Deglaciation history and landscape development of fjord-valley deposits in Buvika, Mid-Norway

Thick deposits of glaciomarine clay and silt overlain by Holocene marine sediments in Norwegian fjord valleys have been, and still are, subject to erosional processes such as river incision, ravine formation and slide activity. In Buvika, Mid‐Norway, these land‐forming processes have been highly influenced by the valley‐fill stratigraphy. Glaciomarine and marine clay sediments dominate this 8 km long hanging valley south of the Gaulosen fjord, with local occurrences of coarser‐grained sediments. Studies of sediments and structures in road excavations together with ¹⁴C ages indicate at least one, possibly two, minor glacier readvances in late Allerød/early Younger Dryas (YD) time. This implies a more dynamic ice sheet with more minor ice‐front oscillations than earlier documented in this region. Glacioisostatic rebound resulted in groundwater leaching of marine clay and quick‐clay formation in certain layers or zones. The relative sea‐level fall led to incision by rivers accompanied by numerous slides involving quick clay, which completely liquefies when remoulded. To the east, permeInger‐Lise Solberg (e‐mail: inger‐lise.solberg@sintef.no ), Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Present address: SINTEF Building and Infrastructure, Høgskoleringen 7a, NO‐7465 Trondheim, Norway; Kåre Rokoengen, Department of Geology and Mineral Resources Engineering, NTNU, Sem Sælands veg 1, NO‐7491 Trondheim, Norway; Louise Hansen, Lars Olsen and Harald Sveian, Geological Survey of Norway, NO‐7491 Trondheim, Norwayable layers of northwesterly dipping sand and gravel generally originate from a former ice‐marginal delta. These relatively thick and frequent layers of interbedded sand and gravel in the clay‐dominated deposits drain groundwater in the slopes, leading to the development of deeply incised ravines. To the south and north, thinner layers of coarse material in the clay lead to pore‐pressure build‐ups and quick‐clay development, resulting in numerous slide scars. Knowledge of the morphology, stratigraphy and erosion pattern of areas prone to formation of quick clay is important in order to understand the landscape development and evaluate risk areas.     

Siliceous algae-based seasonal temperature inference and indicator pollen tracking ca. 4,000 years of climate/land use dependency in the southern Austrian Alps

Diatom and chrysophyte cyst-based reconstructions of the dates of spring and autumn lake-mixing enabled us to estimate spring (ST_anom) and autumn (AT_anom) temperature anomalies as well as ice-cover of the last ca. 4,000 years in a lake sediment core (Oberer Landschitzsee, 2,076 m a.s.l.) from the southern slopes of the Austrian Central Alps. The two independently inferred temperature anomalies were significantly correlated. On average, spring and autumn temperatures were lower during the two millennia B.C than during 0–1,300 A.D. Marked spring and autumn temperature minima occurred at about 1,300 and 600 B.C. At about 1,300 A.D, ST_anom declined again. Spring-temperature anomalies during Roman and Medieval times equaled or slightly exceeded the modern values and paralleled tree-line and glacier fluctuations. The de-coupling of autumn and spring climates, which began during the Medieval period, might indicate changes in major circulation modes. It was assumed that the North-Atlantic influence, triggering winter-rain climate in the Northern Mediterranean, became weaker during Medieval times, resulting in a trend towards warmer autumns and overall more continental climate conditions in the study area. Four pulses of land use, inferred from indicator pollen, occurred during (1) the Early to Late Bronze, (2) the transition from Late Bronze to Early Iron Age (Hallstatt), (3) Late Iron Age (La Tène, Celtic time) to Roman times, and (4) during high to late Medieval times. Climate seemed to be an important, though complex, trigger of Alpine land use.     

Thermohaline convection in flowing groundwater

Geothermal activity creates destabilising temperature gradients which are significant in some aquifers. Usually, in such aquifers stabilising salinity gradients also exist. The combination of temperature and salinity distribution in the aquifer may induce various types of hydrodynamic instabilities which were identified in a previous article. The present article concerns the effect of anisotropic characteristics of the hydrodynamic dispersion on the growth of instabilities in the aquifer. Three different mechanisms may lead to instability of the flow field: (a) buoyancy forces may induce convection currents; if the difference between the convection velocity of salt, due to the hydraulic gradients, and that of heat is negligible, then this mechanism is generally most effective in planes parallel to the hydraulic velocity of the fluid (velocity due to the hydraulic gradient); (b) the difference between heat and salt effective diffusivities may lead to overstability; this mechanism is most effective in planes perpendicular to the hydraulic velocity; (c) the difference between the convection velocity of salt and that of heat may induce oscillations which are most effective in planes parallel to the hydraulic velocity. The growth of instabilities in an aquifer of unlimited length is different from their growth in an aquifer of limited length. In the latter thermohaline convection develops in planes perpendicular to the hydraulic velocity, whereas in the former it develops in planes forming an angle θ with the hydraulic gradient. The development of convection cells in the flow field is identified by numerical experiments. These experiments identify the convection cell length and the angle formed between the thermohaline convection plane and the hydraulic gradient.     

Non-linear elastic finite element analysis of lateral earth pressures against basement wall

Perhaps the most widely used non-linear elastic soil behaviour law uses the hyperbolic functions to define tangent modulus and Poisson's ratio versus strain.^1,2 This paper presents the results of analytical studies with the hyperbolic elastic finite element technique for the prediction of static earth pressures against a 10-story basement wall. Carefully performed laboratory tests of the backfill material and measurements of earth pressures during backfilling provided the basis fora, refinement of the current hyperbolic elastic method. The refined analysis resulted in closer agreement of calculated earth pressures with measured values.     

