Turbulent Statistics of Neutrally Stratified Flow Within and Above a Sparse Forest from Large-Eddy Simulation and Field Observations

Turbulent statistics of neutrally stratified shear-driven flow within and above a sparse forest canopy are presented from a large-eddy simulation (LES) and compared with those from observations within and above a deciduous forest with similar height and foliage density. First- and second-order moments from the LES agree with observations quite well. Third-order moments from the LES have the same sign and similar vertical patterns as those from the observations, but the LES yields smaller magnitudes of such higher-order moments. Turbulent spectra and cospectra from the LES agree well with observations above the forest. However, at the highest frequencies, the LES spectra have steeper slopes than observations. Quadrant and conditional analyses of the LES resolved-scale flow fields also agree with observations. For example, both LES and observation find that sweeps are more important than ejections for the transport of momentum within the forest, while inward and outward interaction contributions are both small, except near the forest floor. The intermittency of the transport of momentum and scalar increases with depth into the forest. Finally, ramp structures in the time series of a passive scalar at multiple levels within and above the forest show similar features to those measured from field towers. Two-dimensional (height-time cross-section) contours of the passive scalar and wind vectors show sweeps and ejections, and the characteristics of the static pressure perturbation near the ground resemble those deduced from field tower-based measurements. In spite of the limited grid resolution (2 m × 2 m × 2 m) and domain size (192 m × 192 m × 60 m) used in this LES, we demonstrate that the LES is capable of resolving the most important characteristics of the turbulent flow within and above a forest canopy.     

Challenges in Norwegian coastal zone planning

The article identifies some of the challenges facing local structure planing of sea areas since the mid-1980s, and asks what has been achieved. This question concerns the quality of plans as tools for spatial ordering and development. On the basis of theories of communicative and strategic planning, a framework of assessment is evolved round two main concepts: the legitimacy and the flexibility of plans. These are supplemented with a conformance concept applicable to project planning. The article then examines specific planning problems and assesses processes and achievements in selected fish-farming communes on the coast of West and North Norway.     

Inter-trading permanent emissions credits and rented temporary carbon emissions offsets: some issues and alternatives

Permit trading among polluting parties is now firmly established as a policy tool in a range of environmental policy areas. The Kyoto Protocol accepts the principle that sequestration of carbon in the terrestrial biosphere can be used to offset emissions of carbon from fossil fuel combustion and outlines mechanisms. Although the lack of guaranteed permanence of biological offsets is often viewed as a defect, this paper argues that the absence of guaranteed permanence need not be a fundamental problem. We view carbon emissions as a liability issue. One purpose of an emissions credit system is to provide the emitter with a means to satisfy the carbon liability associated with her firm’s (or country’s) release of carbon into the atmosphere. We have developed and here expand on a rental approach, in which sequestered carbon is explicitly treated as temporary: the emitter temporarily satisfies his liability by temporarily “parking” his liability, for a fee, in a terrestrial carbon reservoir, or “sink,” such as a forest or agricultural soil. Finally, the paper relates the value of permanent and temporary sequestration and argues that both instruments are tradable and have a high degree of substitutability that allows them to interact in markets.     

Morphological Variation of the Sea Silverside Odontesthes regia in Regions with Dissimilar Upwelling Intensity along the Humboldt Current System

Ocean Science Journal - We evaluated the influence of areas with dissimilar upwelling intensity along the Humboldt Current System on the morphological variation of the economically important sea...     

Tectonics of the East Pacific Rise near 12°50′N: a submersible study

Using the diving saucer “Cyana”, a portion of the East Pacific Rise between 12°38′ and 12°54′N has been studied and mapped. Four main zones are defined: (1) an active volcanic zone located in the central graben; the graben displays a variable relief along strike from less than 10 m up to 55 m and has an en-échelon pattern in plan view; (2) an active tectonic zone comprising the central graben and extending up to about 2 km from either side of the rise axis; (3) an inactive tectonic zone starting 2 km away from the axis and formed by discontinuous horst and graben type of structures; and (4) off-axis volcanoes (seamounts) located less than 20 km on either side of the rise axis. At 12°50′N, the active tectonic zone is extremely narrow and the mode of deformation is through fissuring in strong contrast with that observed in slow or intermediate rate ridges. The presence or absence of a magma reservoir at shallow depth explains the difference in the width of the active tectonic zone. The state of isostatic equilibrium or lack of equilibrium explains the different modes of deformation.     

