A high resolution,multiproxy Late‐glacial record of climate change and intrasystem responses in northwest England

A lacustrine carbonate sequence from Hawes Water, Lancashire, UK, has been studied using stable isotopic, lithological, pollen and mineral magnetic analysis. The data reveal four abrupt climatic oscillations in the Late‐glacial Interstadial leading up to the onset of the Loch Lomond Stadial. The data also point to climatic warming relatively early within the stadial, ca. 12 500 GRIP yr, prior to the onset of the Holocene. The oxygen isotope record is taken as a signature of climate forcing against which the response of the lake‐system can be monitored. By adopting this approach it is revealed that the response of the biological system to the rapid climatic oscillations is non‐linear and primarily a function of the antecedent conditions. A significant end‐Devensian isotopic excursion (A) is matched by only minor changes in the cold‐adapted floras and faunas. During the warmer interstadial, the response of the biological ecosystem (events B–D) is clearly influenced by thresholds: major changes in the catchment vegetation associated with relatively minor oscillations in the isotopic signature. The stratigraphical patterns reveal significant lag effects between the onset of climate deterioration and resulting changes in vegetation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The eastern extent of the Barents–Kara ice sheet during the Last Glacial Maximum based on seismic-reflection data from the eastern Kara Sea

We present sub-bottom profiling (sparker and Parasound) results from the eastern Kara Sea, on the Eurasian Arctic margin, which enable the identification of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) ice extent. The analysed profiles show that glacigenic diamicton is ubiquitous at the seafloor, east of about 95°E and 78°N. The eastern margin of this diamicton is expressed in a conspicuous morainic ridge at the entrance to the Vilkitsky Strait, and to the south the diamicton projection aligns with the LGM limit mapped at the north-western Taymyr. The bottom of the Voronin Trough further north is also covered with diamicton and has numerous erosional bedforms, indicating a streamlined flow of grounded ice along the trough. Accurate dating of the diamicton is not attainable, but the correlation of pre-diamict sediments to well-dated sections in the Laptev Sea, and available ¹⁴C ages from sediments on top of the diamicton, indicate its LGM age. These results support the palaeogeographic reconstruction that assumes the extension of the LGM Barents–Kara ice sheet as far east as Taymyr. This configuration implies that LGM ice blocked the drainage of the Ob and Yenisey rivers on the Kara shelf. This inference is consistent with the presence of large (>100 km wide) lenses of basin infill adjacent to the southern margin of the diamicton. However, the limited distribution of the eastern Kara ice lobe, not extending on Severnaya Zemlya, suggests that the ice was fairly thin and short-lived: insufficient for the accumulation of the gigantic proglacial lakes that occurred during earlier glaciations.     

Analyses of organic and inorganic contaminants in Salton Sea fish

Chemical contamination of fish from the Salton Sea, a quasi-marine lake in Southern California, could adversely impact millions of birds using the Pacific Flyway and thousands of humans using the lake for recreation. Bairdiella icistia (bairdiella), Cynoscion xanthulus (orangemouth corvina), and Oreochromis spp. (tilapia) were sampled from two river mouths and two nearshore areas of the Salton Sea. Muscle tissues were analyzed for a complete suite of 14 trace metals and 53 pesticides. Fish muscle tissues had concentrations of selenium ranging between 1.89 and 2.73 microg/g wet weight. 4,4'-DDE accounted for 94% of the total DDT metabolites. Total DDTs ranged between 17.1 and 239.0 and total PCBs between 2.5 and 18.6 ng/g wet weight. PCB congeners 132, 138, 153, 168, and 180 comprised over 50% of the total PCBs. Given the potential implementation of a commercial fishing at the Salton Sea in the future, the presence of persistent organic pollutants and selenium warrants further research into the effects of these mixtures on fish populations, and on wildlife and humans consuming fish.     

Alfvén instabilities in streaming plasmas with anisotropic pressures and their relevance for the solar wind

Low frequency or Alfvén waves in streaming plasmas can become unstable when the square of the Alfvén velocity is smaller than the mean square of the bulk motion in a co-moving reference frame, (u –u )², whereu stands for the bulk velocity of each species and u is the average bulk velocity of the plasma as a whole. For these new Alfvén instabilities the streaming effects can be enhanced by a suitable pressure anisotropy. Perpendicular pressure effects are stabilizing, parallel pressure effects are destabilizing, as in the usual firehose instability. The observed velocity differences between helium and the main (hydrogen) flow in the solar wind plasma are such that the Alfvén waves are getting close to marginal instability. These new Alfvén instabilities limit the velocity differences between helium and hydrogen and thus provide a possible mechanism for accelerating the helium particles up to the order of the main flow velocity.     

Volatile halocarbons released from Arctic macroalgae

Twenty-two different species of Arctic brown, red and green macroalgae, collected in the Kongsfjord at Ny-Ålesund (Spitsbergen), were incubated under polar conditions and investigated for their release of volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOC). Bromoform, dibromomethane, dibromochloromethane, bromodichloromethane, 1,2-dibromoethane, diiodomethane and chloroiodomethane have been identified and their net releases during incubations were determined. Generally, brown and green macroalgae showed higher VHOC release, while red macroalage had only low release. Bromoform was released in relatively large quantities from all species studied, with the highest release observed from the brown algae Dictyosyphon foeniculaceus (0.3 μg g⁻¹ wet algal weight day⁻¹) and Laminaria saccharina (0.15 μg g⁻¹ wet algal weight day⁻¹), and from the green algae Monostroma arcticum (0.3 μg g⁻¹ wet algal weight day⁻¹) and Blidingia minima (0.27 μg g⁻¹ wet algal weight day⁻¹). Dibromomethane, diiodomethane, dibromochloromethane and 1,2-dibromoethane showed lower net release during the incubations. The net release of chloroiodomethane and bromodichloromethane was very low for the most algae species investigated. Based on the distribution of these algae in the Arctic environment, Dictyosiphon foeniculaceus and Laminaria saccharina may be important sources for VHOC because of high release and high biomass. Release of VHOC could be detected from all parts of the thallus of the macroalga. This may provide some evidence for a possible role of VHOC production as a chemical protection mechanism in algae.     

History and sand budgets of the barrier island system in the Panama City,Florida, region

Shell Island and Crooked Island peninsulas comprise the Holocene barrier system in the Panama City, Florida, region. Both of these peninsulas have experienced a history of integration-fragmentation-integration superimposed on a net shoreward migration since 1779. Catastrophic events such as hurricanes are most probably responsible for the pass cutting which has fragmented these barriers. Both barrier peninsulas have very nearly segmented St. Andrew Sound into an eastern and western portion. This segmentation has been achieved through natural causes in the eastern or Crooked Island region, but an alternation in the tidal return pattern, effected by the cutting of a canal across Shell Island, is probably responsible for the ongoing segmentation of the western portion.Rates of erosion/deposition, determined by comparing bathymetries charted in 1877, 1930, and 1946, demand that these two peninsulas receive material by eastward transport. Furthermore, the long shore drift of both peninsulas is bidirectional, northwesterly and southeasterly. These two drift components are very nearly equal in magnitude immediately west of Shell Island; net easterly drift occurs on Shell Island peninsula. Crooked Island experiences net westerly and easterly drift; the easterly drift terminates in the Bell Shoal area and does not reach the adjacent St. Joe Spit.