SCHMIDT‐HAMMER EXPOSURE AGES FROM PERIGLACIAL PATTERNED GROUND (SORTED CIRCLES) IN JOTUNHEIMEN,NORWAY, AND THEIR INTERPRETATIVE PROBLEMS

Periglacial patterned ground (sorted circles and polygons) along an altitudinal profile at Juvflya in central Jotunheimen, southern Norway, is investigated using Schmidt‐hammer exposure‐age dating (SHD). The patterned ground surfaces exhibit R‐value distributions with platycurtic modes, broad plateaus, narrow tails, and a negative skew. Sample sites located between 1500 and 1925 m a.s.l. indicate a distinct altitudinal gradient of increasing mean R‐values towards higher altitudes interpreted as a chronological function. An established regional SHD calibration curve for Jotunheimen yielded mean boulder exposure ages in the range 6910 ± 510 to 8240 ± 495 years ago. These SHD ages are indicative of the timing of patterned ground formation, representing minimum ages for active boulder upfreezing and maximum ages for the stabilization of boulders in the encircling gutters. Despite uncertainties associated with the calibration curve and the age distribution of the boulders, the early‐Holocene age of the patterned ground surfaces, the apparent cessation of major activity during the Holocene Thermal Maximum (HTM) and continuing lack of late‐Holocene activity clarify existing understanding of the process dynamics and palaeoclimatic significance of large‐scale sorted patterned ground as an indicator of a permafrost environment. The interpretation of SHD ages from patterned ground surfaces remains challenging, however, owing to their diachronous nature, the potential for a complex history of formation, and the influence of local, non‐climatic factors.     

Cosmogenic Be dating of a sackung and its faulted rock glaciers, in the Alps of Savoy (France)

Sackungs are the largest gravitational deformation observed in mountains. They are characterized by the long-term slowness of the movements, but their mechanism is still not well understood. Nowadays cosmic ray exposure (CRE) dating methods allow dating the morphologic structures involved in sackung and can contribute at the understanding of their origin. In the Alps, the 5.3 km long Arcs sackung initiated during the activity of rock glaciers. Three samples from these faulted rock glaciers provide their first CRE ages and show that at 2000 m elevation these block accumulations moved during the Younger Dryas and stopped in early Holocene. Six ¹⁰Be ages of fault scarps show that the Arcs sackung lasted only a few thousand years and stopped at about 8462 ± 432 ¹⁰Be yr. They also reveal that deformation migrated upslope in agreement with a mechanism of flexural toppling of vertical layers. This unique and long gravitational event, characterized by migration of the deformation, does not support earthquake shaking as triggering mechanism for individual faults. It shows that, in the upper Isère valley, slope deformation was delayed of several thousand years after glacial debuttressing, and is not anymore active despite its fresh morphology.     

Late Devensian deglaciation of the Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream,northern England

The deglacial history of the central sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet is poorly constrained, particularly along major ice‐stream flow paths. The Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream (TGIS) was a major fast‐flow conduit of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. We reconstruct the pattern and constrain the timing of retreat of this ice stream using cosmogenic radionuclide (¹⁰Be) dating of exposed bedrock surfaces, radiocarbon dating of lake cores and geomorphological mapping of deglacial features. Four of the five ¹⁰Be samples produced minimum ages between 17.8 and 16.5 ka. These were supplemented by a basal radiocarbon date of 15.7 ± 0.1 cal ka BP, in a core recovered from Talkin Tarn in the Brampton Kame Belt. Our new geochronology indicates progressive retreat of the TGIS from 18.7 to 17.1 ka, and becoming ice free before 16.4–15.7 ka. Initial retreat and decoupling of the TGIS from the North Sea Lobe is recorded by a prominent moraine 10–15 km inland of the present‐day coast. This constrains the damming of Glacial Lake Wear to a period before ∼18.7–17.1 ka in the area deglaciated by the contraction of the TGIS. We suggest that retreat of the TGIS was part of a regional collapse of ice‐dispersal centres between 18 and 16 ka.

     

In situ cosmogenic exposure ages from the Isle of Skye,northwest Scotland: implications for the timing of deglaciation and readvance from 15 to 11 ka

We present 10 in situ cosmogenic exposure ages from two moraines on the Isle of Skye. The Strollamus medial moraine was deposited during deglaciation of the Devensian ice sheet and yields a mean exposure age from five samples of 14.3 ± 0.9 ka. The moraine age indicates that a significant ice mass existed on Skye at the time of a regional readvance recorded in Wester Ross, northwest Scotland. Taken at face value the ages suggest that deglaciation did not occur until well into Greenland Interstade 1. The Slapin moraine represents the local limit of the Loch Lomond Readvance (LLR) and yields a mean exposure age from five samples of 11.5 ± 0.7 ka, which is consistent with deposition relating to the LLR. These ages suggest that the maximum extent may have been reached late in the stadial and that some glaciers may have remained active until after the climatic amelioration that marks its end. This scenario is considered unlikely given the nature of the climate during this period, which leads us to call for a locally calibrated production rate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

