The Preboreal climate reversal and a subsequent solar-forced climate shift

Accurate chronologies are essential for linking palaeoclimate archives. Carbon-14 wiggle-match dating was used to produce an accurate chronology for part of an early Holocene peat sequence from the Borchert (The Netherlands). Following the Younger Dryas-Preboreal transition, two climatic shifts could be inferred. Around 11 400 cal. yr BP the expansion of birch (Betula) forest was interrupted by a dry continental phase with dominantly open grassland vegetation, coeval with the PBO (Preboreal Oscillation), as observed in the GRIP ice core. At 11 250 cal. yr BP a sudden shift to a humid climate occurred. This second change appears to be contemporaneous with: (i) a sharp increase of atmospheric C-14; (ii) a temporary decline of atmospheric CO2; and (iii) an increase in the GRIP Be-10 flux. The close correspondence with excursions of cosmogenic nuclides points to a decline in solar activity, which may have forced the changes in climate and vegetation at around 11 250 cal. yr BP. Copyright (C) 2004 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.

Influence of compaction procedure on the mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated compacted clay, Part 1: Wetting and Isotropic Compression

The influence of compaction pressure, compaction water content and type of compaction (static or dynamic) on subsequent soil behaviour during wetting and isotropic loading has been investigated by conducting controlled-suction tests on samples of unsaturated compacted speswhite kaolin. The results are interpreted within the context of an elastoplastic framework for unsaturated soils, to examine which compaction-induced effects can be explained simply by variation in the initial state of the soil and which require that soils produced by different compaction procedures are modelled as fundamentally different materials. The compaction pressure influences initial state, by affecting the initial position of the yield surface, but it also influences, to a limited degree, the positions of the normal compression lines for different values of suction. The compaction water content influences the initial suction, but also has a significant influence (greater than does compaction pressure) on the positions of the normal compression lines. A change from static to dynamic compaction has no significant effect on subsequent behaviour

Influence of compaction procedure on the mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated compacted clay. Part 2: shearing and constitutive modelling

The influence of compaction pressure, compaction water content and type of compaction (static or dynamic) on subsequent soil behaviour was investigated by conducting controlled-suction triaxial tests on samples of unsaturated compacted speswhite kaolin. Compaction pressure influences initial state, by determining the initial position of the yield surface, thus affecting, among other things, the shape of stress–strain curves during shearing. Compaction pressure also influences, to a limited degree, the positions of the normal compression lines for different values of suction, but it has no effect on critical state relationships. The effect of compaction pressure can probably be modelled solely in terms of initial state if an anisotropic elastoplastic model incorporating rotational hardening is employed, whereas the parameters defining the slopes and intercepts of the normal compression lines for different values of suction require adjustment with variation of compaction pressure if a conventional isotropic hardening elastoplastic model is employed. Compaction water content influences the initial suction, but also has a substantial influence on normal compression lines and a noticeable effect on the volumetric behaviour at critical states. It is likely that soil samples compacted at different water contents will have to be modelled as different materials, irrespective of whether an isotropic or anisotropic hardening elastoplastic model is employed. A change from static to dynamic compaction has no significant effect on subsequent behaviour.

Estimation of in situ stresses using anisotropic elasticity and suction measurements

Sampling and specimen preparation produce changes in mean effective stresses and pore water pressures, even with ‘perfect sampling’. The paper takes an existing simplified three-parameter cross-anisotropic elastic model and uses it to model these changes. The required ratio of cross-anisotropic parameters J/3G* can be obtained from standard CIU triaxial tests. If measurements are also made of suctions in unloaded specimens in the laboratory, then a combination of J/3G*, the measured suction, and the effective overburden pressure permits an estimation of the horizontal effective pressure and the K 0 ‘at rest’ coefficient. This can be helpful in numerical modelling that needs to start from in situ conditions, and in planning pressure levels for reconsolidation of clay specimens in the laboratory. Tests were done on Belfast Upper Boulder Clay from a depth of 28 m. Values of horizontal in situ effective stress estimated from these measurements compare favorably with conventional estimates of the ‘at rest’ coefficient K 0 and the overconsolidation ratio. Estimates of horizontal stress in London Clay were made using published data and the results compared with actual measurements. Again reasonable agreement was obtained.

Methods and code for 'classical' age-modelling of radiocarbon sequences.

Age–depth models form the backbone of most palaeoenvironmental studies. However, procedures for constructing chronologies vary between studies, they are usually not explained sufficiently, and some are inadequate for handling calibrated radiocarbon dates. An alternative method based on importance sampling through calibrated dates is proposed. Dedicated R code is presented which works with calibrated radiocarbon as well as other dates, and provides a simple, systematic, transparent, documented and customizable alternative. The code automatically produces age–depth models, enabling exploration of the impacts of different assumptions (e.g., model type, hiatuses, age offsets, outliers, and extrapolation).

