Increased sediment accretion rates following invasion byPhragmites australis: The role of litter

Negative connotations of invasive plants worldwide have implicated them as the bearers of unfavorable ecosystem change. We contrasted 5-yr-old and 20-yr-oldPhragmites populations with pre-invasion areas occupied byTypha spp. andPanicum virgatum in an oligohaline tidal marsh of Chesapeake Bay. Peak live biomass was 3 times greater, while standing dead and litter was twice as great in the 20-yr-oldPhragmites. It is this abundance of concentrated litter on the marsh surface of maturePhragmites populations that we implicate as encouraging the trapping of organic and mineral matter. The rate of vertical accretion in 20-yr-oldPhragmites populations is 3–4 mm yr⁻¹ above the adjacent populations. By integrating the constant initial concentration and constant rate of supply models on individual²¹⁰Pb cores, we estimate thatPhragmites populations require a minimum of 7-yr post-colonization to enhance rates of accretion in this system. In ligh of the considerable loss of marsh habitat from relative sea-level rise, this finding contests the view that invasion creates strictly undesirable change at the ecosystem level.     

New insight on the genus Nolaniceras Casey, 1961 (Ammonoidea,Cretaceous) and its consequences on the biostratigraphy of the Aptian Stage

Nolaniceras nolani ( Seunes, 1887) has been widely quoted in the Upper Aptian literature over the years. Re-examination of the holotype of the species shows that it has always been misidentified and that this taxon is represented by a single specimen, the holotype, of uncertain age. As a consequence, its use as an index species for the Upper Aptian should be reconsidered and abandoned.     

Experimental validation of the wavefield transform of electromagnetic fields

The wavefield transform is a mathematical technique for transforming low-frequency electromagnetic (EM) signals to a non-diffusive wave domain. The ray approximation is valid in the transform space and this makes traveltime tomography for 3D mapping of the electrical conductivity distribution in the subsurface possible. The transform, however, imposes stringent frequency bandwidth and signal-to-noise ratio requirements on the data. Here we discuss a laboratory scale experiment designed to collect transform quality EM data, and to demonstrate the practical feasibility of transforming these data to the wavefield domain.
We have used the scalable nature of EM fields to design a time-domain experiment using graphite blocks to simulate realistic field conditions while leaving the time scale undisturbed. The spatial dimensions have been scaled down by a factor of a thousand by scaling conductivity up by a factor of a million. The graphite blocks have two holes drilled into them to carry out cross-well and borehole-to-surface experiments. Steel sheets have been inserted between the blocks to simulate a conductive layer.
Our experiments show that accurate EM data can be recorded on a laboratory scale model even when the scaling of some features, such as drill-hole diameters, is not maintained. More importantly, the time-domain EM data recorded in cross-well and surface-to-borehole modes can be usefully and accurately transformed to the wavefield domain. The observed wavefield propagation delay is proportional to the direct distance between the transmitter and receiver in a homogeneous medium. In a layered medium, data accuracy is reduced and, hence, our results are not so conclusive. On the basis of the experimental results we conclude that the wavefield transform could constitute a valid approach to the interpretation of accurate, undistorted time-domain data if further improvement in the transform can be realized.     

蒙特卡罗不确定性分析在O3模拟中的初步应用

利用蒙特卡罗不确定性分析方法,分析了嵌套网格空气质量模式系统(NAQPMS/IAP)中154个模式输入变量不确定性对臭氧模拟的影响,量化了模式在北京奥运会期间臭氧模拟的不确定性,并确定出了主要不确定性因子。结果表明:(1)在奥运会期间(2008年8月8日～2008年8月24日),北京城区臭氧模拟的平均不确定性为19ppb,不确定性存在明显的日变化特征,白天不确定性大,夜间不确定性小。(2)在白天,北京城区近地层臭氧模拟最重要的不确定性来源是局地前体物排放,其次是NO2光解系数、风向、北京周边前体物排放和垂直扩散系数。另外,地面约150m以上,对臭氧模拟影响最大的不确定性因子是风向和北京周边前体物排放;夜间,北京城区近地层臭氧模拟的最大不确定性来源是局地NOx排放和垂直扩散系数。     

