Central Britain Research Articles

Early Carboniferous limestones of southern and central Britain: Characterisation and preliminary assessment of deep geothermal prospectivity

Early Carboniferous limestones of southern and central Britain: Characterisation and preliminary assessment of deep geothermal prospectivity

The 2019/2020 floods in the UK: a hydrological appraisal

The 2019/2020 floods in the <scp>UK</scp>: a hydrological appraisal

Climate Change Impacts on the Future of Forests in Great Britain

Forests provide important ecosystem services but are being affected by climate change, not only changes in temperature and precipitation but potentially also directly through the plant-physiological effects of increases in atmospheric CO2. We applied a tree-species-based dynamic model (LPJ-GUESS) at a high 5-km spatial resolution to project climate and CO2 impacts on tree species and thus forests in Great Britain. Climatic inputs consisted of a novel large climate scenario ensemble derived from a regional climate model (RCM) under an RCP 8.5 emission scenario. The climate change impacts were assessed using leaf area index (LAI) and net primary productivity (NPP) for the 2030s and the 2080s compared to baseline (1975–2004). The potential CO2 effects, which are highly uncertain, were examined using a constant CO2 level scenario for comparison. Also, a climate vulnerability index was developed to assess the potential drought impact on modeled tree species. In spite of substantial future reductions in rainfall, the mean projected LAI and NPP generally showed an increase over Britain, with a larger increment in Scotland, northwest England, and west Wales. The CO2 increase led to higher projected LAI and NPP, especially in northern Britain, but with little effect on overall geographical patterns. However, without accounting for plant-physiological effects of elevated CO2, NPP in Southern and Central Britain and easternmost parts of Wales showed a decrease relative to 2011, implying less ecosystem service provisioning, e.g., in terms of timber yields and carbon storage. The projected change of LAI and NPP varied from 5 to 100% of the mean change, due to the uncertainty arising from natural weather-induced variability, with Southeast England being most sensitive to this. It was also the most susceptible to climate change and drought, with reduced suitability for broad-leaved trees such as beech, small-leaved lime, and hornbeam. These could lead to important changes in woodland composition across Great Britain.

Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) dynamics in the Welsh Marches during the mid to late-Holocene

Around 4000 cal yr BP, Scots pine ( Pinus sylvestris) suffered a widespread demise across the British Isles. This paper presents new information about P. sylvestris populations found in the Welsh Marches (western central Britain), for which the long-term history and origins are poorly known. Two new pollen records were produced from the Lin Can Moss ombrotrophic bog (LM18) and the Breidden Hill pond (BH18). The LM18 peat core is supported by loss-on-ignition, humification analysis and radiocarbon dating. Lead concentrations were used to provide an estimated timeframe for the recent BH18 record. In contrast to many other Holocene pollen records from the British Isles, analysis of LM18 reveals that Scots pine grains were deposited continuously between c. 6900–300 cal yr BP, at frequencies of 0.3–5.4%. It is possible that individual Scots pine trees persisted through the wider demise on thin soils of steep drought-prone crags of hills or the fringes of lowland bogs in the Welsh Marches. At BH18, the record indicates a transition from broadleaved to mixed woodland, including conifer species introduced around AD 1850 including Picea and Pinus. The insights from BH18 suggest that the current populations may largely be the result of planting. Comparison of the LM18 findings with other regional pollen records highlights consistent patterns, including a Mid-Holocene maximum (ca. 7000 cal yr BP), long-term persistence at low pollen percentages and a Late-Holocene minimum (ca. 3000 cal yr BP). These distinctive trends encourage further studies on refugial areas for Scots pine in this region and elsewhere.

Leprosy at the edge of Europe-Biomolecular, isotopic and osteoarchaeological findings from medieval Ireland.

