Stress and strain instruments developed for field measurements ofice

The instruments developed and operational experience gained in the measurement of strain rates and stresses in floating sea ice are described to indicate the total global loads occurring naturally against an artificial island or similar structure. A delta strainmeter and a thin-disk stress sensor were developed to service particular measurement needs for which suitable equipment was not available. The loading conditions studied have included slow-moving winter first-year ice at Tarsiut, Mukluk, and Kaubvik Islands in the Beaufort Sea, freely moving summer multiyear ice at Hans Island, and a pack-ice mixture at Katie's Floeberg. The instruments have also been deployed on a surging glacier on Spitzbergen in Norway     

Enhancing understanding of breakdown and collapse in the Yorkshire Dales using ground penetrating radar on cave sediments

Historical evidence shows block breakdown and collapse are actively occurring in large fault aligned caverns in the Yorkshire Dales karst. Deployment of ground penetrating radar at two such sites has provided detailed images of the sedimentary sequences below the present day cavern floor but no large blocks are imaged within the sediments. Solutional processes must be removing limestone from the sediment to allow continued cavern growth. Possible mechanisms to account for the lack of large blocks within the sediment fill are discussed.     

泰国湾第四纪准层序建造及气候控制的旋回性

泰国湾第四系显示出很好的旋回性。通过高分辨率二维地震(布玛)剖面图及工程钻井资料,共识别出8个准层序。在典型准层序中,沉积物自下而上,从海相泥沉积逐渐过渡为泛滥平原沉积。在每个准层序顶部都发育下切河体系及古土壤层,说明在每个准层序形成之后,都曾暴露过地表并遭受到侵蚀。每个准层序都代表一个海进和海退的过程。这些准层序的厚度为6～22m不等,平均厚度13m左右。通过与第四纪氧同位素曲线对比得出,这8个旋回的形成年代可追溯到距今730～10ka,平均91ka为一个循环周期,表明这些旋回应该是由气候因素所驱使的海平面升降导致的。该频率的气候变化周期相当于Milankovitch旋回中地球围绕太阳运动椭球体偏心率的变化周期,因此,在更早的地质历史时期中,类似的旋回也应该存在,并具有全球可对比性。     

Tag loss and movement of stocked yearling rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in southwestern Australia

Rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, have been stocked in southwestern Australia since the 1930s. Trials at a research station maintained 868 tagged yearling O. mykiss (age: 14 months; standard length: 208 mm) for up to 375 days. The mean tag loss rate was 0.12% ± 0.040% per day for both single- and double-tagged fish. The tag loss rate was used to interpret tag return data from 7030 single-tagged yearlings stocked into three river systems in southwestern Australia. Recaptures indicated that O. mykiss survived into their second season in all rivers, with the maximum time at liberty of 21 months (longevity of at least 35 months). Upstream and downstream movements of O. mykiss increased with time, although 29% of recaptures were reported from the stocking site. Significantly more O. mykiss were recaptured from the Warren River, and differences remained even when corrected for stocking levels; angler effort had a marginal effect on return rates. Higher return rates from the Warren River may be due to availability of suitable habitat (stream cover, cooler water) for O. mykiss. Results allow the stocking regime to be reviewed to improve fishery performance.     

Composition of widespread volcanic glass in deep-sea sediments of the Southern Pacific Ocean: an Antarctic source inferred

Widespread Plio-Pleistocene (2.43-0.06 Ma) tephra zones recognised in deep-sea cores from high latitudes (>60°) in the Southern Pacific Ocean were thought to have originated from calc-alkaline rhyolitic eruptions in New Zealand, some 5000 km distant. Electron microprobe analyses of the glasses reveal a wide diversity of alkalic felsic compositions, as well as minor components of basic and intermediate glasses, incompatible with a New Zealand Neogene source but similar to contemporaneous eruptives from the Antarctic region. Most tephra zones are trachytic; seven zones are peralkaline rhyolite. The rhyolitic zones represent a deep-sea record of widespread silicic eruptions from continental Antarctica, possibly Marie Byrd Land. The extent of these rhyolitic zones suggest a greater frequency of large explosive eruptions in Antarctica than previously documented. The coarse grain size of some of the shards (up to 3 mm), their great distance from the closest sources (>1600 km for some cores), and the presence of nonvolcanic ice-rafted debris indicate some of the glasses, especially the more basic compositions, may have been ice-rafted, contrary to previous suggestions of a fallout origin.     

