A high resolution,multiproxy Late‐glacial record of climate change and intrasystem responses in northwest England

A lacustrine carbonate sequence from Hawes Water, Lancashire, UK, has been studied using stable isotopic, lithological, pollen and mineral magnetic analysis. The data reveal four abrupt climatic oscillations in the Late‐glacial Interstadial leading up to the onset of the Loch Lomond Stadial. The data also point to climatic warming relatively early within the stadial, ca. 12 500 GRIP yr, prior to the onset of the Holocene. The oxygen isotope record is taken as a signature of climate forcing against which the response of the lake‐system can be monitored. By adopting this approach it is revealed that the response of the biological system to the rapid climatic oscillations is non‐linear and primarily a function of the antecedent conditions. A significant end‐Devensian isotopic excursion (A) is matched by only minor changes in the cold‐adapted floras and faunas. During the warmer interstadial, the response of the biological ecosystem (events B–D) is clearly influenced by thresholds: major changes in the catchment vegetation associated with relatively minor oscillations in the isotopic signature. The stratigraphical patterns reveal significant lag effects between the onset of climate deterioration and resulting changes in vegetation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

MAXIPOL: a balloon-borne experiment for measuring the polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation

We discuss MAXIPOL, a bolometric balloon-borne experiment designed to measure the E-mode polarization anisotropy of the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) on angular scales of 10^′ to 2°. MAXIPOL is the first CMB experiment to collect data with a polarimeter that utilizes a rotating half-wave plate and fixed wire-grid polarizer. We present the instrument design, elaborate on the polarimeter strategy and show the instrument performance during flight with some time domain data. Our primary dataset was collected during a 26 h turnaround flight that was launched from the National Scientific Ballooning Facility in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico in May 2003. During this flight five regions of the sky were mapped. Data analysis is in progress.     

Measurement of stress effects (scope for growth) and contaminant levels in mussels (Mytilus edulis) collected from the Irish Sea

The objective of this research was to quantify the impact of pollution along the coastlines of the Irish Sea. Pollution assessment was based on the combined measurement of scope for growth (SFG), and chemical contaminants in the tissues of mussels (Mytilus edulis) collected from 38 coastal sites around the Irish Sea during June-July in 1996 and 1997. On the UK mainland coast, the SFG showed a general trend with a significant decline in water quality in the Liverpool and Morecambe Bay region. High water quality was recorded along the west coast of Wales, as well as southwest England and northwest Scotland (clean reference sites outside the Irish Sea). Along the coast of Ireland there was a similar trend with reduced SFG within the Irish Sea region. SFG was generally low north of Duncannon and then improved north of Belfast. The poor water quality on both sides of the Irish Sea is consistent with the prevailing hydrodynamics and the spatial distribution of contaminants associated with urban/ industrial development. The decline in SFG of mussels on both sides of the Irish Sea was associated with a general increase in contaminant levels in the mussels. Certain contaminants, including PAHs, TBT, sigmaDDT, Dieldrin, gamma-HCH, PCBs, and a few of the metals (Cd, Se, Ag, Pb), showed elevated concentrations. Many of these contaminants were particularly elevated in the coastal margins of Liverpool Bay, Morecambe Bay and Dublin Bay. A quantitative toxicological interpretation (QTI) of the combined tissue residue chemistry and SFG measurements indicated that at the majority of coastal sites, c. 50 to > 80% of the observed decline in SFG was due to PAHs as a result of fossil fuel combustion and oil spills. TBT levels were highest at major ports and harbours, but these concentrations only made a minor contribution to the overall reduction in SFG. At no sites were individual metals accumulated to concentrations that could cause a significant effect on SFG. The study identified many sites where the observed reduction in SFG was far greater than predicted from the limited number of chemical contaminants analysed, thus indicating the presence of additional 'unknown toxicants'. Sewage (containing domestic, agricultural and industrial components) appears to be an important contributor to reduced SFG and linear alkylbenzenes (LABs) and As may provide suitable 'sewage markers'. There was a highly significant positive correlation between SFG and As (P < 0.001). This relationship may be due to reduced As uptake by algal food material and mussels at sites with elevated P04 concentrations (e.g. at sites with sewage inputs). Phosphate is a known competitive inhibitor of As accumulation, at least in algae. The results highlight that further research is required on 'sewage markers' in mussels. The SFG approach therefore provides a rapid, cost-effective and quantitative measure of pollution impact, as well as a means of identifying the causes through a QTI of tissue contaminants levels. It also serves to identify the presence of unidentified toxicants and areas that require further study.     

