Defining drivers of nitrogen stable isotopes (δ15N) of surface sediments in temperate lakes

The nitrogen stable isotopic signature (δ¹⁵N) of sediment is a powerful tool to understand eutrophication history, but its interpretation remains a challenge. In a large-scale comparative approach, we identified the most important drivers influencing surface sediments δ¹⁵N of 65 lakes from two regions of Canada using proxies that reflect watershed nitrogen (N) sources, internal lake microbial cycling and productivity. Across regions, we found that water column total nitrogen (TN),  %N in the sediments and lake morphometric variables were the best predictors of sedimentary δ¹⁵N, explaining 66 % of its variation. Significant relationships were also found between sediment δ¹⁵N and human-derived N load ( \( R_{{{\text{adj}} .}}^{2} \)  = 0.23, p < 0.001), the latter being a strong predictor of TN ( \( R_{{{\text{adj}} .}}^{2} \)  = 0.68, p < 0.001). Despite a relatively strong overall relationship, variation partitioning revealed an interesting difference in the dominant variable that influenced regional δ¹⁵N. Alberta lake sedimentary δ¹⁵N signature was dominated by human derived N load. In contrast, internal processing appeared to be more important in Quebec lakes, where sediment δ¹⁵N was best explained by  %N in the sediments and lake volume. Overall, our findings support the use of δ¹⁵N in paleolimnological investigations to reconstruct changing N sources to lakes but also highlight that regions may have distinctive drivers. Interpretations of sediment δ¹⁵N are likely to be strongest when multiple lines of evidence are employed and when placed in a regional context.     

Seismic hazard assessment in central Ionian Islands area (Greece) based on stress release models

The long-term probabilistic seismic hazard of central Ionian Islands (Greece) is studied through the application of stress release models. In order to identify statistically distinct regions, the study area is divided into two subareas, namely Kefalonia and Lefkada, on the basis of seismotectonic properties. Previous results evidenced the existence of stress transfer and interaction between the Kefalonia and Lefkada fault segments. For the consideration of stress transfer and interaction, the linked stress release model is applied. A new model is proposed, where the hazard rate function in terms of X(t) has the form of the Weibull distribution. The fitted models are evaluated through residual analysis and the best of them is selected through the Akaike information criterion. Based on AIC, the results demonstrate that the simple stress release model fits the Ionian data better than the non-homogeneous Poisson and the Weibull models. Finally, the thinning simulation method is applied in order to produce simulated data and proceed to forecasting.     

Calibration of cosmogenic Cl production rates from Ca and K spallation in lava flows from Mt. Etna (38°N, Italy) and Payun Matru (36°S, Argentina)

Published cosmogenic ³⁶Cl production rates from Ca and K spallation differ by almost a factor of 2. In this paper we determine production rates of ³⁶Cl from Ca and K in samples of known age containing little Cl. Ca-rich plagioclases and K-feldspars were separated from a total of 13 samples collected on the surfaces of four basaltic lava flows at Mt. Etna (38°N, Italy) and from a trachyte lava flow at Payun Matru volcano (36°S, Argentina). Eruption ages, determined by independent methods, range between 0.4 and 32 ka. Sample site elevations range between 500 and 2500 m. Corresponding scaling factors were calculated using five different published scaling models, four of which consider paleo-geomagnetic field variations integrated over the exposure durations. The resulting five data sets were then analyzed using a Bayesian statistical model that incorporates the major inherent uncertainties in a consistent way. Spallation production rates from Ca and K, considering all major uncertainties, are 42.2 ± 4.8 atoms ³⁶Cl (g Ca)⁻¹ a⁻¹ and 124.9 ± 8.1 atoms ³⁶Cl (g K)⁻¹ a⁻¹ normalized to sea level and high latitude using the scaling method of Stone (2000). Scaling models that account for paleo-geomagnetic intensity changes yield very similar mean values (at most +4%). If the uncertainties in the independent ages are neglected in the Bayesian model, the calculated element specific production rates would be about 12% higher. Our results are in agreement with previous production rate estimations both for Ca and K if only low Cl (i.e. ?20 ppm) samples are considered.     

Changes in tropical Atlantic interannual variability from a substantial weakening of the meridional overturning circulation

In response to a substantial weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC)—from a coupled ocean–atmosphere general circulation model experiment—significant changes in the interannual variability are found over the tropical Atlantic, characterized by an increase of variance (by ~150 %) in boreal late spring-early summer and a decrease of variance (by ~60 %) in boreal autumn. This study focuses on understanding physical mechanisms responsible for these changes in interannual variability in the tropical Atlantic. It demonstrates that the increase of variability in spring is a consequence of an increase in the variance of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which has a large impact on the tropical Atlantic via anomalous surface heat fluxes. Winter El Niño (La Niña) affects the eastern equatorial Atlantic by decreasing (increasing) cloud cover and surface wind speed which is associated with anomalous downward (upward) short wave radiation and reduced (enhanced) upward latent heat fluxes, creating anomalous positive (negative) sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies over the region from winter to spring. On the other hand, the decrease of SST variance in autumn is due to a deeper mean thermocline which weakens the impact of the thermocline movement on SST variation. The comparison between the model results and observations is not straightforward owing to the influence of model biases and the lack of a major MOC weakening event in the instrumental record. However, it is argued that the basic physical mechanisms found in the model simulations are likely to be robust and therefore have relevance to understanding tropical Atlantic variability in the real world, perhaps with modified seasonality.     