Significant genetic differentiation among meroplanktonic barrel jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa) in the Mediterranean Sea

Molecular data have shown that jellyfishes are more geographically restricted and evolutionarily divergent than previously thought. We examined genetic variation and divergence within the meroplanktonic barrel jellyfish Rhizostoma pulmo in the Mediterranean Sea; specific sampling areas were the northern Adriatic, western Mediterranean and Tunisian coast. A total of 19 sampling sites and 68 sequences of the mtDNA cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) gene were used. Of the 68 COI sequences, 45 were newly collected specimens which originated from nine sampling sites along the Tunisian coast. A total of 24 haplotypes were obtained and the specimens sampled were characterised by relatively high levels of haplotype diversity (h = 0.866) and low levels of nucleotide diversity (π = 0.004). Haplotype network analysis showed the presence of three distinct phylogenetic lineages (populations), with separate geographic ranges in the northern Adriatic, western Mediterranean and Tunisian coast. The observed genetic differentiation between these three lineages was supported by the presence of significant genetic differentiation between the 19 populations (F_ST = 0.757, p < 0.001). The high level of genetic differentiation detected in the barrel jellyfish investigated could be attributed to either intrinsic and/or extrinsic barriers to genetic exchange between different populations that may have adapted to different environmental conditions.     

Swell impact on reef sedimentary processes: A case study of the La Reunion fringing reef

Two surface‐sediment sampling campaigns were carried out in November and December 2003, before and after a strong swell event, in the back‐reef area of a microtidal fringing reef on the western coast of La Reunion, Indian Ocean. The spatial distributions of the mean grain size, sorting and skewness parameters are determined, and grain‐size trend analysis is performed to estimate the main sediment transport pathways in the reef. The results of this analysis are compared with hydrodynamic records obtained in the same reef area during fair weather conditions and during swell events. Sediment dynamics inferred from the hydrodynamic records show that significant sediment erosion and transport occur only during swell events and under strongly agitated sea states. Under normal wave conditions, there is a potential for onshore sediment transport from the reef‐flat to the back‐reef, but this transport is episodic and occurs principally during high‐tide stages. Sediment transport trends revealed by the grain‐size trend analysis method show onshore and alongshore low‐energy transport processes that are in agreement with the hydrodynamic records. The grain‐size trend analysis method also provides evidence of an offshore high‐energy transport trend that could be interpreted as a real physical process associated with return flow from the shore to the reef. The impact of swell on the reef sediment dynamics is clearly demonstrated by onshore and alongshore transport. Considering different combinations of the vector transport trends computed through the grain‐size trend analysis approach, more realistic and pertinent results can be obtained by applying an exclusive OR operation (XOR case) on the vectors. The main results presented here highlight a trend towards the accumulation of carbonate sands in the back‐reef area of the fringing reef. These sediments can only be resuspended during extreme events such as storms or tropical cyclones.     

Integrated Futures for Europe’s Mountain Regions: Reconciling Biodiversity Conservation and Human Livelihoods

Introduction Europe's mountains cover nearly half of the continent's area (Price et al. 2004) and land cover varies significantly (European Commission 2004). In most massifs, except for Sicily, southern Greece, and the British Isles, forest cover is dominant. In northern Europe, grassland is proportionately more important, and much of the mountains of the British Isles is covered by moorland. In central and southern Europe, arable land is of far greater importance than grassland, with Med…