Coordinated monitoring of the eccentric O-star binary Iota Orionis: optical spectroscopy and photometry

With the objective of investigating the windwind collision phenomenon and supporting contemporaneous X-ray observations, we have organized a large-scale, coordinated optical monitoring campaign of the massive, highly eccentric O9 III+B1 III binary Iota Orionis. Successfully separating the spectra of the components, we refine the orbital elements and confirm the rapid apsidal motion in the system. We also see strong interaction between the components during periastron passage and detect phase-locked variability in the spectrum of the secondary star. However, we find no unambiguous signs of the bow shock crashing on the surface of the secondary, despite the predictions of hydrodynamic simulations. Combining all available photometric data, we find rapid, phase-locked variations and model them numerically, thus restricting the orbital inclination to 50° i 70°.     

A multimodel comparison for assessing water temperatures under changing climate conditions via the equilibrium temperature concept: case study of the Middle Loire River,France

This paper investigates three categories of models that are derived from the equilibrium temperature concept to estimate water temperatures in the Loire River in France and the sensitivity to changes in hydrology and climate. We test the models' individual performances for simulating water temperatures and assess the variability of the thermal responses under the extreme changing climate scenarios that are projected for 2081–2100. We attempt to identify the most reliable models for studying the impact of climate change on river temperature (T_w). Six models are based on a linear relationship between air temperatures (T_a) and equilibrium temperatures (T_e), six depend on a logistic relationship, and six rely on the closure of heat budgets. For each category, three approaches that account for the river's thermal exchange coefficient are tested. In addition to air temperatures, an index of day length is incorporated to compute equilibrium temperatures. Each model is analysed in terms of its ability to simulate the seasonal patterns of river temperatures and heat peaks. We found that including the day length as a covariate in regression‐based approaches improves the performance in comparison with classical approaches that use only T_a. Moreover, the regression‐based models that rely on the logistic relationship between T_e and T_a exhibit root mean square errors comparable (0.90 °C) with those obtained with a classical five‐term heat budget model (0.82 °C), despite a small number of required forcing variables. In contrast, the regressive models that are based on a linear relationship T_e = f(T_a) fail to simulate the heat peaks and are not advisable for climate change studies. The regression‐based approaches that are based on a logistic relationship and the heat balance approaches generate notably similar responses to the projected climate changes scenarios. This similarity suggests that sophisticated thermal models are not preferable to cruder ones, which are less time‐consuming and require fewer input data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Change in North American Atmospheric Conditions Associated with Deep Convection and Severe Weather using CRCM4 Climate Projections

Severe weather has important social and economic impacts. Some studies have indicated that its intensity may increase over this century as a consequence of climate change induced by greenhouse gases. This study aims to investigate the possibility of a future increase in deep convective events over North America resulting from the evolution of favourable atmospheric conditions. Our analysis is based on an ensemble of projections performed using the Canadian Regional Climate Model (CRCM) at 45?km resolution, driven by different Global Climate Models (GCMs) and reanalyses. We concentrate our study on Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), vertical wind shear, and convective precipitation. Based on two different approaches to linking atmospheric conditions and severe weather, we find that the number of extreme weather events is expected to increase during the twenty-first century. In agreement with other studies on this subject, we find that CAPE is expected to increase, whereas wind shear is expected to decrease slightly. Through the analysis of the CRCM's convective precipitation outputs, we show that severe convective liquid precipitation events may become both more frequent and slightly more intense. Sensitivity experiments show that results depend on the driving GCM although they confirm the general conclusions. Additional experiments conducted with reduced humidity input at the lateral boundaries show the significant role that the humidity level of the driving GCMs has on simulated extreme regional events. At the regional level results are, in general, consistent with those found at the continental scale, but large inter-regional variations exist.     

Trade in ‘virtual carbon’: Empirical results and implications for policy

The fact that developing countries do not have carbon emission caps under the Kyoto Protocol has led to the current interest in high income countries in border taxes on the ‘virtual’ carbon content of imports. We use GTAP data and input-output analysis to estimate the flows of virtual carbon implicit in domestic production technologies and the pattern of international trade. The results present striking evidence on the wide variation in the carbon-intensiveness of trade across countries, with major developing countries being large net exporters of virtual carbon. Our analysis suggests that a tax on virtual carbon could lead to very substantial effective tariff rates on the exports of the most carbon-intensive developing nations. As an illustration, we find that average tariff rates of 10%, 8% and 12% would be faced by imports from China, India and South Africa if carbon is taxed at $50/ton CO₂. Moreover, there is wide variation in intensiveness across sectors within countries with implications for the disparate effective tariff burdens on particulars parts of the economies of these countries. Such empirical findings, we argue, are useful for framing on-going discussions about the principles and practice of border taxes on virtual carbon.     

