Neogene exhumation and relief evolution in the eastern Betics (SE Spain): Insights from the Sierra de Gador

The Betics are a key area to study an orogenic landscape disrupted by late‐orogenic extension. New low‐temperature thermochronology (LTT) data (AHe and AFT) coupled with geomorphic constraints in the Sierra de Gador (Alpujarride complex) are used to reconstruct the cooling history and evolution of relief during the Neogene. We document three stages: (1) a fast cooling event between 23 and 16 Ma associated with the well‐known extensive tectonic exhumation of the Alpujarride unit, (2) a period of slow cooling between 16 and 7.2 Ma related to a planation event and (3) a post‐7.2 Ma surface uplift associated with the inversion of the Alboran domain undetected by LTT. The planation event followed by this late uplift can explain the occurrence of inherited low‐relief surfaces overlain by Tortonian–Messinian platform deposits at the top of the range. Finally, we propose that the Sierra de Gador is a more transient landscape than the nearby Sierra Nevada.     

Strange seismic attractor?

Different time series were constructed from the data set containing all the seismic events recorded by the Parkfield network between 1969 and 1987. These series were analyzed to determine whether there exists an attractor in the phase space of the dynamical system characterizing seismic activity and to tentatively establish its dimension. The study has yielded ambiguous results. For all the time series analyzed, the dimension of the attractor appears higher than 12 and the correlation function of the seismic time series is undistinguishable from that of a series of random numbers of the same length. The lack of difference between the scaling parameters of two series suggests that, for all practical purposes, the seismic time series cannot be discriminated from a random series.     

The extent of soil erosion in upland England and Wales

Following recommendations by the 19th Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, the area, causes and rates of upland soil erosion in England and Wales were investigated between 1997 and 1999. This paper describes the methods and results of the field survey of 1999 in which the extent of eroded ground was determined. 2. The area of degraded soil and the volume of eroded material were both determined from the dimensions of individual erosion features at 399 field sites located on an orthogonal grid across the uplands. Using measurements of individual erosion features, degraded soil extent in upland England and Wales was estimated at almost 25 000 ha, 2·46 per cent of the total upland area surveyed. Half this eroded area was revegetated and no longer subject to continued accelerated soil loss in 1999. The total volume of eroded material was estimated at 0·284 km³. Although deposition of eroded material occurred within 20 per cent of eroded field sites, the total volume of redeposited material was less than 1 per cent of the total volume of eroded soil. 3. Erosion was more extensive on peat soils than on dry, wet mineral or wet peaty mineral soils. In addition, the higher incidence of erosion at high altitudes and on low slopes reinforced the relationship between erosion and areas of peat formation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ground temperature changes in eastern Canada: borehole temperature evidence compared with proxy data

Borehole temperature logs have been inverted to infer ground temperature histories (GTH) in eastern and central Canada. Regional ground temperature histories were obtained by simultaneous inversion of several temperature profiles from the same areas. Simultaneous inversion of 21 temperature logs sampled across all of eastern and central Canada yielded an average solution for this region. All but three of the studied sites show signs of warming in the last 150 years. This period of warming, which started after 1800 AD, was found throughout this part of Canada. The warming followed a cooler period corresponding to the little Ice Age. The inferred ground temperature histories exhibit long-term trends similar to those obtained from treering growth indices in nearby regions and stable isotope data in the southern hemisphere. The modern warming appears correlated with the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ as measured in ice cores.     

A linear approximation to the solution of a one-dimensional Stefan problem and its geophysical implications

Summary. The motion of a phase boundary in the Earth caused by temperature and pressure excitations at the Earth's surface is determined under a linear approximation. The solution is found as a sum of convolutions of pressure and temperature Green's functions with the corresponding excitations. The Green's functions are given under the form of Laplace transforms that can be inverted either by numerical evaluation of a branch cut integral or by inversion of a series expansion. This solution is a generalization of a solution previously derived by Gjevik. This latter solution is the first term in the series expansion. The relaxation times associated with the phase boundary motion are of the order of 10⁵–10⁷yr for the olivine—spinel phase transition and of 10⁶–10⁷yr for the basalt—eclogite transition. The linear approximation remains valid for long times only if the phase boundary moves slowly.     

Mid-Holocene hemlock decline and diatom communities in van Nostrand Lake, Ontario, Canada

Terrestrial ecosystem disturbances inferred from the fossil hemlock pollen decline (ca. 4,800 BP) and recovery (ca. 3,800 BP) affected van Nostrand Lake, including the diatom communities. Ecological models suggest the lake responded by eutrophying, reflecting higher nutrient influx resulting from increased erosion. A decline in lake productivity followed as the forest vegetation recovered and erosion slowed. Lastly, as the forest switched from early and middle successional species to mature species, lake productivity increased as erosion increased nutrient inflow, especially phosphorus. However, this eutrophication response was delayed or buffered, perhaps due to wetland development surrounding the lake. The lake never fully returned to its initial, pre-hemlock decline state, but oscillated between more eutrophic and more mesotrophic or oligotrophic stages, possibly reflecting other disturbances in the catchment and climatic change.