Peatland Initiation During the Holocene in Continental Western Canada

Today, the southern limit of peatlands in continental western Canada is largely limited by thermal seasonal aridity, although physiographic parameters of substrate texture, topography, and salinity also exsert important controls on the presence and absence of peatlands. Factors that control peatland distribution today also operated in the past, thus the initiation of peatlands during the Holocene was mainly limited by aridity and physiography. Calibrated radiocarbon dates of basal peat deposits from 90 locations across continental western Canada indicate that peat formation began approximately 8,000 to 9,000 years BP in nucleation zones along the upper elevations of the Montane region of Alberta and in northern Alberta uplands after an initial deglacial lag. Predictions of maximum early Holocene summer insolation by climate simulations provide a mechanism for limiting peatland establishment during the early Holocene. From 6,000 to 8,000 years ago, peat formation in continental western Canada expanded eastwards into Manitoba responding to decreases in summer insolation. Peatland expansion during the early Holocene was more extensive in Alberta than in Manitoba in response to a southwesterly shift in the Arctic front. The displacement of the Arctic front allowed for more frequent incursions of moist Pacific air into Alberta while limiting it in Manitoba. After 6,000 years BP, the trend of southeasterly peatland expansion continued. Peatlands are youngest in the southern Boreal Forest and Aspen Parkland Region as well as in the lower elevations of the Peace-Wapiti River drainage basin, forming over the last 3,000 to 4,000 years. Peatlands are also young in the lower elevations of the Hudson Bay Lowlands where peat initiation has been limited by timing of emergence from glacial rebound. The spatial and temporal distribution of peatland initiation during the Holocene is verified by existing pollen records and corroborates some simulated climate models.     

Climate change and sustainable development: towards dialogue

The consequences of climate change and sustainable development remaining as separate discourses are explored, both in general and in the Canadian context. One of these consequences is the difference in emission and economic development scenarios generated by the two groups. A second is that strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are designed and assessed in a narrow technical context, divorced from the economic and social forces that underlie them. We identify the need for climate change and sustainable development to be represented in a more explicit manner in each other's research agendas, and for integrated assessment of climate change to incorporate alternative methodologies that complement global scale integrated assessment models. These methodologies should include greater involvement of stakeholders as partners with researchers in a shared learning experience.     

Laboratory Comparison of Polyethylene and Dialysis Membrane Diffusion Samplers

The ability of diffusion samplers constructed from regenerated cellulose dialysis membrane and low density, lay flat polyethylene tubing to collect volatile organic compounds and inorganic ions was compared in a laboratory study. Concentrations of vinyl chloride, cis -1, 2-dichloroethene, bromochloromethane, trichloroethene, bromodichloromethane, and tetrachloroethene collected by both types of diffusion samplers reached equilibrium with the concentrations of these compounds in test solution within three days. Concentrations of bromide and iron collected by the dialysis membrane diffusion samplers reached equilibrium with the concentrations of these compounds in a test solution within three to seven days. No detectable concentrations of bromide or iron were found in polyethylene diffusion samplers even after 21 days. No measurable concentrations of aluminum, arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, iron, mercury, manganese, nickel, and lead, or sulfide, were leached out of dialysis membrane samplers over seven days. Compared with using a gas-tight syringe to sample the diffusion sampler, clipping the bag and pouring the water sample into a sample vial resulted in only a small 6.2% average loss of volatile organic compounds. Dialysis membrane diffusion samplers offer promise for use in sampling ground water for inorganic constituents as well as volatile organic compounds.     

The oxidation of S(IV) during riming by cloud droplets

Experiments have been performed to investigate whether the process of freezing during riming in clouds may induce oxidation of dissolved SO₂ to SO ₄ ^2– . The experiments were conducted in a cold room at varying temperatures between –6 and –15 °C. Solutions containing dissolved SO₂ and NH₄OH in various proportions, in the range of concentrations between 3×10^–5 and 10^–3 M, were sprayed. Rime was collected on a rotating cylinder and analyzed. Absorption of oxygen from laboratory air was prevented, except in the spray, to avoid spurious oxidation. Blank experiments were made at +3 to +6 °C. The results indicate clearly that, as the dominant cation becomes NH ₄ ⁺ rather than H⁺, substantial oxidation of S(IV) occurs during riming. This is consistent with redox reactions taking place as a result of charge separation at the ice-water interface during freezing.     

Disequilibrium response of permafrost in boreal continental western Canada to climate change

In the boreal forest of continental western Canada, permafrost is restricted toSphagnum-dominated peatlands on which air photo interpretation reveals the occurrence of five types of surface physiography. Concentrated in the northern part of the boreal forest, permafrost is present in peat plateaus with and without collapse scars. In the southern part of the boreal forest, continental bogs dominate, representing ombrotrophic peatlands that have never contained permafrost. In the midboreal zone, internal lawns are present in bogs and in fens. These internal lawns do not presently contain permafrost but did in the recent past, representing degradation of permafrost since the Little Ice Age. Evaluation of the distribution of these peat landforms indicates that today 30% of bogs contain permafrost at the –0.4 °C isotherm and 50% of bogs contain permafrost at the –1.2 °C isotherm, whereas in the past, 30% of bogs contained permafrost at the –1.4 °C isotherm and 50% of bogs contained permafrost at the –2.3 °C isotherm. Although spatial degradation has occurred with a shifting of permafrost northwards in response to warming since the Little Ice Age, permafrost cover has increased in any given area where present-day temperatures are between 0.5 and –3.5 °C.     

