Patterns of tidal flooding within a mangrove forest: Coombabah Lake,Southeast Queensland,Australia

Tidal flooding and surface drainage patterns have often been used to describe mangrove species zonation. However, in mangrove forests exhibiting little topography, ambiguous species distributions and/or few species, such approaches are ineffective. We identified four physiognomic mangrove forest types (Riverine, Fringing, Overwash and Basin) at Coombabah Lake, a tidal lake in southeast Queensland, Australia and investigated tidal flooding patterns using synoptic surveys of tidal observations at the local Standard Port combined with local water depth observation. Subsequently three sub-types of the basin forest type were identified: (1) Deep Basin Forest with mature trees, ∼50 cm standing water and ∼3 tides per year; (2) Medium Depth Basin Forest with intermediate tree development, ∼15–30 cm standing water and 20–40 tides per year; and (3) Shallow Basin Forest with relatively recent mangrove establishment, 5–15 cm standing water and ∼80 tides per year. These three basin sub-types were found to flood at different tide heights with the Shallow Basin flooding for tides above mean high water springs and the Deep Basin flooding only for tide heights approaching the highest astronomical tide. We propose that these basin types represent a succession in mangrove forest development that corresponds with increasing water depth and tree maturation over time. The succession not only represents increasing age but also change in basin substrate composition. This is manifest as increasing pneumatophore density and an increasing area of basin surface occupied by contiguous pneumatophore cover. As a result, it seems that mangrove development is able to modify tidal flooding into the basin by increasingly impeding water movement.     

Evolving neural network using variable string genetic algorithm for color infrared aerial image classification

Coastal wetlands are characterized by complex patterns both in their geomorphlc and ecological teatures. Besides field observations, it is necessary to analyze the land cover of wetlands through the color infrared （CIR） aerial photography or remote sensing image. In this paper, we designed an evolving neural network classifier using variable string genetic algorithm （VGA） for the land cover classification of CIR aerial image. With the VGA, the classifier that we designed is able to evolve automatically the appropriate number of hidden nodes for modeling the neural network topology optimally and to find a near-optimal set of connection weights globally. Then, with backpropagation algorithm （BP）, it can find the best connection weights. The VGA-BP classifier, which is derived from hybrid algorithms mentioned above, is demonstrated on CIR images classification effectively. Compared with standard classifiers, such as Bayes maximum-likelihood classifier, VGA classifier and BP-MLP （multi-layer perception） classifier, it has shown that the VGA-BP classifier can have better performance on highly resolution land cover classification.     

An Experimental Comparison of Ordinary and Universal Kriging and Inverse Distance Weighting

A factorial, computational experiment was conducted to compare the spatial interpolation accuracy of ordinary and universal kriging and two types of inverse squared-distance weighting. The experiment considered, in addition to these four interpolation methods, the effects of four data and sampling characteristics: surface type, sampling pattern, noise level, and strength of small-scale spatial correlation. Interpolation accuracy was measured by the natural logarithm of the mean squared interpolation error. Main effects of all five factors, all two-factor interactions, and several three-factor interactions were highly statistically significant. Among numerous findings, the most striking was that the two kriging methods were substantially superior to the inverse distance weighting methods over all levels of surface type, sampling pattern, noise, and correlation.     

Assimilation and Simulation of Typhoon Rusa （2002） Using the WRF System

Using the recently developed Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) 3DVAR and the WRF model, numerical experiments are conducted for the initialization and simulation of typhoon Rusa (2002).The observational data used in the WRF 3DVAR are conventional Global Telecommunications System (GTS) data and Korean Automatic Weather Station (AWS) surface observations. The Background Error Statistics (BES) via the National Meteorological Center (NMC) method has two different resolutions, that is, a 210-km horizontal grid space from the NCEP global model and a 10-km horizontal resolution from Korean operational forecasts. To improve the performance of the WRF simulation initialized from the WRF 3DVAR analyses, the scale-lengths used in the horizontal background error covariances via recursive filter are tuned in terms of the WRF 3DVAR control variables, streamfunction, velocity potential, unbalanced pressure and specific humidity. The experiments with respect to different background error statistics and different observational data indicate that the subsequent 24-h the WRF model forecasts of typhoon Rusa‘s track and precipitation are significantly impacted upon the initial fields. Assimilation of the AWS data with the tuned background error statistics obtains improved predictions of the typhoon track and its precipitation.     

