A new palaeogeographic model for the post-glacial marine and estuarine sediments of the Firth of the Forth, Scotland

This report provides an overview of the post-glacial sedimentary evolution of the Firth of the Forth during the late Quaternary. The superficial sediments of the Firth of the Forth vary in thickness from 10 m to nearly 150 m. An understanding the superficial sediments has uses for understanding geotechnical properties, for groundwater modelling and any potential geothermal energy sites. Therefore, this report aims to provide a preliminary understanding of the nature of the superficial sediments across the Firth of the Forth and wider controls of their deposition. The overall aim of this work is to understand the three-dimensional spatial distribution of superficial sediments across the Firth of Forth. The report is in two parts, firstly looking at the literature to develop a model for the post-glacial evolution of the Firth of the Forth and types of sediments that are expected. Secondly, using borehole records to look at the composition of the superficial sediments and assess the developed model. From the literature a palaeogeographic model for the Firth of the Forth was developed for the post-late glacial maximum (LGM) time. This model (testable hypothesis) describes eight major events and their topographic feature or sedimentary deposit. This model includes: 1) a post-glacial sea-level incursion; 2) collapse of the LGM ice sheet; 3) sea-level fall resulting in a local beach deposit; 4) fluvial/estuarine deposition; 5) Younger Dryas glaciation; 6) fluvial/estuarine deposition; 7) marine transgression; and 8) a marine regression. This model is based on data and interpretations from a combination of journal publications and BGS memoirs. The BGS held borehole records from across the entire Firth of the Forth are used to describe the composition and variability of the superficial sediments and test the literature-based model for the post-glacial evolution of the region. Although the borehole records are a relatively low resolution dataset they still provide the first information of the compositional make-up of the thickest sedimentary sequences across the Firth of the Forth. The data provided in geotechnical borehole records is an important stepping-stone toward further work, such as more detailed sedimentary interpretations from field work and new drilled core. Furthermore a useful outcome of further work would be a geotechnical classification of the highly variable superficial sediments across the Firth of Forth

Quaternary domains : glacial drowned valley estuaries

This report provides a new interpretation of ‘Glacial Drowned Valley Estuaries’ as part of an ongoing upgrade of the BGS Quaternary Domains dataset. Glacial Drowned Valley Estuaries are major buried features found across the coastal area of GB. These features represent a fluvial landscape that has been dissected and deepened by multiple glaciations to form valleys that are in-part situated beneath modern sea-level. These buried glacial valleys have been and continue to be infilled with marine and estuarine sediment and are overlain by complex or fjord-type estuaries. They typically contain significant thicknesses of superficial sediment of up to 160 m and are often associated with major cities, ports, or industrial centres. Consequently, these features have important groundwater and engineering implications. This work uses a range of national-scale data sets to identify and map Glacial Drowned Valley Estuaries across GB. The identified Glacial Drowned Valley Estuaries are all in Scotland and occur north of the maximum known extent of Late Devensian glacial ice. The infill sequence predominantly comprises clay and silt with variable proportions of sand, gravel, and peat. The sediments are interpreted as glacial till, post-glacial marine and Holocene-aged estuarine sediments. The mapped extent of post-glacial marine sediment and key isostatically uplifted shorelines are used to define the boundary of the Glacial Drowned Valley Estuaries

Gneiss, fractures and saprolite: field geology for hydrogeology of the central Cauvery Catchment, south India

This report describes the geological observations and interpretations made following two reconnaissance field trips in October 2017 and April 2018 by Maarten Krabbendam and Romesh Palamakumbura, in the central Cauvery catchment in South India. The goal of the reconnaissance was to provide geological constraints to hydrogeological modelling to be undertaken as part of the UPSCAPE Project. The main geological constraints dealt with are fractures and the character of the regolith

