u th ages obtained by mass spectrometry in corals from barbados sea level during the past 130 000 years the study of the sea level record during the last glacial cycle has primarily proceeded indirectly by means of oxygen isotope measurements on foraminifera from deep sea sediments1 2 the direct approach of dating sea level indicators stagnated during the past decade mainly because the samples required to complete our knowledge of the past glaciations are below the present day sea level3 7 using the 14c ages of acropora palmata samples collected by drilling offshore the island of barbados fairbanks8 presented the first detailed chronology for the last deglaciation this radiocarbon chronology is limited to the past 30 kyr because of the short half life of 14c 5 730 yr we must therefore rely on other dating methods to obtain information for the whole last glacial cycle during the past four years 230th 234u dating of corals by thermal ionization mass spectrometry has been shown to be significantly more precise and accurate than the classical counting method9 14 we have used this technique to measure u th ages in coral samples from the barbados collection and from subaerially exposed outcrops see also ref 15 here we present results bearing on the sea level record for the past 130 000 years we conclude that the last deglaciation started 3 000 years earlier than previously thought and confirm that there were two surges in melt water8 at about 11 kyr and 14 kyr bp before present

enhancement of uranium 234 in springwaters of aguas da prata sao paulo brazil springwater samples were collected at aguas da prata an important spa in s o paulo state brazil the 238u and 234u isotopes were evaluated for platina paiol villela prata radioativa prata nova boi vitoria and prata antiga springs an inverse logarithmic correlation was found between 234u 238u activity ratio and 222rn content of the studied waters which was related to different solution mechanisms of 222rn and 234u nuclides at the rock water interface a linear correlation also exists between the 234u 238u activity ratios of the studied waters and total dissolved solids ionic strength co2 partial pressure and index of base exchange which indicates that the enhancement of 234u in solution increases with the degree of weathering in the aquifers a higher 234u 238u activity ratio was found to be directly related to a higher value of dissolution rate

origin of the northern atlantic s heinrich events as first noted by heinrich 1988 glacial age sediments in the eastern part of the northern atlantic contain layers with unusually high ratios of ice rafted lithic fragments to foraminifera shells he estimated that these layers are spaced at intervals of roughly 10 000 years in this paper we present detailed information documenting the existence of the upper five of these layers in odp core 609 from 50 n and 24 w their ages are respectively 15 000 radiocarbon years 20 000 radiocarbon years 27 000 radiocarbon years about 40 000 years and about 50 000 years we also note that the high lithic fragment to foram ratio is the result of a near absence of shells in these layers although we are not of one mind regarding the origin of these layers we lean toward an explanation that the heinrich layers are debris released during the melting of massive influxes of icebergs into the northern atlantic these sudden inputs may be the result of surges along the eastern margin of the laurentide ice sheet

mid holocene climate and culture change in the atacama desert northern chile abstract twenty archaeological campsites intercalated between more than 30 debris flows caused by heavy rainfall events between 6200 and 310014c yr b p have recently been discovered at quebrada puripica in the atacama desert of northern chile this record provides detailed information about extreme short lived climatic events during the hyperarid mid holocene period for the first time we found evidence of continuous human occupation in this area filling the regional hiatus in the atacama basin silencio arqueologico between 8000 and 480014c yr b p the transformation of early archaic hunters into the complex late archaic cultural tradition was an adaptive process during this time the site was a local ecological refuge with abundant resources in a generally hostile environment

final stages in the collapse of the laurentide ice sheet hudson strait canada nwt 14c ams dates seismics stratigraphy and magnetic susceptibility logs hudson strait is a key element in the history of ice sheet ocean interactions during the deglaciation of the laurentide ice sheet data from over 30 giant piston cores supplemented by ca 40 14c ams dates on foraminifers and shells from sites within and adjacent to hudson strait are used to describe the timing and sediment processes associated with the final complex phases of deglaciation in hudson strait each core is placed in a regional seismic architectural context through examination of deep tow huntec profiles most cores sample a thin postglacial unit and extend several meters into glacial marine sediment mainly silty clays 14c dates on cores from the adjacent shelf indicate that deglaciation occurred by 13 ka we have not been unable to confirm that hudson strait was ice free by 11 12 ka although this is a probable scenario whole core magnetic susceptibility wcms data are used as the primary signature of changes in the style of sedimentation and provenance and to correlate between cores wcms indicates that there is a regional differentiation in the ms signal associated with bedrock provenance changes in contribution of detrital carbonate and style of sedimentation one low wcms event is present in cores from both the western and eastern basins it dates from 8 0 ka and provides an important regional stratigraphic marker probably associated with the final deglaciation of hudson bay and hudson strait sediment from a southerly source ungava bay continued to be contributed into the 900 m deep eastern basin of hudson strait 8 and 7 ka and thick postglacial sequences were piled within ungava bay between 6 and 7 ka

controls on the spatial and temporal variability of 222rn in riparian groundwater in a lowland chalk catchment radon is a powerful tracer of stream aquifer interactions however it is important to consider the source and behaviour of radon in groundwater when interpreting observations of river radon in relation to groundwater discharge here we characterise the variability in groundwater radon concentrations in the riparian zone of a chalk catchment groundwater 222rn radon concentrations were determined in riparian zone boreholes at two sites in the lambourn catchment berkshire uk over a two year period in addition borehole core material was analysed for 226ra radium and to determine radon emanation radon and radium concentrations and radon emanation were found to change with depth and temporal variations in groundwater radon concentrations were found at different scales the abundance of radium and emanation of radon increased nearer the surface leading to greater groundwater radon concentrations it is shown that seasonal changes in water table elevation can to lead to variable radon concentrations in groundwater as zones of radon production become hydraulically active groundwater radon concentrations in shallow piezometers were found to respond to both seasonal changes in the water table and individual rainfall events riparian sources of radon can be variable and are therefore potentially influential in the radon signals observed in rivers and should be properly characterised when interpreting river radon inputs

simulating the impact of freshwater inputs and deep draft icebergs formed during a mis 6 barents ice sheet collapse 1 an intermediate complexity climate model is used to simulate the collapse of the barents ice sheet during marine isotope stage 6 mis 6 140 ka b p with the purpose of investigating whether a mass input of freshwater from the collapse could have affected the convection and deep water formation in the north atlantic ocean further experiments used a coupled dynamic and thermodynamic iceberg model to determine the effects of deep draft icebergs rather than freshwater alone on the ocean circulation the results predict that the collapse of the barents ice sheet had a significant impact on the meridional overturning circulation in both the atlantic and pacific oceans freshwater fluxes have more of an impact on the atlantic overturning circulation during the actual release period compared to icebergs but the bergs induce effects over longer time scales even after the pulse is removed freshwater fluxes of 0 15 sverdrup sv and iceberg surges of 0 1 sv trigger significant changes in the global patterns particularly in the north pacific where there is strengthening of the overturning circulation at the expense of that in the north atlantic and associated increases in pacific sea surface temperatures these results highlight the importance of simulating not only the correct flux but also the form of the freshwater input from ice sheet collapses appropriately

the quaternary geology of the labrador shelf the regional distribution of glacial and postglacial sediments on the labrador shelf was mapped by medium and high resolution seismics and shows a succession of tills that extend to the continental shelf edge at approximately 600 m the uppermost of these tills is less laterally extensive and does not occur on the labrador shelf bank tops in water depths less than 160 m we infer that the last glacial episode was less extensive than the preceding ones glaciomarine stratified silts and postglacial muds are found overlying the upper till in the deep basins that separate the banks the upper till glaciomarine silts and postglacial muds are interpreted to constitute one complete deglacial cycle radiocarbon age determination suggests this deglacial sequence began at approximately 20 000 years bp on the northernmost labrador shelf and hudson strait seismic evidence indicates a late glacial readvance locally deposited a till that overlies the glaciomarine sediments associated with the last glacial advance

origin and consequences of cyclic ice rafting in the northeast atlantic ocean during the past 130 000 years deep sea sediment cores recovered from the northeast atlantic ocean were examined in order to elucidate the influence of the earth s orbital parameters on major ice rafting analyses of coarse grained ice rafted debris and planktonic foraminifers revealed a strong reaction to the precession signal since 130 000 yr b p dropstone layers have been deposited each half period of a precessional cycle 11 000 1000 yr ice rafting occurs during times of winter minimum summer maximum insolation and summer minimum winter maximum insolation in the first case high summer insolation forces meltwater discharge from the ice sheets into the polar seas which subsequently enhances formation of sea ice during the winter in the second case growth of continental ice enhances iceberg production which also leads to a salinity reduction of surface seawater both situations result in a southward penetration of polar water thus the marine record of dropstones documents ice rafting not only during weichselian stades but also during cold events within interstades the regularity of ice rafting yields a useful framework to calibrate and elucidate climatic changes not only in the region of the north atlantic ocean but also in remote areas such as the pacific ocean and the antarctic

deep draft icebergs from the barents ice sheet during mis 6 are consistent with erosional evidence from the lomonosov ridge central arctic 1 iceberg scour marks on the lomonosov ridge in the central arctic imply that bergs with drafts exceeding 850 m once existed in the arctic whereas similar erosion patterns observed on the yermak plateau suggest that some of these deep keeled icebergs exited the arctic through the fram strait into the nordic seas an intermediate complexity climate model with a dynamic and thermodynamic iceberg model is used to simulate the collapse of the barents ice sheet during mis 6 with the purpose of investigating if deep draft mega icebergs can reach and ground on the lomonosov ridge a number of simulations with different iceberg sizes show that deep draft bergs seeded from near the franz victoria trough could indeed have reached the ridge whereas other bergs crossed the yermak plateau and exited through the fram strait the draft of the bergs mainly determines the trajectory with only minor influence from the mass and length and width of the bergs this work is consistent with previous speculation that these icebergs originated from the disintegration of the barents ice sheet during marine isotope stage 6 mis 6 140 ka bp but suggests their origin was more likely to be from the western rather than eastern major ice stream of that ice sheet the long term impact on the overturning circulation from melting icebergs is more severe than that from a freshwater pulse of equivalent magnitude and a correct representation of icebergs in paleoclimate models is therefore of importance

