Paving the way for conservation?

Limestone pavement is a unique part of Britain's physical landscape. Along with other forms of naturally weathered rock, it is under threat from exploitation for the horticultural market. Valued for its delicate and sculptured form, limestone pavement has been frequently used as decorative stone in rockeries and other landscaped ground. If this unique landscape is to be protected, its exploitation must stop. Yet it must be remembered that the use of rock in gardens and landscaped ground has an important role in raising the public profile of geology within urban areas. We have a simple message: the use of limestone pavement is wrong and must stop, but the use of other forms of stone in urban gardens is beneficial for the Earth sciences.     

Cretaceous-Tertiary crossroads of migration in the Sahel

A series of expeditions undertaken over the last three years by a team of geologists from Kingston Polytechnic and the British Museum (Natural History) has increased our understanding of the Cretaceous and Tertiary palaeogeography of Central West Africa. The latest expedition discovered a dinosaur graveyard of Lower Cretaceous (Wealden) age. Studies of these and other fossils within the sedimentary rocks of the Iullemmeden Basin in Niger and Mali have shed new light on the Trans-Saharan Seaway migration route during the Cretaceous and Tertiary periods.     

Dimethylsulphide production in the subantarctic southern ocean under enhanced greenhouse conditions

Dimethylsulphide (DMS) is an important sulphur‐containing trace gas produced by enzymatic cleavage of its precursor compound, dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP), which is released by marine phytoplankton in the upper ocean. After ventilation to the atmosphere, DMS is oxidised to form sulphate aerosols which in the unpolluted marine atmosphere are a major source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Because the micro‐physical properties of clouds relevant to climate change are sensitive to CCN concentration in air, it has been postulated that marine sulphur emissions may play a rôle in climate regulation. The Subantarctic Southern Ocean (41–53°S) is relatively free of anthropogenic sulphur emissions, thus sulphate aerosols will be mainly derived from the biogenic source of DMS, making it an ideal region in which to evaluate the DMS‐climate regulation hypothesis. We have extended a previous modelling analysis of the DMS cycle in this region by employing a coupled general circulation model (CGCM) which has been run in transient mode to provide a more realistic climate scenario. The CGCM output provided meteorological data under the IPCC/IS92a radiative forcing scenario. A DMS production model has been forced with the CGCM climate data to simulate the trend in the sea‐to‐air DMS flux for the period 1960 to 2080, corresponding to equivalent CO₂ tripling relative to pre‐industrial levels. The results confirm a minor but non‐negligible increase in DMS flux in this region, in the range +1% to +6% predicted over the period simulated. Uncertainty analysis of the DMS model predictions have confirmed the positive sign for the change in DMS flux, that is a negative DMS feedback on warming.     

KRISP 85 — An international seismic investigation of the Kenya Rift

British, German, American and Kenyan seismologists undertook a preliminary crustal seismic programme in the Kenya Rift in the summer of 1985. Thirteen explosions, totalling 7 tonnes, were fired in lakes and boreholes, and were recorded by 42 three-component stations. Preliminary results show that the deep structure along the axis of the Rift is more complex than previous models have suggested.