Improved prediction of vegetation composition in NW European softwater lakes by combining location,water and sediment chemistry

Isoetids, as indicators of near-pristine softwater lakes, have a high priority in national and international (European Water Directive Framework) assessments of ecological lake quality. Our main goal was to identify the most important environmental factors that influence the composition of plant communities and specifically determine the presence and abundance of the isoetid Lobelia dortmanna in NW European softwater lakes. Geographical position and composition of surface water, porewater, sediment and plant communities were examined in 39 lakes in four regions (The Netherlands, Denmark, West Norway and East Norway) distributed over a 1,200-km long distance. We confirmed that lake location was accompanied by significant changes in environmental variables between NW European lakes. Lake location was the single most important determinant of vegetation composition and it had significant individual contributions independent of the coupling to environmental variables. This influence of location was supported by a significant decline of community similarity with geographical distance between pairs of lakes at regional, inter-regional and international scales. Combining the geographical position with environmental variables for surface water, porewater and sediment significantly improved prediction of vegetation composition. Specifically, the combination of latitude, surface water alkalinity, porewater phosphate and redox potential offered the highest correlation (BIO ENV correlation 0.66) to vegetation composition. This complex analysis can also account for high sediment variability in the littoral zone of individual lakes, by using site-specific physico-chemical sediment factors, and offer better predictions of vegetation composition when lake water chemistry is relatively homogeneous among lakes within regions.     

Photodegradation,Photocatalytic, and Aerobic Biodegradation of Sulfisomidine and Identification of Transformation Products by LC–UV‐MS/MS

Much attention has recently been devoted to the fate and effects of pharmaceuticals in the water cycle. Removal of antibiotics in effluents by photo‐treatment or biodegradation is a topic currently under discussion. Degradation and removal efficiencies of sulfisomidine (SUI) by photodegradation and aerobic biodegradability were studied. SUI behavior was monitored during photolysis and photocatalysis (catalyst titanium dioxide) using 150‐W medium‐pressure Hg lamp. Also an aerobic bacterial degradation test from the OECD series (closed bottle test (CBT, OECD 301 D)) was performed. The primary elimination of SUI was monitored. Structures of photo‐degradation products were assessed by chromatographic separation on a C18 column with ultraviolet detection at 270 nm and ion trap MS. The results demonstrate that SUI is not readily biodegradable in CBT. Photo catalysis was more is effective than photolysis. SUI underwent photodegradation and several SUI photoproducts were identified. Accordingly, the photodegradation pathway of SUI was postulated. When reaching the aquatic environment, SUI and its photo products can constitute a risk to the environment.     

Sensitivity of subglacial Lake Vostok's flow regime on environmental parameters

Subglacial lakes provide unique habitats, but the exact nature of physical and geochemical conditions are still a matter of debate and await direct sampling of water. Due to its isolation from external atmospheric forcing other environmental parameters influence the flow characteristics within the lake. In this study we use an improved treatment of the physical processes at the ice–water boundary interface to identify and quantify the impact of (1) the geothermal heat flux, (2) the heat flux from the lake into the ice, (3) the influence of the salinity of the lake water, and (4) the ice thickness on the size of the freezing area and the freeze/melt rates. We show that the modelled basal mass imbalance (that is the produced melt water minus the re-frozen water) depends on the geothermal heating as well as the heat flux into the ice. The circulation and the temperature distribution within subglacial Lake Vostok are rather stable against variations of geothermal heat flux, heat flux into the ice sheet, salinity of the lake, and small changes of the ice thickness above the lake. However, the flow regime for any subglacial lake with less than 2000 m ice thickness above, will be substantially different from those that experience higher pressures. This is because the buoyancy–temperature relationship reverses at this depth.     

Landslides, Ice Quakes, Earthquakes: A Thermodynamic Approach to Surface Instabilities

The total rate of rock deformation results from competing deformation processes, including ductile and brittle mechanisms. Particular deformation styles arise from the dominance of certain mechanisms over others at different ambient conditions. Surprisingly, rates of deformation in naturally deformed rocks are found to cluster around two extremes, representing coseismic slip rates or viscous creep rates. Classical rock mechanics is traditionally used to interpret these instabilities. These approaches consider the principle of conservation of energy. We propose to go one step further and introduce a nonlinear far-from-equilibrium thermodynamic approach in which the central and explicit role of entropy controls instabilities. We also show how this quantity might be calculated for complex crustal systems. This approach provides strain-rate partitioning for natural deformation processes occurring at rates in the order of 10^-3 to 10^-9 s^-1. We discuss these processes using examples of landslides and ice quakes or glacial surges. We will then illustrate how the mechanical mechanisms derived from these near-surface processes can be applied to deformation near the base of the seismogenic crust, especially to the phenomenon of slow earthquakes.     