Relatively little is known of leprosy in Medieval Ireland; as an island located at the far west of Europe it has the potential to provide interesting insights in relation to the historical epidemiology of the disease. To this end the study focuses on five cases of probable leprosy identified in human skeletal remains excavated from inhumation burials. Three of the individuals derived from the cemetery of St Michael Le Pole, Golden Lane, Dublin, while single examples were also identified from Ardreigh, Co. Kildare, and St Patrick’s Church, Armoy, Co. Antrim. The individuals were radiocarbon dated and examined biomolecularly for evidence of either of the causative pathogens, M. leprae or M. lepromatosis. Oxygen and strontium isotopes were measured in tooth enamel and rib samples to determine where the individuals had spent their formative years and to ascertain if they had undertaken any recent migrations. We detected M. leprae DNA in the three Golden Lane cases but not in the probable cases from either Ardreigh Co. Kildare or Armoy, Co. Antrim. M. lepromatosis was not detected in any of the burals. DNA preservation was sufficiently robust to allow genotyping of M. leprae strains in two of the Golden Lane burials, SkCXCV (12-13th century) and SkCCXXX (11-13th century). These strains were found to belong on different lineages of the M. leprae phylogenetic tree, namely branches 3 and 2 respectively. Whole genome sequencing was also attempted on these two isolates with a view to gaining further information but poor genome coverage precluded phylogenetic analysis. Data from the biomolecular study was combined with osteological, isotopic and radiocarbon dating to provide a comprehensive and multidisciplinary study of the Irish cases. Strontium and oxygen isotopic analysis indicate that two of the individuals from Golden Lane (SkCXLVIII (10-11th century) and SkCXCV) were of Scandinavian origin, while SkCCXXX may have spent his childhood in the north of Ireland or central Britain. We propose that the Vikings were responsible for introducing leprosy to Ireland. This work adds to our knowledge of the likely origins of leprosy in Medieval Ireland and will hopefully stimulate further research into the history and spread of this ancient disease across the world.

Parameter determination for a numerical approach to undeveloped shale gas production estimation: The UK Bowland shale region application

The estimation of production potential provides the foundation for commercial viability appraisal of natural resources. Due to uncertainty around production assessment approaches in the unconventional petroleum production field, an appropriate production estimation methodology which address the requisite uncertainty at the planning stage is required to guide energy policy and planning. This study proposes applying the numerical unconventional production estimation method which relies on geological parameters, (pressure, porosity, permeability, compressibility, viscosity and the formation volume factor) as well as the rock extractive index (a measure of technical efficiency). This paper develops a model that estimates the appropriate values for four of these parameters based on a depth correlation matrix while a stochastic process guides two based on known data range. The developed model is integrated with a numerical model to estimate gas production potential. The developed framework is eventually applied to undeveloped shale gas wells located in the Bowland shale, central Britain. The results account for below ground uncertainty and heterogeneity of wells. A sensitivity analysis is applied to consider the relative impacts of individual parameters on production potential. The estimated daily initial gas production rate ranges from 15,000scf to 319,000scf while estimated recovery over 12 years is approximately 1.1bscf in the reference case for wells analyzed.

Objects, Place and People: Community Organization in Southern Britain in the First Millennium bc

This paper seeks to understand how identity was constructed and communities were constituted in the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age of parts of central and southern Britain. A holistic approach is favoured, finding patterns within each period that cross different types of evidence. These patterns can be related to underlying social and conceptual logic systems. It is argued that in the Late Bronze Age communities were relatively fluid and lineage played only a minor role in defining identity. Early Iron Age society was more concerned with ancestral genealogy and inter-generational inheritance. By the Middle Iron Age, this developed to the stage where smaller groups displayed increasing autonomy from each other. These social differences can account for many of the dissimilarities in the archaeological records of the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age. Despite contrasting methods of community organization, assessing contiguous periods under the same theoretical and methodological frameworks has proved a useful analytical device.

