Societal need for improved understanding of climate change, anthropogenic impacts, and geo-hazard warning drive development of ocean observatories in European Seas

Society’s needs for a network of in situ ocean observing systems cross many areas of earth and marine science. Here we review the science themes that benefit from data supplied from ocean observatories. Understanding from existing studies is fragmented to the extent that it lacks the coherent long-term monitoring needed to address questions at the scales essential to understand climate change and improve geo-hazard early warning. Data sets from the deep sea are particularly rare with long-term data available from only a few locations worldwide. These science areas have impacts on societal health and well-being and our awareness of ocean function in a shifting climate.Substantial efforts are underway to realise a network of open-ocean observatories around European Seas that will operate over multiple decades. Some systems are already collecting high-resolution data from surface, water column, seafloor, and sub-seafloor sensors linked to shore by satellite or cable connection in real or near-real time, along with samples and other data collected in a delayed mode. We expect that such observatories will contribute to answering major ocean science questions including: How can monitoring of factors such as seismic activity, pore fluid chemistry and pressure, and gas hydrate stability improve seismic, slope failure, and tsunami warning? What aspects of physical oceanography, biogeochemical cycling, and ecosystems will be most sensitive to climatic and anthropogenic change? What are natural versus anthropogenic changes? Most fundamentally, how are marine processes that occur at differing scales related?The development of ocean observatories provides a substantial opportunity for ocean science to evolve in Europe. Here we also describe some basic attributes of network design. Observatory networks provide the means to coordinate and integrate the collection of standardised data capable of bridging measurement scales across a dispersed area in European Seas adding needed certainty to estimates of future oceanic conditions. Observatory data can be analysed along with other data such as those from satellites, drifting floats, autonomous underwater vehicles, model analysis, and the known distribution and abundances of marine fauna in order to address some of the questions posed above. Standardised methods for information management are also becoming established to ensure better accessibility and traceability of these data sets and ultimately to increase their use for societal benefit. The connection of ocean observatory effort into larger frameworks including the Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) and the Global Monitoring of Environment and Security (GMES) is integral to its success. It is in a greater integrated framework that the full potential of the component systems will be realised.     

Effect of Pinus radiata plantations on water balance in Chile

The effect of Pinus radiata (D. Don) plantations on water resources at different Chilean sites located between 33 and 40 south was determined. Incoming precipitation, canopy interception loss, evapotranspiration, net evapotranspiration (transpiration and evaporation from the soil), percolation and soil water content were measured in each site, where Pinus radiata plantations were 12 to 17 years old and between 700 and 830 trees ha^?1 dense. The results were compared with those obtained from areas covered with perennial grasses and shrubs at the same sites. The pine canopies intercepted on average 36–40% of the annual rainfall at all sites where rainfall was less then 1200 mm, while only 15% of the mean rainfall was intercepted in the southernmost and rainy (2081 mm year^?1) site. Annual net evapotranspiration increased from south to north from 32% of the incoming precipitation for the southernmost site to 55% for the one located at the lower latitude. In this northernmost site almost the entire incoming precipitation was evapotranspired. Annual percolation registered its minimum value in the northern site (5% of incoming precipitation) and its maxima in the southern one (53%). The values of net evapotranspiration and percolation were regulated by the pluviometric regime and the soil moisture retention capacity in each site. Compared with the shrub or grass covers, sites under Pinus radiata plantations registered higher water consumption by evapotranspiration and reduced percolation. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A measurement of the flux of cosmic ray iron at 5×10 eV

We present results from the initial flight of our Balloon Air CHerenkov (BACH) payload. BACH detects air Cherenkov radiation from cosmic ray nuclei as coincident flashes in two optical modules. The flight (dubbed PDQ–BACH) took place on April 22, 1998 from Ft. Sumner, New Mexico. During an exposure of 2.75 h, with a typical threshold energy for iron nuclei of 2.2×10¹³ eV, we observed several events cleanly identifiable as iron group nuclei. Analysis of the data yields a new flux measurement that is fully consistent with that reported by other investigations.     

Ureilite petrogenesis: A limited role for smelting during anatexis and catastrophic disruption

Abstract— A popular model for ureilites assumes that during anatexis in an asteroidal mantle, pressure‐buffered equilibrium smelting (partial reduction coincident with partial melting) engendered their conspicuous mafic‐silicate‐core mg diversity (75–96 mol%). Several mass‐balance problems arise from this hypothesis. Smelting inevitably consumes a large proportion of any plausible initial carbon while generating significant proportions of Fe metal and copious proportions of CO gas. The most serious problem concerns the yield of CO gas. If equilibrium smelting produced the ureilites' entire 21 mol% range in olivine‐core mg, the proportion of gas within the asteroidal mantle (assuming plausibly low pressure <˜80 bar) should have reached ≥85 vol%. Based on the remarkably stepwise cooling history inferred from ureilite texture and mineralogy, a runaway, CO‐leaky process that can loosely be termed smelting appears to have occurred, probably triggered by a major impact. The runaway scenario appears likely because, by Le Châtelier's principle, CO leakage would tend to accelerate the smelting process. Also, the copious volumes of gas produced by smelting would have led to explosive, mass‐leaky eruptions into the vacuum surrounding the asteroid. Loss of mass would mean diminution of interior pressure, which would induce further smelting, leading to further loss of mass (basalt), and so on. Such a disruptive runaway process may have engendered the ureilites' distinctive reduced olivine rims. But the only smelting, according to this scenario, was a short‐lived disequilibrium process that reduced only the olivine rims, not the cores; and the ureilites were cooling, not melting, during the abortive “smelting” episode.     

