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Trends in coral cover are widely used to indi- cate the health of coral reefs but are costly to obtain from field survey over large areas. In situ studies of reflected spectra at the coral surface show that living and recently dead colonies can be distinguished. Here, we investigate whether such spectral differences can be detected using an airborne remote sensing instrument. The Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (Itres Research Ltd, Canada) was flown in two configurations: 10 spectral bands with 1-m 2 pixels and 6 spectral bands with 0.25-m 2 pixels. First, we show that an instrument with 10 spectral bands possesses adequate spectral res- olution to distinguish living Porites, living Pocillopora spp., partially dead Porites, recently dead Porites (total colony mortality within 6 months), old dead (>6 months) Porites, Halimeda spp., and coralline red algae when there is no water column to confuse spectra. All substrata were distinguished using fourth-order spectral derivatives around 538 nm and 562 nm. Then, at a shallow site (Tivaru) at Rangiroa Atoll, Tuamotu Archipelago (French Polynesia), we show that live and dead coral can be distinguished from the air to a depth of at least 4 m using first- and fourth-order spectral derivatives between 562-580 nm. However, partially dead and recently dead Poritescolonies could not be distinguished from an airborne platform. Spectral dif- ferences among substrata are then exploited to predict the cover of reef substrata in ten 25-m 2 plots at nearby Motu Nuhi (max depth 8 m). The actual cover in these plots was determined in situ using quadrats with a 0.01- m 2 grid. Considerable disparity occurred between field and image-based measures of substrate cover within individual 25-m 2 quadrats. At this small scale, disparity, measured as the absolute difference in cover between field and remote-sensing methods, reached 25% in some substrata but was always less than 10% for living coral (99% of which consisted of Porites spp.). At the scale of the reef (all ten 25-m 2 quadrats), however, disparities in percent cover between imagery and field data were less than 10% for all substrata and extremely low for some classes (e.g.

A review of the academic literature and British Geological Survey mapping is employed to produce a ‘Glacial Map’, and accompanying geographic information system (GIS) database, of features related to the last (Devensian) British Ice Sheet. The map (1:625000) is included in a folder and GIS data are freely available by web download (http:www.shef.ac.ukgeographystaffclark_chrisbritice.html). Emphasis is on information that constrains the last ice sheet. The following are included: moraines, eskers, drumlins, meltwater channels, tunnel valleys, trimlines, limit of key glacigenic deposits, glaciolacustrine deposits, ice-dammed lakes, erratic dispersal patterns, shelf-edge fans and the Loch Lomond Readvance limit of the main ice cap. The GIS contains over 20 000 features split into thematic layers (as above). Individual features are attributed such that they can be traced back to their published sources. Given that the published sources of information that underpin this work were derived by piecemeal effort over 150 years, then our main caveat is of data consistency and reliability. It is hoped that this compilation will stimulate greater scrutiny of published data, assist in palaeoglaciological reconstructions and facilitate use of field evidence in numerical ice-sheet modelling. It may also help direct field workers in their future investigations.

This chapter reviews the evidence for glacial limits in England, Scotland, and Wales as understood at the beginning of 2002. Evidence for glaciation of England, Scotland, and Wales is primarily lithological with glacial episodes being identified by till and glaciofluvial sediments and glacial limits being determined by the extent of these deposits. Additionally, geomorphological evidence has played an important role in reconstructing the extent of ice masses in younger glaciations. Moraine ridges and ice-contact landforms, including patterns of glacio-isostatically deformed displaced shorelines, have played an important role in the determination of ice limits of these younger glacial events. Biological evidence has played a role in separating glacial events and in indicating a tendency toward climatic deterioration, or the existence of cold conditions that may be associated with glaciation. In the majority of cases, this biological evidence has taken the form of pollen, but molluska and plant macros have also been used to differentiate different stages of the Quaternary and insect faunas to provide direct evidence for the presence of glacial meltwater. Soil evidence, usually in the form of permafrost structures, has been used to indicate cold climate conditions that have been linked with the formation of glacier ice elsewhere in England, Wales, and Scotland.

