Isotope-aided modelling of ecohydrologic fluxes and water ages under mixed land use in Central Europe: The 2018 drought and its recovery

Understanding the interactions of vegetation and soil water under varying hydrological conditions is crucial to aid quantitative assessment of land-use sustainability for maintaining water supply for humans and plants. Isolating and estimating the volume and ages of water stored within different compartments of the critical zone, and the associated fluxes of evaporation, transpiration, and groundwater recharge, facilitates quantification of these soil–plant-water interactions and the response of ecohydrological fluxes to wet and dry periods. We used the tracer-aided ecohydrological model EcH₂O-iso to examine the response of water ages of soil water storage, groundwater recharge, evaporation, and root-uptake at a mixed land use site, in northeastern Germany during the drought of 2018 and in the following winter months. The approach applied uses a dynamic vegetation routine which constrains water use by ecological mechanisms. Two sites with regionally typical land-use types were investigated: a forested site with sandy soils and a deep rooting zone and a grassland site, with loamier soils and shallower rooting zone. This results in much younger water ages (<1 year) through the soil profile in the forest compared to the grass, coupled with younger groundwater recharge. The higher water use in the forest resulted in a more pronounced annual cycle of water ages compared to the more consistent water age in the loamier soil of the grasslands. The deeper rooting zone of the forested site also resulted in older root-uptake water usage relative to soil evaporation, while the grassland site root-uptake was similar to that of soil evaporation. Besides more dynamic water ages in the forest, replenishment of younger soil waters to soil storage was within 6 months following the drought (cf. >8 months in the grassland). The temporal evaluation of the responsiveness of soil and vegetation interactions in hydrologic extremes such as 2018 is essential to understand changes in hydrological processes and the resilience of the landscape to the longer and more severe summer droughts predicted under future climate change.     

Origin of freshwater and polynya water in the Arctic Ocean halocline in summer 2007

Extremely low summer sea-ice coverage in the Arctic Ocean in 2007 allowed extensive sampling and a wide quasi-synoptic hydrographic and δ¹⁸O dataset could be collected in the Eurasian Basin and the Makarov Basin up to the Alpha Ridge and the East Siberian continental margin. With the aim of determining the origin of freshwater in the halocline, fractions of river water and sea-ice meltwater in the upper 150 m were quantified by a combination of salinity and δ¹⁸O in the Eurasian Basin. Two methods, applying the preformed phosphate concentration (PO^*) and the nitrate-to-phosphate ratio (N/P), were compared to further differentiate the marine fraction into Atlantic and Pacific-derived contributions. While PO^*-based assessments systematically underestimate the contribution of Pacific-derived waters, N/P-based calculations overestimate Pacific-derived waters within the Transpolar Drift due to denitrification in bottom sediments at the Laptev Sea continental margin.Within the Eurasian Basin a west to east oriented front between net melting and production of sea-ice is observed. Outside the Atlantic regime dominated by net sea-ice melting, a pronounced layer influenced by brines released during sea-ice formation is present at about 30–50 m water depth with a maximum over the Lomonosov Ridge. The geographically distinct definition of this maximum demonstrates the rapid release and transport of signals from the shelf regions in discrete pulses within the Transpolar Drift.The ratio of sea-ice derived brine influence and river water is roughly constant within each layer of the Arctic Ocean halocline. The correlation between brine influence and river water reveals two clusters that can be assigned to the two main mechanisms of sea-ice formation within the Arctic Ocean. Over the open ocean or in polynyas at the continental slope where relatively small amounts of river water are found, sea-ice formation results in a linear correlation between brine influence and river water at salinities of about 32–34. In coastal polynyas in the shallow regions of the Laptev Sea and southern Kara Sea, sea-ice formation transports river water into the shelf’s bottom layer due to the close proximity to the river mouths. This process therefore results in waters that form a second linear correlation between brine influence and river water at salinities of about 30–32. Our study indicates which layers of the Arctic Ocean halocline are primarily influenced by sea-ice formation in coastal polynyas and which layers are primarily influenced by sea-ice formation over the open ocean. Accordingly we use the ratio of sea-ice derived brine influence and river water to link the maximum in brine influence within the Transpolar Drift with a pulse of shelf waters from the Laptev Sea that was likely released in summer 2005.     

Using isotopes to understand landscape-scale connectivity in a groundwater-dominated,lowland catchment under drought conditions

