Glaciodynamically upthrusted bands of englacially transported debris in the Pleistocene of central Poland

Two kinds of buried structures are described from Dzirżenin, north-east of Warsaw, where they occur within a glaciofluvial landform: (1) narrow till ridges, showing vertically oriented structures, excavated from stratified gravel and sands; and (2) a narrow vertical zone of massive gravelly/sandy material, involving vertically oriented lens-like layers composed of massive sand with pebbles, or of diamicton. The gravelly/sandy zone is also closely surrounded by stratified glaciofluvial sediments. In spite of their vertical position and internal deformation, the till ridges and gravelly/sandy zone show non-tectonic contacts with the surrounding, stratified, undisturbed sediments. The glaciofluvial sediments that occur immediately next to the structures under discussion are characterized by the occurrence of comparatively coarse material and interbeddings of diamicton, which wedge out away from these structures. The gravelly/sandy zone separates different kinds of water-laid deposits. The buried structures are interpreted as former debris-laden bands, thrust upwards within the frontal part of the ice sheet and then transformed into still-frozen debris ridges projecting over the already dead ice. Further melting of the decaying ice resulted in abundant glaciofluvial sedimentation, and the debris ridges also supplied material for the deposition of the neighbouring stratified deposits. One of the ridges separated different glaciofluvial environments. The glaciofluvial sediments completely buried the ice-cemented ridges, which were finally transformed by a melting-out process into the till ridges and the gravelly/sandy zone. The former are interpreted as having been transformed from upturned debris-laden bands with a high concentration of debris or from the bands composed of frozen-up sediment slabs. The gravelly/sandy zone is interpreted as having (most probably) been deposited from upturned bands characterized by a lesser concentration of debris.     

Late Quaternary Stratigraphy, Glacial Limits, and Paleoenvironments of the Marresale Area, Western Yamal Peninsula, Russia

Stratigraphic records from coastal cliff sections near the Marresale Station on the Yamal Peninsula, Russia, yield new insight on ice-sheet dynamics and paleoenvironments for northern Eurasia. Field studies identify nine informal stratigraphic units from oldest to youngest (the Marresale formation, Labsuyakha sand, Kara diamicton, Varjakha peat and silt, Oleny sand, Baidarata sand, Betula horizon, Nenets peat, and Chum sand) that show a single glaciation and a varied terrestrial environment during the late Pleistocene. The Kara diamicton reflects regional glaciation and is associated with glaciotectonic deformation from the southwest of the underlying Labsuyakha sand and Marresale formation. Finite radiocarbon and luminescence ages of ca. 35,000 to 45,000 yr from Varjakha peat and silt that immediately overlies Kara diamicton place the glaciation >40,000 yr ago. Eolian and fluvial deposition ensued with concomitant cryogenesis between ca. 35,000 and 12,000 cal yr B.P. associated with the Oleny and the Baidarata sands. There is no geomorphic or stratigraphic evidence of coverage or proximity of the Yamal Peninsula to a Late Weichselian ice sheet. The Nenets peat accumulated over the Baidarata sand during much of the past 10,000 yr, with local additions of the eolian Chum sand starting ca. 1000 yr ago. A prominent Betula horizon at the base of the Nenets peat contains rooted birch trees ca. 10,000 to 9000 cal yr old and indicates a >200-km shift northward of the treeline from the present limits, corresponding to a 2° to 4°C summer warming across northern Eurasia.     

Examining the Variability of Crossing Times for Canadian Trucks at the Three Major Canada–U.S. Border Crossings

Land borders connecting Canada and the United States are vital transportation facilities for the two countries. Truck crossing times at these facilities can have a significant impact on the performance of the economy. To date, knowledge about border crossing times has been limited due to lack of detailed data on the Canadian border. This article explores and models the patterns of crossing times at the three major land crossings connecting Canada to the United States: Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge, and Peace Bridge. The analysis is based on 387,775 border crossing truck trips that were generated between Canada and the United States over a course of twelve months. Seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) models are estimated to evaluate the seasonal and hourly crossing times of Canada- and U.S.-bound trips on each border crossing, controlling for traffic intensity in the models. The SUR modeling approach is chosen to control for potential cross-model correlations. The results suggest that crossing times at the border vary by season and hour of the day. Crossing times also vary by direction of traffic and by type of day (i.e., weekday vs. weekend). Traffic intensity has a significant influence on crossing times at two of the crossings but not the Blue Water Bridge. Finally, crossing times are more variable during the summer season and tend to be higher during the late evening hours and past midnight.     

Twenty-one years of German geomorphology

In recent decades, German geomorphology has been mainly concerned with climatic and climato-genetic geomorphology. The first is the study of processes, especially of process combinations in different climato-morphological zones. The second is concerned with the way exogenic forces control the evolution of relief in a certain region. This study of relief generations differs fundamentally from denudation chronology. Certain principles developed as knowledge of these fields has grown, such as the variability of rock resistance with climate and discontinuity of processes in both space and time, are considered. In recent years new trends, based mainly on climatic geomorphology, have been towards greater specialization in fields such as quantitative geomorphology, geomorphological mapping, and laboratory analysis of regolith and soil samples.     

The role of radiative-convective interaction in creating the microclimate of urban street canyons

An approximate sky view factor (SVF) has been developed, which is capable of estimating the mean rate of net longwave radiant energy loss from urban street canyons. Reduced scale models of typical canyon geometries were used in outdoor tests to verify the predictions of radiant fluxes obtained using the proposed SVF. Air-surface temperature differences from the scale models are used together with hypothesized within-canyon airflow patterns to determine some quantitative characteristics of the wind field in canyons. Simple correlations are proposed for the relationship between mean in-canyon and pedestrian-level flow speeds on the one hand, and the ambient (above roof-level) wind speed on the other hand. As expected, the height/width ratio of a canyon controls the form and magnitude of the flow within.     

Simulated asteroid materials based on carbonaceous chondrite mineralogies

A set of high‐fidelity simulated asteroid materials, or simulants, was developed based on the mineralogy of carbonaceous chondrite meteorites. Three varieties of simulant were developed based on CI1 chondrites (typified by Orgueil), CM2 chondrites (typified by Murchison), and CR2/3 chondrites (multiple samples). The simulants were designed to replicate the mineralogy and physical properties of the corresponding meteorites and anticipated asteroid surface materials as closely as is reasonably possible for bulk amounts. The simulants can be made in different physical forms ranging from larger cobbles to fine‐grained regolith. We analyzed simulant prototypes using scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray fluorescence, reflectance spectroscopy at ambient conditions and in vacuum, thermal emission spectroscopy in a simulated asteroid environment chamber, and combined thermogravimetry and evolved gas analysis. Most measured properties compare favorably to the reference meteorites and therefore to predicted volatile‐rich asteroid surface materials, including boulders, cobbles, and fine‐grained soils. However, there were also discrepancies, and mistakes were made in the original mineral formulations that will be updated in the future. The asteroid simulants are available to the community from the nonprofit Exolith Lab at UCF, and the mineral recipes are freely published for other groups to reproduce and modify as they see fit.