Electrochemical simulations of mass transfer from isolated wet spots and droplets on realistic fluttering leaves

This paper reports on forced-convection mass transfer from isolated discs on rectangular plates as well as hemispheres on realistic fluttering leaves. An electrochemical method was used where the convective transfer of ions to the test electrode (the droplet or the wet spot) in an electrolytic flow system was measured as a function of flow rates, sizes of discs and hemispheres. Measurements showed that the local transfer coefficient for uniformly transferring plates varied as expected while the transfer from isolated discs on plates was much less a function of the distance from the leading edge. An expression to describe the transfer coefficient for an isolated disc as a function of distance from the leading edge was determined. An expression describing the transfer from hemispherical drops on fluttering leaves was derived and compared with the predictions from transfer theory for a sphere in free space.     

Temperature dependence of the oxygen isotopic fractionation between diatom silica and water

We present a new paleotemperature scale, based on the oxygen isotopic ratio of the non-exchangeable fraction of the oxygen from diatom silica. The equation t = 17.2 − 2.4 (δ¹⁸O_silica − δ¹⁸O_water − 40) − 0.2 (δ¹⁸O_silica − δ¹⁸O_water − 40)² was derived using recent sediment samples from different oceanic areas, the temperature and isotopic composition of the local surface water. Comparison of our results with other relationships established for quartz-water or amorphous silica-water at higher temperature suggests no difference in isotopic fractionation between quartz-water and biogenic silica-water couples.     

Controls on upper Campanian–Maastrichtian chalk deposition in the eastern Danish Basin

Detailed facies analysis of a 350 m long core of upper Campanian–Maastrichtian chalk at Stevns Peninsula, eastern Denmark, shows that four mudstone and wackestone chalk facies account for close to 95% of the succession, and that bioturbated mudstone chalk alone accounts for nearly 55% of the sediment. Sedimentation took place in deep water, below the photic zone and storm‐wave base, and is characterized by decimetre to metre‐scale variations in facies and trace fossil assemblages indicating repeated shifts in depositional environment. Integration of facies with published data on sea‐surface temperature and accumulation rates suggests that sea‐surface temperature is the most important parameter in controlling stratification of the water column and thereby, indirectly, the observed variations in depositional facies. However, bioturbated mudstone chalk occurs in all stratigraphic levels independent of accumulation rates and sea temperatures and is interpreted to represent a very broad set of deep water environmental conditions with an ample supply of calcareous nannofossil debris and intense bioturbation. Longer term shifts in deposition are best expressed by distribution of clay, flint and bioturbated micro‐wackestone, bioturbated wackestone and laminated mudstone chalk facies, whereas the trace fossil assemblages appear less useful. The data set indicates overall shallowing over time with two distinctive events of clay influx to the basin during the late Campanian–earliest Maastrichtian and late Maastrichtian.     

Gametogenesis and Spawning of the Ribbed Mussel (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Geukensia demissa</Emphasis>) near the Northern Limit of its Range (Maritime Canada)

Ribbed mussels (Geukensia demissa) help form the basis of highly productive salt marshes along the Atlantic coast of North America, in southern New England, and further south. Little is known about their ecology and reproductive biology at more northern latitudes (Maritime Canada; >43^o N). As a step in determining the sustainability of ribbed mussel populations near the northern limit of their range (Northumberland Strait, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada), gametogenesis and spawning were monitored over 3 years (May–August 2012, June–November 2014, and April–October 2015) at four sites spanning ~100 km of coastline. These sites are typically ice-covered from mid-December to March or April. The onset of gametogenesis was later, the reproductive stages on any given date were more varied, and the reproductive season was shorter than for southern populations of ribbed mussels. Oocyte density and size did not vary among sites, indicating similar site-level processes, but did vary among years. Oocyte density and size varied greatly among mussels at a given site, and within a single gonad. This highlights the importance of individual variability, perhaps related to mussel location within a marsh, and the effects of nutrients and temperature on gonads. Accounting for the individual-level variability, reproductive output was estimated at ~10⁵ oocytes per ripe female mussel, which is within the fecundity estimates for other marine bivalve broadcast spawners.