Optimal removal of topological artefacts in microtomographic images of porous materials

The analysis of flow at the pore scale in porous media has been facilitated with the use of microtomography. A powerful tool for quantifying the fluid structure using these tomographic 3D reconstructions is skeletonisation, but the significant disadvantage of this method is its sensitivity to noise, resulting in artefacts in the skeleton. A pre-processing of the 3D image is therefore required, but no method has yet proven to completely solve this problem. By developing a new procedure that, by construction, directly identifies the voxels and only those that are responsible for topological artefacts in the skeleton, we are able to remove all artefacts, and furthermore can prove that we do so by modifying a minimal amount of voxels in the segmented 3D image (i.e. the tomographic image in which each voxel has been assigned to either the porous or the solid phase). This is possible by identifying the three fundamental types of artefacts that can arise in a 3D skeleton, and dealing with each appropriately. Application to a microtomographic image of a sintered glass powder is presented. Impact of the different processing methods on the flow within its porosity is measured through the computed permeability deviations.     

The sedimentary expression of oceanic anoxic event 1b in the North Atlantic

The Aptian/Albian oceanic anoxic event 1b contains the record of several perturbations in the global carbon cycle and multiple black shale levels, particularly in the Western Tethys. The local lithological expression of an oceanic anoxic event depends on palaeogeographical and depositional setting as well as on regional palaeoclimate. Marine sediments at a particular location may therefore be more or less organic‐rich (or not at all) and they may consist of different lithologies. In most studies, however, much of the lithological variability associated with oceanic anoxic events is left unaccounted for and, thus, the exact processes leading to the enrichment of organic matter in these marine sediments and their subsequent preservation in the geological record are unknown. This study focuses on the local sedimentary processes behind the deposition of organic‐rich sediments at Deep Sea Drilling Project Site 545 and Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1049 and 1276 in the North Atlantic during oceanic anoxic event 1b. Although specifically dealing with the sediments deposited during this particular event at these localities, it is expected that the same processes were responsible for determining the exact sedimentary products at localities in similar settings, as well as during other similar events in the Mesozoic. Here, it is shown that the deposition of organic‐rich sediments during oceanic anoxic event 1b was a consequence of the enhanced productivity favoured by upwelling and by riverine nutrient input, or aeolian fertilization of the euphotic zone depending on geographical location. Slope instability processes resulted in the transfer of part of these organic‐rich sediments from the shelf to deep sea depocentres as mud‐laden organic‐rich turbidites, especially in the northern North Atlantic. The so‐called ‘black shales’ are much more varied than their name implies. The end product of sedimentation during an oceanic anoxic event at a particular location is commonly the result of several equifinal processes acting on a local scale rather than the direct result of basinal or even global mechanisms.     

Multi‐Element Determination of Trace Elements in Natural Water Reference Materials by ICP‐SFMS after Tm Addition and Iron Co‐precipitation

We report on an improved method for determining trace element abundances in seawater and other natural waters. The analytical procedure involves co‐precipitation on iron hydroxides after addition of a Tm spike, and measurement by inductively coupled plasma‐sector field mass spectrometry (ICP‐SFMS). The validity of the method was assessed through a series of co‐precipitation experiments, using ultra‐diluted solutions of a certified rock reference material (BIR‐1). Results obtained for four natural water reference materials (NASS‐5, CASS‐4, SLEW‐3, SLRS‐4) are in agreement with published working values for rare earth elements, yttrium, vanadium and, when available, for hafnium, zirconium, thorium and scandium. A set of proposed values with uncertainties typically better than 8% RSD is proposed for Hf, Zr and Th.     

GSD‐1G and MPI‐DING Reference Glasses for In Situ and Bulk Isotopic Determination

This paper contains the results of an extensive isotopic study of United States Geological Survey GSD‐1G and MPI‐DING reference glasses. Thirteen different laboratories were involved using high‐precision bulk (TIMS, MC‐ICP‐MS) and microanalytical (LA‐MC‐ICP‐MS, LA‐ICP‐MS) techniques. Detailed studies were performed to demonstrate the large‐scale and small‐scale homogeneity of the reference glasses. Together with previously published isotopic data from ten other laboratories, preliminary reference and information values as well as their uncertainties at the 95% confidence level were determined for H, O, Li, B, Si, Ca, Sr, Nd, Hf, Pb, Th and U isotopes using the recommendations of the International Association of Geoanalysts for certification of reference materials. Our results indicate that GSD‐1G and the MPI‐DING glasses are suitable reference materials for microanalytical and bulk analytical purposes.     

Freshwater seepages and ephemeral macroalgae proliferation in an intertidal bay: II. Effect on benthic biomass and metabolism

Intertidal soft-sediments biomass and metabolism are naturally heterogeneous in time and space at different scales. Particular perturbations such as freshwater seepages and seasonal proliferation of ephemeral macroalgae can intermittently and/or locally create additional variability in these systems. Since the impacts of such environmental stresses on natural processes are not well understood, the hypothesis that they would affect the functioning of the benthic system was tested. An intertidal bay whose structure and functioning has been previously described and where a carbon budget has been calculated, was chosen. The results showed that the metabolism of the intertidal sediments was greatly impacted by the above perturbations. Freshwater seepage increased meiofauna and microalgae biomasses and enhanced the total benthic metabolism (increasing community respiration and gross primary production until 4 and 2 fold respectively) without altering its seasonal trend. Ephemeral macroalgae proliferation had a more important effect on the total benthic metabolism, increasing community respiration and gross primary production 8 and 12 fold respectively and leading to a change in the seasonal trend.