Persistence of full glacial conditions in the central Pacific until 15,000 years ago

The magnitude of atmospheric cooling during the Last Glacial Maximum and the timing of the transition into the current interglacial period remain poorly constrained in tropical regions, partly because of a lack of suitable climate records. Glacial moraines provide a method of reconstructing past temperatures, but they are relatively rare in the tropics. Here we present a reconstruction of atmospheric temperatures in the central Pacific during the last deglaciation on the basis of cosmogenic ^3He ages of moraines and numerical modelling of the ice cap on Mauna Kea volcano, Hawaii—the only highland in the central Pacific on which moraines that formed during the last glacial period are preserved. Our reconstruction indicates that the Last Glacial Maximum occurred between 19,000 and 16,000 years ago in this region and that temperatures at high elevations were about 7 °C lower than today during this interval. Glacial retreat began about 16,000 years ago, but temperatures were still about 6.5 °C lower than today until 15,000 years ago. When combined with estimates of sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean, our reconstruction indicates that the lapse rate during the Last Glacial Maximum was higher than at present, which is consistent with the proposal that the atmosphere was drier at that time. Furthermore, the persistence of full glacial conditions until 15,000 years ago is consistent with the relatively late and abrupt transition to warmer temperatures in Greenland5, indicating that there may have been an atmospheric teleconnection between the central Pacific and North Atlantic regions during the last deglaciation

Noncommutative polynomial maps

Accepté pour publication dans "Journal of Algebra and its applications"; 16 pages.Polynomial maps attached to polynomials of an Ore extension are naturally defi ned. In this setting we show the importance of pseudo-linear transformations and give some applications. In particular, factorizations of polynomials in an Ore extension over a fi nite fi eld F_q[t;S ], where S is the Frobenius automorphism, are translated into factorizations in the usual polynomial ring F_q[x]

Early Pleistocene age of fluvial sediment in the Stará Garda Cave revealed by 26Al/10Be burial dating: implications for geomorphic evolution of the Malé Karpaty Mts. (Western Carpathians)

Assessment of vertical movements of tectonically boundedblocks is crucial for determination of geohazards in denselyinhabited zones, such as the border zone of western Slovakiaand eastern Austria. The morphostructure of the Malé KarpatyMts. divides the Vienna and Danube basins in the WesternCarpathian – Eastern Alpine junction, and its neotectonicactivity is of high importance. This study was focused on26Al/10Be burial dating of fluvial sediment in the Stará GardaCave, located in the central part of the mountains. The structuralresearch revealed predisposition of forming of horizontalpassages in low angle to subhorizontal bedrock stratificationtogether with low-grade metamorphic foliation. Fluvial originof the passages was inferred from mezoscale erosional featureson the bedrock as well as from facies character of the well preservedsedimentary profile. Cave sediment was according topetrographic analysis derived from a watershed comparableto recent one of the Stupavský Potok Stream. Three analyseddating samples provided low values of isotopic concentrations,allowing us only to calculate the minimum burial age of thedeposit of 1.72 Ma. Assuming the low position of the caveabove recent surface streams, resulting maximum incision rateof 26 m/Ma indicates very low uplift of the mountains horstduring the Quaternary. The slow incision of the river network is in good agreement with a widespread preservation of theplanation surface called "Mid-mountain level". In contrast arerelatively high values of palaeodenudation rates inferred fromisotopic concentrations. Generally, our results indicate that theMalé Karpaty Mts. horst underwent relatively intense but shortuplift in the Early Pleistocene, followed by very moderate upliftup to the recent.Key words: Western Carpathians, Malé Karpaty Mts., fluvialcave sediment, burial dating, Early Pleistocene, neotectonics.Zgodnja pleistocenska starost fluvialnihsedimentov v jami Stará Garda, ki jo je dala 26Al/10Be datacija:uporabnost za geomorfni razvoj Nizkih Karpatov (ZahodniKarpati)Ocena vertikalnih premikov tektonsko omejenih blokov jeključna za določitev geohazardov v gosto naseljenih območjih.Morfostruktura Malih Karpatov deli Dunajski in Donavski bazenna stičišču Zahodnih Karpatov – Vzhodnih Alp in njegovaneotektonska aktivnost je zelo pomembna. Študija se je posvetila26Al/10Be dataciji fluvialnih sedimentov v jami Stará Gardav osrednjem delu gorovja. Strukturna raziskava je razkrilapredispozicijooblikovanja vodoravnih jamskih rovov pod nizkimkotom v odvisnosti od subhorozontalne stratifikacije kamnineter tudi z nizko stopnjo metamorfne foliacije. Na fluvialnoporeklo rovov smo sklepali iz srednje velikih erozijskih oblik nanjihovih stenah kot tudi iz lastnosti faciesov dobro ohranjenegasedimentnega profila. Glede na petrografske analizejamskisediment izhaja iz povodja, ki je primerljiv z recentnim povodjempotoka Stupavský. Trije analizirani vzorci so nam dalinizke vrednosti koncentracij izotopov, ki so nam omogočilele izračun najnižje pokopne starosti sedimenta, ki je znašala1,72 Ma. Če upoštevamo, da leži jama nizko nad recentnimivodnimi tokovi, dobimo maksimalno hitrost vrezovanja dolinsamo 26 m/Ma, kar kaže na zelo majhen tektonski dvig v časukvartarja. Počasno vrezovanje rečne mreže se dobro ujema sširoko ohranjenim uravnanim površjem, imenovanim »Srednjegorskauravnava«. V nasprotju pa so sorazmerno visoke vrednosti hitrosti paleodenudacije, ki izhajajo iz koncentracijizotopov. Na splošno naši rezultati kažejo, da je bil horst NizkihKarpatov podvržen relativno močnemu, toda kratkemu dvigovanjuv spodnjem pleistocenu, ki mu je sledil zmeren dvig dosedanjosti.Ključne besede: Zahodni Karpati, Nizki Karpati, fluvialnijamski sedimenti, pokopna datacija, starejši pleistocen, neotektonika.

