A review of the environmental history of Iceland, 13 000-9000 yr BP

A synthesis of the main environmental changes that are interpreted to have occurred in Iceland during the period 13-9 ka BP is presented. Most of the evidence available relates to variations in the position of ice margins, although some limited information on vegetation history and soil stability is also referred to. Only qualitative and limited climatic inferences can be made for this period because of the lack of detailed evidence. A summary curve of the relative extent of ice cover is presented.     

Oxygen isotope and palaeotemperature records from six Greenland ice‐core stations: Camp Century,Dye‐3, GRIP,GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP

Oxygen isotope variations spanning the last glacial cycle and the Holocene derived from ice‐core records for six sites in Greenland (Camp Century, Dye‐3, GRIP, GISP2, Renland and NorthGRIP) show strong similarities. This suggests that the dominant influence on oxygen isotope variations reflected in the ice‐sheet records was regional climatic change. Differences in detail between the records probably reflect the effects of basal deformation in the ice as well as geographical gradients in atmospheric isotope ratios. Palaeotemperature estimates have been obtained from the records using three approaches: (i) inferences based on the measured relationship between mean annual δ¹⁸O of snow and of mean annual surface temperature over Greenland; (ii) modelled inversion of the borehole temperature profile constrained either by the dated isotopic profile, or (iii) by using Monte Carlo simulation techniques. The third of these approaches was adopted to reconstruct Holocene temperature variations for the Dye 3 and GRIP temperature profiles, which yields remarkably compatible results. A new record of Holocene isotope variations obtained from the NorthGRIP ice‐core matches the GRIP short‐term isotope record, and also shows similar long‐term trends to the Dye‐3 and GRIP inverted temperature data. The NorthGRIP isotope record reflects: (i) a generally stronger isotopic signal than is found in the GRIP record; (ii) several short‐lived temperature fluctuations during the first 1500 yr of the Holocene; (iii) a marked cold event at ca. 8.2 ka (the ‘8.2 ka event’); (iv) optimum temperatures for the Holocene between ca. 8.6 and 4.3 ka, a signal that is 0.6‰ stronger than for the GRIP profile; (v) a clear signal for the Little Ice Age; and (vi) a clear signal of climate warming during the last century. These data suggest that the NorthGRIP stable isotope record responded in a sensitive manner to temperature fluctuations during the Holocene. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE GEOGRAPHY OF THE AMERICAN GASOLINE CRISES*

Weekly American Automobile Association reports on the numbers and types of gasoline station closings in 1974 and 1979 make it possible to estimate the overall severity for each shortage in each state. Comparisons of these estimates reveal significant regional differences in the size of the shortfalls. Statistical analyses and explanations for the geographic variations in the shortfalls have implications for the design of policies for coping with the shortages.     

Annual temperatures during the last 2485 years in the mid-eastern Tibetan Plateau inferred from tree rings

By combining living trees and archaeological wood, the annual mean temperatures were reconstructed based on ring-width indices of the mid-eastern Tibetan Plateau for the past 2485 years. The climate variations revealed by the reconstruction indicate that there were four periods to have average temperatures similar to or even higher than that mean of 1970 to 2000 AD. A particularly notable rapid shift from cold to warm, we call it the “Eastern Jin Event”, occurred from 348 AD to 413 AD. Calculation results show that the temperature variations over the mid-eastern Tibetan Plateau are not only representative for large parts of north-central China, but also closely correspond to those of the entire Northern Hemisphere over long time scales. During the last 2485 years, the downfall of most major dynasties in China coincides with intervals of low temperature. Compared with the temperature records in other regions of China during the last 1000 years, this reconstruction from the Tibetan Plateau shows a significant warming trend after the 1950s. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 40525004, 40599420, 40890051), National Basic Research Program of China (Grant Nos. 2007BAC30B00, 2004CB720200, 2006CB400503) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA, Grant to Hans W. Linderholm)     

An inspection of the long-term behaviour of the range of the daily geomagnetic field variation from comprehensive modelling

This paper attempts to reveal whether long-term trends in the ionosphere are reflected in the amplitude range of the geomagnetic daily variation recorded at ground level. The smooth and regular variation observed in the magnetograms on magnetically quiet days is induced by the ionospheric currents flowing in the dynamo region. So it is likely that trends in the conductivity or in the dynamics of this region could produce changes in the current densities, and consequently in the range of the geomagnetic variation. The crucial aspect is how to separate the changes produced by the geomagnetic activity itself, or by secular changes of the Earth's magnetic field, from the part of the variation produced by factors affecting trends in the ionosphere, which could have an anthropogenic origin. To investigate this, we synthesized for several geomagnetic observatories the daily ranges of the geomagnetic field components with a comprehensive model of the quiet-time, near-Earth magnetic field, and finally we removed the synthetic values from the observed ranges at those observatories. This comprehensive model accounts for contributions from Earth's core, lithosphere, ionosphere, magnetosphere and coupling currents, and, additionally, accounts for influences of main field and solar activity variations on the ionosphere. Therefore, any trend remaining in the residuals, assuming that all the contributions mentioned above are properly described and thus removed by the comprehensive model, should reflect the influence of other sources. Results, based on series of magnetic data from observatories worldwide distributed, are presented. Trends in the X and Z components are misleading, since the current system changes in form as well as in intensity, producing changes of the focus latitude in the course of a solar cycle and from one cycle to another. Some differences exist between the long-term trends in the Y component between the real and modelled ranges, suggesting that other non-direct solar causes to the amplitude changes of the solar quiet geomagnetic variation should not be ruled out. Nevertheless, the results also reflect some short-comings in the way that the comprehensive modelling accounts for the influence of the solar activity on the range of the daily geomagnetic variation.     

