A lost Tethyan evaporitic basin: Evidence from a Cretaceous hemipelagic meta‐selenite – red chert association in the Eastern Mediterranean realm

Ancient evaporite deposits are geological archives of depositional environments characterized by a long‐term negative precipitation balance and bear evidence for global ocean element mass balance calculations. Here, Cretaceous selenite pseudomorphs from western Anatolia (‘Rosetta Marble’) — characterized by their exceptional morphological preservation — and their ‘marine’ geochemical signatures are described and interpreted in a process‐oriented context. These rocks recorded Late Cretaceous high‐pressure/low‐temperature, subduction‐related metamorphism with peak conditions of 1·0 to 1·2 GPa and 300 to 400°C. Metre‐scale, rock‐forming radiating rods, now present as fibrous calcite marble, clearly point to selenitic gypsum as the precursor mineral. Stratigraphic successions are recorded along a reconstructed proximal to distal transect. The cyclical alternation of selenite beds and radiolarian ribbon‐bedded cherts in the distal portions are interpreted as a two type of seawater system. During arid intervals, shallow marine brines cascaded downward into basinal settings and induced precipitation. During more humid times, upwelling‐induced radiolarian blooms caused the deposition of radiolarite facies. Interestingly, there is no comparable depositional setting known from the Cenozoic world. Meta‐selenite geochemical data (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) plot within the range of reconstructed middle Cretaceous seawater signatures. Possible sources for the ¹³C‐enriched (mean 2·2‰) values include methanogenesis, gas hydrates and cold seep fluid exhalation. Spatially resolved component‐specific analysis of a rock slab displays isotopic variances between meta‐selenite crystals (mean δ¹³C 2·2‰) and host matrix (mean δ¹³C 1·3‰). The Cretaceous evaporite‐pseudomorphs of Anatolia represent a basin wide event coeval with the Aptian evaporites of the Proto‐Atlantic and the pseudomorphs share many attributes, including lateral distribution of 600 km and stratigraphic thickness of 1·5 to 2·0 km, with the evaporites formed during the younger Messinian salinity crisis. The Rosetta Marble of Anatolia may represent the best‐preserved selenite pseudomorphs worldwide and have a clear potential to act as a template for the study of meta‐selenite in deep time.     

Nitrogen Sulfide In Comets Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) And Hale–Bopp (C/1995 O1)

The chemistry of both nitrogen and sulfur presents interesting problems in comets.In this paper, we use a model of cometary comae with gas-phase chemical kineticsand gas dynamics to predict molecular abundances in the inner coma region for twoof the brightest comets in the past 20 years, Hyakutake (C/1996 B2) and Hale–Bopp(C/1995 O1). In this progress report we concentrate on the gas-phase chemistry of thenitrogen sulfide (NS) radical at a heliocentric distance of 1 AU to study the abundanceof NS using a detailed photo and chemical reaction network with over 100 species andabout 1000 reactions. The results are compared with recent observations of CometHale–Bopp and reveal that conventional gas-phase reactions schemes do not produceNS in sufficient quantities to explain the observations. We plan to continue therefinement of the model to improve agreement with observational constraints.     

Changes in land use/cover mapped over 80 years in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia

Despite many studies on land degradation in the Highlands of Northern Ethiopia, quantitative information regarding long-term changes in land use/cover (LUC) is rare. Hence, this study aims to investigate the LUC changes in the Geba catchment (5142 km²), Northern Ethiopia, over 80 years (1935–2014). Aerial photographs (APs) of the 1930s and Google Earth (GE) images (2014) were used. The point-count technique was utilized by overlaying a grid on APs and GE images. The occurrence of cropland, forest, grassland, shrubland, bare land, built-up areas and water body was counted to compute their fractions. A multivariate adaptive regression spline was applied to identify the explanatory factors of LUC and to create fractional maps of LUC. The results indicate significant changes of most types, except for forest and cropland. In the 1930s, shrubland (48%) was dominant, followed by cropland (39%). The fraction of cropland in 2014 (42%) remained approximately the same as in the 1930s, while shrubland significantly dropped to 37%. Forests shrank further from a meagre 6.3% in the 1930s to 2.3% in 2014. High overall accuracies (93% and 83%) and strong Kappa coefficients (89% and 72%) for point counts and fractional maps respectively indicate the validity of the techniques used for LUC mapping.     

