determining depositional events within shell deposits using computer vision and photogrammetry abstract shell deposits are notoriously difficult to excavate analyze and interpret as their makeup often precludes the application of traditional stratigraphic models using novel methods in which photographs of shell deposits are digitized and analyzed through image pattern recognition computer vision and photogrammetry a new avenue of research is suggested in which the processes and events responsible for shell deposits are elucidated these methods are applied to two shell deposits from the southeastern united states and show that despite overall morphological similarity in their final form each was created in very different manners

a hydrological continuum in permafrost environments the morphological signatures of melt driven hydrology on earth and mars abstract this paper examines relationships between the morphology of cold desert hydrological features and the water sources and it relates the formation of diagnostic deposits and erosion patterns to environmentally controlled patterns of discharge in particular three sets of landforms found in the mcmurdo dry valleys of antarctica are compared to similar features on mars antarctic streams rivers to amazonian valleys terrestrial gullies to martian gullies and water tracks to recurring slope lineae similarities in landform morphology are highlighted for each set hydrological characteristics are aggregated or calculated and they are shown to scale comparably across the landforms for the terrestrial and martian groups accordingly a hydrological continuum is proposed linking the magnitude and the persistence of water sources in cold desert environments to flow response and the formation of diagnostic landforms this concept provides a framework for examining the relationships between climate hydrology and geomorphology in the cold desert environments of these two worlds

an early pliocene thermal disturbance of the main central thrust central nepal implications for himalayan tectonics since the beginning of the collision between india and asia at about 50 ma the convergence in the himalaya has largely been taken up along major thrust zones in this study samples of the lesser himalaya formations up to 10 km below the main central thrust mct and the greater himalaya sequence up to 12 km above the mct have been analyzed by the 40ar 39ar and u pb methods to investigate the thermal history of the mct the ages can be summarized as follows 1 the youngest ages from muscovites 3 1 ma biotites 3 4 ma and hornblendes 4 1 ma all come from within 1 km of the mct 2 there is a marked asymmetry of ages between the footwall and the hanging wall of the mct the maximum mica age in the hanging wall greater himalaya sequence is 13 ma whereas a muscovite 5 km below the mct in the footwall has an age spectrum with a gradient from 400 to 1400 ma 3 five k feldspars from 6 2 to 11 9 km above the mct all give minimum ages in the range 3 0 6 4 ma and 4 a 206pb 238u age on a brannerite from the greater himalayan sequence is 4 8 ma structural and petrologic observations preclude the possibility that this age distance distribution reflects faulting within the greater himalaya sequence and production of the necessary thermal energy by shear heating requires unrealistically high shear stresses infiltration of hot fluids through the mct zone appears to be the best hypothesis to explain these data simple numerical simulations which account for heat transfer by advection within the fluid flow zone and by conduction outside it indicate that the observed age distribution could have been produced by infiltration of hot fluids through the mct zone at circa 5 to 4 ma within the following range of conditions the fluids heated rocks to temperatures in the range 470 to 510 c for less than 1 million years in a region narrower than the entire mct zone the temperature of the thermal disturbance inferred from the 40ar 39ar data is consistent with petrologic data from albitic alteration assemblages in the greater himalaya sequence and the u pb age of the brannerite is similar to the youngest 40ar 39ar hornblende age this scenario hydrothermal heating culminating at about 4 ma is similar to the model of le fort 1981 for the generation of the high himalayan leucogranites in the late oligocene early miocene by dehydration of the footwall rocks of an active thrust in the younger instance we interpret that fluids derived from the footwall rocks of the main boundary thrust migrated upward through the lesser himalaya formations and were subsequently channeled along the mct producing the thermal disturbance

windows on antarctic soil landscape relationships comparison across selected regions of antarctica abstract this paper brings together topographic cross section windows from across antarctica to illustrate soil landscapes from the margins of the polar plateau in the transantarctic mountains and mcmurdo dry valleys through east antarctic coastal areas to the northern antarctic peninsula region soils identified range from gelisols in the ross sea region through gelisols and entisols in coastal east antarctica to a mixture of gelisols entisols spodosols and inceptisols in the northern antarctic peninsula region where permafrost is not ubiquitous the relative impacts of the soil forming factors are considered at a continental scale climate is the main driver of the differences observed between soils in different areas at local scales strong soil topographic relationships are observed organisms time and parent material are dominant influences on soil properties only in relatively localized situations organisms dominate in areas of organic matter or guano accumulation and time is a dominant influence on exceptionally old upland surfaces in the mcmurdo dry valleys the us department of agriculture s soil taxonomy gives a useful overall appraisal of antarctic soils however for detailed work there is a need to introduce some new categories at subgroup level to better capture the range of soils described

