Geometry and kinematics of recent deformation in the Mondy–Tunka area (south-westernmost Baikal rift zone, Mongolia–Siberia)

We used satellite imagery and field data to investigate the south‐westernmost Baikal rift zone. We focus our study in the Mondy and Ikhe Ukhgun valleys, site of an Mw = 6.9 seismic event in 1950. Surface deformations are observed along the E–W‐trending Mondy strike‐slip fault and along the Ikhe Ukhgun thrust. The Mondy fault system is 80 km long and is composed of four segments 10–15 km long. These segments are characterized by subvertical planes with left‐lateral movements. The Ikhe Ukhgun thrust is 20 km long, dips 40° to the south and shows reverse movement with a left‐lateral component. These observations are consistent with the present‐day regional NNE–SSW compression and with the focal mechanism of the 1950 Mondy earthquake that was recently re‐evaluated. These features, like those observed in the Tunka basin, demonstrate a recent change of regional strain regime from transtension to transpression that we place before the Late Pleistocene.     

A shipborne- type wave-height meter for oceangoing vessels, using microwave Doppler radar

A wave-height meter using a simple microwave Doppler radar,simeq10mW in power and 10.525 GHz in frequency, is proposed so that we can measure oceanic waves effectively while the ship is steaming. It was first applied to the measurement of the variation of water level generated in a wave tank, which suggested that it is adequately applicable to the measurement of oceanic waves. A field test was carried out off the cape of Nojimazaki by installing the Doppler radar 5 m above the sea level at the bow of the ship. The result agreed reasonably well with that measured simultaneously by the ultrasonic wave-height meter installed at the same position. Another test is running successfully on a larger ship with the wave-height meter installed at 9 m above the sea level. The significant wave height measured by the present meter is being compared with that observed visually by the navigation officers.     

Preliminary organic petrography of Palaeozoic rocks from the Grand Banks,Newfoundland

Samples of lower Palaeozoic bedrock from the Grand Banks of Newfoundland were examined using reflected light microscopy and Rock-Eval pyrolysis. These samples contained organic material which included bitumen (structureless organic material), acritarchs, chitinozoa, scolecodonts and graptolites. The reflectance of the organic material increased from acritarchs towards graptolites with bitumen showing a wide range of reflectance. Multiple phases of oil migration through one sample were inferred by examination of the bitumens: the lowest reflecting being more recent than the highest reflecting bitumen. Combined reflectance and Rock-Eval analysis indicate that these samples are mature to overmature. The two oldest samples (Arenig-Llanvirn, Ordovician) are assessed as mature and as having potential for generation of liquid hydrocarbons, but must be considered as mainly gas prone.     

Cokriging nonstationary data

Universal cokriging is used to obtain predictions when dealing with multivariate random functions. An important type of nonstationarity is defined in terms of multivariate random functions with increments which are stationary of orderk. The covariance between increments of different variables is modeled by means of the pseudo-cross-covariance function. Criteria are formulated to which the parameters of pseudo-cross-covariance functions must comply so as to ensure positive-definiteness. Cokriging equations and the induced cokriging equations are given. The study is illustrated by an example from soil science.     

The interannual leading modes of the extratropical variability in the Southern Hemisphere simulated by the ECHAM-4 atmospheric model

 An ensemble of twenty-three 14-year experiments conducted with the ECHAM-4 GCM has been examined to test the model's capability to simulate the principal modes of interannual variability. The integrations were performed under specified monthly SST between 1979–1993. The analysis was focused on the Southern Hemisphere (SH) extratropics. Empirical orthogonal functions analysis (EOF) using seasonal anomaly fields has been performed to isolate the principal modes that dominate the southern extratropical variability at the interannual time scale. Leading patterns of 500 hPa geopotential height (z500) have been compared with those estimated from the ECMWF re-analysis dataset. The model is able to adequately reproduce the spatial pattern of the annular mode, but it represents the temporal variations of the oscillation less satisfactorily. The model simulation of the Pacific South American (PSA) pattern is better, both in the shape of the pattern and in the temporal evolution. To verify if the capability of the model to adequately simulate the temporal oscillation of the propagating patterns is related to the increased influence of the tropical external forcing, covarying SST-atmospheric modes have been identified by singular value decomposition (SVD). In winter (July-August-September, JAS) the tropical SST variability is highly correlated with the ENSO mode. In summer (January-February-March, JFM) the strength of the teleconnections is related to strong westerly anomalies, disrupted by a meridional out of phase relation near to South America. The large size of the ensemble was exploited by comparing the time-varying model spread and degrees of freedom of the simulated extratropical circulation. Results show that when the extratropical circulation has a few degrees of freedom, the reproducibility is relatively low and the ensemble is governed by a fairly robust zonally symmetric structure of dispersion. Received: 9 May 2000 / Accepted: 30 January 2001     