This study describes the activation conditions for tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF alpha) production in myelomonocytic U937 cells and human primary peripheral blood monocytes in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and/or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). PMA itself induced only low levels of TNF alpha production with delayed kinetics (e.g. 0.758 +/- 0.128 ng/ml from U937 cells after 48 h) while LPS induced greater levels of TNF alpha production in less time (e.g. 2.083 +/- 0.96 ng/ml from monocytes in 24 h). Pharmacological agents with various molecular sites of action were used to validate the two systems, with the protein serine-threonine kinase inhibitors staurosporine and Ro-31-8220, the protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor herbimycin A (HBA) and dexamethasone exhibiting the greatest potency (IC50S 5-350 nM). In contrast to the effect on TNF alpha production, PMA induced strong phosphorylation/activation of p42/p44mapk in monocytes by 10 min determined in a mobility shift assay, while LPS was a weaker inducer. Additionally, staurosporine (to LPS and PMA) and HBA (to LPS only) inhibited the activation of these mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) isoforms at doses 10-100 fold higher than those required to inhibit maximal TNF alpha production. These data indicate the involvement of the p42/p44mapk signalling pathway in LPS-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine production but suggest that other signalling pathways are also implicated in this phenomenon.

Two protocols discuss labeling PCR products with radioactive labels. The PCR products are then analyzed on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel and visualized by direct autoradiography. The resulting band pattern is used to define the SSLP genotype of the individual. Another method of genotyping uses a simple silver staining technique to detect PCR-amplified SSLPs electrophoresed in denaturing polyacrylamide gels. In a fourth protocol, multiple unlabeled PCR products from one individual are pooled, separated on a denaturing polyacrylamide gel, transferred to a nylon membrane, and sequentially hybridized to nonradioactive end-labeled probes derived from the primers used to amplify each SSLP marker. The probes are detected on film using chemiluminescence. Support protocols describe the preparation of an M13 sequence ladder size standard and digoxigenin labeling of the probe, both of which are required for the chemiluminescent method.

Multispectral imagery plays a significant role in Earth resource survey and evaluation and has been an essential part of terrestrial and planetary exploration. The capabilities of instruments in resolution and spectra discrimination are constantly being improved upon to meet the increasingly expanded requirements in many fields of research. With the increasing utilization of imaging spectrometer data, automatic identification of spectral signatures emanating from this imagery would be an invaluable facility as a precursor to classifying each pixel. Existing methods for identifying constituent spectra typically rely on spectra that are selected either manually or involve manual intervention. The aim of our research work is to assess the viability of linear and nonlinear approaches for spectral recognition and to devise techniques suitable for fully-automatic analysis. The techniques considered are numerical optimization, genetic algorithms, artificial neural networks, singular value decomposition (SVD), and a technique that uses SVD in an iterative scheme to avoid over-fitting. The ability of these methods to distinguish between a large number (up to 160) of different spectra is assessed, as is their stability in the presence of noise and their capacity to identify correctly combinations of spectra. (6 pages)

Multi-spectral imagery plays a significant role in Earth resource survey and evaluation and has been an essential part of terrestrial and planetary exploration. Multi-spectral imaging sensors-such as the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging spectrometer (AVIRIS), which images in 224 wavebands in the range 0.4-2.45 /spl mu/m giving 224 images, each of 614/spl times/512 pixels, and GER which images in 63 wavebands-are now routinely in use. With this increasing utilization of imaging spectrometer data and the constant improvement in instrument resolution and spectral discrimination, automatic identification of spectral signatures emanating from this imagery would be an invaluable facility as a precursor to classifying each pixel. Existing methods for identifying constituent spectra typically rely on spectra that are selected either manually or involve manual intervention. The aim of the work described in this paper is to devise techniques suitable for fully-automatic analysis. Two techniques are described. The first is artificial neural networks and the second is singular value decomposition (SVD). The ability of these methods to distinguish between up to 160 different spectra is assessed, as is their stability in the presence of noise and their capacity to identify correctly combinations of spectra, i.e., where a test spectrum is made up of more than one spectrum from a reference database.