High natural erosion rates are the backdrop for enhanced anthropogenic soil erosion in the Middle Hills of Nepal

Although agriculturally accelerated soil erosion is implicated in the unsustainable environmental degradation of mountain environments, such as in the Himalaya, the effects of land use can be challenging to quantify in many mountain settings because of the high and variable natural background rates of erosion. In this study, we present new long-term denudation rates, derived from cosmogenic 10Be analysis of quartz in river sediment from the Likhu Khola, a small agricultural river basin in the Middle Hills of central Nepal. Calculated long-term denudation rates, which reflect background natural erosion processes over 1000+ years prior to agricultural intensification, are similar to present-day sediment yields and to soil loss rates from terraces that are well maintained. Similarity in short- and long-term catchment-wide erosion rates for the Likhu is consistent with data from elsewhere in the Nepal Middle Hills but contrasts with the very large increases in short-term erosion rates seen in agricultural catchments in other steep mountain settings. Our results suggest that the large sediment fluxes exported from the Likhu and other Middle Hills rivers in the Himalaya are derived in large part from natural processes, rather than from soil erosion as a result of agricultural activity. Catchment-scale erosional fluxes may be similar over short and long timescales if both are dominated by mass wasting sources such as gullies, landslides, and debris flows (e.g., as is evident in the landslide-dominated Khudi Khola of the Nepal High Himalaya, based on compiled data). As a consequence, simple comparison of catchment-scale fluxes will not necessarily pinpoint land use effects on soils where these are only a small part of the total erosion budget, unless rates of mass wasting are also considered. Estimates of the mass wasting contribution to erosion in the Likhu imply catchment-averaged soil production rates on the order of ~ 0.25–0.35 mm yr−1, though rates of mass wasting are poorly constrained. The deficit between our best estimates for soil production rates and measurements of soil loss rates supports conclusions from previous studies that terraced agriculture in the Likhu may not be associated with a large systematic soil deficit, at least when terraces are well maintained, but that poorly managed terraces, forest, and scrubland may lead to rapid depletion of soil resources

The Search for Supernova-produced Radionuclides in Terrestrial Deep-sea Archives

An enhanced concentration of 60Fe was found in a deep ocean's crust in 2004 in a layer corresponding to an age of ~2 Myr. The confirmation of this signal in terrestrial archives as supernova-induced and detection of other supernova-produced radionuclides is of great interest. We have identified two suitable marine sediment cores from the South Australian Basin and estimated the intensity of a possible signal of the supernova-produced radionuclides 26Al, 53Mn, 60Fe and the pure r-process element 244Pu in these cores. A finding of these radionuclides in a sediment core might allow to improve the time resolution of the signal and thus to link the signal to a supernova event in the solar vicinity ~2 Myr ago. Furthermore, it gives an insight on nucleosynthesis scenarios in massive stars, the condensation into dust grains and transport mechanisms from the supernova shell into the solar system

Implications of 36Cl exposure ages from Skye, northwest Scotland for the timing of ice stream deglaciation and deglacial ice dynamics

The French national AMS facility ASTER (CEREGE, Aix en Provence) is supported by the INSU/CNRS, the ANR through the "Projets thématiques d’excellence" program for the "Equipements d’excellence" ASTER-CEREGE action, IRD and CEA. The authors would like to thank Shasta Marrero for helpful and informative discussion on the CRONUScalc online calculator. DS was supported by a SAGES studentship and fieldwork by funds from the QRA and BSG.Geochronological constraints on the deglaciation of former marine based ice streams provide information on the rates and modes by which marine based ice sheets have responded to external forcing factors such as climate change. This paper presents new 36Cl cosmic ray exposure dating from boulders located on two moraines (Glen Brittle and Loch Scavaig) in southern Skye, northwest Scotland. Ages from the Glen Brittle moraines constrain deglaciation of a major marine terminating ice stream, the Barra-Donegal Ice Stream that drained the former British-Irish Ice Sheet, depending on choice of production method and scaling model this occurred 19.9 ± 1.5–17.6 ± 1.3 ka ago. We compare this timing of deglaciation to existing geochronological data and changes in a variety of potential forcing factors constrained through proxy records and numerical models to determine what deglaciation age is most consistent with existing evidence. Another small section of moraine, the Scavaig moraine, is traced offshore through multibeam swath-bathymetry and interpreted as delimiting a later stillstand/readvance stage following ice stream deglaciation. Additional cosmic ray exposure dating from the onshore portion of this moraine indicate that it was deposited 16.3 ± 1.3–15.2 ± 0.9 ka ago. When calculated using the most up-to-date scaling scheme this time of deposition is, within uncertainty, the same as the timing of a widely identified readvance, the Wester Ross Readvance, observed elsewhere in northwest Scotland. This extends the area over which this readvance has potentially occurred, reinforcing the view that it was climatically forced.PostprintPeer reviewe

