Summary results from a pilot study conducted around an oil production platform on the Northwest Shelf of Australia

The Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) conducted a pilot study around the Harriet A oil production platform on the Northwest Shelf of Australia. We evaluated hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) activity, fluorescent aromatic compounds (FACs) in bile and immunodetection of CYP1A-like proteins in two Australian tropical fish species, Gold-Spotted Trevally (Carangoides fulvoguttatus) and Bar-Cheeked Coral Trout (Plectropomus maculatus) to assess exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons associated with produced formation water (PFW). Additionally, the incidence of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria isolated from the liver and bile of all fish captured was examined. Low EROD activity was found in both species, with EROD activity in C. fulvoguttatus showing significant site differences. FACs and CYP1A protein levels in C. fulvoguttatus showed a clear trend in hydrocarbon exposure consistent with hydrocarbon chemistry data: Harriet A>Harriet C>reference site. P. maculatus showed elevated levels of FACs at Harriet A as compared to the reference site and demonstrated detectable levels of CYP1A-like proteins at these two sites. Hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria were found in the liver and bile of both species, yet there was no correlation by sites. Our results demonstrate that C. fulvoguttatus and P. maculatus have potential as indicator species for assessing the effects from exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons. Both FACs and CYP1A are providing warning signs that there is potential for biological effects on fish populations exposed to PFW around the Harriet A production platform.     

Interannual to decadal variations of precipitation and daily maximum and daily minimum temperatures in southern Brazil

The interannual to decadal variability of precipitation and daily maximum and daily minimum temperature (TMAX and TMIN) in southern Brazil for the 1913–2006 period is investigated using indices for these variables. Relations of these indices and the sea surface temperature (SST) variability in the eastern equatorial Pacific (Niño 3.4 index) and southwestern subtropical Atlantic (SSA index) are also investigated. Analyses are based on the Morlet wavelet transform. The interannual precipitation variability during the 1913–2006 period is mostly due to the high variances that occurred in specific sub-periods. The TMAX and TMIN indices also show significant interannual variability. The coherency and phase difference analyses of the precipitation index and the SST indices show higher coherency with the Niño 3.4 than with the SSA index. On the other hand, examining the coherencies and phase difference between the temperature indices and the SST indices, weaker coherencies with the Niño 3.4 index than with the SSA index are noted. These differences are discussed in the context of previous results. The new results here, with possible application for climate monitoring tasks, refer to the spectral differences between TMIN and TMAX.     

Determination of the onset dates of the rainy season in central Amazon with equatorially antisymmetric outgoing longwave radiation

The present work provides a new methodology to determine onset dates of the rainy season (ONR) in central Amazon (CAM) using the antisymmetric in relation to the equator outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) (AOLR) data, for the 1979–2006 period. Spatial averages of the AOLR ( $\overline {AOLR} $ ) over the CAM for the ONR periods are obtained. These periods correspond to 25 pentads centered on the mean pentad for the ONR. The sign changes from positive to negative of the $\overline {AOLR} $ for the ONR periods indicate the transition from dry to wet season. Composites of several variables are done for pentads before and after the ONR dates. These composites show physically consistent features. The potential of the $\overline {AOLR} $ time series as an index for monitoring tasks is analyzed. The results here show that the $\overline {AOLR} $ for the ONR period captures the transition from dry to wet conditions in the CAM area during 2006. The advantages of this method are discussed. The new simple method proposed here seems to be efficient in determining the ONR in the CAM.     

Temperature changes on the Tibetan Plateau during the past 600 years inferred from ice cores and tree rings

The climatological signal of δ¹⁸O variations preserved in ice cores recovered from Puruogangri ice field in the central Tibetan Plateau (TP) was calibrated with regional meteorological data for the past 50 years. For the period AD 1860–2000, 5-yearly averaged ice core δ¹⁸O and a summer temperature reconstruction derived from pollen data from the same ice core were compared. The statistical results provide compelling evidence that Puruogangri ice core δ¹⁸O variations represent summer temperature changes for the central TP, and hence regional temperature history during the past 600 years was revealed. A comparison of Puruogangri ice core δ¹⁸О with several other temperature reconstructions shows that broad-scale climate anomalies since the Little Ice Age occurred synchronously across the eastern and southern TP, and the Himalayas. Common cold periods were identified in the 15th century, 1625–1645 AD, 1660–1700 AD, 1725–1775 AD, 1795–1830 AD, 1850–1870 AD, 1890–1920 AD, 1940–1950 AD, and 1975–1985 AD. The period 1725–1775 AD was one of the most prolonged cool periods during the past 400 years and corresponded to maximum Little Ice Age glacier advance of monsoonal temperate glaciers of the TP.     

