The effect of the dominant polychaete Scolelepis squamata on nematode colonisation in sandy beach sediments: An experimental approach

The effect of an abundant sandy beach polychaete, Scolelepis squamata, on the colonisation of defaunated sediments by marine nematodes indicates that sandy beach fauna can be partially controlled by biological interactions within and across size groups. Experimental cores, equipped with windows allowing infaunal colonisation, were filled with defaunated sandy beach sediment containing two different treatments with and without S. squamata. These cores were inserted into microcosms filled with sediment with indigenous meiofauna collected from the field. The treatments were incubated in the laboratory at ambient temperature and salinity for 2, 7, 14 and 21 days, in order to follow the colonisation process of the defaunated sediments by the indigenous nematode fauna over time. Nematodes initially colonised both treatments, with abundances of up to 10% of the densities in the control; after 2 weeks, nematode densities in the cores without S. squamata surpassed the control densities. Nematode assemblages in both treatments were not species rich, and also differed in composition from the natural assemblages. The most successful colonising species, Enoplolaimus litoralis, was rare in the surrounding sediment, suggesting that colonisation was determined by species-specific characteristics such as body size, motility and feeding strategy. Initially the presence of macrofauna did not affect the nematode community composition, but after 2 weeks of the experiment, the presence of the polychaete seemed to facilitate the earlier establishment of non-opportunistic species.     

Deep-sea nematode assemblage has not recovered 26 years after experimental mining of polymetallic nodules (Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, Tropical Eastern Pacific)

We investigated nematode assemblages inhabiting the 26-year-old track created by experimental deep-sea mining of polymetallic nodules, and two adjacent, undisturbed sites, one with nodules and one without nodules. The aim was to compare density, assemblage structure, and diversity indices in order to assess the process of recovery of the nematode assemblage inhabiting the disturbed site. This experimental dredging was conducted in 1978 by the Ocean Minerals Company (USA) in the area of a French mining claim in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone (Tropical Eastern Pacific) at a depth of about 5000 m. The nematode assemblage had not returned its initial state 26 years after the experimental dredging: the total nematode density and biomass within the dredging track were significantly lower than outside the track; the biodiversity indices showed significantly lower nematode diversity within the track; and the structure of the nematode assemblage within the track differed significantly from those in the two undisturbed sites outside the track. However, there were no significant differences in the mean body volumes of adult nematodes and adult-juvenile ratios between the track and reference sites. Parameters such as the rate of sediment restoration (which depends on local hydrological conditions) and the degree and character of the disturbance appeared to be of considerable importance for the recovery rate of the deep-sea nematode assemblages and their ability to recolonize disturbed areas. The rates of recolonization and recovery may vary widely in different deep-sea regions.     

The heating history of Vesta and the onset of differentiation

In this work, we study the link between the evolution of the internal structure of Vesta and thermal heating due to ²⁶Al and ⁶⁰Fe and long‐lived radionuclides, taking into account the chemical differentiation of the body and the affinity of ²⁶Al with silicates. We explored several thermal and structural scenarios differing in the available strength of energy due to the radiogenic heating and in the postsintering macroporosity. By comparing them with the data supplied by the HEDs and the Dawn NASA mission, we use our results to constrain the accretion and differentiation time as well as the physical properties of the core. Differentiation takes place in all scenarios in which Vesta completes its accretion in <1.4 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al into the solar nebula. In all those scenarios where Vesta completes its formation in <1 Ma from the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting reaches 100 vol% throughout the whole asteroid. If Vesta completed its formation between 1 and 1.4 Ma after ²⁶Al injection, the degree of silicate melting exceeds 50 vol% over the whole asteroid, but reaches 100 vol% only in the hottest, outermost part of the mantle in all scenarios where the porosity is lower than 5 vol%. If the formation of Vesta occurred later than 1.5 Ma after the injection of ²⁶Al, the degree of silicate melting is always lower than 50 vol% and is limited only to a small region of the asteroid. The radiation at the surface dominates the evolution of the crust, which ranges in thickness from 8 to about 30 km after 5 Ma: a layer about 3–20 km thick is composed of primitive unmelted chondritic material, while a layer of about 5–10 km is eucritic.     

Petrogenetic links between lepidolite-subtype aplite-pegmatite,aplite veins and associated granites at Segura (central Portugal)

In the Segura area, Variscan S-type granites, aplite veins and lepidolite-subtype granitic aplite-pegmatite veins intruded the Cambrian schist-metagraywacke complex. The granites are syn D3. Aplite veins also intruded the granites. Two-mica granite and muscovite granite have similar ages of 311.0 ± 0.5 Ma and 312.9 ± 2.0 Ma but are not genetically related, as indicated by their geochemical characteristics and (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)₃₁₁ values. They correspond to distinct pulses of magma derived by partial melting of heterogeneous metapelitic rocks. Major and trace elements suggest fractionation trends for: (a) muscovite granite and aplite veins; (b) two-mica granite and lepidolite-subtype aplite-pegmatite veins, but with a gap in most of these trends. Least square analysis for major elements, and modeling of trace elements, indicate that the aplite veins were derived from the muscovite granite magma by fractional crystallization of quartz, plagioclase, K-feldspar and ilmenite. This is supported by the similar (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)₃₁₁ and δ¹⁸O values and the behavior of P₂O₅ in K-feldspar and albite. The decrease in (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr)₃₁₁ and strong increase (1.6‰) in δ¹⁸O from two-mica granite to lepidolite-subtype aplite-pegmatite veins, and the behaviors of Ca, Mn and F of hydroxylapatite indicate that these veins are not related to the two-mica granite.     

