Glacial geomorphology in Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland proposes Younger Dryas fault-instability

Northern Fennoscandia has experienced high-magnitude postglacial fault (PGF) events, yet the role of seismic tremors in subglacial deformations and meltwater discharge has remained obscure. We studied glacial geomorphology in Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland, an area characterized by the Utsjoki drumlin field fanning out north and northeast to the Younger Dryas End Moraines (YDEMs) in northern Norway. Paleolandslides were common on fells (i.e. mountains shaped by Pleistocene glaciations) and were formed in nunatak position evidencing fault-instability in app. 11,900 calibrated (cal) BP. An anastomosing network of eskers was found throughout Utsjoki, and was probably generated through short-lived sliding bed stages during the discharge of subglacial lake(s). The formation of networks is different from time-transgressive evolution of single-ridged eskers in arborescent (treelike) systems. The most probable triggering mechanism for the meltwater outburst(s) was an earthquake tremor(s) associated with fault-instability during the late and post-Younger Dryas (YD). The alignment of the esker network was inconsistent with parallel-to-iceflow streamlining and the eskers erode or superimpose drumlins. Hence the esker network post-dates the streamlining. In some cases, hummocky (Pulju) moraine was observed to coexist with esker network and peculiar ‘kettle’ and ‘liquefaction’ features. We propose that glacio-seismotectonic events contributed not only to landslides but were also the primary force behind subglacial evolution of esker networks and possibly even hummocky moraine.     

Fluid evolution of the late Archaean Rämepuro gold deposit in the Ilomantsi greenstone belt in eastern Finland

The late Archaean (ca. 2.7 Ga) Ilomantsi greenstone belt hosts a large number of small mesozonal gold occurrences. The Rämepuro deposit is spatially related to a feldspar porphyry dyke which has intruded the contact between metagreywackes and intermediate metavolcanic rocks. It consists of gold-bearing quartz-tourmaline-sulphide veins located mainly within an intensively altered and sheared zone about 20-30 m in width. Two types of fluid inclusions were distinguished in the quartz veins: (1) H₂O-CH₄ (Й equiv. wt% NaCl), and (2) H₂O-CO₂ (⢬ equiv. wt% NaCl). The two compositionally different fluid-inclusion types occur in separate veins. The compositions of decrepitate residues indicate that the type 1 fluid inclusions consist predominantly of Na, S, Ca, Cl, and in lesser proportions of K and Fe. The residues of the type 2 fluid inclusions are dominated by Na, Ca, Cl and minor K. For the type 1 and type 2 fluid inclusions, microthermometric experiments indicate average homogenisation temperatures of 310-350 and 220-250 °C respectively. Both types of fluid inclusions contain 1-3 anisotropic solids (Ca/Mg carbonate?, nahcolite?, tourmaline?). Sulphide daughter minerals occur only in the type 1 fluid inclusions. This fluid type is also often associated with short trails of sulphide inclusions which suggest mobilisation and redistribution of ore constituents. Some type 1 fluid inclusions display distinct morphological features ("implosion textures") related to post-trapping re-equilibration. The presence of the fluid-inclusion re-equilibration textures in some auriferous quartz veins and their absence in other gold-bearing quartz veins suggest an age difference between them. This conclusion is also supported by the compositionally different fluid regimes associated with the different quartz veins, indicating a change from reducing (CH₄) to a more oxidising (CO₂) fluid environment. The fluid-inclusion evidence suggests two separate gold mineralisation events, one related to late Archaean regional metamorphism, the other to Palaeoproterozoic thrusting and metamorphism.     

Characteristics of earth hummocks (pounus) with and without permafrost in Finnish Lapland

Finnish Lapland north of 68°30'N latitude is located in the zone of discontinuous permafrost. Two main types of permafrost have previously been found in northern Finland: palsas in the mires and frost in the bedrock on the barren fell summits. The aim of this study was (1) to investigate permafrost occurrence in the peaty earth hummocks (pounus) in several mires, and (2) model characteristics of pounus with and without permafrost.
This study showed that permafrost in Finnish Lapland occurs much more widely and commonly than was previously known. A total of 59% of the studied pounus were found to contain permafrost. Over 90% of the permafrost occurrence in the pounus was correctly classified in logistic regression modelling. The probability of permafrost in a pounu decreased with the height of vegetation, and increased with the pounu height and distance from the running stream. There were clear vegetation differences between pounus with and without permafrost. Unfrozen pounus are characterized by forest and mire species, whereas on the permanently frozen pounus the vegetation is patchier with species indicating drier conditions. Pounus provide an excellent object to study short–term and local variations in permafrost formation due to their small size. They react quickly to variation in temperature, snow depth and precipitation. We conclude that pounus can be classified as sporadic permafrost features in northernmost Europe under modern climatic conditions.     

