Venus I. Carbon monoxide distribution and molecular-line searches

An observational program to study variations of the vertical distribution of CO in the Venus atmosphere is presented. Measurements of the J = 0 → 1 absorption line at 2.6 mm wavelength are reported for two phase angles in 1977, one near eastern elongation (Feb.) and the other near inferior conjunction (Apr.). The two spectra are significantly different, with the April absorption line being narrower and deeper. The results of numerical inversion calculations show that the CO mixing ratio increases a factor of ～ 100 between 78 and 100 km and that the CO abundance above ～ 100 km is greatest on the night-side hemisphere. These conclusions are in qualitative agreement with theoretical models. In addition to the CO observations, a search for other molecules was made to provide further information on the composition of the Venus middle atmosphere. The J = 0 → 1 transition of ¹³CO was detected and upper limits were derived for nine other molecules.     

Land cover change over the last three centuries due to human activities: The availability of new global data sets

Land use and land cover change is an important driver of global change (Turner et al., 1993). It is recognized that land use change has important consequences for global and regional climates, the global biogeochemical cycles such as carbon, nitrogen, and water, biodiversity, etc. Nevertheless, there have been relatively few comprehensive studies of global, long-term historical changes in land cover due to land use. In this paper, we review the development of global scale data sets of land use and land cover change. Furthermore, we assess the differences between two recently developed global data sets of historical land cover change due to land use. Based on historical statistical inventories (e.g. census data, tax records, land surveys, historical geography estimates, etc) and applying different spatial analysis techniques, changes in agricultural land cover (croplands, pastures) were reconstructed for the last 300 years. The two data sets indicate that cropland areas expanded from 3–4 million km² in 1700 to 15–18 million km² in 1990 (mostly at the expense of forests), while grazing land area expanded from 5 million km² in 1700 to 31 million km² in 1990 (mostly at the expense of natural grasslands). The data sets disagree most over Latin America and Oceania, and agree best over North America. Major differences in the two data sets can be explained by the use of a fractional versus Boolean approach, different modelling assumptions, and inventory data sets.     

Ideal width of transects for monitoring source-related categories of plastics on beaches

Although there is a consensus on the necessity of monitoring solid wastes pollution on beaches, the methods applied vary widely. Therefore, creating, testing and recommending a method that not only allows comparisons of places and periods, but also the detection of source signals, will be important to reach the objectives of the source-prevention principle. This will also allow the optimisation of time, resources, and processing of samples and data. A classification of the items found into specific categories was made according to their most probable source/use (fisheries, food packaging, hazardous, sewage/personal hygiene, beach user, general home). This study tested different widths of sampling transects to be used in the detection of plastics contamination on beaches, until all the categories were significantly represented. Each transect had its total width (50m) sub-divided into eight intervals of 0-2.5m; 2.5-5m; 5-10m; 10-15m; 15-20m; 20-30m; 30-40m; and 40-50m. The accumulated number of categories in the 50m (up to 2.5m; up to 5m and so on) was used to determine the minimal width necessary to qualitatively characterize the area regarding plastics contamination. The diversity of the categories was directly related to the area of the sampling transect. These results indicate that a significant increase in the number of categories in the first intervals tend to stabilize from 15-20m onwards.     

Personality type differences between Ph.D. climate researchers and the general public: implications for effective communication

Effectively communicating the complexity of climate change to the public is an important goal for the climate change research community, particularly for those of us who receive public funds. The challenge of communicating the science of climate change will be reduced if climate change researchers consider the links between personality types, communication tendencies and learning preferences. Jungian personality type is one of many factors related to an individual’s preferred style of taking in and processing information, i.e., preferred communication style. In this paper, we demonstrate that the Jungian personality type profile of interdisciplinary, early career climate researchers is significantly different from that of the general population in the United States. In particular, Ph.D. climate researchers tend towards Intuition and focus on theories and the “big picture”, while the U.S. general population tends towards Sensing and focuses on concrete examples and experience. There are other differences as well in the way the general public as a group prefers to take in information, make decisions, and deal with the outer world, compared with the average interdisciplinary climate scientist. These differences have important implications for communication between these two groups. We suggest that climate researchers will be more effective in conveying their messages if they are aware of their own personality type and potential differences in preferred learning and communication styles between themselves and the general public (and other specific audiences), and use this knowledge to more effectively target their audience.     

