DNA based association and description of the larval stage of Drusus melanchaetes McLachlan, 1876 (Trichoptera: Limnephilidae: Drusinae) with notes on ecology and zoogeography

At three alpine locations in Switzerland adults of Drusus melanchaetes and unknown Drusinae larvae which could not be identified with existing keys were sampled. Based on DNA association with adults, we identified the unknown larvae as D. melanchaetes. To further support the association of specimens a phylogeny was estimated with the putative closest relatives of D. melanchaetes – D. monticola and D. nigrescens – and five other species of Drusus (D. chrysotus, destitutus, discolor, muelleri and romanicus). A highly supported monophyletic clade groups unknown larvae and D. melanchaetes specimens from the central Alps and Austria (Vorarlberg), confirming the association.Based on morphology, larvae of D. melanchaetes key out together with D. destitutus in existing keys. D. melanchaetes is separated from the latter species by the shape of the lateral head profile which is almost straight and shows a small step at the height of the antenna, whereas in D. destitutus the lateral head profile is evenly rounded. In addition, in frontal view, the shape of the lateral head outline is straight in D. melanchaetes and rounded in D. destititus. There are also differences in the shape of the pronotum and in the number of the posterodorsal setae at the eighth abdominal dorsum.     

Planning the use of fish for food security in the Pacific

Fish is a mainstay of food security for Pacific island countries and territories (PICTs). Recent household income and expenditure surveys, and socio-economic surveys, demonstrate that subsistence fishing still provides the great majority of dietary animal protein in the region. Forecasts of the fish required in 2030 to meet recommended per capita fish consumption, or to maintain current consumption, indicate that even well-managed coastal fisheries will only be able to meet the demand in 6 of 22 PICTs. Governments of many PICTs will need to increase local access to tuna, and develop small-pond aquaculture, to provide food security. Diversifying the supply of fish will also make rural households in the Pacific more resilient to natural disasters, social and political instability, and the uncertainty of climate change.     

Boron metasomatism and behaviour of rare earth elements during formation of tourmaline rocks in the eastern Arunta Inlier,central Australia

Tourmaline rocks of previously unclear genesis and spatially associated with W- (Cu)-bearing calc-silicate rocks occur in Palaeoproterozoic supracrustal and felsic intrusive rocks in the Bonya Hills in the eastern Arunta Inlier, central Australia. Tourmalinisation of metapelitic host rocks postdates the peak of regional low-pressure metamorphism (M₁/D₁, ~500 °C, ~0.2 GPa), and occurred synkinematically between the two main deformation events D₁ and D₂, coeval with emplacement of Late Strangways (~1.73 Ga) tourmaline-bearing leucogranites and pegmatites. Tourmaline is classified as schorl to dravite in tourmaline–quartz rocks and surrounding tourmaline-rich alteration zones, and as Fe-rich schorl to foitite in the leucogranites. Boron metasomatism resulted in systematic depletion of K, Li, Rb, Cs, Mn and enrichment of B, and in some samples of Na and Ca, in the tourmaline rocks compared to unaltered metasedimentary host rocks. Whole-rock REE concentrations and patterns of unaltered schist, tourmalinised schist and tourmaline–quartz veins—the latter were the zones of influx of the boron-rich hydrothermal fluid—are comparable to those of post-Archaean shales. Thus, the whole-rock REE patterns of these rocks are mostly controlled by the metapelitic precursor. In contrast, REE concentrations of leucogranitic rocks are low (10 times chondritic), and their flat REE patterns with pronounced negative Eu anomalies are typical for fractionated granitic melts coexisting with a fluid phase. REE patterns for tourmalines separated from metapelite-hosted tourmaline–quartz veins and tourmaline-bearing granites are very different from one another but each tourmaline pattern mirrors the REE distribution of its immediate host rock. Tourmalines occurring in tourmaline–quartz veins within tourmalinised metasediments have LREE-enriched (La_N/Yb_N=6.3–55), shale-like patterns with higher REE (54–108 ppm). In contrast, those formed in evolved leucogranites exhibit flat REE patterns (La_N/Yb_N=1.0–5.6) with pronounced negative Eu anomalies and are lower in REE (5.6–30 ppm). We therefore conclude that REE concentrations and patterns of tourmaline from the different tourmaline rocks studied are controlled by the host rock and not by the hydrothermal fluid causing boron metasomatism. From the similarity of the REE pattern of separated tourmaline with the host rock, we further conclude that incorporation of REEs in tourmaline is not intrinsically controlled (i.e. by crystal chemical factors). Tourmaline does not preferentially fractionate specific REEs or groups of REEs during crystallisation from evolved boron- and fluid-rich granitic melts or during alteration of clastic metasediments by boron-rich magmatic-hydrothermal fluids.Editorial responsibility: J. Hoefs     