Factors controlling the morphology and volume (V)–length (L) relations of permanent gullies in the northern Ethiopian Highlands

Small‐scale aerial photographs and high‐resolution satellite images, available for Ethiopia since the second half of the twentieth century as for most countries, allow only the length of gullies to be determined. Understanding the development of gully volumes therefore requires that empirical relations between gully volume (V) and length (L) are established in the field. So far, such V–L relations have been proposed for a limited number of gullies/environments and were especially developed for ephemeral gullies. In this study, V–L relations were established for permanent gullies in northern Ethiopia, having a total length of 152 km. In order to take the regional variability in environmental characteristics into account, factors that control gully cross‐sectional morphology were studied from 811 cross‐sections. This indicated that the lithology and the presence of check dams or low‐active channels were the most important controls of gully cross‐sectional shape and size. Cross‐sectional size could be fairly well predicted by their drainage area. The V–L relation for the complete dataset was V = 0 · 562 L ^1·381 (n = 33, r² = 0 · 94, with 34 · 9% of the network having check dams and/or being low‐active). Producing such relations for the different lithologies and percentages of the gully network having check dams and/or being low‐active allows historical gully development from historical remote sensing data to be assessed. In addition, gully volume was also related to its catchments area (A) and catchment slope gradient (S_c). This study demonstrates that V–L and V–A × S_c relations can be very suitable for planners to assess gully volume, but that the establishment of such relations is necessarily region‐specific. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intertidal clay-drape couplets (Gironde estuary, France)

Clay-drape couplets on subaqueous dunes have been regarded as a diagnostic feature of the subtidal environment since Visser's seminal paper (1980). The new observation of clay-drape couplets in the intertidal zone on a present day tidal bar of the Gironde estuary shows that they are not restricted to the subtidal zone.
In the intertidal zone, low-tide slack-water clay drapes are deposited in the bottomsets of the dominant current dunes when the muddy water retained in the troughs is absorbed into the sand during the emergence of the intertidal bar. They drape emergence run-off ripples generated by the drainage currents in the bottomsets. High-tide slack-water clay drapes are deposited over the entire dune surface and are preserved on the lee side of the dunes and in the bottomsets. They drape the subordinate current ripples. Low-tide and high-tide slack-water clay drapes enclose one thin rippled sand layer (the subordinate current bundle) and are isolated from other adjacent clay-drape couplets by the dominant current bundle.
The clay-drape couplets deposited in the intertidal zone can be distinguished from their subtidal counterparts on the basis of two morphological differences:
1. In the intertidal zone, the low-tide clay drape is only present in the bottomsets of the dunes, whereas in the subtidal zone equivalent clay drapes are also present on the lower part of the lee side of the dunes.
2. In the intertidal zone, low-tide clay drapes are deposited in the bottomsets of the dunes over emergence run-off ripples oriented in the direction of the drainage currents (i.e. in a direction normal to the tidal currents). Conversely, in the subtidal zone, the equivalent clay drapes are typically deposited over ripples oriented in the tidal-current direction (ebb or flood). There is a difference of polarity of 90° between the intertidal and subtidal small-scale bedforms draped by the low-tide slack-water drapes.     

Investigating the pace of temperature change and its implications over the twenty-first century

Most climatological studies characterize the future climate change as the evolution between a fixed current baseline and the future. However, as climate continues to change, ecosystems and societies will need to continuously adapt to a moving target. Here, we consider indicators of the pace of temperature change estimated from CMIP5 projections of an ensemble of climate models. We define the pace as a difference in relevant metrics between two successive 20-year periods, i.e. with a continually moving baseline. Under the strongest emission pathway (RCP8.5), the warming rate strongly increases, and peaks before 2080. All latitudes experience at least a doubling in the warming rate compared to the current period. Significant shifts in temperature distributions above twice the standard deviation between two successive 20-year periods expand from 9 % of continents on average currently to 41 % by 2060 onwards. In these regions, a warm year with a return period of about 50 years would become quite common 20 years later. The fraction of the world population exposed to such shifts will grow from 8 % to about 60 % on average, i.e. 6 billion people. Tropical areas are strongly affected, especially West Africa and South-East Asia. Low mitigation (RCP6.0) limits the warming rate to current values. Medium mitigation (RCP4.5) even reduces population exposure to significant shifts in temperature distributions to negligible values by the end of the century. Strong mitigation (RCP2.6) is the only option that generates a return to values similar to the historical period for all our indicators related to the pace of temperature change. This alternative way to analyze climate projections can yield new insights for the climate impacts and adaptation communities.     

