ESR isochron dating analyses at Bau de l'Aubesier,Provence, France: Clues to U uptake in fossil teeth

At Bau de l'Aubesier, Provence, Mousterian artifacts and human teeth occur in inhomogeneous (“lumpy”) sedimentary deposits that include bone and tooth fragments and extensive burnt horizons. Electron spin resonance (ESR) isochron analyses of mammal teeth, which use multiple subsamples with different U concentrations, can measure the external dose rate experienced by the tooth regardless of reworking and sedimentary dose rate changes. Isochron analyses do depend on the U uptake model assumed, but can also identify teeth that have experienced secondary U uptake or leaching. Using 11 teeth from six archaeological layers, the isochrons demonstrate that at least three teeth have experienced secondary uptake. For eight teeth, the U uptake has apparently not followed strictly early (EU), linear (LU), or recent uptake (RU), but more closely approximates LU‐RU. Comparing volumetrically averaged sedimentary geochemistry with thermoluminescent dosimetry suggests that fossil tissues in the sediment have also experienced LU‐RU uptake. LU‐RU uptake can explain standard ESR ages that underestimate the true fossil age. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Increased Variability of Microbial Communities in Restored Salt Marshes nearly 30?Years After Tidal Flow Restoration

We analyzed microbial diversity and community composition from four salt marsh sites that were impounded for 40?C50?years and subsequently restored and four unimpounded sites in southeastern Connecticut over one growing season. Community composition and diversity were assessed by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and sequence analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) genes. Our results indicated diverse communities, with sequences representing 14 different bacterial divisions. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Planctomycetes dominated clone libraries from both restored and unimpounded sites. Multivariate analysis of the TRFLP data suggest significant site, sample date, and restoration status effects, but the exact causes of these effects are not clear. Composition of clone libraries and abundance of bacterial 16S rRNA genes were not significantly different between restored sites and unimpounded sites, but restored sites showed greater temporal and spatial variability of bacterial communities based on TRFLP profiles compared with unimpounded sites, and variability was greatest at sites more recently restored. In summary, our study suggests there may be long-lasting effects on stability of bacterial communities in restored salt marshes and raises questions about the resilience and ultimate recovery of the communities after chronic disturbance.     

Effective stability around the Cassini state in the spin-orbit problem

We investigate the long-time stability in the neighborhood of the Cassini state in the conservative spin-orbit problem. Starting with an expansion of the Hamiltonian in the canonical Andoyer-Delaunay variables, we construct a high-order Birkhoff normal form and give an estimate of the effective stability time in the Nekhoroshev sense. By extensively using algebraic manipulations on a computer, we explicitly apply our method to the rotation of Titan. We obtain physical bounds of Titan’s latitudinal and longitudinal librations, finding a stability time greatly exceeding the estimated age of the Universe. In addition, we study the dependence of the effective stability time on three relevant physical parameters: the orbital inclination, $i$ , the mean precession of the ascending node of Titan orbit, $\dot{\varOmega }$ , and the polar moment of inertia, $C$ .     

Exploring the variability of argon loss in Apollo 17 impact melt rock 77135 using high‐spatial resolution 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar incremental heating experiments on whole‐rock lunar samples commonly provide evidence of varying degrees of radiogenic ⁴⁰Ar (⁴⁰Ar*) loss. However, these experiments provide limited information about whether or not ⁴⁰Ar* is preferentially lost from specific glasses, minerals, or polyphase domains. Ultraviolet laser ablation microprobe (UVLAMP) ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating and electron probe microanalysis of mineral clasts and polyphase melt assemblages in Apollo 17 poikilitic impact melt rock 77135 show evidence of geochemical controls on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dates. Potassium‐rich glass and K‐feldspar in the mesostasis are the dominant sources for Ar released during low‐temperature steps of published ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar release spectra for this rock, while pyroxene oikocrysts with enclosed plagioclase chadacrysts contribute Ar predominantly to intermediate‐ to high‐temperature steps. Additionally, UVLAMP analysis of a mm‐scale plagioclase clast demonstrates the potential to use stranded ⁴⁰Ar* diffusive loss profiles to constrain the thermal evolution of lunar impact melt deposits and indicates that the melt component of 77135 cooled quickly. While some submillimeter clasts of plagioclase are distinctly older than the melt, other small clasts yield dates younger than the oldest melt components in 77135, plausibly due to subgrain fast diffusion pathways and/or ⁴⁰Ar* loss during brief episodes of reheating at high temperatures. Our data suggest that integrated petrologic and microanalytical geochronologic studies are necessary complements to bulk sample geochronologic studies in order to fully evaluate competing models for the impactor flux during the first billion years of the Moon's evolution.     

