Principles and terminology for classification of the Quaternary are discussed, including lithostratigraphy, biostratigraphy. morphostratigraphy, climatostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy. The main conclusion is a proposal for a common chronostratigraphical classification of the Quaternary in Norden (and partly continental NW Europe). The Quaternary is subdivided into the Pleistocene and the Holocene Series. The Pleistocene is further subdivided into several provisional stages (Weichselian, Eemian, etc.), based on the sequence of glacials/interglacials. but with the boundaries preferably defined by stratotypes. The Late Weichselian and the Flandrian (Holocene) are subdivided into chronozoncs (Bolling, Older Dryas, Allerød, Younger Dryas, Preboreal, Boreal, Atlantic, Subboreal, Subatlantic) with the boundaries dcfined in conventional radiocarbon years.

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Research in nanotechnology has advanced rapidly in recent years. Several researchers, however, warn that there is a paucity of research on the ethical, legal, and social implications of nanotechnology, and they caution that ethical reflections on nanotechnology lag behind this fast developing science. In this article, the authors question this conclusion, pointing out that the predicted concrete ethical issues related to the area of nanotechnology are rather similar to those related to the area of biotechnology and biology that have been considered by ethicists since the 1970s. Hence, a knowledge base has already been acquired from ethical reflections on biotechnology and biology, which may be a good starting point and foundation for a discussion of ethical reflections on nanotechnology. The authors argue that a promising approach is the use of basic ethical principles as a method to analyze ethical issues of nanotechnology. It was recently stated by Mnyusiwalla, Daar, andSinger (2003) that there is a paucity of thorough published research on the ethical, legal, and social implications of nanotechnology and that ethical reflections lag behind this fast developing science. They reached this conclusion from a survey of databases revealing that rather few articles on the ethical and social implications of nanotechnology have been published. They furthermore warned that the public and governments may possibly latch onto the fictitious dangers of nanotechnology if the scientists involved in nanotechnology research do not take the lead in airing the ethical and social implications.In view of the fact that only a few articles on the ethical reflections of nanotechnology have been published so far, the purposes of this article are (a) to investigate whether this implies that the discussion of concrete ethical issues in the area of nanotechnology must start from scratch, (b) to identify the ethically relevant features of nanotechnology, (c) to analyze which ethical theories may be used to assess concrete ethical problems of nanotechnology, and (d) to discuss how to integrate the discipline of ethics into the interdisciplinary approach of nanotechnology. Nanotechnology: An Interdisciplinary ScienceReports and articles often distinguish between nanoscience and nanotechnology. Nanoscience is the fundamental study of phenomena and the manipulation of matter at the atomic, molecular, and supramolecular levels, at which properties differ significantly from those at a larger scale. As such, nanoscience forms the knowledge base for nanotechnology, the design, characterization, production, and application of structures, devices, and systems that have novel physical, chemical, and biological properties by controlling shape and size at the nanometric scale. Integration with other length scales will often be important to technological applications. However, in this article, we use the term nanotechnology as a collective term encompassing the various branches of nanoscience and nanotechnology.The leading industrialized countries consi...

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The present work deals primarily with a determination of the relative pollen productivity of various trees from North Europe by means of their representation in pollen analyses of surface samples from forests, with the aim to calculate correction factors for pollen diagrams.Surface samples from 2 forests in Denmark were examined. The forest composition was determined by tree crown areas and tree basal areas in small sample plots. The relation of the tree crown areas to the tree basal areas was determined for the various tree species, and the data for crown area composition, basal area composition and tree frequency were compared.The pollen preservation in the various surface samples was examined.Data on wind conditions are mentioned in the chapter about pollen dispersal in the forest, and the various modes of pollen transfer are discussed. The amount of exotic pollen in the samples is used as a calculation basis for the tree pollen frequencies, and the occurrence and composition of the exotic pollen is discussed.The relationship of the forest composition to the tree pollen deposition is discussed. Pollen deposition and pollen productivity is expressed by a regression equation. The relative pollen productivity of the tree species is expressed in relation to a reference species, in the present case Fagus silvatica. Pollen representation and relative pollen representation are determined by a comparison of pollen percentages with percentages for areal frequency.Pollen productivity factors, pollen representation and correction factors were determined for Danish species of Quercus, Betula, Alnus, Carpinus, Ulmus, Fagus, Tilia and Fraxinus by means of the pollen frequencies in the surface samples. Corrected pollen percentages were compared with the tree areal percentages in the sample plots. Data for the pollen frequencies of forest plants other than the trees are presented. The data on trees from Denmark are compared with other data from Northern Europe, and correction factors were calculated for species of Pinus, Picea and Abies.Tree pollen spectra from outside the forest are discussed and the relative pollen representation is calculated. The present calculations of the relative pollen productivity of the trees are compared with previous estimates, and the application of the correction factors to pollen diagrams is discussed.