Feldspathic lunar meteorites and their implications for compositional remote sensing of the lunar surface and the composition of the lunar crust

We present new compositional data for six feldspathic lunar meteorites, two from cold deserts (Yamato 791197 and 82192) and four from hot deserts (Dhofar 025, Northwest Africa 482, and Dar al Gani 262 and 400). The concentrations of FeO (or Al₂O₃) and Th (or any other incompatible element) together provide first-order compositional information about lunar polymict samples (breccias and regoliths) and regions of the lunar surface observed from orbit. Concentrations of both elements on the lunar surface have been determined from data acquired by orbiting spacecraft, although the derived concentrations have large uncertainties and some systematic errors compared to sample data. Within the uncertainties and errors in the concentrations derived from orbital data, the distribution of FeO and Th concentrations among lunar meteorites, which represent ∼18 source regions on the lunar surface, is consistent with that of 18 random samples from the surface. Approximately 11 of the lunar meteorites are low-FeO and low-Th breccias, consistent with large regions of the lunar surface, particularly the northern farside highlands. Almost all regoliths from Apollo sites, on the other hand, have larger concentrations of both elements because they contain Fe-rich volcanic lithologies from the nearside maria and Th-rich lithologies from the high-Th anomaly in the northwestern nearside. The feldspathic lunar meteorites thus offer our best estimate of the composition of the surface of the feldspathic highlands, and we provide such an estimate based on the eight most well-characterized feldspathic lunar meteorites. The variable but high (on average) Mg/Fe ratio of the feldspathic lunar meteorites compared to ferroan anorthosites confirms a hypothesis that much of the plagioclase at the surface of the feldspathic highlands is associated with high-Mg/Fe feldspathic rocks such as magnesian granulitic breccia, not ferroan anorthosite. Geochemically, the high-Mg/Fe breccias appear to be unrelated to the mafic magnesian-suite rocks of the Apollo collection. Models for the formation of the upper lunar crust as a simple flotation cumulate composed mainly of ferroan anorthosite do not account for the complexity of the crust as inferred from the feldspathic lunar meteorites.     

Understanding Place Attachment to the County in the American Great Plains

The American Great Plains is a region dominated by a flat, treeless, semiarid environment that has challenged population settlement for over 140 years. As railroad companies successfully attracted pioneers to settle the land, state governments established hundreds of counties. Following Jeffersonian ideals, many of the counties were small in area so they could better serve the local agricultural‐based population. When states established these counties, they envisioned that the population would continue to grow and the Great Plains would become the breadbasket of North America. Unfortunately that did not materialize. A succession of hardships combined with serious environmental constraints has discouraged large‐scale settlement in the region. Many counties reached their maximum population in the early 1900s and their totals have decreased ever since (in some counties by as much as 60 percent to 80 percent). This has led a number of government officials to consider consolidating counties much like school districts have been combined. Using Logan and Gove counties in western Kansas as a case study, our purpose is to understand how attached people are to the county in which they live. Employing multiple methods, we gathered information about how different segments of the population regard their local county. We learned that changing computer technology and the Internet has the biggest impact on peoples' attachment to the county seat.     

Are We There Yet? A Roadmap to Understanding National Park Service Rulemaking

The preproposal stage of the rulemaking process is notoriously understudied, but enormously important in determining regulatory outputs. Recently, Rinfret (2011c Rinfret , S. R. 2011c . Frames of influence: U.S. environmental rulemaking case studies . Rev. Policy Res. 28 ( 3 ): 231 – 245 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) analyzed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) rulemaking process and developed a frame analysis model to interpret stakeholder influence during the preproposal stage. Rinfret argues that stakeholders use three frames to influence agency rulemaking, including an expertise, a fiscal feasibility, and an information frame. This article tests this model to determine whether it is applicable to other federal agencies such as the National Park Service (NPS). Through an analysis of stakeholder framing within the 2012 NPS Yellowstone Winter Use Rule, this research confirms that Rinfret's model is indeed applicable to the NPS process. Therefore, this research suggests that this theoretical model examining stakeholder influence is applicable to other public land agencies, and arguably can be applied across the bureaucracy.     

