Fossil carotenoids and paleolimnology of meromictic Mahoney Lake,British Columbia,Canada

Vertical distribution of fossil carotenoids in a sediment core from meromictic Mahoney Lake was studied. Besides okenone and demethylated okenone, lutein and zeaxanthin and-carotene isomers were identified. No carotenoids typical for purple nonsulfur or green sulfur bacteria were detected. The ratio of zeaxanthin to lutein (above 1:1 in all samples) indicates a dominance of cyanobacteria over green algae in the phytoplankton assemblages of the past. Okenone, which is found exclusively in Chromatiaceae, was the dominating carotenoid in all sediment zones.The oldest sediment layers containing okenone were deposited 11 000 years ago. Between 9000 and 7000 and since 3000 years b.p., Chromatiaceae reached a considerable biomass in the lake. Vertical changes in okenone concentration were not related to changes of paleotemperatures. In contrast, okenone concentrations decreased during periods of volcanic ash input. During most of the lake history, however, mean okenone concentrations were positively correlated with sedimentation rates. This indicates that vertical changes of okenone concentration in the sediment reflect past changes of purple sulfur bacterial biomass in the lake.According to these results, the past limnology of Mahoney Lake resembled that of the present with a sulfide-containing monimolimnion and a well-developed population of okenone-bearing purple sulfur bacteria.     

Urban disasters and megacities in a Risk society

Cities like London, New York and Los Angeles possess complex urban environments that, despite their technological sophistication, present their citizens with a multiplicity of risks. This paper presents a discussion of the effects of physical and social trends on the creation of risk and vulnerability to hazard in such cities. The interplay between physical hazards and perceived risks in late modern, or Risk, urban societies is considered, and the impact of this process on adjustment to hazard.     

Book reviews

REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY: Current Developments and Future Prospects edited by R. J. Johnston, J Hauer and G. A. Hoekveld. 14 × 22 cm, xiii and 216 pages. Routledge: London 1990 (ISBN 0 415 05247 5) $A89.95 (hard).

THE MAKING OF THE AMERICAN LANDSCAPE edited by M. P. Conzen. 19 × 25 cm, xvi and 433 pages. Unwin Hyman: Boston 1990 (ISBN 0 04 917010 4) $A59.95 (soft).

EASTERN EUROPE: An Historical Geography 1815–1945 by D. Turnock. 14 × 22 cm, ix and 357 pages. Routledge: London 1989 (ISBN 0 415 01269 4) $A115.00 (hard), distributed by the Law Book Co.

THE HUMAN GEOGRAPHY OF EASTERN EUROPE by D. Turnock. 14 × 22 cm, xii and 345 pages. Routledge: London 1989 (ISBN 0 415 00469 1) $A105.00 (hard), distributed by the Law Book Co.

A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS by I. C. Campbell. 14 × 21 cm, 239 pages. University of Queensland Press: St Lucia 1990 (ISBN 0 7022 2291 7) $A34.95 (soft).

THE CORPORATE FIRM IN A CHANGING WORLD ECONOMY: Case Studies in the Geography of Enterprise edited by M. de Smidt and E. Wev‐er. 14 × 23 cm, xiv and 247 pages. Routledge: London 1990 (ISBN 0 415 03497 3) $A105.00 (hard).

THE CAPITALIST CITY: Global Restructuring and Community Politics by M. P. Smith and J. R. Feagin. 15 × 23 cm, 393 pages. Basil Black‐well: Oxford 1988 (ISBN 0 631 15182 6) £35 (hard).

CONFLICT AND CHANGE IN THE COUNTRYSIDE: Rural Society, Economy and Planning in the Developed World by G. M. Robinson. 15 × 23 cm, xxvi and 482 pages. Belhaven Press: London 1990 (ISBN 1 85293 043 8) £40.00 (hard); (ISBN 1 85293 044 6) £14.95 (soft).

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE (Collins Reference Dictionary) by G. Jones, A. Robertson, J. Forbes and G. Hollier. 13 × 20 cm, vi and 473 pages. Collins: London 1990 (ISBN 0 00 434348 4) £5.95 (soft).

THE HUMAN IMPACT ON THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT (Third Edition) by A. Goudie. 17 × 24 cm, xi and 388 pages. Blackwell: Oxford 1990 (ISBN 0 631 16164 3) $A39.95 (soft).

