Nutrient Inputs, Phytoplankton Response, and CO2 Variations in a Semi-Enclosed Subtropical Embayment, Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii

The marine shelf areas in subtropical and tropical regions represent only 35% of the total shelf areas globally, but receive a disproportionately large amount of water (65%) and sediment (58%) discharges that enter such environments. Small rivers and/or streams that drain the mountainous areas in these climatic zones deliver the majority of the sediment and nutrient inputs to these narrow shelf environments; such inputs often occur as discrete, episodic introductions associated with storm events. To gain insight into the linked biogeochemical behavior of subtropical/tropical mountainous watershed-coastal ocean ecosystems, this work describes the use of a buoy system to monitor autonomously water quality responses to land-derived nutrient inputs and physical forcing associated with local storm events in the coastal ocean of southern Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, USA. The data represent 2.5 years of near-real time observations at a fixed station, collected concurrently with spatially distributed synoptic sampling over larger sections of Kaneohe Bay. Storm events cause most of the fluvial nutrient, particulate, and dissolved organic carbon inputs to Kaneohe Bay. Nutrient loadings from direct rainfall and/or terrestrial runoff produce an immediate increase in the N:P ratio of bay waters up to values of 48 and drive phytoplankton biomass growth. Rapid uptake of such nutrient subsidies by phytoplankton causes rapid declines of N levels, return to N-limited conditions, and subsequent decline of phytoplankton biomass over timescales ranging from a few days to several weeks, depending on conditions and proximity to the sources of runoff. The enhanced productivity may promote the drawing down of pCO₂ and lowering of surface water column carbonate saturation states, and in some events, a temporary shift from N to P limitation. The productivity-driven CO₂ drawdown may temporarily lead to air-to-sea transfer of atmospheric CO₂ in a system that is on an annual basis a source of CO₂ to the atmosphere due to calcification and perhaps heterotrophy. Storms may also strongly affect proximal coastal zone pCO₂ and hence carbonate saturation state due to river runoff flushing out high pCO₂ soil and ground waters. Mixing of the CO₂-charged water with seawater causes a salting out effect that releases CO₂ to the atmosphere. Many subtropical and tropical systems throughout the Pacific region are similar to Kaneohe Bay, and our work provides an important indication of the variability and range of CO₂ dynamics that are likely to exist elsewhere. Such variability must be taken into account in any analysis of the direction and magnitude of the air?Csea CO₂ exchange for the integrated coastal ocean, proximal and distal. It cannot be overemphasized that this research illustrates several examples of how high frequency sampling by a moored autonomous system can provide details about ecosystem responses to stochastic atmospheric forcing that are commonly missed by traditional synoptic observational approaches. Finally, the work exemplifies the utility of combining synoptic sampling and real-time autonomous observations to elucidate the biogeochemical and physical responses of coastal subtropical/tropical coral reef ecosystems to climatic perturbations.     

Differentiation, crustal contamination and emplacement of magmas in the formation of the Nantianwan mafic intrusion of the ~260?Ma Emeishan large igneous province, SW China

The Nantianwan mafic intrusion in the Panxi region, SW China, part of the ~260?Ma Emeishan large igneous province, consists of the olivine gabbro and gabbronorite units, separated by a transitional zone. Olivine gabbros contain olivine with Fo values ranging from 83 to 87, indicating crystallization from a moderately evolved magma. They have 0.2 to 0.9?wt?% sulfide with highly variable PGE (17?C151?ppb) and variable Cu/Pd ratios (1,500?C32,500). Modeling results indicate that they were derived from picritic magmas with high initial PGE concentrations. Olivine gabbros have negative ??Nd(t) values (?1.3 to ?0.1) and positive ??Os(t) values (5?C15), consistent with low degrees of crustal contamination. Gabbronorites include sulfide-bearing and sulfide-poor varieties, and both have olivine with Fo values ranging from 74 to 79, indicating crystallization from a more evolved magma than that for olivine gabbros. Sulfide-bearing gabbronorites contain 1.9?C4.1?wt?% sulfide and 37?C160?ppb PGE and high Cu/Pd ratios (54,000?C624,000). Sulfide-poor gabbronorites have 0.1?C0.6?wt?% sulfide and 0.2?C15?ppb PGE and very high Cu/Pd ratios (16,900?C2,370,000). Both sulfide-bearing and sulfide-poor gabbronorites have ??Nd(t) values (?0.9 to ?2.1) similar to those for olivine gabbros, but their ??Os(t) values (17?C262) are much higher and more variable than those of the olivine gabbros. Selective assimilation of crustal sulfides from the country rocks is thus considered to have resulted in more radiogenic ¹⁸⁷Os of the gabbronorites. Processes such as magma differentiation, crustal contamination and sulfide saturation at different stages in magma chambers may have intervened during formation of the intrusion. Parental magmas were derived from picritic magmas that had fractionated olivine under S-undersaturated conditions before entering a deep-seated staging magma chamber, where the parental magmas crystallized olivine, assimilated minor crustal rocks and reached sulfide saturation, forming an olivine- and sulfide-laden crystal mush in the lower part and evolved magmas in the upper part of the chamber. The evolved magmas were forced out of the staging chamber and became S-undersaturated due to a pressure drop during ascent to a shallow magma chamber. The magmas re-attained sulfide saturation by assimilating external S from S-rich country rocks. They may have entered the shallow magma chamber as several pulses so that several gabbronorite layers each with sulfide segregated to the base and a sulfide-poor upper part. The olivine gabbro unit formed from a new and more primitive magma that entrained olivine crystals and sulfide droplets from the lower part of the staging chamber. A transitional zone formed along the boundary with the gabbronorite unit due to chemical interaction between the two rock units.     