Tsunami sediments and their foraminiferal assemblages

Tsunami hazard assessment begins with a compilation of past events that have affected a specific location. Given the inherent limitations of historical archives, the geological record has the potential to provide an independent dataset useful for establishing a richer, chronologically deeper time series of past events. Recent geological studies of tsunami are helping to improve our understanding of the nature and character of tsunami sediments. Wherever possible, geologists should be working to improve the research ‘tool kit’ available to identify past tsunami events. Marine foraminifera (single celled heterotrophic protists) have often been reported as present within tsunami-deposited sediments but in reality, little information about environmental conditions, and by analogy, the tsunami that deposited them, has been reported even though foraminifera have an enormous capacity to provide meaningful palaeo-environmental data. Here, we review what foraminifera are, describe their basic form and significance, summarise where they have been reported in tsunami sediments and identify what can be learnt from them. We review the gaps in our understanding and make recommendations to assist researchers who examine foraminiferal assemblages in order to enhance their use within tsunami geology.     

An integrated sulfur isotope model for Namibian shelf sediments

In this study the sulfur cycle in the organic-rich mud belt underlying the highly productive upwelling waters of the Namibian shelf is quantified using a 1D reaction-transport model. The model calculates vertical concentration and reaction rate profiles in the top 500 cm of sediment which are compared to a comprehensive dataset which includes carbon, sulfur, nitrogen and iron compounds as well as sulfate reduction (SR) rates and stable sulfur isotopes (³²S, ³⁴S). The sulfur dynamics in the well-mixed surface sediments are strongly influenced by the activity of the large sulfur bacteria Thiomargaritanamibiensis which oxidize sulfide (H₂S) to sulfate () using sea water nitrate () as the terminal electron acceptor. Microbial sulfide oxidation (SOx) is highly efficient, and the model predicts intense cycling between and H₂S driven by coupled SR and SOx at rates exceeding 6.0 mol S m⁻² y⁻¹. More than 96% of the SR is supported by SOx, and only 2-3% of the pool diffuses directly into the sediment from the sea water. A fraction of the produced by Thiomargarita is drawn down deeper into the sediment where it is used to oxidize methane anaerobically, thus preventing high methane concentrations close to the sediment surface. Only a small fraction of total H₂S production is trapped as sedimentary sulfide, mainly pyrite (FeS₂) and organic sulfur (S_org) (∼0.3 wt.%), with a sulfur burial efficiency which is amongst the lowest values reported for marine sediments (<1%). Yet, despite intense SR, FeS₂ and S_org show an isotope composition of ∼5 ‰ at 500 cm depth. These heavy values were simulated by assuming that a fraction of the solid phase sulfur exchanges isotopes with the dissolved sulfide pool. An enrichment in H₂S of ³⁴S towards the sediment-water interface suggests that Thiomargarita preferentially remove H₂³²S from the pore water. A fractionation of 20-30‰ was estimated for SOx (ε_SOx) with the model, along with a maximum fractionation for SR (ε_SR-max) of 100‰. These values are far higher than previous laboratory-based estimates for these processes. Mass balance calculations indicate negligible disproportionation of autochthonous elemental sulfur; an explanation routinely cited in the literature to account for the large fractionations in SR. Instead, the model indicates that repeated multi-stepped sulfide oxidation and intracellular disproportionation by Thiomargarita could, in principle, allow the measured isotope data to be simulated using much lower fractionations for ε_SOx (5‰) and ε_SR (78‰).     

