Calcite uranium–lead geochronology applied to hardground lithification and sequence boundary dating

Hardground discontinuities within carbonate platforms form important stratigraphic surfaces which can be used at basin scale to correlate sequence boundaries. Although these surfaces are commonly used in sequence strati‐graphy, the timing and duration of hardground lithification and the crystallization of early cements remain unexplored. Here, early calcite cements were dated by U‐Pb geochronology for five Jurassic hardgrounds, interpreted as third‐order sequence boundaries, situated within a well‐constrained petrographic, sedimentological and stratigraphic framework. The consistency or the slight deviation between the age of the cements and the stratigraphic age of deposition of the formations illustrate that cementation occurred early in the diagenetic history. The ages obtained on dogtooth cements, replacing aragonite in gastropod shells and pendant cements in intergranular spaces, match those of the standard Jurassic biostratigraphic ammonite Zones, making calcite U‐Pb geochronology a promising method for dating third‐order sequence boundaries of depositional sequences and refining the Jurassic time scale in the future.     

Sensing with boots and trousers — qualitative field observations of shallow soil moisture patterns

While soil moisture patterns can be interesting traits to investigate spatio‐temporal heterogeneity of catchments relevant for various physical processes of soil–atmosphere interaction and soil water redistribution, many of the existing methods to capture spatial patterns are time consuming, expensive or need site‐specific calibration. In this study we present a quick and inexpensive supplementary field method for classifying soil wetness in wet environments. The seven wetness classes are based on qualitative indicators, which one can touch, hear or see on the soil surface. To counter critics that such qualitative methods are considerably affected by subjectivity, we performed systematic testing of the method by taking qualitative measurements in the field with 20 non‐expert raters. We then analyzed these in terms of degree of agreement and assessed the results against gravimetric sampling and time domain reflectometry measurements. In 70% of all classifications raters agreed on the wetness class assigned to the marked sampling locations and in 95% they were not off by more than one wetness class. The seven quantitative wetness classes agreed with gravimetric and time domain reflectometry measurements, although intermediate to wet classes showed an overlap of their range whereas the driest classes showed considerable spread. Despite some potential to optimize the method, it has been shown to be a reliable supplement to existing quantitative techniques for assessing soil moisture patterns in wet environments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trading more food: Implications for land use,greenhouse gas emissions,and the food system

The volume of agricultural trade increased by more than ten times throughout the past six decades and is likely to continue with high rates in the future. Thereby, it largely affects environment and climate. We analyse future trade scenarios covering the period of 2005–2045 by evaluating economic and environmental effects using the global land-use model MAgPIE (“Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment”). This is the first trade study using spatially explicit mapping of land use patterns and greenhouse gas emissions. We focus on three scenarios: the reference scenario fixes current trade patterns, the policy scenario follows a historically derived liberalisation pathway, and the liberalisation scenario assumes a path, which ends with full trade liberalisation in 2045.Further trade liberalisation leads to lower global costs of food. Regions with comparative advantages like Latin America for cereals and oil crops and China for livestock products will export more. In contrast, regions like the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia face the highest increases of imports. Deforestation, mainly in Latin America, leads to significant amounts of additional carbon emissions due to trade liberalisation. Non-CO₂ emissions will mostly shift to China due to comparative advantages in livestock production and rising livestock demand in the region. Overall, further trade liberalisation leads to higher economic benefits at the expense of environment and climate, if no other regulations are put in place.     

Extended time series measurements of submarine groundwater discharge tracers (222Rn and CH4) at a coastal site in Florida

We report the results of an experiment in which we measured ²²²Rn (15,000 observations), CH₄ (40,000 observations), and associated variables in seawater nearly continuously at a coastal site in the Gulf of Mexico for almost two years. Significant correlations between ²²²Rn and CH₄ imply that they are derived from a common source, most likely groundwater. However, we were unable to explain the overall tracer variability as a single function of groundwater table height, temperature, tidal range, and wind speed, indicating multiple, overlapping controls on SGD dynamics at this site. Methane and radon concentrations may vary 2-fold in a given well in the subterranean estuary over tidal time scales, demonstrating the complexity of determining SGD endmember concentrations and suggesting that unaccounted for temporal changes in groundwater may explain some of the patterns observed in seawater. Surprisingly, the variability of ²²²Rn and CH₄ in seawater over short (e.g., hourly) time scales was generally comparable to or even more pronounced than fluctuations over much longer (e.g., monthly) scales. While high tracer concentrations usually occurred during low tide and low tracer concentrations during high tide, this pattern was occasionally inverted or absent indicating that no single model can be used to describe the entire data set. We also describe a sequence of events in which SGD tracers were depleted in coastal waters during storms and regenerated afterwards. We found no increase in radon activities immediately after the largest storm (75 mm rainfall) perhaps because of the short residence times of groundwater in contrast to the ingrowth time of radon. Marine controls appeared to be the most important SGD drivers with only minor influence relating to the shallow and deep aquifers. This implies that seasonal investigations of SGD tracers in the coastal ocean may be masked by short-term variability.     

