Following the German occupation of Denmark on April 9th 1940 Danish representatives were left to their own devices and their positions in their respective host-countries became very much dependent upon the goodwill shown to them by their host-governments and, in the case of the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland, the governments and officials of the occupying forces. With their connections with the Government in Copenhagen severed the main task of the Danish representatives was to secure Danish interests in the North Atlantic Territories as well as elsewhere. The fact that Denmark had not put up a fight to defend her neutrality and the subsequent collaboration of the Danish Government with the German occupiers counted against the Danish representatives abroad. However, the Danes were able to exercise a remarkable level of influence on the British and Americans with regard to their policies towards the North Atlantic Area. The extent of influence was mainly due to the entrepreneurship of each individual, the constitutional status of the territory as part of the Kingdom of Denmark, and also due to strategic importance attached by the occupying forces' governments to the occupied territories in question. This latter point became especially apparent in the power struggle amongst the Danish representatives that emerged from the lack of a Danish Government in exile. It became important to the British and the Americans that it was the Danish representative in their country, who emerged as the victor of this power struggle, because that would help to secure their future interests in the North Atlantic territories. The Danish representatives were thus in some cases shown more goodwill and attention than their Norwegian colleagues, although the Norwegians had put up a brave fight against the Germans and had joined the allied side. The North Atlantic area proved very important to the general war policy of the British and Americans during Second World War. British policies were much dependent upon the Americans and Greenland and Iceland became instrumental in the increased involvement of the Americans in the war.

Geometries of sills intruded into the lava pile of the Faroe Island Basalt Group (FIBG), which were targeted in this study, were mostly recorded by conventional mapping methods where measured distances and positions were plotted onto accurate topographic maps aided by the use of high-quality photos of relevant outcrops. These data were subsequently used to manually plot 2D profiles along selected tracks and to produce electronic 3D maps using ArcGIS software. The general geometries of the investigated sills, measured at lateral scales ranging from a few metres to a few kilometres and at vertical scales ranging from a few metres to a few hundred metres, differ somewhat from typical sill geometries reported previously for sills intruded into sedimentary successions. The ubiquitous saucer-shapes of the sills from this study, which generally curve upwards in a gradual manner from inner sub-horizontal sections to steeper outer margins, contrast with the common angular transitions from inner sub-horizontal to outer steeper sections of sills reported from sedimentary host-rocks. In this thesis we explore possible alternatives to already existing theories on sill emplacement in sedimentary successions. Major and trace element compositions for samples representing most of the sills exposed in the Faroe Islands have been determined by means of XRF and ICP-MS analyses. Geochemically most of these sills can be grouped into two main categories characterised either by high or by low TiO2 contents. Different sorts/types of metasomatism of source rocks to high-TiO2 versus low-TiO2 sills are indicated by different Nb and Ta anomalies. Modelling by means of REE and other trace elements suggest that much of the compositional differences between these two main categories can be explained by various degrees of partial melting of broadly similar mantle sources. Additional fractionation and accumulation of plagioclase modified some of the melts that gave rise to the actual sills. The initial partial melting event probably occurred at depths slightly shallower than the lower limit of the garnet stability field at ~85 km while plagioclase crystallisation/accumulation most likely occurred at depths shallower than ~18 km. Isotopic compositions may point to very slight contamination of some sills with crustal material.

The subject of this study is Viking-Late Norse settlement (c. AD800-1200) in the North Atlantic, focusing on Orkney and on longhouse complexes constructed on mounds. For the first time these mound settlements are investigated as a group and as deliberately constructed mounds. Settlement mounds in Orkney are also closely associated with nearly 40 Skaill ON skáli ('hall') place-names, which place-names linked the sites with the social and economic networks of Orkney's peripatetic leaders. This association is examined more closely. The analysis also demonstrates that constructing settlements on mounds required particular building techniques, which relied heavily on the use of midden-type material. Those techniques are examined using new and freshly analysed material from published and grey literature-published excavations and surveys of sites from the Viking-Late Norse period in Orkney and elsewhere. Three core data-sets were established to provide the evidential basis: the first, also drawing on site-visits, looking broadly at mound landscapes and skáli-areas in Orkney; the second at the building techniques and materials used on settlement mounds; and the third, also requiring site-visits, at all the skáli place-name sites. The possible origins of settlement mound living in the settlers' Scandinavian homelands are investigated, then the extent to which mound living was also followed in Shetland, Caithness and the Western Isles, and finally in previously unoccupied lands, using Iceland as a case study. The mound-sites, their archaeology, mound architecture, place-names and landscape setting are also analysed in a new theoretical framework to reach fresh understandings of Viking-Late Norse settlement in Orkney. The analysis thus considers the wider cultural significance of constructing and living on settlement mounds, and what that communicated about Viking-Late Norse society. The thesis argues that Viking-Late Norse groups chose prominently-placed sites for their visual dominance and commanding views, but also that the rebuilding of mound structures in one spot, and building out and up of the mound itself using midden material, set strong cultural messages about stability, continuity and association with the surrounding landscape. The mounds were complex features of culturally meaningful architecture.

