Non-glacial paleoenvironments and the extent of Weichselian ice sheets on Severnaya Zemlya, Russian High Arctic

The extent of the Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet (northern Europe and Russia) during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 is controversial, especially along the southern and northeastern (Russian High Arctic) margins. We conducted a multi-disciplinary study of various organic and mineral fractions, obtaining chronologies with ¹⁴C and luminescence dating methods on a 10.5 m long core from Changeable Lake (4 km from the Vavilov Ice Cap) on Severnaya Zemlya. The numeric ages indicate that the last glaciation at this site occurred during or prior to MIS 5d-4 (Early Middle Weichselian). Deglaciation was followed by a marine transgression which affected the Changeable Lake basin. After the regression the basin dried up. In late Middle Weichselian time (ca 25–40 ka), reworked marine sediments were deposited in a saline water body. During the Late Weichselian (MIS 2), the basin was not affected by glaciation, and lacustrine sediments were formed which reflect cold and arid climate conditions. During the termination of the Pleistocene and into the Holocene, warmer and wetter climate conditions than before led to a higher sediment input. Thus, our chronology demonstrates that the northeastern margin of the LGM Barents-Kara Sea ice sheet did not reach the Changeable Lake basin. This result supports a modest model of the LGM ice sheet in northern Europe determined from numeric ice sheet modelling and geological investigations.     

High levels of site fidelity in movement patterns of Southern Rock Lobster (Jasus edwardsii) in Victoria,Australia

ABSTRACT

Movement patterns of the Southern Rock Lobster Jasus edwardsii in Victoria, Australia were investigated from 8,533 tag-recapture events across a 20-year period (1992–2012). In total, 83% of lobsters were recaptured within 1?km of their tagging site and 93% within 5?km. While largely resident, elevated movements were observed within specific regions, with the overall direction of movement being from inshore to offshore areas. Movement was not impacted by lobster sex, size, or reproductive stage. The fishery for Southern Rock Lobster within Victoria is currently managed into two zones with separate total allowable commercial catches in each area. Given the high levels of site fidelity, our findings suggest that management of the resource at this spatial scale is appropriate and that consideration of significant movement between zones is not warranted in fishery stock assessment models.     

Horizontal spatial and temporal distribution patterns of nearshore larval fish assemblages at a temperate rocky shore

There have been no previous studies of the composition of nearshore larval fish assemblages along the coast of Portugal. We aimed to describe the composition and horizontal distribution patterns of larval fish assemblages and their temporal dynamics near a rocky reef at depths shallower than 13 m (inshore) and at two miles (3.70 km) from shore (offshore), as well as along transects perpendicular to the shoreline, from the reef to 10 miles offshore (18.52 km). Samples were taken using 5 min sub-surface trawls at the rocky shore of the Arrábida Marine Park (W Portugal). A total of 1021 larvae were collected, belonging to 61 taxa inshore and to 29 taxa offshore. Along transects, 626 larvae of 52 taxa were collected. Most larvae belonged to coastal species associated with rocky reefs. Total larval abundance and diversity were higher from May to July, which is consistent with the spawning activity of adults. Diversity and total larval abundance decreased significantly with increasing distance from shore, both in the inshore/offshore comparison and in the transects, where this decrease was evident at a very small spatial scale (within the first mile from the reef). Species assemblages differed in the pattern of distribution, with most species clearly associated to the extreme nearshore. The distribution patterns obtained were independent of the spawning mode of species. Results are discussed in the light of the possible physical mechanisms that can potentially act at the Arrábida Marine Park to facilitate larvae retention and the role of larval behaviour.     

Jarosite stability on Mars

Jarosite, a potassium (sodium) iron sulphate hydrated mineral, has recently been identified on the martian surface by the Opportunity rover. Using recent thermochemical data [Drouet and Navrotsky, 2003, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 67, 2063-2076; Forray et al., 2005, Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, in press], we calculate the equilibrium decomposition curve of jarosite and show that it is thermodynamically stable under most present martian pressures and temperatures. Its stability makes jarosite potentially useful to retain textural, chemical, and isotopic evidence of past history, including possible biological activity, on Mars.     

A model for inferring dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in lakewater from visible-near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIRS) measures in lake sediment

We developed an inference model to infer dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in lakewater from lake sediments using visible-near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIRS). The inference model used surface sediment samples collected from 160 Arctic Canada lakes, covering broad latitudinal (60–83°N), longitudinal (71–138°W) and environmental gradients, with a DOC range of 0.6–39.6 mg L⁻¹. The model was applied to Holocene lake sediment cores from Sweden and Canada and our inferences are compared to results from previous multiproxy paleolimnological investigations at these two sites. The inferred Swedish and Canadian DOC profiles are compared, respectively, to inferences from a Swedish-based VNIRS-total organic carbon (TOC) model and a Canadian-based diatom-inferred (Di-DOC) model from the same sediment records. The 5-component Partial Least Squares (PLS) model yields a cross-validated (CV) R_CV² R_{CV}^{2}  = 0.61 and a root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP _CV ) = 4.4 mg L⁻¹ (11% of DOC gradient). The trends inferred for the two lakes were remarkably similar to the VNIRS-TOC and the Di-DOC inferred profiles and consistent with the other paleolimnological proxies, although absolute values differed. Differences in the calibration set gradients and lack of analogous VNIRS signatures in the modern datasets may explain this discrepancy. Our results corroborate previous geographically independent studies on the potential of using VNIRS to reconstruct past trends in lakewater DOC concentrations rapidly.     