The concept of an estuary: A definition that incorporates systems which can become closed to the ocean and hypersaline

The majority of the definitions of estuaries have been based on the characteristics of estuaries in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. As previously pointed out (Day, 1980), such definitions do not take into account such features as periodic closure of their mouths and hypersaline conditions during dry periods, which characterise many estuaries in southern Africa and south-western Australia. There is also ambiguity as to whether an estuary sensu stricto must be fed by a river. The following definition was developed to encompass the main characteristics of all estuaries: An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of water that is either permanently or periodically open to the sea and which receives at least periodic discharge from a river(s), and thus, while its salinity is typically less than that of natural sea water and varies temporally and along its length, it can become hypersaline in regions when evaporative water loss is high and freshwater and tidal inputs are negligible. Estuaries are thus regarded as unique ecosystems, which, in the case of fishes, for example, are occupied by species that collectively represent a particular suite of guilds.     

Field experiments on bioturbation in salt marshes (Bombay Hook National Wildlife Refuge,Smyrna, DE,USA): implications for sea‐level studies

The suitability of marsh sites for sea‐level studies was examined based on field experiments along a transect from low to high marsh. Bead distributions were determined both seasonally and after 7 years. Seasonal sediment mixing was greatest in the low marsh and in the late spring and early summer, when biological activity is greatest. However, after an initial interval of relatively intense reworking, the bead concentrations reached an approximate equilibrium profile characteristic of each marsh environment as reflected by the profiles obtained after 7 years. Mixed‐layer thickness is greatest (>10 cm) in the intermediate and low marsh, and burial rates are rapid (3.7–11.1 mm yr^?1). Moreover, burial rates are comparable to or even surpass longer‐term (30 to >150 yr) radiotracer‐derived sediment accumulation rates and rates of local and regional sea‐level rise (～4 mm yr^?1). Therefore, sediment accumulation rates appear to reflect primarily sediment resuspension/redeposition within the system due to bioturbation. Thus, bioturbation may be critical to the ability of marshes to keep pace with sea level, while seemingly precluding the use of low marsh for high‐resolution sea‐level studies. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Improving radiometry of imaging spectrometers by using programmable spectral regions of interest

Programmable imaging spectrometers can be adjusted to fit specific application requirements that differ from the instrument initial spectral design goals. Sensor spectral characteristics and its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) can be changed by applying customized online binning patterns.We present a software utility that generates application driven spectral binning patterns by using an SNR dependent sensor model. The utility, named BinGO (BInning patterN Generator and Optimiser), is used to produce predefined binning patterns that either (a) allow an existing imaging spectrometer to optimize its spectral characteristics for a specific application, (b) allow an existing imaging spectrometer to spectral and/or spatially emulate another instrument, or (c) design new multispectral or imaging spectrometer missions (i.e. spaceborne, airborne, terrestrial). We present a variety of BinGO case studies, including the simulation of airborne (APEX) [Itten, K.I. et al., 2008. APEX — The hyperspectral ESA Airborne Prism Experiment. Sensors 8(1), 1–25], spaceborne (SENTINEL III) [Nieke, J., Frerick, J., Stroede, J., Mavrocordatos, C., Berruti, B., 2008. Status of the optical payload and processor development of ESA’s Sentinel 3 mission. In: Proceedings of the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS 2008, pp. 427–430], as well as scientific and performance optimized approaches. We conclude that the presented approach can successfully be used to increase the efficiency of spectral information retrieval by using imaging spectroscopy data and to simulate various missions and requirements, finally supporting proper trade-off decisions to be made between performance optimization and scientific requirements. In addition, if specific sensor parameters are known, BinGO can also model other imaging spectrometers.     

