Heat conservation during cold exposure in birds (vasomotor and respiratory implications)

The mechanisms by which peripheral circulation and respiration serve in maintaining thermal homeostasis in birds living in cold climates are reviewed. Three types of arteriovenous heat exchanger (an elaborate , a simple rete , and a venae comitantes system) are found in the legs of birds. The anatomical differences between the different types of A-V associations are described, and the regulation of peripheral blood flow, in respect to maximal heat conservation and prevention of tissue damage, is discussed. A nasal temporal counter current heat exchanger, lowering the temperature of the expired air to values considerably below the body temperature, is the most important mechanism for minimizing the respiratory heat and water loss. In addition, a decreased ventilatory requirement, caused by a changed respiratory pattern and an increased parabronchial oxygen extraction, lowers the amount of air ventilated relative to the amount of oxygen uptake. Thus, the relative loss of heat and water is reduced.     

Seasonal distribution of harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) in the Barents Sea

The distributional patterns of Barents Sea harp seals (Phoca groenlandica) throughout the year are presented based on existing literature and recent Norwegian and Russian field observations. The harp seals breed in February-March in the White Sea. Moulting occurs during April to June in the White Sea and southern Barents Sea. Feeding.behaviour is closely related to the configuration and localisation of the drifting sea-ice during summer and autumn (June-October) when the seals follow the receding ice edge, retiring gradually northwards and northeastwards in the Barents Sea. The southward movement of the population in autumn probably takes place in November prior to the advance of the ice edge, and is likely related to food-search. Apparently, most Barents Sea harp seals seems to concentrate at the southern end of their range in winter and spring.     

Duration of ship-following by Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla in the Barents Sea

Ship-following Kittiwakes Rissa tridactyla were caught and dye-marked with picric acid on three occasions from a ship trawling in the Barents Sea in August 1986. The ship trawled regularly every 20-30 nautical miles and most of the trawl contents were fed to the birds accompanying the ship. Kittiwakes followed the ship for an average of 480-591 min. Between trawl-stations the birds rested on lifeboats and on the rail of the ship, and resting birds showed aggressive behaviour towards neighbours and intruders. The mean departure rate ranged from 4.2 to 5.1% per hour, and the turnover rate was 32 hours. It is obvious that the Kittiwakes behaved opportunistically and had adapted to exploit the waste from the commercial fisheries in the area.     

New insights into Holocene atmospheric circulation dynamics in central Scandinavia inferred from oxygen‐isotope records of lake‐sediment cellulose

St. Amour, N. A., Hammarlund, D., Edwards, T. W. D. & Wolfe, B. B. 2010: New insights into Holocene atmospheric circulation dynamics in central Scandinavia inferred from oxygen‐isotope records of lake‐sediment cellulose. Boreas, Vol. 39, pp. 770–782. 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00169.x. ISSN 0300‐9843 Cellulose‐inferred lakewater oxygen‐isotope records have been obtained from two hydrologically open basins (Lake Spåime and Lake Svartkälstjärn), located on a west–east transect across central Sweden, to investigate changes in atmospheric circulation patterns during the Holocene. The Lake Spåime δ¹⁸O record is sensitive to changes in the seasonal distribution of precipitation in the Scandes Mountains of west‐central Sweden, and thus generally portrays variations in δ¹⁸O of precipitation (δ¹⁸O_P) that are governed predominantly by the influence of air masses originating from the North Atlantic. In contrast, the Lake Svartkälstjärn δ¹⁸O record appears to reflect the varying influence of air masses delivering moisture from the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea. A comparison of inferred changes in δ¹⁸O_P over the Holocene between the two sites reveals systematic patterns of variability over widely different time scales. These include: (1) a previously recognized long‐term regional decline in δ¹⁸O_P, possibly in response to the declining vigour of Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation related to decreasing summer solar insolation; (2) newly identified inverse centennial‐ to millennial‐scale δ¹⁸O_P fluctuations at the two sites that may be linked to changes in modes of atmospheric circulation analogous to those described at interannual to multidecadal time scales by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index; and (3) a prolonged interval of apparent climatic stability in the mid‐Holocene (c. 6300–4200 cal. yr BP) characterized by persistently negative NAO‐like circulation.     

