Recent and Late Holocene environments on the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea as inferred from microfossil data

The study of diatoms and benthic foraminifers from the southeastern shelf of the Laptev Sea shows that their most diverse and abundant recent assemblages populate the peripheral underwater part of the Lena River delta representing the marginal filter of the sea. This area is characterized by an intense interaction between the fresh waters of the Siberian rivers and the basin seawater, the Atlantic one included. Local Late Holocene (～last 2300 years) environments reflect the main regional and global paleoclimatic changes, the Medieval Warm Period (～600–1100 years B.P.) and the Little Ice Age (～100–600 years B.P.) inclusive. In addition, the composition and distribution of planktonic foraminifers implies a strong influence of the Atlantic water during the Holocene optimum ～5100–6200 years B.P.     

The oxidation states of cobalt and selected metals in Pacific ferromanganese nodules

A study of the oxidation states of metals in selected Pacific ferromanganese nodules by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates the presence of Co(III), Pb(II), Pb(IV), Fe(III) and Ti(IV). These findings are based on measurements of core electron binding energies and an evaluation of the core electron shake-up satellite features.     

Sub-surface dynamics and eruptive styles of maars in the Colli Albani Volcanic District, Central Italy

Eruptive scenarios associated with the possible reactivation of maar-forming events in the Quaternary, ultrapotassic Colli Albani Volcanic District (CAVD) provides implications for volcanic hazard assessment in the densely populated area near Rome. Based on detailed stratigraphy, grain size, componentry, ash morphoscopy and petro-chemical analyses of maar eruption products, along with textural analysis of cored juvenile clasts, we attempt to reconstruct the eruptive dynamics of the Prata Porci and Albano maars, as related to pre- and syn-eruptive interactions between trachybasaltic to K-foiditic feeder magmas and carbonate–silicoclastic and subvolcanic country rocks. Magma volumes in the order of 0.5–3.1 × 10⁸ m³ were erupted during the monogenetic Prata Porci maar activity and the three eruptive cycles of the Albano multiple maar, originating loose to strongly lithified, wet and dry pyroclastic surge deposits, Strombolian scoria fall horizons and lithic-rich explosion breccias. These deposits contain a wide range of accessory and accidental lithic clasts, with significant vertical stratigraphic variations in the lithic types and abundances. The two maar study cases hold a record of repeated transitions between magmatic (i.e, Strombolian fallout) and hydromagmatic (wet and dry pyroclastic surges) activity styles. Evidence of phreatic explosions, a common precursor of explosive volcanic activity, is only found at the base of the Prata Porci eruptive succession. The quantitative evaluation of the proportions of the different eruptive styles in the stratigraphic record of the two maars, based on magma vs. lithic volume estimates, reveals a prevailing magmatic character in terms of erupted magma volumes despite the hydromagmatic footprint. Different degrees of explosive magma–water interaction were apparently controlled by the different hydrogeological and geological–structural settings. In the Prata Porci case, shifts in the depth of magma fragmentation are proposed to have accompanied eruption style changes. In the Albano case, a deeply dissected geothermal aquifer in peri-caldera setting and variable mass eruption rates were the main controlling factors of repeated shifts in the eruptive style. Finally, textural evidence from cored juvenile clasts and analytical modeling of melt–solid heat transfer indicate that the interacting substrate in the Prata Porci case was at low, uniform temperature (~ 100 °C) as compared to the highly variable temperatures (up to 700–800 °C) inferred for the geothermal system beneath Albano.     

Effects of oil pollution on breeding Grey Seals

Marine mammals are probably frequently exposed to floating oil but little is known about the effect oil pollution has on them. Oil stranded on the shore in Pembrokeshire, West Wales in September 1974 coincided with the start of the Grey Seal breeding season there. Observations have been made on the effect the oil had on the newborn pups and their mothers.     

A 2000-yr reconstruction of air temperature in the Great Basin of the United States with specific reference to the Medieval Climatic Anomaly

A sediment core representing the past two millennia was recovered from Stella Lake in the Snake Range of the central Great Basin in Nevada. The core was analyzed for sub-fossil chironomids and sediment organic content. A quantitative reconstruction of mean July air temperature (MJAT) was developed using a regional training set and a chironomid-based WA-PLS inference model (r²_jack = 0.55, RMSEP = 0.9°C). The chironomid-based MJAT reconstruction suggests that the interval between AD 900 and AD 1300, corresponding to the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA), was characterized by MJAT elevated 1.0°C above the subsequent Little Ice Age (LIA), but likely not as warm as recent conditions. Comparison of the Stella Lake temperature reconstruction to previously published paleoclimate records from this region indicates that the temperature fluctuations inferred to have occurred at Stella Lake between AD 900 and AD 1300 correspond to regional records documenting hydroclimate variability during the MCA interval. The Stella Lake record provides evidence that elevated summer temperature contributed to the increased aridity that characterized the western United States during the MCA.     

