Role of geological inheritance in Australian beach morphodynamics

The Australian coast contains 10,685 beaches which occupy 49% of the 30,000 km coast and average 1.37 km in length. Their relatively short length is largely due to the presence of bedrock, calcarenite and laterite, which form boundaries to many of the beaches, as well as occurring as rocks, reefs and islands along and off the beaches. This geological inheritance plays a major role in Australian beach systems — determining their length and through wave refraction and attenuation influencing beach location, shape, type, morphodynamics and circulation, which in turn influence sediment transport and the backing dune and barrier systems. This paper uses a database covering every Australian beach to review the role of headlands, rocks and reefs on Australian beaches. Major effects are the short average beach length; reduction in breaker height resulting in lower energy beach types; wave refraction resulting in increased beach curvature; the presence of topographic rips on moderate and higher energy beaches and megarips during high wave conditions; and the interruption of and/or trapping of longshore sand transport leading to beach rotation.     

Copepod grazing during spring blooms: Does Calanus pacificus avoid harmful diatoms?

During late winter and spring of 2002 and 2003, 24, 2–3 day cruises were conducted to Dabob Bay, Washington State, USA, to examine the grazing, egg production, and hatching success rates of adult female Calanus pacificus and Pseudocalanus newmani. The results of the copepod grazing experiments for C. pacificus are discussed here. Each week, copepod grazing incubation experiments from two different depth layers were conducted. Grazing was measured by both changes in chlorophyll concentration and cell counts. In 2002, there was one moderate bloom consisting mainly of Thalassiosira spp. in early February, and a larger bloom in April comprised of two Chaetoceros species and Phaeocystis sp. Similarly, in 2003, there were two blooms, an early one dominated by Thalassiosira spp., and a later one consisting of Chaetoceros spp. and Thalassiosira spp. Clearance rates on individual prey species, as calculated by cell counts, showed that C. pacificus are highly selective in their feeding, and may have much higher clearance rates on individual taxa than rates calculated from bulk chlorophyll disappearance. During weeks of high phytoplankton concentration, the copepods generally ate phytoplankton. However, they often rejected the most abundant phytoplankton species, particularly certain Thalassiosira spp., even though the rejected prey were often of the same genus and similar size to the preferred prey. It is speculated that this avoidance may be related to the possible deleterious effects that certain of these diatom species have on the reproductive success of these copepods. During weeks of medium to low phytoplankton concentration, the copepods selectively ate certain species of phytoplankton, and often had high electivity for microzooplankton. The selection mechanism must consist of active particle rejection most likely based on detection of surface chemical properties, since the diatoms that were selected were of the same genus, nearly the same size, and at lower numerical abundance than those cells that were avoided. The grazing choices made by these copepods may have important consequences for the overall ecosystem function within coastal and estuarine systems through changes in the transfer efficiency of energy to higher trophic levels.     

Contributions of individual variation in temperature, solar radiation and precipitation to crop yield in the North China Plain, 1961–2003

An understanding of the relative impacts of the changes in climate variables on crop yield can help develop effective adaptation strategies to cope with climate change. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the interannual variability and trends in temperature, solar radiation and precipitation during 1961–2003 on wheat and maize yields in a double cropping system at Beijing and Zhengzhou in the North China Plain (NCP), and to examine the relative contributions of each climate variable in isolation. 129 climate scenarios consisting of all the combinations of these climate variables were constructed. Each scenario contained 43 years of observed values of one variable, combined with values of the other two variables from each individual year repeated 43 times. The Agricultural Production Systems Simulator (APSIM) was used to simulate crop yields using the ensemble of generated climate scenarios. The results showed that the warming trend during the study period did not have significant impact on wheat yield potential at both sites, and only had significant negative impact on maize yield potential at Beijing. This is in contrast with previous results on effect of warming. The decreasing trend in solar radiation had a much greater impact on simulated yields of both wheat and maize crops, causing a significant reduction in potential yield of wheat and maize at Beijing. Although decreasing trends in rainfed yield of both simulated wheat and maize were found, the substantial interannual variability of precipitation made the trends less prominent.     

Symbiosis between the holothurian Scotoplanes sp. A and the lithodid crab Neolithodes diomedeae on a featureless bathyal sediment plain

Vulnerability to predation may be high for many megafaunal taxa in deep‐sea sedimentary habitats where physical heterogeneity is low. During ROV observations in a bathyal sediment plain off Central California, juveniles of the lithodid crab Neolithodes diomedeae were frequently observed on or under the holothurian (sea cucumber) Scotoplanes sp. A, and are hypothesized to benefit from this association as a nursery or refugium from predation. Ninety‐six percent (n = 574 of 599) of the juvenile N. diomedeae observed (density varied from 0.02–0.75/m² among sites and seasons) in the study area were associated with Scotoplanes sp. A. Of the 2596 Scotoplanes sp. A observed (density varied from 0.48 to 25.90/m²), 22% were attended by at least one juvenile crab, and rarely two crabs (n = 4). Solitary N. diomedeae were rarely observed. This decapod–holothurian symbiosis appears to be largely commensal, with juvenile crabs (carapace width = 0.03–0.31 ×  holothurian length) observed on or beneath Scotoplanes sp. A in a habitat with few refugia from epibenthic predators. Other hypotheses may explain or enhance the potential benefits of the association for N. diomedeae, such as elevated food availability due to the activities of Scotoplanes sp. A. The relationship may be mutualistic if there is a benefit for the holothurian, including the removal of epizoic parasites. Ultimately, the nursery or other effects on the population dynamics of N. diomedeae may be minimal in low‐relief, sediment‐dominated habitats, as very few sub‐adult crabs were observed in the study area and were likely consumed upon outgrowing their refugia. While sedimentary habitats may be a sink for N. diomedeae populations, growth of juvenile crabs during their association with Scotoplanes sp. A should increase energy flow to its predator populations. This association has not been reported previously but may be expected in sediment‐dominated habitats where these species overlap.     