Chris Clark is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Work at the University of Edinburgh. His teaching interests include social policy, philosophy of welfare, and profes sional ethics. Other interests include voluntary action and community care. He is author of Social Work and Social Philosophy: A Guide for Practice (with Stewart Asquith), and of Theory and Practice in Voluntary Social Action.

SPT16 was previously identified as a high-copy-number suppressor of delta insertion mutations in the 5' regions of the HIS4 and LYS2 genes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We have constructed null mutations in the SPT16 gene and have demonstrated that it is essential for growth. Temperature-sensitive-lethality spt16 alleles have been isolated and shown to be pleiotropic; at a temperature permissive for growth, spt16 mutations suppress delta insertion mutations, a deletion of the SUC2 upstream activating sequence, and mutations in trans-acting genes required for both SUC2 and Ty expression. In addition, SPT16 is identical to CDC68, a gene previously shown to be required for passage through the cell cycle control point START. However, at least some transcriptional effects caused by spt16 mutations are independent of arrest at START. These results and those in the accompanying paper (A. Rowley, R. A. Singer, and G. C. Johnston, Mol. Cell. Biol. 11:5718-5726, 1991) indicate that SPT16/CDC68 is required for normal transcription of many loci in S. cerevisiae.

Subglacial lakes identifi ed beneath the Antarctic Ice Sheet belong to a rare category of unexplored environments on Earth’s surface. The key to understanding the origin and longevity of subglacial lakes is likely contained in their sedimentary sequences. Here we explore the nature of a sedimentary succession in a deep tectonic trough identifi ed as a prime candidate for a large subglacial paleolake. The trough is the 100-km-long, 620-m-deep Christie Bay, located in the east arm of the Great Slave Lake, Canada. High-resolution seismic refl ection data and short sediment cores collected in the deep trough show a 150-m-thick sequence of fi sedimentary lake fi ll separating glacial ice-contact deposits from draped Holocene lake sediments. We interpret this sequence to consist of sediments that accumulated in a subglacial lake that covered an area larger than 130 km 2 . The inferred presence of a subglacial paleolake is supported by results from hydrologic modeling of drainage pathways beneath the Laurentide Ice Sheet during the last glacial maximum. Our data point toward the existence of a dynamic subglacial lake environment where sediments were delivered by discharge of meltwater from a subglacial water system. A core sample of the sedimentary lake fi ll in Christie Bay may elucidate whether living organisms exist in subglacial lakes.

A major problem for understanding the dynamics of ice streams has been a lack of precise data on ice streaming longevity and sediment transport efficacy. Here we present the first well-constrained data on sediment flux from a paleoice stream. This has been achieved by computing the volume of sediment deposited as debris flows on the fan located at the outlet of the Norwegian Channel ice stream, and converting to a flux measurement by accounting for the duration of streaming in this episode (between 20 and 19 ka during the last glacial stage). In this period the ice stream delivered an average 1.1 Gt of sediment per year, equivalent to 8000 m 3 yr −1 per meter width of ice stream front. The calculated flux is an order of magnitude higher than most previous estimates for other paleoice streams and is comparable to the present sediment flux from the world9s largest rivers. The short period of debris-flow deposition suggests that the Norwegian Channel ice stream underwent rapid on-off switching, with punctuated iceberg delivery to the North Atlantic as a consequence.

