Supralittoral ponded algal stromatolites of the late Precambrian Annijokka Member of the Båtsfjord formation,Varanger peninsula,north Norway

Non-columnar stromatolites occur in the late Precambrian Annijokka Member of the Båtsfjord Formation of the Varanger peninsula, north Norway. The stromatolites form biostromes up to 0.5 m thick embedded within peritidal, shallowing-up, siliciclastic-dolomite cycles. The stromatolite biostromes tend to occur in the upper, dolomite-rich portions of the cycles and are mostly calcite-dominated.Interpretation of the origin of the host sediments, combined with the location of the biostromes in the depositional sequences and with the contrasting mineralogy between the latter and the stromatolites, suggests that the majority of the stromatolite biostromes originated in freshwater and schizohaline supralittoral ponds.     

Reinvestigation of the classic late‐glacial Bølling Sø sequence,Denmark: chronology,macrofossils, Cladocera and chydorid ephippia

The late‐glacial Bølling period was first identified by Johs. Iversen on the basis of pollen results from Lake Bølling Sø in Denmark. Because there were no radiocarbon dates from the sequence the Bølling Chronozone (12 000–13 000 ¹⁴C yr BP) was later established on the basis of dates from other sites. A new project is reinvestigating the sediments from the Bølling Sø sequence with AMS radiocarbon dating and multiproxy analyses. Here we present results of AMS radiocarbon dating, macrofossil analyses, cladoceran analyses (Cladocera concentrations and chydorid ephippia) and Pediastrum analyses (concentrations). The AMS dates on land plant remains show that the lower part of the sequence is around 12 500 ¹⁴C yr BP, and thus clearly pre‐dates the Allerød chronozone. However, construction of a chronology for the sequence was problematic, partly because of reworking of macroscopic plant remains. The climate ameliorated after glacial conditions to such an extent that growth of plants could begin at ca. 12 500 ¹⁴C yr BP, but the results of multiproxy analyses show little evidence for a further warming period during the pre‐Allerød part of the sequence. Lake productivity was low, and tree birch rare or maybe absent. This may reflect widespread occurrence of dead ice, unstable soils, heavy in‐wash of minerogenic matter to the lake, resulting in turbid water and rapid sedimentation. The early pioneer vegetation was characterised by Salix polaris and Dryas octopetala, and by herbs. The Allerød Chronozone, and especially its initial part, appears to have been relatively warm but reduced cladoceran concentrations and increased proportion of chydorid ephippia suggest that climate cooled in the middle Allerød and that the late Allerød was colder than the early part. The early Younger Dryas was probably colder than the late Younger Dryas. Clear warming is apparent at the beginning of the Holocene, where the first macrofossil evidence of trees (Betula pubescens, Populus tremula) is found. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Characteristics of deep groundwater flow in a basin marginal setting at Sellafield,Northwest England: Cl and halide evidence

A number of chemical and physical processes inside and outside a sedimentary basin (e.g. evaporite dissolution and topographic drive, respectively) affect groundwater flow near the basin’s margin. Contrasting formations at the margin, typically basinal sedimentary rocks and basement, are host to the interplay between these processes so that groundwater flows and compositions change within a relatively small volume. To interpret how groundwater flow and geochemistry have evolved, interactions between these processes must be understood. Such interactions were investigated near the margin of the East Irish Sea Basin in NW England, by sampling deep groundwaters (to 1500 m below sea level) from Ordovician volcanic basement rocks and Carboniferous to Triassic sedimentary cover rocks. Variable Br/Cl ratios and Cl concentrations in deep saline waters and brines indicate mixing patterns. Variations in ³⁶Cl/Cl constrain the timing of mixing. Relatively low Br/Cl ratios (ca. 1 × 10⁻³ by mass) characterise brine from the western sedimentary cover and reflect halite dissolution further west. Saline water with relatively high Br/Cl ratios (ca. 2 × 10⁻³ by mass) of uncertain origin occupies the eastern basement. These two waters mix across the area. However, mixing alone cannot explain variable ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios, which partly reflect differing in situ³⁶Cl production rates in different rock formations. Most ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios in groundwater sampled from the eastern metavolcanic basement (mean = 25 × 10⁻¹⁵) and western sedimentary cover (mean = 10 × 10⁻¹⁵) are at or close to equilibrium with in situ³⁶Cl production. These variations in ³⁶Cl/Cl across the site possibly took >1.5 Ma to be attained, implying that deep groundwater flow responded only slowly to the Quaternary glaciation of the site. Interplay between varied processes in basin marginal settings does not necessarily imply flow instability.     

