Application of LPW and SAI SAFNWC/MSG satellite products in pre-convective environments

The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imagery (SEVIRI) instrument, on board the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), is a radiometer with eight infrared (IR) spectral bands. Seven of these channels are used to retrieve Layer Precipitable Water (LPW) and Stability Analysis Imagery (SAI). Both products are the PGE07 and the PGE08 of SAFNWC (Satellite Application Facility on support to Nowcasting and Very Short-Range Forecasting). The authors at Instituto Nacional de Meteorología (INM) have developed the LPW and SAI algorithms, in the SAFNWC framework. Both products are retrieved using statistical retrieval based on neural networks. The main advantage of these algorithms versus physical retrieval algorithms is the independence from the Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) models. The LPW provides information on the water vapor contained in a vertical column of unit cross-section area in three layers in the troposphere (low, middle and high) and in the total layer in cloud free areas. The SAI provides estimations of the atmospheric instability in cloud free areas, in particular the Lifted Index (LI).The stability and precipitable water obtained with both products are routinely generated every 15 min at a satellite horizontal resolution of 3 km in NADIR. A significant advantage of these MSG products, compared to traditional measurements such as radiosondes, is their ability to measure high resolution temporal and spatial variations of atmospheric stability and moisture in pre-convective environments. The main disadvantage is that they do not have the vertical resolution of radiosonde. The MSG moisture and stability time trend fields are especially useful during the period preceding the outbreak of convection due to the high resolution. Once the outbreak of convection occurs, the products calculated in the clear air pixels surrounding the convective system will allow to foresee the evolution of the convection.     

Galactic bulges

We model the evolution of the Galactic bulge and of the bulges of a selected sample of external spiral galaxies, via the multiphase multizone evolution model. We address a few questions concerning the role of the bulges within galactic evolution schemes and the properties of bulge stellar populations. We provide solutions to the problems of chemical abundances and spectral indices, the two main observational constraints to bulge structure.     

Microbial‐dominated carbonate platforms during the Ladinian rifting: sequence stratigraphy and evolution of accommodation in a fault‐controlled setting (Catalan Coastal Ranges,NE Spain)

The Upper Muschelkalk sedimentary record constitutes a major transgressive pulse of north‐eastern Iberia during the Ladinian. This record is arranged in two transgressive–regressive (T–R) sequences formed by two stepped microbial‐dominated carbonate ramp systems where accommodation was mainly controlled by extensional faults. This study seeks to gain new insights into how the evolution of syn‐rift subsidence controls the creation of accommodation space, the depositional styles and, especially, the palaeogeographical domains where specific microbialites developed (thrombolites and stromatolites). Thrombolite bodies (at least 40 m thick) display two types of architecture, biostromal and mud‐mounded and stromatolite bodies (at least 7 m thick) consist of tabular and domed, head‐shaped morphologies. Domed and mounded forms are usually developed during stages of increasing accommodation rates, low‐to flat‐nelief forms tend to grow in association with periods of low accommodation rates. A sea‐level fall of at least 50 m occurred at the end of the Early Ladinian leaving the platform subaerially exposed. As a result, a prominent karst with significant erosional incisions and profuse collapse breccia fillings was formed in the inner and middle ramp settings. The resultant subaerial unconformity bounds T–R sequences 1 and 2. Subsidence curves display two stages of rapid/decelerated total subsidence, constituting two discrete rift/post‐rift pulses in the large Triassic rifting period: (i) Buntsandstein – Middle Muschelkalk, and (ii) Late Muschelkalk – Imon Formation (Rhaetian). The second pulse is characterized by a rapid syn‐rift subsidence during the Late Muschelkalk, and a decelerated post‐rift subsidence throughout the deposition of Keuper facies and Imon Formation. The Late Muschelkalk rapid syn‐rift pulse of total subsidence produces gains in accommodation, which controls the development of the stromatolites and thrombolites (biostromes and mud‐mounds).     

Pennsylvanian glacimarine sedimentation in the Cushamen Formation,western North Patagonian Massif

The metasedimentary sequence of the Cushamen Formation in the western North Patagonian Massif is540 m thick and comprises six sedimentary lithofacies associations related to a glacimarine environment.Four of these lithofacies represent distal glacimarine environments, whereas another one was deposited in proximal glacimarine environments, and the last includes subglacial environments. The organization and configuration of these lithofacies associations represent the advance and retreat of the glacier masses. The maximum glacial advance is correlatable with the G2 glacial interval of the Pennsylvanian Pampa de Tepuel, Las Salinas and Valley Chico, formations of the Extraandean Chubut, and the southern part of Neuquen Cordillera. Contemporaneously, in southern Chile there are marine and glacimarine sediments. The chronostratigraphic relationships between the Silurian to Permian units allow five paleogeographic stages to be distinguished. The middle Silurian-late Devonian igneous rocks represent the first magmatic stage. The second stage, which is transitional to the first, is represented by a marine basin that includes the late Devonian-early Carboniferous Esquel and Rio Pescado formations and the Llanquihue Complex. The third stage(early-late Carboniferous) includes granitoids of the second magmatic event that partially overlapped the first magmatic igneous belt. The fourth stage belongs to the late Carboniferous sedimentation of the Cushamen and equivalent formations. The extended early Permian magmatism was the last Paleozoic event in the studied area.     