Elucidating the controls on the location and vigor of ice streams is crucial to understanding the processes that lead to fast disintegration of ice flows and ice sheets. In the former North American Laurentide ice sheet, ice stream occurrence appears to have been governed by topographic troughs or areas of soft-sediment geology. This paper reports robust evidence of a major paleo–ice stream over the northwestern Canadian Shield, an area previously assumed to be incompatible with fast ice flow because of the low relief and relatively hard bedrock. A coherent pattern of subglacial bedforms (drumlins and megascale glacial lineations) demarcates the ice stream flow set, which exhibits a convergent onset zone, a narrow main trunk with abrupt lateral margins, and a lobate terminus. Variations in bedform elongation ratio within the flow set match theoretical expectations of ice velocity. In the center of the ice stream, extremely parallel megascale glacial lineations tens of kilometers long with elongation ratios in excess of 40:1 attest to a single episode of rapid ice flow. We conclude that while bed properties are likely to be influential in determining the occurrence and vigor of ice streams, contrary to established views, widespread soft-bed geology is not an essential requirement for those ice streams without topographic control. We speculate that the ice stream acted as a release valve on ice-sheet mass balance and was initiated by the presence of a proglacial lake that destabilized the ice-sheet margin and propagated fast ice flow through a series of thermomechanical feedbacks involving ice flow and temperature.

Almost three-quarters of the world's coral reefs are thought to be deteriorating as a consequence of environmental stress. Until now, it has been possible to evaluate reef health only by field survey, which is labour-intensive and time-consuming. Here we map live coral cover from the air by remote imaging, a technique that will enable the state of shallow reefs to be monitored swiftly and over large areas.

Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data have been examined with a view to assessing their suitability for identifying and mapping the systematic patterns left on the landscape by the glaciation of continental areas. The study was carried out with data from a region of southern Finland. Following a print-based study, digital data were obtained and it was found that band 2 is particularly useful for the recognition of lineation patterns, band 3 for identifying major morainic features and principal component 2 for discriminating radial lineation patterns. The major glacial features for the study area were plotted from the AVHRR data and they confirmed interpretations previously constructed from ground data and aerial survey methods. It is envisaged that AVHRR could be used successfully for mapping glacial geological evidence over a wide area and hence for the reconstruction and modelling of former ice-sheet patterns.

Earth's extant ice sheets are of great societal importance given their ongoing and potential future contributions to sea-level rise. Numerical models of ice sheets are designed to simulate ice-sheet behaviour in response to climate changes but to be improved require validation against observations. The direct observational record of extant ice sheets is limited to a few recent decades, but there is a large and growing body of geochronological evidence spanning millennia constraining the behaviour of palaeo-ice sheets. Hindcasts can be used to improve model formulations and study interactions between ice sheets, the climate system and landscape. However, ice-sheet modelling results have inherent quantitative errors stemming from parameter uncertainty and their internal dynamics, leading many modellers to perform ensemble simulations, while uncertainty in geochronological evidence necessitates expert interpretation. Quantitative tools are essential to examine which members of an ice-sheet model ensemble best fit the constraints provided by geochronological data. We present the Automated Timing Accordance Tool (ATAT version 1.1) used to quantify differences between model results and geochronological data on the timing of ice-sheet advance and/or retreat. To demonstrate its utility, we perform three simplified ice-sheet modelling experiments of the former British–Irish ice sheet. These illustrate how ATAT can be used to quantify model performance, either by using the discrete locations where the data originated together with dating constraints or by comparing model outputs with empirically derived reconstructions that have used these data along with wider expert knowledge. The ATAT code is made available and can be used by ice-sheet modellers to quantify the goodness of fit of hindcasts. ATAT may also be useful for highlighting data inconsistent with glaciological principles or reconstructions that cannot be replicated by an ice-sheet model.

