Coupling thermodynamic modeling and high-resolution in situ LA-ICP-MS monazite geochronology: evidence for Barrovian metamorphism late in the Grenvillian history of southeastern Ontario

The Flinton Group is a greenschist to upper amphibolite facies package of metasediments in southeastern Ontario that was metamorphosed during the Ottawan Orogeny. Thermodynamic modeling of metapelitic mineral assemblages suggests an increase in peak conditions of metamorphism across the 40 km wide study area from 3.5 to 7.9 kbar and 540 to 715 °C. Garnet isopleth thermobarometry applied to the cores of compositionally zoned porphyroblasts reveals remarkably similar P-T conditions of initial crystallization at approximately 3.7–4.0 kbar and 512–520 °C, corresponding to a relatively high geothermal gradient of ca. 34–45 °C km^?1. It is inferred from modeling and reaction textures that metamorphism was along Barrovian P-T paths. Major and trace element zoning in garnet from one sample records a complex growth history as evidenced by major and trace element zoning and the distribution of xenotime, allanite and monazite inclusions. High-resolution (6 μm) LA-ICP-MS U-Pb geochronology performed on monazite in the rock matrix and included in the outer 150 μm of garnet rim-ward of a Y annulus revealed an age of 976?±?4 Ma. The age is interpreted to reflect monazite growth at the expense of allanite and apatite late in garnet’s growth history over the P-T interval 4.5–6.8 kbar and 540–640 °C. This new age estimate for near peak metamorphism fits well into the regional framework but is significantly younger than previously reported ages for Ottawan metamorphism. Based on microstructures this new age suggests that compressional tectonics were operating much later in the history of the Grenville of southeastern Ontario than previously thought.     

Engaging Communities for Success: social impact assessment and social licence to operate at Northparkes Mines,NSW

Social issues are critical to the mining industry. This study investigates how social issues have been, and are being, assessed and managed within this industry through a case study of Northparkes Mines in central west New South Wales (NSW). The research involved 29 interviews with mining executives, environmental consultants and citizens of Parkes, plus a document analysis of four environmental impact statements prepared between 1990 and 2012. Where appropriate, findings were extrapolated to the wider mining industry. The standard for social impact assessment in NSW and emerging industry guidelines on social responsibility were analysed against internationally accepted good practice. Interviews indicated greater potential to recognise the social impacts of mining in NSW and identified good practice impact assessment as only one component of a successful community engagement strategy. Complementary strategies are essential to extend the benefits of development to local communities and for companies to establish a ‘social licence to operate’. The successful approach taken by Northparkes Mines combined good practice impact assessment with a localised workforce, an integrated management team and context-specific community engagement practices. This study highlights that local communities can be empowered through development, that benefits can extend to both the community and the business and that the ongoing management of social issues will increasingly be critical to the success of the mining industry.     

Gradients,Property Templates,and Land Use Change

The scarcity of historical individual-level data makes understanding historic land use decisions and the influence of physiochemical gradients on these decisions difficult. Here, we present several measures of early property agricultural quality based on commonly available data, including elevation and soil type. These analyses demonstrate the influence of physiochemical gradients on initial land division patterns in the Gywnns Falls watershed (Baltimore, Maryland). Moreover, we examine the influence of the template created by early property decisions on continuing human-driven landscape dynamics. This influence is illustrated by 1900-era forest cover patterns, park locations, and modern transportation networks.     

