Comparison of nitrate attenuation characterization methods at the Uranium mill tailing site in Monument Valley, Arizona

Several methods for characterizing the occurrence and rate of nitrate attenuation were tested at a field site near Monument Valley, Arizona. Spatial and temporal nitrate concentration data collected from a transect of monitoring wells located along the plume centerline were analyzed to evaluate the overall rates of natural attenuation. The occurrence and rate of denitrification was evaluated through microcosm experiments, nitrogen isotopic fractionation analysis, and solute-transport modeling. First-order denitrification-rate coefficients calculated with each method were comparable. In addition, the composite natural attenuation rate coefficient was similar to the denitrification-rate coefficients, which suggests that microbially induced decay primarily controls nitrate attenuation at the site. This research highlights the benefits associated with a multiple-method approach for the characterization of natural attenuation.     

<Superscript>10</Superscript>Be, <Superscript>18</Superscript>O and radiogenic isotopic constraints on the origin of adakitic signatures: a case study from Solander and Little Solander Islands,New Zealand

Subduction-related Quaternary volcanic rocks from Solander and Little Solander Islands, south of mainland New Zealand, are porphyritic trachyandesites and andesites (58.20–62.19 wt% SiO₂) with phenocrysts of amphibole, plagioclase and biotite. The Solander and Little Solander rocks are incompatible element enriched (e.g. Sr ~931–2,270 ppm, Ba ~619–798 ppm, Th ~8.7–21.4 ppm and La ~24.3–97.2 ppm) with MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic signatures. Isotopically similar quench-textured enclaves reflect mixing with intermediate (basaltic-andesite) magmas. The Solander rocks have geochemical affinities with adakites (e.g. high Sr/Y and low Y), whose origin is often attributed to partial melting of subducted oceanic crust. Solander sits on isotopically distinct continental crust, thus excluding partial melting of the lower crust in the genesis of the magmas. Furthermore, the incompatible element enrichments of the Solander rocks are inconsistent with partial melting of newly underplated mafic lower crust; reproduction of their major element compositions would require unrealistically high degrees of partial melting. A similar argument precludes partial melting of the subducting oceanic crust and the inability to match the observed trace element patterns in the presence of residual garnet or plagioclase. Alternatively, an enriched end member of depleted MORB mantle source is inferred from Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic compositions, trace element enrichments and εHf ? 0 CHUR in detrital zircons, sourced from the volcanics. ¹⁰Be and Sr, Nd and Pb isotopic systematics are inconsistent with significant sediment involvement in the source region. The trace element enrichments and MORB-like Sr and Nd isotopic characteristics of the Solander rocks require a strong fractionation mechanism to impart the high incompatible element concentrations and subduction-related (e.g. high LILE/HFSE) geochemical signatures of the Solander magmas. Trace element modelling shows that this can be achieved by very low degrees of melting of a peridotitic source enriched by the addition of a slab-derived melt. Subsequent open-system fractionation, involving a key role for mafic magma recharge, resulted in the evolved andesitic adakites.     

Collating Historic Weather Observations for the East Asian Region:Challenges,Solutions,and Reanalyses

正1.Introduction Historic instrumental weather observations,made on land or at sea from as early as the 17th century(e.g.,Camuffo et al.,2010),are integral to extending our understanding of the decadal and centennial variations of Earth’s climate and for comparison with paleo-proxy data.The potential of such data is shown to best effect when used in dynamical 4D global     

Contested geographical imaginings of reunification: A case study of urban change in Leipzig

Geopolitics and city restructuring are typically regarded as separate scales and processes: the international and national versus the local. The local politics of urban change in an east German city in the period after reunification question this divide. The ‘pathways’ approach to post-socialist transitions is utilized to illustrate how reunification is contested as much in neighbourhood restructuring and actions in response to incoming capital and the dominance of western legalpolitical norms as it is in national or international discourses and practices. Assumed divisions between East and West, professional and lay, and local and national are questioned.     

Magnetic characterisation and correlation of a Younger Dryas tephra in North Atlantic marine sediments

A technique for identifying non‐visible basaltic tephra‐rich horizons of Younger Dryas (YD)/Greenland Stadial (GS) 1 age in northeast Atlantic sediments using rapid, non‐destructive magnetic measurements is presented. Three high‐resolution marine sediment cores have been studied in an E–W transect across the Hebridean margin: St Kilda Basin (MD95‐2007), Barra Fan (MD95‐2006) and Rockall Trough (MD04‐2822). Magnetic susceptibilities and remanent magnetisations were measured at contiguous 1 cm resolution on bulk sediments. In all three cores, an interval with higher proportions of hard magnetic minerals coincides with a clearly defined peak in basaltic tephra shard (>250 µm) counts, which can be constrained to the early part of the YD/GS1 based on faunal climate proxies. Electron microprobe analyses of the magnetically distinct basaltic tephra interval, in all three cores, displays the same major element geochemistry as published for the Vedde basaltic (I Tab. 1), i.e. sourced from the Icelandic volcano Katla. The identification of transitional alkalic basaltic tephras within marine sediments could potentially be facilitated by magnetic analysis as a useful chronostratigraphic screening tool. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The use of regional and alluvial groundwater by riparian trees in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia

