A comparison of the hydrology of moorland under natural conditions,agricultural use and forestry

Abstract

Long term research has been conducted into the hydrological effects of different land usage of a wetland mire in southern Germany. Drainage for agriculture lowered the water table and reduced evaporation from about 110% of open water losses to just under the Penman short grass potential rate. The runoff regime was altered and peak flows increased. Afforestation of agricultural land increased evaporation losses to much higher levels than open water evaporation, and annual runoff was nearly halved. Forest growth reduced soil water and baseflows. Peak flows became smaller; the rate of reduction was particularly rapid in the early years of tree growth.     

ON THE COMPLETENESS OF DATA SETS WITH MULTIELECTRODE SYSTEMS FOR ELECTRICAL RESISTIVITY SURVEY

This paper describes how, using a surface linear array of equally spaced electrodes, potential data can be obtained for use in electrical resistivity imaging. The aim is to collect a complete data set which contains all linearly independent measurements of apparent resistivity on such an array using two-, three- or four-electrode configurations. From this primary data set, it is shown that any other value for apparent resistivity on the array can be synthesized through a process of superposition. Numerical tests show that such transformations are exact within the machine error for calculated data but that their use with real field data may lead to noise amplification.     

Exploring CO pollution episodes observed at Rishiri Island by chemical weather simulations and AIRS satellite measurements: long-range transport of burning plumes and implications for emissions inventories

The summer of 2003 was an active forest fire season in Siberia. Several events of elevated carbon monoxide (CO) were observed at Rishiri Island in northern Japan during an intensive field campaign in September 2003. A simulation with a global chemistry-transport model is able to reproduce the general features of the baseline levels and variability in the observed CO, and a source attribution for CO in the model suggests that the contribution from North Asia dominated, accounting for approximately 50% on average, with contributions of 7% from North America and 8% from Europe and 30% from oxidation of hydrocarbons. With consideration of recent emission estimates for East Asian fossil fuel and Siberian biomass burning sources, the model captures the timing and magnitude of the CO enhancements in two pollution episodes well (17 and 24 September). However, it significantly underestimates the amplitude during another episode (11–13 September), requiring additional CO emissions for this event. Daily satellite images from AIRS reveal CO plumes transported from western Siberia toward northern Japan. These results suggest that CO emissions from biomass burning in western Siberia in 2003 are likely underestimated in the inventory and further highlight large uncertainties in estimating trace gas emissions from boreal fires.     

Anatomy of a modern open-ocean carbonate slope: northern Little Bahama Bank

The open-ocean carbonate slope north of Little Bahama Bank consists of a relatively steep (4°) upper slope between water depths of 200 and 900 m, and a more gentle (1–2°) lower slope between depths of 900 and 1300+ m. The upper slope is dissected by numerous, small, submarine canyons (50–150 m in relief) that act as a line source for the downslope transport of coarse-grained carbonate debris. The lower slope is devoid of any well-defined canyons but does contain numerous, small (1–5 m) hummocks of uncertain origin and numerous, larger (5–40 m), patchily distributed, ahermatypic coral mounds. Sediments along the upper slope have prograded seaward during the Cenozoic as a slope-front-fill seismic facies of fine-grained peri-platform ooze. Surface sediments show lateral gradation of both grain size and carbonate mineralogy, with the fine fraction derived largely from the adjacent shallow-water platform. Near-surface sedimentary facies along the upper slope display a gradual downslope decrease in the degree of submarine cementation from well-lithified hardgrounds to patchily cemented nodular ooze to unlithified peri-platform ooze, controlled by lateral variations in diagenetic potential and/or winnowing by bottom currents. Submarine cementation stabilizes the upper part of the slope, allowing upbuilding of the platform margin, and controls the distribution of submarine slides, as well as the headward extent of submarine canyons. Where unlithified, sediments are heavily bioturbated and are locally undergoing dolomitization. Upper slope sediments are also ‘conditioned’eustatically, resulting in vertical, cyclic sequences of diagenetically unstable (aragonite and magnesian calcite-rich) and stable (calcite-rich) carbonates that may explain the well-bedded nature of ancient peri-platform ooze sequences. Lower slope sediments have prograded seaward during the Cenozoic as a chaotic-fill seismic facies of coarse-grained carbonate turbidites and debris flow deposits with subordinate amounts of peri-platform ooze. Coarse clasts are ‘internally’derived from fine-grained upper slope sediments via incipient cementation, submarine sliding and the generation of sediment gravity flows. Gravity flows bypass the upper slope via a multitude of canyons and are deposited along the lower slope as a wedge-shaped apron of debris, parallel to the adjacent shelf edge, consisting of a complex spatial arrangement of localized turbidites and debris flow deposits. A proximal apron facies of thick, mud-supported debris flow deposits plus thick, coarse-grained, Ta turbidites, grades seaward into a distal apron facies of thinner, grain-supported debris flow deposits and thinner, finer grained Ta-b turbidites with increasing proportions of peri-platform ooze. Both the geomorphology and sedimentary facies relationships of the carbonate apron north of Little Bahama Bank differ significantly from the classic submarine fan model. As such, a carbonate apron model offers an alternative to the fan model for palaeoenvironmental analysis of ancient, open-ocean carbonate slope sequences.     