A SuperWASP search for additional transiting planets in 24 known systems

We present results from a search for additional transiting planets in 24 systems already known to contain a transiting planet. We model the transits due to the known planet in each system and subtract these models from light curves obtained with the SuperWASP (Wide Angle Search for Planets) survey instruments. These residual light curves are then searched for evidence of additional periodic transit events. Although we do not find any evidence for additional planets in any of the planetary systems studied, we are able to characterize our ability to find such planets by means of Monte Carlo simulations. Artificially generated transit signals corresponding to planets with a range of sizes and orbital periods were injected into the SuperWASP photometry and the resulting light curves searched for planets. As a result, the detection efficiency as a function of both the radius and orbital period of any second planet is calculated. We determine that there is a good (>50 per cent) chance of detecting additional, Saturn-sized planets in   P ∼  10 d orbits around planet-hosting stars that have several seasons of SuperWASP photometry. Additionally, we confirm previous evidence of the rotational stellar variability of WASP-10, and refine the period of rotation. We find that the period of the rotation is  11.91 ± 0.05  d, and the false alarm probability for this period is extremely low  (∼10⁻¹³)  .     

An integrated approach to assess the ecological and chemical status of lakes with HOD/AHOD: a case study of two lakes

The thermal strati?cation of the lakes impedes the transfer of atmospheric oxygen into the lower layers of the lake. In lakes which are af fected by diverse anthropogenic in?uences, the increasing organic matter amounts lead to a sharp decrease in hypolimnetic oxygen amounts, aided by thermal strati?cation,and anaerobic conditions arise. The determination of hypolimnetic oxygen demand(HOD) and areal hypolimnetic oxygen demand(AHOD) and their monitoring represent an integrated approach to investigate the oxygenation of lakes, the nutrient conditions, and the physicochemical dynamics. In this study, two lakes dif fering by size and af fected by dif ferent anthropogenic sources, are investigated in this respect. At?rst, bathymetric studies were conducted to determine the depth, surface area, and volume relationships.Then, based on monitoring studies conducted in 2013 and 2014, the thermal strati?cation dynamics and layer properties were established using the relative thermal resistance to mixing(RTRM) index based on temperature and density pro?les. Following this, the oxygen depletion rates were determined by oxygen and temperature pro?ling in the hypolimnion. For the years of 2013 and 2014, the AHOD values for the Borabey Pond which is far from anthropogenic in?uences, were found to be 0.848 and 0.569 g O 2/(m·d), respectively.The AHOD values for the Porsuk Reservoir which was overburdened for years by industrial and domestic pollution were found to be 4.263 and 5.099 g O 2/(m·d), larger than its counterpart by almost sevenfold. The HOD and AHOD monitoring can be considered to a valuable tool for assessing the ecological and chemical status of lakes within Annex 5 of the Water Framework Directive and as an integrated approach to assess and monitor the status of lakes.     

The inner solar system cratering record and the evolution of impactor populations

We review previously published and newly obtained crater size-frequency distributions in the inner solar system. These data indicate that the Moon and the terrestrial planets have been bombarded by two populations of objects. Population 1,dominating at early times, had nearly the same size distribution as the present-day asteroid belt, and produced heavily cratered surfaces with a complex, multi-sloped crater size-frequency distribution. Population 2, dominating since about 3.8–3.7 Gyr,had the same size distribution as near-Earth objects(NEOs) and a much lower impact flux, and produced a crater size distribution characterized by a differential –3single-slope power law in the crater diameter range 0.02 km to 100 km. Taken together with the results from a large body of work on age-dating of lunar and meteorite samples and theoretical work in solar system dynamics, a plausible interpretation of these data is as follows. The NEO population is the source of Population 2 and it has been in near-steady state over the past ～ 3.7–3.8 Gyr; these objects are derived from the main asteroid belt by size-dependent non-gravitational effects that favor the ejection of smaller asteroids. However, Population 1 was composed of main belt asteroids ejected from their source region in a size-independent manner, possibly by means of gravitational resonance sweeping during orbit migration of giant planets;this caused the so-called Late Heavy Bombardment(LHB). The LHB began some time before ～3.9 Gyr, peaked and declined rapidly over the next ～ 100 to 300 Myr,and possibly more slowly from about 3.8–3.7 Gyr to ～2 Gyr. A third crater population(Population S) consisted of secondary impact craters that can dominate the cratering record at small diameters.     

A New Approach for Studying Hubble Diagrams of Quasars

In this paper, a new approach for studying Hubble diagrams of quasars is introduced. The purpose is to reduce the well-known very large scatter in the diagram. We believe that the scatter is mainly caused by the wide spread of luminosity distribution of quasars. Based on a large number of quasars having been discovered, we introduce a new quantity, the collective apparent magnitude of certain amount of quasars in a corresponding redshift interval, and make a plot of the collective apparent magnitude versus redshift with the data published by Hewitt and Burbidge (1993). The quantity is contributed by individual apparent luminosities as well as the luminosity distribution of quasars. Scatter is expected to be largely reduced in the corresponding diagram, and this is indeed true as shown by the figures. By discussing several possible effects and from the figures, we find that the assumption that redshifts of quasars are distance indicators is confirmed, and the standard cosmological model is supported. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.