Stock identification and life history interpretation using trace element signatures in salmon otoliths

Chum salmon (Oncorhynchus keta) in the North Pacific Ocean are anadromous fish, and spend most of their life in the sea until spawning in natal streams. To identify the stock and habitat characteristics of chum salmon, the composition of chemical elements (Ca, Mn, Sr, Zn, and Ba) in otolith was examined using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). Two main types of analytical work have been carried out; discrete spot analysis and line scan analysis of otolith sections. Salmon otoliths were obtained from the eastern (Canada and USA) and western (Japan and Korea) North Pacific during 1997–1999 spawning seasons. Spot analysis of otolith cores demonstrated significant differences in the element concentration among countries (p = 0.003). Line scanning from the core to the margin showed that Sr concentrations were elevated at the core of the otoliths, decreased during the freshwater stage, increased suddenly at a certain point, and oscillated periodically towards the margin matching with year-ring. The elevated Sr concentration at the core may reflect the maternal contribution to the egg, and the oscillations toward the margin may reflect salinity gradients between onshore/offshore or north/south migrations. The Zn profiles also oscillated and corresponded to the annual ring of the otolith. However, the profiles of Sr and Zn oscillated oppositely after salmon migrated to saline water and the Zn uptake declined toward the rim of the otolith while Sr uptake increased.     

Interactions of Salinity,Marsh Fragmentation and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation on Resident Nekton Assemblages of Coastal Marsh Ponds

Increases in relative sea level are fragmenting the emergent vegetation of Louisiana’s coastal marshes. Nekton abundance is likely impacted by salinity and whether emergent vegetation is replaced by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) or open water. To assess these effects, we sampled nekton densities along a salinity gradient (categorized as freshwater, intermediate, and brackish marsh) in fragmented and non-fragmented areas. Total nekton density increased strongly with SAV in brackish marsh but only weakly in freshwater marsh (F _2,238 = 10.03, p < 0.0001). Freshwater and intermediate marshes had higher nekton densities when fragmented than when non-fragmented; this relationship was reversed in brackish marsh (F _2,238 = 8.89, p = 0.0002). Fragmentation, SAV, and salinity interacted to affect the densities of Gambusia affinis, Poecilia latipinna, Cyprinodon variegates, and Lucania parva. Our results suggest that the presence of both emergent vegetation and SAV was necessary for maintaining high nekton densities, with this combination being especially important in brackish marshes.     

The crustal structure of the Sahel Basin (eastern Tunisia) determined from gravity and geothermal gradients: implications for petroleum exploration

An analysis of Bouguer gravity anomaly data and geothermal gradient data obtained from bottom hole and drill stem tests temperature is used to determine the crustal structure of the Sahel Basin in eastern Tunisia and its role in the maturation and location of the large number of oil and gas fields in the region. The regional Bouguer gravity anomaly field is dominated by gradual increase in values from the northwest to southeast and is may be caused by crustal thinning as revealed by regional seismic studies. In addition, higher geothermal gradients in the same region as the Bouguer gravity anomaly maximum add an additional constraint for the existence of crustal thinning in the region. A detailed analysis of the Bouguer gravity anomaly data was performed by both upward continuation and horizontal gradients. These two techniques were combined to show that the study area consists of two structural regions: (1) the North–South Axis (NOSA)–Zeramedine region which is characterized by northwest-dipping, northeast-striking faults, thicker crust (30–31 km) and low geothermal gradients, and (2) the Mahres–Kerkennah region which is characterized by vertical, northwest-striking faults, thinner crust (28–29 km) and higher geothermal gradients. The correlation of a variety of features includes mapped and geophysically defined faults, volcanic rocks, a thinned crust and high geothermal gradients within the same location as known oil and gas fields indicate that the faults are a major factor in the location of these petroleum accumulations.     

Benthic foraminifera and their stable isotope composition in sediment cores from Lake Qarun,Egypt: changes in water salinity during the past ~500 years

