East Coast Of Ireland Research Articles

Using digital cameras for river plume and water quality measurements

The results from a pilot study in coastal waters off the east coast of Ireland using both an in situ and airborne mounted digital camera are described. In situ digital pictures are significantly affected by sea surface reflection. This can be eliminated with the use of a hollow pipe, attached to the camera lens, which intersects the sea surface such that a picture of light upwelled from beneath the surface is obtained. Used in this way, linear relations between both the ratio of red/green digital output (O/P) values (at a particular camera exposure) and the difference in green–red digital camera O/P were found with mineral suspended solid (MSS) concentration. A good comparison was also found between the ratios of red/green upwelling light measured with the camera and a conventional irradiance sensor. Semi‐empirical or analytical relationships between camera O/P and the inherent optical properties of the water could not be established, however. This was probably due, in part, to a lack of range in values for the water constituent parameters. An airborne mounted digital camera was used to successfully monitor the dynamics of a river plume discharging into the coastal water. The high dissolved organic material (CDOM) levels within the plume caused the plume to be easily visible in the digital imagery, with a significantly increased signal in the camera's red/green O/P values marking the spatial extent of the plume. The plume dynamics were principally controlled by the tidal flows in the coastal waters. During the ebb tide strong fronts, and inferred convergence zones, marked the edge of the river plume and were associated with increased values of the camera‐derived red/green ratio. As slack water commenced, the plume expanded away from the source and became thinner, with a decreased red/green signal. Associated with this time internal fronts were present within the plume's extent, marked by step changes, or spikes, in the camera's red/green values. 1Now at Fugro Geos Ltd, Hargreaves Road, Swindon, UK.

Teachers’ craft knowledge: a constant in times of change?

This paper is concerned with the craft knowledge of teaching, that is, the professional knowledge gained by experience which teachers use everyday in their classrooms but which is rarely articulated in any conscious manner. The notion of craft knowledge emerged as part of a wider study, which used life-history interviews to investigate the identity and work practices of ten learning support teachers (LSTs) in primary schools in the east coast of Ireland. Craft knowledge was just one of the themes distilled from their accounts which offer a glimpse into the lives and perspectives of these LSTs. Those who are privileged enough to observe successful teachers recognise their craft-knowledge at work even though they often struggle to define it coherently. It is suggested in this paper that even though it is at the heart of effective teaching, teachers’ craft-knowledge has been undervalued and under-researched. In the current educational climate of change, with its emphasis on teachers’ continuous professional development, there is much to be gained from studying the craft knowledge of teaching, particularly from the perspective of the teacher.

Recent chronologies for tree rings and terrestrial archives using 14C bomb fallout history

Tree rings representing the period from the mid-1950s up to 2001 were studied as part of an investigation of anthropogenic radionuclide input to terrestrial systems. A live specimen of Pinus sylvestris from the east coast of Ireland was felled, sampled and analysed for comparison with a similar tree felled close to the Atlantic seaboard on the west coast of Ireland. Data for the tree ring sequences were examined relative to the radionuclide content of peat profiles sampled in close proximity to the locations of the studied Pine trees. The data indicate that 14C concentrations in tree ring sequences from the east and west coasts of Ireland are virtually identical. The sequences show maximum 14C concentrations (185 and 189 pMC at east and west coast sites, respectively) that correspond closely with published data for atmospheric levels during the height of the nuclear weapons test period (1945–1980). The tree ring count for the specimen from the east coast places the 14C peak precisely at 1964, the year following the known peak in atmospheric concentrations due to above ground testing of nuclear weapons. However, 14C data show that simple ring counting of the west coast tree did not provide an accurate chronology. The data demonstrate the importance of applying dendrodating techniques using replicated site chronologies, and the value of the 14C bomb fallout curve for the construction of recent chronologies. Data show no evidence of enhanced uptake at the east coast that might suggest incorporation of output from the Sellafield nuclear complex or from the release of radioactivity resulting from an accidental fire at the plant in 1957.