Effects of climate change and urban development on the distribution and conservation of vegetation in a Mediterranean type ecosystem

Climate and land-use changes are projected to threaten biodiversity over this century. However, few studies have considered the spatial and temporal overlap of these threats to evaluate how ongoing land-use change could affect species ranges projected to shift outside conservation areas. We evaluated climate change and urban development effects on vegetation distribution in the Southwest ecoregion, California Floristic Province, USA. We also evaluated how well a conservation network protects suitable habitat for rare plant species under these change projections and identified primary sources of uncertainty. We used consensus-based maps from three species distribution models (SDMs) to project current and future suitable habitat for 19 species representing different functional types (defined by fire-response – obligate seeders, resprouting shrubs – and life forms – herbs, subshrubs), and range sizes (large/common, small/rare). We used one spatially explicit urban growth projection; two climate models, emission scenarios, and probability thresholds applied to SDMs; and high-resolution (90 m) environmental data. We projected that suitable habitat could disappear for 4 species and decrease for 15 by 2080. Averaged centroids of suitable habitat (all species) were projected to shift tens (up to hundreds) of kilometers. Herbs showed a small-projected response to climate change, while obligate seeders could suffer the greatest losses. Several rare species could lose suitable habitat inside conservation areas while increasing area outside. We concluded that (i) climate change is more important than urban development for vegetation habitat loss in this ecoregion through 2080 due to diminishing amounts of undeveloped private land in this region; (ii) the existing conservation plan, while extensive, may be inadequate to protect plant diversity under projected patterns of climate change and urban development, (iii) regional assessments of the dynamics of the drivers of biodiversity change based on high-resolution environmental data and consensus predictive mapping, such as this study, are necessary to identify the species expected to be the most vulnerable and to meaningfully inform regional-scale conservation.     

Co2+ as a chemical analogue for Fe2+ in high-temperature experiments in basaltic systems

High-temperature experiments on ferromagnesian compositions have been hampered by the rapid absorption of up to 95% of the original iron by platinum and 40% by silver-palladium capsules. Molybdenum or iron capsule materials can decrease or alleviate iron loss, but restrict oxygen fugacities to values near the iron-wustite buffer. Because Co²⁺ is stable at f_O2 =HM and because the solubility of Co in platinum in this range of f_O2 is ～0.05% at temperatures to 1350°C, its use as an analogue for Fe²⁺ is possible. In addition, experiments simulating various Fe²⁺ ratios can be easily performed by choosing appropriate Co²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratios. The cobalt phases produced possess brilliant and distinctive colors which are valuable aids in optical identification of minute phases. The cobalt analogue hypothesis was tested with atmospheric pressure experiments in air on the cobalt analogue of the 1921 Kilauea basalt at three simulated Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ratios. The results were compared with those of R.E.T. Hill (1969) for the natural 1921 basalt. The phase relations were the same, with the cobalt system stability fields systematically shifted by about +50°C. Microprobe analysis of olivines and the coexisting glasses indicate that the distribution of Co²⁺ between olivine and melt is independent of temperature and liquid composition. Although the analogue liquid composition differs from the equilibrium composition of the natural system, it may be corrected be employing distribution coefficients (K_D = 0.61 for the Co system; K_D = 0.33 for the Fe system) to closely approximate what the natural system would yield if iron loss did not occur.     

The Size and Shape of the Oblong Dwarf Planet Haumea

We use thermal radiometry and visible photometry to constrain the size, shape, and albedo of the large Kuiper belt object Haumea. The correlation between the visible and thermal photometry demonstrates that Haumea’s high amplitude and quickly varying optical light curve is indeed due to Haumea’s extreme shape, rather than large scale albedo variations. However, the well-sampled high precision visible data we present does require longitudinal surface heterogeneity to account for the shape of lightcurve. The thermal emission from Haumea is consistent with the expected Jacobi ellipsoid shape of a rapidly rotating body in hydrostatic equilibrium. The best Jacobi ellipsoid fit to the visible photometry implies a triaxial ellipsoid with axes of length 1,920 × 1,540 × 990 km and density $2.6$  g cm $^{-3}$ , as found by Lellouch et al. (A&A, 518:L147, 2010. doi:10.1051/0004-6361/201014648). While the thermal and visible data cannot uniquely constrain the full non-spherical shape of Haumea, the match between the predicted and measured thermal flux for a dense Jacobi ellipsoid suggests that Haumea is indeed one of the densest objects in the Kuiper belt.