Anthropogenic aerosols and gases in the lower troposphere at Alert Canada in April 1986

During April 1986, as part of an international arctic air chemistry study (AGASP-2), ground level observations of aerosol trace elements, oxides of sulphur and nitrogen and particle number size distribution were made at Alert Canada (82.5N, 62.3W). Pollution haze was evident as indicated by daily aerosol number (size > 0.15 m diameter) and SO₄ ⁼ concentrations in the range 125 – 260 cm^–3 and 1.6 – 4.5 g m^–3, respectively. Haze and associated acidic gases tended to increase throughout the period. SO₂ and peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) mixing ratios were in the range 140 – 480 and 370 – 590 ppt(v), respectively. About 88% of the total end-product nitrogen was in the form of PAN. In air dried to 2% relative humidity by warming to room temperature, the aerosol mass size distribution had a major mode at 0.3 m diameter and a minor one at 2.5 m. Aerosol mass below 1.5 m was well correlated with SO₄ ⁼, K⁺ and PAN. There was a steady increase in the oxidized fraction of total airborne sulphur and nitrogen oxide throughout April as the sun rose above the horizon and remained above. The mean oxidation rate of SO₂ between Eurasia and Alert was estimated as 0.25 – 0.5% h^–1. The molar ratio of total nitrogen oxide to total sulphur oxide in the arctic atmosphere (0.67±0.17) was comparable to that in European emissions. A remarkably strong inverse correlation of filterable Br and O₃ led to the conclusion that O₃ destruction and filterable Br production below the Arctic surface radiation inversion is associated with tropospheric photochemical reactions involving naturally occurring gaseous bromine compounds.     

Assessing impacts of climate change on forests: The state of biological modeling

Models that address the impacts of climate change on forests are reviewed at four levels of biological organization: global, regional or landscape, community, and tree. The models are compared for their ability to assess changes in fluxes of biogenic greenhouse gases, land use, patterns of forest type or species composition, forest resource productivity, forest health, biodiversity, and wildlife habitat. No one model can address all of these impacts, but landscape transition models and regional vegetation and land-use models have been used to consider more impacts than the other models. The development of landscape vegetation dynamics models of functional groups is suggested as a means to integrate the theory of both landscape ecology and individual tree responses to climate change. Risk assessment methodologies can be adapted to deal with the impacts of climate change at various spatial and temporal scales. Four areas of research needing additional effort are identified: (1) linking socioeconomic and ecologic models; (2) interfacing forest models at different scales; (3) obtaining data on susceptibility of trees and forest to changes in climate and disturbance regimes; and (4) relating information from different scales.The U.S. Government right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.Managed by Martin Marietta Energy Systems, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC05-84OR21400.     

Interactions Between An Alluvial-Aquifer Wellfield And The Scioto River,Ohio, USA

Data from wellfields in the Scioto River valley aquifer near Piketon, Ohio, USA, were used to evaluate groundwater quantity and quality and to formulate wellfield-management concepts for future use of the alluvial aquifer. The percentage of induced river infiltration pumped from wells next to the river was estimated using a numerical groundwater-flow model and chemical mass-balance techniques. These analyses indicate that 50 to 88 percent of the wellfield water is derived from induced infiltration of river water. Model simulations correlate the percentage of well water from induced infiltration to wellfield pumpage, river stage, proximity of wells to the river, riverbed hydraulic conductivity, aquifer hydraulic conductivity, and river-stage level. Induced infiltration of river water has influenced the quality of groundwater, making the wellfield water more similar to the chemical character of the river than to that of the alluvial aquifer.

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Resumen: Los datos procedentes de un conjunto de pozos en el acuífero de valle del Río Scioto, cerca de Pinkerton, Ohio; se usaron para evaluar la cantidad y calidad de las aguas subterráneas, así como para planificar la gestión de los pozos cercanos al mismo, fue estimado mediante un modelo numérico de flujo y técnicas de balance químico de masa. Los análisis indican que entre el 50 y 88 porciento del agua bombeada procede de infiltración inducida. Simulaciones realizadas con el modelo permitieron correlacionar el porcentaje del agua bombeada que proviene de infiltración inducida, con distintas variables: caudal de bombeo, tramo del río, proximidad de los pozos al río, conductividad hidráulica del lecho del río, conductividad hidráulica del acuífero y nivel del tramo de río. La infiltración inducida ha afectado a la calidad del agua de los pozos, cuyo carácter químico es más parecido al del agua del río que al del acuífero aluvial.

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Résumé: Les données provenant de champs captants dans l'aquifère de la valée de la Scioto, près de Piketon (Ohio), ont été utilisées pour évaluer la quantité et la qualité de l'eau souterraine et pour définir les conditions de gestion de l'exploitation future de cet aquifère alluvial. La part de la réalimentation par la rivière, sous l'effet de pompages, dans les eaux des puits voisins du cours d'eau, a été estimée au moyen d'un modèle numérique d'écoulement souterrain et par des méthodes chimiques du bilan de matière. Ces analyses indiquent que 50 à 88 pourcent de l'eau pompée provient de la réalimentation par la rivière. Les simultations corrèlent la part pompée provenant de la réalimentation avec les pompages, le niveau de la rivière. La réalimentation provoquée à partir de la rivière a influencé la qualité de l'eau souterraine en conférant à l'eau des puits des caractères plus proches de ceux de la rivière que de ceux de l'aquifère alluvial.