A peculiar metal-rich star, HD 135485

Local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) absolute and differential abundances are presented for a peculiar metal-rich B-type star, HD 135485. These suggest that HD 135485 has a general enrichment of ∼0.5 dex in all the metals observed (C, N, O, Ne, Mg, Al, Si, P, S, Cl, Ar, Sc, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe and Sr), except for nickel. The helium enhancement and hence hydrogen deficiency can account for ≤ 0.2 dex of this enhancement of metals, with the additional enhancement probably being representative of the progenitor gas. However, some of the metals appear to have greater enhancements, which may have occurred during the star's evolution. The significantly larger nitrogen abundance coupled with a modest helium enhancement observed in HD 135485 indicates that carbon–nitrogen (CN) processed material has possibly contaminated the stellar surface. Neon and carbon enhancements may indicate that helium core flashes have also occurred in HD 135485. Some of the iron-group elements (viz. Mn and Ni) appear to have similar abundance patterns to that of silicon Ap stars, but it is uncertain how these abundance patterns formed if they were not present in the progenitor gas. From a kinematical investigation it is unclear whether this star formed in a metal-rich region as implied by its chemical composition. From its position in the Hertzsprung–Russell diagram, HD 135485 would appear to be an evolved star lying close to or on the horizontal branch.     

Dry granular masses impacting on rigid obstacles: numerical analysis and theoretical modelling

Acta Geotechnica - The assessment of the time evolution of the impact force exerted by dry flowing masses on rigid obstacles is mandatory for the dynamic design of sheltering structures and the...     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001533

The collision of a divergent ocean ridge may evolve into two end cases:in the continuity of ocean-floor subduction.or in the detachment of the subducted plate.The northern Patagonia active plate margin has the unique situation that in Cenozoic time it has been subjected to two divergent ridge collisions,each one representing one of the end members.The Neogene Antarctica-Nazca divergent ridge collision evolved as a continuous ocean-floor subduction system,promoting a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,the obduction of part of the ridge ocean-floor in the fore-arc.and basaltic volcanism in the back-arc.In contrast,the Paleogene Farallon-Aluk divergent ridge collision evolved into a transform margin,with the detachment and sinking of the Aluk plate and the development of a large slab window.As in the previous case,this collision promoted a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,but the tectono-magmatic scenario changed to postorogenic synextensional volcanism that spread to the former fore-arc（basalt,andesite,rhyolite） and former back-arc（bimodal ignimbrite flare-up,basalt）.Geochemistry of this slab window synextensional volcanism shows more MORB-like basalts towards the former fore-arc,and MORB-OIB-like basalts towards the former back-arc.Instead,an isolated undeformable crustal block in the former back-arc,with an "epeirogenic" response to the slab window and extensional regime,was covered by OIB-type basalts after uplift.Major elements show that slab window basalts reach TiCh values up to 3 wt%,as compared with the top value of 1.5 wt%of arc magmas.Besides,the MgO with respect to（FeO^t + Al₂O₃） ratio helps to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and also with respect to the "epeirogenic" block.Higher contents of HFS elements such as Nb and Ta also help to distinguish this slab window from arc magmas and also,to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and "epeirogenic" block settings.The isotope compositions of slab window magmatism show a disparate coeval array from MORB to crustal sources,interpreted as a consequence of the lack of protracted storage and homogenization due to the extensional setting.     

Neural network simulation of spring flow in karst environments

Daily discharges of two springs lying in a karstic environment were simulated for a period of 2.5 years with the use of a multi-layer perceptron back-propagation neural network. Two models were developed for the springs, one relying on the original data and another where the missing discharge values were supplemented by assuming linear relationships during base flow conditions. For both springs the mean square error of the two models did not differ significantly, with an improvement exhibited at the extremes, during the network’s training phase, by the model that utilized the extended data set, the results of which are reported here. The time lag between precipitation and spring discharge differed significantly for the two springs indicating that in karstic environments hydraulic behavior is dominated, even within a few hundred meters, by local conditions. Optimum training results were attained with a Levenberg–Marquardt algorithm resulting in a network architecture consisting of two input layer neurons, four hidden layer neurons, and one output layer neuron, the spring’s discharge. The neural network’s predictions captured the behavior for both springs and followed very closely the discontinuities in the discharge time series. Under-/over-estimation of observed discharges for the two springs remained below 3 %, with the exception of a few local maxima where the predicted discharges diverged more strongly from observed values. Inclusion of temperature data did not add to the improvement of predictions. Finally, optimum predictions were attained when past discharge data were added to the input record and discharge differentials rather than direct discharges were calculated resulting in elimination of any local maximum discrepancy between observed and predicted discharge values.