Mean sea level trends around the English Channel over the 20th century and their wider context

This paper provides estimates of rates of change in mean sea level around the English Channel, based on an extensive new hourly sea level data set for the south coast of the UK, derived from data archaeology. Mean sea level trends are found to vary by between 0.8 and 2.3 mm/yr around the Channel. The rates of mean sea level change are calculated by removing the coherent part of the sea level variability from the time series of annual mean sea level before fitting linear trends. The improvement in accuracy gained by using this approach is assessed by comparing trends with those calculated using the more traditional method, in which linear trends are fitted directly to the original records. Removal of the coherent part of the sea level variability allows more precise trends to be calculated from records spanning 30 years. With the traditional approach 50 years is required to obtain the same level of accuracy. Rates of vertical land movement are approximated by subtracting the mean sea level trends from the most recent regional estimate of change in sea level due to oceanographic processes only. These estimated rates are compared to measurements from geological data and advanced geodetic techniques. There is good agreement around most of the UK. However, the rates estimated from the sea level records imply that the geological data suggest too much submergence along the western and central parts of the UK south coast. Lastly, the paper evaluates whether the high rates of mean sea level rise of the last decade are unusual compared to trends observed at other periods in the historical record and finds that they are not.     

Diamictic sediments within high Arctic lake sediment cores: evidence for lake ice rafting along the lateral glacial margin

Sediment cores from six small lake basins in the Canadian high Arctic reveal a gravel‐rich (≤30% by weight) to gravel‐poor (≥2%) diamict facies underlying massive, post‐glacial, clayey silt. Ten other lakes contain a second diamict facies within what are interpreted to be glaciolacustrine sedimentary assemblages. The sedimentology, clast fabrics and fossil remains (diatoms, ostracodes and chironomid head capsules) within both diamict facies suggest that these deposits are not tills. Clast fabrics yielded low S₁ (0·41–0·57) and high S₃ (0·09–0·22) eigenvalues, placing them within the range of ice‐rafted diamictons and glacigenic sediment flows. The high percentage of clast dip angles >45° (15–61%), random clast azimuth and lower diamict contacts conformable to underlying current‐bedded sediment favours an origin as a rain‐out or settling deposit. Samples of the matrix and scrapings of clasts from the diamicts revealed a diatom assemblage dominated by littoral and planktonic forms, such as are found in the littoral regions of the lakes today. This contrasts sharply with the assemblages within the overlying clayey silt, in which benthic forms predominate. Clasts are thus interpreted to have been rafted from the littoral areas of the lake. The process proposed to explain this is rafting by the lake ice cover in a glacial‐marginal environment. Early season meltwater, impounded along the lateral margin of retreating cold‐based glaciers, would buoyantly lift the lake ice cover and any adfrozen lake sediment. Higher lake levels and increased areal extent of seasonal freeze‐on between the lake ice cover and the lake bed would allow the redeposition of littoral sediments to the benthic regions through greater lateral shifting of the ice cover as it broke up. Incision by meltwater streams into the lateral glacial margins would later isolate the lake, allowing seasonal warming of lake water, enough to support the growth and maturation of the ostracode and chironomid species found as fossils within the diamicts.     

William Gilbert: the first palaeomagnetist

William Gilbert first described the Earth as a giant dipole magnet 400 years ago. But, as Rod Wilson recounts, he did far more than this.     

Amino acid nitrogen in atmospheric aerosols: Occurrence,sources and photochemical modification

The presence of amino acids in atmospheric precipitation and aerosols has been noted for many years, yet relatively little is known about these or other nitrogen containing organic compounds in the atmosphere. Marine and continental rainwater analyses indicate that atmospheric aerosols, and subsequently atmospheric precipitation, may contain substantial levels of free and combined amino acids. The most likely source of amino N in the remote marine atmosphere appears to be the injection of proteinaceous material through the action of bursting bubbles at the sea-air interface or the long range transport from terrestrial sources. The capacity of these substrates to undergo photooxidation and photodegradation in the atmosphere to simpler species, such as ammonium ions, carboxylic acids, and for the S containing amino acids, oxidized forms of sulfur, has received little attention from atmospheric chemists. The photochemistry of covalently bound amino groups, particularly as found in peptides and amino acids, is discussed here with the purpose of summarizing what is known of their occurrence and their possible importance to atmospheric chemistry.     

Age trends in garnet-hosted monazite inclusions from upper amphibolite facies schist in the northern Grouse Creek Mountains, Utah

We performed in situ Th-Pb dating of monazite in upper amphibolite facies pelitic schist from the Grouse Creek Mountains in northwest Utah. Sixty-six ages from inclusions in four garnet grains range from 37 to 72 Ma and decrease with radial distance from garnet cores. The age range of 30 matrix monazite grains overlaps and extends to younger ages than inclusions (25-58 Ma). The monazite grains are not intersected by cracks in the garnets, through which dissolution, reprecipitation or Pb loss might occur, and are generally too small (<20 μm) to allow for more than one age determination on any one grain. Processes that might explain inclusion ages that decrease with radial distance from garnet cores include: (1) Pb diffusion in monazite, (2) dissolution and reprecipitation of monazite, and (3) co-crystallization of monazite and garnet. After consideration of these possibilities, it is concluded that the co-crystallization of monazite and garnet is the most plausible, with monazite neoblasts deriving REEs from the breakdown of muscovite. Garnet ages derived by regression of the inclusion ages and assuming a constant rate of volume increase during garnet growth yield model ages with a maximum difference between core and rim of 22 m.y.     

