End Of MIS Research Articles

Vegetation changes during the past 40,000 years in Central China from a long fossil record

This paper describes the palynological, sedimentological and geochemical results obtained from a 6 m core taken from Lake Dajiuhu in Shennongjia Mountains, central China, spanning the last 40,000 BP. The site is located in a subtropical area which is known for harboring many endemic species. The pollen record shows that past climate changes during the Glacial allowed the persistence of warm trees and even subtropical taxa. The percentages of arboreal pollen taxa vary from 40% before and during the last glacial period to ∼60% during the Holocene. The δ13C data indicate that the dominant vegetation was composed of C3 plants. However, despite the continuous presence of tree taxa around the site, the total organic carbon indicates that the biomass was very low during the glacial period (MIS 3 and 2), related to the dominance of conifers and evergreen tree taxa, which are very low biomass producers. The total organic carbon (TOC) started to increase steadily at the end of the last glacial period (end of MIS 2), which reflects the sharp increase in the amount of Sphagnum spores recorded at the end of MIS 2, marking the beginning of the peat bog formation and the increase of the in-situ biomass. The summergreen taxa, which increased during the Holocene, may have also contributed to the TOC increase.

Geochronological reconstruction of the Pleistocene evolution of the Sarre valley (France and Germany) using OSL and ESR dating techniques

This paper focuses upon the Pleistocene terraces of the Sarre River, a right bank tributary of the Moselle River (NE France and SW Germany) flowing through the Vosges Massif, the eastern Paris Basin and the Rhenish Massif. Recent research has allowed the recognition of 12 well preserved alluvial terraces (Sa1 youngest to Sa12 oldest) between the present floodplain Sa0 and +120m relative height. The youngest terraces were dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). A first chronological framework was also provided for older terraces by Electron-Spin-Resonance (ESR) dating. The ages range between the end of the Early Pleistocene and the last glacial–interglacial cycle of the Late Pleistocene (ca. 1.1Ma to 50ka). Age ranges are consistent with the terrace elevation and stratigraphy, allowing correlation of the youngest terraces with established global climate cycles and with the younger terraces in the Moselle valley. In particular, an erosional period was recognised at the end of the Saalian, (end of MIS 6) suggesting that the terrace incision occurred at the cold-to-warm transition. This result contrasts with those obtained for the Moselle and Meurthe Rivers, where previous studies suggest that major incision took place at the beginning of the cold periods. The differences are attributed to a variable fluvial response to climate change which could relate to the presence or absence of glaciers in the upper catchment.

Looking back at two decades of “Metrology in Chemistry”