New exposed section in the Ardersier Silts Formation : November 20th-21st, 2017

This report provides an overview of field observations from a two day visit to an exposed trench section through the Ardersier Silts Formation that crop out in the moraine that forms the Lateglacial cliffline, near the village of Ardersier in the Highlands Region of north-east Scotland. This section is within the SSSI site for the contorted silts of Ardersier, which are exposed in a nearby cliff face. The trench section exposed nearly 10 m of interbedded silts, sands and gravels and occasional clay veins. The trench section, which was continuous, was divided into upper, middle and lower portions for ease of description. The upper part of the section comprises a gravel and fine to medium-grained light brown to grey-coloured sand with lamination and occasional planar cross-bedding. This unconformably overlies a fine to medium-grained sand with planar cross bedding. The middle part of the section comprises a fine-grained sand with well-developed multiple beds of sand showing parallel lamination, planar-crossbedding and minor reverse faulting. In addition, relatively small (1–5 cm thick) sub-horizontal to sub-vertical clay veins cut through the entire sequence. The lower part of the section comprises a fine to medium-grained sand with massive clay veins and brecciation of the sand within the veins. The blocks of sand vary from centimetres to metres in size. The clay veins also vary in width from 2 cm to nearly 40 cm. Throughout the section are well-preserved fluid oxidising pathways. These both follow bedding and are displaced across bedding, by small-scale faulting and by fluid migration fronts. They form complex anastomosing networks of staining and occasional concentrations of silt and clay. Generally, the oxidising fluids appear to have migrated along the clay veins and diffused into the surrounding sand. Structural measurements from the largest and most prominent clay veins indicate that they are all of broadly similar dip and orientation. This may indicate that they all formed as a result of the same phase of fluid movement and glaciotectonic displacement that took place during the formation of the moraine. The upper portion of the newly exposed section, exhibits many of the features previously described from the sands exposed beneath the Baddock Till at the Hillhead Section, whereas the middle and lower parts resemble the sediments and structures that exposed within the Ardersier Silts Formation, beneath the Baddock Till, in the Jamieson’s Pit section. The well-exposed sedimentary structures within the sediments of the Ardersier Silts Formation are interpreted as a coastal shallow marine setting. The well-preserved hydrofracture network within the section demonstrates the diverse range of glacial deformation that occurred during deglaciation. It is likely that the hydrofracture network developed as consequence of ice-push and possibly glacial over-riding during the deglaciation of the Moray Firth ice-stream

Wind power calculation based on sums of diffusion method and a novel power curve approximation model

Wind energy estimations using wind speed models and power curve approximations are mandatory for the optimal regulation of wind electricity generation. A weak stationary process can be probabilistically modeled as a sum of several diffusion processes generated by a class of stochastic differential equations. In this study, a residual dataset obtained by eliminating the non-stationary component of a wind speed dataset recorded at Kokkilai in Northeastern Sri Lanka, has been considered as a weak stationary process. The correlogram of residual dataset is bounded by an exponentially decreasing theoretical autocorrelation function that includes several time scales. Hence the residual process is probabilistically approximated by three sums of diffusion models based on the infinite divisibility and the ρ-mixing property of the underlying distribution. By combining each approximated residual process and the non-stationary component of the dataset, three wind speed distributions were constructed. Then each distribution model was incorporated to calculate the average energy generated using the power curve data of the recommended wind turbine for the site using a novel power curve approximation model. Consequently, a comparative study was performed on energy calculation based on each model and the most appropriate model was selected and the feasibility of the recommended wind turbine was discussed

UK Quaternary : mapping and modelling the Quaternary - meeting our stakeholder needs

• This report provides an assessment of the strategic significance of Quaternary geology relative to the British Geological Survey (BGS) and its range of UK stakeholders. The report examines the type of information, data and knowledge that is required by our stakeholders and proposes a vision for how BGS will the tackle the Quaternary to deliver this. •The Quaternary – the last 2.588 Ma of geological time – is one of the most critical parts of the UK geological record. The Quaternary coincides with the geology that occurs in much of the shallow sub-surface. It reflects the part of the geological record most frequently interacted with and utilised by humans, but also the part of the geological record most impacted (buried, eroded and deformed) by the wide range of geological processes that operated during the Quaternary. • The geological record of the Quaternary is marked by a distinctive variability and heterogeneity that poses significant challenges and risks for BGS stakeholders. Improving our data, knowledge and understanding of this critical part of the geological record is important to help our stakeholders understand and mitigate against geological risks and to inform better planning and decision making. • BGS has a proven track record of characterising the Quaternary, but our approaches need to evolve to meet the demands provided by: (1) new geological knowledge and understanding; (2) the improved access to increasingly better-quality digital data; (3) the availability of new analytical techniques that enable us to characterise the geology and uncertainty more effectively and quantitatively; and (4) our stakeholder need for quality information, data and guidance at multiple spatial scales. • In this report we make several strategic recommendations for how our approach to the Quaternary can evolve and how this can be communicated to stakeholders most effectively. We consider that this should occur through the modernisation of the Quaternary Domains dataset; the development of new approaches to classifying and characterising the Quaternary; and the requirement for a spatial dataset or data matrix for storing and managing corporate data and information

Groundwater connectivity of a sheared gneiss aquifer in the Cauvery River basin, India

