Reproducibility of river water quality measurements: inter-agency comparisons for quality assurance

We assessed the reproducibility of river state-of-environment (SoE) water quality measurements in the Wellington Region, New Zealand (NZ). Field staff from GWRC and NIWA conducted 29 side-by-side water sampling and in-situ measurements at six river sites of diverse water quality for 12 variables measured routinely in river SoE monitoring across NZ. Field measurements of water temperature, dissolved oxygen, electrical conductivity and visual clarity agreed closely with strong numerical similarity (within 10%). Numerical similarity ranged widely for laboratory measurements, from strong for nitrate-nitrite-nitrogen to weak for turbidity, dissolved reactive phosphorus, and ammoniacal-nitrogen. Numerical agreement was very weak for laboratory pH (which is problematic) and E. coli–which is ‘tolerable’ for many applications given good correlation (R?=?0.94) over a 2000-fold concentration range. The findings of our inter-agency comparison have contributed to quality assurance recommendations in the NZ National Environmental Monitoring Standard (NEMS) for water quality.     

Levee morphology and sedimentology along the lower Tuross River, south-eastern Australia

Levees on the lower Tuross River in south-eastern Australia reflect a complex interplay between depositional and erosional processes. Stream power, conditioned primarily by valley width, is the key determinant of levee morphology and sedimentology in this confined valley setting. Three styles of levee are described. The Rewlee levee is functionally linked to a flood channel in narrow valley settings (< 250 m). These levees contain a diverse facies assemblage characterized by various scales of erosion surfaces. Vertical accretion on levees has produced conditions under which stream power values exceed the threshold for catastrophic floodplain stripping. The levee at the Mortfield site is associated with less confined settings (valley width 500–600 m), which present lower flood stage and stream power conditions. This levee hosts a wide range of facies, but erosion surfaces are seldom observed. In the more open valley setting at the Central site (valley width 700–1000 m), levees comprise uniform, fine-grained deposits, which grade to pronounced distal floodplains with backswamps. As levees reflect a combination of within-channel and overbank processes, both depositional and erosional, these geomorphic features influence the character and sedimentology of adjacent landforms and the associated alluvial architecture of the basin.     

Intertidal spring dynamics and coastal nutrient loading revealed through geophysics,drone surveys,and in-situ monitoring

Coastal eutrophication poses an increasing risk to ecosystem health due to enhanced nutrient loading to the global coastline. Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) represents a significant pathway for nitrate-nitrogen (NO₃-N) transport to the coast, but diffusive SGD transport is difficult to monitor directly, given the low flux rates and expansive discharge areas. In contrast, focused SGD from intertidal springs can potentially be sampled and directly gauged, providing unique insight into SGD and associated contaminant transport. Basin Head is a coastal lagoon in Prince Edward Island, Canada that is a federally protected ecosystem. Nitrate-nitrogen is conveyed from agricultural fields in the contributing watershed to the eutrophic lagoon via intertidal groundwater springs and groundwater-dominated tributaries. We used several field methods to characterize groundwater discharge, nutrient loading, and in-channel mixing associated with intertidal springs. The tributaries and intertidal springs were gauged and sampled to estimate a representative summer nitrate load to the lagoon. Our analysis revealed that NO₃-N export to the lagoon through tributaries and springs throughout summer 2023 was on average 401 kg N/month, with the combined spring loading comparable in magnitude to the combined tributary loading. We collected thermal infrared and visual imagery using drone surveys and found spatial overlap between cold-water plumes from the spring discharge and macroalgae blooms, indicating the local thermal and ecosystem impacts of the focused SGD. We also mapped the electrical resistivity (salinity) distribution in the water column around one large spring with electromagnetic geophysics at different tidal stages to reveal the three-dimensional spring plume dynamics. Results showed that the fresher spring water floated above the saline lagoon water with the brackish plume oriented in the direction of the tidal current. Collectively, our multi-pronged field investigations help elucidate the hydrologic, thermal, and nutrient dynamics of intertidal springs and the cascading ecosystem impacts.     

Fault seal prediction of seismic-scale normal faults in porous sandstone: A case study from the eastern Gulf of Suez rift,Egypt

A study of normal faults in the Nubian Sandstone Sequence, from the eastern Gulf of Suez rift, has been conducted to investigate the relationship between the microstructure and petrophysical properties of cataclasites developed along seismic-scale faults (slip-surface cataclasites) and smaller displacement faults (deformation bands) found in their damage zones. The results help to quantify the uncertainty associated with predicting the fluid flow behaviour of seismic-scale faults by analysing small faults recovered from core, a common procedure in the petroleum industry. The microstructure of the cataclasites was analysed as well as their single-phase permeability and threshold pressure. Faulting occurred at a maximum burial depth of ∼1.2 km. The permeability of deformation band and slip-surface cataclasites varies over ∼1.5 orders of magnitude for a given fault. Our results suggest that the lowest measured deformation band permeabilities provide a good estimate for the arithmetic-mean permeability of the major slip-surface cataclasites. This is because the cataclastic permeability reduction is mostly established early in the deformation history. Stress at the time of faulting rather than final strain appears to be the critical factor determining fault rock permeability. For viable predictions it is important that the slip-surface cataclasites and deformation bands originate from the same host. On the other hand, a higher uncertainty is associated with threshold pressure predictions, as the arithmetic-mean slip-surface cataclasite threshold pressure exceeds the highest measured deformation band threshold pressure by at least a factor of 4.     