Influence of stratification and irradiance regime on summer phytoplankton composition in coastal and shelf seas of the British Isles

The effect of interaction between stratification and irradiance regimes on phytoplankton community structure was investigated in three shelf/coastal regions of the British Isles, each of which displayed ranges of vertical stability and light attenuation. Relationships between vertical stability, light penetration and community structure were indicated by the ordination of dominance (assessed using cell volume) of the main phytoplankton phyletic groups—diatoms, dinoflagellates and microflagellates—on a surface defined by a bulk stratification index () and water column depth, scaled by transparency (λh). Diatom- and dinoflagellate-dominated communities occupied distinctly different domains on the - λh surface, diatoms being favoured in well-mixed water columns with high values for λh and dinoflagellates dominating where stratification was strong and λh was low. Microflagellates were not abundant in any of the study areas and showed no clear ordination on the - λh surface. The domain of co-dominance of diatom and dinoflagellates on the - λh surface was narrow with small changes in the irradiance or stratification regime resulting in a switch to diatom or dinoflagellate dominance. It is suggested that loss of non-motile diatom communities in strongly stratified water columns might be a strong selective force in favour of dinoflagel-lates. However, in water columns with intermediate stratification and optical properties, the outcome of competition may be decided by physiological attributes of the two groups with respect to growth in low and fluctuating irradiances.     

Transmission electron microscopy of subsolidus oxidation and weathering of olivine

Olivine crystals in basaltic andesites which crop out in the Abert Rim, south-central Oregon have been studied by high-resolution and analytical transmission electron microscopy. The observations reveal three distinct assemblages of alteration products that seem to correspond to three episodes of olivine oxidation. The olivine crystals contain rare, dense arrays of coherently intergrown Ti-free magnetite and inclusions of a phase inferred to be amorphous silica. We interpret this first assemblage to be the product of an early subsolidus oxidation event in the lava. The second olivine alteration assemblage contains complex ordered intergrowths on (001) of forsterite-rich olivine and laihunite (distorted olivine structure with Fe³⁺ charge balanced by vacancies). Based on experimental results for laihunite synthesis (Kondoh et al. 1985), these intergrowths probably formed by olivine oxidation between 400 and 800°C. The third episode of alteration involves the destruction of olivine by low-temperature hydrothermal alteration and weathering. Elongate etch-pits and channels in the margins of fresh olivine crystals contain semi-oriented bands of smectite. Olivine weathers to smectite and hematite, and subsequently to arrays of oriented hematite crystals. The textures resemble those reported by Eggleton (1984) and Smith et al. (1987). We find no evidence for a metastable phase intermediate between olivine and smectite (M — Eggleton 1984). The presence of laihunite exerts a strong control on the geometry of olivine weathering. Single laihunite layers and laihunite-forsteritic olivine intergrowths increase the resistance of crystals to weathering. Preferential development of channels between laihunite layers occurs where growth of laihunite produced compositional variations in olivine, rather than where coherency-strain is associated with laihunite-olivine interfaces.     

An ephemeral turbidity maximum generated by resuspension of organic-rich matter in a macrotidal estuary, S.W. Wales

An ephemeral estuarine turbidity maximum (ETM) occurs at high water in the macrotidal Taf estuary (SW Wales, United Kingdom). A new mechanism of ETM formation, due to resuspension and advection of material by flood tidal currents, is observed that differs from classical mechanisms of gravitational circulation and tidal pumping. The flood tide advances across intertidal sand flats in the main body of the estuary, progressively entraining material from the rippled sands. Resuspension creates, a turbid front that has suspended sediment concentrations (SSC) of about 4,000 mg I⁻¹ by the time it reaches its landward limit which is also the landward limit of salt penetration. This turbid body constitutes the ETM. Deposition occurs at high slack water but the ETM retains SSC values up to 800 mg I⁻¹, 1–2 orders of magnitude greater than ambient SSC values in the river and estuarine waters on either side. The ETM retreats down the estuary during the ebb; some material is deposited thinly across emergent intertidal flats and some is flushed out of the estuary. A new ETM is generated by the next flood tide. Both location and SSC of the ETM scale on Q/R³ where Q is tidal range and R is river discharge. The greatest expression of the ETM occurs when a spring tide coincides with low river discharge. It does not form during high river discharge conditions and is poorly developed on neap tides. Particles in the ETM have effective densities (120–160 kg m⁻³) that are 3–4 times less than those in the main part of the estuary at high water. High chlorophyll concentrations in the ETM suggest that flocs probably originate from biological production in the estuary, including production on the intertidal sand flats.