Vegetation and fire history since the last glacial maximum in an inland area of the western Mediterranean Basin (Northern Iberian Plateau,NW Spain)

We reconstructed vegetation responses to climate oscillations, fire and human activities since the last glacial maximum in inland NW Iberia, where previous paleoecological research is scarce. Extremely sparse and open vegetation composed of steppic grasslands and heathlands with scattered pioneer trees suggests very cold and dry conditions during the Oldest Dryas, unsuitable for tree survival in the surroundings of the study site. Slight woodland expansion during the Bølling/Allerød was interrupted by the Younger Dryas cooling. Pinewoods dominated for most of the early Holocene, when a marked increase in fire activity occurred. Deciduous trees expanded later reaching their maximum representation during the mid-Holocene. Enhanced fire activity and the presence of coprophilous fungi around 6400–6000 cal yr BP suggest an early human occupation around the site. However, extensive deforestation only started at 4500 cal yr BP, when fire was used to clear the tree canopy. Final replacement of woodlands with heathlands, grasslands and cereal crops occurred from 2700 cal yr BP onwards due to land-use intensification. Our paleoecological record can help efforts aimed at restoring the natural vegetation by indicating which communities were dominant at the onset of heavy human impact, thus promoting the recovery of currently rare oak and alder stands.     

Hydrogeochemistry approach to the identification of flow components under the descending limb conditions of a hydrograph (Corbeira stream,Spain)

This paper presents a method based on hydrogeochemical signatures for the identification of flow components, from the descending limb to the baseflow, without the direct support of hydrographs. The proposed model was built using chemical analysis of waters from a small agro-forestry catchment having a temperate climate. The sampling was performed every 15 days at the Corbeira stream outlet, from 2004 to 2008. A statistical approach was used with particulate P/dissolved P (PP/DP) values, resulting in a global histogram, within which mini-Gaussian distributions were highlighted. The mean of each group of highlighted PP/DP values, as well as all other selected analytical parameters, were calculated and plotted in Cartesian diagrams. The results showed the hydrogeochemical signatures of the Corbeira stream in the descending limb to baseflow conditions. Scatterplots of the migration of particulate matter showed linear regressions forming α ≠ 0 to the X-axis, while dissolved compounds showed parallel linearity (α = 0) in relation to the same axis. Deflections in the linear behavior point to significant changes in the chemical concentrations from different types of aqueous inputs. Flow components in the descending limb show distinct ranges along the X-axis: the mean PP/DP values. The ranges varying from 3.3 to 2.0 correspond to its upper phases from 2.0 to 0.9 suggests mixtures between inflows and from 0.9 to 0.3 denote subsurface flow dominance. Finally, PP/DP < 0.3 indicates exclusive baseflow conditions. These intervals are specific to the Corbeira catchment as a consequence of its geographical characteristics and should be numerically different from the proposed method if applied to other catchments. However, this method remains valid for application in other small catchments as the PP/DP ranges in the descending limb are defined by the relative behavior between the linear correlations from the hydrogeochemical concentrations plotted in a Cartesian diagram.     

Early angiosperm diversification: evidence from southern South America

In this report, we analyze the angiosperm fossil record (micro- and megafossil) from the central and southern basins of Argentina, southern South America, deposited between the late Barremian (128.3 Ma) to the end of the Coniacian (85.8 Ma). Based on this analysis, three major stages in the evolution of the angiosperms in the southernmost region of South America are established as follows: the late Barremian–Aptian, the latest Aptian-earliest Albian, and the middle Albian- Coniacian. The comparison between our fossil data set and those from Australia, North America, Asia and Europe suggest that the evolution and diversification of the angiosperms at mid and high latitudes in both hemispheres occurred roughly synchronously.     

Benthic invertebrate assemblages and functional feeding groups in the Paraná River floodplain (Argentina)

The benthic invertebrate assemblages and functional feeding groups in different mesohabitats of the Middle Paraná River–floodplain system were analyzed. Benthic invertebrates and bottom sediments were sampled in a secondary channel (center and bank mesohabitats), a temporal marginal fluvial wetland adjacent to the river, an isolated lake and a connected lake during low water level. Cluster analysis of average invertebrate densities based on the Bray Curtis dissimilarity index yielded a group composed by the mesohabitats with higher species richness, the floodplain lakes, banks mesohabitats and the wetland. The center mesohabitat of the main channel characterized by sandy sediments with low organic matter content and the lowest invertebrate densities and species richness was classified separately. Alpha diversity increased from the center mesohabitat (6 taxa) to the adjacent wetland (71 taxa), and were similar between the floodplain lakes (24 and 22 taxa) and the river bank mesohabitat (24 taxa). Gamma and beta diversities (Whittaker index) were 92 and 2.19, respectively. The highest turnover of taxa was between the river and the other mesohabitats and the lowest between floodplain lakes. Detrended correspondence analysis (DCA) showed a clear separation of wetland and banks from other mesohabitats (axis 1 and 2 explained 52.25% variance) explained by shredders and collector-filterers. The other mesohabitats were arranged in a gradient from the main channel mostly related to collector-gatherers to the connected lake and the isolated lake that were mostly characterized by predators and scrapers. The invertebrate assemblage complexity and functional feeding groups composition increased in the lateral dimension, from the center of the main channel to the temporal marginal fluvial wetland due to the influences of the spatial heterogeneity caused by different sources of organic matter inputs.     

Chemical Evolution in the Early Universe: Can Damp Lyα Systems Be Spiral Galaxies?

The distribution of element abundances with redshift in Damped Lyα (DLA) systems can be adequately reproduced by the same models reproducing the halo and disk components of the Milky Way Galaxy at different galactocentric distances. In this sense, DLA systems are well represented by normal spiral galaxies in their early evolutionary stages. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.