Aminostratigraphy of surface and subsurface Quaternary sediments,North Carolina coastal plain,USA

The Quaternary stratigraphy and geochronology of the Albemarle Embayment of the North Carolina (NC) Coastal Plain is examined using amino acid racemization (AAR) in marine mollusks, in combination with geophysical, lithologic, and biostratigraphic analysis of 28 rotasonic cores drilled between 2002 and 2006. The Albemarle Embayment is bounded by structural highs to the north and south, and Quaternary strata thin westward toward the Suffolk paleoshoreline, frequently referred to as the Suffolk Scarp. The Quaternary section is up to ～90 m thick, consists of a variety of estuarine, shelf, back-barrier, and lagoonal deposits, and has been influenced by multiple sea-level cycles. The temporal resolution of the amino acid racemization method is tested statistically and with the stratigraphic control provided by this geologic framework, and it is then applied to the correlation and age estimation of subsurface units throughout the region. Over 500 specimens (primarily Mercenaria and Mulinia) from the subsurface section have been analyzed using either gas chromatographic (GC) or reverse-phase liquid chromatographic (RPLC) techniques. The subsurface stratigraphic data are compared with AAR results from numerous natural or excavated exposures from the surrounding region, as well as results from NC beach collections, to develop a comprehensive aminostratigraphic database for the entire Quaternary record within the NC coastal system. Age mixing, recognized in the beach collections, is also seen in subsurface sections, usually where major seismic reflections or core lithology indicate the presence of stratigraphic discontinuities. Kinetic models for racemization are tested within the regional stratigraphic framework, using either radiocarbon or U-series calibrations or comparison with regional biostratigraphy. Three major Pleistocene aminozones [AZ2, AZ3, and AZ4] are found throughout the region, all being found in superposition in several cores. Each can be subdivided, yielding a total of at least eight stratigraphically and statistically distinct aminozones. Kinetic modeling, supplemented with local calibration, indicates that these aminozones represent depositional events ranging from ～80 ka to nearly 2 Ma. Three prominent seismic reflections are interpreted to represent the base of the early, middle, and late Pleistocene, respectively, roughly 2 Ma, 800 ka, and 130 ka. The large number of samples and the available stratigraphic control provide new insights into the capabilities and limitations of aminostratigraphic methods in assessing relative and numerical ages of Atlantic Coastal Plain Quaternary deposits.     

Phytoplankton response to pH rise in a N-limited floodplain lake: relevance of N2-fixing heterocystous cyanobacteria

Phosphorus has been traditionally regarded as the controlling nutrient for phytoplankton growth, however, N-limitation is likely to occur in several environments. For example, nitrogen is considered the main nutrient limiting phytoplankton in floodplain lakes of the Paraná River basin. However, N₂-fixing heterocystous cyanobacteria (N₂-cyano) are usually absent in these water bodies. The low pH values frequently found may limit the development of these algae. We hypothesise that long-term lake isolation allows conspicuous phytoplankton growth during summer, resulting in high photosynthetic rates and pH. This scenario combined with low DIN (dissolved inorganic nitrogen) would favour the development of N₂-cyano. Phytoplankton composition was studied during 16 months in a vegetated and isolated floodplain lake in the Paraná basin. Additionally, pH was artificially increased in in situ mesocosms to test effects on phytoplankton structure. Lake phytoplankton was dominated by flagellates (cryptophytes and euglenophytes) and small coccoid algae (chlorophytes and colonial cyanobacteria). Algal biomass was highest during warm periods. Although pH increased up to 8.8 during the second summer period, N₂-cyano remained rare, most likely because of the high DIN concentration recorded. The alkalophilic diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana dominated and was positively correlated with pH. Conversely, PO₄⁼ concentrations in the mesocosm experiment were high and DIN remained relatively low. pH enhancement in the treated mesocosms (avg. pH = 8.2) promoted the development of N₂-cyano (Anabaena spp.) and C. meneghiniana, which after 1 month of incubation accounted together for 50% of the biomass in contrast to less than 1.6% in control containers. Our results support the hypothesis that during the warm season and under low DIN concentration, high pH favours N₂-cyano growth in these lakes. We provide new evidence supporting the idea that even under optimal nutrient conditions, N₂-cyano do not thrive unless other requirements are satisfied.     

