Modern major element concentrations and ratios measured in Atlantic surface sediments (36°N-49°S)

Numerous studies use major element concentrations measured on continental margin sediments to reconstruct terrestrial climate variations. The choice and interpretation of climate proxies however differ from site to site. Here we map the concentrations of major elements (Ca, Fe, Al, Si, Ti, K) in Atlantic surface sediments (36°N-49°S) to assess the factors influencing the geochemistry of Atlantic hemipelagic sediments and the potential of elemental ratios to reconstruct different terrestrial climate regimes. High concentrations of terrigenous elements and low Ca concentrations along the African and South American margins reflect the dominance of terrigenous input in these regions. Single element concentrations and elemental ratios including Ca (e.g., Fe/Ca) are too sensitive to dilution effects (enhanced biological productivity, carbonate dissolution) to allow reliable reconstructions of terrestrial climate. Other elemental ratios reflect the composition of terrigenous material and mirror the climatic conditions within the continental catchment areas. The Atlantic distribution of Ti/Al supports its use as a proxy for eolian versus fluvial input in regions of dust deposition that are not affected by the input of mafic rock material. The spatial distributions of Al/Si and Fe/K reflect the relative input of intensively weathered material from humid regions versus slightly weathered particles from drier areas. High biogenic opal input however influences the Al/Si ratio. Fe/K is sensitive to the input of mafic material and the topography of Andean river drainage basins. Both ratios are suitable to reconstruct African and South American climatic zones characterized by different intensities of chemical weathering in well-understood environmental settings.

Environmental influence on the seasonal movements of satellite-tracked ocean sunfish Mola mola in the north-east Atlantic

Determining the habitat use of mobile marine species is important for understanding responses to climate change and aids the implementation of management and conservation measures. Inference of preferred habitat use has been greatly improved by combining satellite-based oceanographic data with animal tracking techniques. Although there have been several satellite-tracking studies on ocean sunfish Mola mola, limited information is available about either horizontal or vertical environmental preferences. In this study, both geographical movements and diving behaviour of ocean sunfish were explored together with the environmental factors influencing this species’ space use in the north-east Atlantic.

Environmental influence on the seasonal movements of satellite-tracked ocean sunfish Mola mola in the north-east Atlantic

Determining the habitat use of mobile marine species is important for understanding responses to climate change and aids the implementation of management and conservation measures. Inference of preferred habitat use has been greatly improved by combining satellite-based oceanographic data with animal tracking techniques. Although there have been several satellite-tracking studies on ocean sunfish Mola mola, limited information is available about either horizontal or vertical environmental preferences. In this study, both geographical movements and diving behaviour of ocean sunfish were explored together with the environmental factors influencing this species’ space use in the north-east Atlantic.

Volcanic sulphate and Arctic dust plumes over the North Atlantic Ocean

High time resolution aerosol mass spectrometry measurements were conducted during a field campaign at Mace Head Research Station, Ireland, in June 2007. Observations on one particular day of the campaign clearly indicated advection of aerosol from volcanoes and desert plains in Iceland which could be traced with NOAA Hysplit air mass back trajectories and satellite images. In conjunction with this event, elevated levels of sulphate and light absorbing particles were encountered at Mace Head. While sulphate concentration was continuously increasing, nitrate levels remained low indicating no significant contribution from anthropogenic pollutants. Sulphate concentration increased about 3.8 g/m3 in comparison with the background conditions. Corresponding sulphur flux from volcanic emissions was estimated to about 0.3 TgS/yr, suggesting that a large amount of sulphur released from Icelandic volcanoes may be distributed over distances larger than 1000 km. Overall, our results corroborate that transport of volcanogenic sulphate and dust particles can significantly change the chemical composition, size distribution, and optical properties of aerosol over the North Atlantic Ocean and should be considered accordingly by regional climate models.

