Modelling transverse dunes

Transverse dunes appear in regions of mainly unidirectional wind and high sand availability. A dune model is extended to two‐dimensional calculation of the shear stress. It is applied to simulate dynamics and morphology of three‐dimensional transverse dunes. In the simulations they seem to reach translational invariance and do not stop growing. Hence, simulations of two‐dimensional dune ?elds have been performed. Characteristic laws were found for the time evolution of transverse dunes. Bagnold's law of the dune velocity is modi?ed and reproduced. The interaction between transverse dunes led to the interesting conclusion that small dunes can travel over bigger ones. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tourmalinites from the Eastern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina

In the eastern Sierras Pampeanas, Central Argentina, tourmalinites and coticules are found in close association with stratabound scheelite deposits in metamorphic terranes. In Sierra Grande (Agua de Ramón and Ambul districts) and Sierra de Altautina, tourmalinites are associated with stratabound scheelite deposits related to orthoamphibolites. In the Pampa del Tamboreo area, tourmalinites are located in biotite schists stratigraphically related to acid to intermediate metavolcanic rocks and scheelite-bearing quartzites.The mineral chemistry and boron isotopic compositions of tourmalinite-hosted and vein-hosted tourmalines are investigated. Overall, the tourmalines belong to the dravite-schorl series and are generally aluminous; Fe/(Fe+Mg) ranges from 0.33 to 0.85, Al/(Al+Fe+Mg) from 0.66 to 0.76 and the amount of X-site vacancy (0.12–0.48) indicates significant foitite components. Their boron isotopic compositions (δ¹¹B) are from −24.0‰ to−15.0‰.Similar mineral chemistries and boron isotopic values for tourmaline in tourmalinites related to stratabound scheelite mineralisation and in tungsten-bearing quartz veins suggest a common source for the boron and probably the tungsten. The field, chemical and isotopic relationships are consistent with tungsten and boron in quartz-vein deposits being remobilised from stratabound scheelite and tourmalinite, dominantly by liquid-state transfer associated with regional shear zones. Tungsten and boron in the original sedimentary sequence (now meta-exhalites) are ascribed to volcanogenic exhalations.     

Kinetic energy–rainfall intensity relationship for Central Cebu, Philippines for soil erosion studies

In the study of soil erosion, specifically on detachment of soil particles by raindrop impact, kinetic energy is a commonly suggested indicator of the raindrop's ability to detach soil particles from the soil mass. Since direct measurement of kinetic energy requires sophisticated and costly instruments, the alternative approach is to estimate it from rainfall intensity. The present study aims at establishing a relationship between rainfall intensity and kinetic energy for rainfalls in Central Cebu, Philippines as a preface of a wider regional investigation.

Drop size distributions of rainfalls were measured using the disdrometer RD-80. There are two forms of kinetic energy considered here. One is kinetic energy per unit area per unit time (KE_R, J m⁻² h⁻¹) and the other is kinetic energy per unit area per unit depth (KE, J m⁻² mm⁻¹). Relationships between kinetic energy per unit area per unit time (KE_R) and rainfall intensity (I) were obtained using linear and power relations. The exponential model and the logarithmic model were fitted to the KE–I data to obtain corresponding relationships between kinetic energy per unit area per unit depth of rainfall (KE) and rainfall intensity (I). The equation obtained from the exponential model produced smaller standard error of estimates than the logarithmic model.     

Denitrification rates measured along a salinity gradient in the eutrophic Neuse River estuary, North Carolina, USA

Denitrification rates along a salinity gradient in the eutrophic Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, were quantified using membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) within short-term batch incubations. Denitrification rates within the system were highly variable, ranging from 0 to 275 μmol N m⁻² h⁻¹. Intrasite variability increased with salinity, but no significant differences were observed across the salinity gradient. Denitrification rates were positively correlated with sediment oxygen demand at the upstream sampling site where sediment organic carbon levels were lowest. This relationship was not observed in the more saline sampling sites. Denitrification rates were highest during winter. On an annual basis, denitrification accounted for 26% of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen and 12% of the total nitrogen supplied to the system.     

