The Eltanin asteroid impact: possible South Pacific palaeomegatsunami footprint and potential implications for the Pliocene–Pleistocene transition

Large asteroid impacts are rare, and those into the deep ocean are rarer still. The Eltanin asteroid impact around 2.51 ± 0.07 Ma occurred at a time of great climatic and geological change associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary. Numerical models of the event indicate that a megatsunami was generated, although there is debate concerning its magnitude and the region‐wide extent of its influence. We summarise the existing evidence for possible Eltanin megatsunami deposits in Antarctica, Chile and New Zealand, while also examining other potential sites from several locations, mainly around the South Pacific region. In reviewing these data we note that these events were unfolding at the same time as those associated with the Pliocene–Pleistocene boundary and, as such, most of the geological evidence from that time has a climatic interpretation. The potential climatic and geological ramifications of the Eltanin asteroid impact, however, have failed to be considered by most researchers studying this time period. Although we are not advocating that all geological activity at that time is connected with the Eltanin asteroid impact, it raises interesting questions about the role potentially played by such catastrophic events in contributing to or even triggering epochal transitions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assimilation of carbonate country rock by the parent magma of the Panzhihua Fe-Ti-V deposit（SW China）：Evidence from stable isotopes

The Panzhihua intrusion in southwest China is part of the Emeishan Large Igneous Province and host of a large Fe-Ti-V ore deposit.During emplacement of the main intrusion,multiple generations of mafic dykes invaded carbonate wall rocks,producing a large contact aureole.We measured the oxygen-isotope composition of the intrusions,their constituent minerals,and samples of the country rock.Magnetite and plagioclase from Panzhihua intrusion haveδ¹⁸O values that are consistent with magmatic equilibrium, and formed from magmas withδ¹⁸O values that were 1-2‰higher than expected in a mantle-derived magma.The unmetamorphosed country rock has highδ¹⁸O values,ranging from 13.2‰（sandstone） to 24.6-28.6‰（dolomite）.The skarns and marbles from the aureole have lowerδ¹⁸O andδ¹³C values than their protolith suggesting interaction with fluids that were in exchange equilibrium with the adjacent mafic magmas and especially the numerous mafic dykes that intruded the aureole.This would explain the alteration ofδ¹⁸O of the dykes which have significantly higher values than expected for a mantle-derived magma.Depending on the exactδ¹⁸O values assumed for the magma and contaminant, the amount of assimilation required to produce the elevatedδ¹⁸O value of the Panzhihua intrusion was between 8 and 13.7 wt.%,assuming simple mixing.The exact mechanism of contamination is unclear but may involve a combination of assimilation of bulk country rock,mixing with a melt of the country rock and exchange with CO₂-rich fluid derived from decarbonation of the marls and dolomites.These mechanisms,particularly the latter,were probably involved in the formation of the Fe-Ti-V ores.     

1999年海城-岫岩地震序列的精准定位

1999年11月29日,北京时间12点10分39秒(04:10:39 UTC)在我国辽宁海城-岫岩地区发生了一次Ms5.4地震.这次地震是继1975年2月4日海城Ms7.3地震之后该地区发生的震级最大的一次地震.区域性的辽宁数字地震台网记录了这一序列的前震、主震与 余震.本文运用该台网的记录资料,用双差法对海城-岫岩地...     

The information system of the French Peatland Observation Service: Service National d'Observation Tourbières – A valuable tool to assess the impact of global changes on the hydrology and biogeochemistry of temperate peatlands through long term monitoring

Mitigating and adapting to global changes requires a better understanding of the response of the Biosphere to these environmental variations. Human disturbances and their effects act in the long term (decades to centuries) and consequently, a similar time frame is needed to fully understand the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of a natural system. To this end, the ‘Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique’ (CNRS) promotes and certifies long-term monitoring tools called national observation services or ‘Service National d'Observation’ (SNO) in a large range of hydrological and biogeochemical systems (e.g., cryosphere, catchments, aquifers). The SNO investigating peatlands, the SNO ‘Tourbières’, was certified in 2011 ( https://www.sno-tourbieres.cnrs.fr/ ). Peatlands are mostly found in the high latitudes of the northern hemisphere and French peatlands are located in the southern part of this area. Thus, they are located in environmental conditions that will occur in northern peatlands in coming decades or centuries and can be considered as sentinels. The SNO Tourbières is composed of four peatlands: La Guette (lowland central France), Landemarais (lowland oceanic western France), Frasne (upland continental eastern France) and Bernadouze (upland southern France). Thirty target variables are monitored to study the hydrological and biogeochemical functioning of the sites. They are grouped into four datasets: hydrology, fluvial export of organic matter, greenhouse gas fluxes and meteorology/soil physics. The data from all sites follow a common processing chain from the sensors to the public repository. The raw data are stored on an FTP server. After operator or automatic processing, data are stored in a database, from which a web application extracts the data to make them available ( https://data-snot.cnrs.fr/data-access/ ). Each year at least, an archive of each dataset is stored in Zenodo, with a digital object identifier (DOI) attribution ( https://zenodo.org/communities/sno_tourbieres_data/ ).     

