Quantifying temporal changes in Tornionjoki river ice breakup dates and spring temperatures in Lapland since 1802

Cryophenological records （i.e. observational series of freeze and breakup dates of ice） are of great importance when assessing the environmental variations in cold regions. Here we employed the extraordinarily long observational records of river ice breakup dates and air temperatures in northern Fennoscandia to examine their interrelations since 1802. Historical observations, along with modern data, comprise the informational setting for this analysis carried out using t-test. Temperature history of April-May season was used as cli- matic counterpart for the breakup timings. Both records （temperature and breakup） showed seven sub-periods during which their local means were distinctly different relative to preced- ing and subsequent sub-periods. The starting and ending years of these sub-periods oc- curred in temporal agreement. The main findings of this study are summarized as follows： （1） the synchrony between the temperature and river ice breakup records ruled out the possibility that the changes would have occurred due to quality of the historical series （i.e. inhomoge- neity problems often linked to historical time-series）; （2） the studied records agreed to show lower spring temperatures and later river ice breakups during the 19th century, in comparison to the 20th century conditions, evidencing the prevalence of cooler spring temperatures in the study region, in agreement with the concept of the Little Ice Age （1570-1900） climate in North-West Europe; （3） the most recent sub-period demonstrate the highest spring tem- peratures with concomitantly earliest river ice breakups, showing the relative warmth of the current springtime climate in the study region in the context of the past two centuries; （4） the effects of anthropogenic changes in the river environment （e.g. construction and demolition of dams） during the 20th century should be considered for non-climatic variations in the breakup records; （5） this study emphasizes the importance of multi-centurial （i.e. historical） cryo- phenological information for highly interesting viewpoints of climate and environmental his- tory.     

小冰期福建海岸沙丘的沉积环境

选取福建东南沿海典型海岸沙丘——东海沙丘,运用GPR（Ground Penetrating Radar）技术探测海岸沙丘内部构造,辅助天然剖面和人工探槽观测,进行系统的年代采样与OSL（Optically Stimulated Luminescence）测年,并选择物理意义明确的粒度参数作为主要环境代用指标,获得了亚热带季风区砂质海岸带典型海岸沙丘的沉积年代和沉积结构。结果表明：（1）东海沙丘是由若干灌丛沙丘组成的横向沙丘,0～6 m主要是～0.45 ka BP以来形成的海岸风成沙丘,可以划分为～0.45 ka BP和0.22～0.12 ka BP两个阶段。（2）东海沙丘沉积过程是多因素共同作用的结果,冷干的气候环境是沙丘发育的适宜条件,入境台风频率增加可能加快了风沙的沉积过程。对比历史文献资料发现,气候异常期往往与社会动荡期、重要历史事件相对应。     

气候系统模式FGOALS_gI模拟的小冰期气候

利用1650～1750年逐年变化的太阳辐照度等外强迫资料,驱动中国科学院大气物理研究所LASG发展的快速气候系统模式FGOALS_gl,模拟了小冰期(LIA)气候.把模拟的LIA表面温度变化与重建资料进行对比,结果表明FGOALS_gl对LIA气候具有较强的模拟能力,说明太阳辐照度的自然变化是导致小冰期气候的重要成因.模拟结果显示,LIA时期纬向平均温度变化表现为整个对流层降温,低纬度地Ⅸ的降温中心位于对流层中层,北半球降温幅度大于南半球,高纬地区的降温幅度大于低纬地区.分析发现,中高纬地区的局地温度变化主要与环流异常相对应的冷暖平流有关;低纬地区的降温主要与赤道东风加强有关,东风增强通过增大蒸发和引起次表层冷海水上翻而令表层温度降低.LIA时期的降水变化丰要位于中低纬地区,表现为日界线东(西)侧降水的负(正)异常.与降水异常相对应.Walker环流加强,东太平洋对流活动减弱,它与低纬地区对流层中层冷异常相联系.与大气层顶净短波辐射异常的季节变化相对应,南、北半球夏季平均表面温度异常较之冬季低0.28℃左右.     

The effects of the target material properties and layering on the crater chronology: The case of Raditladi and Rachmaninoff basins on Mercury

In this paper we present a crater age determination of several terrains associated with the Raditladi and Rachmaninoff basins. These basins were discovered during the first and third MESSENGER flybys of Mercury, respectively. One of the most interesting features of both basins is their relatively fresh appearance. The young age of both basins is confirmed by our analysis on the basis of age determination via crater chronology. The derived Rachmaninoff and Raditladi basin model ages are about 3.6 Ga and 1.1 Ga, respectively. Moreover, we also constrain the age of the smooth plains within the basins' floors. This analysis shows that Mercury had volcanic activity until recent time, possibly to about 1 Ga or less. We find that some of the crater size-frequency distributions investigated suggest the presence of a layered target. Therefore, within this work we address the importance of considering terrain parameters, as geo-mechanical properties and layering, into the process of age determination. We also comment on the likelihood of the availability of impactors able to form basins with the sizes of Rachmaninoff and Raditladi in relatively recent times.     

辽宁南华系的划分及其特征

南华系以冰川活动的广泛出现为其特征,始称“南华大冰期”,但辽宁南华系中迄今尚未发现冰成岩沉积.相反,辽宁南华系却发育大量的宏观藻类化石,反映出当时温暖潮湿的古气候条件.世界各地前寒武纪晚期冰川活动,均出现于低古纬度位置.根据古地磁资料,辽宁南华系分布于中、高古纬度位置.因此,辽宁南华系不会发育冰成岩.辽宁发育“温暖型南华系”,这将对全国的南华系划分对比提供新的研究思路.     