The English Peak District (as a potential geopark): mining geoheritage and historical geotourism

Abstract The Peak District is an upland region in central Britain with a rich mining geoheritage. It was established as the UK’s first National Park in 1951. It was the region, due to its widespread loss quarries and mines sites to inappropriate remedial measures, which led to the recognition and promotion of the modern geotourism paradigm. It is the birthplace of British geotourism with the earliest recorded instances of leisure travellers purposefully choosing to visit mines and caves. Metalliferous mining in the region can be traced back to the Bronze Age. Gangue minerals, especially fluorspar and barites, later became significant primary extraction activities and underpinned a small-scale semi-precious stone industry. It is home to the World Heritage inscribed site of the Derwent Mills, significant in the development of early Industrial Revolution textile technology and manufacturing practices. The almost equally significant mining geoheritage has yet to be similarly recognised and, indeed, its survival is still threatened because most tourism and many mining geoheritage stakeholders have a limited understanding of geo-history and the geo-interpretive significance of the individuals and geosites that shaped historical geotourism and geological exploration in the Peak District; their exploits and the legacy of their publications, alongside its superbly exposed and well researched geology and associated mining geoheritage, could underpin a bid for the region’s recognition as a geopark. Hence, this introductory paper summarises the key aspects of the region’s geology and major mining geoheritage sites, together with the major works and influence of some key individuals that should be included as a very minimum in such a bid.

An isotopic investigation into the origins and husbandry of Mid-Late Bronze Age cattle from Grimes Graves, Norfolk

Bioarchaeological evidence suggests that the site of Grimes Graves, Norfolk, characterised by the remains of several hundred Late Neolithic flint mineshafts, was a permanently settled community with a mixed farming economy during the Mid-Late Bronze Age (c. 1400BCE–c. 800BCE). The aim of this study was to investigate, through isotope ratio analysis (87Sr/86Sr, δ13C and δ18O), the origins and husbandry of Bronze Age cattle (Bos taurus) excavated from a mineshaft known as the “1972 shaft”. Strontium isotope ratios from the molar enamel of ten Grimes Graves cattle were compared with eight modern animals from the Chillingham Wild White cattle herd, Northumberland. The range of 87Sr/86Sr values for the modern cattle with known restricted mobility was low (0.00062) while the values for the Grimes Graves cattle varied much more widely (range=0.00357) and suggest that at least five of the cattle were not born locally. Two of these animals were likely to have originated at a distance of ≥150km. Intra-tooth δ13C profiles for eight of the Grimes Graves cattle show higher δ13C values compared to those of Early Bronze Age cattle from central England. Most of these profiles also display pronounced shifts in δ13C during the period of enamel formation. One possible interpretation is that the cattle were subject to dietary change resulting from movement between habitats with different vegetation δ13C values. More comparative data, both archaeological and modern, is required to validate this interpretation. The multi-isotope approach employed in this study suggests that certain cattle husbandry and/or landscape management practices may have been widely adopted throughout central Britain during the Mid-Late Bronze Age.

A Saxon Fish Weir and Undated Fish Trap Frames Near Ashlett Creek, Hampshire, UK: Static Structures on a Dynamic Foreshore

The remains of a wooden V-shaped fish weir and associated structures have been discovered near Ashlett Creek on the tidal mudflats of Southampton Water in Hampshire, southern Britain. Radiocarbon dating of oak roundwood stakes taken from the main weir structure date it to the middle Saxon period. Clusters of as-yet undated roundwood posts within the catchment area of the weir are interpreted as the frames for fish traps that are assumed to pre- or post-date the operational period of the weir itself. The weir is contemporary with wooden V-shaped fish weirs found elsewhere in southern and central Britain, and also Ireland, but its circular catchment ‘pound’ remains restricted, in these islands, to the Solent and Severn estuaries: it has a close parallel with another Saxon-era weir on the nearby Isle of Wight. It also shows striking structural similarities with examples in use today in Basse Normandy, on the southern shore of the English Channel. The paper discusses the function and operation of the weir, and places it in its social and historical context. Regressive cartography demonstrates that the structures have become exposed as a result of saltmarsh retreat in this area of Southampton Water since the nineteenth century. The radiocarbon dates returned for the posts demonstrate that this transgression of the marsh must have been preceded by a prolonged period of progradation, which covered and preserved the site; its subsequent re-exposure has negative implications for its survival.

