Middle and Late Weichselian (Devensian) glaciation history of south-western Norway,North Sea and eastern UK

Data from eastern England, Scotland, the northern North Sea and western Norway have been compiled in order to outline our current knowledge of the Middle and Late Weichselian glacial history of this region. Radiometric dates and their geological context from key sites in the region are presented and discussed. Based on the available information the following conclusions can be made: (i) Prior to 39 cal ka and most likely after ca 50 cal ka Scotland and southern Norway were extensively glaciated. Most likely the central North Sea was not glaciated at this time and grounded ice did not reach the shelf edge. (ii) During the time interval between 29 and 39 ka periods with ameliorated climate (including the Ålesund, Sandnes and Tolsta Interstadials) alternated with periods of restricted glaciation in Scotland and western Norway. (iii) Between 29 and 25 ka maximum Weichselian glaciation of the region occurred, with the Fennoscandian and British ice sheets coalescing in the central North Sea. (iv) Decoupling of the ice sheets had occurred at 25 ka, with development of a marine embayment in the northern North Sea (v) Between 22 and 19 ka glacial ice expanded westwards from Scandinavia onto the North Sea Plateau in the Tampen readvance. (vi) The last major expansion of glacial ice in the offshore areas was between 17.5 and 15.5 ka. At this time ice expanded in the north-western part of the region onto the Måløy Plateau from Norway and across Caithness and Orkney and to east of Shetland from the Moray Firth. The Norwegian Channel Ice Stream (NCIS), which drained major parts of the south-western Fennoscandian Ice Sheet, was active at several occasions between 29 and 18 ka.     

Quaternary palaeoenvironments and multi-storey valley fill architecture along the Mezen and Severnaya Dvina river valleys,Arkhangelsk region,NW Russia

The modern Severnaya Dvina and Mezen river systems in the Arkhangelsk region, NW Russia, are located within extensive palaeovalley systems. The palaeovalleys form depressions in bedrock and have controlled the drainage systems in the area at least since the Last Interglacial. Vertically stacked marine to fluvial sediments reflect deposition during fluctuating climate and sea levels.A compilation of lithostratigraphical data collected during the last decade has been coupled with bedrock topography and geomorphology from satellite images in order to describe the valley fill architecture for the two valley systems. Each system has been divided into a number of depositional units (storeys) separated by incision/non-deposition and used to investigate the timing of aggradational versus incisional phases. Time constraints for each phase are provided by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages, and aggradation and incision are linked to independent records of climate and sea level change.The pattern of aggradation and erosion is regional and primarily driven by episodes of increasing and decreasing sediment supply. Aggradation is correlated to times of deglaciation with high sediment supply from the ice margin, release of sediment from ice-dammed lakes and low vegetation and degradation of permafrost on the flood plain. Incision is related to cold intervals with low sediment supply, delayed incision due to isostatic uplift and drainage of ice-dammed lakes. Relative sea level change controls the distribution of marine deposits, which show significant regional variations due to variable isostatic response across the region. Sea level change plays a limited role for fluvial aggradation/incision in the study area.     

Surface waves from earthquakes in Northern Atlantic-Arctic Ocean

Summary Earthquakes in the region of Jan Mayen exhibit two different appearances on records of near-by stations: classa with extremely well developed Love waves and less well developed Rayleigh waves, classb with poorly developed or missing Love waves but with clear Rayleigh waves. The difference between the two classes is ascribed to different focal depths. The Love waves of classa start simultaneously with theS wave and have initial periods over 40 sec; they have a small vertical component increasing along the wave train. They are unable to propagate beyond the continental margin for any considerable distance, probably due to a breakdown of the condition for constructive interference valid for their oceanic propagation.The oceanic dispersion curves both of Love and Rayleigh waves have been deduced using records at Kiruna, Uppsala, Bergen, Copenhagen, Scoresby Sund, Reykjavik, and Akureyri. The average thickness of the oceanic crust is around 15 km in the Norwegian Sea. For the Mid-Atlantic Ridge southwest of Reykjavik a crustal thickness of 10 km is obtained. The average thickness of unconsolidated sediments is around 2.4 km for the Norwegian Sea, and around 1.0 km in shallower regions of the ocean toward Iceland and Greenland.