蓝牙技术在区域气象中心供电保障系统中应用的探讨

介绍了供电保障系统在沈阳区域气象中心业务中的重要作用和高压真空开关的基本原理及在线监测高压真空开关的重要性。根据蓝牙技术具有低成本、体积小、功耗低和互操作性强等特点,探讨了将它应用于区域气象中心供电保障系统的在线检测系统中,可作为信号采集与传输的无线传输通道,有效解决传感器的安装、电源供应、信号传输与测试系统的高低压绝缘问题;并以区域中心供电系统中高压真空开关为例来探讨其可行性,探讨了应用设计中选择蓝牙模块装置的配置地点。结果表明:若采用嵌入蓝牙电力模块进行信息传输,可明显提高供电电能质量,使信息传输系统运行更加可靠、稳定,还可提高供电保障系统的安全性和抗干扰能力,减少真空开关的突发故障所造成的经济损失。     

Rock slopes risk assessment based on advanced geostructural survey techniques

The rock mass structure determines the possible unstable blocks that can induce rock fall phenomena. The stability analyses must therefore be based on an accurate geo-structural survey. In this work, the stability conditions of several steep slopes along a motorway in the Far East have been evaluated through key block analysis based on traditional surveys and on laser scanner acquisitions. Discontinuity orientations and positions on the rock face are derived from the point cloud in order to perform the reconstruction of the rock mass and to identify blocks in the slope. Results obtained from both the traditional and the new method is in good agreement. Stability analyses have been performed for evaluating the kinematic feasibility of different failure mechanisms. The rock block shapes and volumes are computed by performing 2D and 3D analyses whereas the failure mechanisms are examined using the key block method. Parametrical analyses have been carried on to evaluate the influence of slope angle variation. DEM models have also been set up. The relative hazard is determined by statistically evaluating the kinematical feasibility of different failure mechanisms. Hazard mapping has been utilized to identify the best methodology for risk mitigation.     

SWASV speciation of Cd, Pb and Cu for the determination of seawater contamination in the area of the Nicole shipwreck (Ancona coast, Central Adriatic Sea)

The study reports for the first time on the heavy metal contamination of the waters surrounding a shipwreck lying on the sea floor. Square wave anodic stripping voltammetry has been used for a survey of the total and dissolved Cd, Pb and Cu contents of the seawater at the site of the sinking of the Nicole M/V (Coastal Adriatic Sea, Italy). Results show that the hulk has a considerable impact as regards all three metals in the bottom water, especially for the particulate fraction concentrations, which increased by factors of ∼9 (Cd), ∼3 (Pb) and ∼5 (Cu). The contaminated plume extended downstream for about 2 miles. Much lower contamination was observed for dissolved bottom concentrations; nevertheless Pb (0.56 ± 0.03 nmol/L) is higher than the Italian legal limits established for 2015 and Cd (0.23 ± 0.03 nmol/L) is very close the limit of Cd will be exceeded if the hulk is not removed.     

