A GIS data model for public gardens

An enterprise GIS data model was developed for use in public gardens, which includes botanical gardens, arboreta, and zoos. The data model defines the representation of geographical phenomena, the attributes of each feature, and the relationships between them in order to support information management and analysis within public gardens. The data model was developed using a three‐stage process consisting of conceptual, logical, and physical design, each guided by stakeholder workshops and software testing. The data model includes the attributes of features necessary to create collection maps and perform collection analysis, and is designed to link to existing plant and animal records management systems (BG‐BASE and ZIMS) through a common key. The Public Garden Data Model consists of three modules (Base Map, Facilities and Infrastructure, and Basic Plant Records), unified into one comprehensive spatial data model for public gardens, and contains 59 feature classes and tables connected by 49 relationship classes.     

Using Mesoproterozoic sedimentary geochemistry to reconstruct basin tectonic geography and link organic carbon productivity to nutrient flux from a Northern Australian large igneous Province

The Beetaloo Sub-basin, northern Australia, is considered the main depocentre of the 1,000-km scale Mesoproterozoic Wilton package of the greater McArthur Basin – the host to one of the oldest hydrocarbon global resources. The ca. 1.40–1.31 Ga upper Roper Group and the latest Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic unnamed group of the Beetaloo Sub-basin, together, record ca. 500 million years of depositional history within the North Australia Craton. Whole-rock shale Sm–Nd and Pb isotope data from these sediments reveal sedimentary provenance and their evolution from ca. 1.35 to 0.85 Ga. Furthermore, these data, together with shale major/trace elements data from this study and pyrolysis data from previous publications, are used to develop a dynamic tectonic geography model that links the organic carbon production and burial to an enhanced weathering of nutrients from a large igneous province. The ca. 1.35–1.31 Ga Kyalla Formation of the upper Roper Group is composed of isotopically evolved sedimentary detritus that passes up, into more isotopically juvenile Pb values towards the top of the formation. The increase in juvenile compositions coincides with elevated total organic carbon (TOC) contents of these sediments. The coherently enriched juvenile compositions and TOC the upper portions of the Kyalla Formation are interpreted to reflect an increase in nutrient supply associated with the weathering of basaltic sources (e.g. phosphorous). Possible, relatively juvenile, basaltic sources include the Wankanki Supersuite in the western Musgraves and the Derim Derim–Galiwinku large igneous province (LIP). The transition into juvenile, basaltic sources directly before a supersequence-bounding unconformity is here interpreted to reflect uplift and erosion of the Derim Derim–Galiwinku LIP, rather than an influx of southern Musgrave sources. A new baddeleyite crystallisation age of 1,312.9 ± 0.7 Ma provides both a tight constraint on the age of this LIP, along with its associated magmatic uplift, as well as providing a minimum age constraint for Roper Group deposition. The unconformably overlying lower and upper Jamison sandstones are at least 300 million years younger than the Kyalla Formation and were sourced from the Musgrave Province. An up-section increase in isotopically juvenile compositions seen in these rocks is interpreted to document the progressive exhumation of the western Musgrave Province. The overlying Hayfield mudstone received detritus from both the Musgrave and Arunta regions, and its isotopic geochemistry reveals affinities with other early Neoproterozoic basins (e.g. Amadeus, Victoria and Officer basins), indicating the potential for inter-basin correlations.     

Characterization of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in the Baltic Sea by excitation emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy

Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is the major light absorber in the Baltic Sea. In this study, excitation emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra and UV–visible absorption spectra of CDOM are reported as a function of salinity. Samples from different locations and over different seasons were collected during four cruises in 2002 and 2003 in the Baltic Sea in both Pomeranian Bay and the Gulf of Gdansk. Absorption by CDOM decreased with increased distance from the riverine source and reached a relatively stable absorption background in the open sea. Regression analysis showed that fluorescence intensity was linearly related to absorption by CDOM at 375 nm and a_CDOM(375) absorption coefficients were inversely related to salinity. Analysis of CDOM-EEM spectra indicated that a change in composition of CDOM occurred along the salinity gradient in the Baltic Sea. Analysis of percent contribution of respective fluorophore groups to the total intensity of EEM spectra indicated that the fluorescence peaks associated with terrestrial humic components of the CDOM and total integrated fluorescence decreased with decreasing CDOM absorption. In contrast, the protein-like fraction of CDOM decreased to a lesser degree than the others. Analysis of the percent contribution of fluorescence peak intensities to the total fluorescence along the salinity gradient showed that the contribution of protein-like fluorophores increased from 2.6% to 5.1% in the high-salinity region of the transect. Fluorescence and absorption changes observed in the Baltic Sea were similar to those observed in similar transects that have been sampled elsewhere, e.g. in European estuaries, Gulf of Mexico, Mid-Atlantic Bight and the Cape Fear River plume in the South Atlantic Bight, although the changes in the Baltic Sea occurred over a much smaller salinity gradient.     