The Demnitzer Millcreek catchment (DMC), is a 66 km² long-term experimental catchment located 50 km SE of Berlin. Monitoring over the past 30 years has focused on hydrological and biogeochemical changes associated with de-intensification of farming and riparian restoration in the low-lying landscape dominated by rain-fed farming and forestry. However, the hydrological function of the catchment, which is closely linked to nutrient fluxes and highly sensitive to climatic variability, is still poorly understood. In the last 3 years, a prolonged drought period with below-average rainfall and above-average temperatures has resulted in marked hydrological change. This caused low soil moisture storage in the growing season, agricultural yield losses, reduced groundwater recharge, and intermittent streamflows in parts of an increasingly disconnected channel network. This paper focuses on a two-year long isotope study that sought to understand how different parts of the catchment affect ecohydrological partitioning, hydrological connectivity and streamflow generation during drought conditions. The work has shown the critical importance of groundwater storage in sustaining flows, basic in-stream ecosystem services and the dominant influence of vegetation on groundwater recharge. Recharge was much lower and occurred during a shorter window of time in winter under forests compared to grasslands. Conversely, groundwater recharge was locally enhanced by the restoration of riparian wetlands and storage-dependent water losses from the stream to the subsurface. The isotopic variability displayed complex emerging spatio-temporal patterns of stream connectivity and flow duration during droughts that may have implications for in-stream solute transport and future ecohydrological interactions between landscapes and riverscapes. Given climate projections for drier and warmer summers, reduced and increasingly intermittent streamflows are very likely not just in the study region, but in similar lowland areas across Europe. An integrated land and water management strategy will be essential to sustaining catchment ecosystem services in such catchment systems in future.     

Factors shaping submerged bryophyte communities: A conceptual model for small mountain streams in Germany

Several models explaining species composition of aquatic bryophytes are available for specific regions. However, a more general, conceptual model applicable to a broader range of regions is lacking.We present a conceptual model ranking environmental factors determining submerged bryophyte communities in small mountain streams. It was tested on a dataset of 54 stream sections after removing the effect of stream size and altitude. Species responses were modeled with pH as predictor variable based on 97 stream sites covering six mountain regions all over Germany. Multiple regressions revealed the importance of primary growth factors (light, Ep(CO₂)) and substrate for the total submerged bryophyte coverage.The known distinction of hard- and softwater bryoflora was clearly supported. The floristic composition of headwaters was predominantly determined by the bicarbonate/ionic strength complex. Species response to pH values supported this result and thus our conceptual model. The primary growth resources light, Ep(CO₂) and availability of coarse streambed material explained one third (R_adjusted² = 0.34) of total submerged bryophyte cover. Disturbances, predominantly spates, reduce biomass but do not affect the basic floristic structure.In conclusion, conceptual models and monitoring methods focusing on aquatic bryophytes need to clearly distinguish “aquatic” from “submersed by chance”. All “aquatic bryophytes” found in Germany can also occur at least temporarily at non-submerged sites. Therefore, a distinction between primary growth factors and additional resources is recommended to disentangle factors determining aquatic bryophyte communities.     

Hf-W mineral isochron for Ca,Al-rich inclusions: Age of the solar system and the timing of core formation in planetesimals

Application of ¹⁸²Hf-¹⁸²W chronometry to constrain the duration of early solar system processes requires the precise knowledge of the initial Hf and W isotope compositions of the solar system. To determine these values, we investigated the Hf-W isotopic systematics of bulk samples and mineral separates from several Ca,Al-rich inclusions (CAIs) from the CV3 chondrites Allende and NWA 2364. Most of the investigated CAIs have relative proportions of ¹⁸³W, ¹⁸⁴W, and ¹⁸⁶W that are indistinguishable from those of bulk chondrites and the terrestrial standard. In contrast, one of the investigated Allende CAIs has a lower ¹⁸⁴W/¹⁸³W ratio, most likely reflecting an overabundance of r-process relative to s-process isotopes of W. All other bulk CAIs have similar ¹⁸⁰Hf/¹⁸⁴W and ¹⁸²W/¹⁸⁴W ratios that are elevated relative to average carbonaceous chondrites, probably reflecting Hf-W fractionation in the solar nebula within the first ∼3 Myr. The limited spread in ¹⁸⁰Hf/¹⁸⁴W ratios among the bulk CAIs precludes determination of a CAI whole-rock isochron but the fassaites have high ¹⁸⁰Hf/¹⁸⁴W and radiogenic ¹⁸²W/¹⁸⁴W ratios up to ∼14 ε units higher than the bulk rock. This makes it possible to obtain precise internal Hf-W isochrons for CAIs. There is evidence of disturbed Hf-W systematics in one of the CAIs but all other investigated CAIs show no detectable effects of parent body processes such as alteration and thermal metamorphism. Except for two fractions from one Allende CAI, all fractions from the investigated CAIs plot on a single well-defined isochron, which defines the initial ε¹⁸²W = −3.28 ± 0.12 and ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf = (9.72 ± 0.44) × 10⁻⁵ at the time of CAI formation. The initial ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf and ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratios of the angrites D’Orbigny and Sahara 99555 are consistent with the decay from initial abundances of ¹⁸²Hf and ²⁶Al as measured in CAIs, suggesting that these two nuclides were homogeneously distributed throughout the solar system. However, the uncertainties on the initial ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf and ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratios are too large to exclude that some ²⁶Al in CAIs was produced locally by particle irradiation close to an early active Sun. The initial ¹⁸²Hf/¹⁸⁰Hf of CAIs corresponds to an absolute age of 4568.3 ± 0.7 Ma, which may be defined as the age of the solar system. This age is 0.5-2 Myr older than the most precise ²⁰⁷Pb-²⁰⁶Pb age of Efremovka CAI 60, which does not seem to date CAI formation. Tungsten model ages for magmatic iron meteorites, calculated relative to the newly and more precisely defined initial ε¹⁸²W of CAIs, indicate that core formation in their parent bodies occurred in less than ∼1 Myr after CAI formation. This confirms earlier conclusions that the accretion of the parent bodies of magmatic iron meteorites predated chondrule formation and that their differentiation was triggered by heating from decay of abundant ²⁶Al. A more precise dating of core formation in iron meteorite parent bodies requires precise quantification of cosmic-ray effects on W isotopes but this has not been established yet.     