‘Wide Atlantic Ocean’ : acting methods and cultural translation in mainstream theatre

A recent production of Nicholson’s Shadowlands at the Brisbane Powerhouse could have included two advertising lines: “Outspoken American-Jewish poet meets conservative British Oxford scholar” and “Emotive American Method trained actor meets contained British trained actor.” While the fusion of acting methodologies in intercultural acting has been discussed at length, little discussion has focussed on the juxtaposition of diverse acting styles in production in mainstream theatre. This paper explores how the permutation of American Method acting and a more traditional British conservatory acting in Crossbow’s August 2010 production of Shadowlands worked to add extra layers of meaning to the performance text. This sometimes inimical relationship between two acting styles had its beginnings in the rehearsal room and continued onstage. Audience reception to the play in post-performance discussions revealed the audience’s acute awareness of the transatlantic cultural tensions on stage. On one occasion, this resulted in a heated debate on cultural expression, continuing well after the event, during which audience members became co-performers in the cultural discourses of the play.

Networking of shear zones at the brittle-to-viscous transition (Cap de Creus, NE Spain)

A crustal-scale shear zone network at the fossil brittle-to-viscous transition exposed at Cap de Creus, NE Spain evolved by coeval fracturing and viscous, mylonitic overprinting of an existing foliation. Initial fracturing led to mylonitic shearing as rock softened in ductilely deformed zones surrounding the fractures. Mylonitic shear zones widened by lateral branching of fractures from these shear zones and by synthetic rotation of the existing foliation between the fractures and shear zones. Shear zones lengthened by a combination of fracturing and mylonitic shearing in front of the shear zone tips. Shear zones interconnected along and across their shearing planes, separating rhomb-shaped lozenges of less deformed rock. Lozenges were subsequently incorporated into the mylonitic shear zones by widening in the manner described above. In this way, deformation became homogeneous on the scale of initial fracturing (metre- to decametre-scale). In contrast, the shear zone network represents localisation of strain on a decametre-length scale. The strength of the continental crust at the time of coeval fracturing and viscous shearing is inferred to have decreased with time and strain, as fracturing evolved to mylonitic shearing, and as the shear zones coalesced to form a through-going network subparallel to the shearing plane. Crustal strength must therefore be considered as strain- and scale-dependent.

Paleomagnetic data support Early Permian age for the Abor Volcanics in the lower Siang Valley, NE India; significance for Gondwana-related break-up models

Confusion exists as to the age of the Abor Volcanics of NE India. Some consider the unit to have been emplaced in the Early Permian, others the Early Eocene, a difference of ∼230 million years. The divergence in opinion is significant because fundamentally different models explaining the geotectonic evolution of India depend on the age designation of the unit. Paleomagnetic data reported here from several exposures in the type locality of the formation in the lower Siang Valley indicate that steep dipping primary magnetizations (mean = 72.7 ± 6.2°, equating to a paleo-latitude of 58.1°) are recorded in the formation. These are only consistent with the unit being of Permian age, possibly Artinskian based on a magnetostratigraphic argument. Plate tectonic models for this time consistently show the NE corner of the sub-continent >50°S; in the Early Eocene it was just north of the equator, which would have resulted in the unit recording shallow directions. The mean declination is counter-clockwise rotated by ∼94°, around half of which can be related to the motion of the Indian block; the remainder is likely due local Himalayan-age thrusting in the Eastern Syntaxis. Several workers have correlated the Abor Volcanics with broadly coeval mafic volcanic suites in Oman, NE Pakistan–NW India and southern Tibet–Nepal, which developed in response to the Cimmerian block peeling-off eastern Gondwana in the Early-Middle Permian, but we believe there are problems with this model. Instead, we suggest that the Abor basalts relate to India–Antarctica/India–Australia extension that was happening at about the same time. Such an explanation best accommodates the relevant stratigraphical and structural data (present-day position within the Himalayan thrust stack), as well as the plate tectonic model for Permian eastern Gondwana.