In this Editorial, I am announcing the end of my 16 years of formal responsibility for this Journal as I am becoming slightly subject to biological boundary conditions imposed by mother nature. During that time period—and even prior to that—I was privileged to be in a position from where I could observe a growing interest for the introduction of metrological principles in chemical measurement and could follow this evolution closely at many stages and in many environments. Maybe this is a good time to look back on these years and offer some thoughts for the future of ‘‘Metrology in Chemistry’’, a concept quoted so many times in this Journal. Somewhere in the period 1985–1990, an important change in thinking and attitude must have occurred within the SI [1] about chemical measurement. It must have been a difficult undertaking since it took quite some time after the introduction in 1971 of an SI unit intended for chemical measurement, the mole. For much longer, other measurement units such as length, mass, time, electric current, thermodynamic temperature, and luminous intensity, were part of the SI structure through Consultative Committees to the CIPM (see ‘‘Appendix’’). The change in thinking eventually resulted in the foundation of the CCQM (see ‘‘Appendix’’) which had its first session in 1995 [2, 3] 24 years later. It is noteworthy that the name ‘‘CCQM’’ contains ‘‘amount-of-substance’’, a not well described nor commonly well understood quantity amongst chemists, not then and not until this very day. A broader view was reflected by the addition of ‘‘metrology in chemistry’’ in the name of CCQM in 2002. That seemed to include, at least implicitly, any ‘‘chemical measurement’’. However, no in-depth conceptual discussion about the ambiguous quantity ‘‘amount-of-substance’’ nor about ‘‘chemical measurement’’ has taken place in the CCQM as yet. Such a discussion is very necessary and therefore highly recommended. ‘‘Amount-of-substance’’ is a base quantity of the international system of quantities ISQ. For lack of a better term, it is sometimes described as ‘‘the quantity for which the mole is the unit’’, a remarkable reasoning as long as ‘‘amount-of-substance’’ is commonly not well understood. Actors in the field of physical chemistry, especially in thermodynamics, seem to have been the main if not only proponents of a unit ‘‘mole’’ in 1971, involving the Physical Chemistry Division of the IUPAC (see ‘‘Appendix’’). Analytical Chemistry was not really involved—nor did analytical chemists involve themselves—very much. Neither are they very noticeable in the presently ongoing discussions on the re-definition of the mole. However, the development of chemical measurement techniques exploded over the last 40 years because of the broad use of chemical measurement results in intercontinental trade and commerce, caused by possible pollution of food and drinks, and of the environment in general. Thus, fast instrumental measuring systems were needed as well as an answer to the question ‘‘when are results of chemical measurements comparable throughout the world and, if so, what is their degree of equivalence?’’ (concept 5-4 in [4]). This (r)evolution has been achieved by analytical chemists mostly outside the ‘‘metrological community/structures’’. The technical development was based on the particulate nature of atoms and molecules that were converted into charged particles or light emission/absorption quanta in an essentially one-to-one ratio, in all kinds of spectrometers. Thus, the concept ‘‘number-of-entities’’ was confirmed again to be a highly relevant quantity because it was the P. De Bievre (&) Kasterlee, Belgium e-mail: paul.de.bievre@skynet.be

Three People, Three Different Complaints, Three Stories, One Thing in Common

The end of my 10 hour shift as triage nurse was finally coming to a close. Looking back, three individuals seemed to haunt me. Three people, three different complaints, three stories, and yet they all had one thing in common. How could that be? Nancy Stephens Donatelli, Member, CODE Chapter ENA, is Assessment Nurse, Shenango Presbyterian SeniorCare, New Wilmington, PA. Joan Somes, Member, Greater Twin Cities Chapter ENA, is Staff Nurse/Department Educator, St. Joseph’s Hospital, St. Paul, MN.

The restructuring of Annalen der Physik in 2012

Annalen der PhysikVolume 523, Issue 6 p. 437-438 Editorial The restructuring of Annalen der Physik in 2012 Ulrich Eckern, Ulrich EckernSearch for more papers by this authorGuidio Fuchs, Guidio FuchsSearch for more papers by this author Ulrich Eckern, Ulrich EckernSearch for more papers by this authorGuidio Fuchs, Guidio FuchsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 30 May 2011 https://doi.org/10.1002/andp.201152316Citations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume523, Issue6June 2011Pages 437-438 RelatedInformation

Late Quaternary palaeoenvironmental reconstruction from Lakes Ohrid and Prespa (Macedonia/Albania border) using stable isotopes

Abstract. Here we present stable isotope data from three sediment records from lakes that lie along the Macedonian-Albanian border (Lake Prespa: 1 core, and Lake Ohrid: 2 cores). The records only overlap for the last 40 kyr, although the longest record contains the MIS 5/6 transition (Lake Ohrid). The sedimentary characteristics of both lakes differ significantly between the glacial and interglacial phases. At the end of MIS 6 Lake Ohrid's water level was low (high δ18Ocalcite) and, although productivity was increasing (high calcite content), the carbon supply was mainly from inorganic catchment rock sources (high δ13Ccarb). During the last interglacial, calcite and TOC production and preservation increased, progressively lower δ18Ocalcite suggest increase in humidity and lake levels until around 115 ka. During ca. 80 ka to 11 ka the lake records suggest cold conditions as indicated by negligible calcite precipitation and low organic matter content. In Lake Ohrid, δ13Corg are complacent; in contrast, Lake Prespa shows consistently higher δ13Corg suggesting a low oxidation of 13C-depleted organic matter in agreement with a general deterioration of climate conditions during the glacial. From 15 ka to the onset of the Holocene, calcite and TOC begin to increase, suggesting lake levels were probably low (high δ18Ocalcite). In the Holocene (11 ka to present) enhanced productivity is manifested by high calcite and organic matter content. All three cores show an early Holocene characterised by low δ18Ocalcite, apart from the very early Holocene phase in Prespa where the lowest δ18Ocalcite occurs at ca. 7.5 ka, suggesting a phase of higher lake level only in (the more sensitive) Lake Prespa. From 6 ka, δ18Ocalcite suggest progressive aridification, in agreement with many other records in the Mediterranean, although the uppermost sediments in one core records low δ18Ocalcite which we interpret as a result of human activity. Overall, the isotope data present here confirm that these two big lakes have captured the large scale, low frequency palaeoclimate variation that is seen in Mediterranean lakes, although in detail there is much palaeoclimate information that could be gained, especially small scale, high frequency differences between this region and the Mediterranean.

