Cold-season soil respiration in response to grazing and warming in High-Arctic Svalbard

The influence of goose grazing intensity and open-topped chambers (OTCs) on near-surface quantities and qualities of soil organic carbon (SOC) was evaluated in wet and mesic ecosystems in Svalbard. This study followed up a field experiment carried out in 2003–05 (part of the project Fragility of Arctic Goose Habitat: Impacts of Land Use, Conservation and Elevated Temperatures). New measurements of soil CO₂ effluxes, temperatures and water contents were regularly made from July to November 2007. SOC stocks were quantified, and the reactivity and composition measured by basal soil respiration (BSR) and solid-state ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Results reveal variations in soil carbon cycling, with significant seasonal trends controlled by temperature, water content and snow. Experimental warming (OTCs) increased near-surface temperatures in the growing season, resulting in significantly higher CO₂ effluxes. Different grazing intensities had no significant effects on observed soil respiration, but BSR rates at the mesic site (13–23 µg CO₂ g soil-C⁻¹ h⁻¹) were highest with moderate grazing and lowest in the absence of grazing. A limited effect of grazing on microbial respiration is consistent with a lack of significant differences in SOC quantity and quality. NMR data show that the composition of A-horizon SOC is dominated by O-N-alkyl C and alkyl C groups, and less by carboxyl C and aromatic C groups: but again no marked variation in response to grazing was evident. It can be concluded that two years after a goose grazing experiment, SOC cycling was less than the natural variation within contrasting vegetation types.     

Monte Carlo method applied to modeling copper transport in river sediments

Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) methodology has been applied to explain the variability of parameters for pollutant transport and fate modeling. In this study, the MCS method was used to evaluate the transport and fate of copper in the sediment of the Tibagi River sub-basin tributaries, Southern Brazil. The statistical distribution of the variables was described by a dataset obtained for copper concentration using sequential extraction, organic matter (OM) amount, and pH. The proposed stochastic spatial model for the copper transport in the river sediment was discussed and implemented by the MCS technique using the MatLab 7.3? mathematical software tool. In order to test some hypotheses, the sediment and the water column in the river ecosystem were considered as compartments. The proposed stochastic spatial model makes it possible to predict copper mobility and associated risks as a function of the organic matter input into aquatic systems. The metal mobility can increase with the OM posing a rising environmental risk.     

40Ar/39Ar constraints on the temporal evolution of Graciosa Island, Azores (Portugal)

Lava flows spanning the eruptive record of Graciosa Island (Azores archipelago) and a gabbro xenolith were dated by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar in order to constrain the Pleistocene and Holocene volcanic evolution of the island. The results range from 1.05 Ma to 3.9 ka, whereas prior published K–Ar and ¹⁴C ages range from 620 to 2 ka. The formation of the Serra das Fontes shield volcano started at minimum 1.05 Ma, and the magmatic system was active for ca. 600 ky, as suggested by the formation of the gabbro xenolith by magmatic differentiation. Evolved magmas making up the Serra das Fontes–Serra Branca composite volcano were generated at ca. 450 ka. After a period of ca. 110 ky of volcanic inactivity and erosion of volcanic edifices, volcanism was reactivated with the formation of the Vitória Unit NW platform. Later, the development of the Vulcão Central Unit started with the formation of monogenetic cones located to the south of the Serra das Fontes–Serra Branca–Vitória Unit. This volcanism became progressively more evolved and was concentrated in a main eruptive center, forming the Vulcão Central stratovolcano with an age older than 50 ka. The caldera related to this stratovolcano is older than 47 ka and was followed by effusion of basaltic magmas into the caldera, resulting in the formation of a lava lake, which ultimately spilled over the caldera rim at ca. 11 ka. The most recent eruptions on Graciosa formed two small pyroclastic cones within the caldera and the Pico do Timão cone within the Vitória Unit at ca 3.9 ka.     