Transient climate changes in a perturbed parameter ensemble of emissions-driven earth system model simulations

We describe results from a 57-member ensemble of transient climate change simulations, featuring simultaneous perturbations to 54 parameters in the atmosphere, ocean, sulphur cycle and terrestrial ecosystem components of an earth system model (ESM). These emissions-driven simulations are compared against the CMIP3 multi-model ensemble of physical climate system models, used extensively to inform previous assessments of regional climate change, and also against emissions-driven simulations from ESMs contributed to the CMIP5 archive. Members of our earth system perturbed parameter ensemble (ESPPE) are competitive with CMIP3 and CMIP5 models in their simulations of historical climate. In particular, they perform reasonably well in comparison with HadGEM2-ES, a more sophisticated and expensive earth system model contributed to CMIP5. The ESPPE therefore provides a computationally cost-effective tool to explore interactions between earth system processes. In response to a non-intervention emissions scenario, the ESPPE simulates distributions of future regional temperature change characterised by wide ranges, and warm shifts, compared to those of CMIP3 models. These differences partly reflect the uncertain influence of global carbon cycle feedbacks in the ESPPE. In addition, the regional effects of interactions between different earth system feedbacks, particularly involving physical and ecosystem processes, shift and widen the ESPPE spread in normalised patterns of surface temperature and precipitation change in many regions. Significant differences from CMIP3 also arise from the use of parametric perturbations (rather than a multimodel ensemble) to represent model uncertainties, and this is also the case when ESPPE results are compared against parallel emissions-driven simulations from CMIP5 ESMs. When driven by an aggressive mitigation scenario, the ESPPE and HadGEM2-ES reveal significant but uncertain impacts in limiting temperature increases during the second half of the twenty-first century. Emissions-driven simulations create scope for development of errors in properties that were previously prescribed in coupled ocean–atmosphere models, such as historical CO₂ concentrations and vegetation distributions. In this context, historical intra-ensemble variations in the airborne fraction of CO₂ emissions, and in summer soil moisture in northern hemisphere continental regions, are shown to be potentially useful constraints, subject to uncertainties in the relevant observations. Our results suggest that future climate-related risks can be assessed more comprehensively by updating projection methodologies to support formal combination of emissions-driven perturbed parameter and multi-model earth system model simulations with suitable observational constraints. This would provide scenarios underpinned by a more complete representation of the chain of uncertainties from anthropogenic emissions to future climate outcomes.     

Application of Structure‐from‐Motion photogrammetry to river restoration

Structure‐from‐Motion (SfM) photogrammetry is now used widely to study a range of earth surface processes and landforms, and is fast becoming a core tool in fluvial geomorphology. SfM photogrammetry allows extraction of topographic information and orthophotos from aerial imagery. However, one field where it is not yet widely used is that of river restoration. The characterisation of physical habitat conditions pre‐ and post‐restoration is critical for assessing project success, and SfM can be used easily and effectively for this purpose. In this paper we outline a workflow model for the application of SfM photogrammetry to collect topographic data, develop surface models and assess geomorphic change resulting from river restoration actions. We illustrate the application of the model to a river restoration project in the NW of England, to show how SfM techniques have been used to assess whether the project is achieving its geomorphic objectives. We outline the details of each stage of the workflow, which extend from preliminary decision‐making related to the establishment of a ground control network, through fish‐eye lens camera testing and calibration, to final image analysis for the creation of facies maps, the extraction of point clouds, and the development of digital elevation models (DEMs) and channel roughness maps. The workflow enabled us to confidently identify geomorphic changes occurring in the river channel over time, as well as assess spatial variation in erosion and aggradation. Critical to the assessment of change was the high number of ground control points and the application of a minimum level of detection threshold used to assess uncertainties in the topographic models. We suggest that these two things are especially important for river restoration applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

How well do integrated assessment models simulate climate change?

Integrated assessment models (IAMs) are regularly used to evaluate different policies of future emissions reductions. Since the global costs associated with these policies are immense, it is vital that the uncertainties in IAMs are quantified and understood. We first demonstrate the significant spread in the climate system and carbon cycle components of several contemporary IAMs. We then examine these components in more detail to understand the causes of differences, comparing the results with more complex climate models and earth system models (ESMs), where available. Our results show that in most cases the outcomes of IAMs are within the range of the outcomes of complex models, but differences are large enough to matter for policy advice. There are areas where IAMs would benefit from improvements (e.g. climate sensitivity, inertia in climate response, carbon cycle feedbacks). In some cases, additional climate model experiments are needed to be able to tune some of these improvements. This will require better communication between the IAM and ESM development communities.     

Catastrophic events reveal the dynamic nature of salt-marsh vegetation in Southern California

Recent hydrological disturbances, including flooding, dry-season streamflow, and drought, greatly altered coastal wetland habitats in sourthern California. At Tijuana Estuary, a six-year study of salt-marsh vegetation patterns during these rare conditions documented substantial temporal variability in plant growth and distribution. Important to cordgrass (Spartina foliosa Trin.) dynamics were the amount and timing of streamflows, which reduced soil salinity and alleviated stresses on plant growth. Poorest growing conditions occurred in 1984 when both river and tidal flows were lacking; soils had low moisture and extreme salinities (avg.=104‰ in September). Plant stress was documented in 1984 as high mortality (62% fewer stems than in 1983) and reduced height (19% less than in 1983). Cordgrass height was greatest in 1980 following winter flooding (20% increase over 1979); densities were greatest in 1983 with summer freshwater influxes (60% increase over 1982). A carbon allocation model is proposed to explain the varied responses.