How I Became a Biochemist… and Beyond…

How I Became a Biochemist… and Beyond…

The Midwife Toad and Alma Mahler: Epigenetics or a Matter of Deception?

The Midwife Toad and Alma Mahler: Epigenetics or a Matter of Deception?

Large-scale karst subsidence and accelerated fluvial aggradation during MIS6 in NE Spain: climatic and paleohydrological implications

Fluvial systems crossing evaporitic bedrock are commonly affected by karstic subsidence, which may result in river adjustments recorded by anomalous alluvial thickening. A remarkable study case is the Gállego River, at the Central Ebro Basin (NE Spain), where dissolution of evaporite bedrock gave rise to a subsidence induced depositional basin 30 km-long by 8 km-wide, infilled with alluvial sediments in excess of 110 m in thickness. A detailed morpho-sedimentary analysis of alluvial deposits supported with optically stimulated luminescence dating has revealed that paleokarst subsidence and accelerated fluvial aggradation occurred during discrete time periods, the most recent one being at 140–155 kyr (end of MIS 6). Subsequent alluvial terrace formation occurred at ∼110 kyr, 63–48 kyr and ∼17 kyr, linked to fluvio-glacial activity at the Pyrenean headwaters. Large-scale bedrock dissolution and associated alluviation appear to be sensitive to 1) long lasting periods of glacial outwash discharges; 2) high effective runoff from the extensive valley slopes, and 3) increased surface-groundwater exchange and groundwater circulation. The last large-scale subsidence episode (140–155 kyr) correlates with hydrological proxies reflecting a prolonged (141–149 kyr) salinity drop in the western Mediterranean, previously interpreted as linked to a Heinrich event, but which may instead represent an anomalous period of enhanced river discharge fed by extensively glaciated mountains.

Sedimentary evidence of landscape and climate history since the end of MIS 3 in the Krkonoše Mountains, Czech Republic

A sedimentary core recovered from the cirque basin of Labský důl valley (1039 m a.s.l.) in the Krkonoše Mountains reflects the environmental history for approximately the last 30,000 years. Analyses of magnetic susceptibility, carbon content, pollen assemblages and macrofossil data in a 15 m thick sediment sequence provide the first continuous record of Lateglacial and Holocene vegetation history in Sudetes region of the Czech Republic. The succession of sedimentary units in the lower part of the core suggests that the cirque was ice-free before the onset of the last glaciation at the beginning of marine isotope stage 2. Highly variable climate prevailed during this period with cold conditions culminating about 18 cal ka BP. Cold climates persisted until the Lateglacial period, evidenced by an identified warming and subsequent cooling event correlated with the Younger Dryas period. Sparse, treeless vegetation dominated in the catchment area at that time. The sequence of interrupted thinly laminated silts reflects the retreat and temporary readvance of a local glacier in the cirque during 12.5–10.8 cal ka BP. Subsequently, the alpine treeline ecotone gradually shifted above the cirque floor. Palaeoclimatic conditions in the early Holocene fluctuated strongly, whereas since 5.1 cal ka BP conditions have been more stable. Pollen-based climate reconstructions suggest significant cooling at around 9.8–9.3, 7.7–7.5 and 4.0–3.3 cal ka BP. Spruce forests have dominated the site since 5.0 cal ka BP when the vegetation became similar to the modern one. Two phases of increased sedimentation were identified within the Holocene culminating about 9.2–7.5 cal ka BP and 5.8–5.5 cal ka BP. Sediment yield was as high as 2.4 mm yr −1 during the period, reflecting environmental changes during the Atlantic/Sub-Boreal transition.

