The relative contributions of summer and cool-season precipitation to groundwater recharge, Spring Mountains, Nevada, USA

A comparison of the stable-isotope signatures of spring waters, snow, snowmelt, summer (July thru September) rain, and cool season (October thru June) rain indicates that the high-intensity, short-duration summer convective storms, which contribute approximately a third of the annual precipitation to the Spring Mountains, provide only a small fraction (perhaps 10%) of the recharge to this major upland in southern Nevada, USA. Late spring snowmelt is the principal means of recharging the fractured Paleozoic-age carbonate rocks comprising the central and highest portion of the Spring Mountains. Daily discharge measurements at Peak Spring Canyon Creek during the period 1978–94 show that snowpacks were greatly enhanced during El Niño events.     

Assigning land use to supply wells for the statistical characterization of regional groundwater quality: Correlating urban land use and VOC occurrence

Many national and regional groundwater studies have correlated land use “near” a well, often using a 500 m radius circle, with water quality. However, the use of a 500 m circle may seem counterintuitive given that contributing areas are expected to extend up-gradient from wells, and not be circular in shape. The objective of this study was to evaluate if a 500 m circle is adequate for assigning land use to a well for the statistical correlation between urban land use and the occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Land use and VOC data came from 277 supply wells in four study areas in California. Land use was computed using ten different-sized circles and wedges (250 m to 10 km in radius), and three different-sized “searchlights” (1–2 km in length). We define these shapes as contributing area surrogates (CASs), recognizing that a simple shape is at best a surrogate for the actual contributing area. The presence or absence of correlation between land use and the occurrence of VOCs was evaluated using Kendall’s tau (τ). Values of τ were within 10% of one another for wedges and circles ranging in size from 500 m to 2 km, with correlations remaining statistically significant (p < 0.05) for all CAS sizes and shapes, suggesting that a 500 m circular CAS is adequate for assigning land use to a well. Additional evaluation indicated that urban land use is autocorrelated at distances ranging from 8 to 36 km. Thus, urban land use in a 500 m CAS is likely to be predictive of urban land use in the actual contributing area.     

Contents of Volume 57

Volume Contents

Contents of Volume 57     

Studies of the sea using HF radio scatter

Radio signals of decameter wavelength resonantly scattered from waves on the sea surface are used to measure precisely the wavelength, frequency, and direction of travel of those waves. These measurements are not only important in themselves, but are also used to deduce currents, winds, and perhaps wind stress at the sea surface. Techniques for obtaining these measurements, as well as experiments to evaluate these techniques are discussed. Finally, scatter has been used to produce the first high-resolution measurements of the directional distribution of large ocean waves, measurements of ocean surface currents at ranges of 20 km, and of surface winds at ranges of 3000 km.     

Macroalgal distribution patterns in a shallow, soft-bottom lagoon, with emphasis on the nonnativeGracilaria vermiculophylla andCodium fragile

We determined the distribution of macroalgae in Hog Island Bay, a shallow coastal lagoon in Virginia, USA, seasonally at 12 sites from 1998 to 2000 and at 3 representative sites from 2000 to 2002. We analyzed macroalgal biomass, taxonomic richness, and abundance of two non-native species, the cryptic invaderGracilaria vermiculophylla and the conspicuousCodium fragile, with respect to season, location (mainland, mid lagoon, barrier island sites), and elevation (intertidal, subtidal). Taxonomic richness, total algal biomass, and nonnative biomass peaked in the summer months when temperature and light availability were highest. A few stress tolerant and ephemeral algae dominated the algal assemblage.G. vermiculophylla constituted 74% of the entire algal biomass, was the most abundant alga in all seasons, locations, and elevation levels, and was positively correlated with taxonomic richness and abundance of filamentous species.Ulva curvata, Bryopsis plumosa, andC. fragile accounted for an additional 16% of the algal biomass. There are distinct habitats in Hog Island Bay that can be classified into low diversity-low biomass regions near the mainland and barrier islands and high diversity-high biomass regions in the open mid lagoon, where abundant shells for attachment and intermediate levels of water column nutrients and turbidity likely create better growth conditions. Taxonomic richness and biomass were higher in subtidal than intertidal zones, presumably due to lower desiccation stress. This study provides an example of how a single invasive species can dominate an entire assemblage, both in terms of biomass (being most abundant in all seasons, locations, and tidal levels) and species richness (correlating positively with epiphytic filamentous taxa). By adding hard-substratum structural complexity to a relatively homogenous soft-substratum system,G. vermiculophylla increases substratum availability for attachment and entanglement of other algal species and enhances local diversity. Without widespread and abundantG. vermiculophylla, taxa likePolysiphonia, Ceramium, Bryopsis, Ectocarpus, andChampia would likely be much less common. This study also highlights the importance of using DNA analysis of voucher specimens in monitoring programs to accurately identify cryptic invaders.     

Small-scale temperature fluctuations seen by the VeRa Radio Science Experiment on Venus Express

The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment VeRa retrieves atmospheric profiles in the mesosphere and troposphere of Venus in the approximate altitude range of 40–90 km. A data set of more than 500 profiles was retrieved between the orbit insertion of Venus Express in 2006 and the end of occultation season No. 11 in July 2011. The atmospheric profiles cover a wide range of latitudes and local times, enabling us to study the dependence of vertical small-scale temperature perturbations on local time and latitude.Temperature fluctuations with vertical wavelengths of 4 km or less are extracted from the measured temperature profiles in order to study small-scale gravity waves. Significant wave amplitudes are found in the stable atmosphere above the tropopause at roughly 60 km as compared with the only shallow temperature perturbations in the nearly adiabatic region of the adjacent middle cloud layer, below.Gravity wave activity shows a strong latitudinal dependence with the smallest wave amplitudes located in the low-latitude range, and an increase of wave activity with increasing latitude in both hemispheres; the greatest wave activity is found in the high-northern latitude range in the vicinity of Ishtar Terra, the highest topographical feature on Venus.We find evidence for a local time dependence of gravity wave activity in the low latitude range within ±30° of the equator. Gravity wave amplitudes are at their maximum beginning at noon and continuing into the early afternoon, indicating that convection in the lower atmosphere is a possible wave source.The comparison of the measured vertical wave structures with standard linear-wave theory allows us to derive rough estimates of the wave intrinsic frequency and horizontal wavelengths, assuming that the observed wave structures are the result of pure internal gravity waves. Horizontal wavelengths of the waves at 65 km altitude are on the order of ≈300–450 km with horizontal phase speeds of roughly 5–10 m/s.     

