Paleoindication of acidification in Kleiner Arbersee (Federal Republic of Germany,Bavarian Forest) by chydorids,chrysophytes, and diatoms

In a sediment core of Lake Kleiner Arbersee, located in the Bavarian Forest on gneiss bedrock and with spodosolic soils in the catchment, acidification was reconstructed using assemblages of chydorids, scaled chrysophytes, and diatoms as paleoindicators. All paleoindicators demonstrated acidification of Kleiner Arbersee. There were marked differences, however, in the extent of the indicated acidification: In lower layers, where scaled chrysophytes and chydorids clearly indicate beginning acidification, pH-decline inferred by diatoms lies within the standard deviation, and is statistically not significant until the 7 cm layer. We conclude that mallomonadaceans reflect the acidification of the water body and strongly respond to the lowest seasonal pH, as their indicated rate of acidification is higher than that of diatoms, which appear to more closely indicate the pH of the sediment/water interface, especially when the pH of the water column has dropped below ca. 5.5. Chydorids may additionally be influenced by proton release of dense Sphagnum-stands, which cover the littoral of Kleiner Arbersee completely.We dedicate this paper to Prof. Dipl.-Ing. L. Strobel, who encouraged new perspectives in limnological water management, on the occasion of his 65^th anniversary.     

Correlation of Miocene strata on the submarine St. Croix Ridge and onland St. Croix,US Virgin Islands

The nannofossils of an hydraulic piston core from the steep scarp between the St. Croix Ridge and Virgin Islands Basin were restudied. Formerly thought to represent a Pliocene debris flow, we interpret it as an early Miocene (NN1/2) hemipelagic deposit. We correlate the seismic unit sampled by piston core with the Kingshill-Jealousy Formation present on St. Croix. These sediments likely belong to an extensive, thick, deep marine cover of the St. Croix Ridge, deposited on a metamorphic—igneous basement between early Eocene and early Miocene time. Faulting did not evidently affect this sediment cover until the late Neogene.     

Martian surface and crust: Review and synthesis

Mariner 9 data and earlier data are combined to investigate the nature of the classical markings on Mars. This leads to a model of crustal evolution and structure. Combination of radar and spectrophotometric data strengthens earlier evidence for petrologic distinctions between surface materials in dark and light regions. The classical surface markings are a complex result of three influences: (1) availability of two types of rock material transportable by wind, (2) topographic control of deposition, and (3) prevailing winds producing quasipermanent preferential deposition patterns. The crust, especially in the Tharsis region, bears strong evidence of mantle-induced uplift of a type recognized on Earth as long ago as 1939. Such uplifts have obliterated ancient craters, caused fractures, and graben systems such as the Coprates canyon, and resulted in intense volcanism. This evidence, combined with an apparent bimodal hypsometric diagram, indicates Mars has current or recent mantle activity sufficient to disturb the crust, aid in petrologic differentiation, and cause development of protocontinental units, but insufficient to cause full-fledged continental drift or fold-causing plate collisions as are common on Earth.     

Martian cratering II: Asteroid impact history

This paper considers the extent to which Martian craters can be explained by considering asteroidal impact. Sections I, II, and III of this paper derive the diameter distribution of hypothetical asteroidal craters on Mars from recent Palomar-Leiden asteroid statistics and show that the observed Martian craters correspond to a bombardment by roughly 100 times the present number of Mars-crossing asteroids. Section IV discusses the early bombardment history of Mars, based on the capture theory of Öpik and probable orbital parameters of early planetesimals. These results show that the visible craters and surface of Mars should not be identified with the initial, accreted surface. A backward extrapolation of the impact rates based on surviving Mars-crossing asteroids can account for the majority of Mars craters over an interval of several aeons, indicating that we see back in time no further than part-way into a period of intense bombardment. An early period of erosion and deposition is thus suggested. Section V presents a comparison with results and terminology of other authors.     

Are increased nutrient inputs responsible for more outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish? An appraisal of the evidence

The cause(s) of primary outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) are still subject to scientific controversy. The possibility of primary outbreaks being linked to terrestrial runoff has been postulated a number of times, suggesting that enhanced nutrient supply is critical for enhanced A. planci larval development. This paper examines the evidence for such a cause, focussing particularly on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). Nutrient discharges from rivers have increased at least four-fold in the central GBR over the last century, and concentrations of large phyto-plankton (>2 microm) of the inshore central GBR shelf in the wet season when A. planci larvae develop, is double that of other places and times. Larval development, growth and survival increase almost ten-fold with doubled concentrations of large phyto-plankton. This and other lines of evidence suggest that frequent A. planci outbreaks on the GBR may indeed be a result of increased nutrient delivery from the land.     

