Amino acid analyses of R and CK chondrites

Exogenous delivery of amino acids and other organic molecules to planetary surfaces may have played an important role in the origins of life on Earth and other solar system bodies. Previous studies have revealed the presence of indigenous amino acids in a wide range of carbon‐rich meteorites, with the abundances and structural distributions differing significantly depending on parent body mineralogy and alteration conditions. Here we report on the amino acid abundances of seven type 3–6 CK chondrites and two Rumuruti (R) chondrites. Amino acid measurements were made on hot water extracts from these meteorites by ultrahigh‐performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection and time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry. Of the nine meteorites analyzed, four were depleted in amino acids, and one had experienced significant amino acid contamination by terrestrial biology. The remaining four, comprised of two R and two CK chondrites, contained low levels of amino acids that were predominantly the straight chain, amino‐terminal (n‐ω‐amino) acids β‐alanine, and γ‐amino‐n‐butyric acid. This amino acid distribution is similar to what we reported previously for thermally altered ureilites and CV and CO chondrites, and these n‐ω‐amino acids appear to be indigenous to the meteorites and not the result of terrestrial contamination. The amino acids may have been formed by Fischer–Tropsch‐type reactions, although this hypothesis needs further testing.     

A Boussinesq-type wave driver for a morphodynamical model to predict short-term morphology

The prediction of near-shore morphology on the time scale of a storm event and the length scale of a few surf zone widths is an active area of research. Intense wave breaking drives offshore-directed currents (undertow) carrying sediment seawards, resulting in offshore bar migration. In contrast, higher order nonlinear properties, such as wave asymmetry (velocity skewness) and velocity asymmetry, are drivers for shoreward transport. These wave processes are included in phase-resolving models such as Boussinesq-type wave models (e.g., TRITON). Short-wave averaging in the wave model yields wave-induced forces (e.g., radiation stress gradients) and a wave asymmetry term. The wave-induced forces are used in a hydrostatic model (e.g., Delft3D flow module) to drive the current and undertow, resulting in a 3D velocity profile. The wave model and hydrostatic model are coupled online with a morphodynamic model (e.g., Delft3D morphology module). The latter computes, based on the 3D flow profile and the wave asymmetry term, the sediment transport and performs the bathymetry updates. The updates are transferred directly back to the hydrodynamic models. The coupling of the wave model TRITON and the Delft3D modules is validated by comparing against extensive laboratory data sets (LIP and Boers) and a field case (Duck94), and show a good performance for the hydrodynamics and a reasonable/fair performance for the bar movements.     

The possibilities and pitfalls presented by a pragmatic approach to ecosystem service valuation in an arid biodiversity hotspot

Arid regions are home to unique fauna, flora, and vulnerable human populations, and present a challenge for sustainable land-use management. We undertook an assessment and valuation of three key services, grazing, tourism and water supply in the arid Succulent Karoo biome in western South Africa - a globally recognised biodiversity hotspot. We were looking for ways and values that could be used to promote conservation in this region through the adoption of sustainable land-use practices which have human welfare benefits. Our study adopted a variety of methods in valuing these services in developing ranges of values for these services. At the biome level, total annual values ranged from $ 19-114 million for grazing, $ 2-$ 20 million for tourism, and $ 300-3120 million for water. These values are generally low compared with values derived for other biomes and regions and do not adequately reflect known dependence and the importance of ecosystem services to the residents of this biome. The ecosystems here provide small but critical benefits enabling communities to sustain themselves and small changes in service levels can have major welfare effects. Highlighting these sensitivities will require finding more appropriate ways to link ecological and social factors.     

Ultraviolet photolysis of anthracene in H2O interstellar ice analogs: Potential connection to meteoritic organics

Abstract— The polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) anthracene was oxidized by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation in H₂O ice under simulated astrophysical conditions, forming several anthracene ketones (9‐anthrone, 1,4‐anthraquinone, and 9,10‐anthraquinone) and alcohols (1‐anthrol and 2‐anthrol). Two of the ketones produced have been detected in the Murchison meteorite but, to our knowledge, there has been no search for the alcohols or other oxidized anthracenes in meteorites. These results seem consistent with the possibility that interstellar ice photochemistry could have influenced the inventory of aromatics in meteorites. Since quinones are also fundamental to biochemistry, their formation in space and delivery to planets is relevant to studies relating to the habitability of planets and the evolution of life.     

