Charcoal morphotypes in lake sediments from British Columbia (Canada): an assessment of their utility for the reconstruction of past fire and precipitation

Quantitative analysis of variations in morphological types of charcoal were undertaken in sediment cores from three lakes on the Interior Plateau (BC, Canada) over the period AD 1919–2000. Seven distinct morphological types of charcoal were identified based on particle shape and structural features and were compared with seasonal precipitation and recorded area burned within 20 km-radius of study lakes. Fragile-type charcoal fragments, termed type M, displayed significant relationships to recorded area burned in sediment cores from Prosser (r ² = 0.5; p = 0.0001) and Opatcho (r ² = 0.2; p = 0.02) lakes. However, nonsignificant correlations (p > 0.05) were found between total charcoal and area burned. Robust and highly elongated morphotypes C and F were correlated to recorded spring precipitation (r ² = 0.5; p = 0.002) in Opatcho Lake. Charcoal from a sediment core from Big Lake, the lake with the largest watershed, was significantly but inversely related to past fires (r ² = 0.44; p = 0.0003), suggesting important contributions from secondary transportation and deposition. Models were developed to infer relative area burned and precipitation for the study lakes. Our results suggest that charcoal morphotypes are related to the biogeoclimatic and lake watershed characteristics. This study also suggest that charcoal morphotypes can provide insights on past fire and climate, which was not possible based on traditional analysis of total charcoal.     

Characteristics of the active-layer under the China-Russia Crude Oil pipeline

Active layer is a key component for permafrost environment studies as many subsurface biological,biogeochemical,ecological,and pedogenic activities prevail in this layer.This study focuses on active layer temperature monitoring in an area with sporadic permafrost at two adjacent sites along China-Russia Crude Oil Pipeline(CRCOP),NorthEast China.Site T1 is located in disturbed ground on the right-of-way(on-ROW)2 m away from the center of the oil pipeline.T2 is located in a natural and undisturbed site,around 16.6 m off-ROW.Our objective was to study seasonal variability of the active layer depth and thermal regime from October 2017 to September 2018.The monitoring sites consist of soil temperature probes arranged in a vertical array at different depths at both sites.The following parameters were computed:number of isothermal days(ID),freezing days(FD),thawing days(TD),freezing degree days(FDD),thawing degree days(TDD),number of freeze-thaw days(FTD).The mean air temperature in the monitoring period reached-3.2℃.The temperature profile indicates that the maximum active layer thickness observed during the study period was 10 m at T1 and 2 m at T2.The majority of the soil temperatures were above or close to 0℃,resulting in great values of TDD,especially in the first 4 m depth.TDD for T1 were predominant and ranged between 600-1160℃·days(0-4 m depth)reflecting the influence of oil temperature from the pipeline.In T2 borehole FDD were predominant for all the soil layer depths resulting in less permafrost degradation.This comparison emphasizes the significant influence of vegetation removal and the dispersed heat from the pipeline on the active layer thickness.     

Potential decadal predictability and its sensitivity to sea ice albedo parameterization in a global coupled model

Decadal prediction is one focus of the upcoming 5th IPCC Assessment report. To be able to interpret the results and to further improve the decadal predictions it is important to investigate the potential predictability in the participating climate models. This study analyzes the upper limit of climate predictability on decadal time scales and its dependency on sea ice albedo parameterization by performing two perfect ensemble experiments with the global coupled climate model EC-Earth. In the first experiment, the standard albedo formulation of EC-Earth is used, in the second experiment sea ice albedo is reduced. The potential prognostic predictability is analyzed for a set of oceanic and atmospheric parameters. The decadal predictability of the atmospheric circulation is small. The highest potential predictability was found in air temperature at 2?m height over the northern North Atlantic and the southern South Atlantic. Over land, only a few areas are significantly predictable. The predictability for continental size averages of air temperature is relatively good in all northern hemisphere regions. Sea ice thickness is highly predictable along the ice edges in the North Atlantic Arctic Sector. The meridional overturning circulation is highly predictable in both experiments and governs most of the decadal climate predictability in the northern hemisphere. The experiments using reduced sea ice albedo show some important differences like a generally higher predictability of atmospheric variables in the Arctic or higher predictability of air temperature in Europe. Furthermore, decadal variations are substantially smaller in the simulations with reduced ice albedo, which can be explained by reduced sea ice thickness in these simulations.     