Recharge and salinization in the Madrid Basin

The purpose of this work was to reinvestigate the existing hydrogeological conceptual model of the basin of Madrid, Spain. A cumulative chemical isotopic diagram which enabled the distinction between different groups of water as well as calculation of the mode of their blending was used for this investigation. It was found that the groups of discharge were lighter in their isotopic composition than that of recharge. The previous explanation of this fact, backed by carbon-14 dating, was the long residence time due to flow lines going down to depths of more than 1000 m. This flow model assumes homogenous conditions to these depths. This assumption can not be supported by evidence from deep wells. Thus a modified model is suggested which maintains homogenous conditions only to about 300 m and a deep confined aquifer below containing paleowater. The higher degree of depletion of this water has been explained by a colder climate on top of an altitude effect. Another interesting observation was the correlation between the isotopic composition of the rains, the month of the rain event and the composition of the recharge group groundwater. It could be seen that the winter rains resemble the groundwater composition, which shows that practically all the spring and summer rains were evapotranspirated.     

The middle pleistocene deposits of Waverley Wood Pit,Warwickshire, England

A complex of channels underlying the Baginton-Lillington Gravel (Baginton Formation) at Waverley Wood Quarry, Warwickshire is described. Fossil pollen and plant macrofossils, Coleoptera, Ostracoda, Mollusca and Mammalia are described from the channel-fill deposits. Consideration of all the evidence allows the identification of four separate stages of channel fill which largely occurred under a cool temperate climate. At the top of Channel 2 evidence for a cold, continental climatic episode can be recognised, suggesting that the whole complex was deposited under a fluctuating climate at the end of a temperate stage. At two levels in the channels human artefacts were recovered confirming the presence of Palaeolithic people in Warwickshire during the deposition of the sediments. Amino-acid geochronology suggests an age within the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage for the channels. The small vertebrate and molluscan faunas indicate that the deposits are no older than the latter part of the ‘Cromerian Complex’ Stage of East Anglia. The regional stratigraphic significance of the Waverley Wood succession is outlined.     

Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Palaeotemperature reconstructions of the European permafrost zone during marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 compared with climate model results

A palaeotemperature reconstruction based on periglacial phenomena in Europe north of approximately 51 °N, is compared with high‐resolution regional climate model simulations of the marine oxygen isotope Stage 3 (Stage 3) palaeoclimate. The experiments represent Stage 3 warm (interstadial), Stage 3 cold (stadial) and Last Glacial Maximum climatic conditions. The palaeotemperature reconstruction deviates considerably for the Stage 3 cold climate experiments, with mismatches up to 11 °C for the mean annual air temperature and up to 15 °C for the winter temperature. However, in this reconstruction various factors linking climate and permafrost have not been taken into account. In particular a relatively thin snow cover and high climatic variability of the glacial climate could have influenced temperature limits for ice‐wedge growth. Based on modelling the 0 °C mean annual ground temperature proves to be an appropriate upper temperature limit. Using this limit, mismatches with the Stage 3 cold climate experiments have been reduced but still remain. We therefore assume that the Stage 3 ice wedges were generated during short (decadal time‐scale) intervals of extreme cold climate, below the mean temperatures indicated by the Stage 3 cold climate model simulations. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of snow water equivalent using microwave radiometry over Arctic first‐year sea ice

The magnitude and spatial distribution of snow on sea ice are both integral components of the ocean–sea‐ice–atmosphere system. Although there exists a number of algorithms to estimate the snow water equivalent (SWE) on terrestrial surfaces, to date there is no precise method to estimate SWE on sea ice. Physical snow properties and in situ microwave radiometry at 19, 37 and 85 GHz, V and H polarization were collected for a 10‐day period over 20 first‐year sea ice sites. We present and compare the in situ physical, electrical and microwave emission properties of snow over smooth Arctic first‐year sea ice for 19 of the 20 sites sampled. Physical processes creating the observed vertical patterns in the physical and electrical properties are discussed. An algorithm is then developed from the relationship between the SWE and the brightness temperature measured at 37 GHz (55°) H polarization and the air temperature. The multiple regression between these variables is able to account for over 90% of the variability in the measured SWE. This algorithm is validated with a small in situ data set collected during the 1999 field experiment. We then compare our data against the NASA snow thickness algorithm, designed as part of the NASA Earth Enterprise Program. The results indicated a lack of agreement between the NASA algorithm and the algorithm developed here. This lack of agreement is attributed to differences in scale between the Special Sensor Microwave/Imager and surface radiometers and to differences in the Antarctic versus Arctic snow physical and electrical properties. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.