Evaluation of Long‐Term Performance and Sustained Treatment at Enhanced Anaerobic Bioremediation Sites

This study evaluated the long‐term performance of enhanced anaerobic bioremediation (EAB) at chlorinated solvent sites to determine if sustained treatment processes were helping to prevent concentration rebound. A database of groundwater concentration versus time records was compiled for 34 sites, with at least 3 years of posttreatment monitoring data (median = 4.7 years, range = 3.0 to 11.7 years). Long‐term performance was evaluated based on order‐of‐magnitude (OoM) changes in parent compound concentrations during various monitoring periods. Results indicate that, relative to the pretreatment concentration, a median concentration reduction for all 34 sites of 1.0 OoM (90% reduction) was achieved by the end of the posttreatment monitoring period. No rebound was observed at 65% of the sites between the first year of posttreatment monitoring and the final year. During this posttreatment period, Mann‐Kendall trend analysis indicated that the concentration was stable or decreasing at 89% of the sites where a trend could be established (n = 27; 33% decreasing, 56% stable, 11% increasing). Statistical analysis indicates there is no evidence that the distribution of median concentration reductions after the first year of posttreatment monitoring was different than the distribution of median reductions 2 to 11 years later at the end of the monitoring period (p = 0.67). Similarly, statistical analysis indicates that there is no evidence that the distribution of median reductions for a larger set of sites (n = 84) with less than 3 years of posttreatment monitoring data (1.1 OoM; 92% reduction) was different than the distribution of median OoM reductions for the 34‐site dataset with longer monitoring periods (p = 0.80). This suggests that, at a typical site, a 3‐year monitoring period should be sufficient for evaluating performance. The results of this study indicate that, in the long term, after the end of active treatment, sustained treatment processes contribute to relatively modest concentration reductions but do mitigate rebound at the majority of EAB sites.     

A Surface Model for Aeolian Dune Topography

A surface model for aeolian bedform topography is adapted from a surface model of subaqueous bedform topography. The aeolian bedform surface model is developed using a uniform grid with a cell-centered finite volume approximation of the sediment continuity equation. The resulting modeling framework approximates the dynamic motions of aeolian bedform topography driven by bedform field boundary conditions. The numerical model is applied to simulate bedforms growing from unimodal and bimodal transport regimes from both a fixed elevation (sediment source area) and within a domain with fully periodic boundary conditions. The rates at which modeled aeolian bedforms grow and morphologically mature are sensitive to the chosen boundary conditions. Video files of model simulations and source code for the presented aeolian bedform surface modeling framework are available in supplemental materials. The aeolian bedform surface model code is malleable and readily modified for exploratory study of dynamic bedform topography that inherits morphological traits from aeolian bedform field boundary conditions.     

Iron concretions within a highly altered unit of the Berlins Porphyry,New Zealand: an abiotic or biotic story?

Mineralogy and Petrology - The Berlins Porphyry located on the South Island of New Zealand provides an opportunity to examine iron concretions formed in a subterranean system. Specifically, an...     

Phenotypic plasticity of floral traits and pollination adaption in an alpine plant <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pedicularis siphonantha</Emphasis> D. Don when transplanted from higher to lower elevation in Eastern Himalaya

Phenotypic plasticity and/or pollinator-mediated selection may be responsible for the changes in floral traits of plants when they are forced to live in new conditions. Although the two events could be independent, we hypothesized that phenotypic plasticity in floral traits might help to coordinate plant-pollinator interactions and enhance plant reproductive success in changing habitats. To test this hypothesis, we investigated floral traits and pollination on three natural populations of a lousewort (Pedicularis siphonantha) ranging at different elevations, as well as two downward transplanted populations in Shangeri-La County and Deqin County, northwest Yunnan, China. The results indicated that floral traits, i.e. phenology, longevity, display size, corolla tube length and pollen production differed significantly among populations. Moreover, or the two transplanted populations, floral traits diverged from their original populations, but converged to their host populations. Although the phenotypic plasticity in floral traits might be a rapid response to abiotic factor such as warmer environment, the changes in floral traits were found to be well adapted to pollination environment of the host population. Compared with plants of their original habitats in higher elevation, the transplanted individuals advanced flowering time, shortened flower longevity, reduced floral display size and pollen production, received higher visiting frequency and yielded more seeds. These findings suggested that phenotypic plasticity of floral traits might help plants adjust their resource allocation strategy between preand post-pollination stages in response to harsh or temperate conditions, which might correspondingly meet a pollinator-poor or hyphen rich environment. This would be beneficial for the widely-distributed species to adapt to various environmental changes.     