Accessory mineral U–Th–Pb ages and <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar eruption chronology,and their bearing on rhyolitic magma evolution in the Pleistocene Coso volcanic field,California

We determined Ar/Ar eruption ages of eight extrusions from the Pleistocene Coso volcanic field, a long-lived series of small volume rhyolitic domes in eastern California. Combined with ion-microprobe dating of crystal ages of zircon and allanite from these lavas and from granophyre geothermal well cuttings, we were able to track the range of magma-production rates over the past 650 ka at Coso. In ≤230 ka rhyolites we find no evidence of protracted magma residence or recycled zircon (or allanite) from Pleistocene predecessors. A significant subset of zircon in the ~85 ka rhyolites yielded ages between ~100 and 200 Ma, requiring that generation of at least some rhyolites involves material from Mesozoic basement. Similar zircon xenocrysts are found in an ~200 ka granophyre. The new age constraints imply that magma evolution at Coso can occur rapidly as demonstrated by significant changes in rhyolite composition over short time intervals (≤10’s to 100’s ka). In conjunction with radioisotopic age constraints from other young silicic volcanic fields, dating of Coso rhyolites highlights the fact that at least some (and often the more voluminous) rhyolites are produced relatively rapidly, but that many small-volume rhyolites likely represent separation from long-lived mushy magma bodies.     

Textured organic surfaces associated with the Ediacara biota in South Australia

The Ediacaran Period takes its name from the fossils of the Ediacara biota, which represent the first appearance of large and diverse assemblages of organisms in the fossil record. Although the global record of these distinctive body fossils is now well known, a previously unrecognized megascopic organic record of textured organic surfaces (TOS) occurs in the Ediacara biota. However, TOS is also a feature over a wider range of paleoenvironmental settings, where body fossils are unknown, in Ediacaran siliciclastic successions that have been studied in Australia, Namibia and western North America.Paleoecological analysis of successive bedding planes of strata from the late Ediacaran Rawnsley Quartzite in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, reveals that TOS represent the most common organic features in bedding-surface assemblages of the Ediacara biota. The TOS consist of preserved, patterned assemblages of textured organic mats, fibers and simple tubular body fossils. Complex Ediacara body fossils while striking for their distinctive body plans, and dominating some of the beds, are relatively minor components of combined overall surface area. Many elements of TOS have previously been miss-diagnosed as trace fossils, which are in practice limited to two or at most three morphotypes that indicate the presence of Bilateria. Although TOS represent a simpler grade of organismic construction than discrete and more complex Ediacara body fossils, they were preserved in a similar manner. Marked variability in all components of the biota between successive surfaces suggests that Ediacara ecologies fluctuated at short intervals despite an apparently consistent sedimentary regime.     

Chemical and chronologic complexity in the convecting upper mantle: Evidence from the Taitao ophiolite, southern Chile

