Age and origin of groundwater resources in the Ararat Valley,Armenia: a baseline study applying hydrogeochemistry and environmental tracers

Within the Ararat Valley (Armenia), a continuously growing water demand (for irrigation and fish farming) and a simultaneous decline in groundwater recharge (due to climate change) result in increasing stress on the local groundwater resources. This detrimental development is reflected by groundwater-level drops and an associated reduction of the area with artesian conditions in the valley centre. This situation calls for increasing efforts aimed at more sustainable water resources management. The aim of this baseline study was the collection of data that allows for study on the origin and age distribution of the Ararat Valley groundwater based on environmental tracers, namely stable (δ²H, δ¹⁸O) and radioactive (³⁵S, ³H) isotopes, as well as physical-chemical indicators. The results show that the Ararat Valley receives modern recharge, despite its (semi-)arid climate. While subannual groundwater residence times could be disproved (³⁵S), the detected ³H pattern suggests groundwater ages of several decades, with the oldest waters being recharged around 60 years ago. The differing groundwater ages are reflected by varying scatter of stable isotope and hydrochemical signatures. The presence of young groundwater (i.e., younger that the 1970s), some containing nitrate, indicates groundwater vulnerability and underscores the importance of increased efforts to achieve sustainable management of this natural resource. Since stable isotope signatures indicate the recharge areas to be located in the mountains surrounding the valley, these efforts must not be limited to the central part of the valley where most of the abstraction wells are located.

     

The influence of amphibole fractionation on the evolution of calc-alkaline andesite and dacite tephra from the central Aleutians,Alaska

Petrologic studies of tephra from Kanaga, Adak, and Great Sitkin Islands indicate that amphibole fractionation and magma mixing are important processes controlling the composition of calc-alkaline andesite and dacite magmas in the central Aleutians. Amphibole is ubiquitous in tephra from Kanaga and Adak Islands, whereas it is present only in a basaltic-andesite pumice from Great Sitkin. Dacitic tephra from Great Sitkin do not contain amphibole. Hornblende dacite tephra contain HB+PLAG+OX±OPX±CPX phenocrysts with simple zoning patterns, suggesting that the dacites evolved in isolated magma chambers. Andesitic tephra from Adak contain two pyroxene and hornbelende populations, and reversely zoned plagioclase, indicating a more complex history involving mixing and fractional crystallization. Mass balance calculations suggest that the andesitic tephra may represent the complements of amphibole-bearing cumulate xenoliths, both formed during the evolution of high-Al basalts. The presence of amphibole in andesitic and dacitic tephra implies that Aleutian cale-alkaline magmas evolve in the mid to lower crust under hydrous (>4 wt.% H₂O) and oxidizing (Ni–NiO) conditions. Amphibole-bearing andesites and pyroxene-bearing dacites from Great Sitkin indicates fractionation at several levels within the arc crust. Despite its absence in many calc-alkaline andesite and dacite lavas, open system behavior involving amphibole fractionation can explain the trace element characteristies of lavas found on Adak Island. Neither open nor closed system fractionation involving a pyroxene-bearing assemblage is capable of explaining the trace element concentrations or ratios found in the Adak suite. We envision a scenario where amphibole was initially a liquidus phase in many calc-alkaline magmas, but was later replaced by pyroxenes as the magmas rose to shallow levels within the crust. The mineral assemblage in these evolved lavas reflects shallow level equilibration of the magma, whereas the trace element chemistry provides evidence for a earlier, amphibole-bearing, mineral assemblage.     

Recent variations in 700 hPa geopotential heights in summer over Europe and the Middle East,and their influence on other Meteorological factors

Summary Recent variations in atmospheric circulation in the eastern Mediterranean are analyzed and discussed. Interdecadal differences in mean monthly 700 hPa geopotential heights for June, July, and August in the period 1951–1980 show a trend of decreasing pressure of the subtropical high pressure belt over the Sahara Desert. The decrease is observed in the magnitude of the high pressure, in its areal extent, and in its northward position. Broader variations in other meteorological variables, such as rainfall regimes, temperature fields, wind variability, and evapotranspiration rates, are discussed in relation to variations in pressure fields and in indices of circulation such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. The trend from the 1950s through the 1970s was towards more temperate summer climate in the region.With 5 Figures     

Isotopic composition of nitrate in five German rivers discharging into the North Sea