Riparian trees play a critical role in the ecological function of rivers, yet are threatened by anthropogenic change to the hydrological cycle. Identifying the sources of water used by riparian trees can inform sustainable water policy. We used isotopic analysis complemented by measurements of plant water relations to assess water sources for riparian trees at two sites with contrasting hydrogeological processes; one with an alluvial aquifer overlaying an aquitard, and one where fault-induced preferential pathways in the aquitard allowed the flow of deeper, older groundwater from a regional aquifer to the alluvium. At both sites, plant water potential, stomatal conductance, and plant water isotope composition in the xylem sap of riparian trees were collected from two landscape positions, the riverbank and floodplain. We used a Bayesian mixing model (MixSIAR) to assess differences in the proportion of water sources for sites and landscape positions. We found that xylem water isotope values differed between the two sites in line with their hydrogeological characteristics, with trees at the regional aquifer site using water sourced from the regional groundwater and trees at the site with only an alluvial aquifer present using a mixture of water sources, with no dominant source identified. Higher plant predawn water potential values at the regional site indicated greater water availability and support the inference that plants were using more groundwater at the regional site compared to the alluvial site. Trees closer to the river had higher isotope values, indicative of surficial water sources i.e. shallow soil water and river water. Our findings show that the water sources used by riparian trees reflect local hydrogeology and resource availability. Water managers should identify and protect plant water sources to ensure maintenance of riparian trees.     

Crinoid localities of the Silurian of the British Isles

The first monograph of the British Silurian crinoids was published as early as 1839 and identified 14 species; over 120 are now known. The most productive horizon for both diversity of species and numbers of well‐preserved specimens is the Much Wenlock Limestone Formation at Dudley (Lower Silurian, Wenlock), a site of international significance. Other localities have produced fewer, but different species. Herein, we introduce the most important crinoid localities in the Llandovery to Ludlow of the British Isles, and figure some of the many beautiful and significant specimens that they have produced.     

Potential impact of climate change and reindeer density on tundra indicator species in the Barents Sea region

Climate change is expected to alter the distribution of habitats and thus the distribution of species connected with these habitats in the terrestrial Barents Sea region. It was hypothesised that wild species connected with the tundra and open-land biome may be particularly at risk as forest area expands. Fourteen species of birds were identified as useful indicators for the biodiversity dependent upon this biome. By bringing together species distribution information with the LPJ-GUESS vegetation model, and with estimates of future wild and domestic reindeer density, potential impacts on these species between the present time and 2080 were assessed. Over this period there was a net loss of open land within the current breeding range of most bird species. Grazing reindeer were modelled as increasing the amount of open land retained for nine of the tundra bird species.     

Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy

Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small amounts of modern ¹⁴C-labelled contamination will significantly affect the reliability of dates from the period, producing erroneous results. Recent developments in sample pre-treatment chemistry have shown that problems in reliable age determination during this period are surmountable. In this paper we provide an example of one such case, from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitional site of the Grotta di Fumane, in northern Italy. We AMS dated two fractions of the same charcoal samples derived from a series of superimposed Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels excavated at the site. One fraction was treated using the routine acid–base–acid (ABA) method, the other with the more rigorous acid–base-oxidation/stepped combustion (ABOx–SC) method. The latter method produced consistently older, and almost certainly more reliable, results. The eruption of the known-age Campanian Ignimbrite from the Phlegrean Fields near present-day Naples at 39.3 ka yr BP seals Ulluzzian and Proto Aurignacian levels in the south of Italy. Equivalent cultural levels are present at Fumane and the results obtained with the ABOx–SC methods are consistent with the ages inferred for sites in the south of Italy based on the presence of the Campanian Ignimbrite. New results from a sample found beneath the Campanian Ignimbrite at the Russian site of Kostenki, obtained using both the ABA and ABOx–SC, methods are also presented. They support the conclusion reached at Fumane by demonstrating that, in many cases, the ABOX–SC treatment effectively removes contamination where the ABA treatment does not. The results of the work offer a sobering examination of the problems inherent in the current radiocarbon database relating to the period, and highlight the dangers of an uncritical use of the corpus of ¹⁴C results obtained over the last few decades. Based on our results, we predict that more than 70% of the 53 previously available determinations from Fumane are erroneously young. A way forward is suggested, using these improved chemical preparation methods, applying analytical methods to characterise the material dated, and testing existing site chronologies to establish which previous determinations are liable to be inaccurate.