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Oxygen isotope analysis of zircon, often combined with geochronology and Hf isotope analysis, has been pivotal in understanding the evolution of continental crust. In this contribution, we expand the use of underexplored accessory phases (titanite and apatite) by demonstrating that their oxygen isotope systems can be robust, and by developing geochemical indicators involving O isotopes and trace element concentrations to better constrain magma petrogenesis. These minerals have the advantage over zircon of being present in less evolved magmas and being more responsive to igneous processes and crustal metamorphism. We present new data on titanite, apatite and zircon from carefully-selected granitoids through geological time: the Phanerozoic high Ba-Sr granites (Caledonian province, Scotland), Archean sanukitoids (Karelia province, Finland) and a Neoproterozoic basalt-andesite-dacite-rhyolite suite (BADR; Guernsey, Channel Island). We demonstrate: (i) that δ 18O values of the studied accessory minerals are not affected by crystal fractionation, (ii) a strong correlation between δ 18O in all three accessory minerals, showing that apatite and titanite can faithfully record the magmatic δ 18O; (iii) that these accessory minerals can also record metamorphic and/or fluid circulation events during the syn- to post-magmatic history of granitoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peak and retrograde P--T conditions of Grenville-age eclogites from the Glenelg--Attadale Inlier of the northwest Highlands of Scotland are presented. Peak conditions are estimated as c. 20 kbar and 750-780 °C, in broad agreement with previous work. The eclogites subsequently followed a steep decompression path to c. 13 kbar and 650-700 °C during amphibolite facies retrogression. Peak eclogite facies metamorphism occurred > 1080 Ma and retrogression at c. 995 Ma, suggesting fairly sluggish uplift rates of < 0.3 km/Ma and cooling rates of < 1.25 °C/Ma, when compared with other parts of the Grenville orogeny and/or modern orogens, However, current poor constraints on the timing of peak metamorphism mean that these rates cannot be used to interpret the geodynamic evolution of this part of the orogen. The P--T--t data, together with petrology and the field relationships between the basement rocks of the Glenelg--Attadale Inlier and the overlying Moine Supergroup, mean that it is difficult to support the currently held view that an unconformable relationship exists between the two. It is suggested that more data are required in order to re-interpret the Neoproterozic tectonic evolution of the northwest Highlands of Scotland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine a broad range of risk factors and their association with alcohol-related hospital admissions in a Scottish general population. Design: Observational record-linkage study in Scotland from 1998 to 2008 involving 8305 respondents aged 16-74 years who participated in the 1998 Scottish Health Survey. Outcome was defined as first-time hospital admission with at least one alcohol-related diagnosis. Methods: Cox proportional hazards modelling was applied to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of first-time hospitalization with an alcohol-related condition associated with a range of behavioural, social and biological risk factors. Findings: In total, 287 (3.4%) respondents experienced at least one alcohol-related hospitalization during the observation period. Moderate to excessive drinking was the strongest predictor of subsequent admission to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis, with clear evidence of a dose - response relationship. Moderate and heavy smoking were also significant predictors of subsequent admission to hospital with an alcohol-related problem. Social factors - such as being in receipt of income-related benefits [HR 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.28]; being retired or economically inactive; and being separated, divorced or widowed (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.70-3.22) - were also significant predictors of alcohol-related hospitalization. Conclusions: Moderate and higher levels of weekly alcohol consumption, moderate to heavy smoking, economic circumstances and marital status are the main risk factors for alcohol- related hospitalization in the Scottish population. These findings add to the evidence that population-based strategies are needed to limit alcohol-related morbidity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon dating establishes a late Cambrian (Drumian) protolith age of 503 ± 2 Ma for a trondhjemitic gneiss of the calc-alkaline Strathy Complex, northern Scottish Caledonides. Positive eHf and eNd values from trondhjemitic gneisses and co-magmatic amphibolites, respectively, and an absence of any inheritance in zircon populations support published geochemistry that indicates a juvenile origin distal from Laurentia. In order to account for its present location within a stack of Laurentia-derived thrust sheets, we interpret the complex as allochthonous and located along a buried suture. We propose that a microcontinental ribbon was detached from Laurentia during late Neoproterozoic to Cambrian rifting; the intervening oceanic tract closed by subduction during the late Cambrian and formed a juvenile arc, the protolith of the Strathy Complex. The microcontinental ribbon was reattached to Laurentia during the Grampian orogeny, which transported the Strathy Complex as a tectonic slice within a nappe stack. Peak metamorphic conditions for the Strathy Complex arc (650-700 °C, 0.6-0.75 GPa) are intermediate in pressure between those published previously for Grampian mineral assemblages in structurally overlying low-pressure migmatites (670-750 °C, <0.4 GPa) that we deduce to have been derived from an adjacent backarc basin, and structurally underlying upper amphibolite rocks (650-700 °C, 1.1-1.2 GPa) that we interpret to represent the partially subducted Laurentian margin. This scenario compares with that of the northern Appalachian Mountains and Norway where microcontinental blocks are interpreted to have their origins in detachment from passive margins of the Iapetus Ocean during Cambrian rifting and to have been re-amalgamated during Caledonian orogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To examine a broad range of risk factors and their association with alcohol-related hospital admissions in a Scottish general population., Design: Observational record-linkage study in Scotland from 1998 to 2008 involving 8305 respondents aged 16-74 years who participated in the 1998 Scottish Health Survey. Outcome was defined as first-time hospital admission with at least one alcohol-related diagnosis., Methods: Cox proportional hazards modelling was applied to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of first-time hospitalization with an alcohol-related condition associated with a range of behavioural, social and biological risk factors., Findings: In total, 287 (3.4%) respondents experienced at least one alcohol-related hospitalization during the observation period. Moderate to excessive drinking was the strongest predictor of subsequent admission to hospital with an alcohol-related diagnosis, with clear evidence of a dose - response relationship. Moderate and heavy smoking were also significant predictors of subsequent admission to hospital with an alcohol-related problem. Social factors - such as being in receipt of income-related benefits [HR 1.68, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.28]; being retired or economically inactive; and being separated, divorced or widowed (HR 2.34, 95% CI 1.70-3.22) - were also significant predictors of alcohol-related hospitalization., Conclusions: Moderate and higher levels of weekly alcohol consumption, moderate to heavy smoking, economic circumstances and marital status are the main risk factors for alcohol-related hospitalization in the Scottish population. These findings add to the evidence that population-based strategies are needed to limit alcohol-related morbidity., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)