Total oxyradical scavenging capacity and cell membrane stability of haemocytes of the Arctic scallop,Chlamys islandicus,following benzo(a)pyrene exposure

Industrial activities, notably oil and gas industries, are expanding in the Arctic. Most of the biomarkers were developed using temperate organisms living at temperatures above 10 degrees C. Little is known about the biomarker responses of organisms living between -1.88 and 5 degrees C. Therefore, assessment of the toxicity of chemicals to cold-water adapted species is required. In this study, the Arctic scallop, Chlamys islandicus, was selected as a key species for bio-monitoring because of wide distribution in Arctic waters and its commercial value. Test animals, stored in seawater at 2 degrees C, were injected with benzo(a)pyrene (diluted in cod liver oil 5 mg ml(-1)) in the adductor muscle every 24 h for four days giving a final dose of 0, 74 and 90.6 mg kg(-1) wet weight for control, low and high dose, respectively. The biomarkers used were total oxyradical scavenging capacity (TOSC) in the digestive gland and cell membrane stability of haemocytes. TOSC values were significantly reduced (ca. 30%) in exposed groups (P < 0.05), indicating a depletion in oxyradical molecular scavengers. The antioxidant defences appeared to be overwhelmed by the reactive oxygen species as the plasma membranes of haemocytes were destabilised (P < 0.05) probably due to lipid peroxidation. These data indicate that reactive oxygen species (ROS) were produced by Arctic scallops via the metabolisation of benzo(a)pyrene at 2 degrees C.     

Marine seismics with a pulsed combustion source and Pseudo Noise codes

There has been a long-standing debate concerning how dangerous seismic surveys are with respect to marine life. Marine seismic work today is dominated by airgun technology, where high energy is generated by a release of compressed air into the water. The objective of the “Time coded impulse seismic technique” project is to examine whether a new low energy acoustic source can be used for seismic purposes. If the method turns out to be successful, the low output energy and continuous operation will make the source suitable in environmental sensitive areas. The Low level Acoustic Combustion Source (LACS) is a petrol driven pulsed underwater acoustic source. It operates at a few meters depth, and each shot can be digitally controlled from the surface by a computer located in the mother vessel. A presentation of the recorded LACS signal characteristics, the modulation, the Pseudo Noise coding/decoding principles and field test results, is given. The importance of using an optimized code with fine resolution and of using the near field recording as a correlator sequence is demonstrated. Clear correlation peaks could then be seen from the bottom and sub bottom reflectors.     

Mildly peraluminous high-silica granites in a continental rift: the Drammen and Finnemarka batholiths,Oslo Rift,Norway

