Climate-driven changes in water level: a decadal scale multi-proxy study recording the 8.2-ka event and ecosystem responses in Lake Sarup (Denmark)

A two-stage change in lake level during the 8.2-ka event was identified in Lake Sarup, Denmark (55°N), using a multiproxy approach on precise radiocarbon wiggle-matched annually laminated sediments deposited 8740–8060 cal. yr BP. Changes in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O indicated closed lake hydrology driven by precipitation. The isotopic, sedimentary and plant macrofossil records suggested that the lake level started to decrease around 8400 cal. yr BP, the decrease accelerating during 8350–8260 before an abrupt increase during 8260–8210. This pattern shows that the climate anomaly started ~150 years before the onset of the 8.2-ka cooling event registered in Greenland ice cores, but was synchronous with hydrologic change in the North American Lake Agassiz drainage. The lake level decrease was accompanied by a higher accumulation rate of inorganic matter and lower accumulation rates of cladoceran subfossils and algal pigments, possibly due to increased turbidity and reduced nutrient input during this drier period. Pigment analysis also showed added importance of diatoms and cryptophytes during this climate anomaly, while cyanobacteria became more important when the water level rose. Moreover, Nymphaeaceae trichosclereids were abundant during the period of algal enrichment. Cladoceran taxa associated with floating leaved plants or benthic habitats responded in a complex way to changes in water level, but the cladoceran assemblages generally reflected deep lake conditions throughout the period. The lake did not return to its pre-8.2-ka event status during the period of analysis, but remained more productive for centuries after the climatic anomaly as judged from the pigment accumulation and assemblage composition. The change to more eutrophic conditions may have been triggered by erosion of marginal deposits. Together, these data confirm the chronology of hydrologic changes and suggest, for the first time, that lake levels exhibited both a decline and an increase in rapid succession in response to the 8.2-ka event in southern Scandinavia.     

Total sediment budget of a transgressive barrier-spit,Skallingen, SW Denmark: A review

Average sea-level rise in the northern part of the Danish Wadden Sea has been 1.3 mm a^?1 during the last 100 years but during the last 25 years a rise of 4.2 mm a^?1 was observed. Concurrent with the recent sea-level rise the Skallingen barrier spit has migrated landward by 3–5 m a^?1. Long term sediment budgets for each of the morphological units involved in the migration are reviewed (e.g. onshore in the shore face +90.000 m³ a^?1, longshore -641.000 m³ a^?1, foredunes +65,000 m³ a^?1, overwash fan including shorenormal dunes +11,000 m³ a^?1, spit terminus -96,000 m³ a^?1, tidal flat + 10,000 m³ a^?1 and backbarrier salt marsh +33,000 m³ a^?1) and used to establish the relative importance of sediment transport processes involved in barrier migration. Strong interannual variations exist in the long term budget making evaluation of barrier behaviour based on short term measurements doubtful. In a cross shore sense the barrier spit is accreting in spite of the sea level rise. This is specially pronounced at an active overwash fan. However, due to substantial sediment losses to longshore transport the barrier, gets narrower and shorter during its transgressive behaviour. This may indicate that preservation of barriers in the geological record during rapid sea level rise is promoted when sediment loss to longshore transport is insignificant.     

Calibrating the Cepheid Period-Luminosity relation from the near-infrared surface brightness technique

We have applied the near-infrared surface-brightness method to 111 Cepheids in the Milky Way and in the Large and the Small Magellanic Clouds determining distances and luminosities for the individual stars. We find that the K-band Period-Luminosity (PL-)relations for Milky Way and Large Magellanic Cloud Cepheids are almost identical, whereas the zero point of the Wesenheit relation depends significantly on metallicity, metal poor Cepheids being fainter.     

Wavelength Dependence of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)

The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument will produce Doppler-velocity and vector-magnetic-field maps of the solar surface, whose accuracy is dependent on a thorough knowledge of the transmission profiles of the components of the HMI optical-filter system. Here we present a series of wavelength-dependence calibration tests, performed on the instrument from 2005 onwards, to obtain these profiles. We obtained the transmittances as a function of wavelength for the tunable and non-tunable filter elements, as well as the variation of these transmittances with temperature and the angle of incidence of rays of light. We also established the presence of fringe patterns produced by interferences inside the blocking filter and the front window, as well as a change in transmitted intensity with the tuning position. This thorough characterization of the HMI-filter system confirmed the very high quality of the instrument, and showed that its properties are well within the required specifications to produce superior data with high spatial and temporal resolution.     

Open boundaries in short wave simulations — A new approach

A new way of implementing radiation boundary conditions in finite difference schemes is reported. Instead of prescribing the incident field at the model boundary, waves are generated inside the model boundary. All outgoing waves are absorbed at open boundaries using so-called “sponge” layers.     