Shale prospectivity onshore Britain

Abstract The UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) commissioned the British Geological Survey (BGS) to summarize the available geological knowledge, integrate new seismic mapping and well analysis, and make preliminary in-place resource assessments for the three most prospective areas onshore Britain to foster a greater understanding of the unconventional shale resource potential in advance of the 14th Landward Licensing Round. The first study, published in June 2013, reviewed the Carboniferous Bowland–Hodder shales across central Britain where a large volume of in-place gas was assessed to be present. The second study, of the Jurassic shale of the Weald Basin in southern England, published in May 2014, concluded that owing to insufficient burial there was no significant Jurassic shale gas potential, but there could still be shale oil resources at several levels in the centre of the basin. The third study, published in June 2014, covered the Midland Valley of Scotland where both oil and gas potential in Carboniferous shales was identified. A large volume of in-place gas and oil resource has been assessed to be present. However, not enough is known at the time of writing to estimate a recovery factor or to estimate potential producible reserves. This paper summarizes the results of the BGS reports and their impact on the subsequent licensing process in England.

Total organic carbon evaluation of the Bowland Shale Formation in the Upper Bowland of the Widmerpool Gulf

Widmerpool Gulf is one of the basins in the carboniferous Bowland Hodder shale in Central Britain. The area of interest in the Widmerpool Gulf is the Bowland Shale Formation within the Upper Bowland. This paper focuses on evaluating the total organic carbon (TOC) from Rempstone 1 and Old Dalby 1 both penetrating the Bowland Shale Formation using Passey's delta Log R method. TOC is an essential property needed to have a productive shale gas play – accurate characterisation of TOC is critical in evaluating the potential of shale gas reservoirs because it closely relates to the amount of kerogen and therefore total gas content. Passey's method involves the use of well logs to obtain the organic richness i.e. TOC. It relies on the response of well logs to organic matter using an overlay of porosity logs and resistivity logs. Which causes a separation i.e. a delta Log R separation. The reasons for the delta Log R separation in an organic rich reservoir/non reservoir rocks is due to the presence of low density, high transit time kerogen and the presence of formation fluid i.e. oil, gas or water. Immature source rocks also observe a separation but only from the porosity log whilst non source rocks observe no separation. Rempstone 1 and Old Dalby 1 well logs were exported on Interactive Petrophysics to analyze the lithology of the intervals before been exported to Microsoft Excel to evaluate the parameters of Passey's equation to enable TOC determination. TOC estimates for the Upper Bowland Shale section in the Widmerpool Gulf and was found comparable to estimates obtained from British Geological Survey (BGS) RockEval core analysis report. This method proved to be a suitable way of estimating the total organic carbon using simple well logs.

СТРАТЕГІЧНЕ ЗНАЧЕННЯ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ЕТНІЧНИХ ТЕРИТОРІЙ У ПРОЦЕСІ КАНСТЕЛЯЦІЇ ЦЕНТРАЛЬНОЇ ЄВРОПИ В 1920-ТІ РР.

In this article the problem of Ukrainian impact in the process of the formation of security system in Central Europe in the 1920s has been studied. The strategic motifs in the course of incorporation of Ukrainian ethnic territories to the territories of Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia during the process of formation of Versailles system have been researched. Particular attention has also been paid to the problem of formation of allied relations between the counties of Central Europe, the main target of which was opposition to the German and Hungarian revanchism and Soviet expansionistic efforts. The role of the regional alliances in the Central Europe, France, Great Britain, Germany and USSR has been analyzed.