PATTERNS OF LIFE: Biogeography of a Changing World by H. W. Mielke. 19 × 24 cm, xiv and 370 pages. Unwin Hyman: London 1989 (ISBN 0 04 574032 1).     

Modeling nonlinear seagrass clonal growth: Assessing the efficiency of space occupation across the seagrass flora

The clonal growth of 9 seagrass species was modeled using a simulation model based on observed clonal growth rules (i.e., spacer length, rhizome elongation rates, branching rates, branching angle) and shoot mortality rates for seagrass species. The results of the model confirmed the occurrence of complex, nonlinear growth of seagrass clones derived from internal dynamics of space occupation. The modeled clones progressed from a diffuse-limited aggregation (DLA), dendritic growth, identified with a guerrilla strategy of space occupation, to a compact (Eden) growth, comparable to the phalanx strategy of space occupation, once internal recolonization of gaps, left by dead shoots within the clone, begins. The time at which seagrass clones shifted from diffuse limited to compact growth was predictable from the branching angle and frequency of the species and varied from 1 yr to several decades among species. As a consequence the growth behavior and the apparent growth strategy of the species changes with the development of the clones. The results of the model demonstrate that the emergent complexity of seagrass clonal growth is contained within the simple set of growth rules that can be used to represent clonal growth.     

Spectral Simulation and Conditioning to Local Continuity Trends in Geologic Modeling

Spectral simulation has gained application in building geologic models due to the advantage of better honoring the spatial continuity of petrophysical properties, such as reservoir porosity and shale volume. Distinct from sequential simulation methods, spectral simulation is a global algorithm in the sense that a global density spectrum is calculated once and the inverse Fourier transform is performed on the Fourier coefficient also only once to generate a simulation realization. The generated realizations honor the spatial continuity structure globally over the whole field instead of only within a search neighborhood, as with sequential simulation algorithms. However, the disadvantage of global spectral simulation is that it traditionally cannot account for the local information such as the local continuity trends, which are often observed in reservoirs and hence are important to be accounted for in geologic models. This disadvantage has limited wider application of spectral simulation in building geologic models. In this paper, we present ways of conditioning geologic models to the relevant local information. To account for the local continuity trends, we first scale different frequency components of the original model with local-amplitude spectrum ratios that are specific to the local trend. The sum of these scaled frequency components renders a new model that displays the desired local continuity trend. The implementation details of this new method are discussed and examples are provided to illustrate the algorithm.     

Stable isotope values of Costa Rican surface waters

Stable isotope data of surface waters from the humid tropics in general, and Costa Rica in particular, are scarce. To improve our understanding of the spatial distribution of stable isotopes in surface waters, we measured δ¹⁸O and δD in river and lake (n=63) and precipitation (n=3) samples from Costa Rica. We also present data from the IAEA/WMO isotopes in precipitation network as context for our study. Surface water isotope values do not strongly correlate with elevation, stream head elevation, stream length, distance from Caribbean Sea, or estimated mean annual precipitation for the country as a whole. However, the data show distinct regional trends. The δ¹⁸O and δD values downwind of mountain ranges are inversely related to the altitude of the ranges the air masses traverse. In the lee of the high Talamanca Range, δ¹⁸O values are 6–8‰ lower, while in the lee of the lower Tilarán Range δ¹⁸O values are 2–3‰ lower than upwind sites along the Caribbean Slope. An altitude effect of −1.4‰ δ¹⁸O/km is present on the Pacific slope of southern Costa Rica, equivalent to a temperature effect of −0.3‰/°C. The Nicoya and Osa Peninsulas have higher values than upwind sites, suggesting input of Pacific-sourced moisture, evaporative enrichment, or decreased condensation temperatures. Elevated and increasing d-excess values inland along the Nicaragua Trough suggest a recycled component may be an important contributor to the water budget. These data provide preliminary stable isotope information for Costa Rica, and will benefit paleoclimatic research in the region. More detailed studies would be beneficial to our understanding of the controls on stable isotope composition of tropical waters.     

Dublin days: the 2003 NAM

Mark E Bailey and Tom Ray give an overview of the National Astronomy Meeting in Dublin, where record numbers of astronomers went to talk, listen and network.     

