragments of the blue mussel ( Mytilus edulis complex) are present on raised beaches in the vicinity of Langgrunnodden and Kinnvika, northwestern Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Both of these localities are north of 80ø N. New radiocarbon age determinations, together with earlier results, show that Mytilus colonies were present in this area for much of the first half of Holocene time–from approximately 9000 to 5800 ¹⁴C yr BP. Mytilus has also been recorded farther south in Nordaustlandet, at three localities in Wahlenbergfjorden. Age determinations of shells at two of these sites have yielded results in the range of 7400 to 6900 ¹⁴C yr BP. The arrival of Mytilus to Nordaustlandet coincided with the early Holocene influx of warm North Atlantic Water off the west coast of Spitsbergen. The drastic warming in early Holocene time, which resulted in the rapid melt-off of glaciers and ice caps in Svalbard, also facilitated the establishment and perserverance of Mytilus colonies at this high latitude.     

Grenvillian U-Pb zircon ages of quartz porphyry and rhyolite clasts in a metaconglomerate at Vimsodden, southwestern Spitsbergen

Proterozoic metasupracrustal rocks form a NNW-SSE trending basement zone along the western coast of Spitsbergen. The rocks show complex structures as a result of both Caledonian and Tertiary deformation, and most of the subordinate metaigneous rocks are not suitable for isotopic age determination. Some zircon-bearing rocks were found in the southwestern part of Spitsbergen and an attempt of U-Pb dating was performed.
U-Pb dating was carried out on zircon fractions from quartz porphyry and rhyolite clasts in a metaconglomerate unit of the Pyttholmen Formation northwest of Hornsund, southwestern Spitsbergen. The Pyttholmen Formation is considered to be a lateral equivalent of the upper part of the Gulliksenfjellet quartzite and in the same time as the upper part of the Skålfjellet metavolcanites. Therefore, the obtained ages are applicable to the age of the Skålfjellet igneous activities. Some of the dated samples are strongly schistose and their magmatic origin is difficult to confirm; the interpretation of the isotopic results is not well constrained; however, some explanations are possible which refer to the known geological conditions; an igneous age of siliceous volcanic rocks of ca. 1200 Ma, inherited zircon ages of ca. 2500 Ma and a regional metamorphic age of ca. 930 Ma. The last age belongs to the Grenvillian period and is conformable with the Rb/Sr whole rock age obtained from the garnet-biotite schists of the Isbjernhamna Group underlying the Skålfjellet metavolcanites.     

Status of the Atlantic walrus Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus in the Svalbard area

Observations of walrus in the Svalbard area in the period 1954-1982 indicate an increase since 1970 in the numbers summering in this area. The numbers of walrus observed show annual fluctuations. With the exception of 1973, when at least 300 animals were observed on one occasion at Kvitøya, the observations indicate a summering stock of about 100 animals. In 1982, when most walrus habitats in Svalbard were surveyed, observations of 248-274 animals were recorded. These observations were estimated to represent 82–85 individuals.
During summer, walrus are most frequently observed at Tusenøyane, in Murchisonfjorden and along adjacent coasts, along the northern coast of Nordaustlandet, at Kvitoya, and at Moffen. Apparently, the walrus re-established the use of Moffen as a summer haul-out site about the beginning of the 1970s.
An apparent under-representation of observations of females with dependent calves in Svalbard indicates that the area is mainly used as a summering area by males and that Svalbard is in the process of being repopulated by an extension of a population centred elsewhere. It is suggested that the walrus summering in Svalbard belong to a population with its main distribution in the Frans Josef Land archipelago, but at least some may be derived from a walrus population(s) occurring at Novaja Zemlja and in the Kara Sea.     

Hydrographic and current measurements in the Fram Strait, August 1981

The hydrographic (CTD) observations and pendulum current measurements obtained with M/S 'Lance' in August 1981 in the area west and north of Spitsbergen, are presented. The warm and saline northward flow, known as the West Spitsbergen Current, is found to follow the shelf break. In the Fram Strait the hydrographic structure is complicated because of eddies and other transient movements. The current measurements suggest a two-layer structure where the velocity vector rotates in opposite directions in the two layers with a period near the semidiurnal tidal period.     