Organic geochemistry of Mississippian shales (Bowland Shale Formation) in central Britain: Implications for depositional environment, source rock and gas shale potential

Marine Carboniferous shales are proven hydrocarbon source rocks in central Britain. In this contribution the depositional environment and shale gas/liquid potential of the lower Namurian part of the Bowland Shale Formation is studied using 77 thermally immature samples from the Duffield borehole.The Bowland Shale Formation comprises mudstone and turibidite lithofacies reflecting a pronounced sea level controlled cyclicity. The total organic carbon (TOC) content of the mudstones lithofacies (including marine bands) and of fine-grained rocks within the turibidite lithofacies varies between 1.3 and 9.1%. Hydrogen index (HI) values imply the presence of kerogen type III-II.According to biomarker ratios and bulk geochemical parameters, marine bands (maximum flooding surfaces, mfs) were deposited in deep water with slightly enhanced, normal, or slightly reduced salinity. Mudstones of the highstand systems tract (HST) were deposited in environments with normal to reduced salinity, whereas photic zone anoxia favoured the preservation of marine organic matter during deposition of the mfs and the HST. The supply of landplant debris increased during the HST. Turbidites and their non-calcareous mudstone equivalents represent lowstand systems tracts deposited in low salinity environments. Terrestrial organic matter dominates in turbiditic sediments, marine organisms prevail in time-equivalent mudstones. Mudstone beneath marine bands represents transgressive systems tracts when normal marine conditions and photic zone anoxia were re-established.The mudstone lithofacies exhibits a very good to excellent potential to generate conventional mixed oil and gas. TOC content of fine-grained rocks in the turbidite lithofacies depends on the amount of detrital minerals supplied from the south. Moreover, their organic matter is gas-prone. High TOC contents and large thicknesses of the mudstone lithofacies show that the Bowland Shale Formation holds a significant shale gas/liquid potential in areas with appropriate maturity. A relatively low average HI and high clay contents may have negative effects on the shale gas potential.

Key factors affecting liver PBDE concentrations in sparrowhawks (Accipiter nisus)

High PBDE concentrations have been detected in the eggs of the sexually dimorphic Eurasian sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus) but little is known about contamination levels in adult birds and how this may vary with age and sex. We characterised liver PBDE concentrations in 59 sparrowhawks that had died in central Britain between 1998 and 2009 and determined how concentrations varied with sex, age, body condition and breeding status. Five BDE congeners (99 > 153 > 47 > 100 > 154) predominated and ΣPBDE concentrations were 10–15 fold and 2–3 fold higher in starved than non-starved adult and juvenile sparrowhawks, respectively. This was likely due to a combination of remobilisation of residues from other tissues and liver wastage. Liver ΣPBDE concentrations did not vary with sex but were greater in adults than juveniles, suggestive of accumulation with age. Overall, liver ΣPBDE concentrations ranged from 43.4 to 68,040 ng/g lipid weight, amongst the highest concentrations reported in birds anywhere.

Styles of ice-marginal sedimentation and mass-wastage within the Irish Sea sector of the Last British-Irish Ice Sheet: evidence from southeast Anglesey, north Wales, UK

During the Last Glaciation (MIS 2), the British-Irish Ice Sheet (BIIS) extended across much of Ireland and northern and central Britain. In its northern sector, the ice sheet was drained by a number of ice streams with ice reaching the continental shelf-edge by c.27 ka, before complete collapse of marine areas of the BIIS occurred by c.17 ka. However, the largest ice stream of the Last BIIS was the Irish Sea Ice Stream (ISIS) which channelled ice from Southern Scotland, the Lake District of northern England, Wales and eastern Ireland southwards through the Irish Sea Basin. At its maximum extent, the ISIS reached the Isles of Scilly after c.25 ka, before the ice-margin started to retreat northwards from c.23-22 ka. There is a growing body of sedimentological, geomorphological and geochronological evidence from terrestrial localities bordering the Irish Sea Basin that record the timing and nature of the initial expansion of ice into and through the Irish Sea Basin, the activation of the ISIS, its subsequent collapse and successive phases of active retreat. Within the Irish Sea Basin itself, there is comparatively little evidence to add spatial detail and constrain the model with data largely restricted to islands such as the Isle of Man and Anglesey. Here we report preliminary sedimentological evidence from southeast Anglesey, north Wales, for an initial advance and retreat of Irish Sea ice across the island prior to the main inundation of the ISIS. Evidence for this initial ice-advance occurs in the form of channelised subglacial outwash deposits, overlain in-turn by proglacial outwash sediment deposited during a retreat phase, and the development of kettle-like collapse structures. The area was then overridden by the ISIS which deposited a distinctive till containing erratics derived from areas bordering the Irish Sea.

