A new shoreline displacement model for the last 7 ka from eastern James Bay, Canada

The shoreline displacement history of the eastern James Bay lowlands in the last 7 ka has been investigated by means of AMS radiocarbon dating of sediments cored from wetlands. We present twelve radiocarbon dates on macrofossils from six sites spread along a gradient of increasing land age and elevation. Palynomorph analysis (pollen, spores, and dinoflagellate cysts) was used to define the isolation stratigraphy. During the last 7 ka the shoreline elevation has regressed at a decreasing rate. The rate of shoreline emergence was initially rapid (6. 5 m/ 100 yr) between 6850 and  6400 cal yr BP then slowed down to 1.4– 2 m/ 100 yr during the late Holocene. Examination of previous relative sea level data based upon mollusc shells reveals high levels of uncertainty that mask potential temporal variability.     

Foreground removal from Planck Sky Model temperature maps using a MLP neural network

Unfortunately, the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation is contaminated by emission originating in the Milky Way (synchrotron, free‐free and dust emission). Since the cosmological information is statistically in nature, it is essential to remove this foreground emission and leave the CMB with no systematic errors. To demonstrate the feasibility of a simple multilayer perceptron (MLP) neural network for extracting the CMB temperature signal, we have analyzed a specific data set, namely the Planck Sky Model maps, developed for evaluation of different component separation methods before including them in the Planck data analysis pipeline. It is found that a MLP neural network can provide a CMB map of about 80 % of the sky to a very high degree uncorrelated with the foreground components. Also the derived power spectrum shows little evidence for systematic errors (© 2009 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Geoacoustic characterization of a range-dependent ocean environment using towed array data

This paper examines geoacoustic inversion over a range-dependent multiple-layer seabed using a towed acoustic source and towed horizontal array. The approach is based on combining the results of a series of short-range, range-independent inversions to form a range-dependent representation of the environment. The data were collected in the Strait of Sicily during the MAPEX 2000 experiment. Issues such as the resolvability of multilayer structure and the sensitivity of various geoacoustic parameters are investigated by inversion of simulated data and by comparison of the MAPEX 2000 inversion results to a high-resolution seismic profile and to sediment core measurements. It appears that two, and in some cases possibly three, sediment layers can be resolved.     

A Middle Weichselian interstadial lake deposit on Sejerø, Denmark: macrofossil studies and dating

Studies of lake sediments on Sejerø in southern Kattegat indicate a treeless arctic environment with the dwarf shrub Salix polaris, herbs and wetland mosses. The mean July temperature was around 8 to 10°C. An AMS radiocarbon age determination of a Salix twig yielded an age of around 36 000 ¹⁴C yr BP, which is in accordance with previous conventional dating of bulk sediment samples. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of thallium fluxes from subaerial volcanism—Implications for the present and past mass balance of thallium in the oceans

A suite of 34 volcanic gas condensates and particulates from Kilauea (Hawaii), Mt. Etna and Vulcano (Italy), Mt. Merapi (Indonesia), White Island and Mt. Nguaruhoe (New Zealand) were analysed for both Tl isotope compositions and Tl/Pb ratios. When considered together with published Tl-Pb abundance data, the measurements provide globally representative best estimates of Tl/Pb = 0.46 ± 0.25 and ε²⁰⁵Tl = −1.7 ± 2.0 for the emissions of subaerial volcanism to the atmosphere and oceans (ε²⁰⁵Tl is the deviation of the ²⁰⁵Tl/²⁰³Tl isotope ratio from NIST SRM 997 isotope standard in parts per 10,000). Compared to igneous rocks of the crust and mantle, volcanic gases were found to have (i) Tl/Pb ratios that are typically about an order of magnitude higher, and (ii) significantly more variable Tl isotope compositions but a mean ε²⁰⁵Tl value that is indistinguishable from estimates for the Earth’s mantle and continental crust. The first observation can be explained by the more volatile nature of Tl compared to Pb during the production of volcanic gases, whilst the second reflects the contrasting and approximately balanced isotope fractionation effects that are generated by partial evaporation of Tl during magma degassing and partial Tl condensation as a result of the cooling and differentiation of volcanic gases.Mass balance calculations, based on results from this and other recent Tl isotope studies, were carried out to investigate whether temporal changes in the volcanic Tl fluxes could be responsible for the dramatic shift in the ε²⁰⁵Tl value of the oceans at ∼55 Ma, which has been inferred from Tl isotope time series data for ferromanganese crusts. The calculations demonstrate that even large changes in the marine Tl input fluxes from volcanism and other sources are unable to significantly alter the Tl isotope composition of the oceans. Based on modelling, it is shown that the large inferred change in the ε²⁰⁵Tl value of seawater is best explained if the oceans of the early Cenozoic featured significantly larger Tl output fluxes to oxic pelagic sediments, whilst the sink fluxes to altered ocean crust remained approximately constant.     

