Characterization of sub‐daily thermal regime in alpine rivers: quantification of alterations induced by hydropeaking

The thermal regime of rivers is threatened by anthropogenic stresses at a large variety of timescales. We focus on sub‐daily thermal alterations induced by the release of hypolimnetic water for hydropower production (thermopeaking). We analyse the thermal signal focusing on the following characteristics that are potentially affected by hypolimnetic releases: (i) sub‐daily thermal rate of change and (ii) oscillation frequencies contained in the thermal signal. Through a proper scaling, we derive two dimensionless at‐a‐station indicators to compare alterations among stations with different locations and physiographic characteristics of the basins. Then we analyse the data from two different thermal datasets (Italy/Switzerland) for a total of 48 stations with 10 min time resolution of temperature data. The stations are grouped according to the absence of upstream hydropeaking releases (29 stations, reference group) and the existence of upstream hydropeaking, hence potentially impacted by thermopeaking (19 stations, altered group). Using a simple statistical approach, based on a non‐parametric definition of outliers, we identify the range of variability of the two indicators for the reference, unaltered group. This range measures the ‘natural’ sub‐daily thermal variability of the proposed indicators. Finally, we investigate the seasonality effects on the two proposed indicators and it results, that sub‐daily alterations mostly occur during summer. The two indicators represent a novel tool for the assessment of river thermal regime alterations and can be easily included in existing methodologies to assess river quality. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Thorough wetting and drainage of a peat lysimeter in a climate change scenario

A peat deposit (Zennare basin, Venice coastland, Italy) was monitored in previous field studies to investigate the hydrological response of organic soil to meteorological dynamics. Field tests and modelling predictions highlighted the risk of the complete loss of this peat layer during the next 50 years, due to oxidation enhanced by the increased frequency of warmer periods. Unfortunately, despite the considerable impacts that are expected to affect peat bogs (in this area and worldwide), only a few experimental studies have been carried out to assess the hydrologic response of peat to severe water scarcity. Because of that, an undisturbed 0.7 m³ peat monolith was collected, transferred to the laboratory and instrumented. The total weight (representative of the water content dynamics of the peat monolith as a whole), and two vertical profiles of matric potentials and water content were monitored in controlled water-scarce conditions. After an extended air-drying period, the monolith was used as an undisturbed peat lysimeter and a complete cycle of wetting and drainage was performed. Supplementary measurements of matric potential ψ and water content θ were collected by testing peat subsamples on a suction table apparatus. A set of water retention curves was determined in a range of matric potentials broader (ψ down to −7 m) than the current natural conditions in the field (minimum ψ = −1 m). While water content at saturation showed values similar to those in the original natural conditions (θ ≅ 0.8), a remarkable loss of water holding capacity (even for low potentials) has been highlighted, especially in deep layers that are now permanently below the water table. The retention curves changed shape and values, with a more pronounced hysteresis visible in an increasing distance between wetting and drying data. Hydraulic non-equilibrium between the water content and water potential could be a possible cause and it is worth modelling in future studies. The parameters of the van Genuchten retention curves were obtained for the wetting and the drying phases.     

Multi-approach characterization of shallow-water carbonates off Minamitorishima and their depositional settings/history

Sedimentological, geochemical, and chronological analyses were carried out on 18 carbonate rock samples collected at depths of 938, 1085, and 3354 m on the western slope of Minamitorishima (Marcus Island), which is located near the western margin of the Pacific Plate. Four groups of carbonate rocks were distinguished: a mollusk-rich limestone, a coral-rich dolomite, a foraminiferal-nannofossil packstone, and a phosphatized mudstone/wackestone. The mollusk-rich limestone is characterized by the dominance of bivalves (including rudists) and gastropod shells. Strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and Mesorbitolina ex gr. texana (a large benthic foraminifer) indicate that the shallow-water carbonates were deposited during the late Aptian–early Albian (ca. 123–111 Ma). The coral-rich dolomite is characterized by abundant scleractinian corals and nongeniculate coralline algae associated with encrusting acervulinid foraminifers. The biotic composition is similar to that of the Oligocene–Pleistocene carbonates reported from other seamounts in the northwestern Pacific. Geochemical data show that the coral-rich carbonates were dolomitized at 9.5–6.8 Ma (Tortonian–Messinian) and that normal seawater was the most likely parent fluid. The foraminiferal-nannofossil packstone is a semi-consolidated foraminiferal-nannofossil ooze and was deposited during the Pleistocene (0.99–0.45 Ma). The phosphatized mudstone/wackestone is marked by the absence of macrofossils and the presence of traces of planktic foraminifers. Although its depositional age is not constrained, the Sr isotope ratios indicate that the phosphatization occurred at 33.2–28.9 Ma. After the deposition of the Cretaceous shallow-water carbonates, including the mollusk-rich limestone, Minamitorishima was drowned and its top was covered with a pelagic cap, represented by the mudstone/wackestone. The late Eocene–early Oligocene volcanism (40.2–33.2 Ma) caused episodic uplift and returned the top of Minamitorishima to a shallow-water environment. After the early Oligocene phosphatization of the pelagic cap, coral reefs flourished on the top of this island. The reef limestone was dolomitized during the Tortonian–Messinian.     

