Academic Tribalism and Subject Specialists as a Challenge to Teaching and Learning in Dual Honours Systems; a Qualitative Perspective From the School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, Keele University, UK.

Here we give an account of our experiences teaching within a tight cognate group (Earth Sciences) and our perception of academic tribalism within a dual honours teaching and learning environment. We pose the question whether academic tribalism represents a positive or negative effect to the teaching and learning process and if it has an impact on our students becoming discipline specialists

Deglaciation and ice shelf development at the northeast margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the Younger Dryas chronozone

Core 2011804‐0010 from easternmost Lancaster Sound provides important insights into deglacial timing and style at the marine margin of the NE Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS). Spanning 13.2–11.0 cal. ka BP and investigated for ice‐rafted debris (IRD), foraminifera, biogenic silica and total organic carbon, the stratigraphy comprises a lithofacies progression from proximal grounding line and sub‐ice shelf environments to open glaciomarine deposition; a sequence similar to deposits from Antarctic ice shelves. These results are the first marine evidence of a former ice shelf in the eastern Northwest Passage and are consistent with a preceding phase of ice streaming in eastern Lancaster Sound. Initial glacial float‐off and retreat occurred >13.2 cal. ka BP, followed by formation of an extensive deglacial ice shelf during the Younger Dryas, which acted to stabilize the retreating margin of the NE LIS until 12.5 cal. ka BP. IRD analyses of sub‐ice shelf facies indicate initial high input from source areas on northern Baffin Island delivered to Lancaster Sound by a tributary ice stream in Admiralty Inlet. After ice shelf break‐up, Bylot Island became the dominant source area. Foraminifera are dominated by characteristic ice‐proximal glaciomarine benthics (Cassidulina reniforme, Elphidium excavatum f. clavata), complemented by advected Atlantic water (Cassidulina neoteretis, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma) and enhanced current indicators (Lobatula lobatula). The biostratigraphy further supports the ice shelf model, with advection of sparse faunas beneath the ice shelf, followed by increased productivity under open water glaciomarine conditions. The absence of Holocene sediments in the core suggests that the uppermost deposits were removed, most likely due to mass transport resulting from the site's proximity to modern tidewater glacier margins. Collectively, this study presents important new constraints on the deglacial behaviour of the NE Laurentide Ice Sheet, with implications for past ice sheet stability, ice‐rafted sediment delivery, and ice−ocean interactions in this complex archipelago setting

Holocene Rapid Climate Change: Pervasive Millennial-Scale Climate Variability across the North Atlantic

Rapid climate change (RCC) during the Holocene, particularly post-dating the demise of large Northern Hemisphere ice sheets after 8000 cal. yr BP, is a global phenomenon and is almost certainly driven by long-term changes in insolation, upon which solar variability, although a weak direct forcing mechanism, is superimposed. At least five significant intervals are identified in numerous palaeoclimate records since the major 9000-8000 cal. yr RCC, within which the intensively studied 8200 cal. yr ‘event’ is embedded; these are: 6000-5000, 4200-3800, 3500-2500, 1200-1000 and 600-150 cal. yr BP. Most of the Holocene RCCs are associated with bipolar cooling, an expansion-intensification of high latitude circulation systems and drying-aridity at low latitudes. Here, we present proxy-records from a fjord basin located on the Atlantic margins of NW Europe which contain evidence for these combined forcing mechanisms. Giant piston core (MD04-2832) from the main basin of Loch Sunart, Argyll, NW Scotland, is 22 m long and appears to contain a record of continuous sedimentation back to nearly 8000 cal. yr BP. Based upon the age-depth model for core MD04-2832, isotopic shifts recorded in the benthic foraminifera Ammonia beccarii coincide with both the rate and magnitude of the Holocene RCCs. We show that the renewal history of bottom waters in the fjord basins appear to be driven by large-scale atmospheric circulation changes that may have characterised the entire mid-latitude NE Atlantic region

Comparative analysis of six common foraminiferal species of the genera Cassidulina, Paracassidulina, and Islandiella from the Arctic–North Atlantic domain

