Seasonality of microzooplankton grazing in the northern Wadden Sea

A sequence of nine dilution experiments was conducted according to Landry and Hassett [Landry, M.R., Hassett, R.P., 1982. Estimating the grazing impact of marine microzooplankton. Mar. Biol. 67, 283–288] in the northern Wadden Sea from March until October 2004 to investigate the seasonality of microzooplankton grazing. From March until April, no grazing was observed. Microzooplankton grazing started in May (0.66 d^− 1) and increased until August (1.22 d^− 1). In October microzooplankton grazing was low again (0.17 d^− 1). Phytoplankton growth rates varied between 0 and 1.1 d^− 1. Since the reliability of dilution experiments is still frequently discussed in literature, we tested if our data obtained by dilution experiments reflected short-term in situ phytoplankton dynamics of the study site. We scaled experimental growth rates to water column irradiance, calculated short-term chlorophyll-a dynamics and compared the results to in situ measured chlorophyll-a concentrations. Calculated chlorophyll-a concentrations correlated significantly with in situ measured chlorophyll-a concentrations but slightly overestimated the in situ measured chlorophyll-a. This overestimation was in the range of phytoplankton assimilation reported for the Wadden Sea benthos. We will show that microzooplankton grazing had a large impact during the Phaeocystis bloom and during summer suggesting that a large proportion of phytoplankton biomass remained the pelagic food web. Microzooplankton grazing did not impact the diatom spring bloom and its demise.     

Assessment of runoff,water and sediment quality in the Selenga River basin aided by a web-based geoservice

The Selenga River is the main artery feeding Lake Baikal. It has a catchment of ~450000 km² in the boundary region between Northern Mongolia and Southern Siberia. Climate, land use and dynamic socioeconomic changes go along with rising water abstractions and contaminant loads originating from mining sites and urban wastewater. In the future, these pressures might have negative impacts on the ecosystems of Lake Baikal and the Selenga River Delta, which is an important wetland region in itself and forms the last geobiochemical barrier before the Selenga drains into Lake Baikal. The following study aims to assess current trends in hydrology and water quality in the Selenga-Baikal basin, identify their drivers and to set up models (WaterGAP3 framework and ECOMAG) for the prediction of future changes. Of particular relevance for hydrological and water quality changes in the recent past were climate and land use trends as well as contaminant influx from mining areas and urban settlements. In the near future, additional hydrological modifications due to the construction of dams and abstractions/water diversions from the Selenga’s Mongolian tributaries could lead to additional alterations.     

A virtual element method for the two-phase flow of immiscible fluids in porous media

A primal C⁰-conforming virtual element discretization for the approximation of the bidimensional two-phase flow of immiscible fluids in porous media using general polygonal meshes is discussed. This work investigates the potentialities of the Virtual Element Method (VEM) in solving this specific problem of immiscible fluids in porous media involving a time-dependent coupled system of non-linear partial differential equations. The performance of the fully discrete scheme is thoroughly analysed testing it on general meshes considering both a regular problem and more realistic benchmark problems that are of interest for physical and engineering applications.

     

Multivariate return period for different types of flooding in city of Monza,Italy

Natural Hazards - The return period is a probabilistic criterion used to measure and communicate the random occurrence of geophysical events such as floods in risk assessment studies. Since an...     

Firm relocation as adaptive response to climate change and weather extremes

Growing scientific evidence suggests that human-induced climate change will bring about large-scale environmental changes such as sea-level rise and coastal flooding, extreme weather events and agricultural disruptions. The speed and extent of these changes and the expected impacts on social and corresponding economic and industrial systems are now moving to the forefront of debates. In this paper, we argue that climate change will lead to significant disruptions to firms which might ultimately create the necessity of a geographical shift of firm and industrial activities away from regions highly affected by climate change. Such a shift might become necessary due to (1) direct disruptions through climate change impacts on firm operations, for instance through droughts, floods, or sea level rise, and due to (2) disruptions in a firm's supplier, buyer or resource base that lead to flow-on effects and adverse consequences for a firm. We propose a framework for integrating firm relocation decisions into firm adaptive responses to climate change. The framework consists of three assessment steps: the level of risk from climate change impacts at a firm's location, the feasibility of relocation, and associated costs and benefits. We apply the framework to two case examples. The first case of electricity distribution firms in Victoria/Australia illustrates how the relocation (undergrounding) of cables could decrease the vulnerability of distribution networks to bushfires and the risk of electricity-caused fires, but would require significant investments. The second case of firms in the Australian pastoral industry points to geographic diversification of pastoral land holdings as possible adaptation option, but also to constraints in form of availability of suitable properties, ties to local communities, and adverse impacts on biodiversity. Implications for adaptation research and practice are outlined.     

