TRUTH IN THE BONES: RESOLVING THE IDENTITY OF THE FOUNDING ELITE THOROUGHBRED RACEHORSES

Our multidisciplinary study of historic Thoroughbred horses solves two long‐running mysteries in racing history. Eclipse, the greatest racehorse ever known, never lost a race. His skeleton is housed in the Royal Veterinary College, London; however, there is controversy over its authenticity. The 1880 Epsom Derby was won by Bend Or. In one of the great controversies of Thoroughbred racing, the owners of Bend Or were accused of swapping him with another horse, Tadcaster, whose maternal pedigree was more prestigious. Bend Or's skeleton resides at the Natural History Museum, in London. Eclipse and Tadcaster were both extremely popular at stud, and the vast majority of racehorses today are descendents. We compared mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of living and historic Thoroughbred skeletons, including those of Eclipse and Bend Or. Additionally, we compared skeletal morphometrics of Eclipse's skeleton with measurements taken at autopsy. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of a range of skeletal elements were compared in order to establish that the Eclipse skeleton was that of a single horse. Our multidisciplinary data suggest that the putative skeleton is consistent with that of Eclipse. In contrast, mitochondrial DNA haplotype sharing indicated that the skeleton known as Bend Or is most probably that of Tadcaster.     

LEAD ISOTOPE RATIOS AS A MEANS OF SOURCING ANTHROPOGENIC LEAD IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOILS: A PILOT STUDY OF AN ABANDONED SHETLAND CROFT*

Results from soil chemical analysis have demonstrated enhanced concentrations of lead (Pb) associated with archaeological sites. However, interpretation of these Pb concentrations is difficult because of the multitude of possible Pb sources. This pilot study of an abandoned croft in Shetland suggests that Pb isotope ratios have the potential to identify sources of anthropogenic Pb. The results highlight two different Pb associations. The first includes hearth, house floor and house overburden soils, with end members of fuel materials and an unidentified material with a low (< 1.126) ²⁰⁶ Pb/ ²⁰⁷ Pb ratio. The second includes byre, kailyard (garden) and arable soils, with end members of hearth materials and local wind‐blown sand.     

Salt tectonics and shallow subseafloor fluid convection: models of coupled fluid‐heat‐salt transport

Thermohaline convection associated with salt domes has the potential to drive significant fluid flow and mass and heat transport in continental margins, but previous studies of fluid flow associated with salt structures have focused on continental settings or deep flow systems of importance to petroleum exploration. Motivated by recent geophysical and geochemical observations that suggest a convective pattern to near‐seafloor pore fluid flow in the northern Gulf of Mexico (GoMex), we devise numerical models that fully couple thermal and chemical processes to quantify the effects of salt geometry and seafloor relief on fluid flow beneath the seafloor. Steady‐state models that ignore halite dissolution demonstrate that seafloor relief plays an important role in the evolution of shallow geothermal convection cells and that salt at depth can contribute a thermal component to this convection. The inclusion of faults causes significant, but highly localized, increases in flow rates at seafloor discharge zones. Transient models that include halite dissolution show the evolution of flow during brine formation from early salt‐driven convection to later geothermal convection, characteristics of which are controlled by the interplay of seafloor relief and salt geometry. Predicted flow rates are on the order of a few millimeters per year or less for homogeneous sediments with a permeability of 10^?15 m², comparable to compaction‐driven flow rates. Sediment permeabilities likely fall below 10^?15 m² at depth in the GoMex basin, but such thermohaline convection can drive pervasive mass transport across the seafloor, affecting sediment diagenesis in shallow sediments. In more permeable settings, such flow could affect methane hydrate stability, seafloor chemosynthetic communities, and the longevity of fluid seeps.