transport of radionuclides in an unconfined chalk aquifer inferred from u series disequilibria abstract u series disequilibria measured in waters and rocks from a chalk aquifer in france have been used as an analog for long term radionuclide migration drill core samples from a range of depths in the vadose zone and in the saturated zone as well as groundwater samples were analyzed for 238 u 234 u 232 th and 230 th to determine transport mechanisms at the water rock interface and to quantify parameters controlling the migration of radionuclides isotope measurements in rocks were done by tims whereas 234 u 238 u and 230 th 232 th activity ratios in water samples were measured by multi collector icp ms both depletion and enrichment in 234 u relative to 238 u were observed in carbonate rock samples resulting from chemical weathering in the unsaturated zone and calcite precipitation in the zone of water table oscillation respectively the correlation between 230 th 232 th activity ratios and 87 sr 86 sr ratios found in the chalk samples indicates that thorium is mainly contained in a minor silicate phase whose abundance is variable in chalk samples water samples are all characterized by 234 u 238 u 1 resulting from recoil effect of 234 th groundwaters are characterized by a more radiogenic signature in 87 sr 86 sr than the rocks moreover 230 th 232 th activity ratios in the waters are lower than in the rocks and increase with distance from the water divide which suggests that th transport is controlled by colloids formed during water infiltration in the soil a 1 d transport model has been developed in order to constrain the u series nuclide transport considering a transient behavior of radionuclides in the aquifer and a time dependent composition for the solid phase this model permits a prediction of the time scale of equilibration of the system and an estimation of parameters such as weathering rate distribution coefficients and recoil fractions retardation factors of 10 35 and from 1 10 4 to 2 10 5 were predicted for u and th respectively and can be used to predict the migration of radionuclides released as contaminants in the environment at the scale of our watershed 32 km 2 a characteristic migration time from recharge to riverine discharge of 200 600 yr for u and 0 2 3 7 myr for th was obtained

cryosphere ocean interactions at the margin of the laurentide ice sheet during the younger dryas chron se baffin shelf northwest territories cores hu82 034 057 and hu84 035 008 resolution basin se baffin shelf contain 200 and 450 cm respectively of sediment that spans the younger dryas chron in both cores the interval is bracketed by 14c dates on foraminifera or molluscs these sites were close to the margin of the late wisconsin foxe ice sheet as it flowed toward the labrador sea prior to 11 ka both cores record moderate to high accumulations of foraminifera relatively high del 18o values in planktonic foraminifera and low values of detrital carbonate the diatom and percent opal records imply occasional seasonally open water conditions during part of the younger dryas chron both the diatom and opal analyses imply a shutoff of biogenic silica production suggesting surface water conditions affected by increased sea ice and or reduced nutrients in addition the younger dryas interval is marked by an increase in coarse sand and detrital carbonate a decrease in total organic carbon and foraminifera and high rates of sediment accumulation the inferred environment during the younger dryas is ice proximal in hu82 034 057 the foraminifera and other data suggest a change in conditions during the middle part of the younger dryas chron

pleistocene and holocene beaches and estuaries along the southern barrier of buenos aires argentina abstract the buenos aires aggradation plain has a good record of quaternary sea level fluctuations to the east of the tandilia range the elevations of the pleistocene beaches respond to the tectonic behaviour of the salado basin holocene beaches indicate a maximum transgression higher than 2 m the low relief permitted an extended horizontal record of beach chenier plains interfingered with estuarine environments coastal lagoons marshes covered by a sandy eastern barrier between the tandilia and ventania ranges the location of pleistocene and holocene beaches are related to a former higher relief i e they are attached to low altitude cliffs and underneath cliff top dunes composing the southern barrier at claromeco pleistocene gravel beaches mostly composed of caliche pebbles occur at heights between 4 and 7 m and are overlying estuarine pleistocene environments beaches of the same age are at a level of 10 m at mar del plata harbour and arroyo sotelo west of mar chiquita lagoon holocene beaches found at punta mogotes and costa bonita are at higher altitudes than on the eastern barrier ca 2 4 m the holocene estuarine sequences are related laterally to present operating inlets las brusquitas la ballenera quequen grande claromeco quequen salado they are seldon thicker than 2 4 m and comprise basal layers of black muds towards the top the layers are thinner of coarser grain size and white colours grain size analyses were performed comparatively on pleistocene mid holocene and present beaches sangamonian beaches aregravelly or coarser than medium sand mean holocene beaches are usually coarser than medium sand but dominantly shelly to the north of mar del plata and composed of volcanic clasts to the south of this city modern beaches are dominated by fine sand except at some erosive beaches between the mar del plata capes they have a lesser content of shells than those of mid holocene

fracturing induced release of radiogenic 4he and 234u into groundwater during the last deglaciation an alternative source to crustal helium fluxes in periglacial aquifers external 4he sources have been invoked to explain 4he concentrations in groundwater greater than those expected from in situ u and th production in a fractured aquifer of ordovician age located in the st lawrence lowlands quebec canada 4he concentrations of up to 4 48 x 10 5 cm3 stp gh20 1 were measured such concentrations are ca 1000 times higher than would be expected from in situ production a concomitant increase in 4he concentration and 234u 238u activity ratio is shown suggesting a common release process in groundwater for 234u and 4he this process has tentatively been identified as glaciation induced rock fracturing following the laurentide ice sheet retreat the resulting increase in exposed grain surface facilitates 234u release by recoil and that of radiogenic 4he by diffusion using a model of helium diffusion from a spherical grain it is shown that rock fracturing facilitated the release of accumulated 4he at rates ranging from 4 2 x 10 10 cm3stp gh20 1 yr 1 to 1 06 x 10 8 cm3stp gh20 1 yr 1 these release rates are between 1 000 and 30 000 times higher than the local u and th steady state production rate of 3 5 1 4 x 10 13 cm3stp grock 1 yr 1 integration of 4he release rates over time yields a radiogenic 4he concentration of between 3 85 x 10 6 cm3stp gh20 1 and 7 12x 10 5 cm3stp gh20 1 in the range of concentrations measured in the st lawrence lowlands fractured aquifers results support the occurrence of a local radiogenic helium source to explain the excesses measured in groundwater without requiring a significant external he crustal flux

the implications of laboratory222rn flux measurements to the radioactivity in groundwaters the case of a karstic limestone aquifer laboratory time scale experiments were conducted on carboniferous limestone gravels from the mendip hills area england with the purpose of evaluating the release of 222 rn to the water phase the specific surface areas of the samples were 4 14 and 1 69 cm 2 g 1 which provided respectively values of 50 6 and 12 7 pci for the released rn these results allowed the calculation of the emanation coefficient of this rock matrix with respect to the release of rn where completely different values corresponding to 23 and 6 were found suggesting that the extent to which grain boundaries or imperfections in aggregates of micro crystals of calcite intersect the particle surface certainly affects the rn release they also permitted the evaluation of models for the generation of rn in rocks and transfer to water in order to interpret the radioactivity due to this gas in groundwaters from the karstic aquifer of the mendip hills area where the calculated activities in groundwater based on the values of 23 and 6 for the emanation coefficient were about 51 and 15 times higher than actually measured in groundwater therefore the emanation coefficient in nature is considerably smaller than in the lab experiment and another factor k 0 k 1 may be introduced into the equations related to the modelling with the aim of adjusting the theoretical practical results

submarine landforms and ice sheet flow in the kvitoya trough northwestern barents sea high resolution geophysical and sediment core data are used to investigate the pattern and dynamics of former ice flow in kvitoya trough northwestern barents sea a new swath bathymetric dataset identifies three types of submarine landform in the study area streamlined landforms meltwater channels and cavities iceberg scours subglacially produced streamlined landforms provide a record of ice flow through kvitoya trough during the last glaciation flow directions are inferred from the orientations of streamlined landforms drumlins crag and tail features ice flowed northward for at least 135 km from an ice divide at the southern end of kvitoya trough a large channel cavity system incised into bedrock in the southern trough indicates that subglacial meltwater was present at the former ice sheet base modest landform elongation ratios and a lack of mega scale glacial lineations suggest that although ice in kvitoya trough was melting at the bed and flowed faster than the likely thin and cold based ice on adjacent banks a major ice stream probably did not occupy the trough retreat was relatively rapid after 14 13 5 14c kyr b p and probably progressed via ice sheet bed decoupling in response to rising sea level there is little evidence for still stands during ice retreat or of ice proximal deglacial sediments relict iceberg scours in present day water depths of more than 350 m in the northern trough indicate that calving was an important mass loss mechanism during retreat

