Turbulence Statistics Above And Within Two Amazon Rain Forest Canopies

The turbulence structure in two Amazon rain forestswas characterised for a range of above-canopystability conditions, and the results compared withprevious studies in other forest canopies and recenttheory for the generation of turbulent eddies justabove forest canopies. Three-dimensional wind speedand temperature fluctuation data were collectedsimultaneously at up to five levels inside and abovetwo canopies of 30–40 m tall forests, during threeseparate periods. We analysed hourly statistics, jointprobability distributions, length scales, spatialcorrelations and coherence, as well as power spectraof vertical and horizontal wind speed.The daytime results show a sharp attenuation ofturbulence in the top third of the canopies, resultingin very little movement, and almost Gaussianprobability distributions of wind speeds, in the lowercanopy. This contrasts with strongly skewed andkurtotic distributions in the upper canopy. At night,attenuation was even stronger and skewness vanishedeven in the upper canopy. Power spectral peaks in thelower canopy are shifted to lower frequencies relativeto the upper canopy, and spatial correlations andcoherences were low throughout the canopy. Integrallength scales of vertical wind speed at the top of thecanopy were small, about 0.15 h compared to avalue of 0.28 h expected from the shear lengthscale at the canopy top, based on the hypothesis that theupper canopy air behaves as a plane mixing layer. Allthis suggests that, although exchange is not totallyinhibited, tropical rain forest canopies differ from other forests in that rapid, coherentdownward sweeps do not penetrate into the lowercanopy, and that length scales are suppressed. This isassociated with a persistent inversion of stability inthat region compared to above-canopy conditions. Theinversion is likely to be maintained by strong heatabsorption in the leaves concentrated near thecanopy top, with the generally weak turbulence beingunable to destroy the temperature gradients over thelarge canopy depth.     

Secondary chaotic terrain formation in the higher outflow channels of southern circum-Chryse, Mars

Higher outflow channel dissection in the martian region of southern circum-Chryse appears to have extended from the Late Hesperian to the Middle Amazonian Epoch. These outflow channels were excavated within the upper 1 km of the cryolithosphere, where no liquid water is expected to have existed during these geologic epochs. In accordance with previous work, our examination of outflow channel floor morphologies suggests the upper crust excavated by the studied outflow channels consisted of a thin (a few tens of meters) layer of dry geologic materials overlying an indurated zone that extends to the bases of the investigated outflow channels (1 km in depth). We find that the floors of these outflow channels contain widespread secondary chaotic terrains (i.e., chaotic terrains produced by the destruction of channel-floor materials). These chaotic terrains occur within the full range of outflow channel dissection and tend to form clusters. Our examination of the geology of these chaotic terrains suggests that their formation did not result in the generation of floods. Nevertheless, despite their much smaller dimensions, these chaotic terrains are comprised of the same basic morphologic elements (e.g., mesas, knobs, and smooth deposits within scarp-bound depressions) as those located in the initiation zones of the outflow channels, which suggests that their formation must have involved the release of ground volatiles. We propose that these chaotic terrains developed not catastrophically but gradually and during multiple episodes of nested surface collapse. In order to explain the formation of secondary chaotic terrains within zones of outflow channel dissection, we propose that the regional Martian cryolithosphere contained widespread lenses of volatiles in liquid form. In this model, channel floor collapse and secondary chaotic terrain formation would have taken place as a consequence of instabilities arising during their exhumation by outflow channel dissection. Within relatively warm upper crustal materials in volcanic settings, or within highly saline crustal materials where cryopegs developed, lenses of volatiles in liquid form within the cryolithosphere could have formed, and/or remained stable.In addition, our numerical simulations suggest that low thermal conductivity, dry fine-grained porous geologic materials just a few tens of meters in thickness (e.g., dunes, sand sheets, some types of regolith materials), could have produced high thermal anomalies resulting in subsurface melting. The existence of a global layer of dry geologic materials overlying the cryolithosphere would suggest that widespread lenses of fluids existed (and may still exist) at shallow depths wherever these materials are fine-grained and porous. The surface ages of the investigated outflow channels and chaotic terrains span a full 500 to 700 Myr. Chaotic terrains similar in dimensions and morphology to secondary chaotic terrains are not observed conspicuously throughout the surface of Mars, suggesting that intra-cryolithospheric fluid lenses may form relatively stable systems. The existence of widespread groundwater lenses at shallow depths of burial has tremendous implications for exobiological studies and future human exploration. We find that the clear geomorphologic anomaly that the chaotic terrains and outflow channels of southern Chryse form within the Martian landscape could have been a consequence of large-scale resurfacing resulting from anomalously extensive subsurface melt in this region of the planet produced by high concentrations of salts within the regional upper crust. Crater count statistics reveal that secondary chaotic terrains and the outflow channels within which they occur have overlapping ages, suggesting that the instabilities leading to their formation rapidly dissipated, perhaps as the thickness of the cryolithosphere was reset following the disruption of the upper crustal thermal structure produced during outflow channel excavation.     