the british pleistocene fluvial archive east midlands drainage evolution and human occupation in the context of the british and nw european record this paper reviews the pleistocene evolution and human occupation of the river trent the major fluvial artery draining midland britain and places it within a modern quaternary context in contrast to the sedimentary records of the river thames and the erstwhile bytham system which extend back to the early pleistocene present knowledge of the terrace sequence of the trent its tributary systems and associated ancestral courses extends back only to the anglian glaciation marine isotope stage mis 12 although the regional pre anglian drainage configuration is demonstrably complex the post anglian sequence is well developed with major terrace sand and gravel aggradations associated with each subsequent cold stage temperate climate sediments correlating with mis 7 and 5e have been recorded although deposits relating to earlier interglacials during mis 11 and 9 have yet to be identified evidence for human occupation in the form of lower and middle palaeolithic artefacts has been recorded from terrace sediments correlated with mis 8 and mis 4 but the majority of this material is heavily rolled and abraded suggesting significant reworking from older deposits this review demonstrates that there is a rich palaeo environmental record from the trent but the lack of a high resolution chronostratgraphic framework raises issues about correlation with other systems

soil development rates in the transantarctic mountains soil chronosequences were identified at three sites 78 85 s within the transantarctic mountains for determining rates of soil development in cold desert ecosystems more than 175 soils were sampled in xerous and ultraxerous environments on moraines containing sandstone and dolerite and ranging from late holocene ca 6 ka to pre late quaternary ca 250 ka in age based on five linear and nonlinear models highly significant correlations p 0 01 exist between drift age and the following surface boulder weathering features and soil properties percentage of boulders containing desert varnish spalling and pitting depths of staining visible salts ghosts pseudomorphs and coherence in soils electroconductivity in the zone of salt enrichment and total profile salts in the absence of leaching soluble salts readily accumulate in cold desert soils a morphogenetic sequence of soluble salts is presented that relates field observations with laboratory data soil color is highly correlated p 0 01 with dithionite extractable fe within a site the proportion of clasts 15 mm on the surface of the desert pavement increases with time due likely to deflation of fines by strong winds therefore the dominant processes in these cold desert soils are salinization rubification reddening due to oxidation of iron bearing minerals and desert pavement formation

comment and reply on possible thermal buffering by crustal anatexis in collisional orogens thermobarometric evidence from the nepalese himalaya

the influence of moisture on the development of soils of the cold deserts of antarctica abstract soils of the cold desert have many features in common with those of hot deserts they generally have dry surface horizons capped by a desert pavement of lag gravel a zone of accumulation of water soluble salts and a permanently frozen layer beneath which may be ice cemented in its lower part they are also distinguished by their very low temperatures and as a consequence of this they have very low moisture status and humidity soil moisture within cold desert soils is usually in the form of small ice crystals vapour or thin water films the influence of broad climatic differences in antarctica is reflected in the soils by differences in moisture supply in terms of precipitation and its availability which is dependent on the length of time any given soil is in whole or in part above freezing this in turn influences the development of morphological properties including soil depth and horizon development on the basis of these features it has been possible to group soils in terms of moisture availability those in which moisture is rarely if ever available and in which there is no leaching of soluble materials ultraxerous moisture class soils in which moisture is sufficient to allow some leaching of soluble material xerous moisture class and soils in which relatively large amounts of moisture are available subxerous moisture class characteristics of the soils formed under these regimes are described subsurface ice present during the early stages of soil formation as the soil parent material is formed by the ablation of ice cored moraine represents an important source of profile moisture during the early stages of soil formation its main influence on soil morphology however is in the mixing and sorting of coarse and fine materials during the formation of patterned and hummocky ground in local areas where there is an abundance of moisture often as a saline solution in hollows or depressions intrazonal soils may be developed apart from a wetter soil moisture regime these soils are characterised by the presence of higher concentrations of soluble salt by olive rather than brownish soil colours and by higher clay contents as well as by differences in weathering and clay mineral formation the profile features resulting from these moisture differences are described and illustrated