Das Rätsel des Ancylussees

The Baltic basin within the circular Fennoscandian region of deglaciation updoming has a lenght axis that lies radially between the inner and outer hinge lines of the upwarped shore levels. Its first postglacial connection with the ocean, the Yoldia Sea stage, came into existence across Central Sweden in Närke in the beginning of the pre-Boreal time, Zone IV in forest history. The connection still prevailed during the Boreal Echineis Sea stage (earlier named by the author Rhabdonema Sea), because of the eustatic rise of the sea level, until the Subzone Vb in the forest history was reached. Thereafter, during the Subzone Vc, the threshold in Central Sweden was rapidly uplifted above sea level, as it happened to lie inside the younger inner hinge line at the very moment of its formation. Thus the Baltic water body converted into a lake, called the Ancylus Lake, which drained westward through an outlet channel at the place of the previous sound. After some 300 or 400 years the height of the lake already was so much as 13 m bis 14 m. Then, at the transition from Zone V to Zone VI in the forest history, this short-lived stage ended in a sudden drainage down to the level of the sea through the Belts in Denmark because of a crustal sinking in the outer part of the southwestern sector of the updoming area. A new transitional stage in the history of the Baltic, the Mastogloia Sea, set in to be followed, during the warm-climate maximum, by the Littorina Sea.     

Heavy metals in Baltic herring and cod

The monitoring programme of harmful substances in selected species in the Baltic Sea was started in 1979. In the present study, three-year averages of Zn, Cu, Cd and Pb in cod liver (Hg in cod muscle) and herring muscle are reported. The concentrations of heavy metals in cod show areal differences roughly in accordance with the concentrations of heavy metals in sea water. No significant differences between heavy metal concentrations in North Atlantic and Baltic Sea species were found, except for mercury, for which values in the Baltic Sea species are lower than in those from the North Atlantic.     

The effect of storms on Finnish dairy farms: electrical outage statistics and the effect on milk production

Natural Hazards - Due to technological advancement, agricultural production is increasingly dependent on electricity. At the same time, power delivery infrastructures are challenged by extreme...     

乌梁素海湖冰晴天反照率日变化特征的统计模型比较和分析

乌梁素海湖冰晴天反照率日变化具有双峰特征,利用当地太阳高度角同经纬度和儒历的关系,归一化到北京时,依此表达湖冰反照率日变化规律.基于具有指数函数形式的拉普拉斯、高斯、耿贝尔和柯西4种概率密度分布函数建立线性组合模型,对日出后到日落前太阳高度角大于5°时段内的反照率日变化数据进行拟合,发现拉普拉斯密度分布函数组合是最佳统计模型.它既能拟合太阳高度角大于5°时间范围内反照率日变化曲线的双峰特征,又能反映太阳高度角大于15°时间范围内反照率日变化曲线双峰之间的U型分布.该模型不仅形式简单,而且意义明确：尺度参数约为日长的一半,双峰位置与日出时刻关系密切;同时能体现2个反照率峰值的不对称性.为发展不同地区湖冰反照率日变化参数化方案奠定基础.     

A Reconstruction of Mid–summer Temperatures from Ring–widths of Scots Pine since ad 50 in Northern Fennoscandia

We have reconstructed mid–summer (July) temperatures using a master ring–width chronology of Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris L.) for northern Fennoscandia, covering nearly the last two millennia. The chronology is constructed from 93 living trees and 275 dead trees collected between 68 ^∘ and 70 ^∘ N, 20 ^∘ and 30 ^∘ E. In standardization, negative exponential functions and, alternatively, regression lines were applied. Because of a strong autocorrelation in the data, we used a model structure including 2–year lagging and a 3–year leading predicter along with the master chronology in the transfer function. Over one–half of the dependent climate variance was retrieved in our final reconstruction model. We indicate the largest temperature anomalies of individual summers as well as longer–term temperature variability starting from ad 50.     

Ten major rivers in monsoon Asia-Pacific: An assessment of vulnerability

An assessment of socioeconomic-environmental vulnerability of the ten major river basins in the Monsoon Asia-Pacific region was performed. The rivers include Indus, Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM), Irrawaddy, Salween, Chao Phraya, Mekong, Red River, Pearl River, Yangtze and Yellow River. The study looked at a combination of various issues, usually investigated in isolation from each other, on a sub-continental scale by using the river basins as the geographical entities for the study. The analysis was conducted by using various geospatial databases including data on nature and environment, demography, governance, water scarcity as well as social and economic development. A vulnerability profile for each of the river basins was produced by using two different approaches. We found that the South Asian basins (Indus and GBM) appeared essentially more vulnerable than the other investigated basins. The other basins are roughly at the same vulnerability level, but their vulnerability profiles differ substantially. The Chinese basins and the Red River are particularly vulnerable to environmental factors. The weak points of Irrawaddy and Salween are in the hazards and economic development, whereas the former is a challenge to Mekong as well. Only Indus and Yellow River suffer from considerable water scarcity. The other basins except GBM are relatively well-off with the social matters. A transparent and pragmatic river basin vulnerability assessment approach was developed, which can be used in any large river basin of the world, producing intercomparable results. The approach allows further decoupling of the used indices in the case of more specific and targeted analyses without losing the comparability of the overall results.