Catchment-wide estimate of single storm interrill soil erosion using an aggregate instability index: a model based on geographic information systems

The main objective of this paper is to estimate interrill erosion after rainfall in the basin of Mourganis river (442?km²; Kalabaka province, Trikala prefecture, Thessaly, Greece). For the estimation of the interrill erosion, the method of Valmis et al. (1988) was used, in combination with Nearing et al. (1989). Input data of the algorithm include the slope angle of the ground surface, the rainfall, the ground cover type, the height of canopy, and the instability of ground of the study area. The spatial data were processed by standard GIS software. Soil samples were collected in the field to calibrate the model. The results comprise soil erosion maps for two specific rainfall scenarios. The first rainfall scenario refers to the most extreme rainfall in this catchment that happened on the 7/21/1959 with 48?mm/h. The second scenario is closer to average as the intensity rainfall is 3.54?mm/h. The total mass of eroded material ranges from 0.048?t/ha (assuming mean rainfall intensity) up to 3.5?t/ha (for the extreme scenario). We note that the western part of the Mourgani basin exhibits higher erosion than the eastern part.     

Microscale Energy Dissipation Mechanisms in Cyclically-Loaded Granular Soils

This paper utilizes the Discrete Element Method to characterize energy dissipation mechanisms in cyclically loaded soils based on micromechanical considerations. Computational simulations of consolidated undrained cyclic triaxial tests were conducted at various relative densities and were subjected to cyclic loading of different frequencies and shear strain amplitudes. The different components of microscale energies were monitored during the course of the simulations and characterized into input and dissipated energies. A comparison is made between the dissipated energy computed from microscopic energy components and macroscopic energy calculated based on the area of the deviator stress-axial strain loops. These energies are then used to obtain the specific damping capacity defined as the ratio of dissipated energy during one cycle to the maximum stored elastic energy during the same cycle. The conducted simulations highlight the importance of calculating actual stored energy in the system as opposed to approximating it to be that calculated as the triangular area under the secant modulus. Finally, a series of simulations that resulted in liquefaction are discussed, and the amount of energy dissipated to liquefaction is examined based on these results.     

Isotopic evidence for interaction between Öræfajökull mantle and the Eastern Rift Zone,Iceland

The off-rift central volcano of Öræfajökull has very distinctive EM1-like isotopic compositions compared with other Icelandic lavas. New Pb–Nd–Sr isotopic data from Öræfajökull show strong correlations interpreted as a result of mixing. End-members are a depleted mantle source incorporating 0.5 % subduction-processed sediment and a mantle source with an isotopic signature similar to lavas of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Sr–Nd–Pb isotopic correlations of Icelandic Eastern Rift Zone (ERZ) lavas are almost completely distinct from those of the Reykjanes Peninsula and the Western Rift Zone (WRZ) and require a high-²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, low-¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd end-member that resembles Öræfajökull compositions, which is very distinct from the enriched end-members suggested for the Reykjanes Peninsula and the WRZ. Given the similar depth and degree of melting at rift zones, variation in the observed enriched end-members between rift zones must indicate spatial variations in enriched mantle sources within the shallow mantle under Iceland rather than purely mixing of melts from a bi-lithological mantle. This is consistent with observations that the ERZ lavas erupted closest to Öræfajökull exhibit the most Öræfajökull-like isotopic compositions, implying that a homogenised Öræfajökull source with positive ?²⁰⁷Pb is focused under the Öræfajökull centre and its associated flank zone. This then mixes laterally with the dominant negative-?²⁰⁷Pb ERZ mantle source. Like Reykjanes Peninsula and WRZ lavas, the ERZ mantle source has strongly negative Δ²⁰⁷Pb and low K/Nb (<170), and these provide evidence for a recycled oceanic crust contribution. The range in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb in mantle sources with negative Δ²⁰⁷Pb was probably generated by heterogeneity in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and μ in the recycled oceanic crust, which is the dominant source of incompatible elements in Icelandic lavas.     

