Inverse reconstructions of ecosystem flows in investigating regime shifts: impact of the choice of objective function

Inverse analysis is increasingly used in ecosystem modelling to objectively reconstruct a large number of unknown flows or interactions from a small number of observations. This type of analysis may be useful in relating observed regime shifts in ecosystem structure to underlying processes. Inversions of ecosystem flow networks currently use a constrained least-squares solution which at the same time minimizes the squared norm (the sum of squares) of the reconstructed flows. This minimum norm (MN) inversion is thought to be a parsimonious solution to the ecosystem flow inverse problem, but it may well not reflect how ecosystems are organised. It has been proposed instead that ecosystems evolve to maximize energy/mass flows or that they maximize the information content of the network weighted by ecosystem flows (ascendancy). We used simulated inverse experiments, where inverse analyses are applied to simulations of flow networks, to explore objective functions different than the MN generally used. We could not compute inverse solutions that maximize ascendancy because the objective function is unbounded. We could calculate inversions that maximize flows; however, these generally overestimated the simulated flows, even though the simulations were designed to maximize flows. It appears that the ecosystem flow inverse problem is too under-determined (too few data relative to the number of unknowns) to allow the use of these maximizing goal functions. We introduce a new minimization that simultaneously minimizes the squared flows and the squared differences between flows. This smoothing minimization makes the inverse flows as even as possible and it helps with some technical issues with MN inversions. The simulated inverse experiments indicated that this smoothed norm (SM) is the most robust in comparative analyses of contrasting ecosystem states, such as those that can be associated with regime shifts. Like the MN inversion, the SM inversion has no ecological basis. However, it is a conservative norm that is less likely to produce false differences between the dynamics of regimes.     

Seismic endoscopy: multi-offset multi-azimuth imaging around boreholes – data processing and experimental results

An acoustic method, called seismic endoscopy, able to perform 3D imaging around shallow-depth boreholes is presented. A probe, composed of an isotropic source and a directional receiver working in the 20–100 kHz frequency range, provides images of cylindrical volumes having radii of a few metres, with an accuracy of centimetres and 25° azimuthal directivity. In order to obtain clear images of the medium discontinuities, multi-offset and multi-azimuth data acquisition allows specific algorithms to be used to determine vertical directivity correction, azimuthal focusing and reflected wave enhancement by cancellation of the tube waves. The method is tested with data acquired in an acoustic tank and with synthetic data. Initial experimental results at a test site demonstrate the performance of the seismic endoscopy probe.     

A high-resolution diatom reconstruction between 21,000 and 17,4000 14C yr BP from the southern Bolivian Altiplano (18–23°S)

A diatom study of lacustrine sediments in the southern part of the Bolivian Altiplano (Salar of Coipasa) provides a continuous record of the period 21,000–17,500 ¹⁴C yr BP. Constrained by seven AMS ¹⁴C dates, this record provides evidence that the Coipasa basin was filled by a shallow body of water during this time. Diatom/salinity and diatom/ionic composition transfer functions indicate that the lake was saline, dominated by sodium-chloride throughout all the period.A comparison with regional data shows that Lake Titicaca could not have overflowed towards the southern Bolivian Altiplano at that time. As this dry phase was not registered in Lake Coipasa, this lake was probably supplied by winter precipitation originating from the Pacific. But, recent data from the deep basin of Lake Titicaca show that the lake-level was higher during this time interval, and the question arises whether precipitation from Atlantic and Amazonia sources could have played an important role on the Altiplano during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). This hypothesis needs to match other available paleoclimatic data from the lowlands of tropical South America, where there is evidence that during the LGM, conditions were drier than today. Global climate simulations suggest a positive P-E on the Altiplano, due to a strong cooling, reducing evaporative demand more than any increase in precipitations. An increase of winter precipitation from the Pacific is in agreement with data from the Chilean coast showing a northward locations of the Westerlies during the LGM. This paleoclimatic hypothesis is also in agreement with a coupled ocean-atmosphere model, which indicates weaker summer precipitation and stronger winter precipitation in the tropical areas.     

