Late Quaternary vegetation changes around Lake Rutundu,Mount Kenya,East Africa: evidence from grass cuticles,pollen and stable carbon isotopes

Woody, subalpine shrubs and grasses currently surround Lake Rutundu, Mount Kenya. Multiple proxies, including carbon isotopes, pollen and grass cuticles, from a 755‐cm‐long core were used to reconstruct the vegetation over the past 38 300 calendar years. Stable carbon‐isotope ratios of total organic carbon and terrestrial biomarkers from the lake sediments imply that the proportion of terrestrial plants using the C₄ photosynthetic pathway was greater during the Late Pleistocene than in the Holocene. Pollen data show that grasses were a major constituent of the vegetation throughout the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The proportion of grass pollen relative to the pollen from other plants was greatest at the last glacial maximum (LGM). Grass cuticles confirm evidence that C₄ grass taxa were present at the LGM and that the majority followed the cold‐tolerant NADP‐MEC₄ subpathway. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New seismic data in the Mozambique Channel

This paper presents seismic reflection and refraction data from the Mozambique Channel, collected between 1971 and 1973. A deep sedimentary basin (up to 5 km of sediments) opens southwards to the Mozambique Basin, and is bounded to the east by the Davie Ridge and beyond by the marginal plateau of Malagasy. A continuous reflector (C), possibly of Cretaceous age, is identified between layers having seismic interval velocities of 2.4–2.8 km/s and 3.1–3.4 km/s. The deepest sediments have velocities of 4.5–4.9 km/s and overlie a layer with velocity 5.5 km/s, which may be volcanic in the north-east of the Channel.The crust occupying most of the Channel is probably pre-Cretaceous in age, and may be largely continental in nature. This is supported by subdued magnetic anomalies and the possibility of a continuous Karroo sedimentary section across the northern Channel. The oceanic crust of the Mozambique Basin may extend as far north as 24°S, into the western Channel only. The problem of the origin of the Mozambique Channel remains unresolved, although a long sedimentary history indicates that Malagasy may have separated from Mainland Africa prior to Karroo times. The Davie Ridge may possibly represent a relict strike-slip fault, which permitted movement along a north-south line.     

Comparison of two three-dimensional hydrodynamic modeling systems for coastal tidal motion

A comparison of two three-dimensional numerical modeling systems for tidal elevations and velocities in the coastal waters is presented. The two modeling systems are: (1) the Princeton Ocean Model (POM) and (2) the MIKE 3 flow model. The model performance results for Singapore's coastal waters show that the predicted tidal elevations from the two hydrodynamic modeling systems are almost identical and are in very good agreement with field measurement data. The simulated tidal current velocities match well with field measurement data at the selected stations, but it seems that the POM provides the slightly better simulation, compared to the MIKE 3 flow model. The depth profiles of the velocities obtained from the two modeling systems may be greatly different at some time, due to the vertical diffusion coefficient calculated from different turbulent sub-models in the two modeling systems. The POM generally predicts larger peak tidal velocities. The maximum speed differences for the model results from the two modeling systems occur in the top and differ from time to time and from location to location, reaching up to 20%.     

Energetic Particles Observed in the CUSP Region During a Storm Recovery Phase

In this paper we report energetic ion behavior and its composition variations observed by the Cluster/RAPID instrument when the spacecraft was travelling in the high latitude magnetospheric boundary region on the day of the 31 March, 2001, strongest magnetic storm in the past 50 years. The Dst index reached −360 nT at about 09:00 UT. During its early recovery phase, large amounts of oxygen and helium ions were observed; the ratio of oxygen to hydrogen in the RAPID energy range reached as high as 250%, which suggests that the observed energetic particles might be of magnetospheric origin. The observations further show that enhanced energetic electron fluxes are confined in a very narrow region, while protons have occupied a larger region, and heavy ions have been observed in an even larger region. The flux of energetic electrons show a slight enhancement in a region where the magnetic field magnitude is around zero. These observed energetic ions could be quasi-trapped by the current sheet in the stagnation region of the cusp.     

The Magnetospheric cusps: A Summary

The polar cusps of the magnetosphere are key regions for the transfer of mass, momentum, and energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. Understaning these key regions and the dynamical interactions that occur there are fundamentally important to determining the physical nature of the magnetosphere. In this paper we try to summarize many of the conclusions reached in the papers of this special issue emphasizing the present concepts and definition of the cusp, what variations could be temporal structures and what could be spatial structures. We address the need for further measurements and the role of present and planned projects to address these needs.     