Biogenic opal production changes during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition in the Bering Sea (IODP Expedition 323 Site U1343)

Biogenic opal content and mass accumulation rate (MAR) at IODP Expedition 323 Site U1343 were found to fluctuate consistently, generally being high under warm conditions and low under cold conditions during the last 2.4 Ma. Continuous wavelet transform analysis of the normalized biogenic opal content indicates that export production in the Bering Sea varied predominantly at 41-ka periodicity before 1.25 Ma, and shifted to 100-ka periodicity at the onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition (MPT; 1.25–0.7 Ma). The 100-ka cycles dominated until the Holocene. Export production in the Bering Sea decreased markedly in the Bering Sea two times during the MPT: the first occurred at the beginning of the MPT (1.25 Ma) and the second in the middle of the MPT (0.9 Ma). These decreases coincided with both increases in the relative abundance of sea-ice diatoms and decreases in the warm-water diatom species Neodenticula seminae, indicating that reductions in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were associated with climate cooling. Decreases in export production in the Bering Sea during the MPT were most likely associated with the increased influence of polar/Arctic domains on the high-latitude North Pacific.     

Seasonal survey of copper-complexing ligands and thiol compounds in a heavily utilized, urban estuary: Elizabeth River, Virginia

Concentrations of thiol compounds, copper-complexing ligands, and total dissolved copper were followed over the course of 1 year (October 2002 until September 2003) in the Elizabeth River, Virginia to evaluate seasonality. Copper-complexing ligand concentrations were determined by competitive ligand equilibration-adsorptive cathodic stripping voltammetry (CLE/ACSV). Thiol detection was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and calibration using a suite of nine thiol compounds (cysteine, glutathione, mercaptoacetic acid, 2-mercaptoethanesulfonic acid, 2-mercaptoethanol, 2-mercaptopropionic acid, 3-mercaptopropionic acid, mercaptosuccinic acid, and monothioglycerol). Total dissolved copper concentrations reached a January low of 13.1 nM to a June high of 24.7 nM and were found to vary seasonally with higher concentrations occurring from June to September. With a low of 26 nM during April to a high of 56 nM in October, copper-complexing ligand (average log K′_CuL of 12.0 ± 0.2) concentrations displayed a similar seasonal pattern to that of total dissolved copper. Free cupric ion concentrations remained below 1.5 pM for a majority of the year except during March, April, and December when values reached pM levels greater than 1.5. Six of the nine thiol compounds surveyed were detected in the Elizabeth River samples and ranged in concentration from below detectable concentrations (< 5 nM) to individual highs ranging from 25.3 to168.5 nM. The thiol compound concentrations displayed a clear seasonality fluctuating at below detection limits during November to February then increasing with increasing surface water temperatures from March to July. CLE/ACSV was used to assess whether or not the suite of thiol compounds detected by HPLC could contribute to the copper-complexing ligand pool. Conditional stability constants for each one of six thiol standards (average log K′_CuL  12.1 ± 0.5) were found to be statistically equivalent to the naturally occurring copper-complexing ligands (average log K′_CuL  12.0 ± 0.2). This suggests that these thiol compounds could act as copper-complexing ligands in natural samples and could contribute to the copper-complexing ligand pool detected by CLE/ACSV. This study involving seasonality of copper-complexing ligands and thiols in an industrialized, urban estuary underscored several points that have to be substantiated in future research efforts including copper-complexing ligands sources and the role that thiol compounds as well as other unidentified organic compounds play in the copper-complexing ligand pool.     

Evaluating Adaptive Processes for Conservation and Management of Estuarine and Coastal Resources

This special feature: Genetic Structure and Adaptation in Coastal Ecosystems emphasizes the importance of research focused on population genetic structure and evolutionary change for understanding estuarine and coastal communities. Many studies have examined the effect of environmental gradients on community-level patterns in estuarine habitats; however, relatively little is known about the role of genetically based adaptation (the heritable response to these environmental gradients) in these organisms. This special feature presents 11 studies that use a variety of approaches including ecophysiology, ecological genetics, molecular markers, and patterns of gene expression occurring within these populations. These studies provide examples of the role of genetic diversity and adaptation across a diversity of estuarine and coastal environments, and highlight the temporal and spatial scales at which adaptation impinges upon management. This collection of papers is especially timely, given the increasing importance of understanding and predicting the response to global climate change in order to effectively manage these communities.     

Plasticity,Not Adaptation to Salt Level,Explains Variation Along a Salinity Gradient in a Salt Marsh Perennial

Evolutionary ecologists have long been intrigued by the fact that many plant species can inhabit a broad range of environmental conditions and that plants often exhibit dramatic differences in phenotype across environmental gradients. We investigated responses to salinity treatments in the salt marsh plant Borrichia frutescens to determine if the species is responding to variation in edaphic salt content through phenotypic plasticity or specialized trait response. We grew seedlings from fruits collected in high- and low-salt microhabitats, assigned seedlings to high- and low-salt treatments in a greenhouse, and measured traits related to salt tolerance. All traits were highly plastic in response to salinity. Plants from the two microhabitats did not differ in trait means or respond differently to the treatments. These results suggest that environmental differences between the two microhabitats are not creating genotypes adapted to high and low salt levels. In addition, despite evidence for variation in allozyme markers in this population, there was no significant genotypic variation (family effect) in any of the trait means measured across microhabitats. There was variation in plasticity for only leaf Na and leaf B concentration. The high degree of plasticity for all traits and the lack of differences among microhabitats across the salinity gradient suggest plasticity in many traits may be fixed for this species.     