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Zusammenfassung Erdbeben in der Gegend von Jan Mayen zeigen zwei verschiedene Erscheinungen in den Aufzeichnungen naheliegender Stationen: Klassea mit ausserordentlich gut entwickelten Love-Wellen und weniger gut ausgebildeten Rayleigh-Wellen, Klasseb mit schwach entwickelten oder fehlenden Love-Wellen aber mit deutlichen Rayleigh-Wellen. Der Unterschied zwischen den beiden Klassen wird verschiedener Herdtiefe zugeschrieben. Die Love-Wellen der Klassea beginnen unmittelbar mit derS-Welle und haben Anfangsperioden über 40 sek; sie haben eine geringe vertikale Komponente, die im Laufe des Wellenzuges zunimmt. Sie können sich nicht über den Kontinentalrand beträchtlich weit fortpflanzen, was möglicherweise einem Aufhören der Voraussetzung für konstruktive Interferenz, die bei ihrer ozeanischen Ausbreitung vorhanden ist, zugeschrieben werden muss.Unter der Benutzung der Aufzeichnungen von Kiruna, Uppsala, Bergen, Kopenhagen, Scoresby Sund, Reykjavik und Akureyri wurden ozeanische Dispersionskurven sowohl für Love- als auch für Rayleigh-Wellen bestimmt. Die mittlere Mächtigkeit der ozeanischen Kruste beträgt ungefähr 15 km unter dem Europäischen Nordmeer. Für die Mittelatlantische Schwelle südwestlich von Reykjavik wurde eine Krustenmächtigkeit von 10 km erhalten. Die mittlere Mächtigkeit von unbefestigten Sedimenten ist ungefähr 2.4 km für das Europäische Nordmeer und ungefähr 1.0 km in Gegenden flacheren Meeres nach Island und Grönland hin.

     

A late Holocene record of land-use history,soil erosion,lake trophy and lake-level fluctuations at Bjäresjösjön (south Sweden)

Land-use history, soil erosion, lake trophy and lake-level fluctuations during the last 3000 years were reconstructed through a multidisciplinary palaeolimnological study (pollen, plant macrofossils, diatoms, physical and chemical analysis, magnetic measurements and radiometric methods) of a small eutrophic lake in southern Sweden (Bjäresjösjön, Scania). There are striking responses in diatom, chemical, sediment yield and magnetic records to land-use changes documented by pollen analysis or historical sources, and to lake-level changes identified from sedimentary changes. Our multidisciplinary approach assists interpretation of the processes controlling long-term changes and separation of the effects of different factors (land-use changes, lake-level fluctuations) on individual biostratigraphical records. Climate has controlled processes in the lake indirectly, through lake-level fluctuations, from the Late Bronze Age to the Viking Age (700 BC-AD 800). Since the Viking Age, land-use controlled most of the changes observed in the lake's development and soil erosion processes. Major changes in lake development occurred during the last 200 years, due to a drastic increase in soil erosion and water eutrophication during a period of agricultural modernization.     

Carbon,nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in nine sub-systems of the Sylt-Rømø Bight ecosystem,German Wadden Sea