Eskers record the signature of channelisedmeltwater drainage during deglaciation providing vital information on the nature and evolution of subglacial drainage. In this paper, we compare the spatial pattern of eskers beneath the former Laurentide Ice Sheet with subglacial drainage routes diagnosed at discrete time intervals from the results of a numerical ice-sheet model. Perhaps surprisingly,we showthat eskers predominantly occur in regions where modelled subglacial water flow is low. Eskers and modelled subglacial drainage routes were found to typically match over distances of b10 km, and most eskers show a better agreement with the routes close to the ice margin just prior to deglaciation. This supports a time-transgressive esker pattern, with formation in short (b10km) segments of conduit close behind a retreating ice margin, and probably associated with thin, stagnant or sluggish ice. Esker-forming conduits were probably dominated by supraglacially fed meltwater inputs. We also show that modelled subglacial drainage routes containing the largest concentrations of meltwater show a close correlation with palaeo-ice stream locations. The paucity of eskers along the terrestrial portion of these palaeo-ice streams and meltwater routes is probably because of the prevalence of distributed drainage and the high erosion potential of fast-flowing ice.

The Rogaland–Vest Agder Sector of southwestern Norway comprises high-grade metamorphic rocks intruded by voluminous plutonic bodies that include the ∼1000 km2 Rogaland Igneous Complex (RIC). New petrographic observations and thermodynamic phase equilibria modelling of three metapelitic samples collected at various distances (30 km, 10 km and ∼10 m) from one of the main bodies of RIC anorthosite were undertaken to assess two alternative P–T–t models for the metamorphic evolution of the area. The results are consistent with a revised two-phase evolution. Regional metamorphism followed a clockwise P–T path reaching peak conditions of ∼850–950 °C and ∼7–8 kbar at ∼1035 Ma followed by high-temperature decompression to ∼5 kbar at ∼950 Ma, and resulted in extensive anatexis and melt loss to produce highly residual rocks. Subsequent emplacement of the RIC at ∼930 Ma caused regional-scale contact metamorphism that affected country rocks 10 km or more from their contact with the anorthosite. This thermal overprint is expressed in the sample proximal to the anorthosite by replacement of sillimanite by coarse intergrowths of cordierite plus spinel and growth of a second generation of garnet, and in the intermediate (10 km) sample by replacement of sapphirine by coarse intergrowths of cordierite, spinel and biotite. The formation of late biotite in the intermediate sample may suggest the rocks retained small quantities of melt produced by regional metamorphism and remained at temperatures above the solidus for up to 100 Ma. Our results are more consistent with an accretionary rather than a collisional model for the Sveconorwegian Orogen.

Chromatin structure is believed to be important for a number of cellular processes, including transcription. However, the role of nucleosomes in transcription is not well understood. We have identified the yeast histone locus HTB1-HTB1, encoding histones H2A and H2B, as a suppressor of solo delta insertion mutations that inhibit adjacent gene expression. The HTA1-HTB1 locus causes suppression either when present on a high-copy-number plasmid or when mutant. These changes in HTA1-HTB1 after transcription of the genes adjacent to the delta insertions. On the basis of this result, we have examined the effects of increased and decreased histone gene dosage for all four yeast histone loci. From the types of histone gene dosage changes that cause suppression of insertion mutations, we conclude that altered stoichiometry of histone dimer sets can alter transcription in yeast.

The beds of active ice streams in Greenland and Antarctica are largely inaccessible, hindering a full understanding of the processes that initiate, sustain and inhibit fast ice flow in ice sheets. Detailed mapping of the glacial geomorphology of palaeo-ice stream tracks is, therefore, a valuable tool for exploring the basal processes that control their behaviour. In this paper we present a map that shows detailed glacial geomorphology from a part of the Dubawnt Lake Palaeo-Ice Stream bed on the north-western Canadian Shield (Northwest Territories), which operated at the end of the last glacial cycle. The map (centred on 63 55" 42'N, 102 29" 11'W, approximate scale 1:90,000) was compiled from digital Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus satellite imagery and digital and hard-copy stereo-aerial photographs. The ice stream bed is dominated by parallel mega-scale glacial lineations (MGSL), whose lengths exceed several kilometres but the map also reveals that they have, in places, been superimposed with transverse ridges known as ribbed moraines. The ribbed moraines lie on top of the MSGL and appear to have segmented the individual lineaments. This indicates that formation of the ribbed moraines post-date the formation of the MSGL. The presence of ribbed moraine in the onset zone of another palaeo-ice stream has been linked to oscillations between cold and warm-based ice and/or a patchwork of cold-based areas which led to acceleration and deceleration of ice velocity. Our hypothesis is that the ribbed moraines on the Dubawnt Lake Ice Stream bed are a manifestation of the process that led to ice stream shut-down and may be associated with the process of basal freeze-on. The precise formation of ribbed moraines, however, remains open to debate and field observation of their structure will provide valuable data for formal testing of models of their formation.