Acceptance of the Clark P. Read Mentor Award: Mentor and Mentee–A Lasting Relationship

Acceptance of the Clark P. Read Mentor Award: Mentor and Mentee–A Lasting Relationship

The post-glacial downcutting history in the Waihuka tributary of Waipaoa River, Gisborne district: Implications for tectonics and landscape evolution in the Hikurangi subduction margin, New Zealand

Determining the spatial and temporal deliveries of sediment from the Waipaoa River catchment in the post-glacial period is a major goal of integrated source-to-sink landscape evolution studies in the region. In a 2.2 km long section of the Waihuka tributary (217 km 2) of the Waipaoa River (2150 km 2) in eastern North Island, New Zealand, a sequence of at least ten fluvial terraces and abandoned meanders up to 45 m above the present river records rates and times of post-glacial downcutting. Dateable organic and tephra horizons in the terrace and meander infill stratigraphy indicate that downcutting at this location on the Waihuka tributary was dominated by a short-lived event in the early Holocene from 10–8 ka BP, when as much as half of the downcutting was accomplished in only 10–15% of post-glacial time. The large downcutting event is interpreted to record the passing of a succession of major knickpoints or a knickzone through this tributary. The initiation of knickpoint retreat in the catchment was primarily a consequence of reduction in sediment supply at the end of MIS 2. Based on the timing of rapid downcutting in the Waipaoa River mainstem, we estimate that the rate of knickpoint retreat along the Waihuka tributary was about 2 km/kyr. In the period before and after rapid downcutting in the Waihuka tributary, modest incision rates, averaging 1–2 mm/yr, probably represent the regional tectonic uplift rate.

Late Quaternary evolution of the Çanakkale Strait region (Dardanelles, NW Turkey): implications of a major erosional event for the postglacial Mediterranean-Marmara Sea connection

Seismic and bathymetric data from the Canakkale Strait and its extensions onto the shelves of the Marmara and Aegean seas indicate that the strait was formed mainly by an erosional event. Four seismic units are observed on seismic profiles. The lower two of these (units 4 and 3) constitute the basement of a regionally widespread erosional unconformity (ravinement), which developed during marine isotope stage 2 (MIS 2). The two upper units (units 2 and 1), which overlie the ravinement surface, form a higher-order sequence. Sequence stratigraphic analysis indicates that units 2 and 1 deposited as lowstand and highstand systems tracts respectively, since the end of MIS 2. The transgressive systems tract is represented by a major erosional event which occurred throughout the Canakkale sill area when the Mediterranean-Marmara Sea connection and, hence, the Canakkale Strait was formed. The existence of the erosive Şarkoy Canyon along the shelf edge of the southern Marmara Sea demonstrates that the flow direction causing the erosion was from south to north, thus proving that it was produced by Mediterranean water flowing over the sill into the Marmara Sea basin.

Pedogenesis of a catena of the Farmdale–Sangamon Geosol complex in the north central United States

