Mineralogical approaches to sourcing pipes and figurines from the eastern woodlands,U.S.A.

Provenance studies of stone artifacts often rely heavily upon chemical techniques such as neutron activation analysis. However, stone specimens with very similar chemical composition can have different mineralogies (distinctive crystalline structures as well as variations within the same mineral) that are not revealed by multielemental techniques. Because mineralogical techniques are often cheap and usually nondestructive, beginning with mineralogy allows the researcher to gain valuable information and then to be selective about how many samples are submitted for expensive and somewhat destructive chemical analysis, thus conserving both valuable samples and funds. Our University of Illinois team of archaeologists and geologists employs Portable Infrared Mineral Analyzer (PIMA) spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and Sequential acid dissolution/XRD/Inductively coupled plasma (SAD‐XRD‐ICP) analyses. Two case studies of Hopewellian pipes and Mississippian figurines illustrate this mineralogical approach. The results for both studies identify sources relatively close to the sites where the artifacts were recovered: Sterling, Illinois (rather than Ohio) for the (Hopewell) pipes and Missouri (rather than Arkansas or Oklahoma) for the Cahokia figurines. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Determination of Rare Earth Elements, Sc, Y, Zr, Ba, Hf and Th in Geological Samples by ICP-MS after Tm Addition and Alkaline Fusion

We present a revised method for the determination of concentrations of rare earth (REE) and other trace elements (Y, Sc, Zr, Ba, Hf, Th) in geological samples. Our analytical procedure involves sample digestion using alkaline fusion (NaOH-Na₂O₂) after addition of a Tm spike, co-precipitation on iron hydroxides, and measurement by sector field-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS). The procedure was tested successfully for various rock types (i.e., basalt, ultramafic rock, sediment, soil, granite), including rocks with low trace element abundances (sub ng g⁻¹). Results obtained for a series of nine geological reference materials (BIR-1, BCR-2, UB-N, JP-1, AC-E, MA-N, MAG-1, GSMS-2, GSS-4) are in reasonable agreement with published working values.     

Relative chronology of crust formation on asteroid Vesta: Insights from the geochemistry of diogenites

The eucrites and diogenites are meteorites that probably originate from asteroid 4-Vesta. The upper part of the crust of this body is certainly composed of eucrites which are basaltic or gabbroic rocks. Diogenites are ultramafic cumulates whose relationships with eucritic lithologies are unknown. Here, we show that the orthopyroxenes of some diogenites display very deep negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu∗ close to 0.1 or lower). The contamination of the parental magmas of diogenites by melts derived by partial melting of the eucritic crust can satisfactorily explain the range of the Eu anomalies displayed by diogenites. Thus, these anomalies are the first firm indication that parental melts of diogenites have intruded the eucritic crust, and consequently are younger than eucrites.     

Palaeogeographical changes in response to glacial–interglacial cycles,as recorded in Middle and Late Pleistocene seismic stratigraphy,southern North Sea

Offshore stratigraphic records from the North Sea contain information to reconstruct palaeo-ice-sheet extent and understand sedimentary processes and landscape response to Pleistocene glacial–interglacial cycles. We document three major Middle to Late Pleistocene stratigraphic packages over a 401-km² area (Norfolk Vanguard/Boreas Offshore Wind Farm), offshore East Anglia, UK, through the integration of 2D seismic, borehole and cone penetration test data. The lowermost unit is predominantly fluviatile [Yarmouth Roads Formation, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 19–13], including three northward-draining valleys. The middle unit (Swarte Bank Formation) records the southernmost extent of tunnel valley-fills in this area of the North Sea, providing evidence for subglacial conditions most likely during the Anglian stage (MIS 12) glaciation. The Yarmouth Roads and Swarte Bank deposits are truncated and overlain by low-energy estuarine silts and clays (Brown Bank Formation; MIS 5d–4). Smaller scale features, including dune-scale bedforms, and abrupt changes in cone penetration test parameters, provide evidence for episodic changes in relative sea level within MIS 5. The landscape evolution recorded in deposits of ~MIS 19–5 are strongly related to glacial–interglacial cycles, although a distinctive aspect of this low-relief ice-marginal setting are opposing sediment transport directions under contrasting sedimentary process regimes.     

Recent progress on combining geomorphological and geochronological data with ice sheet modelling,demonstrated using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet

Palaeo-ice sheets are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice sheets, offering a record of ice sheet behaviour that spans millennia. There are two main approaches to reconstructing palaeo-ice sheets. Empirical reconstructions use the available glacial geological and chronological evidence to estimate ice sheet extent and dynamics but lack direct consideration of ice physics. In contrast, numerically modelled simulations implement ice physics, but often lack direct quantitative comparison with empirical evidence. Despite being long identified as a fruitful scientific endeavour, few ice sheet reconstructions attempt to reconcile the empirical and model-based approaches. To achieve this goal, model-data comparison procedures are required. Here, we compare three numerically modelled simulations of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with the following lines of evidence: (a) position and shape of former margin positions, recorded by moraines; (b) former ice-flow direction and flow-switching, recorded by flowsets of subglacial bedforms; and (c) the timing of ice-free conditions, recorded by geochronological data. These model–data comparisons provide a useful framework for quantifying the degree of fit between numerical model simulations and empirical constraints. Such tools are vital for reconciling numerical modelling and empirical evidence, the combination of which will lead to more robust palaeo-ice sheet reconstructions with greater explicative and ultimately predictive power.     