Morphologically similar benthic foraminiferal taxa can be difficult to separate. Aside from causing issues in taxonomy, incorrect identifications complicate our understanding of species-specific ecological preferences and result in flawed palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and geochemical results. Over the years, a number of studies have grouped together several key Arctic–North Atlantic species in various combinations, despite their distinct environmental preferences and/or stratigraphical differences, causing great confusion in the literature. These species include Cassidulina laevigata, Cassidulina neoteretis, Cassidulina teretis, Paracassidulina neocarinata, Islandiella helenae, and Islandiella norcrossi. Here, we provide for the first time a detailed comparison of these taxa. We present a compilation of the original species descriptions, along with clear, illustrated guidelines on how to separate these taxa to circumvent taxonomic confusion. We acknowledge that some features cannot easily be seen with a standard low-powered microscope, especially if specimens are not well preserved. In those cases, we recommend the following actions: (i) always strive to make a precise identification and at least differentiate between the three genera; (ii) where C. neoteretis and C. teretis cannot be separated, and where the stratigraphical context does not make the species identification obvious, specimens belonging to these taxa should be reported as C. teretis/C. neoteretis; and (iii) where specimens in a sample cannot be confidently assigned to a specific species of Islandiella or Cassidulina, specimens should be grouped as Islandiella spp. or Cassidulina spp., followed by naming the most dominant species in brackets. The improved identification of Cassidulina, Paracassidulina, and Islandiella specimens will ensure development of a better understanding of the ecological affinities of these key Arctic–North Atlantic taxa, consequently resulting in more accurate palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and geochemical data

How Do UK Environmental Publishers Use Facebook to Engage Users with Sustainability?

This study focuses on the ways that UK environmental publishers utilise Facebook to engage their users with sustainability. The research explores users’ engagement with posts shared by Greenpeace UK, WWF UK and Guardian Environment between 1st November 2015 and 31st October 2016. By mapping the number of shares, comments and reactions posts receive to features in the posts, we investigate how different features can help maximise user engagement. Analyses include the type of media accompanying posts; textual features such as emojis and hashtags; thematic analysis of post content including mapping categories to the pillars of sustainability (Gibson, 2006); and identifying the purpose of posts in line with Saxton and Waters’ (2014) I-A-C Framework. We recommend that publishers always use accompanying text with posts to provide context and inform users. By asking questions in post text, publishers can encourage comments and build community, whilst embedding links can inspire action. Visual media, particularly photos, are effective, and can be used to entertain users. Publishers should also include greater diversity of content themes to reconcile the three pillars of sustainability. Although each publishers’ audience will vary, these common features could encourage their users to engage with sustainability

A preliminary investigation of basin water response to climate forcing in a Scottish fjord: evaluating the influence of the NAO

The sea lochs (fjords) of NW Scotland bridge the land-ocean interface in a region of Europe which is particularly well situated to monitor changes in westerly air streams. Inter-annual atmospheric circulation changes at this latitude are largely governed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Comparing two recent extreme NAO years, a two-dimensional model of Loch Sunart, NW Scotland, is used to examine the potential effects of climate oscillations on the magnitude and frequency of deep-water renewal events and the resulting water properties in the fjord basins. In the upper basin of the fjord, meteorological forcing during the high NAO index year (1988-89) resulted in less-frequent deep-water renewal, greater variability in basin salinity and a lower annual-mean salinity (by 0.52) than that predicted for the low NAO index year (1995-96). In the main basin, variations in meteorological forcing had much less effect on basin water properties. In both basins, predicted deep water inflow was significantly greater during the negative phase NAO, with annual inflow to the upper and main basins being respectively 50% and 300% greater during 1995-96 relative to 1988-99. Through a sensitivity analysis, the NAO is shown to affect upper basin water properties through the influence of low-frequency anomalies in the meteorological forcing, particularly the enhanced westerly wind stress associated with positive phases, which inhibits deep water renewal over the winter months. The salinity of the main and upper basins respond differently to the boundary forcing due to differential tidal mixing above the respectively sub- and super-critical entrance sills. Predictions of basin water isotope ratios are made by applying the salinity: delta O-18(water) mixing line for the region to the salinity results; the combination of the weak dependence of delta O-18(water) on salinity and the stable salinity predicted for the main basin suggests that some fjord basins may provide ideal sites for palaeotemperature studies. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