Possible detection of an old bipolar shell associated with η Carinae

Continuum-subtracted dereddened images in the light of several atomic lines show the presence of an extended bipolar nebula surrounding η Carinae with size ∼100×45 arcsec² (1.3×0.5 pc²). This feature is best delineated in [O  iii ] 5007. The geometrical disposition and mass of the shell suggest that it was formed by mass ejections from η Carinae. The dynamic age of the nebula is ∼13 000/ V ₇ yr, where V ₇ is the mean expansion velocity in 100 km s⁻¹, and its mass is between 5 and 10 M_⊙. The nebula is photoionized and composed of unprocessed material. The major axes of the nebula and of the Homunculus are nearly perpendicular. We also report the discovery of elongated emission knots prominent in [N  ii ] located 64 to 100 arcsec away from η Carinae, which implies that they were ejected either centuries ago or at a more recent date but with extremely large velocities.     

FIRST RESULTS FROM VIRGO,THE EXPERIMENT FOR HELIOSEISMOLOGY AND SOLAR IRRADIANCE MONITORING ON SOHO

First results from the VIRGO experiment (Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations) on the ESA/NASA Mission SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) are reported. The observations started mid-January 1996 for the radiometers and sunphotometers and near the end of March for the luminosity oscillation imager. The performance of all the instruments is very good, and the time series of the first 4–6 months are evaluated in terms of solar irradiance variability, solar background noise characteristics and p-mode oscillations. The solar irradiance is modulated by the passage of active regions across the disk, but not all of the modulation is straightforwardly explained in terms of sunspot flux blocking and facular enhancement. Helioseismic inversions of the observed p-mode frequencies are more-or-less in agreement with the latest standard solar models. The comparison of VIRGO results with earlier ones shows evidence that magnetic activity plays a significant role in the dynamics of the oscillations beyond its modulation of the resonant frequencies. Moreover, by comparing the amplitudes of different components ofp -mode multiplets, each of which are influenced differently by spatial inhomogeneity, we have found that activity enhances excitation.     

Calculation of Spectral Darkening and Visibility Functions for Solar Oscillations

Calculations of spectral darkening and visibility functions for the brightness oscillations of the Sun resulting from global solar oscillations are presented. This has been done for a broad range of the visible and infrared continuum spectrum. The procedure for the calculations of these functions includes the numerical computation of depth-dependent derivatives of the opacity caused by p modes in the photosphere. A radiative-transport code was used for this purpose to get the disturbances of the opacities from temperature and density fluctuations. The visibility and darkening functions are obtained for adiabatic oscillations under the assumption that the temperature disturbances are proportional to the undisturbed temperature of the photosphere. The latter assumption is the only way to explore any opacity effects since the eigenfunctions of p-mode oscillations have not been obtained so far. This investigation reveals that opacity effects have to be taken into account because they dominate the violet and infrared part of the spectrum. Because of this dominance, the visibility functions are negative for those parts of the spectrum. Furthermore, the darkening functions show a wavelength-dependent change of sign for some wavelengths owing to these opacity effects. However, the visibility and darkening functions under the assumptions used contradict the observations of global p-mode oscillations, but it is beyond doubt that the opacity effects influence the brightness fluctuations of the Sun resulting from global oscillations.     

Methodological Considerations Regarding the Measurement of Turbulent Fluxes in the Urban Roughness Sublayer: The Role of Scintillometery

We address some of the methodological challenges associated with the measurement of turbulence and use of scintillometers in the urban roughness sublayer (RSL). Two small-aperture scintillometers were located near the roof interface in a densely urbanized part of Basel, Switzerland, as part of the Basel Urban Boundary-Layer Experiment (BUBBLE) in the summer of 2002. Eddy correlation instruments were co-located near the mid-point of each scintillometer path for data verification purposes. The study presents the first values of the inner length scale of turbulence (l ₀) and the refractive index structure parameter of air for a city and demonstrates the influence of mechanical driven turbulence on dissipation. Comparison of dissipation values determined from the two approaches show large scatter that is possibly due to the spatial inhomogeneity of the turbulence statistics within the RSL. Velocity and temperature spectra display a −2/3 slope in the inertial subrange, although the spectral ratio is less than the theoretical prediction of 4/3 expected for isotropy. Conventional Monin–Obukhov equations used to calculate fluxes from the scintillometer were replaced with urban forms of the equations. The results suggest that the scintillometer may be an appropriate tool for the measurement of sensible heat flux (Q _H ) above the rooftops given a suitable determination of the effective measurement height.     

Area-Averaged Sensible Heat Flux and a New Method to Determine Zero-Plane Displacement Length over an Urban Surface using Scintillometry

Field observations of area-averagedturbulence characteristics were conducted in a densely built-up residential neighbourhood in Tokyo, Japan. In addition to eddy-correlation (EC) sensors a scintillometer was used for the first time in a city. Significant results include: (1) Scintillometer-derived sensible heat fluxes, Q_H, obtained at a height 3.5 times the building height agree well with those using the EC technique; (2) source areas for the scintillometer fluxes are larger than for the EC sensors, so that at low heights over inhomogeneous terrain scintillometry offers advantages; (3) new similarity relationships for dissipation rates are proposed for urban areas; (4) a new technique that uses simultaneous scintillation measurements at two heights to directly estimate area-averaged zero-plane displacement height, z_d, is proposed. z_d estimated in this way depends slightly on atmospheric stability (lower z_d under more unstable conditions).