Paleoenvironmental records of water level and climatic changes from the middle to late Holocene at a Lake Erie coastal wetland, Ontario, Canada

Pollen and diatom assemblages, and peat stratigraphies, from a coastal wetland on the northern shore of Lake Erie were used to analyze water level and climatic changes since the middle Holocene and their effects on wetland plant communities. Peat deposition began 4700 cal yr B.P. during the Nipissing II transgression, which was driven by isostatic rebound. At that time, a diatom-rich wild rice marsh existed at the site. Water level dropped at the end of the Nipissing rise at least 2 m within 200 yr, leading to the development of shallower-water plant communities and an environment too dry for most diatoms to persist. The sharp decline in water level was probably driven primarily by outlet incision, but climate likely played some role. The paleoecological records provide evidence for post-Nipissing century-scale transgressions occurring around 2300, 1160, 700 and 450 cal yr B.P. The chronology for these transgressions correlates with other studies from the region and implies climatic forcing. Peat inception in shallow sloughs across part of the study area around 700 cal yr B.P. coincides with the Little Ice Age. These records, considered alongside others from the region, suggest that the Little Ice Age may have resulted in a wetter climate across the eastern Great Lakes region.     

Asymmetric vegetation responses to mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie-forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota

The mid-Holocene (ca. 8000-4000 cal yr BP) was a time of marked aridity throughout much of Minnesota, and the changes due to mid-Holocene aridity are seen as an analog for future responses to global warming. In this study, we compare the transition into (ca. 9000-7000 yr ago) and out of (ca. 5000-2500 yr ago) the mid-Holocene (MH) period at Kimble Pond and Sharkey Lake, located along the prairie forest ecotone in south-central Minnesota, using high resolution (∼ 5-36 yr) sampling of pollen, charcoal, sediment magnetic and loss-on-ignition properties. Changes in vegetation were asymmetrical with increasing aridity being marked by a pronounced shift from woodland/forest-dominated landscape to a more open mix of grassland and woodland/savanna. In contrast, at the end of the MH, grassland remained an important component of the landscape despite increasing effective moisture, and high charcoal influxes (median 2.7-4.0 vs. 0.6-1.7 mm² cm^− 2 yr^− 1 at start of MH) suggest the role of fire in limiting woodland expansion. Asymmetric vegetation responses, variation among and within proxies, and the near-absence of fire today suggest caution in using changes associated with mid-Holocene aridity at the prairie forest boundary as an analog for future responses to global warming.     

Effect of polypropylene fibre and lime admixture on engineering properties of clayey soil

In order to reduce the brittleness of soil stabilized by lime only, a recent study of a newly proposed mixture of polypropylene fibre and lime for ground improvement is described and reported in the paper. To investigate and understand the influence of the mixture of polypropylene fibre and lime on the engineering properties of a clayey soil, nine groups of treated soil specimens were prepared and tested at three different percentages of fibre content (i.e. 0.05%, 0.15%, 0.25% by weight of the parent soil) and three different percentages of lime (i.e. 2%, 5%, 8% by weight of the parent soil). These treated specimens were subjected to unconfined compression, direct shear, swelling and shrinkage tests. Through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis of the specimens after shearing, the improving mechanisms of polypropylene fibre and lime in the soil were discussed and the observed test results were explained. It was found that fibre content, lime content and curing duration had significant influence on the engineering properties of the fibre–lime treated soil. An increase in lime content resulted in an initial increase followed by a slight decrease in unconfined compressive strength, cohesion and angle of internal friction of the clayey soil. On the other hand, an increase in lime content led to a reduction of swelling and shrinkage potential. However, an increase in fibre content caused an increase in strength and shrinkage potential but brought on the reduction of swelling potential. An increase in curing duration improved the unconfined compressive strength and shear strength parameters of the stabilized soil significantly. Based on the SEM analysis, it was found that the presence of fibre contributed to physical interaction between fibre and soil whereas the use of lime produced chemical reaction between lime and soil and changed soil fabric significantly.     