Flushing of dense, hypoxic water from a cavity of the Swan River estuary, Western Australia

Flushing of dense water from cavities of the upper reaches of the Swan River estuary in Western Australia was investigated using measured salinity and dissolved oxygen profiles and a two-dimensional, laterally averaged hydrodynamic model (TISAT). Seasonal flushing of dense, hypoxic bottom waters from a relatively deep site took place over ∼3 days at the onset of winter in 1994. Model simulations of the purging of this dense water did not correspond closely with changes in the densimetric Froude number. Purging, expressed as depth of the halocline as a fraction of the total cavity depth, occurred when the simulated mean horizontal velocity at 2 m depth (top of cavity) changed from negative to strongly positive, indicating arrest of upstream flow and continuous downstream flow. This corresponded to freshwater discharge of about 50 m³ s⁻¹. Oxygen depletion of bottom waters was closely related to stratification. Oxygen dynamics at the onset of winter river flow was analysed using an exponential decay model, assuning that there was no net inflow or outflow across the halocline and thus no vertical transport of oxygen during a period of strong stratification. The rate constant for oxygen decay at Ron Courtney Island (RCI) was estimated to be 0.232 d⁻¹ for this period. Bottom waters at RCI declined to less than 1 mg 1⁻¹ prior to complete flushing through increased river flows. This study provided in sights to how freshwater flows may be allocated to maintain suitable oxygen levels in the bottom waters of estuarine cavities.     

Automated Extraction of a Five‐Year LA‐ICP‐MS Trace Element Data Set of Ten Common Glass and Carbonate Reference Materials: Long‐Term Data Quality,Optimisation and Laser Cell Homogeneity

LA‐ICP‐MS is increasingly applied to obtain quantitative multi‐element data with minimal sample preparation, usually achieved by calibration using reference materials (RMs). However, some ubiquitous RMs, for example the NIST SRM 61× series glasses, suffer from reported value uncertainties for certain elements. Moreover, no long‐term data set of analyses conducted over a range of ablation and tuning conditions exists. Thus, there has been little rigorous examination of the extent to which offsets between measured and reported values are the result of error in these values rather than analytically induced fractionation. We present new software (‘LA‐MINE’), capable of extracting LA‐ICP‐MS data with no user input, and apply this to our system, yielding over 5 years of data (~ 5700 analyses of ten glass and carbonate RMs). We examine the relative importance of systematic analytical bias and possible error in reported values through a mass‐specific breakdown of fourteen of the most commonly determined elements. Furthermore, these data, obtained under a wide range of different ablation conditions, enable specific recommendations of how data quality may be improved, for example the role of diatomic gas, the effect of differential inter‐glass fractionation factors and choice of transport tubing material. Finally, these data demonstrate that the two‐volume Laurin ablation cell is characterised by no discernible spatial heterogeneity in measured trace element ratios.     

The dip equator over Peninsular India and its secular movement

A ground geomagnetic survey conducted in peninsular India has demarkated the dip equator for the epoch 1991.0. A well-defined southward migration in the last two decades is evident. The secular trend in the vertical component and the direction of the migration in the India zone are shown to be consistent. The migratory movement of the dip equator in different longitude sectors is compared to highlight the complex nature of the secular trends.     