Genetic climatic regionalization of the Balkan Peninsula using cluster analysis

Sea Level Pressure(SLP) data for the period 1950–2012 at 61 stations located in or around the Balkan Peninsula was used. The main concept is that intra-annual course of SLP represents the best different air masses that are situated over the Balkan Peninsula during the year. The method for differentiation of climatic zones is cluster analysis. A hierarchical clustering technique–average linkage between groups with Pearson correlation for measurement of intervals was employed in the research. The climate of the Balkan Peninsula is transitional between oceanic and continental and also between subtropical and temperate climates. Several major changes in atmospheric circulation over the Balkan Peninsula have happened over the period 1950–2012. There is a serious increase of the influence of the Azores High in the period January–Marchwhich leads to an increase of SLP and enhances oceanic influence. There is an increase of the influence of the north-west extension of the monsoonal low in the period June–September. This leads to more continental climatebut also to more tropical air masses over the Balkan Peninsula. Accordinglythe extent of subtropical climate widens in northern direction. There is an increase of the influence of the Siberian High in the period October–December. This influence covers central and eastern part of the peninsula in October and Novemberand it reaches western parts in December. Thusthe climate becomes more continental.     

Postglacial sea-level history of Edgeøya and Barentsøya, eastern Svalbard

Four relative sea-level curves from Edgeøya and Barentsøya are constructed based on 81 radiocarbon age determinations on carefully selected and levelled samples in raised beaches, mostly driftwood embedded in beach gravel. All the dates, covering the period from the deglaciation to the present, are calibrated to calendar years, and the sea-level curves are defined by fitting the data with a least square regression curve. The dates are internally very consistent, and the results are some of the most precise sea-level curves from the Arctic.
The four curves are quite similar, and from the marine limit at 85-90 m a.s.l. they show a rapid emergence (ca 40 mm/year), formed about 11,000 cal yrs BP (∼10,000¹⁴C yrs BP). A minimum rate of emergence close to 8000 cal years ago is explained by a decreased rate in isostatic uplift parallel with a sustained rate of eustatic sea-level rise. During the last 7000 cal years, the emergence rate has decreased linearly. The uplift rates have been slightly higher on southern Edgeøya than further north during the last 7000 years. By comparing the sea-level curves from Storøya (ca 270 km to the north) and Hopen (ca 150 km to the south), we suggest that a memory of an earlier and larger glacio-isostatic downwarping in the southern Barents Sea is detected in the sea-level curves from Hopen and southern Edgeøya.     

Particle-laden Eurasian Arctic sea ice: observations from July and August 1987

During the summer 1987 expedition of the polar research vessel'Polarstern'in the Eurasian Basin of the Arctic Ocean, sea ice at about 84-86°N and 20-30°E was found to have high concentrations of particulate material. The particle-laden ice occurred in patches which often darkened more than half the ice surface at our northernmost positions. Much of this ice appeared to be within the Siberian Branch of the Transpolar Drift stream, which transports deformed, multi-year ice from the Siberian shelves westward across the Eurasian Basin. Lithogenic sediment, which is the major component of the particulate material, may have been incorporated during ice formation on the shallow Siberian seas. Diatoms collected from the particle-rich ice surfaces support this conclusion, as assemblages were dominated by a marine benthic species similar to that reported from sea ice off the coast of northeast Siberia. Based on drift trajectories of buoys deployed on the ice it appears that much of the particle-laden ice exited the Arctic Ocean through the Fram Strait and joined the East Greenland Current.
Very different sea ice characteristics were found east of the Yermak Plateau and north of Svalbard and Frans Josef Land up to about 83-84°N. Here sea ice was thinner, less deformed, with lower amounts of lithogenic sediment and diatoms. The diatom assemblage was dominated by planktonic freshwater species. Trajectories of buoys deployed on sea ice in this region indicated a tendency for southward transport to the Yermak Plateau or into the Barents Sea.