The fast Ice Nucleus chamber FINCH

We present first results of our new developed Ice Nucleus (IN) counter FINCH from the sixth Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiment (CLACE 6) campaign at Jungfraujoch station, 3571 m asl. Measurements were made at the total and the ICE CVI inlet. Laboratory measurements of ice onset temperatures by FINCH are compared to those of the static diffusion chamber FRIDGE (FRankfurt Ice Deposition Freezing Experiment). Within the errors of both new instruments the results compare well to published data.     

Rate of growth of the preserved North American continental crust: Evidence from Hf and O isotopes in Mississippi detrital zircons

Detrital zircons from the Mississippi River have been analyzed for U-Th-Pb, Lu-Hf and O isotopes to constrain the rate of growth of the preserved North American continental crust. One hundred and forty two concordant zircon U/Pb dates on grains mounted in epoxy, obtained by Excimer laser ablation ICP-MS method, resolved six major periods of zircon crystallization: 0-0.25, 0.3-0.6, 0.95-1.25, 1.3-1.5, 1.65-1.95 and 2.5-3.0 Ga. These age ranges match the ages of the recognized lithotectonic units of the North American continent in the hinterland of the Mississippi River. Ninety-six zircons mounted on tape, which show no age zonation and were within 7.5% of concordance, were selected to represent the six U/Pb age time intervals and analyzed for Lu-Hf and O isotope by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS and SHRIMP II, respectively. The δ¹⁸O values of the zircons show a small step increase in the maximum δ¹⁸O values at the Archean-Proterozoic boundary from 7.5‰ in the Archean to 9.5‰, and rarely 13‰, in the Proterozoic and Phanerozoic. However, the average value of δ¹⁸O in zircons changes little with time, showing that the increase in the maximum δ¹⁸O values between 2.5 and 2.0 Ga, which can be attributed to an increase in the sediment content of the source regions of younger granitoids, is largely balanced by an increase in zircons with anomalously low δ¹⁸O, which can be attributed to hydrothermally altered crust in the granitoid source region.εHf_i values for the zircons range from 13.1 to −26.9. Zircons derived from juvenile crust, which we define as having mantle δ¹⁸O (4.5-6.5‰) and lying within error of the Hf depleted mantle growth curve, are rare or absent in the Mississippi basin. The overwhelming majority of zircons crystallized from melted pre-existing continental crust, or mantle-derived magmas that were contaminated by continental crust. The average time difference between primitive crust formation and remelting for each of the recognized lithotectonic time intervals, which is defined as crustal incubation time in this study, is 890 ± 460 Myr. There is also a suggestion that the crustal incubation time increases with decreasing age in the Mississippi basin, which is consistent with the declining role of radioactive heat production in the lower crust with time.The average Hf model age (1.94 Ga), weighted by fraction of zircons in the river load is in reasonable agreement with the Nd model age (1.7 Ga) for the Mississippi River. However, if the zircons are weighted by the area of North America covered by the six recognized periods of zircon crystallization the average model age is 2.35 Ga, which compares favorably with an area weighted Nd model age of 2.36 Ga. Our preferred approach is to use the measured O isotope values to constrain variations in the ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf ratio of the granitic source region from which the zircons crystallized, making the assumption that zircons with mantle-like O isotopic ratios have higher ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf than zircons with higher O isotope values. This method gives an average Hf model age of 2.53 Ga, which is 180 Myr older than the constant ¹⁷⁶Lu/¹⁷⁷Hf calculation.The area weighted zircon Hf model ages show two distinct periods of crust formation for the North American continent, 1.6-2.2 and 2.9-3.4 Ga. At least 50% of the preserved North American continental crust was extracted from the mantle by 2.9 Ga and 90% by 1.6 Ga. Two similar periods of crustal growth are also recognized in Gondwana (Hawkesworth C. J. and Kemp A. I. S. (2006) Using hafnium and oxygen isotopes in zircons to unravel the record of crustal evolution. Chem. Geol.226, 144-162.), suggesting that these may be periods of global continental crustal growth. However, we stress that more data from other continents are required before the hypothesis of episodic global continental growth can be accepted with confidence.     

