A reconstruction of the last glacial maximum (LGM) ice-surface geometry in the western Swiss Alps and contiguous Alpine regions in Italy and France is based on detailed field mapping of glacial trimlines, ice-erosional features and periglacial forms. Field data provide evidence of LGM ice-surface elevations and ice-flow directions. The LGM ice surface is portrayed as a grid-format digital elevation model (DEM) using geographic information system (GIS) software.LGM ice-surface areas and ice volumes in selected regions are calculated using a DEM of the present land topography. The reconstruction described in this paper is presented in conjunction with a previously determined LGM ice-surface reconstruction for the central and eastern Swiss Alps.The LGM ice cap in the western Swiss Alps and contiguous Alpine regions in Italy and France was characterized by transection glaciers. Four main centers of ice accumulation that influenced the transection glaciers include the Rhône ice dome, the Aletsch icefield, the southern Valais icefield, and the Mt. Blanc region. Major ice diffluences were located north of Simplon Pass, on Gd. St. Bernard Pass and north of present-day Glacier d'Argentière. Estimates of LGM ice volumes in selected regions show that the largest input of ice into the Rhône Valley was from the southern Valais icefield. Centered in the southern Mattertal, the LGM southern Valais icefield had a surface elevation of at least 3010 m and an ice thickness of at least 1400 m. The LGM ice-surface reconstruction and calculated ice volumes for selected regions are the basis for a hypothesis as to how erratic boulders from the southern Valais and Mt. Blanc regions were transported to the northern Alpine foreland. Certain LGM centers of ice accumulation and ice-flow directions presented in this paper are also examined for possible paleo-atmospheric circulation information.ZUSAMMENFASSUNG Die Rekonstruktion der Eisoberflächengeometrie während des Letzten Glazialen Maximums (LGM) in den westlichen Schweizer Alpen und in angrenzenden Regionen in Italien und Frankreich basiert auf einer detaillierten Kartierung von Gletscherschliffgrenzen, Eiserosionserscheinungen und periglazialen Formen. Diese Geländedaten geben Hinweise auf die Höhe der Eisoberfläche und die Eisflussrichtungen. Die Eisoberfläche wird durch ein gitterbasiertes digitales Höhenmodel (DHM) unter Benutzung eines Geographischen Informations Systems (GIS) dargestellt. Die Eisoberflächenerstreckung und die Eismächtigkeiten werden auf Basis des DHM der gegenwärtigen Landestopographie berechnet. Die in dieser Veröffentlichung beschriebene Rekonstruktion wird mit früheren Eisoberflächenrekonstruktionen für das LGM der zentralen und östlichen Schweizer Alpen verglichen.Die Eiskappe während des LGM in den westlichen Schweizer Alpen und in angrenzenden Regionen in Italien und Frankreich war durch ein Eisstromnetz charakterisiert. Die vier Zentren der Eisakkumulation, welche das Eisstromnetz beeinflussten, waren der Rhône Eisdom, das Aletsch Eisfeld, das Eisfeld im süd...

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A new temperature record from East Africa demonstrates that the tropical lapse rate steepened during the last ice age.

Introduction-Numerous studies point to an association between childhood trauma and the later development of psychotic illness. However, little is known about the prevalence of childhood trauma and its relationship to attenuated positive and other symptoms in individuals at heightened clinical risk for psychosis.Method-Thirty clinical high-risk patients (83% male, 43% Caucasian, and with a mean age of 19) were ascertained from the New York metropolitan area and evaluated for prodromal and affective symptoms, and queried regarding experiences of childhood trauma and abuse.Results-Ninety-seven percent endorsed at least one general trauma experience, 83% reported physical abuse, 67% emotional abuse, and 27% sexual abuse. As hypothesized, total trauma exposure was positively associated with severity of attenuated positive symptoms (in particular grandiosity), an effect primarily accounted for by ethnic minority participants, who reported greater exposure to trauma. Trauma exposure was related to affective symptoms only in the Caucasian subgroup.Conclusions-Childhood trauma was commonly self-reported, especially among clinical highrisk patients from ethnic minorities, for whom trauma was related to positive symptoms. Future areas of research include an evaluation of potential mechanisms for this relationship, including neuroendocrine and subcortical dopaminergic function.