You have to be twice as good to be equal: 'placing' women in Plymouth's Devonport Dockyard

Summary This paper explores the dynamics of gender relations in Plymouth's Devonport Dockyard. It focuses on the day-to-day, lived experiences of working women in a male-dominated workplace. Two issues are put forward for particular consideration: the first concerns the way in which social structures in the dockyard give rise to a set of gender relations specific to this workplace; the second concerns the relationship between space, place and the fluidity of gendered social boundaries.     

Age assignment of a diatomaceous ooze deposited in the western Amundsen Sea Embayment after the Last Glacial Maximum

Reliable dating of glaciomarine sediments deposited on the Antarctic shelf since the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is challenging because of the rarity of calcareous (micro‐) fossils and the recycling of fossil organic matter. Consequently, radiocarbon (¹⁴C) ages of the acid‐insoluble organic fraction (AIO) of the sediments bear uncertainties that are difficult to quantify. Here we present the results of three different methods to date a sedimentary unit consisting of diatomaceous ooze and diatomaceous mud that was deposited following the last deglaciation at five core sites on the inner shelf in the western Amundsen Sea (West Antarctica). In three cores conventional ¹⁴C dating of the AIO in bulk samples yielded age reversals down‐core, but at all sites the AIO ¹⁴C ages obtained from diatomaceous ooze within the diatom‐rich unit yielded similar uncorrected ¹⁴C ages between 13 517 ± 56 and 11 543 ± 47 years before present (a BP). Correction of these ages by subtracting the core‐top ages, which probably reflect present‐day deposition (as indicated by ²¹⁰Pb dating of the sediment surface at one core site), yielded ages between ca. 10 500 and 8400 cal. a BP. Correction of the AIO ages of the diatomaceous ooze by only subtracting the marine reservoir effect (MRE) of 1300 a indicated deposition of the diatom‐rich sediments between 14 100 and 11 900 cal. a BP. Most of these ages are consistent with age constraints between 13.0 and 8.0 ka for the diatom‐rich unit, which we obtained by correlating the relative palaeomagnetic intensity (RPI) records of three of the sediment cores with global and regional reference curves. As a third dating technique we applied conventional radiocarbon dating of the AIO included in acid‐cleaned diatom hard parts extracted from the diatomaceous ooze. This method yielded uncorrected ¹⁴C ages of only 5111 ± 38 and 5106 ± 38 a BP, respectively. We reject these young ages, because they are likely to be overprinted by the adsorption of modern atmospheric carbon dioxide onto the surfaces of the diatom hard parts prior to sample graphitisation and combustion for ¹⁴C dating. The deposition of the diatom‐rich unit in the western Amundsen Sea suggests deglaciation of the inner shelf before ca. 13 ka BP. The deposition of diatomaceous oozes elsewhere on the Antarctic shelf around the same time, however, seems to be coincidental rather than directly related. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relation between alternations of uplift and subsidence revealed by Late Cenozoic fluvial sequences and physical properties of the continental crust

Reversals in vertical crustal motion, alternations between uplift and subsidence over time scales of hundreds of thousands of years or more, have been identified in Late Cenozoic fluvial sequences in many regions worldwide. They form a class of fluvial archive that is distinct from the extreme stability observed in Archaean cratons and the monotonic uplift or subsidence that is widely observed in other regions. Such alternations between uplift and subsidence are characteristic of regions of Early or Middle Proterozoic crust, where the initial crustal consolidation included the development of a thick ‘root’ of mafic material at the base of the crust; the present study focuses on localities with this crustal type in the USA and eastern Europe. It has previously been suggested on the basis of uplift modelling that this style of crustal behaviour occurs only in regions where the mobile lower‐crustal layer is relatively thin. This study supports this conclusion on the basis of independent geothermal calculations, which indicate that such alternations between uplift and subsidence occur where the mobile lower‐crustal layer is ≤～7 km thick. An understanding of this phenomenon, in relation to the understanding of vertical crustal motions induced by surface processes (and thus by climate change) in general, therefore requires analysis of the properties and dynamics of the mobile lower‐crustal layer; detailed analysis of fluvial sequences thus contributes unique information in this area.