The Pleistocene history of Wales and the borderland

The Pleistocene rock-stratigraphic record is accorded more or less traditional time-stratigraphic interpretation which was held widely before application of an Irish developmental model in 1960. The following sequence of events are recognised: (1) Complete glaciation, of indeterminate age, which antedated the raised beach interglacial. (2) The raised beach episode which is shown to be the last (Ipswichian) interglacial. (3) The last (Devensian/Weichselian) glaciation, followed by possible readvance in northwest and northeast Wales; prior and subsequent to glaciation periglacial conditions obtained. It is shown that the Irish model, relying heavily as it does on the equation of rock and time stratigraphy, is inapplicable in Wales.     

An infrared spectroscopic study of lawsonite to 20 GPa

The infrared spectrum of CaAl₂Si₂O₇ · H₂O-lawsonite, has been characterized to pressures of 20 GPa at 300 K. Our results constrain the response to compression of the silicate tetrahedra, hydroxyl units, and water molecules in this material. The asymmetric and symmetric stretching and bending vibrations of the Si₂O₇ groups (at zero pressure frequencies between 600 and 1000 cm⁻¹) increase in frequency with pressure at rates between 3.6 and 5.9 cm⁻¹/GPa. All silicate modes appear to shift continuously with pressure to 20 GPa, although the lowest frequency stretching vibration becomes unresolvable above 18 GPa, and a splitting of the main bending vibration is observed near this pressure. The O-H stretches of the hydroxyl units exhibit a discontinuity in their mode shifts at ∼8–9 GPa, which we interpret to be produced by a pressure-induced change in hydrogen bonding. The stretching and bending vibrations of the water molecule are relatively unaffected by compression to 20 GPa, thus demonstrating that the structural cavities in which water molecules reside are relatively rigid. Significant changes in the amplitude of the O-H stretches of the hydroxyl and water units are observed at this pressure as well; nevertheless, our results demonstrate that the dominant structural units in lawsonite persist metastably at 300 K with only modest structural modifications well beyond the known stability field of this phase. Received: 10 July 1998 / Revised, accepted: 23 October 1998     

Experimental Melting of Cordierite Gneiss and the Petrogenesis of Syntranscurrent Peraluminous Granites in Southern Brazil

To understand the petrogenesis of peraluminous granites syntectonicto the Dorsal de Canguçu Transcurrent Shear Zone in theSul-rio-grandense Shield, Brazil, melting experiments were performedon one of the potential protoliths, a cordierite-bearing semi-peliticmetasedimentary gneiss (PE-1). Experiments were conducted atpressures of 5, 10 and 15 kbar, at temperatures of 700–900°C,and under fluid-absent and 5% H₂O-present conditions. The experimentsshow that fluid-absent melting begins at near-solidus conditions,around 700°C, promoted by participation of retrogressivephengitic muscovite in the reaction Mus + Kf ± Qz = melt± Fe–Ti oxide ± Als, producing a very smallamount of melt (<9%) with widely ranging composition. Allhypersolidus experiments (>800°C) produced S-type graniticmelts promoted by participation of biotite or cordierite inthe reactions Bio + Pl + Crd + Qz = Px + Fe–Ti oxide +melt at 5 kbar, and Bio + Pl + Crd ± Qz = Grt + Als ±Kf + melt at 10 and 15 kbar, both producing a high amount ofmelt (10–63% by volume). The melt compositions obtainedat 900°C and 15 kbar under fluid-absent conditions, promotedby biotite or cordierite breakdown, are similar to the syntectonicgranites. However, it is unlikely that the granites were formedat this pressure (corresponding to a depth of melting of     

Possible effect of ENSO on annual sediment discharge of debris flows in the Jiangjia Ravine based on Morlet wavelet transforms

The multi-time-scale structures of an annual sediment discharge series of debris flow in the Jiangjia Ravine and the Southern Oscillation index are analysed using the method of Morlet wavelet transformations. The possible effects of E1 Nirio episodes on the annual sediment discharge are discussed by comparing the period variations of ENSO and the discharge. The results show that the annual sediment discharge series of debris flow is related to E1 Nifio episodes. Generally, the annual sediment discharge of debris flow is less than usual during an E1 Nifio episode and debris flow is less active. On the contrary, the annual sediment discharge of debris flows is greater than usual during a La Nifia episode and debris flows are more frequent. There is a relationship between the annual sediment discharges of debris flow in the Jiangjia Ravine and the summer Southern Oscillation index, with both having quasi-periodic variations of 2 and 5-6 years.