Observing the critical zone on a critical budget: The Peri Lake experimental catchment

The Peri Lake Experimental Catchment, in Southern Brazil, is a small coastal lake (5 km², 7 m depth) with a total catchment area of 20 km². The catchment is mainly covered by subtropical Atlantic Forest. Peri Lake is a recreational destination, an important ecosystem for biodiversity preservation, and a major water supply source. Even though there is a clear social and economic relevance, the information on this ecosystem is scarce, especially regarding the dynamics of water balance and water quality. We built this observatory using a low-cost, low-technology monitoring system to estimate the major components of the water budget on what we called a critical budget. We monitor meteorology, rainfall interception in two plots, overland flow and groundwater connectivity in a representative hillslope; and streamflow and velocity are measured in several small headwater rivers mostly starting during 2015. Geographic information on topography, land cover, geology, soil characteristics and the location of all the equipment installed in the field are also provided. The data set can be used to understand rainfall interception in Atlantic forests, catchment connectivity and streamflow permanence in coastal areas, spatial patterns of baseflow, and the modelling of complex processes in the critical zone involving the interaction between surface and groundwater, that are important in coastal lake ecosystems. Besides being used for research and education, we hope this observatory built on a shoestring budget will encourage fieldwork particularly in underrepresented and underfunded regions of the world.     

Palaeoecological background of the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár,Hungary: radiocarbon-dated malacological and sedimentological studies on the Late Pleistocene environment

In this paper, the authors present new palaeoecological and sedimentological results from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Ságvár, Hungary. Simple (abundance and dominance) and advanced (cluster analysis, principal component analysis, correspondence) statistical analyses of malacological results were carried out, determining eight malacological zones (MZs) and the key species of the fauna evolution in the sequence. Furthermore, an age–depth model was calculated via Bayesian modelling using new radiocarbon age data. The accumulation rate (AR) was calculated by deriving data from the age–depth model. The palaeoecological reconstruction indicated a cool/cold climate and chiefly steppe environment, with low loess ARs. Not only the vegetation cover but also the geographical setting of the sequence could have led to the low AR values. However, in the uppermost part of the sequence, during the GS 3 and GS 2.1c stadials, the reconstructed palaeoclimate indicated a warming period. Nevertheless, this contradiction is not unique in the Carpathian Basin. The settled Upper Palaeolithic hunters around 22 300 cal a bp lived in a progressively warming wooded steppe environment, hunting mainly for reindeer. Climate change might have forced them to migrate away, following the reindeer.     

Volcanic and structural evolution of Pico do Fogo,Cape Verde

In recent months the media have drawn attention to the Cape Verde archipelago, with particular focus on the island of Fogo, the only island presently active and with an eruption that began on 23 November 2014, finally ceasing on 7 February 2015. The Monte Amarelo conical shield forms most of the 476 km² almost circular island of Fogo. After attaining a critical elevation of about 3500 m, the Monte Amarelo shield volcano was decapitated by a giant landslide that formed a caldera‐like depression (Cha das Caldeiras), which was subsequently partially filled by basaltic nested volcanism. This younger eruptive activity culminated in the construction of the 2829 m‐high Pico do Fogo stratocone, apparently entirely made of layers of basaltic lapilli. Continued growth of the Pico do Fogo summit eruptions was interrupted in 1750, most likely after the stratocone reached a critical height. Since then, at least eight eruptions have taken place inside the landslide depression at the periphery of the Pico do Fogo cone, including the 2014–2015 eruptive event. Strong geological similarities with the Canary Islands, 1400 km to the north, have been frequently noted, probably as a consequence of a common process of origin and evolution associated with a mantle hot‐spot. These similarities are particularly evident when comparing Fogo with the Teide Volcanic Complex on Tenerife, where a lateral collapse of the Las Cañadas stratovolcano also formed a large depression (the Caldera de Las Cañadas), now partially filled with the 3718 m‐high Teide stratocone. However, important geological differences also exist and probably relate to the contrasting evolutionary stages of both islands. The Las Cañadas volcano on Tenerife formed at a late post‐erosional stage, with predominantly evolved (trachyte and phonolite) magmas, while at Fogo basaltic volcanism is still dominant.     

Evaluation of the MODIS snow cover fraction product

Eleven years of daily 500 m gridded Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (MOD10A1) snow cover fraction (SCF) data are evaluated in terms of snow presence detection in Colorado and Washington states. The SCF detection validation study is performed using in‐situ measurements and expressed in terms of snow and land detection and misclassification frequencies. A major aspect addressed in this study involves the shifting of pixel values in time due to sensor viewing angles and gridding artifacts of MODIS sensor products. To account for this error, 500 m gridded pixels are grouped and aggregated to different‐sized areas to incorporate neighboring pixel information. With pixel aggregation, both the probability of detection (POD) and the false alarm ratios increase for almost all cases. Of the false negative (FN) and false positive values (referred to as the total error when combined), FN estimates dominate most of the total error and are greatly reduced with aggregation. The greatest POD increases and total error reductions occur with going from a single 500 m pixel to 3×3‐pixel averaged areas. Since the MODIS SCF algorithm was developed under ideal conditions, SCF detection is also evaluated for varying conditions of vegetation, elevation, cloud cover and air temperature. Finally, using a direct insertion data assimilation approach, pixel averaged MODIS SCF observations are shown to improve modeled snowpack conditions over the single pixel observations due to the smoothing of more error‐prone observations and more accurately snow‐classified pixels. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Distribution and chronology of Pleistocene permafrost features in France: Database and first results

