Maximum extent and readvance dynamics of the Irish Sea Ice Stream and Irish Sea Glacier since the Last Glacial Maximum

The BRITICE-CHRONO Project has generated a suite of recently published radiocarbon ages from deglacial sequences offshore in the Celtic and Irish seas and terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and optically stimulated luminescence ages from adjacent onshore sites. All published data are integrated here with new geochronological data from Wales in a revised Bayesian analysis that enables reconstruction of ice retreat dynamics across the basin. Patterns and changes in the pace of deglaciation are conditioned more by topographic constraints and internal ice dynamics than by external controls. The data indicate a major but rapid and very short-lived extensive thin ice advance of the Irish Sea Ice Stream (ISIS) more than 300 km south of St George's Channel to a marine calving margin at the shelf break at 25.5 ka; this may have been preceded by extensive ice accumulation plugging the constriction of St George's Channel. The release event between 25 and 26 ka is interpreted to have stimulated fast ice streaming and diverted ice to the west in the northern Irish Sea into the main axis of the marine ISIS away from terrestrial ice terminating in the English Midlands, a process initiating ice stagnation and the formation of an extensive dead ice landscape in the Midlands.     

The source of De variability in periglacial sand wedges: Depositional processes versus measurement issues

Relict periglacial wedge structures are widespread in mid-latitude and polar regions. The wedges have a high preservation potential and are often infilled with quartz-rich aeolian sand, making them potentially suitable for luminescence dating. This paper presents initial work from an anti-syngenetic sand wedge in the Tuktoyaktuk Coastlands, Arctic Canada. When samples were measured at the single grain level they showed poor palaeodose (D_e) reproducibility and consequent high age uncertainties. The aim of the study was to determine whether this intra-sample D_e scatter reflected methodological issues arising from OSL measurement or processes of wedge development.Initial single grain dose recovery tests show that D_e scatter was not easily explained by poor recycling, sensitivity changes, variable OSL components, recuperation problems, or large D_e uncertainties from dim grains. Single grain preheating tests did show that some D_e scatter might be attributable to individual grains requiring different preheat temperatures, whilst dose recovery tests revealed that highly sensitive grains showed less scatter than dim grains. However, selection of these bright grains from natural samples still resulted in scattered D_e values. An alternative explanation for the D_e scatter relates to the formation of anti-syngenetic sand wedges by thermal contraction cracking over thousands of years in an eroding landscape, which may result in sediment of very different ages being deposited in adjacent cracks. Finite mixture modelling was used to identify D_e components within each sample. Ages calculated from these components suggest sand wedge formation at ca. 5, 8.5, 12.5 and 18 ka which correlate well with known cooling events over the last 18 ka and support a multiple phase activity model for anti-syngenetic sand wedges.     

The timing of last-glacial periglacial and aeolian events,Twente, eastern Netherlands

Sequences of last-glacial age contain valuable palaeoclimatic information but are often difficult to date because the environment has been unfavourable for deposition of datable organic material. This paper presents age-estimates, determined by optically stimulated luminescence, for sediments from the type site of the so-called ‘coversands’ (periglacial aeolian deposits) in The Netherlands. These improve the chronology of this type site considerably, allowing age limits (22–17 kyr BP) to be set, for the first time, for the important phase of widespread permafrost degradation and aeolian deflation recorded in these deposits. Aeolian deposition occurred intermittently for most of the Last Glacial Maximum and the Late-glacial phases. Based on luminescence dating, sand-sheet deposition was concentrated between ca. 17–14 kyr ago, and dune formation was dominant during the Younger Dryas. The Younger Dryas was sufficiently cold to allow the first stages of ice-wedge-cast development in The Netherlands. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Saline Sludge on Anaerobic Digestion of Kitchen Waste for Methane Generation: Modeling and Fertilizer Recovery

A comparative study of methane recovery by co-digesting kitchen waste and saline sewage sludge is performed to evaluate its feasibility for waste minimization. The experiment is performed at 37 °C having a mixing speed of 100 rpm and pH of 6.49–7.5 in anaerobic mixed batch reactors. The higher salinity level of the saline sewage sludge reduces the degradation rate of kitchen waste causing an enhancement in soluble chemical oxygen demand by 133% compared with 280% when co-digesting with the non-saline sample. The inhibitory behavior is in line with the low volatile solid elimination efficiency of 31% of saline against 55% of non-saline sludge. The Gompertz modeling, based on the outcomes, fits the cumulative methane generation trends quite well, with a strong correlation coefficient (>0.994). Besides, use of the non-saline sludge results in three times more methane production than the saline sample digestion. Sludge recovery is 0.07 m³ sludge m⁻³ wastewater, and water recovery is 0.84 m³ m⁻³ wastewater. The liquid produced from the fermentation of the slurry can be used for irrigation as well as fertilization. Kitchen waste co-digestion with both sludge samples has been proven to be a practical method for exploiting the extra digestion capacity of wastewater treatment plants currently in operation, but it is more practical for non-saline sludge.     