Effects of streamflow isotope sampling strategies on the calibration of a tracer-aided rainfall-runoff model

Isotopes are increasingly used in rainfall-runoff models to constrain conceptualisations of internal catchment functioning and reduce model uncertainty. However, there is little guidance on how much tracer data is required to adequately do this, and different studies use data from different sampling strategies. Here, we used a 7-year time series of daily stable water isotope samples of precipitation and streamflow to derive a range of typical stream sampling regimes and investigate how this impacts calibration of a semi-distributed tracer-aided model in terms of flow, deuterium and flux age simulations. Over the 7 years weekly sampling facilitated an almost identical model performance as daily, and there were only slight deteriorations in performance for fortnightly sampling. Monthly sampling resulted in poorer deuterium simulations and greater uncertainty in the derived parameter sets ability to accurately represent catchment functioning, evidenced by unrealistic reductions in the volumes of water available for mixing in the saturation area causing simulated water age decreases. Reducing sampling effort and restricting data collection to 3 years caused reductions in the accuracy of deuterium simulation, though the deterioration did not occur if sampling continued for 5 years. Analysis was also undertaken to consider the effects of reduced sampling effort over the driest and wettest hydrological years to evaluate effects of more extreme conditions. This showed that the model was particularly sensitive to changes in sampling during dry conditions, when the catchment hydrological response is most non-linear. Across all dataset durations, sampling in relation to flow conditions, rather than time, revealed that samples collected at flows >Q50 could provide calibration results comparable to daily sampling. Targeting only extreme high flows resulted in poor deuterium and low flow simulations. This study suggests sufficient characterization of catchment functioning can be obtained through reduced sampling effort over longer timescales and the targeting of flows >Q50.     

Source, attenuation and potential mobility of arsenic at New Britannia Mine, Snow Lake, Manitoba

This study was to investigate the source, mobility and attenuation of As at the New Britannia Mine, Snow Lake, Manitoba. One major source of As contamination was determined to be an arsenopyrite residue stockpile (ARS) containing refractory Au in a waste rock impoundment. It appears that As is still moving through glacial clay at the base of the ARS into a confined aquifer even though the pile was capped in the year 2000. Arsenic is also being mobilized from a deposit of tailings, which formed following spills by previous owners, Nor Acme. Arsenic from the tailings is being mobilized by oxidation of arsenopyrite and reduction of arsenate to the more mobile arsenite by arsenate-reducing bacteria. This contamination is affecting a shallow unconfined aquifer and surface water flowing from the tailings through wetlands towards Snow Lake. Arsenic is being attenuated by adsorption to hydrated ferric oxides (HFO) in the tailings, wetland soils and aquatic plants. Although As in surface water, soils and plants along the flow path from the mine to Snow Lake are above Canadian drinking water guidelines, efficient natural attenuation by HFO in soils and plants of the wetlands have limited the concentration in Snow Lake to below drinking water standards.     

Extraterrestrial amino acids identified in metal‐rich CH and CB carbonaceous chondrites from Antarctica

