ALPINE AREAS IN THE COLORADO FRONT RANGE AS MONITORS OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND ECOSYSTEM RESPONSE*

ABSTRACT. The presence of a seasonal snowpack in alpine environments can amplify climate signals. A conceptual model is developed for the response of alpine ecosystems in temperate, midlatitude areas to changes in energy, chemicals, and water, based on a case study from Green Lakes Valley–Niwot Ridge, a headwater catchment in the Colorado Front Range. A linear regression shows the increase in annual precipitation of about 300 millimeters from 1951 to 1996 to be significant. Most of the precipitation increase has occurred since 1967. The annual deposition of inorganic nitrogen in wetfall at the Niwot Ridge National Atmospheric Deposition Program site roughly doubled between 1985–1988 and 1989–1992. Storage and release of strong acid anions, such as those from the seasonal snowpack in an ionic pulse, have resulted in episodic acidification of surface waters. These biochemical changes alter the quantity and quality of organic matter in high‐elevation catchments of the Rocky Mountains. Affecting the bottom of the food chain, the increase in nitrogen deposition may be partly responsible for the current decline of bighorn sheep in the Rocky Mountains.     

Late Proterozoic periglacial aeolian deposits on the West African Platform, Taoudeni Basin, western Mali

The Late Proterozoic Bakoye 3 Formation is a predominantly aeolian unit deposited in the glacially influenced cratonic Taoudeni Basin of western Africa. The Bakoye 3 can be divided into five distal units, two proximal units, and a local upper massive sandstone. The basal Unit 1 shows a complex interfingering of aeolian and subaqueous structures, and is interpreted as the precursor of the overlying erg sequences. Unit 2 consists of compound, trough cosets of aeolian cross-strata dominated by grain-flow strata. The unit is interpreted to represent draas with superimposed, small, crescentic dunes. A super bounding surface marks the termination and planation of the erg. Unit 3 is distinguished from the underlying Unit 2 by its larger, overall simple sets of trough cross-strata, interpreted to represent simple, large, crescentic dunes. Unit 4 occurs only locally in laterally discontinuous, large troughs. In one case the trough is filled by small sets of tabular cross-strata dominated by grain-flow deposits. At another section, wedges of coarse-grained wind-ripple strata fill the trough. Unit 4 may represent remnants of ergs or, more likely, local deposition in depressions. The depressions, in the latter scenario, formed with the development of a second super surface that truncates Unit 3. Unit 5 consists of very large sets of wind-ripple cross-strata with less common sets of grain-flow deposits. These deposits are believed to represent enormous dunes with large plinths and subordinate slip face development. A third super surface separates Unit 5 from overlying marine deposits. Together, Units 1–5 represent the core of the ergs in a distal position relative to adjacent upland source areas. Proximally, aeolian deposits are simple, smaller, trough sets interpreted as moderate sized crescentic dunes. Coarse-grained braided stream deposits are prominent. Locally, the top of the Bakoye 3 is marked by channelized mass-flow deposits containing aeolian blocks, and is believed to have resulted from iceberg grounding. An overall environment for the Bakoye 3 is one of uplands marked by ice sheets, with outwash plains extending distally to aeolian ergs. Super surfaces, all marked by polygonal fractures and coarsegrained sediment, represent periods of erg termination that may be linked to glacial-fluvial-aeolian cycles.     

Magnetotactic bacteria from the human gut microbiome associated with orientation and navigation regions of the brain

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Magnetotactic bacteria (MTB), ubiquitous in soil and fresh and saltwater sources have been identified in the microbiome of humans and many animals. MTB...     

EUV Full-Sun Imaged Spectral Atlas Using the SOHO Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer

The Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) carries out a regular program of measuring the full-disk irradiance using the Normal Incidence Spectrograph (NIS). The full-disk solar spectrum is returned in the wavelength bands 308–379 Å and 513–633 Å, with a spectral resolution between 0.3 and 0.6 Å. A recent modification to the CDS on-board software allows simultaneous moderate resolution monochromatic images to be made of the stronger lines in these wavelength ranges. We report on observations made 23 April 1998, 21 May 1998, and 22 June 1998. A total of 69 monochromatic full-Sun images are extracted from the spectral line data. For the first time, spectrally resolved images of the full Sun in Heii 303.8 Å and Sixi 303.3 Å are presented and compared. Velocity maps of the Sun in singly ionized helium are presented. Correlations of intensity to velocity over a wide range of transition region and coronal temperatures are shown. Lines from Hei to Fexiv show statistical red shifts of 1–7 km s^–1 between active regions and quiet Sun areas. Velocity maps of Mgix andx are presented, showing strong upflow and downflow regions associated with active regions, but not correlated with the brightest emission. Changes in line width are also presented in Hei, with discussion of similar features in other lines of comparable temperature. Corrections which need to be applied to CDS/NIS data to extract meaningful velocities and line widths are presented and discussed. The identifications of the lines in the CDS spectrum are examined. The spatial and spectral variation of the background component of the CDS spectrum is examined.     

