The Preboreal climate reversal and a subsequent solar‐forced climate shift

Accurate chronologies are essential for linking palaeoclimate archives. Carbon‐14 wiggle‐match dating was used to produce an accurate chronology for part of an early Holocene peat sequence from the Borchert (The Netherlands). Following the Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition, two climatic shifts could be inferred. Around 11 400 cal. yr BP the expansion of birch (Betula) forest was interrupted by a dry continental phase with dominantly open grassland vegetation, coeval with the PBO (Preboreal Oscillation), as observed in the GRIP ice core. At 11 250 cal. yr BP a sudden shift to a humid climate occurred. This second change appears to be contemporaneous with: (i) a sharp increase of atmospheric ¹⁴C; (ii) a temporary decline of atmospheric CO₂; and (iii) an increase in the GRIP ¹⁰Be flux. The close correspondence with excursions of cosmogenic nuclides points to a decline in solar activity, which may have forced the changes in climate and vegetation at around 11 250 cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of macrophyte growth,typical of eutrophic conditions,on river flow velocities and turbulence production

The influence of emergent and submerged macrophytes on flow velocity and turbulence production is demonstrated in a 140 m reach of the River Blackwater in Farnborough, Hampshire, UK. Macrophyte growth occurs in patches and is dominated by Sparganium erectum and Sparganium emersum. In May 2001, patches of S. erectum were already established and occupied 18% of the channel area. The flow adjusted to these (predominantly lateral) patches by being channelled through a narrower cross‐section. The measured velocity profiles showed a logarithmic form, with deviations attributable to topographic control. The channel bed was the main source of turbulence. In September 2001, in‐stream macrophytes occupied 27% of the channel, and overhanging bank vegetation affected 32% of the area. Overall flow resistance, described by Manning's n, showed a threefold increase that could be attributed to the growth of S. emersum in the middle of the channel. Velocity profiles showed different characteristic forms depending on their position relative to plant stems and leaves. The overall velocity field had a three‐dimensional structure. Turbulence intensities were generally higher and turbulence profiles tended to mirror the velocity profiles. Evidence for the generation of coherent eddies was provided by ratios of the root mean square velocities. Spectral analysis identified deviations from the Kolmogorov ?5/3 power law and provided statistical evidence for a spectral short‐cut, indicative of additional turbulence production. This was most marked for the submerged vegetation and, in some instances, the overhanging bank vegetation. The long strap‐like leaves of S. emersum being aligned approximately parallel to the flow and the highly variable velocity field created by the patch arrangement of macrophytes suggest that the dominant mechanism for turbulence production is vortex shedding along shear zones. Wake production around individual stems of S. emersum close to the bed may also be important locally. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Elemental particle size distributions. Measured and estimated dry deposition in Sfax region (Tunisia)

Mass size distribution of the crustal elements (Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Si, Ti), anthropogenic elements (Zn, Mn, Cr, Cu, K, P, Pb) and sea elements (Na, Cl) were obtained from measurements carried out with an inertial cascade impactor in Sfax. A fitting procedure by data inversion was applied to those data. This procedure yields accurate size distributions of aerosols in the diameter range 0.1–25 μm in two different sites. In a coastal industrial site, the mass distribution of the aerosol showed a bimodal structure; and in urban area, the lower particle mode cannot be observed. The elemental dry deposition flux was calculated as a function of particle size. The element flux size distribution increased rapidly with particle size. The modelling results indicate that the majority of the crustal and anthropogenic elements flux (>90%) was due to particles larger than 3 μm in diameter.     

A response‐based decoupling criterion for multiply‐supported secondary systems

It is often infeasible to carry out coupled analyses of multiply‐supported secondary systems for earthquake excitations. ‘Approximate’ decoupled analyses are then resorted to, unless the response errors due to those are significantly high. This study proposes a decoupling criterion to identify such cases where these errors are likely to be larger than an acceptable level. The proposed criterion is based on the errors in the primary system response due to decoupling and has been obtained by assuming (i) the input excitation to be an ideal white noise process, (ii) cross‐modal correlation to be negligible, and (iii) the combined system to be classically damped. It uses the modal properties of the undamped combined system, and therefore, a perturbation approach has been formulated to determine the combined system properties in case of light to moderately heavy secondary systems. A numerical study has been carried out to illustrate the accuracy achieved with the proposed perturbation formulation. The proposed decoupling criterion has been validated with the help of two example primary‐secondary systems and four example excitation processes. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The significance of rock structure,lithology and pre‐glacial deep weathering for the shape of intermediate‐scale glacial erosional landforms