Flow networks of nine sub-systems consisting of 59 components each of the Sylt-Rømø Bight, German Wadden Sea, were constructed depicting the standing stocks and flows of material and energy within and between the sub-systems. Carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous were used as currencies for each sub-system, thus resulting in 27 network models, which were analyzed by ecological network analytical protocols. Results show substantial variability in the dynamics of these elements within and between the nine sub-systems, which differ in habitat structure, species diversity and in the standing stocks of their constituent living and non-living components. The relationship between the biodiversity and selected information indices and ratios, derived from ecological network analysis, of individual sub-systems is variable and differ substantially between them. Ecosystem properties such as the structure and magnitude of the recycling of these elements, number of cycles, and total sub-system activity were calculated and discussed, highlighting the differences between and complexity of the flow of C, N and P in a coastal marine ecosystem. The average number of cycles increase from 179 for C, to 16,923 and 20,580 for N and P respectively, while the average amount of recycled material, as measured by the Finn Cycling Index (FCI), increase from 17% for C, to 52% for P and to 61% for N. The number of cycles and the FCI vary considerably between the sub-systems for the different elements. The largest number of cycles of all three elements was observed in the muddy sand flat sub-system, but the highest FCIs were computed for both C (32%) and N (85%) in the Arenicola Flats, and in sparse Zostera noltii sea grass beds for P (67%). Indices reflecting on the growth, organization and resilience of the sub-systems also showed considerable variability between and within the inter-tidal ecosystems in the Bight. Indices such as, for example, the relative ascendency ratios increase on average from C to N to P, whereas others, such as the Average Mutual Information and Flow Diversity indices, were found to be higher in the N models than in the C or P ones.     

Review of Ray Theory Applications in Modelling and Imaging of Seismic Data

Throughout the last twenty years, 3D seismic ray modelling has developed from a research tool to a more operational tool that has gained growing interest in the petroleum industry. Various areas of application have been established and new ones are under development. Many of these applications require a modelling system with flexible, robust and efficient modelling algorithms in the core. The present paper reviews the basic elements of such a system, based on the open model concept and the wavefront construction technique. In the latter, ervený's dynamic ray tracing is an intrinsic part. The modelling system can be used for generating ray attributes and synthetic seismograms for realistic 3D surveys with tens of thousands of shots and receivers. Moreover, some other types of application areas are illustrated: Production of Green's functions for prestack depth migration and hybrid modelling (combined ray and finite-difference modelling), attribute mapping and illumination analysis, both for survey planning and interpretation. Finally, the concepts of isochron rays and velocity rays related to seismic isochrons have been introduced recently, with very interesting future applications.     

RbSr total rock isotope studies on Precambrian charnockitic gneisses from South Norway: evidence for isochron resetting during a low-grade metamorphic-deformational event

The quartzo-feldspathic charnockitic orthogneisses within the Bamble sector of the so-called Sveconorwegian (1.2–0.9 b.y.) zone are highly fractionated in K and Rb such that they comprise two chemically contrasting zones — one highly K, Rb-deficient and the other with values of the same order as upper crustal lithologies.Eight series of samples, each collected from single outcrops, have yielded Rb-Sr total rock apparent ages in two distinct groups, at ～1540 and ～1060 m.y. Outcrops in both the K-deficient and normal-K suites have produced examples of each age. The older age relates to the high-grade charnockite event, and the younger to a superimposed low-grade event which occurred at the same time as the intrusion of undeformed granite sheets and pegmatite dikes; one of the granites has yielded an isochron age of 1063 ± 20 m.y. The low-grade event involved only the partial alteration of orthopyroxenes to chlorite and/or serpentine, coupled with some corrosion of biotite; the alterations were initiated along narrow, irregularly spaced, cracks and it was their development which facilitated open system behaviour of the total rock isotopic systems at some localities. The degree of rehomogenisation is a function of the intensity of the secondary alterations.Confirmation of resetting at ～1060 m.y. is given by four mineral + host rock isochrons all yielding ages within error of the age for the intrusive granite; two of these are from outcrops where the rocks retain the older ～1540-m.y. age.The secondary total rock isotopic homogenisation cannot be explained adequately by Rb mobility or by simple mixing with a fluid having its own initial⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr composition. The primary mineralogy may have determined whether individual localities and/or samples suffered net increases or net decreases in⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr.An important implication of the results is that in this, or any similar geological situation, there would be a very real possibility of drawing erroneous conclusions from regionally-collected samples, particularly if the full significance of the later, relatively minor P-T event remained undetected and/or the scale of isotopic (re-)homogenisation, were unknown. It is only because of the methods adopted that it can be stated that there is no isotopic evidence for a high grade Sveconorwegian (Grenvillian) event in this part of southern Norway.     