Late Pleistocene to Holocene sedimentation and hydrocarbon seeps on the continental shelf of a steep,tectonically active margin,southern California,USA

Small, steep, uplifting coastal watersheds are prolific sediment producers that contribute significantly to the global marine sediment budget. This study illustrates how sedimentation evolves in one such system where the continental shelf is largely sediment-starved, with most terrestrial sediment bypassing the shelf in favor of deposition in deeper basins. The Santa Barbara–Ventura coast of southern California, USA, is considered a classic area for the study of active tectonics and of Tertiary and Quaternary climatic evolution, interpretations of which depend upon an understanding of sedimentation patterns. High-resolution seismic-reflection data over >570 km² of this shelf show that sediment production is concentrated in a few drainage basins, with the Ventura and Santa Clara River deltas containing most of the upper Pleistocene to Holocene sediment on the shelf. Away from those deltas, the major factor controlling shelf sedimentation is the interaction of wave energy with coastline geometry. Depocenters containing sediment 5–20 m thick exist opposite broad coastal embayments, whereas relict material (bedrock below a regional unconformity) is exposed at the sea floor in areas of the shelf opposite coastal headlands. Locally, natural hydrocarbon seeps interact with sediment deposition either to produce elevated tar-and-sediment mounds or as gas plumes that hinder sediment settling. As much as 80% of fluvial sediment delivered by the Ventura and Santa Clara Rivers is transported off the shelf (some into the Santa Barbara Basin and some into the Santa Monica Basin via Hueneme Canyon), leaving a shelf with relatively little recent sediment accumulation. Understanding factors that control large-scale sediment dispersal along a rapidly uplifting coast that produces substantial quantities of sediment has implications for interpreting the ancient stratigraphic record of active and transform continental margins, and for inferring the distribution of hydrocarbon resources in relict shelf deposits.     

Effects of diffusional modification of garnet growth zoning on P-T path calculations

The effect of intragranular diffusion on chemical zoning in garnet and on P-T paths calculated from that zoning was evaluated using a numerical model of multicomponent diffusion in combination with simulations of garnet growth. Syn-and post-growth diffusion of Mg–Fe–Mn–Ca species in garnet was calculated for a model pelitic assemblage over a range of temperatures from 485 to 635°C. Compositions from zoned garnet, as modified by diffusion, hypothetical inclusions of plagioclase within garnet and matrix phases were used to reconstruct pressure-temperature (P-T) paths from isobaric and polybaric model histories. P-T path calculations, based on numerical simulations conducted over an input isobaric heating path that reached peak temperatures between 585 and 635°C, show that relaxation of garnet compositional gradients by diffusion can induce modest to appreciable curvature in the inferred paths. Retrieved paths also indicated somewhat smaller overall temperature changes relative to the actual temperature difference of the input path. The magnitude of these distortions is shown to depend upon the heating and cooling rate and garnet crystal size as well as the actual peak temperature condition. The effect of diffusion on path trajectories in simulations with thermal histories that also included cooling were comparable to heating-only models that reached peak temperatures approximately 15–30°C higher. Compositions of garnets with radii less than 1 mm, that reached actual peak temperatures of 605°C along temperature-time histories characteristic of regional metamorphism, experienced sufficient diffusional relaxation to introduce errors of hundreds of bars to in excess of one kilobar in path trajectories. Path distortions were significant at heating/cooling rates less than 10°C/Ma, but rapidly diminished for rates faster than this. In polybaric simulations diffusion effects were least noticeable when the actual pressure-temperature conditions changed in a clockwise sense (i.e., convex to higher P and higher T), but apprecciable modification was seen in path models that underwent counterclockwise changes in P and T. Reequilibration of garnet rim compositions occurred during cooling on all paths, and temperature maxima obtained from garnet-biotite geothermometry underestimated actual peak conditions by 40 to 70°C. Calculations suggest that P-T path trajectories calculated from garnets of at least 1 mm size, and that experienced actual thermal maxima below 585°C, are not likely to be distorted by diffusional effects during regional metamorphism. However, P-T path reconstructions based on garnet zonation with smaller grains or higher temperatures may lead to misinterpretation of crystallization history. The partitioning record of peak metamorphic temperatures may be destroyed by diffusional reequilibration of garnet rim compositions during cooling, seriously complicating the task of quantitatively estimating diffusion effects on path calculations.