The main landforms within the glacially scoured Precambrian rocks of the Swedish west coast are closely connected to the principal structural pattern and have lately been explained as mainly a result of etch processes, probably during the Mesozoic and with a possible second period of etching during the Neogene. To explore the effect of multiple glacial erosion on the rock surfaces, an island with two different lithologies and with striae from different directions was selected for a detailed study, focusing on the shape of roches moutonnées. Air‐photo interpretation of bedrock lineaments and roches moutonnées combined with detailed field mapping and striae measurements are used to interpret the structural and lithological control on the resulting shape. The study reveals a significant difference in shape between roches moutonnées in augen‐granite and orthogneiss. Low elongated and streamlined roches moutonnées occur in the gneiss area, striated by a Late Weichselian ice flow from the NE. This ice flow is subparallel with both the local dominant trend of topographically well‐expressed joints and the schistosity of the gneiss. Frequently, there are no signs of quarrying on the lee‐sides of the gneiss roches moutonnées and hence they resemble the shape of whalebacks, or ruwares, as typically associated with the exposed basal weathering surface found in tropical areas. The granite roches moutonnées were formed by an older ice flow from the ESE, which closely followed the etched WNW–ESE joint system of the granite. Late Weichselian ice flow from the NE caused only minor changes of the landforms. On the contrary, marks of the early ESE ice flow are poorly preserved in the gneiss area, where it probably never had any large effect as the flow was perpendicular to both schistosity and structures and, accordingly, also to the pre‐glacial relief. The study demonstrates that coincidence between ice flow direction and pre‐glacially etched structures is most likely to determine the effects of glacial erosion. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A rooftop tuned mass damper frame

This article documents the analytical study and feasibility of placing a tuned mass damper in the form of a limber rooftop moment frame atop relatively stiff structures to reduce seismic acceleration response. Six existing structures were analytically studied using a suite of time history and response spectra records. The analyses indicate that adding mass in conjunction with a limber frame results in an increase in the fundamental period of each structure. The fundamental period increase generally results in a decrease in seismic acceleration response for the same time history and response spectra records. Owing to the limber nature of the rooftop frames, non‐linear analysis methods were required to evaluate the stability of the rooftop tuned mass damper frame. The results indicate the addition of a rooftop tuned mass damper frame reduces the seismic acceleration response for most cases although acceleration response can increase if the rooftop frame is not tuned to accommodate the specific structure's dynamic behaviour and localized soil conditions. Appropriate design of the rooftop tuned mass damper frame can result in decreased seismic acceleration response. This translates to safer structures if used as a retrofit measure or a more economical design if used for new construction. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic response predictions of multi‐span steel bridges through pushover analysis

In the new trend of seismic design methodology, the static pushover analysis is recommended for simple or regular structures whilst the time‐history analysis is recommended for complex structures. To this end, the applicable range of the pushover analysis has to be clarified. This study aims at investigating the applicability of pushover analysis to multi‐span continuous bridge systems with thin‐walled steel piers. The focus is concentrated on the response demand predictions in longitudinal or transverse directions. The pushover analysis procedure for such structures is firstly summarized and then parametric studies are carried out on bridges with different types of superstructure‐pier bearing connections. The considered parameters, such as piers' stiffness distribution and pier–0.5ptdeck stiffness ratio, are varied to cover both regular and irregular structures. Finally, the relation of the applicability of pushover analysis to different structural formats is demonstrated and a criterion based on the higher modal contribution is proposed to quantitatively specify the applicable range. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal distribution of linear control intensity over the frequency range

In this paper, a control strategy for structural systems is proposed and developed in the frequency domain. The algorithm is substantially based on a linear derivative feedback and a convolution of the control parameter, whose distribution in the frequency field is chosen in such a manner as to comply with the requirements of an ad hoc formulated constrained optimum problem, with the response data monitored until the instant of control action application. Some numerical testing is carried out by referring to given recorded accelerograms, showing a good performance of the proposed approach. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fifty-thousand-year vegetation and climate history of Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, Bolivian Amazon

Pollen and charcoal records from two large, shallow lakes reveal that throughout most of the past 50,000 yr Noel Kempff Mercado National Park, in northeastern lowland Bolivia (southwestern Amazon Basin), was predominantly covered by savannas and seasonally dry semideciduous forests. Lowered atmospheric CO₂ concentrations, in combination with a longer dry season, caused expansion of dry forests and savannas during the last glacial period, especially at the last glacial maximum. These ecosystems persisted until the mid-Holocene, although they underwent significant species reassortment. Forest communities containing a mixture of evergreen and semideciduous species began to expand between 6000 and 3000 ¹⁴C yr B.P. Humid evergreen rain forests expanded to cover most of the area within the past 2000 ¹⁴C yr B.P., coincident with a reduction in fire frequencies. Comparisons between modern pollen spectra and vegetation reveal that the Moraceae-dominated rain forest pollen spectra likely have a regional source area at least 2-3 km beyond the lake shore, whereas the grass- and sedge-dominated savanna pollen spectra likely have a predominantly local source area. The Holocene vegetation changes are consistent with independent paleoprecipitation records from the Bolivian Altiplano and paleovegetation records from other parts of southwestern Amazonia. The progressive expansion in rain forests through the Holocene can be largely attributed to enhanced convective activity over Amazonia, due to greater seasonality of insolation in the Southern Hemisphere tropics driven by the precession cycle according to the Milankovitch Astronomical Theory.