distribution properties and origin of viscous flow features in the mcmurdo dry valleys antarctica abstract satellite images and high resolution air photos coupled with field examinations were used to examine 24 rock glaciers debris covered glaciers and 25 gelifluction sheets collectively referred to as viscous flow features in the mcmurdo dry valleys antarctica debris covered glaciers are the dominant form and are longer mean length 2 5 km wider mean width 0 8 km and less steep mean slope 12 than similar features reported in most arctic and alpine environments the catchment areas tend to be large averaging over 9 km2 most of the debris covered glaciers are tongue shaped and where excavation was possible the ice core was readily observable gelifluction sheets primarily occur at the base of valley sidewalls below talus on slopes ranging from 5 to 30 average 13 and contain a very thin active layer normal range 20 to 40 cm both viscous flow forms occur on the north and south facing slopes of the east west trending valleys and are concentrated in the inland mixed zone and stable upland microclimatic zone these lobes were not found in the coastal thaw zone gelifluction sheets result from the melting of snow high on the valley walls subsurface flow of meltwater on top of the permafrost and slow movement downslope they are readily observable from nonsorted polygons that are stretched into rectangles that are perpendicular to the slope and contain raised polygon rims upslope the movement of gelifluction sheets can be detected from upturned stones containing carbonate coatings rates of horizontal surface flow of the viscous flow features are comparable to those reported elsewhere in antarctica and in the alpine and arctic regions of the world some of the viscous flow features appear to be inactive possibly reflecting the recession of alpine glaciers in high elevation cirques

surficial geology and geomorphology of eastern and central wright valley antarctica abstract surficial deposits in eastern and central wright valley antarctica record multiple inland incursions of grounded ice from the ross sea embayment glacial geologic mapping coupled with 42 ams 14 c dates of lacustrine algae and 10 40 ar 39 ar dates of basalt erratics indicate westward ice expansion at least eight times during the pliocene and quaternary the most extensive westward incursion resulted in an advance of at least 21 km beyond the margin of present day wright lower glacier accompanied by ice thickening of 500 m at the location of the present day wilson piedmont glacier in the eastern valley mouth large proglacial lakes and glaciolacustrine sedimentation coincide with at least some of these advances

the balderton sand and gravel pre ipswichian cold stage fluvial deposits near lincoln england the balderton terrace marks a former course of the river trent between newark and the lincoln gap the principal deposit the balderton sand and gravel is interpreted as a braided river sediment ice wedge casts truncated by intraformational erosion surfaces at many levels indicate syndepositional permafrost remnant cover deposits overlying the balderton sand and gravel include the partly aeolian whisby sand locally both the upper part of the balderton sand and gravel and the cover deposits exhibit features indicative of temperate climate pedogenesis all these deposits are affected by subsequent cryoturbation on the basis of these features and the geomorphological and topographical relationship to other terrace deposits of the area the balderton sand and gravel and whisby sand are regarded as post hoxnian and pre lpswichian i e wolstonian electron spin resonance age determinations for fossil elephant teeth and amino acid analyses on molluscs from the balderton sand and gravel suggest correlation with oxygen isotope stage 6 the balderton sand and gravel has yielded a cold climate mammalian fauna dominated by woolly mammoth and woolly rhinoceros though rarer species suggest periods of milder climate silts from channels near the base of the deposit have produced pollen mollusc ostracod and beetle assemblages also indicating a cold climate

landscape evolution and ice sheet behaviour in a semi arid polar environment james ross island ne antarctic peninsula this study of landscape evolution presents both new modern and palaeo process landform data and analyses the behaviour of the antarctic peninsula ice sheet through the last glacial maximum lgm the holocene and to the present day six sediment landform assemblages are described and interpreted for ulu peninsula james ross island ne antarctic peninsula 1 the glacier ice and snow assemblage 2 the glacigenic assemblage which relates to lgm sediments and comprises both erratic poor and erratic rich drift deposited by cold based and wet based ice and ice streams respectively 3 the boulder train assemblage deposited during a mid holocene glacier readvance 4 the ice cored moraine assemblage found in front of small cirque glaciers 5 the paraglacial assemblage including scree pebble boulder lags and littoral and fluvial processes and 6 the periglacial assemblage including rock glaciers protalus ramparts blockfields solifluction lobes and extensive patterned ground the interplay between glacial paraglacial and periglacial processes in this semi arid polar environment is important in understanding polygenetic landforms crucially cold based ice was capable of sediment and landform genesis and modification this landsystem model can aid the interpretation of past environments but also provides new data to aid the reconstruction of the last ice sheet to overrun james ross island

