A geomorphological seabed classification for the Weddell Sea,Antarctica

Sea floor morphology plays an important role in many scientific disciplines such as ecology, hydrology and sedimentology since geomorphic features can act as physical controls for e.g. species distribution, oceanographically flow-path estimations or sedimentation processes. In this study, we provide a terrain analysis of the Weddell Sea based on the 500 m × 500 m resolution bathymetry data provided by the mapping project IBCSO. Seventeen seabed classes are recognized at the sea floor based on a fine and broad scale Benthic Positioning Index calculation highlighting the diversity of the glacially carved shelf. Beside the morphology, slope, aspect, terrain rugosity and hillshade were calculated and supplied to the data archive PANGAEA. Applying zonal statistics to the geomorphic features identified unambiguously the shelf edge of the Weddell Sea with a width of 45–70 km and a mean depth of about 1200 m ranging from 270 m to 4300 m. A complex morphology of troughs, flat ridges, pinnacles, steep slopes, seamounts, outcrops, and narrow ridges, structures with approx. 5–7 km width, build an approx. 40–70 km long swath along the shelf edge. The study shows where scarps and depressions control the connection between shelf and abyssal and where high and low declination within the scarps e.g. occur. For evaluation purpose, 428 grain size samples were added to the seabed class map. The mean values of mud, sand and gravel of those samples falling into a single seabed class was calculated, respectively, and assigned to a sediment texture class according to a common sediment classification scheme.     

Ant mounds as a source of sediment in a tropical rainforest?

In Lutzito catchment on Barro Colorado Island, Panama, extraordinarily high suspended‐sediment yields of 1–2 Mg ha^?1 year^?1 were generated despite the dense forest cover coinciding with erosion‐resistant soils. We hypothesized that ant mounding activity is an important zoogeomorphological mechanism in this area, providing relevant quantities of easily transportable material at the soil surface. To test this hypothesis, all ant mound material was collected collected for dry mass determination from thirty 4 m² plots installed in the study area every 1–3 days during the 39‐day sampling period. Additionally, three ground‐nesting ant species responsible for mounds in the study area, Ectatomma ruidum, Trachymyrmex cornetzi and Strumigenys marginiventris, were identified. On the basis of the total of 1.38 kg of material collected in the wet season of 2011, the estimate for the whole 8 months wet season amounts to 725 kg ha^?1. As this value is in the same order of magnitude as sediment output, it shows that ants may act as important ecosystem engineers and contribute to sediment production here by providing large quantities of fine‐grained, readily erodible material at the soil surface for subsequent transport to the streambed. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the spectral reflectance and maturation darkening of lunar soils

Optical absorption and diffuse reflectance spectra were obtained for simulated lunar glasses of four different compositions, both in their as-quenched (reduced) states and following mild subsolidus oxidation. The transmission spectra, when normalized by the FeO content of the glasses, differed from one another only in the relative intensity of an unresolved band in the UV. For fixed melting conditions the strength of this band in the as-quenched glasses increased with increasing FeO, or with increasing TiO₂ for a fixed FeO content. Electron spin resonance (ESR) experiments have demonstrated the absence of Fe³⁺ or Ti³⁺ and the presence of metallic iron in these materials; all other transition-group elements were excluded in preparation. The unresolved UV absorption edge in the as-quenched reduced glasses is therefore tentatively ascribed to Fe²⁺Ti⁴⁺ intervalency charge transfer transitions. A similar UV edge was also produced by oxidation, leading to the conclusion that the assignment of this band would be ambiguous in the absence of an independent determination of the valence states of Fe and Ti. The relationship between the transmission spectra of polished samples and the reflectance spectra of sieved powders of the same materials is shown to be well described by the Kubelka-Munk approximation. Using this insight, it is possible to understand the spectral characteristics both of oxidation darkening of synthetic glass powders and of maturation darkening of lunar soils in terms of (1) the growth of the aforementioned charge transfer band(s) and (2) the development of opaque surface phases. It is shown that mechanism (1) is of primary importance in lunar highland materials and that mechanism (2) dominates in mare materials. The present results, coupled with previous findings, suggest that lunar soil maturation darkening may result from vitrification only if accompanied by (a) enrichment in the elements Fe and Ti, (b) changes in valence states of these elements, (c) partial crystallization of opaque phases such as iron, ilmenite or magnetite, or (d) a combination of (a), (b), and (c).     

