Estimates of sediment and nutrient loads in 10 major catchments draining to the Great Barrier Reef during 2006-2009

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) catchment area has been monitored simultaneously for sediment and nutrient exports from 10 priority catchments discharging into the GBR lagoon between 2006 and 2009. This allows GBR catchment-wide exports to be estimated and spatially compared within a discrete time-frame. Elevated levels of sediment and nutrient exports were recorded in all monitored catchments as compared to pre-European estimates, but vary around previous estimates of mean annual loads. During the period of monitoring, the Burdekin and Fitzroy catchments contributed the highest sediment and nutrient exports, however when loads were normalised for area, these catchments produced the lowest unit yields. In contrast, the highest yields were produced in the wetter and proportionately more intensively cultivated Johnstone, O'Connell, and Pioneer catchments particularly for dissolved nitrogens. This assessment offers the necessary scientific foundation for future monitoring, assessment, and management of sediment and nutrient loads entering the GBR.     

Evidence for multiple early impacts on the H chondrite parent body from electron backscatter diffraction analysis

We examined H4 chondrites Beaver Creek, Forest Vale, Quenggouk, Ste. Marguerite, and Sena with the electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) techniques of Ruzicka and Hugo (2018) to determine if there is evidence for shock metamorphism consistent with the previously inferred histories of their early impact excavation or lack thereof. We find that all samples have EBSD data consistent with a history of synmetamorphic impact shock (i.e., shock during thermal metamorphism), followed by postshock annealing. Petrographic analysis of Sena, Quenggouk, and Ste. Marguerite found exsolved Cu and irregular troilite within Fe metal, features consistent with shock metamorphism. All samples have a spatial variability in grain deformation consistent with shock processes, though Forest Vale, Quenggouk, and Ste. Marguerite may have relict signatures of accretional deformation as indicated by variability in their olivine deformation metrics. Within the context of previous workers' geochemical observations, a more complex history is inferred for each sample. The “slow-cooled” samples, Quenggouk and Sena, were subject to synmetamorphic shock without excavation and annealed at depth. The same is true of the “fast-cooled” samples, Beaver Creek, Forest Vale, and Ste. Marguerite. However, after annealing, these rocks were excavated by a secondary impact or impacts around 5.2–6.5 Ma post-CAI formation and were left to cool rapidly on the surface of the H chondrite parent body. These interpreted histories are best compatible with a model of an impact-battered but intact onion shell for the earliest history of the H parent body. However, the EBSD evidence does not preclude a parent body disruption after 7 Ma post-CAI formation.     

Mid-Holocene and last glacial maximum climate simulations with the IPSL model: part II: model-data comparisons

The climates of the mid-Holocene (MH, 6,000 years ago) and the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, 21,000 years ago) have been extensively documented and as such, have become targets for the evaluation of climate models for climate contexts very different from the present. In Part 1 of the present work, we have studied the MH and LGM simulations performed with the last two versions of the IPSL model: IPSL_CM4, run for the PMIP2/CMIP3 (Coupled Model Intercomparion Project) projects and IPSL_CM5A, run for the most recent PMIP3/CMIP5 projets. We have shown that not only are these models different in their simulations of the PI climate, but also in their simulations of the climatic anomalies for the MH and LGM. In the Part 2 of this paper, we first examine whether palaeo-data can help discriminate between the model performances. This is indeed the case for the African monsoon for the MH or for North America south of the Laurentide ice sheet, the South Atlantic or the southern Indian ocean for the LGM. For the LGM, off-line vegetation modelling appears to offer good opportunities to distinguish climate model results because glacial vegetation proves to be very sensitive to even small differences in LGM climate. For other cases such as the LGM North Atlantic or the LGM equatorial Pacific, the large uncertainty on the SST reconstructions, prevents model discrimination. We have examined the use of other proxy-data for model evaluation, which has become possible with the inclusion of the biogeochemistry morel PISCES in the IPSL_CM5A model. We show a broad agreement of the LGM–PI export production changes with reconstructions. These changes are related to the mixed layer depth in most regions and to sea-ice variations in the high latitudes. We have also modelled foraminifer abundances with the FORAMCLIM model and shown that the changes in foraminifer abundance in the equatorial Pacific are mainly forced by changes in SSTs, hence confirming the SST-foraminifer abundance relationship. Yet, this is not the case in all regions in the North Atlantic, where food availability can have a strong impact of foraminifer abundances. Further work will be needed to exhaustively examine the role of factors other than climate in piloting changes in palaeo-indicators.     