Fe-Ni-Co-O-S Phase Relations in Peridotite-Seawater Interactions

Serpentinization of abyssal peridotites is known to produceextremely reducing conditions as a result of dihydrogen (H₂,aq)release upon oxidation of ferrous iron in primary phases toferric iron in secondary minerals by H₂O. We have compiled andevaluated thermodynamic data for Fe–Ni–Co–O–Sphases and computed phase relations in fO₂,g–fS₂,g andaH₂,aq–aH₂S,aq diagrams for temperatures between 150 and400°C at 50 MPa. We use the relations and compositions ofFe–Ni–Co–O–S phases to trace changesin oxygen and sulfur fugacities during progressive serpentinizationand steatitization of peridotites from the Mid-Atlantic Ridgein the 15°20'N Fracture Zone area (Ocean Drilling ProgramLeg 209). Petrographic observations suggest a systematic changefrom awaruite–magnetite–pentlandite and heazlewoodite–magnetite–pentlanditeassemblages forming in the early stages of serpentinizationto millerite–pyrite–polydymite-dominated assemblagesin steatized rocks. Awaruite is observed in all brucite-bearingpartly serpentinized rocks. Apparently, buffering of silicaactivities to low values by the presence of brucite facilitatesthe formation of large amounts of hydrogen, which leads to theformation of awaruite. Associated with the prominent desulfurizationof pentlandite, sulfide is removed from the rock during theinitial stage of serpentinization. In contrast, steatitizationindicates increased silica activities and that high-sulfur-fugacitysulfides, such as polydymite and pyrite–vaesite solidsolution, form as the reducing capacity of the peridotite isexhausted and H₂ activities drop. Under these conditions, sulfideswill not desulfurize but precipitate and the sulfur contentof the rock increases. The co-evolution of fO₂,g–fS₂,gin the system follows an isopotential of H₂S,aq, indicatingthat H₂S in vent fluids is buffered. In contrast, H₂ in ventfluids is not buffered by Fe–Ni–Co–O–Sphases, which merely monitor the evolution of H₂ activitiesin the fluids in the course of progressive rock alteration.The co-occurrence of pentlandite–awaruite–magnetiteindicates H₂,aq activities in the interacting fluids near thestability limit of water. The presence of a hydrogen gas phasewould add to the catalyzing capacity of awaruite and would facilitatethe abiotic formation of organic compounds. KEY WORDS: serpentinization; ODP Expedition 209; sulfide; oxygen fugacity; sulfur fugacity; hydrothermal system; metasomatism; Mid-Atlantic Ridge     

Isolation,biodegradation ability and molecular detection of hydrocarbon degrading bacteria in petroleum samples from a Brazilian offshore basin

The detection of microorganisms with potential for biodeterioration and biodegradation in petroleum fields is of great relevance, since these organisms may be related to a decrease in petroleum quality in the reservoirs or damage in the production facilities. In this sense, petroleum formation water and oil samples were collected from the Campos Basin, Brazil, with the aim of isolating microorganisms and evaluating their ability to degrade distinct classes of hydrocarbon biomarkers (9,10-dihydrophenanthrene, phytane, nonadecanoic acid and 5α-cholestane). Twenty eight bacterial isolates were recovered and identified by sequencing their 16S rRNA genes. Biodegradation assays revealed that bacterial metabolism of hydrocarbons occurred through reactions based on oxidation, carbon–carbon bond cleavage and generation of new bonds or by the physical incorporation of hydrocarbons into microbial cell walls. Based on the biodegradation results, selective PCR-based systems were developed for direct detection in petroleum samples of bacterial groups of interest, namely Bacillus spp., Micrococcus spp., Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Dietzia spp. and Bacillus pumilus. Primer sets targeting 16S rRNA genes were designed and their specificity was confirmed in silico (i.e. computational analysis) and in PCR reactions using DNA from reference strains as positive and negative controls. Total DNA from oil was purified and the amplification tests revealed the presence of the target bacteria in the samples, unraveling a significant potential for petroleum deterioration in the reservoirs sampled, once proper conditions are present for hydrocarbon degradation. The application of molecular methods for rapid detection of specific microorganisms in environmental samples would be valuable as a supporting tool for the evaluation of oil quality in production reservoirs.