Topological changes of the photospheric magnetic field inside active regions: A prelude to flares?

The detection of magnetic field variations as a signature of flaring activity is one of the main goals in solar physics. Past efforts gave apparently no unambiguous observations of systematic changes. In the present study, we discuss recent results from observations that scaling laws of turbulent current helicity inside a given flaring active region change in response to large flares in that active region. Such changes can be related to the evolution of current structures by a simple geometrical argument, which has been tested using high Reynolds number direct numerical simulations of the MHD equations. Interpretation of the observed data within this picture indicates that the change in scaling behavior of the current helicity seems to be associated with a topological reorganization of the footpoint of the magnetic field loops, namely with the dissipation of small scales structures in turbulent media.     

Late Holocene changes in cyanobacterial community structure in maritime Antarctic lakes

Despite the dominance of cyanobacteria in polar freshwater aquatic ecosystems, little is known about their past biodiversity and response to climate and environmental changes. We explored the use of light microscopy of microfossils, high performance liquid chromatography of the fossil pigment composition and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of fossil 16S rRNA genes to study past and present-day differences in cyanobacterial community structure in response to climate changes in two adjacent maritime Antarctic lakes with contrasting depths (4 and 26 m) and light climates. Light microscopy was of limited use because of degradation of cell structures. Fossil cyanobacterial pigment concentrations were below the detection limits of our method in several sediment samples in the deep lake, but abundant and diverse in the sediment core from the shallow pond, probably as a consequence of increased light availability and/or a more diverse and abundant benthic cyanobacterial flora. Total carotenoid and chlorophyll concentrations were highest in both lakes between ca. 2,950 and 1,800 cal yr BP, which coincides with the late Holocene climate optimum recognised elsewhere in maritime Antarctica. Cyanobacterial molecular diversity was higher in the top few centimeters of the sediments in both lakes. In deeper sediments, the taxonomic turnover of cyanobacteria appeared to be relatively small in response to past climate anomalies in both lakes, underscoring the broad tolerance of cyanobacteria to environmental variability. This, however, may in part be explained by the low taxonomic resolution obtained with the relatively conserved 16S rRNA gene and/or the preferential preservation of particular taxa. Our results highlight the potential of fossil DNA in lake sediments to study colonization and succession dynamics of lacustrine cyanobacteria and warrant further investigation of the factors that affect preservation of cyanobacterial DNA.     

Microbiological and ecological responses to global environmental changes in polar regions (MERGE): An IPY core coordinating project

An integrated program, “Microbiological and ecological responses to global environmental changes in polar regions” (MERGE), was proposed in the International Polar Year (IPY) 2007–2008 and endorsed by the IPY committee as a coordinating proposal. MERGE hosts original proposals to the IPY and facilitates their funding. MERGE selected three key questions to produce scientific achievements. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms in terrestrial, lacustrine, and supraglacial habitats were targeted according to diversity and biogeography; food webs and ecosystem evolution; and linkages between biological, chemical, and physical processes in the supraglacial biome.MERGE hosted 13 original and seven additional proposals, with two full proposals. It respected the priorities and achievements of the individual proposals and aimed to unify their significant results. Ideas and projects followed a bottom-up rather than a top-down approach. We intend to inform the MERGE community of the initial results and encourage ongoing collaboration. Scientists from non-polar regions have also participated and are encouraged to remain involved in MERGE.MERGE is formed by scientists from Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Spain, UK, Uruguay, USA, and Vietnam, and associates from Chile, Denmark, Netherlands, and Norway.     

Reliability of geomagnetic paleointensity data: the effects of the NRM fraction and concave-up behavior on paleointensity determinations by the Thellier method

To test the reliability of the Thellier method for paleointensity determinations, we studied six historic lavas from Hawaii and two Gauss-age lava flows from Raiatea Island (French Polynesia). Our aim is to investigate the effects of the NRM fraction and concave-up behavior of NRM–thermal remanent magnetization (TRM) diagrams on paleointensity determinations. For the Hawaiian samples, the paleointensity results were investigated at both sample and site levels. For consistency and confidence in the paleointensity results, it is important to measure multiple samples from each cooling unit. The results from the Raiatea Island samples confirm that reliable paleointensities can be obtained from NRM–TRM diagrams with concave-up curvature, provided the data are accompanied by successful partial TRM (pTRM) checks and no significant chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) production. We conclude that reliable determinations of the paleofield strength require analyses of linear segments representing at least 40–50% of the total NRM. This new criterion has to be considered for future studies and for evaluating published paleointensities for calculating average geomagnetic field models. Using this condition together with other commonly employed selection criteria, the observed mean site paleointensities are typically within 10% of the Definitive Geomagnetic Reference Field (DGRF). Our new results for the Hawaii 1960 lava flow are in excellent agreement with the expected value, in contrast to significant discrepancies observed in some earlier studies.