恩施球粒陨石热历史及原始氩特征

H_s型恩施球粒陨石K-Ar年龄为4503±91Ma,~(40)Ar-~(39)Ar坪年龄为4518±8Ma,总气体年龄为4515±23Ma,等时线年龄为4505±16Ma,年龄的一致性表明该陨石未经受过明显的热扰动,它是我国首次发现的Ar保存年龄高达45亿年以上的陨石。陨石形成早期有过短期的快速冷却。陨石母体在4.66±0.04Ma时破裂。恩施球粒陨石原始捕获(~(40)Ar/~(36)Ar)_t为0.89±0.44,推测4.5Ga前太阳风中~(40)Ar/~(36)Ar近于l。     

New age constraints for the maximum extent of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet (NW sector)

This paper presents the first terrestrial age constraints from the outer continental shelf for the maximum extent of the NW sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be ages from eight glacially transported boulders on the island of North Rona show that the Late Devensian (Late Weichselian) British–Irish Ice Sheet overrode the island at its maximal stage and retreated c. 25 ka BP. These new dates, supported by other geological evidence, indicate that the north‐western part of the ice sheet was most extensive between 27 and 25 ka BP, reaching the outer continental shelf during the global eustatic sea‐level minimum at the Last Glacial Maximum. Copyright © 2012 British Geological Survey/Natural Environment Research Council copyright 2012. Reproduced with the permission of BGS/NERC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

城市居民出行的空气污染暴露测度及其影响机制——北京市郊区社区的案例分析

利用2010年北京两个典型郊区社区（天通苑、亦庄）居民出行的GPS数据与活动日志调查数据,测度了不同交通方式环境下居民每日出行过程中PM_2.5和CO空气污染暴露度,并分析了不同人群PM_2.5和CO空气污染暴露度的差异性,进而构建结构方程模型分析郊区社区居民PM_2.5和CO空气污染暴露度的影响因素。研究表明：① 机动化出行率对空气污染暴露程度的直接影响最大,其次是出行次数与出行时间,即机动化出行率越大,出行次数越多、出行时间越长空污染暴露程度越高;机动化出行率通过影响出行时间和出行次数间接影响空气污染暴露度;职住距离对居民空气污染暴露度也存在影响,职住分离程度越高空气污染暴露度越高,职住距离通过增加出行时间进而增加空气污染暴露度。② 不同社会经济属性群体的出行空气污染暴露度存在一定差异性,中等收入群体显著高于低收入群体和高收入群体,租房者显著低于购房者;未婚群体的PM_2.5污染暴露度显著高于已婚群体,驾照持有群体的CO污染暴露度高于无驾照群体。     

Carbon and oxygen isotopic variations in peritidal stromatolite cycles, Paleoproterozoic Kajrahat Limestone, Vindhyan basin of central India

Variations of carbon and oxygen isotopic ratios in response to cyclical sea level fluctuations have been documented from a Paleoproterozoic peritidal stromatolite succession. The upper division of the Kajrahat Limestone, Vindhyan Supergroup of central India consists of several shallowing upward stromatolite cycles identified by regular and systematic changes in stromatolite size. Normally, larger stromatolites are followed upward in the succession by smaller stromatolites and microbial laminites that occupy the top of the cycle. Desiccation cracks are found in all the facies indicating subaerial exposure. We investigated the stable isotope compositional variations across nine complete stromatolite cycles showing frequent subaerial emergence. Carbon and oxygen isotopic values of the limestones, in general, are comparable to contemporary marine values available from earlier studies but show regular depletion in response to shallowing of the water level. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of the limestones vary within an individual stromatolite cycle; depleted values characterize the topmost part of the cycles. The isotope pattern is explained by micritic carbonate deposition in different sub environments of the shallow marine domain having different salinity and variable duration of exposure. These variations also probably caused the observed scatter in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O values of supratidal microbial laminites.     

Socioeconomic characteristics and crash injury exposure: A case study in Florida using two-step floating catchment area method

The objective of this study is to investigate the exposure of different population groups to severe injury crash hotspots using an empirical-Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (EG-2SFCA) method based on roadway network distances and a socioeconomic-based weighting approach. This is performed by developing a special form of a crash-to-population ratio index that incorporates the severe crash hotspots relative to the locations of populations they might impact. While identifying these hotspots, four different age groups are considered: 17 and younger, 18 to 21, 22 to 64 and 65 and older. For each age group, severe crash hotspots are identified based on the roadway network and the number of severely injured crash occupants that belong to the specific age group. Using these age-specific crash hotspots and the EG-2SFCA method, communities that were exposed to elevated crash injury risk (crash injury exposure) have been identified. Furthermore, from a residential perspective, a socioeconomic analysis is conducted in order to develop a socioeconomics-based crash injury exposure measure. This measure assesses the exposure of different socioeconomic groups to the risk of being injured. Results demonstrated by applying this measure in the Tampa Bay region, FL show that different population groups are under varying risk of being injured depending on their residential location. The developed approach has the potential to be a social fairness measure able to be applied by agencies, which could enhance the well-being of communities that are subject to elevated injury risk.