Closing force measurement on crimped closures

The control of the crimped closures sealing is a serious problem for the quality control of the producers using such closures. The sealing of this closure is ensured by the pressure of a seal-ring between the container and the crimped closure. The sealing quality depends on the applied materials, crimped force on the crimping machines and other settings. However the closing force on the sealing can not be controlled directly, just in an indirect way by measuring the torque of the crimped closures. During the research we have specified the connection between the crimp force, the remaining closing force after the relaxation and the measurable torque, and we have also developed the right instrumentation for the quality control of crimped closures

Limnological changes and chironomid-inferred summer air temperature from the Late Pleniglacial to the Early Holocene in the East Carpathians

Here we provide the first chironomid record and associated summer air-temperature (T VII ) reconstruction between ca. 16,800-9100 cal yr BP from Lake Saint Anne (SZA), situated in the Eastern Carpathians. SZA was formed by the youngest volcanic eruption of Ciomadul volcano at ca. 29,600 cal yr BP. Our main goals in this study are to test whether warming after Heinrich event 1 (H1; ca. 16,200 cal yr BP) had similar amplitude to the late glacial warming, while Younger Dryas (YD) summers remained relatively warm in this region of Europe. We found the most remarkable chironomid assemblage change with a T VII increase of ~3.5-3.8°C at ca. 16,350 cal yr BP at SZA, followed by another slight T VII increase of ~0.8-1.0°C at ca. 14,450 cal yr BP. Only very minor temperature variations were recorded between 14,450 cal yr BP and 11,700 cal yr BP, with an unexpected T VII decrease in the Early Holocene. Variations in water depth together with increasing analogue problems and paludification from ca. 14,200 cal yr BP onwards may have influenced the reliability of our paleotemperature record obtained from SZA. In addition, Sphagnum -indicated decreasing pH, and hence decreasing nutrient level, likely overrode the effect of summer air-temperature changes during the Early Holocene, and this may explain the bias in the chironomid-inferred summer air-temperature reconstruction in the Early Holocene section

Holocene treeline and timberline changes in the South Carpathians (Romania): Climatic and anthropogenic drivers on the southern slopes of the Retezat Mountains

Two high-altitude lake-sediment sequences (Lake Lia, 1910 m a.s.l. and Lake Bucura, 2040 m a.s.l.) from the Retezat Mountains (South Carpathians, Romania) were analysed using multi-proxy methods to study responses of treeline, timberline and alpine/subalpine vegetation to climate change and human impact during the past 16,000 years. Woody species (Pinus mugo, Pinus cembra, Picea abies and Juniperus communis) reached Lake Lia between 12,000 and 11,800 cal. yr BP, whereas P. mugo colonised the shores of Lake Bucura at 9600 cal. yr BP. Lake Lia was in the timberline ecotone between 8000 and 3200 cal. yr BP, in semi-open P. cembra and Picea abies woodland, probably mixed with P. mugo on the steeper slopes. Lake Bucura was surrounded by the upper part of the krummholz zone during the mid-Holocene. The increase in P. cembra after c. 6000 cal. yr BP around Lake Lia suggests that the composition of the timberline forest changed. The disappearance of P. cembra and Picea abies around Lake Lia at ~3000 cal. yr BP reflects descent of the timberline. A large mean July temperature decline between 3300 and 2800 cal. yr BP may have driven or at least contributed to the descent of the Picea abies?P. cembra forests. An increase in human indicator pollen types in Lake Bucura around 4200 cal. yr BP may reflect human impact in the naturally open alpine zone in the Late Bronze Age. In contrast, human impact likely appeared considerably later, around 2650 cal. yr BP (Early Iron Age) around Lake Lia in the upper subalpine zone. Human impact likely intensified after 2200 cal. yr BP at both sites that resulted in the lowering of the krummholz zone. We conclude that climate change and human impact both played an important role in the lowering of the treeline and timberline in the late-Holocene

Holocene fire-regime changes near the treeline in the Retezat Mts. (Southern Carpathians, Romania)

To investigate Holocene vegetation and fire-disturbance histories in the treeline ecotone, macroscopic charcoal, plant-macrofossil, and pollen records from two lacustrine sediment records were used. Lake Lia is on the southern slope and Lake Brazi is on the northern slope of the west-east-oriented Retezat Mountain range in the Romanian Carpathians. The records were used to reconstruct Holocene fire-return intervals (FRIs) and biomass burning changes. Biomass burning was highest at both study sites during the drier and warmer early Holocene, suggesting that climate largely controlled fire occurrence. Fuel load also influenced the fire regime as shown by the rapid biomass-burning changes in relation to timberline shifts. Overall, the number of inferred fire episodes was smaller on the northern than on the southern slope. FRIs were also comparatively longer (1000-4000 years) on the northern slope where Picea abies-dominated woodlands persisted around Lake Brazi throughout the Holocene. On the southern slope, where Pinus mugo was more abundant around Lake Lia, FRIs were significantly shorter (80-1650 years). A period of frequent fire episodes occurred around 1900-1300 cal yr BP on the southern slope, when chironomid-inferred summer temperatures increased and the pollen record documents increased anthropogenic activity near the treeline. However, the forest clearance by burning to increase grazing land was subdued in comparison to other European regions. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA

Fire hazard modulation by long-term dynamics in land cover and dominant forest type in eastern and central Europe

Wildfire occurrence is influenced by climate, vegetation and human activities. A key challenge for understanding the risk of fires is quantifying the mediating effect of vegetation on fire regimes. Here, we explore the relative importance of Holocene land cover, land use, dominant functional forest type, and climate dynamics on biomass burning in temperate and boreo-nemoral regions of central and eastern Europe over the past 12 kyr. We used an extensive data set of Holocene pollen and sedimentary charcoal records, in combination with climate simulations and statistical modelling. Biomass burning was highest during the early Holocene and lowest during the mid-Holocene in all three ecoregions (Atlantic, continental and boreo-nemoral) but was more spatially variable over the past 3–4 kyr. Although climate explained a significant variance in biomass burning during the early Holocene, tree cover was consistently the highest predictor of past biomass burning over the past 8 kyr. In temperate forests, biomass burning was high at ~ 45% tree cover and decreased to a minimum at between 60% and 70% tree cover. In needleleaf-dominated forests, biomass burning was highest at ~60 %–65%tree cover and steeply declined at > 65% tree cover. Biomass burning also increased when arable lands and grasslands reached ~15 %–20 %, although this relationship was variable depending on land use practice via ignition sources, fuel type and quantities. Higher tree cover reduced the amount of solar radiation reaching the forest floor and could provide moister, more wind-protected microclimates underneath canopies, thereby decreasing fuel flammability. Tree cover at which biomass burning increased appears to be driven by warmer and drier summer conditions during the early Holocene and by increasing human influence on land cover during the late Holocene. We suggest that longterm fire hazard may be effectively reduced through land cover management, given that land cover has controlled fire regimes under the dynamic climates of the Holocene