Ice streams had a major influence on the configuration and the stability of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. Their identification is crucial for an understanding of ice sheet behaviour and their importance is reflected by the recent increase in paleo-ice stream research. This paper provides a synopsis of Laurentide paleo-ice streams, compiled from published sources and our mapping from satellite imagery and aerial photography. In total, 49 hypothesised ice streams are reviewed, and categorised according to the strength of evidence for streaming and knowledge of their extent. A map of Laurentide paleo-ice streams is presented, along with tables documenting the nature of evidence on which streaming behaviour has been invoked. The distribution of ice streams demonstrates the spatial organisation of fast ice flow, and overlapping imprints document major changes in ice flow during retreat. We note that Laurentide paleo-ice streams exhibit a much greater range in size than those currently operating in Antarctica., Les courants glaciaires ont eu une influence déterminante sur la configuration et la stabilité de l’Inlandsis Laurentidien. Leur identification est cruciale pour la compréhension du comportement de la calotte glaciaire et l’intensification récente de la recherche sur les courants paléoglaciaires témoigne de leur importance. Dans cet article, nous présentons une vue d’ensemble des courants paléoglaciaires de l’Inlandsis Laurentidien, compilée à partir de la revue des sources publiées et de notre cartographie établie à l’aide d’imagerie satellite et de photographies aériennes. En tout, nous avons étudié 49 hypothèses de courants glaciaires. Nous les avons classées selon l’importance du témoignage de leur écoulement et la connaissance que nous avons de leur extension. Nous proposons une carte des courants paléoglaciaires laurentidiens ainsi que des tableaux décrivant la nature de la preuve permettant d’établir le comportement de l’écoulement. La répartition des courants glaciaires montre l’organisation spatiale d’un écoulement glaciaire rapide et le chevauchement des empreintes traduit les changements de l’écoulement durant son retrait. Nous notons que la taille des courants paléoglaciaires laurentidiens est plus importante que celle des courants glaciaires actuels de l’Antarctique.

In this study, in situ U–Pb monazite ages and Lu–Hf garnet geochronology are used to distinguish mineral parageneses developed during Devonian–Carboniferous and Cretaceous events in migmatitic paragneiss and orthogneiss from the Fosdick migmatite–granite complex in West Antarctica. SHRIMP U–Pb monazite ages define two dominant populations at 365–300 Ma (from cores of polychronic grains, dominantly from deeper structural levels in the central and western sectors of the complex) and 120–96 Ma (from rims of polychronic grains, dominantly from the central and western sectors of the complex, and from monochronic grains, mostly from shallower structural levels in the eastern sector of the complex). For five paragneisses and two orthogneisses, Lu–Hf garnet ages range from 116 to 111 Ma, c. 12–17 Ma older than published Sm–Nd garnet ages of 102–99 Ma from three of the same samples. Garnet grains in the analysed samples generally have Lu-enriched rims relative to Lu-depleted cores. By contrast, for three of the same samples, individual garnet grains have flat Sm concentrations consistent with high-T diffusive resetting. Lutetium enrichment of garnet rims is interpreted to record the breakdown of a Lu-rich accessory mineral during the final stage of garnet growth immediately prior to the metamorphic peak, and/or the preferential retention of Lu in garnet during breakdown to cordierite in the presence of melt concomitant with the initial stages of exhumation. Therefore, garnet is interpreted to be part of the Cretaceous mineral paragenesis and the Lu–Hf garnet ages are interpreted to record the timing of close-to-peak metamorphism for this event. For the Devonian–Carboniferous event, phase equilibria modelling of the metasedimentary protoliths to the paragneiss and a diatexite migmatite restrict the peak P–T conditions to 720–800 °C at 0.45–1.0 GPa. For the Cretaceous event, using both forward and inverse phase equilibria modelling of residual paragneiss and orthogneiss compositions, the P–T conditions after decompression are estimated to have been 850–880 °C at 0.65–0.80 GPa. These P–T conditions occurred between c. 106 and c. 96 Ma, determined from Y-enriched rims on monazite that record the timing of garnet and biotite breakdown to cordierite in the presence of melt. The effects of this younger metamorphic event are dominant throughout the Fosdick complex.