Track displacement and energy loss in a railway embankment

The mainline railway track between Dublin and Belfast was constructed during the 1850s, with substantial lengths of railway embankment constructed over soft, peaty soils. In recent years Northern Ireland Railways (NIR) has noticed that the sections of the railway track constructed on these peaty soils have been deteriorating at an increasing rate. Train speeds have been reduced in response to concerns that cyclic track displacements appear to be increasing over time in response to train loading. Track maintenance has also increased significantly. The research described in this paper was undertaken to quantify the response to cyclic train loading of two portions of this track founded on peaty soils. Track displacements were recorded using a sensor system specifically created for this project. The sensor consisted of a photosensitive array, mounted on the sleepers, and a laser, which was targeted onto the photosensitive array from a location outside the area of influence of train loading. Track deflections from 5 to 20 mm were measured under train speeds from near zero to over 120 km/h. The temporal variation in track displacement was used to calibrate an analytical (Winkler) model. This analysis suggests that the deformation of the embankment under train loading was not due to dynamic excitation but rather to static deformation of the poor-quality fill and soft foundation materials. As a consequence, the analytical model highlighted that train speed has limited effect on the magnitude of the deflection of the embankment within NIR operating speeds, but has the potential to significantly reduce the power lost to the damping within the embankment and subgrade.

Multiproxy evidence for terrestrial and aquatic ecosystem responses during the 8.2 ka cold event as recorded at Hojby So, Denmark

A sediment succession from Hojby So, a lake in eastern Denmark, covering the time period 9400-7400 cal yr BP was studied using high-resolution geochemistry, magnetic susceptibility, pollen, macrofossil, diatom, and algal pigment analysis to investigate responses of the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to the 8.2 ka cold event. A reduced pollen production by thermophilous deciduous tree taxa in the period c. 8250-8000 cal yr BP reveal that the forest ecosystem was affected by low temperatures during the summer and winter/early-spring seasons. This finding is consistent with the timing of the 8.2 ka cold event as registered in the Greenland ice cores. At Hojby So, the climate anomaly appears to have started 200-250 yr earlier than the 8.2 ka cold event as the lake proxy data provide strong evidence for a precipitation-induced distinct increase in catchment soil erosion beginning around 8500 cal yr BP. Alteration of the terrestrial environment then resulted in a major aquatic ecosystem change with nutrient enrichment of the lake and enhanced productivity, which lasted until c. 7900 cal yr BP. (C) 2009 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Evidence for progressive Holocene aridification in southern Africa recorded in Namibian hyrax middens: Implications for African Monsoon dynamics and the

Presented here are stable nitrogen isotope data from a rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) middens from northwestern Namibia that record a series of rapid aridification events beginning at ca. 3800 cal yr BP, and which mark a progressive decrease in regional humidity across the Holocene. Strong correlations exist between this record and other terrestrial and marine archives from southern Africa, indicating that the observed pattern of climate change is regionally coherent. Combined, these data indicate hemispheric synchrony in tropical African climate change during the Holocene, with similar trends characterising the termination of the 'African Humid Period' (AHP) in both the northern and southern tropics. These findings run counter to the widely accepted model of direct low-latitude insolation forcing, which requires an antiphase relationship to exist between the hemispheres. The combined dataset highlights: 1) the importance of forcing mechanisms influencing the high northern latitudes in effecting low-latitude climate change in Africa, and 2) the potential importance of solar forcing and variations in the Earth's geomagnetic shield in determining both long-term and rapid centennial-scale climate changes, identifying a possible mechanism for the variations marking the AHP termination in both the southern and northern tropics. (C) 2010 University of Washington. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Turning Asteroids into Comets with ELTs

It is clear that ELTs will be able to detect extremely weak outgassing from Solar system bodies via a number of different methods. Occultations will allow probing for outgassing around 20 km main-belt asteroids. Imaging can reveal dust emission rates of only milligrams/second in the inner solar system, while sublimation rates of gasses should be measurable down to gram/second levels. Suitable targets will be identified via the coming all-sky surveys, through both the classical dynamical Tisserand Invariant and long-baseline lightcurves. It is possible that using these methods, ELTs may allow the discovery of much more activity throughout the Solar system than is presently known.

Cross-validation of geo-electrical and hydrogeological models to evaluate seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers

The validation of variable-density flow models simulating seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers requires information about concentration distribution in groundwater. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) provides relevant data for this purpose. However, inverse modeling is not accurate because of the non-uniqueness of solutions. Such difficulties in evaluating seawater intrusion can be overcome by coupling geophysical data and groundwater modeling. First, the resistivity distribution obtained by inverse geo-electrical modeling is established. Second, a 3-D variable-density flow hydrogeological model is developed. Third, using Archie's Law, the electrical resistivity model deduced from salt concentration is compared to the formerly interpreted electrical model. Finally, aside from that usual comparison-validation, the theoretical geophysical response of concentrations simulated with the groundwater model can be compared to field-measured resistivity data. This constitutes a cross-validation of both the inverse geo-electrical model and the groundwater model.
[Comte, J.-C., and O. Banton (2007), Cross-validation of geo-electrical and hydrogeological models to evaluate seawater intrusion in coastal aquifers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L10402, doi:10.1029/2007GL029981.]

The pressure distribution along stone columns in soft clay under consolidation and foundation loading

The mechanism whereby foundation loading is transmitted through the column has received little attention from researchers. This paper reports on some interesting findings obtained from a laboratory-based model study in respect of this issue. The model tests were carried out on samples of soft clay, 300 mm in diameter and 400 mm high. The samples were reinforced with fully penetrating stone columns, of three different diameters, made of crushed basalt. Four pressure cells were located along each stone column. The 60 mm diameter footing used in the model was supported on a clay bed reinforced with a stone column and subjected to foundation loading under drained conditions. The results show that the dissipation of excess pore water pressure developed during the initial application of total stresses, when the foundation was subjected to no loading, generated considerable stresses within the column, and that this was directly attributable to the development of negative skin friction. The pressure distributions in the column during foundation loading showed some complex behaviour.