Process length variation in cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum,from surface sediments of the Baltic–Kattegat–Skagerrak estuarine system: a regional salinity proxy

Mertens, K. N., Dale, B., Ellegaard, M., Jansson, I.‐M., Godhe, A., Kremp, A. & Louwye, S. 2010: Process length variation in cysts of the dinoflagellate Protoceratium reticulatum, from surface sediments of the Baltic–Kattegat–Skagerrak estuarine system: a regional salinity proxy. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2010.00193.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Results are presented from a regional comparison of average process length variation in cysts of Protoceratium reticulatum and Lingulodinium polyedrum, extracted from surface sediments in the Skagerrak–Kattegat–Baltic estuarine system, with the environmental variables of seawater temperature and salinity. Although too few cysts of Lingulodinium polyedrum were recovered from the sediments to make reliable correlations, cysts of Protoceratium reticulatum were well represented, and average process length was correlated significantly with both salinity and temperature. Owing to dominant summer surface production, and regional covariation between salinity and density, we propose the use of the significant correlation with summer sea surface salinity (SSS_summer) by the equation SSS_summer=3.16 × average process length ?0.84 (R²=0.8). Application of this equation down‐core in Limfjord (northern Denmark) shows its usefulness as a regional palaeosalinity proxy.     

AMERICAN NATIONAL IDENTITY AND THE PROGRESS OF THE NEW SOUTH IN NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE*

ABSTRACT. This article examines how National Geographic Magazine's coverage of the U.S. South contributed to the production of an exalted American national identity. The framework of internal orientalism is employed to explain the role of the South as an internal other in the national discourse and to show how even positive representations of the South are often implicated in this othering. In the pages of National Geographic, the New South's progress is measured by the steps it takes away from the Old South. In highlighting the improvements made within the South, the articles provide subtle hints that the legacy of segregation, intolerance, racism, and poverty continues to haunt the region. The articles set up a spatial distinction that construes these evils as inherently southern problems, which implies that however far the New South moves away from the problematic legacy of the Old South, it will never quite reach the American ideal.     

Configuration and timing of Ungava Bay ice streams, Labrador–Ungava, Canada

The prominent Ungava Bay landform swarm (UBLS), covering an area of ˜260000 km² south of Ungava Bay, Canada, is defined by drumlins, crag-and-tails, horned crag-and-tails and flutes indicating convergent ice flow towards Ungava Bay. The UBLS has been difficult to interpret in terms of ice-sheet configuration, dynamics and age. Aerial photograph and satellite image interpretations of the Labrador-Ungava region reveal a previously unrecognized level of complexity within the UBLS consisting of several well-defined segments, most interpreted as representing discrete stream-flow events. Each of the segments is characterized by one or more of the criteria (convergent flow patterns at their heads, attenuated till lineations and abrupt lateral margins) previously suggested as diagnostic for formation by fast-flowing ice (ice streams). The UBLS reflects the most direct and probably fastest contact (in terms of sediment transport) between the Laurentide Ice Sheet interior and the ocean. It is therefore a prime candidate for abrupt changes in glacial-age northwest Atlantic seafloor sedimentation.     

SEDIMENT RATING CURVES DEVELOPED ON STAGE AND SEASONAL MEANS IN DISCHARGE CLASSES FOR THE MELLAH WADI, ALGERIA

The focus of the present study was to estimate suspended sediment load from the Mellah catchment (550 km²) during storms. Suspended sediment rating curves were developed on data from a 23-year period. The regression technique of this paper involves a division of data into discharge-based classes, the mean concentrations and discharges of which are used to develop power regressions through log-transformation. Sediment rating curves were also developed on means of data grouped into seasons and stages. Sediment loads estimated by rating curves uncorrected for bias involved underestimations of down to 9% compared with loads from measured concentrations. Correction for bias reduced underestimations to a range from 0.79 to 3%. Rating curves divided into rising and falling stages had the lowest underestimation and were used to estimate load during periods without concentration measurements. During the 23-year study period, the mean annual suspended sediment yield was 373 TI km².
Sediment transport is dominated by winter storms accounting for 61% of the annual load. A high exponent 'b' of the power regression equations during the winter season confirms the intense geomorphic work by winter season storms caused by high intensity rainfall, low vegetation cover, and heavy machine activity in the fields.     

Foam spora in running waters of southern Greenland

Nineteen species of aquatic hyphomycetes are reported from stream foam in southern Greenland. This extends the number of species known from the arctic regions. Thirteen of these species have also been collected in Swedish Lapland. Thus, despite different bank vegetation, the species pattern of both areas show a more than 50% similarity.     

GLACIER FLUCTUATIONS, SUSPENDED SEDIMENT FLUX AND GLACIO-LACUSTRINE SEDIMENTS

ABSTRACT. In order to perform inverse modelling of climate variability based on palaeoclimate proxy records, the complexity of intermediate steps in the chain of processes from the climate forcing to the responding proxy has to be considered. In reconstructing climate-forced glacier fluctuations from proglacial lacustrine sediments it is important to understand how climate affects glacier dynamics. A glacier system is complex with many factors influencing sediment production, transport and deposition. Fluvial and mass movement processes in the proglacial environment may affect lake sedimentation substantially. We argue that it is easy to over-interpret glaciolacustrine sediment variability by ignoring these complications. The sediment records may contain individual layers resulting from single precipitation or melt events, as well as persistent changes in climate-forced glacier dynamics. We conclude that it is necessary to consider all possible influencing factors in order to derive reliable palaeoclimate data from lacustrine sediment sequences.     

PREFERENTIAL WATER FLOW IN A FROZEN SOIL — A TWO-DOMAIN MODEL APPROACH

Earlier modelling studies have shown the difficulty of accurately simulating snowmelt infiltration into frozen soil using the hydraulic model approach. Comparison of model outputs and field measurements have inferred the occurrence of rapid flow even during periods when the soil is still partly frozen. A one-dimensional, physically based soil water and heat model (SOIL) has been complemented with a new two-domain approach option to simulate preferential flow through frozen layers. The ice is assumed to be first formed at the largest water filled pore upon freezing. Infiltrating water may be conducted rapidly through previously air-filled pores which are not occupied by ice. A minor fraction of water is slowly transferred within the liquid water domain, which is absorbed by the solid particles. A model validation with field measurements at a location in the middle-east of Sweden indicated that the two-domain approach was suitable for improving the prediction of drainage during snowmelting. In particular, the correlation between simulated and observed onset of drainage in spring was improved. The validation also showed that the effect of the high flow domain was highly sensitive to the degree of saturation in the topsoil during freezing, as well as to the hydraulic properties at the lower frost boundary regulating the upward water flow to the frozen soil and ice formation.