Analytical solutions for bacterial energy taxis (chemotaxis): Traveling bacterial bands

Motile bacteria may form bands that travel with a constant speed of propagation through a medium containing a dissolved substrate, to which they respond energy tactically. We generalize the analytical solution by Keller and Segel for such bands by accounting for (1) the presence of a porous medium, (2) substrate consumption described by a Monod kinetics model, and (3) an energy tactic response model derived by Rivero et al. Specifically, we determine the concentration profiles of the bacteria and the substrate. We also derive various expressions for the band velocity. The band velocity is also shown to equal the energy tactic velocity at the bacterial peak divided by tortuosity.     

Tropospheric parameters: combination studies based on homogeneous VLBI and GPS data

The combination of tropospheric parameters derived from different space-geodetic techniques has not been of large interest in geodesy so far. However, due to the high correlation between station coordinates and tropospheric parameters, the latter should not be neglected in combinations. This paper deals with the comparison and combination of tropospheric parameters derived from global positioning system (GPS) and very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) observations stemming from a 15-day campaign of continuous VLBI observations in 2002 (CONT02). The observation data of both techniques were processed homogeneously to avoid systematic differences between the solutions. We compared the tropospheric estimates of GPS and VLBI at eight co-location sites and found a very good agreement in the temporal behavior of the tropospheric zenith path delays (ZPD), reflected by correlation factors up to 0.98. Following this, a combination of the tropospheric parameters was performed. We demonstrate that the combination of tropospheric parameters leads to a stabilization of combined station networks. This becomes visible in the improvement of the repeatabilities of the station height components. Furthermore, the potential use of independent data from water vapor radiometers (WVRs) to validate space-technique-derived tropospheric parameters was investigated. Correlation coefficients of 0.95 or better were estimated between the tropospheric parameters of WVR and GPS or VLBI. Additionally, the utility of the tropospheric parameters for validation of local tie vectors was investigated. Both tropospheric zenith delays and tropospheric gradients were found to be very suitable to validate the height component and the horizontal components of the local tie, respectively.     

Debris flows triggered from non-stationary glacier lake outbursts: the case of the Teztor Lake complex (Northern Tian Shan,Kyrgyzstan)

One of the most far-reaching glacier-related hazards in the Tian Shan Mountains of Kyrgyzstan is glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) and related debris flows. An improved understanding of the formation and evolution of glacial lakes and debris flow susceptibility is therefore essential to assess and mitigate potential hazards and risks. Non-stationary glacier lakes may fill periodically and quickly; the potential for them to outburst increases as water volume may change dramatically over very short periods of time. After the outburst or drainage of a lake, the entire process may start again, and thus these non-stationary lakes are of particular importance in the region. In this work, the Teztor lake complex, located in Northern Kyrgyzstan, was selected for the analysis of outburst mechanisms of non-stationary glacial lakes, their formation, as well as the triggering of flows and development of debris flows and floods downstream of the lakes. The different Teztor lakes are filled with water periodically, and according to field observations, they tend to outburst every 9–10 years on average. The most important event in the area dates back to 1953, and another important event occurred on July 31, 2012. Other smaller outbursts have been recorded as well. Our study shows that the recent GLOF in 2012 was caused by a combination of intense precipitation during the days preceding the event and a rapid rise in air temperatures. Analyses of features in the entrainment and depositional zones point to a total debris flow volume of about 200,000 m³, with discharge ranging from 145 to 340 m³ s^?1 and flow velocities between 5 and 7 m s^?1. Results of this study are key for a better design of sound river corridor planning and for the assessment and mitigation of potential GLOF hazards and risks in the region.     

Review: Saltwater intrusion in fractured crystalline bedrock

Hydrogeology Journal - During the past few years, the number of regional and national assessments of groundwater quality in regard to saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers has increased steadily....     

New insights into lake responses to rapid climate change: the Younger Dryas in Lake Gościąż, central Poland