Holocene tephra deposits in the northern Okinawa Trough

1 Introduction Volcanic activities have played an important role in the process of global climatic changes. Being good stratigraphic markers, widespread tephra layers in ma- rine sediments can provide reliable evidences for the regional paleoceanographic …     

Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling methods to determine optimal models,model resolution and model choice for Earth Science problems

We present an overview of Markov chain Monte Carlo, a sampling method for model inference and uncertainty quantification. We focus on the Bayesian approach to MCMC, which allows us to estimate the posterior distribution of model parameters, without needing to know the normalising constant in Bayes' theorem. Given an estimate of the posterior, we can then determine representative models (such as the expected model, and the maximum posterior probability model), the probability distributions for individual parameters, and the uncertainty about the predictions from these models. We also consider variable dimensional problems in which the number of model parameters is unknown and needs to be inferred. Such problems can be addressed with reversible jump (RJ) MCMC. This leads us to model choice, where we may want to discriminate between models or theories of differing complexity. For problems where the models are hierarchical (e.g. similar structure but with a different number of parameters), the Bayesian approach naturally selects the simpler models. More complex problems require an estimate of the normalising constant in Bayes' theorem (also known as the evidence) and this is difficult to do reliably for high dimensional problems. We illustrate the applications of RJMCMC with 3 examples from our earlier working involving modelling distributions of geochronological age data, inference of sea-level and sediment supply histories from 2D stratigraphic cross-sections, and identification of spatially discontinuous thermal histories from a suite of apatite fission track samples distributed in 3D.     

The distribution and relative toxic potential of organic chemicals in a PCB contaminated bay

For reliable monitoring of environmental improvement, the PCB contaminated bay Orserumsviken on Sweden's Baltic coast was investigated prior to remediation. We examined PCB congener patterns and the relative toxic potential of PCBs in extracts of three matrices: bottom sediment, settling particulate matter and the dissolved phase (obtained from semi-permeable membrane devices). Congener patterns were similar in all matrices. Three fractions were isolated from the extracts: (1) aliphatic and monocyclic aromatic compounds (MAC-fraction), (2) dicyclic aromatic compounds (DAC-fraction), including PCBs, and (3) polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAC-fraction), including PAHs. Total extracts and fractions were injected into newly fertilised rainbow trout eggs. At larval stage, hepatic EROD activities were quantified. Though high, the PCB contamination could explain only an estimated 1-5% of the total EROD induction. The order of EROD induction potential was: total extract > PAC-fraction > DAC-fraction > MAC-fraction in all matrices, suggesting that in Orserumsviken PACs made a larger contribution to the EROD induction potential than PCBs and other DACs.     

Observations of sea ice influence on the littoral sediment exchange,North Zealand,Denmark

Nielsen, Niels: Observations of sea ice influence on the littoral sediment exchange, North Zealand, Denmark. Geografisk Tidsskrift 88:61–67. Copenhagen. 1988.

In 1985 and 1986 monthly surveys of sediment volumes were carried out on a sandy beach and its nearshore platform at the north coast of Zealand. Both winters in the research period had temperatures below average, and consequently abundant sea ice formations. ‘Ice winters’ in open Danish waters occur statistically about 1/3 of the winters. The appearance of sea ice resulted in marked loss of sediment from the whole littoral zone, but by far the largest net erosion could be detected on the nearshore plane. An important factor is assumed to be the interaction of waves with the icefoot and ice pile-ups. For the beach itself, ice-glazing of the beach surface and interstitial frost in the foreshore sediments caused wave erosion within and just off the swash zone due to variations of the percolation parameter. This dynamic was observed during both the freeze-up and thaw-up periods. On the backshore, wind-derived forms characterized the winter beach, but here the net sediment budget was less affected.