Swimming with…Devonian fish

Armoured jawless fish, or 'ostracoderms', lived 450–360 million years ago, and display unusual morphologies, unlike any modern fish group. Since they left no living descendants, their mode of swimming has, until recently, remained speculative, although this is a crucial question as the first true pectoral fins evolved within the 'ostracoderms'. The discovery of the oldest-known fish trails, from the Early Devonian (400 million year old) 'Lower Old Red Sandstone' of south-east Wales offers new insights into the swimming behaviour of these early fish, notably the osteostracan 'ostracoderms' (or cephalaspids), whose horseshoe-shaped head and paddle-shaped pectoral fins have remained a functional riddle.     

North European last glacial–interglacial transition (LGIT; 15–9 ka) tephrochronology: extended limits and new events

High‐precision correlation of palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental records is crucial for testing hypotheses of synchronous change. Although radiocarbon is the traditional method for dating late Quaternary sedimentary sequences, particularly during the last glacial–interglacial transition (LGIT; 15–9 ka), there are inherent problems with the method, particularly during periods of climate change which are often accompanied by major perturbations in atmospheric radiocarbon content. An alternative method is the use of tephras that act as time‐parallel marker horizons. Within Europe, numerous volcanic centres are known to have erupted during the LGIT, providing considerable potential for high‐precision correlation independent of past radiocarbon fluctuations. Here we report the first identification of the Vedde Ash and Askja Tephra in Ireland, significantly extending the known provenance of these events. We have also identified two new horizons (the Roddans Port Tephras A and B) and tentatively recognise an additional horizon from Vallensgård Mose (Denmark) that provide crucial additional chronological control for the LGIT. Two phases of the Laacher See Tephra (LST) are reported, the lower Laacher See Tephra (LLST) and probably the C2 phase of the Middle Laacher See Tephra (MLST‐C2) indicating a more northeasterly distribution of this fan than reported previously. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radon variations in a Hungarian village

 A steady radon exhalation is assumed in most publications. In a village of North-East Hungary, however, high radon concentrations have been measured, differing strongly in neighbouring houses and varying in time, due to the interplay of geochemical phenomena. Received: 20 November 1995 · Accepted: 18 June 1996     

A technique for calibration of monostatic echosounder systems

A calibration technique has been adapted to render complete system calibrations of high-frequency acoustical instrumentation. This is based on standard targets; specifically, precisely manufactured spheres composed of tungsten carbide with 6% cobalt binder. The use of multiple sphere sizes was found to be advantageous, both as an independent check of the calibrations, and so that resonances in the sphere responses at certain frequencies could be avoided. Complete system gains and beam patterns, which include effects of bandpass filters and finite-pulse lengths, were determined by moving the spheres individually in the transducer far-fields. Use of this procedure ensures control over the acoustical characteristics of transducers, which may change from the time of manufacture and first testing due, for example, to platform mounting. It also provides a direct means of measuring the sampling volume at relatively high and constant signal-to-noise ratios. Implementation of this technique is discussed using a multifrequency sonar system as an example     

The Preboreal climate reversal and a subsequent solar‐forced climate shift

Accurate chronologies are essential for linking palaeoclimate archives. Carbon‐14 wiggle‐match dating was used to produce an accurate chronology for part of an early Holocene peat sequence from the Borchert (The Netherlands). Following the Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition, two climatic shifts could be inferred. Around 11 400 cal. yr BP the expansion of birch (Betula) forest was interrupted by a dry continental phase with dominantly open grassland vegetation, coeval with the PBO (Preboreal Oscillation), as observed in the GRIP ice core. At 11 250 cal. yr BP a sudden shift to a humid climate occurred. This second change appears to be contemporaneous with: (i) a sharp increase of atmospheric ¹⁴C; (ii) a temporary decline of atmospheric CO₂; and (iii) an increase in the GRIP ¹⁰Be flux. The close correspondence with excursions of cosmogenic nuclides points to a decline in solar activity, which may have forced the changes in climate and vegetation at around 11 250 cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.