Testing the consistency of Holocene and Last Glacial Maximum spatial correlations in temperature proxy records

Holocene temperature proxy records are commonly used in quantitative synthesis and model-data comparisons. However, comparing correlations between time series from records collected in proximity to one another with the expected correlations based on climate model simulations indicates either regional or noisy climate signals in Holocene temperature proxy records. In this study, we evaluate the consistency of spatial correlations present in Holocene proxy records with those found in data from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Specifically, we predict correlations expected in LGM proxy records if the only difference to Holocene correlations would be due to more time uncertainty and more climate variability in the LGM. We compare this simple prediction to the actual correlation structure in the LGM proxy records. We found that time series data of ice-core stable isotope records and planktonic foraminifera Mg/Ca ratios were consistent between the Holocene and LGM periods, while time series of Uk'37 proxy records were not as we found no correlation between nearby LGM records. Our results support the finding of highly regional or noisy marine proxy records in the compilation analysed here and suggest the need for further studies on the role of climate proxies and the processes of climate signal recording and preservation.     

Small shards and long distances — three cryptotephra layers from the Nahe palaeolake including the first discovery of Laacher See Tephra in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany)

Investigations of Lateglacial to Early Holocene lake sediments from the Nahe palaeolake (northern Germany) provided a high-resolution palynological record. To increase the temporal resolution of the record a targeted search for cryptotephra was carried out on the basis of pollen stratigraphy. Three cryptotephra horizons were detected and geochemically identified as G10ka series tephra (a Saksunarvatn Ash), Vedde Ash and Laacher See Tephra. Here we present the first geochemically confirmed finding of the ash from the Laacher See Eruption in Schleswig-Holstein—extending the so far detected fallout fan of the eruption further to the north-west. These finds enable direct stratigraphical correlations and underline the potential of the site for further investigations.     

Conspicuous sediment structures in fossil beach deposits (southern Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain): paleoliquefaction features versus biogenic origin

Tubular-shaped concretions and concretionary dykes occur in Holocene fossil beach deposits between the township of El Médano and Punta Roja in southern Tenerife, Canary Islands. These sediment structures have been interpreted either as the result of (a) the interaction between hot ignimbrites that overflowed wet beaches; (b) fast accumulation of beach sands on hot and degassing ignimbrites; (c) paleoliquefaction caused by an earthquake (seismites). Based on the interpretation as seismites, an intense paleoearthquake with a moment magnitude of M = 6.8 was proposed to be responsible for the generation of the paleoliquefaction structures. However, we here reinterpret the sedimentary structures in question using the general criteria diagnostic for rhizocretions and root tubules with respect to their orientation, size, branching system, and style of cementation and, thus, consider them, to be of biogenic origin.     

Copper Ore Quality Tracking in a Belt Conveyor System Using Simulation Tools

Natural Resources Research - The ore quality at mining faces in the KGHM underground copper ore mines can be determined based on channel samples and block models built in the Datamine system....     

Solar Microflares Observed by SphinX and RHESSI

In 2009, the Russian Complex Orbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun (CORONAS-Photon) spacecraft was launched, carrying the Polish Solar PHotometer In X-rays (SphinX). The SphinX was most sensitive in the spectral range 1.2?–?15 keV, thus an excellent opportunity appeared for comparison with the low-energy end of Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spectra. Common spectral measurements with these instruments cover the range where most of the flare energy is accumulated. We have chosen four consecutive small solar events observed on 4 July 2009 at 13:43 UT, 13:48 UT, 13:52 UT, and 13:55 UT (RHESSI flare peak times) and used them to compare the data and results from the two instruments. Moreover, we included Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) records in our analysis. In practice, the range of comparison performed for SphinX and RHESSI is limited roughly to 3?–?6 keV. RHESSI fluxes measured with a use of one, four, and nine detectors in the 3?–?4 keV energy band agree with SphinX measurements. However, we observed that SphinX spectral irradiances are three times higher than those of RHESSI in the 4?–?6 keV energy band. This effect contributes to the difference in obtained emission measures, but the derived temperatures of plasma components are similar. RHESSI spectra were fitted using a model with two thermal components. We have found that the RHESSI hot component is in agreement with GOES, and the RHESSI hotter component fits the SphinX flaring component well. Moreover, we calculated the so-called thermodynamic measure and the total thermal energy content in the four microflares that we studied. The results obtained show that SphinX is a very sensitive complementary observatory for RHESSI and GOES.     