Network concepts to describe channel importance and change in multichannel systems: test results for the Jamuna River,Bangladesh

Most of the largest rivers on Earth have multiple active channels connected at bifurcations and confluences. At present a method to describe a channel network pattern and changes in the network beyond the simplistic braiding index is unavailable. Our objectives are to test a network approach to understand the character, stability and evolution of a multi‐channel river pattern under natural discharge conditions. We developed a semi‐automatic method to derive a chain‐like directional network from images that represent the multi‐channel river and to connect individual network elements through time. The Jamuna River was taken as an example with a series of Landsat TM and ETM+ images taken at irregular intervals between 1999 and 2004. We quantified the overall importance of individual channels in the entire network using a centrality property. Centrality showed that three reaches can be distinguished along the Jamuna with a different network character: the middle reach has dominantly one important channel, while upstream and downstream there are about two important channels. Temporally, relatively few channels changed dramatically in both low‐flow and high‐flow periods despite the increase of braiding index during a flood. Based on the centrality we calculated a weighted braiding index that represents the number of important channels in the network, which is about two in the Jamuna River and which is larger immediately after floods. We conclude that the network measure centrality provides a novel characterization of river channel networks, highlighting properties and tendencies that have morphological significance. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of forcing and internal dynamics in explaining the “Medieval Climate Anomaly”

Proxy reconstructions suggest that peak global temperature during the past warm interval known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA, roughly 950–1250 AD) has been exceeded only during the most recent decades. To better understand the origin of this warm period, we use model simulations constrained by data assimilation establishing the spatial pattern of temperature changes that is most consistent with forcing estimates, model physics and the empirical information contained in paleoclimate proxy records. These numerical experiments demonstrate that the reconstructed spatial temperature pattern of the MCA can be explained by a simple thermodynamical response of the climate system to relatively weak changes in radiative forcing combined with a modification of the atmospheric circulation, displaying some similarities with the positive phase of the so-called Arctic Oscillation, and with northward shifts in the position of the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio currents. The mechanisms underlying the MCA are thus quite different from anthropogenic mechanisms responsible for modern global warming.     

Human impact and soil erosion during the last 5000 yrs as recorded in lacustrine sedimentary organic matter at Lac d'Annecy, the French Alps

Sedimentary organic matter has been systematically studied in an eight-metre long core from the centre of the Petit Lac (Annecy, French Alps). The palynofacies composition identifies different terrestrial organic sources including forest floors, soil-horizons and geological substratum. The amount of recycled organic matter derived from the geological substratum is estimated and subtracted from the other contributions from the catchment area. The palynological record indicates that the relative variations in organic sources are directly dependent on human land-use. From ca. 5000 to 1700 BP, the human impact on soil cohesion is very low and organic matter is mainly exported from the surficial forest floor. The Roman invasion (ca. 1700 BP) marks the most important ecological and hydrological change. From 1700 to 900 BP, the clearing of forests released deeper-soil components. This trend is increased after 900 BP with agriculture intensification, which resulted in a higher sedimentation rate. In all the periods, extreme events such as flood or intensive run-off are characterised by notable increases of organic matter from surface (5000 to 1700 BP) and deep (1700 BP to now) soils.     

Late Quaternary stratigraphic signature, offshore from the Dutch barrier shoreline

More than 400 km of high-resolution, partially digitally acquired seismic data were collected in a 30 × 60 km area offshore from the Dutch mesotidal barrier island shoreline, in order to analyze the Holocene transgressive sequence.

The investigated area was subaerially exposed during the most recent (Weichselian) Pleistocene lowstand and glaciated during the previous (Saale/Illinoian) glacial period. Sea level was probably at a level comparable to that of the present during the intervening Eem/Sangamonian highstand.

The area's seismic signature is characterized by several levels of channelization, separated by major, area-wide high-amplitude reflectors. The lowermost aerial reflector represents the Saale boulder clay. The largest channel system, which cuts this reflector, was incised during the Older Dryas cooling event and filled during the Allerød warming period. It was subsequently re-incised during the Younger Dryas and refilled during the early Holocene. The most pronounced and extensive reflector represents the base of the Holocene, and almost everywhere equals the planed-off top of the Eem highstand section. This reflector is overlain by aggradational facies, separated by one level of channelization and one planed-off (ravinement?) surface. The most prominent type of seismic facies above the lowermost level of channelization is a set of progradational clinoforms, which is interpreted as a preserved ebb-tidal delta system. This system is associated with the first Holocene shoreline of ca. 7500 yrs BP.

The eastern part of the study area contains sand ridges with a complex pattern of internal cross-stratification. Ridge-crest sediments are very well-sorted with a mean grain size of 2.8-2.6 φ (ca. 0.15 mm), whereas sediments in the troughs are well-sorted with a mean grain size of 1.8-0.8 φ (0.25–0.5 mm). Origin of these ridges is tentatively thought to be related to reworking since 5000 yrs BP, when the dynamic regime was more or less similar to that of the present and sediment supply had decreased substantially.