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     

A 20‐ka climate record from Central Himalayan loess deposits

The southwest monsoon that dominated Central Himalaya has preserved loessic silt deposits preserved in patches that are proximal to periglacial areas. The occurrence of such silts suggests contemporary prevalence of cold and dry northwesterly winds. Field stratigraphy, geochemistry, mineral magnetism, infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and radiocarbon dating has enabled reconstruction of an event chronology during the past 20 ka. Three events of loess accretion could be identified. The first two events of loess deposition occurred betweem 20 and 9 ka and were separated by a phase of moderate weathering. Pedogenesis at the end of this event gave rise to a well‐developed soil that was bracketed around 9 to > 4 ka. This was followed by the third phase of loess accretion that occurred around 4 to > 1 ka. Episodes of loess deposition and soil formation are interpreted in terms of changes in the strength of the Indian southwest monsoon. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

A model for the constant-head pumping test conducted in vertically fractured media

An analytical model for the constant-head pumping test is developed for a partially penetrating well that has a finite thickness skin, and intersects a single vertical fracture. In the model, the fracture is fully confined and flow occurs only in the fracture. The model is developed using Laplace transform and finite Fourier transform methods. The model is to be used for analysing well test data from vertically fractured media and for verifying numerical models. Dimensionless curves are used to study the effects of a finite thickness skin and a partially penetrating wellbore. In the presence of a finite thickness skin, or a partially penetrating wellbore, a typical flow response for the constant-head pumping test has three distinct periods of flow corresponding to small-, intermediate- and large-time. Small- and large-time approximations are presented for the model. For tests where the wellbore is fully penetrating, or the partial penetration ratio is known, these approximations can be used to analyse field data.     

Drumlin formation in Southern Anglesey and Arvon,Northwest Wales

This is a study of Late Devensian drumlins formed in southern Anglesey and Arvon, northwest Wales. This area was affected by ice sheet coalescence when the Welsh ice sheet met with the lrish Sea ice sheet, and drumlins were formed once the two had coalesced. It is suggested that the drumlins were the result of net subglacial soft-bed erosion, and that they represent more resistant cores within the subglacial deforming layer. The drumlins have either gravel or till cores, and where the core was deformable, large-scale compressive glaciotectonic structures were seen (e.g. Dinas Dinlle) with local subglacial compression of –59%. Where the cores were more resistant (e.g. Lleiniog) these were not deformed but remained as more competent masses within the deforming layer. It is suggested that the less competent material flowed around the cores, some remaining as a thin carapace, but most of the material being removed down glacier, leaving the drumlins as erosional remnants. In northwest Wales there is a multi-till sequence that traditionally has been interpreted as having been deposited as the result of separate ice-sheet advances and retreats. However, in this study, it is suggested that the different tills were deposited as the result of ice-sheet coalescence, and that sites such as Dinas Dinlle do not show evidence of a major readvance in the retreat of the Devensian ice, but are indicative of continuously changing conditions within the subglacial deforming bed.     

Realisation of a celestial system based on VLBI geodynamics programs

The relative orientations of various VLBI celestial reference frames are evaluated on the basis of coordinate differences of common sources. It is shown that an accuracy better than 0.001 can be achieved. Possible regional deformations in the different catalogues are investigated; they are found to reach a few 0.001 in some restricted zones. The application of these studies to the realisation of a combined celestial reference frame consistent with the BIH Terrestrial System is outlined.