Pipe laying simulation with an active reel drive

Dynamic and quasi-static models for analysis of a pipe lay spread are presented in the paper. Depending on the type of a pipe, spooling it on a big drum (reel) may cause plastic deformations. When the pipe is reeled out at sea, again it undergoes plastic deformations. In order to model such a nonlinear behaviour, a model, which includes both elasto-plastic material characteristics and large deformations, is required. Discretisation of the pipe is performed by means of the Rigid Finite Element Method (RFEM), which allows us to study static and dynamic problems, taking into account required properties of the model. Different sea conditions are simulated and analysed. It is shown how operational conditions can limit the ability of laying operation by a dedicated vessel, due to an unstable system response. The second part of the paper presents an upgrade of a passive reel drive by application of an active drive. In the model used for control applications, the pipe is modelled by a neural network. This allows us to perform a real-time calculations. In this fast-response calculation model, nonlinear aspects of the system are taken into account. The improvements in a pipe laying vessel performance are presented by some results of numerical simulations. The conclusions are also formulated.     

The variability of ruthenium in chromite from chassignite and olivine‐phyric shergottite meteorites: New insights into the behavior of PGE and sulfur in Martian magmatic systems

The Martian meteorites comprise mantle‐derived mafic to ultramafic rocks that formed in shallow intrusions and/or lava flows. This study reports the first in situ platinum‐group element data on chromite and ulvöspinel from a series of dunitic chassignites and olivine‐phyric shergottites, determined using laser‐ablation ICP‐MS. As recent studies have shown that Ru has strongly contrasting affinities for coexisting sulfide and spinel phases, the precise in situ analysis of this element in spinel can provide important insights into the sulfide saturation history of Martian mantle‐derived melts. The new data reveal distinctive differences between the two meteorite groups. Chromite from the chassignites Northwest Africa 2737 (NWA 2737) and Chassigny contained detectable concentrations of Ru (up to ~160 ppb Ru) in solid solution, whereas chromite and ulvöspinel from the olivine‐phyric shergottites Yamato‐980459 (Y‐980459), Tissint, and Dhofar 019 displayed Ru concentrations consistently below detection limit (<42 ppb). The relatively elevated Ru signatures of chromite from the chassignites suggest a Ru‐rich (~1–4 ppb) parental melt for this meteorite group, which presumably did not experience segregation of immiscible sulfide liquids over the interval of mantle melting, melt ascent, and chromite crystallization. The relatively Ru‐depleted signature of chromite and ulvöspinel from the olivine‐phyric shergottites may be the consequence of relatively lower Ru contents (<1 ppb) in the parental melts, and/or the presence of sulfides during the crystallization of the spinel phases. The results of this study illustrate the significance of platinum‐group element in situ analysis on spinel phases to decipher the sulfide saturation history of magmatic systems.     

A record of long-time rift activity and earthquake-induced ground effects in Pleistocene deposits of southern Tenerife (Canary Islands,Spain)

Faults with a well-defined strike direction that precisely coincides with the southern rift fault system occur in the study area in southern Tenerife. This fault system was generated contemporaneously with a chain of cinder cones ~948 ka. Open fractures in ignimbrites (~668 ka) and fossil beach deposits (~42 ka) of the El Médano area suggest that the rift-associated fault system was seismically active in the aftermath of the initial volcanic activity (~948 ka) and is probably still active. A second fault system striking perpendicular to the rift-related faults probably originates from a Holocene paleoearthquake of moderate intensity. Earthquake-induced ground effects in fossil beach deposits within the study area are consistent with seismically induced ground effects of several recent and well-documented earthquakes, as well as gravitational sliding triggered by an intense earthquake in the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica in 1990. Both, the rift-associated and the earthquake-induced fault system, initially produced open fractures that were occupied by plants and subsequently stabilized by cementation, forming conspicuous sediment structures in fossil beach deposits of the El Médano site in southern Tenerife.     

Nitric oxide profiles measured in situ during the Globus '85 campaign

Nitric oxide profiles obtained from three flights of chemiluminescent instruments during the Globus '85 campaign held in France in the autumn of 1985 are reported. When the profile obtained in the early morning of 20 September is compared with the flight made the previous afternoon, an average morning to midday NO ratio of 0.7 for the region between 26 and 33 km is obtained. This value is in good agreement with theoretical studies involving the photolysis of N₂O₅ and the establishment of the NO₂–NO equilibrium.     

Archaean tonalitic gneiss of Finnish Lapland revisited: zircon ion-microprobe ages

We report single grain and grain-domain U–Pb zircon ages for the Tojottamanselkä tonalitic gneiss previously investigated by the whole-rock Rb–Sr, Pb–Pb and Sm–Nd methods, by conventional U–Pb zircon density/size fraction analysis and by Hf-isotopes (Kröner et al. 1981; Patchett et al. 1981; Jahn et al. 1984) and established as one of the oldest known rocks of the Baltic shield. Our data confirm the intrusive age as 3115±29 Ma (standard error), but we also found slightly older xenocrystic zircon cores with ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb ages between 3161±19 and 3248±10 Ma that may either be derived from earlier phases of the tonalite melt or from pre-tonalite sialic crust. New magmatic zircon growth, probably during a metamorphic event that led to migmatization, is recorded by an age of 2836±30 Ma and may be coeval with widespread tonalite emplacement elsewhere in the northern Baltic shield at about this time.