HF communication has been used for more than a century and to this day still fulfils an important function in communications networks. In order to interface with modern communications protocols, solutions have to be designed to facilitate data communication over HF (High Frequency). STANAG 5066 is one such solution which provides an application independent ARQ (Automatic Repeat Request) bearer service for client applications. A need exists within the STANAG 5066 specification for a DRC algorithm. The objective of such an algorithm is to select the optimum data rate and interleaver size, based upon current HF channel conditions, to maximise the data throughput over the HF link. In this dissertation previous implementations of DRC algorithms were studied and evaluated. In literature it was found that algorithm implementations used the FER and no channel information to make a data rate choice. This resulted in algorithms that tended to oscillate between data rate choices, and was very slow to react to changes in the HF channel. A new DRC algorithm was designed and simulated that uses the SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) and the BER estimate to make a data rate choice. The DRC algorithm was implemented in a commercial STANAG 5066 system and tested using HF data modems and a simulated HF channel. The results of the implementation and testing show that the designed DRC algorithm gives a better performance, is quicker to adapt and is more robust than previous DRC algorithms. This is also the first DRC algorithm that has been designed to use channel information, such as the SNR and BER, to make a data rate choice. / Dissertation (MEng)--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Electrical, Electronic and Computer Engineering / unrestricted

La mangrove de Guyane est caractérisée par un dynamisme spatial exceptionnel. Ce caractère découle de processus hydro-sédimentaires côtiers très intenses. Les objectifs de la thèse ont été de : (1) quantifier la dynamique spatiale de l'écosystème mangrove à l'échelle régionale et multi-décennale par l'analyse de données d'archives issues de la télédétection ; (2) tester l'hypothèse selon laquelle le climat océanique serait à l'origine de cette dynamique en évaluant les corrélations avec des séries temporelles de données atmosphériques et d'états de surface de l'océan ; (3) quantifier les conséquences de cette dynamique spatiale sur le stockage du carbone en mangrove. Les résultats ont montré qu'environ 15 000 ha de mangrove fluctuent à l'échelle multi-décennale en opposition avec les phases de l'Oscillation Nord Atlantique (NAO), principal mode de variabilité atmosphérique en Atlantique Nord. Le lien est opéré par l'intermédiaire des vagues océaniques dont l'énergie est modulée par les phases de la NAO. L'étude suggère que la diminution des surfaces de mangrove est la conséquence de périodes où les vagues sont puissantes (phase NAO+), ce qui favorise l'érosion côtière, la remise en suspension des sédiments et leur transport le long de la côte. Au contraire, les périodes où les vagues sont faibles (phase NAO-) favorisent le dépôt des sédiments, ce qui est à l'origine de l'expansion des surfaces de mangrove. Les résultats montrent que l'alternance entre des périodes d'expansion et de retrait génère une mosaïque d'âges de mangrove qui détermine la capacité de stockage du carbone par l'écosystème. A partir de ce dernier résultat, l'étude suggère qu'au cours du temps la mangrove puisse alternativement passer d'une fonction de puis à celle de source de carbone pour l'océan côtier et l'atmosphère. / Mangroves in French Guiana are characterized by their spatial dynamism. This specificity is the result of intense coastal sedimentary processes. The goals of this study are to: (1) quantify mangrove spatial dynamics on a regional level and a multi-decadal timescale using archives of remote sensing images; (2) test the hypothesis of the role played by the atmosphere using correlations with time series of atmospheric and ocean surface reanalysis datasets; (3) quantify consequence of this spatial dynamism on coastal carbon storage. Results showed that approximatively 15 000 ha of mangroves fluctuate on a multi-decadal timescale in opposition to the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phases, the main mode of atmospheric multi-decadal variability in the North Atlantic. This relation is operated by ocean waves whose energy is modulated by NAO phases. The study suggests that, on the one hand, decrease of mangrove surface areas is due to periods of high wave energy (NAO+) which favour coastal erosion and mangrove retreat, sediment resuspension and transport. On the other hand, the study suggests that periods of low wave energy (NAO-) favour sediment deposition on the coast and is at the origin of mangrove surface area expansion. Results also showed that alternation between phases of retreat and expansion generates the demographic structure of mangrove ages, which determines the mangrove carbon storage capacity. The study finally suggests that through time mangrove can switch from a source to a sink of carbon, and vice and versa, for the ocean and the atmosphere.