holocene soil chronofunctions southern alps new zealand abstract field and laboratory data for two soil chronosequences from the high country of the south island of new zealand suggest rapid soil formation rates the areas studied are the ben ohau range and the mt cook area where mean annual precipitation is about 1 and 4 m respectively most soil ages are estimated from the thicknesses of rock weathering rinds soil chronofunctions are derived for indices that depict field profile and color development and a modified index of profile anisotropy for laboratory data out of a possible 21 chronofunctions 16 are statistically significant at the 0 05 level and 8 are from each area most 13 of the chronofunctions best fit a power model and the remaining ones are split between linear 2 and exponential 1 models although problems exist in the purity of the chronosequences because other soil forming factors are not constant duration of pedogenesis seems to be the most significant factor in explaining the trends despite the large differences in mean annual precipitation between the two areas many of the derived curves for property vs time are quite similar

periglacial features in patriot hills ellsworth mountains antarctica abstract this work describes periglacial features identified at patriot hills at the southernmost part of ellsworth mountains antarctica during the 2008 2009 brazilian antarctic expedition and discusses their morphogenetic environment identified periglacial features were classified into a rock glacier like landform b slightly creeping debris mantled slopes c steep debris mantled slopes and d rock falls results obtained from sediment sample analysis suggest activity and passive movement of a rock glacier like landform albeit minimal wind seems to play an important role in patriot hills local geomorphology periglacial features such as slightly creeping debris mantled slope appear to have preferred slope orientation they are commonly found onto slopes where the katabatic wind flows down slopewash and groundwater movement processes may be limited or non existent since most snow disappears through sublimation

glacial geomorphology soil development and permafrost features in central upper wright valley antarctica abstract we mapped surficial deposits soils and permafrost features in the central western wright valley antarctica from lake vanda in the east to near the mid part of the south fork in the west outstanding features of the landscape include two large rock glaciers covering approximately 323 ha with a volume of 0 14 km 3 and the sinuous upper wright iii moraine in the south fork with typifying yellowish brown 10yr 5 6 subsoil colours soil morphology and weathering stage indicate the features are early quaternary age and younger than alpine iii deposits soils are dominated by sodium and chloride ions and the total salt content increases with age except where profile soil water is recharged either by subsurface flow from streams melt water production at high elevation or sporadic surface flow ice cemented permafrost at less than 70 cm depth is common being associated with relatively young alluvial soils of the onyx river and with soils on the steep slopes of the south valley wall near the dais where melt water from high elevation recharges soil water

technical considerations and methodology for creating high resolution color corrected and georectified photomosaics of stratigraphic sections at archaeological sites abstract using a conventional off the shelf digital single lens reflex camera and flashes we were able to create high resolution panoramas of stratigraphic profiles ranging from a single meter to over 5 m in both height and width at the middle stone age site of pp5 6 at pinnacle point mossel bay south africa the final photomosaics are isoluminant rectilinear and have a pixel spatial resolution of 1 mm furthermore we systematically color corrected the raw imagery this process standardized the colors seen across the photomosaics while also creating reproducible and meaningful colors for relative colorimetric analysis between photomosiacs here we provide a detailed discussion about the creation and application of our photomosaics in the first part of the paper we examine the specific characteristics of modern digital single lens reflex dslr cameras and lenses that were important to us in developing our methodology we also provide a detailed discussion about how to reproduce the methodology in the field and to post process the imagery in the final section of the paper we give several examples to show how we apply our photomosaics within an empirical 3d gis database these examples are provided to show how photographic data can be integrated with other digitally captured data and used to study the relationships between the stratigraphic features seen in the photomosaics and the 3d distribution of excavated archaeological piece plots geochronological samples and other kinds of geological samples

