Interannual variability of annual streamflow and the Southern Oscillation in Costa Rica

Abstract

This study illustrates the association between annual and seasonal streamflow characteristics on six Costa Rican rivers and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). Annual discharge from rivers within the Pacific watershed are clearly positively associated with contemporary values of the SOI and experience significant reductions in both mean and variance in El Ninõ years. The considerable practical implications of this finding to a country in which over 60% of national electrical power comes from hydroelectric schemes is illustrated using quantile estimates from various models. Rivers draining towards the Caribbean show less clear and coherent patterns of associations. The observed associations with seasonal flows on some rivers appear to be the opposite of those on the Pacific, and may even vary during the course of a year at a site. The exact nature of the response seems to be closely related to the elevation of the gauge site. The larger the proportion of the basin at elevations above about 500–1000 m the greater the similarity to the Pacific pattern, suggesting that the marked topographic divide between the two coastal watersheds does not correspond to the divide in associations between streamflow and the SOI.     

The harp seal (Phoca groenlandica Erxleben) in Denmark, southern Scandinavia, during the Holocene

The harp seal ( Phoca groenlandica ) is a low-arctic species that is currently a rare visitor to Danish waters. However, bone remains from archaeological and geological deposits in Denmark and the Baltic Sea testify to a regular presence of harp seals in this region during the mid-Holocene. The paradox of the presence of a low-arctic seal species in southern Scandinavia during the mid-Holocene thermal maximum has been widely discussed. In order to improve the Holocene chronology for the presence of harp seal in Denmark, 24 bone remains of the species were radiocarbon dated. The oldest date is around 4100 cal. yr BC, indicating that the harp seal arrived several millennia after fully marine conditions were established in Danish waters. The majority of the dated specimens fall within two age groups, one centred around 3900 cal. yr BC (11 dates), the other around 2700 cal. yr BC (7 dates). It is argued that these two groups may reflect periods with suitable living conditions for the harp seal in Danish waters and that this is connected with an enhanced inflow of high-salinity North Sea water and higher biological productivity. Six dates show a scattered distribution between c . 1400 cal. yr BC and c . AD 1000, suggesting sporadic visits of the harp seal to Danish waters during the late Holocene.     

A HYDROLOGICAL MODEL STUDY OF A FORESTED AND A CUTOVER SLOPE

ABSTRACT

The problem of analysing and predicting the effect of vegetation removal on the hydrological regime or soil water potential on steep slopes was approached through an experimental model set up in a greenhouse. A tilting soil bin positioned at different slope angles simulated a soil layer overlying impervious bedrock, and a forest cover was modelled by a number of small trees. The response of the soil water potential to simulated rain storms was studied first for the forested and later for the cutover slope. Transpiration in the greenhouse was measured by means of phytometers.

The results showed that a forest cover accelerates the soil moisture depletion in a shallow soil mantle regardless of the steepness of the slope. For a storm of given intensity and duration, the recharge phase for the clear-cut slope was therefore much shorter than for the forested one. The slope angle was only responsible for the distribution of recharge and the initial hydrological conditions when drainage had ceased. During the drainage phase the flow in the slope was two-dimensional, whereas it was essentially one-dimensional (i.e. vertical upwards) after field capacity had been reached. At this point the matric suction increased exponentially with time for suctions within the tensiometer range. Within this same range water loss from any point in the soil took place at a constant rate. This result is consistent with field observations.     

Airborne measurements of dust layer properties, particle size distribution and mixing state of Saharan dust during SAMUM 2006

The Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) was conducted in May/June 2006 in southern Morocco. As part of SAMUM, airborne in situ measurements of the particle size distribution in the diameter range 4 nm < D _p < 100 μm were conducted. The aerosol mixing state was determined below D _p < 2.5 μm. Furthermore, the vertical structure of the dust layers was investigated with a nadir-looking high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL). The desert dust aerosol exhibited two size regimes of different mixing states: below 0.5 μm, the particles had a non-volatile core and a volatile coating; larger particles above 0.5 μm consisted of non-volatile components and contained light absorbing material. In all cases, particles larger than 10 μm were present, and in 80% of the measurements no particles larger than 40 μm were present. The abundance of large particles showed almost no height dependence. The effective diameter D _eff in the dust plumes investigated showed two main ranges: the first range of D _eff peaked around 5 μm and the second range of D _eff around 8 μm. The two ranges of D _eff suggest that it may be inadequate to use one average effective diameter or one parametrization for a typical dust size distribution.     

