Evidence necessary for taxa to be reliable indicators of environmental conditions or impacts

Using taxa as indicators of environmental impacts is widespread. Indicators are chosen because they are considered to be easy to measure, sensitive to stresses and respond to stresses in predictable ways. Here, we review these criteria by addressing the nature of the relationships between some characteristic of taxa and the environmental variables they are supposed to indicate. It is crucial that variables measured as indicators be strongly and consistently correlated (through space and time) with levels of the environmental variables. Appropriate experiments must be done to establish that an observed correlation is causal, or the correlation cannot be considered sufficient to identify a useful indicator. Finally, it is necessary to establish that the taxa directly respond to changes in the environmental variables they are supposed to indicate. Appropriate methodologies to establish these criteria are considered and we evaluate studies in which these criteria have or have not been met.     

Evaluation of factors controlling smectite transformation and fluid production in subduction zones: Application to the Nankai Trough

Abstract The transformation of smectite‐group clay minerals to illite has garnered considerable interest as a potentially important process affecting both the mechanical and hydrologic behavior of subduction zones. Illitization can generate fluid overpressure by release of bound water, and the mineralogical change and associated cementation may increase intrinsic frictional strength while decreasing the sliding stability of faults. Released bound water also contributes to pore water freshening observed in boreholes at numerous margins. Here the authors combine data from Ocean Drilling Program drill sites along two transects at the Nankai subduction zone with numerical models of smectite transformation, to (i) quantify the distribution of smectite transformation and fluid production downdip of the trench; and (ii) evaluate its hydrologic and mechanical implications. High heat flow (ca 180 mW/m²) along the axis of the Kinan Seamount Chain (Muroto transect) initiates clay mineral transformation outboard of the trench, whereas lower heat flow (70–120 mW/m²) 100 km to the SW (Ashizuri transect) results in negligible presubduction diagenesis. As a result, considerably more bound fluid is subducted along the Ashizuri transect; simulated peak fluid sources down‐dip of the trench are considerably higher than for the Muroto transect (ca 1.2–1.3 × 10^?14/s vs ca 6 × 10^?15/s), and are shifted ca 10 km further from the trench. More generally, sensitivity analysis illustrates that heat flow, taper angle, incoming sediment thickness, and plate convergence rate all systematically affect reaction progress and the distribution of bound water release down‐dip of the trench. These shifts in the loci and volume of fluid release are important for constraining fluid flow pathways, and provide insight into the links between clay transformation and fault mechanics.     

A multi‐scale statistical approach to assess the effects of connectivity of road and stream networks on geomorphic channel condition

Roads in rural, upland landscapes are important sources of runoff and sediment to waterways. The downstream effects of these sources should be related to the connectivity of roads to receiving waters. Recent studies have explored this idea, but only simple metrics have been used to characterize connectivity and few studies have quantified the downstream effects of road–stream connectivity on sediment or solute budgets and channel morphology. In this study, we evaluated traditional and newly developed connectivity metrics that utilized features of landscape position and delivery pathway to characterize road–stream connectivity in upland settings. Using data on stream geomorphic conditions developed by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources (Montpelier, VT), we related road connectivity metrics to channel condition on a set of 101 forested, upland streams with minimal development other than predominantly gravel road networks. Logistic regression indicated that measures of road density, proximity and orientation successfully distinguished among categories of stream geomorphic condition at multiple geographic scales. Discriminant function analysis using a set of inherent channel characteristics combined with road connectivity metrics derived at the reach corridor scale successfully distinguished channel condition for over 70% of the channels evaluated. This research contributes to efforts to evaluate the cumulative downstream effects of roads on stream channels and aquatic resources and provides a new means of watershed assessment to derive metrics that can be used to predict channel condition. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FAIR Geoscientific Samples and Data Need International Collaboration

正1 Introduction The primary goal of the Deep-time Digital Earth project is to develop an open collaboration and data sharing platform that enables the transition of deep-time geoscientific research to a Big Data driven paradigm.Such an open platform will require the ability to effectively and efficiently access and integrate a wide variety of digital Earth data,from remotely sensed Earth observations and geophysical data to data generated in     

Development of Iron Speciation Reference Materials for Palaeoredox Analysis

The development and application of geochemical techniques to identify redox conditions in modern and ancient aquatic environments has intensified over recent years. Iron (Fe) speciation has emerged as one of the most widely used procedures to distinguish different redox regimes in both the water column and sediments, and is the main technique used to identify oxic, ferruginous (anoxic, Fe(II) containing) and euxinic (anoxic, sulfidic) water column conditions. However, an international sediment reference material has never been developed. This has led to concern over the consistency of results published by the many laboratories that now utilise the technique. Here, we report an interlaboratory comparison of four Fe speciation reference materials for palaeoredox analysis, which span a range of compositions and reflect deposition under different redox conditions. We provide an update of extraction techniques used in Fe speciation and assess the effects of both test portion mass, and the use of different analytical procedures, on the quantification of different Fe fractions in sedimentary rocks. While atomic absorption spectroscopy and inductively coupled plasma‐optical emission spectrometry produced comparable Fe measurements for all extraction stages, the use of ferrozine consistently underestimated Fe in the extraction step targeting mixed ferrous–ferric minerals such as magnetite. We therefore suggest that the use of ferrozine is discontinued for this Fe pool. Finally, we report the combined data of four independent Fe speciation laboratories to characterise the Fe speciation composition of the reference materials. These reference materials are available to the community to provide an essential validation of in‐house Fe speciation measurements.     

