A multicomponent,dual-polarity palaeomagnetic regional overprint from the Moine of northwest Scotland

Palaeomagnetic remanence may be reset by orogeny in a manner analogous to isotopic systems. The heavy mineral seams and associated psammite in the deformed and metamorphosed Lower Morar Division of the Moine Assemblage of northwest Scotland have a palaeomagnetic signature that is characteristic over a wide area. The various components of the magnetization are resolved by detailed thermal demagnetization. These components are post-tectonic, as they are not affected by any structural fabric. They may be classified according to blocking temperature and, when statistically distinguishable, show a systematic change of direction from high to lower temperature possibly associated with apparent polar wander. Comparison to the European palaeomagnetic record suggests a late Silurian to early Devonian age of magnetization for the localities south of the Strath Conon Fault. The distribution of remanance directions and blocking temperatures is not consistent with the pattern of potassium-argon ages in this part of the British Caledonides. If the magnetization is purely of thermal origin, the palaeomagnetic record indicates higher temperatures at later time than does the potassium-argon record. This remagnetization event is related to the closing stages of the Caledonian orogeny.     

The geology and mineralogy of the Anuri kimberlite, Nunavut, Canada

The 613±6 Ma Anuri kimberlite is a pipelike body comprising two lobes with a combined surface area of approximately 4–5 ha. The pipe is infilled with two contrasting rock types: volcaniclastic kimberlite (VK) and, less common, hypabyssal kimberlite (HK).

The HK is an archetypal kimberlite composed of macrocrysts of olivine, spinel, mica, rare eclogitic garnet and clinopyroxene with microphenocrysts of olivine and groundmass spinel, phlogopite, apatite and perovskite in a serpentine–calcite–phlogopite matrix. The Ba enrichment of phlogopite, the compositional trends of both primary spinel and phlogopite, as well as the composition of the mantle-derived xenocrysts, are also characteristic of kimberlite. The present-day country rocks are granitoids; however, the incorporation of sedimentary xenoliths in the HK shows that the Archean granitoid basement terrain, at least locally, was capped by younger Proterozoic sediments at the time of emplacement. The sediments have since been removed by erosion. HK is confined to the deeper eastern parts of the Anuri pipe. It is suggested that the HK was emplaced prior to the dominant VK as a separate phase of kimberlite. The HK must have ascended to high stratigraphic levels to allow incorporation of Proterozoic sediments as xenoliths.

Most of the Anuri kimberlite is infilled with VK which is composed of variable proportions of juvenile lapilli, discrete olivine macrocrysts, country rock xenoliths and mantle-derived xenocrysts. It is proposed that the explosive breakthrough of a second batch of kimberlite magma formed the western lobe resulting in the excavation of the main pipe. Much of the resulting fragmented country rock material was deposited in extra crater deposits. Pyroclastic eruption(s) of kimberlite must have occurred to form the common juvenile lapilli present in the VKs. The VK is variable in nature and can be subdivided into four types: volcaniclastic kimberlite breccia, magmaclast-rich volcaniclastic kimberlite breccia, finer grained volcaniclastic kimberlite breccia and lithic-rich volcaniclastic kimberlite breccia. The variations between these subtypes reflect different depositional processes. These processes are difficult to determine but could include primary pyroclastic deposition and/or resedimentation.

There is some similarity between Anuri and the Lac de Gras kimberlites, with variable types of VK forming the dominant infill of small, steep-sided pipes excavated into crystalline Archean basement and sedimentary cover.     

Storm-dominated sedimentation along a rocky transgressive shoreline in the Silurian (Llandovery) of Western Ireland

Sedimentation patterns are described from the Kilbride Formation west of the Maam Fault zone, north Galway, Ireland. Seven distinct facies are described using faunal and lithological parameters. Environments of deposition range from marginal marine to deep shelf conditions. Lateral facies distributions were largely controlled by a rocky topographic high which influenced sedimentation until being buried by outer shelf sediments in middle-upper Kilbride Formation times. Four distinct sequences are described: in the lower Kilbride Formation, sequences I and IV are dominated by proximal storm deposits; sequence II was deposited in the lee of the topographic high and is interpreted as barred estuarine deposits; and in sequence III, at the topographic high, no deposition took place. In the upper Kilbride Formation the barrier was buried and uniform outer shelf conditions prevailed throughout the area. Faunal assemblages were strongly controlled by local environmental conditions and do not conform directly with the expected pattern of depth-related brachiopod communities. The Lingula and Eocoelia communities are amalgamated and alloch-thonous, the Pentameroides and Costistricklandia communities are absent, and only the Clorinda community is well represented, though parautochthonous.     