Carbonaceous chondrites contain numerous indigenous organic compounds and could have been an important source of prebiotic compounds required for the origin of life on Earth or elsewhere. Extraterrestrial amino acids have been reported in five of the eight groups of carbonaceous chondrites and are most abundant in CI, CM, and CR chondrites but are also present in the more thermally altered CV and CO chondrites. We report the abundance, distribution, and enantiomeric and isotopic compositions of simple primary amino acids in six metal‐rich CH and CB carbonaceous chondrites that have not previously been investigated for amino acids: Allan Hills (ALH) 85085 (CH3), Pecora Escarpment (PCA) 91467 (CH3), Patuxent Range (PAT) 91546 (CH3), MacAlpine Hills (MAC) 02675 (CBb), Miller Range (MIL) 05082 (CB), and Miller Range (MIL) 07411 (CB). Amino acid abundances and carbon isotopic values were obtained by using both liquid chromatography time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry and fluorescence, and gas chromatography isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The δ¹³C/¹²C ratios of multiple amino acids fall outside of the terrestrial range and support their extraterrestrial origin. Extracts of CH chondrites were found to be particularly rich in amino acids (13–16 parts per million, ppm) while CB chondrite extracts had much lower abundances (0.2–2 ppm). The amino acid distributions of the CH and CB chondrites were distinct from the distributions observed in type 2 and 3 CM and CR chondrites and contained elevated levels of β‐, γ‐, and δ‐amino acids compared to the corresponding α‐amino acids, providing evidence that multiple amino acid formation mechanisms were important in CH and CB chondrites.     

Reference hydrologic networks I. The status and potential future directions of national reference hydrologic networks for detecting trends

Abstract

Identifying climate-driven trends in river flows on a global basis is hampered by a lack of long, quality time series data for rivers with relatively undisturbed regimes. This is a global problem compounded by the lack of support for essential long-term monitoring. Experience demonstrates that, with clear strategic objectives, and the support of sponsoring organizations, reference hydrologic networks can constitute an exceptionally valuable data source to effectively identify, quantify and interpret hydrological change—the speed and magnitude of which is expected to a be a primary driver of water management and flood alleviation strategies through the future—and for additional applications. Reference hydrologic networks have been developed in many countries in the past few decades. These collections of streamflow gauging stations, that are maintained and operated with the intention of observing how the hydrology of watersheds responds to variations in climate, are described. The status of networks under development is summarized. We suggest a plan of actions to make more effective use of this collection of networks.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor K. Hamed

Citation Whitfield, P.H., et al., 2012 Burn, D.H. 2012. Reference hydrologic networks, II. Using reference hydrologic networks to assess climate-driven changes in streamflow. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57(8) (this issue)[Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]. Reference hydrologic networks I. The status and potential future directions of national reference hydrologic networks for detecting trends. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 57 (8), 1562–1579.     

Carbon isotopic fractionation in Fischer‐Tropsch‐type reactions and relevance to meteorite organics

Abstract— Fischer‐Tropsch‐type (FTT) reactions have been hypothesized to contribute to the formation of organic compounds in the early solar system, but it has been difficult to identify a signature of such reactions in meteoritic organics. The work reported here examined whether temperature‐dependent carbon isotopic fractionation of FTT reactions might provide such a signature. Analyses of bulk organic deposits resulting from FTT experiments show a slight trend toward lighter carbon isotopic ratios with increasing temperature. It is unlikely, however, that these carbon isotopic signatures could provide definitive provenance for organic compounds in solar system materials produced through FTT reactions, because of the small scale of the observed fractionations and the possibility that signatures from many different temperatures may be present in any specific grain.     

Processes controlling rapid temperature variations on rock surfaces

In arid environments, thermal oscillations are an important source of rock weathering. Measurements of temperature have been made on the surface of rocks in a desert environment at a sampling interval of 0·375 s, with simultaneous measurements of wind speed, air temperature, and incoming shortwave radiation. Over timescales of hours, the temperature of the rock surface was determined primarily by shortwave radiation and air temperature, while rapid temperature variations, high dT/dt, at intervals of seconds or less, were determined by wind speed. The maximum values of temperature change and time spent above 2°C min^?1 increased at high measurement rates and were much higher than previously reported. The maximum recorded value of dT/dt was 137°C min^?1 and the average percentage time spent above 2°C min^?1 was ～70 ± 13%. Maximum values of dT/dt did not correlate with the maximum values of time spent above 2°C min^?1. Simultaneous measurements of two thermocouples 5·5 cm apart on a single rock surface had similar temperature and dT/dt values, but were not correlated at sampling intervals of less than 10 s. It is suggested that this is resulting from rapid fluctuations due to small spatial and timescale wind effects that are averaged out when data is taken at longer sampling intervals, ～10 s or greater. Published in 2010 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.