Results from the Whole Earth Telescope — Indian contributions

The Indian team at ISRO has been part of the Whole Earth Telescope (WET) team since 1988 when we first participated in the campaign on V471 Tau. We have been part of many other observing campaigns over the last decade. This presentation traces the circumstances leading to our joining the WET team and how useful the coverage from the Indian longitude has been. The results of several pulsators from the WET runs during which we participated are also described. These include PG1159-035 the prototype of the GW Vir type of stars, RE J 0751+14 a cataclysmic variable, PG 1336-018 a binary with an sdB pulsator and finally HR 1217 a roAp star. The paper concludes with what the limitations are in our observations and how we can overcome them in the future.     

The Preboreal climate reversal and a subsequent solar‐forced climate shift

Accurate chronologies are essential for linking palaeoclimate archives. Carbon‐14 wiggle‐match dating was used to produce an accurate chronology for part of an early Holocene peat sequence from the Borchert (The Netherlands). Following the Younger Dryas–Preboreal transition, two climatic shifts could be inferred. Around 11 400 cal. yr BP the expansion of birch (Betula) forest was interrupted by a dry continental phase with dominantly open grassland vegetation, coeval with the PBO (Preboreal Oscillation), as observed in the GRIP ice core. At 11 250 cal. yr BP a sudden shift to a humid climate occurred. This second change appears to be contemporaneous with: (i) a sharp increase of atmospheric ¹⁴C; (ii) a temporary decline of atmospheric CO₂; and (iii) an increase in the GRIP ¹⁰Be flux. The close correspondence with excursions of cosmogenic nuclides points to a decline in solar activity, which may have forced the changes in climate and vegetation at around 11 250 cal. yr BP. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Alluvial architecture of the Holocene Rhine–Meuse delta (the Netherlands)

Ancient fluvial successions often act as hydrocarbon reservoirs. Sub‐surface data on the alluvial architecture of fluvial successions are often incomplete and modelling is performed to reconstruct the stratigraphy. However, all alluvial architecture models suffer from the scarcity of field data to test and calibrate them. The purposes of this study were to quantify the alluvial architecture of the Holocene Rhine–Meuse delta (the Netherlands) and to determine spatio‐temporal trends in the architecture. Five north–south orientated cross‐sections, perpendicular to the general flow direction, were compiled for the fluvial‐dominated part of the delta. These sections were used to calculate the width/thickness ratios of fluvial sandbodies (SBW/SBT) and the proportions of channel‐belt deposits (CDP), clastic overbank deposits (ODP) and organic material (OP) in the succession. Furthermore, the connectedness ratio (CR) between channel belts was calculated for each cross‐section. Distinct spatial and temporal trends in the alluvial architecture were found. SBW/SBT ratios decrease by a factor of ca 4 in a downstream direction. CDP decreases from ca 0·7 (upstream) to ca 0·3 (downstream). OP increases from less than 0·05 in the upstream part of the delta to more than 0·25 in the downstream delta. ODP is approximately constant (0·4). CR is ca 0·25 upstream, which is approximately two times larger than in the downstream part of the delta. Furthermore, CDP in the downstream Rhine–Meuse delta increases after 3000 cal yr BP. These trends are attributed to variations in available accommodation space, floodplain geometry and channel‐belt size. For instance, channel belts tend to narrow in a downstream direction, which reduces SBW/SBT, CDP and CR. Tectonics cause local deviations in the general architectural trends. In addition, the positive correlation between avulsion frequency and the ratio of local to regional aggradation rate probably influenced alluvial architecture in the Rhine–Meuse delta. The Rhine–Meuse data set can be a great resource when developing more sophisticated models for alluvial architecture simulation, which eventually could lead to better characterizations of hydrocarbon reservoirs. To aid such usage of the Rhine–Meuse data set, constraints for relevant parameters are provided at the end of the paper.     

渤海湾沿岸泥炭沼泽形成机制与时空分布

渤海湾沿岸的海陆过渡带，优越的水文地理环境有利于泥炭沼泽的形成与发育。海洋海退导致的海岸线变迁，是控制泥炭沼泽发育时间和空间分布的主导因素。间冰期和冰后期的海面上升期间，自海向陆发育了海侵基底泥炭；中全新世高海面期，在山前扇缘洼地和沟谷有泥炭沼泽发育；晚全新世海面下降期，泥炭沼泽主要发育在沿岸的海湾、泻湖、三角洲汊河间洼地及平原上的河滩、阶地、古河道等地。     

