Luminescence chronology of non‐glacial sediments in Changeable Lake,Russian High Arctic,and implications for limited Eurasian ice‐sheet extent during the LGM

A 10.5 m core from Changeable Lake in the Severnaya Zemlya Archipelago just north of the Taymyr Peninsula intersects ca. 30 cm of diamicton at its base, interpreted as a basal till. Because the upper 10.13 m of this core consists of non‐glacial sediments, a maximum numeric age for these non‐glacial sediments would provide a clear lower limit to the timing of the last glaciation in the area of Changeable Lake. Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dating of several materials from this core yielded widely scattered results. Consequently we applied photonic dating to sediments above the diamicton. The experimental single‐aliquot‐regenerative (SAR) dose fine‐grain method was applied to two samples, using the ‘double SAR’ approach. With one exception, these fine‐grain SAR results and the results of application of the SAR method to sand‐sized quartz grains from two samples, at ca. 9.95 m and ca. 10.05 m depth, are discrepant with age estimates from the multi‐aliquot infrared‐photon‐stimulated luminescence (IR‐PSL) method applied to fine grains. Multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL dating of 10 samples produces ages increasing monotonically from ca. 4 ka at 2 m to 53 ± 4 ka at 9.97 m. These self‐consistent multi‐aliquot IR‐PSL ages, along with limiting ¹⁴C ages of >47 ka at ca. 10 m, provide direct evidence that glacial ice did not advance over this lake basin during the Last Glacial Maximum, and thus delimit the northeastern margin of the Barents–Kara Sea ice‐sheet to somewhere west of this archipelago. The last regional glaciation probably occurred during marine isotope stage (MIS) 4 or earlier. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrodialytic treatment of sewage sludge: influence on microbiological community

This study aimed to evaluate the changes in microbiological communities present in sewage sludge (SS) when subjected to an electric field. The establishment of these relations is important to design and optimize an electrotechnology that not only promotes a direct degradation of the emerging organic contaminants, through electrodegradation, but also stimulates their biodegradation. Different current intensities were used continuously or by steps, in a two compartment electrodialytic (ED) cell. Samples collected between May and July of 2015 were analysed, prior to ED treatment, and the 35 Taxa identified were divided in 12 groups. Initial samples, collected on May, were mainly constituted by stalked ciliates (86%), followed by shelled amoebae (8%), whereas the samples collected between June and July presented higher number of shelled amoebae, between 52 and 92%. Epistylis, Vorticella and Arcella gibbosa were the most frequent protozoa identified. Samples richness (R) was between 7 and 14, Simpson’s biodiversity index (D) between 0.45 and 0.69, and evenness between 0.42 and 0.65. At the end of the ED experiments, a decrease in the number of identified Taxa and individuals was observed and, consequently, SS biodiversity also decreased. This decline was more pronounced in the ED experiments conducted with currents above 50 mA (0.10 mA cm^?2). In terms of abundance, the final SS was mainly constituted by shelled amoebae that showed to be the most resistant to the conditions within the ED cell. The obtained results showed that the studied conditions within the ED cell were not appropriate to the microbiological communities, which influenced the final SS quality.     

Reassessment of Hydrofluoric Acid Desilicification in the Carius Tube Digestion Technique for Re–Os Isotopic Determination in Geological Samples

In this study, Re and Os isotopes were systematically determined in six geological reference materials (RMs; covering a wide range of lithologies) using the Carius tube (CT) digestion technique with and without hydrofluoric acid desilicification. Our results show that the HF desilicification increased the Re extraction efficiency (by 9–15%) evidenced from basaltic and andesitic rocks (e.g., BHVO‐2, TDB‐1 and AGV‐2). This implies that a small proportion of Re resides in silicate phases. For mafic–ultramafic rocks (e.g., BCR‐2, WGB‐1 and WPR‐1), Re extraction efficiencies obtained by the CT digestion with and without HF desilicification were similar. This may indicate that Re in these rocks may dominantly reside in some phases (e.g., magnetite and sulfides) that could be completely dissolved in aqua regia solutions without the aid of HF desilicification. Our results also show that the HF desilicification increased Os extraction efficiency (by 13–99%) in some RMs (e.g., BHVO‐2, WGB‐1 and AGV‐2). This observation suggests that a portion of Os‐rich trace phases may occur as inclusions in the silicate phases that act as isolators at ~ 200 mesh sizes. This study demonstrates that the HF desilicification step prior to CT digestion is important for complete extraction of Re and Os in geological samples.     

