Delineation of flood generating processes and their hydrological response

Knowledge about flood generating processes can be beneficial for numerous applications. Especially in the context of climate change impact assessment, daily patterns of meteorological and catchment state conditions leading to flood events (i.e., storylines) may be of value. Here, we propose an approach to identify storylines of flood generation using daily weather and snow cover observations. The approach is tested for and applied to a typical pre‐Alpine catchment in the period between 1961 and 2014. Five precipitation parameters were determined that describe temporal and spatial characteristics of the flood associated precipitation events. The catchment's snow coverage was derived using statistical relationships between a satellite‐derived snow cover climatology and station snow measurements. Moreover, (pre‐) event snow melt sums were estimated using a temperature‐index model. Based on the precipitation and catchment state parameters, 5 storylines were identified with a cluster analysis: These are (a) long duration, low intensity precipitation events with high precipitation depths, (b) long duration precipitation events with high precipitation depths and episodes of high intensities, (c) shorter duration events with high or (d) low precipitation intensity, respectively, and (e) rain‐on‐snow events. The event groups have distinct hydrological characteristics that can largely be explained by the storylines' respective properties. The long duration, high intensity storyline leads to the most adverse hydrological response, namely, a combination of high peak magnitudes, high volumes, and long durations of threshold exceedance. The results show that flood generating processes in mesoscale catchments can be distinguished on the basis of daily meteorological and catchment state parameters and that these process types can explain the hydrological flood properties in a qualitative way. Hydrological simulations of daily resolution can thus be analysed with respect to flood generating processes.     

1-Hydroxypyrene as a biomarker of PAH exposure in the marine polychaete Nereis diversicolor

The possibility of using the pyrene metabolite 1-hydroxypyrene as a biomarker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) exposure was investigated by exposure of the marine polychaete Nereis diversicolor to several PAHs in the laboratory. Animals were exposed to pyrene alone and to five different PAHs – phenanthrene, anthracene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene and benzo[k]flouranthene. After five days of exposure the concentrations of parent PAHs and 1-hydroxypyrene were identified using three different analytical methods, high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection (HPLC/F), synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (SFS) and gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection (GC/MS). The SFS measurements of 1-hydroxypyrene were validated by the more sensitive method HPLC/F. The positive correlation between total PAHs and 1-hydroxypyrene concentrations in the polychaete tissues observed in experiments, suggests the feasibility of 1-hydroxypyrene as a suitable biomarker for total PAH exposure assessment. Furthermore, the possibility of employment of the simple and rapid SFS method instead of HPLC/F for biomarker analysis has been confirmed by the positive and significant correlation between results achieved by these two analytical methods.     

A giant (5.3 × 10 m) middle Miocene (c. 15 Ma) sediment mound (M1) above the Siri Canyon, Norwegian–Danish Basin: Origin and significance

A large-scale enigmatic mound structure (M1) has been discovered in middle Miocene strata of the Norwegian–Danish Basin, c. 10 km east and updip of the Central Graben. It is located about 1 km beneath the seabed and clearly resolved by a 3D seismic data set focused on the deeper, remobilised, sand-filled Siri Canyon. M1 comprises two culminations, up to 80 m high and up to 1400 m long, constituting a sediment volume of some 5.3 × 10⁷ m³. It is characterized by a hard reflection at the top, a soft reflection at the base, differential compaction relative to the surrounding sediments, and 10 ms TWT velocity pull up of underlying reflections, indicating a relatively fast mound fill, attributed to the presence of sand within the mound. Internal seismic reflections are arranged in an asymmetric concentric pattern, suggesting a progressive aggradation to the NW, downstream to a mid-Miocene contour current system. Numerous elongated pockmarks occur in the upper Miocene succession close to the mound and indicate that the study area was influenced by gas expulsion in the mid- and late Miocene.The reflection configuration, velocity, dimensions, regional setting, and isolated location can best be explained by interpreting the mound as a giant sand volcano extruded >1 km upward from the Siri Canyon during the middle Miocene (c. 15 Ma). The likely causes of this remarkable structure include gas charge and lateral pressure transfer from the Central Graben along the Siri Canyon reservoir. While this is the first such structure described from this part of the North Sea, similar-aged sand extrudites have recently been inferred from seismic observations in the North Viking Graben, thus suggesting that the mid-Miocene was a time of widespread and intense sediment remobilization and fluid expulsion in the North Sea.     

冲绳海槽北部的全新世火山碎屑沉积

分析了冲绳海槽北部的CSH1岩芯沉积物中矿物组成、化学元素质量分数和粒度的变化规律,研究结果表明,在全新世期间,日本九州岛发生了2次大规模火山喷发活动,造成大量的火山物质沉积在冲绳海槽北部。从岩芯最上部的沉积物中可识别出2层火山碎屑沉积,它们都具有沉积物粒径突然变粗、SiO2和Na2O等化合物的质量分数突然增加以及粘土矿物、挥发份、Fe2O3、MgO、CaO和Sr的质量分数迅速下降等特征。沉积物粒度数据的端员分析结果表明,冲绳海槽北部全新世沉积物中的硅酸盐碎屑是由陆源碎屑物质和火山灰按不同的比例混合而成的。有火山物质混入的沉积物的粒度分布多呈现双峰模式,粒度众数值分别为74.3和7.81μm。浮游有孔虫壳体的AMS14C测年结果表明,2层火山碎屑所对应的火山喷发年代分别为7 210和10 870 cal.aBP。其中前者与K-Ah火山的喷发时间一致,后者可能与Kuju火山在12~10 cal.kaBP期间的喷发有关。     

