The middle pleistocene deposits of Waverley Wood Pit,Warwickshire, England

A complex of channels underlying the Baginton-Lillington Gravel (Baginton Formation) at Waverley Wood Quarry, Warwickshire is described. Fossil pollen and plant macrofossils, Coleoptera, Ostracoda, Mollusca and Mammalia are described from the channel-fill deposits. Consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate. At the top of Channel 2 evidence for a cold, continental climatic episode can be recognised, suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage. At two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of Palaeolithic people in Warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments. Amino-acid geochronology suggests an age within the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage for the channels. The small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage of East Anglia. The regional stratigraphic significance of the Waverley Wood succession is outlined.     

Cathodoluminescence imaging and titanium thermometry in metamorphic quartz

Cathodoluminescence (CL) of quartz from metamorphic rocks representing a range of conditions from the garnet grade to the migmatite grade reveals a variety of textures, that is, a function of metamorphic grade and deformation history. Ti concentrations, determined by electron microprobe and ion microprobe, generally correlate with CL intensity (blue wavelengths), and application of the Ti‐in‐quartz thermometer (TitaniQ) reflects the temperature of quartz growth or recrystallization, and, in some settings, modification by diffusion. Quartz from garnet grade samples is not visibly zoned, records temperatures of 425–475 °C, and is interpreted to have recrystallized during fabric formation. Quartz grains from staurolite grade samples are zoned in CL with markedly darker cores and brighter rims, some of which are interpreted to have been produced by the dominant staurolite‐producing reaction, whereas others are interpreted as having formed by diffusion of Ti into quartz rims. Quartz from the matrix of kyanite and sillimanite grade samples are generally unzoned, although locally displays slightly brighter rims (higher Ti); quartz inclusions within garnet and staurolite have distinctly brighter rims, which are interpreted as having been produced by diffusive exchange with the host mineral. Quartz from migmatite grade samples displays highly variable CL intensity, which is dependent on the location of the grain. Matrix grains in melanosomes are largely unzoned or rarely zoned with darker cores. Leucosome quartz is strongly zoned with bright cores and dark rims and is interpreted as having formed during crystallization of the melt. Locally within the leucosome is observed oscillatory‐zoned quartz, which is interpreted as a subsolidus recrystallization to achieve strain relaxation. Quartz inclusions within garnet or plagioclase crystals often show bright domains separated by zones of dark CL. These enigmatic textures possibly reflect local melting fluxed by fluid inclusions. Temperatures calculated from the Ti–in–quartz thermometer are a function of the metamorphic grade of the sample, the textural setting of the quartz, the reaction history and the deformation history of the rock. The TitaniQ temperatures can be used to constrain the conditions at which various metamorphic processes have occurred.     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Deformation styles as a key for interpreting glacial depositional environments

Lithostratigraphical and lithofacies approaches used to interpret glacial sediments often ignore deformation structures that can provide the key to environment of formation. We propose a classification of deformation styles based on the geometry of structures rather than inferred environment of formation. Five styles are recognised: pure shear (P), simple shear (S), compressional (C), vertical (V) and undeformed (U). These dictate the first letter of the codes; the remaining letters conveying the evidence. This information can be used to reconstruct palaeostress fields and to infer physical properties of sediments when they deformed. Individual structures are not diagnostic of particular environments but the suite of structures, their relative scale, stratigraphical relationships, and orientation relative to palaeoslopes and to palaeoice‐flow directions can be used to infer the environment in which they formed. This scheme is applied at five sites in west Wales. The typical succession is interpreted as subglacial sediments overlain by meltout tills, flow tills and sediment flows. Paraglacial redistribution of glacial sediments is widespread. Large‐scale compressional deformation is restricted to sites where glaciers readvanced. Large‐scale vertical deformation occurs where water was locally ponded near the ice margin. There is no evidence for glaciomarine conditions. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

RXTE observations of the transient sources IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727

We present the results of our analysis of the RXTE observations for two transient sources, IGR J17091-3624 and IGR J18539+0727, in April 2003. The derived energy spectra of the sources and the power-density spectra of their light curves make it possible to classify them as low/hard-state X-ray binaries. The parameters of the power spectrum for IGR J18539+0727 lead us to tentatively conclude that the compact object in this binary is a black hole.     

Periodicities of the de la rue Sunspot Area Measurements

In the 19th century De la Rue, Stewart, and Loewy carried out a compilation of drawings and photographs of the solar sunspots corresponding to the interval 1832–1868. Using these drawings and photographs, they determined fortnightly values of the percentage of the solar photosphere covered by the sunspots. In this work, we have performed a spectral analysis of these data in order to determine possible periodic signals. In addition to the 11-year solar cycle, short cycles of about 330 days and 30–50 days have been recovered, lacking the 150–160 days period discovered by other authors using several solar activity indicators.     

Astronomy or biology?

The role of biology in astronomical phenomena and processes was first discussed extensively by us in the period from 1979-1982. The two sections reproduced below are the concluding chapters of `Space Travellers' which we published in 1981. The ideas discussed here have turned out to be forerunners to several recent developments in astrobiology. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Timing and tectonic setting of Grenvillian metamorphism—constraints from a transect along Georgian Bay,Ontario*

Systematic mapping of a transect along the well-exposed shores of Georgian Bay, Ontario, combined with the preliminary results of structural analysis, geochronology and metamorphic petrology, places some constraints on the geological setting of high-grade metamorphism in this part of the Central Gneiss Belt. Correlations within and between map units (gneiss associations) have allowed us to recognize five tectonic units that differ in various aspects of their lithology, metamorphic and plutonic history, and structural style. The lowest unit, which forms the footwall to a regional decollement, locally preserves relic pre-Grenvillian granulite facies assemblages reworked under amphibolite facies conditions during the Grenvillian orogeny. Tectonic units above the decollement apparently lack the early granulite facies metamorphism; out-of-sequence thrusting in the south produced a duplex-like structure. Two distinct stages of Grenvillian metamorphism are apparent. The earlier stage (c. 1160–1120 Ma) produced granulite facies assemblages in the Parry Sound domain and upper amphibolite facies assemblages in the Parry Island thrust sheet. The later stage (c. 1040–1020 Ma) involved widespread, dominantly upper amphibolite facies metamorphism within and beneath the duplex. Deformation and metamorphism recently reported from south and east of the Parry Sound domain at c. 1100–1040 Ma have not yet been documented along the Georgian Bay transect. The data suggest that early convergence was followed by a period of crustal thickening in the orogenic core south-east of the transect area, with further advance to the north-west during and after the waning stages of this deformation.