An experimental investigation of barite formation in seawater

We report results from time-series decay and sequential leaching experiments of laboratory cultured and coastal plankton to elucidate the mechanisms controlling barite formation in seawater. Batch-cultured diatoms (Stephanopyxis palmerina) and coccolithophorids (Emiliania huxleyi) were let to decay in the dark for 8-10 weeks, suspended in aerated seawater. The development of barite crystals was monitored by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). A similar experiment was conducted with plankton collected during the spring-bloom in Vineyard Sound (MA). In addition to SEM, suspended particles were sequentially leached for Ba (distilled water rinse; 10% (v/v) HNO₃ rinse at room temperature; 30% (v/v) HCl at 80°C overnight; 50% (v/v) HNO₃ at 80°C overnight) immediately after collection, and after 10-week decay in seawater, in seawater poisoned with HgCl₂, and in seawater spiked with ¹³⁵Ba.Both experiments showed an increase in the number of barite crystals during decay. The spring-bloom plankton had initially a large pool of labile Ba, soluble in distilled water and cold dilute HNO₃ that was lost from the plankton after 10-week decay in both axenic and nonaxenic conditions. In contrast, Ba in the decayed plankton samples was predominantly in forms extracted by hot HCl and hot HNO₃ acids, which were attributed to presence of barite Ba and refractory organic Ba respectively. The increase in barite crystal counts under a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), the increase in HCl extractable Ba relative to organic carbon, and the loss of a large fraction of Ba during plankton decay suggest that living plankton consists of a relatively large pool of labile Ba, which is rapidly released during plankton decomposition and acts as the main source of Ba for barite formation in supersaturated microenvironments. Since mass balance indicates that only a small proportion (2 to 4%) of the labile-Ba pool is converted to barite, the availability of microenvironments that could locally concentrate Ba released by plankton decay seems to be the main limiting factor in barite precipitation.     

Global change revealed by palaeolimnological records from remote lakes: a review

Over recent decades, palaeolimnological records from remote sites have provided convincing evidence for the onset and development of several facets of global environmental change. Remote lakes, defined here as those occurring in high latitude or high altitude regions, have the advantage of not being overprinted by local anthropogenic processes. As such, many of these sites record broad-scale environmental changes, frequently driven by regime shifts in the Earth system. Here, we review a selection of studies from North America and Europe and discuss their broader implications. The history of investigation has evolved synchronously with the scope and awareness of environmental problems. An initial focus on acid deposition switched to metal and other types of pollutants, then climate change and eventually to atmospheric deposition-fertilising effects. However, none of these topics is independent of the other, and all of them affect ecosystem function and biodiversity in profound ways. Currently, remote lake palaeolimnology is developing unique datasets for each region investigated that benchmark current trends with respect to past, purely natural variability in lake systems. Fostering conceptual and methodological bridges with other environmental disciplines will upturn contribution of remote lake palaeolimnology in solving existing and emerging questions in global change science and planetary stewardship.     

Integrated modelling of population,employment and land-use change with a multiple activity-based variable grid cellular automaton

A constrained cellular automaton (CA) framework is used to model both land use and, at the same resolution, densities of population and economic activity. The multi-scale processes determining the location of population, economic activity and land use are captured in a variable grid CA, in which the neighbourhood of each cell includes the entire modelled area. The transition rules generating the spatial dynamics incorporate both the land use and the activities, and because they cover the entire modelled area, they represent interaction effects at all spatial scales; effectively, they are distance decay functions. In general, any particular cell hosts a number of activities (population, employment in various sectors) regardless of its land use, so in effect multiple land uses are modelled as multiple activities, although activity levels are normally highest on cells of the corresponding land use. The model is applied to both the urban-centred Greater Dublin Region and the country of Belgium, which consists of the entire polycentric urban system and its rural matrix. Results for both applications are good, as measured by the errors of both predicted populations and fractal dimensions, and the model outperforms the best existing models by these measures.