Tropospheric transport of continental tracers towards Antarctica under varying climatic conditions

We present a method to analyse tracer transit time climatologies based on the concept of tracer age. The method consists of introducing idealized, short-lived radioactively decaying tracers in a general circulation model of the atmosphere. Tracer age since emission is calculated at any given place in the atmosphere from the ratio of the concentrations of tracers with different lifetimes emitted over the same source area. An obvious use of this method is the analysis of transport of real tracers with similar lifetimes (such as dust particles) during different climatic periods. Here, this method is applied to transport from southern hemisphere continental source areas towards Antarctica at the present, the last glacial maximum (21 kyr BP) and the last glacial inception (115 kyr BP). It is found that the variation over time of atmospheric transport efficiency towards Antarctica depends on the tracer source region: changes for Patagonian tracers differ from those for tracers originating over Australia and southern Africa. Transport towards Antarctica during the last glacial maximum (LGM) is faster for Patagonian, but not for Australian and Southern African tracers. It is shown that for the time of the last glacial inception, tracer transit time towards Antarctica is not significantly different from the present, although signs of a more vigorous atmospheric circulation can be seen in the simulation.     

Distribution of vertical crustal movement rates in the Tohoku district, Japan, predicted by least-squares collocation

Least-squares prediction using an empirically deduced local covariance function was performed to investigate the temporal change in the rates of vertical crustal movements in the Tohoku district, Japan. Levelling data covering an area of approximately 450 × 275 km² observed between 1966 and 1995 were used and the results shown in the form of contour maps. Firstly we derived a covariance function of the rates of vertical crustal movement with a Gaussian form function. We used this function to estimate the spatial distribution of the rates of vertical crustal movements. By the present method, a steady tilt of the Tohoku district to the east, toward the Japan Trench and an areal uplift in the southwestern part were well reproduced. Moreover, a significant temporal change in vertical movement rates is clearly seen. Received: 15 July 1996      

A canonical theory for short GPS baselines. Part II: the ambiguity precision and correlation

The present contribution is the second of four parts. It considers the precision and correlation of the least-squares estimators of the carrier phase ambiguities. It is shown how the precision and correlation of the double-differenced ambiguities as well as of the widelane ambiguities are effected by the observation weights, by the number of satellites tracked, by the number of observation epochs used, and by the change over time of the relative receiver-satellite geometry. Also the ability of the widelane transformation to decorrelate and to improve the precision is investigated. Received: 16 July 1996 / Accepted: 14 November 1996     

A canonical theory for short GPS baselines. Part IV: precision versus reliability

This contribution is the last of four parts and deals with the link between baseline precision and ambiguity reliability. It is shown analytically how and to what extent the baseline-ambiguity correlation is related to the gain in baseline precision, to the volume of the ambiguity search space, and to the impact of potential integer ambiguity biases. Also, an ambiguity DOP measure is introduced together with its closed-form formulae for the three different single-baseline models. Received: 16 July 1996 / Accepted: 14 November 1996     

Surveying Stonehenge By Photogrammetry

For centuries the ruins of Stonehenge have proved to be both a source of fascination and mystery for the many visitors to this World Heritage Site. The monument itself sets a puzzle that even to this day has not been solved, although there have been numerous theories suggested as to its construction. There is little accurate survey data currently available on the stones themselves, against which these many theories could be tested. The Photogrammetric Unit of English Heritage was therefore requested, in 1993, to commence a project to digitally map all the external faces of all the stones that form the visible remains of this internationally important monument. Photogrammetry was the chosen survey technique and this paper outlines the work of the Unit in using the latest digital photogrammetric equipment to generate a basic three dimensional model of Stonehenge.     

Assessing the Resolving Power of Photographic Systems Used forTerrestrial Remote Sensing

It is often necessary to measure the resolving power of an imaging system comprising "off the shelf" components by a method that can also describe resolution in the object space. Furthermore, the results should allow useful comparisons to be made with alternative systems, where these have undergone a similar evaluation procedure. An example is given of measuring the resolving power of two imaging systems employing catadioptric objectives by a method that does not necessitate extensive laboratory tests, but utilizes the photographic product provided through field trials, or in the course of operational use. While the method reported does not claim to be a rigorous evaluation of the resolving power, it has been found to provide a convenient and practical guide to the image quality associated with a complete camera system, and its relation to the object space.     