The stability of a remediated bed in Hamilton Harbour,Lake Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT In situ measurements of lakebed sediment erodibility were made on three sites in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, using the benthic flume Sea Carousel. Three methods of estimating the surface erosion threshold (τ_c(0)) from a Carousel time series were evaluated: the first method fits measures of bed strength to eroded depth (the failure envelope) and evaluates threshold as the surface intercept; the second method regresses mean erosion rate (E_m) with bed shear stress and solves for the floc erosion rate (E_f) to derive the threshold for E_m = E_f = 1 × 10^?5 kg m^?2 s^?1; the third method extrapolates a regression of suspended sediment concentration (S) and fluid transmitted bed shear stress (τ₀) to ambient concentrations. The first field site was undisturbed (C) and acted as a control; the second (W) was disturbed through ploughing and water injection as part of lakebed treatment, whereas the third site (OIP) was disturbed and injected with an oxidant used for remediation of contaminated sediment. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the three different methods of deriving erosion threshold; (2) to compare the physical behaviour of lacustrine sediments with their marine estuarine counterparts; and (3) to examine the effects of ploughing and chemical treatment of contaminated sediment on bed stability. Five deployments of Sea Carousel were carried out at the control site. Mean erosion thresholds for the three methods were: τ_c(0) = 0·5 (±0·06), 0·27 (±0·01) and 0·34 (±0·03) Pa respectively. Method 1 overpredicted bed strength as it was insensitive to effects in the surface 1–2 mm, and the fit of the failure envelope was also highly subjective. Method 2 exhibited a wide scatter in the data (low correlation coefficients), and definition of the baseline erosion rate (E_f) is largely arbitrary in the literature. Method 3 yielded stable (high correlation coefficients), reproducible and objective results and is thus recommended for evaluation of the erosion threshold. The results of this method correlated well with sediment bulk density and followed the same trend as marine counterparts from widely varying sites. Mass settling rates, expressed as a decay constant, k, of S(t), were strongly related to the maximum turbidity at the onset of settling (S_max) and were also in continuity with marine counterparts. Thus, it appears that differences in salinity had little effect on mass settling rates in the examples presented, and that biological activity dominated any effects normally attributable to changes in salinity. Bedload transport of eroded aggregates (2–4 mm in diameter) took place by rolling below a mean tangential flow velocity (U_y) of 0·32 ms^?1 and by saltation at higher velocities. Mass transport as bedload was a maximum at U_y = 0·4 ms^?1, although bedload never exceeded 1% of the suspended load. The proportion of material moving as bedload was greatest at the onset of erosion but decreased as flow competence increased. Given the low bulk density and strength of the lakebed sediment, the presence of a bedload component is notable. Bedload transport over eroding cohesive substrates should be greater in estuaries, where both sediment density and strength are usually higher. Significant differences between the ploughed and control sites were apparent in both the erosion rate and the friction coefficient (φ), and suggest that bed recovery after disruption is rapid (< 24 h). τ_c(0) increased linearly with time after ploughing and recovered to the control mean value within 3 days. The friction coefficient was reduced to zero by ploughing (diagnostic of fluidization), but increased linearly with time, regaining control values within 6 days. No long‐term reduction in bed strength due to remediation was apparent.     

Surface sediment Chironomidae (Insecta: Diptera) distributions along an ecotonal transect in subarctic Fennoscandia: developing a tool for palaeotemperature reconstructions

We used multivariate statistical techniques to analyse the distributions of surface sediment chironomid assemblages with respect to surface-water temperature, and an additional set of 27 environmental variables, in 30 freshwater lakes of northern Fennoscandia. Our study transect spans boreal coniferous forest to subarctic tundra and includes a steep temperature gradient. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) with forward selection and associated Monte Carlo permutation tests revealed that there were statistically significant (P<0.05) relationships between chironomid distributions and two environmental variables, namely lakewater temperature and maximum lake depth. A constrained CCA with temperature as the only predictor variable suggested that the relationship between lakewater temperature and chironomid composition was sufficiently robust for developing a weighted-averaging (WA) based quantitative inference model that will allow palaeotemperature reconstructions using subfossil chironomid remains preserved in lake sediments.