Population dynamics of cryptogenic calcarean sponges (Porifera,Calcarea) in Southeastern Brazil

The calcarean sponge Paraleucilla magna is classified as being an invasive species on the Mediterranean Sea, where it causes economic damages to mollusc farms. On the Brazilian coast, this species is considered to be cryptogenic, and information on its ecology is scarce. The same is true for Sycettusa hastifera, another calcarean sponge with a worldwide distribution. Data on the ecology of these species could help in elucidating their potential to become a threat if they are found to be exotic species in Brazil. In the present work, we studied habitat selection, growth and mortality of early juveniles of P. magna and habitat selection of S. hastifera in a Marine Reserve from Southeastern Brazil, where these species are abundant in the benthic community. Granite plates were used for habitat selection analysis, varying in substrate inclination (vertical and horizontal) and exposure to light and hydrodynamism (exposed and sheltered). To analyse the growth and mortality rates, sponges were mapped and then measured once a week for 10 weeks. If a monitored sponge was not found in the following week, it was considered to be dead. Our results showed that, although P. magna and S. hastifera are capable of inhabiting substrates exposed to different environmental conditions, they showed habitat preferences. Growth of the juveniles of P. magna seemed not to have damaged any neighbouring invertebrates. The mortality of juveniles of this species was higher during the first 2 weeks of life but its causes could not be elucidated.     

Can spatial statistics help decipher impact crater saturation?

Impact crater saturation equilibrium is a state where a surface is so densely cratered that a new crater cannot form without removing older craters and the observed crater density is in (quasi-)equilibrium. Whether densely cratered surfaces throughout the solar system are saturated for large, kilometer-sized craters has been debated for decades. This work explores if spatial statistics can provide insight if these crater distributions are in saturation equilibrium. The supposition is that crater distributions become more spatially uniform (more evenly spaced) as they reach saturation (Squyres et al. 1997 ). A numerical simulation of crater saturation is combined with observations of cratered terrains throughout the solar system to assess the utility of using spatial statistics. The numerical simulations examine spatial statistics and saturation equilibrium for crater distributions for various input population size-frequency distribution (SFD) slopes, along with a range in the effective crater erasure size, effectiveness of smaller craters erasing the rims of larger craters, and the amount of rim needed to recognize a crater. Simulations show that saturated terrains do become more spatially uniform, and that the degree of uniformity appears to be most dependent on the input SFD slope. When simulation results are compared to observed crater distributions, I find that large, kilometer-sized craters on densely cratered terrains throughout the solar system are likely in saturation equilibrium.     

Lunar motion: Theory and observations

Results of several fits of the lunar theory ELP 2000-82B and of Moons' theory of libration are presented. The theories are fitted both to JPL numerical integrations and to LLR observations     

Encounters with an unearthly mudstone: Understanding the first mudstone found on Mars

The Sheepbed mudstone forms the base of the strata examined by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater on Mars, and is the first bona fide mudstone known on another planet. From images and associated data, this contribution proposes a holistic interpretation of depositional regime, diagenesis and burial history. A lake basin probably received sediment pulses from alluvial fans. Bed cross‐sections show millimetre to centimetre‐scale layering due to distal pulses of fluvial sediment injections (fine‐grained hyperpycnites), fall‐out from river plumes, and some aeolian supply. Diagenetic features include mineralized synaeresis cracks and millimetre‐scale nodules, as well as stratiform cementation. Clay minerals were initially considered due to in situ alteration, but bulk rock chemistry and mineralogy suggests that sediments were derived from variably weathered source rocks that probably contained pre‐existing clay minerals. X‐ray diffraction analyses show contrasting clay mineralogy in closely spaced samples, consistent with at least partial detrital supply of clay minerals. A significant (ca 30 wt%) amorphous component is consistent with little post‐depositional alteration. Theoretical modelling of diagenetic reactions, as well as kinetic considerations, suggest that the bulk of diagenetic clay mineral formation occurred comparatively late in diagenesis. Diagenetic features (synaeresis cracks and nodules) were previously thought to reflect early diagenetic gas formation, but an alternative scenario of synaeresis crack formation via fabric collapse of flocculated clays appears more likely. The observed diagenetic features, such as solid nodules, hollow nodules, matrix cement and ‘raised ridges’ (synaeresis cracks) can be explained with progressive alteration of olivine/glass in conjunction with centrifugal and counter diffusion of reactive species. Anhydrite‐filled fractures in the Sheepbed mudstone occurred late in diagenesis when fluid pressures built up to exceed lithostatic pressure. Generating fluid overpressure by burial to facilitate hydraulic fracturing suggests a burial depth of at least 1000 m for the underlying strata that supplied these fluids.     