Sedimentation patterns caused by scallop dredging in a physically dynamic environment

Scallop dredging grounds in the Firth of Lorn, western Scotland, are juxtaposed with rocky reef habitats raising concerns that reef communities may be impacted by sediment disturbed by nearby scallop dredging. A particle-tracking model of sediment transport and settling is applied at two scales. In the near-field, a suspension of typical sand/gravel-dominated bed sediment is subjected to a steady current across the dredge track. In the far-field, silt particles, which may persist in suspension for multiple tidal cycles, are tracked in the context of a regional model of tidally-driven flow. The principal sedimentary risk to reef habitats is predicted to come from settling sand particles when dredge tracks approach within tens of metres of a reef. The cumulative effect of dredging at the relatively low intensities recorded in this region is not expected to have a significant long-term impact on suspended silt concentrations and settlement in this highly dispersive environment.     

Land uplift due to subsurface fluid injection

The subsurface injection of fluid (water, gas, vapour) occurs worldwide for a variety of purposes, e.g. to enhance oil production (EOR), store gas in depleted gas/oil fields, recharge overdrafted aquifer systems (ASR), and mitigate anthropogenic land subsidence. Irrespective of the injection target, some areas have experienced an observed land uplift ranging from a few millimetres to tens of centimetres over a time period of a few months to several years depending on the quantity and spatial distribution of the fluid used, pore pressure increase, geological setting (depth, thickness, and area extent), and hydro-geomechanical properties of the injected formation. The present paper reviews the fundamental geomechanical processes that govern land upheaval due to fluid injection in the subsurface and presents a survey of some interesting examples of anthropogenic uplift measured in the past by the traditional levelling technique and in recent times with the aid of satellite technology. The examples addressed include Long Beach, Santa Clara Valley, and Santa Ana basin, California; Las Vegas Valley, Nevada; Cold Lake and other similar sites, Canada; Tokyo and Osaka, Japan; Taipei, Taiwan; Krechba, Algeria; Upper Palatinate, Germany; Chioggia and Ravenna, Italy.     

Distribution and speciation of gold in biogenic and abiogenic calcium carbonates - Implications for the formation of gold anomalous calcrete

Calcrete (pedogenic Ca carbonate) is an important sampling medium for geochemical gold (Au) exploration in semi-arid and arid regions of Australia, because it is widespread, easy to sample and calcium (Ca) shows a strong positive correlation with Au, but not with base metals, in calcrete overlying buried Au mineralization. In this study we show that the formation of Au-anomalous calcrete can be biomediated through the activity of resident microorganisms, and may not simply be the result of passive nucleation on inactive cells or evapotransporative processes. Calcified microfossils are highly abundant in calcrete from the Barns Au-prospect in South Australia. These microfossils are morphological analogues of calcified cells and biofilms formed in laboratory experiments conducted with active bacterial cultures enriched from Au-anomalous calcareous sand from the Barns prospect. Calcium carbonates precipitated by these cultures consisted mostly of calcite, which is the main carbonate mineral in calcrete. Synchrotron micro-X-ray fluorescence (S-μXRF) mapping was used to assess the distribution of Au, Zn, Ca and other metals in Ca carbonates precipitated by active bacterial cultures. On a μm-scale the distribution of Au was heterogeneous in these Ca carbonates and differed from base metal distribution, thus mimicking the spatial separation of these metals observed in calcrete. The speciation of Au in Ca carbonates precipitated by active bacteria was measured using micro-X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy (μ-XANES) and resembled that observed in Au-anomalous calcrete closely. While metallic Au was observed in Au ‘hotpots’, ionic Au was detected in the halo surrounding the ‘hotspot’. In contrast, the precipitates produced in the presence of dead bacterial cells or by raising solution pH or pCO₂, i.e., hydroxylapatite, portlandite and vaterite, respectively, did not reflect the mineralogy of calcrete. Gold distribution and speciation in vaterite, formed by raising pCO₂, were homogenous and did not reproduce the variation observed in calcrete and Ca carbonates precipitated by active cells. Increasing the supersaturation with respect to Ca in solution by incremental drying of the medium produced only X-ray amorphous precipitates, or hydroxylapatite in the presence heat-killed cells. In conclusion, this study shows that active microbial processes that combine biogenic Ca carbonatogenesis with Au precipitation are likely to drive the formation of Au-anomalous calcrete.