Sorted circles in the maritime Subantarctic,Marion Island

Active sorted circles are quantitatively described for the first time for the maritime Subantarctic. Increasing altitude and hence increasing frost penetration are associated with systematic increases in pattern spacing, cell width, height of the fine centre relative to the border, and depth of sorting (but not the width of coarse margins). These results imply consistent dimensional scaling of circle parameters. It is argued, on the basis of the altitudinal trends in pattern morphology, the dimensional scaling of forms, and the morphology of the patterns, that differential frost heave in association with convection cells is responsible for circle formation. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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.     

Evidence for ice flow prior to trough formation in the martian north polar layered deposits

The relative importance of surface mass fluxes and ice flow in shaping the north polar layered deposits (NPLD), now or in the past, remains a fundamental and open question. Motivated by observation of an apparent ice divide on Gemina Lingula (also known as Titania Lobe), we propose a two-stage evolution leading to the present-day topography on that lobe of the NPLD. Ice flow approximately balances surface mass fluxes in the first stage, but in the second stage ice flow has minimal influence and topography is modified predominantly by the formation of troughs. We focus here on evidence for the first stage, by testing the fit of topography between troughs to an ice-flow model. We find that independent model fits on distinct flow paths closely match inter-trough topography, uniformly over a broad region on Gemina Lingula, with mutually consistent and physically reasonable fitting parameters. However, our model requires ice to occupy and flow in spaces where troughs currently incise the ice. We therefore infer that the troughs (and the distribution of mass balance that caused them) post-date deposition of the inter-trough material and its modification by flow. Because trough formation has apparently altered inter-trough topography very little, we infer that trough formation must have been rapid in comparison to the (still unknown) time-scale of flow since troughs began to form. We view the evidence for past flow as strong, but we do not think that topographic evidence alone can be conclusive. Observations of englacial stratigraphy using orbital sounding radars will yield conclusive tests of our inferred mechanism for the formation of inter-trough topography.     

Effects of prokaryotic diversity changes on hydrocarbon degradation rates and metal partitioning during bioremediation of contaminated anoxic marine sediments

We investigated changes of prokaryotic diversity during bioremediation experiments carried out on anoxic marine sediments characterized by high hydrocarbon and metal content. Microcosms containing contaminated sediments were amended with lactose and acetate and incubated in anaerobic conditions up to 60 d at 20 or 35 °C. Microcosms displaying higher degradation efficiency of hydrocarbons were characterized by the dominance of Alphaproteobacteria and Methanosarcinales and the lack of gene sequences belonging to known hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria. Multivariate analyses support the hypothesis that Alphaproteobacteria are important for hydrocarbon degradation and highlight a potential synergistic effect of archaea and bacteria in changes of metal partitioning. Overall, these results point out that the identification of changes in the prokaryotic diversity during bioremediation of contaminated marine sediments is not only important for the improvement of bio-treatment performance towards hydrocarbons, but also for a better comprehension of changes occurring in metal partitioning which affect their mobility and toxicity.     

Recognition of down-valley translation in tidally influenced meandering fluvial deposits,Athabasca Oil Sands (Cretaceous), Alberta,Canada

The vast Athabasca Oil Sands of Alberta, Canada has an estimated resource of more than 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen in-place, the majority of which is hosted in the Lower Cretaceous McMurray Formation. Despite its economical significance the depositional environment of the formation, and particularly the middle part that is the primary reservoir in most areas, is still a matter of considerable debate. These strata of interest are widely known to comprise fluvial and estuarine point bar deposits that were subject to varying degrees of marine influence. The orientation of point bar strata from the formation is tabulated and the majority is observed to dip paleo-basinward, to the north. This observation has proven difficult to explain by geologists attempting to build predictive models for the formation over the last two decades. However, the basinward-dipping point bar strata can be attributed to widespread down-valley translation of point bars in confined north-south oriented valleys, which have previously been delineated in the region. Differentiating the deposits of lateral point bar migration and down-valley translation in the rock record is not possible at the facies scale, and thus translated point bars have not been previously recognized or interpreted in the rock record, despite their prevalence in numerous modern fluvial valley systems. Their identification in the McMurray Formation has important implications for the delineation and development of Canada’s economically significant oil sands resources.     

Methane efflux from marine sediments in passive and active margins: Estimations from bioenergetic reaction–transport simulations

A simplified version of a kinetic–bioenergetic reaction model for anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in marine sediments [Dale, A.W., Regnier, P., Van Cappellen, P., 2006. Bioenergetic controls on anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) in coastal marine sediments: a theoretical analysis. Am. J. Sci. 306, 246–294.] is used to assess the impact of transport processes on biomass distributions, AOM rates and methane release fluxes from the sea floor. The model explicitly represents the functional microbial groups and the kinetic and bioenergetic limitations of the microbial metabolic pathways involved in AOM. Model simulations illustrate the dominant control exerted by the transport regime on the activity and abundance of AOM communities. Upward fluid flow at active seep systems restricts AOM to a narrow subsurface reaction zone and sustains high rates of methane oxidation. In contrast, pore-water transport dominated by molecular diffusion leads to deeper and broader zones of AOM, characterized by much lower rates and biomasses. Under steady-state conditions, less than 1% of the upward dissolved methane flux reaches the water column, irrespective of the transport regime. However, a sudden increase in the advective flux of dissolved methane, for example as a result of the destabilization of methane hydrates, causes a transient efflux of methane from the sediment. The benthic efflux of dissolved methane is due to the slow growth kinetics of the AOM community and lasts on the order of 60 years. This time window is likely too short to allow for a significant escape of pore-water methane following a large scale gas hydrate dissolution event such as the one that may have accompanied the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM).