The Experiments Onboard the ROSETTA Lander

As a part of ESA's cornerstone mission ``ROSETTA' to comet 46P/Wirtanen a 100 kgLander will bring a scientific payload of almost 27 kg to the surface of the nucleus.After a first scientific sequence it will operate for a considerable fraction of thecometary orbit around the sun (between 3 AU and 2 AU). Ten experiments with a number of sub-experiments are foreseen; this paper presents the current status of the Lander development and reviews the scientific capabilities of each of the experiments at a time when the Flight Model (FM) of the Lander is already delivered.     

Application of micro-computed X-ray tomography for improving the hole erosion test analysis on high plastic clay

Acta Geotechnica - The hole erosion test (HET) was developed to simulate piping erosion and to study the erosion parameters of cohesive soils. The erosion rate in the HET is evaluated by the...     

Biogeochemical processes involving dissolved CO2 and CH4 at Albano, Averno, and Monticchio meromictic volcanic lakes (Central–Southern Italy)

This paper focuses on the chemical and isotopic features of dissolved gases (CH₄ and CO₂) from four meromictic lakes hosted in volcanic systems of Central–Southern Italy: Lake Albano (Alban Hills), Lake Averno (Phlegrean Fields), and Monticchio Grande and Piccolo lakes (Mt. Vulture). Deep waters in these lakes are characterized by the presence of a significant reservoir of extra-atmospheric dissolved gases mainly consisting of CH₄ and CO₂. The δ¹³C-CH₄ and δD-CH₄ values of dissolved gas samples from the maximum depths of the investigated lakes (from ?66.8 to ?55.6?‰ V-PDB and from ?279 to ?195?‰ V-SMOW, respectively) suggest that CH₄ is mainly produced by microbial activity. The δ¹³C-CO₂ values of Lake Grande, Lake Piccolo, and Lake Albano (ranging from ?5.8 to ?0.4?‰ V-PDB) indicate a significant CO₂ contribution from sublacustrine vents originating from (1) mantle degassing and (2) thermometamorphic reactions involving limestone, i.e., the same CO₂ source feeding the regional thermal and cold CO₂-rich fluid emissions. In contrast, the relatively low δ¹³C-CO₂ values (from ?13.4 to ?8.2?‰ V-PDB) of Lake Averno indicate a prevalent organic CO₂. Chemical and isotopic compositions of dissolved CO₂ and CH₄ at different depths are mainly depending on (1) CO₂ inputs from external sources (hydrothermal and/or anthropogenic); (2) CO₂–CH₄ isotopic exchange; and (3) methanogenic and methanotrophic activity. In the epilimnion, vertical water mixing, free oxygen availability, and photosynthesis cause the dramatic decrease of both CO₂ and CH₄ concentrations. In the hypolimnion, where the δ¹³C-CO₂ values progressively increase with depth and the δ¹³C-CH₄ values show an opposite trend, biogenic CO₂ production from CH₄ using different electron donor species, such as sulfate, tend to counteract the methanogenesis process whose efficiency achieves its climax at the water–bottom sediment interface. Theoretical values, calculated on the basis of δ¹³C-CO₂ values, and measured δ¹³C_TDIC values are not consistent, indicating that CO₂ and the main carbon-bearing ion species (HCO₃ ^?) are not in isotopic equilibrium, likely due to the fast kinetics of biochemical processes involving both CO₂ and CH₄. This study demonstrates that the vertical patterns of the CO₂/CH₄ ratio and of δ¹³C-CO₂ and δ¹³C-CH₄ are to be regarded as promising tools to detect perturbations, related to different causes, such as changes in the CO₂ input from sublacustrine springs, that may affect aerobic and anaerobic layers of meromictic volcanic lakes.     

Assimilation of Earth rotation parameters into a global ocean model: length of day excitation

Changes in the oceanic current system and in the oceanic mass distribution alter, together with other processes, the state of the Earth’s rotation. This state is characterized by the length of day (LOD) and the tilt of the pole-to-pole axis. The aim of our study was to derive the respective governing physical mechanisms in the ocean. Therefore, Earth rotation observations were assimilated into a global circulation model of the ocean. Although assimilation is a well-established tool in climate science, the assimilation of Earth rotation observations into a global ocean model was done here for the first time. Prior to the assimilation, the Earth rotation observations were projected onto the angular momentum of the ocean. Non-oceanic contributions were removed. The result of the subsequent assimilation procedure is a time varying ocean model state that reproduces the projected Earth rotation observations well. This solution was studied to understand the oceanic generation of Earth rotation deviations and to identify governing physical mechanisms. This paper focuses on LOD anomalies although polar motion was assimilated simultaneously. Our results indicate that changes in the oceanic LOD excitation are mostly attributed to changes in total ocean mass. Changes in the spatial distribution of ocean mass turned out to have a minor contribution to the LOD deviations. The same applies to changes in the current system.     

Importance of geological information for assessing drain flow in a Danish till landscape

There has, in recent years, been an increasing interest in developing nutrient load mitigation measures focussing on tile drains. To plan the location of such tile drain measures, it is important to know where in the landscape drain flow is generated and to understand the key factors governing drain flow dynamics. In the present study, we test two approaches to assess spatial patterns in drain flow generation and thereby assess the importance of including geological information. The approaches are the widely used topographical wetness index (TWI), based solely on elevation data, and hydrological models that include the subsurface geology. We set‐up an ensemble of 20 hydrological models based on 20 stochastically generated geological models to predict drain flow dynamics in the clay till Norsminde catchment in Denmark and test the results against TWI. We find that the hydrological models predict observed daily drain flow reasonably well. High drain flow volumes were found in stream valleys and in wetlands and lower drain flow volumes in the more hilly parts of the catchment. In spite of the apparent connection to the landscape, there was no statistically significant correlation between TWI and drain flow at grid scale (100 × 100 m). TWI was therefore not found to be a sufficient index on its own to assess where drain flow is generated, especially in the highlands of the catchment. The geology below 3 m was found to have a large impact on the drain flow, and correlations between sand percentage in the subsurface geology and drain flow volume were found to be statistically significant. Geological uncertainty therefore give rise to uncertainty on simulated drain flow, and this uncertainty was found to be high at the model grid scale but decreasing with increasing scale.     

Catchment chemostasis revisited: Water quality responds differently to variations in weather and climate

Solute concentrations in streamflow typically vary systematically with stream discharge, and the resulting concentration–discharge relationships are important signatures of catchment biogeochemical processes. Solutes derived from mineral weathering often exhibit decreasing concentrations with increasing flows, suggesting dilution of a kinetically limited weathering flux by a variable flux of water. However, previous work showed that concentration–discharge relationships of weathering‐derived solutes in 59 headwater catchments were much weaker than this simple dilution model would predict. Instead, catchments behaved as chemostats, with rates of solute production and/or mobilization that were nearly proportional to water fluxes, on both event and interannual timescales. Here, we re‐examine these findings using data for a wider range of solutes from 2,186 catchments, ranging from ~10 to >1,000,000 km² in drainage area and spanning a wide range of lithologic and climatic settings. Concentration–discharge relationships among this much larger set of larger catchments are broadly consistent with the previously described chemostatic behaviour, at least on event and interannual timescales for weathering‐derived solutes. Among these same catchments, however, site‐to‐site variations in mean concentrations of weathering‐derived solutes exhibit strong negative correlations with long‐term average precipitation and discharge, reflecting strong climatic control on long‐term leaching of the critical zone. We use multiple regression of site characteristics including discharge to identify potential controls on long‐term mean concentrations and find that lithologic and land cover controls are significant predictors for many analytes. The picture that emerges is one in which, on event and interannual timescales, weathering‐derived stream solute concentrations are chemostatically buffered by groundwater storage and fast chemical reactions, but each catchment's chemostatic “set point” reflects site‐to‐site differences in climatically driven evolution of the critical zone. In contrast to these weathering products, some nutrients and particulates are often near‐chemostatic across all timescales, and their long‐term mean concentrations correlate more strongly with land use than climatic characteristics.     

Seismotectonics of south-west Dominican Republic using recent data

The Dominican Republic has a high level of seismic activity, and a new seismic network has been installed to improve the detection of earthquakes. The network has been operated by Instituto Politécnico Loyola since 2012. It uses six new stations of its own, as well as 17 other stations publically available. In this study, we investigate in particular the south-west of the country where no seismic stations have been operating before. We find an area, SE of the Enriquillo Plantain Garden fault (responsible for the 2010 Haiti M7.0 earthquake), with a high seismic activity (M?=?2–4) compared to the surrounding area. This shallow seismicity (except two events around 40 km depth) is not seen in any global catalogs, and it does not seem to be associated with any known faults. However, the region has been under rapid recent uplift since margins between hills and valleys are filled with massive alluvial fans. We made 24 new fault plane solutions using P-polarities and S/P amplitude ratios. The solutions show mainly reverse mechanisms and the P-axis directions are mainly NNE oriented, which is in agreement with a published strain direction from GPS measurements. We conclude that the main cause of the seismicity in our study area is the push of the Beata Ridge against Enriquillo basin and the rest of the Gonave microplate, reflected in the mainly reverse focal mechanisms.     

Identification of the environmentally safe fairway in the South-Western Baltic Sea and Kattegat

Application of the preventive techniques for the optimisation of fairways in the south-western Baltic Sea and the Kattegat in terms of protection of the coastal regions against current-driven surface transport of adverse impacts released from vessels is considered. The techniques rely on the quantification of the offshore domains (the points of release of adverse impacts) in terms of their ability to serve as a source of remote, current-driven danger to the nearshore. An approximate solution to this inverse problem of current-driven transport is obtained using statistical analysis of a large pool of Lagrangian trajectories of water particles calculated based on velocity fields from the Denmark’s Meteorological Institute (DMI)/BSH cmod circulation model forced by the DMI-HIRHAM wind fields for 1990–1994. The optimum fairways are identified from the spatial distributions of the probability of hitting the coast and for the time (particle age) it takes for the pollution to reach the coast. In general, the northern side of the Darss Sill area and the western domains of the Kattegat are safer to travel. The largest variations in the patterns of safe areas and the properties of pollution beaching occur owing to the interplay of water inflow and outflow. The gain from the use of the optimum fairways is in the range of 10–30?% in terms of the decrease in the probability of coastal hit within 10?days after pollution release or an increase by about 1–2?days of the time it takes for the hit to occur.