A phytoplankton class-specific primary production model applied to the Kerguelen Islands region (Southern Ocean)

As part of the KErguelen: compared study of the Ocean and the Plateau in Surface water (KEOPS) project in late summer 2005, we examine the phytoplankton community composition and associated primary production in the waters surrounding the Kerguelen Archipelago, with the emphasis on two contrasted environments: (i) the Kerguelen Plateau, where a large bloom occurs annually, and (ii) the high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) offshore waters. A biomarker pigment approach was used to assess the community composition in terms of chlorophyll biomass of three phytoplankton size classes, namely micro-, nano-, and picophytoplankton. The second objective was to evaluate a global class-specific approach for estimating the contribution of the three pigment-based size classes to the primary production in the study area. To do so, primary production rates associated with each phytoplankton class were computed from the class-specific chlorophyll biomass coupled to a class-specific primary production model, and compared with in situ measurements of size-fractionated ¹³C-based primary production. The iron-enriched bloom region was dominated by microphytoplankton (diatoms), which contributed 80–90% to the total primary production (of ≈1 g C m^?2 d^?1). In the HNLC area, the primary production was about 0.30 g C m^?2 d^?1, mainly (65%) achieved by small diatoms and nanoflagellates. The model results show a good overall agreement between predicted and measured total primary production rates. In terms of size classes, agreements were higher for the bloom region than for the HNLC waters. Discrepancies in this complex iron-limited area may be explained essentially by the smaller size of diatoms, or a different set of photophysiological properties.     

Is the world's economic centre of gravity already in Asia?

This paper proposes a novel and simple measure of the world's economic centre of gravity. Over the recent decades, this centre has shifted towards Asia, but is still located in Europe.     

Holocene paleoenvironmental change inferred from two sediment cores collected in the Tibetan lake Taro Co

Journal of Paleolimnology - The Tibetan Plateau, also known as the “Water Tower of Asia” because of its function as a water storage and supply region, responds dramatically to modern...     

Dacite formation on Vesta: Partial melting of the eucritic crust

The Dominion Range 2010 howardite pairing group contains an evolved lithic clast of dacite composition. The dacite contains an assemblage of plagioclase, quartz, and augite, with minor pigeonite, troilite, ilmenite, FeNi metal, K‐feldspar, and phosphates. Primary augite occurs as >1 mm oikocrysts enclosing plagioclase. Quartz is abundant, comprising approximately 30% of the clast. Textural and geochemical characteristics support the hypothesis that the dacite is a primary igneous lithology, and represents a partial melt of the eucritic crust. Numerical modeling (MELTS) suggests 10–20% partial melting of a Juvinas source could have produced the dacite lithology; quantitative trace element modeling further supports crustal partial melting as the magma source for the dacite. The dacite likely formed as evolved‐melt pockets, and thus represents a volumetrically minor lithology in the Vestan crust, although its formation provides direct support for a genetic relationship between Stannern and residual trend eucrites, and is the first identification of residual eucrite complementary melts. We propose the dacite clast is the first characterized sample of tertiary crust on Vesta.     

On the Fringe of Neoliberalism: residential development in outer suburban Sydney

Although there is widespread consensus in human geography that neoliberalism is achieved through the intersection of multiple scales and states, there has been growing emphasis in recent years on the hybrid qualities of neoliberalist-styles of governance. Because hybrid approaches draw attention to the wide range of actors and contradictory agendas underpinning the always uneven expression of neoliberalist projects, they are particularly suited to the identification of residual state capacities in contexts where neoliberalist forms dominate economic and political life. Drawing on two cases of large-scale residential development in New South Wales, namely Warnervale Town Centre on the New South Wales Central Coast and the Australian Defence Industry site at St Marys in Sydney's west, the present paper adopts an hybrid approach in order to identify current state capacities. Through a comparison of both sites, it identifies the potential for socially and ecologically balanced development in the outer suburban context.     

Mud volcanoes and gas vents in the Okhotsk Sea area

Gas emissions from mud volcanoes on Sakhalin Island and water-column gas flares arising from cold seeps in the Okhotsk Sea appear to be related. They are likely activated by tectonic movements along the transform plate boundary separating the Okhotsk Sea Plate from the Eurasian and Amur plates. Gas vents (flares) and methane anomalies occur in the waters offshore Sakhalin Island, along with NE-SW-trending mounds and fluid escape structures on the seafloor. The intersection of the NE-striking transverse faults on land with the Central Sakhalin and Hokkaido-Sakhalin shear zones apparently determines the sites of mud volcanoes, a pattern that continues offshore where the intersection with the East Sakhalin and West Derugin shear zones determines the sites of the submarine gas vents.     

