The use of dinoflagellate cysts to separate human-induced from natural variability in the trophic state of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries

To obtain insight into the natural and/or human-induced changes in the trophic state of the distal portion of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries, high temporal resolution dinoflagellate cyst records were established at three sites. Cyst production rates appear to reflect the natural variability in the river's discharge, whereas cyst associations reflect the trophic state of the upper waters, which in turn can be related to agricultural development. The increased abundances of Lingulodinium machaerophorum and Stelladinium stellatum found as early as 1890 and 1920 correspond to the beginning of the industrial revolution in Italy and the first chemical production and dispersion of ammonia throughout Europe. After 1955, the increased abundances of these species and of Polykrikos schwartzii, Brigantedinium spp. and Pentapharsodinium dalei correspond to agriculturally induced alterations of the hypertrophic conditions. A slight improvement in water quality can be observed from 1987 onward.     

The role of biomorphodynamics in estuarine evolution in New Zealand

Abstract:   Biomorphodynamic interactions, the feedback loops that operate between physical processes, biology and morphology, affect the long-term evolution of estuaries. This paper outlines how consideration of such interactions and implementation through innovative modelling techniques can become the next crucial step needed to advance understanding of estuarine evolution.     

New Zealand coastal system boundaries, connections and management

Abstract:    Understanding coastal boundaries, connections and drivers of landscape change is integral to effective coastal planning and management. This concept is explored here through case studies representing two very different New Zealand systems: embayed sand beaches in eastern and western open-coast settings; and mixed sand and gravel coast river-mouth lagoons. When framed within a resource and environmental management context these studies indicate that national recognition of the dynamic and interactive nature of coastal environments is a relatively new and amorphous phenomenon in New Zealand and, as such, has been ineffective in driving integrated regional management practices and sustainable coastal outcomes.     

Impacts of a bivalve mass mortality event on an estuarine food web and bivalve grazing pressure

Declines in bivalve populations have been quite common worldwide, often associated with coastal development, pollution and climate change. In addition to the impacts of these chronic stressors, occasional mass mortality events may have severe consequences on ecosystem services and biodiversity. In this study, we examined the impact of a mass mortality event of the clam (Austrovenus stutchburyi) on an estuarine food web and the grazing pressure exerted by the bivalve population. In February 2009, c. 60% of the clam population died in Whangateau Harbour, New Zealand. Population clearance rate calculations suggest that the clam population do not exert significant top-down control on phytoplankton biomass in the estuary, and thus the impact of the mortality event on bivalve grazing pressure was less severe than the reduction in abundance would suggest. A trophic model shows that phytoplankton play a limited role in the estuary food web, which is instead dominated by microphytobenthos and clams. This study highlights the importance of microphytobenthos in shallow estuaries, and the application of the trophic model is a useful tool that can identify key components of the ecosystem and could help inform monitoring programmes.     

A relationship between liquid water content and chemical composition in clouds

In this paper we present two-year results from the Cloud Chemistry Measurements Programme, carried out at Mt. Brocken/Hart (Germany) to assess the influence of cloud physical parameters on the chemical composition of clouds. There are large variations in the chemical composition of cloud water. We found that the liquid water content of clouds predominantly determines the ionic content. The relationship is best approximated by a power function, nearly identical for all chemical species. We identified deviations of data points from the general relationship accompanying events with different air pollution situations. An important conclusion is that cloud chemistry monitoring in the sense of air pollution studies is meaningless without measurement of cloud physical parameters. These are liquid water content, cloud base altitudes, and to some extent, droplet size distribution.     

Limnological conditions in a subarctic lake (northern Québec, Canada) during the late Holocene: analyses based on fossil diatoms

A fossil diatom record covering the past 3000 cal. years BP wasanalyzed from a small lake in northwestern Québec near the northernlimit of present-day tree-line. Fragilaria virescens var.exigua Grunow in Van Heurck was the dominant speciesthroughout the core with abundances ranging between 13–35% of thetotal valve count. There was a replacement of alkaliphilous taxa byacidophilous taxa beginning ca. 1300 cal. yr ago, probably reflectinglong-term, natural acidification processes. A diatom-based transfer functionwas used to provide quantitative estimates of variations in lakewater dissolvedorganic carbon (DOC). These inferred values showed that DOC concentrations haveremained stable over the past 3000 years (mean ± S.D. = 5 ± 0.43 mg C l^–1), suggesting relatively constant allochthonouscarbon inputs and underwater light conditions during the late Holocene. Thereconstructed DOC data were compared to the palynological record from the samelake. Our study indicates that, in contrast to paleolimnological records fromlakes in central and western Canada, climatic variations and associatedvegetational shifts have been too subtle to cause pronounced variations in DOCin this northern Québec site.     