We determined concentrations and isotopic composition of nitrate in five German rivers (Rhine, Elbe, Weser, Ems, and Eider) that discharge into the North Sea. Samples were obtained on a biweekly to monthly basis and chemical and isotopic analyses were conducted for the period January 2006 to March 2007 at sampling stations situated before estuarine mixing with North Sea water. We observed maximum nitrate loads in winter and fall, when both discharge and concentration of nitrate are highest. Mean annual isotope values in nitrate ranged from 8.2‰ to 11.3‰ for and 0.4‰ to 2.2‰ for . The ranges of isotope values suggest that nitrate in these rivers derives from soil nitrification, sewage, and/or manure. These and published data on other rivers in northern Europe and northern America reveal a correlation between agricultural land use (>60% in the catchment areas of rivers examined) and values. The rivers Rhine, Elbe, Weser and Ems show similar seasonal patterns of the isotopic fractionation of nitrate with increasing values and simultaneously decreasing concentrations during summer months, indicating that assimilation of nitrate is the main fractionation process of riverine nitrate. Isotopic signals in winter are more depleted than the mean summer isotope values, attributed to less microbial activity and assimilative processes. Load weighted nitrate δ¹⁵N of the riverine input to the German Bight Coastal Water mass before estuarine mixing and processing is between 8‰ and 12‰. The high δ¹⁵N value of river nitrate is matched by high δ¹⁵N of nitrate in surface sediments in the German Bight.     

The role of minor mergers in the recent star formation history of early-type galaxies

We demonstrate that the large scatter in the ultraviolet (UV) colours of intermediate-mass early-type galaxies in the local Universe and the inferred low-level recent star formation (RSF) in these objects can be reproduced by minor mergers in the standard Λ cold dark matter (ΛCDM) cosmology. Numerical simulations of mergers with mass ratios ≤1:4, with reasonable assumptions for the ages, metallicities and dust properties of the merger progenitors, produce good agreement with the observed UV colours of the early-type population, if the infalling satellites are assumed to have (cold) gas fractions ≥20 per cent. Early-types that satisfy  ( NUV − r ) ≲ 3.8  are likely to have experienced mergers with mass ratios between 1:4 and 1:6 within the last ∼1.5 Gyr, while those that satisfy  3.8 < ( NUV − r ) < 5.5  are consistent with either recent mergers with mass ratios ≤1:6 or mergers with higher mass ratios that occurred more than ∼1.5 Gyr in the past. We demonstrate that the early-type colour–magnitude relations and colour distributions, in both the UV and optical spectral ranges, are consistent with the expected frequency of minor merging activity in the standard ΛCDM cosmology at low redshift. We present a strong plausibility argument for minor mergers to be the principal mechanism behind the large UV scatter and associated low-level RSF observed in early-type galaxies in the nearby Universe.     

Barotropic Response of the Sea of Okhotsk to Wind Forcing

We have examined wind-induced circulation in the Sea of Okhotsk using a barotropic model that contains realistic topography with a resolution of 9.25 km. The monthly wind stress field calculated from daily European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) Re-Analysis data is used as the forcing, and the integration is carried out for 20 days until the circulation attains an almost steady state. In the case of November (a representative for the winter season from October to March), southward currents of velocity 0.1–0.3 m s⁻¹ occur along the bottom contours off the east of Sakhalin Island. The currents are mostly confined to the shelf (shallower than 200 m) and extend as far south as the Hokkaido coast. In the July case (a representative for the summer season from April to September), significant currents do not occur, even in the shallow shelves. The simulated southward current over the east Sakhalin shelf appears to correspond to the near-shore branch of the East Sakhalin Current (ESC), which was observed with the surface drifters. These seasonal variations simulated in our experiments are consistent with the observations of the ESC. Dynamically, the simulated ESC is interpreted as the arrested topographic wave (ATW), which is the coastally trapped flow driven by steady alongshore wind stress. The volume transport of the simulated ESC over the shelf reaches about 1.0 Sv (1 Sv = 10⁶ m³s⁻¹) in the winter season, which is determined by the integrated onshore Ekman transport in the direction from which shelf waves propagate. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Fiscal geographies: “Placing” taxation in urban geography

As the state’s primary means of both redistributing wealth and incentivizing private investment, tax plays an outsized role in a range of critical urban processes, including (re)development, gentrification, financialization, and local and regional governance. We argue, through reference to existing literature in urban and economic geography, as well as our own research on taxation and the state, that urban scholarship could benefit by close and careful engagement with taxation and the tax system. We term this new vein of research “fiscal geographies” and see it as offering potential for more nuanced study of urban political economy, politics, and processes.     

Field testing cellulose-water oxygen isotope relations in periphyton for paleohydrological reconstructions

Journal of Paleolimnology - The oxygen isotope composition (δ18O) of aquatic cellulose extracted from lake sediment cores has long been used to reconstruct past hydrological responses to...