Onset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic

Sediments cored along the southwestern Iberian margin during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 339 provide constraints on Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) circulation patterns from the Pliocene epoch to the present day. After the Strait of Gibraltar opened (5.33 million years ago), a limited volume of MOW entered the Atlantic. Depositional hiatuses indicate erosion by bottom currents related to higher volumes of MOW circulating into the North Atlantic, beginning in the late Pliocene. The hiatuses coincide with regional tectonic events and changes in global thermohaline circulation (THC). This suggests that MOW influenced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), THC, and climatic shifts by contributing a component of warm, saline water to northern latitudes while in turn being influenced by plate tectonics.

Transcriptome analyses of amoebic gill disease-affected atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) tissues reveal localized host gene suppression

The transcriptome response of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) displaying advanced stages of amoebic gill disease (AGD) was investigated. Naïve smolt were challenged with AGD for 19 days, at which time all fish were euthanized and their severity of infection quantified through histopathological scoring. Gene expression profiles were compared between heavily infected and naïve individuals using a 17 K Atlantic salmon cDNA microarray with real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) verification. Expression profiles were examined in the gill, anterior kidney, and liver. Twenty-seven transcripts were significantly differentially expressed within the gill; 20 of these transcripts were down-regulated in the AGD-affected individuals compared with naïve individuals. In contrast, only nine transcripts were significantly differentially expressed within the anterior kidney and five within the liver. Again the majority of these transcripts were down-regulated within the diseased individuals. A down-regulation of transcripts involved in apoptosis (procathepsin L, cathepsin H precursor, and cystatin B) was observed in AGD-affected Atlantic salmon. Four transcripts encoding genes with antioxidant properties also were down-regulated in AGD-affected gill tissue according to qPCR analysis. The most up-regulated transcript within the gill was an unknown expressed sequence tag (EST) whose expression was 218-fold (± SE 66) higher within the AGD affected gill tissue. Our results suggest that Atlantic salmon experiencing advanced stages of AGD demonstrate general down-regulation of gene expression, which is most pronounced within the gill. We propose that this general gene suppression is parasite-mediated, thus allowing the parasite to withstand or ameliorate the host response. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

Atlantic-Mediterranean and within-Mediterranean molecular variation in Coris julis (L. 1758) (Teleostei, Labridae)

Sequence variation in the mitochondrial control region was studied in the Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (Coris julis), a species with pronounced pelagic larval phase inhabiting the Mediterranean Sea and the adjacent coastal eastern Atlantic Ocean. A total of 309 specimens from 19 sampling sites were analysed with the aim of elucidating patterns of molecular variation between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean as well as within the Mediterranean Sea. Phylogeographic analyses revealed a pronounced structuring into a Mediterranean and an Atlantic group. Samples from a site at the Moroccan Mediterranean coast in the Alboran Sea showed intermediate frequencies of “Mediterranean” and “Atlantic” haplotypes. We recognised a departure from molecular neutrality and a star-like genealogy for samples from the Mediterranean Sea, which we propose to have happened due to a recent demographic expansion. The results are discussed in the light of previous studies on molecular variation in fish species between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean and within the Mediterranean.

