Late Pleistocene stratigraphy and sedimentary environments of the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region in northwestern Russia

The Late Pleistocene stratigraphy from the Severnaya Dvina‐Vychegda region of northwestern Russia is revised based on investigations of new localities, revisiting earlier localities, introduction of about 110 new OSL dates and burial depth corrections of earlier published OSL dates, in addition to six new radiocarbon dates. Most of the OSL samples studied here are from fluvial and subaquaeous sediments, which we found to be well bleached. Six chronostratigraphical units and their sedimentary environment are described, with the oldest unit consisting of pre‐Eemian glacial beds. For the first time, Early Weichselian sediments are documented from the region and a fluvial environment with some vegetation and permafrost conditions is suggested to have persisted from the end of the Eemian until at least about 92 ka ago. The period in which a Middle Weichselian White Sea Lake could have existed is constrained to 67?62 ka, but as the lake level never reached the thresholds of the drainage basin, the lake probably existed only for a short interval within this time‐span. Blocking and reversal of fluvial drainage started again around 21?20 ka ago when the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet advanced into the area, reaching its maximum 17?15 ka ago. At that time, an ice‐dammed lake reached its maximum water level, which was around 135 m above present sea level. Drainage of the lake started shortly after 15 ka ago, and the lake was emptied within 700 years. Severe periglacial conditions, with permafrost and aeolian activity, prevailed in the area until about 10.7 ka.     

The presolar grain inventory of fine‐grained chondrule rims in the Mighei‐type (CM) chondrites

We investigated the inventory of presolar silicate, oxide, and silicon carbide (SiC) grains of fine‐grained chondrule rims in six Mighei‐type (CM) carbonaceous chondrites (Banten, Jbilet Winselwan, Maribo, Murchison, Murray and Yamato 791198), and the CM‐related carbonaceous chondrite Sutter's Mill. Sixteen O‐anomalous grains (nine silicates, six oxides) were detected, corresponding to a combined matrix‐normalized abundance of ~18 ppm, together with 21 presolar SiC grains (~42 ppm). Twelve of the O‐rich grains are enriched in ¹⁷O, and could originate from low‐mass asymptotic giant branch stars. One grain is enriched in ¹⁷O and significantly depleted in ¹⁸O, indicative of additional cool bottom processing or hot bottom burning in its stellar parent, and three grains are of likely core‐collapse supernova origin showing enhanced ¹⁸O/¹⁶O ratios relative to the solar system ratio. We find a presolar silicate/oxide ratio of 1.5, significantly lower than the ratios typically observed for chondritic meteorites. This may indicate a higher degree of aqueous alteration in the studied meteorites, or hint at a heterogeneous distribution of presolar silicates and oxides in the solar nebula. Nevertheless, the low O‐anomalous grain abundance is consistent with aqueous alteration occurring in the protosolar nebula and/or on the respective parent bodies. Six O‐rich presolar grains were studied by Auger Electron Spectroscopy, revealing two Fe‐rich silicates, one forsterite‐like Mg‐rich silicate, two Al‐oxides with spinel‐like compositions, and one Fe‐(Mg‐)oxide. Scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic investigation of a relatively large silicate grain (490 nm × 735 nm) revealed that it was crystalline åkermanite (Ca₂Mg[Si₂O₇]) or a an åkermanite‐diopside (MgCaSi₂O₆) intergrowth.     

The relation between molecular clouds and stellar kinematics

The relation between molecular clouds, star clusters, and the stellar component of the galactic disk is investigated. According to Elmegreen (1985) bound stellar systems, e.g., open star clusters, can be formed from molecular cloud of mass 10⁴ M . A close encounter with a giant molecular cloud or massive black hole disrupts such stellar systems and forms superclusters. This explains why some open star clusters are so mass-deficient. Unbound stellar systems, e.g., expanding OB associations, are formed from molecular clouds of mass 10⁵ M . When disruptive O-type stars appear the star formation is halted and the cloud is destroyed. An example of the relict of GMC disruption in the solar vicinity is Gould's belt. The velocity dispersion-versus-age relation is also investigated and explained as a consequence of gravitational scattering of stars on GMC, or massive black holes, or as due to recurrent transient spirals.Paper presented at a Workshop on The Role of Dust in Dense Regions of Interstellar Matter, held at Georgenthal, G.D.R., in March 1986.     

Glacial-interglacial relationship between carbonate components and sediment reflectance in the North Atlantic

A high-resolution composite sediment record from intermediate water depths in the North Atlantic, dating back to marine isotope stage (MIS) 13, was investigated in order to determine the relationship between sediment reflectance (gray level%) and carbonate content (weight%). For this purpose, a detailed analysis of the coarse (>20 µm) and fine (<20 µm) carbonate components was carried out to assess which of the two carbonate components drives glacial-interglacial changes in sediment gray level. The results indicate that the bulk carbonate component is clearly dominated by the fine carbonate fraction, regardless of glacial or interglacial climatic mode, suggesting that the sediment gray level is usually controlled by fluctuations of the fine carbonate content. However, a comparison of MIS 1 and 5.5 indicates that, besides this difference in the contents of the two carbonate size fractions, changing modes in carbonate preservation, i.e., the preservational state of planktonic Foraminifera, may also have a profound influence on total sediment reflectance.     

The reconstruction of a glacial lake outburst flood using HEC-RAS and its significance for future hazard assessments: an example from Lake 513 in the Cordillera Blanca,Peru

In April 2010, an ice/rockfall into Lake 513 triggered a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) along the Chucchun River in the Cordillera Blanca of Peru. This paper reconstructs the hydrological characteristics of this as yet undocumented event using a 1D flood model prepared with HEC-RAS. The principle model inputs were obtained during detailed field surveys of surface characteristics and topography within the river and across the adjacent floodplain; a total of 120 cross-sections were surveyed. These inputs were refined further by eyewitness accounts and additional geomorphological observations. The flood modelling has enabled us to constrain the extent of the water surface and its elevation at each cross-section in addition to defining the peak discharge (580 m³ s^?1). These modelling results show good agreement with other information about the flood including: flood marks and minimum flood levels; the lake displacement wave height; the extent of the flooded area; and the travel time from Lake 513 to the confluence with the Santa River. This demonstrates that the model offers a reliable reconstruction of the basic hydrological characteristics of the GLOF. It provides important information about the flood intensity and significantly improves our ability to model future flood scenarios along both the studied river and within neighbouring catchments. The flood hazard, defined by the flood depth during peak discharge, shows that the majority of the damaged infrastructure (houses, bridges, and a drinking water treatment plant) was only subjected to low or medium flood intensities (defined by a maximum water depth of less than 2 m). These low flood intensities help to explain why the flooding caused comparatively minor damage despite the significant public attention it attracted.     

The constrained normal form algorithm

This paper describes an algorithm which brings a regularizable polynomial perturbation of a three degree of freedom Kepler problem into a normal form which Poisson commutes with the Kepler Hamiltonian. We illustrate the alogrithm with an example: the quadratic Zeeman effect. For other applications of this algorithm see [1],[4], and [5]. The authors have written a program in MAPLE which implements the constrained normal form.