lidar intensity as a remote sensor of rock properties abstract lidar collects high resolution spatial data making it a popular tool for outcrop investigations however few of these studies utilize lidar s spectral capability lidar scanners commonly collect intensity returns power returned power emitted that are influenced primarily by distance and target reflectivity with lesser influence from angle of incidence roughness and environmental conditions application of distance normalization results in values that approximate target reflectivity at the near infrared wavelength of lidar quartz rich sandstones are more reflective than clay rich mudstones scans of unweathered core and weathered outcrop were collected to investigate the relationship between lithology and lidar intensity in unweathered laboratory samples intensity shows an inverse relationship to wt clay and are positively correlated to wt combined quartz plagioclase and k feldspar a similar relationship was also observed in scans of lightly weathered outcrop although weathering and moisture diminished intensity contrast between sand rich and shale rich intervals thus lidar intensity is a possible remote sensor of lithology particularly in remotely located and inaccessible outcrops

the early lateglacial re colonization of britain new radiocarbon evidence from gough s cave southwest england abstract gough s cave is still britain s most significant later upper palaeolithic site new ultrafiltered radiocarbon determinations on bone change our understanding of its occupation by demonstrating that this lasted for only a very short span of time at the beginning of the lateglacial interstadial greenland interstadial 1 gi 1 bolling and allerod the application of bayesian modelling to the radiocarbon dates from this and other sites from the period in southwest england suggests that re colonization after the last glacial maximum took place only after 14 700 cal bp and is therefore more recent than that of the paris basin and the belgian ardennes on their own the radiocarbon determinations cannot tell us whether re colonization was synchronous with just prior to or after lateglacial warming isotopic studies of humanly modified mammalian tooth enamel may be one way forward

an ipswichian fluvial deposit at fulbeck lincolnshire and the chronology of the trent terraces mammalian fossils recently discovered near fulbeck in lincolnshire include abundant hippopotamus suggesting an ipswichian date for the fulbeck sand and gravel new name these deposits mark a former course of the river witham clasts indicate derivation from outcrops of jurassic rocks and chalky till to the south and south east the relationship of the fulbeck sand and gravel to the terrace deposits of the river trent necessitates a revised chronology the balderton sand and gravel new name laid down by the trent along its former course to the lincoln gap is shown to be older than the ipswichian fulbeck sand and gravel and was probably deposited during the wolstonian stage the eagle moor sand and gravel new name probably glaciofluvial outwash from the chalky tills of the region is considerably older than the balderton sand and gravel and together with the tills is assigned to the early part of the wolstonian or the anglian glacial stage it is suggested that the balderton and eagle moor terraces equate with the lower and upper facets of the composite hilton terrace of the middle trent

assessing the preservation potential of temperate lowland alluvial sediments using airborne lidar intensity archaeological applications of airborne lidar topographic data are now well established and documented however less well explored by archaeologists and palaeoenvironmentalists are the potential applications of lidar intensity data here we explore this potential to remotely determine the differential preservation potential of valley floor sediments within a temperate lowland environment especially where preserved within palaeochannels we compare airborne lidar intensity data with simultaneously collected terrestrial records of sediment organic content moisture and stratigraphy results suggest that while a correlation exists between lidar intensity values and sediment properties it is neither linear nor robustly predictable nevertheless it is suggested that examination of lidar intensity data serve a useful purpose when assessing valley floor alluvial sediments

ancient and modern cold climate aeolian sand deposition a review although partly active aeolian sand sheets and dunes cover large areas in the zones of dis continuous permafrost little precise information is available about the influence of cold climate conditions on modern aeolian processes this means that palaeoenvironmental reconstructions in the stabilised mainly late pleistocene dune fields and cover sand regions in the sand belts of the european lowlands and the northern great plains of the usa and canada are necessarily still based on ancient evidence cold climate wind deposits are typically derived from areas of abundant sediment supply like unvegetated flood plains glacial outwash plains till plains and lake shores the common parabolic and transverse dune forms resemble those observed in temperate regions although a variety of periglacial features has been identified in late pleistocene dune and cover sands none of them indicate that permafrost is crucial to aeolian activity specific structures in aeolian strata permit tentative interpretation of the moisture content of depositional sand surfaces the nature of annual sedimentation cycles and the processes by which strata were deposited and or contorted but surprisingly little is known about the role of vegetation in the process of sand accumulation dunes are most informative with respect to reconstructions of past wind regimes which offer important data for verification of palaeoclimatic simulations

