A major ice drainage pathway of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet: the Tyne Gap,northern England

The Tyne Gap is a wide pass, situated between the Scottish Southern Uplands and the English Pennines that connects western and eastern England. It was a major ice flow drainage pathway of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet. This study presents new glacial geomorphological and sedimentological data from the Tyne Gap region that has allowed detailed reconstructions of palaeo‐ice flow dynamics during the Late Devensian (Marine Isotope Stage 2). Mapped lineations reveal a complex palimpsest pattern which shows that ice flow was subject to multiple switches in direction. These are summarised into three major ice flow phases. Stage I was characterised by convergent Lake District and Scottish ice that flowed east through the Tyne Gap, as a topographically controlled ice stream. This ice stream was identified from glacial geomorphological evidence in the form of convergent bedforms, streamlined subglacial bedforms and evidence for deformable bed conditions; stage II involved northerly migration of the Solway Firth ice divide back into the Southern Uplands, causing the easterly flow of ice to be weakened, and resulting in southeasterly flow of ice down the North Tyne Valley; and stage III was characterised by strong drawdown of ice into the Irish Sea Ice Basin, thus starving the Tyne Gap of ice and causing progressive ice sheet retreat westwards back across the watershed, prior to ice stagnation. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase activity in eel (Anguilla anguilla) from the Thames Estuary and comparisons with other United Kingdom Estuaries

Hepatic microsomal 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activities (indicative of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)) were measured in eel Anguilla anguilla from the Thames Estuary. Fish were collected from up to 13 sites during November 1997, May and August 1998 and October 1999. Throughout this period no clear seasonal variation could be identified at every site along the Thames. However, during the summer months, fish sampled from sites in the middle to the upper estuary (Woolwich, Greenhithe and West Thurrock) reported up to 3-fold higher EROD activities compared to sites either at the upper reaches (Richmond and Brentford) at the same time of the year, or fish sampled in winter, along the entire length of the estuary. A laboratory exposure experiment demonstrated a 3-fold elevation of EROD activity 2 days after injection with β-naphthoflavone (β-NF). However, higher levels of activity could be determined in fish sampled from the Weston canal near the Merseyside. The lowest levels of A. anguilla EROD activity were observed in fish sampled from the upper reaches of the River Tamar, Devon, and were comparable to activities determined in fish from the Wear and Humber estuaries. A. anguilla sampled along the Thames, Tyne and Tees estuaries reported between 2.5- and 7-fold higher EROD activities compared to fish collected from the Tamar. These results indicate that a low to moderate induction of A. anguilla CYP1A had occurred (indicative of low to moderate exposure to PAHs and planar PCBs) in fish collected from the Thames, Tyne, Wear, Tees, Humber and Tamar estuaries. However, the highest level of EROD activity was observed in fish from the Weston Canal (Merseyside).     

Late Devensian deglaciation of the Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream,northern England

The deglacial history of the central sector of the last British–Irish Ice Sheet is poorly constrained, particularly along major ice‐stream flow paths. The Tyne Gap Palaeo‐Ice Stream (TGIS) was a major fast‐flow conduit of the British–Irish Ice Sheet during the last glaciation. We reconstruct the pattern and constrain the timing of retreat of this ice stream using cosmogenic radionuclide (¹⁰Be) dating of exposed bedrock surfaces, radiocarbon dating of lake cores and geomorphological mapping of deglacial features. Four of the five ¹⁰Be samples produced minimum ages between 17.8 and 16.5 ka. These were supplemented by a basal radiocarbon date of 15.7 ± 0.1 cal ka BP, in a core recovered from Talkin Tarn in the Brampton Kame Belt. Our new geochronology indicates progressive retreat of the TGIS from 18.7 to 17.1 ka, and becoming ice free before 16.4–15.7 ka. Initial retreat and decoupling of the TGIS from the North Sea Lobe is recorded by a prominent moraine 10–15 km inland of the present‐day coast. This constrains the damming of Glacial Lake Wear to a period before ∼18.7–17.1 ka in the area deglaciated by the contraction of the TGIS. We suggest that retreat of the TGIS was part of a regional collapse of ice‐dispersal centres between 18 and 16 ka.

     

Assessment of severity of the extreme River Tyne flood in January 2005 using gauged and historical information

Abstract

The extreme Tyne (Northumbria, UK) flood in January 2005 provided the opportunity to reassess flood risk and to link peak discharge and flooded area to probability of occurrence. However, in spite of the UK guidance on flood risk assessment given in the Flood Estimation Handbook (FEH), there is still considerable subjectivity in deriving risk estimates. A particular problem for the Tyne arises from the effects of river bed gravel extraction both on the reliability of gauged discharges and in the interpretation of historical level data. In addition, attenuation and drawdown of Kielder Water has reduced downstream flood risk since 1982. Estimates from single-site, pooled estimates and historical information are compared. It is concluded that the return period of the observed flood was around 71 years on the lower Tyne and was probably the largest flood since 1815.     