Closing the sea surface mixed layer temperature budget from in situ observations alone: Operation Advection during BoBBLE

Sea surface temperature (SST) is a fundamental driver of tropical weather systems such as monsoon rainfall and tropical cyclones. However, understanding of the factors that control SST variability is lacking, especially during the monsoons when in situ observations are sparse. Here we use a ground-breaking observational approach to determine the controls on the SST variability in the southern Bay of Bengal. We achieve this through the first full closure of the ocean mixed layer energy budget derived entirely from in situ observations during the Bay of Bengal Boundary Layer Experiment (BoBBLE). Locally measured horizontal advection and entrainment contribute more significantly than expected to SST evolution and thus oceanic variability during the observation period. These processes are poorly resolved by state-of-the-art climate models, which may contribute to poor representation of monsoon rainfall variability. The novel techniques presented here provide a blueprint for future observational experiments to quantify the mixed layer heat budget on longer time scales and to evaluate these processes in models

The Pirata Program : history, accomplishments, and future directions

Author Posting. © American Meteorological Society, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of American Meteorological Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 89 (2008): 1111–1125, doi:10.1175/2008BAMS2462.1.The Pilot Research Moored Array in the tropical Atlantic (PIRATA) was developed as a multinational observation network to improve our knowledge and understanding of ocean–atmosphere variability in the tropical Atlantic. PIRATA was motivated by fundamental scientific issues and by societal needs for improved prediction of climate variability and its impact on the economies of West Africa, northeastern Brazil, the West Indies, and the United States. In this paper the implementation of this network is described, noteworthy accomplishments are highlighted, and the future of PIRATA in the framework of a sustainable tropical Atlantic observing system is discussed. We demonstrate that PIRATA has advanced beyond a “Pilot” program and, as such, we have redefined the PIRATA acronym to be “Prediction and Research Moored Array in the Tropical Atlantic.

Moraine crest or slope: An analysis of the effects of boulder position on cosmogenic exposure age

Terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide dating of ice-marginal moraines can provide unique insights into Quaternary glacial history. However, pre- and post-depositional exposure histories of moraine boulders can introduce geologic uncertainty to numerical landform ages. To avoid geologic outliers, boulders are typically selected based on their depositional context and individual characteristics but while these criteria have good qualitative reasoning, many have not been tested quantitatively. Of these, boulder location is critical, as boulders located on moraine crests are prioritised, while those on moraine slopes are typically rejected. This study provides the first quantitative assessment of the relative utility of moraine crest and moraine slope sampling using new and published 10Be and 36Cl ages (n = 19) and Schmidt hammer sampling (SH; n = 635 moraine boulders, ∼19,050 SH R-values) in the northern and southern Pyrenees. These data show that for many of the studied moraines, the spatial distribution of “good” boulders is effectively random, with no consistent clustering on moraine crests, ice-proximal or -distal slopes. In turn, and in contrast to prior work, there is no clear penalty to either moraine crest or moraine slope sampling. Instead, we argue that landform stability exerts a greater influence on exposure age distributions than the characteristics of individual boulders. For the studied landforms, post-depositional stability is strongly influenced by sedimentology, with prolonged degradation of matrix-rich unconsolidated moraines while boulder-rich, matrix-poor moraines stabilised rapidly after deposition. While this pattern is unlikely to hold true in all settings, these data indicate that differences between landforms can be more significant than differences at the intra-landform scale. As ad hoc assessment of landform stability is extremely challenging based on geomorphological evidence alone, preliminary SH sampling, as utilised here, is a useful method to assess the temporal distribution of boulder exposure ages and to prioritise individual boulders for subsequent analysis

Deep Cycle Turbulence in Atlantic and Pacific Cold Tongues

Multiyear turbulence measurements from oceanographic moorings in equatorial Atlantic and Pacific cold tongues reveal similarities in deep cycle turbulence (DCT) beneath the mixed layer (ML) and above the Equatorial Undercurrent (EUC) core. Diurnal composites of turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rate, ϵ, clearly show the diurnal cycles of turbulence beneath the ML in both cold tongues. Despite differences in surface forcing, EUC strength and core depth DCT occurs, and is consistent in amplitude and timing, at all three sites. Time-mean values of ϵ at 30 m depth are nearly identical at all three sites. Variations of averaged values of ϵ in the deep cycle layer below 30 m range to a factor of 10 between sites. A proposed scaling in depth that isolates the deep cycle layers and of ϵ by the product of wind stress and current shear collapses vertical profiles at all sites to within a factor of 2