Late Weichselian deglacial history of Disko Bugt, West Greenland, and the dynamics of the Jakobshavns Isbrae ice stream

New relative sea-level (RSL) data from Disko Bugt, a large marine embayment in West Greenland, are used to examine the deglacial history of the Jakobshavns Isbrae ice stream. RSL data show rapid deglaciation after 10.3 ka cal. yr BP. Once deglaciation began, a bedrock high in the west of the bay exerted no discernible influence on the deglacial chronology. Following initial rapid retreat, ice stream recession slowed as it approached the eastern shores of the bay. Seabed elevations increase here and the ice stream terminus lingered for several thousand years before retreating into the narrow bedrock-confined Jakobshavns Isfjord. The seabed topography of Disko Bugt includes several deep channels which probably record the former course of the ice stream. Using a simple water depth/calving velocity relationship it is estimated that the maximum calving velocity on deglaciation was c. 4.8 km a^-1. This is less than the present rate (6–7 km a^-1), although ice discharge was two to four times that observed today. Initiation of rapid ice stream retreat was probably caused by ice stream thinning and increased surface melting. A critical point in time was the retreat of the ice stream from shallow continental shelf waters ( c. 400 m) into the deep bedrock trough (>800 m) which marks the entrance to Disko Bugt.     

'The gloomy forebodings of this dread disease', climate, famine and sleeping sickness in East Africa

Identifying the nature of the association between climate, environmental, socio-economic and political context and disease remains a major challenge, yet a better comprehension of the linkages is imperative if predictive models to guide public health responses are to be devised. Our understanding of the relationships could be improved through investigations of historical epidemics. In this paper we draw on a range of published and unpublished documents to explore the complex relationship between climate, environmental change and epidemic disease (re)emergence in East Africa, and Uganda in particular. This is a region which has experienced climate variability at a range of temporal and spatial scales, but which also has a long history of episodic epidemic disease. We focus on the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – a time of social, economic and political reordering in East Africa associated with European colonial intervention, but also a period which witnessed a variety of climatic, ecological and disease events. It will be argued that these developments coalesced, creating a set of spatially distinctive social and environmental conditions which fostered the emergence and prolongation of one of the most deadly episodes of disease in East African history, the sleeping sickness epidemic of c.1900–20.     

CHANGING CONCEPTIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY IN BARCELONA'S PUBLIC PARKS*

ABSTRACT. In this article we explore the relationships between public parks and a broad interpretation of sustainability, taking as a case study the city of Barcelona, Spain. Recent official discourses in Barcelona insist on sustainability as one of the fundamental assets of public parks. Yet whether these urban artifacts actually contribute to sustainability objectives in environmental and social terms remains to be examined. We compare two public parks in Barcelona‐the Parc Joan Miró (1983), and the Parc de Diagonal Mar (2002)–and show how, in the former, the integration of the social, political, and environmental dimensions of sustainability was largely achieved, whereas in the latter, only the environmental dimension appears to have been considered.     

Chronology of Murrumbidgee River palaeochannels on the Riverine Plain,southeastern Australia

Four major periods of palaeochannel activity have been identified on the Murrumbidgee sector of the Riverine Plain of southeastern Australia. On the basis of stratigraphic information the channels reveal a picture of changing flow conditions during the last full glacial cycle. The ages of the periods were determined from nearly 40 thermoluminescence dates on surficial fluvial and aeolian sediments. These are named the Coleambally phase, which occurred from 105 to 80 ka (the mid- to latter part of Oxygen Isotope Stage 5), the Kerarbury phase from 55 to 35 ka (Stage 3), the Gum Creek phase from 35 to 25 ka (late Stage 3 to early Stage 2) and the Yanco phase from 20 to 13 ka (late Stage 2). The present flow regime was established by about 12 ka (Stage 1). The first two phases correlate with episodes of enhanced fluvial activity in northern and central Australia and with reduced dust activity globally. The phases in Stage 2 appear to be associated with seasonal snow melt and increased peak flows in periods flanking the Last Glacial Maximum. Source-bordering aeolian dunes associated with the Coleambally, Kerarbury and Yanco phases were found, however, the TL dates show that some have undergone aeolian reworking. Thermoluminescence dating and fluvial stratigraphy have revealed a detailed picture of Late Quaternary climate and flow regime changes that has the potential to extend to identified deposits stratigraphically older than those described here.     

The estimation of yearly probability gain for seismic statistical model

Based on the calculation method of information gain in the stochastic process presented by Vere-Jones, the relation between information gain and probability gain is studied, which is very common in earthquake prediction, and the yearly probability gain for seismic statistical model is proposed. The method is applied to the non-stationary Poisson model with whole-process exponential increase and stress release model. In addition, the prediction method of stress release model is obtained based on the inverse function simulation method of stochastic variable.     

Early Cretaceous Basaltic and Rhyolitic Magmatism in Southern Uruguay Associated with the Opening of the South Atlantic

The Early Cretaceous volcanic rocks of southern Uruguay comprisemafic and felsic volcanics. The position of these outcrops atthe southern edge of the Paraná–Etendeka continentalflood basalt province provides an opportunity to investigatepossible lateral variations in both mafic and more evolved rocktypes towards the margins of such an area of plume-related magmatism.The mafic lavas are divided into two compositionally distinctmagma types. The more voluminous Treinte Y Trés magmatype is similar to the low-Ti basalts of the Paraná floodbasalt province. The Santa Lucía magma type is a distinctand rare basalt type with ocean-island basalt type asthenosphericaffinities (high Nb/La, low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i). The felsic volcanicsare divided into two series, the Lavalleja Series and the AigüaSeries. The Lavalleja Series are chemically and isotopicallysimilar to the Paraná–Etendeka low-Ti rhyolites,and are considered to be related to the Treinte Y Tréslavas by extensive fractionation and crustal assimilation. TheAigüa Series have low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd_i and low ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr_i andunlike the rhyolites of the Paraná, are interpreted asmelts of pre-existing mafic lower crust that subsequently underwentextreme fractionation. The differences observed in the felsicsuites may be linked to differences in the volumes of the associatedbasalts and the amounts of extension. KEY WORDS: South America; flood basalts; felsic volcanics; crustal melts; plume     

Geomorphology of the eastern Badia basalt plateau, Jordan

The eastern Badia of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a landscape developed predominantly on late Tertiary and Quaternary basalt lava flows, which vary in age between 8.9 million and 0.1 million years. Pyroclastic deposits are associated with remnant volcanic cones. There is limited, seasonal rainfall. Natural vegetation regenerates during cool, damp months. Slopes, which range from concave to convex forms and have varying relief, can be related to different basalts and the time since emplacement. Much of the ground surface is mantled with boulders. In many places the continuity of boulder cover produces a desert pavement. Clasts show differing degrees of burial or exhumation, depending on the surrounding topography. Water and sediment movement are important to landscape development. Much sediment is deposited in pans, which evolve at topographic lows. The pans, known locally as Qa, vary in form depending on drainage network development. Transitional forms, known as Marab, develop where wadis widen out and sediments are deposited along ephemeral channels. Groundwater is significant, with three aquifers beneath much of the eastern Badia. Recharge of the upper aquifer is predominantly on the footslopes of the Druze Mountains, with north to south flow. Groundwater extraction has resulted in the expansion of agriculture, with consequent changes in soil and water quality.