periglacial mass wasting landforms on mars suggestive of transient liquid water in the recent past insights from solifluction lobes on svalbard abstract on earth periglacial solifluction is a slow mass wasting process related to freeze thaw activity we compare the morphology of small scale lobate features on mars to solifluction lobes in svalbard to constrain their processes of formation the analysis is based on high resolution satellite imagery of mars hirise 25 cm pxl aerial images of svalbard with a similar spatial resolution hrsc ax 20 cm pxl acquired through an air campaign in summer 2008 and ground truth obtained during two summer expeditions in 2009 and 2011 on svalbard we present a detailed study of two crater environments on mars displaying two types of lobate forms characterized as sorted clast banked and non sorted lobes on both svalbard and mars such lobes typically occur as clusters of overlapping risers lobe fronts pointing to differential velocities in the soil the martian small scale lobes have well defined arcuate risers and lobe treads surface lobe widths range between 14 and 127 m and tread lengths between 13 and 105 m riser height is estimated to be approximately 1 5 m the lobes on mars share the plan view morphology of solifluction lobes on svalbard and their morphometry is within the range of values of terrestrial solifluction lobes the lobes are distinct from permafrost creep landforms such as rock glaciers we show the results of a survey of 53 hirise images covering latitudes between 59 n and 81 n similar to svalbard the studied lobate features on mars occur in close spatial proximity to gullies and thermal contraction polygons the widespread distribution of the lobate forms in the northern hemisphere and their close association to ground ice and gullies are best explained by mass wasting processes related to frost creep gelifluction and or plug like flow this suggests a protracted process thousand to several thousands of years of freeze thaw activity at the northern high latitudes on mars age constraints on lobe deposits and superposition relationships with gullies and polygons imply a process involving liquid water within the last few million years

advances in permafrost and periglacial research in antarctica a review recently the research on permafrost periglacial morphology and processes had a great stimulus especially from the international polar year permafrost areas of continental antarctica with its extreme dry and cold environment can be considered an analog of extraterrestrial landscapes like those on mars but also preserve much paleoclimatic information of this crucial part of the global climatic system on the other hand maritime antarctica is one of the areas of the world currently affected by the greatest air warming and provides a unique opportunity to understand the impacts of climate change on permafrost and its related ecosystems despite the significant recent progress some gaps on permafrost distribution still remain as the network for permafrost and active layer monitoring needs further enlargement and better standardization ground ice its age and stability over time need further investigation as well as the role of living organisms on the weathering processes within the cryotic rocks the landscape evolution of continental antartica could be improved providing potential implications also for a better understanding and modeling of life and landscape evolution of other planets

soil formation in wright valley antarctica since the late neogene abstract we investigated over 180 soil profiles on 15 drift units ranging from recent to pliocene or older in age in wright valley antarctica the drifts originate from 1 post valley cutting by an advance of the east antarctic ice sheet 2 advances of the wright lower glacier from grounding of ice in the ross embayment and 3 advance of alpine glaciers along the south valley wall holocene and lgm soils lack staining from oxidation of iron bearing minerals and visible salts contain ice or ice cemented permafrost in the upper 0 5 m and are classified as glacic or typic haploturbels other soils of late quaternary age are stained to 2 in the upper 70 cm of profile and are classified as typic haploturbels soils of mid late quaternary age are stained to 20 cm have ice cemented permafrost at depths in excess of 1 m and stage 2 salts flecks and patches covering 2 and are classified as typic anhyorthels soils of early quaternary to late pliocene age are oxidized to depths 30 cm have stage 3 salts flecks and patches covering 20 of the profile face contain 4000 4200 mg salts cm 2 and are classified as salic anhyorthels soils of pliocene age are deeply oxidized 50 cm have stage 5 6 salts strongly cemented or indurated salt pans contain 5000 7000 mg salts cm 2 and are classified as petrosalic anhyorthels soils of early pliocene or older age do not show the degree of development of younger soils because they are derived from peleus till which contains highly erosive fine sandy quartz rich rock our data question the notion of high level antarctic lakes occupying most of the valley during the lgm and early holocene

