Unique isoprene oxidation products demonstrate chlorine atom chemistry occurs in the Houston,Texas urban area

As part of the 2000 Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS), we studied the isoprene oxidation process under ambient conditions to discern the presence of chlorine atom (Cl) chemistry in the Houston, Texas urban area. By measuring chloromethylbutenone (CMBO) and an isomer of chloromethylbutenal (CMBA), we clearly observed sixteen episodes of active Cl chemistry during the 24-day experiment. Estimated median Cl concentration during each of these episodes was between the detection limit of ~10² atoms cm⁻³ and 50 _{- 30} ^{+ 70} ×10⁴ 50_{ - 30}^{ + 70} \times {10^4} atoms cm⁻³. Cl concentration during all the episodes averaged 7.6 _{- 2.0} ^{+ 4.7} ×10⁴ 7.6_{ - 2.0}^{ + 4.7} \times {10^4} atoms cm⁻³ and thus amounted to less than 3% of the OH concentration during the same periods. During the episodes, the fraction of oxidation chemistry initiated by Cl ranged from 3–43% and was strongly dependent on the quantity and type of hydrocarbons present in the atmosphere. Because of its intermittent presence and low concentration, Cl is not a broadly influential oxidant in the Houston, Texas urban area.     

SUBURBANIZATION IN THE CLEVELAND SMSA, 1950–1970

Suburban growth is a complex process attributable partly to decentralization and partly to deconcentration. Data on source of migrants and population density are used to operationalize these concepts in an empirical study of the Cleveland, Ohio SMSA for the period 1950 to 1970. Statistical analysis of census tract data for the suburban ring reveals a piling up of densities at the inner edge and suggests a complex pattern with respect to sources of the migrants contributing to suburban growth.     

STRATIFIED MARINE LAKES OF PALAU (WESTERN CAROLINE ISLANDS)

The physical geography of the limestone islands of Palau permits permanent water-column stratification in 13 tropical sea-level marine lakes, each with unique water-column physics, chemistry, and biology. Embayments and lagoons amid the coral became isolated as marine lakes after Miocene uplifting. Surface mixing of lake water by wind is reduced by jungle-covered karst ridges. Surface tidal exchange through fissures in fenestrated karst is slow while midwater exchange through submarine tunnels is fast, but both produce damped, delayed tides with modest seawater exchange from the barrier-reef lagoon. Topographic protection from wind, heavy regular rain throughout the year, with precipitation exceeding evaporation, and modest tidal exchange produce stratified water columns with brackish waters above permanently anoxic saline hypolimnia. Permanent lake stratification is documented for 18 years; sediment cores (by others) show stratification for >100 years, and recent constant sea level implies ecosystem stability for thousands of years. Therefore, the marine lakes in Palau are small, closed, simple ecosystems that do not change over time–steady-state chemostats permitting replicate field measurements of biological and physical attributes from day to day, month to month, or decade to decade. [Key words: Palau, meromictic, marine lake, karst, lake stratification, tides, model ecosystem.]     

Progress in isotope paleohydrology using lake sediment cellulose

Recent advances in sample preparation techniques and mass spectrometry have fostered more routine oxygen isotope analysis of aquatic cellulose in lake sediment cores, a proxy for lake water oxygen isotope history. These methodological developments have significantly increased the feasibility of incorporating this approach into high-resolution, multi-site, and multi-proxy studies, which are frequently necessary to answer complex hydrological, hydroecological and hydroclimatic questions requiring a paleoenvironmental perspective. Direct translation of lake sediment aquatic cellulose oxygen isotope composition into lake water oxygen isotope composition offers appreciable opportunity for quantitative paleohydrological reconstructions, as evidenced by studies conducted over the past 15 years that span Holocene and pre-historical timescales.     

Ultra-rapid landscape response and sediment yield following glacier retreat, Icy Bay, southern Alaska