new insights into the formation of submarine glacial landforms from high resolution autonomous underwater vehicle data abstract autonomous underwater vehicles auvs deployed close to the seafloor can acquire high resolution geophysical data about the topography and shallow stratigraphy of the seabed yet have had limited application within the fields of glacial geomorphology and ice sheet reconstruction here we present multibeam echo sounding side scan sonar sub bottom profiler and high resolution synthetic aperture sonar hisas data acquired during three auv dives on the northeast antarctic peninsula continental shelf these data enable glacial landforms including mega scale glacial lineations msgls grounding zone wedges gzws and iceberg ploughmarks to be imaged at a horizontal resolution of a few tens of centimetres allowing for the identification of subtle morphological features we map tidal ridges that are interpreted as having been formed 1 along the ice sheet grounding line by the squeezing up of soft seafloor sediments by vertical motion of the grounding line during tidal cycles and 2 by the tidally driven motion of grounded or near grounded icebergs these data also enable the mapping of small gzws that show the location of short term still stands or re advances of the ice sheet grounding zone no meltwater channels are identified from our data suggesting that free flowing meltwater may not be essential for the formation of gzws or msgls the examples presented here show how high resolution auv derived geophysical data provide a step change in our ability to image seafloor glacial landforms enabling new interpretations about past ice dynamics and glacial sedimentation at fine temporal and spatial scales

reconstruction of the late pleistocene grassland of the columbia basin washington usa based on phytolith records in loess abstract silica phytoliths preserved in three loess sections in southeastern washington state revealed a 100 000 year history of the columbia basin grassland changes in the proportion of different morphotypes indicate large shifts in vegetation composition during the last 100 ka a low elevation section 677 m asl near the center of the basin provided a record of alternating xeric festuca poa and mesic festuca koeleria grassland the middle slope section 1095 m asl supported picea abies or pinus ponderosa forest or non analog parkland at different times some trees were present at or near the site even during the last glacial maximum the highest site 1220 m asl supported stipa festuca and poa dominated grassland with some artemisia shrub during most of the late pleistocene but supports a coniferous forest today variations in vegetation can be explained as a response to changes in large scale climatic controls grasslands and shrub steppe were apparently more widespread and forests more restricted than today during the marine isotope stages 2 and 4 probably as a result of cooler and drier conditions the three new records are well correlated with previously published paleo reconstructions based on phytolith cicada burrow and stable isotope data from a nearby kp 1 loess section carp lake pollen record and global ice volume variations

winter observations of iceberg frequencies and sizes in the south atlantic ocean the numbers and apparent sizes of icebergs in the south atlantic ocean in midwinter were measured by radar and visually from f s polarstern during the 1986 winter weddell sea project cruise results show that in a heavy sea sea state 7 8 icebergs have to be at least 115 m in diameter to be detected at all and that detectability falls off severely for all bergs at ranges exceeding 8 n mi 15 km that most bergs had diameters of less than 1 km with a preferred size of 400 500 m and that a high density of icebergs in the latitude band 53 56 s at longitude 19 30 w contrasted with a virtual absence of bergs in the same latitude band at longitude 1 9 e the latter effect is ascribed to melt and wave induced deterioration causing the disappearance of this iceberg population between the two sets of longitudes

the laurentide and innuitian ice sheets during the last glacial maximum the late wisconsinan advance of the laurentide ice sheet started from a middle wisconsinan interstadial minimum 27 30 14 c ka bp when the ice margin approximately followed the boundary of the canadian shield ice extent in the cordillera and in the high arctic at that time was probably similar to present ice advanced to its late wisconsinan stage 2 limit in the northwest south and northeast about 23 24 14 c ka bp and in the southwest and far north about 20 21 14 c ka bp in comparison to some previous reconstructions of ice extent our current reconstruction has substantially more late wisconsinan ice in the high arctic where an innuitian ice sheet is generally acknowledged to have existed in the atlantic provinces where ice is now thought to have extended to the continental shelf edge in most places and on eastern baffin island where ice probably extended to the fiord mouths rather than to the fiord heads around most of the ice margin the late wisconsinan maximum ice extent either exceeded the extent of earlier wisconsinan advances or it was similar to the early wisconsinan advance ice marginal recession prior to 14 14 ck a bp occurred mainly in deep water and along the southern terrestrial fringe however heinrich event 1 probably drew down the entire central ice surface at 14 5 14 c ka bp sufficiently to displace the labrador sector outflow centre 900 km eastward from the coast of hudson bay the onset of substantial ice marginal recession occurred about 14 14 c ka bp in the northwest southwest and south but not until about 10 11 14 c ka bp in the northeast and in the high arctic thus the period of maximum ice extent in north america generally encompasses the interval from b24 21 to 14 14 c ka bp or considerably longer than the duration of the lgm defined as occurring during a period of low global sea level as well as during a time of relative climate stability b18 14 c ka bp the interval of advance of much of the laurentide ice sheet to its maximum extent between b27 14 c ka bp and b24 14 c ka bp coincides with a suggested interval of rapid fall in global sea level to near lgmlevels r 2001 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

an open system model for u series age determinations of fossil corals the source of excess 234u in fossil corals and its relationship to u series age determinations has been an outstanding problem in geochronology for more than 20 years with increasing numbers of u series isotope measurements in corals and significant improvements in analytical precision through mass spectrometry it is increasingly apparent that a substantial fraction of observed isotope ratios cannot be reasonably explained by closed system decay moreover observations of a positive correlation between 234u 238u and 230th 238u ratios in corals from the same terrace are difficult to explain however the decay of dissolved uranium and recoil mobilization of uranium daughters produce particle reactive 234th and 230th and the coupled addition of these th isotopes could simultaneously increase coral 234u 238u and 230th 238u here we present a quantitative model based on decay dependent redistribution of 234th and 230th permitting calculation of open system coral ages these equations provide a general solution to the recoil redistribution problem applicable to any alpha decay series while measured isotope ratios of corals from the three youngest stratigraphically defined barbados terraces are inconsistent with closed system decay they fall in broadly linear arrays agreeing with model predictions isotopic arrays of older barbados corals and corals from terraces around the world are also consistent with model predictions suggesting the open system model is generally applicable corals with extreme isotopic compositions that are impossible to produce by closed system decay are consistent with the limited range of isotopic compositions predicted by the model at ages older than 600 ka for corals from a single terrace 234th and 230th redistribution appears to be a source of systematic conventional age error even for corals with slightly elevated 234u however open system ages are consistent even for corals with extremely elevated 234u for the youngest three barbados terraces mean open system terrace ages are consistent with mean conventional terrace ages calculated from pristine samples if the most accurate conventional ages are from corals with an initial 234u 238u identical to modern seawater then the open system model will improve the accuracy of coral u series age determinations and dramatically increase the number of reliable ages

uranium isotopes as a tracer of sources of dissolved solutes in the han river south korea abstract the uranium u content and 234u 238u activity ratio were determined for water samples collected from korea s han river in spring summer and winter 2006 to provide data that might constrain the origin of u isotope fractionation in river water and the link between u isotope systematics in river waters and the lithological nature of the corresponding bedrock the large difference in the major dissolved loads between the two major branches of the han river the north han river nhr and south han river shr is reflected in the contrasting u content and 234u 238u activity ratio between the tributaries low u content 0 08 0 75 nm average 0 34 nm and small 234u 238u activity ratio 1 03 1 22 average 1 09 in the nhr and high u content 0 65 1 98 nm average 1 44 nm and large 234u 238u activity ratio 1 05 1 45 average 1 24 in the shr the large spatial differences in u content and 234u 238u activity ratio are closely related to both lithological differences between the two tributaries and groundwater input the low u content and small 234u 238u activity ratio in the nhr arise mainly from a combination of surface and meteoric weathering of the dominant silicate rocks in this branch and congruent dissolution of already weathered secular equilibrium materials in contrast the high u content and large 234u 238u activity ratio in the shr are ascribed to the dissolution of carbonates and black shales along with significant inputs of deep groundwater

geochemistry of speleothem records from southern illinois development of 234u 238u as a proxy for paleoprecipitation natural waters universally show fractionation of uranium series u series parent daughter pairs with the disequilibrium between 234 u and 238 u 234 u 238 u commonly used as a tracer of groundwater flow because speleothems provide a temporal record of geochemical variations in groundwater precipitating calcite 234 u 238 u variations in speleothems provide a unique method of investigating water rock interaction processes over millennium time scales we present high precision thermal ionization mass spectrometric tims u series analyses of speleothems and drip waters from fogelpole cave in southern illinois data from all speleothems from the cave show an inverse correlation between 234 u 238 u and u concentration following the pattern observed in groundwaters globally within a 65 cm long stalagmite concordant 234 u 238 u 230 th and 235 u 231 pa ages for 5 samples indicate accurate chronology from 78 5 ka to 30 ka notably 234 u 238 u o which differs from most speleothems by having 234 u 238 u ob1 positively correlates with speleothem growth rate we generalize this to the observation that speleothems globally show 234 u 238 u o deviating farther from secular equilibrium at lower growth rates and approaching secular equilibrium at higher grow rates based on the fogelpole observations we suggest that groundwater 234 u 238 u is controlled by the u oxidation state the u concentration of the water and the fluid velocity a transport model whereby u series nuclides react and exchange with mineral surfaces can reproduce the observed trend between growth rate and 234 u 238 u o based on this result we suggest that 234 u 238 u o in speleothems may record changes in hydrologic flux with time and thus could provide a useful proxy for long term records of

mid holocene serpulid build ups in an estuarine environment buenos aires province argentina abstract a bed with several serpulid build ups is described from a holocene outcrop at quequen grande river argentina the tubes were dated at 6360 80 years bp the morphology and size parameters of the serpulids were compared to different species of serpulids from the literature and tubes of ficopomatus enigmaticus hydroides dianthus and hydroides plateni from argentinean waters in spite of the fact that today only f enigmaticus constructs build ups in argentine brackish environments the fossil tubes could not be assigned to this species but instead they show close similarities to those of the two species of hydroides the sequence is interpreted as having originated from a brackish environment at present neither the endemic h plateni nor any other species of hydroides construct build ups in brackish waters of southern south america this suggests that suitable environments to construct aggregates were more widespread than today or that the invasion of f enigmaticus replaced hydroides alternatively various causes may have acted jointly