Complex crater formation: Insights from combining observations of shock pressure distribution with numerical models at the West Clearwater Lake impact structure

Large impact structures have complex morphologies, with zones of structural uplift that can be expressed topographically as central peaks and/or peak rings internal to the crater rim. The formation of these structures requires transient strength reduction in the target material and one of the proposed mechanisms to explain this behavior is acoustic fluidization. Here, samples of shock‐metamorphosed quartz‐bearing lithologies at the West Clearwater Lake impact structure, Canada, are used to estimate the maximum recorded shock pressures in three dimensions across the crater. These measurements demonstrate that the currently observed distribution of shock metamorphism is strongly controlled by the formation of the structural uplift. The distribution of peak shock pressures, together with apparent crater morphology and geological observations, is compared with numerical impact simulations to constrain parameters used in the block‐model implementation of acoustic fluidization. The numerical simulations produce craters that are consistent with morphological and geological observations. The results show that the regeneration of acoustic energy must be an important feature of acoustic fluidization in crater collapse, and should be included in future implementations. Based on the comparison between observational data and impact simulations, we conclude that the West Clearwater Lake structure had an original rim (final crater) diameter of 35–40 km and has since experienced up to ~2 km of differential erosion.     

Changing Relationships Between Sunspot Number,Total Sunspot Area and $F_{10.7}$ in Cycles 23 and 24

This article is an update of a study (Tapping and Valdès in Solar Phys. 272, 337, 2011) made in the early part of Cycle 24 using an intercomparison of various solar activity indices (including sunspot number and the 10.7 cm solar radio flux), in which it was concluded that a change in the relationship between photospheric and chromospheric/coronal activity took place just after the maximum of Cycle 23 and continued into Cycle 24. Precursors (short-term variations) were detected in Cycles 21 and 22. Since then the sunspot number index data have been substantially revised. This study is intended to be an update of the earlier study and to assess the impact of the revision of the sunspot number data upon those conclusions. This study compares original and revised sunspot number, total sunspot area, and 10.7 cm solar radio flux. The conclusion is that the transient changes in Cycles 21 and 22, and the more substantial change in Cycle 23, remain evident. Cycle 24 shows indications that the deviation was probably another short-term one.     

Acidic deposition impacts mediated by sulfur cycling in a coastal plain forest ecosystem

Deposition in the New Jersey Pinelands was very acidic (pH=4.17) and contained high levels of SO₂ ⁻² based on bulk deposition measurementsfrom July 1984–July 1986. Streamwater over the same interval in undisturbed watersheds was less acidic (pH =4.52) and had proportionately less SO₄ ⁻². A preliminary alkalinity budget for undisturbed watersheds suggested that SO₄ ⁻² retention within Pinelands watersheds accounted for a large portion of the total alkalinity generated and thereby lessened the impact of acidic deposition on surface waters. The only process capable of explaining the retention of SO₄ ⁻² was microbial sulfate reduction in the extensive wetlands surrounding Pinelands streams which occurred at high rates.     

Genetic structure of bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) populations in Chesapeake Bay

To determine the genetic structure of the bay anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) within Chesapeake Bay, 16 isozyme systems encoding 21 loci for 20 population were examined using horizontal starch gel electrophoresis. Contingency Chisquare analysis revealed significant allelic frequency differences at nine loci (AAT-1, AAT-2, ALD-1, CPK-2, GAP-1, GLY-1, LDH-1, MDH-1, and MDH-2). Two loci, ALD-1 and MDH-1, were responsible for nine of 14 tests not conforming to Hardy-Weinberg expectations, with some of these deviations attributed to possible scoring and/or sampling error. Estimates for mean average heterozygosity were relatively high, ranging from 0.40 to 0.096, with 33–57% of the loci polymorphic. A low F_st value (0.041) along with high genetic identity estimates (I=0.997) indicated little substructuring of bay anchovy populations within Chesapeake Bay.     