On the Spatial Distribution and Seasonal Variation of Lower-Troposphere Ozone over Europe

Surface ozone data from 25 Europeanlow-altitude sites and mountain sites located between79°N and 28°N were studied. The analysiscovered the time period March 1989–February 1993.Average summer and winter O₃ concentrations inthe boundary layer over the continent gave rise togradients that were strongest in the north-west tosouth-east direction and west-east direction, respectively. WintertimeO₃ ranged from 19 to 27 ppbover the continent, compared to about 32 ppb at thewestern border, while for summer the continentalO₃ values ranged between 39 and 56 ppb and theoceanic mixing ratios were around 37 ppb. In the lowerfree troposphere average wintertime O₃ mixingratios were around 38 ppb, with only an 8 ppbdifference between 28°N and 79°N. For summerthe average O₃ levels decreased from about 55 ppbover Central Europe to 32 ppb at 79°N. Inaddition, O₃ and O_x(= O₃ + NO₂)in polluted and clean air were compared. Theamplitudes of the seasonal ozone variations increasedin the north-west to south-east direction, while thetime of the annual maximum was shifted from spring (atthe northerly sites) to late summer (at sites inAustria and Hungary), which reflected the contributionof photochemical ozone production in the lower partsof the troposphere.     

Climatic and environmental reconstructions based on fossil assemblages from middle devensian (Weichselian) deposits of the river Thames at south kensington, central London, UK

Fossiliferous silts within the Late Pleistocene Kempton Park Gravel, of the River Thames Valley, were exposed in 1980 during foundation works for the Ismaili Centre in South Kensington, London. The results of a multidisciplinary study of the geomorphology, sediments, fossil plants, vertebrates, molluscs, ostracods and insects are reported. The silts were deposited under two distinct climatic regimes; a lower unit accumulated when the climate was arctic and an upper when the temperatures were at least as warm as those of the present day. Both these units occupy the same channel system and are separated from one another by less than a metre of sediment, implying that the climatic change was probably sudden and intense. The strongest evidence for this climatic difference comes from a study of the Coleoptera, which show an almost complete replacement of the arctic element in the fauna by a suite of temperate species. Palaeotemperature reconstructions using the Mutual Climatic Range method, based on the coleopteran assemblages from the lower unit, suggest that the mean temperature of the warmest month was 9±2 °C and that of the coldest month −22±10 °C. For the upper unit the mean temperature of the warmest month had risen to about 17 °C and that of the coldest month to about −4 °C. The episode represented by the lower unit, with its arctic climate, had not previously been recognized in the Thames Valley. The fauna from the upper, temperate, unit is very similar to that from other sites in the Kempton Park Gravel, such as that from Isleworth, 10 km upriver, which, like the upper unit at the Ismaili Centre, was characterized by the virtual absence of trees. It would appear that in such cases this treelessness does not indicate cold conditions, equivalent to those of the modern tundra, but may instead result from a combination of ecological and temporal factors. The value of multidisciplinary studies in reaching such conclusions is emphasized.The temperate episode described here is correlated with the thermal maximum at the early part of the Upton Warren Interstadial Complex. An earlier suggestion, based on amino acid epimerization ratios, that the Upton Warren Interstadial correlates with Oxygen Isotope Sub-stage 5a is not supported by the data, which show no evidence of the forested environments that characterized this period in both Britain and the adjacent Continent. It is thought that the temperate deposits at the Ismaili Centre belong to the Middle (Pleniglacial), rather than the Early, Devensian (Weichselian) and are equivalent to Oxygen Isotope Stage 3.     

Exhumed fault-bounded Alpine blocks along the Periadriatic lineament: the Eder unit (Carnic Alps, Austria)

The Eder unit in the Carnic Alps, which is situated immediately south of the Periadriatic lineament (PL), represents a fault-bounded block consisting of a low-grade (up to 400?°C, indicated by epizonal illite “crystallinity” values, recrystallized quartz, and non-recrystallized white mica) metamorphic Paleozoic metasedimentary sequence. Until now, it has been assumed to represent a separate Variscan nappe. The rocks of the Eder unit show a strong E- to W-oriented stretching lineation on steep foliation planes (D₁) subparallel to the PL. D₁ structures originated near the temperature peak of metamorphism, and shear sense indicators show dextral ductile shear parallel to the PL. Tight mesoscale D₂ folds formed on the cooling path. K–Ar and Ar–Ar ages from newly formed white mica cluster around 32–28 and 18–13 Ma and suggest a two-stage Tertiary history of the Eder unit. We interpret the Eder unit as a fault-bounded block formed during Oligocene large-scale dextral shearing along the PL (near T_max) and exhumed in mid-Miocene times during another phase of activity along the PL. Its nature as a separate Variscan nappe is questioned.