changes in the velocity structure of the greenland ice sheet using satellite radar interferometry observations of greenland we detected widespread glacier acceleration below 66 north between 1996 and 2000 which rapidly expanded to 70 north in 2005 accelerated ice discharge in the west and particularly in the east doubled the ice sheet mass deficit in the last decade from 90 to 220 cubic kilometers per year as more glaciers accelerate farther north the contribution of greenland to sea level rise will continue to increase

ice sheets and sea level of the last glacial maximum this paper outlines the general issues regarding ice sheets and sea level of the last glacial maximum lgm which formed the basis of an epilog project workshop papers in this special issue of quaternary science reviews provide a comprehensive assessment of these issues from the perspective of geological reconstructions of ice sheet extent records of sea level change ice sheet modelling geophysical models of glacial isostatic adjustment and geochemical proxies of ice volume this new assessment has substantially narrowed the uncertainties in the total changes in ice sheets and sea level and their proxies suggesting a net decrease in eustatic sea level at the lgm ranging from 120 to 135 m r 2001 elsevier science ltd all rights reserved

keel depths of modern antarctic icebergs and implications for sea floor scouring in the geological record abstract icebergs affect the geological record through the scouring or ploughing action of their keels reworking sediments where they contact the sea floor satellite radar altimeter measurements of the surface elevation of the marine margins of the antarctic ice sheet are inverted to produce ice thickness values these data are assumed to represent the keel depths of newly calved icebergs there are three peaks in the frequency distribution of antarctic iceberg keel depths a about 140 200 m in thickness associated with smaller ice shelves fringing antarctica e g wilkins george vi and brunt ice shelves b about 250 300 m from large ice shelves e g ross ronne amery and c approximately 500 600 m from fast flowing ice sheet outlet glaciers e g pine island and dibble glaciers together with the filchner ice shelf controls on iceberg keel depth are ice thickness at the grounding line creep thinning and the rate of melting freezing at the floating ice shelf base with distance to the calving margin the distribution of sea floor scours produced by iceberg grounding is dependent on the changing form and flow of the glaciers and ice sheets from which icebergs are derived and on berg drift tracks and melt rates sea floor evidence for icebergs with particularly deep keels has sometimes been interpreted to indicate the presence of extensive former ice shelves however the largest modern antarctic ice shelves do not produce large numbers of icebergs thicker than about 350 m implying that sea floor scours found in deeper water are unlikely to be an indicator of extensive past ice shelf development iceberg scours found at water depths in excess of about 500 m in the geological record are instead probably indicative of either a the former presence of fast flowing ice sheet outlet glaciers b ice shelves fed from major interior basins where lateral spreading is constrained topographically or c a pulse of large icebergs released during major deglaciation or ice sheet collapse

the behavior of u and th series nuclides in groundwater groundwater has long been an active area of research driven by its importance both as a societal resource and as a component in the global hydrological cycle key issues in groundwater research include inferring rates of transport of chemical constituents determining the ages of groundwater and tracing water masses using chemical fingerprints while information on the trace elements pertinent to these topics can be obtained from aquifer tests using experimentally introduced tracers and from laboratory experiments on aquifer materials these studies are necessarily limited in time and space regional studies of aquifers can focus on greater scales and time periods but must contend with greater complexities and variations in this regard the isotopic systematics of the naturally occurring radionuclides in the u and th decay series have been invaluable in investigating aquifer behavior of u th and ra these nuclides are present in all groundwaters and are each represented by several isotopes with very different half lives so that processes occurring over a range of time scales can be studied table 1 within the host aquifer minerals the radionuclides in each decay series are generally expected to be in secular equilibrium and so have equal activities see bourdon et al 2003 in contrast these nuclides exhibit strong relative fractionations within the surrounding groundwaters that reflect contrasting behavior during release into the water and during interaction with the surrounding host aquifer rocks radionuclide data can be used within the framework of models of the processes involved to obtain quantitative assessments of radionuclide release from aquifer rocks and groundwater migration rates the isotopic variations that are generated also have the potential for providing fingerprints for groundwaters from specific aquifer environments and have even been explored as a means for calculating groundwater ages view this table table 1 radionuclides important in groundwater studies the highly fractionated nature of the

antarctic ice streams a review an ice stream is a part of an inland ice sheet that flows rapidly through the surrounding ice the distinction between an ice sheet and an outlet glacier is clear in principle but muddy in practice many antarctic glaciers are intermediate in character the ross ice streams which flow through the west antarctic inland ice into the ross ice shelf are distinct in character differing even from other ice streams in the marine ice sheet of west antarctica their surface elevation profiles are low their bed slopes are low and smooth and their driving stresses diminish monotonically downglacier in transverse profile they are broader in relation to ice thickness and exhibit shallower subglacial troughs than other ice streams many models for the fast sliding of glaciers have been applied to the ross ice streams most have included in some form a reduction in basal drag resulting from a lesser effective than glaciostatic pressure at the bed most models are only semi physical at best so need to be tuned by fitting to assumed parameters at some place or places in the real ice sheet the recent discovery of a very small effective pressure beneath one ice stream consequently has led to some gross errors in the velocities predicted by the models the difficulty may be resolved if it is true as recent experiments suggest that ice stream b and by extrapolation other ross ice streams as well slide on a deforming bed that absorbs most or all of the differential motion between the ice and the bedrock

buried iceberg ploughmarks in the early quaternary sediments of the central north sea a two million year record of glacial influence from 3d seismic data abstract buried linear to curvilinear depressions interpreted as iceberg ploughmarks were identified through most of the 2 ma long and about 700 m thick early quaternary sedimentary record in two 3d seismic cubes from the central north sea basin 56 58 n 2 3 e the mean width of 402 features measured at 6 time slices in cube c08 was between 49 and 63 m and mean length was 2 5 to 3 7 km mapping the

detrital carbonate rich sediments northwestern labrador sea implications for ice sheet dynamics and iceberg rafting heinrich events in the north atlantic much of the bed of the central and eastern sectors of the laurentide ice sheet was underlain by paleozoic carbonates we propose that pulses of detrital carbonate rich sediments in two cores from the northwestern labrador sea reflect episodes when an ice stream from the hudson strait extended to the shelf break and delivered sediment onto the slope and deep sea plain atomic mass spectroscopy 14 c dating of planktonic foraminifera in cores hu75 009 iv 55 2 4 km water depth and hu87 033 009 1 4 km water depth and 150 km north northwest indicates that the youngest event occurred between ca 14 and 15 ka and another occurred between 19 and 21 ka the two carbonate intervals in northwestern labrador sea cores are coeval with heinrich events 1 and 2 in the eastern north atlantic lat 45 50 n long 20 w where they are associated with an increase in lithic fragments and a drastic reduction in the numbers of foraminifera these changes have been linked with the massive production of icebergs associated with ice sheet surges our evidence indicates that heinrich events 1 and 2 are associated with the dynamics of the hudson strait ice stream and denote considerable glaciological instability

hydrochemical relationships in groundwater from central sao paulo state brazil groundwater samples from different aquifers occurring at center northeast portion of sao paulo state brazil were collected and chemically analyzed the waters leaching mesozoic sediments are generally more acid phaverage 5 9 and have lower values for total dissolved solids tdsaverage 105 mg l than those obtained for waters leaching paleozoic sediments of tubarao group first degree trend surfaces revealed that the deeper tubular wells occur towards east southeast and exploit paleozoic sediments as well fractured fissured diabases basalts whereas the tubular wells in the west northwest region are shallower piper diagrams indicated that the majority of the waters are a blend of waters from different lithologies significant correlations were found among nitrate chloride and bicarbonate suggesting the occurrence of some anthropogenic inputs whereas elevated alpha activity of geogenic 226ra indicated the need of a broad radiometric survey in the area

late glacial ice margins and deglacial chronology for southeastern baffin island and hudson strait eastern canadian arctic discussion the authors j a stravers g h miller and d s kaufman have provided an important synthesis of ongoing research bordering outer hudson strait their reconstruction proposes that on two occasions during the early holocene labrador sector ice crossed hudson strait to override parts of southeast baffin island their conclusion proposes that by 9900 bp the activity of foxe basin ice and the local ice caps had become subordinate to that of labrador ungava ice p 1015 so too had the hudson strait ice stream farther to the west if correct this reconstruction has considerable paleoclimatic and glaciological implications for the northeast laurentide ice sheet given its importance this hypothesis warrants further scrutiny especially the consideration of several alternative interpretations that arise from the data

abrupt early holocene 9 9 9 6 ka ice stream advance at the mouth of hudson strait arctic canada radiocarbon dated glacial geologic evidence documents an abrupt advance of the northern margin of the labrador sector of the laurentide ice sheet during the last deglaciation ice flow directional indicators together with ice marginal features found onshore and offshore delimit an ice stream that advanced north northeast 300 km crossed the mouth of hudson strait and outer frobisher bay and overran summits 400 m above sea level on outer hall peninsula southeast baffin island fifty eight 14 c ages including 27 accelerator mass spectrometry ages on single shells indicate that the advance was extremely rapid the entire advance retreat cycle took place in an 300 yr 14 c interval 9 9 9 6 ka at its maximum extent the ice stream supported a calving margin 200 km long terminating in open water 500 m deep implying a massive iceberg release marine evidence for the outflow is preserved along the labrador sea shelf as thick carbonate rich glacial marine drift but has not been recognized farther east in the north atlantic either the discharge of icebergs was insufficient to produce a trans north atlantic carbonate rich heinrich layer or the icebergs tracked southward where they encountered warming sea surface temperatures although the advance seems to have been coincident with a brief interval of minor regional cooling it failed to trigger a significant climate perturbation suggesting that the ocean atmosphere system had attained its stable interglacial condition by that time