A Method For Relating GPS Performance To Forest Canopy

This paper describes the development of a quantitative method of classifying forest canopy that can be related to degradation in Differential GPS (DGPS) performance. Using digital images taken vertically skywards at 20 sites within a forest on the east coast of Ireland, canopy cover was described using percentage sky obstruction (Op ), largest hole (DTmax ), and the fragmentation of sky view (DTp ) using pixel count and distance transform data. Statistical methods were used to produce three clusters which related to canopy cover in stands of Picea sitkensis and Picea contorta. DGPS data were then collected on 10 separate dates at the 20 sites, every two seconds for five minutes, and the two–dimensional standard deviation of the position fix was used to represent DGPS precision. The standard deviations ranged from 0.5 m to 9.7 m (compared to the manufacturer’s specification of approximately 1 m in the horizontal). Precision was found to be related to the total obstruction, the size of the largest hole in the canopy, and the fragmentation of the sky view. Where there was little obstruction (<20%) or fragmentation, the DGPS performance was effectively the same as outside the forest, open canopy caused a 2–3 fold degradation in precision, and closed canopy a 5–7 fold degradation. It is suggested that the methods presented could be used to rapidly relate DGPS performance to forest canopy, and therefore may be useful in pre–planning inventory mapping and future machine operations using guidance systems.

A Recent History of 14C, 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am Accumulation at Two Irish Peat Bog Sites: an East Versus West Coast Comparison

Data on radiocarbon (14C), 137Cs, 210Pb, and 241Am levels in an ombrotrophic peat sequence from a montane site on the east coast of Ireland are compared with data from a similar sequence at an Atlantic peatland site on the west coast. The 14C profiles from the west and east coasts show a broadly similar pattern. Levels increase from 100 pMC or less in the deepest horizons examined, to peak values at the west and east coast sites of 117 ± 0.6 pMC and 132 ± 0.7 pMC, respectively (corresponding to maximal fallout from nuclear weapons testing around 1964), thereafter diminishing to levels of 110–113 pMC near the surface. Significantly, peak levels at the east coast site are considerably higher than corresponding levels at the west coast site, though both are lower than reported peak values for continental regions. The possibility of significant 14C enrichment at the east coast site due to past discharges from nuclear installations in the UK seems unlikely. The 210Pbex inventory at the east coast site (6500 Bq m−2) is significantly higher than at the west coast (5300 Bq m−2) and is consistent with the difference in rainfall at the two sites. Finally, 137Cs and 241Am inventories at the east coast site also exceed those at the west coast site by similar proportions (east:west ratio of approximately 1:1.2).

A paleolimnological investigation of an upland mountain lake on the east coast of Ireland

A paleolimnological investigation of an upland mountain lake on the east coast of Ireland

A review of library and information service job advertisements: what do they tell us about work in the Irish library sector?

Over the past fifteen years, analyses of employment advertisements have generated data on employment conditions and skill requirements for job seekers in the library and information sector. This paper analyses library and information job advertisements in the two most comprehensive appointment sections in Irish national daily newspapers over 1999 and demonstrates that a small but steady number of positions are advertised in both organs. Skill requirements vary, but experience in communications, management and information technology is essential for advancement and a professional qualification in library and information studies is essential. Most positions advertised were for work in academic and public libraries, mainly in locations on the east coast of Ireland (especially Dublin).

A review of library and information service job advertisements: what do they tell us about work in the Irish library sector?

Over the past fifteen years, analyses of employment advertisements have generated data on employment conditions and skill requirements for job seekers in the library and information sector. This paper analyses library and information job advertisements in the two most comprehensive appointment sections in Irish national daily newspapers over 1999 and demonstrates that a small but steady number of positions are advertised in both organs. Skill requirements vary, but experience in communications, management and information technology is essential for advancement and a professional qualification in library and information studies is essential. Most positions advertised were for work in academic and public libraries, mainly in locations on the east coast of Ireland (especially Dublin).

