The Little Ice Age glacier maximum in Iceland and the North Atlantic Oscillation: evidence from Lambatungnajökull, southeast Iceland

This article examines the link between late Holocene fluctuations of Lambatungnajökull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland, and variations in climate. Geomorphological evidence is used to reconstruct the pattern of glacier fluctuations, while lichenometry and tephrostratigraphy are used to date glacial landforms deposited over the past ˜400 years. Moraines dated using two different lichenometric techniques indicate that the most extensive period of glacier expansion occurred shortly before c . AD 1795, probably during the 1780s. Recession over the last 200 years was punctuated by re-advances in the 1810s, 1850s, 1870s, 1890s and c . 1920, 1930 and 1965. Lambatungnajökull receded more rapidly in the 1930s and 1940s than at any other time during the last 200 years. The rate and style of glacier retreat since 1930 compare well with other similar-sized, non-surging, glaciers in southeast Iceland, suggesting that the terminus fluctuations are climatically driven. Furthermore, the pattern of glacier fluctuations over the 20th century broadly reflects the temperature oscillations recorded at nearby meteorological stations. Much of the climatic variation experienced in southern Iceland, and the glacier fluctuations that result, can be explained by secular changes in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) Advances of Lambatungnajökull generally occur during prolonged periods of negative NAO index. The main implication of this work relates to the exact timing of the Little Ice Age in the Northeast Atlantic. Mounting evidence now suggests that the period between AD 1750 and 1800, rather than the late 19th century, represented the culmination of the Little Ice Age in Iceland.     

A comparison of mud- and sand-dominated meanders in a downstream coarsening reach of the mixed bedrock-alluvial Klip River, eastern Free State, South Africa

Along a 28 km reach of the Klip River, eastern Free State, South Africa, mud- and sand-dominated meanders have developed in close proximity within a floodplain wetland up to 1.5 km wide, providing an unusual opportunity to compare their characteristics under similar hydrological conditions. Throughout the reach, the channel bed is grounded on sandstone/shale bedrock although the banks are alluvial, and most river activity occurs during summer high flows. The reach can be divided into three geomorphological zones: Zone 1 (0–11 km), a muddy proximal part with a single meandering channel (w/d < 10) and near-permanent standing water in oxbows and backswamps; Zone 2 (11–17.5 km), a transitional mud-to-sand part with one main channel (w/d  20–30), a number of sinuous palaeochannels and oxbows, and only limited standing water; and Zone 3 (17.5–28 km), a sandy distal part with a single meandering channel (w/d  15–30), scroll bars and oxbows, and little standing water. Each zone also has a distinctive sedimentology: Zone 1 is characterised by an  3–4 m thick succession of basal sand and minor granules overlain by dominantly muddy sediment deposited primarily by oblique accretion in meander bends; Zone 2 is characterised by < 4 m of interbedded sand and mud deposited primarily by lateral point-bar accretion, although a history of avulsions also attests to the importance of abandoned-channel accretion; and Zone 3 is characterised by < 3 m of dominantly sand deposited primarily by lateral point-bar accretion. This unusual downstream sediment coarsening trend, and the associated changes in channel and floodplain character, are independent of sediment inputs from tributaries, and result from a downstream increase in bankfull unit stream power from < 3.5 W m^− 2 (Zone 1) to  4–10 W m^− 2 (Zone 3). Mud is deposited primarily in low-energy Zone 1 but is conveyed in suspension more effectively through higher energy Zones 2 and 3, only forming drapes over sandy lateral accretion deposits during waning flood stages. The downstream increase in unit stream power is controlled in part by a slight downstream increase in floodplain gradient that may be related to a subtle variation in the erosional resistance of the bedrock underlying the channel bed. These findings add to previous work on meandering rivers by demonstrating that mud-dominated meanders can occur in long-term erosional settings where the channel bed is grounded on bedrock, and that downstream fining trends may be reversed locally.     

Study of geothermal water intrusion due to groundwater exploitation in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico

Significant intrusion of geothermal water into fresh groundwater takes place in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico. The decline in the potentiometric surface due to the overexploitation of the groundwater induces this intrusion. This hydrological system comprises three aquifers located in Plio-Quaternary volcanic sediments and Mesozoic calcareous rocks. The hydraulic balance of the aquifer shows that the annual output exceeds the natural inputs by 12 million m³. Between 1973 and 2002, a drop in the potentiometric surface, with an 80 m cone of depression, was identified in a 5-km-wide area located southwest of the city of Puebla. Chemical analyses performed on water samples since 1990 have shown an increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) of more than 500 mg/L, coinciding with the region showing a cone of depression in the potentiometric surface. A three-dimensional flow and transport model, based on the hydrogeological and geophysical studies, was computed by using the MODFLOW and MT3D software. This model reproduces the evolution of the aquifer system during the last 30 years and predicts for 2010 an additional drawdown in the potentiometric surface of 15 m, and an increase in the geothermal water intrusion.     

Microvariability of line profiles in the spectrum of the star ι Her

We present the results of a search for and analysis of line-profile variations in the spectrum of the star ι Her. The observations were acquired with the 1.8 m telescope of the Bohyunsan Optical Astronomy Observatory (Republic of Korea) in May–June 2004. We obtained 69 spectra of the star with signal-to-noise ratios ≈300 and a time resolution of 5–7 min. Profile variability was revealed for six lines of HI, HeI, and SiIII, in the central parts of the lines. The variability amplitude is ≈(1–2)% in units of the intensity of the adjacent continuum. Evidence was found for cyclic variations of the lines, with periods from ≈7^h to ≈2.9^d. We conclude that ι Her belongs to the group of slowly pulsating stars.     

Structure of the thermal lithosphere and asthenosphere beneath oceans and continents

The lithosphere and asthenosphere make up a common geodynamic system but are characterized by different physical parameters. The former has a temperature of 1200–1300°C, a density of 3.3 g/cm³, and a viscosity of 10²² poise, while the latter has a density of 3.23 g/cm³, a viscosity in the range 10²¹-10^18–19 poise, and a temperature from 1200–1300°C to 1600–1700°C. The asthenosphere is distinguished by a great variability of its physical state in the lateral and vertical directions. This circumstance necessitates the recognition of the different types of the asthenosphere: seismic (LVZ zone), electrical, thermal, and seismological. The structure and the physical state of the thermal asthenosphere is considered in this paper on the basis of P-T parameters. Its state normally fits viscous Newtonian liquid beneath the continents and provides partial (5–20%) melting in spreading zones and along continental margins. No partial melting is detected beneath the main portion of the continents. The interaction between the asthenosphere and lithosphere is characterized by spatiotemporal migration of partial melting zones and asthenosphere upwelling, and such interaction determines the entire range of geodynamic processes from spreading and rifting to collision and vertical motions of different senses.