Seasonal distribution of chlorophyll on mudflats in New South Wales,Australia measured by field spectrometry and PAM fluorometry

Variability of chlorophyll (as an index of micro-algal abundance) between warm and cool seasons at different heights on (distances across) the shore was investigated on intertidal mudflats in warm-temperate Australia. Chlorophyll was measured using ratios of reflectances from field spectrometry and minimal fluorescence (F₀) from PAM fluorometry to compare patterns obtained using these two methods. A single sampling period comprised 2 days of sampling, one for each mudflat, with 2 sampling periods nested within each month, 2 months within each of a cool and warm season in each of 2 years. Large differences in amounts of chlorophyll were found between the two mudflats, although spatial and temporal patterns of variation were generally similar. There were greater amounts of chlorophyll in the cooler months than in the warmer months in each location in each year, which contrasts with many of the patterns reported from elsewhere. There was more chlorophyll on the upper than on the lower shore and the increases from summer to winter were generally greater at the higher levels. Large variation in chlorophyll from week to week within each month demonstrated the need for adequate replication in studies of seasonal patterns of variability. Measurements made by a field spectrometer and a PAM fluorometer were largely consistent, but, at certain times, they showed an opposite pattern. The reasons for these differences were investigated further by looking at differences in other pigments, but the different results from the two methods could not to be explained by changes in composition of the micro-algal assemblage and, as yet, remain unexplained.     

The three dimensional structure of the atmospheric energy budget: methodology and evaluation

Studies of the vertically-integrated energy and moisture budgets of the atmosphere are expanded to three dimensions. The vertical integrals of the moisture, energy and heat budget equations computed analytically act as a very strong constraint on any local computational results of the vertical structure. This paper focuses on the methodology and difficulties in closing the budgets and satisfying constraints, given the need to use a pressure coordinate because model coordinates all differ. Vertical interpolation destroys delicate mass balances and can lead to inconsistencies, such as from how geopotential or vertical motion is computed. Using the advective rather than flux form of the equations greatly reduces the contamination from these effects. Results are documented for January 1989 using European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasts reanalysis (ERA-40) data. The moistening, diabatic heating and total energy forcing of the atmosphere are computed as a residual from the analyses using the moisture, dry energy (dry static energy plus kinetic energy) and total atmospheric (moist static plus kinetic) energy equations. The components from the monthly averaged flow and transients, as a function of layer in the atmosphere, and as quasi-horizontal and vertical fluxes of dry static, latent and kinetic energy are examined. Results show the moistening of the atmosphere at the surface, its release as latent heat in precipitation and transformation into dry static energy, and thus net radiative cooling as a function of height and location. The vertically integrated forcings computed from the model parameterizations are compared with available observations and budget-derived values, and large ERA-40 model biases are revealed in radiation and precipitation. The energy and moisture budget-derived quantities are more realistic, although results depend on the quality of the analyses which are not constructed to conserve mass, moisture or energy, owing to analysis increments.     

Linking pollution induced community tolerance (PICT) and microbial community structure in chronically metal polluted estuarine sediments

We tested the ability of pollution induced community tolerance (PICT) to detect the effects of chronic metal pollution on estuarine sediment microbial communities, along a gradient spanning two orders of magnitude in metal concentrations. In tandem, we investigated the associated microbial community structure using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP). Tolerance of microbes to Cu, measured as IC50 (inhibitory concentration 50%), was strongly correlated with pore water Cu concentration (r(2)=0.842). No strong correlation existed for other metals tested, highlighting the ability of PICT to identify the pollutant causing a toxic effect. There was no correlation between microbial community structure and community tolerance to metals tested, but analysis of community structure did provide some information on reasons for observed PICT response. PICT methodology used here provided a greater strength and consistency of association with pollutant concentration compared to microbial community structure and can be recommended as a sensitive indicator of metal pollution on estuarine sediment microbial communities.     

The origin of strata within the inner accretionary prism of Nankai Trough: Evidence from clay mineral assemblages along the NanTroSEIZE transect

One of the more prominent architectural elements of the Nankai subduction margin, offshore southwest Japan, is an out‐of‐sequence thrust fault (megasplay) that separates the inner accretionary prism from the outer prism. The inner prism (hanging wall of the megasplay) is dominated by mudstone, which is enigmatic when the sedimentary facies is compared to coeval deposits in the Shikoku Basin (i.e. inputs from the subducting Philippine Sea plate) and to coarser‐grained turbidite sequences from the Quaternary trench wedge. Clay mineral assemblages amplify the mismatches of sedimentary facies. Mudstones from the inner prism are uniformly depleted in smectite, with average bulk values of 23–24 wt%, whereas the Shikoku Basin deposits show progressive decreases in proportions of smectite over time, from averages of 46–48 wt% at 10 Ma to 17–21 wt% at 1 Ma. Plate‐boundary reconstructions for the Philippine Sea region provide one solution to the conundrum. Between 15 Ma and 10 Ma, the Pacific plate subducted near the NanTroSEIZE transect, and a trench‐trench‐trench triple junction migrated to the northeast. Accretion during that period involved sediments that had been deposited on the Pacific plate. Motion of the Philippine Sea plate changed from 10 Ma to 6 Ma, resulting in sinistral slip along the proto‐Nankai Trough. Sediments accreted during that period probably had been deposited near the triple junction, with a hybrid detrital provenance. Renewed subduction of the Philippine Sea plate at 6 Ma led to reorganization of watersheds near the Izu–Honshu collision zone and gradual incision of large submarine canyons on both sides of the colliding Izu arc. Accreted Pliocene mudstones share more of an affinity to the triple junction paleoenvironment than they do to Shikoku Basin. These differences between subducting Shikoku Basin strata and accreted Pacific plate sediments have important implications for interpretations of frictional properties, structural architecture, and diagenetic fluid production.