Constraints on the cooling history of the H‐chondrite parent body from phosphate and chondrule Pb‐isotopic dates from Estacado

Abstract— To constrain the metamorphic history of the H‐chondrite parent body, we dated phosphates and chondrules from four H6 chondritic meteorites using U‐Pb systematics. Reconnaissance analyses revealed that only Estacado had a sufficiently high ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratio suitable for our purposes. The Pb‐Pb isochron date for Estacado phosphates is measured to be 4492 ± 15 Ma. The internal residue‐second leachate isochron for Estacado chondrules yielded the chondrule date of 4546 ± 18 Ma. An alternative age estimate for Estacado chondrules of 4527.6 ± 6.3 Ma is obtained from an isochron including two chondrules, two magnetically separated fractions, and four bulk chondrite analyses. This isochron date might represent the age of termination of Pb diffusion from the chondrules to the matrix. From these dates and previously established closure temperatures for Pb diffusion in phosphates and chondrules, we estimate an average cooling rate for Estacado between 5.5 ± 3.2 Myr/°C and 8.3 ± 5.0 Myr/°C. Using previously published results for Ste. Marguerite (H4) and Richardton (H5), our data reveal that the cooling rates of H chondrites decrease markedly with increasing metamorphic grade, in agreement with the predictions of the “onion‐shell” asteroid model. Several issues, however, need to be addressed before confirming this model for the H‐chondrite parent body: the discrepancies between peak metamorphic temperatures established by various mineral thermometers need to be resolved, diffusion and other mechanisms of element migration in polycrystalline solids must be better understood, and dating techniques should be further improved.     

Photo‐identification of short‐beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis) in north‐east New Zealand: A photo‐catalogue of recognisable individuals

Photo‐identification has been established as a helpful tool in cetacean research. However, no study to date has attempted to apply this method to short‐beaked common dolphins (Delphinus delphis L.). We present here the results of two studies that were conducted concurrently in Mercury Bay and the Hauraki Gulf on the north‐east coast of New Zealand's North Island. Methods for distinguishing between individual dolphins are discussed. Sighting records of recognisable individuals indicate that some common dolphins move between Mercury Bay and the Hauraki Gulf (100 km distance), as well as between Mercury Bay and Whakatane (200 km distance). Common dolphin abundance and site fidelity appeared to be greater in the Hauraki Gulf than in Mercury Bay. A selection of photographs of distinct individuals is presented to allow future studies to compare their sighting records to ours, which may help establish the extent of home ranges, site fidelity, and possibly even longevity for common dolphins.     

Assessing housing growth when census boundaries change

The US Census provides the primary source of spatially explicit social data, but changing block boundaries complicate analyses of housing growth over time. We compared procedures for reconciling housing density data between 1990 and 2000 census block boundaries in order to assess the sensitivity of analytical methods to estimates of housing growth in Oregon. Estimates of housing growth varied substantially and were sensitive to the method of interpolation. With no processing and areal‐weighted interpolation, more than 35% of the landscape changed; 75–80% of this change was due to decline in housing density. This decline was implausible, however, because housing structures generally persist over time. Based on aggregated boundaries, 11% of the landscape changed, but only 4% experienced a decline in housing density. Nevertheless, the housing density change map was almost twice as coarse spatially as the 2000 housing density data. We also applied a dasymetric approach to redistribute 1990 housing data into 2000 census boundaries under the assumption that the distribution of housing in 2000 reflected the same distribution as in 1990. The dasymetric approach resulted in conservative change estimates at a fine resolution. All methods involved some type of trade‐off (e.g. analytical difficulty, data resolution, magnitude or bias in direction of change). However, our dasymetric procedure is a novel approach for assessing housing growth over changing census boundaries that may be particularly useful because it accounts for the uniquely persistent nature of housing over time.     

Radon and remediation measures near Băiţa-Ştei old uranium mine (Romania)

B?i?a-?tei mine is an open pit mine in NW Romania (West Carpathian Mountains). It was the largest surface uranium deposit in the world. Two means of uranium transport and dissemination were used over time. The first was the natural way, represented by transportation of geological sediments by Cri?ul-B?i?a River that crosses the B?i?a surface deposit. These sediments were used as building materials (stone, gravel, sand). The second way was related to the people living in this valley, who used also the uranium waste as building material. The preliminary indoor radon concentrations measured in the buildings ranged from 40 to 4000 Bq m^?3 with a mean value of 241 Bq m^?3. A focused radon survey facilitated the selection of 20 houses with the highest indoor radon that were therefore proposed for remediation. To find the radon sources of these houses, systematic investigations on radon were performed. The remedial measures for these 20 houses were tested on a chosen pilot house.