An updated radiocarbon-based ice margin chronology for the last deglaciation of the North American Ice Sheet Complex

The North American Ice Sheet Complex (NAISC; consisting of the Laurentide, Cordilleran and Innuitian ice sheets) was the largest ice mass to repeatedly grow and decay in the Northern Hemisphere during the Quaternary. Understanding its pattern of retreat following the Last Glacial Maximum is critical for studying many facets of the Late Quaternary, including ice sheet behaviour, the evolution of Holocene landscapes, sea level, atmospheric circulation, and the peopling of the Americas. Currently, the most up-to-date and authoritative margin chronology for the entire ice sheet complex is featured in two publications (Geological Survey of Canada Open File 1574 [Dyke et al., 2003]; ‘Quaternary Glaciations – Extent and Chronology, Part II’ [Dyke, 2004]). These often-cited datasets track ice margin recession in 36 time slices spanning 18 ka to 1 ka (all ages in uncalibrated radiocarbon years) using a combination of geomorphology, stratigraphy and radiocarbon dating. However, by virtue of being over 15 years old, the ice margin chronology requires updating to reflect new work and important revisions. This paper updates the aforementioned 36 ice margin maps to reflect new data from regional studies. We also update the original radiocarbon dataset from the 2003/2004 papers with 1541 new ages to reflect work up to and including 2018. A major revision is made to the 18 ka ice margin, where Banks and Eglinton islands (once considered to be glacial refugia) are now shown to be fully glaciated. Our updated 18 ka ice sheet increased in areal extent from 17.81 to 18.37 million km2, which is an increase of 3.1% in spatial coverage of the NAISC at that time. Elsewhere, we also summarize, region-by-region, significant changes to the deglaciation sequence. This paper integrates new information provided by regional experts and radiocarbon data into the deglaciation sequence while maintaining consistency with the original ice margin positions of Dyke et al. (2003) and Dyke (2004) where new information is lacking; this is a pragmatic solution to satisfy the needs of a Quaternary research community that requires up-to-date knowledge of the pattern of ice margin recession of what was once the world’s largest ice mass. The 36 updated isochrones are available in PDF and shapefile format, together with a spreadsheet of the expanded radiocarbon dataset (n = 5195 ages) and estimates of uncertainty for each interval

Quorum sensing:Implications on rhamnolipid biosurfactant production

Quorum sensing (QS) has received significant attention in the past few decades. QS describes population density dependent cell to cell communication in bacteria using diffusible signal molecules. These signal molecules produced by bacterial cells, regulate various physiological processes important for social behavior and pathogenesis. One such process regulated by quorum sensing molecules is the production of a biosurfactant, rhamnolipid. Rhamnolipids are important microbially derived surface active agents produced by Pseudomonas spp. under the control of two interrelated quorum sensing systems; namely las and rhl. Rhamnolipids possess antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral properties. They are important in motility, cell to cell interactions, cellular differentiation and formation of water channels that Currently, biosurfactants are unable to compete economically with chemically synthesized compounds in the market due to high production costs. Once the genes required for biosurfactant production have been identified, they can be placed under the regulation of strong promoters in nonpathogenic, heterologous hosts to enhance production. The production of rhamnolipids could be increased by cloning both the rhlAB rhamnosyltransferase genes and the rhlRI quorum sensing system into a suitable bacterium such as E. coli or P. putida and facilitate rhamnolipid production. Biosurfactants can also be genetically engineered for different industrial applications assuming there is a strong understanding of both the genetics and the structure-function relationships of each component of the molecule. Genetic engineering of surfactin has already been reported, with recent papers describing the creation of novel peptide structures from the genetic recombination of several peptide synthetases. Recent application of dynamic metabolic engineering strategies for controlled gene expression could lower the cost of fermentation processes by increasing the product formation. Therefore, by integrating a genetic circuit into applications of metabolic engineering the biochemical production can be optimized. Furthermore, novel strategies could be designed on the basis of information obtained from the studies of quorum sensing and biosurfactants produced suggesting enormous practical applications.</p

Experimental demonstration of data erasure for time-domain optical memories

Data erasure is considered an essential requirement for a practical optical time-domain memory, and it requires that the laser used have very good frequency stability. Such a laser is developed for this work, and data erasure is demonstrated with a sample of YSiO5:Eu3+ for write/rewrite pulse sequences of up to a duration of 100 μs. This is two orders of magnitude longer than had been achieved previously. Phase-sensitive detection is introduced and is shown to be invaluable for monitoring the write, rewrite, and read processes

Experimental demonstration of data erasure for time-domain optical memories [Elektronisk resurs]

Data erasure is considered an essential requirement for a practical optical time-domain memory, and it requires that the laser used have very good frequency stability. Such a laser is developed for this work, and data erasure is demonstrated with a sample of YSiO5:Eu3+ for write/rewrite pulse sequences of up to a duration of 100 μs. This is two orders of magnitude longer than had been achieved previously. Phase-sensitive detection is introduced and is shown to be invaluable for monitoring the write, rewrite, and read processes