Spectrophotometric discrimination of river dissolved organic matter

There is a need to be able to differentiate the dissolved organic matter (DOM) fraction in river waters. Research in the 1970s and 1980s has attempted to utilize both absorbance and fluorescence to distinguish between DOM fractions in river waters, but both were limited by the available technology. Total organic carbon content has, therefore, been widely used as a standard method of measuring DOM concentration, although it has little power to differentiate DOM fractions. Recent advances in fluorescence spectrophotometry enable rapid and optically precise analysis of DOM. Here, we show how a combination of both fluorescence and absorbance can be used to discriminate statistically between spatial variations of DOM in tributaries in a small catchment of the Ouseburn, NE England. The results of the discriminant analysis suggest that about 70% of the samples can be correctly classified to its tributary. Discriminant function 1 explains 60·8% of the variance in the data and the fulvic‐like fluorescence intensity has the largest absolute correlation within this function; discriminant function 2 explains a further 21·5% of the variance and the fulvic‐like fluorescence emission wavelength has the largest absolute correlation within this function. The discriminant analysis does not correctly classify all tributaries every time, and successfully discriminates between the different tributaries 70% of the time. Occasions when the tributary waters are less well discriminated are due to either episodic pollution events (at two sites) or due to tributaries that have strong seasonal trends in spectrophotometric parameters, which allows the sites to be misclassified. Results suggest that spectrophotometric techniques have considerable potential in the discrimination of DOM in rivers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geodetic data shed light on ongoing caldera subsidence at Askja, Iceland

Subsidence within the main caldera of Askja volcano in the North of Iceland has been in progress since 1983. Here, we present new ground- and satellite-based deformation data, which we interpret together with new and existing micro-gravity data, to help understand which processes may be responsible for the unrest. From 2003 to 2007, we observe a net micro-gravity decrease combined with subsidence and from 2007 to 2009 we observe a net micro-gravity increase while the subsidence continues. We infer subsidence is caused by a combination of a cooling and contracting magma chamber at a divergent plate boundary. Mass movements at active volcanoes can be caused by several processes, including water table/lake level movements, hydrothermal activity and magma movements. We suggest that, here, magma movement and/or a steam cap in the geothermal system of Askja at depth are responsible for the observed micro-gravity variations. In this respect, we rule out the possibility of a shallow intrusion as an explanation for the observed micro-gravity increase but suggest magma may have flowed into the residing shallow magma chamber at Askja despite continued subsidence. In particular, variable compressibility of magma residing in the magma chamber as well as compressibility of the surrounding rock may be the reason why this additional magma did not create any detectable surface deformation.     

Indoor Air Background Levels of Volatile Organic Compounds and Air-Phase Petroleum Hydrocarbons in Office Buildings and Schools

A background indoor air study has been completed which includes the collection of indoor air samples from office buildings and schools. The anonymous study was designed with input from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. The sampling was implemented in 2013, 2014, and 2015 and included the collection of 25 school building samples and 61 office building samples. The study generated 14,668 new indoor air background data points, with samples collected from buildings located in 26 cities in 18 states, including Arizona, California, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Utah, and Washington. Indoor air background concentrations of target compound volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ranged from less than the laboratory method reporting limit of 0.044 μg/m³ to concentrations up to 1190 μg/m³, with hydrocarbon ranges from less than the reporting method limit of 10 μg/m³ to concentrations up to 3000 μg/m³. Some VOCs were identified ubiquitously in indoor air background, and some were identified at concentrations which exceeded risk-based regulatory screening levels. These study results provide useful and updated information on indoor air background and air quality in offices and schools and can be used in future regulatory guidance update considerations, for further examination of relationships between these data and residential study data, in human health risk assessments and risk communication, and in planning future studies.     

