Meltwater production in Antarctic blue-ice areas: sensitivity to changes in atmospheric forcing

In the near coastal regions of Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, below-surface ice-melt in blue-ice areas has been observed. The low scattering coefficients of the large-grained blue-ice allow penetration of solar radiation, thus providing an energy source below the ice surface. The sub-surface meltwater is significant enough to show up on remote-sensing imagery in the form of ice-covered lakes. Adjacent snow-accumulation areas have much higher scattering coefficients and consequently limit solar radiation penetration in these regions. These snow and ice surfaces are generally below freezing, and little surface melting occurs. To assess the response of these melt features to changes in atmospheric forcings such as cloudiness, air temperature, and snow accumulation, a physically-based model of the coupled atmosphere, radiation, snow, and blue-ice system has been developed. The model consists of a heat transfer equation with a spectrally-dependent solar-radiation source term. The penetration of radiation into the snow and blue-ice depends on the surface albedo, and the snow and blue-ice grain size and density. Model simulations show that ice melt occurring in this area is sensitive to potential variations in atmospheric forcing. Under certain conditions more traditional surface melting occurs and, under other conditions, the existing melt processes can be shut down completely. In light of the sensitivity of this system to variations in atmospheric forcing, and the ability to view melt-related features using remote sensing, a tool exists to efficiently monitor variations in Antarctic coastal climate.     

Crustal Stress in the northern North Sea as inferred from borehole breakouts and earthquake focal mechanisms

The regional stress field in the northern North Sea (offshore western Norway) has been studied through the acquisition and analysis of directions of maximum horizontal compression (_H) as extracted from borehole breakouts and from earthquake focal mechanism solutions.
The results indicate that the regional stress field is dominated by NW-SE compression, with good consistency between shallow borehole breakouts (2–5 km depth) and deeper earthquakes (10–25 km depth). The broad spatial consistency in stress direction indicates that the main stress field is related to factors of primarily plate tectonic origin, and the results are in good agreement with the western Europe trend found in earlier investigations.
The Tampen Spur region in the northern North Sea has been subjected to particularly complex deformation, with two dominating fault directions trending NW-SE and NE-SW. From Tampen Spur in the west to the Sogn graben in the east an anomalous stress field is indicated, with NE-SW oriented maximum horizontal compressions. This anomaly is clearly seen both in the borehole breakout data and in the earthquake data. Possible sources for this anomaly are discussed, and include postglacial uplift and/or lateral variations in the physical properties of the crust.     

Analysis and usage of linear relationships between the magnetic field components recorded by INTERMAGNET

An analysis of linear relationships between the ground-level components of the Earth’s magnetic field measured at different sites is a relatively new topic compared to the analysis of data at a single location. The data collected by the INTERMAGNET observation network provide perfect set of data to which this analysis can be used. An important tool in this analysis may be developing a method of determination of the impulse response for linear systems in the time domain. An advantage of calculations in the time domain over the generally known and applied methods in the frequency domain is the possibility of determining prediction of output signals. By that, simultaneously with the analysis of linear relationships, a tool for recovering missing records in incomplete observation data is obtained. Filling-in the missing data may increase interest and possibility of using the observational data by researchers experimenting with the analysis in the frequency domain where gaps in data records are a significant limitation.     

Significance of Geological Parameters for Predicting Water Inflow in Hard Rock Tunnels

One of the most challenging aspects of tunnelling is prognostication of water inflows. More reliable prediction of groundwater inflow may give considerable economical saving for future tunnel projects and may also prevent damage of environment and installations on the surface. This paper is discussing the significance of eight hypotheses regarding geological parameters for predicting water inflow in tunnels. The respective hypotheses have been tested as part of a recent research project in Norway. Six Norwegian tunnels with different geological conditions were selected for the research; the Romeriksporten, Frøya, T-baneringen, Lunner, Skaugum, and Storsand tunnels. Based on detailed study of these tunnels, the hypotheses are tested by comparing water inflow with geological parameters and factors such as Q value, faulting, rock stress orientation, rock cover, thickness of permeable soil or depth of lake/sea above the tunnel, rock type, and width of weakness zones. It is found that four out of the eight tested hypotheses are supported, two have low to medium support and two are not supported. One unexpected result is that for the tunnels covered by this study, the water inflow was found to increase with rock cover.     