Impact of global change on the biogeochemistry and ecology of an Arctic freshwater system

Lakes and streams in the foothills near Tookik Lake, Alaska, at 68°N have been studied since 1975 to predict physical, chemical and biological impacts of future global change. Experimental manipulations include whole lake and continuous stream fertilization as well as removal and addition of predators (copepods, lake trout, grayling, sculpin). Based on our evidence the following scenario is likely. Warming thaws the upper layers of permafrost and streams and lakes become enriched with phosphorus. Streams respond quickly with higher production of diatoms but animal grazers keep biomass changes to a minimum. Fish productivity also increases. If phosphorus levels are too high, mosses become the dominant primary producer and sequester all of the nutrients. Growth of Arctic grayling under the present conditions only occurs in summers with higher than average stream flow. The present population would be stressed by warmer temperatures. When higher phosphorus levels reach lakes and cause slight europhication, the number of trophic levels will increase, especially within the microbial food web. Warmer lake temperatures increase stratification and, combined with eutrophication, could decrease oxygen in the hypolimnion. Oxygen levels will also decrease in winter under the ice cover. Eventually this habitat change will eliminate the lake trout, a top predator. Removal of lake trout results in a striking increase in abundance and productivity of smaller fish, including small lake trout, and the emergence of burbot as an alternate top predator. Large species of zooplankton will become virtually extinct.     

Volume and surface sources due to laterally varying boundaries of elastic homogeneous layers

Summary. Various methods have been applied to solve propagation problems in media composed of homogeneous layers, the boundaries of which have slight lateral variations. In this paper, volume sources, introduced in a previous paper to describe the effects of lateral irregularities, are replaced by an equivalent body force and by surface sources concentrated on the irregular boundaries. The surface sources we find are similar to those obtained by Kennett for a two-dimensional structure and we generalize his results to a three-dimensional structure and to the case when an external body force is present.     

A physical mechanism for the Atlantic–Pacific flow reversal in the early Miocene

Barotropic wind-driven steady ocean circulation patterns have been calculated for several different continental geometries during the Tertiary. Using a shallow-water model, flows are computed at 5-Ma intervals within the 60–20 Ma period, while keeping a fixed pattern of the wind-stress forcing. The most interesting changes in ocean circulation occur between 35 and 20 Ma, in which (i) the Antarctic Circumpolar Current appears because of the widening of Drake Passage, (ii) the Tethys Current disappears because of the closure of the Tethys Seaway and (iii) the transport through Panama Straits (between North and South America) reverses. The results are qualitatively in agreement with interpretations of changes in ocean surface currents drawn on the basis of proxy studies. A physical mechanism of the flow reversal through the Panama Straits is proposed based on a detailed analysis of the changes in wind-driven transport of both the Tethys Current and the Antarctic Circumpolar Current.     

A perturbation method for problems with two critical arguments

We develop a semi-numerical perturbation method for problems with two critical arguments. We apply it to a truncated model of the restricted, elliptic three body problem in case of a resonance 2/1 We identify regions of the phase space where chaotic motion is expected because of the presence of homoclinic orbits. One of these regions, the largest one, sits at the entrance to the resonance zone and is associated with a 2/1 resonance between the two critical arguments. The results are compared with numerical results due to Murray (1986)