The sediment profile from Lake Gościąż in central Poland comprises a continuous, seasonally resolved and exceptionally well-preserved archive of the Younger Dryas (YD) climate variation. This provides a unique opportunity for detailed investigation of lake system responses during periods of rapid climate cooling (YD onset) and warming (YD termination). The new varve record of Lake Gościąż presented here spans 1662 years from the late Allerød (AL) to the early Preboreal (PB). Microscopic varve counting provides an independent chronology with a YD duration of 1149+14/–22 years, which confirms previous results of 1140±40 years. We link stable oxygen isotopes and chironomid-based air temperature reconstructions with the response of various geochemical and varve microfacies proxies especially focusing on the onset and termination of the YD. Cooling at the YD onset lasted ~180 years, which is about a century longer than the terminal warming that was completed in ~70 years. During the AL/YD transition, environmental proxy data lagged the onset of cooling by ~90 years and revealed an increase of lake productivity and internal lake re-suspension as well as slightly higher detrital sediment input. In contrast, rapid warming and environmental changes during the YD/PB transition occurred simultaneously. However, initial changes such as declining diatom deposition and detrital input occurred already a few centuries before the rapid warming at the YD/PB transition. These environmental changes likely reflect a gradual increase in summer air temperatures already during the YD. Our data indicate complex and differing environmental responses to the major climate changes related to the YD, which involve different proxy sensitivities and threshold processes.     

Cryptotephras in the Lateglacial ICDP Dead Sea sediment record and their implications for chronology

Due to a lack of visible tephras in the Dead Sea record, this unique palaeoenvironmental archive is largely unconnected to the well-established Mediterranean tephrostratigraphy. Here we present first results of the ongoing search for cryptotephras in the International Continental Drilling Program (ICDP) sediment core from the deep Dead Sea basin. This study focusses on the Lateglacial (~15–11.4 cal. ka BP), when Lake Lisan – the precursor of the Dead Sea – shrank from its glacial highstand to the Holocene low levels. We developed a glass shard separation protocol and counting procedure that is adapted to the extreme salinity and sediment recycling of the Dead Sea. Cryptotephra is abundant in the Dead Sea record (up to ~100 shards cm^-3), but often glasses are physically and/or chemically altered. Six glass samples from five tephra horizons reveal a heterogeneous geochemical composition, with mainly rhyolitic and some trachytic glasses potentially sourced from Italian, Aegean and Anatolian volcanoes. Most shards likely originate from the eastern Anatolian volcanic province and can be correlated using major element analyses with tephra deposits from swarm eruptions of the Süphan Volcano ~13 ka BP and with ashes from Nemrut Volcano, presumably the Lake Van V-16 volcanic layer at ~13.8 ka BP. In addition to glasses that match the TM-10-1 from Lago Grande di Monticchio (15 820±790 cal. a BP) tentatively correlated with the St. Angelo Tuff of Ischia, we further identified a cryptotephra with glass analyses which are chemically identical with those of the PhT1 tephra in the Philippon peat record (13.9–10.5 ka BP), and also a compositional match for the glass analyses of the Santorini Cape Riva Tephra (Y-2 marine tephra, 22 024±642 cal. a BP). These first results demonstrate the great potential of cryptotephrochronology in the Dead Sea record for improving its chronology and connecting the Levantine region to the Mediterranean tephra framework.     

Diversity of murtoos and murtoo-related subglacial landforms in the Finnish area of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet

Murtoos are recently discovered triangular-shaped subglacial landforms that form under warm-based ice and in association with significant subglacial meltwater flow. They appear in distinct fields and commonly occur in the area that was covered by the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet during glacial periods. Murtoos potentially represent a transition form from non-channelized to channelized subglacial drainage networks. In the present study, we analyse and classify murtoos and murtoo-related landforms in the Finnish area of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet based on their characteristics and appearance in LiDAR-based digital elevations models. Combined with morphometric analyses, the observations suggest that five types of murtoos and murtoo-related landforms are common and widespread in Finland: (i) triangle-type murtoos (TTMs), (ii) chevron-type murtoos (CTMs), (iii) lobate-type murtoos (LTMs), (iv) murtoo-related ridges and escarpments (MREs), and (v) other murtoo-related polymorphous landforms (PMRs) that look like small mounds and ridges. The morphometric characteristics of the different types are described here in detail, and it is shown that they are spatially and geomorphologically related. In addition, we provide examples of murtoos other than the TTMs to demonstrate that different murtoo types and murtoo-related landforms are composed of similar sediments and architectural characteristics. The diversity of murtoo landforms and the transition between distinct murtoo types indicate rapid and complicated variations in the configuration of subglacial hydrology at different spatial and temporal scales. This study emphasizes the essential role of subglacial meltwater in the shaping of glacial landscapes and the redistribution of large volumes of sediments during the deglaciation of the Fennoscandian Ice Sheet.     

Reliability-Based Serviceability Limit State Design of Driven Piles in Glacial Deposits

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The reliability-based design (RBD) was investigated in this study on the serviceability limit state of steel piles driven in glacial deposits. A database...