Exposure of the ca. 6 Ma Taitao ophiolite, Chile, located 50 km south of the Chile Triple Junction, allows detailed chemical and isotopic study of rocks that were recently extracted from the depleted mantle source of mid-ocean ridge basalts (DMM). Ultramafic and mafic rocks are examined for isotopic (Os, Sr, Nd, and O), and major and trace element compositions, including the highly siderophile elements (HSE). Taitao peridotites have compositions indicative of variable extents of partial melting and melt extraction. Low δ¹⁸O values for most whole rock samples suggest some open-system, high-temperature water–rock interaction, most likely during serpentinization, but relict olivine grains have δ¹⁸O values consistent with primary mantle values. Most of the peridotites analyzed for Nd–Sr isotopes have compositions consistent with estimates for the modern DMM, although several samples are characterized by ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd indicative of crustal contamination, most likely via interactions with seawater. The peridotites have initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios that range widely from 0.1168 to 0.1288 (γ_Os = −8.0 to +1.1), averaging 0.1239 (γ_Os = −2.4), which is comparable to the average for modern abyssal peridotites. A negative correlation between the Mg^# of relict olivine grains and Os isotopic compositions of whole rock peridotites suggests that the Os isotopic compositions reflect primary mantle Re/Os fractionation produced by variable extents of partial melting at approximately 1.6 Ga. Recent re-melting at or near the spatially associated Chile Ridge further modified these rocks, and Re, and minor Pt and Pd were subsequently added back into some rocks by late-stage melt–rock or fluid–rock interactions.In contrast to the peridotites, approximately half of the mafic rocks examined have whole rock δ¹⁸O values within the range of mantle compositions, and their Nd and Sr isotopic compositions are all generally within the range of modern DMM. These rocks have initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratios, calculated for 6 Ma, that range from 0.126 (γ_Os = −1) to as high as 0.561 (γ_Os = +342). The Os isotopic systematics of each of these rocks may reflect derivation from mixed lithologies that include the peridotites, but may also include pyroxenites with considerably more radiogenic Os than the peridotites. This observation supports the view that suprachondritic Os present in MORB derives from mixed mantle source lithologies, accounting for some of the worldwide dichotomy in ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os between MORB and abyssal peridotites.The collective results of this study suggest that this >500 km³ block of the mantle underwent at least two stages of melting. The first stage occurred at 1.6 Ga, after which the block remained isolated and unmixed within the DMM. A final stage of melting recently occurred at or near the Chile Ridge, resulting in the production of at least some of the mafic rocks. Convective stirring of this mantle domain during a >1 Ga period was remarkably inefficient, at least with regard to Os isotopes.     

Model-based remote sensing algorithms for particulate organic carbon (POC) in the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

Hydrographic data, including particulate organic carbon (POC) from the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico (NEGOM) study, were combined with remotely-sensed SeaWiFS data to estimate POC concentration using principal component analysis (PCA). The spectral radiance was extracted at each NEGOM station, digitized, and averaged. The mean value and spurious trends were removed from each spectrum. De-trended data included six wavelengths at 58 stations. The correlation between the weighting factors of the first six eigenvectors and POC concentration were applied using multiple linear regression. PCA algorithms based on the first three, four, and five modes accounted for 90, 95, and 98% of total variance and yielded significant correlations with POC with R ² = 0.89, 0.92, and 0.93. These full waveband approaches provided robust estimates of POC in various water types. Three different analyses (root mean square error, mean ratio and standard deviation) showed similar error estimates, and suggest that spectral variations in the modes defined by just the first four characteristic vectors are closely correlated with POC concentration, resulting in only negligible loss of spectral information from additional modes. The use of POC algorithms greatly increases the spatial and temporal resolution for interpreting POC cycling and can be extrapolated throughout and perhaps beyond the area of shipboard sampling.     

The Fernow Experimental Forest,West Virginia,USA: Insights,datasets, and opportunities

Long-term experimental watershed studies have significantly influenced our global understanding of hydrological processes. The discovery and characterization of how stream water quantity and quality respond to a changing environment (e.g. land-use change, acidic deposition) has only been possible due to the establishment of catchments devoted to long-term study. One such catchment is the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) located in the headwaters of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, a region that provides essential freshwater ecosystem services to eastern and mid-western United States communities. Established in 1934, the FEF is among the earliest experimental watershed studies in the Eastern United States that continues to address emergent challenges to forest ecosystems, including climate change and other threats to forest health. This data note describes available data and presents some findings from more than 50 years of hydrologic research at the FEF. During the first few decades, research at the FEF focused on the relationship between forest management and hydrological processes—especially those related to the overall water balance. Later, research included the examination of interactions between hydrology and soil erosion, biogeochemistry, N-saturation, and acid deposition. Hydro-climatologic and water quality datasets from long-term measurements and data from short-duration studies are publicly available to provide new insights and foster collaborations that will continue to advance our understanding of hydrology in forested headwater catchments. As a result of its rich history of research and abundance of long-term data, the FEF is positioned to continue to advance understanding of forest ecosystems in a time of unprecedented change.