Modelling of fluid–solid interactions using an adaptive mesh fluid model coupled with a combined finite–discrete element model

Fluid–structure interactions are modelled by coupling the finite element fluid/ocean model ‘Fluidity-ICOM’ with a combined finite–discrete element solid model ‘Y3D’. Because separate meshes are used for the fluids and solids, the present method is flexible in terms of discretisation schemes used for each material. Also, it can tackle multiple solids impacting on one another, without having ill-posed problems in the resolution of the fluid’s equations. Importantly, the proposed approach ensures that Newton’s third law is satisfied at the discrete level. This is done by first computing the action–reaction force on a supermesh, i.e. a function superspace of the fluid and solid meshes, and then projecting it to both meshes to use it as a source term in the fluid and solid equations. This paper demonstrates the properties of spatial conservation and accuracy of the method for a sphere immersed in a fluid, with prescribed fluid and solid velocities. While spatial conservation is shown to be independent of the mesh resolutions, accuracy requires fine resolutions in both fluid and solid meshes. It is further highlighted that unstructured meshes adapted to the solid concentration field reduce the numerical errors, in comparison with uniformly structured meshes with the same number of elements. The method is verified on flow past a falling sphere. Its potential for ocean applications is further shown through the simulation of vortex-induced vibrations of two cylinders and the flow past two flexible fibres.     

Seasonal-dependence in the responses of biological communities to flood pulses in warm temperate floodplain lakes: implications for the “alternative stable states” model

In floodplains located in temperate regions, seasonal variations in temperature affect biological communities and these effects may overlap with those of the flood regime. In this study we explored if and how timing (with regard to temperature seasonality) influences the responses of planktonic and free-floating plants communities to floods in a warm temperate floodplain lake and assessed its relevance for determining state shifts. We took samples of zooplankton, phytoplankton, picoplankton, heterotrophic nanoflagellates and free-floating macrophytes at four sites of the lake characterized by the presence-absence of emergent or free-floating macrophytes along a 2-year period with marked hydrological fluctuations associated to river flood dynamics. We performed ANOVA tests to compare the responses of these communities to floods in cold and warm seasons and among sites. Planktonic communities developed high abundances in response to floods that occurred in the cold season, while the growth of free-floating macrophytes was impaired by low winter temperatures. Spring and summer floods favored profuse colonization by free-floating plants and limited the development of planktonic communities. The prolonged absence of floods during warm periods caused environmental conditions that favored Cyanobacteria growth, leading to a “low turbid waters” regime. The occurrence of floods early in the warm season caused phytoplankton dilution and promoted free-floating plant colonization and a shift towards a “high clear waters” state. Zooplankton:phytoplankton biomass ratio was very low during floods in warm seasons, thus zooplankton grazing on phytoplankton seemed to play a minor role in the maintenance of the clear regime.     

Cometary glycine detected in samples returned by Stardust

Abstract— Our previous analysis of cometary samples returned to Earth by NASA's Stardust spacecraft showed several amines and amino acids, but the origin of these compounds could not be firmly established. Here, we present the stable carbon isotopic ratios of glycine and ε‐amino‐n‐caproic acid (EACA), the two most abundant amino acids identified in Stardust‐returned foil samples measured by gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry coupled with isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The δ¹³C value for glycine of +29 ± 6‰ strongly suggests an extraterrestrial origin for glycine, while the δ¹³C value for EACA of ?25 ± 2‰ indicates terrestrial contamination by Nylon‐6 during curation. This represents the first detection of a cometary amino acid.     

Battles from below: a literature of oppression

Janet Frame is a New Zealand writer who was institutionalized for nearly nine years in mental illness hospitals. Her experiences have been fictionalized in her novel, Faces in the Water, and it is these novelistic representations of the asylum that we explore in this paper. As Frame has suggested in her second volume of autobiography, An Angel at My Table, there is a personal, geographic and linguistic exclusiveness to the asylum in that the patients are stripped of their identity and forced to conform. How these themes are developed in Faces in the Water will be the focus of this paper.     

Hydrocarbons in the intertidal environment of Kachemak Bay,Alaska

Intertidal animals and sediment from Kachemak Bay, Alaska were analysed to determine the concentrations of hydrocarbons. At Coal Point the herbivorous limpet Collisella pelta contained petroleum within its tissues while intertidal algae of the area have previously been shown to accumulate petroleum as a surface coating. At Coal Bay, a locality where both petroleum and coal are present, the filter feeding mussel Mytilus edulis contained petroleum hydrocarbons whereas the deposit feeding clam Macoma balthica contained an array of hydrocarbons suggesting detrital coal as the source. Animals higher in the food web including the gastropod Nucella lima and the urchin Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis showed no evidence of petroleum. All samples contained biogenic hydrocarbons of algal and planktonic origin.