Vertical distribution of trace elements in the surface waters offshore Nova Scotia

Concentrations of the trace elements Fe, Al, Mn, Cu, Cd, Zn and Ni were measured in shallow vertical profiles (maximum depth 500 m) off the Scotian Shelf in the western North Atlantic. The distributions of the trace elements show variations with depth, the most consistent of which are for Fe and Zn. A minimum concentration near the surface followed by an increase with depth is attributed to in situ mechanisms.     

Li and B isotopic variations in an Allende CAI: Evidence for the in situ decay of short-lived Be and for the possible presence of the short-lived nuclide Be in the early solar system

The concentrations and isotopic compositions of lithium, beryllium, and boron, analyzed in situ by ion microprobe in 66 spots of a type B1 Ca-Al-rich inclusion (CAI 3529-41) from the Allende meteorite, are reported. Large variations are observed for both the Li and the B isotopic ratios with ⁷Li/⁶Li ranging from 9.2 ± 0.22 to 12.22 ± 0.43 (a ≈250‰ range in δ⁷Li values) and ¹⁰B/¹¹B ranging from 0.2468 ± 0.0057 to 0.4189 ± 0.0493 (a 410‰ range in δ¹¹B values). The very low Li concentrations (<1 ppb) observed in several anorthite and fassaite grains require that a correction for the contribution of spallogenic Li produced during irradiation of the Allende meteoroid by galactic cosmic rays (GCR) be made (after this correction ⁷Li/⁶Li ranges from 9.2 ± 0.22 to 13.44 ± 0.56, i.e., a ≈350‰ range in δ⁷Li values). In 3529-41, the ¹⁰B/¹¹B ratios are positively correlated with ⁹Be/¹¹B in a manner indicating the in situ decay of short-lived ¹⁰Be (half-life = 1.5 Ma) with a ¹⁰Be/⁹Be ratio at the time of formation of the CAI of 8.8 ± 0.6 × 10⁻⁴, which is in agreement with previous findings [McKeegan, K.D., Chaussidon, M., Robert, F., 2000. Incorporation of short-lived ¹⁰Be in a calcium-aluminum-rich inclusion from the Allende meteorite. Science289, 1334-1337]. The present detailed investigation demonstrates that only minor perturbations of the ¹⁰Be-¹⁰B system are present in 3529-41, contrary to the ²⁶Al/²⁶Mg system for which numerous examples of isotopic redistribution following crystallization were observed [Podosek, F.A., Zinner, E.K., MacPherson, G.J., Lundberg, L.L., Brannon, J.C., Fahey, A.J., 1991. Correlated study of initial ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and Al-Mg systematics and petrologic properties in a suite of refractory inclusions from the Allende meteorite. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta55, 1083-1110]. Petrographically based criteria were developed to identify within the 66 analyzed spots in 3529-41, those where post-magmatic perturbation of the Li and Be distributions occurred. Li and Be concentrations measured in different analytical spots are compared with those predicted by using experimentally determined partition coefficients according to a model of closed-system crystallization of the CAI melt. These criteria show that 56% of the spots in melilite, 38% in anorthite, and 8% in fassaite suffered post-crystallization perturbations of Li and/or Be distributions. In the remaining spots, which do not show obvious indication of redistribution of Li or Be, the ⁷Li/⁶Li isotopic variations (corrected for GCR exposure) are positively correlated with⁹Be/⁶Li suggesting the in situ decay of now-extinct ⁷Be. The derived isochron implies that at the time of its formation, the CAI melt had a ⁷Be/⁹Be ratio of 0.0061 ± 0.0013 and a ⁷Li/⁶Li ratio of 11.49 ± 0.13. In contrast, all the spots in 3529-41, which do show evidence for post-magmatic redistribution of Li and Be, have relatively constant ⁷Li/⁶Li, averaging 11.72 ± 0.56, which is consistent with mass balance calculations for Li isotopic homogenization in the CAI after the decay of ⁷Be. The incorporation of live ⁷Be in 3529-41 requires, because of the very short half-life of this nuclide (53 days), that it be produced essentially contemporaneously with the formation of the CAI. Therefore, the irradiation processes responsible for production of ⁷Be must have occurred within the solar accretion disk. Calculations developed in the framework of the x-wind model [Gounelle, M., Shu, F.H., Shang, H., Glassgold, A.E., Rehm, E.K., Lee, T., 2004. The origin of short-lived radionuclides and early Solar System irradiation (abstract). Lunar Planet. Sci.35, 1829] reproduce the ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be abundances observed in 3529-41. The correlated presence of ⁷Be and ¹⁰Be in 3529-41 is thus a strong argument that ¹⁰Be, which is observed rather ubiquitously in CAIs, is also a product of irradiation in the early solar system, as might be a significant fraction of other short-lived radionuclides observed in early solar system materials.     