We studied the sedimentology, benthic foraminifera, molluscs, and δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C of Ammonia tepida tests in two late Holocene sediment cores from Lake Qarun (Egypt). The cores, QARU2 (upper section, 8.2 m) and QARU4 (1.4 m), span approximately the past 500 years of sedimentation. Benthic foraminifera first appeared in the upper part of QARU2 at 314 cm depth, ca. AD 1550. This depth marks the beginning of colonization of the lake by foraminifera and indicates a change in lake water salinity, as foraminifera cannot tolerate fresh water. Initially, three species of benthic foraminifera colonized the lake, Ammonia tepida, Cribroelphidium excavatum and Cribrononion incertum. Relative abundance of these species fluctuated throughout cores QARU2 and QARU4 and highest overall faunal diversity occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. High relative abundances of C. incertum and deformed tests are attributed to periods of greater lakewater salinity. Peaks in both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C indicate times of higher evaporation and reduced fresh water inflow. Inferred salinity was high around AD 1700 and after AD 1990. Rapid response of climate proxy variables indicates the high sensitivity of Lake Qarun to environmental changes over the past several 100 years. Increases in lakewater Mg concentration during past evaporative events, associated with less fresh water inflow, probably provided conditions suitable for C. incertum to build its white or transparent tests. Gradual decrease of C. incertum, until its disappearance at 100 cm depth ca. AD 1890, indicates a more persistent trend in lake water chemistry. Higher concentrations of dissolved sulphates were the likely cause of this species disappearance. Recent, twentieth-century sediments were deposited under optimal salinity (37‰) for benthic fauna, but further environmental changes are indicated by the decrease or disappearance of several benthic foraminifera and mollusc species. Intermittent hypoxia in the lake’s bottom waters, caused by cultural eutrophication, may account for these most recent changes.     

Ichnofabric characterization of a deep‐marine clastic system: a subsurface study of the Middle Eocene Ainsa System,Spanish Pyrenees

This paper documents a subsurface trace fossil and ichnofabric study of the proximal parts of a structurally confined and channelized sand‐rich, lower slope and proximal basin‐floor deep‐marine system in the Middle Eocene Ainsa basin, Spanish Pyrenees. Five depositional environments are recognized based on sedimentary facies associations, depositional architecture and stratigraphic context (channel axis, channel off‐axis, channel margin, leveé‐overbank and interfan), as well as a channel abandonment phase. Each environment is characterized by distinct and recurring ichnofabrics. Ichnological measurements and observations were recorded from six cores recovered from six wells drilled at a spacing of between 400 m and 500 m at outcrop, and totalling 1213 m in length. From channel axis to levée‐overbank environments, there is a trend of increasing bioturbation intensity and ichnodiversity. Ichnofabrics in channel axis and channel off‐axis environments are characterized by low bioturbation intensity and low ichnodiversity. Thalassinoides‐dominated firmground ichnofabrics associated with erosive sediment gravity flows are common in these environments. In contrast, channel margin and levée‐overbank environments are characterized by ichnofabrics associated with high bioturbation intensity and ichnodiversity. Sediments of the interfan are characterized by the highest bioturbation intensity, associated with burrow mottling and an absence of primary sedimentary structures. This paper demonstrates that in core‐based studies, ichnofabric analysis is an important and valuable tool in discriminating between different environments in channelized deep‐marine siliciclastic systems. The results of this study should find wide applicability in reservoir characterization studies in the petroleum industry, in field‐based analogue ichnofabric studies and other core‐based studies in deep‐water siliciclastic systems worldwide such as the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.     

A high-pressure neutron diffraction study of the ferroelastic phase transition in RbCaF3

The fluoroperovskite phase RbCaF₃ has been investigated using high-pressure neutron powder diffraction in the pressure range ~0–7.9 GPa at room temperature. It has been found to undergo a first-order high-pressure structural phase transition at ~2.8 GPa from the cubic aristotype phase to a hettotype phase in the tetragonal space group I4/mcm. This transition, which also occurs at ~200 K at ambient pressure, is characterised by a linear phase boundary and a Clapeyron slope of 2.96 × 10^?5 GPa K^?1, which is in excellent agreement with earlier, low-pressure EPR investigations. The bulk modulus of the high-pressure phase (49.1 GPa) is very close to that determined for the low-pressure phase (50.0 GPa), and both are comparable with those determined for the aristotype phases of CsCdF₃, TlCdF₃, RbCdF₃, and KCaF₃. The evolution of the order parameter with pressure is consistent with recent modifications to Landau theory and, in conjunction with polynomial approximations to the pressure dependence of the lattice parameters, permits the pressure variation of the bond lengths and angles to be predicted. On entering the high-pressure phase, the Rb–F bond lengths decrease from their extrapolated values based on a third-order Birch–Murnaghan fit to the aristotype equation of state. By contrast, the Ca–F bond lengths behave atypically by exhibiting an increase from their extrapolated magnitudes, resulting in the volume and the effective bulk modulus of the CaF₆ octahedron being larger than the cubic phase. The bulk moduli for the two component polyhedra in the tetragonal phase are comparable with those determined for the constituent binary fluorides, RbF and CaF₂.     