Au cours des derniers 40 ka, le Groenland et l'Atlantique Nord ont enregistré des oscillations de température rapides et de grande amplitude (8 à 15°C en à peine 300 ans) associées à de profondes modifications de la circulation océanique et atmosphérique. Les mécanismes à l’origine de ces changements climatiques rapides ne sont encore que partiellement élucidés. L’objectif de cette thèse est de quantifier les changements de circulation océanique qui ont accompagné ces changements climatiques abrupts. La première partie de cette thèse a consisté à combiner les informations paleocéanographiques de trois traceurs géochimiques, de manière à s'affranchir des limitations de chaque traceur pris séparément. Les rapports isotopiques du carbone des foraminifères benthiques (δ13C et Δ14C) et le Pa/Th sédimentaire ont été mesurés sur la carotte sédimentaire de l'Atlantique Nord SU90-08 (43°N, 30°W, 3080m). Les proxies semblent dépeindre une situation contradictoire au cours du dernier maximum glaciaire: les isotopes du carbone indiquent une faible ventilation des masses d'eau profondes alors que le Pa/Th sédimentaire atteste d'une circulation active. Ce résultat interroge sur la nature exacte du signal enregistré par chaque proxy. Par ailleurs, le recours à la modélisation est nécessaire afin de quantifier les variations de la circulation océanique passée. La seconde partie de cette thèse a donc consisté à ajouter le calcul du Pa/Th sédimentaire dans le modèle de climat de complexité intermédiaire iLOVECLIM. Ce modèle, capable de simuler l'évolution simultanée des trois proxies, a été utilisé pour analyser la réponse de chaque proxy à des changements abrupts de circulation. Les résultats montrent que la réponse des proxies est différente dans les trois principales masses d'eau de l'Atlantique. Dans l'Atlantique Nord-Ouest profond (> 2000 m), la réponse du Pa/Th précède celle des isotopes du carbone de quelques centaines d'années, constituant un exemple de découplage entre les différents proxies. / The last 40 ky, have been characterized by abrupt and high amplitude temperature changes (8 to 15 °C in less than 300 years) in Greenland and in the North Atlantic region, associated with drastic ocean and atmospheric circulation changes. The mechanisms behind these abrupt climate changes are still debated. The objective of this thesis is to quantify the ocean circulation changes associated with these abrupt climate changes. In the first part of this thesis, I combined the information of three geochemical proxies in order to overcome the limitations of each proxy taken separately. The carbon isotopic ratios of the benthic foraminifers (δ13C and Δ14C), as well as the sedimentary Pa/Th ratio, have been measured in the North Atlantic sediment core SU90-08 (43°N, 30°W, 3080m). The proxies depict an apparently inconsistent situation over the last glacial maximum: the carbon isotopes indicate that the deep water mass was poorly ventilated while the Pa/Th evidence an active overturning cell. These observations question the type of signal recorded by each proxy. Besides, in order to quantify the circulation changes, a modeling approach is required. In the second part of this thesis, I have implemented the calculation of the Pa/Th in the climate model of intermediate complexity iLOVECLIM. The model is able to simulate the simultaneous evolution of the three proxies and has been used to decipher the multi-proxy response to abrupt circulation changes. The results show that the proxy response varies in the three main Atlantic water masses. In the deep (>2000m) western North Atlantic, the carbon isotopes response lags the Pa/Th response by a few hundreds of years, exemplifying/illustrating a possible decoupling between the different proxies.