A preliminary investigation of basin water response to climate forcing in a Scottish fjord: evaluating the influence of the NAO

The sea lochs (fjords) of NW Scotland bridge the land-ocean interface in a region of Europe which is particularly well situated to monitor changes in westerly air streams. Inter-annual atmospheric circulation changes at this latitude are largely governed by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Comparing two recent extreme NAO years, a two-dimensional model of Loch Sunart, NW Scotland, is used to examine the potential effects of climate oscillations on the magnitude and frequency of deep-water renewal events and the resulting water properties in the fjord basins. In the upper basin of the fjord, meteorological forcing during the high NAO index year (1988-89) resulted in less-frequent deep-water renewal, greater variability in basin salinity and a lower annual-mean salinity (by 0.52) than that predicted for the low NAO index year (1995-96). In the main basin, variations in meteorological forcing had much less effect on basin water properties. In both basins, predicted deep water inflow was significantly greater during the negative phase NAO, with annual inflow to the upper and main basins being respectively 50% and 300% greater during 1995-96 relative to 1988-99. Through a sensitivity analysis, the NAO is shown to affect upper basin water properties through the influence of low-frequency anomalies in the meteorological forcing, particularly the enhanced westerly wind stress associated with positive phases, which inhibits deep water renewal over the winter months. The salinity of the main and upper basins respond differently to the boundary forcing due to differential tidal mixing above the respectively sub- and super-critical entrance sills. Predictions of basin water isotope ratios are made by applying the salinity: delta O-18(water) mixing line for the region to the salinity results; the combination of the weak dependence of delta O-18(water) on salinity and the stable salinity predicted for the main basin suggests that some fjord basins may provide ideal sites for palaeotemperature studies. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.</p

Southern Ocean carbon sink enhanced by sea-ice feedbacks at the Antarctic Cold Reversal

The Southern Ocean occupies 14% of the Earth’s surface and plays a fundamental role in the global carbon cycle and climate. It provides a direct connection to the deep ocean carbon reservoir through biogeochemical processes that include surface primary productivity, remineralization at depth and the upwelling of carbon-rich water masses. However, the role of these different processes in modulating past and future air–sea carbon flux remains poorly understood. A key period in this regard is the Antarctic Cold Reversal (ACR, 14.6–12.7 kyr bp), when mid- to high-latitude Southern Hemisphere cooling coincided with a sustained plateau in the global deglacial increase in atmospheric CO2. Here we reconstruct high-latitude Southern Ocean surface productivity from marine-derived aerosols captured in a highly resolved horizontal ice core. Our multiproxy reconstruction reveals a sustained signal of enhanced marine productivity across the ACR. Transient climate modelling indicates this period coincided with maximum seasonal variability in sea-ice extent, implying that sea-ice biological feedbacks enhanced CO2 sequestration and created a substantial regional marine carbon sink, which contributed to the plateau in CO2 during the ACR. Our results highlight the role Antarctic sea ice plays in controlling global CO2, and demonstrate the need to incorporate such feedbacks into climate–carbon models

Outcomes after terrible triads of the elbow treated with the current surgical protocols. A review

Dislocation of the elbow associated with radial head and coronoid fracture, the so-called “terrible triad” of the elbow, is challenging to treat and has a history of complicated outcomes. However, advances in the knowledge of elbow kinematics combined with improved implants and surgical techniques during the past few years have led to the development of standard surgical protocols. This review article analyses the results in 137 elbow triad injuries of five studies treated using the current protocols. These include fixation of the coronoid fracture, repair or replacement the radial head, and repair of the lateral ligament complex, reserving medial collateral ligament repair and application of hinged external fixation for patients with residual instability. Treatment of these demanding injuries appeared effective in the majority of cases, i.e. with an average of 31 months of follow-up, overall flexion arc was 111.4°, averaged flexion was 132.5° with forearm rotation of 135.5°, Mayo elbow performance score was 85.6 points, and Broberg-Morrey score was 85 points. Nevertheless, the patient should be informed about the incidence of complications including joint stiffness, ulnar nerve symptoms or post-traumatic arthritis