Baseflow separation in a small watershed in New Brunswick,Canada, using a recursive digital filter calibrated with the conductivity mass balance method

Baseflow separation is important for obtaining critical parameters for hydrological models. As measuring the baseflow component directly is difficult, various analytical and empirical baseflow separation methods have been developed and tested. The recursive digital filter (RDF) method is commonly used for baseflow separation due to its simplicity and low data requirement. However, parameters used in the RDF method are often determined arbitrarily, resulting in high uncertainty of the estimated baseflow rate. A more accurate method is the conductivity mass balance (CMB) method, which is established based on the differences in physical processes between baseflow and surface runoff. In this research, the output of the CMB method was used to calibrate the parameters of an RDF model, and the calibrated RDF model was used to estimate monthly, seasonal and annual baseflow rate and baseflow index for the past 19 years using streamflow discharge records. The characteristics of the baseflow hydrographs were found to be consistent with the hydrological and hydrogeological conditions of the research area. Research results indicated that the accuracy of the RDF model has been greatly enhanced after being calibrated with the CMB method so that the RDF model can provide more reliable baseflow separation results for a long‐term study. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Slowness and azimuth determination for Bucovina array (BURAR) applying multiple signal techniques

The BURAR seismic array, located in Northern Romania (Bucovina region), is designed to monitor events located in an area poorly covered by other existing seismic stations. In order to use the BURAR array for single-station locations, it is crucial to calibrate the azimuth and slowness parameters, which are currently used in array techniques to locate earthquakes, blasts or nuclear explosions. The goal of this study is to apply “f–k” and plane wave fit techniques in order to constrain the slowness and azimuth parameters at BURAR for teleseismic, regional and local events. The analysis was carried out using P and S waves recorded for events occurred between 2004 and 2008 within a radius of 50° around BURAR. The azimuth values obtained applying both methods strongly deviated from the theoretical values for regions like Central Turkey, Bulgaria, Dodecanese Islands and other parts of Greece, while the ray parameter deviations with respect to a 1-D IASP91 reference model are less significant. For the local events, the anomalies are smaller, except the particular case of Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes for which strong azimuth deviations (33.5°), both positive and negative, are observed. We investigate how these systematic deviations in azimuth are explained by the structure lateral heterogeneities which characterize the study region.     

Nitrogen loadings to two small estuaries,Prince Edward Island,Canada: a 2‐year investigation of precipitation,surface water and groundwater contributions

In this research the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) loadings from direct precipitation, stream flow and groundwater discharge to two small estuaries located in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada, were quantified over a 2‐year period. The two estuaries, like many around the world, exhibit deteriorating conditions that are believed to be related to excessive nitrogen transport from adjacent catchments. The significance of the groundwater transport pathway and the temporal variability of the loadings have not been previously investigated. The wet fraction of the atmospheric loading was quantified using available precipitation and DIN concentration records. Stream water entering the estuaries and the discharge from numerous shoreline springs, the predominate form of groundwater discharge, were monitored periodically during the study. The annual DIN loads delivered to both estuaries were dominated by streams, although groundwater discharge provided significant contributions of approximately 15–18%. Temporal variability of DIN loading was large, with monthly loads varying by a factor of 5; this variability was found to be primarily related to the variability of freshwater discharge. Concentrations of nitrate in stream water discharging to the estuaries and shoreline groundwater springs were similar in each catchment, suggesting that there was minimal differential attenuation during transport via these two pathways. The McIntyre Creek estuary had one of the highest normalized loads reported in the literature (1700 kg NO₃‐N/ha estuary/year), more than four‐fold that of the Trout River estuary, and this result appears to be related to the larger percentage of land area used for potato production in the catchment. This study demonstrates that direct groundwater discharge to estuaries in PEI should not be ignored and that seasonal variations in loading may be important for managing DIN delivery to such estuaries. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Recent geological and hydrological activity on Mars: The Tharsis/Elysium corridor

The paradigm of an ancient warm, wet, and dynamically active Mars, which transitioned into a cold, dry, and internally dead planet, has persisted up until recently despite published Viking-based geologic maps that indicate geologic and hydrologic activity extending into the Late Amazonian epoch. This paradigm is shifting to a water-enriched planet, which may still exhibit internal activity, based on a collection of geologic, hydrologic, topographic, chemical, and elemental evidences obtained by the Viking, Mars Global Surveyor (MGS), Mars Odyssey (MO), Mars Exploration Rovers (MER), and Mars Express (MEx) missions. The evidence includes: (1) stratigraphically young rock materials such as pristine lava flows with few, if any, superposed impact craters; (2) tectonic features that cut stratigraphically young materials; (3) features with possible aqueous origin such as structurally controlled channels that dissect stratigraphically young materials and anastomosing-patterned slope streaks on hillslopes; (4) spatially varying elemental abundances for such elements as hydrogen (H) and chlorine (Cl) recorded in rock materials up to 0.33 m depth; and (5) regions of elevated atmospheric methane. This evidence is pronounced in parts of Tharsis, Elysium, and the region that straddles the two volcanic provinces, collectively referred to here as the Tharsis/Elysium corridor. Based in part on field investigations of Solfatara Crater, Italy, recommended as a suitable terrestrial analog, the Tharsis/Elysium corridor should be considered a prime target for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) investigations and future science-driven exploration to investigate whether Mars is internally and hydrologically active at the present time, and whether the persistence of this activity has resulted in biologic activity.