Identification and quantification of carbonyl-containing α-pinene ozonolysis products using <Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-<Emphasis Type="Italic">tert</Emphasis>-butylhydroxylamine hydrochloride

The yields of carbonyl-containing reaction products from the ozonolysis of α-pinene have been investigated using concentrations of ozone found in the indoor environment ([O₃] ≤ 100 ppb). An impinger was used to collect gas-phase oxidation products in water, where the derivatization agent O-tert-butylhydroxylamine hydrochloride (TBOX) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to identify carbonyl-containing species. Seven carbonyl-containing products were observed. The yield of the primary product, pinonaldehyde was measured to be 76 %. Using cyclohexane as a hydroxyl radical (?OH) scavenger, the yield of pinonaldehyde decreased to 46 %, indicating the influence secondary OH radicals have on α-pinene ozonolysis products. Furthermore, the use of TBOX, a small molecular weight derivatization agent, allowed for the acquisition of the first mass spectral data of oxopinonaldehyde, a tricarbonyl reaction product of α-pinene ozonolysis. The techniques described herein allow for an effective method for the collection and identification of terpene oxidation products in the indoor environment.     

The relationship between beam transmission and concentration of suspended particulate material in the Neuse River estuary,North Carolina

Monthly measurements made at 15 stations along the axis of the upper Neuse River estuary show a highly variable degree of correlation between concentration of suspended particulate material (SPM) and attenuation of light (c) as measured by transmissometer. Coefficients of determination along transect lines ranged from 0.12 to 0.93 and calibration slopes ranged from 0.50 to 5.63. When examined on a station-by-station basis, coefficients of determination ranged from 0.21 to 0.96 and calibration slopes ranged from 1.04 to 4.94. Surface calibrations made at individual stations over the full 13-month period were the most consistent of all observations and were considerably better than calibrations made using all of the stations on a given day. Organic content, which can dominate the suspended sediment load during some months, does not appear to explain the variations in reliability of the calibrations. However, an abundance of large aggregates with time-varying size and shape distributions may be partly responsible for variations in optical properties of the sediments, and thus may confound the relationship between SPM and c in the Neuse River estuary. Time-varying calibrations to account for non-negligible changes in optical properties may not suffice in complex estuarine environments where the in situ particle dynamics are poorly understood.     

The history and fate of the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer springs in the oasis depressions of the Western Desert,Egypt

Extraction of groundwater for agriculture has resulted in the loss of springs across arid regions of the globe. The history and fate are recorded of the artesian springs of Egypt’s Western Desert, from ancient times to the present, spanning the rise and fall of the great civilisations from the Pharoanic dynasties to Persian, Greek and Roman conquests. The study area includes oases Kharga, Dakhla, Bahriya, Farafra and Siwa, and several outer and small oases around Siwa and the edge of the Qattara Depression. The region is hyper-arid, receiving 10 mm or less average annual precipitation and evaporation rates are in the vicinity of 3,000 mm/a. Groundwater in the oases is largely derived from bores discharging from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. Based on an extensive survey, conducted for the first time, attention is drawn to the rapid demise of springs as a result of modern irrigation schemes which continue to deplete groundwater supplies.     

Nitrogen and phosphorus species in the coastal and shelf waters of Southeastern North Carolina, Mid-Atlantic U.S. coast

The diversity of small-scale wetlands, high salinity tidal creeks, salt marshes, estuaries, and a wide and shallow shelf with the Gulf Stream close to the break makes the coastal zone of south-eastern North Carolina (U.S.) a natural laboratory for the study of the cycling of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) in coastal and shelf waters. We assessed the summer concentrations, forms, and ratios for each N (total dissolved N, nitrate + nitrite, ammonium and dissolved organic N) and P (total dissolved P, o-phosphate and dissolved organic P) pool as these nutrients travel from tidal creeks, salt marshes and two large estuaries to Long and Onslow Bays. Additionally, we measured ancillary physical (temperature, salinity and turbidity) and chemical (dissolved oxygen, chlorophyll a and pH) water properties. Highest concentrations of all individual N and P compounds were found in the upper parts of each tributary and were attributed to loads from agricultural and urban sources to the coastal watersheds, continuing downstream to receiving estuaries. In all areas, dissolved organic N and P species were predominant constituents of the total dissolved N and P pools (64–97% and 56–93%, respectively). The lower parts of estuaries and surface shelf waters were characterized by oceanic surface values, indicating removal of N and P downstream in all tributaries. The different watershed and hydrological characteristics also determined the different speciation of N and P pools in each estuary. Despite a high level of anthropogenic pressure on the uppermost coastal waters, there is self-regulation in this coastal ecosystem with respect to human perturbations; i.e. significant amounts of the N and P load are retained within estuarine and nearshore waters without reaching the shelf.