A high resolution,multiproxy Late‐glacial record of climate change and intrasystem responses in northwest England

A lacustrine carbonate sequence from Hawes Water, Lancashire, UK, has been studied using stable isotopic, lithological, pollen and mineral magnetic analysis. The data reveal four abrupt climatic oscillations in the Late‐glacial Interstadial leading up to the onset of the Loch Lomond Stadial. The data also point to climatic warming relatively early within the stadial, ca. 12 500 GRIP yr, prior to the onset of the Holocene. The oxygen isotope record is taken as a signature of climate forcing against which the response of the lake‐system can be monitored. By adopting this approach it is revealed that the response of the biological system to the rapid climatic oscillations is non‐linear and primarily a function of the antecedent conditions. A significant end‐Devensian isotopic excursion (A) is matched by only minor changes in the cold‐adapted floras and faunas. During the warmer interstadial, the response of the biological ecosystem (events B–D) is clearly influenced by thresholds: major changes in the catchment vegetation associated with relatively minor oscillations in the isotopic signature. The stratigraphical patterns reveal significant lag effects between the onset of climate deterioration and resulting changes in vegetation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Wave enhancement due to blockage in semi-submersible and TLP structures

An exact analytical method is described to solve the diffraction problem of a group of truncated vertical cylinders. In order to account for the interaction between the cylinders, Kagemoto and Yue's exact algebraic method is utilised (Kagemoto, H., Yue, D.K.P., 1986. Interactions among multiple three-dimensional bodies in water waves: an exact algebraic method. J Fluid Mech, 46, 129–139). The isolated cylinder diffraction potential is obtained using Garret's solution and evanescent mode solutions are derived in a similar manner (Garret, C.J.R., 1971. Wave forces on a circular dock. J Fluid Mech, 46, 129–139).Free surface elevations are calculated for an array of four cylinders and compared with experiments. Comparisons show good agreement.     

Bedrock morphology and structures within overlying sediments,Start Bay,Southwest England,determined by continuous seismic profiling,side-scan sonar,and core sampling

The bedrock morphology of Start Bay, Southwest England, and the Structures within overlying sediments have been determined by a combined geophysical and geological survey. It has been established that the Skerries Bank consists of a drape of possibly coarse, unconsolidated material (bank deposits) overlying medium- to fine-grained silty sand (bay deposits). A break of slope in the bedrock surface, traced along the entire length of the Bay, and a step profile in the southern part of the Bay, may be either a legacy of submerged topography produced by vigorous tidal action, or alternatively the product of subaerial and marine processes. Other significant geological features in the Bay include infilled valleys, and “terraces” possibly pertaining to relict barrier beaches.     

The Vulnerability of the Australian Beef Industry to Impacts of the Cattle Tick (Boophilus microplus) under Climate Change

An integrated assessment is presented of the potential impacts of the cattle tick (Boophilus microplus Canestrini) on the Australian beefindustry under climate change. The project was carried out as a case study to test an impact assessment approach that was designed to integrate biological, production and socio-economic impacts on managed and natural systems. A climate-driven, tick population model was run for European, zebu and crossbred cattle breeds having different levels of resistance to cattle ticks. A geographical information system (GIS) was used to organise spatial data on climate scenarios and industry statistics and to undertake regional analyses.A comparison was made of the two available approaches to conducting impact assessments, namely a bottom-up approach using sensitivity analysis and a top-down approach using climate change scenarios from a global circulation model (GCM) (CSIRO, 1996). The output, in terms of the abundance of tick populations and reductions in cattle productivity for each breed showed significant expansions in potential geographical impacts. In the absence of any adaptation measures, the results indicated changes in the losses in live weight gain of cattle tick ranging from 7780 tonnes per year by 2030 to 21637 tonnes per year by 2100, in comparison with estimates for current losses of 6594 tonnes per year.The principal adaptation options available to the beef industry are to switch to breeds that are more resistant to cattle ticks, or to increase the frequency of treatments with various tick control products. In this paper we focus on switching breeds as an adaptive measure when appropriate damage thresholds are triggered under the climate change scenarios. When adaptation measures were put in place, the losses ranged from 4962 tonnes in 2030 to 5619 tonnes in 2100 compared with 2636 tonnes at present if all producers adopted the optimal breed structure. Optimal breed structure was defined as one that would prevent tick numbers per animal exceeding 100 ticks per animal for European and 700 ticks per animal for crossbred breeds of cattle in any week of the year under a tick control strategy that was suitable for present climatic conditions. The lower threshold for European breeds reflects their vulnerability to explosive increases in numbers because of their low resistance to ticks. The results of the analyses using the GCM scenarios were used in an economic model to calculate costs of lost live-weight gain for 2030, 2070 and 2100. The greatest increases in costs were incurred in the southern parts of the current distribution in Queensland and potentially in northern New South Wales if the present quarantine barrier failed.Given the great uncertainty of the nature of possible regional changes in climate, analyses of the sensitivity of losses in live weight gain to changes in climatic variables were also undertaken. The analyses included a measure of likely impacts of cattle tick on the beef cattle industry, in the absence of adaptation measures, as a baseline measure of sensitivity. The likely impacts on crossbred cattle were insensitive to the climatic variables.When adaptive breed changes were allowed, the economic impacts on the industry were insensitive to the GCM scenarios. This suggests that, at least in this instance, reducing the uncertainties in climate change scenarios is not a priority if the adaptation strategies can be implemented in a cost-effective manner. Finally we made a qualitative assessment of the sustainability and robustness of alternative approaches to adaptation and assessed regional vulnerability to cattle tick under climate change. The conclusions were so strongly dependent on assumptions about the future of other global changes, in particular the ability to maintain quarantine barriers and to retain effective acaricides at comparable costs to the present, that we strongly recommend that risk assessments of climate change extend to all relevant variables in involved in global change where possible.     

