Deglaciation of the younger dryas or Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in the northern Highlands,Scotland

When viewed from the air, Scottish ‘hummocky moraine’ can be resolved into a series of linear ridges that resemble those found at the margins of actively retreating glaciers today. Recent work has supported the interpretation of these linear ridges as ice-marginal landforms and the authors believe that the majority of ‘hummocky moraine’ deposits can be interpreted in this way. Consequently the pattern of deglaciation can be established fairly precisely from the pattern of linear ridges. This approach is applied to the landforms of the northern part of the Loch Lomond Stadial ice-field in order to reconstruct the regional pattern of deglaciation. This leads to important inferences about the significance of topographic control during deglaciation and more importantly it provides fresh insight into the environment of the British Isles during the Loch Lomond Stadial.     

Rosat wide field camera data and the temperature of the interstellar medium

The shadowing effects of the molecular clouds in the nearby interstellar medium on the soft x-ray background has been investigated, using ROSAT WFC data in conjunction with previous rocket B and C band surveys. Shadowing over a 5° extent occurs only for a few percent of the sky, but the mixed model of the ISM is supported.Detailed modelling of the Draco shadowing region shows little evidence for a multi-temperature, hot ISM component.     

Daily rainfall domains in Mallorca

Summary A Pearson Product Moment Correlation matrix for four years of daily rainfall from 96 sites on the island of Mallorca has been used to derive and map correlation fields and construct composite correlation fields for different parts of the island based on previously defined daily rainfall affinity areas. Significant variations in rainfall organisation over the island are revealed. These reflect the dominance of uplift and exposure by upland areas in the generation of rainfall, evidenced in strongly anisotropic correlation fields. Further anisotropy along lowland coasts normal to the relief trend indicate the role of local rainfall generation along sea-breeze fronts. Near isotropic fields for central island locations highlight the importance of local convection and local convergence between opposing sea breeze systems and inland convection. Linear correlation distance-decay trends are determined for the island and for the predetermined rainfall affinity areas, including estimates of distance-decay rates along field axes. A suite of exponential cone functions is derived to model the empirically observed fields, representing their typical bidimensional structure. Use of the fitted cones to model a typical rainfall day, where the rainfall distribution mimics quite closely the longer term average, yields quite good results and suggests that their use may be more appropriate than applying more conventional general interpolation techniques in the mapping of spatial rainfall distributions.With 14 Figures     

The effect of rock moisture on Schmidt hammer rebound: tests on rock samples from Marion Island and South Africa

In an assessment of the influence of internal rock moisture content on Schmidt hammer readings, rebound (R) values are found to decrease with increasing moisture content. For samples of basalt, sandstone and dolerite the maximum decrease in R‐values is found between oven dry values and saturated rock rebound values, the magnitude of which varies from 2 to 10 points on the R‐scale. A quartzite block has the greatest decline of 6 points at 60 per cent saturation. For certain rock types under differing site‐to‐site field moisture conditions the moisture effect can be a significant factor in the interpretation of the relative state of weathering from rebound values. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A geochemical investigation of hydrologically derived threats to rare biota: the Drummond Nature Reserve, Western Australia

The Drummond Nature Reserve (DNR), a high-value conservation area 100?km northeast of Perth, Western Australia, contains two rare freshwater claypans and a diverse range of rare and threatened vascular plants. Groundwater/surface-water interactions were investigated via isotopic (??¹⁸O and ??D) and major ion analysis. The groundwater chemical and isotope analyses combined with nutrient data allowed for the assessment of potential hydrologically derived threats to the claypans and their associated conservation values. Groundwater composition is typically Na?CCl to Na?CMg?CCl; whereas the claypan??s ephemeral fresh surface water is Na?CCl?CHCO₃. Distinct ??¹⁸O and ??D isotopic signatures for the claypan surface waters and adjoining groundwaters indicate that there currently is minimal connection between these two hydrological systems. Hence the current threat to the freshwater claypans and associated biota from rising saline and acidic groundwater is minimal. Elevated nutrient (N) levels identified in groundwaters along the reserve??s western boundary may be linked to fertiliser regimes employed in adjoining agricultural lands. The ecosystem associated with the southwest claypan is particularly vulnerable to N and P inputs via surface-water flows, which could cause algal blooms, vegetation degradation and weed infestation.     