A Comparison between WCS and OPeNDAP for Making Model Results and Data Products Available through the Internet

Numerical models produce output with a large number of variables, grid cells and time steps. The same applies to algorithms that produce gridded datasets from sparse or abundant raw data. Further use of the resulting data products has been challenging, especially for dissemination outside the institute of origin. Due to the gradually increasing size of data products, simply downloading copies of them is becoming impossible. A gradual transition from traditional download methods to web services is therefore observed. Web services allow for on‐the‐fly access to subsets of data that were hitherto considered as indivisible granules. Here we compare the most mature candidates to serve gridded data through the web: the Open‐source Project for a Network Data Access Protocol (OPeNDAP) and Web Coverage Service (WCS) protocols. In the framework of the new Dutch National Model and Data Centre (NMDC.eu) a distributed data storage has been created by coupling OPeNDAP servers. A WCS service layer is provided for the same data. This allows us to compare OPeNDAP and WCS. Using several use cases, we compare the usability, performance and features of the two protocols.     

Freshwater geographies: Experimenting with knowing and doing geography differently

The fair and effective governance of freshwater is an increasingly prominent issue in New Zealand. Emerging from a complex of cultural, economic and biophysical narratives, freshwater geographies are multiple, varied and increasingly acknowledged as worthy of interdisciplinary scrutiny. In this commentary, we reflect on a series of generative spaces that we – as group of postgraduate geographers (plus supporting staff) – created to engage with the multiplicity of freshwater meanings both within and beyond the academy. Through this evolving epistemic‐political project, we significantly reframed our own understandings about what freshwater ‘is’ and how it ought to be governed. By pursuing a deeper understanding of how the world gets made, we expand our ability to know and make it differently.     

Subgrid-Scale Dynamics of Water Vapour, Heat, and Momentum over a Lake

We examine the dynamics of turbulence subgrid (or sub-filter) scales over a lake surface and the implications for large-eddy simulations (LES) of the atmospheric boundary layer. The analysis is based on measurements obtained during the Lake-Atmosphere Turbulent EXchange (LATEX) field campaign (August–October, 2006) over Lake Geneva, Switzerland. Wind velocity, temperature and humidity profiles were measured at 20 Hz using a vertical array of four sonic anemometers and open-path gas analyzers. The results indicate that the observed subgrid-scale statistics are very similar to those observed over land surfaces, suggesting that the effect of the lake waves on surface-layer turbulence during LATEX is small. The measurements allowed, for the first time, the study of subgrid-scale turbulent transport of water vapour, which is found to be well correlated with the transport of heat, suggesting that the subgrid-scale modelling of the two scalars may be coupled to save computational resources during LES.     

A Hybrid Spectral/Finite-Volume Algorithm for Large-Eddy Simulation of Scalars in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer

Pseudospectral methods are frequently used in the horizontal directions in large-eddy simulation of atmospheric flows. However, the same approach often creates unphysical oscillations for scalar fields if there are horizontal heterogeneities in the sources and/or sinks, as is usual in air pollution problems. A hybrid approach is developed to combine the use of pseudospectral representation of the velocity field and bounded finite-volumes for the scalar concentration. An interpolation scheme that yields a divergence-free interpolated velocity field is derived and implemented, and its importance is illustrated by two sample applications.     

Worst case scenario as stakeholder decision support: a 5- to 6-m sea level rise in the Rhone delta, France

Risk policy and public attitudes appear disconnected from research predicting warmer climate partially due to human activity. To step out of this stalled situation, a worst case scenario of a 5- to 6-m sea level rise (SLR) induced by the collapse of the WAIS and occurring during the period 2030–2130 is constructed and applied to the Rhone delta. Physical and socio-economic scenarios developed with data from the Rhone delta context are developed and submitted to stakeholders for a day-long workshop. Group process analysis shows a high level of trust and cooperation mobilized to face the 5–6 m SLR issue, despite potentially diverging interests. Two sets of recommendations stem from the scenario workshop. A conservative “wait and see” option is decided when the risk of the WAIS collapse is announced in 2030. After WAIS collapse generates an effective 1 m SLR rise by 2050, decisions are taken for total retreat and rendering of the Rhone delta to its hydrological function. The transposition of these results into present-day policy decisions could be considered. The methodology developed here could be applied to other risk objects and situations, and serve for policy exercises and crisis prevention.     

The gravitational wave background from star–massive black hole fly-bys

Stars on eccentric orbits around a massive black hole (MBH) emit bursts of gravitational waves (GWs) at periapse. Such events may be directly resolvable in the Galactic Centre. However, if the star does not spiral in, the emitted GWs are not resolvable for extragalactic MBHs, but constitute a source of background noise. We estimate the power spectrum of this extreme mass ratio burst background (EMBB) and compare it to the anticipated instrumental noise of the Laser Interferometer Space Antenna (LISA). To this end, we model the regions close to an MBH, accounting for mass segregation, and for processes that limit the presence of stars close to the MBH, such as GW inspiral and hydrodynamical collisions between stars. We find that the EMBB is dominated by GW bursts from stellar mass black holes, and the magnitude of the noise spectrum  ( fS _GW)^1/2  is at least a factor of ∼10 smaller than the instrumental noise. As an additional result of our analysis, we show that LISA is unlikely to detect relativistic bursts in the Galactic Centre.