Symposium on the glacial refugia and migration paths of Central and North European trees

A symposium on the glacial refugia and migration paths of Central and North European trees was sponsored by the Løvenholm foundation and held at Løvenholm Castle in Jutland, Denmark, in July 1981. Twenty invited lectures were given by participants from twelve European countries. The symposium showed that it may be possible to identify the migration centres and the origin of local populations of the     

Food energy requirements of the harp seal (Phoca groenlandica) population in the Barents and White Seas

The harp seal ( Phoca groenlandica ) population of the Barents and White Seas has probably decreased from about one million individuals to half this size the last few years. Energy requirements of the population have been estimated by use of the simulation model SEAERG. In this model the energy requirements of an individual seal from each age group is multiplied with the group size and summed to provide the requirements of the population. In addition to population size and age structure the total food and energy requirement is sensitive to individual activity levels as well as metabolic levels and other specified physiological functions. The interactions between the seal population and fisheries depends on the caloric density of the prey species which varies with season and location. Realistic simulations of interactions between seals and fisheries require more information about spatial and temporal variations in the prey selection of harp seals than is available today.
Present estimates indicate average maintenance requirements of about 13,600 and ll,150kcal/day for adult female and male harp seals respectively. The high value for the females is due to the costs of pregnancy and lactation. With a mean energy density of prey of 1500 kcal/kg, the corresponding food consumption is 9 kg/day for females and 7.4 kg/day for males.     

Reindeer population size and trend on Edgeøya Svalbard

Two censuses made of the population of Svalbard reindeer on Edgeøya in 1983 and 1996 resulted in 1586 and 2434 individuals respectively. Together with data from earlier population surveys (1969-77), this indicates, numerically, a population growth during the period 1969-96. Because of the weaknesses in the different census methods used, we cannot conclude that in reality a population growth has taken place even though the numerical data is correct. Therefore an average population size of 1730 (± 451 SD) individuals for the period 1969-96 is suggested. Earlier estimates of vegetated area indicate that the present data corresponds to reindeer densities averaging 1.05 and ranging from 0.79 to 1.47 individuals/km².     

Build‐up and depositional dynamics of an arc front volcaniclastic complex: the Miocene Tepoztlán Formation (Transmexican Volcanic Belt,Central Mexico)

Volcanic terrains such as magmatic arcs are thought to display the most complex surface environments on Earth. Ancient volcaniclastics are notoriously difficult to interpret as they describe the interplay between a single or several volcanoes and the environment. The Early Miocene Tepoztlán Formation at the southern edge of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt belongs to the few remnants of this ancestral magmatic arc, and therefore is thought to represent an example of the initial phase of evolution of the Transmexican Volcanic Belt. Based on geological mapping, detailed logging of lithostratigraphic sections, palaeocurrent data of sedimentary features and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility, mapping of two‐dimensional panels from outcrop to field scale, and geochronological data in an area of ca 1000 km², three periods in the evolution of the Tepoztlán Formation were distinguished, which lasted around 4 Myr and are representative of a volcanic cycle (edifice growth phases followed by collapse) in a magmatic arc setting. The volcaniclastic sediments accumulated in proximal to medial distances on partly coalescing aprons, similar to volcanic ring plains, around at least three different stratovolcanoes. These volcanoes resulted from various eruptions separated by repose periods. During the first phase of the evolution of the Tepoztlán Formation (22·8 to 22·2 Ma), deposition was dominated by fluvial sediments in a braided river setting. Pyroclastic material from small, andesitic–dacitic composite volcanoes in the near vicinity was mostly eroded and reworked by fluvial processes, resulting in sediments ranging from cross‐bedded sand to an aggradational series of river gravels. The second phase (22·2 to 21·3 Ma) was characterized by periods of strong volcanic activity, resulting in voluminous accumulations of lava and tuff, which temporarily overloaded and buried the original fluvial system with its detritus. Continuous build‐up of at least three major volcanic centres further accentuated the topography and, in the third phase (21·3 to 18·8 Ma), mass flow processes, represented by an increase of debris flow deposits, became dominant, marking a period of edifice destruction and flank failures.     

SOME RELATIONS BETWEEN POTENTIAL FIELDS AND THE STRENGTH AND CENTER OF THEIR SOURCES*

From gravity it is well known how to determine the excess mass and the horizontal center of mass of the disturbing body. We show that a magnetic body—under rather weak assumptions—possesses excess magnetization and centers of magnetization (both horizontal and vertical), which can be uniquely determined from measurements. It also follows that the vertical center of mass can be uniquely determined from the vertical derivative of the gravity field.     

Palaeoecology of the Quaternary

Book reviewed in this article:
H. J. B. Birks & Hilary H. Birks: Quaternary Palaeoecology     

Amino acid ratios in Quaternary molluscs and foraminifera from western Norway: correlation, geochronology and paleotemperature estimates

Isoleucine epimerization (alle/Ue) ratios in the pelecypod Mya truncata and benthic foraminifer Cibicides lobalulus from emerged marine units in western Norway allow construction of a regional relative chronostratigraphy for the Ecmian and Weichselian. Two in situ interglacial sections are considered correlative by the similar biostratigraphy and alle/Ile ratios in C. lobalulus. Overlying sediments at the two sites are of both marine and glacial origin. Neither site contains a complete Weichselian record, but allelic ratios, lithostratigraphy and fauna! changes suggest at least four stadial and three interstadial events occurred along the western Norwegian coast during Early and Middle Weichselian time. Kinetic data defining the relationship between the isoleucine epimerization rate constant and temperature for the species studied allow the estimation of paleotemperatures for samples of known age. Accepting published age estimates for the Eemian interglacial beds, the average Weichselian temperature in western Norway is calculated to have been ca. 4°C below the average Holocene temperature, whereas the last interglacial was 1 to 2°C warmer that the Holocene. The limited temperature depression over this region during the Weichselian implies that coastal western Norway was ice-covered only about 30% of this period, and that Atlantic water, although not necessarily in a warm surface current as today, entered the Norwegian Sea during much of marine isotope stage 5 and intermittently during stage 3. Interpolated amino acid ages date interstadial events at ca. 94 ka, 78 ka and 52 ka, B.P., whereas glacial events are dated ca. 103 ka and bracketed by limiting dates between 78 and 89 ka, between 52 and 63 ka and less than 36 ka B.P.