Circumstellar envelopes and disks of pre-main sequence stars

The current state of knowledge about circumstellar matter of young stellar objects is briefly reviewed. It appears that some very young stars yet to accrete substantial amounts of mass may be seen through their dusty infalling envelopes even at optical wavelengths, because of the presence of holes or large departures from spherical symmetry in the envelopes. The evidence for this picture is summarized in the context of one wellstudied young star, HL Tau, indicating that much of the large-scale structure originally identified as a rotating disk is probably a flattened infalling envelope. Departures from spherical symmetry in protostellar clouds are likely to lead to quite flattened structures once collapse gets under way, further suggesting that infall in large-scale toroids may be a general feature of low-mass star formation. The best kinematic evidence for Keplerian disk rotation comes from optical and near-infrared high-resolution spectroscopy of the innermost regions of circumstellar disks. Disk masses are uncertain but are likely to be at least the order of minimum mass solar nebula models, if not much larger.     

Community structure and grazing of the nano-microzooplankton on the continental shelf of the Bay of Biscay

In order to investigate the parameters controlling the heterotrophic protists (nano-microzooplankton) on the continental shelf of the southern Bay of Biscay, plankton communities and their physico-chemical environment were studied 4 times in February, April, June and September–October 2004 at three stations in the euphotic zone in the Bay of Biscay. The abundance and carbon biomass of heterotrophic protists (ciliates, heterotrophic dinoflagellates and nanoflagellates) as well as all the others groups of plankton (picoplankton, nanophytoplankton, diatoms, autotrophic dinoflagellates, metazoan microzooplankton and mesozooplankton), the environmental parameters and the primary and bacteria production were evaluated at each sampling period. Microzooplankton grazing experiments were undertaken at the same time. Ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates accounted for the main major component of nano- and microzooplankton communities in term of biomass. The total carbon biomass of heterotrophic protists was highest in spring and lowest at the end of summer. The development of heterotrophic protists started after a winter microphytoplankton bloom (principally large diatoms), the biomass was lower in June and was low in September (through inappropriate prey). The carbon requirement of microzooplankton ranged from 50 to more than 100% of daily primary, bacterial and nanoflagellate production. The heterotrophic protist community was predominantly constrained by bottom-up control in spring and at the end of summer via food availability and quality.     

Controls on erosion patterns and sediment transport in a monsoonal,tectonically quiescent drainage,Song Gianh,central Vietnam

The Song Gianh is a small‐sized (~3500 km²), monsoon‐dominated river in northern central Vietnam that can be used to understand how topography and climate control continental erosion. We present major element concentrations, together with Sr and Nd isotopic compositions, of siliciclastic bulk sediments to define sediment provenance and chemical weathering intensity. These data indicate preferential sediment generation in the steep, wetter upper reaches of the Song Gianh. In contrast, detrital zircon U‐Pb ages argue for significant flux from the drier, northern Rao Tro tributary. We propose that this mismatch represents disequilibrium in basin erosion patterns driven by changing monsoon strength and the onset of agriculture across the region. Detrital apatite fission track and ¹⁰Be data from modern sediment support slowing of regional bedrock exhumation rates through the Cenozoic. If the Song Gianh is representative of coastal Vietnam then the coastal mountains may have produced around 132 000–158 000 km³ of the sediment now preserved in the Song Hong‐Yinggehai Basin (17–21% of the total), the primary depocenter of the Red River. This flux does not negate the need for drainage capture in the Red River to explain the large Cenozoic sediment volumes in that basin but does partly account for the discrepancy between preserved and eroded sediment volumes. OSL ages from terraces cluster in the Early Holocene (7.4–8.5 ka), Pre‐Industrial (550–320 year BP) and in the recent past (ca. 150 year BP). The older terraces reflect high sediment production driven by a strong monsoon, whereas the younger are the product of anthropogenic impact on the landscape caused by farming. Modern river sediment is consistently more weathered than terrace sediment consistent with reworking of old weathered soils by agricultural disruption.