The Relative Impact of Regional Scale Land Cover Change and Increasing CO_2 over China

A series of 17-yr equilibrium simulations using the NCAR CCM3 (T42 resolution) were performed to investigate the regional scale impacts of land cover change and increasing CO2 over China. Simulations with natural and current land cover at CO2 levels of 280, 355, 430, and 505 ppmv were conducted. Results show statistically significant changes in major climate fields (e.g. temperature and surface wind speed) on a 15-yr average following     

The mixed-bed glacial landform imprint of the North Sea Lobe in the western North Sea

During the last glacial cycle an intriguing feature of the British-Irish Ice Sheet was the North Sea Lobe (NSL); fed from the Firth of Forth and which flowed south and parallel to the English east coast. The controls on the formation and behaviour of the NSL have long been debated, but in the southern North Sea recent work suggests the NSL formed a dynamic, oscillating terrestrial margin operating over a deforming bed. Further north, however, little is known of the behaviour of the NSL or under what conditions it operated. This paper analyses new acoustic, sedimentary and geomorphic data in order to evaluate the glacial landsystem imprint and deglacial history of the NSL offshore from NE England. Subglacial tills (AF2/3) form a discontinuous mosaic interspersed with bedrock outcrops across the seafloor, with the partial excavation and advection of subglacial sediment during both advance and retreat producing mega-scale glacial lineations and grounding zone wedges. The resultant ‘mixed-bed’ glacial landsystem is the product of a dynamic switch from a terrestrial piedmont-lobe margin with a net surplus of sediment to a partially erosive, quasi-stable, marine-terminating, ice stream lobe as the NSL withdrew northwards. Glaciomarine sediments (AF4) drape the underlying subglacial mixed-bed imprint and point to a switch to tidewater conditions between 19.9 and 16.5 ka cal BP as the North Sea became inundated. The dominant controls on NSL recession during this period were changing ice flux through the Firth of Forth ice stream onset zone and water depths at the grounding line; the development of the mixed-bed landsystem being a response to grounding line instability. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The zoned Bruinbun granitoid pluton and its aureole

The Bruinbun pluton is a small, massive, I‐type granitoid intruded into the meta‐sedimentary Hill End Trough, in eastern N.S.W. It is a multiple pluton representing two discrete magma pulses, the granodiorite core intruding the adamellite margin. A weak alignment of orthoclase megacrysts in the granitoids is best developed adjacent to both the internal and external intrusive contacts, and is considered by the writer to be a product of magmatic flow. Part of the northern contact and the southern and western contacts dip inward at moderate angles, whereas the eastern contact is vertical to outward‐dipping. The pluton is inferred to be mushroom‐shaped, and slightly tilted.

The intensity of aureole deformation is low. The aureole has been flexed into concordancy with the pluton roof, and a rudimentary rim fold‐zone is present around lower levels of the pluton. Intrusion of the granitoid is inferred to be primarily by uplift of its roof and depression of its floor.

The highest‐grade contact metamorphic parageneses developed are: cordierite‐K feldspar‐biotite‐quartzite ± andesine ± epidote in metapelites, and ferrohornblende‐biotite‐muscovite‐andesine‐epidote‐quartz in metavolcarenites. No intrusion‐related foliation or lineation was formed.     

Towards improved ground models for slope instability evaluations through better characterization of sediment-hosted gas-hydrates

ABSTRACT Recently developed effective stress-controlled geophysical property models are used in passive-margin slope instability analyses including simulated earthquake motion. The pressure–temperature (P–T) history of sediment-hosted gas hydrate may significantly alter the geophysical property profile of the sediment column (e.g. metastable cement or increased pore pressures). This can result in significant amplification of earthquake ground motion, and thus seabed instability, where hydrates are present. Published studies suggest destabilization of these high-pressure/low-temperature sediment-hosted hydrates could trigger catastrophic slope failures with consequent liberation of 'greenhouse' gases and significant effects on global climate. To provide improved ground models for slope instability analyses we are investigating the influence of P–T history on hydrate distribution in sediments through the development of laboratory techniques to enable geophysical quantification of hydrate morphology and fabric on hydrate stability.