Application of the QUILF thermobarometer to the peralkaline trachytes and pantellerites of the Eburru volcanic complex, East African Rift, Kenya

The Quaternary Eburru volcanic complex in the south-central Kenya Rift consists of pantelleritic trachytes and pantellerites. The phenocryst assemblage in the trachytes is sanidine + fayalite + ferrohedenbergite + aenigmatite ± quartz ± ilmenite ± magnetite ± pyrrhotite ± pyrite. In the pantellerites, the assemblage is sanidine + quartz + ferrohedenbergite + fayalite + aenigmatite + ferrorichterite + pyrrhotite ± apatite, although fayalite, ferrohedenbergite and ilmenite are absent from more evolved rocks (e.g. with SiO₂ > 71%). QUILF temperature calculations for the trachytes range from 709 to 793 °C and for the pantellerites 668–708 °C, the latter temperatures being among the lowest recorded for peralkaline silicic magmas. The QUILF thermobarometer demonstrates that the Eburru magmas crystallized at relatively low oxidation states (ΔFMQ + 0.5 to − 1.6) for both trachytes and pantellerites. The trachytes and pantellerites evolved along separate liquid lines of descent, the trachytes possibly deriving from a more mafic parent by fractional crystallization and the pantellerites from extreme fractionation of comenditic magmas.     

Short-term beach–dune sand budgets on the north sea coast of France: Sand supply from shoreface to dunes, and the role of wind and fetch

Three experimental plots, covering the transition from the upper beach to the dune, on the North Sea coast of France were monitored at various intervals over a period of 18–24 months via high resolution terrain surveys in order to determine inter-site sand budget variability, as well as patterns and processes involved in sand exchanges between the upper beach and dune. The wind regime consists of a fairly balanced mix of moderate (80% of winds are below 8 m/s) onshore, offshore and shore-parallel winds. Sustained dune accretion over several years depends on the periodic local onshore welding of shoreface tidal banks that have developed in the storm- and tide-dominated setting of the southern North Sea. The only site where this has occurred in the recent past is Calais, where bank welding has created a wide accreting upper beach sand flat. At this site, significant sand supply from the subtidal sand bank reservoir to the upper beach flat occurred only once over the 18-month survey following a major storm. The bulk of the sand deposited over this large flat is not directly integrated into the adjacent embryo dunes by onshore winds but is progressively reworked in situ into developing dunes or transported alongshore by the balanced wind regime, thus resulting in alongshore stretching of the embryo dune system. The Leffrinckoucke site near Belgium shows moderate beach–dune mobility and accretion, while the Wissant site exhibits significant upper beach bedform mobility controlled by strong longshore currents that result in large beach budget fluctuations with little net budget change, to the detriment of the adjacent dunes. Accretion at these two sites, which are representative of the rest of the North Sea coast of France, is presently constrained by the absence of a shore-attached sand bank supply reservoir, while upper beach–dune sand exchanges are further limited by the narrow wave-affected upper beach, the intertidal morphology of bars and troughs which segments the aeolian fetch, and the moderate wind energy conditions. The balanced wind regime limits net sand mobilisation in favour of either the beach or the dune, and may explain the relatively narrow longshore morphology of the dune ridges bounding this coast.     

Water quality variation and clam growth: Is pH really a non-issue in estuaries?

A tandem deployment system was used to critically evaluate relationships between important water chemistry parameters (pH, salinity, dissolved oxygen) and biotic performance based on clam growth. The effects of environmental conditions on growth of juvenile clams,Mercenaria mercenaria, were determined after 7-day field deployments in cages at reference sites from 1998 to 2000. Continuous measurements of the overlying water chemistry parameters were monitored by deploying an in situ water quality instrument (Hydrolab Datasonde) at the same time. While salinity was identified as an important determinant of clam growth over wide salinity ranges (10–35‰), pH was also found to be a very important parameter, especially in low-salinity regimes (<25‰). Average pH measurements ranged from 7.2 to 7.8; minimal pHs ranged from 6.9 to 7.6. The results indicated that when average pH levels fell below 7.5 or minimum pH levels fell below 7.2, growth rates were <50% that of clams deployed under higher pH conditions. Estuarine systems are generally perceived as being well-buffered so pH is frequently assumed to be unimportant, but our results suggest that pH levels can decline in estuarine systems to levels that can adversely affect biological responses. The potential impacts on biological resources of even moderate decreases in pH, particularly in systems that naturally tend to have lower pH conditions, may be more important than previously realized.