GRAVITAS: general relativistic astrophysics via timing and spectroscopy

GRAVITAS is an X-ray observatory, designed and optimised to address the ESA Cosmic Vision theme of ??Matter under extreme conditions??. It was submitted as a response to the call for M3 mission proposals. The concept centres around an X-ray telescope of unprecedented effective area, which will focus radiation emitted from close to the event horizon of black holes or the surface of neutron stars. To reveal the nature and behaviour of matter in the most extreme astrophysical environments, GRAVITAS targets a key feature in the X-ray spectra of compact objects: the iron K?? line at ~6.5?keV. The energy, profile, and variability of this emission line, and the properties of the surrounding continuum emission, shaped by General Relativity (GR) effects, provide a unique probe of gravity in its strong field limit. Among its prime targets are hundreds of supermassive black holes in bright Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), which form the perfect laboratory to help understand the physical processes behind black hole growth. Accretion plays a fundamental role in the shaping of galaxies throughout cosmic time, via the process of feedback. Modest (~sub-arcmin) spatial resolution would deliver the necessary sensitivity to extend high quality X-ray spectroscopy of AGN to cosmologically-relevant distances. Closer to home, ultra-high count rate capabilities and sub-millisecond time resolution enable the study of GR effects and the equation of state of dense matter in the brightest X-ray binaries in our own Galaxy, using multiple probes, such as the broad iron line, the shape of the disk continuum emission, quasi-periodic oscillations, reverberation mapping, and X-ray burst oscillations. The enormous advance in spectral and timing capability compared to current or planned X-ray observatories would enable a vast array of additional scientific investigations, spanning the entire range of contemporary astrophysics from stars to distant galaxy clusters. Despite its breakthrough capabilities, all enabling technologies for GRAVITAS are already in a high state of readiness. It is based on ultra light-weight X-ray optics and a focal plane detector using silicon technology. The baseline launcher would be a Soyuz?CFregat to place GRAVITAS into a zero inclination, low-earth orbit, providing low and relatively stable background.     

Stalked barnacles (Cirripedia,Thoracica) from the Upper Jurassic (Tithonian) Kimmeridge Clay of Dorset,UK; palaeoecology and bearing on the evolution of living forms

New thoracican cirripede material from the Kimmeridge Clay (Upper Jurassic, Tithonian) is described. This includes a log, encrusted on the lower surface with hundreds of perfectly preserved, articulated specimens of Etcheslepas durotrigensis Gale, 2014, and fewer specimens of Concinnalepas costata (Withers, 1928). Some individuals are preserved in life position, hanging from the underside of the wood, and the material provides new morphological information on both species. It appears that Martillepas ovalis (Withers, 1928), which occurs at the same level (Freshwater Steps Stone Band, pectinatus Zone) attached preferentially to ammonites, whereas E. durotrigensis and C. costata used wood as a substrate for their epiplanktonic lifestyle. Two regurgitates containing abundant barnacle valves, mostly broken, and some bivalve fragments, have been found in the Kimmeridge Clay. These were produced by a fish grazing on epiplanktonic species, and are only the second example of regurgitates containing barnacle valves known from the fossil record. The evolution of modern barnacle groups is discussed in the light of the new Jurassic material as well as recently published molecular phylogenies. New clades defined herein are called the Phosphatothoracica, the Calamida and the Unilatera.     

Constraining Holocene lake levels and coastal dune activity in the Lake Michigan basin

Sediment cores collected from embayed lakes along the east-central coast of Lake Michigan are used to construct aeolian sand records of past coastal dune mobility, and to constrain former lake levels in the Lake Michigan basin. Time series analysis of sand cycles based on the weight-percent aeolian sand within lacustrine sediment, reveals statistically significant spectral peaks that coincide with established lake level cycles in Lake Michigan and the Gleissberg sunspot cycle of minima. Longer cycles of ~ 800 and ~ 2200 years were also identified that correspond to solar cycles. Shorter cycles between 80 and 220 years suggest a link between coastal dune mobility, climate, and lake levels in the Lake Michigan basin. Radiocarbon-dated sedimentary contacts of lacustrine sediment overlying wetland sediment record the Nipissing transgression in the Lake Michigan basin. Lake level rise closely mimics the predicted uplift of the North Bay outlet, with lake level rise slowing when outflow was transferred to the Port Huron/Sarnia outlet. The Nipissing highstand was reached after 5000 cal (4.4 ka) BP.     

The effects of ditch dams on water-level dynamics in tropical peatlands

A significant proportion of tropical peatlands has been drained for agricultural purposes, resulting in severe degradation. Hydrological restoration, which usually involves blocking ditches, is therefore a priority. Nevertheless, the influence of ditch blocking on tropical peatland hydrological functioning is still poorly understood. We studied water-level dynamics using a combination of automated and manual dipwells, and also meteorological data during dry and wet seasons over 6 months at three locations in Sebangau National Park, Kalimantan, Indonesia. The locations were a forested peatland (Forested), a drained peatland with ditch dams (Blocked), and a drained peatland without ditch dams (Drained). In the dry season, water tables at all sites were deeper than the Indonesian regulatory requirement of 40 cm from the peat surface. In the dry season, the ditches were dry and water did not flow to them. The dry season water-table drawdown rates — solely due to evapotranspiration — were 9.3 mm day⁻¹ at Forested, 9.6 mm day⁻¹ at Blocked, but 12.7 mm day⁻¹ at Drained. In the wet season, the proportion of time during which water tables in the wells were deeper than the 40 cm limit ranged between 16% and 87% at Forested, 0% at Blocked, and between 0% and 38% at Drained. In the wet season, water flowed from the peatland to ditches at Blocked and Drained. The interquartile range of hydraulic gradients between the lowest ditch outlet and the farthest well from ditches at Blocked was 3.7 × 10⁻⁴ to 7.8 × 10⁻⁴ m m⁻¹, but 1.9 × 10⁻³ to 2.6 × 10⁻³ m m⁻¹ at Drained. Given the results from Forested, a water-table depth limit policy based on field data may be required, to reflect natural seasonal dynamics in tropical peatlands. Revised spatial designs of dams or bunds are also required, to ensure effective water-table management as part of tropical peatland restoration.     