Science of Nowcasting Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10): a World Weather Research Programme Project

A World Weather Research Programme (WWRP) project entitled the Science of Nowcasting Olympic Weather for Vancouver 2010 (SNOW-V10) was developed to be associated with the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games conducted between 12 February and 21 March 2010. The SNOW-V10 international team augmented the instrumentation associated with the Winter Games and several new numerical weather forecasting and nowcasting models were added. Both the additional observational and model data were available to the forecasters in real time. This was an excellent opportunity to demonstrate existing capability in nowcasting and to develop better techniques for short term (0–6 h) nowcasts of winter weather in complex terrain. Better techniques to forecast visibility, low cloud, wind gusts, precipitation rate and type were evaluated. The weather during the games was exceptionally variable with many periods of low visibility, low ceilings and precipitation in the form of both snow and rain. The data collected should improve our understanding of many physical phenomena such as the diabatic effects due to melting snow, wind flow around and over terrain, diurnal flow reversal in valleys associated with daytime heating, and precipitation reductions and increases due to local terrain. Many studies related to these phenomena are described in the Special Issue on SNOW-V10 for which this paper was written. Numerical weather prediction and nowcast models have been evaluated against the unique observational data set now available. It is anticipated that the data set and the knowledge learned as a result of SNOW-V10 will become a resource for other World Meteorological Organization member states who are interested in improving forecasts of winter weather.     

Larval fish abundance and physical forcing in the Gulf of Alaska, 1981–2003

The present study investigates ecological patterns and relationships to environmental variables among a time-series of larval fish species abundance from late spring surveys (1981–2003) in the northwest Gulf of Alaska (GOA). Links between interannual variation in species abundance and the physical environment were explored using generalized additive modeling (GAM). Trends in larval abundance and connections with physical variables displayed patterns that indicate unique and complex responses among species to environmental forcing during the larval period. In particular, the observed patterns suggest that ontogenetic-specific responses, representing sub-intervals of early life, are important. In addition, a notable degree of synchrony in larval abundance trends, and similarity in links with physical variables, were observed among species with common early life history patterns. The deepwater spawners, northern lampfish, arrowtooth flounder, and Pacific halibut, were most abundant in the study area during the 1990s, in association with enhanced wind-driven onshore and alongshore transport. Years of high abundance for Pacific cod, walleye pollock, and northern rock sole were associated with cooler winters and enhanced alongshore winds during spring. High larval abundance for spring–summer spawning rockfish species and southern rock sole seemed to be favored by warmer spring temperatures later in the time-series. This apparent exposure–response coupling seems to be connected to both local-scale and basin-scale environmental signals, to varying degrees depending on specific early life history characteristics. Understanding such ecological connections contributes to the evaluation of vulnerability and resilience among GOA species’ early life history patterns to fluctuating climate and oceanographic conditions. This investigation also provides crucial information for the identification of “environmental indicators” that may have a broad-spectrum effect on multiple species early life history stages, as well as those that may be more species-specific in exerting control on early life history survival. Of particular interest was the emergence of the EP–NP (East Pacific–North Pacific) teleconnection index as the top-ranked variable in the GAM models exploring the connections between late spring larval abundance and the physical environment. The EP–NP index represents an important and often primary mode of spring–summer atmospheric variability in the northeast Pacific, with a strong expression in the GOA, and its connection with species in this study implies that it may be a climate mode of significant ecological importance.     

The Apollo missions and Moon rocks, 1969–1972

On 16 July 1969, three men set off for the Moon; just four days later, two of them planted their feet on its surface. Their objectives: to explore the lunar surface, carry out experiments, and gather geological samples for study. Geology was at the very centre of the Moon missions, and recovery of Moon rocks one of the measures of success. The samples obtained are amongst the most treasured natural artefacts of science.     

Deriving the coronal hole electron temperature: electron density dependent ionization / recombination considerations

Comparison of appropriate theoretically derived line ratios with observational data can yield estimates of a plasma’s physical parameters,such as electron density or temperature.The usual practice in the calculation of the line ratio is the assumption of excitation by electrons/protons followed by radiative decay.Furthermore,it is normal to use the so-called coronal approximation,i.e.one only considers ionization and recombination to and from the ground-state.A more accurate treatment is to include ionizati...