The North in the Old English Orosius : A Geographical Narrative in Context

This doctoral dissertation examines the description of the North as it appears in the Old English Orosius (OE Or.) in the form of the travel accounts by Ohthere and Wulfstan and a catalogue of peoples of Germania. The description is discussed in the context of ancient and early medieval textual and cartographic descriptions of the North, with a special emphasis on Anglo-Saxon sources and the intellectual context of the reign of King Alfred (871-899). This is the first time that these sources, a multidisciplinary approach and secondary literature, also from Scandinavia and Finland, have been brought together. The discussion is source-based, and archaeological theories and geographical ideas are used to support the primary evidence. This study belongs to the disciplines of early medieval literature and (cultural) history, Anglo-Saxon studies, English philology, and historical geography. The OE Or. was probably part of Alfred s educational campaign, which conveyed royal ideology to the contemporary elite. The accounts and catalogue are original interpolations which represent a unique historical source for the Viking Age. They contain unparalleled information about peoples and places in Fennoscandia and the southern Baltic and sailing voyages to the White Sea, the Danish lands, and the Lower Vistula. The historical-philological analysis reveals an emphasis on wealth and property, rank, luxury goods, settlement patterns, and territorial divisions. Trade is strongly implied by the mentions of central places and northern products, such as walrus ivory. The references to such peoples as the Finnas, the Cwenas, and the Beormas appear in connection with information about geography and subsistence in the far North. Many of the topics in the accounts relate to Anglo-Saxon aristocratic culture and interests. The accounts focus on the areas associated with the Northmen, the Danes and the Este. These areas resonated in the Anglo-Saxon geographical imagination: they were curious about the northern margin of the world, their own continental ancestry and the geography of their homeland of Angeln, and they had an interest in the Goths and their connection with the southern Baltic in mythogeography. The non-judgemental representation of the North as generally peaceful and relatively normal place is related to Alfredian and Orosian ideas about the unity and spreading of Christendom, and to desires for unity among the Germani and for peace with the Vikings, who were settling in England. These intellectual contexts reflect the innovative and organizational forces of Alfred s reign. The description of the North in the OE Or. can be located in the context of the Anglo-Saxon worldview and geographical mindset. It mirrors the geographical curiosity expressed in other Anglo-Saxon sources, such as the poem Widsith and the Anglo-Saxon mappa mundi. The northern section of this early eleventh-century world map is analyzed in detail here for the first time. It is suggested that the section depicts the North Atlantic and the Scandinavian Peninsula. The survey of ancient and early medieval sources provides a comparative context for the OE Or. In this material, produced by such authors as Strabo, Pliny, Tacitus, Jordanes, and Rimbert, the significance of the North was related to the search for and definition of the northern edge of the world, universal accounts of the world, the northern homeland in the origin stories of the gentes, and Carolingian expansion and missionary activity. These frameworks were transmitted to Anglo-Saxon literary culture, where the North occurs in the context of the definition of Britain s place in the world.

Jos heti lataa kaiken ja osoittaa sormella, ei ne nuoret tule mukaan. Järjestöjen mahdollisuudet vaikuttaa nuorten ruokatottumuksiin.

Aims: The older the youngsters are, the more important role hobbies and leisure time activities have in their life. That is why various activities organized by the non-profit organizations have an important role concerning the development of food habits of youngsters. This study has three main themes. The themes and their respective study questions are: 1. The youngsters' conceptions on healthy eating and food choice: What kind of food do youngsters consider as healthy? How do they see their own eating habits from this point of view? 2. The youngsters and the significance of everyday food-related information: How do the youngsters perceive the role of different actors and these actors' role regarding their own food habits and food choice? 3. The possibilities of the organizations that work with youngsters to improve their food habits: What kind of role do the non-profit organizations have on the youngsters' food habits and healthy food choice? Methods: This study comprises of two types of data. First, a quantitative internet-based survey (N=582) was used to collect data on the 9th graders conceptions and understandings. The data was analyzed with the SPSS-program. Means, cross-tabulations, Pearson´s correlations and t-test were calculated from the data. The qualitative data was collected using interviews. The respondents were 12 experts from non-profit organizations. The interviews were analyzed with the qualitative content analysis. Results and conclusions: The non-profit organizations studied have good possibilities to communicate with youngsters through their hobbies. As part of their activities these organizations are able to influence on health-promoting lifestyle and food habits of youngsters. In order to reach more youngsters, these organizations should actively act e.g. in virtual societies of youngsters. Youngsters will participate when activities are voluntary and exhilarating. From the point of food habits doing, learning and identifying are the most important factors to engage the young. Also the models of peers and adults are important. Non-profit organizations should offer youngsters activities but these organizations should also influence on society.

Studio portrait of Paula Goldschmidt née Harmelin; Leipzig Portraits Women

Signed lower right by photographer