subtropical iceberg scours and meltwater routing in the deglacial western north atlantic during the last deglaciation northern hemisphere ice sheets discharged ice and meltwater seafloor scours and numerical modelling suggest that freshwater and icebergs from the laurentide ice sheet reached the subtropical north atlantic

sediments sedimentation rates and environments southeast baffin shelf and northwest labrador sea 8 26 ka ten 14c dated cores are described from the labrador sea continental slope and hatton and resolution basins on the southeast baffin shelf based on sharply defined detrital carbonate layers in the labrador sea cores we propose that the laurentide ice sheet reached the shelf break at both 20 and 15 14c ka 24 3 and 18 2 sidereal ka and contributed significant sediment to the northwest labrador sea both times the flux was 720 kg m2 ka during these periods of maximum ice extent the laurentide ice sheet retreated from its 15 ka position at the shelf break to the inner shelf between 14 and 12 14c ka ice proximal conditions recognized by relatively light 18o on near surface planktonic foraminifera high detrital carbonate and benthic foraminiferal faunas dominated by elphidium excavatum forma clavata cassidulina reniforme prevailed until at least 10 14c ka the ice readvanced toward resolution basin and across part of hatton basin at 11 14c ka accelerator mass spectrometry dates on core tops i

effects of human activities on karst groundwater geochemistry in a rural area in the balkans abstract the geochemistry of three drinking water sources wells springs and tap in the vratza region of northern bulgaria was investigated to gain an understanding of how human activities influence natural geochemical processes in a carbonate aquifer system numerous villages have been identified within this highly agricultural area as endemic for the environmental disease balkan endemic nephropathy with some suggesting a link to the geochemistry of the region we observe that water quality varies significantly as a function of source hydrochemical facies analysis reveals trends not typical for limestone systems with cation trajectories falling along the ca2 mg2 axis and the anion trajectories lying along the hco 3 so 4 2 axis r mode factor analysis reveals i an increasing dominance of a cl na so 4 2 no 3 association from tap to spring to well waters ii a strong association between mg2 and u and iii a lack of associations between ca2 and mg2 and between ca2 and hco 3 that is atypical for limestone systems these observations are interpreted to indicate that human activities have influenced all sources across the vratza region and that mg and u concentrations result from the dissolution of limestone which is enhanced due to the input of anthropogenic chemicals geochemical modeling indicates that ca2 concentrations are in equilibrium with calcite but that mg2 concentrations remain conservative resulting in the decoupling of a ca2 and mg2 association uranium concentrations also appear to be conservative aided by a poised redox state due to high concentrations of no 3 and the formation of co 3 2 and po 4 3 ion pairs the similar source and conservative nature of both mg2 and u can account for their association finally cluster analysis indicates that the pattern of water geochemistry in the endemic area differs from the surrounding non endemic area may be explained by differences in the underlying geology this study has shown that the general water quality in this rural area whether in endemic or non endemic villages is poor and that agricultural activities have not only added chemicals to the groundwater system but that these chemicals have likely disrupted geochemical processes more work is required to understand the specific details of anthropogenic influences on geochemical processes on water quality in karstic terrains

weathering rates from top to bottom in a carbonate environment abstract this study investigates u series sr isotopes major and trace elements in a chalk aquifer system located in eastern france soil and rock samples were collected along depth profiles down to 45 m in four localities as an attempt to investigate the weathering processes in the soil the unsaturated zone and the saturated zone of the aquifer interstitial water was extracted from soils and rocks by a centrifugation technique u series offer a powerful tool to calculate weathering rates because the relative mobility of the u and th isotopes can be precisely measured and it does not require the determination of a reference state as in other approaches as expected the data show very large mobile element depletion in the soil with large 230 th excess relative to 238 u while the rocks show more limited but not insignificant mobile element depletion the u series data have been used to constrain weathering rates based on a 1 d reactive transport model weathering rates in the near surface are about 10 100 times faster than at depth however when integrated over the depth of the cores including the unsaturated and the saturated zones this underground weathering represents more than 30 of the total weathering flux assuming congruent dissolution of carbonates the 234 u 238 u ratios in interstitial water are consistent with solid samples showing 234 u depletion near the surface and an excess 234 u at depth a leaching experiment performed on chalk shows that the excess 234 u in natural waters percolating through carbonate rocks results both from preferential 234 u leaching and direct recoil in the interstitial water a new approach was used to derive the recoil ejection factor based on bet measurements and the fractal dimension of chalk surface consideration of preferential leaching and recoil allows a more accurate modeling of weathering rates

the evolution of alkaline groundwaters in the continental intercalaire aquifer of the irhazer plain niger this paper discusses the hydrochemical evolution of groundwaters in the multilayer artesian aquifer of the continental intercalaire the mainly jurassic agadez dabla sandstones aquifer of northern niger isotopic and chemical changes in relation to the geological setting suggest that the increasing hco3 alkalinity of the groundwaters is caused by interaction of deep co2 with the aquifer matrix alteration of feldspars by co2 with a 13c value of 3 0 accounts for the observed alkalinity and isotopic and trends carbon 14 ages have been estimated for recent and holocene groundwaters which have a distinct stable isotopic 2h and 18o signature compared with 14c dead groundwaters from further west on the irhazer plain recharge temperatures estimated by analysis of noble gas contents show that the 14c dead waters were recharged under conditions cooler than present averages in the region possibly at the beginning of deglaciation 16 ka b p or during the period 23 30 ka b p trends in the hydrochemistry of u are related to the deep co2 alteration process radiogenic he contents increase along the flow direction and extremely high values occur in the proximity of u ores denitrification in the paleowaters of the irhazer was assessed by measurements of nitrogen argon ratios

radioelements radiogenic helium and age relationships for groundwaters from the granites at stripa sweden abstract the solution of radioelements and radiogenic 4he by groundwaters in fractured rocks is dependent upon the radioelement distribution in the rock matrix and the extent of the rock water interface the 234 u 238 u activity ratio and the dissolved u rn and he contents of such groundwaters respond to changes in the flow regime with time although 234 u 238 u activity ratios change with groundwater residence time as a consequence of 234th recoil induced solution of 234u the activity ratio is strongly influenced by the u distribution within fractures by the extent of the rock water interface and by the amount of 238u in solution a model for the quantitative evaluation of these effects is presented groundwaters from depths up to 880 m in the stripa granite have variable dissolved uranium contents and 234 u 238 u activity ratios the uranium geochemistry is primarily determined by variations in flow path rather than by groundwater age dissolved radiogenic 4he in the groundwaters increases with their depth of origin and is dependent upon the u content of the granite and upon its fracture porosity it increases with groundwater residence time but movement of 4he by diffusion and transport processes make the actual groundwater age indeterminate

the sizes frequencies and freeboards of east greenland icebergs observed using ship radar and sextant the scoresby sund fjord system east greenland contains the most productive fast flowing outlet glaciers draining east from the greenland ice sheet calving 18 km3 a 1 of icebergs the sizes frequencies and freeboards of 1900 icebergs were measured from f s polarstern using ship x band radar and sextant radar beam spreading exaggerates iceberg width by 60 m per nautical mile of range beyond the first mile data sets on iceberg size e g that collated for antarctic icebergs collected using ship radars which do not take this effect into account will overestimate iceberg dimensions significantly the location and concentration of icebergs within the fjord complex can be explained by 1 the locations of the principal source glaciers and 2 fjord topography and bathymetry iceberg concentration maximum 0 6 icebergs km 2 declines with distance from the major iceberg sources we found that 69 of icebergs within the fjord system are 1 km in length the largest is 2 7 km long icebergs become spread more evenly over the range of size classes in the outer fjord and shelf modal iceberg keel depth calculated from freeboard measurements is 4 500 m in the inner fjords shifting to lower values in the outer fjords reflecting shallower bathymetry radar measurements of iceberg width cannot be used to infer keel depths accurately because width and keel depth are only weakly correlated comparison between freeboards and keel depths for icebergs from east greenland and the barents sea indicates that the iceberg source i e floating or grounded exerts a fundamental control on iceberg dimensions the drift pattern of icebergs is from the head to the mouth of the fjord system although fjord bifurcations bathymetry and currents provide additional complications the trends in observed iceberg size and frequency and in inferred keel depth in the scoresby sund region are likely to be applicable to other fjords and shelves around greenland

using phytolith assemblages to reconstruct the origin and spread of grass dominated habitats in the great plains of north america during the late eocene to early miocene abstract this paper outlines a general approach for analyzing siliceous microfossils from plants phytoliths in geologic sediments and uses this method to reconstruct the evolution of grasslands in the central great plains during the late tertiary phytolith assemblage analysis is widely employed for reconstructing vegetation types in pleistocene holocene paleoecology and archaeology but no standardized methodology is currently available published phytolith studies are often system specific and tailored after specific modern analogues as a result they vary in extraction technique classification scheme and method of inference for ancient phytolith assemblages whose modern analogues are not well understood a more general analytic approach is necessary this analytic approach includes studying all size fractions 2 250 mm using a classification scheme based on the available literature and a comprehensive modern phytolith reference collection and comparing relative frequencies through time of all diagnostic phytoliths to interpret changes in habitat structure this general method was applied to late eocene to early miocene sediment samples from northwestern nebraska to deduce vegetation history and the results were compared to those obtained using a more specific technique stromberg paleogeogr paleoclimatol paleoecol 177 2002 59 in both studies phytoliths were extracted by means of heavy liquid separation from the following lithostratigraphic units 1 the late eocene chadron formation and the early oligocene brule formation white river group 2 the late oligocene early miocene monroe creek formation the early miocene harrison formation and anderson ranch formation arikaree group and 3 the early miocene runningwater formation and box butte formation ogallala group the two techniques general vs specific produced results that differ markedly data from the general approach indicate the presence of relatively closed habitats in late eocene to early oligocene typified by the presence of phytoliths from bambusoid grasses woody and herbaceous dicotyledons and palms the introduction and spread of modern open habitat grasses such as pooids arundinoids and panicoids occurred between the late oligocene and early miocene this resulted in a savanna or woodland type habitat by the early miocene in contrast analysis using the specific method suggested the presence of open habitats in northwestern nebraska from the late eocene onward the difference in interpretation based on the two approaches is principally due to inclusion of phytoliths 50 mm and the use of an expanded reference collection in the current study general analytic approach these results point to the importance of methodological choices in phytolith analysis and emphasize the usefulness of phytoliths as paleoecological indicators in the fossil record