Anthropogenic influence of trace metals in sediments of the Al-Qilt catchment,West Bank,Palestine: 1. Contamination factor and bonding forms

Al-Qilt catchment, located east of both the Ramallah and Jerusalem districts is strongly influenced by waste waters discharged from Israeli settlements and Palestinian urban centers. In this research, our aim was to verify the chemical status of the surface sediments from the Al-Qilt catchment during 2008/2009. For this purpose, 36 surface sediment samples were collected and analyzed with ICP/MS within the fraction of below 63 μm. The extent of contamination of trace metals from Al-Qilt sediments sites were measured by evaluating the contamination factors (CF) from digestion by aqua regia and additionally by sequential extraction steps using the BCR-method. On the basis of the calculated CF, sediments appear particularly contaminated with Zn, Cu, Ag, Sn, Cd, Hg, Bi, and B. Three regions, Wadi Sweanit, Ras Al-Qilt, and Qalandiah have been identified as critical points of contamination. Trace metal inputs to the Al-Qilt catchment need to be kept under strict control in the future since Ras Al-Qilt is considered as one of the important springs in the area and is used for domestic purposes. Moreover, it will be susceptible to pollution if no action is taken to decrease the pollution at the upstream of Al-Qilt.     

Subduction–accretion–collision history along the Gondwana suture in southern India: A laser ablation ICP-MS study of zircon chronology

We report the petrological characteristics and preliminary zircon geochronology based on laser ablation ICP mass spectrometry of the various units in an accretionary belt within the Palghat-Cauvery Shear/Suture Zone in southern India, a trace of the Cambrian Gondwana suture. Zircons extracted from a plagiogranite in association with an ophiolite suite within this suture possess internal structure that suggests magmatic crystallization, and yield mid Neoproterozoic ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of 817 ± 16 Ma (error: 1σ) constraining the approximate timing of birth of the Mozambique Ocean floor. Compiled age data on zircons separated from a quartzite and metamorphosed banded iron formation within the accretionary belt yields a younger intercept age of 759 ± 41 Ma (error: 1σ) which we relate to a mid Neoproteozoic magmatic arc. Detrital zircons extracted from the quartzite yield ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb age peaks of about 1.9–2.6 Ga suggesting that they were sourced from multiple protolithis of Neoarchean and Paleoproterozoic. Metamorphic overgrowths on some zircon grains record ca. 500–550 Ma ages which are in good harmony with the known ages for the timing of high-grade metamorphism in this zone during the final stage of continent collision associated with the birth of the Gondwana supercontinent in the latest Neoproterozoic-Cambrian. The preliminary geochronological results documented in our study correlate with the subduction–accretion–collision history associated with the closure of the Mozambique Ocean and the final amalgamation of the Gondwana supercontinent.     

Magmatic history and geophysical signature of a post-collisional intrusive center emplaced near a crustal-scale shear zone: the Plechý granite pluton (Moldanubian batholith,Bohemian Massif)

The Plechy pluton, southwestern Bohemian Massif, represents a late-Variscan, complexly zoned intrusive center emplaced near the crustal-scale Pfahl shear zone; the pluton thus provides an opportunity to examine the interplay among successive emplacement of large magma batches, magmatic fabric acquisition, and the late-Variscan stress field associated with strike-slip shearing. The magmatic history of the pluton started with the emplacement of the porphyritic Plechy and Haidmühler granites. Based on gravity and structural data, we interpret that the Plechy and Haidmühler granites were emplaced as a deeply rooted, ∼NE–SW elongated body; its gross shape and internal fabric (steep ∼NE–SW magmatic foliation) may have been controlled by the late-Variscan stress field. The steep magmatic foliation changes into flat-lying foliation (particularly recorded by AMS) presumably as a result of divergent flow. Magnetic lineations correspond to a sub-horizontal ∼NE–SW finite stretch associated with the divergent flow. Subsequently, the Třístoličník granite, characterized by steep margin-parallel magmatic foliation, was emplaced as a crescent-shaped body in the central part of the pluton. The otherwise inward-younging intrusive sequence was completed by the emplacement of the outermost and the most evolved garnet-bearing granite (the Marginal granite) along the southeastern margin of the pluton. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Hydrogen incorporation into forsterite in Mg2SiO4–K2Mg(CO3)2–H2O and Mg2SiO4–H2O–C at 7.5–14.0 GPa