Development of Specimen Curing Procedures that Account for the Influence of Effective Stress During Curing on the Strength of Cemented Mine Backfill

Paste backfill used to provide ground support in underground mining is generated from full-stream tailings and is almost always placed underground with cement. For the backfill, both the rate of strength development and the final strength are important considerations for design, particularly when the backfill is subsequently exposed in the stope-mining sequence. There is strong evidence that strengths measured on specimens obtained from coring the in situ cemented backfill are much greater than laboratory-cured specimens with the same cement content. The paper reviews some of the experimental evidence showing that one of the major reasons for the different strength is the difference in effective stress acting on the backfill during curing. Laboratory specimens are (almost) always cured under zero total stress, so no effective stress develops. In contrast, backfill in a stope may cure under high effective stress, which develops due to either “conventional” consolidation in free-draining backfills, or to the so-called “self-desiccation” mechanism in fine-grained fills. Evidence is presented showing how the final strength is affected by applying stress to specimens at different stages of curing and at different rates. It is shown that a fully-coupled analysis of the filling behaviour is required to determine the appropriate effective stress regime to apply in curing laboratory specimens, where “fully-coupled” in this context means taking account of the interaction of consolidation/drainage rate, filling rate and cement hydration rate. Curing protocols for laboratory specimens are proposed, which would ensure that the strengths obtained are representative of in situ conditions.     

The gas content and buoyancy of strombolian ash plumes

Plinian plumes erupt with a bulk density greater than that of air, and depend upon air entrainment during their gas-thrust phase to become buoyant; if entrainment is insufficient, the column collapses into a potentially deadly pyroclastic flow. This study shows that strombolian ash plumes can be erupted in an initially buoyant state due to their extremely high initial gas content, and in such cases are thus impervious to column collapse. The high gas content is a consequence of decoupled gas rise in the conduit, in which particles are ultimately incidental. The relations between conduit gas flow, eruption style and plume density are explored here for strombolian scenarios and contrasted with conventional wisdom derived from plinian eruptions. Considering the inherent relation between gas content and initial plume density together with detailed measurements of plume velocities can help unravel ambiguities surrounding conduit processes, eruption styles and hazards at poorly understood volcanoes. Analysis of plume dynamics at Santiaguito volcano, Guatemala adds further support for a model involving decoupled gas rise in the conduit.     

A limit on the number density of bright z≈ 7 galaxies

We present a survey of bright optical dropout sources in two deep, multiwavelength surveys comprising 11 widely separated fields, aimed at constraining the galaxy luminosity function at   z ≈ 7  for sources at  5–10  L * ( z = 6)  . Our combined survey area is 225 arcmin² to a depth of   J _AB= 24.2  (3σ) and 135 arcmin² to   J = 25.3  (4σ). We find that infrared data longwards of 2 μm are essential for classifying optical dropout sources, and in particular for identifying cool Galactic star contaminants. Our limits on the number density of high-redshift sources are consistent with current estimates of the Lyman break galaxy luminosity function at   z = 6  .     

Starburst activity in a ROSAT narrow emission-line galaxy

We present multiwaveband photometric and optical spectropolarimetric observations of the R =15.9 narrow emission-line galaxy R117_A which lies on the edge of the error circle of the ROSAT X-ray source R117. The overall spectral energy distribution of the galaxy is well modelled by a combination of a normal spiral galaxy and a moderate-strength burst of star formation. The far-infrared and radio emission is extended along the major axis of the galaxy, indicating an extended starburst.
On positional grounds, the galaxy is a good candidate for the identification of R117, and the observed X-ray flux is very close to what would be expected from a starburst of the observed far-infrared and radio fluxes. Although an obscured high-redshift QSO cannot be entirely ruled out as contributing some fraction of the X-ray flux, we find no candidates to K =20.8 within the X-ray error box, and so conclude that R117_A is responsible for a large fraction, if not all, of the X-ray emission from R117.
Searches for indicators of an obscured AGN in R117_A have so far proven negative; deep spectropolarimetric observations show no signs of broad lines to a limit of 1 per cent and, for the observed far-infrared and radio emission, we would expect 10 times greater X-ray flux if the overall emission were powered by an AGN. We therefore conclude that the X-ray emission from R117 is dominated by starburst emission from the galaxy R117_A.