Assessing scalar concentration footprint climatology and land surface impacts on tall-tower CO2 concentration measurements in the boreal forest of central Saskatchewan,Canada

Reducing the large uncertainties in current estimates of CO₂ sources and sinks at regional scales (10²–10⁵ km²) is fundamental to improving our understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Continuous high-precision CO₂ concentration measurements on a tower within the planetary boundary layer contain information on regional carbon fluxes; however, its spatial representativeness is generally unknown. In this study, we developed a footprint model (Simple Analytical Footprint model based on Eulerian coordinates for scalar Concentration [SAFE-C]) and applied it to two CO₂ concentration towers in central Canada: the East Trout Lake 106-m-tall tower (54°21′N, 104°59′W) and the Candle Lake 28-m-high tower (53°59′N, 105°07′W). Results show that the ETL tower’s annual concentration footprints were around 10³–10⁵ km². The monthly footprint climatologies in summer were 1.5–2 times larger than in winter. The impacts of land surface carbon flux associated with heterogeneous distribution of vegetation types on the CO₂ concentration measurements were different for the different heights, varied with a range of ±5 % to ±10 % among four heights. This study indicates that concentration footprint climatology analysis is important in interpreting the seasonal, annual and inter-annual variations of tower measured CO₂ concentration data and is essential for comparing and scaling regional carbon flux estimates using top-down or bottom-up approaches.     

A new approach for measuring surface hydrological connectivity

The development of surface hydrological connectivity is a key determinant of flood magnitude in drylands. Thresholds in runoff response may be reached when isolated runoff-generating areas connect with each other to form continuous links to river channels, enabling these areas to contribute to flood hydrographs. Such threshold behaviour explains observed nonlinearities and scale dependencies of dryland rainfall–runoff relationships and complicates attempts at flood prediction. However, field methods for measuring the propensity of a surface to transmit water downslope are lacking, and conventional techniques of infiltration measurement are often inappropriate for use on non-agricultural drylands. Here, we argue for a reconceptualization of the dryland surface runoff process, suggesting that the downslope transfer of water should be considered alongside surface infiltration; that is, there is a need for the “aggregated” measurement of infiltration and overland flow hydraulics. Surface application of a set volume of water at a standardized rate generates runoff that travels downslope; the distance it travels downslope is determined by infiltration along the flow, integration of flow paths, and flow resistance. We demonstrate the potential of such a combined measurement system coupled with structure-from-motion photogrammetry to identify surface controls on runoff generation and transfer on dryland hillslopes, with vegetation, slope, surface stone cover, and surface roughness all having a significant effect. The measurement system has been used on slopes up to 37° compared with the flat surface typically required for infiltration methods. On average, the field workflow takes ~10–15 min, considerably quicker than rainfall simulation. A wider variety of surfaces can be sampled with relative ease, as the method is not restricted to stone and vegetation-free land. We argue that this aggregated measurement represents surface connectivity and dryland runoff response better than standard hydrological approaches and can be applied on a much greater variety of dryland surfaces.     

A Cromerian Complex stalagmite from the Mendip Hills,England

In order to provide a better chronological constraint on a British Middle Pleistocene interglacial, a large stalagmite boss from the Mendip Hills was selected for palaeoclimate data using pollen analysis. Dating analyses by thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) of uranium–thorium ratios and by magnetostratigraphy constrain the age of the sample to 450–780 ka. The isotopic consistency of the TIMS analyses, plus the presence of luminescence laminations, suggest that the sample has been preserved under closed-system conditions. Pollen assemblages have been recovered from the speleothems, despite the fact that the pH of calcite deposition is usually greater than 7. Furthermore the evidence presented here indicates that the pollen was probably transported by the speleothem feedwater, rather than entering the cave aerially. The pollen record contained within the stalagmite is interpreted as early–mid-interglacial but does not have clear Cromerian affinity. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.