Dynamic evolution of large-scale two-dimensional fractures and ruptures using coagulation methods

We consider the dynamic behavior of a large-scale, two-dimensional fibril fracture field embedded in a sedimentary pile which is resting on a tectonically active crustal basement. Fractures are treated statistically as a dilute gas composed of parallel, stressed fractures. The salient physical processes are annihilation/coalescence of fractures through binary collisions and their precipitation, diffusion, and advection caused by their motions. The analysis uses techniques of coagulation theory to follow evolution of fractures as they develop from small-scale, elementary ruptures (fibrils) to large-scale objects. The purpose is to study size distribution and temporal variations of emerging fractures at the sedimentary surface with fibril fractures throughout the sedimentary pile. Analysis suggests that transport and in situ coalescence/annihilation of fibril fractures through sediments may be responsible for the size spectrum and temporal variations observed in surface fractures and ruptures. We find that smaller-scale fractures advected to the sedimentary surface have a time lag relative to larger-scale precipitated fractures—suggestive of an after-shock type of behavior. We also find that annihilation reactions (approach to hydrostatic stress and/or cementation) can be effective in reducing the mean size of emerging fractures. Simple estimates indicate that if the annihilation rate is about 5–10 times the coalescence rate, then the coalescence process is virtually unable to produce any larger-scale fractures than the original elementary ruptures (fibrils).     

Monomethylmercury sources in a tropical artificial reservoir

The distribution and speciation of mercury (Hg) in the water column, the inputs (wet deposition and tributaries) and the outputs (atmospheric evasion and outlet) of an artificial partially anoxic tropical lake (Petit-Saut reservoir, French Guiana) were investigated on a seasonal basis in order to appraise the cycling and transformations of this metal. The total mercury (HgT) concentrations in the oxygenated epilimnetic waters averaged 5 ± 3 pmol L⁻¹ in the unfiltered samples (HgT_UNF) and 4 ± 2 pmol L⁻¹ in the dissolved (HgT_D) phase (<0.45 μm). On average, the monomethylmercury (MMHg) constituted 8%, 40% and 18% of the HgT in the dissolved phase, the particulate suspended matter and in the unfiltered samples, respectively. Covariant elevated concentrations of particulate MMHg and chlorophyll a in the epilimnion suggest that phytoplankton is an active component for the MMHg transfer in the lake. In the anoxic hypolimnion the HgT_UNF averages 13 ± 6 pmol L⁻¹ and the HgT_D 8 ± 4 pmol L⁻¹. The averages of MMHg_P and MMHg_D in hypolimnetic waters were two and three times the corresponding values of the epilimnion, 170 ± 90 pmol g⁻¹ and 0.9 ± 0.5 pmol L⁻¹, respectively. In the long dry and wet seasons, at the flooded forest and upstream dam sampling stations, the vertical profiles of MMHg_D concentrations accounted for two distinct maxima: one just below the oxycline and the other near the benthic interface. Direct wet atmospheric deposition accounted for 14 moles yr⁻¹ HgT_UNF, with 0.7 moles yr⁻¹ as MMHg_UNF, while circa 76 moles yr⁻¹ of HgT_UNF, with 4.7 moles yr⁻¹ as MMHg_UNF, coming from tributaries. Circa 78 moles (∼17% as MMHg) are annually exported through the dam, while 23 moles yr⁻¹ of Hg⁰ evolve in the atmosphere. A mass balance calculation suggests that the endogenic production of MMHg_UNF attained 8.1 moles yr⁻¹, corresponding to a methylation rate of 0.06% d⁻¹. As a result, the Petit-Saut reservoir is a large man-made reactor that has extensively altered mercury speciation in favor of methylated species.     

Reconstructing the spatial distribution of large vegetation formations during the mid-Holocene in Romania: a predictive modeling approach

The present study tests the usefulness of SoLIM software and GIS techniques for the reconstruction of large vegetation formations from the mid-Holocene period in Romania. We used current reference climate data (temperature, precipitation) and the current extent of ecological regions in Romania to derive climate optimality functions for each vegetation formation. The optimality functions were used to simulate current and past distributions of vegetation. The results showed that the current and mid-Holocene simulated spatial distributions of vegetation are quite similar. Changes were found for about 14% of the Romanian territory (33 946 km²), the most important being the retreat of coniferous forests in favor of mixed forests and of mixed forests in favor of forest steppe. The former is validated by previous pollen-based studies showing the transition from coniferous forests to mixed forests that occurred in several areas of the country after the mid-Holocene. The study demonstrates the potential of this methodological approach to reconstruct past vegetation formations, and at the same time that it is a straightforward and expert knowledge-based method. Although our application uses only climate factors, the results can be further refined by incorporating additional drivers (soil and landform information, site-specific pollen and fossil data, wildfire data) for a more accurate inference of paleovegetation.     

Toward very high horizontal resolution NWP over the alps: Influence of increasing model resolution on the flow pattern

The increasing resolution of contemporary regional numerical weather prediction (NWP) models, reaching horizontal grid sizes of O(1 km), requires robust and reliable dynamical cores, working well beyond the approximation of quasi-horizontal flows. That stimulates an interest in an application for NWP purposes of dynamical cores based on the anelastic, or — more generally — sound-proof flow equations, and characterized by appropriate robustness and reliability. The paper presents results from testing the dynamical core of EULAG, the anelastic research model for multi-scale flows, as a prospective NWP dynamical core. The model simulates the semi-realistic frictionless and adiabatic flow over realistic steep Alpine topographies, employing horizontal grid sizes of 2.2, 1.1, and 0.55 km. The paper demonstrates not only the numerical robustness of EULAG, but also studies the influence of the varying horizontal resolution on the simulated flow. Results show that the increased horizontal resolution increases orographic drag on the flow. While the general flow pattern remains the same, increased resolution influences the flow on scales from hundreds of kilometers to meso-gamma scales. The differences are especially apparent in the near-surface layer of 1.5 to 3 km deep, and in the distribution and amplitudes of the orographically-induced gravity waves.     

Testing the anelastic nonhydrostatic model EULAG as a prospective dynamical core of a numerical weather prediction model Part I: Dry benchmarks

In this paper, a feasibility of anelastic approach for numerical weather prediction (NWP) is examined. The study concerns the anelastic nonhydrostatic model EULAG as a prospective candidate for the new dynamical core of a high-resolution NWP model. Such an application requires a series of benchmark tests to be performed. The study presents the results of dry idealized two-dimensional linear and non-linear tests. They include evolution of cold and warm density currents in neutrally stratified atmosphere, inertia-gravity waves in short and long channels, as well as mountain gravity waves for a set of different flow regimes. Detailed comparison of the results with the reference solutions, based mainly on the results of compressible models, indicates a high level of conformity for all of the experiments. It verifies the anelastic approach as strongly consistent with the compressible one for a broad class of atmospheric problems. It also corroborates the robustness of EULAG numerics, an essential requirement of dynamical core of NWP model.     

Guano-derived δ13C-based paleo-hydroclimate record from Gaura cu Musca Cave,SW Romania

The δ¹³C values of 23 unevenly spaced guano samples from a 17-cm long clay sediment profile in Gaura cu Musc? Cave (GM), in SW Romania, made it possible to preliminarily characterize the Medieval Warm Period summer hydroclimate regime. The beginning of the sequence (AD 990) was rather wet for more than a century, before becoming progressively drier. After a brief, yet distinct wet period around AD 1170, drier conditions, with a possible shift from C₃ to a mixed C₃-dominated/C₄ type vegetation (2 ‰ lower δ¹³C values), prevailed for almost half a century before the climate became colder and wetter at the onset of the Little Ice Age, when bats left the cave. The guano-inferred wet and dry intervals from the GM Cave are mirrored by changes in the color and amount of clay accumulated in the cave. They also agree well with reconstructions based on pollen and charcoal from peat bogs and δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O on speleothems from other Romanian sites. Overall, these results indicate that the δ¹³C of bat guano can provide a sensitive record of the short-term coupling between local/regional climate and the plant–insect–bat–guano system.