Quantification and regionalization of groundwater–surface water interaction along an alluvial stream

In the present study, groundwater seepage to an alluvial stream and two tributary streams was examined at nine field sites using hydrological, geophysical, and geomorphological observations. The data indicate that seepage enters the streams in the following ways: (i) directly through the streambed; (ii) as nearly superficial flow from diffuse discharge areas on the flood plains or; (iii) as a combination of (i) and (ii). At about 40% of the sites more than 50% of seepage flows through the streambed. Moreover, it was found that the ratio C, defined as the width of the wet zone of the flood plain divided by the effective width of the stream, can be used as an indicator of the percentage of water entering the stream directly through the streambed. When C is small streambed seepage is large, while when C is large streambed seepage is small and ground water enters the stream mainly as nearly superficial or over-bank flow from the wet zone.     

Coastal eutrophication and the Danish national aquatic monitoring and assessment program

Nutrient over-enrichment and cultural eutrophication are significant problems in the Danish marine environment. Symptoms of eutrophication include periods of hypoxia and anoxia in bottom waters, death of benthic-dwelling organisms during anoxia, long-term reductions in the depth distribution of macrophyte communities, changes in the species composition of macrophyte communities, and increases in reports of harmful algal blooms. In 1987 the Action Plan on the Aquatic Environment was adopted to combat nutrient pollution of the aquatic environment with the overall goal of reducing nitrogen loads by 50% and point source phosphorus loads by 80%. The Danish Aquatic Nation-wide Monitoring Program was begun in 1988 in order to describe the status of point sources (industry, sewage treatment plants, stormwater outfalls, scattered dwellings, and fish farms), ground water, springs, agricultural watersheds, streams, lakes, atmospheric deposition, and the marine environment. Another important aspect of the program was to document the effects on the aquatic environment of the measures and investments taken for nutrient reduction as outlined in the Action Plan. The monitoring program should determine if reductions in nutrients are achieved by the measures taken and should help decision makers choose appropriate additional measures to fulfill the objectives. Coordination with international programs and commissions is an important component of the monitoring program to meet internationally agreed upon reductions in nutrient inputs. The future and direction of the Danish National Aquatic Monitoring and Assessment Program will be to a large extent shaped by both the Water Framework Directive and Habitat Directive adopted by the European Union.     

Sharing responsibilities in Danish fisheries management—experiences and future directions

During the last decade, devolution of responsibilities of fisheries management has increasingly become an issue in the political debate. The CEC and national governments have expressed an interest in sharing responsibilities for fisheries management with stakeholders. This article investigates the dynamics and constraints of the devolution process in general and in relation to Danish demersal fisheries by answering the following questions: What are the important factors to consider with respect to sharing responsibilities in fisheries management; how can this delegation and/or devolution of responsibilities be institutionalised? And what kind of decisions should be delegated to stakeholders and to whom?     

作物相对水分利用效率与理论节水潜力

作物水分利用效率是评价农业用水效率的重要指标,由于气候差异,采用作物水分利用效率评价不同区域的用水效率可能存在一定误差,尚缺乏深入研究。基于潜在水分利用效率指标和气象数据,计算了2014年中国小麦、玉米和水稻在充分灌溉条件下的潜在水分利用效率,分析了区域气候差异对作物水分利用效率的影响,提出了相对水分利用效率和理论节水潜力的概念和计算方法,并进行了实例研究。结果表明:各类作物在不同站点的潜在水分利用效率的标准差为0.49~1.01 kg/m3,多数作物潜在水分利用效率的空间差异大于实际水分利用效率的空间差异;主要作物的平均相对水分利用效率为50.7%,其理论节水潜力为884.8~4 064.5 m3/hm2;作物水分利用效率和广义节水潜力指标可能高估或低估作物的用水效率和节水潜力。研究认为在比较区域间作物的水分利用效率时不能忽略气候差异的影响;由于考虑了区域气候差异,相对水分利用效率和理论节水潜力指标更合理。     

Stakeholder participation in the management of North East Atlantic pelagic fish stocks: The future role of the Pelagic Regional Advisory Council in a reformed CFP

When the Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) were created during the last reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) in 2002, it was recognised that in addition to the five geographically orientated stakeholder lead advisory bodies, a separate RAC dedicated exclusively to pelagic fisheries was needed because of it being so distinctly different from other fisheries. Pelagic fishing is different mostly due to the fact that the targeted fish species behave in a unique manner by grouping in schools in mid-water unlike other commercially targeted fishes, which typically reside on or near the ocean floor. For this reason, as well as the fact that they are usually widely distributed, researching and managing this dynamic group of fishes across the borders of many countries requires a unique approach. Fortunately, despite these complexities, policy makers have succeeded to establish a reasonably well functioning management framework, which has lead to the situation that most pelagic fish stocks are harvested biologically sustainable. While a majority of Europe's fish stocks still need rebuilding, and the main aim accordingly is to reduce fishing mortality, the current focus for pelagic fish stocks is to improve the performance of already implemented Long Term Management plans in terms of their biological as well as social and economical objectives. This paper reflects upon experiences of the Pelagic Regional Advisory Council (PRAC) in its role as advisor to the EU institutions. Subsequently, in the context of ideas presented in the European Commission's Green paper, the authors discuss the future of the PRAC and conclude that its main development potential lies not with the current EU's CFP reform, but rather should be sought in a wider international context.