Please click here to download the map associated with this article. Ribbed moraines are large subglacially formed transverse ridges that cover extensive areas of the beds of the former Laurentide, Fennoscandian and Irish ice sheets. Since the flow speeds and stability of ice sheets are known to be sensitive to conditions operating at the bed, a full understanding of the processes of ribbed moraine genesis are critical if we are to appreciate their role in ice sheet dynamics. To date, advances in knowledge on how ribbed moraines are formed rely on inferences drawn from their characteristics. However, this approach is problematic given that ribbed moraine characteristics are poorly known. Scrutiny of the literature reveals that detailed observations are limited to small areas and rely on small sample sizes. Thus, generalisations drawn from this base cannot be regarded as being representative and remain an inadequate data source for testing the various hypotheses. The map forms part of a large study...

The Bunger Hills in East Antarctica occupy a pivotal location as the westernmost continuation of the Albany–Fraser Orogen in southwestern Australia. Combined U–Pb, Lu–Hf and oxygen isotope data from the Bunger Hills reveal a previously unrecognised Archean basement (ca. 2800–2700 Ma) of Yilgarn Craton affinity. Results also reveal a Paleo–Mesoproterozoic (ca. 1700–1500 Ma) volcano-clastic sequence and late Mesoproterozoic magmatic intrusives (ca. 1260 Ma and 1200 Ma) that were coeval with high grade metamorphism. Isotopic data reflect the influence of an Archean crustal component in Proterozoic magmatism. Paleoproterozoic magmatism was characterised by voluminous juvenile input and minor recycling of Archean crust. In contrast, Mesoproterozoic magmatism is isotopically evolved, and is interpreted to have been derived largely from reworking of the Paleoproterozoic crust and Archean basement. Strong parallels between the age and isotopic composition of igneous rocks over time from the Bunger Hills and Albany–Fraser Orogen in southwest Australia suggest that the Paleo–Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution of these two elements of the orogen is linked. Specifically, the Bunger Hills are interpreted to represent the Paleo–Mesoproterozoic (para)autochthonous modification of a reworked fragment of the Archean Yilgarn Craton that was extended during the late Paleoproterozoic. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