The Farmdale–Sangamon Geosol pedocomplex consists of the Sangamon Geosol and the overlying Farmdale Geosol, which form the most extensive terrestrial record of the last interglacial to glacial transition in the Midwest United States. The geosol complex formed for upwards of 100 ka, extending from the end of MIS 6 through 4 for the Sangamon Geosol, then the Farmdale Geosol for during a brief episode at the end of MIS 3 following slow accumulation and pedogenic modification of eolian silt deposited on top of the Sangamon Geosol. Our study site consists of a buried paleo-hillslope transect that forms a catena, enabling evaluation of slope effects on interglacial-scale soil formation. The Sangamon Geosol is formed in calcareous and illitic glaciogenic sediment. Along the catena the Sangamon Geosol profiles display some morphological changes, namely in terms of colors that we interpret as indicators of differences in drainage. Most thickness and horizonation characteristics are similar all along the transect, with intact upper sola horizons (AE and E horizons) that overlie clay-enriched Bt horizons. The Bt horizons contain abundant clay that exists as illuvial clay coatings, matrix infills, and as mosaic-speckled domains. The clay originated both by in situ weathering and through illuviation from the clay depleted upper sola. Slope does not appear to affect Bt characteristics beyond redder hues of the matrix and clay coatings in the upper slope position. With depth, effects of carbonate leaching and infilling of clay in the matrix decrease and clay coatings are restricted to walls of voids adjacent to aggregates. Clay mineralogy shows illite depletion, but no interstratified kaolinite-expandable minerals, indicating the degree of weathering is not as great as is typical of Sangamon Geosol profiles formed in loess or in glaciogenic sediment of the central Illinois type area. Clay mineralogy is also stratified with depth, coincident with particle size, which probably indicates sorting of layers of illitic dolomite and shale. Variation of horizon and profile characteristics appears to largely be a function of particle size variability and stratification than topographic position in the catena. The influence of hillslope position on soil redistribution during formation of the Sangamon Geosol appears negligible given the uniformity of upper solum horizon thickness and sandy particle size characteristics, so we conclude that a bioturbation and rainwash origin of the upper solum and the texture contrast in these profiles is not the best process model explanation. We suggest that the base-rich nature of these soils led to ecosystem characteristics that discouraged erosion and encouraged infiltration and a lessivage-type origin of the texture contrast. No convincing evidence of MIS 6 through MIS 4 loess occurs at this site. The Farmdale Geosol formed in the Robein Silt, which is Roxana Silt (MIS 3 loess) that was redistributed downslope. The Robein Silt is thicker and finer in the topographic low and indicates the cooler and forested environmental conditions during MIS 3 were conducive to downslope movement of soil and also produced greater differences in drainage-induced soil morphological changes in the Farmdale Geosol.

Genetic Suppressors and Recovery of Repressed Biochemical Memory

Many of the Reflections articles in this journal have focused on particular biological problems that the authors have devoted their careers to or on particular techniques that have facilitated their biological studies. Although I began my career as a biochemist, one of the most common threads to my research has been the exploitation of a genetic approach, the analysis of suppressor mutations. Particularly in the last 20 years, the success of this approach has led me into biological problems that required a remembering or relearning of my early training in biochemistry. This article will describe the voyage from chemistry and biochemistry to genetics and then to a recovery of remnants of my biochemical memory. As a graduate student working under Lowell Hager at Harvard in the late 1950s, my thesis research was chemical and biochemical, as I performed the chemical synthesis and studied the biosynthesis of the chlorinated mold product caldariomycin (2,2-dichloro-1,3-cyclopentanediol) (1–3). With his postdoctoral fellow Paul Shaw, Lowell had discovered an enzyme, chloroperoxidase, that was capable of utilizing chloride ion to chlorinate organic compounds (4). Part of my work was to determine how this enzyme might be involved in the biosynthesis of caldariomycin. Apparently, the work became somewhat well known. This I learned when, toward the end of my Ph.D. work, I attended a FASEB meeting in Atlantic City to give a short presentation. As I walked into the conference center on the first day, a scientist passing by me stopped to look at my badge, hesitated a moment, and then commented “Beckwith... hmmm, oh yes, I remember... chlorination!” Despite this really quite limited chemical/biochemical notoriety, I became more and more fascinated by bacterial genetics in graduate school. I proceeded to do postdoctoral work in several bacterial genetics laboratories.

Founding, early history, and transformation of the Journal for Lipid Research to an American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology journal

The Journal of Lipid Research was founded in October, 1959 and has had a long and distinguished history. It evolved from an initial concept of a loose-leaf methodology handbook to a major journal for the lipid field. Its growth has in many ways paralleled the growth and expansion of lipid research. Today, it is operated as a journal of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the forefront of biomedical research on lipids.