High-resolution upper Pliocene to Pleistocene calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy in Ocean Drilling Program Hole 1146A in the South China Sea

We established a high-resolution calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy for the late Pliocene–Pleistocene by analyzing a 242 m-thick, continuous sedimentary succession from Ocean Drilling Program Site 1146, Hole A, in the South China Sea (SCS). A total of 14 calcareous nannofossil datums were detected in the SCS succession. They are, in descending order: first occurrence (FO) of Emiliania huxleyi, last occurrence (LO) of Pseudoemiliania lacunosa, LO of Reticulofenestra asanoi, FO of Gephyrocapsa parallela, FO of R. asanoi, LO of large Gephyrocapsa spp., FO of large G. spp., FO of Gephyrocapsa oceanica, FO of Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica, LO of Calcidiscus macintyrei, LO of Discoaster brouweri, LO of Discoaster pentaradiatus, LO of Discoaster surculus, and LO of Discoaster tamalis. The FO of E. huxleyi was not precisely detected due to poor preservation and dissolution of nannofossils in the underlying strata. We refined the previous calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy in the SCS by identifying Gephyrocapsa species and four evolutionary extinction events of the genus Discoaster. The proposed calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy correlates with those reported in other terrestrial and marine areas/sites and global benthic foraminiferal δ¹⁸O records. The age–depth curves based on nannofossil biostratigraphy indicate a significant increase in the sedimentation rates at the LO of R. asanoi (0.91–0.85 Ma). The timing of this increase corresponds to reef expansion in the Ryukyu Islands linked to a stepwise increase in Kuroshio Current intensity. This timing is broadly coeval with a sea surface temperature increase of ∼2 °C in the northwestern Pacific due to expansion of the Western Pacific Warm Pool towards the north and south subtropical regions. This can be explained by increased weathering and erosion of terrestrial areas in glacial periods and increased rainfall causing higher sediment transport in interglacial periods, which were both linked to Middle Pleistocene Transition-related climatic changes.     

Explosion quakes at Stromboli (Italy)

This paper reports the results of two seismic experiments aimed at determining the wave field of explosion quakes at Stromboli Island (Mediterranean Sea, Southern Italy). The typical Strombolian activity mostly consists of explosive phenomena causing pyroclastic, materials to be emitted together with jets of volcanic gases from one or more craters. Stromboli is an active volcano characterized by persistent seismic activity consisting of explosion quakes that are seismic events associated with the explosive volcanic phenomena. Explosion quakes are short lived seismic events occurring intermittently whose amplitude tends to decrease with distance from the vent. A distinctive feature of explosion quakes is the presence on seismograms of two, often clearly distinct, seismic phases. The first, low-frequency seismic phase (<2 Hz) is in fact usually followed by a high-frequency seismic phase (>3–4 Hz) after one second or more. The first seismic phase of explosion quakes has been shown to be characterized by a nearly radial linear polarization and by an apparent propagation velocity estimated at 600–800 m/s. The second phase is characterized by a more chaotic motion and a lower apparent propagation velocity of 150–450 m/s. The wavefield associated with the first low-frequency seismic phase appears to be generated by a resonating P-wave seismic source accompanying gas explosion and emission of pyroclastic materials. The wavefield associated with the second high-frequency seismic phase of explosion quakes appears to be mainly composed of scattered and converted waves due to the critical topography of the volcano.     

