An anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabric record of till kinematics within a Late Weichselian low Baltic till,southern Sweden

Herein we report on the results of an anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) fabric case‐study of two Late Weichselian tills exposed in a bedrock quarry in Dalby, Skåne, southern Sweden. The region possesses a complex glacial history, reflecting alternating and interacting advances of the main body of the Scandinavian Ice Sheet (SIS) and its ice lobes from the Baltic basin, perhaps driven by streaming ice. AMS till fabrics are robust indicators of ice‐flow history and till kinematics, and provide a unique tool to investigate till kinematics within and amongst till units. The till section investigated here contains ~8 m of the Dalby Till – a dark grey silt‐clay rich till deposited during one or more Baltic advance – overlain by ~1.5 m of the regional surface diamicton. AMS fabrics within the lower part of the Dalby Till conform to the regional surface fluting, and reflect sustained flow from the ENE with progressive increases in basal strain. A boulder‐rich horizon approximately 3 m from the base of the till marks a restricted excursion in till fabric direction, fabric strength and style of strain. Ice flow is from the SW and W in the upper section. We interpret these fabrics to record shifting ice flow and bed conditions at the margins of the Young Baltic Advance ice lobe in southern Sweden, prior to a short‐lived re‐advance of the main body of the SIS over mainland Sweden recorded by the surface diamicton.     

Salinity in Soils and Tsunami Deposits in Areas Affected by the 2010 Chile and 2011 Japan Tsunamis

The accumulation of data sets of past tsunamis is the most basic but reliable way to prepare for future tsunamis because the frequency of tsunami occurrence and their magnitude can be estimated by historical records of tsunamis. Investigation of tsunami deposits preserved in geological layers is an effective measure to understand ancient tsunamis that occurred before historical records began. However, the areas containing tsunami deposits can be narrower than the area of tsunami inundation, thus resulting in underestimation of the magnitude of past tsunamis. A field survey was conducted after the 2010 Chile tsunami and 2011 Japan tsunami to investigate the chemical properties of the tsunami-inundated soil to examine the applicability of tsunami inundation surveys considering water-soluble salts in soil. The soil and tsunami deposits collected in the tsunami-inundated areas are rich in water-soluble ions (Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Cl^?, Br^? and SO ₄ ^2? ) compared with the samples collected in the non-inundated areas. The analytical result that the ratios of Na⁺, Mg²⁺, Br^? and SO ₄ ^2? to Cl^? are nearly the same in the tsunami deposits and in the tsunami-inundated soil suggests that the deposition of these ions resulting from the tsunami inundation does not depend on whether or not tsunami deposits exist. Discriminant analysis of the tsunami-inundated areas using the ion contents shows the high applicability of these ions to the detection of tsunami inundation during periods when the amount of rainfall is limited. To examine the applicability of this method to palaeotsunamis, the continuous monitoring of water-soluble ions in tsunami-inundated soil is needed as a future study.     

The Colour–Magnitude Relation of Early-Type Galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field North

We present the rest-frame colour–magnitude diagram for 35 early-type galaxies in the Hubble Deep Field with median redshift 0.9.Although with considerable scatter, a red sequence well described by the passive evolution of an intrinsically old stellar population is observed. Comparison with the passively evolved colour–magnitude relation of the rich Coma Cluster (z = 0.023) indicates that at least ∼1/2 of the early-type galaxies in the field at this redshift are as old as those in rich clusters. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Modelling of benzene distribution in the subsurface of an abandoned gas plant site after a long term of groundwater table fluctuation

The non‐aqueous phase liquid simulator was used to model and interpret the occurrence of a thin benzene‐contaminated soil layer 9.0 m below the groundwater table in an abandoned gas plant site. The simulator was first evaluated in column tests under similar conditions to the contaminated site. Saturation–capillary pressure (S–P) relationships were extended from the laboratory scale of the column tests to the field scale of the subsurface at the abandoned site. Dynamic boundary conditions were established in order to prevent the model from generating excessive vertical velocities. The modelled benzene layer formation process agreed well with the in situ observations. With falling and then rising of the water table, benzene release from the surface migrated downward and then upward and distributed itself below and above the water table. Biochemical degradation of benzene made the distribution discontinuous in the subsurface. These two factors resulted in the thin benzene‐contaminated layer below the groundwater table. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Structure of magnetic fields generated by galactic dynamos

Abstract

We investigated global axisymmetric (m = 0) and non-axisymmetric (m = 1) modes of magnetic fields generated by the galactic dynamo including the α²-dynamo. The α²-dynamo is responsible for the field generation in the central region of galaxies where the shear of galactic rotation is weak (e.g. M51). The highest growth rate of m = 1 modes is always smaller than that of m = 0 modes; thus m = 1 modes of the standard galactic dynamo cannot explain the dominance of the bisymmetric fields in spiral galaxies. Radial extent of each m = 1 mode is too narrow to reproduce the observed bisymmetric structure extending over a disk.