Anthropogenic changes in the sediment composition of Lake Gości& aogon;ż (central Poland), during the last 330 yrs*

According to historical sources, the development of settlement around Lake Goci& aogon; during the last 330 yrs was intense at two time periods: the second half of the 1700's, and from ca. 1880 until 1944. The small farms were then abandoned, following which the lake surroundings were planted with forest trees. The presented study of human influence on the lake ecosystem and surrounding vegetation has been based on analyses of general sediment composition and its chemistry, pollen, Cyanobacteria, Chlorophyceae, Rotatoria, Cladocera, and a preliminary diatom survey. The history of human impact has been divided into four phases: 1. Phase of small local hamlets (before ca. 1770): The human impact was rather moderate then, but the cultivation of Canabis sativa, Secale cereale and later of Fagopyrum is evidenced from that time. 2. Phase of Hollandii settlement (ca. 1770-1863). Its influence is indicated first by the recession of deciduous wood (Corylus, Carpinus) stands, which triggered drastic drop of calcium in sediments. The development of rural economy in the area, including, an extension of agriculture (Secale and other cereals, crucifers, potatoes), and animal breeding based partly on grazing in the forest, is evidenced only after 1820. 3. Phase of German colonization (1863-1944): In the early periods (before 1910) the pollen spectra do not document any essential change in the type of farming, however, a serious disturbance of the lake ecosystem and sediment chemistry is evidenced by the blooms of Araphidinae diatoms and Tetraedron minimum, a maximum frequency of Bosmina longirostris, disturbances of the regular spring blooms of Chrysophyceae, appearance of vivianite, distinct maxima of organic matter, potassium, and iron concentration in sediments and an increase of the sedimentation rate. An intensification of agricultural activities commenced around 1910; woods, including also pinewoods, were then heavily devastated, and farming extended on poor soils, what was symptomatic for the general poverty of population. Coincidently in the lake, Centriceae showed blooms, Araphidinae diatoms and Tetraedron minimum developed, and the content of potassium, iron and phosphorus increased substantially, indicating altogether rising eutrophication. 4. Phase of restoration of the natural landscape (after 1945): The farm degradation from ca. 1944 is very weakly expressed in pollen data, which show a substantial fall of farming indicators from 1953/6 only, when the whole area was used for forest plantation. It was accompanied by a certainly spontaneous development of Betula and Alnus woods, this process progressing till recent time. The gradual extinction of farming activity near Lake Goci was accompanied by abrupt changes in the lake ecosystem, expressed by the restored blooms of Chrysophyceae expansion of planktonic Cladocera, rapid decline of phosphorus and extinction of vivianite from sediments. As documented by the drop of Cu/Zn ratio, lake hypolimnion has been weakly oxidized since 1949, what was probably responsible for the drop of Fe and Mn content in sediments. Increasing strength of overturns affected preservation of laminae in sediments, which almost completely disappeared after 1966.     

Seabed characterization through a range of high-resolution acoustic systems – a case study offshore Oman

This study uses three acoustic instruments (different in their operating frequencies, 13, 3.5, and 6–10 kHz, and deployment type, hull-mounted, surface-towed and deep-towed) to investigate and characterize the acoustic response of seafloor NE of Oman in a frequency-independent manner. High-resolution control was achieved by having selected areas of our acoustic transects ground-truthed by sampling and/or sea-floor photography. On the regional scale, the greatest degree of change in backscatter amplitude was correlated with major changes of seabed morphology and lithology. However, small-scale roughness had the biggest effect on amplitude on the local scale, i.e. within each area of specific seafloor type. The study also shows that seafloor reflection amplitude changes are far more easily detected by deep-towed instrument than by surface-towed or hull-mounted systems. Whilst there are significant changes in bioturbation types and density along the transects, the suite of instruments deployed was not able to pick up the effect of the bioturbation on acoustic signals.     

Numerical simulation of atmospheric bore waves on Mars

The Viking Orbiters imaged early morning, long, linear wave clouds along the flanks of the Tharsis volcanoes during late northern spring and early summer. These clouds are believed to be a product of either an atmospheric bore wave or a hydraulic jump generated by nightly katabatic winds. The Mars Regional Atmospheric Modeling System was used to study the interaction of the katabatic flows with the surrounding atmosphere to determine what mechanism is responsible for the clouds. Simulations at Ls=90°, 100°, 142°, 180°, 270°, and 358° were conducted focusing on the eastern flank of Olympus Mons. Model results compare well with Viking observations and closely approximate theoretical treatments of atmospheric bores. Strong downslope flows are simulated during the night, with a bore wave forming on and behind a well-defined katabatic front. The observed seasonality of the clouds was reproduced in the simulations; the bore was deeper and faster during northern summer and weakest during the winter. When the bore was strong, it was undular in form, and generated vertically propagating gravity waves in the atmosphere above. During the winter, the atmospheric structure was such that any gravity waves generated damped with height. Less atmospheric water vapor abundance during northern winter, as compared to the summer, is also a factor in the seasonality of the wave clouds. This study concludes that bore waves are the most likely mechanism for the generation of the observed linear wave clouds.     