Importance of climate,forest fires and human population size in the Holocene boreal forest composition change in northern Europe

The relative importance of climate, forest fires and human population size on long‐term boreal forest composition were statistically investigated at regional and local scales in Fennoscandia. We employ pollen data from lakes, reflecting regional vegetation, and small forest hollows, reflecting local vegetation, from Russia, Finland and Sweden to reconstruct the long‐term forest composition. As potential drivers of the Holocene forest dynamics we consider climate, generated from a climate model and oxygen isotope data, past forest fires generated from sedimentary charcoal data and human population size derived from radiocarbon dated archaeological findings. We apply the statistical method of variation partitioning to assess the relative importance of these environmental variables on long‐term boreal forest composition. The results show that climate is the main driver of the changes in Holocene boreal forest composition at the regional scale. However, at the local scale the role of climate is relatively small. In general, the importance of forest fires is low both at regional and local scales. The fact that both climate and forest fires explain relatively small proportions of variation in long‐term boreal vegetation in small forest hollow records demonstrates the complexity of factors affecting stand‐scale forest dynamics. The relative importance of human population size was low in both the prehistorical and the historical time periods. However, this is the first time that this type of data has been used to statistically assess the importance of human population size on boreal vegetation and the spatial representativeness of the data may cause bias to the analysis.     

Fingerprinting the 8.2 ka event climate response in a coupled climate model

Using results from coupled climate model simulations of the 8.2 ka climate event that produced a cold period over Greenland in agreement with the reconstructed cooling from ice cores, we investigate the typical pattern of climate anomalies (fingerprint) to provide a framework for the interpretation of global proxy data for the 8.2 ka climate event. For this purpose we developed an analysis method that isolates the forced temperature response and provides information on spatial variations in magnitude, timing and duration that characterise the detectable climate event in proxy archives. Our analysis shows that delays in the temperature response to the freshwater forcing are present, mostly in the order of decades (30 a over central Greenland). The North Atlantic Ocean initially cools in response to the freshwater perturbation, followed in certain parts by a warm response. This delay, occurring more than 200 a after the freshwater pulse, hints at an overshoot in the recovery from the freshwater perturbation. The South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean show a warm response reflecting the bipolar seesaw effect. The duration of the simulated event varies for different areas, and the highest probability of recording the event in proxy archives is in the North Atlantic Ocean area north of 40° N. Our results may facilitate the interpretation of proxy archives recording the 8.2 ka event, as they show that timing and duration cannot be assumed to correspond with the timing and duration of the event as recorded in Greenland ice cores. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Zircon fission‐track ages from Newfoundland—A proxy for high geothermal gradients and exhumation before opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean

Following Appalachian orogenesis, metamorphic rocks in central Newfoundland were exhumed and reburied under Tournaisian strata. New zircon fission‐track (ZFT) ages of metamorphic rocks below the Tournaisian unconformity yield post‐depositionally reset ages of 212–235 Ma indicating regional fluid‐absent reheating to at least ≥220°C. Post‐Tournaisian sedimentary thicknesses in surrounding basins show that burial alone cannot explain such temperatures, thus requiring that palaeo‐geothermal gradients increased to ≥30–40°C/km before final late Triassic accelerated cooling. We attribute these elevated palaeo‐geothermal gradients to localized thermal blanketing by insulating sediments overlying radiogenic high‐heat‐producing granitoids. Late Triassic rifting and magmatism before break up of Pangaea likely also contributed to elevated heat flow, as well as uplift, triggering late Triassic accelerated cooling and exhumation. Thermochronological ages of 240–200 Ma are seen throughout Atlantic Canada, and record rifting and basaltic magmatism on the conjugate margins of the Central Atlantic Ocean preceding the onset of oceanic spreading at ~190 Ma.     

Correction to: New insights into the rainfall variability in the tropical Andes on seasonal and interannual time scales

Climate Dynamics - The original version of the article contained errors in Fig.