海洋沉积样品~(14)C测年差异来源及其结果解释

~(14)C测年已为海洋研究工作广泛应用,但由于时有不合理取样或在运用数据时没有充分考虑各种海洋环境和动力因素,因而产生无法使用数据作合理解释的现象。本文试从海洋样品本身和海洋各种营力作用分析各种数据差异的来源,认为海洋环境特别是海岸带环境的复杂性是造成海洋样品~(14)C测年数据差异的主要原因,它可能影响样品的代表性或使数据解释时得出错误结论.并指出在运用年代结果时一定要充分考虑地质地理和各种营力作用因素。     

Sub-arcsec 10 μm imaging of β pictoris and other star disk candidates

We have used the ESO 10 14h2828p456/xxlarge956.gif" alt="mgr" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">m camera, TIMMI, to image with a very high angular resolution (PFoV: 0.314h2828p456/xxlarge8243.gif" alt="Prime" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">; FWHM:0.914h2828p456/xxlarge8243.gif" alt="Prime" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">) several main-sequence star disk candidates. Information on the 14h2828p456/xxlarge946.gif" alt="beta" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">-Pictoris dust disk has been obtained in a region largely inaccessible to previous observations: 0–80 AU, with a resolution of about 5 AU after deconvolution. Another promising target for 10 14h2828p456/xxlarge956.gif" alt="mgr" align="MIDDLE" BORDER="0">m imaging, 51 Ophiuchi, appears point-like.based on data collected at the European Southern Observatory (ESO), La Silla, Chile     

甘肃巴谢剖面黄土-古土壤的光释光测年研究

光释光（OSL）测年是测定第四纪沉积物年龄的一种新技术。它通过单色光束激发使晶体中储存的电离辐射能释放出来。与热释光（TL）测年相比，OSL测年可以不考虑残留的OSL信号，而且测量具有简便、迅速且准确等优点。本文用细颗粒光释光技术对甘肃巴谢剖面的黄土-古土壤进行了测定，其测年结果与14C测年结果相吻合。这表明，光释光是一项极潜力的年代学技术。     

Solar modulation of cosmogenic nuclide production over the last millennium: comparison between C and Be records

For about the last 30 years it has been recognized that the high frequency component of the tree rings ¹⁴C/¹²C record is dominated by the modulation of the cosmic ray flux by the solar wind. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the three most recent periods of low sunspot occurrence were characterized by high values of atmospheric ¹⁴C/¹²C. During the last millennium other periods of high ¹⁴C/¹²C values were observed but their solar origin is still debatable. In the present work we compare these fluctuations with an independent record of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be measured in ice from the South Pole to check the solar origin of the observed ¹⁴C/¹²C variations. In order to compare quantitatively the results obtained on ¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C, it is necessary to take into account the different behaviour of these two cosmogenic isotopes, and especially the damping effect of the carbon cycle in the case of ¹⁴C. As an input to a 12-box numerical model we used the relative fluctuations of the ¹⁰Be concentrations record measured in South Pole ice and converted it into a synthetic ¹⁴C record. We took into account the fact that ¹⁰Be modulation is enhanced in polar regions due to the orientation of the geomagnetic field. As expected, the fluctuations of the modelled ¹⁴C record are much smaller (a factor of 20) than those observed for the raw ¹⁰Be record. In addition, the variations are smoother and shifted in time by a few decades. The ¹⁰Be-based ¹⁴C variations closely resemble the ¹⁴C measurements obtained on tree rings (R = 0.81). In particular, it is easy to identify periods of maximal ¹⁴C/¹²C which correspond to solar activity minima centred at about 1060, 1320 (Wolf), 1500 (Spörer), 1690 (Maunder) and 1820 (Dalton) yr A.D. Cross-correlation calculations suggest that there is no significant lag between the ¹⁰Be-based ¹⁴C and the tree-ring ¹⁴C records. Our study strongly suggests the dominance of the solar modulation on the cosmonuclide production variations during the last millennium.     

杭州地区石笋稳定同位素古气候探索

用１４Ｃ测年技术和稳定同位素地球化学古温度方法，对浙江省临安瑞晶洞穴的石笋进行了１４Ｃ的测年和碳、氢、氧同位素测试，获得５～１万年间杭州地区古气候演化记录、该记录表明，在５～１万年间有三次较明显的周期性古温度变化，最高温度为１４．９℃，最低温度为６．６℃，最大温差为８℃左右，平均温差３～５℃。这段时期正处在大理冰期后期，但大理冰期并不是一个持续的低温阶段，它至少有３次温度波动。与我们获得的石笋同位素古温度相一致。另外，我们将５～１万年间杭州地区古气候变化与同期东南沿海的海平面变化进行了对比，在时间上也较为吻合，也就是温度上升、海平面也上升，温度下降、海平面也随之下降