Runoff‐generating processes in hydromorphic soils on a plot scale: free gravity‐driven versus pressure‐controlled flow

Draining soil water is an important runoff generator. This study aims to describe runoff‐generating processes on a plot scale (1 m²) in hydromorphic soils with different initial soil water contents. We irrigated 16 hydromorphic soils in the northern Pre‐Alps in Switzerland and recorded the variations in water content with time domain reflectometry (TDR) at five different depths per plot. Sprinkling was repeated three times at approximately 23‐h intervals and lasted for 1 h with a volume flux density of 70 mm h^?1. The comparison between the measured water content of the drainages with two physically based models revealed which of the flow processes dominated during water recessions. We distinguished between vertical drainage, lateral outflow and infiltration without drainage. Approximately 45% of all recorded time series of soil water content did not drain within approximately 20 h after the end of irrigation, about 25% drained laterally and 10% of the outflow was vertical. The drainage of the remaining 20% was the result of both lateral and vertical water flow (≈12%), or was not interpretable with the approaches applied (≈8%). Vertical flow was only observed in layers without any or with just a few hydromorphic features. Lateral draining horizons had approximately half the storage capacity and amplitude of water recession of those with vertical flow. Vertical flow was only observed in the upper soil horizons. Thus, vertical flow transmitted water to layers with lateral outflow and did not delay runoff by deep percolation. Increasing initial soil moisture increased the percentage of water content recordings according to a lateral outflow slightly, while vertical flow was less frequent. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of stable carbon isotopes for reconstructing salt‐marsh floral zones and relative sea level,New Jersey,USA

We investigated use of δ¹³C in bulk organic sediment to define the botanical origin of samples preserved in coastal sediment as a means to reconstruct relative sea level in New Jersey, USA. Modern transects at three sites demonstrated that low and high salt‐marsh floral zones dominated by C₄ species (Spartina alterniflora and Spartina patens) were associated with sediment δ¹³C values between ?18.9‰ and ?15.8‰ and occurred from mean tide level (MTL) to mean higher high water (MHHW). Brackish transitional settings vegetated by Phragmites australis with Iva fructescens and Typha sp. (C₃ species) and freshwater upland samples (C₃ species) were characterized by bulk sediment δ¹³C values of ?27.0‰ to ?22.0‰ and existed above MHHW. Parallel transects at one site suggested that intra‐site variability was not discernible. The utility of δ¹³C values for reconstructing relative sea level in New Jersey is limited by an inability to differentiate between brackish sediments related to sea level and freshwater upland samples. To facilitate this distinction in a 4.4 m core, we used a multi‐proxy approach (δ¹³C values with presence or absence of agglutinated foraminifera) to recognize indicative meanings for four sample types. Sediment with δ¹³C values greater than ?18.9‰ was derived from a vegetated salt‐marsh and formed between MTL and MHHW. Sediment with δ¹³C values less than ?22.0‰ and containing agglutinated foraminifera formed in a brackish transitional zone between MHHW and highest astronomical tide (HAT). This is the narrowest elevational range of the four sample types and most precise sea‐level indicator. Sediment with δ¹³C values less than ?22.0‰ and lacking foraminifera can only constrain the upper bound of former sea level. Samples with intermediate values (?22.0‰ to ?18.9‰) formed between MTL and HAT. Using these indicative meanings and radiocarbon dates, we suggest that a transition from brackish to salt‐marsh δ¹³C values recorded in the core took approximately 350 years (from 1800 to 1450 cal. a BP). Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparison of bulk and compound-specific δC analyses and determination of carbon sources to salt marsh sediments using n-alkane distributions (Maine,USA)

Sources of sedimentary organic matter to a Morse River, Maine (USA) salt marsh over the last 3390 ± 60 RCYBP (Radiocarbon Years Before Present) are determined using distribution patterns of n-alkanes, bulk carbon isotopic analysis, and compound-specific carbon isotopic analysis. Marsh foraminiferal counts suggest a ubiquitous presence of high marsh and higher-high marsh deposits (dominated by Trochammina macrescens forma macrescens, Trochammina comprimata, and Trochammina inflata), implying deposition from ∼0.2 m to 0.5 m above mean high water. Distributions of n-alkanes show a primary contribution from higher plants, confirmed by an average chain length value of 27.5 for the core sediments, and carbon preference index values all >3. Many sample depths are dominated by the C₂₅ alkane. Salicornia depressa and Ruppia maritima have similar n-alkane distributions to many of the salt marsh sediments, and we suggest that one or both of these plants is either an important source to the biomass of the marsh through time, or that another unidentified higher plant source is contributing heavily to the sediment pool. Bacterial degradation or algal inputs to the marsh sediments appear to be minor. Compound-specific carbon isotopic analyses of the C₂₇ alkane are on average 7.2‰ depleted relative to bulk values, but the two records are strongly correlated (R² = 0.89), suggesting that marsh plants dominate the bulk carbon isotopic signal. Our study underscores the importance of using caution when applying mixing models of plant species to salt marsh sediments, especially when relatively few plants are included in the model.