Water balance variability in the confined Aba’ala limestone graben at the western margin of the Danakil depression,northern Ethiopia

Marginal grabens are major development corridors in Ethiopia, and need to be understood for proper assessment of the hydrological budget. This study investigates the water balance of the Aba’ala graben (553 km²) in the period 2015–2016 under the challenge of data scarcity. We measured the rainfall and river discharge in order to analyse the runoff components of the graben. The rainfall volume in the Aba’ala graben showed erratic behaviour, which led to rapid flood runoff of the major river into the graben bottom. The average annual inflow and outflow of the graben bottom for the period 2015–2016 amounted to 364 and 254 hm³, respectively. However, flood runoff and evapotranspiration had a marked effect on water availability. Water storage took 36% of the water inflow into the graben bottom. Sustainable water management could reduce the temporal variation of the water storage in Aba’ala graben.     

Gully and soil and water conservation structure densities in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia over the last 80 years

Gullies have been a common phenomenon in semi‐arid northern Ethiopia for the last centuries. However, soil and water conservation (SWC) structures have been implemented for a long time to curb soil erosion. Though, like most of the affected areas worldwide, density and distribution of gullies and SWC structures, their causes and interrelations are poorly understood. The aims of this study were to develop a technique for mapping these densities of gullies and SWC structures, to explain their spatial distribution and to analyze changes over the period 1935–2014. Aerial photographs from 1935 to 1936 and Google Earth images from 2014 of the 5142 km² Geba catchment were used. Transect lines were established to count gullies and SWC structures in order to calculate densities. On average, a gully density of 1.14 km km^?2 was measured in 1935–1936 of which the larger portion (75%) were vegetated, indicating they were not very active. Over 80 years, gully density has significantly increased to 1.59 km km^?2 with less vegetation growing in their channel, but 66% of these gullies were treated with check dams. There was c. 3 km km^?2 of indigenous SWC structures (daget or lynchets) in 1935–1936 whereas a high density (20 km km^?2) of introduced SWC structures (mainly stone bunds and terraces) were observed in 2014. The density of gullies is positively correlated with slope gradient and shrubland cover and negatively with cropland cover, whereas the density of SWC structures significantly increased with increasing cropland cover. Density maps of gullies and SWC structures indicate sensitive areas to gully formation and priority areas for the implementation of SWC structures in Geba catchment. The obtained results illustrate the feasibility of the methods applied to map the density of gullies and SWC structures in mountainous areas. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatio‐temporal sedimentation patterns in beaver ponds along the Chevral river,Ardennes, Belgium

With the recovery of the European beaver (Castor fiber) and their capacity to engineer fluvial landscapes, questions arise as to how they influence sediment transport, including the spatio‐temporal trends and patterns of sedimentation in beaver ponds. The Chevral river (Ardennes, Belgium) contains two beaver dam sequences, which appeared in 2004. Volumes of sediment deposited behind the dams were measured, and grain‐size distribution patterns were determined. Flow discharges and sediment fluxes were measured at the inflow and outflow of each dam sequence. Between 2004 and 2011, 1710.1 m³ of sediment was deposited behind the beaver dams, with an average sediment thickness of 25.1 cm. The thickness of the sediment layer was significantly (p < 0.001) related to the area of the beaver ponds. Along the stream, beaver pond sediment thickness displayed a sinusoidal deposition pattern, in which ponds with thick sediment layers were preceded by a series of ponds with thinner sediment layers. A downstream textural coarsening in the dam sequences was also observed, probably because of dam failures subsequent to surges. Differences in sediment flux between the inflow and outflow at the beaver pond sequence were related to the river hydrograph, with deposition taking place during the rising limbs and slight erosion during the falling limbs. The 7‐year‐old sequences have filtered 190.19 ton of sediment out of the Chevral river, which is of the same order of magnitude as the 374.4 ton measured in pond deposits, with the difference between the values corresponding to beaver excavations (60.24 ton), inflow from small tributaries, and runoff from the valley flanks. Hydrogeomorphic effects of C. fiber and Castor canadensis activity are similar in magnitude. The detailed analysis of sedimentation in beaver pond sequences confirms the potential of beavers to contribute to river and wetland restoration, and catchment management. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.