Trace metal contamination by phosphogypsum discharge in surface and core sediments of the Gabes coast area (SE of Tunisia)

The purpose of the present study is to ascertain the extent of the effect that phosphate fertilizer industrial waste has on the surface and bottom sediments of the Ghannouch-Gabes coast, off the Tunisian Mediterranean Sea. To achieve this, 44 surface sediments and 3 core sediments were studied for mineralogy, trace metals (Cd, Cu, Pb, and Zn), F, CaO, and SO₃. For all the analyzed elements, the spatial distribution in surface sediments showed that the area located between the commercial and the fishing port of Gabes is the most polluted zone. The ranking of metal contents was found to be Zn > Cd > Cu > Pb. The vertical distribution of trace metals indicated that the highest levels were found in the uppermost segment of the sediment cores compared to the lower depth subsurface due to a continuous input of phosphogypsum (PG) release and confirmed that the area between the two harbors suffered from several types of pollutants compared to reference core C1, collected from other non-industrialized areas. This spatial and vertical distribution is probably due to the harbor piers which acted as barriers and limited the dispersion of PG discharge. The contamination factor, the geoaccumulation index, and the pollution load index were determined. The results obtained confirm the anthropogenic impact on the levels of metal, on the fluorine, calcium, and sulfate concentrations in the area, located between the commercial harbor of Ghannouch and the fishing harbor of Gabes, whereas the concentrations of elements analyzed tends to decrease on both sides of this sector. Statistical analyses (principal component analysis) showed trace metals, fluoride, sulfate, and a large amount of calcium resulting from the same anthropogenic source.     

9 to 5: 9 approaches to tackle 5 aspects of climate change

Humans are modifying the Earth's climate by increasing the atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide and other radiatively active trace gases. The resulting Climate Change is global, pervasive, complex, unpredictable, and irreversible. Nine different approaches (scientific assessment, structural analysis, decision analysis, procedure analysis, game theory, cost-benefit analysis, option valuation, insurance, and deterrence) are presented to explore how the five aspects of Climate Change affect the design of appropriate responses to its impacts.     

The South Atlantic sub-tropical dipole mode since the last deglaciation and changes in rainfall

Climate Dynamics - The South Atlantic subtropical dipole (SASD) has an impact on South American rainfall particular during its negative phase when continental precipitation in the northern part of...     

Morphology and distribution of dolines on ultramafic rocks from airborne LiDAR data: the case of southern Grande Terre in New Caledonia (SW Pacific)

Dolines are closed geomorphological depressions which are surface manifestations of karstic systems. Usually developed on limestones, they also typify the morphology of the New Caledonian landscape, particularly on the southern massif of the main island (known as Massif du Sud). The specificity of dolines here lies in their development on ultramafic rocks. They are evidences of subsidence, suffosion and collapse phenomena resulting from dissolution weathering of peridotites. However, extensive underground drainage systems are still not yet recognized. Semi‐automatic mapping of dolines is carried out on a 148 km² area of the Massif du Sud from a high accuracy LiDAR digital elevation model. In this area 8601 dolines ranging from 1 m² to 2 km² are identified and morphologically characterized with precision. Most are small, shallow and round‐shaped, yet more complex shapes are locally observed. Size distribution analysis allows the setting of a threshold of 20 000 m² above which surface processes rather than chemical weathering control doline evolution. Doline density analysis reveals high concentrations on flat areas where ferricrete overlies the complete weathering profile, especially in the case of elevated rainy watersheds. Dolines are aligned and elongated along a north 135° ± 5° major fracture direction, which is inherited from the obduction of the Pacific Plate upper mantle in the Late Eocene. Finally, we propose a pioneering morphometric typology of dolines that provides important clues as to pseudokarstic activity. We define collapse, bowl‐shaped and flat bottom dolines. Collapse and bowl‐shaped dolines are assumed to denote active pseudokarst. They may widen and deepen, or eventually be filled by sediments. They are distinguished from flat bottom dolines that are partially to completely filled, which suggests that they are associated with paleo‐pseudokarsts. However the groundwater flow paths associated with the genesis and evolution of dolines must be clarified, thus collapse and bowl‐shaped dolines should be hydrologically monitored. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.