Control of wind strength and frequency in the Aral Sea basin during the late Holocene

Changing content of detrital input in laminated sediments traced by XRF scanning and microfacies analyses reflect prominent variations in sedimentation processes in the Aral Sea. A high-resolution record of titanium from a core retrieved in the northwestern Large Aral Sea allows a continuous reconstruction of wind strength and frequency in western Central Asia for the past 1500 yr. During AD 450–700, AD 1210–1265, AD 1350–1750 and AD 1800–1975, detrital inputs (bearing titanium) are high, documenting an enhanced early spring atmospheric circulation associated with an increase in intensity of the Siberian High pressure system over Central Asia. In contrast, lower titanium content during AD 1750–1800 and AD 1980–1985 reflects a diminished influence of the Siberian High during early spring with a reduced atmospheric circulation. A moderate circulation characterizes the time period AD 700–1150. Unprecedented weakened atmospheric circulation over western Central Asia are inferred during ca. AD 1180–1210 and AD 1265–1310 with a considerable decrease in dust storm frequency, sedimentation rates, lamination thickness and detrital inputs (screened at 40-μm resolution). Our results are concurrent with changes in the intensity of the Siberian High during the past 1400 yr as reported in the GISP2 Ice Core from Greenland.     

Three-dimensional sedimentary architecture of Quaternary sand and gravel resources: a case study of economic sedimentology (SW Germany)

Quaternary sands and gravels form important, yet often highly heterogeneous economic deposits. Detailed 3-D analysis of the sedimentary structure and stratigraphy of these deposits allows for an accurate estimation of exploitable material. This paper presents a case study in SW Germany reconstructing the 3-D distribution of glacial sediments based on a high-resolution, process-orientated sedimentary facies classification and lithostratigraphy integrated within the geo-modelling package gOcad. Situated along the maximal ice-extent of the Rhine glacier during the last glaciation, the study area is characterised by a morphologically prominent terminal moraine and its associated sandur, which form the stratigraphically youngest sediments of a glacial basin, partially exposed in two gravel pits. These outcrops helped to reconstruct the complex sedimentary architecture of the northern part of the glacial basin. The regional analysis is based on core data, as well as geoelectric and geomagnetic surveys. All data were integrated into km-scale, high-resolution geological 3-D models, depicting the large-scale dynamics of multiple glacier advances and retreats during the Early to Late Pleistocene. These models allow quantifying the thickness and volume distribution of exploitable sandy gravel and help to evaluate the occurrence of non-exploitable interbedded diamicton horizons. The high quality and quantity of gravels particularly north of the terminal moraine classifies the investigated area as very prospective for raw materials exploitation in the future.     

Does variable channel morphology lead to dynamic salmon habitat?

Stream channel morphology forms the template upon which hydraulic aspects of aquatic habitat are created, yet spatial and temporal variability in habitat imposed by changing morphology is not well understood. This paper presents a conceptual model linking sediment supply patterns to spatial and temporal variability in channel form and aquatic habitat. To evaluate this model, change over time in three habitat variables is quantified using a 2D hydrodynamic modeling approach. A 45-year record of topographic data from Carnation Creek, a catchment in coastal British Columbia, is used for the flow modeling. Using the Nays2DH modeling platform, water depths and velocities are simulated in eight channel segments located at different positions relative to locations of historical colluvial input using seven flow levels ranging from 3% to 400% of mean annual discharge (0.02 to 3.31 m s ). Results indicate that habitat availability changes through time as a result of sediment supply-driven changes to channel morphology and wood loads, but patterns in habitat vary as a function of dominant channel segment morphology. Spatial and temporal variability in morphology also influences the relationship between habitat availability and river discharge, leading to non-stationary habitat-discharge rating curves. When habitat areas are predicted by applying these curves to daily flow series spanning annual dry seasons, over 50% of the variance in cumulative seasonal habitat area can be explained by year-to-year changes in channel morphology and wood loading, indicating that changing morphology is an important factor for driving temporal habitat variability. This variance is related to the morphological variability of a channel segment, which in turn is associated with the segment position relative to zones of colluvial input. Collectively, these results suggest that variability in habitat is impacted by channel morphology, and can be evaluated partly on the basis of a channel's sediment supply regime. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Constraining the Mass Distribution of Cluster Galaxies by Weak Lensing

Analysing the weak lensing distortions of the images of faint background galaxies provides a means to constrain the average mass distribution of cluster galaxies and potentially to test the extent of their dark matter haloes as a function of the density of their environment. The observable image distortions are a consequence of the interplay between the effects of a global cluster mass distribution and the perturbations resulting from individual cluster galaxies. Starting from a reconstruction of the cluster mass distribution with conventional techniques, we apply a maximum likelihood method to infer the average properties of an ensemble of cluster galaxies. From simulations this approach is found to be reliable as long as the galaxies including their dark matter haloes only contribute a small fraction to the total mass of the system. If their haloes are extended, the galaxies contain a substantial mass fraction. In this case our method is still applicable in the outer regions of clusters, where the surface mass density is low, but yields biased estimates of the parameters describing the mass profiles of the cluster galaxies in the central part of the cluster. In that case it will be necessary to resort to more sophisticated strategies by modelling cluster galaxies and an underlying global mass distribution simultaneously. We conclude that galaxy–galaxy lensing in clusters provides a unique means to probe the presence and extent of dark haloes of cluster galaxies.     

Spectroscopic observations of the eclipsing polar MN Hya (RX J0929–24)

We present low–medium resolution optical spectroscopy of the eclipsing AM Her system MN Hya (RX J0929–24). We determine the magnetic field strength at the primary accretion region of the white dwarf to be 42 MG from the spacing of cyclotron features visible during π ∼ 0.4–0.7. From spectra taken during the eclipse we find that the secondary has an M3–4 spectral type. Combined with the eclipse photometry of Sekiguchi, Nakada &38; Bassett and an estimate of the interstellar extinction we find a distance of ∼300–700 pc. We find unusual line variations at π ∼ 0.9: Hα is seen in absorption and emission. This is at the same point in the orbital phase at which a prominent absorption dip is seen in soft X-rays.     

Constructions of 'whiteness' in the geographical imagination

Summary Following debates in geography and across the social sciences about the social construction of 'race', there has been a growing recognition that these arguments apply with equal force to dominant groups as well as to the categorization of so-called ethnic minorities. This paper traces these developments through a brief review of recent work on the social construction of 'whiteness' in literary, historical and ethnographic research. It examines some specific constructions of 'whiteness' at the national scale (in the United States, Britain and Aotearoa/New Zealand) and concludes with some empirical evidence from fieldwork in North London, where it is suggested that constructions of 'whiteness' are articulated through discourses of Englishness.