Runoff and peak flow responses to timber harvest and forest age in southern Chile

Runoff and peak flows in three experimental catchments with different forest conditions were analysed in a rainy temperate climate in southern Chile. The hydrological effects of clearcutting a Pinus radiata plantation covering 79·4% of the La Reina catchment were studied by analysing runoff and peak flows in the pre‐ and post‐harvesting periods. Mean annual runoff increased 110% after timber harvesting. Clearcutting generated a 32% mean increase in peak flows. Peak flow and runoff were examined in two adjacent catchments with different forest conditions. The older plantation in Los Ulmos 1 increasingly consumed more water than the younger plantation established at Los Ulmos 2, whereas differences in peak flows between these two catchments were not significant. Runoff and peak flows comparisons not only reflected changes in forest cover, but also the effect of rainfall characteristics during the study periods and the basins' morphologies. Comparisons between pre‐ and post‐harvesting peak discharges must be undertaken with caution, because a previous analysis at La Reina using a partial set of data overestimated changes in peak flows after timber harvesting. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

WIP: A Web‐based program for indexing planar features in quartz grains and its usage

Planar deformation features (PDFs) in quartz are the most important diagnostic features that allow the unambiguous identification of impact structures on Earth. In order to confirm that these features (that are characterized by planar character and form along specific crystallographic planes) are indeed PDFs, they need to be properly investigated and indexed. Following universal‐stage measurements, the process of indexing is usually performed manually, using a Wulff stereonet and following a strict procedure, which is time consuming and error prone. In this article, we present WIP, a new Web‐based program for indexing planar deformation features in quartz. The correctness of our program is shown by its application to measurements that had previously been indexed manually. The observed minor differences, especially in the absolute frequency percentage of PDFs, are negligible and not significant enough to influence the estimation of shock pressure that could be calculated from the indexed results. Usability of this program is shown using the spatial relationships between a statistically significant number of 278 quartz grains with 409 sets of PDFs analyzed within the area (~35 mm²) of a single thin section of a meta‐greywacke from the Bosumtwi impact structure. Our program is not only more accurate and faster than the manual (graphical) method but also removes the human error from the plotting process and allows control of several parameters, such as the value of estimated measurement error used in the indexing calculation or method of aggregated error handling. The program also provides information about the angles between the planes of the measured PDF sets present in a grain, which allows determination of the angles between (for example) indexed {} and {} sets.     

Constraints on the water,chlorine, and fluorine content of the Martian mantle

Previous estimates of the volatile contents of Martian basalts, and hence their source regions, ranged from nearly volatile‐free through estimates similar to those found in terrestrial subduction zones. Here, we use the bulk chemistry of Martian meteorites, along with Martian apatite and amphibole chemistry, to constrain the volatile contents of the Martian interior. Our estimates show that the volatile content of the source region for the Martian meteorites is similar to the terrestrial Mid‐Ocean‐Ridge Mantle source. Chlorine is enriched compared with the depleted terrestrial mantle but is similar to the terrestrial enriched source region; fluorine is similar to the terrestrial primitive mantle; and water is consistent with the terrestrial mantle. Our results show that Martian magmas were not volatile saturated; had water/chlorine and water/fluorine ratios ~0.4–18; and are most similar, in terms of volatiles, to terrestrial MORBs. Presumably, there are variations in volatile content in the Martian interior as suggested by apatite compositions, but more bulk chemical data, especially for fluorine and water, are required to investigate these variations. Finally, the Noachian Martian interior, as exemplified by surface basalts and NWA 7034, may have had higher volatile contents.     

Subsurface architecture of the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory from electrical resistivity tomography

The architecture of the critical zone includes the distribution, thickness, and contacts of various types of slope deposits and weathering products such as saprolite and weathered bedrock resting on solid bedrock. A quantitative analysis of architecture is necessary for many model‐driven approaches used by pedologic, geomorphic, hydrologic or biologic studies. We have used electrical resistivity tomography, a well‐established geophysical technique causing minimum surficial disturbance, to portray the subsurface electrical resistivity differences at three study sites (Green Lakes Valley; Gordon Gulch; Betasso) at the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory (BcCZO). Possible limitations of the technique are discussed. Interpretation of the specific resistivity values using natural outcrops, pits, roadcuts and drilling data as ground truth information allows us to image the critical zone architecture of each site. Green Lakes Valley (3700 MASL), a glacially eroded alpine basin, shows a rather simple, split configuration with coarse blockfields and sediments, partly containing permafrost above bedrock. The critical zone in Gordon Gulch (2650 MASL), a montane basin with rolling hills, and Betasso (1925 MASL), a lower montane basin with v‐shaped valleys, is more variable due to a complex Quaternary geomorphic history. Boundaries between overlying stratified slope deposits and saprolite were identified at mean depths of 3.0 ± 2.2 m and 4.1 ± 3.6 m in the respective sites. The boundary between saprolite and weathered bedrock is deeper in Betasso at 5.8 ± 3.7 m, compared with 4.3 ± 3.0 m in Gordon Gulch. In general, the data are consistent with results from seismic studies, but electrical resistivity tomography documents a 0.5–1.5 m shallower critical zone above the weathered bedrock on average. Additionally, we document high lateral variability, which results from the weathering and sedimentation history and seems to be a consistent aspect of critical zone architecture within the BcCZO. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.