Ralegh Radford Rome Fellowships: Forest exploitation and sustainability in central Italy and provincial Britain in the Roman Imperial period

Ralegh Radford Rome Fellowships: Forest exploitation and sustainability in central Italy and provincial Britain in the Roman Imperial period

Morphological and Molecular Analyses of Closely Related Species In the Stygobiontic Genus Niphargus (Amphipoda)

The present study investigates morphologically similar species in the amphipod genus Niphargus, with special emphasis on three presumably closely-related species: N. fontanus, N. aquilex, and N. schellenbergi. The distribution ranges of these species overlap in Central Europe, and ambiguity of the current diagnostic characters has likely resulted in misidentifications. To address this issue, we carried out molecular-phylogenetic analyses of Cytochrome Oxidase Subunit 1 gene (COI) and 28S rDNA sequences for 34 individuals of the three species from 27 sites in Central Europe and Great Britain. We also included 14 GenBank sequences for two additional species, N. virei and N. rhenorhodanensis, to increase the resolution potential among our in-group taxa. In addition, about 100 specimens of the three species were examined for a reappraisal of diagnostic characters. Representative specimens taken from various subterranean habitat types were examined for each of the three species. A new morphological key, utilizing improved characters, is presented to clearly distinguish between N. fontanus, N. aquilex, and N. schellenbergi. Molecular-phylogenetic analysis using COI sequence data indicates geographically well-delimited clades for N. aquilex and N. fontanus. Our data suggest that some previously recorded niphargids from the Harz Mountains of Germany, initially identified as N. fontanus or N. aquilex, were all N. schellenbergi.

STABLE ISOTOPE INVESTIGATIONS OF THE DANEBURY HILLFORT PIT BURIALS

Summary: Carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses were performed on human and animal bones recovered from pits within Danebury Iron Age hillfort. All results are within the range expected for European Holocene specimens and are similar to those from other Iron Age sites in central southern Britain. Our results indicate that the human diet included a significant amount of animal protein (meat and/or dairy products) consumed on a regular basis, but do not preclude a diet based heavily on cereal consumption. In comparison with the extensive heterogeneity visible in the animal isotope values, the homogeneity of the human values is rather striking. This may be a reflection of the much slower turnover rate of adult human collagen and may also indicate that the humans consumed a much greater variety of food than the fauna (thus averaging many isotopic sources). This is consistent with the role of hillforts as central places and locations for food distribution and exchange. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Persistent Traditions in the Face of Natural Disasters: Stemmed and Waisted Stone Tools in Late Holocene New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Studies of the technology and function of small retouched stemmed and waisted stone tools from late Holocene sites in central New Britain provide a powerful means for monitoring the effects of the massive W-K2 volcanic eruption (3480–3150 cal BP), after which pottery occurs in this region for the first time. Use-wear and residue studies show that these tools were used for processing soft starchy plant materials (tubers and wood) and cutting and piercing skin. Despite the catastrophically destructive event, results indicate cultural continuity, most likely by descendants of the original population, rather than population replacement or major cultural change. These results contribute to the ongoing debate about possible migration from Island Southeast Asia c.3400 years ago.