Mechanical development of vein structures due to the passage of earthquake waves through poorly-consolidated sediments

Vein structures are typically the earliest expression of brittle deformation within sediments. These mud-filled veins, which characteristically occur regularly spaced within bed-parallel arrays, form in sediments that possess a strong interlocking particle framework. Downslope creep has been proposed to explain the origins of vein structures, however, a recent suggestion that they are generated by the passage of earthquake shear waves through sediments explains aspects of their morphology, and their dominant occurrence at active convergent margins. Their coexistence with less disruptive “ghost veins” in Peru margin sediments, and their almost normal attitude to bedding, however, suggests that vein structures were formed by processes more complex than downslope creep, or seismically induced shearing alone.

Experimental earthquake simulation was undertaken by laterally shaking a box containing crushed diatomite. Fractures were induced almost normal to the horizontal shaking direction, and to a lesser extent as antithetic Riedel shears, both of which closely resembled vein structures. The fracturing process during shaking may be viewed as a progressive fragmentation of the diatomite, in which new fractures form half-way between pre-existing ones. Thus fracture spacings are progressively halved. Shear zones oriented at a low angle to the shaking direction were also generated, combining with the high-angle fractures to form structures very similar to those observed in Peru margin sediments. When shaken, fines added to the diatomite segregated into planar zones that resembled ghost veins, half-way between fractures. The alternating pattern of fractures and fines indicated that a standing pressure wave had been created within the box during shaking. The fractures were created by alternating compression and extension at the antinodes, while the fines concentrated in zones of minimum grain movement around the nodal planes. This suggests that vein structures are initiated by the combined action of shear and pressure waves within a sediment. The strain waves may be seismic in origin, or may also form in downslope movement system.     

Biostratigraphic and detrital zircon age constraints on the basement of the Himalayan Foreland Basin: Implications for a Proterozoic link to the Lesser Himalaya and cratonic India

The Himalayan Foreland Basin in the Ganga Valley is key to assessing the pre‐collision relationship between cratonic India and the Himalaya – the world's largest mountain chain. The subsurface Ganga Supergroup, representing the sedimentary basement of the Ganga Valley, has been interpreted as a northern extension of the Proterozoic Vindhyan Supergroup in cratonic India. This interpretation is contentious because the depositional age of the Ganga Supergroup is not resolved: whereas the lower Ganga Supergroup is widely regarded as Proterozoic, the upper Ganga Supergroup has been variously inferred to include Neoproterozoic, lower Palaeozoic, or Cretaceous strata. Here, we integrate biostratigraphic and detrital zircon data from drill cores to show that the entire Ganga Supergroup is likely Proterozoic and can be correlated with Proterozoic successions on the northern Indian craton and in the Lesser Himalaya. This helps redefine the first‐order stratigraphic architecture and indicates broad depositional continuity along the northern Indian margin during the Proterozoic.     

Novel observations of benthic enrichment in contrasting flow regimes with implications for marine farm monitoring and management

We examine macrofaunal and physico-chemical responses to organic enrichment beneath salmon farms in contrasting flow environments, and reveal pronounced flow-related differences in the magnitude and spatial extent of effects. Total macrofaunal abundances at high flow sites were nearly an order of magnitude greater than at comparable low flow sites, representing a significant benthic biomass. These very high abundances occurred in conjunction with moderate-to-high species richness, and were evident in the absence of appreciable organic matter accumulation. Biological responses to increasing sulfide were variable; however a significant biological threshold was evident at 1500 μM. Macrofaunal responses at high flow sites differed substantially from the Pearson–Rosenberg model. The atypical ecological conditions were attributed to (i) limited accumulation of fine sediments, (ii) maintenance of aerobic conditions in near-surface sediments, and (iii) an abundant food supply. Thus, enhanced resilience to organic waste at well-flushed sites appears related to both biological and physical processes.     

The future of geography

This paper is an attempt to assess the current state and future prospects of Geography especially but not only in Britain. It is quasi-polemical and should be read in that spirit. The paper looks first at the notable successes of physical and human geography. It then considers how these successes are being buttressed by current events taking place in the world. Next, the paper considers the main problems that beset geography. Finally, however, the paper ends on another positive note by considering some of the exciting new developments that are now taking place in the discipline which will allow it to relate to more of the many worlds that make up geography's vocation.     

A non-main-sequence secondary in SY Cancri

Simultaneous spectroscopic and photometric observations of the Z Cam type dwarf nova SY Cancri were used to obtain absolute flux calibrations. A comparison of the photometric calibration with a wide-slit spectrophotometric calibration showed that either method is equally satisfactory. A radial velocity study of the secondary star, made using the far-red Na  i doublet, yielded a semi-amplitude of   K ₂= 127 ± 23 km s⁻¹  . Taking the published value of  86 ± 9 km s⁻¹  for K ₁ gives a mass ratio of   q = M ₂/ M ₁= 0.68 ± 0.14  ; this is very different from the value of  1.13 ± 0.35  quoted in the literature. Using the new lower mass ratio, and constraining the mass of the white dwarf to be within reasonable limits, then leads to a mass for the secondary star that is substantially less than would be expected for its orbital period if it satisfied a main-sequence mass–radius relationship. We find a spectral type of M0 that is consistent with that expected for a main-sequence star of the low mass we have found. However, in order to fill its Roche lobe, the secondary must be significantly larger than a main-sequence star of that mass and spectral type. The secondary is definitely not a normal main-sequence star.