Arsenic in seawater and brown algae of the Baltic and the North Sea

A long-term study within the pilot environmental specimen bank programme of the Federal Republic of Germany on arsenic levels in coastal and open seawater and their reflection in the brown seaweed (Fucus vesiculosus) has been performed. Dissolved arsenic was on average 0.76 (range 0.45–1.11) μgl⁻¹ for 17 sampling stations in the Baltic Sea, whereas contents of dissolved arsenic are somewhat higher in shallow waters of the coastal zone of the North Sea. Total arsenic levels in algae ranged up to 40 mg kg⁻¹ (dry weight) and showed for the four locations studied obvious seasonal variations for comparatively nonpolluted or nondisturbed locations only. However, probably due to biological influences, the results obtained so far indicate that composite samples integrating a one year period are supposed to be the best strategy for future environmental specimen banking. Using a new efficient speciation technique the percentage of chemically stable organoarsenic compounds in the investigated algae has been found to be 95% of the total arsenic content and thus somewhat lower than in teleost fish. For comparison, typical data for a few other algae species from the Baltic and the Mediterranean Sea are also shown.     

A precision kite or balloon-borne mini-sonde for wind and turbulence measurements

A highly mobile system for accurate measurements of wind speed and horizontal turbulence in the lowest few hundred meters of the atmosphere is presented. It consists of a light-weight sonde (only 50 g, including batteries that permit 12 h of continuous operation) which can be easily lifted by a small kite in winds below 5 m/s and up to at least 25 m/s. In winds below 5 m/s, a small kytoon may be used instead. The signals from the sonde are received by a standard FM-radio equipped with a frequency converter, and data are recorded on ordinary cassette tapes. Field tests against towermounted precision instruments were performed at two sites during neutral and unstable conditions with the sonde suspended 25 m below a small kite, the measuring heights being 11 and 18 m respectively during the two test series. Mean wind speeds are found to be accurate to within ±0.2 m/s. Wind speed spectra obtained with the flying sonde can be evaluated up to 0.5 Hz and are found to agree closely with the spectra of the longitudinal component recorded simultaneously by the tower-mounted instrument at the same height. After correction for high frequency loss, which amounted to 5% at this low height (it is expected to decrease rapidly with height), the standard deviation of the wind recorded by the sonde agreed to within 2% with that obtained by the reference instrument. A notable result of the field tests is that there was no sign of degradation of the performance of the sonde in strong turbulence conditions.     

Principal oscillation pattern analysis of the tropical 30- to 60-day oscillation

In Part I (Storch and Xu 1990) the principal oscillation pattern (POP) analysis of 200 mb equatorial velocity potential leads to the definition of a bivariate (POP-) index of the tropical 30- to 60-day oscillation. Using the POP prediction scheme this index is predictable for a few days in advance. In Part 11, the prediction of the equatorial velocity potential field, made by the POP method and made by two GCMs, is investigated. The POP index forecast can incorporate skillful forecasts of the equatorial velocity potential () field. Its ensemble correlation skill score passes the 0.50 level at 7 days, whereas persistence passes after 3 days. If there is a strong 30- to 60-day oscillation signal in the initial state, useful forecasts of more than 20 days are sometimes possible; if the initial signal is weak, the POP forecast fails. Also, the forecast skill of two GCMs is considered. The NCAR T31 GCM appears to be quite skillful in predicting the equatorial -field, and in particular the 30- to 60-day oscillation. Its skill, however, is less than that of the POP scheme. The CNRM T42 GCM seems not to be able to predict the regular development associated with the tropical 30- to 60-day oscillation. The power of the POP index in explaining the equatorial x-field is a measure of the strength and dominance of the 30- to 60-day oscillation. This measure at day 0 is an a priori indicator of the NCAR T31 GCM's skill in predicting the equatorial velocity potential field.The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation     

Alpine garden plants from six continents show high vulnerability to ice encasement

Icy surfaces impose challenges for northern societies, wildlife and agriculture. However, there have been relatively few studies of the impacts of anoxic ground ice on non-agricultural plants. During the winter of 2009–2010, an extreme winter warming event led to thick ground-ice layer development in the world’s northernmost botanical garden in Tromsø, in subarctic Norway, due to much rain on warm days interspersed with cold dry days. After ice melt in late spring, the authors assessed plant mortality and tested whether certain growth forms, geographical origins, or terrain features were more vulnerable to stress. They found that mortality was negatively correlated with terrain slope, that cryptophytes were most vulnerable, and that good soil drainage improved all plants’ survival. Vegetation greenness (measured by the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI) reached an unprecedented minimum in the summer of 2010 and remained low for two more years. The results suggest that more investigations of the impacts of ground ice are needed to understand better how alpine ecosystems might change with increasing climate change. In conclusion, the study revealed that botanical garden studies may be a valuable supplement to field studies, as plants of different origins could be studied under similar climatic conditions.     

Verification of a coupled climate-hydrological model against Holocene palaeohydrological records

We have coupled a climate model (ECBilt-CLIO-VECODE) and a hydrological model (STREAM) offline to simulate palaeodischarge of nineteen rivers (Amazon, Congo, Danube, Ganges, Krishna, Lena, Mackenzie, Mekong, Meuse, Mississippi, Murray–Darling, Nile, Oder, Rhine, Sacramento–San Joaquin, Syr Darya, Volga, Volta, Zambezi) for three time-slices: Early Holocene (9000–8650 BP), Mid-Holocene (6200–5850 BP) and Recent (1750–2000 AD). To evaluate the model's skill in retrodicting broad changes in mean palaeodischarge we have compared the model results with palaeodischarge estimates from multi-proxy records. We have compared the general trends inferred from the proxy data with statistical differences in modelled discharge between the three periods, thereby developing a technique to assess the level of agreement between the model and proxy data. The quality of the proxy data for each basin has been classed as good, reasonable or low. Of the model runs for which the proxy data were good or reasonable, 72% were in good agreement with the proxy data, and 92% were in at least reasonable agreement. We conclude that the coupled climate-hydrological model performs well in simulating mean discharge in the time-slices studied. The discharge trends inferred from the proxy and model data closely follow latitudinal and seasonal variations in insolation over the Holocene. For a number of basins for which agreement was not good we have identified specific mechanisms which could be responsible for the discrepancy, primarily the absence of the Laurentide ice sheet in our model. In order to use the model in an operational sense within water management studies it would be useful to use a higher spatial resolution and a daily time-step.     

Fortschritte in der Kartierung von Transvaal

Ohne Zusammenfassung     

Grönland 1939

Ohne ZusammenfassungMitt. Nat. Ges. Schaffhausen XVI, 1940, S. 1–251. Herausgegeben Oktober 1939.