Transformations of Benzene Photoinduced by Nitrate Salts and Iron Oxide

This paper reports the results of a study on the transformation of benzene in the presence of solid nitrate salts (NaNO₃, NH₄NO₃) under irradiation in a gas-solid photoreactor. Sodium and ammonium nitrate have been chosen as representative of the composition of atmospheric particulate, benzene as a model aromatic molecule. The purpose is to simulate the transformations that aromatic compounds undergo on the surface of dispersed particles in the atmosphere. Irradiation of sodium nitrate causes hydroxylation and nitration of benzene, yielding phenol and nitrobenzene. This is most likely due to the generation of ^•OH and ^•NO₂ radicals upon nitrate photolysis, with ^•OH + O₂ leading to the formation of phenol and ^•OH + ^•NO₂ yielding nitrobenzene. The percentage of oxygen in the reaction environment influences the transformation pathways, with phenol formation being favoured and nitrobenzene formation depressed by high O₂ concentration. In the presence of hematite (α-Fe₂O₃, another component of atmospheric particulate) very relevant formation of nitrobenzene takes place even with 21% oxygen (simulated air), indicating that the interaction between hematite and nitrate can lead to the formation of aromatic nitroderivatives on the surface of atmospheric particulate. The effect of hematite is possibly due to protonation of peroxynitrite, formed upon nitrate photoisomerisation, to peroxynitrous acid, a powerful nitrating agent. A similar effect leads to relevant formation of nitrobenzene under atmospheric conditions upon irradiation of the acid salt ammonium nitrate.     

Observational constraints on the tropospheric and near-surface winter signature of the Northern Hemisphere stratospheric polar vortex

A composite analysis of Northern Hemisphere’s mid-winter tropospheric anomalies under the conditions of strong and weak stratospheric polar vortex was performed on NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1948 to 2013 considering, as additional grouping criteria, the coincidental states of major seasonally relevant climate phenomena, such as El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), Quasi Biennial Oscillation and strong volcanic eruptions. The analysis reveals that samples of strong polar vortex nearly exclusively occur during cold ENSO states, while a weak polar vortex is observed for both cold and warm ENSO. The strongest tropospheric and near-surface anomalies are found for warm ENSO and weak polar vortex conditions, suggesting that internal tropospheric circulation anomalies related to warm ENSO constructively superpose on dynamical effects from the stratosphere. Additionally, substantial differences are found between the continental winter warming patterns under strong polar vortex conditions in volcanically-disturbed and volcanically-undisturbed winters. However, the small-size samples obtained from the multi-compositing prevent conclusive statements about typical patterns, dominating effects and mechanisms of stratosphere-troposphere interaction on the seasonal time scale based on observational/reanalysis data alone. Hence, our analysis demonstrates that patterns derived from observational/reanalysis time series need to be taken with caution as they not always provide sufficiently robust constraints to the inferred mechanisms implicated with stratospheric polar vortex variability and its tropospheric and near-surface signature. Notwithstanding this argument, we propose a limited set of mechanisms that together may explain a relevant part of observed climate variability. These may serve to define future numerical model experiments minimizing the sample biases and, thus, improving process understanding.     

Mean Flow Near Edges and Within Cavities Situated Inside Dense Canopies

A streamfunction-vorticity formulation is used to explore the extent to which turbulent and turbulently inviscid solutions to the mean momentum balance explain the mean flow across forest edges and within cavities situated inside dense forested canopies. The turbulent solution is based on the mean momentum balance where first-order closure principles are used to model turbulent stresses. The turbulently inviscid solution retains all the key terms in the mean momentum balance but for the turbulent stress gradients. Both exit and entry versions of the forest edge problem are explored. The turbulent solution is found to describe sufficiently the bulk spatial patterns of the mean flow near the edge including signatures of different length scales reported in canopy transition studies. Next, the ‘clearing inside canopy’ or the so-called ‘cavity’ problem is solved for the inviscid and turbulent solutions and then compared against flume experiments. The inviscid solution describes the bulk flow dynamics in much of the zones within the cavity. In particular, the solution can capture the correct position of the bulk recirculation zone within the cavity, although with a weaker magnitude. The inviscid solution cannot capture the large vertical heterogeneity in the mean velocity above the canopy, as expected. These features are better captured via the first-order closure representation of the turbulent solution. Given the ability of this vorticity formulation to capture the mean pressure variations and the mean advective acceleration terms, it is ideal for exploring the distributions of scalars and roughness-induced flow adjustments on complex topography.