Reconstructing historical radionuclide concentrations along the east coast of Ireland using a compartmental model

A mathematical model is presented that simulates the annually averaged transport of radionuclides, originating from the BNFL reprocessing plant at Sellafield, throughout the Irish Sea. The model, CUMBRIA77, represents the processes of radionuclide transport and dispersion in the marine environment and allows predictions of radionuclide concentration in various environmental media, including biota, to be made throughout the whole of the Irish Sea. In this paper we describe the use of the model to reconstruct the historical activity concentrations of 137Cs and 239+240Pu in a variety of environmental media in the western Irish Sea and along the Irish east coast back to 1950. This reconstruction exercise is of interest because only limited measurements of 137Cs and 239+240Pu activity are available prior to the 1980s. The predictions were compared to the available measured data to validate their accuracy. The results of the reconstruction indicate that activity concentrations of 137Cs in the western Irish Sea follow a similar, though slightly delayed and smoothed, profile to the discharges from the Sellafield site, with concentrations at the time of peak discharge (the mid-1970s) being around an order of magnitude higher than those measured in the 1980s and 1990s. By contrast, the concentrations of 239+240Pu at the time of peak discharges were similar to those presently measured. These differences reflect the distinct marine chemistries of the two nuclides, in particular the higher propensity of plutonium to bind to sediments leading to extended transport times. Despite these differences in behaviour the doses to Irish seafood consumers from 137Cs remain significantly higher than those from 239+240Pu.

Crustal magnetic structure of the Irish Sea region: evidence for a major basement boundary beneath the Isle of Man

Abstract Imaging and modelling of regional aeromagnetic data indicate a significant change in crustal magnetization across a boundary which extends northeast-southwest across the Irish Sea. A concealed magnetic basement is interpreted to underlie the area to the southeast of the boundary at mid-crustal levels, whereas relatively non-magnetic rocks lie at these levels to the northwest. The boundary does not coincide with the Iapetus Suture as defined by seismic evidence in the Irish Sea and palaeontological evidence on the east coast of Ireland. Instead, it appears to extend towards the northern margin of the Precambrian rocks of southeast Ireland. Its orientation swings sharply in the vicinity of the Isle of Man from north-northeast-south-southwest in the south to east-northeast-west-southwest in the northeast. There is an apparent correlation between the magnetic basement structure and an overlying, shallow, anomalous zone along the axis of the island which is revealed by gravity and high-resolution aeromagnetic data. Modelling indicates that shallow and deep structures may be related if both are assumed to dip to the northwest, a dip direction supported by seismic reflection data acquired immediately to the south of the island. The preferred interpretation is that the mid-crustal magnetic block is of Precambrian age and represents the northern part of an Avalonian basement which was assembled in late Precambrian-early Cambrian times. The geometry of the boundary beneath the Isle of Man may have been inherited from the pre-existing Avalonian basement architecture. Planes of weakness could have been reactivated as major, early Palaeozoic extensional structures and subsequently been activeunder a compressional regime during the closure of the Iapetus Ocean and the Acadian Orogeny.

Contrasting breeding periodicity of nearby populations of the lugworm, Arenicola marina (Annelida, Polychaeta)

Summary The breeding cycles of lugworm taken from three locations on the east coast of Ireland have been investigated through examination of coelomic fluid samples which contain the gametes, taken at monthly intervals. These reveal major differences in the timing and duration of breeding between the populations despite their geographic propinquity. The differences in breeding cycle cannot be ascribed to varietal or species differences and may arise from the different habitats occupied by the lugworm populations studied.

Glaciation and sea-level change for Ireland and the Irish Sea since Late Devensian/Midlandian time

The sea-level change around the coast of Ireland and the Irish Sea for the past 20 000 years is primarily the combined result of the glacio-isostatic adjustment of the crust to the removal of ice over the British Isles and the total eustatic change from the global ice sheets. However, the isostatic effects due to the removal of ice from northern Europe and North America and the addition of meltwater into the oceans also make a significant contribution. Predictions of sea-level change, based on glacio-hydro-isostatic models are compared with observations to constrain the ice volume over Ireland at the time of the last glacial maximum and the maximum ice height appears to have been of the order of 600 m. The models predict well the spatial variability in sea-level change observed across the region for Holocene and Lateglacial time, with levels above present being predicted only for northeastern Ireland and north of about Morecambe Bay. The models do not support suggestions that Lateglacial levels along the east coast of Ireland or the coast of Wales were 50–150 m above their present levels. Consistent models that would produce such large Lateglacial highstands are incompatible with all other sea level and glacial evidence for the British Isles. Palaeobathymetry and palaeoshoreline reconstructions for the Irish Sea indicates that a tenuous landbridge between Britain and Ireland developed only across the Celtic Sea, between about 18000 and 14000 years bp.