Hydrogen-isotopic variability in fatty acids from Yellowstone National Park hot spring microbial communities

We report the abundances and hydrogen-isotopic compositions (D/H ratios) of fatty acids extracted from hot-spring microbial mats in Yellowstone National Park. The terrestrial hydrothermal environment provides a useful system for studying D/H fractionations because the numerous microbial communities in and around the springs are visually distinct, separable, and less complex than those in many other aquatic environments. D/H fractionations between lipids and water ranged from −374‰ to +41‰ and showed systematic variations between different types of microbial communities. Lipids produced by chemoautotrophic hyperthermophilic bacteria, such as icosenoic acid (20:1), generally exhibited the largest and most variable fractionations from water (−374‰ to −165‰). This was in contrast to lipids characteristic of heterotrophs, such as branched, odd chain-length fatty acids, which had the smallest fractionations (−163‰ to +41‰). Mats dominated by photoautotrophs exhibited intermediate fractionations similar in magnitude to those expressed by higher plants. These data support the hypothesis that variations in lipid D/H are strongly influenced by central metabolic pathways. Shifts in the isotopic compositions of individual fatty acids across known ecological boundaries show that the isotopic signature of specific metabolisms can be recognized in modern environmental samples, and potentially recorded in ancient ones. Considering all sampled springs, the total range in D/H ratios is similar to that observed in marine sediments, suggesting that the trends observed here are not exclusive to the hydrothermal environment.     

Monazite RW-1: a homogenous natural reference material for SIMS U–Pb and Th–Pb isotopic analysis

Mineralogy and Petrology - Well-characterized matrix-matched natural mineral references of known age are an important prerequisite for SIMS (secondary ion mass spectrometry) U–Th–Pb...     

Study of the Kuroshio/Ryukyu Current system based on satellite-altimeter and <Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> measurements

Data from satellite altimeters and from a 13-month deployment of in situ instruments are used to determine an empirical relationship between sea-level anomaly difference (SLA) across the Kuroshio in the East China Sea (ECS-Kuroshio) and net transport near 28°N. Applying this relationship to the altimeter data, we obtain a 12-year time series of ECS-Kuroshio transport crossing the C-line (KT). The resulting mean transport is 18.7 ± 0.2 Sv with 1.8 Sv standard deviation. This KT is compared with a similarly-determined time series of net Ryukyu Current transport crossing the O-line near 26°N southeast of Okinawa (RT). Their mean sum (24 Sv) is less than the mean predicted Sverdrup transport. These KT and RT mean-flow estimates form a consistent pattern with historical estimates of other mean flows in the East China Sea/Philippine Basin region. While mean KT is larger than mean RT by a factor of 3.5, the amplitude of the KT annual cycle is only half that of RT. At the 95% confidence level the transports are coherent at periods of about 2 years and 100–200 days, with RT leading KT by about 60 days in each case. At the annual period, the transports are coherent at the 90% confidence level with KT leading RT by 4–5 months. While the bulk of the Kuroshio enters the ECS through the channel between Taiwan and Yonaguni-jima, analysis of satellite altimetry maps, together with the transport time series, indicates that the effect of mesoscale eddies is transmitted to the ECS via the Kerama Gap southwest of Okinawa. Once the effect of these eddies is felt by the ECS-Kuroshio at 28°N, it is advected rapidly to the Tokara Strait.     

Microelectrona cladara gen.et sp.nov.:A New Protodikraneurini from the Eocene Baltic Amber(Hemiptera:Cicadomorpha:Cicadellidae:Typhlocybinae)

<正>A new genus Microelectrona gen.nov.and species Microelectrona cladara sp.nov.of the extinct tribe Protodikraneurini of the leafhoppers(Cicadeilidae:Typhlocybinae) from the Eocene Baltic amber is described. The piece of amber containing leafhopper inclusion is broken,unveiling some of the morphological structures,and enabling their studies using scanning electron microscopy.