H-chondrites: Trace element clues to their origin

We have analyzed 10 H-chondrites for 20 trace elements, using RNAA. The meteorites included 4 of petrologic type 4 and 2 each of types 3, 5 and 6.The data show that H-chondrites are not isochemical. H3's are depleted by some 10% not only in Fe (Dodd, 1976), but also in the siderophiles Os, Re, Ir, Ni, Pd, Au, and Ge. Moreover, the abundance pattern of siderophiles varies systematically with petrologic type. As similar fractionations of REE have been observed by Nakamura (1974), it appears that both the proportions and compositions of the main nebular condensates varied slightly during accretion of the H-chondrites. Thus the higher petrologic types are independent nebular products, not metamorphosed descendants of lower petrologic types.Abundances of highly volatile elements (Cs, Br, Bi, Tl, In, Cd, Ar³⁶) correlate with petrologic type, declining by ≤ 10^?3 from Type 3 to Type 6. The trends differ from those for artificially heated Type 3's (Ikramuddinet al., 1977b; Herzoget al., 1979), but agree passably with theoretical curves for nebular condensation. Apparently the low volatile contents of higher petrologic types are a primary feature, not the result of metamorphic loss.The mineralogy of chondrites suggests that they accreted between 405 K (absence of Fe₃O₄) and 560 K (presence of FeS), and the abundances of Tl, Bi, and In further restrict this interval to 420–500 K. Accretion at 1070 ± 100 K, as proposed by Hutchisonet al. (1979, 1980), leads to some extraordinary problems. Volatiles must be injected into the parent body after cooling, which requires permeation of the body by 10¹¹ times its volume of nebular gas. This process must also achieve a uniform distribution of the less volatile elements (Rb, Cu, Ag, Zn, Ga, Ge, Sn, Sb, Se, F), without freezeout in the colder outer layers.Factor analysis of our data shows 3 groupings: siderophiles (Os, Re, Ir, Ni, Pd, Au, and Ge), volatiles (Ag, Br, In, Cd, Bi, and Tl) and alkalis (Rb and Cs). The remaining 5 elements (U, Zn, Te, Se, and Sb) remain unassociated.     

Thermal regime of the continental lithosphere

Thermally, the lithosphere may be defined as that outer portion of the earth in which heat is transferred primarily by conduction. It generally includes the crust and part of the mantle. The thermal regime of continental lithosphere is determined by many factors including heat flow from the asthenosphere, the vertical and lateral variation of both thermal conductivity and radiogenic heat production, tectonic history, and such superficial processes as climatic history and the shallow hydrothermal regime. From studies of the global heat flow data set, two generalizations regarding continental lithosphere have arisen, namely that: 1) there is a negative correlation between heat flow and tectonic age of continental lithosphere; and 2) the thermal evolution of continental lithosphere is similar to that of ocean basins with the result that the “stable geotherm” is similar in both environments. When continental heat-flow data are studied from a regional rather than a global point of view, considerable doubt arises as to the general applicability of either statement. R. U. M. Rao and his associates have demonstrated that while Precambrian terranes do have demonstrably lower heat flows than, say, Tertiary terranes, the data are not normally distributed and it is not possible to establish a negative correlation between heat flow and age in any rigorous statistical way. The scatter in the relation may be explained in terms of the variations in the duration, intensity and even the sign of continental thermotectonic events in contrast to the simple situation (creation of new oceanic lithosphere at mid-ocean ridges) which prevails in the oceans. The scatter also is partially attributable to the large and laterally variable radiogenic component of heat flow on continents. For a province for which a heat flow-heat production relation has been established, much of the scatter in surface heat flow due to crustal radiogenic heat production versus age is eliminated by determining reduced heat flow (surface heat flow minus radiogenic component) as a function of tectonic age, but much scatter remains, and it is still not possible to establish a heat flux-age relation in a rigorous way. Primarily because of the spatial variability in radiogenic heat production, no single geotherm can be used to characterize the thermal regime of a stable continental terrane. Thus, while some sites on stable continental blocks may have a geotherm fortuitously similar to that for old ocean basins, there is no reason to expect that this will be true generally, and many stable continental terranes will be characterized by geotherms markedly different from the geotherm for old ocean basins.