Excavations at Mad Mans Window, Glenarm, Co. Antrim: Problems of Flint Exploitation in East Antrim

This study examines the archaeological significance of the material from a group of Neolithic chipping floors rescued during the rebuilding of the Antrim coast road, at Mad Mans Window, south of Glenarm, Co. Antrim. It shows that the lithic production strategies vary significantly between assemblages although it is presumed that they are all Neolithic in date and come from the same area of coast. It is apparent that flint axe production was of limited importance on these sites and that in spite of the abundance of flint available along the Antrim coast, relatively few polished flint axes were manufactured. Instead the numerous flint caches found in adjacent parts of the north-east of Ireland tend to produce scrapers and blades. Hoards containing arrowheads may be confined to the Bronze Age.Around 300 polished flint axes and roughouts are known from Ireland. These are frequently small and only partially polished. A limited number of highly polished axes with ground flat side facets have been designated sub-type A. The tendency to use porcellanite rather than flint for axe manufacture may be due to its ability to withstand robust shock.During the last 100 years, the role of flint as a key resource in the stone age of north-eastern Ireland has always been recognized but this has usually led to an uncritical assumption as to the paramount importance of flint. Work in recent years has shown that its significance in attracting and retaining Mesolithic settlement may have been over-emphasized.The role of the flint industries in the Irish Neolithic in this region has never been properly assessed, either in relation to older Mesolithic manufacturing traditions or in the broader context of supply to the Neolithic communities of this part of Ireland.In particular, good or even reasonable quality flint is usually only exposed in Cretaceous outcrops along a narrow strip on the edge of the basalt plateau and, therefore, has a very limited availability in parts of Co. Antrim as well as parts of Counties Down and Deny. As a contrast, erratic and beach flint is available in some quantity down the east coast of Ireland from Co. Down to Wexford. A second potential constraining factor is that unlike Britain, where flint was exploited for axe manufacture in the east and other rocks in the west, flint sources and porcellanite for axe manufacturing are both found adjacent to each other in the same corner of Co. Antrim. In particular, a number of more substantial chipping floors of Neolithic age are known, e.g. the opencast quarry sites at Ballygalley Head. The purpose of this study is to assess the role of flint production on the Antrim coast with particular reference to its significance in the Neolithic. This topic will be developed in the context of an analysis of the material found at Mad Mans Window near Glenarm.

Structural constraints on closure geometry across the Iapetus suture in eastern Ireland

The east coast of Ireland is one of the few places where Lower Palaeozoic rocks are exposed adjacent to the supposed surface trace of the Iapetus Suture. North of the Tinure Fault (the local surface expression of the suture), Llandovery and Wenlock strata correlated with the Central and Southern Belts of the Southern Uplands were deformed by post-Wenlock deformation (D1), characterized by southward-verging, northerly-inclined, upright F1 folding and NNE-trending faulting with a component of sinistral transpression. South of the Tinure Fault, D1 structures are northward-verging, southerly-inclined, upright folds also associated with sinistral transpression. Structures on both sides of the Tinure Fault were modified by northwest-directed thrusting and north-verging folding with a component of dextral transpression. This second event affected lamprophyres intruding D1-deformed rocks of Wenlock age, but pre-dates the emplacement of uncleaved, probably Lower Devonian lamprophyre dykes and the unconformable deposition of Lower Carboniferous clastics and limestones. Other southerly-dipping thrusts with a dextral component of motion which occur in Lower Palaeozoic rocks in Ireland and Britain may be of Caledonian rather than Variscan age as is commonly assumed. The northward thrusting accounts for the mismatch between the inferred surface trace of the Iapetus Suture, and that projected from seismic reflectors at 10 km depth.

Survival of stocked hatchery-reared brown trout, Salmo trutta L., fry in relation to the carrying capacity of a trout nursery stream

Abstract. During the period June 1982-84 hatchery-reared brown trout, Salmo trutta L., fry were Stocked into stretches of the Owendoher. a trout nursery stream on the east coast of Ireland. These experiments were designed to examine the survival of stocked fry and to estimate the carrying capacity of the system. During the first year fry were stocked into sectors already supptorting wild fish at densities normal for the system. In the following year fry numbers were artificially reduced prior to stocking with the hatchery-reared fish. Mortality of the stocked fry was high after release with less than 33% of the fish surviving beyond the first 3 weeks. No stocked fish survived after October 1982. In the second year, however, 2-9% of the fish survived. The best survival rates were achieved where wild fry numbers were lowest. Regardless of the initial stocking density the various experiments yielded autumn fry densities (0.07-0.7 fish/m2) similar to those at unstocked sites (0.1-0.62 fish/m2). Stocking did not increase recruitment to the 1+ group and again 1+ densities (0.15-0.35 fish/m2) similar to unstocked sites (0.07-0.39 fish/m2) were obtained at the end of each year. These results suggest that spawning and recruitment in the Owendoher yield population densities approaching the maximum carrying capacity of the stream. The system appears to support a maximum summer fry density in the region of 1 fish/m2 and a maximum autumn density of 0.7 fish/m2.

The zonation of psammolittoral harpacticoid copepods around the Isle of Man

The early qualitative works on the harpacticoid fauna of the British Isles by T. &amp; A. Scott, Norman, Brady, Gurney and Thompson largely omitted the intertidal psammic biotopes. Nicholls (1935, 1939) did much to redress the situation, describing many new species of interstitial harpacticoids from the sandy shores of the Firth of Clyde. Although his studies were taxonomic, he supplied some useful information on the distribution of the species. Some ecological data is also to be found in subsequent works on the east coast of Ireland (Wells, 1963 a; O'Riordan, 1971), the Exe estuary (Wells, 1963 b) and the Isles of Scilly (Wells, 1961, 1970). The only detailed studies of interstitial harpacticoid zonation on British coasts are those of Harris (1972) for the lower shore at Whitsand Bay, Cornwall, and Mclntyre &amp; Murison (1973) for Firemore Bay, Scotland.

Gravity measurements in the north Irish Sea

This paper presents a Bouguer anomaly map of most of the north Irish Sea, based on under-water gravimeter measurements. The map incorporates earlier surveys in the northern part of the region and new work in the southern part. The new work reveals that the previously discussed Manx–Furness gravity 'low' (now renamed the East Irish Sea 'low') extends southwards to the coast of North Wales. Newly observed detailed profiles across the north-western margins of the 'low' show that it is caused by a partially fault-bounded composite sedimentary basin between the Isle of Man, Lancashire and North Wales, with a local region of basement uplift 30 km southeast of Douglas. High Bouguer anomalies are observed over a wide area between the Isle of Man, Anglesey and Ireland, suggesting a region with relatively shallow basement rocks. A negative gravity anomaly of –4o mgal amplitude occupies an elongated oblong area 40 × 30 km 2 in dimension off the east coast of Ireland near Dublin. The steep gravity gradients and other characteristics of the anomaly suggest that it is caused by a sedimentary basin about 3 to 4 km deep. The high density contrast required to explain the anomaly implies that Permo–Triassic and/or later sediments form the main infill of the basin. This anomaly is called the Kish Bank gravity 'low'.

Age of Raised Beach Deposits of Southwestern Britain

FOR many years there has been a divergence of opinion concerning the age of the raised beaches which underlie glacial and periglacial deposits on the coasts of the southern Irish Sea Basin and the Bristol Channel. After the work of George1, Zeuner2 suggested that the widespread raised beaches of south Wales and southern Ireland were formed during the last Interglacial. According to this view the beaches should be of the same age as the Eemian deposits of Continental Europe and the Ipswichian of south-east England3. On the other hand, many authors have assigned the beaches to the great interglacial (Hoxnian). Mitchell4 suggested that many beaches beneath an altitude of 100 ft O.D. were formed at this time, and this interpretation has also been put forward by Stephens5 with reference to the south-west peninsula of England; Martin6 with reference to the east coast of Ireland; and Synge7,8 with reference to the Lleyn Peninsula and west Wales. More recently, Bryant9 has applied the same dating to the raised beaches of south-west Ireland, Bowen10 to the Patella beach of Gower, and Stephens and Synge11 have re-stated their views in a more comprehensive form.