Experiments on water solubility in forsterite in the systems Mg₂SiO₄–K₂Mg(CO₃)₂–H₂O and Mg₂SiO₄–H₂O–C were conducted at 7.5–14.0 GPa and 1200–1600 °C. The resulting crystals contain 448 to 1480 ppm water, which is 40–70% less than in the forsterite–water system under the same conditions. This can be attributed to lower water activity in the carbonate-bearing melt. The water content of forsterite was found to vary systematically with temperature and pressure. For instance, at 14 GPa in the system forsterite–carbonate–H₂O the H₂O content of forsterite drops from 1140 ppm at 1200 °C to 450 ppm at 1600 °C, and at 8 GPa it remains constant or increases from 550 to 870 ppm at 1300–1600 °C. Preliminary data for D-H-bearing forsterite are reported. Considerable differences were found between IR spectra of D-H- and H-bearing forsterite. The results suggest that CO₂ can significantly affect the width of the olivine-wadsleyite transition, i.e., the 410-km seismic discontinuity, which is a function of the water content of olivine and wadsleyite.     

Regional frequency analysis of autumnal floods in the province of Quebec, Canada

A large number of models have been proposed over the last years for regional flood frequency analysis in northern regions. However, these models dealt generally with snowmelt-caused spring floods. This paper deals with the adaptation, application, and comparison of two regional frequency analysis methods, canonical correlation analysis (CCA) and universal canonical kriging (UCK), on autumnal floods of 29 stations from the C?te-Nord region (QC, Canada). Three possible periods during which autumnal floods can take place are tested. The absolute and specific flood peak and volume quantiles are also studied. A jack-knife resampling procedure is applied to compare the performance of each model according to the selected period and the type of quantile. The period of September 1st to December 15th is found to be optimal to represent autumnal floods and specific quantiles were shown to lead to better results than absolute quantiles. Variables that explain best the autumnal floods are the basin area, the fraction of the area covered with lakes, and the average of mean July, August, and September maximal temperatures. The CCA model performs slightly better than UCK.     

Temporal characteristics of aerosol physical properties at Visakhapatnam on the east coast of India during ICARB — Signatures of transport onto Bay of Bengal

Realizing the importance of aerosol physical properties at the adjoining continental and coastal locations in the airmass pathways onto the oceanic region, extensive measurements of aerosol physical properties were made at Visakhapatnam (17.7°N, 83.3°E), an eastern coastal location in peninsular India during the ICARB period. The temporal variations of aerosol optical depth, near surface aerosol mass size distributions and BC mass concentrations show significantly higher aerosol optical depth and near surface mass concentrations during the first and last weeks of April 2007. The mean BC mass fraction in the fine mode aerosol was around 11%. The aerosol back scatter profiles derived from Micro Pulse Lidar indicate a clear airmass subsidence on the days with higher aerosol optical depths and near surface mass fraction. A comparison of the temporal variation of the aerosol properties at Visakhapatnam with the MODIS derived aerosol optical depth along the cruise locations indicates a resemblance in the temporal variation suggesting that the aerosol transport from the eastern coastal regions of peninsular India could significantly affect the aerosol optical properties at the near coastal oceanic regions and that the affect significantly reduced at the farther regions.     

Mineralogy and geochemistry of the Texeo Cu–Co mine site (NW Spain): screening tools for environmental assessment

The Cu–Co–Ni Texeo mine has been the most important source of Cu in NW Spain since Roman times and now, approximately 40,000 m³ of wastes from mine and metallurgical operations, containing average concentrations of 9,263 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, 1,100 mg kg⁻¹ As, 549 mg kg⁻¹ Co, and 840 mg kg⁻¹ Ni, remain on-site. Since the cessation of the activity, the abandoned works, facilities and waste piles have been posing a threat to the environment, derived from the release of toxic elements. In order to assess the potential environmental pollution caused by the mining operations, a sequential sampling strategy was undertaken in wastes, soil, surface and groundwater, and sediments. First, screening field tools were used to identify hotspots, before defining formal sampling strategies; so, in the areas where anomalies were detected in a first sampling stage, a second detailed sampling campaign was undertaken. Metal concentrations in the soils are highly above the local background, reaching up to 9,921 mg kg⁻¹ Cu, 1,373 mg kg⁻¹ As, 685 mg kg⁻¹ Co, and 1,040 mg kg⁻¹ Ni, among others. Copper concentrations downstream of the mine works reach values up to 1,869 μg l⁻¹ and 240 mg kg⁻¹ in surface water and stream sediments, respectively. Computer-based risk assessment for the site gives a carcinogenic risk associated with the presence of As in surface waters and soils, and a health risk for long exposures; so, trigger levels of these elements are high enough to warrant further investigation.