Characterisation of the seismological pattern in a slowly deforming intraplate region: Central and western France

We analyzed the seismicity of central and western France, using historical data, a compilation of all recorded earthquakes from 1962 to 2002 (4574 events, relocated), and all published focal mechanisms (119 focal solutions). The aim is to understand what are the causes of earthquakes and stress accumulation in a slowly deforming intraplate region. The distribution of earthquakes and focal mechanisms is first correlated with recognized faults, geological structures and tomographic images. Then, in order to better understand the distribution of hypocenters and seek deeper crustal sources for stress accumulation, Euler solutions are computed from the available Bouguer anomaly data. The analysis of the obtained pattern for heat flow values, provides a better understanding of the concentration of seismicity in some particular zones.Two different behaviors of this slowly deforming intraplate region are evidenced. One is linked to the presence of a hot spot under the Massif Central, the other to reactivation of the Hercynian structural heritage. Our results highlight that several possible sources for earthquake clustering can be invoked in central–western France.     

Mass and interior of Enceladus from Cassini data analysis

Gravity results are available from radio Doppler data acquired by the Deep Space Network during the encounter of the Cassini spacecraft with Enceladus in February 2005. We report the mass of Enceladus to be (1.0798±0.0016)×¹⁰²⁰ kg, which implies a density of . For a core made of hydrated silicates with a density of 2500 kg m⁻³ the core radius is ∼190 km and the quadrupole moment C₂₂∼1.4×¹⁰⁻³. If Enceladus is in hydrostatic equilibrium, the larger than previously anticipated density implies that the recently proposed secondary spin-orbit resonance cannot be present. Therefore, the source of endogenic activity of Enceladus remains unexplained.     

Geogas transport in fractured hard rock – Correlations with mining seismicity at 3.54 km depth, TauTona gold mine, South Africa

An on-site gas monitoring study has been conducted in the framework of an earthquake laboratory (The International NELSAM–DAFGAS projects) at the TauTona gold mine, South Africa. Five boreholes up to 60 m long were drilled at 3.54 km depth into the highly fractured Pretorius Fault Zone and instruments for chemical and seismic monitoring installed therein. Over the span of 4 years sensitive gas monitoring devices were continuously improved to enable the direct observation of geogas concentration variations in the DAFGAS borehole. The major gas concentrations are constant and air-like with about 78% N₂, 21% O₂, 1% Ar. The geogas components CO₂, CH₄, He and H₂ show the most interesting trends and variations on the minute-by-minute basis and significantly correlate with seismic data, while the ²²²Rn activity remains constant. Time series and cross correlation analysis allow the identification of different gas components (geogas and tunnel air) and the identification of two processes influencing the borehole gas composition: (1) pumping-induced tunnel air breakthrough through networks of initially water-saturated fault fractures; and (2) seismicity induced permeability enhancement of fault fractures to above ∼5 × 10^-10 m². The current set-up of the gas monitoring system is sensitive enough to quantify the resulting geogas transport during periods of intense blasting activities (including recorded blasts with seismic moment ?1 × 10⁹ Nm, located within 1000 m of the cubby) and, it is suggested, also during induced earthquakes, a final goal of the project.     

Microbiological processes in banded iron formation deposition

Banded iron formations have been studied for decades, particularly regarding their potential as archives of the Precambrian environment. In spite of this effort, the mechanism of their deposition and, specifically, the role that microbes played in the precipitation of banded iron formation minerals, remains unresolved. Evidence of an anoxic Earth with only localized oxic areas until the Great Oxidation Event ca 2·45 to 2·32 Ga makes the investigation of O₂‐independent mechanisms for banded iron formation deposition relevant. Recent studies have explored the long‐standing proposition that Archean banded iron formations may have been formed, and diagenetically modified, by anaerobic microbial metabolisms. These efforts encompass a wide array of approaches including isotope, ecophysiological and phylogeny studies, molecular and mineral marker analysis, and sedimentological reconstructions. Herein, the current theories of microbial processes in banded iron formation mineral deposition with particular regard to the mechanisms of chemical sedimentation and post‐depositional alteration are described. The main findings of recent years are summarized and compared here, and suggestions are made regarding cross‐disciplinary information still required to constrain the role of the biosphere in banded iron formation deposition.