Late Holocene relative sea level rise and the Neoglacial history of the Greenland ice sheet

In West Greenland, early and mid Holocene relative sea level (RSL) fall was replaced by late Holocene RSL rise during the Neoglacial, after 4–3 cal. ka BP (thousand calibrated years before present). Here we present the results of an isolation basin RSL study completed near to the coastal town of Sisimiut, in central West Greenland. RSL fell from 14 m above sea level at 5.7 cal. ka BP to reach a lowstand of ?4.0 m at 2.3–1.2 cal. ka BP, before rising by an equivalent amount to present. Differences in the timing and magnitude of the RSL lowstand between this and other sites in West and South Greenland record the varied interplay of local and non‐Greenland RSL processes, notably the reloading of the Earth's crust caused by a Neoglacial expansion of the Greenland Ice Sheet (GIS) and the subsidence associated with the collapse of the Laurentide Ice Sheet forebulge. This means that the timing of the sea level lowstand cannot be used to infer directly when the GIS advanced during the Neoglacial. The rise in Late Holocene RSL is contrary to recently reported bedrock uplift in the Sisimiut area, based on repeat GPS surveys. This indicates that a belt of peripheral subsidence around the current ice sheet margin was more extensive in the late Holocene, and that there has been a switch from subsidence to uplift at some point in the last thousand years or so. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The brightness temperature problem in extreme intra-day variable quasars: a model for PKS 0405-385

I re-examine the brightness temperature problem in PKS 0405-385, which is an extreme intra-day variable radio quasar with an inferred brightness temperature of  ∼5 × 10¹⁴ K  at 5 GHz, well above the Compton catastrophe limit of  ∼10¹¹ K  that is reached when the synchrotron photon energy density exceeds the energy density of the magnetic field. If one takes into account the uncertainty in the distance to the ionized clouds responsible for interstellar scintillation causing rapid intra-day variability in PKS 0405-385, it is possible that the brightness temperature could be as low as  ∼10¹³ K  at 5 GHz, or even lower. The radio spectrum can be fitted by optically thin emission from mono-energetic electrons, or an electron spectrum with a low-energy cut-off such that the critical frequency of the lowest energy electrons is above the radio frequencies of interest. If one observes optically thin emission along a long narrow emission region, the average energy density in the emission region can be many orders of magnitude lower than calculated from the observed intensity if one assumed a spherical emission region. I discuss the physical conditions in the emission region and find that the Compton catastrophe can then be avoided using a reasonable Doppler factor. I also show that MeV to 100-GeV gamma-ray emission at observable flux levels should be expected from extreme intra-day variable sources such as PKS 0405-385.     

Disc–Planet Interactions: Migration and Resonances in Extrasolar Planetary Systems

We consider orbital resonances in multiplanet systems. These are expected to arise during or just after formation in a gaseous disc. Disc–planet interaction naturally produces orbital migration and circularization through the action of tidal torques which in turn may lead to an orbital resonance. The mass and angular momentum content of the disc is likely to be comparable to that in the planets so that it is essential to fully incorporate the disc in the analysis.We study the orbital evolution of two planets locked in 2:1 commensurability through migration tidally induced by the disc using both analytic methods and numerical hydrodynamic simulations. The planets are assumed to orbit in an inner cavity containing at most only a small amount of disc material. Results are found to be sensitive to initial surface density profile, planet masses and disc parameters. The evolution may range between attaining and subsequently maintaining a resonance lock with two angles librating to divergent migration with no commensurability formed. In the former case eccentricities increase monotonically with time while the system undergoes inward migration. If the migration is halted by loss of the disc leaving the planets in a final configuration, there is likely to be a low probability of seeing resonant planets at small radii as well as a sensitive dependence on past history.We have also considered a multiplanet system in secular apsidal resonance. We consider the system as being in just one secular normal mode and include the effects of a gaseous disc. It is suggested that a normal mode may be selected by adding in some weak dissipative process in the disc and that it may remain, involving only the planets, when the disc is slowly removed.     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detection of rovibrationally excited H2 formed through the heterogeneous recombination of H atoms on a cold HOPG surface

This paper reports results from an experiment designed to measure the nascent rovibrational population of H₂ molecules that have formed through the heterogeneous recombination of H atoms on the surface of cosmic dust analogues under conditions approaching those of the interstellar medium (ISM). H₂ that has formed on a highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface has been detected, using laser induced resonance-enhanced multi-photon ionization (REMPI), in the v = 1 (J= 0–3) rovibrational states at surface temperatures of 30 K and 50 K. These excited product molecules display rotational temperatures significantly higher than the target surface temperature. These first results suggest that a considerable proportion of the binding energy released on formation of the H₂ is deposited in the surface, in addition to internal excitation of the product molecules. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.