The North Eurasian mammal assemblages during the end of MIS 3 (Brianskian–Late Karginian–Denekamp Interstadial)

Abundant Northern Eurasian mammal data have been collected from deposits of the final part of MIS 3 (Brianskian–Late Karginian–Denekamp Interstadial). They indicate a period of some warming with respect to climates associated with the encompassing glacial deposits. The unique structure of mammal assemblages of this interval was distinguished during this study. All mammal assemblages of Northern Eurasia related to the end of MIS 3 are characterized by “mixed”, “non-analogue” species composition. The mammals which now inhabit different natural zones (tundra, steppe, forest) occurred together in different combinations over the huge territories of Northern Eurasia. The Northern Eurasian mammalian assemblages correlated with the end of MIS 3 were closer in the species composition to the faunas of cold stages of the Last Glaciation than to interglacial ones. Mathematical methods elucidate the principal and local characteristics of the structure and geographical position of mammal assemblages through most Eurasia between 33 and 24 ka BP.

Response of the Rhine–Meuse fluvial system to Saalian ice‐sheet dynamics

A new reconstruction of the interaction between the Saalian Drente glaciation ice margin and the Rhine–Meuse fluvial system is presented based on a sedimentary analysis of continuous core material, archived data and a section in an ice‐pushed ridge. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) was applied to obtain independent age control on these sediments and to establish a first absolute chronology for palaeogeographical events prior to and during the glaciation. We identified several Rhine and Meuse river courses that were active before the Drente glaciation (MIS 11‐7). The Drente glaciation ice advance into The Netherlands (OSL‐dated to fall within MIS 6) led to major re‐arrangement of this drainage network. The invading ice sheet overrode existing fluvial morphology and forced the Rhine–Meuse system into a proglacial position. During deglaciation, the Rhine shifted into a basin in the formerly glaciated area, while the Meuse remained south of the former ice limit, a configuration that persisted throughout most of the Eemian and Weichselian periods. An enigmatic high position of proglacial fluvial units and their subsequent dissection during deglaciation by the Meuse may partially be explained by glacio‐isostatic rebound of the area, but primarily reflects a phase of high base level related to a temporary proglacial lake in the southern North Sea area, with lake levels approximating modern sea levels. Our reconstruction indicates that full ‘opening’ of the Dover Strait and lowering of the Southern Bight, enabling interglacial marine exchange between the English Channel and the North Sea, is to be attributed to events during the end of MIS 6.

The impact of Dansgaard–Oeschger cycles on the loessic environment and malacofauna of Nussloch (Germany) during the Upper Weichselian

AbstractA loess sequence has been sampled continuously at high resolution in Nussloch (Rhine Valley, Germany) for malacological and grain-size analyses between ca. 34 and 20 ka. Molluscan abundance and richness, percentage in hygrophilous species and grain-size index show cyclical variations related to the lithological loess–gley alternation. Major molluscan abundance maxima were triggered by temperature increases through an enhancement of the reproduction cycle, whereas cyclical richness fluctuations and percentage in hygrophilous species reflect variations in local humidity and changes in the environmental mosaic. Malacological parameters allow the distinction of four environmental phases organised in cyclical successions correlated with most of the loess–gley doublets. The correlation of the grain-size index of the Nussloch loess sequence with the dust content of the GRIP ice core demonstrates the synchronicity of major molluscan abundance maxima and δ18O increases characterising temperature increases during Dansgaard–Oeschger interstades. A schematic model is proposed to link the North Atlantic Dansgaard–Oeschger climatic oscillations with local environmental changes indicated by both malacofauna and pedostratigraphy. This malacological study of the Nussloch loess sequence thus provides new information about the response of terrestrial loessic palaeoenvironments to millennial-timescale climatic fluctuations during the Upper Weichselian (∼ marine isotope stage 2 (MIS 2) and end of MIS 3).

Certificate in ultrasound from the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare

This certificate is curriculum based and has theoretical and practical components. It is a special skills module of the Faculty of Sexual Health and Reproductive Healthcare. The certificate is aimed at doctors, nurses, and midwives who have already acquired an acceptable qualification and are working in contraception and reproductive health care. The trainees must be fully registered with the General Medical Council/Nursing and Midwifery Council and be working in sexual and reproductive health, obstetrics and gynaecology, primary care, or any other specialty related to women’s health care. April 2008, towards the end of my fixed term specialty training appointment 2 post in …