Interpretation of210Pb profiles and verification of the CRS dating model in PIRLA project lake sediment cores

This paper reports results and analysis of²¹⁰Pb-activity measurements in 51 lake-sediment cores from 32 lakes in the four PIRLA (Paleoecological Investigations of Recent Lake Acidification) project regions (Adirondack Mountains [New York], Northern New England, Northern Florida, and the Northern Great Lakes States). General application of the Constant Rate of Supply (Constant Flux) model for²¹⁰Pb dating is valid for lakes in the PIRLA study, although application of the model is equivocal in a few lakes.²¹⁰Pb inventories and profiles are replicable among closely spaced cores within a lake. Specific²¹⁰Pb activity in surface sediments is negatively correlated with bulk sediment accumulation rate in seepage lakes, but not in drainage lakes. Drainage lakes with lower pH have lower unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in sediments, but the relationship does not occur in seepage lakes.²¹⁰Pb profiles in only seven of the cores, all from either the Adirondacks or the northern Great Lakes states, exhibit exponential decay curves. Deviations from an exponential profile include a flattening of the profile in the top few cm or excursions of one or a few measurements away from an exponential curve.²¹⁰Pb dates typically agree with other chronostratigraphic markers, most of which are subject to greater uncertainty. Several hypotheses, including sediment mixing, hydrologic regime, sediment focusing, and acidification, are proposed to explain variation of²¹⁰Pb distribution among lakes and regions. Hydrologic factors exert control on unsupported²¹⁰Pb inventories in PIRLA lakes, and there is a strong focusing effect in drainage lakes but a weak focusing effect in seepage lakes.This is the third of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Structural control and origin of volcanism in the Taupo volcanic zone,New Zealand

Taupor volcanic zone (TVZ) is the currently active volcanic arc and back-arc basin of the Taupo-Hikurangi arc-trench system, North Island, New Zealand. The volcanic arc is best developed at the southern (Tongariro volcanic centre) end of the TVZ, while on the eastern side of the TVZ it is represented mainly by dacite volcanoes, and in the Bay of Plenty andesite/dacite volcanoes occur on either side of the Whakatane graben. The back-arc basin is best developed in the central part of the TVZ and comprises bimodal rhyolite and high-alumina basalt volcanism. Widespread ignimbrite eruptions have occurred from this area in the past 0.6 Ma. Normal faults occur in both arc and back-arc basin. They are generally steeply dipping (>40°) and strike between 040° and 080°. In the back-arc basin, fault zones are en echelon and have the same trend as alignments of rhyolite domes and basalt vents. Open fissures have formed during historic earthquakes along some of the faults, and geodetic measurements on the north side of Lake Taupo suggest extension of 14±4 mm/year. In the Bay of Plenty and M_L=6.3 earthquake occurred on 2 March 1987. Modelling of known structure in the area together with data derived from this earthquake suggests block faulting with faults dipping 45°±10° NW and a similar dip is suggested by seismic profiling of faults offshore of the Bay of Plenty where extension is estimated to be 5±2 mm/year. To the east of the TVZ, the North Island shear belt (NISB) is a zone of reverse-dextral, strike-slip faults, the surface expression of which terminates at the eastern end of the TVZ. On the opposite side of the TVZ in the offshore western Bay of Plenty and on line with the NISB is the Mayor Island fault belt. If the two fault belts were once continuous, as seems likely, strike-slip faults probably extend through the basement of the TVZ. When extension associated with the arc and back-arc basin is combined with these strike-slip faults, the resulting transtension provides a suitable tectonic environment for caldera formation and voluminous ignimbrite eruptions in the back-arc basin. The types of volcano in the TVZ are considered to be related to the source of magma and overlying crustal structure. Lavas of the arc are probably formed by a multistage process involving (1) subsolidus slab dehydration, (2) anatexis of the mantle wedge, (3) fractionation and minor crustal assimilation and (4) magma mixing. High-alumina basalts of the back-arc basin may be derived by partial melting of peridotite at the top of the mantle wedge, while rhyolitic magmas are thought to come from partial melting of lavas and subvolcanic reservoirs associated with the southern end of the Coromandel volcanic zone. Extreme thinning associated with transtension in the back-arc basin will favour the eruption of large-volume, gas-rich ignimbrites accompanied by caldera formation.     