Sub-kilometer length scales in coastal waters

Patchiness or spatial variability is ubiquitous in marine systems. With increasing anthropogenic impacts to coastal resources and coastal systems being disproportionately large contributors to ocean productivity, identifying the spatial scales of this patchiness, particularly in coastal waters, is of critical importance to understand coastal ecosystem dynamics. The current work focuses on fine scale structure in three coastal regions. More specifically, we utilize variogram analyses to identify sub-kilometer scales of variability in biological and physical parameters measured by an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) in the Mid-Atlantic Bight, Monterey Bay, and in San Luis Obispo Bay between 2001 and 2004. Critical scales of variability in density, turbidity, fluorescence, and bioluminescence are examined as a function of depth and distance offshore. Furthermore, the effects of undersampling are assessed using predictive error analysis. Results indicate the presence of scales of variability ranging from 10s to 100s of meters and provide valuable insight for sampling design and resource allocation for future studies.     

Snow disappearance timing is dominated by forest effects on snow accumulation in warm winter climates of the Pacific Northwest,United States

Forests modify snow processes and affect snow water storage as well as snow disappearance timing. However, forest influences on snow accumulation and ablation vary with climate and topography and are therefore subject to temporal and spatial variability. We utilize multiple years of snow observations from across the Pacific Northwest, United States, to assess forest–snow interactions in the relatively warm winter conditions characteristic of maritime and transitional maritime–continental climates. We (a) quantify the difference in snow magnitude and disappearance timing between forests and open areas and (b) assess how forest modifications of snow accumulation and ablation combine to determine whether snow disappears later in the forest or in the open. We find that snow disappearance timing at 12 (out of 14) sites ranges from synchronous in the forest and open to snow persisting up to 13 weeks longer in the open relative to a forested area. By analyzing accumulation and ablation rates up to the day when snow first disappears from the forest, we find that the difference between accumulation rates in the open and forest is larger than the difference between ablation rates. Thus, canopy snow interception and subsequent loss, rather than ablation, set up longer snow duration in the open. However, at two relatively windy sites (hourly average wind speeds up to 8 and 17 m/s), differential snow disappearance timing is reversed: Snow persists 2–5 weeks longer in the forest. At the windiest sites, accumulation rates in the forest and open are similar. Ablation rates are higher in the open, but the difference between ablation rates in the forest and open at these sites is approximately equivalent to the difference at less windy sites. Thus, longer snow retention in the forest at the windiest sites is controlled by depositional differences rather than by reduced ablation rates. These findings suggest that improved quantification of forest effects on snow accumulation processes is needed to accurately predict the effect of forest management or natural disturbance on snow water resources.     

Optical moorings-of-opportunity for validation of ocean color satellites

Buoy-mooring platforms are advantageous for time-series validation and vicarious calibration of ocean color satellites because of their high temporal resolution and ability to perform under adverse weather conditions. Bio-optical data collected on the Bermuda Testbed Mooring (BTM) were used for comparison with satellite ocean color data in an effort to further standardize sampling and data processing methods for high quality satellite-mooring comparisons. Average percentage differences between satellite-measured and mooring-derived water leaving radiances were about 20% at the blue wavelengths, decreasing to as low as 11% in the blue-green to green wavebands. Based on a series of data processing methods and analyses, recommendations concerning rigor of quality control for collected data, optimal averaging of high-frequency data, sensor self-shading wind corrections, and instrumentation placement requirements are given for the design and application of optical moorings for ocean color satellite validation. Although buoy-mooring platforms are considered to be among the very best methods to validate ocean color satellite measurements, match-up discrepancies due to water column variability and atmospheric corrections remain important issues.