Response of a subtropical estuarine marsh to local climatic change in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico

We examined the contrasting, effects of floods and droughts produced by large changes in local climatology on vegetation patterns in Nueces marsh, a semi-arid subtropical salt marsh in south Texas from 1995 to 2005. Climate variations during the study included an initial 4-yr period of moderate conditions, followed by a 2-yr interval of drought, and a recent 4-yr wet period that included large-scale floods. Variation in freshwater inflow, rainfall, and potential evapotranspiration were used in conjunction with field measurements of salinity, inorganic nitrogen, and vegetation structure collected at sites located at varying distances from Nueces Bay. Tidal creek salinities varied with Nueces Bay salinity, with strength of effect inversely related to distance from the bay. Mean (±standard deviation) pore water salinities ranged from 59±54‰ at two high, marsh stations farthest from the bay (10.1 km distant) to 30±21‰ in soil at a low marsh site closest to the bay (0.5 km distant). Mean pore water ammonium was also higher at stations most distant from the bay; nitrate + nitrite did not exhibit a high marsh to low marsh gradient. Nueces Bay salinity decreased substantially when the 10-d cumulative mean daily Nueces River flows exceeded 10 m³ s⁻¹. During periods of low and moderate flood frequency (flows mostly below 10 m³ s⁻¹), vegetation assemblages were dominated by stress-tolerant clonal plants. A catastrophic flood, which immersed vegetation for several weeks between July and September 2002, resulted in extensive plant mortality, but within months, unvegetated areas were rapidly colonized by the obligate annualSalicornia bigelovii. With the end of major flooding by late 2004, plant community structure began a return to pre-drought assemblages at high and middle marsh stations by summer 2005. At the low marsh station, new conditions favored clonal dominants (Spartina alterniflora andBorrichia frutescens), with the latter replacingSalicornia virginica as the dominant species. Our results support the theory that the importance of competition and abiotic stress in determining community composition are inversely related.     

Lattice dynamical system modelling of molecular clouds

Because a comprehensive microscopic treatment of interstellar molecular clouds is out of reach, an alternative approach is proposed in which most of the crucial ingredients of the problem are considered, but at some 'minimal' level of modelling. This leads to the elaboration of a lattice dynamical system , i.e. a time-dependent, spatially extended, deterministic system of macroscopic cells coupled through radiative transfer. Each cell is characterized by a small set of variables and supports a caricatural chemistry possessing the essential dynamical features of more realistic reaction schemes.   This approach naturally precludes quantitative results, but allows heretofore unavailable insights into some of the basic mechanisms at play. We focus on the response of the transfer process and the chemistry to a frozen 'turbulent' velocity field. It is shown that the system settles generically into a state where the effective coupling between cells is neither local nor global, and for which no single length-scale exists.   The spectral lines reconstructed from the spatiotemporal evolution of our model may, depending on the velocity field, exhibit profiles ranging from Gaussian to bimodal with strong realization effects. In the bimodal case, the model intrinsically displays an energy cascade transport mechanism to the cells that cool most efficiently: the feedback of chemistry on radiative transfer cannot be neglected.   Finally, extensions of this work are discussed and future developments are outlined.     

Quantitative assessment of gas washing of oils in the Tazhong area of the Tarim Basin,Northwest China

Gas washing has been known in the Tazhong area of the Tarim Basin, but its quantitative assessment has not yet been reported. Here the influence of gas washing fractionation in the area was discussed based on the gas chromatogram data of 68 oils and the results of the mixing experiments of a black oil and a condensate. The results show that the intensity of gas washing fractionation decreased generally from northern to southern part and vertically from deep reservoirs to shallow reservoirs. The gas washing fractionation was mainly controlled by fault systems in this area, with the increase of n-alkane mass depletion positively correlated to the number and scale of faults. Gas washing fractionation appears to have affected the hydrocarbon property, and as a result the diversity of the crude oils is markedly controlled by gas washing. In addition, the occurrence of waxy oil in this area may be resulted from multiple factors including gas washing, mixed filling and migration fractionation. Supported by National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2006CB202303) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 40672091)