The characterization of axenic culture systems suitable for plant propagation and experimental studies of the submersed aquatic angiospermPotamogeton pectinatus (Sago Pondweed)

Clonal lines of the submersed aquatic angiospermPotamogeton pectinatus were grown in three culture systems. The first, which used sucrose as a carbon source in a liquid medium, supported vigorous vegetative growth and can be used to propagate large numbers of plants in axenic conditions. In this culture system, plants were responsive to increasings photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) photon flux density (PFD) and were photosynthetically competent. However, their growth was heterotrophic and root development was poor. When these plants were transferred to a second nonaxenic culture system, which used 16-1 buckets containing artificial sediments and tap water, growth was autotrophic and plants were morphologically identical to field-harvestedP. pectinatus. The last culture system which consisted of a sand substrate and inorganic nutrient bathing solution aerated with 135 ml min^?1 ambient air enhanced to 3.0% CO₂ was axenic and supported autotrophic growth by plants that were also morphologically normal.     

Optimal carbon emissions trajectories when damages depend on the rate or level of global warming

In this paper we extend our earlier work with the Carbon Emissions Trajectory Assessment model (CETA) to consider a number of issues relating to the nature of optimal carbon emissions trajectories. We first explore model results when warming costs are associated with the rate of temperature rise, rather than with its level, as in our earlier work. We find that optimal trajectories are more strongly affected by the degree of non-linearity in the warming cost function than by whether the cost function is driven by the warming level or the warming rate. Next we briefly explore the implications of simple uncertainty and risk aversion for optimal emissions trajectories. We find that uncertainty and risk aversion cause optimal emissions trajectories to be somewhat lower, but that the effect is not noticeable in the near term and not dramatic in the long term; the long term effect on the shadow price of carbon is more marked, however. Finally, we experiment with scaling up the warming cost functions until optimal policies are approximately the same as a policy of stabilizing emissions at the 1990 level. Based on the results of this experiment, we conclude that damages would have to be very high to justify anything like a stabilization policy; and even in this case, a policy allowing intertemporal variation in emissions would be better.This paper does not represent the position of EPRI or of its members.     

Demonstration of sub-meter GPS orbit determination and 1.5 parts in 108 three-dimensional baseline accuracy

Differential tracking of theGPS satellites in high-earth orbit provides a powerful relative positioning capability, even when a relatively small continental U.S. fiducial tracking network is used with less than one-third of the fullGPS constellation. To demonstrate this capability, we have determined baselines of up to2000 km in North America by estimating high-accuracyGPS orbits and ground receiver positions simultaneously. The2000 km baselines agree with very long baseline interferometry(VLBI) solutions at the level of1.5 parts in10 ⁸ and showrms daily repeatability of0.3–2 parts in10 ⁸. The orbits determined for the most thoroughly trackedGPS satellites are accurate to better than1 m. GPS orbit accuracy was assessed from orbit predictions, comparisons with independent data sets, and the accuracy of the continental baselines determined along with the orbits. The bestGPS orbit strategies included data arcs of at least one week, process noise models for tropospheric fluctuations, estimation ofGPS solar pressure coefficients, and combined processing ofGPS carrier phase and pseudorange data. For data arcs of two weeks, constrained process noise models forGPS dynamic parameters significantly improved the solutions.     

Eutrophication and management initiatives for the control of nutrient inputs to Rhode Island coastal lagoons

An assessment of developing eutrophic conditions in small temperate lagoons along the coast of Rhode Island suggests that in such shallow, macrophyte based systems the response to nutrient enrichment differs from that described for plankton based systems. The nitrogen loadings per unit area of the salt ponds are 240–770 mmol N per m² per year. Instead of the high nutrient concentrations, increased phytoplankton biomass and turbidity, leading to eventual loss of benthic macrophytes described for such systems as the Chesapeake, Patuxent and Appalachicola Bay, nutrient enrichment of the Rhode Island lagoons has led to increased growth of marine macroalgae. The increased macroalgal growth appears to alter the benthic habitat and a shift from a grazing to detrital food chain appears to be impacting important shellfisheries. As more extensive areas of organic sediments develop, geochemical cycling changes, resulting in higher rates of nitrogen remineralization and accelerated eutrophication. The major sources of nitrogen inputs to the salt ponds have been identified and a series of management initiatives have been designed to limit inputs from present and potential development within the watersheds of the lagoons.