fertile granites of precambrian rare element pegmatite fields is geochemistry controlled by tectonic setting or source lithologies abstract a total of twenty fertile granites and their rare element pegmatite aureoles was examined to correlate their tectonic position relative to the preceding orogenic event with their geochemical signature namely li rb cs be ga sn nb ta y ree sc ti zr be th u f nyf the range of t time difference between metamorphism and or deformation and granite intrusion is 20 to 465 ma for the examined cases there is some tendency toward syn to late orogenic origin of lct s as opposed to post to anorogenic timing of nyf s but the correlation is poor compared to the previously accepted stereotype similarly both metaluminous and peraluminous fertile granites are about equally spread among syn late and anorogenic environments lct systems are largely associated with peraluminous granites whereas all metaluminous to peralkaline plutons bear the nyf signature tectonic control on geochemistry of granite pegmatite suites is poor and secondary to the fundamental influence of the source lithologies yielding granitic melts the lct type suites are derived from undepleted upper crustal lithologies suffering their first anatectic event which mobilizes the most volatile components into low temperature low percentage melts supracrustal sequences as well as ortho and para lithologies of their basement serve as protoliths with variable degrees of involvement the nyf type suites whose plutons have the geochemical signature of a granites may be derived by melting of depleted lower crustal sources residual after preceding anatectic events or possibly by melting of juvenile lithologies with short crustal residence differentiation from mantle derived magmas is highly improbable volatile extraction of nyf elements from the mantle and their pre enrichment in protoliths or melts seems to be required the few mixed systems with variable expressions of a nyf lct signature are derived basically as nyf suites but contaminated by the lct elements from undepleted upper crust via several possible mechanisms

contextualising archaeological models with geological airborne and terrestrial lidar data the ice age landscape in farndon fields nottinghamshire uk archaeological models of past human occupation of the landscape build upon the understanding of the natural palaeo environment this cognitive process relies on the study of the sediment units at a level of spatial resolution that might not be achieved with available maps this paper presents a new approach to combine traditional ground investigation methods and new technologies to detect extract and analyse stratigraphic records with particular application to vanishing landscapes with limited exposure of the sediments the demonstration site is farndon fields an extremely rare late upper palaeolithic open air site at the southern outskirts of newark on trent in nottinghamshire uk since the early 1990s when the upgrading of the new a46 road was planned ground and archaeological investigations have been carried out the test pitting undertaken by farndon archaeological research investigations fari in the field 373a in september 2015 offered an ideal occasion for the british geological survey bgs to test the methodology a palaeo geographic understanding from regional to local scales is here proposed based on 5 m airborne light detection and ranging lidar data and multispectral aerial photographs of the site prior to the alteration due to the a46 works features of the palaeo landscape are vanishing and intrusive investigations are required to unveil the presence of the archaeological context samples were taken for particle size analysis of the sediment units to characterise the aeolian sand deposits coversands and the underlying clayey silty sandy sediments interbedded with paler laminae for the first time state of the art terrestrial lidar technology was used for stratigraphic profiling strata delineation and geological feature extraction based on the intensity return and surface roughness the combined use of point clouds 3d models and cloud intensity from terrestrial lidar provides an added level of confidence to the ability to subdivide the sediment units and discriminate them from ploughsoil internal bedding of the coversands is enhanced in the lidar elaborations this is new evidence not otherwise observed by the naked eye on the other side the classification of point clouds by roughness index seems promising for recording the grading of the sediments the experiment in farndon fields therefore demonstrates the benefit of phased technology based investigation combining archaeology and geology towards a more cost effective assessment through strategic sampling and digital recording of landscape domains

thermoluminescence dating of the british coversand deposits abstract coversand deposits thought to be of lateglacial age are found in britain in north lincolnshire south west lancashire and central east anglia a comprehensive dating study of them using thermoluminescence tl techniques is currently underway in an attempt to link the british coversand deposits to the european coversand chronology initial results from four of the british coversand sites sampled are presented the 26 tl dates from 14 samples show that in lincolnshire aeolian deposition took place from 12 5 ka to i1 ka cessation of the initial sand deposition was synchronous with this in lancashire but sand deposition occurred significantly earlier in east anglia the upper layers of aeolian sand in lancashire are much younger and are attributed to holocene reworking on the basis of these dates lincolnshire and lancashire coversand deposition occurred at a similar time to the younger coversand ii whilst east anglian coversand deposition coincided with the younger coversand i phase in the european coversand chronology