Variable stars in the field of open cluster NGC 6819

We report on the discovery of 25 variable stars plus 13 suspected variables found in the field of the open cluster NGC 6819. The stars were identified from time-series photometric data obtained on the Isaac Newton Telescope, La Palma, during two observing runs covering the 19 nights between 1999 June  22–30  and 1999 July  22–31  . The variables found include 12 eclipsing binaries with an additional three suspected, nine BY Draconis systems, plus four variables of other types, including one star believed to be a Cepheid. Three of the 15 eclipsing binaries are believed to be cluster members. Details of a further 10 suspected variable stars are also included.     

A calibration of the Bagnold beach equation

A simple sand trap is used to measure swash and backwash bedload transport rates on intertidal profiles. Data from sixty-eight beach experiments are used to calculate a mean value of 12.78 kg m^?4s^?2 for the calibration coefficient in the Bagnold beach equation.     

Tectono-sedimentary processes along an active marine/lacustrine half-graben margin: Alkyonides Gulf, E. Gulf of Corinth, Greece

ABSTRACT The Alkyonides half‐graben is separated from the Gerania Range to the south by active faults whose offshore traces are mapped in detail. The East Alkyonides and Psatha Faults have well‐defined, Holocene‐active tip zones and cannot be extrapolated from the onshore Skinos Fault into a single continuous surface trace. During the late Quaternary, catchments draining the step‐faulted range front have supplied sediment to alluvial fans along a subsiding marine ramp margin in the hangingwall of the Skinos Fault, to shelf ledge fans on the uplifting footwall to the East Alkyonides Fault and to the Alepochori submarine fan in the hangingwall of the latter. During late Pleistocene lowstand times (c. 70–12 ka), sediment was deposited in Lake Corinth as fan deltas on the subsiding Skinos shelf ramp which acted as a sediment trap for the adjacent 360 m deep submarine basin plain. At the same time, the uplifting eastern shelf ledge was exposed, eroded and bypassed in favour of deposition on the Alepochori submarine fan. During Holocene times, the Skinos bajada was first the site of stability and soil formation, and then of substantial deposition before modern marine erosion cut a prominent cliffline. The uplifting eastern shelf ledge has developed substantial Holocene fan lobe depositional sequences as sediment‐laden underflows have traversed it via outlet channels. We estimate mean Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the Psatha Fault in the range 0.7–0.8 mm year^?1. Raised Holocene coastal notches indicate that this may be further partitioned into about 0.2 mm year^?1 of footwall uplift and hence 0.5–0.6 mm year^?1 of hangingwall subsidence. Holocene displacement rates towards the tip of the active East Alkyonides Fault are in the range 0.2–0.3 mm year^?1. Any uplift of the West Alkyonides Fault footwall is not keeping pace with subsidence of the Skinos Fault hangingwall, as revealed by lowstand shelf fan deltas which show internal clinoforms indicative of aggradational deposition in response to relative base‐level rise due to active hangingwall subsidence along the Skinos Fault. Total subsidence here during the last 58 kyr lowstand interval of Lake Corinth was some 20 m, indicating a reduced net displacement rate compared to estimates of late Holocene (< 2000 bp ) activity from onshore palaeoseismology. This discrepancy may be due to the competition between uplift on the West Alkyonides Fault and subsidence on the onshore Skinos Fault, or may reflect unsteady rates of Skinos Fault displacement over tens of thousands of years.     

The RGS, exploration and Empire and the contested nature of surveying

In 1879, the RGS started courses in practical surveying based on the methods used by navigators. Subsequently, RGS courses, increasingly under the influence of former members of the Survey of India, changed in character. At the same time as the nature of appropriate surveying was being negotiated within the RGS, the debate over the academic nature of geography also took shape. The development of the 'new' geography reflected the conflicts within the RGS Council over the meaning of scientific geography.     

Mapping benthic habitat in regions of gradational substrata: An automated approach utilising geophysical,geological, and biological relationships

The relationship between acoustic backscatter, sediment characteristics and benthic habitat is examined using high-resolution sidescan sonar data collected at the Loch Linnhe artificial reef site on the west coast of Scotland. The site is typical for the continental shelf of NW Europe, with a mix of seabed environments from muddy to coarse, stony substrata on a 10–100 m length scale. A sidescan sonar mosaic was produced and classified according to derived backscatter parameters (mean, median and standard deviation of the backscatter values) using an unsupervised classification procedure. The accuracy of the final classified map was assessed by comparison with a ground-truthing survey in which the biological habitat was derived from underwater video footage. The sidescan correctly predicted seabed surface characteristics of observed biological habitat with 78% accuracy. A second, and more challenging test of the acoustic data to correctly predict biological habitat was made by comparing it with data from 21 grab sampling stations. These stations were divided into three groups using multivariate statistical techniques based on their backscatter properties. Benthic assemblage structure was found to be significantly distinct between the high and low, and the medium and low backscatter stations. There was a low to moderate but significant correlation between the multivariate patterns of acoustic backscatter, benthic assemblage structure, and particle size distribution. The work shows that even in areas with subtle and gradational changes in substratum, the sidescan was able to predict biological community with an acceptable accuracy.     

Factors influencing biodeposit production by the New Zealand freshwater mussel Echyridella menziesii

Laboratory experiments on the New Zealand freshwater mussel Echyridella menziesii were used to investigate the short-term effects (7–8 days) of food type on rates of biodeposition and benthic substrate respiration. Post-feeding biodeposition rates ranged from 0.34 to 1.52?mg?g^?1?h^?1 (mean?=?0.50?mg g^?1?h^?1) and were unaffected by the addition of toxin-producing Microcystis. Addition of suspended sediment (30?mg?L^?1) visibly altered substrate composition, and increased total and inorganic biodeposit production rates by 24–33% compared to mussels fed commercial phytoplankton stock. Biodeposition rates of mussels in lake bed substrates were 38% higher than those in silica sand for identical feeding regimes, suggesting that a significant proportion of material produced in this experiment could have been derived from feeding on organic matter in the lake bed sediments. Respiration rates were higher in treatments with Microcystis but were unaffected by the presence of mussels. This laboratory study suggests that biodeposition by E. menziesii is resilient to short-term exposure to Microcystis, and highlights the ability of mussels to alter benthic substrate composition by incorporating suspended sediment into substrates.     

Stellar Tomography

I review recent progress in the field of stellar surface imaging, with particular reference to advanced methods for mapping surface-brightness inhomogeneities and the surface vector magnetic field on magnetically active late-type stars. New signal enhancement techniques, utilising profile information from hundreds or thousands of photospheric lines simultaneously, allow images to be derived for stars several magnitudes fainter than was previously possible. For brighter stars, the same techniques make it possible to map features as small as two or three degrees in extent on the stellar surface. This opens up whole new areas of research, such as the ability to use starspot tracking to study surface differential rotation patterns on single and binary stars, and to follow the secular evolution of the magnetic field itself. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Respiratory response of cunners to silver

Cunners, a common inshore teleost fish of the north-east coast of the United States, were exposed to various concentrations of silver for 96 h. At the end of this exposure period measurements of gill-tissue oxygen consumption were made. Significant respiratory depression was noted after exposure to concentrations as low as 0.12 ppm. These results are compared to those of similar studies using cadmium and mercury as the test metals.