Long-Term Evolution of Fluid-Rock Interactions in Magmatic Arcs: Evidence from the Ritter Range Pendant, Sierra Nevada, California, and Numerical Modeling

A record of > 100 million years of fluid flow, alteration,and metamorphism in the evolving Sierra Nevada magmatic areis preserved in metavolcanic rocks of the Ritter Range pendantand surrounding granitoids. The metavolcanic rocks consist of:(1) a lower section of mostly marine volcaniclastic rocks, lavas,and intercalated carbonate rocks that is Triassic to Jurassicin age, and (2) an upper section comprising a subaerial caldera-fillcomplex of mid-Cretaceous age. Late Cretaceous high-temperaturecontact metamorphism (2 kbar, >450–500C) occurredafter renewed normal faulting along the caldera-bounding faultsystem juxtaposed the two sections. The style and degree of alteration and ¹⁸O values differ amongthe rocks of the upper and lower sections and the granitoids.Rocks of the lower section show pervasive lithologically controlledalkali alteration, local Mn and Mg enrichment, and oxidation.Some ash flow tuffs now contain up to 10% K²O by weight. Therocks of the upper section show lesser extents of alkali alteration.Granitoids that cut both sections are generally unaltered. Mostmetavolcanic rocks of the lower section have high ¹⁸O values(+ 11 to + 16%; whole rock and quartz phenocrysts); however,lower-section rocks within the caldera-bounding fault systemhave low ¹⁸O values of + 4 to +7. The metavolcanic rocks ofthe upper section also have low ¹⁸O values of + 2 to + 7. Granitoidshave ¹⁸O values of + 7 to + 10, typical of unaltered Sierrangranitoids. The lower section contains discontinuous veins ofhigh-temperature (450–500C) calc-silicate minerals. Theseveins are typically <5 m long, do not cross intrusive contacts,and postdate the pervasive alkali alteration. Late veins aretypically > 10 m long, formed at temperatures of less than450–500C, and cross intrusive contacts. Veins have similar¹⁸O values to those of the local host rocks. The nature of the alteration and the high oxygen isotopic valuesof the rocks of the lower section indicate that these rocksinteracted extensively with seawater at temperatures <300C,probably in superposed marine hydrothermal systems associatedwith coeval volcanic centers. Metavolcanic rocks of the uppersection evidently interacted with meteorie waters, probablyin a hydrothermal system associated with the Cretaceous caldera;rocks of the lower section that were adjacent to the calderawere also affected by this alteration. The preservation of thesignatures of these earlier events, the nature of the earlyveins, and results from numerical models of hydrothermal flowthat include fluid production indicate that during progradecontact metamorphism, the rocks of the pendant primarily interactedwith locally derived fluids. Fluid flow was predominantly upwardand away from intrusive contacts and down-temperature. Permeabilitiesare estimated to have been between 0•1 and 1µD, whichis that necessary for maintenance of lithostatic fluid pressures.In hydrothermal models with such permeabilities, large-scalecirculation of meteoric fluids develops after prograde metamorphismceases. The nature of the late veins in the Ritter Range pendantsuggests that such a flow pattern evolved only after the pendantand granitoids had cooled below 450–500C. The long-termhistory of alteration documented in the Ritter Range pendantis probably typical of wall rocks in most batholiths *Present address: Department of Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85721     

LAND–USE CHANGES AND CONSERVATION OF THE HAWAI‘I ‘AMAKIHI

Hawai‘ian honeycreepers have undergone widespread extinction and population declines due to human disturbances, including habitat fragmentation, introduced predatory mammals, alien competitors, and introduced avian diseases. The Hawai‘i ‘amakihi (Hemignathus virens) is one of seven extant Hawai‘ian honeycreepers that, like all other native honey‐creepers, vanished from the low‐elevation native forests on the island of Hawai‘i due to these disturbances. But recent observations indicate that ‘amakihi have begun to recolonize low‐elevation forests in eastern Hawai‘i. In this article we discuss the current abundance of Hawai‘ian ‘amakihi in a suburban habitat on the island of Hawai‘i. We also examine the ‘amakihi's relative preference for native or exotic vegetation. Recolonization in low‐elevation habitats underscores the importance of the remaining native forests. However, concurrent with this recolonization, eastern Hawai‘i is undergoing a residential building boom that has resulted in increased deforestation and forest fragmentation. Thus the future of honeycreepers is uncertain, given the widespread environmental changes taking place in eastern Hawai‘i.