Tungsten isotopes in ferroan anorthosites: Implications for the age of the Moon and lifetime of its magma ocean

New W isotope data for ferroan anorthosites 60025 and 62255 and low-Ti mare basalt 15555 show that these samples, contrary to previous reports [Lee, D.C., et al., 1997. Science 278, 1098-1103; Lee, D.C., et al., 2002. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 198, 267-274], have a W isotope composition that is indistinguishable from KREEP and other mare basalts. This requires crust extraction on the Moon later than ∼60 Myr after CAI formation, consistent with ¹⁴⁷Sm-¹⁴³Nd ages for ferroan anorthosites. The absence of ¹⁸²Hf-induced ¹⁸²W variations in the Moon is consistent with formation of the Moon at after CAI formation that has been inferred based on the indistinguishable ¹⁸²W/¹⁸⁴W ratios of the bulk Moon and the bulk silicate Earth. The uncertainties on the age of the Moon and the age of the oldest lunar samples currently hamper a precise determination of the duration of magma ocean solidification and are consistent with both an almost immediate crystallization and a more protracted timescale of ∼100 Myr.     

Water chemistry and its diversity in relation to local factors in the Latnjavagge drainage basin, arctic–oceanic Swedish Lapland

The chemistry of precipitation, snow pack and surface water has been analysed on 205 samples collected during the 2001 field season at 25 selected sites within the Latnjavagge drainage basin in arctic–oceanic northern Swedish Lapland. Additionally, daily discharge and yield of dissolved solids have been calculated for several subcatchments and the entire Latnjavagge catchment during the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. Chemical water analysis included the components Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻ and PO₄³⁻, with SO₄²⁻ and Ca²⁺ being the dominant ones in the surface water. Solute concentrations and chemical denudation were low, but showed significant differences within the basin. In areas of shade, longer snow cover, frozen ground and thin regolith, concentrations over the summer were perceptible but so low that solutes brought into the basin from precipitation could be detected in the surface water. In one locality, it was even found that lake water could reflect snowmelt to such an extent that the solute concentration was less than that of summer precipitation. The highest concentrations were found at a radiation-exposed, W-facing, vegetated, moderately steep slope with relatively thick regolith that was thawed at the time of snowmelt in early June. In such well-drained sites with continuous subsurface water flow, a maximum of contact between water and mineral particles could take place. The concentration values revealed differences in the rate of thawing of frozen ground between shaded areas and/or areas at higher altitude on the one hand and radiation-exposed areas on the other. A comparison with published results from Kärkevagge a few kilometres to the northwest as well as from other periglacial locations indicates that the chemical denudation values from Latnjavagge are more representative of periglacial oceanic environments than the values from the Kärkevagge catchment, which shows especially high chemical denudation rates. The investigation in Latnjavagge stresses the importance of spatial variability within even small catchments of homogeneous lithology as it demonstrates that solute concentrations from different subbasins can differ substantially dependent on exposure to radiation, duration of snow cover and frozen ground conditions, regolith thickness and possibly also to vegetation cover and slope angle as factors steering water turbulence and retention of drainage.     

The ideology behind the technology - Chilean microentrepreneurs and public ICT policies

Digital divides are differences in access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) which tend to reflect the social and regional inequalities between and within countries. This paper presents a case study from Chile, which is among the leaders in Latin America both in levels of e-readiness and in social and regional inequality. The Chilean state’s ICT policies are situated within the “Third Way” approach of the centre-left government, reflecting the tensions between a pro-active and positive view of neoliberal globalisation, and state social programmes to support poorer sectors of society.The paper presents a multi-level analysis of two elements of Chilean ICT policy: Chilecompra, an online public e-procurement system aimed at creating transparent and competitive transactions in line with neoliberal economic theory, and Red Comunitaria, a network of Community Information Centres which offer free internet access and training to individuals, including microentrepreneurs. Interviews were conducted at the national, regional and local level. Findings were that the Community Information Centres (telecentros) had indeed furthered digital inclusion while in the meantime the shift to e-procurement had excluded many microentrepreneurs who had not registered with the system of Chilecompra. The larger of the local enterprises had registered but were having difficulties competing online with bigger companies located in the regional and national capitals.The paper argues that while both state policies see themselves as successes, the political objectives underlying the technology mirror the Chilean government’s struggle to simultaneously embrace neoliberal globalisation while working towards greater social and regional cohesion. At the local level there is evidence of the failure to reconcile the two approaches which may be indicative of a more general tension between these goals.