Ditching and Ditch-Plugging in New England Salt Marshes: Effects on Plant Communities and Self-Maintenance

Salt marsh plant communities are regulated by feedback processes involving hydrologic regimes, disturbance, and marsh physical characteristics, and as expected differ among habitat types. Using three barrier beach salt marshes along the Gulf of Maine, we examined the effects of ditching and ditch-plugging on plant characteristics by means of comparisons to natural creek and pool habitats. Results indicated that ditch and creek habitats were similar in terms of species richness and diversity of emergent vascular plants, but cover and biomass were significantly higher in habitat adjacent to creeks. Plant composition in ditch habitat was distinguished by the higher percentage of forb species (associated with poor drainage), while the proportion of tall-form Spartina alterniflora was much higher in creek habitat (associated with sloping banks of creeks). These results are indicative of differences in hydrologic and disturbance regimes that can influence competitive and facilitative interactions, habitat structure, and heterogeneity. Results for pool comparisons indicated that plant characteristics were significantly different between ditch-plug and natural pools. Species richness, diversity, and biomass were significantly lower in ditch-plug habitat compared with all other habitats, and plant cover averaged only 30 % in habitat adjacent to ditch-plugs, which was significantly lower than all other habitats. These differences have ecological implications in terms of habitat structure and function of ditch-plug habitat. In addition, increased stress leading to plant dieback due to ditch-plugging has resulted in subsidence that can decrease the stability of ditch-plug habitat and expedite the loss of salt marsh habitat, especially with rising sea levels.     

Soil quality evaluation under different land management practices

Sustainable agricultural production requires prudent management backed by reliable information that accurately elucidates the complex relationships between land management practices and soil quality trends. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of management on soil properties acquired at different depths, and yields, at five different field sites within Ohio, USA. The principal management systems considered were no till with or without manure and cover crops, natural vegetation (NV) or forest, and conventional tillage (CT) defined as farms with surface residue cover (<30 %). Analyses of variance (ANOVA), correlation analyses, stepwise regression, and the principal component analyses (PCA) were used to elucidate and model the link between four different management practices and the soil physical and chemical properties. The ANOVA results indicate that the available water capacity and electrical conductivity (EC) were the major variables affected by management. In contrast, soil pH, bulk density (ρ _b), porosity, soil organic carbon (SOC), and total nitrogen (TN), were invariable with management, yet only pH and EC did not significantly vary with the interaction of soil type and management effects. In comparison, the PCA results suggest that SOC, TN, porosity, ρ _b, and EC were the major determining factors controlling yield variability. Interestingly, the derived models revealed that the highest yields, notably 10 and 2.7 Mg ha^?1 for corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) occurred in soils under CT management. Quantifying the nexus between soil properties and management choices as demonstrated in this study, can provide critical insight for sustainable agricultural production.     

An integrative geological and geophysical approach to characterize a superficial deltaic aquifer in the Camargue plain,France

Deltaic aquifers are complex due to the important heterogeneity of their structure and their hydrogeological functioning. Auger drilling provides localized, but very robust geological and hydrogeological information, while geophysical surveys can provide integrated subsurface information. An effective, easy-to-use and low-cost methodology combining geological/hydrogeological information from Auger drillings and the results from three geophysical techniques (Electromagnetic mapping, Electrical Sounding and Electrical Resistivity Tomography) is being developed to characterize the structure of a typical Mediterranean deltaic aquifer. A first hypothesis about hydrodynamic properties of the aquifer is also obtained. The study area is located in the Rhone delta (Middle Camargue/southern France). Integration of geophysical and geological techniques allowed identifying the presence and lateral extension of the Saint-Ferréol paleochannel, the vertical contact between lagoonal–fluvial deposits and the marine clayed silt that separate the superficial aquifer from the deeper aquifer. Likewise, high north–south heterogeneity and east–west homogeneity were highlighted in the study area. Presence of clay in sandy deposits in the low areas implies changes in lateral hydraulic permeability. This fact, jointed to the low hydraulic gradient, suggests a slow groundwater flow in the local system. The Rhone delta presents a typical configuration of a Mediterranean deltaic aquifer, thus this methodological approach can be used for similar deltaic Mediterranean systems.     

Tidal Current Measurements Using VHF Radar and ADCP in the Normand Breton Gulf: Comparison of Observations and Numerical Model

Performance and operational feasibility of very high-frequency (VHF) Doppler radar have been demonstrated in a region dominated by strong tidal currents. An analysis of remote measurements of sea surface currents acquired by Courants de Surface MEsureacutes par Radar (COSMER)-pulsed Doppler radar during Evaluation et Preacutevision de l'Environnement Littoral (EPEL) experiment (supported by the French Navy) is presented in this paper. The VHF COSMER radar was deployed to provide continuous sea surface current measurements within an area of about 25 km times 25 km in the Normand Breton Gulf, France. This paper presents VHF measurement comparisons with observations such as acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP), as well as comparisons with numerical model TELEMAC 2-D. Results of tidal waves extraction, using harmonic analysis and residual currents, are shown in this paper. We also present a case where radar method is limited, due to the presence of additional peaks in the Doppler spectrum     

Comparison of simulated longitudinal profiles of hadronic air showers with MASS2 balloon data

The KASKADE and CORSIKA air shower generators are compared to the data collected by MASS2 balloon experiment in 1991. The test of longitudinal profile for proton, helium and muon flux production provide good constraints on these air shower generators. KASKADE and CORSIKA especially with the new simulator UrQMD for low energies are found to fit these data well. This study is limited to a comparison of longitudinal profiles and therefore does not provide constraints on the overall shower development.     

Aorounga and Gweni Fada impact structures,Chad: Remote sensing,petrography, and geochemistry of target rocks

Abstract— Shuttle Radar Topography Mission data was used to investigate the Aorounga and Gweni Fada impact structures in Chad as part of a new remote sensing study. We believe the results of various data treatments provide extensive new perspective on the macro‐structural and topographic divisions for these two impact structures. Our remote sensing studies indicate revised diameters of Aorounga and Gweni Fada of 16 and 22 km, respectively. We selected samples from these two structures for their petrographic, geochemical, and Rb‐Sr and Sm‐Nd isotopic characteristics. In samples from both structures, evidence for shock metamorphism was found in the form of single or multiple sets of planar deformation features in quartz, which confirms the impact origin for both the Aorounga and Gweni Fada structures. The crystallographic orientations of PDFs indicate maximum shock levels of 20–30 GPa for samples from the central parts of both structures. The PDF orientations are characteristic for the orientations observed elsewhere in shocked sandstones, with the higher angles in the orientation histograms being fairly abundant. Geochemically, the rocks are typical upper‐crustal sandstones.     

The Role of the Inclination in the Captures in External Resonances in the Three Body Problem

Interested in the role of the inclination in our results (Jancart and Lemaitre, 2001), we analyze the process of resonance trapping due to general dissipation forces in the frame of the spatial restricted three body problem and in the case of external mean motion resonances. We compute our simulations by using the three-dimensional Extended Schubart Averaging integrator developed by Moons (1994) for all mean motion resonances. We complete it by adding the averaged contributions of general dissipative forces like Murray has proposed in the article (1994). The behavior of the inclination is especially pointed out.