Seismic architecture and sedimentology of a major grounding zone system deposited by the Bjørnøyrenna Ice Stream during Late Weichselian deglaciation

A 280 km wide sediment wedge in outer Bjørnøyrenna (Bear Island Trough), south-western Barents Sea, has been investigated using 2D and 3D seismic data, sediment gravity cores, as well as regional swath and large scale bathymetry data. The bathymetry data indicate a division into an up to 35 m high frontal wedge with large depressions, and an upstream part characterized by mega scale glacial lineations (MSGL). From seismic sections increasing erosion is demonstrated for the upstream part, coinciding with the location of MSGL. Whether the latter are depositional features postdating an extensive erosional event or formed by erosion remains inconclusive. Based on the distinct morphology and internal structures, we infer that the system was deposited during a rapid readvance whereby the ice front pushed and bulldozed predominantly soft, diluted proglacial sediments. Analyses in the eastern part of the sediment system reveal the existence of imbricated thrust sheets in the frontal part of the wedge. This is suggested to imply upstream erosion of sedimentary rock and incorporation of thrusted blocks into the moraine, forming a composite ridge locally. We argue that observed large scale depressions are dead-ice features in the marine environment. It is envisioned that intense englacial thrusting may have developed into a decollement as the cold glacier snout got overrun by ice masses from the interior, thereby enabling the inclusion of slabs of ice in the push moraine mass. Radiocarbon dates indicate that the sediment wedge was deposited around 17,090 cal yrs BP (14,530 ¹⁴C yrs BP) and that the ice front probably remained stable until 16,580 cal yrs BP (13,835 ¹⁴C yrs BP).     

Metamorphism in the Martian crust

Compositions of basaltic and ultramafic rocks analyzed by Mars rovers and occurring as Martian meteorites allow predictions of metamorphic mineral assemblages that would form under various thermophysical conditions. Key minerals identified by remote sensing roughly constrain temperatures and pressures in the Martian crust. We use a traditional metamorphic approach (phase diagrams) to assess low‐grade/hydrothermal equilibrium assemblages. Basaltic rocks should produce chlorite + actinolite + albite + silica, accompanied by laumontite, pumpellyite, prehnite, or serpentine/talc. Only prehnite‐bearing assemblages have been spectrally identified on Mars, although laumontite and pumpellyite have spectra similar to other uncharacterized zeolites and phyllosilicates. Ultramafic rocks are predicted to produce serpentine, talc, and magnesite, all of which have been detected spectrally on Mars. Mineral assemblages in both basaltic and ultramafic rocks constrain fluid compositions to be H₂O‐rich and CO₂‐poor. We confirm the hypothesis that low‐grade/hydrothermal metamorphism affected the Noachian crust on Mars, which has been excavated in large craters. We estimate the geothermal gradient (>20 °C km^?1) required to produce the observed assemblages. This gradient is higher than that estimated from radiogenic heat‐producing elements in the crust, suggesting extra heating by regional hydrothermal activity.     

Quantifying Annual Nitrogen Loads to Virginia’s Coastal Lagoons: Sources and Water Quality Response

Coastal lagoons of the Delmarva Peninsula receive varying annual nitrogen loads because of differing land uses. Extensive development and agriculture contribute to elevated nutrient loads in Maryland and Delaware. Agriculture and forests dominate Virginia’s landscape, suggesting these systems receive lower loads. We used a watershed model to achieve three objectives: (1) quantify loads to Virginia lagoons; (2) determine the sources of the loads; and (3) project changes in annual loads under different development scenarios. Model simulations indicated that some Virginia lagoons receive relatively high annual nutrient loads (kg N year⁻¹) due to intensive agriculture and a high watershed/lagoon areal ratio. Model projections also suggested that increased agricultural and residential development in Virginia could lead to annual loads (kg N year⁻¹) typical of impacted Maryland systems. A comparison of Maryland and Virginia water quality responses to nutrient loading suggested that Virginia’s lagoons exhibit a different response to nutrient loading, though the exact mechanism for this difference is unclear.