Early Last Interglacial palaeoenvironments in the western Baltic Sea: benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity

Knudsen, K. L., Jiang, H., Kristensen, P., Gibbard, P. L. & Haila, H. 2011: Early Last Interglacial palaeoenvironments in the western Baltic Sea: benthic foraminiferal stable isotopes and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity. Boreas, 10.1111/j.1502‐3885.2011.00206.x. ISSN 0300‐9483. Stable isotopes from benthic foraminifera, combined with diatom assemblage analysis and diatom‐based sea‐surface salinity reconstructions, are used for the interpretation of changes in bottom‐ and surface‐water conditions through the early Eemian at Ristinge Klint in the western Baltic Sea. Correlation of the sediments with the Eemian Stage is based on a previously published pollen analysis that indicates that they represent pollen zones E2–E5 and span ～3400 years. An initial brackish‐water phase, initiated c. 300 years after the beginning of the interglacial, is characterized by a rapid increase in sea‐surface and sea‐bottom salinity, followed by a major increase at c. 650 years, which is related to the opening of the Danish Straits to the western Baltic. The diatoms allow estimation of the maximum sea‐surface salinity in the time interval of c. 650–1250 years. After that, slightly reduced salinity is estimated for the interval of c. 1250–2600 years (with minimum values at c. 1600–2200 years). This may be related to a period of high precipitation/humidity and thus increased freshwater run‐off from land. Together with a continuous increase in the water depth, this may have contributed to the gradual development of a stratified water column after c. 1600 years. The stratification was, however, particularly pronounced between c. 2600 and 3400 years, a period with particularly high sea‐surface temperature, as well as bottom‐water salinity, and thus a maximum influence of Atlantic water masses. The freshwater run‐off from land may have been reduced as a result of particularly high summer temperatures during the climatic optimum.     

Subaqueous sediment density flows: Depositional processes and deposit types

Submarine sediment density flows are one of the most important processes for moving sediment across our planet, yet they are extremely difficult to monitor directly. The speed of long run‐out submarine density flows has been measured directly in just five locations worldwide and their sediment concentration has never been measured directly. The only record of most density flows is their sediment deposit. This article summarizes the processes by which density flows deposit sediment and proposes a new single classification for the resulting types of deposit. Colloidal properties of fine cohesive mud ensure that mud deposition is complex, and large volumes of mud can sometimes pond or drain‐back for long distances into basinal lows. Deposition of ungraded mud (T_E‐3) most probably finally results from en masse consolidation in relatively thin and dense flows, although initial size sorting of mud indicates earlier stages of dilute and expanded flow. Graded mud (T_E‐2) and finely laminated mud (T_E‐1) most probably result from floc settling at lower mud concentrations. Grain‐size breaks beneath mud intervals are commonplace, and record bypass of intermediate grain sizes due to colloidal mud behaviour. Planar‐laminated (T_D) and ripple cross‐laminated (T_C) non‐cohesive silt or fine sand is deposited by dilute flow, and the external deposit shape is consistent with previous models of spatial decelerating (dissipative) dilute flow. A grain‐size break beneath the ripple cross‐laminated (T_C) interval is common, and records a period of sediment reworking (sometimes into dunes) or bypass. Finely planar‐laminated sand can be deposited by low‐amplitude bed waves in dilute flow (T_B‐1), but it is most likely to be deposited mainly by high‐concentration near‐bed layers beneath high‐density flows (T_B‐2). More widely spaced planar lamination (T_B‐3) occurs beneath massive clean sand (T_A), and is also formed by high‐density turbidity currents. High‐density turbidite deposits (T_A, T_B‐2 and T_B‐3) have a tabular shape consistent with hindered settling, and are typically overlain by a more extensive drape of low‐density turbidite (T_D and T_C,). This core and drape shape suggests that events sometimes comprise two distinct flow components. Massive clean sand is less commonly deposited en masse by liquefied debris flow (D_CS), in which case the clean sand is ungraded or has a patchy grain‐size texture. Clean‐sand debrites can extend for several tens of kilometres before pinching out abruptly. Up‐current transitions suggest that clean‐sand debris flows sometimes form via transformation from high‐density turbidity currents. Cohesive debris flows can deposit three types of ungraded muddy sand that may contain clasts. Thick cohesive debrites tend to occur in more proximal settings and extend from an initial slope failure. Thinner and highly mobile low‐strength cohesive debris flows produce extensive deposits restricted to distal areas. These low‐strength debris flows may contain clasts and travel long distances (D_M‐2), or result from more local flow transformation due to turbulence damping by cohesive mud (D_M‐1). Mapping of individual flow deposits (beds) emphasizes how a single event can contain several flow types, with transformations between flow types. Flow transformation may be from dilute to dense flow, as well as from dense to dilute flow. Flow state, deposit type and flow transformation are strongly dependent on the volume fraction of cohesive fine mud within a flow. Recent field observations show significant deviations from previous widely cited models, and many hypotheses linking flow type to deposit type are poorly tested. There is much still to learn about these remarkable flows.