A review of the origin and setting of tepees and their associated fabrics

Carbonate hardgrounds often occur at the surface of shallow subtidal to supratidal, lacustrine, and subaerial carbonate shelf sediments. These are commonly disrupted and brecciated when the surface area of these crusts increases. In the subtidal environment, megapolygons form when cementation of the matrix causes the surface area of the hardgrounds to expand. Similar megapolygons form in the supratidal, lacustrine and subaerial settings when repeated incremental fracturing and fracture fill by sediment and/or cement also causes the area of the hardgrounds to expand. The arched up antiform margins of expansion megapolygons are known as tepees. The types of tepees found in the geological record include: (1) Submarine tepees which form in shallow carbonate-saturated waters where fractured and bedded marine grainstones are bound by isopachous marine-phreatic acicular and micritic cements. The surfaces of these brecciated crusts have undergone diagenesis and are bored. Unlike tepees listed below they contain no vadose pisolites or gravity cements; (2) Peritidal and lacustrine tepees are formed of crusts characterized by fenestral. pisolitic and laminar algal fabrics. This similarity in fabric makes these tepees of different origins difficult to separate. Peritidal tepees occur where the marine phreatic lens is close to the sediment surface and the climate is tropical. They are associated with fractured and bedded tidal flat carbonates. Their fracture fills contain geopetal asymmetric travertines of marine-vadose origin and/or marine phreatic travertines and/or Terra rossa sediments. The senile form of these peritidal tepees are cut by labyrinthic dissolution cavities filled by the same material. Lacustrine tepees form in the margins of shallow salinas where periodic groundwater resurgence is common. They include groundwater tepees which form over evaporitic ‘boxwork’ carbonates, and extrusion tepees which also form where periodic groundwater resurgence occurs at the margins of shallow salinas, but the dominant sediment type is carbonate mud. These latter tepee crusts are coated and crosscut by laminated micrite; the laminae extend from the fractures downward into the underlying dolomitic micrite below the crust. Both peritidal and lacustrine tepees form where crusts experience alternating phreatic and vadose conditions, in time intervals of days to years. Cement morphologies reflect this and the crusts often contain gravitational, meniscus vadose cements as well as phreatic isopachous cement rinds. (3) Caliche tepees which are developed within soil profiles in a continental setting. They are formed by laminar crusts which contain pisolites, and fractures filled by micritic laminae, microspar, spar and Terra rossa. Most of the cements are gravitational and/or meniscoid. In ancient carbonates, when their cementation and diagenetic fabric can be interpreted, tepee structures can be used as environmental indicators. They can also be used to trace the evolution of the depositional and hydrological setting.     

Petrogenesis of the Anorthosite Dyke Swarm of Tromso, North Norway: Experimental Evidence for Hydrous Anatexis of an Alkaline Mafic Complex

The 456 ± 4 Ma Skattøra migmatite complex in thenorth Norwegian Caledonides consists of migmatitic nepheline-normativemetagabbros and amphibolites that are net-veined by numerousnepheline-normative anorthositic and leucodioritic dykes. Plagioclase(An_20–50) is the dominant mineral (85–100%) in thedykes and the leucosome, but amphibole is generally presentin amounts up to 15%. The following observations strongly suggestformation of the anorthositic magma by anatexis of the surroundinggabbro in the presence of an H₂O-bearing fluid phase: (1) themigmatites have plagioclase-rich (anorthositic) leucosomes andamphibole-rich restites; (2) crystallization of amphibole inthe anorthositic and leucodioritic dykes suggests high H₂O activity;(3) the presence of coarse-grained to pegmatitic dykes and miaroliticcavities indicates a fluid-rich magma; (4) hydration zones thatsurround many anorthosite dykes suggest that the magma probablyexpelled H₂O-rich fluids during crystallization. Water-saturatedmelting experiments at 0·5–1·5 GPa and temperaturesfrom 800 to 1000°C have been performed on a nepheline-normativegabbro to test the proposed petrogenesis of the Skattøraanorthosites. The glasses produced close to the solidus aretonalitic in composition, but they become richer in plagioclaseat higher temperatures. At and below 1·0 GPa, the residuesare composed of amphibole. Experiments above 1·0 GPaproduced residual garnet and/or zoisite in addition to amphibole,suggesting that the anorthositic dykes in the Skattøramigmatite complex formed below 1·25 GPa. The experimentsshow that the high Na₂O content of the anorthosite dykes canonly be produced if Na is added to the charges. The glass thatbest fits the composition of the Skattøra dykes was producedat 1·0 GPa and 900°C with 2 wt % Na(OH) added. KEY WORDS: anorthosite; dyke swarm; anatexis; experimental petrology     

Integration of sedimentology and ground‐penetrating radar for high‐resolution imaging of a carbonate platform

Ground‐penetrating radar has not been applied widely to the recognition of ancient carbonate platform geometries. This article reports the results of an integrated study performed on an Upper Jurassic outcrop from the south‐east Paris basin, where coral bioherms laterally change into prograding depositional sequences. Ground‐penetrating radar profiles illustrate the different bedding planes and major erosional unconformities visible at outcrop. A ground‐penetrating radar profile conducted at the base of the cliff displays a palaeotopographic surface on which the outcropping bioherms settled. The excellent penetration depths of the ground‐penetrating radar (20 m with a monostatic 200 MHz antenna) images the carbonate platform geometries, ranging between outcrop workscale (a few metres) and seismic scale (several hundreds of metres). This study supports recent evidence of icehouse conditions and induced sea‐level fluctuations controlling the Upper Jurassic carbonate production.     

Late Weichselian marine stratigraphy of the southern Kattegat, Scandinavia: evidence for drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake between 12,700 and 10,300 years BP

From stratigraphic investigations of 38 piston and vibro cores, four fine-grained Late Weichselian sediment units can be defined in the southern Kattegat. A continuous stratigraphic record of the Late Weichselian sediments cannot be established from single cores due to the uneven distribution of the units, but by compilation of relative stratigraphies a composite record can be determined for sediments deposited between approximately 13,500 and 10,000 BP. The sediments contain both lithological and biostratigraphical evidence that the Baltic Ice Lake was suddenly drained through the Öresund Strait at about 12,700 BP. This drainage route appears to have been unchanged until about 10,300 BP when a passage opened in south central Sweden through which the final drainage of the Baltic Ice Lake took place. The Younger Dryas cold event appears to have had only marginal effects on the marine benthic life in the region. The data also indicate that drainage of fresh Baltic water through the Öresund Strait was the driving force for an inflow of marine water from the Skagerrak North Atlantic Ocean into the southern Kattegat, as occurring at the present. This paper is a contribution to IGCP 253, Termination of the Pleistocene .