Fluctuations in the heliospheric hydrogen distribution induced by generalized and time-dependent interstellar boundary conditions

It is well known that the neutral component of the local interstellar medium can effectively pass through the plasma interface ahead of the solar system and can penetrate deeply into the inner heliosphere. Here we present a newly-developed theoretical approach to describe the distribution function of LISM neutral hydrogen in the heliosphere, also taking into account time-dependent solar and interstellar boundary conditions. For this purpose we start from a Boltzmann-Vlasov equation, Fourier-transformed with respect to space and time coordinates, in connection with correspondingly transformed solar radiation forces and ionization rates, and then arrive at semi-analytic solutions for the transformed hydrogen velocity distribution function. As interstellar boundary conditions we allow for very general, non-Maxwellian and time-dependent distribution functions to account for the case that some LISM turbulence patterns or nonlinear wave-like shock structures pass over the solar system. We consider this theoretical approach to be an ideal instrument for the synoptic interpretation of huge data samples on interplanetary Ly- resonance glow intensities registered from different celestial directions over extended periods of time. In addition we feel that the theoretical approach presented here, when applied to interplanetary resonance glow data, may permit the detection of genuine fluctuations in the local interstellar medium.     

Author Index Volume 56

Authors Index

Author Index Volume 56     

U–Pb zircon and monazite age constraints on granulite-facies metamorphism and deformation in the Strangways Metamorphic Complex (central Australia)

The age of Proterozoic granulite facies metamorphism and deformation in the Strangways Metamorphic Complex (SMC) of central Australia is determined on zircon grown in syn-metamorphic and syn-deformational orthopyroxene-bearing, enderbitic, veins. SHRIMP zircon studies suggest that M ₁–M ₂ and the correlated periods of intense deformation (D ₁–D ₂) are part of a single tectonothermal event between 1,717±2 and 1,732±7 Ma. It is considered unlikely that the two metamorphic phases (M ₁, M ₂) suggested by earlier work represent separate events occurring within 10–25 Ma of each other. Previous higher estimates for the age of M ₁ granulite metamorphism in the SMC (Early Strangways event at ca. 1,770 Ma) based on U–Pb zircon dating of granitic, intrusive rocks, are not believed to relate to the metamorphism, but to represent pre-metamorphic intrusion ages. Conventional multi-grain U–Pb monazite analyses on high-grade metasediments from three widely spaced localities in the western SMC yield ²⁰⁷Pb/ ²³⁵U ages between 1,728±11 and 1,712±2 Ma. The age range of the monazites corresponds to the SHRIMP zircon ages in the granulitic veins and is interpreted to record monazite growth (prograde in the metasedimentary rocks). The data imply a maximum time-span of 30 Ma for high-grade metamorphism and deformation in the SMC. There is, thus, no evidence for an extremely long period of continuous high-temperature conditions from 1,770 to ca. 1,720 Ma as previously proposed. The results firmly establish that the SMC has a very different high-grade metamorphic history than the neighbouring Harts Range, where upper amphibolite facies metamorphism in the Palaeozoic caused widespread growth or recrystallization of monazite.     

Classification of four ordinary chondrites from Spain

Abstract— Based on optical microscopy and electron microprobe analysis of mafic minerals, four previously poorly described ordinary chondrites from Spain are classified. The classifications of Guareña (H6), Olmedilla de Alarcón (H5) and Reliegos (L5) are confirmed. Molina is reclassified as H5, based on new data.     

The Olton,Texas, H chondrite regolith breccia: Paired with Dimmitt

Abstract— The Olton ordinary chondrites (two stones found in 1948) are H group, solar wind-bearing regolith breccias. The proximity of the recovery site to the Dimmitt strewnfield, and the similarity in texture, composition, noble gas contents and isotopic ratios to Dimmitt indicate that Olton is paired with Dimmitt.     

Creating Carbon Offsets in Agriculture through No-Till Cultivation: A Meta-Analysis of Costs and Carbon Benefits

Carbon terrestrial sinks are often seen as a low-cost alternative to fuel switching and reduced fossil fuel use for lowering atmospheric CO₂. To determine whether this is true for agriculture, one meta-regression analysis (52 studies, 536 observations) examines the costs of switching from conventional tillage to no-till, while another (51 studies, 374 observations) compares carbon accumulation under the two practices. Costs per ton of carbon uptake are determined by combining the two results. The viability of agricultural carbon sinks is found to vary by region and crop, with no-till representing a low-cost option in some regions (costs of less than $10 per tC), but a high-cost option in others (costs of 100–$400 per tC). A particularly important finding is that no-till cultivation may store no carbon at all if measurements are taken at sufficient depth. In some circumstances no-till cultivation may yield a triple dividend of carbon storage, increased returns and reduced soil erosion, but in many others creating carbon offset credits in agricultural soils is not cost effective because reduced tillage practices store little or no carbon.