Genetic structure of the tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis in NW Scottish sea lochs

The tall sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis has a patchy distribution around the UK, being found in sheltered waters below 20 m depth on the northwest coast of Scotland and Ireland. The limited distribution and sensitivity to bottom fishing activities make F. quadrangularis vulnerable to reduction in population numbers that may lead to genetic isolation and reduced diversity. Because of this vulnerability and low resilience to physical disturbance, the tall sea pen is recognised as a Species of Principle Importance under the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act, 2006, UK. ( http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2006/16/contents ) and is also on the Biodiversity Action Plan list of Priority Species for the UK. In the Mediterranean it is recognised as a sensitive and essential fish habitat because it forms habitat for several commercially important crustaceans. The aim of this study was to understand the current state of the genetic structure and gene flow of F. quadrangularis in areas of NW Scotland. We developed 10 microsatellite markers and used them to genotype 176 samples from four populations. Overall, our results suggest that there is high genetic diversity and high gene flow between colonies of F. quadrangularis in and among locations in Loch Linnhe and Loch Duich. As a result of the high rates of gene flow, genetic differentiation between sites was low. This may provide resilience to human impacts if distant populations have a high connectivity. However, care must be taken, as small but significant isolation by distance was found between the most geographically distant sites and only a small part of the species range was examined in this study. The genetic tools developed here will provide a foundation for wider studies of this vulnerable species.     

Effect of food quality on energy uptake

The dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory assumes that the feeding of an organism in relation to food density follows the type-II functional response when food consists of purely digestible organic matter. However when faced with a food source high in inorganic content, an organism needs to adapt physiologically to maximise organic extraction. Indeed filter-feeding marine bivalves inhabiting turbid coastal waters cope with large fluctuations in food quality by selectively ingesting and pseudofaeces production. Data from feeding experiments with the New Zealand greenshell mussel Perna canaliculus have demonstrated that inorganic particles contribute some uncertainty to the estimate of the half-saturation coefficient. Incorporating inorganic matter into the functional response would improve the prediction of energy uptake.     

Lead-210 sediment geochronology in a changing coastal environment

Sediment accumulation rate studies utilizing excess ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs were conducted as part of recent investigations of biogeochemical cycling at a single site in Cape Lookout Bight, a rapidly changing coastal basin on the Outer Banks of North Carolina (U.S.A.). Cores three meters in length reveal a depositional history for the bight interior characterized by a gradual transition in texture from coarse-grained to fine-grained material over the period 1946–1979. This transition is controlled by progressive enclosure of the bight by an active northerly migrating recurved spit. The textural gradation is periodically interrupted by layers of well-sorted sand associated with major storm events. Lead-210 data indicate that the upper meter of the sediment has accumulated at a rate of 3.35 to 4.71 g · cm^?2 · yr^?1 or approximately 8.4 to 11.8 cm · yr^?1 (at ø = 0.84). Below 120 cm depth, dilution of clay and silt by low activity sand necessitates correction of the ²¹⁰Pb profile in order to establish a geochronology. Grain size ²¹⁰Pb distribution measurements at three depths reveal that the specific activity (dpm · g^?1) of clay is 3.2 times that of silt and 24.7 times that of sand. Corrections of bulk sediment excess ²¹⁰Pb activities based on these measurements lead to dates for textural changes which are consistent with charted changes in basin morphology and major storm events.Sixteen ¹³⁷Cs measurements between 33–241 cm depth reveal a peak activity at 105–115 cm and indicate a minimum sedimentation rate of approximately 2.7 g · cm^?2 · yr^?1.