Coronal Density Structures and CMEs: Superior Solar Conjunctions of Mars Express, Venus Express, and Rosetta: 2004, 2006, and 2008

Coronal radio-sounding experiments were carried out using the S-band (2.3 GHz) and X-band (8.4 GHz) signals of the ESA Mars Express, Venus Express, and Rosetta spacecraft during five superior conjunctions occurring in 2004, 2006 (3×), and 2008/2009. Differential frequency and propagation delay (ranging) observations were recorded during these opportunities over the better part of a solar cycle, yielding information on the large-scale structure of the coronal electron-density distribution and its variations, including fluctuations on time scales from seconds to hours. These results concern primarily regions of slow solar wind because the radio propagation path is generally confined to the low heliolatitude regions by the conjunction. The mean frequency fluctuation and total electron content are determined as a function of heliocentric distance, and, with a few exceptions caused by streamers and CMEs, are found to be consistent with previous results from experiments on Ulysses. Dense coronal streamers and several coronal mass ejection (CME) events were identified in the radio-frequency data, some of which were observed in white light by the LASCO coronagraphs onboard SOHO. For those events with sufficient mutual coverage, good correlations are found between the electron-content fluctuations and structure imaged by the LASCO instrument.     

Model selection in Bayesian framework to identify the best WorldView-2 based vegetation index in predicting green biomass of salt marshes in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Coastal wetlands are among the most productive ecosystems globally but have experienced dramatic degradation and loss within the past several decades. Vegetation biomass of coastal wetlands is not only the key component of blue carbon storage but also plays an important role in vertical accretion, important for maintaining these habitats under relative sea-level rise. Remote sensing offers a cost-effective approach to study vegetation biomass at a broad spatial scale. We developed statistical models to predict peak aboveground green biomass of Spartina alterniflora and Juncus roemerianus, two dominant species of salt marshes using WorldView-2 satellite imagery at the Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR) on the Mississippi coast in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The model accounted for nested data structures in the sampled biomass, assimilated uncertainties from data, parameters and model structures, and helped determine the best vegetation index among a variety of commonly-used indices to predict aboveground green biomass. We developed a series of mixed-effects models, which included different combinations of fixed effect(s), random intercept, and random slope(s). The fixed effects were species and one of the 60 vegetation indices derived from a WorldView-2 image obtained on 6 October 2012. The random effect used was site. We implemented the models in a Bayesian framework and selected the best model structure and vegetation index based on minimum posterior predictive loss and deviance information criterion. The results showed that the best vegetation index to predict peak green biomass was the green chlorophyll index derived from the reflectance values of band 8 (near-infrared) and band 3 (green), and its effect on biomass prediction varied among sites. The inclusion of species as a fixed effect improved the model prediction. The study demonstrated the need to account for spatial dependence of data in developing a robust model, and the importance of the second WorldView-2 near-infrared band (860–1040 nm) in predicting aboveground green biomass for the Grand Bay NERR. The analysis using mixed-effects modeling in Bayesian inference which coherently combined field and WorldView-2 data with uncertainties accounted for provides a robust and nondestructive tool for resource managers to monitor the status of coastal wetlands at a high spatial resolution in a timely manner. Through this study, we hope to emphasize the importance of appropriately accounting for nested data structures using mixed-effects models and promote wider application of Bayesian inference to facilitate assimilation of uncertainties in remote sensing applications.     

The tectonics and mineral systems of Proterozoic Western Australia:Relationships with supercontinents and global secular change

The cratonisation of Western Australia during the Proterozoic overlapped with several key events in the evolution of Earth. These include global oxidation events and glaciations, as well as the assembly,accretionary growth, and breakup of the supercontinents Columbia and Rodinia, culminating in the assembly of Gondwana. Globally, Proterozoic mineral systems evolved in response to the coupled evolution of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. Consequently, mineral deposits form preferentially in certain times, but they also require a favourable tectonic setting. For Western Australia a distinct plate-margin mineralisation trend is associated with Columbia, whereas an intraplate mineralisation trend is associated with Rodinia and Gondwana, each with associated deposit types. We compare the current Proterozoic record of ore deposits in Western Australia to the estimated likelihood of oredeposit formation. Overall likelihood is estimated with a simple matrix-based approach that considers two components: The "global secular likelihood" and the "tectonic setting likelihood". This comparative study shows that at least for the studied ore-deposit types, deposits within Western Australia developed at times, and in tectonic settings compatible with global databases. Nevertheless, several deposit types are either absent or poorly-represented relative to the overall likelihood models. Insufficient exploration may partly explain this, but a genuine lack of deposits is also suggested for some deposit types. This may relate either to systemic inadequacies that inhibited ore-deposit formation, or to poor preservation. The systematic understanding on the record of Western Australia helps to understand mineralisation processes within Western Australia and its past connections in Columbia, Rodinia and Gondwana and aids to identify regions of high exploration potential.