The páramo is a neotropical alpine ecosystem that covers more than 75,000 km² of the northern Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, and Peru. It provides important environmental services: more than 10 million people in the Andean highlands benefit from the water supply and regulation function, which is attributed to the volcanic soils that underlie the ecosystem. The soils are also major carbon sinks of global significance. Severe land use changes and soil degradation threaten both the hydrology and carbon sink function. Nevertheless, soil genesis and properties in the páramo is rather poorly understood, nor are their ecological functions well documented. The impact of the geomorphology of the páramo on soil genesis was studied in the rio Paute basin, south Ecuador. Two toposequences were described and analysed. In each toposequence, four pedons were selected representing summit, backslope, undrained plain situation, and valley bottom positions in the landscape. The soils are classified as Hydric Andosols in the World Reference Base for Soil Resources and Epiaquands or Hydrudands in Soil Taxonomy. They are very acidic and have a high organic matter content, high P deficiency, and Al toxicity. Their water content ranges from 2.64 g g^− 1 at saturation, down to 1.24 g g^− 1 at wilting point, resulting in a large water storage capacity. Two major soil forming processes are identified: (1) volcanic ash deposition and (2) accumulation of organic carbon. Volcanic ash deposits may vary in depth as a result of regional geomorphological factors such as parent material, orientation, slope, and altitude. Organic carbon accumulation is an interaction of both waterlogging, which depends on the position in the landscape, and the formation of organometallic complexes with Al and Fe released during volcanic ash breakdown. Despite the high variability in parent material and topography, the soil is characterised by a notable homogeneity in physico-chemical properties. Statistical analysis reveals that only topographic location has a slight but significant influence on soil pH as well as the organic matter content, saturated conductivity and water retention at high pressure. Finally, the exceptional properties of these soils provide useful insights to improve classification of the Andosols reference group of the FAO World reference Base for Soil Resources.     

Inflight Calibration of the NEAR Multispectral Imager: II. Results from Eros Approach and Orbit

During the Near-Earth Asteroid Rendezvous (NEAR) spacecraft's investigation of asteroid 433 Eros, inflight calibration measurements from the multispectral imager (MSI) have provided refined knowledge of the camera's radiometric performance, pointing, and light-scattering characteristics. Measurements while at Eros corroborate most earlier calibration results, although there appears to be a small, gradual change in instrument dark current and flat field due to effects of aging in the space environment. The most pronounced change in instrument behavior, however, is a dramatic increase in scattered light due to contaminants accumulated on the optics during unscheduled fuel usage in December 1998. Procedures to accurately quantify and to remediate the scattered light are described in a companion paper (Li et al. 2002, Icarus155, 00-00). Acquisition of Eros measurements has clarified the relative, filter-to-filter, radiometric performance of the MSI. Absolute radiometric calibration appears very well constrained from flight measurements, with an accuracy of ∼5%. Pointing relative to the spacecraft coordinate system can be determined from the temperature of the spacecraft deck with an accuracy of ∼1 pixel.     

The Levant Slumps and the Phoenician Structures: collapse features along the continental margin of the southeastern Mediterranean Sea

Two distinct series of slumps deform the upper part of the sedimentary sequence along the continental margin of the Levant. One series is found along the base of the continental slope, where it overlies the disrupted eastern edge of the Messinian evaporites. The second series of slumps transects the continental margin from the shelf break to the Levant Basin. It seemed that the two series were triggered by two unrelated, though contemporaneous, processes. The shore-parallel slumps were initiated by basinwards flow of the Messinian salt, that carried along the overlying Plio-Quaternary sediments. Seawater that percolated along the detachment faults dissolved the underlying salt to form distinctly disrupted structures. The slope-normal slumps are located on top of large canyons that cut into the pre-Messinian sedimentary rocks. A layer of salt is found in the canyons, and the Plio-Quaternary sediments were deposited on that layer. The slumps are bounded by large, NW-trending faults where post-Messinian faulted offset was measured. We presume that the flow of the salt in the canyons also drives the slope-normal slumps. Thus thin-skinned halokynetic processes generated the composite post-Tortonian structural patterns of the Levant margin. The Phoenician Structures are a prime example of the collapse of a distal continental margin due to the dissolution of a massive salt layer.     

Assessment of spatial variation in carbon utilization by benthic and pelagic invertebrates in a temperate South African estuary using stable isotope signatures

Stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) were used to evaluate the spatial variations in carbon flow from primary producers to consumers at two sites in the temperate and permanently open Kariega Estuary on the southeastern coast of South Africa during October 2005 and February 2006. One site was located opposite a salt marsh while the second was upstream of the marsh. Except for significantly enriched δ¹³C values of Zostera capensis and surface sediments near the salt marsh, the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N signatures of the producers were similar between sites. The invertebrates were clustered into groups roughly corresponding to the predominant feeding modes. The suspension feeders showed δ¹³C values closest to the seston, whereas the deposit feeders, detritivores and scavengers/predators had more enriched δ¹³C values reflecting primary carbon sources that were likely a combination of seston, Spartina maritima and Z. capensis at the upstream site, with an increased influence of benthic algae and Z. capensis at the salt marsh site. The δ¹⁵N signatures of the consumers showed a stepwise continuum rather than distinct levels of fractionation, indicating highly complex trophic linkages and significant dietary overlap among the species. Consumers exhibited significantly enriched δ¹³C values at the salt marsh site, an effect that was attributed to enriched Z. capensis detritus in this region in addition to increased phytoplankton biomass in their diets compared with invertebrates living upstream. The data reinforce the concept that between-site variations in the stable isotope ratios of consumers can result not only from dietary shifts, but also from alterations in the isotope ratios of primary producers.