Der Eintrag von Mineralstaub in den Ozean geschieht entweder durch trockene oder durch nasse Deposition. Dies ist ein wichtiger Prozess um ozeanische Organismen wie Phytoplankton mit Nährstoffen (z.B. Nitrat, Phosphat oder Eisen) zu versorgen. Viele Modelle befassen sich mit der Simulation von Depositionsflüssen von Mineralstaub in den Ozean. Messungen von Massendepositionsflüssen von Mineralstaub sind hingegen selten. Daher ist es von großer Notwendigkeit, diese Messungen durchzuführen um die vielen Modelle zu validieren und den Mineralstaubzyklus besser zu verstehen. Innerhalb des SOPRAN Projektes (Surface Ocean PRocesses in the ANthropocene) wird der Materialtransport zwischen der Atmosphäre und dem Ozean untersucht. Die Messungen dafür wurden auf den Kapverdischen Inseln durchgeführt, über welchen der Saharastaub durch die Passatwindzirkulation vorwiegend transportiert wird. Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden in-situ Messungen von trockener Deposition von Mineralstaub in den Ozean präsentiert. Verschiedene Methoden wurden auf ihre Anwendbarkeit getestet und deren Ergebnisse miteinander verglichen. Alle Messergebnisse liegen im Bereich der Messunsicherheiten, wodurch ein Satz qualitätsgesicherter Daten aufgebaut werden konnte. Diese Daten wurden mit den Ergebnissen eines regionalen Chemie-Transport Modells verglichen. Modellierte Massendepositionsflüsse von Mineralstaub waren manchmal doppelt so hoch wie gemessene. Die größte Unsicherheit der Modelle liegt in der Emission des Mineralstaubs, die im Transport und der Deposition fortgesetzt wird. Weitere Unterschiede entstehen durch den Vergleich von Punktmessungen mit einer Gitterzelle, wenn der Staub nicht gleichmäßig über die Gitterzelle verteilt ist. Zusammenfassend wurden Massendepositionsmessungen von Mineralstaub erfolgreich mit verschiedenen Methoden durchgeführt. Mit den Erfahrungen aus dieser Studie ist es nun möglich, Langzeitmessungen von Mineralstaubdeposition in den Ozean erstellen. Diese Daten können von Atmosphärenmodellierern für ihre Modellvalidierung genutzt werden. Anwender von Ozeanmodellen und SOPRAN Partner werden diese Ergebnisse nutzen um z.B. die ozeanische Reaktion auf den Mineralstaubeintrag zu untersuchen. / The input of mineral dust to the oceans, via dry or wet deposition, is an important process, because the entrainment of nutrients (e.g., Nitrate, Phosphor and Iron) is essential for oceanic life such as phytoplankton. A lot of effort has been done to model the dust deposition fluxes to the ocean. However, field measurements concerning the deposition flux are sparse. Therefore, those measurements are needed in order to verify the huge amount of model outputs and to better understand the mineral dust cycle. Within the project SOPRAN (Surface Ocean PRocesses in the ANthropocene), the influence of material exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean is investigated. Measurements were carried out at the Cape Verde Islands in the direct outflow of the Saharan Desert. This study presents the first in-situ measurements of the dry mass deposition flux of mineral dust to the ocean. The applicability of different methods was tested and the results were compared to each other. The results of the measured data were comparable and a set of quality assured data could be built up. Those results were compared to the output of a regional chemistry- transport model. The modeled mass deposition flux was sometimes double as high as the measured one. The main uncertainty of the models is the emission of mineral dust at the source region, proceeding in the transport and emission of mineral dust. Furthermore, comparing single point measurements with outputs of a grid cell leads to differences in deposition fluxes by an inhomogeneous distribution of the mineral dust layer. Summarizing, the measurements of the mass deposition flux of mineral dust could be performed successfully with several methods. With the expertise of this study, long-term observations of the mineral dust deposition to the ocean can now be established. These data can be used by atmosphere modelers to validate their models. Ocean modelers and partners of the SOPRAN project will use these data to investigate e.g., the biological response of the ocean to mineral dust entrainment.

Thesis: Ph. D., Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), 2017. / Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. / Includes bibliographical references (pages 163-174). / The Gulf Stream and Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) shape the distribution of heat and carbon in the North Atlantic, with consequences for global climate. This thesis employs a combination of theory, observations and models to probe the dynamics of these two western boundary currents. First, to diagnose the dynamical balance of the Gulf Stream, a depth-averaged vorticity budget framework is developed. This framework is applied to observations and a state estimate in the subtropical North Atlantic. Budget terms indicate a primary balance of vorticity between wind stress forcing and dissipation, and that the Gulf Stream has a significant inertial component. The next chapter weighs in on an ongoing debate over how the deep ocean is filled with water from high latitude sources. Measurements of the DWBC at Line W, on the continental slope southeast of New England, reveal water mass changes that are consistent with changes in the Labrador Sea, one of the sources of deep water thousands of kilometers upstream. Coherent patterns of change are also found along the path of the DWBC. These changes are consistent with an advective-diffusive model, which is used to quantify transit time distributions between the Labrador Sea and Line W. Advection and stirring are both found to play leading order roles in the propagation of water mass anomalies in the DWBC. The final study brings the two currents together in a quasi-geostrophic process model, focusing on the interaction between the Gulf Stream's northern recirculation gyre and the continental slope along which the DWBC travels. We demonstrate that the continental slope restricts the extent of the recirculation gyre and alters its forcing mechanisms. The recirculation gyre can also merge with the DWBC at depth, and its adjustment is associated with eddy fluxes that stir the DWBC with the interior. This thesis provides a quantitative description of the structure of the overturning circulation in the western North Atlantic, which is an important step towards understanding its role in the climate system. / by Isabela Astiz Le Bras. / Ph. D.

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