Overwintering of terrestrial Arctic arthropods: the fauna of Svalbard now and in the future

There are over 500 species of arthropods recorded from Svalbard. These animals overwinter either within the soil or on the ground surface, and have to tolerate an environment where the ground is frozen for over 9 months each year. Three cold-tolerance strategies have been described from Svalbard invertebrates: freeze avoidance, freeze tolerance and desiccation. Once in a cold-tolerant state the animals can be extremely cold tolerant in terms of both minimum exposure temperature and period of exposure. How the overwintering capabilities of these animals will be affected by climate changes during the next 100 years, as predicted by climate models, is not yet known. Four principle factors with an impact on overwintering of the terrestrial arthropod fauna are outlined here: (1) warmer winter temperatures, with an increased frequency of extreme events such as freeze–thaw cycles and surface icing; (2) changes in snow fall and snow lie; (3) pollutant load; and (4) dispersal of invertebrates to Svalbard. Finally, areas where further research is required are highlighted: including the development of controlled multi-season field experiments; effect of freeze–thaw cycles; changes in thickness and distribution of snow lie, with the subsequent effects on duration of the summer period; chill susceptibility of soil arthropods; assessing potential colonizing species and the likelihood of these species becoming established; assessing the effect of gene flow from surrounding populations; interactions between pollution and cold tolerance; anoxia stress; and the genetics of cold tolerance.     

Displacement amplification factors for steel eccentrically braced frames

Inelastic deformation capacity of links is a factor that significantly influences design of steel eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). The link rotation angle is used to describe inelastic link deformation. The link rotation angle is generally calculated by making use of design story drifts that in turn are calculated by modifying the elastic displacements by a displacement amplification factor. This paper presents a numerical study undertaken to evaluate the displacement amplification factor given in ASCE7‐10 for EBFs and the rigid‐plastic mechanism used for calculating link rotation angles. A total of 72 EBFs were designed by considering the number of stories, the bay width, the link length to bay width ratio, and the seismic hazard level as the prime variables. All structures were analyzed using elastic and inelastic time history analyses. The results indicated that the displacement amplification factor given in ASCE7‐10 provides unconservative estimates of the story drifts. On the other hand, the rigid‐plastic mechanism provides conservative estimates of link rotations. Based on the results of the numerical study, a new set of displacement amplification factors that vary along the height of the structure and modifications to the rigid‐plastic mechanism were developed. In light of the proposed modifications, the EBFs were redesigned and analyzed using inelastic time history analysis. The results indicated that the proposed modifications provide improvements for the displacement amplification factor and link rotation angle calculation procedures. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Benthic photosynthesis in submerged Wadden Sea intertidal flats

In this study we compare benthic photosynthesis during inundation in coarse sand, fine sand, and mixed sediment (sand/mud) intertidal flats in the German Wadden Sea. In situ determinations of oxygen-, DIC- and nutrient fluxes in stirred benthic chamber incubations were combined with measurements of sedimentary chlorophyll, incident light intensity at the sediment surface and scalar irradiance within the sediment. During submergence, microphytobenthos was light limited at all study sites as indicated by rapid response of gross photosynthesis to increasing incident light at the sea floor. However, depth integrated scalar irradiance was 2 to 3 times higher in the sands than in the mud. Consequently, gross photosynthesis in the net autotrophic fine sand and coarse sand flats during inundation was on average 4 and 11 times higher than in the net heterotrophic mud flat, despite higher total chlorophyll concentration in mud. Benthic photosynthesis may be enhanced in intertidal sands during inundation due to: (1) higher light availability to the microphytobenthos in the sands compared to muds, (2) more efficient transport of photosynthesis-limiting solutes to the microalgae with pore water flows in the permeable sands, and (3) more active metabolic state and different life strategies of microphytobenthos inhabiting sands.     

Periglacial and Fluvial Factors Controlling the Sedimentation of Pleistocene Breccia in NW Poland

Breccias were investigated on the terrace of the Toruń‐Eberswalde ice‐marginal valley at Rozwarzyn (NW Poland). Breccia layers include soft‐sediment clasts with diameters between 2 and 256 mm and soft‐sediment megaclasts with diameters from 256 mm to 7 m. The shape of the soft‐sediment clasts and megaclasts (derived from frozen sediments) in the breccia is diverse: from angular and irregular in the case of debris‐flow breccias to slightly rounded and tabular in fluvial breccias. These two types of breccias were developed during the Late Weichselian when the periglacial climate favored extensive lateral erosion by currents of frozen braided channels in the ice‐marginal valley. The dual presence of breccias of fluvial and debris‐flow origin in channel deposits is unique for Quaternary sediments. Zones of breccias existed in the channels where scours and obstacle marks related to megaclasts developed. The study of breccias shed new light on the fluvial processes in ice‐marginal valleys during the Pleistocene and can be considered as diagnostic for fluvio‐periglacial conditions.