paleoenvironmental studies of alfar archaeological site mid holocene southeastern pampas of argentina silicophytoliths gastropods and archaeofauna the firsts results of the silicophytolith research carried out for the sedimentary sequence of alfar archaeological site are presented the aims of this study were to identify the vegetation associations and to contribute to the reconstruction of past environments during the hunter gatherers occupation of the site in the mid holocene this siliceous microfossil data is also complemented with other proxy evidence derived from the freshwater gastropods recorded throughout the stratigraphic sequence and the zooarchaeological study of the bone remains recovered from the site the results of this multi proxy approach show the existence of a permanent cover of gramineous communities on a lagoon margin and a considerable pedogenetic activity during human occupation the obtained data indicates that the human populations occupied alfar site under dry conditions but with the warm climate of the mid holocene hypsithermal

iceberg scouring in scoresby sund and on the east greenland continental shelf modern and relict scours produced by iceberg keels have been reported from a number of high latitude continental shelves in the northern hemisphere and antarctica but observations are largely absent from the east greenland shelf about 18 km3 yr 1 of icebergs are calved into the scoresby sund fjord system east greenland these icebergs have submarine keels with drafts up to 550 m modern iceberg contacts with the sea floor are inferred from calculated keel depths and stationary icebergs identified on sequential landsat imagery acoustic profiles parasound 3 5 khz of the sea floor show that scouring is a significant process in water depths 550 m iceberg scouring intensity varies inversely with water depth the most intense scouring occurs at depths of 300 400 m iceberg scours were observed on over 25 000 km2 of the east greenland shelf at 69 72 n and 75 n scours are being actively produced on the modern shelf but relict scours probably dating back to the late weichselian are also present the rate of iceberg production from greenland ice sheet outlet glaciers and iceberg drift tracks on the shelf suggests that iceberg scouring is important over a significant proportion of the 500 000 km2 area above the shelf break around greenland

late glacial ice margins and deglacial chronology for southeastern baffin island and hudson strait eastern canadian arctic radiocarbon dates from marine piston cores and from onshore raised marine stratigraphic sections in the hudson strait region were used to reconstruct deglacial isochrons for 9900 9500 8800 8500 and 8000 bp at the culmination of the gold cove readvance 9900 bp labrador ungava ice flowed northeastward across hudson strait and outer frobisher bay and stood for the last time on the baffin island continental shelf subsequent retreat by calving was rapid and profound opening the entire hudson strait marine trough by 9500 bp at this time ice dispersal from foxe basin labrador ungava and local ice on meta incognita peninsula supported tidewater margins along much of the coastline with the exception of northernmost ungava peninsula where the ice margin stabilized onshore this onshore margin remained in place throughout the cockburn substage while a major northeastward readvance of ungava bay ice the noble inlet readvance from 8800 to 8500 bp crossed outer hudson strait grounding on the hudson st

buried iceberg keel scouring on the southern spitsbergenbanken nw barents sea abstract parasound 3 5 khz subbottom echosounder profiles acquired on the southern spitsbergenbanken nw barents sea show iceberg keel scouring features which are buried by sediment that accumulated during the post last glacial maximum lgm sea level rise four acoustic units units 1 to 4 in stratigraphic order were differentiated based on the characterization of their acoustic facies and reflection surfaces unit 1 shows a chaotic internal structure and is interpreted as a glacial till whereas the laminated units 2 to 4 accumulated by sediment settling from suspension clouds and bottom currents during the last deglaciation phase the top of unit 2 was frequently incised by iceberg keels resulting in up to 12 m deep ploughmarks which were later filled and buried by unit 3 and 4 sediments three main paleo evironmental changes controlled the evolution of the facies succession 1 the major shift from till formation unit 1 below grounded ice to the accumulation of laminated sediments unit 2 which are inferred to reflect ice lifting and meltwater release 2 iceberg keel scouring after sedimentation of unit 2 3 the probable abrupt termination of iceberg keel scouring related to the glacio eustatic sea level rise a linkage between these episodes of changes and short lasting phases of rapid post lgm sea level rise such as meltwater pulses is inferred although further studies are needed to better understand the temporal and genetic relationships between the sedimentary events recognized in the barents sea and climate changes

late quaternary vegetational and climatic changes in the pampa grassland of argentina abstract the vegetation and climate of the pampa grassland argentina during the late quaternary are reconstructed from pollen recovered from dated stratigraphic sections from arroyo walls and from archaelogical excavations prior to 10 500 yr b p herbaceous psammophytic steppe existed in the central part of the pampa grassland while xerophytic woodland associated with psammophytic and halophytic steppe occurred in the southwestern part of the pampa these types of vegetation and the continental conditions that prevailed in the area of the present day coast 38 s indicate subhumid dry climate and annual precipitation 100 mm lower than present a subsequent change toward a vegetation characteristic of ponds swamps and foodplains or toward environments with locally more effective moisture occurred ca 10 500 yr b p suggesting annual precipitation close to modern levels or a higher availability of water in the central part of the pampa grassland this type of vegetation existed until 8000 yr b p when it was replaced by grassland communities that lasted until 7000 yr b p in the southwestern part of the pampa grassland this vegetation developed before 7000 yr b p and persisted until ca 5000 yr b p sea level higher than the present ca 6200 yr b p is consistent with sharp modification of the vegetation and development of local halophytic communities dominant at 38 s a return to subhumid dry conditions occurred after 5000 yr b p the late holocene vegetation is characterized by pollen assemblages similar to the psammophytic and halophytic communities of the southern pampa grassland associated with communities with more edaphic conditions at the same time at 38 s a sea level regression is suggested by the dominance of fresh water pollen assemblages and micropaleontological remains the trend toward humid temperate conditions ca 1000 yr b p suggested by vertebrate remains characteristic of temperate and humid conditions as well as a very short but dry episode during the 18th century suggested by the geology are not clearly evidenced in the pollen sequences vegetational and climatic changes are explained by the latitudinal shifts and changes in intensity of the southern atmospheric circulation and changes in sea level

sea floor scour at the mouth of hudson strait by deep keeled icebergs from the laurentide ice sheet physical evidence on the dimensions of icebergs released from the mouth of hudson strait into the northwest atlantic during the last heinrich event h 0 is presented side scan sonar imagery shows scour marks up to 700 m wide and longer than 28 km these scour marks were carved by gigantic icebergs megabergs with keel drafts possibly as great as 660 m capable of scouring trenches 20 to 25 m deep into the seabed these icebergs were likely calved from the grounding margin of a thick possibly as thick as 640 m rapidly flowing glacial margin during the h 0 heinrich event 11 ka bp along with the relatively few megabergs released were large numbers of smaller icebergs that calved from the ice margin at the same time and were also produced from break up of the megabergs scouring of the seabed by the large and smaller icebergs happened at the same time with megabergs scouring only in the deep waters of hatton basin and the smaller bergs scouring only on the eastern shallow margin of the basin at the continental shelf break

late quaternary ice flow in a west greenland fjord and cross shelf trough system submarine landforms from rink isbrae to uummannaq shelf and slope sea floor landforms and acoustic stratigraphic records allow interpretation of the past form and flow of a westward draining ice stream of the greenland ice sheet rink isbrae the late pliocene pleistocene glacial package is several hundred metres thick and down laps onto an upper miocene horizon several acoustic facies are mapped from sub bottom profiler records of the 400 km long uummannaq fjord shelf slope system an acoustically stratified facies covers much of the fjord and trough floor interpreted as glacimarine sediment from rain out of fine grained debris in turbid meltwater beneath this facies is a semi transparent deformation till unit which includes buried streamlined landforms landform distribution in the uummannaq system is used to reconstruct past ice extent and flow directions the presence of streamlined landforms mega scale glacial lineations drumlins crag and tails shows that an ice stream advanced through the fjord system to fill uummannaq trough reaching the shelf edge at the last glacial maximum beyond the trough there is a major fan built mainly of glacigenic debris flows turbidity current channels were not observed on uummannaq fan contrasting with well developed channels on disko fan 300 km to the south ice retreat had begun by 14 8 cal ka ago grounding zone wedges gzw in uummannaq trough imply that retreat was episodic punctuated by several still stands ice retreat between gzws may have been relatively rapid there is little sedimentary evidence for still stands in the inner fjords except for a major moraine ridge marking a little ice age maximum position on the shallow banks either side of uummannaq trough iceberg ploughing has reworked any morphological evidence of earlier ice sheet activity

