A multiproxy evaluation of Holocene environmental change from Lake Igaliku, South Greenland

This is the first integrated multiproxy study to investigate climate, catchment evolution and lake ecology in South Greenland. A 4-m-long sedimentary sequence from Lake Igaliku (61o 00?? N, 45o 26?? W, 15?m asl) documents major environmental and climatic changes in south Greenland during the last 10?ka. The chronology is based on a ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs profile and 28 radiocarbon dates. The paleoenvironmental history is interpreted on the basis of magnetic susceptibility, grain size, total organic carbon, total nitrogen and sulphur, sedimentation rates, pollen, and diatom assemblages. The basal radiocarbon date at ca. 10?cal?ka BP provides a minimum age for the deglaciation of the basin, which is followed by ~500?years of high sedimentation rates in a glacio-marine environment. After the glacio-isostatic emergence of the basin ca. 9.5?cal?ka BP, limnological and terrestrial proxies suggests early warmth, which may have been interrupted by a cold, dry and windy period between 8.6 and 8.1?cal?ka BP. A dry and windy event ~5.3?C4.8?cal?ka BP preceded the Neoglacial transition at Lake Igaliku, which is characterized by a shift toward moister and perhaps cooler conditions ~4.8?cal?ka BP, causing major changes in terrestrial and aquatic ecological conditions. Significant cooling is documented after ~3?cal?ka BP. Since ~1?cal?ka BP the climatic-driven changes were overprinted by the human influence of Norse and recent agriculture.     

Differential aerobic and anaerobic oxidation of hydrocarbon gases discharged at mud volcanoes in the Nile deep-sea fan

The present study investigates hydrocarbon oxidation processes at Isis and Amon mud volcanoes (MV’s), in the eastern Nile deep-sea fan. In the water column, molecular and carbon isotopic signatures of light hydrocarbons indicate that gases rapidly dissolve in seawater and are partially oxidized.In the upper sediments, anaerobic oxidation of the light hydrocarbons takes place, as clearly shown by their molecular and isotopic composition. These processes lead to the presence of a distinct Sulfate-Hydrocarbon Interface at 120-145 cm and 20-50 cm below the seafloor, for Isis and Amon MV’s, respectively. In contrast to processes occurring in the water column, a clear preferential oxidation of methane, propane and n-butane over ethane and i-butane is observed in the anoxic sediments. Furthermore, for the first time, fractionation factors have been determined for the anaerobic oxidation of propane and butane, being respectively −4.80‰ and −0.7‰ for δ¹³C, and −43.3‰ for δ²H of propane.     

Characterisation of hydroclimatological trends and variability in the Lake Naivasha basin,Kenya

Recent hydro‐climatological trends and variability characteristics were investigated for the Lake Naivasha basin with the aim of understanding the changes in water balance components and their evolution over the past 50 years. Using a Bayesian change point analysis and modified Mann–Kendall tests, time series of annual mean, maximum, minimum, and seasonal precipitation and flow, as well as annual mean lake volumes, were analysed for the period 1960–2010 to uncover possible abrupt shifts and gradual trends. Double cumulative curve analysis was used to investigate the changes in hydrological response attributable to either human influence or climatic variability. The results indicate a significant decline in lake volumes at a mean rate of 9.35 × 10⁶ m³ year^?1. Most of the river gauging stations showed no evidence of trends in the annual mean and maximum flows as well as seasonal flows. Annual minimum flows, however, showed abrupt shifts and significant (upward/downward) trends at the main outlet stations. Precipitation in the basin showed no evidence of abrupt shifts, but a few stations showed gradual decline. The observed changes in precipitation could not explain the decline in both minimum flows and lake volumes. The findings show no evidence of any impact of climate change for the Lake Naivasha basin over the past 50 years. This implies that other factors, such as changes in land cover and infrastructure development, have been responsible for the observed changes in streamflow and lake volumes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bacterial dominance of phototrophic communities in a High Arctic lake and its implications for paleoclimate analysis

The phototrophic communities in meromictic, perennially ice-covered Lake A, on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian High Arctic, were characterized by pigment analysis using high performance liquid chromatography. Samples were taken to determine the vertical changes down the water column as well as a variation between years. These analyses showed that Lake A had distinct phototrophic communities in its oxic and anoxic layers. The pigment analyses indicated that phototrophic biomass in the upper, oxic waters was dominated by picocyanobacteria, while in the lower, anoxic layer photosynthetic green sulphur bacteria were dominant. Interannual variation in pigment concentrations was related to the penetration of photosynthetically active radiation in the water column, suggesting that light availability may be limiting the net accumulation of photosynthetic bacterial biomass in Lake A. Pigment analysis of the surface sediments indicated that deposition was dominated by the photosynthetic sulphur bacterial contribution. The sedimentary record of bacterial pigments in polar meromictic lakes offers a promising tool for the reconstruction of past changes in ice cover and therefore in climate.     