Sea Surface Heights Retrieval from Ship-Based Measurements Assisted by GNSS Signal Reflections

Measurements of the sea surface height (SSH) can be carried out with GNSS aboard ships, but data about the static draft and the hydrodynamic squat effect are necessary. This information is often not available or has an insufficient accuracy. In this study, an alternative method based on the GNSS signal-to-noise ratio observations is presented. Using this method, the distance between the water surface and a GNSS antenna can be estimated directly, if corrections of the heave and the ship’s attitude are considered properly. Suitable segments of a 3-month dataset, gathered aboard a ferry ship operating in the German Bight, were analysed. A global optimization approach based on interval analysis was used and all available observations from a segment were analysed in a common adjustment calculation. The resulting SSH was validated with data from a tide gauge station at Heligoland. The mean difference is 4?mm and a standard deviation of the differences of 5.3?cm was found. The SSH for the same GNSS dataset was also derived from a well-established processing based on the comprehensive consideration of ship dynamics. The mean difference with respect to the tide gauge was 2?mm with a slightly smaller standard deviation of 4.0?cm.     

Towards a more sustainable process industry: A single case study of restructuring within the Eyde process industry cluster

ABSTRACT

Due to increased attention on environmental issues, industrial sustainable restructuring is high on the research agenda. The article adds to the literature through an analysis of a restructuring process within a Norwegian process industry cluster. By introducing an analytical framework combining the concepts of entrepreneurial discovery process and path dependency theory, the article offers a deeper understanding of the role of various types of actors in processes of restructuring. The authors categorise the actors as either firm-level entrepreneurs or system-level entrepreneurs on the basis of their motivation. While the former are motivated mainly by firm success, the latter find their motivation mainly in developing systemic factors. The analytical framework suggests a stepwise analysis of the restructuring, and in each step, the significance and interplay between the two types of entrepreneurs are discussed. Finally, the authors discuss the potential for new path development following from this process. The case study illustrates the important role of system-level entrepreneurs as facilitators and of firm-level entrepreneurs as utilisers of opportunities. The empirical case demonstrates that the two types of entrepreneurs are highly interactive throughout the restructuring process. The article contributes to existing literature by advancing the actor perspective in new path development.     

Contributions from Particles in Europe (PiE) 2010, Villefranche-sur-Mer,France: an introduction

This special issue of Geo-Marine Letters presents selected contributions from the international conference Particles in Europe (PiE) 2010 organized by Sequoia Scientific, Inc., and the Laboratoire d’Océanographie de Villefranche (LOV) on 15–17 November 2010 in Villefranche-sur-Mer, France, and guest-edited by Ole Mikkelsen, Malik Chami and David Doxaran. PiE was initiated in 2008, in order to promote and further our understanding of the importance of suspended particulate matter (SPM) for a very wide range of processes in the aquatic environment—from optics and acoustics, over sediment transport, to the global carbon balance. The papers in this special issue are in particular concerned with the interaction between SPM and water optical properties, as well as how to use optical proxy measurements to understand SPM processes. The next PiE conference is scheduled for 17–19 October 2012 in Barcelona, Spain.     

A multidisciplinary study of Holocene sediment records from Hjort Sø on Store Koldewey, Northeast Greenland

Two sediment cores of 70 and 252 cm length were recovered from Hjort Sø, a small lake on Store Koldewey, Northeast Greenland, and studied with a multidisciplinary approach in order to reconstruct the local environmental history and to test the relevance of proxies for paleoenvironmental information. The basal sediments from the longer core are dominated by clastic matter, which was likely deposited during deglaciation of the lake basin. These clastic sediments are overlain by gyttja, which is also present throughout the shorter core. AMS radiocarbon dating was conducted on plant macrofossils of 11 samples from the gyttja in both cores. A reliable chronology was established for both cores, which dated the onset of organic accumulation at 9,500 cal. year BP. The Holocene temperature development, with an early to mid Holocene thermal maximum, is best reflected in the grain-size composition. Nutrient availability was apparently low during the early Holocene and led to low productivity in the lake and its vicinity. From ca. 7,000 cal. year BP, productivity in the lake increased significantly, probably induced by external nutrient input from goose excrements. From this time, micro- and macro-fossil remains reflect relatively well the climate history of East Greenland, with a cooling during the middle Holocene, the medieval warming, and the Little Ice Age. The amount of organic matter in the sequence seems to be more affected by lake ice cover or by nutrient supply from the catchment than by temperature changes. The record from Hjort Sø thus reveals the difficulties in interpreting sedimentary records from high arctic regions.     

Palaeoecology of Holocene peat deposits from Nordvestø, north-west Greenland

Two extensive peat deposits on Nordvestø, between Greenland and Canada, were examined for macroscopic remains of plants and animals. One of the peat deposits accumulated during the period from c. 7,100 to 5,100 cal. years BP. This peat is guanogenic and completely dominated by the coprophilous bryophyte Aplodon wormskioldii, and also contains frequent remains of feathers. The peat formed close to a large former sea bird colony, probably a puffin (Fratercula arctica) colony. Puffins are now rare in the region, but the population may have been larger during the mid Holocene, when the sea was ice-free for a longer period than at present. The other peat deposit is dated to c. 9,300–7,400 cal. years BP, it is minerogenic and the macrofossils reflect deposition in a shallow, richly vegetated pond. This peat formed during warmer summers than at present.