Planktonic and benthic stables Isotopes, age model and carbon analysis of HUD91/039 from the northernmost Baffin Bay

A multiproxy study of palaeoceanographic and climatic changes in northernmost Baffin Bay shows that major environmental changes have occurred since the deglaciation of the area at about 12 500 cal. yr BP. The interpretation is based on sedimentology, benthic and planktonic foraminifera and their isotopic composition, as well as diatom assemblages in the sedimentary records at two core sites, one located in the deeper central part of northernmost Baffin Bay and one in a separate trough closer to the Greenland coast. A revised chronology for the two records is established on the basis of 15 previously published AMS 14C age determinations. A basal diamicton is overlain by laminated, fossil-free sediments. Our data from the early part of the fossiliferous record (12 300 - 11 300 cal. yr BP), which is also initially laminated, indicate extensive seasonal sea-ice cover and brine release. There is indication of a cooling event between 11 300 and 10 900 cal. yr BP, and maximum Atlantic Water influence occurred between 10 900 and 8200 cal. yr BP (no sediment recovery between 8200 and 7300 cal. yr BP). A gradual, but fluctuating, increase in sea-ice cover is seen after 7300 cal. yr BP. Sea-ice diatoms were particularly abundant in the central part of northernmost Baffin Bay, presumably due to the inflow of Polar waters from the Arctic Ocean, and less sea ice occurred at the near-coastal site, which was under continuous influence of the West Greenland Current. Our data from the deep, central part show a fluctuating degree of upwelling after c. 7300 cal. yr BP, culminating between 4000 and 3050 cal. yr BP. There was a gradual increase in the influence of cold bottom waters from the Arctic Ocean after about 3050 cal. yr BP, when agglutinated foraminifera became abundant. A superimposed short-term change in the sea-surface proxies is correlated with the Little Ice Age cooling.

Results of micropaleontological examination and age of dredge samples collected from the lower slopes of the Kuril Basin, Sea of Okhotsk

An integrated (petrographical and micropaleontological) study of sedimentary cover samples dredged from the lower slopes of the Kuril deep-sea basin was carried out. Pliocene-Pleistocene sediments are mainly represented by tuffaceous sedimentary rocks (tuffites, tuffaceous muds, tuffaceous diatomites, tuffaceous silts, tuffaceous sandstones, etc.). Significant admixtures of pyroclastic matter, especially of volcanic glasses, indicates that sedimentation process was accompanied by explosive volcanism. The data obtained give evidence about intensification of tectonomagmatic regime within the region under study during Pliocene-Pleistocene time. By the beginning of Pliocene, a deep-sea basin with a well-manifested continental and/or island slope and a narrow shelf already existed. Pliocene-Pleistocene deposits accumulated in a cold well-aerated deep-sea basin under oxic conditions and downslope sediment transport.

Interrater reliability of Alberta Infant Motor Scale in term and preterm born infants between 10 to 16 months age from Talca province - Chile

Purpose: To examine the ‘interrater reliability’ of the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) in term and preterm born infants between 10 to 16 months age from Talca province, Maule Region - Chile. Subjects: 115 infants between 10 to 16 months age were incorporated to the study; 95 term born infants were attended in the local Health Centre in Talca City, and 20 preterm infants belonged to the Premature Infants Follow-Up Programme of Talca Regional Hospital. Methods: The motor behaviour of each infant was recorded and later it was assessed by two trained assessors using AIMS. It was obtained the total AIMS’ score and also from prone, supine, seated, and stand subscales. For ‘interrater reliability’ analysis it was used the Intraclass Coefficient of Correlation (ICC), the Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) and 95% limits of agreement. Results: The obtained ICC for the total scores AIMS were major than 0.94 (p<0.0002) for term and preterm born infants. The SEM of total scores was less than 3.1 points, higher than what was found in other similar studies. The 95% limits of agreement were +5.3 to -4.1 points and +7.7 to – 3.9 points in term and preterm born, respectively, revealing ‘interrater agreement’. Conclusion: The AIMS showed adequate ‘interrater reliable’ levels when was applied in Chilean term and preterm born from 10 to 16 month’s age.

Exchange of disfluency with age from function to content words in Brazilian Portuguese speakers who do and do not stutter

The purpose of this study was to investigate the exchange of disfluencies from function words to content words with age in Brazilian Portuguese speakers who do and do not stutter. Ninety stuttering individuals and 90 controls, native speakers of Brazilian Portuguese, were divided into three age groups (children, adolescents and adults). The study method involved analyzing the occurrence of stuttering on content and function words based on spontaneous speech samples. Results indicated that children tend to be more disfluent on function words. With the increase in age, teenagers and adults who stutter presented a higher number of disfluencies on content words. These findings support the current literature, indicating that with the aging process, there is an exchange of disfluencies from function to content words. This shift in the disfluency pattern may account for a more advanced type of stuttering. The study also demonstrated that disfluencies in Portuguese speakers follow the same pattern of shifting from function to content words with age as for English speakers.

Duration of Greenland Stadial 22 and ice-gas Δage from counting of annual layers in Greenland NGRIP ice core

High-resolution measurements of chemical impurities and methane concentrations in Greenland ice core samples from the early glacial period allow the extension of annual-layer counted chronologies and the improvement of gas age-ice age difference (Δage) essential to the synchronization of ice core records. We report high-resolution measurements of a 50 m section of the NorthGRIP ice core and corresponding annual layer thicknesses in order to constrain the duration of the Greenland Stadial 22 (GS-22) between Greenland Interstadials (GIs) 21 and 22, for which inconsistent durations and ages have been reported from Greenland and Antarctic ice core records as well as European speleothems. Depending on the chronology used, GS-22 occurred between approximately 89 (end of GI-22) and 83 kyr b2k (onset of GI-21). From annual layer counting, we find that GS-22 lasted between 2696 and 3092 years and was followed by a GI-21 pre-cursor event lasting between 331 and 369 yr. Our layer-based counting agrees with the duration of stadial 22 as determined from the NALPS speleothem record (3250 ± 526 yr) but not with that of the GICC05modelext chronology (2620 yr) or an alternative chronology based on gas-marker synchronization to EPICA Dronning Maud Land ice core. These results show that GICC05modelext overestimates accumulation and/or underestimates thinning in this early part of the last glacial period. We also revise the possible ranges of NorthGRIP Δdepth (5.49 to 5.85 m) and Δage (498 to 601 yr) at the warming onset of GI-21 as well as the Δage range at the onset of the GI-21 precursor warming (523 to 654 yr), observing that temperature (represented by the δ15N proxy) increases before CH4 concentration by no more than a few decades.

Jenny Lind about 18 years of age from a picture by A. J. Fägerplan

Signatur des Originals: S 36/G01436