Die kurzwellige Strahlung von Sonne und Himmel auf einen nach Süden orientierten Würfel

Zusammenfassung In Locarno-Monti am Alpensüdfuss wurde von Juni 1961 bis Dezember 1964 die kurzwellige Strahlung von Sonne und Himmel (Globalstrahlung) auf die Flächen eines nach Süden orientierten Würfels registriert. An Hand dieses Materials konnten mittlere Tages- und Jahresgänge der Globalstrahlung für extreme und mittlere Strahlungsbedingungen gewonnen werden. Der Anteil der Strahlungsenergie, die auf eine senkrechte Fläche fällt, an der gesamten Strahlung auf den Würfel, wird von der Orientierung der Wand und der relativen Sonnenscheindauer beeinflusst. Es wurde die Abhängigkeit des Strahlungsgenusses der verschieden orientierten Wände von der relativen Sonnenscheindauer untersucht. Mit Hilfe dieser Zusammenhänge wurden klimatologische Mittelwerte der Globalstrahlung aus langjährigen Mittelwerten der relativen Sonnenscheindauer in Locarno-Monti abgeleitet. Um auch für Stationen, an denen die Globalstrahlung nur auf die horizontale Fläche gemessen wird, jene auf senkrechte Flächen berechnen zu können, werden die Verhältnisse der Strahlung von Sonne und Himmel auf eine Wand zu der auf die horizontale Fläche angegeben.

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Summary Measurements of the short wave radiation of sund and sky (global radiation) on surfaces of a cube orientated to the south have been carried out at Locarno-Monti (Switzerland) from June 1961 to December 1964. These data were used for deducing the annual and daily variations of the global radiation under extreme and average conditions. The percentage of the radiation energy on a vertical surface on the entire radiation on the cube depends on the orientation of the surface and on the relative duration of sunshine. Further researches involve the dependence of the radiation on vertical walls of different orientation on the duration of sunshine. With the aid of these relations and the climatological means of the relative duration of sunshine at Locarno-Monti average values of the global radiation could be determined. In order to calculate the radiation on vertical surfaces for those stations, for which only measurements of the global radiation on a horizontal surface are available, the relations between the radiation on a wall to that on a horizontal surface must be known.

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Résumé De juin 1961 à décembre 1964, le rayonnement de courtes longueurs d'onde du soleil et du ciel (rayonnement global) a été enregistré à Locarno-Monti, au pied sud des Alpes, au moyen de surfaces réceptrices disposées suivant les faces d'un cube orienté vers le sud. Le matériel de mesure recueilli permet d'établir les variations journalières et saisonnières moyennes du rayonnement global lors de conditions extrêmes et moyennes de rayonnement. Rapportée à l'énergie rayonnante totale interceptée par le cube, la fraction de rayonnement reçue par une certaine face verticale dépend de l'orientation de cette face et de la durée relative d'insolation. On étudie l'influence de cette dernière sur l'éclairement dont jouissent les différentes faces du cube. A l'aide des relations trouvées, on calcule des moyennes climatologiques du rayonnement global à partir de moyennes tirées des longues séries d'enregistrements de la durée relative d'insolation à Locarno-Monti. En donnant encore le rapport des rayonnements du soleil et du ciel reçus respectivement par une surface verticale et par l'horizontale, on rend possible l'évaluation du rayonnement global tombant sur une paroi verticale aux stations où seuls des récepteurs horizontaux sont mis en uvre.

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Riassunto A Locarno-Monti, al piede meridionale delle Alpi, fu registrata dal giugno 1961 al dicembre 1964 la radiazione a onde corte del sole e cielo (radiazione globale) sulle superficie di un cubo orientato verso sud. Partendo da questo materiale poterono essere ricavati gli andamenti medi giornalieri e annuali della radiazione globale per condizioni di radiazione estreme e media. La parte di energia della radiazione, che cade su una superficie verticale, rispetto all'energia totale sul cubo è influenzata dall'orientamento della superficie e dalla durata relative dell'insolazione. È stata studiata la dipendenza tra la radiazione ricevuta dalle superficie diversamente orientate e la durata relativa dell'insolazione. Con l'ausilio di queste relazioni furono calcolati valori medi climatologici della radiazione globale dai valori medi pluriannuali della durata dell'insolazione a Locarno-Monti. Per poter calcolare anche per le stazioni, per le quali la radiazione globale fu misurata solo su una superficie orizzontale, quella su superficie verticali, vengono comunicati i rapporti tra la radiazione sole e cielo su una superficie verticale e la radiazione sulla superficie orizzontale.