Radiocarbon wiggle-match dating of proglacial lake sediments – Implications for the 8.2 ka event

The problem of insufficient age-control limits the utilisation of the 8.2 ka BP event for modelling freshwater forcing in climate change studies. High-resolution radiocarbon dates, magnetic susceptibility and lithostratigraphic evidence from a lake sediment core from Nedre Hervavatnet located at Sygnefjell in western Norway provide a record of the early Holocene. We use the method of radiocarbon wiggle-match dating of the lake sediments using the non-linear relationship between the ¹⁴C calibration curve and the consecutive accumulation order of the sample series in order to build a high-resolution age-model. The timing and duration of Holocene environmental changes is estimated using 38 AMS radiocarbon dates on terrestrial macrofossils, insects and chironomids covering the time period from 9750 to 1180 cal BP. Chironomids, Salix and Betula leaves produce the most consistent results. Sedimentological and physical properties of the core suggest that three meltwater events with high sedimentation rates are superimposed on a long-term trend with glacier retreat between 9750 and 8000 cal BP. The lake sediment sequence of Nedre Hervavatnet demonstrates the following: only a reliable high-resolution geochronology based on carefully selected terrestrial macrofossils allows the reconstruction of a more refined and complex environmental change history before and during the 8.2 ka event.     

Seasonal variation in the Ra/Ra ratio of coastal water within the Sea of Japan: Implications for the origin and circulation patterns of the Tsushima Coastal Branch Current

In the current study, low-background γ-spectrometry was employed to determine the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra activity ratio and ¹³⁷Cs activity of 84 coastal water samples collected at six sites along the main island of Japan (Honshu Island) within the Sea of Japan, including the Tsushima Strait, and two other representative sites on Honshu Island (a Pacific shore and the Tsugaru Strait) at 1-month intervals in 2006.The ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio of coastal waters in the Sea of Japan exhibited similar patterns of seasonal variation, with minimum values during early summer (²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra = 0.6–0.8), maximum values during autumn (²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra = 1.5–3), and a time lag in their temporal changes ( 2.5 months and over  1300 km distance). However, the 2 other sites represented no clear periodic variation.In contrast to the positive correlation between ¹³⁷Cs activity (0.6–1.7 mBq/L) and salinity (15–35), the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio of coastal water samples from the Sea of Japan was not observed to correlate with salinity, and the increase in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio was not as marked (0.5–1; May–June 2004 and 2005) during the migration along Honshu Island. The input of land-derived water and/or the diffusion of radium from coastal sediments is unlikely to have affected the wide seasonal variation in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio observed in these water samples.The seasonal variation in the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra ratio recorded for the coastal waters of the Sea of Japan is considered to be mainly controlled by the remarkable changes in the mixing ratio of the ²²⁸Ra-poor Kuroshio and the ²²⁸Ra-rich continental shelf waters within the East China Sea (ECS). After passing through the Tsushima Strait, this water mass moves northeast along the coastline of the Sea of Japan as the Tsushima Coastal Branch Current (TCBC).     

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) associated with atmospheric particles in Higashi Hiroshima, Japan: Influence of meteorological conditions and seasonal variations

This work studied the influence of meteorological conditions on particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the atmosphere of Higashi Hiroshima, Japan. The seasonal variation of particulate PAHs was also covered. It was found that ambient temperature, solar intensity and weekly rainfall had significant influence on the particulate PAH concentration based on correlation studies. Correlation of particulate PAHs with ambient temperature, solar intensity, weekly rainfall, wind speed and humidity was studied by using Pearson correlation analysis. Particulate PAHs had a strong negative correlation with ambient temperature and solar intensity. A moderate negative correlation with weekly rainfall was also observed. There was no significant correlation between particulate PAHs with wind speed as well as humidity. Besides, particulate PAHs were found to have significant positive correlation with sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide while having a moderate negative correlation with ozone. The particulate PAHs in Higashi Hiroshima exerted distinct seasonal variation with a higher concentration in winter and lower concentration in summer. When compared among PAHs with different numbers of aromatic rings; 5-ring PAHs was found to exert the most distinct seasonal variation. The contribution of carcinogenic PAHs to total particulate PAH concentration was fairly constant at about 50% throughout the year.     

Solute dynamics of meltwater of Gangotri glacier,Garhwal Himalaya,India

The present study investigates solute dynamics of meltwater of Gangotri glacier system in terms of association of different chemical compounds with the geology of the area. In the meltwater, the presence of cations varied as c(Mg²⁺) > c(Ca²⁺) > c(Na⁺) > c(K⁺), while order of concentration of anions has been c(HCO₃ ⁻) > c(SO₄ ²⁻) > c(Cl⁻) > c(NO₃ ⁻) in years 2003 and 2004. The magnesium and calcium are found as the dominant cations along with bicarbonate and sulphate as dominant anions. The high ratios of c(Ca²⁺ + Mg²⁺)/total cations and c(Ca²⁺ + Mg²⁺)/c(Na⁺ + K⁺) indicate that the meltwater chemistry of the Gangotri glacier system catchment is mostly controlled by carbonate weathering. Attempts are made to develop rating curves for discharge and different cations. Sporadic rise in discharge without corresponding rise in concentration of most of cations is responsible for their loose correlation in a compound valley glacier like Gangotri glacier.