Input of organic carbon as determinant of nutrient fluxes,light climate and productivity in the Ob and Yenisey estuaries

Spectral light attenuation profiles and concentrations of total and dissolved carbon (C), nutrients and chlorophyll a (Chla) were studied along transects running from the river mouth to the Kara Sea during late summer 2003 for the Yenisey and fall 2005 for the Ob estuaries. Earth Observation data were used to generate composite images of water color and Chla distribution over the estuaries and the Kara Sea to reveal the spatial impact of the river efflux in terms of optical properties.     

Development and skill assessment of a real-time hydrologic-hydrodynamic-wave modeling system for Lake Champlain flood forecasting

Ocean Dynamics - In response to record-breaking flooding on Lake Champlain in 2011, the International Joint Commission launched a 5-year study to explore solutions to flooding in the binational...     

Interannual variability in water masses in the Greenland Sea and adjacent areas

Oceanographic data covering the period 1950–1998 are used to determine interannual variations in the convection intensity and water mass structure in the Greenland Sea and adjacent areas. Extremely cold winters throughout 1965–1970 assisted intensification of the water vertical exchange in the Greenland and Norwegian seas. As a result, cold and fresh Greenland Sea Deep Water (GSDW) production was extremely high in the central Greenland Sea while in the southern Norwegian Sea warm and salty water spread downwards. The recent rapid warming in the Greenland Sea Gyre interior from 1980 originates, we argue, from an increase in the Atlantic Water (AW) temperature due to the advection of warm waters into the region with the Return Atlantic Current. The negative water temperature and salinity trends in the upper 300 m layer of the Atlantic Water in the Norwegian Sea prevailed during 1950–1990, whereas during 1980–1990 the water temperature trends are indicative of warming of that layer. Observation series obtained onboard the Ocean Weather Ship Mike confirmed the existence of layers with advectiondriven high oxygen concentrations in intermediate and deep layers. The depth of oxygen maxima and the values of oceanographic parameters at this horizon can be regarded as indicators of the convection intensity in the Arctic domain. A simultaneous rise in NAO index and GSDW temperature points to a link between atmospheric and thermohaline circulation. Weakening in water exchange with the North Atlantic could be the reason for the Polar Water recirculation increase within the Nordic seas.     

Sedimentological study of the Chernobyl NPP site to schematise radionuclide migration conditions

The approach, methods and results of a sedimentological study of a near-surface stratum of Late Pleistocene-Holocene deposits in the near-zone (5–10 km radius) of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant are presented. Sedimentological analyses are carried out at three levels of detail: regional-, local- and object-scale. The unsaturated zone and unconfined aquifer at the site are composed of two main genetic types of deposits, aeolian and alluvial, including several dynamic facies. Consideration of lithological properties leads to following ranking of the main genetic sediments facies with respect to radionuclide migration retardation potential: aeolian <alluvial channel <alluvial overbank <alluvial abandoned channel. Based on sedimentological interpretations, the geological environment is schematised into a set of typical geological sections possessing different radionuclide retardation potential.     

Olivine in the Udachnaya-East Kimberlite (Yakutia, Russia): Types, Compositions and Origins

Olivine is the principal mineral of kimberlite magmas, and isthe main contributor to the ultramafic composition of kimberliterocks. Olivine is partly or completely altered in common kimberlites,and thus unavailable for studies of the origin and evolutionof kimberlite magmas. The masking effects of alteration, commonin kimberlites worldwide, are overcome in this study of theexceptionally fresh diamondiferous kimberlites of the Udachnaya-Eastpipe from the Daldyn–Alakit province, Yakutia, northernSiberia. These serpentine-free kimberlites contain large amountsof olivine (50 vol.%) in a chloride–carbonate groundmass.Olivine is represented by two populations (olivine-I and groundmassolivine-II) differing in morphology, colour and grain size,and trapped mineral and melt inclusions. The large fragmentalolivine-I is compositionally variable in terms of major (Fo_85–94)and trace element concentrations, including H₂O content (10–136ppm). Multiple sources of olivine-I, such as convecting andlithospheric mantle, are suggested. The groundmass olivine-IIis recognized by smaller grain sizes and perfect crystallographicshapes that indicate crystallization during magma ascent andemplacement. However, a simple crystallization history for olivine-IIis complicated by complex zoning in terms of Fo values and traceelement contents. The cores of olivine-II are compositionallysimilar to olivine-I, which suggests a genetic link betweenthese two types of olivine. Olivine-I and olivine-II have oxygenisotope values (+ 5·6 ± 0·1 VSMOW, 1 SD)that are indistinguishable from one another, but higher thanvalues (+ 5·18 ± 0·28) in ‘typical’mantle olivine. These elevated values probably reflect equilibriumwith the Udachnaya carbonate melt at low temperatures and ¹⁸O-enrichedmantle source. The volumetrically significant rims of olivine-IIhave constant Fo values (89·0 ± 0·2 mol%),but variable trace element compositions. The uniform Fo compositionsof the rims imply an absence of fractionation of the melt'sFe²⁺/Mg, which is possible in the carbonatite melt–olivinesystem. The kimberlite melt is argued to have originated inthe mantle as a chloride–carbonate liquid, devoid of ‘ultramafic’or ‘basaltic’ aluminosilicate components, but becameolivine-laden and olivine-saturated by scavenging olivine crystalsfrom the pathway rocks and dissolving them en route to the surface.During emplacement the kimberlite magma changed progressivelytowards an original alkali-rich chloride–carbonate meltby extensively crystallizing groundmass olivine and gravitationalseparation of solids in the pipe. KEY WORDS: kimberlite; olivine; partial melting; carbonatitic melt; oxygen isotopes; H₂O     

A method for automatic history matching of a compositional reservoir simulator with multipoint flux approximation

A method for history matching of an in-house petroleum reservoir compositional simulator with multipoint flux approximation is presented. This method is used for the estimation of unknown reservoir parameters, such as permeability and porosity, based on production data and inverted seismic data. The limited-memory Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno method is employed for minimization of the objective function, which represents the difference between simulated and observed data. In this work, we present the key features of the algorithm for calculations of the gradients of the objective function based on adjoint variables. The test example shows that the method is applicable to cases with anisotropic permeability fields, multipoint flux approximation, and arbitrary fluid compositions.     

Space Physics Interactive Data Resource—SPIDR

SPIDR (Space Physics Interactive Data Resource) is a standard data source for solar-terrestrial physics, functioning within the framework of the ICSU World Data Centers. It is a distributed database and application server network, built to select, visualize and model historical space weather data distributed across the Internet. SPIDR can work as a fully-functional web-application (portal) or as a grid of web-services, providing functions for other applications to access its data holdings.

Impact of methane seeps on the local carbon‐isotope record: a case study from a Late Jurassic hemipelagic section

An Oxfordian (Late Jurassic) hemipelagic succession from Beauvoisin (SE France) contains a pronounced, short‐lived negative excursion in the bulk‐carbonate carbon‐isotope record, with an amplitude of 4‰. It was shown previously that the Beauvoisin paleoenvironment was impacted by hydrocarbon seepage. New isotopic data corroborate that methane was a significant constituent of these hydrocarbons. The negative excursion was caused by transient enhanced precipitation of ¹³C‐depleted carbonate, mediated by anaerobic oxidation of methane. Despite its local diagenetic origin, the Beauvoisin excursion is similar in shape and duration to globally recognized negative C‐isotope excursions that have been related to catastrophic, massive dissociation of methane hydrate. Shape and duration of negative excursions therefore cannot be used as an argument when determining their origin if they have not been shown to represent a global perturbation of the carbon cycle.