The caustic and other properties of SKP

The caustic of SKP is found at an epicentral distance Δ_C = 129.5° for surface foci and at Δ_C = 128.9° for foci at 400 km depth, by means of amplitude-distance graphs based upon short-period time-domain measurements. These results are essentially confirmed by long-period time-domain measurements of SKP as well as by frequency-domain studies, even though the spectra are less accurate for such determinations. The average period of SKP is $\text{T}\text{= 1.45 ± 0.45}\text{sec}$ from short-period records, significantly different from the corresponding PKP-period of 1.00 ± 0.31 sec. Likewise, the long-period averages of SKP = 10.8 ± 4.5 sec and of PKP = 7.7 ± 3.0 sec are significantly different from each other. A travel-time table of SKP1 is deduced, covering the epicentral distance range of 130–143° and the focal depth range of 100–700 km. All results are based on measurements on seismograms of the Swedish network of stations, deriving almost exclusively from earthquakes in the southwest Pacific area.     

Torneträsk tree-ring width and density ad 500–2004: a test of climatic sensitivity and a new 1500-year reconstruction of north Fennoscandian summers

This paper presents updated tree-ring width (TRW) and maximum density (MXD) from Torneträsk in northern Sweden, now covering the period ad 500–2004. By including data from relatively young trees for the most recent period, a previously noted decline in recent MXD is eliminated. Non-climatological growth trends in the data are removed using Regional Curve Standardization (RCS), thus producing TRW and MXD chronologies with preserved low-frequency variability. The chronologies are calibrated using local and regional instrumental climate records. A bootstrapped response function analysis using regional climate data shows that tree growth is forced by April–August temperatures and that the regression weights for MXD are much stronger than for TRW. The robustness of the reconstruction equation is verified by independent temperature data and shows that 63–64% of the instrumental inter-annual variation is captured by the tree-ring data. This is a significant improvement compared to previously published reconstructions based on tree-ring data from Torneträsk. A divergence phenomenon around ad 1800, expressed as an increase in TRW that is not paralleled by temperature and MXD, is most likely an effect of major changes in the density of the pine population at this northern tree-line site. The bias introduced by this TRW phenomenon is assessed by producing a summer temperature reconstruction based on MXD exclusively. The new data show generally higher temperature estimates than previous reconstructions based on Torneträsk tree-ring data. The late-twentieth century, however, is not exceptionally warm in the new record: On decadal-to-centennial timescales, periods around ad 750, 1000, 1400, and 1750 were equally warm, or warmer. The 200-year long warm period centered on ad 1000 was significantly warmer than the late-twentieth century (p < 0.05) and is supported by other local and regional paleoclimate data. The new tree-ring evidence from Torneträsk suggests that this “Medieval Warm Period” in northern Fennoscandia was much warmer than previously recognized.     

Revisiting the Borrobol Tephra

The Borrobol Tephra has been identified as one of the key tephra horizons for the Lateglacial time period but it also exemplifies many of the promises and problems of tephrochronology. Additional horizons with similar major element composition and approximately the same age have been identified around the North Atlantic region. Here, we revisit the Borrobol Tephra identified at two Swedish sites, Hässeldala port and Skallahult, and also the Borrobol type‐site in Scotland. We present the first set of minor element data (trace and rare earth analyses) along with new analyses of major elements from these three sites. The analysed minor and the trace elements have a similar signature; however, the glass from the Scottish type‐site seems to imply two populations. To answer if this truly represents two populations, or if it reflects magmatic differentiation additional and larger data sets of minor elements are needed. The new major elements are compared to other Borrobol‐type tephras identified in the North Atlantic region. Our results are in line with earlier investigations, which showed no differences in major elements. Further, comparison of minor elements from glass analyses from our sites with those for eruptions associated with Icelandic central volcanoes implies an Icelandic origin for the Borrobol‐type tephras.