Tier-based approaches for landslide susceptibility assessment in Europe

In the framework of the European Soil Thematic Strategy and the associated proposal of a Framework Directive on the protection and sustainable use of soil, landslides were recognised as a soil threat requiring specific strategies for priority area identification, spatial hazard assessment and management. This contribution outlines the general specifications for nested, Tier-based geographical landslide zonings at small spatial scales to identify priority areas susceptible to landslides (Tier 1) and to perform quantitative susceptibility evaluations within these (Tier 2). A heuristic, synoptic-scale Tier 1 assessment exploiting a reduced set of geoenvironmental factors derived from common pan-European data sources is proposed for the European Union and adjacent countries. Evaluation of the susceptibility estimate with national-level landslide inventory data suggests that a zonation of Europe according to, e.g. morphology and climate, and performing separate susceptibility assessments per zone could give more reliable results. To improve the Tier 1 assessment, a geomorphological terrain zoning and landslide typology differentiation are then applied for France. A multivariate landslide susceptibility assessment using additional information on landslide conditioning and triggering factors, together with a historical catalogue of landslides, is proposed for Tier 2 analysis. An approach is tested for priority areas in Italy using small administrative mapping units, allowing for relating socioeconomic census data with landslide susceptibility, which is mandatory for decision making regarding the adoption of landslide prevention and mitigation measures. The paper concludes with recommendations on further work to harmonise European landslide susceptibility assessments in the context of the European Soil Thematic Strategy.     

Improved numerical dissipation for time integration algorithms in structural dynamics

A new family of unconditionally stable one-step methods for the direct integration of the equations of structural dynamics is introduced and is shown to possess improved algorithmic damping properties which can be continuously controlled. The new methods are compared with members of the Newmark family, and the Houbolt and Wilson methods.     

Hydrofracturing in response to the development of an overpressurised subglacial meltwater system during drumlin formation: an example from Anglesey,NW Wales

This paper presents the results of a detailed study of a complex hydrofracture system and host diamictons exposed within a longitudinal section through an elongate drumlin located to the west of Cemlyn Bay, Anglesey, NW Wales. This complex, laterally extensive sand, silt and clay filled hydrofracture system was active over a prolonged period and is thought to have developed beneath the Late Devensian (Weichselian) Irish Sea Ice Stream as it overrode this part of NW Anglesey. The sediment-fill to the hydrofracture system is deformed with kinematic indicators (folds, thrusts, augen) recording a SW-directed sense of shear, consistent with the regional ice flow direction across this part of the island. The lack of any geomorphological evidence for active retreat of the Irish Sea ice across Anglesey has led to the conclusion that hydrofracturing at the Cemlyn Bay site occurred within the bed of the Irish Sea Ice Stream whilst this relatively faster flowing corridor of ice was actively overriding the island. Shear imposed by the overriding ice led to the development of a subglacial shear zone which facilitated the propagation of the hydrofracture system with the laterally extensive feeder sills occurring parallel to Y-type Riedel shears. Although a subglacial setting beneath the active Irish Sea Ice Stream can be argued for the Cemlyn Bay hydrofracture system, its relationship to the formation of the ‘host’ drumlin remains uncertain. However, evidence presented here suggests that hydrofracturing may have occurred during the later stages or post landform development in response to the migration of overpressurised meltwater within the bed of the Irish Sea ice; possibly accompanying the local thinning and shutdown of the Irish Sea Ice Stream on Anglesey.     

Short-term and seasonal variation in metabolic balance in Liverpool Bay

Regions of freshwater influence (ROFIs) are dynamic areas within the coastal seas that experience cycles of stability driven by density gradients and the spring-neap tidal cycle. As a result, pulses of biological production may occur on a more frequent timescale than the classic seasonal cycle. Net community production (NCP) rates and chlorophyll a concentration are presented from a site within the ROFI of Liverpool Bay and compared to similar measurements made at a site outside the ROFI during 2009. The influence of water column stability on biological production in the ROFI was also investigated using high-frequency observations from a Cefas Smartbuoy. Both sites were autotrophic from spring to autumn before becoming heterotrophic over winter. NCP at the inshore site was estimated to range from 30.8 to 50.4 gC m⁻² year⁻¹. A linear relationship detected between chlorophyll a and NCP from both sites was used to estimate metabolic balance over 1 year at the ROFI site using high-resolution chlorophyll a concentrations from the Smartbuoy but was found to poorly replicate NCP rates compared to those derived from dissolved oxygen fluxes. There was no clear biological response to periods of stratification within the ROFI, and it is proposed that changes in light attenuation in the Liverpool Bay ROFI, driven not only by stratification but also by fluctuations in riverine sediment load, most likely play an important role in controlling phytoplankton growth in this region.