Managing by principle: A critical analysis of the European principles of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM)

A set of eight principles is contained in the European Recommendation on Integrated Coastal Zone Management. The principles have been adopted with the minimum of critical review. The six core principles form two groups, one concerned with strategic goals and one that has a local focus. The principles are presented as a menu of free-standing options, with no prioritization either within or between groups. This can produce irreconcilable differences in strategy. The principles require clarification, prioritization of the strategic principles and recognition that they are an indivisible integrated set which should not be used to select principles to advance a particular agenda.     

A chemostratigraphic method to determine the end of impact‐related sedimentation at marine‐target impact craters (Chesapeake Bay,Lockne, Tvären)

Abstract– To better understand the impact cratering process and its environmental consequences at the local to global scale, it is important to know when in the geological record of an impact crater the impact‐related processes cease. In many instances, this occurs with the end of early crater modification, leaving an obvious sedimentological boundary between impactites and secular sediments. However, in marine‐target craters the transition from early crater collapse (i.e., water resurge) to postimpact sedimentation can appear gradual. With the a priori assumption that the reworked target materials of the resurge deposits have a different chemical composition to the secular sediments we use chemostratigraphy (δ¹³C_carb, %C_org, major elements) of sediments from the Chesapeake Bay, Lockne, and Tvären craters, to define this boundary. We show that the end of impact‐related sedimentation in these cases is fairly rapid, and does not necessarily coincide with a visual boundary (e.g., grain size shift). Therefore, in some cases, the boundary is more precisely determined by chemostratigraphy, especially carbonate carbon isotope variations, rather than by visual inspection. It is also shown how chemostratigraphy can confirm the age of marine‐target craters that were previously determined by biostratigraphy; by comparing postimpact carbon isotope trends with established regional trends.     

碧口群火山岩的时代——SHRIMP锆石U—Pb测年结果

碧口群火山岩系是从原碧口系(叶连俊等,1944,后称碧口群)中解体出来的一个岩石单元(陶洪祥等,1993)。虽经过近60年的研究,但对某些关键问题,特别是碧口群火山岩系的时代,仍存在不同认识。在早期研究阶段(20世纪40～50年代)和60～70年代的区域地质调查工作中,碧口群和横丹群被视做一个整体,并通过地层层序关系探讨其时代。如,叶连俊等(1944)提出碧口系形成于志留—泥盆纪,黄振辉(1959)则认为碧口群属寒武—志留系。80年代以来对碧口群火山岩系进行的同位素年代学和地古生物学研究给出了从新元古代(赵祥生等,1990;胡正东,1990;李耀敏,1991;秦…     

Petrologic and textural diversity among the PCA 02 howardite group,one of the largest pieces of the Vestan surface

Abstract— Nine howardites and two diogenites were recovered from the Pecora Escarpment Icefield (PCA) in 2002. Cosmogenic radionuclide abundances indicate that the samples are paired and that they constituted an approximately 1 m (diameter) meteoroid prior to atmospheric entry. At about 1 m in diameter, the PCA 02 HED group represents one of the largest single pre‐atmospheric pieces of the Vestan surface yet described. Mineral and textural variations were measured in six of the PCA 02 howardites to investigate meter‐scale diversity of the Vestan surface. Mineral compositions span the range of known eucrite and diogenite compositions. Additional non‐diogenitic groups of Mg‐ and Fe‐rich olivine are observed, and are interpreted to have been formed by exogenic contamination and impact melting, respectively. These howardites contain olivine‐rich impact melts that likely formed from dunite‐ and harzburgite‐rich target rocks. Containing the first recognized olivine‐rich HED impact melts, these samples provide meteoritic evidence that olivine‐rich lithologies have been exposed on the surface of Vesta. Finally, we present a new method for mapping distributions of lithologies in howardites using 8 elemental X‐ray maps. Proportions of diogenite and eucrite vary considerably among the PCA 02 howardites, suggesting they originated from a heterogeneous portion of the Vestan surface. While whole sample modes are dominated by diogenite, the finer grain size fractions are consistently more eucritic. This discrepancy has implications for near‐infrared spectral observations of portions of Vesta’s surface that are similar to the PCA 02 howardites, as the finer grained eucritic material will disproportionately dominate the spectra.