It starts at home? Climate policies targeting household consumption and behavioral decisions are key to low-carbon futures

Through their consumption behavior, households are responsible for 72% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, they are key actors in reaching the 1.5 °C goal under the Paris Agreement. However, the possible contribution and position of households in climate policies is neither well understood, nor do households receive sufficiently high priority in current climate policy strategies. This paper investigates how behavioral change can achieve a substantial reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in European high-income countries. It uses theoretical thinking and some core results from the HOPE research project, which investigated household preferences for reducing emissions in four European cities in France, Germany, Norway and Sweden. The paper makes five major points: First, car and plane mobility, meat and dairy consumption, as well as heating are the most dominant components of household footprints. Second, household living situations (demographics, size of home) greatly influence the household potential to reduce their footprint, even more than country or city location. Third, household decisions can be sequential and temporally dynamic, shifting through different phases such as childhood, adulthood, and illness. Fourth, short term voluntary efforts will not be sufficient by themselves to reach the drastic reductions needed to achieve the 1.5 °C goal; instead, households need a regulatory framework supporting their behavioral changes. Fifth, there is a mismatch between the roles and responsibilities conveyed by current climate policies and household perceptions of responsibility. We then conclude with further recommendations for research and policy.     

An amalgamated meter-thick sedimentary package enabled by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami in El Garrapatero,Galapagos Islands

Tsunamis and storms instigate sedimentological and geomorphological changes to the coastal system, both long-term and ephemeral. To accurately predict future coastal hazards, one must identify the records that are generated by the processes associated with these hazards and recognize what will be preserved. Using eyewitness accounts, photographs, and sedimentology, this study documents pre- and post-tsunami conditions and constrains the timing and process of depositional events during and following the 11 March 2011 Tohoku tsunami in the coastal system at El Garrapatero, Galapagos Islands. While the tsunami acted as both an erosional and depositional agent, the thick, fan-like sand sheet in El Garrapatero was primarily emplaced by overwash deposition during high tide from swell waves occurring between 19–25 March and 17–22 April 2011. The swell waves were only able to access the terrestrial coastal system via a channel carved by the 2011 Tohoku tsunami through the barrier sand dune. This combined deposit could result in an overestimation of the hazard if interpreted to be the result of only one event (either tsunami or wind-generated waves). An analogous sand layer, younger than 1390–1530 cal yr BP, may record a similar, prior event.     

Impact of the 11 March 2011, Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami on the chemical industry

The Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami damaged or destroyed many industrial facilities housing or processing hazardous substances, such as refineries, petrochemical facilities and other types of chemical industry. This showed that also generally well prepared countries are at risk of suffering natural hazard triggered technological (Natech) accidents. An analysis of data collected from open sources and through interviews with authorities was performed to understand the main reasons for the industrial damage and downtime as well as the extent of hazardous-materials releases and the associated impact on society. The analysis of the data set confirmed the findings from other studies with respect to main damage and failure modes, as well as hazardous-materials release paths. In addition, gaps in Natech risk management were identified. Based on the data analysis and interviews lessons learned in support of a more far-reaching Natech risk management are presented.     

Non-parametric Bayesian networks for parameter estimation in reservoir simulation: a graphical take on the ensemble Kalman filter (part I)

Reservoir simulation models are used both in the development of new fields and in developed fields where production forecasts are needed for investment decisions. When simulating a reservoir, one must account for the physical and chemical processes taking place in the subsurface. Rock and fluid properties are crucial when describing the flow in porous media. In this paper, the authors are concerned with estimating the permeability field of a reservoir. The problem of estimating model parameters such as permeability is often referred to as a history-matching problem in reservoir engineering. Currently, one of the most widely used methodologies which address the history-matching problem is the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF). EnKF is a Monte Carlo implementation of the Bayesian update problem. Nevertheless, the EnKF methodology has certain limitations that encourage the search for an alternative method.For this reason, a new approach based on graphical models is proposed and studied. In particular, the graphical model chosen for this purpose is a dynamic non-parametric Bayesian network (NPBN). This is the first attempt to approach a history-matching problem in reservoir simulation using a NPBN-based method. A two-phase, two-dimensional flow model was implemented for a synthetic reservoir simulation exercise, and initial results are shown. The methods’ performances are evaluated and compared. This paper features a completely novel approach to history matching and constitutes only the first part (part I) of a more detailed investigation. For these reasons (novelty and incompleteness), many questions are left open and a number of recommendations are formulated, to be investigated in part II of the same paper.     

Iron-hydroxide clogging of public supply wells receiving artificial recharge: near-well and in-well hydrological and hydrochemical observations

Clogging of water wells by iron-hydroxide incrustations due to mixing of anoxic and oxic groundwater is a common well-ageing problem. The relation between well operation (on and off), the spatial and temporal variations in hydrochemistry outside and inside a supply well, and the distribution of clogging iron-hydroxides were studied in an artificial recharge well field in the Netherlands. Camera inspection, high-resolution multi-level water sampling outside the well and detailed in-well pH/EC/O₂ profiles revealed remarkable patterns. During pumping, the top of the upper well screen abstracted oxic filtrate, although the larger part of the in-well water column was anoxic. The column rapidly turned oxic after shutdown due to a downward short-circuiting of oxic water via the well. Within 15 d it became anoxic due to the slow advance of anoxic lake filtrate created by local changes in flow direction as the neighboring wells continued to pump. Severe clogging occurred where the oxic filtrate entered the well, while half-clogging of the upper well screen occurred due to less inflow of oxic filtrate on the lake side. Transport of iron flocs and bacterial slimes after shutdown seemed to clog the lower part of the well screen. Frequent on/off switching should be avoided in iron-clogged wells.