Mississippian volcanism in the south-central Andes: New U–Pb SHRIMP zircon geochronology and whole-rock geochemistry

In the northern extension of the Famatina and the southern Puna (NW Argentina) prominent rhyolitic volcanic rocks traditionally referred to as Ordovician are exposed, resting on metamorphic basement and covered by thick Late Paleozoic siliciclastic successions. We report new U–Pb SHRIMP ages from these rhyolites that show them to be of Mississippian (348–342 Ma) age, thus identifying a previously unknown volcanic event in this portion of western Gondwana. Whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotopic analyses suggest a crustal source for these rocks but with a juvenile input (ε_Nd(t) between ? 2.91 and ? 0.3, and T_DM values between 1.09 and 1.1 Ga). This is different from the Early Paleozoic magmatism of western Argentina where crustal recycling took place without any involvement of mantle material. The Carboniferous magmatism is compatible with an extensional environment developed along the Terra Australis accretionary orogen as a result of tectonic switching processes. These rhyolites may be related to the coeval Mississippian A-type granites exposed to the east, in the Sierras Pampeanas, confirming the regional character of this magmatism.     

Opening a new window to other worlds with spectropolarimetry

A high level of diversity has already been observed among the planets of our own Solar System. As such, one expects extrasolar planets to present a wide range of distinctive features, therefore the characterisation of Earth- and super Earth-like planets is becoming of key importance in scientific research. The Search (Spectropolarimetric Exoplanet AtmospheRe CHaracerisation) mission proposal of this paper represents one possible approach to realising these objectives. The mission goals of Search include the detailed characterisation of a wide variety of exoplanets, ranging from terrestrial planets to gas giants. More specifically, Search will determine atmospheric properties such as cloud coverage, surface pressure and atmospheric composition, and may also be capable of identifying basic surface features. To resolve a planet with a semi major axis of down to 1.4 AU and 30 pc distant Search will have a mirror system consisting of two segments, with elliptical rim, cut out of a parabolic mirror. This will yield an effective diameter of 9 m along one axis. A phase mask coronagraph along with an integral spectrograph will be used to overcome the contrast ratio of star to planet light. Such a mission would provide invaluable data on the diversity present in extrasolar planetary systems and much more could be learned from the similarities and differences compared to our own Solar System. This would allow our theories of planetary formation, atmospheric accretion and evolution to be tested, and our understanding of regions such as the outer limit of the Habitable Zone to be further improved.     

Annual dynamics of pelagic primary production and respiration in a shallow coastal basin

The Wadden Sea (North Sea, Europe) is a shallow coastal sea with high benthic and pelagic primary production rates. To date, no studies have been carried out in the Wadden Sea that were specifically designed to study the relation between pelagic respiration and production by comparable methods. Because previous studies have suggested that the import of primary-produced pelagic organic matter is important for benthic Wadden Sea carbon budgets, we hypothesised that on an annual average the northern Wadden Sea water column is autotrophic. To test this hypothesis, we studied annual dynamics of primary production and respiration at a pelagic station in a shallow tidal basin (List Tidal Basin, northern Wadden Sea). Since water depth strongly influences production estimates, we calculated primary production rates per unit area in two ways: on the basis of the mean water depth (2.7 m) and on the basis of 1 m depth intervals and their respective spatial extent in the List Tidal Basin. The latter more precise estimate yielded an annual primary production of 146 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. Estimates based on the mean water depth resulted in a 40% higher annual rate of 204 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. The total annual pelagic respiration was 50 g C m^− 2 y^− 1. The P/R ratio varied between seasons: from February to October the water column was autotrophic, with the highest P/R ratio of 4–5 during the diatom spring bloom in April/May. In autumn and winter the water column was heterotrophic. On an annual average, the water column of the List Tidal Basin was autotrophic (P/R 3). We suggest that a large fraction of the pelagic produced organic matter was respired locally in the sediment.     

Geochemistry of the Drahotín and Mutěnín intrusions, West Bohemian shear zone, Bohemian massif: contrasting evolution of mantle-derived melts

In western Bohemia, the Drahotín (gabbro-diorite) and Mutěnín (gabbronorite-diorite-syenite) intrusions show different origins and patterns of geochemical evolution. Parental magmas of the Drahotín intrusion were derived predominantly from enriched mantle sources, and the melts have undergone a significant degree of assimilation-fractional crystallization (AFC) during their ascent and/or emplacement into the crust. In contrast, the compositional variation of the complex Mutěnín intrusion cannot be explained by simple AFC processes, but more likely reflects the involvement of several parental magmas. The gabbronorite was derived from a depleted mantle source, whereas the diorite/syenite stem from a mixed mantle-crust reservoir. The contrasting evolution of the Drahotín and Mutěnín intrusions may be due to their melt derivation and magma emplacement under different tectonothermal regimes at different times.