A GCM study of future climate response to aerosol pollution reductions

We use the global atmospheric GCM aerosol model ECHAM5-HAM to asses possible impacts of future air pollution mitigation strategies on climate. Air quality control strategies focus on the reduction of aerosol emissions. Here we investigate the extreme case of a maximum feasible end-of-pipe abatement of aerosols in the near term future (2030) in combination with increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations. The temperature response of increasing GHG concentrations and reduced aerosol emissions leads to a global annual mean equilibrium temperature response of 2.18 K. When aerosols are maximally abated only in the Industry and Powerplant sector, while other sectors stay with currently enforced regulations, the temperature response is 1.89 K. A maximum feasible abatement applied in the Domestic and Transport sector, while other sectors remain with the current legislation, leads to a temperature response of 1.39 K. Increasing GHG concentrations alone lead to a temperature response of 1.20 K. We also simulate 2–5% increases in global mean precipitation among all scenarios considered, and the hydrological sensitivity is found to be significantly higher for aerosols than for GHGs. Our study, thus highlights the huge potential impact of future air pollution mitigation strategies on climate and supports the need for urgent GHG emission reductions. GHG and aerosol forcings are not independent as both affect and are influenced by changes in the hydrological cycle. However, within the given range of changes in aerosol emissions and GHG concentrations considered in this study, the climate response towards increasing GHG concentrations and decreasing aerosols emissions is additive.     

Sea ice in the Barents Sea: seasonal to interannual variability and climate feedbacks in a global coupled model

Sea ice variability in the Barents Sea and its impact on climate are analyzed using a 465-year control integration of a global coupled atmosphere–ocean–sea ice model. Sensitivity simulations are performed to investigate the response to an isolated sea ice anomaly in the Barents Sea. The interannual variability of sea ice volume in the Barents Sea is mainly determined by variations in sea ice import into Barents Sea from the Central Arctic. This import is primarily driven by the local wind field. Horizontal oceanic heat transport into the Barents Sea is of minor importance for interannual sea ice variations but is important on longer time scales. Events with strong positive sea ice anomalies in the Barents Sea are due to accumulation of sea ice by enhanced sea ice imports and related NAO-like pressure conditions in the years before the event. Sea ice volume and concentration stay above normal in the Barents Sea for about 2 years after an event. This strongly increases the albedo and reduces the ocean heat release to the atmosphere. Consequently, air temperature is much colder than usual in the Barents Sea and surrounding areas. Precipitation is decreased and sea level pressure in the Barents Sea is anomalously high. The large-scale atmospheric response is limited with the main impact being a reduced pressure over Scandinavia in the year after a large ice volume occurs in the Barents Sea. Furthermore, high sea ice volume in the Barents Sea leads to increased sea ice melting and hence reduced surface salinity. Generally, the climate response is smallest in summer and largest in winter and spring.     

Metasomatism in mantle xenoliths from the Letlhakane kimberlites: estimation of element fluxes

A suite of metasomatised xenoliths from the Letlhakane kimberlite (Botswana) forms a metasomatic sequence from garnet peridotite to garnet phlogopite peridotite to phlogopite peridotite. Before the modal metasomatism, most of the Letlhakane xenoliths were depleted harzburgites that had been subjected to an earlier cryptic metasomatic event. Modal phlogopite and clinopyroxene - Cr-spinel increase at the expense of garnet and orthopyroxene with increasing degrees of metasomatism. The most metasomatised xenolith is a wehrlite. With progressive modal metasomatism, the clinopyroxene becomes enriched in Sr, Sc and the LREE, orthopyroxene becomes depleted in Ca and Ni, but enriched in Al and Mn, and olivine becomes depleted in Al and V. Garnet chemical composition largely remains unchanged. The garnet replacement reaction seen in most xenoliths allows the measurement of the flux of trace elements through detailed modal analysis of the pseudomorphs. Mass balance calculations show that the modally metasomatised rocks became enriched in incompatible elements such as Sr, Na, K, the LREE and the HFSE (Ti, Zr and Nb). Major elements (Al, Cr and Fe) and garnet-compatible trace elements (V, Y, Sc, and the HREE) were removed during this metasomatic process. The modal metasomatism caused a strong depletion in Al, and the results challenge previous suggestions that this metasomatic process merely occurred within an Al-poor environment. The data suggest that the xenoliths represent the mantle wallrock adjacent to a major conduit for an alkaline basic silicate melt (with high contents of volatile and incompatible elements). The volatile and incompatible element-enriched component of this melt percolated into the wallrock along a strong temperature gradient and caused the observed range of metasomatism.     

