Identification of the Fugloyarbanki tephra in the NGRIP ice core: a key tie‐point for marine and ice‐core sequences during the last glacial period

A visible tephra horizon in the NGRIP ice core has been identified by geochemical analysis as the Fugloyarbanki Tephra, a widespread marker horizon in marine cores from the Faroe Islands area and the northern North Atlantic. An age of 26 740 ± 390 yr b2k (1σ uncertainty) is derived for this tephra according to the new Greenland Ice Core Chronology (GICC05) based on multi‐parameter counting of annual layers. Detection of this tephra for the first time within the NGRIP ice core provides a key tie‐point between marine and ice‐core records during the transition between MIS 3 and 2. Identification of this volcanic event within the Greenland records demonstrates the future potential of using tephrochronology to precisely correlate palaeoarchives in widely separated localities that span the last glacial period, as well as providing a potential method for examining the extent of the radiocarbon marine reservoir effect at this time. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reconstructing the Younger Dryas ice dammed lake in the Baltic Basin: Bathymetry, area and volume

A digital 3D-reconstruction of the Baltic Ice Lake's (BIL) configuration during the termination of the Younger Dryas cold phase (ca. 11 700 cal. yr BP) was compiled using a combined bathymetric–topographic Digital Terrain Model (DTM), Scandinavian ice sheet limits, Baltic Sea Holocene bottom sediment thickness information, and a paleoshoreline database maintained at the Lund University. The bathymetric–topographic DTM, assembled from publicly available data sets, has a resolution of 500 × 500 m on Lambert Azimuthal Equal Area projection allowing area and volume calculations of the BIL to be made with an unprecedented accuracy. When the damming Scandinavian ice sheet margin eventually retreated north of Mount Billingen, the high point in terrain of Southern central Sweden bordering to lower terrain further to the north, the BIL was catastrophically drained resulting in a 25 m drop of the lake level. With our digital reconstruction, we estimate that approximately 7800 km³ of water drained during this event and that the ice dammed lake area was reduced by ca. 18%. Building on previous results suggesting drainage over 1 to 2 years, our lake volume calculations imply that the freshwater flux to the contemporaneous sea in the west was between about 0.12 and 0.25 Sv. The BIL reconstruction provides new detailed information on the paleogeography in the area of southern Scandinavia, both before and after the drainage event, with implications for interpretations of geological records concerning the post-glacial environmental development.     

Analysis of Model Results for the Turning of the Wind and Related Momentum Fluxes in the Stable Boundary Layer

The turning of wind with height and the related cross-isobaric (ageostrophic) flow in the thermally stable stratified boundary layer is analysed from a variety of model results acquired in the first Global Energy and Water Cycle Experiment (GEWEX) Atmospheric Boundary Layer Study (GABLS1). From the governing equations in this particular simple case it becomes clear that the cross-isobaric flow is solely determined by the surface turbulent stress in the direction of the geostrophic wind for the quasi-steady state conditions under consideration. Most models indeed seem to approach this relationship but for very different absolute values. Because turbulence closures used in operational models typically tend to give too deep a boundary layer, the integrated total cross-isobaric mass flux is up to three times that given by research numerical models and large-eddy simulation. In addition, the angle between the surface and the geostrophic wind is typically too low, which has important implications for the representation of the larger-scale flow. It appears that some models provide inconsistent results for the surface angle and the momentum flux profile, and when the results from these models are removed from the analysis, the remaining ten models do show a unique relationship between the boundary-layer depth and the surface angle, consistent with the theory given. The present results also imply that it is beneficial to locate the first model level rather close to the surface for a proper representation of the turning of wind with height in the stable boundary layer.     

Influence of algal farming on fish assemblages

We examined the influence of algal farming on fish assemblages in two shallow coastal lagoons in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Fish assemblages were visually investigated using a belt transect method and the line-intercept technique was used to examine the substrate composition. 101 species of fish belonging to 31 families were recorded. Algal farming affected the associated fish fauna in terms of abundance, species richness, trophic identity and fish community composition. However, the impact differed between the lagoons. Algal farms in one lagoon hosted a more abundant and diversified fish fauna than controls, whereas farms in the other lagoon exhibited lower fish densities and similar species diversity compared to controls. The discrepancies between lagoons may be an effect of differences in farming intensity and character of the substratum.     

Taking varves to bits: Scanning electron microscopy in the study of laminated sediments and varves

Conventional high resolution studies of varved sediments are able to identify clastic and biogenic laminae, but are often unable to resolve the nature of fine-scale lamination contained therein. This intra-annual signal provides us with the highest potential resolution from the sedimentary record and can be resolved using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Six case studies from lacustrine and marine settings are presented to illustrate the combination of clastic and biogenic fabric types typically found in laminated sediments. Clastic laminae fabrics include those which originate through grain settling and those which are event deposits. The correct identification of event deposits is essential if varves are to be used chronologically. SEM-based biogenic laminae fabric studies have identified seasonal faunal successions where individual laminae may be less than 100 thick and most recently, deep chlorophyll maxima (DCM) summer diatom floras, providing an insight into seasonal scale processes. High resolution lamina fabric studies can provide a basis for generating records of seasonal and inter-annual variability, thus contributing to our understanding of lacustrine and marine processes and palaeoenvironmental interpretation.     

Comparison of DNA damage in the early life stages of cod, Gadus morhua, originating from the Barents Sea and Baltic Sea

DNA adducts in cod embryos and larvae were analysed by ³²P-postlabeling to test the hypothesis that anthropogenic substances, which could form reactive intermediates, are involved in the reproductive failure of cod (Gadus morhua) from the Baltic Sea. A comparison with cod from the Barents Sea was performed. The mean value of DNA adducts in cod embryos/larvae from the Baltic Sea was 2.3 nmol of adducts/mol nucleotides, compared to 0.12 nmol of adducts/mol nucleotides in the embryos/larvae from the Barents Sea.