Data assimilation (4D-VAR) to forecast flood in shallow-waters with sediment erosion

In this paper, the four-dimensional variational data assimilation technique (4D-VAR) is presented as a tool to forecast floods. Our study is limited to purely hydrological flows and supposes that the weather, here a big rain, has been already forecasted by meteorological services. The technique consists in minimizing, in the sense of Lagrange, the cost function: a measure of the difference between calculated data and available observations, here the water level. This is done under constraints that are the equations of the physical model. In our case, we modified the shallow-water equations to include a simplified sediment transport model. The steepest descent algorithm is then used to find the minimum. This is made possible because we can compute analytically the gradient of the cost function by using the adjoint equations of the model. As an application of the 4D-VAR technique, the overflowing of the Chicoutimi River at the Chute-Garneau dam, during the 1996 flood, is investigated. It is found that the 4D-VAR method reduces the error in the water height forecast even when the erosion model is not activated. In terms of Lyapunov exponents, we estimate the predictability horizon of such an event to be about half-an-hour after a big rain. However, this limit of predictability can be increased by using more observations or by using a finer computational grid.     

The cosmological dependence of galactic specific angular momenta

Hydrodynamical simulations of galaxy formation in spatially flat cold dark matter (CDM) cosmologies with and without a cosmological constant (Λ) are described. A simple star formation algorithm is employed and radiative cooling is allowed only after redshift z =1 so that enough hot gas is available to form large, rapidly rotating stellar discs if angular momentum is approximately conserved during collapse. The specific angular momenta of the final galaxies are found to be sensitive to the assumed background cosmology. This dependence arises from the different angular momenta contained in the haloes at the epoch when the gas begins to collapse and the inhomogeneity of the subsequent halo evolution. In the Λ-dominated cosmology, the ratio of stellar specific angular momentum to that of the dark matter halo (measured at the virial radius) has a median value of ∼0.24 at z =0. The corresponding quantity for the Λ=0 cosmology is over three times lower. It is concluded that the observed frequency and angular momenta of disc galaxies pose significant problems for spatially flat CDM models with Λ=0 but may be consistent with a Λ-dominated CDM universe.     

An Overview of the Second Generation Adjusted Daily Precipitation Dataset for Trend Analysis in Canada

A second generation adjusted precipitation daily dataset has been prepared for trend analysis in Canada. Daily rainfall and snowfall amounts have been adjusted for 464 stations for known measurement issues such as wind undercatch, evaporation and wetting losses for each type of rain-gauge, snow water equivalent from ruler measurements, trace observations and accumulated amounts from several days. Observations from nearby stations were sometimes combined to create time series that are longer; hence, making them more useful for trend studies. In this new version, daily adjustments are an improvement over the previous version because they are derived from an extended dataset and enhanced metadata knowledge. Datasets were updated to cover recent years, including 2009. The impact of the adjustments on rainfall and snowfall total amounts and trends was examined in detail. As a result of adjustments, total rainfall amounts have increased by 5 to 10% in southern Canada and by more than 20% in the Canadian Arctic, compared to the original observations, while the effect of the adjustments on snowfall were larger and more variable throughout the country. The slope of the rain trend lines decreased as a result of the larger correction applied to the older rain-gauges while the slope of the snow trend lines increased, mainly along the west coast and in the Arctic. Finally, annual and seasonal rainfall and snowfall trends based on the adjusted series were computed for 1950–2009 and 1900–2009. Overall, rainfall has increased across the country while a mix of non-significant increasing and decreasing trends was found during the summer in the Canadian Prairies. Snowfall has increased mainly in the north while a significant decrease was observed in the southwestern part of the country for 1950–2009.

     

March 1986 eruptive episodes at Piton de la Fournaise volcano (Reunion Island)

From May 1985 to April 1986 five discrete eruptions have occurred at Piton de la Fournaise volcano. On March the 17th, a sixth episode began with four distinct stages. They took place along the southeast rift zone of the volcano, from the summit to the sea coast. It was the first rift zone eruption in the south since 1800 A.D. and the first ever monitored at Piton de la Fournaise volcano.Three fissural vents opened at decreasing altitude emitting about 12 to 15 × 10⁶ m³ of olivine basalts between 19th March and 1st April. Strong seismic activity was accompanied by deformation of the summit area, and large-scale variations of the magnetic field. A summital event characterized the end of the flank activity with collapse of a new pit-crater and outflow of small amounts of degassed aphyric basalt.