The quarry at Kottavattom in the Trivandrum Block of southern India contains spectacular examples of fluid-assisted alteration of high-grade metamorphic rocks. Garnet-biotite gneiss has undergone a change in mineral assemblage to form submetre scale orthopyroxene-bearing patches, later retrogressed to form an amphibole-bearing lithology. These patches, often referred to as arrested or incipient charnockite, crosscut the original metamorphic foliation and are typically attributed to passage of a low aH2O fluid through the rock. Whilst this conversion is recognised as a late stage process, little detailed chronological work exists to link it temporally to metamorphism in the region. Zircon and monazite analysed from Kottavattom not only record metamorphism in the Trivandrum Block but also show internal, lobate textures crosscutting the original zoning, consistent with fluid-aided coupled dissolution-reprecipitation during formation of the orthopyroxene-bearing patches. High-grade metamorphism at the quarry occurred between the formation of metamorphic monazite at ~585 Ma and the growth of metamorphic zircon at ~523 Ma. The fluid-assisted alteration of the garnet-biotite gneiss is poorly recorded by altered zircon with only minimal resetting of the U–Pb system, whereas monazite has in some cases undergone complete U–Pb resetting and records an age for fluid infiltration at ~495 Ma. The fluid event therefore places the formation of the altered patches at least 25 Myr after the zircon crystallisation in the garnet-biotite gneiss. The most likely fluid composition causing the modification and U–Pb resetting of zircon and monazite is locally derived hypersaline brine.

This paper demonstrates how remote sensing can be used to aid the general approach of landscape archaeology. The methodology and results of a project attempting to elucidate links and controls between environmental change and long-term social change in southern Madagascar are outlined. Multi-seasonal Landsat TM images, SPOT panchromatic and ERS-1 SAR images are used to produce a number of outputs. These include a general landcover map, a detailed map of forest extent and type (split into primary, secondary, and regenerative), field pattern maps, and predictions of archaeological site locations based on spectral properties of known sites. From these maps it has been possible to predict possible former settlements, archaeological sites, and forests of sacred significance.

The Achankovil Zone of southern India forms a distinct isotopic and structural boundary separating the Madurai Block to the north from the Trivandrum Block to the south. We combine isotopic and trace element geochemistry of major and accessory phases with phase equilibria modelling to provide quantitative constraints on the timing and conditions of peak metamorphism and the nature of the protoliths within the Achankovil Zone. The results suggest a clockwise pressure–temperature path with peak metamorphic temperatures of up to 950 °C at pressures of around 0.7 GPa followed by high-temperature decompression. The metamorphic peak occurred at 545–512 Ma. U–Pb and Hf isotopic analysis of detrital zircon shows that the rocks have a strong affinity with the southern part of the Madurai Block. The Achankovil Zone is interpreted as the reworked southern margin of the Madurai Block, which was metamorphosed during the final stages of the assembly of Gondwana.

High-temperature metamorphic rocks are the result of numerous chemical and physical processes that occur during a potentially long-lived thermal evolution. These rocks chart the sequence of events during an orogenic episode including heating, cooling, exhumation and melt interaction, all of which may be interpreted through the elemental and isotopic characteristics of accessory minerals such as zircon, monazite and rutile. Developments in imaging and in situ chemical analysis have resulted in an increasing amount of information being extracted from these accessory phases. The refractory nature of these minerals, combined with both their use as geochronometers and tracers of metamorphic mineral reactions, has made them the focus of many studies of granulite-facies terrains. In such studies the primary aim is often to determine the timing and conditions of the peak of metamorphism, and high-temperature metasedimentary rocks may seem ideal for this purpose. For example pelites typically contain an abundance of accessory minerals in a variety of bulk compositions, are melt-bearing, and may have endured extreme conditions that facilitate diffusion and chemical equilibrium. However complexities arise due to the heterogeneous nature of these rocks on all scales, driven by both the composition of the protolith and metamorphic differentiation. In additional to lithological heterogeneity, the closure temperatures for both radiogenic isotopes and chemical thermometers vary between different accessory minerals. This apparent complexity can be useful as it permits a wide range of temperature and time (T–t) information to be recovered from a single rock sample. In this review we cover: 1) characteristic internal textures of accessory minerals in high temperature rocks; 2) the interpretation of zircon and monazite age data in relation to high temperature processes; 3) rare earth element partitioning; 4) trace element thermometry; 5) the incorporation of accessory mineral growth into thermodynamic modeling; and 6) Hf isotopic signature of zircon overgrowths and its use in linking zircon into major metamorphic phase development.