Ostracod palaeoecology and environmental change in the Laptev and Kara seas (Siberian Arctic) during the last 18 000 years

Fossil ostracod assemblages were investigated in five AMS ¹⁴ C‐dated cores from various water depths of the Laptev and Kara seas ranging from the upper continental slope (270 m) to the present‐day shelf depth (40 m). Six fossil assemblages were distinguished. These represent the varying environmental conditions at the North Siberian continental margin since about 18 ka. In the cores from the shelf the ostracod assemblages reflect the gradual transition from an estuarine brackish‐water environment to modern marine conditions since 12.3 ka, as induced by the regional early Holocene transgression. The core from the upper continental slope dates back to c. 17.6 ka and contains assemblages that are absent in the shelf cores. The assemblage older than 10 ka stands out as a specific community dominated by relatively deep‐water Arctic and North Atlantic species that also contains euryhaline species. Such an assemblage provides evidence for past inflows of Atlantic‐derived waters from as early as c. 17.2 ka, probably facilitated by upwelling in coastal polynyas, and a considerable riverine freshwater influence with enhanced surface water stratification owing to the proximity of the palaeocoastline until early Holocene times. In all studied cores, relative increases in euryhaline species dominant in the inner‐shelf regions are recorded in the mid–late Holocene sediments (<7 ka), which otherwise already contain modern‐like ostracod assemblages with relatively deep‐water species. This observation suggests euryhaline species to be largely sea‐ice‐ and/or iceberg‐rafted and therefore may provide evidence for a climate cooling trend.     

Nitrogen Removal in Vegetated and Unvegetated Drainage Ditches Impacted by Diffuse and Point Sources of Pollution

Secondary drainage canals have the potential to effectively mitigate excess nitrogen loads from diffuse and point sources. In vegetated (Phragmites australis and Typha latifolia) and in unvegetated canals subjected to diffuse and point pollution, nitrogen removal was evaluated by means of simple in–out mass balance and potential uptake by macrophytes was estimated from biomass data. Results suggest an elevated control of nitrogen in vegetated ditches receiving point source of pollution (average abatement of 50% of the total N load per linear km), whereas removal processes are much less effective in unvegetated ditches. The comparison between net abatement and plant uptake, highlights the presence of other unaccounted for processes responsible for a relevant percentage of total N removal. Overall, results from this study suggest the importance of actions aiming at the appropriate management of emergent vegetation, in order to improve its direct and indirect metabolic functions and maximize nitrogen removal in impacted watersheds.     

Challenges in using siliceous subfossils as a tool for inferring past water level and hydroperiod in Everglades marshes

Successfully rehabilitating drained wetlands through hydrologic restoration is dependent on defining restoration targets, a process that is informed by pre-drainage conditions, as well as understanding linkages between hydrology and ecosystem structure. Paleoecological records can inform restoration goals by revealing long-term patterns of change, but are dependent on preservation of biomarkers that provide meaningful interpretations of environmental change. In the Florida Everglades, paleohydrological hind-casting could improve restoration forecasting, but frequent drying of marsh soils leads to poor preservation of many biomarkers. To determine the effectiveness of employing siliceous subfossils in paleohydrological reconstructions, we examined diatoms, plant and sponge silico-sclerids from three soil cores in the central Everglades marshes. Subfossil quality varied among cores, but the abundance of recognizable specimens was sufficient to infer 1,000–3,000 years of hydrologic change at decadal to centennial resolution. Phytolith morphotypes were linked to key marsh plant species to indirectly measure fluctuations in water depth. A modern dataset was used to derive diatom-based inferences of water depth and hydroperiod (R² = 0.63, 0.47; RMSE = 14 cm, 120 days, respectively). Changes in subfossil quality and abundances at centennial time-scales were associated with mid-Holocene climate events including the Little Ice Age and Medieval Warm Period, while decadal-scale fluctuations in assemblage structure during the twentieth century suggested co-regulation of hydrology by cyclical climate drivers (particularly the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation) and water management changes. The successful reconstructions based on siliceous subfossils shown here at a coarse temporal scale (i.e., decadal to centennial) advocate for their application in more highly resolved (i.e., subdecadal) records, which should improve the ability of water managers to target the quantity and variability of water flows appropriate for hydrologic restoration.