Numerous periglacial features (polygons, nets, soil stripes, ice‐wedge pseudomorphs and sand‐wedge casts, involutions) have been recorded in France by examining bibliographical sources and aerial photographs. These data show that a large part of France was affected by permafrost during the Pleistocene and only the southern Aquitaine Basin and Languedoc seem to have been beyond its maximum extent. The first OSL ages obtained from the aeolian infill of wedge structures indicate that at least two phases of thermal contraction cracking occurred in southwestern France between ～25 and 36 ka. Chronostratigraphical data from loess in northern France indicate that these episodes correspond to the formation of ice‐wedge networks associated with tundra gleys. In the latter region, two additional permafrost episodes probably occurred during the Last Glacial, the older one corresponding to the end of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 around 60 ka and the more recent one to MIS 2 around 19–16 ka. Although stratigraphical data indicate that these episodes were relatively short (about one millennium), relict permafrost may have existed for longer periods in northern France.     

Evolution of depositional settings in the Torrey area during the Smithian (Early Triassic,Utah, USA) and their significance for the biotic recovery

This work focuses on well‐exposed Lower Triassic sedimentary rocks in the area of Torrey (south‐central Utah, USA). The studied Smithian 8 deposits record a large‐scale third‐order sea‐level cycle, which permits a detailed reconstruction of the evolution of depositional settings. During the middle Smithian, peritidal microbial limestones associated with a rather low‐diversity benthic fauna were deposited seaward of the tidal flat siliciclastic red beds. Associated with siliceous sponges, microbial limestones formed small m‐scale patch reefs. During the late middle to late Smithian interval, the sedimentary system is characterized by tidal flat dolostones of an interior platform, ooid‐bioclastic deposits of a tide‐dominated shoal complex, and mid‐shelf bioclastic limestones. Microbial deposits, corresponding to sparse stromatolites formed in the interior platform, are contemporaneous with a well‐diversified marine fauna living in a seaward shoal complex and mid‐shelf area. The nature and distribution of these Smithian microbial deposits are not related to any particular deleterious environmental condition, highlighting that observed patterns of biotic recovery after the end‐Permian mass extinction were directly influenced by depositional settings. Facies evolution and stratal stacking patterns allow us to identify large, medium and small‐scale, as well as elementary depositional sequences. Large‐ and medium‐scale sequences are consistent with sea‐level changes, whereas small‐scale and elementary sequences are better explained by autocyclic processes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phenological observations made by the I. R. Bohemian Patriotic�CEconomic Society, 1828�C1847

Drought forecasting is a critical component of drought risk management. Identification of effective predictors is a major component of forecasting models. Sea surface temperature (SST) and sea level pressure (SLP) are relevant predictors for short- to long-term drought forecasts. However, these datasets are captured globally within a cell-wise network. This paper describes an approach to locate the most effective cells of the SST and SLP datasets using data mining. They are then applied as input to an adaptive neurofuzzy inference system (ANFIS) model to forecast possible droughts 3, 6, and 9?months in advance. Tehran plain was selected as the study area, and drought events are designated using the effective drought index (EDI). In another treatment, past values of the EDI time series were introduced to the ANFIS and the results compared with the previous findings. It was shown that R ² values were higher for all cases applying the SST/SLP datasets. Additionally, the performance of SST/SLP datasets and the ANFIS model was assessed according to ??drought?? or ??wet?? classification, and it was concluded that more than 90% of the time the ANFIS model detected the drought status correctly or with only a one class error.     

On the formation of dissolution pipes in Quaternary coastal calcareous arenites in Mediterranean settings

A large number of uniform cone‐shaped dissolution pipes has been observed and studied in Quaternary coastal calcareous arenites in Apulia and Sardinia (Italy) and Tunisia. These cylindrical tubes have a mean diameter of 52·8 cm and are up to 970 cm deep (mean depth for sediment‐free pipes is 1·38 m). They generally have smooth walls along their length, are perfectly vertical and taper out towards their bottoms. Their development is not influenced by bedding nor fractures. Sometimes their walls are coated by a calcrete crust. Their morphology has been studied in detail and their relationships with the surrounding rocks and with the environment have been analysed. The perfectly vertical development is a clear evidence of their genesis controlled by gravity. The depth of the dissolution pipes can be described by an exponential distribution law (the Milanovic distribution), strongly suggesting they developed by a diffusion mechanism from the surface vertically downward. We believe dissolution pipes preferentially form in a covered karst setting. Local patches of soil and vegetation cause infiltration water to be enriched in carbon dioxide enhancing dissolution of carbonate cement and local small‐scale subsidence. This process causes the formation of a depression cone that guides infiltrating waters towards these spots giving rise to the downward growth of gravity‐controlled dissolution pipes. A change of climate from wetter phases to drier and hotter ones causes the formation of a calcrete lining, fossilizing the pipes. When the pipes become exposed to surface agents by erosion of the sediment cover or are laterally breached the loose quartz sand filling them may be transported elsewhere. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.