Mineral equilibria constraints on open‐system melting in metamafic compositions

The recent development of activity–composition relations for mineral and melt phases in high‐grade metamafic rocks allows mineral equilibria tools to be used to further aid our understanding of partial melting and the mineralogical consequences of melt segregation in these rocks. We show that bulk compositional data from natural amphibolites cover a wide compositional range, with particular variability in the content and ratios of Ca, Na and K indicating that low‐grade metasomatic alteration can substantially alter the igneous protolith chemistry and potentially affect the volume and composition of melt generated. Mineral equilibria calculations for five samples that span the compositional variability in our data set indicate that melting occurs primarily via the fluid‐absent breakdown of amphibole+quartz to produce a pressure‐sensitive peritectic assemblage of augite, orthopyroxene and/or garnet. The introduction of orthopyroxene at the onset of the amphibolite‐to‐granulite‐facies transition at lower pressure results in an increased rate of melt production until quartz is typically exhausted, and this is similarly seen for the introduction of garnet at higher pressure. Calculated melt compositions are dependent on the protolith composition, but initial solidus melting and biotite breakdown produce 1–3 mol.% of K‐rich granitic melts. As hornblende melting proceeds, 15–20 vol.% of either more granodioritic‐to‐tonalitic or granodioritic‐to‐trondhjemitic melt is produced. Once quartz is exhausted, intermediate to mafic melt compositions are produced at ultrahigh‐temperature conditions. Quartz‐rich lithologies with high Ca coupled to low Na and K are the most fertile under orogenic conditions, yielding up to 25 mol.% of sub‐alkalic granitic melt by 850°C. Such rocks did not experience significant subsolidus alteration. Altered compositions with low Ca and elevated Na and K are not as fertile, yielding less than 15 mol.% of alkalic granitic melt by 850°C. These melt volumes are enough to be segregated, and can make a contribution to granite magmatism and intracrustal differentiation that should not be overlooked.     

Time calibration of sedimentary sections based on insolation cycles using combined cross-correlation: dating the gone Badenian stratotype (Middle Miocene, Paratethys, Vienna Basin, Austria) as an example

Cross-correlation between insolation intensities and a combination of sedimentary characters is introduced to obtain precise time calibration of sedimentary cycles. The first step is to transfer the section scale into ages using power spectra comparing the main periods with orbital cycles, while in the second step the standardized values of sedimentary signals are cross-correlated with the standardized insolation curve. As an example for the applicability of the method, we investigated calcium carbonate, organic carbon in a 9-m sampled section from the historical Badenian stratotype at Baden/Sooss (Lower Austria). Comparing courses of geochemical parameters between the historical stratotype and a nearby drilled 102-m scientific core resulted in continuation of the core section into the stratotype. Cross-correlation between magnetic susceptibility (MS) combined with the negatively correlated calcium carbonate content of the drilled section on the one side and summer solar insolation at 65° northern latitude on the other resulted in an extremely significant correlation between −14.221 and −13.982 Ma. This is younger than the before estimated time frame (−14.379 to −14.142 Ma) based on cross-correlation between MS and the orbital 100-kyr eccentricity and 41-kyr obliquity cycles. The direct continuation of the drilled section by the stratotype covering a time span of 17.7 kyr consequently dates the Badenian stratotype between −13.982 and −13.964 Ma. Therefore, the upper limit of the stratotype, assigned to the Early Badenian, puts it close to the Langhian/Seravallian boundary at −13.82 Ma, demonstrating the need for revising the Badenian stratigraphic subdivision based on orbital cycles, especially the middle Badenian Wielician substage.     

Multiproxy Analyses of Stratigraphy and Palaeoenvironment of the Late Palaeolithic Grabow Floodplain Site,Northern Germany

Changing river courses and fluctuations of the water table were some of the most fundamental environmental changes that humans faced during the Late Glacial, particularly as these changes affected areas intensively used for settlement and resource exploitation. Unfortunately, only a few stratigraphies have been documented in the North European plain that show the interaction between river development, vegetation history, and occupation by Late Palaeolithic humans. Here, we present the results of detailed stratigraphical studies (pedology, archaeology, chrono‐, tephra‐, and palynostratigraphy) at the Federmesser site Grabow 15 located in the broad Elbe River valley. The research aimed to produce a model of site formation based on a multiproxy approach, relating the local evidence to the palaeoenvironmental and settlement history of the wider region. After deposition of fluvial sands during the Late Pleniglacial in a braided setting, the river course developed locally toward a meandering system at the transition from the Older Dryas to the Allerød, while periodic flooding led to the deposition of floodplain sediments during the early Allerød. The floodplain was settled by people of the earliest “Federmessergruppen,” who are believed to have chosen this open floodplain area along the river for collecting and processing amber of local origin. Their artifacts became embedded in the aggrading floodplain sediments. In the late Allerød, floodplain sedimentation ceased and a Fluvisol‐type soil developed, indicating a trend toward geomorphic stability. The Fluvisol was then covered by silty floodplain sediments due to a rising water level during the late Younger Dryas resulting in the cessation of human occupation in the area. Subsequent organic‐rich Late Glacial/Holocene sediments preserved the settlement remains to the present.     

Analytical 2D GNSS PVT solutions from a hyperbolic positioning approach

GNSS receivers estimate 3D antenna position and receiver clock bias when at least four satellites are tracked. If only three satellites are available, a 2D antenna position solution is still possible. We derive an almost exact algorithm for the determination of two possible antenna positions and the corresponding receiver clock biases based on pseudorange measurements to three GNSS satellites and a height measurement. The two ambiguous solutions exactly reflect the same height measurement. One of the solutions can be eliminated if some prior knowledge of the user position, for example, near the Earth, is available. In general, a less accurate height measurement gives a less accurate 2D GNSS solution, and vice versa. The determination of the receiver antenna position is based upon the intersection of two confocal hyperboloid sheets and the ellipsoid, resulting in a hyperbola along which the user is located. The algorithm is verified by numerical computations.