The peraluminous Drammen batholith (650 km²) is the largest granite complex within the mainly alkaline province of the Permo-Carboniferous Oslo Rift, and peraluminous to metaluminous granites are also present in the southern part of the otherwise alkaline Finnemarka complex (125 km²). The emplacement of the Drammen granite, and probably most of the other biotite granite complexes, predate the alkaline syenites and granites. The eight separate petrographic types of the Drammen batholith range in SiO₂ from 70 to 79 wt.% and have experienced variable amounts of fractionation of feldspars, biotite, zircon, apatite, titanite and Fe–Ti-oxides. The initial Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic ratios and a decoupling between the variations in the SiO₂ content and the aluminum saturation index [ASI=Al₂O₃/(CaO+Na₂O +K₂O)] show that the various intrusive phases are not strictly comagmatic. The _Nd values of the southern part of Finnemarka (+3.5 to +4) and the northern part of the Drammen granite (+1 to +1.5) are high and indicate insignificant (for Finnemarka) to minor Precambrian crustal or enriched mantle contributions. The very low _Sr values of all of these samples (–1 to –12, outside the main Oslo Rift magmatic array), point to a time integrated Rb-depleted crustal contaminant or an EM1 mantle component. The earliest extruded alkali basalts along the southwestern margin of the Oslo Rift are the only other samples within this low _Sr area, but their isotopic signature may also be linked to a mantle enrichment event (involving an EM1 component), e.g. associated with the Fen carbonatite magmatism 540 Ma ago. For a given ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, the ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb ratios of the Drammen and Finnemarka batholiths are distinctly lower than those of the Skien alkaline volcanics and all other magmatic Oslo Rift rocks. This may indicate that the lithosphere of the central part of the rift had a time integrated Th-depletion. The samples from the southern part of the Drammen batholith, characterized by the presence of abundant miarolitic cavities, have _Nd near 0 (–0.7 to +0.4) but strongly elevated _Sr of +35 to +67. The combined Pb isotopic ratios of all the samples analyzed indicate that the Precambrian crustal anatectic contribution is in the form of time integrated Th-and U-depleted lower crust, and the high +_Sr of the sourthern part of the Drammen granite results from shallow level wallrock assimilation or magma-fluid interactions. The remarkably low contribution of old crustal components to the Finnemarka and the northernmost Drammen batholiths may result from extensive late Precambrian intracustal differentiation in southwestern Scandinavia, leading to widespread upper crustal granites ( 900 Ma) and a correspondingly dense and refractory lower crust, in particular in a zone intersecting the central part of the rift. Liquidus phase relations and mass-balance constrainst permit derivation of the granites from mildly alkaline to tholeiitic melts by extensive crystal fractionation of clinopyroxene-and amphibole-rich assemblages. It is equally possible to form the granitic magmas by partial melting of Permian gabbros of similar composition. Either scenario is consistent with the isotopic constrainst and with the presence of dense cumulates and/or residues in the lower crust. The lack of igneous rocks of intermediate composition associated with the Drammen and Finnemarka batholiths point to an efficient upper crustal density filtering. Considerable amounts of heat would be accumulated in this region if differentiated, intermediate melts could not escape to shallower levels. Successive magma injections would therefore easily result in partial melting of already solidified mafic to intermediate melts and cumulates, and it is suggested that the peraluminous granites formed mainly by water-undersaturated anatexis of mafic material.     

Constancy of the refraction constant

The flexure term and a correction to the atmospheric refraction constant calculated from meteorological data may be determined from the zenith distances of FK5 stars observed each night on a meridian circle. All such determinations on meridian circles and vertical circles have been corrupted-and in fact dominated-byinternal refraction which is often larger than 1" and quite variable. After removing internal refraction by a simple equipment at the CAMC on La Palma, it became apparent that the true flexure and the true correction to the calculated refraction constant vary by less than 0."09 (rms) from night to night. This is a reduction of the estimated uncertainty of these quantities by a factor of about four. This improvement is expected at any meridian circle which is equipped with sufficiently precise (photoelectric) micrometers if internal refraction were removed.Alternative forms of the observation equation for declinations are discussed. Observations over a period of two months may be solved in oneglobal least-squares solution keeping the refraction and the flexure terms constant. Furthermore, one per star is obtained, instead of a different each night for each star.     

Alpine garden plants from six continents show high vulnerability to ice encasement

Icy surfaces impose challenges for northern societies, wildlife and agriculture. However, there have been relatively few studies of the impacts of anoxic ground ice on non-agricultural plants. During the winter of 2009–2010, an extreme winter warming event led to thick ground-ice layer development in the world’s northernmost botanical garden in Tromsø, in subarctic Norway, due to much rain on warm days interspersed with cold dry days. After ice melt in late spring, the authors assessed plant mortality and tested whether certain growth forms, geographical origins, or terrain features were more vulnerable to stress. They found that mortality was negatively correlated with terrain slope, that cryptophytes were most vulnerable, and that good soil drainage improved all plants’ survival. Vegetation greenness (measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) reached an unprecedented minimum in the summer of 2010 and remained low for two more years. The results suggest that more investigations of the impacts of ground ice are needed to understand better how alpine ecosystems might change with increasing climate change. In conclusion, the study revealed that botanical garden studies may be a valuable supplement to field studies, as plants of different origins could be studied under similar climatic conditions.     