Overestimates of paleointensity determinations can arise from cooling-rate dependence of TRM acquisition, viscous remanent magnetization (VRM) at elevated temperatures, and TRM properties of multidomain (MD) particles. These outcomes are exaggerated at lower temperature ranges. Therefore, we suggest that, provided the pTRM checks are successful and there is no significant CRM production, it is better to increase the NRM fraction used in paleointensity analyses rather than to maximize correlation coefficients of line segments on the NRM–TRM diagrams.

We introduce the factor, Q = Nq, to assess the quality of the weighted mean paleointensity, H_w, for each cooling unit.     

Controls on the organic chemical composition of settling particles in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean

The organic matter of sinking particulate material collected in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean (ca. 49°N, 16°W) was investigated in order to determine temporal and depth-related variability in its composition. Three sediment traps were deployed at nominal depths of 1000 m (below the permanent thermocline), 3000 m (representing the deep-water fluxes) and at 4700 m, about 100 m above the seafloor (just above the benthic boundary layer). The samples span a 28-month sampling period from October 1995 until February 1998, each sample representing a period of between 7 and 28 days.Total organic carbon and total nitrogen contents decrease with depth, as did the absolute concentrations of most biochemicals measured in this study, such as intact proteins and individual lipids. However, concentrations of proteins relative to total organic carbon and total nitrogen did not show any significant change with depth, implying that they are not being rapidly degraded and so may provide an important supply of nitrogen to the benthos. Fluxes of protein, TN and TOC are significantly correlated at all depths.Lipid compositions vary temporally. During periods of high flux, particularly in the summer, the lipids are richer in ‘labile components’, namely unsaturated fatty acids and low molecular weight alcohols. During periods of low flux other compounds, such as sterols, steroidal ketones and a trisnorhopan-21-one are more abundant. One sample, taken close to the seafloor, was highly enriched in lipids, sterols and fatty acids in particular; this may represent detritus derived from bottom-dwelling invertebrates.     

Relationship between the fractal dimension of orthopyroxene distribution and the temperature in mantle xenoliths

As rock textures reflect the physical conditions and the mechanisms of formation of the rocks, new approaches are used for improving texture analyses, both qualitatively and quantitatively. Pioneer work has recently boosted interest in fractal analysis for quantifying and correlating patterns. Fractal‐like patterns relate to a degree of multiscale organization, and fractal dimensions (FD) and their potential variations can be used to infer the physical conditions of rock formation at various scales of observation. Here, we characterize quantitatively the shape and distribution of orthopyroxene grains in ultramafic xenoliths in terms of FD and their relation with temperature of equilibration. Fractal analysis has been applied to several populations of mantle xenoliths: 7 xenoliths collected in the vicinity of Pico Santa Isabel on Bioko Island, an alkaline basaltic volcano in oceanic domain (Gulf of Guinea, Equatorial Atlantic), 9 samples from Sangilen, in the Agardag alkaline lamprophyre dyke (Russia), and 11 samples form Śnieżnik (Lutynia, Poland), in the continental domain. Fractal analysis has been conducted to characterize the degree of complexity of the petrographic textures: it is indeed known that large values of FD are associated to more complex textures. The correlation here observed between the orthopyroxene fractal dimension and the temperature of equilibration suggests that FD captures a significant textural feature directly related to the temperature (i.e. generated by a temperature‐controlled process). The significant difference in the FD–T correlation observed for the continental and oceanic mantle domains suggests that the mechanical and rheological behaviour is distinct in the oceanic and continental lithospheres. These first promising results should be confirmed by analysing other mantle suites of rocks in different geodynamic settings. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Time splitting and linear stability of the slow part of the barotropic component

In this paper, the authors analyse the stability of particular numerical schemes used in oceanic general circulation models to deal with the barotropic momentum advection term. It is shown that, when this term is integrated using time splitting, its stability properties can be drastically reduced in configurations where there exists shallow areas, where velocities become comparable to the propagation speed of external gravity waves. A simple alternative scheme with improved stability is proposed and discussed.