Tufa Accumulations in Ephemeral Streams: Observations from The Kimberley,north-west Australia

Four types of tufa occur along creeks draining the Oscar Range in the Kimberley region of Western Australia; stream-bed tufa, tufa dams, stream-bed tufa waterfalls, and rimstone pools. Well-developed tufa dam and waterfall formations occur at significant breaks of slope within the channel long profile. This suggests that disruption of the hydraulic flow regime and increased turbulence at these points has an important role to play in determining the location of tufa deposits. However, the best-developed stream-bed tufa deposits are located immediately upstream of dam and waterfall formations, which indicates that the evaporation of water ponded behind these flow obstructions may lead to calcium carbonate precipitation during the dry season. The presence of plant and cyanobacterial communities on, and the incorporation of organic material into, the best-developed tufa formations indicates that biological activity may have an important role to play in determining both the rate of tufa deposition and the internal structure of the resulting accumulations.     

Review on observational studies of western tropical Pacific Ocean circulation and climate

The Western Tropical Pacific(WTP) Ocean holds the largest area of warm water(28℃) in the world ocean referred to as the Western Pacific Warm Pool(WPWP),which modulates the regional and global climate through strong atmospheric convection and its variability.The WTP is unique in terms of its complex 3-D ocean circulation system and intensive multiscale variability,making it crucial in the water and energy cycle of the global ocean.Great advances have been made in understanding the complexity of the WTP ocean circulation and associated climate impact by the international scientific community since the 1960 s through field experiments.In this study,we review the evolving insight to the 3-D structure and multi-scale variability of the ocean circulation in the WTP and their climatic impacts based on in-situ ocean observations in the past decades,with emphasis on the achievements since 2000.The challenges and open que stions remaining are reviewed as well as future plan for international study of the WTP ocean circulation and climate.     

Influences of the unsaturated,saturated, and riparian zones on the transport of nitrate near the Merced River,California, USA

Transport and transformation of nitrate was evaluated along a 1-km groundwater transect from an almond orchard to the Merced River, California, USA, within an irrigated agricultural setting. As indicated by measurements of pore-water nitrate and modeling using the root zone water quality model, about 63% of the applied nitrogen was transported through a 6.5-m unsaturated zone. Transport times from recharge locations to the edge of a riparian zone ranged from approximately 6 months to greater than 100 years. This allowed for partial denitrification in horizons having mildly reducing conditions, and essentially no denitrification in horizons with oxidizing conditions. Transport times across a 50–100-m-wide riparian zone of less than a year to over 6 years and more strongly reducing conditions resulted in greater rates of denitrification. Isotopic measurements and concentrations of excess N₂ in water were indicative of denitrification with the highest rates below the Merced River. Discharge of water and nitrate into the river was dependent on gradients driven by irrigation or river stage. The results suggest that the assimilative capacity for nitrate of the groundwater system, and particularly the riverbed, is limiting the nitrate load to the Merced River in the study area.     

Genetic and morphological description of Eucalanus spinifer T. Scott, 1894 (Calanoida: Eucalanidae), a circumglobal sister species of the copepod E. hyalinus s.s. (Claus, 1866)

A distinct genetic form of the eucalanid calanoid copepod Eucalanus hyalinus s.l. was identified in subtropical and temperate waters of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans. Results from mitochondrial (16S rRNA, COI) and nuclear (ITS2) genetic markers suggest that the two E. hyalinus forms are reproductively isolated. Eucalanus spinifer T. Scott is taken out of synonymy with E. hyalinus and is applied to the smaller of the two genetic forms, increasing the number of species in the genus Eucalanus to a total of six. Adult females of the sister species E. hyalinus s.s. and E. spinifer can be distinguished morphologically by the shape of the anterior portion of the head in lateral and ventral views, asymmetry in the length of antennule segments 22 and 23, length ratios of 22/5 and 23/5 of the longer of the antennules, the length of the caudal rami, and total body size, as measured by total length or prosome length. We illustrate and describe both adult females and males of E. spinifer, and discuss aspects of sexual dimorphism. The sister species are sympatric throughout much of their circumglobal biogeographic distributions, but appear to have centers of abundance in slightly different water mass types.     

Seasonal observations of surface waters in two Gulf of Maine estuary-plume systems: Relationships between watershed attributes,optical measurements and surface pCO2

The partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) in estuary-plume systems is related to the internal processes of net organic metabolism and physical mixing, but is also strongly influenced by biogeochemical inputs from the land and ocean. Surface layer pCO₂, stimulated fluorescence of chlorophyll (f-chl) and colored organic matter (f-com), and beam attenuation at 660 nm (c-660) were measured during three seasonal surveys of the Kennebec (ME) and Merrimack (MA) estuary-plume systems. These estuaries are both supplied by large New England Rivers and separated by less than 150 km, but significant differences were often observed in the distributions of surface pCO₂ and optical variables. High pCO₂ concentrations were generally associated with high f-com, while lower pCO₂ concentrations were associated with high f-chl and c-660. Using simple regression models, optical measurements were used to estimate chlorophyll and total organic carbon concentrations. Results suggest that labile riverine carbon is responsible for sustaining supersaturated pCO₂ conditions and that phytoplankton productivity, likely driven by inputs of riverine dissolved inorganic nitrogen, is responsible for pCO₂ undersaturation. Although optical variables are often related to surface pCO₂, the results suggest that efforts to retrieve pCO₂ in complex waters using optical data may be enhanced using a site-specific, multivariate approach.     

Holocene environmental history in high‐Arctic North Greenland revealed by a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach

In this study, we use a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach to reconstruct the Holocene climate history recorded in Trifna Sø, Skallingen area, eastern North Greenland. Chronological information is derived from comparison of lithological, biogeochemical and macrofossil characteristics with a well‐dated record from nearby Lille Sneha Sø. Following local deglaciation around c. 8 cal. ka BP, the local peak warmth occurred between c. 7.4 and 6.2 cal. ka BP as indicated by maximum macrofossil abundances of warmth‐demanding plants (Salix arctica and Dryas integrifolia) and invertebrates (Daphnia pulex and Chironomidae). Warm conditions were dominated by terrestrial organic matter (OM) sedimentation as implied by the alkane‐based P_aq ratio, but increased aquatic productivity is indicated when temperature was highest around 6.5 cal. ka BP. The n‐C₂₉/n‐C₃₁ alkane ratio shows that vegetation in the catchment was dominated by shrubs after deglaciation, but shifted towards relatively more grassy/herbaceous vegetation during peak warmth. After 5.4 cal. ka BP, the disappearance of warmth‐demanding plant and invertebrate macrofossils indicates cooling in the Skallingen area. This cooling was characterized by a significant shift towards dominance of aquatic OM sedimentation in Trifna Sø as implied by high P_aq ratios. Cooling was also associated with a shift in vegetation type from dwarf‐shrub heaths towards relatively more herbaceous vegetation in the catchment, stronger erosion and more oligotrophic conditions in the lake. Our data show that mean air temperatures inferred using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) do not seem to accurately reflect the local climatic history. Irrespective of calibration, methylation of branched tetraethers (MBT) palaeothermometry cannot be reconciled with the macrofossil evidence and seems to be biased by either changing brGDGT sources (in situ vs. soil‐derived) or changing species assemblages and/or an unknown physiological response to changing environmental conditions at high latitude.