Formal definition and dating of the GSSP (Global Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Holocene using the Greenland NGRIP ice core,and selected auxiliary records

The Greenland ice core from NorthGRIP (NGRIP) contains a proxy climate record across the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary of unprecedented clarity and resolution. Analysis of an array of physical and chemical parameters within the ice enables the base of the Holocene, as reflected in the first signs of climatic warming at the end of the Younger Dryas/Greenland Stadial 1 cold phase, to be located with a high degree of precision. This climatic event is most clearly reflected in an abrupt shift in deuterium excess values, accompanied by more gradual changes in δ¹⁸O, dust concentration, a range of chemical species, and annual layer thickness. A timescale based on multi‐parameter annual layer counting provides an age of 11 700 calendar yr b2 k (before AD 2000) for the base of the Holocene, with a maximum counting error of 99 yr. A proposal that an archived core from this unique sequence should constitute the Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) for the base of the Holocene Series/Epoch (Quaternary System/Period) has been ratified by the International Union of Geological Sciences. Five auxiliary stratotypes for the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary have also been recognised. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Keisarhjelmen detachment records Silurian–Devonian extensional collapse in Northern Svalbard

At the junction of the Atlantic and Arctic margins, the crustal‐scale Keisarhjelmen detachment of north‐west Svalbard records previously unrecognised magnitudes of extension. The detachment separates a corrugated metamorphic core complex in the footwall from a mantling Devonian supradetachment basin in the hangingwall. The detachment has a top‐N displacement of more than 50 km, which is aligned with the map‐scale corrugations, and an upwards ductile to brittle transition with shear related footwall retrogression. This configuration has striking similarities to extensional collapse detachments in the paired Scandinavian–Greenland Caledonides, but orientation and position link the detachment with the Ellesmerian orogen.     

Governance of bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS): accounting,rewarding, and the Paris agreement

Studies show that the ‘well below 2°C’ target from the Paris Agreement will be hard to meet without large negative emissions from mid-century onwards, which means removing CO₂ from the atmosphere and storing the carbon dioxide in biomass, soil, suitable geological formations, deep ocean sediments, or chemically bound to certain minerals. Biomass energy combined with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is the negative emission technology (NET) given most attention in a number of integrated assessment model studies and in the latest IPCC reports. However, less attention has been given to governance aspects of NETs. This study aims to identify pragmatic ways forward for BECCS, through synthesizing the literature relevant to accounting and rewarding BECCS, and its relation to the Paris Agreement. BECCS is divided into its two elements: biomass and CCS. Calculating net negative emissions requires accounting for sustainability and resource use related to biomass energy production, processing and use, and interactions with the global carbon cycle. Accounting for the CCS element of BECCS foremost relates to the carbon dioxide capture rate and safe underground storage. Rewarding BECCS as a NET depends on the efficiency of biomass production, transport and processing for energy use, global carbon cycle feedbacks, and safe storage of carbon dioxide, which together determine net carbon dioxide removal from the atmosphere. Sustainable biomass production is essential, especially with regard to trade-offs with competing land use. Negative emissions have an added value compared to avoided emissions, which should be reflected in the price of negative emission ‘credits’, but must be discounted due to global carbon cycle feedbacks. BECCS development will depend on linkages to carbon trading mechanisms and biomass trading.

Key policy insights

• A standardized framework for sustainable biomass should be adopted.

• Countries should agree on a standardized framework for accounting and rewarding BECCS and other negative emission technologies.

• Early government support is indispensable to enable BECCS development, scale-up and business engagement.

• BECCS projects should be designed to maximize learning across various applications and across other NETs.

• BECCS development should be aligned with modalities of the Paris Agreement and market mechanisms.