influence of eolian deposition and rainfall amounts on the u isotopic composition of soil water and soil minerals 230th u dating of secondary deposits such as speleothems and pedogenic carbonate and opal provides information about the original 234u 238u composition of the waters the minerals precipitated from as a result these types of deposits often display temporal variations in initial 234u 238u that could reflect environmental variability past variations in soil water 234u 238u may reflect changes in the flux of water through the soil weathering rates or dust inputs in order to evaluate these potential influences we analyzed modern soil water chemistry and u isotopic compositions of fluids and solids from three soil sequences in nevada modern soil pore waters from diamond valley newark valley and fish lake valley nevada show significant 234u 238u differences between sites as a result of differing soil parent material newark valley pore waters are more heavily influenced by carbonate weathering and display much more enriched 234u 238u values than diamond and fish lake valley pore waters which are dominated by silicate weathering newark valley and diamond valley although located very near to each other have significantly different pore water 234u 238u values suggesting that deposition of distantly sourced dust does not exert a dominant influence on pore water 234u 238u at these sites pore water 234u 238u values also vary systematically along a rainfall gradient at fish lake valley where sites with lower rainfall display higher soil water 234u 238u values the results of this modern soil water chemistry study were used to parameterize two models that investigate the relative influence of dust content recoil and weathering on pore water 234u 238u in the upper layer of the soil and at depth under changing infiltration rates these models suggest that while the composition of soluble dust entering a soil profile is an important consideration the pore water 234u 238u at depth and thus the initial 234u 238u of minerals that precipitate from pore waters should be highly sensitive to changes in the infiltration flux through the soils as infiltration flux is closely tied to rainfall the initial 234u 238u of soil minerals at these sites should provide information about past rainfall variability

iceberg production debris rafting and the extent and thickness of heinrich layers h 1 h 2 in north atlantic sediments the pattern of heinrich layer distribution for the last two events h 1 14 5 and h 2 21 1 ka mapped from magnetic susceptibility analysis of more than 50 north atlantic ocean cores provides the most detailed information to date on their extent and thickness an integrated spatial average thickness for the layers is 10 15 cm and there is a strong distance decay eastward the pattern of deposition over the north atlantic is similar for events h 1 and h 2 indicating that icebergs followed similar drift tracks rates of iceberg production and sediment flux from the hudson strait drainage basin of the north american laurentide ice sheet the major iceberg source for the events were calculated by using a mass balance approach this provides an envelope of sedimentation rates and the prediction that it would take between 50 and 1250 yr of iceberg sediment delivery to accumulate a heinrich layer averaging 10 cm thick over the north atlantic depending on the model assumptions used the most likely duration of heinrich events is 250 1250 yr

paleoenvironments in the paso otero locality during late pleistocene holocene pampean region argentina an interdisciplinary approach the recently excavated paso otero 4 site is located within the paso otero archaeological locality necochea district pampean region the site is characterized by the presence of a great variety of archaeological materials and a rich and complex stratigraphic record which allows use of an interdisciplinary approach the objective of this paper is to present the results of the geoarchaeological palynological phytolith and diatom analyses in order to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions for the final late pleistocene through holocene these lines of research allow inference of paleoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic conditions on both local and regional scales at the site the rio salado member unit 2 where the archaeological deposit is buried underwent sudden and fluctuating changes in water availability conditions although the setting was basically characterized by calm depositional processes within and along the margins of interconnected lagoons paleoclimatic reconstructions indicate the existence of abrupt climatic changes throughout the sequence early holocene human occupations took place under regionally temperate warm climates while the end of the middle holocene witnessed cold and arid or cold temperate climates in general terms paleoenvironmental conditions inferred for paso otero 4 are in accordance with regional reconstructions proposed for the pampas

north american ice sheet reconstructions at the last glacial maximum abstract the areal extent of the last glacial maximum lgm ice sheets is well known in north america but there is no direct geological proxy for ice sheet thickness or volume uncertainties associated with glaciological and geophysical reconstructions give widely varying estimates of north american ice sheet nais volume at lgm in an effort to quantify the uncertainty associated with glaciological reconstructions we conducted a suite of 190 numerical simulations of the last glacial cycle in north america prescribing different climatic mass balance glaciologic and isostatic treatments for the least constrained model variables lgm ice sheet reconstructions were evaluated using the well established geologic record of ice sheet area and southern extent at lgm dyke and prest 1987 these constraints give a subset of 33 simulations that produce reasonable lgm ice cover in north america ice sheet dispositions and the associated parameter settings in this subset of tests provide insight into the plausible range of nais thickness form and mass balance regime at lgm ice volume in this subset of tests spans a range of 28 5 38 9 10 15 m 3 at lgm with a predominant cluster at 32 36 10 15 m 3 taking floating ice and displaced continental water into account this corresponds to 69 94 m eustatic sea level msl more than 75 of the accepted tests fall in the range 78 88 msl we argue that this is a plausible estimate of the volume of water locked up in the nais at lgm

sediment transport time measured with u series isotopes results from odp north atlantic drift site 984 abstract high precision uranium isotope measurements of marine clastic sediments are used to measure the transport and storage time of sediment from source to site of deposition the approach is demonstrated on fine grained late pleistocene deep sea sediments from ocean drilling program site 984a on the bjorn drift in the north atlantic the sediments are siliciclastic with up to 30 carbonate and dated by 18o of benthic foraminifera nd and sr isotopes indicate that provenance has oscillated between a proximal source during the last three interglacial periods volcanic rocks from iceland and a distal continental source during glacial periods an unexpected finding is that the 234u 238u ratios of the silicate portion of the sediment isolated by leaching with hydrochloric acid are significantly less than the secular equilibrium value and show large and systematic variations that are correlated with glacial cycles and sediment provenance the 234u depletions are inferred to be due to recoil loss of 234th and are used to calculate comminution ages of the sediment the time elapsed between the generation of the small 50 m sediment grains in the source areas by comminution of bedrock and the time of deposition on the seafloor transport times the difference between comminution ages and depositional ages vary from less than 10 ky to about 300 to 400 ky for the site 984a sediments long transport times may reflect prior storage in soils on continental shelves or elsewhere on the seafloor transport time may also be a measure of bottom current strength during the most recent interglacial periods the detritus from distal continental sources is diluted with sediment from iceland that is rapidly transported to the site of deposition the comminution age approach could be used to date quaternary non marine sediments soils and atmospheric dust and may be enhanced by concomitant measurement of 226ra 230th 230th 234u and cosmogenic nuclides

ice sheet dynamics and glacial history of southeasternmost baffin island and outermost hudson strait southeasternmost baffin island is mantled by hudson strait drift it contains abundant limestone erratics and 20 to 50 carbonate in the matrix to the northwest it is replaced by drift dominated by locally derived rock of the canadian shield the sense and orientation of ice erosional features demonstrate that hudson strait drift is associated with northeasterly ice flow that crossed the tip of meta incognita peninsula local drift associated with ice flow s10 w along the hudson strait coast was derived from a dispersal center on the peninsula erratic lithologies contained in the hudson strait drift indicate a labradorean provenance large scale bedrock molding and the distribution of cirques indicate ne flowing ice has been dominant throughout the middle and late quaternary radiocarbon dates of in situ shells confirm that deglaciation began more than 11 000 yr ago with the frobisher bay coast becoming ice free by 9300 yr ago five dates from hudson strait suggest that the strait was deglaciated before 9000 yr bp however ice from the labradorean sector recrossed hudson strait during the cockburn substage about 8500 yr ago damming drainage from the west final retreat of labradorean ice from baffin island was complete by 8000 yr ago at which time the sea was able to penetrate hudson bay

3d seismic evidence of buried iceberg ploughmarks from the mid norwegian continental margin reveals largely persistent north atlantic current through the quaternary over 7500 buried linear and curvilinear depressions interpreted as iceberg ploughmarks were identified within the quaternary naust formation from an extensive three dimensional seismic dataset that covers 40 000 km2 of the mid norwegian continental margin the morphology and net orientation of ploughmarks were mapped and analysed these features are up to 28 km long 700 m wide and are incised up to 31 m deep on average ploughmarks are incised 5 m deep with median width of 185 m and median lengths ranging from 1 2 to 2 7 km for individual palaeo surfaces width to depth ratio ranges from 8 1 to 400 1 and is on average 36 1 the presence of ploughmarks buried deeply within some palaeo slope surfaces implies the occasional presence of very large icebergs since the middle quaternary suggesting that thick ice sheet margins with fast flowing ice streams were present in order to calve icebergs of such dimensions into the norwegian sea the wide geographical distribution of ploughmarks suggests unrestricted iceberg drift and an open norwegian sea during the periods of iceberg calving since the early quaternary ploughmark trajectory analysis demonstrates that the ocean current circulation now dominated by the northeasterly flowing norwegian atlantic current nwac has largely persisted throughout the quaternary despite the overall strikingly consistent pattern of iceberg drift ploughmark mapping also shows evidence for short lived nwac reductions possibly related to major phases of iceberg discharge and or meltwater pulses from the fennoscandian ice sheet during the middle and late quaternary

a comparative study of aquifer systems occurring at the parana sedimentary basin brazil u isotopes contribution the radioactivity due to 238u and 234u in three aquifer systems occurring within the parana sedimentary basin south america has been investigated uranium is much less dissolved from fractured igneous rocks than from the porous sedimentary rocks as indicated by the u mobility coefficients between 7 6 10 6 and 1 2 10 3 g cm 3 these values are also compatible with the u preference ratios relative to na k ca mg and sio2 which showed that u is never preferentially mobilized in the liquid phase during the flow occurring in cracks fissures fractures and faults of the igneous basaltic rocks experimental dissolution of diabase grains on a time scale laboratory has demonstrated that the u dissolution appeared to be a two stage process characterized by linear and second order kinetics the u dissolution rate was 8 10 16 mol m 2 s 1 that is within the range of 4 10 16 3 10 14 mol m 2 s 1 estimated for other rock types the 234u 238u activity ratio of dissolved u in solutions was higher than unity a typical result expected during the water rock interactions when preferential 234u leach from the rock surfaces takes place some u isotopes data allowed estimating 320 ka for the groundwater residence time in a sector of a transect in sao paulo state a modeling has been also realized considering all u isotopes data obtained in bauru 35 samples serra geral 16 samples and guarani 29 samples aquifers the results indicated that the bauru aquifer waters may result from the admixture of waters from guarani 1 5 and serra geral 98 5 aquifers