Exploring the influence of interparticle friction on critical state behaviour using DEM

Understanding the extent to which discrete element method (DEM) simulations can capture the critical state characteristics of granular materials is important to legitimize the use of DEM in geomechanics. This paper documents a DEM study that considered the sensitivity of the critical state response characteristics to the coefficient of interparticle friction (μ) using samples with gradings that are representative of a real soil. Most of the features that are typically associated with sand behaviour at the critical state were seen to emerge from the DEM simulation data. An important deviation occurs when high μ values (μ ≥ 0.5) are used, as has been the case in a number of prior DEM studies. While there is a systematic variation in the critical state behaviour with μ for μ < 0.5, when μ ≥ 0.5, the behaviour at the critical state seems to be insensitive to further increases in μ. In contrast to observations of conventional soil response, when μ ≥ 0.5, the void ratio at the critical state initially increases with increasing mean effective stress (p′). Analysis of the DEM data and use of simple models of isolated force chains enabled some key observations. When ‘floating’ particles that do not transmit stress are eliminated from the void ratio calculation, the void ratio at the critical state decreases consistently with increasing p′. There is a transition from sliding to rolling behaviour at the contact points as μ increases. Beyond a limiting value of μ, further increases in μ do not increase the buckling resistance of individual strong force chains. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Shoreline Development on Composition and Physical Structure of Plants in a South Carolina High Marsh

Increased freshwater and nutrient runoff associated with coastal development is implicated in dramatically altering estuarine communities along eastern US shorelines. We examined effects of three categories of shoreline development on high-marsh environments within Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, USA by measuring sediment nutrients, porewater salinity, plant species diversity, and above- and belowground plant biomass. Effects on new plant growth also were examined in plot clearing and transplantation experiments. Greater nutrient availability in sediments along developed shorelines was reflected in greater aboveground biomass and nitrogen storage in Juncus roemerianus plant tissue. Plant species composition was not significantly different among levels of shoreline development. Zinc concentrations were greater in sediments from developed shorelines and may represent an easily measured indicator of shoreline development. Recently accelerating shoreline development in the southeastern USA may alter plant production, nitrogen storage, and sediment metal content in salt marshes.     

Highly parameterized model calibration with cloud computing: an example of regional flow model calibration in northeast Alberta,Canada

Expanding groundwater datasets collected by automated sensors, and improved groundwater databases, have caused a rapid increase in calibration data available for groundwater modeling projects. Improved methods of subsurface characterization have increased the need for model complexity to represent geological and hydrogeological interpretations. The larger calibration datasets and the need for meaningful predictive uncertainty analysis have both increased the degree of parameterization necessary during model calibration. Due to these competing demands, modern groundwater modeling efforts require a massive degree of parallelization in order to remain computationally tractable. A methodology for the calibration of highly parameterized, computationally expensive models using the Amazon EC2 cloud computing service is presented. The calibration of a regional-scale model of groundwater flow in Alberta, Canada, is provided as an example. The model covers a 30,865-km² domain and includes 28 hydrostratigraphic units. Aquifer properties were calibrated to more than 1,500 static hydraulic head measurements and 10 years of measurements during industrial groundwater use. Three regionally extensive aquifers were parameterized (with spatially variable hydraulic conductivity fields), as was the aerial recharge boundary condition, leading to 450 adjustable parameters in total. The PEST-based model calibration was parallelized on up to 250 computing nodes located on Amazon’s EC2 servers.     

Exchange Between an Estuary and an Intertidal Marsh and Slough

The hydrodynamic characteristics of small, intertidal perimeter habitats make flushing and residence times in these environments difficult to quantify using conventional approaches. The flooding and draining of intertidal shallows surrounding small perimeter sloughs result in large volume changes relative to total system volume during each tidal cycle. In such environments, an Eulerian framework of flushing and residence time may not be the best approach for quantifying tidal exchange; thus, alternative approaches should be considered in analyzing hydrodynamic exchange in small perimeter habitats. In this study, the results of applying such an approach to a small intertidal perimeter slough in South San Francisco Bay are presented. Previous work has shown that hydrodynamic exchange in an estuarine system can be analyzed by making Eulerian measurements of hydrodynamic fluxes and binning them according to salinity and temperature classes, thus providing a quasi-Lagrangian method of analyzing exchange and transport in an estuarine system. We apply a method which uses this approach to estimate the volumetric exchange ratio M, which is used to estimate the tidal exchange within an estuary during each tidal cycle. We find that the estimation of volumetric exchange ratios and the calculation of hydrodynamic residence times in estuarine systems can be complicated by mixing conditions associated with very strong tidal forcing, particularly in small-volume systems such as small perimeter sloughs, where the tidal prism can be on the scale of or greater than the total system volume.