Raised beaches and their relation to glacial drifts on the east coast of Ireland

Raised beaches and their relation to glacial drifts on the east coast of Ireland

Societies and Academies

LONDON Institute of Metals (Silver Jubilee Autumn Meeting at Birmingham), September 18–21. O. F. HUDSON: Wear in the polishing of plated and other surfaces. The following materials, using magnesia on wet parchment as the polishing medium, were examined: pure platinum, pure palladium, platinum plating on brass, palladium plating (?soft?,?hard?, and burnished) on brass, nickel plating (?soft? and?hard?) on brass, silver plating, and brass (60: 40). Considered as loss of thickness, the rate of wear of the palladium-plated specimens was found to be greater than that of the platinum-plated specimens, but considered as loss of weight, the wear of the palladium coatings was slightly less than that of the platinum coatings? whilst the precious metal coatings generally were more resistant than the same metals in massive form. W. HUME-ROTHERY: A graphical method for converting the weight percentage compositions of ternary systems into atomic or molecular percentages. The method is suitable for use where 60° ruled triangular paper is available. It permits the direct transference of a triangular diagram drawn on the weight percentage scale to one in atomic percentages, and the accuracy obtained is of the order 0?l-0?5 per cent, according to the precision of the instruments and of the ruled paper. BRINLEY JONES: Preparation of lead and lead alloys for microscopic examination. Time devoted to preliminary polishing is restricted, the true structure of the metal being revealed by chemical solution of surface layers. After the removal of recrystallised layers, sections may finally be prepared for highpower examination by a treatment of alternate polishing and etching, the final polishing being vigorous. D. G. JONES, L. B. PFEIL and W. T. GRIFFITHS: Precipitation-hardening nickel-copper alloys containing aluminium. The properties of nickel-copper-aluminium alloys with nickel contents from 10 to 45 per cent and aluminium contents up to 4 per cent have been investigated. The relationships between composition and capacity for hardening by heat-treatment have been studied by means of hardness tests on the heat-treated specimens. A study has also been made of the most suitable heatreatments to produce the soft condition, and the stability at elevated temperatures of a selection of the alloys in the precipitation-hardened condition. H. O?NEILL, G. S. FARNHAM and J. F. B. JACKSON: An investigation of the heat-treatment of?standard silver?. The precipitation-hardening of quenched?standard silver? (7.25 per cent copper) has been investigated by Meyer hardness analysis. Precision X-ray spectrograms obtained with Cu-radiation from thick disc specimens of the heat-treated alloy indicate that surface preparation may considerably affect the lattice parameter results. Polishing should be avoided in this work, and etching may have bad effects. Quenched?standard silver? when reheated for 30 minutes in the 300° C. region is in a sensitive condition, and appears to precipitate completely when deformed. If precautions are taken, the lattice parameters indicate a normal progressive precipitation of copper constituent as the quenched alloy is reheated at increasing temperatures. D. STOCKDALE: The constitution of the aluminium-rich aluminium-copper alloys above 400° C. A part of the work of Dix and Richardson on the solubility of copper in aluminium has been repeated and their results have been closely confirmed. A considerable range of solid solutions has been found near the composition CuAl2, but no evidence for the existence of the compound CuAl2 has been obtained. W. H. J. VERNON: Green patina on copper: examples from Elan Valley, Wales, and Dundalk, Ireland. The patina from a copper structure in mid-Wales contained 20-75 per cent basic copper chloride, as compared with 8.15 per cent in the patina from a copper spire at Dundalk, on the east coast of Ireland (approximate ratio 2.5: 1)? this result is attributed to the influence of prevailing winds. Basic copper sulphate constituted the bulk of the deposit in each case, relationship of formula with period of exposure confirming the conclusions of previous work.