The most extensive Holocene advance in the Stauning Alper, East Greenland, occurred in the Little Ice Age

We present glacial geologic and chronologic data concerning the Holocene ice extent in the Stauning Alper of East Greenland. The retreat of ice from the late-glacial position back into the mountains was accomplished by at least 11 000 cal years B.P. The only recorded advance after this time occurred during the past few centuries (the Little Ice Age). Therefore, we postulate that the Little Ice Age event represents the maximum Holocene ice extent in this part of East Greenland.     

Little Ice Age glaciers in the Balkans: low altitude glaciation enabled by cooler temperatures and local topoclimatic controls

Moraine ridges are present in the highest cirques of the Durmitor massif in Montenegro and post‐date the widespread Pleistocene moraines of this area. Lichenometry suggests that at least eight glaciers were present in the 19th century and correlate with the culmination of the Little Ice Age in the European Alps. Cooler temperatures combined with local topoclimatic controls, including windblown and avalanching snow as well as shading, were crucial for the formation and survival of these glaciers below the regional equilibrium–line altitude. The resultant regional equilibrium line altitude (ELA) was positioned close to the highest peaks between 2400 and 2500 m, with local controls such as avalanche, windblown snow and shading depressing the ELA in the northern cirques to 2130–2210 m. This ELA position was very low for this latitude and lower than for most glaciers in the European Alps at any time during the Holocene, and even equivalent to many Alpine glaciers during the Younger Dryas. Today, one glacier still survives in Montenegro, in a deep northeast‐facing cirque characterized by the largest combined areas of potential avalanche and windblown snow. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ESTABLISHING LICHENOMETRIC AGES FOR NINETEENTH- AND TWENTIETH-CENTURY GLACIER FLUCTUATIONS ON SOUTH GEORGIA (SOUTH ATLANTIC)

Glaciers in small mountain cirques on South Georgia respond rapidly and sensitively to changes in South Atlantic climate. The timing and rate of their deglaciation can be used to examine the impact that nineteenth- and twentieth-century climate change has had on the glacial dynamics and terrestrial ecosystems of South Georgia. As part of a reconnaissance study in Prince Olav Harbour (POH), South Georgia, we measured the size of lichens ( Rhizocarpon Ram. em Th. Fr. subgenus. Rhizocarpon group) on ice-free moraine ridges around two small mountain cirques. Our aims were twofold: first, to provide age estimates for lichen colonization, and hence, deglaciation of the moraine ridges, and second, to examine the potential of applying lichenometry more widely to provide deglacial age constraints on South Georgia. In the absence of lichen age-size (dating) curves for South Georgia, we use long-term Rhizocarpon lichen growth-rates from recent studies on sub-Antarctic Islands and the western Antarctic Peninsula to calculate likely age estimates. These data suggest ice retreat from the two outermost moraines occurred between the end of the 'Little Ice Age' (post c. 1870) and the early twentieth century on South Georgia. Lichen colonization of the innermost moraines is probably related to glacier retreat during the second half of the twentieth century, which has been linked to a well-defined warming trend since c. 1950. Patterns of possible nineteenth- and twentieth-century glacial retreat identified in POH need to be tested further by establishing species- and site-specific lichen age-size (dating) curves for South Georgia, and by applying lichenometry to other mountain cirques across South Georgia.     

Mapping Ecotone Movements: Holocene Dynamics of the Forest Tension Zone in Central Lower Michigan,Usa

This paper presents a novel method for detecting and mapping movements of ecotone boundaries, over both time and space, using existing fossil pollen data. The method combines existing statistical techniques, including discriminant analysis and spatial interpolation, to generate statistically robust maps of ecotone boundaries over time. This method was applied to provide a comprehensive vegetative history of the forest tension zone in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan during the last 10,000 years. Pollen data for nine lakes in the Lower Peninsula were analyzed with discriminant analysis and spatially interpolated with inverse distance weighted to track ecotone movements of the forest tension zone. The forest tension zone has been in existence over the last 10,000 years and has been highly variable over space and time, with at least three major latitudinal shifts, spanning 320 km and 6° of latitude, as well as several less pronounced shifts. These shifts occurred primarily in response to millennial-scale oscillations in climate such as the warmer and dryer conditions associated with the mid-Holocene. A slighter shift was evident in association with the cooler and drier conditions of the Little Ice Age (600-100 cal yr BP). This research demonstrates the sensitivity of Great Lakes forest communities to Holocene climate change and suggests a similar sensitivity of future ecotone dynamics in response to modern global warming.     

A chironomid-based reconstruction of summer temperatures in NW Iceland since AD 1650

Few studies currently exist that aim to validate a proxy chironomid-temperature reconstruction with instrumental temperature measurements. We used a reconstruction from a chironomid percentage abundance data set to produce quantitative summer temperature estimates since AD 1650 for NW Iceland through a transfer function approach, and validated the record against instrumental temperature measurements from Stykkishólmur in western Iceland. The core was dated through Pb-210, Cs-137 and tephra analyses (Hekla 1693) which produced a well-constrained dating model across the whole study period. Little catchment disturbance, as shown through geochemical (Itrax) and loss-on-ignition data, throughout the period further reinforce the premise that the chironomids were responding to temperature and not other catchment or within-lake variables. Particularly cold phases were identified between AD 1683–1710, AD 1765–1780 and AD 1890–1917, with relative drops in summer temperatures in the order of 1.5–2°C. The timing of these cold phases agree well with other evidence of cooler temperatures, notably increased extent of Little Ice Age (LIA) glaciers. Our evidence suggests that the magnitude of summer temperature cooling (1.5–2°C) was enough to force LIA Icelandic glaciers into their maximum Holocene extent, which is in accordance with previous modelling experiments for an Icelandic ice cap (Langjökull).