Connectivity of groundwater flow within crystalline-rock aquifers controls the sustainability of abstraction and baseflow to rivers, yet is often poorly constrained at a catchment scale. Here groundwater connectivity in a sheared gneiss aquifer is investigated by studying the intensively abstracted Berambadi catchment (84 km2) in the Cauvery River Basin, southern India, with geological characterisation, aquifer properties testing, hydrograph analysis, hydrochemical tracers and a numerical groundwater flow model. The study indicates a well-connected system, both laterally and vertically, that has evolved with high abstraction from a laterally to a vertically dominated flow system. Likely as a result of shearing, a high degree of lateral connectivity remains at low groundwater levels. Because of their low storage and logarithmic reduction in hydraulic conductivity with depth, crystalline-rock aquifers in environments such as this, with high abstraction and variable seasonal recharge, constitute a highly variable water resource, meaning farmers must adapt to varying water availability. Importantly, this study indicates that abstraction is reducing baseflow to the river, which, if also occurring in other similar catchments, will have implications downstream in the Cauvery River Basin

Recombinant Lysyl Oxidase Propeptide Protein Inhibits Growth and Promotes Apoptosis of Pre-Existing Murine Breast Cancer Xenografts

Lysyl oxidase propeptide (LOX-PP) ectopic overexpression inhibits the growth of cancer xenografts. Here the ability and mode of action of purified recombinant LOX-PP (rLOX-PP) protein to inhibit the growth of pre-existing xenografts was determined. Experimental approaches employed were direct intratumoral injection (i.t.) of rLOX-PP protein into murine breast cancer NF639 xenografts, and application of a slow release formulation of rLOX-PP implanted adjacent to tumors in NCR nu/nu mice (n = 10). Tumors were monitored for growth, and after sacrifice were subjected to immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses for several markers of proliferation, apoptosis, and for rLOX-PP itself. Direct i.t. injection of rLOX-PP significantly reduced tumor volume on days 20, 22 and 25 and tumor weight at harvest on day 25 by 30% compared to control. Implantation of beads preloaded with 35 micrograms rLOX-PP (n = 10) in vivo reduced tumor volume and weight at sacrifice when compared to empty beads (p<0.05). A 30% reduction of tumor volume on days 22 and 25 (p<0.05) and final tumor weight on day 25 (p<0.05) were observed with a reduced tumor growth rate of 60% after implantation. rLOX-PP significantly reduced the expression of proliferation markers and Erk1/2 MAP kinase activation, while prominent increases in apoptosis markers were observed. rLOX-PP was detected by immunohistochemistry in harvested rLOX-PP tumors, but not in controls. Data provide pre-clinical findings that support proof of principle for the therapeutic anti-cancer potential of rLOX-PP protein formulations

Blimp1 Activation by AP-1 in Human Lung Cancer Cells Promotes a Migratory Phenotype and Is Inhibited by the Lysyl Oxidase Propeptide

B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1 (Blimp1) is a master regulator of B cell differentiation, and controls migration of primordial germ cells. Recently we observed aberrant Blimp1 expression in breast cancer cells resulting from an NF-κB RelB to Ras signaling pathway. In order to address the question of whether the unexpected expression of Blimp1 is seen in other epithelial-derived tumors, we selected lung cancers as they are frequently driven by Ras signaling. Blimp1 was detected in all five lung cancer cell lines examined and shown to promote lung cancer cell migration and invasion. Interrogation of microarray datasets demonstrated elevated BLIMP1 RNA expression in lung adenocarcinoma, pancreatic ductal carcinomas, head and neck tumors as well as in glioblastomas. Involvement of Ras and its downstream kinase c-Raf was confirmed using mutant and siRNA strategies. We next addressed the issue of mechanism of Blimp1 activation in lung cancer. Using knockdown and ectopic expression, the role of the Activator Protein (AP)-1 family of transcription factors was demonstrated. Further, chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed binding to identified AP-1 elements in the BLIMP1 promoter of ectopically expressed c-Jun and of endogenous AP-1 subunits following serum stimulation. The propeptide domain of lysyl oxidase (LOX-PP) was identified as a tumor suppressor, with ability to reduce Ras signaling in lung cancer cells. LOX-PP reduced expression of Blimp1 by binding to c-Raf and inhibiting activation of AP-1, thereby attenuating the migratory phenotype of lung cancer cells. Thus, Blimp1 is a mediator of Ras/Raf/AP-1 signaling that promotes cell migration, and is repressed by LOX-PP in lung cancer