Soil paludification and Sphagnum bog initiation: the influence of indurated podzolic soil and fire

The initiation and growth of boreal peatlands developed on well‐drained, sandy landforms are closely associated with podzolic soil paludification processes. The origin of Sphagnum bogs extending on large deltaic plains was examined to test the hypothesis of the dual impact of indurated (ortstein) podzols and fire on forest soil paludification and concurrent peatland initiation and expansion. Mineral soil, basal organic matter and peat monoliths were sampled for soil and macrofossil analyses along an 800‐m toposequence starting from a mixed‐wood boreal forest to a Sphagnum bog (Lebel bog, eastern Quebec, Canada), and ending at a peat dome in the thickest section of the peatland. Mineral soils along the toposequence are ortstein humo‐ferric podzols distributed in the forest environment and beneath Sphagnum peat in the bog, except at the peat dome. Initial peatland growth occurred c. 6000 cal. a BP. Soil paludification coincided with the cessation of fire occurrence as recorded in the organic and mineral layers preceding Sphagnum expansion. Unlike most temperate and boreal raised bogs, the Sphagnum bog developed directly from a forest environment without passing through a transitional fen stage. Conifer forests regenerated successively after several fires between 4200 and 1600 cal. a BP before bog expansion. Pre‐bog forests were composed of fire‐prone black spruce (Picea mariana) and jack pine (Pinus banksiana) trees, and ericaceous species. Given the distribution and thickness of ortstein horizons progressively decreasing and disappearing towards the peatland dome, growth and expansion of the Sphagnum bog was not caused by soil induration processes, which could have potentially impeded vertical and horizontal drainage. The development of indurated podzols outside and several hundred metres inside the peatland preceded the initiation and expansion of the Sphagnum bog. Cessation of fire activity appears to be a key factor facilitating the lateral expansion of the Sphagnum bog under wet soil conditions.     

Paleowind velocity and paleocurrents of pluvial Lake Manly,Death Valley,USA

Pluvial lake deposits are found throughout western North America and are frequently used to reconstruct regional paleoclimate. In Death Valley, California, USA, we apply the beach particle technique (BPT) of Adams (2003), Sedimentology, 50, 565–577 and Adams (2004), Sedimentology, 51, 671–673 to Lake Manly deposits at the Beatty Junction Bar Complex (BJBC), Desolation Canyon, and Manly Terraces and calculate paleowind velocities of 14–27 m/s. These wind velocities are within the range of present-day wind velocities recorded in the surrounding area. Sedimentary structures and clast provenance at Desolation Canyon and the Manly Terraces indicate sediment transport from north to south. Lake level, based on the elevation of constructional features, indicates that the hill west of the BJBC was an island and that the BJBC spits formed during simple lake regression. The data are consistent with the hypothesis that the present wind regime (velocity and direction) formed the pluvial Lake Manly features.     

Sixty thousand years of magmatic volatile history before the caldera-forming eruption of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon

The well-documented eruptive history of Mount Mazama, Oregon, provides an excellent opportunity to use pre-eruptive volatile concentrations to study the growth of an explosive silicic magmatic system. Melt inclusions (MI) hosted in pyroxene and plagioclase crystals from eight dacitic–rhyodacitic eruptive deposits (71–7.7?ka) were analyzed to determine variations in volatile-element concentrations and changes in magma storage conditions leading up to and including the climactic eruption of Crater Lake caldera. Temperatures (Fe–Ti oxides) increased through the series of dacites, then decreased, and increased again through the rhyodacites (918–968 to ~950 to 845–895?°C). Oxygen fugacity began at nickel–nickel-oxide buffer (NNO) +0.8 (71?ka), dropped slightly to NNO +0.3, and then climbed to its highest value with the climactic eruption (7.7?ka) at NNO +1.1 log units. In parallel with oxidation state, maximum MI sulfur concentrations were high early in the eruptive sequence (~500?ppm), decreased (to ~200?ppm), and then increased again with the climactic eruption (~500?ppm). Maximum MI sulfur correlates with the Sr content (as a proxy for LREE, Ba, Rb, P₂O₅) of recharge magmas, represented by basaltic andesitic to andesitic enclaves and similar-aged lavas. These results suggest that oxidized Sr-rich recharge magmas dominated early and late in the development of the pre-climactic dacite–rhyodacite system. Dissolved H₂O concentrations in MI do not, however, correlate with these changes in dominant recharge magma, instead recording vapor solubility relations in the developing shallow magma storage and conduit region. Dissolved H₂O concentrations form two populations through time: the first at 3–4.6 wt% (with a few extreme values up to 6.1 wt%) and the second at ≤2.4 wt%. CO₂ concentrations measured in a subset of these inclusions reach up to 240?ppm in early-erupted deposits (71?ka) and are below detection in climactic deposits (7.7?ka). Combined H₂O and CO₂ concentrations and solubility models indicate a dominant storage region at 4–7?km (up to 12?km), with drier inclusions that diffusively re-equilibrated and/or were trapped at shallower depths. Boron and Cl (except in the climactic deposit) largely remained in the melt, suggesting vapor–melt partition coefficients and gas fractions were low. Modeled Li, F, and S vapor–melt partition coefficients are higher than those of B and Cl. The decrease in maximum MI CO₂ concentration following the earliest dacitic eruptions is interpreted to result from a broadening of the shallow storage region to greater than the diameter of subjacent feeders, so that greater proportions of reservoir magma were to the side of CO₂-bearing vapor bubbles ascending vertically from the locus of recharge magma injection, thereby escaping recarbonation by streaming vapor bubbles. The Mazama melt inclusions provide a picture of a growing magma storage region, where chemical variations in melt and magma occur due to changes in the nature and supply rate of magma recharge, the timing of degassing, and the possible degree of equilibration with gases from below.     

Coastal Habitat Use and Residency of Juvenile Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae)

Coastal habitat use and residency of a coastal bay by juvenile Atlantic sharpnose sharks, Rhizoprionodon terraenovae, were examined by acoustic monitoring, gillnet sampling, and conventional tag–recapture. Acoustic monitoring data were used to define the residency and movement patterns of sharks within Crooked Island Sound, Florida. Over 3 years, sharks were monitored for periods of 1–37 days, with individuals regularly moving in and out of the study site. Individual sharks were continuously present within the study site for periods of 1–35 days. Patterns of movement could not be correlated with time of day. Home range sizes were typically small (average?=?1.29 km²) and did not vary on a yearly basis. Gillnet sampling revealed that juvenile Atlantic sharpnose sharks were present in all habitat types found within Crooked Island Sound, and peaks in abundance varied depending on month within a year. Although telemetry data showed that most individuals remained within the study site for short periods of time before emigrating, conventional tag–recapture data indicates some individuals return to Crooked Island Sound after extended absences (maximum length?=?1,352 days). Although conventional shark nursery theory suggests small sharks remain in shallow coastal waters to avoid predation, juvenile Atlantic sharpnose sharks frequently exited from protected areas and appear to move through deeper waters to adjacent coastal bays and estuaries. Given the high productivity exhibited by this species, the benefit gained through a nursery that reduces predation may be limited for this species.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Deepwater Horizon</Emphasis> Oil Spill Impacts on Salt Marsh Fiddler Crabs (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Uca</Emphasis> spp.)

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was the largest marine oil spill in US waters to date and one of the largest worldwide. Impacts of this spill on salt marsh vegetation have been well documented, although impacts on marsh macroinvertebrates have received less attention. To examine impacts of the oil spill on an important marsh invertebrate and ecosystem engineer, we conducted a meta-analysis on fiddler crabs (Uca spp.) using published sources and newly available Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA) and Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI) data. Fiddler crabs influence marsh ecosystem structure and function through their burrowing and feeding activities and are key prey for a number of marsh and estuarine predators. We tested the hypothesis that the spill affected fiddler crab burrow density (crab abundance), burrow diameter (crab size), and crab species composition. Averaged across multiple studies, sites, and years, our synthesis revealed a negative effect of oiling on all three metrics. Burrow densities were reduced by 39 % in oiled sites, with impacts and incomplete recovery observed over 2010–2014. Burrow diameters were reduced from 2010 to 2011, but appeared to have recovered by 2012. Fiddler crab species composition was altered through at least 2013 and only returned to reference conditions where marsh vegetation recovered, via restoration planting in one case. Given the spatial and temporal extent of data analyzed, this synthesis provides compelling evidence that the Deepwater Horizon spill suppressed populations of fiddler crabs in oiled marshes, likely affecting other ecosystem attributes, including marsh productivity, marsh soil characteristics, and associated predators.