experimental evidence for 234u 238u fractionation during granite weathering with implications for 234u 238u in natural waters abstract the daughter to parent 234u 238u activity ratio in natural waters is often out of secular radioactive equilibrium the major reason for this disequilibrium is related to the energetic decay of 238u and differential release of 234u relative to 238u this disequilibrium originates from 1 preferential release of more loosely bound 234u from damaged mineral lattice sites or 2 direct recoil of 234th into surrounding media from near mineral surface boundaries however it is unclear which of the two mechanisms is most important in nature to better quantify the effects of preferential release of 234u two continuous laboratory granite leaching experiments conducted over 1100 h were performed the leachates were characterized by declining u concentrations with time and 234u 238u initially greater than unity up to 1 15 which changed to below unity during leaching 0 95 the early elevated 234u 238u suggests that additional 234u is released into solution by preferential release of 234u from mineral phases however the excess 234u constitutes a finite pool of easy leachable 234u and the 234u 238u values become lower than unity when this pool is used up a model based on first order kinetics dissolution rates and preferential release of 234u from damaged lattice sites was developed and is able to quantitatively predict the observed pattern of 234u 238u values and u concentrations for the two granite leaching experiments extending the modeling to longer time scales more comparable to natural systems shows that the production of waters with high 234u 238u ratios can be achieved in two distinct regimes 1 slow weathering where the rate of directly recoiled 234u near mineral surfaces into waters is high 2 fast weathering where the role of incipient chemical weathering and preferential release of loosely bound 234u are important the model is able to explain apparent opposite correlations between physical erosion rates and 234u 238u in waters and it provides a new framework that will be useful for examining weathering regimes their timescales and their coupling with physical erosion

evidence for massive discharges of icebergs into the north atlantic ocean during the last glacial period sediments in the north atlantic ocean contain a series of layers that are rich in ice rafted debris and unusually poor in foraminifera1 here we present evidence that the most recent six of these heinrich layers deposited between 14 000 and 70 000 years ago record marked decreases in sea surface temperature and salinity decreases in the flux of planktonic foraminifera to the sediments and short lived massive discharges of icebergs originating in eastern canada the path of the icebergs clearly marked by the presence of ice rafted detrital carbonate can be traced for more than 3 000 km a remarkable distance attesting to extreme cooling of surface waters and enormous amounts of drifting ice the cause of these extreme events is puzzling they may reflect repeated rapid advances of the laurentide ice sheet perhaps associated with reductions in air temperatures yet temperature records from greenland ice cores appear to exhibit only a weak corresponding signal moreover the 5 10 000 yr intervals between the events are inconsistent with milankovitch orbital periodicities raising the question of what the ultimate cause of the postulated cooling may have been

processes controlling 234u and 238u isotope fractionation and helium in the groundwater of the st lawrence lowlands quebec the potential role of natural rock fracturing abstract the goal of this study is to explain the origin of 234 u 238 u fractionation in groundwater from sedimentary aquifers of the st lawrence lowlands quebec canada and its relationship with 3 he 4 he ratios to gain insight regarding the evolution of groundwater in the region 234 u 238 u activity ratios or 234 u 238 u act were measured in 23 groundwater samples from shallow quaternary unconsolidated sediments and from the deeper fractured regional aquifer of the becancour river watershed the lowest 234 u 238 u act 1 14 0 01 was measured in ca hco 3 type freshwater from the quaternary shallower aquifer where bulk dissolution of the carbonate allows u to migrate into water with little 234 u 238 u isotopic fractionation the 234 u 238 u act increases to 6 07 0 14 in na hco 3 cl type groundwater preferential migration of 234 u into water by recoil is the underlying process responsible for this isotopic fractionation an inverse relationship between 234 u 238 u act and 3 he 4 he ratios has been observed this relationship reflects the mixing of newly recharged water with 234 u 238 u act close to the secular equilibrium and containing atmospheric tritiogenic helium and mildly mineralized older water 14 c ages of 6 6 kyrs with 234 u 238 u act of 6 07 and large amounts of radiogenic 4 he in excess of the steady state amount produced in situ the simultaneous fractionation of 234 u 238 u act and the addition of excess 4 he could be locally controlled by stress induced rock fracturing this process increases the surface area of the aquifer matrix exposed to pore water from which produced 4 he and 234 u can be released by recoil and diffusion this process would also facilitate the release of radiogenic helium at rates greater than those supported by steady state u th production in the rock consequently sources internal to the aquifers could cause the radiogenic 4 he excesses measured in groundwater

234u 238u activity ratios of dissolved uranium in groundwaters from a jurassic limestone aquifer in england abstract uranium contents and234u 238u activity ratios have been determined for groundwaters from the lincolnshire limestone artesian aquifer in eastern england changes in the quantitative and isotopic chemistry of the dissolved uranium are explained in terms of a mixing model involving the rapidly moving fissure water and much older water stored in the pore system of this oolitic limestone the western part of the aquifer closest to recharge is dominated by oxidising groundwaters which then enter a reducing zone towards the east where there is an abrupt decrease in eh and the chlorinity of the groundwaters begins to increase uranium contents in the oxidising zone range from 0 7 to 3 4 g kg 1 and234u 238u activity ratio of this dissolved uranium is close to unity the equilibrium value the uranium content decreases abruptly when the grounwaaters enter the reducing zone averaging 0 04 g kg 1 east of the oxidation reduction barrier simultaneously with the decrease in uranium content there is an increase in234u 238u activity ratio and this ratio increases to a maximum within 7 km of the oxidation reduction barrier this increase in activity ratio is attributed to enhanced234u solution due to234th recoil from uraniferous fissure surfaces east of the oxidising zone the activity ratio of dissolved uranium in the ancient pore waters could in principle reach high values due to234th recoil from the oolith surfaces however the activity ratio actually declines further east and this can only be explained as a consequence of mixing with pore waters in which the uranium activity ratio is closer to equilibrium 234th recoil from the oolith surfaces has probably been inhibited by sealing of the uranium bearing surfaces in the process of oolith cementation

persistent climatic and oceanographic oscillations in the subpolar north atlantic during the mis 6 glaciation and mis 5 interglacial rapidly accumulating sediments from the bjorn drift deposit south of iceland are studied for comparison of glacial interglacial climate changes related to millennial variability of the subpolar surface and deep ocean circulation in the north atlantic high resolution faunal isotopic and sedimentary analyses reveal a strong multimillennial climatic variability interpreted as oscillations in heat transport westward south of iceland during marine isotope stage 6 mis 6 possibly related to the strength of the subpolar gyre spg the oscillations persisted from mis 6 through the following interglacial mis 5 although with diminished magnitude and were respectively characterized by repeated advances of the polar front south of iceland during mis 6 and southward migrations of the arctic front due to cold surface outflow through the east greenland and east iceland currents during mis 5 incursions of cold fresh surface waters and drifting ice affected the dynamics of the spg episodically causing it to weaken and contract to the northwest during these intervals of diminished spg the northward transport of subtropical heat and salt was strengthened and preferentially conveyed to the northeast past iceland enhancing deep water formation in the nordic seas by contrast when the spg was strong more subtropical water and its associated heat were entrained within the relatively warm irminger current flowing westward south of iceland these oceanographic oscillations were associated with repeated multimillennial cooling and warming episodes during the glacial stage mis 6 equivalent to the dansgaard oeschger cycles of the last glaciation

the mechanism of 234u238u activity ratio enhancement in karstic limestone groundwater departamento de petrologia e metalogenia universidade estadual paulista campus de rio claro unesp sao paulo

petrographic evidence from the eastern canadian margin of shelf crossing glaciations abstract it is difficult to evaluate when and where glaciers extended across the outer continental shelf off eastern canada the outer shelf and upper slope are commonly hard bottomed or have a great thickness of post glacial sediment in either case making direct sampling and dating of ice margin sediment impossible the timing and extent of glacier ice is important for understanding continental slope sedimentation and ice sheet dynamics we have therefore determined the lithologic components of the 1 4 mm granule fraction of over 100 well dated samples from 40 cores from the more distal parts of the deep water margin off nova scotia and newfoundland this fraction is demonstrably ice rafted in these cores and geographic variation in component results from input of icebergs at different calving margins the samples show that heinrich layers have a distinctive granule fraction that shows some areal variation as a result of dilution by sources other than hudson strait heinrich event 2 ca 21 ka is widespread as far southwest as the west scotian slope but by the last glacial maximum lgm numerous discrete sources of ice rafted granules are recognised implying that calving ice margins were present in several places off newfoundland and nova scotia including off banquereau a distinctive purplish lgm gravelly mud is recognised on the eastern newfoundland margin derived from a calving margin on the ne newfoundland shelf at the time of heinrich event 1 ca 14 ka there was a calving ice outlet somewhere on the grand banks and another in halibut channel retreat of ice from the gulf of st lawrence can be tracked by changing granule petrology from the lgm to 13 ka these data suggest that final ice retreat from many parts of the outer shelf was later than is shown in many recent ice margin reconstructions