     

Thermal Equilibrium States of Europa's Ice Shell: Implications for Internal Ocean Thickness and Surface Heat Flow

Ice-shell thickness and ocean depth are calculated for steady state models of tidal dissipation in Europa's ice shell using the present-day values of the orbital elements. The tidal dissipation rate is obtained using a viscoelastic Maxwell rheology for the ice, the viscosity of which has been varied over a wide range, and is found to strongly increase if an (inviscid) internal ocean is present. To determine steady state values, the tidal dissipation rate is equated to the heat-transfer rate through the ice shell calculated from a parameterized model of convective heat transfer or from a thermal conduction model, if the ice layer is found to be stable against convection. Although high dissipation rates and heat fluxes of up to 300 mWm⁻² are, in principle, possible for Europa, these values are unrealistic because the states for which they are obtained are thermodynamically unstable. Equilibrium models have surface heat flows around 20 mWm⁻² and ice-layer thicknesses around 30 km, which is significantly less than the total thickness of the H₂O-layer. These results support models of Europa with ice shells a few tens of kilometers thick and around 100-km-thick subsurface oceans.     

Evidence for a nitrogen flux directly derived from the European subcontinental mantle in the Western Eger Rift, Central Europe

In the Czech-German border region of the Vogtland and NW Bohemia (western Eger rift, Central Europe), chemical and isotopic compositions (C, N, He, Ar) of free gas from a thermal water escape (fluorite mine, Schönbrunn), two mineral springs (“Eisenquelle,” Bad Brambach; “Sprudel III,” Bad Elster) and a mofette (Bublak) located along an ∼40-km long traverse are reported. The gases of Bublak and Bad Brambach are CO₂-rich (>99 vol.%) and have δ¹³C values of −1.95 and −4.29‰, respectively. With distance from the center of CO₂ degassing (Bublak) the δ¹³C values decrease, most likely due to physico-chemical fractionation of CO₂ between gaseous and aqueous phases rather than to admixture of organic/biogenic CO₂. The δ¹⁵N values range between −3.2 and −0.6‰, compared to an upper mantle value of −4.0 ± 1.0‰. The four locations are characterized by ³He/⁴He ratios decreasing from 5.9 R_a in the center (Bublak) to 0.8 R_a in the periphery (Schönbrunn) and give evidence for mixing of He from a deep-seated magmatic source with a crustal source. The location with the highest ³He/⁴He ratio (5.9 R_a) is accompanied by the highest ⁴⁰Ar/³⁶Ar (550). We argue that the nitrogen of the Bublak mofette gas is a mixture of predominantly atmospheric and mantle-derived components, whereas at the other three locations crustal nitrogen may also be present. The Bublak δ¹⁵N value of ≈−4.5 ± 1.0‰ represents the first free gas δ¹⁵N reference from the European subcontinental mantle (ESCM) and indicates that, in contrast to the ³He/⁴He ratios, the δ¹⁵N values are equal for ESCM and MORB, respectively.     

Palaeoenvironmental Reconstruction from Near-Surface Pan Sediments: An Example from Lebatse Pan, Southeast Kalahari, Botswana

Recent studies of pan sediment stratigraphy in southern Africa have indicated the potential of geophysical and geochemical analyses for elucidating the evolution of pans and the environmental conditions under which formation took place. We have investigated three cores, of 1.8 to 2.6 m in length, from Lebatse Pan in southeast Kalahari, Botswana, and compare the results with the few other similar studies available. Through the sedimentological characteristics of Lebatse we identify cycles of deposition, chemical precipitation and post-depositional alteration under shifting environmental conditions from c . 60,000 years ago to the present. Four periods are separated by depositional hiatuses, marking dry conditions during which deflation of the pan cannot be excluded. During the two oldest periods the sequence of finely laminated, magnesia-rich sediments suggests deposition in a permanent shallow waterbody under evaporative conditions, causing chemical precipitation of dolomite from groundwater. Less evaporative conditions are inferred for the third period of deposition between hiatuses H2 and H1. The youngest period, ¹⁴C-dated to 29,000 years BP, is characterised by water-logged conditions and the development of reed beds. It is believed to have been laid down under fluctuating water levels. The cycles of deposition exhibited in the pan cores appear synchronous with wetter periods in the Southern Kalahari, indicated by the limited evidence currently available.