Hepatic 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase Activity in eel (Anguilla Anguilla) from The Thames Estuary and Comparisons with other United Kingdom Estuaries

Hepatic microsomal 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD) activities (indicative of exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs)) were measured in eel Anguilla anguilla from the Thames Estuary. Fish were collected from up to 13 sites during November 1997, May and August 1998 and October 1999. Throughout this period no clear seasonal variation could be identified at every site along the Thames. However, during the summer months, fish sampled from sites in the middle to the upper estuary (Woolwich, Greenhithe and West Thurrock) reported up to 3-fold higher EROD activities compared to sites either at the upper reaches (Richmond and Brentford) at the same time of the year, or fish sampled in winter, along the entire length of the estuary. A laboratory exposure experiment demonstrated a 3-fold elevation of EROD activity 2 days after injection with β-naphthoflavone (β-NF). However, higher levels of activity could be determined in fish sampled from the Weston canal near the Merseyside. The lowest levels of A. anguilla EROD activity were observed in fish sampled from the upper reaches of the River Tamar, Devon, and were comparable to activities determined in fish from the Wear and Humber estuaries. A. anguilla sampled along the Thames, Tyne and Tees estuaries reported between 2.5- and 7-fold higher EROD activities compared to fish collected from the Tamar. These results indicate that a low to moderate induction of A. anguilla CYP1A had occurred (indicative of low to moderate exposure to PAHs and planar PCBs) in fish collected from the Thames, Tyne, Wear, Tees, Humber and Tamar estuaries. However, the highest level of EROD activity was observed in fish from the Weston Canal (Merseyside).     

Protein‐like fluorescence intensity as a possible tool for determining river water quality

The results of a comparison between chemical water quality determinants and river water fluorescence on the River Tyne, NE England, demonstrate that tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity shows statistically significant relationships between nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved oxygen. Tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity at the 280 nm excitation/350 nm emission wavelength fluorescence centre correlates with both phosphate (r = 0·80) and nitrate (r = 0·87), whereas tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity at the 220 nm excitation/350 nm emission wavelength centre correlates with BOD (r = 0·85), ammonia (r = 0·70) and dissolved oxygen (r = ?0·65). The strongest correlations are between tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity and nitrate and phosphate, which in the Tyne catchment derive predominantly from point and diffuse source sewage inputs. The correlation between BOD and the tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity suggests that this fluorescence centre is related to the bioavailable or labile dissolved organic matter pool. The weakest correlations are observed between tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity and ammonia concentration and dissolved oxygen. The weaker correlation with ammonia is due to removal of the ammonia signal by wastewater treatment, and that with dissolved oxygen due to the natural aeration of the river such that this is not a good indicator of water quality. The observed correlations only hold true when treated sewage, sewerage overflows or cross connections, or agricultural organic pollutants dominate the water quality—this is not true for two sites where airport deicer (propylene glycol, which is non‐fluorescent) or landfill leachate (which contains high concentrations of humic and fulvic‐like fluorescent DOM) dominate the dissolved organic matter in the river. Mean annual tryptophan‐like fluorescence intensity agrees well with the General Water Quality Assessment as determined by the England and Wales environmental regulators, the Environment Agency. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reflections on participatory research

Participatory research approaches are increasingly popular with geographers in developed as well as developing countries, as critical qualitative methodologies which at their best work with participants to effect change. This paper adds to recent debates over the methodologies, practices, philosophical and political issues involved. Drawing on a project on young people, exclusion and crime victimization in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, we discuss the limitations of participatory diagramming and illustrate some of the social and political barriers to meaningful participation in, and action from, this type of research.     

Simulating estuarine nitrous oxide production by means of a dynamic model

We describe a dynamic model developed from a commercially available modeling package (ECoS-III) to simulate estuarine dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) dynamics, and consequent N(2)O production and atmospheric flux on the timescale of tidal cycles. Simulated model state variables were NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-) and N(2)O concentrations, and salinity. Model outputs were evaluated through comparison with summer field data for the Tyne estuary, UK. The model adequately reproduced the observed axial profiles of NH(4)(+), NO(3)(-) and N(2)O concentrations. Nitrification was shown to be the dominant N(2)O source and estimates of the ratios nitrification to DIN load and N(2)O emission to DIN load are considerably lower than the corresponding values adopted in global scale models of estuarine N(2)O emissions based on DIN transformations. Hence our results are consistent with the requirement imposed by atmospheric N(2)O growth rate constraints that the amount of atmospheric N(2)O arising from agriculturally related sources, including estuarine transformations of N, be revised downward.