Palaeoclimatic inferences from upper Palaeozoic siltstone of the Earp Formation and equivalents, Arizona-New Mexico (USA)

The Late Palaeozoic configuration of Pangaea contributed to a palaeoclimatic extreme that was characterized by both icehouse and monsoonal conditions. This study uses sedimentological, geochemical, and provenance data from silty facies of the Earp and equivalent Supai Formations (Arizona, New Mexico) to shed light on atmospheric circulation and glacial–interglacial climate change in westernmost equatorial Pangaea. Five silt‐rich facies comprise both loessite and marine and fluvially reworked loessite. An initial aeolian origin for the silt is indicated by the remarkably invariant grain size and the laterally continuous, sheet‐like geometry of beds. The silt‐rich facies occur in repetitive facies associations (1–20 m scale) that form mixed continental‐marine (loess, marine‐reworked loess), shallow‐marine, and continental (loess, palaeosol) ‘sequences’. Facies repetitions of both mixed continental‐marine and shallow‐marine sequences reflect a linked glacioeustatic–glacioclimatic control, whereas the continental (loess–palaeosol) couplets reflect a primary glacial–interglacial climatic cyclicity linked to glacioeustasy. Stratigraphic interpretations suggest that aeolian silt flux maximized during glacial to incipient interglacial stages (lowstand to early transgression), and decreased significantly or ceased during interglacials (highstand to early falling stage). Detrital‐zircon geochronological data indicate a transition from dominantly north‐easterly winds during the Middle Pennsylvanian to north‐westerly and south‐easterly winds by the Early Permian, which trend is inferred to reflect the onset of monsoonal circulation in western Pangaea. Relative grain‐size data support the detrital‐zircon data, and exhibit a significant decrease from the Sedona arch/Central Arizona shelf (north) to the Pedregosa basin (south) sections. Whole‐rock geochemical data suggest a relatively unweathered source for the silt in the north, and detrital‐zircon data indicate significant silt was derived from the local basement. These large piles of silt(stone) preserve valuable information for reconstructing both long‐term evolution in atmospheric circulation and short‐term fluctuations in glacial–interglacial climate. Many such indicators for long have been applied to ‘recent’ (Plio‐Pleistocene) loess, but are equally applicable to ‘deep‐time’ strata.     

The Petrology of the Rotoiti Eruption Sequence, Taupo Volcanic Zone: an Example of Fractionation and Mixing in a Rhyolitic System

The Rotoiti eruption from the Taupo Volcanic Zone (TVZ) in northernNew Zealand produced voluminous pyroclastic deposits. The ferromagnesianmineral assemblage in these dominantly consists of cummingtonite+ hornblende + orthopyroxene with uniform magnesium/iron ratios;a second assemblage of biotite + hornblende + orthopyroxene,also with uniform Fe/Mg ratios, appears midway through the eruptionsequence and, thereafter, increases in abundance. These contrastingmineral assemblages, together with pumice clast and groundmassglass compositions, provide evidence for mingling of two discretemagmas. Similarities in the chemical characteristics of thetwo magmas suggest that they developed from a similar source.The eruption initially tapped relatively homogeneous magma thatwas erupted throughout most of this phase of activity. The middlestages of the eruption included some mixed magma. The finalstages of the eruption were dominated by a second magma composition,which was probably injected into the bottom of the main magmabody as the eruption proceeded. The source that fed the eruptionwas complex, and discrete magma bodies existed and evolved separatelyprior to the eruption. We conclude that eruptions in the TVZare fed from a diffuse upper-crustal zone of partially interconnected,and at times physically separate, magma bodies rather than fromcentralized and necessarily large long-lived magma chambers. KEY WORDS: Taupo Volcanic Zone; Okataina Volcanic Centre; Rotoiti eruption; rhyolite system; magma mixing     

Petrology and Geochemistry of Volcan Cerro Azul: Petrologic Diversity among the Western Galapagos Volcanoes

Cerro Azul, one of the large shield volcanoes in the westernGalápagos archipelago, has erupted a wide range of tholeiiticto alkalic basalts. These diverse compositions include someof the most primitive yet reported from the western archipelagoand are unlike those of the other, well-studied, neighboringvolcanoes of Sierra Negra and Alcedo, which have erupted basaltof fairly uniform composition. Major- and trace-element modelingshows that Cerro Azul, Alcedo and Sierra Negra share a similardepth of melting and source composition. Modeling also revealsthat there are small, systematic differences in the extent ofpartial melting between the volcanoes that can be related totheir distance from the proposed plume center below the westernmostisland of Fernandina. However, even though melts segregatingfrom the plume in the western Galápagos reflect a narrowrange of temperatures and source compositions, there are widevariations in the enrichments of major and trace elements betweenCerro Azul, Alcedo and Sierra Negra that cannot be attributedto mantle processes. We believe the observed intershield geochemicaldifferences result from magma supply and cooling rates thatare unique to each volcano, and reflect the variations in lithospherictransport and storage processes across the western archipelago. KEY WORDS: basalt; Galápagos; magma supply; mantle plume; ocean island