Hydrous Silicates and Water on Venus

We used thermochemical equilibrium calculations to predict stabilities of pure rock-forming hydrous silicates on Venus' surface as a function of elevation, atmospheric H₂O and SO₂concentrations, and oxygen fugacity (f_O2). About 50 different hydrous silicates were included in our calculations. We find that many of these are unstable on Venus's surface because of the low atmospheric H₂O content of 30–45 parts per million by volume (ppmv) and the high surface temperatures (660 K on Maxwell Montes to 740 K in the plains). Hydrous Fe²⁺-bearing silicates are unstable due to oxidation to magnetite and/or hematite at the f_O2of the near-surface atmosphere. Ca-bearing hydrous silicates are unstable because of sulfatization to anhydrite. Some Fe-free micas (e.g., eastonite, eastonite–phlogopite micas), and some alkali amphiboles might be stable on Venus' surface, especially in the lower temperature highlands. We discuss hydrous mineral formation in the interior and on the surface of Venus. We review the literature on mica and amphibole thermal decomposition and find that dehydration of phlogopitic micas and fibrous amphiboles produces (metastable) dehydroxylated anhydrides that decompose to more stable minerals at temperatures hundreds of degrees higher than the onset of dehydroxylation. These observations raise the possibility that anhydrides formed from hydrous silicates, which may have been present during a wetter period in Venus' history, may persist somewhere on Venus' present surface. We discuss experiments that could be used on future spacecraft missions to detect hydroxyl in rocks and hydrous silicates on Venus. Finally, we review estimates of the amount of water and OH (hydroxyl) in the Earth's mantle. Based on this review, we suggest that even if no hydrous silicates are stable on Venus, significant amounts of water are plausibly present in surface rocks as OH in nominally anhydrous minerals.     

Grid point surface air temperature calculations with a fast turnaround: Combining the results of IMAGE and a GCM

This paper describes a methodology that combines the outputs of (1) the Integrated Model to Assess the Greenhouse Effect (IMAGE Version 1.0) of the Netherlands National Institute of Public Health and Environmental Protection (RIVM) (given a greenhouse gas emission policy, this model can estimate the effects such as global mean surface air temperature change for a wide variety of policies) and (2) ECHAM-1/LSG, the Global Circulation Model (GCM) of the Max-Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Germany. The combination enables one to calculate grid point surface air temperature changes for different scenarios with a turnaround time that is much quicker than that for a GCM. The methodology is based upon a geographical pattern of the ratio of grid point temperature change to global mean values during a certain period of the simulation, as calculated by ECHAM-1/LSG for the 1990 Scenarios A and D of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). A procedure, based upon signal-to noise ratios in the outputs, enabled us to estimate where we have confidence in the methodology; this is at about 23% to 83% of the total of 2,048 grid points, depending upon the scenario and the decade in the simulation. It was found that the methodology enabled IMAGE to provide useful estimates of the GCM-predicted grid point temperature changes. These estimates were within 0.5K (0.25K) throughout the 100 years of a given simulation for at least 79% (74%) of the grid points where we are confident in applying the methodology. The temperature ratio pattern from Scenario A enabled IMAGE to provide useful estimates of temperature change within 0.5K (0.25K) in Scenario D for at least 88% (68%) of the grid points where we have confidence; indicating that the methodology is transferable to other scenarios. Tests with the Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory GCM indicated, however, that a temperature ratio pattern may have to be developed for each GCM. The methodology, using a temperature ratio pattern from the 1990 IPCC Scenario A and involving IMAGE, gave gridded surface air temperature patterns for the 1992 IPCC radiative-forcing Scenarios C and E and the RIVM emission Scenario B; none of these scenarios has been simulated by ECHAM-1/LSG. The simulations reflect the uncertainty range of a future warming.The work reported by the authors was carried out during their stay at the project Forestry and Climate Change of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria.     

Pigmentation of massive corals as a simple bioindicator for marine water quality

Photo-acclimatisation by the algal endosymbionts of scleractinian corals to changes in environmental conditions may influence their density and/or the concentration of photosynthetic pigments, and hence coral brightness, on short time-scales. To examine coral pigmentation as a bioindicator of water quality, the brightness of massive corals was quantified using colour charts, concentrations of the pigment chlorophyll a and reflectance spectrometry in the field and with manipulative experiments. Along a water quality gradient, massive Porites became progressively lighter as nutrients decreased and irradiance increased. A laboratory experiment showed that Porites nubbins darkened within 25 days following exposure to reduced water quality. The results of a transplantation experiment of Porites nubbins in a manipulation incorporating multiple depths and zones of water quality confirmed colony brightness as a simple tool to monitor changes in marine water quality, provided effects due to other influences on pigmentation, e.g. seawater temperatures, are taken into consideration.     

Presolar grains from meteorites: Remnants from the early times of the solar system

This review provides an introduction to presolar grains - preserved stardust from the interstellar molecular cloud from which our solar system formed - found in primitive meteorites. We describe the search for the presolar components, the currently known presolar mineral populations, and the chemical and isotopic characteristics of the grains and dust-forming stars to identify the grains’ most probable stellar sources.