Determination of physical properties of a planetary surface by measuring the deceleration of a probe upon impact: Application to Titan

We report scale model laboratory experiments showing how an impact accelerometer on a planetary probe (based on the Huygens probe Phase A configuration) can provide significant information on the mechanical characteristics of the surface. In particular, solid and liquid surfaces can be discriminated. The density of liquids can in principle be determined from the peak deceleration, thereby providing a constraint on composition, although experimental uncertainties present challenges to the accuracy of this method.     

Bottom-up and top-down controls of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) on the Eastern Bering Sea shelf

Control of walleye pollock (Theragra chalcogramma) recruitment in the Eastern Bering Sea involves complex interactions between bottom-up and top-down processes, although the mechanisms are poorly understood. We used statistical models to test the leading hypotheses linking recruitment variability to biotic and abiotic factors. Consistent with a “cold-pool hypothesis”, recruitment of pollock was significantly stronger if winters preceding the larval (age-0) and juvenile stages (age-1) were mild. However, our results did not support the proposed top-down mechanism (cannibalism) underlying this hypothesis. Several empirical relationships support an “oscillating control hypothesis”. As predicted by it, the effect of ice conditions on survival during the larval and early juvenile stages was modified by the abundance of adult pollock, implying stronger bottom-up control when adult abundance (hence cannibalism) was low. The proposed bottom-up mechanism predicts that the survival of pelagic-feeding walleye pollock (benthic-feeding yellowfin sole), should be higher during years with an early (late) ice retreat, which was confirmed by our analysis. Our results also provide additional evidence for a “larval transport hypothesis”, which states that cannibalism of larval and juvenile pollock is reduced in years when strong northward advection separates juveniles from cannibalistic adults.In addition to testing existing hypotheses, we identified new relationships between spawner-to-recruit survival rates of walleye pollock and several indicators of mixed layer dynamics during the spring and summer. Survival rates and recruitment were significantly reduced when larval or early juvenile stages experienced a delay in the (non-ice-associated) spring bloom as a result of stormy spring conditions, suggesting that the timing of the spring bloom is critical to both first-feeding larvae and age-1 juveniles. Furthermore, a dome-shaped relationship between pollock survival and summer wind mixing at the early juvenile stage is consistent with modeling and laboratory studies showing an increase in survival at low to moderate levels of wind mixing, but a decrease in feeding success at high levels of wind mixing.Top-down controls also regulate recruitment of walleye pollock. At least one-third of the variability in spawner-to-recruit survival could be accounted for by predation mortality at the early juvenile stage (age-1). Predation of juvenile pollock can be attributed largely to cannibalism, which varies with the abundance of adult pollock and with the availability of juveniles to adult predators. A simple index reflecting the spatial overlap between juvenile and adult pollock explained 30–50% of the overall variability in recruitment, similar to the variability explained by the best environmental predictors. Although environmental effects are difficult to separate from the effects of predation, we conclude that bottom-up and top-down processes are equally important in controlling the survival of pollock from spawning to recruitment at age 2. However, the magnitude of top-down control is itself modified by environmental factors that control the availability of juvenile pollock to adults (through impacts on spatial distribution) and the abundance of adult predators (through effects on productivity and carrying capacity).     

Eruption-induced modifications to volcanic seismicity at Ruapehu,New Zealand,and its implications for eruption forecasting

Broadband seismic data collected on Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand, in 1994 and 1998 show that the 1995-1996 eruptions of Ruapehu resulted in a significant change in the frequency content of tremor and volcanic earthquakes at the volcano. The pre-eruption volcanic seismicity was characterized by several independent dominant frequencies, with a 2 Hz spectral peak dominating the strongest tremor and volcanic earthquakes and higher frequencies forming the background signal. The post-eruption volcanic seismicity was dominated by a 0.8-1.4 Hz spectral peak not seen before the eruptions. The 2 Hz and higher frequency signals remained, but were subordinate to the 0.8-1.4 Hz energy. That the dominant frequencies of volcanic tremor and volcanic earthquakes were identical during the individual time periods prior to and following the 1995-1996 eruptions suggests that during each of these time periods the volcanic tremor and earthquakes were generated by the same source process. The overall change in the frequency content, which occurred during the 1995-1996 eruptions and remains as of the time of the writing of this paper, most likely resulted from changes in the volcanic plumbing system and has significant implications for forecasting and real-time assessment of future eruptive activity at Ruapehu.     

Morphology and causes of recent peat slides on Skerry Hill,Co. Antrim,Northern Ireland

Two shallow translational slides occurred in blanket peat on Skerry Hill, Co. Antrim, in November 1991 at sites adjacent to slides activated c. 25 years ago. Heavy rainfall, degraded drainage ditches and slope morphology are considered to have been important factors contributing to peat instability. The failure planes are located close to the peat base, at the boundary between less compact fibrous peat above and more compact humified peat below. The preservation of large blocks and rafts of intact peat and the limited amount of liquefied peat in the debris tongues is thought to reflect the degree of peat humification. There is also some evidence to suggest that the peat was probably undersaturated at the time of failure and this may have assisted preservation of intact peat blocks. Tension cracks, resulting from either short-term desiccation or long-term slow mass movement, are thought to have facilitated the rapid transfer of heavy rain to the subsurface peat, causing high pore-water pressures and lubrication of the failure planes. Vegetation recolonization will probably follow a pattern similar to that observed on the adjacent earlier slides.     

Associational resistance mediates predator--prey interactions in a marine subtidal system

There is a growing awareness of the role that indirect interactions play in influencing food webs and ecosystem structure. In this study, the hypothesis that crustose algal epibionts provide gastropods associational resistance from predation was investigated through field surveys and laboratory feeding assays. In rocky low intertidal/shallow subtidal systems in the northeast Pacific, several species of crustose algae (the red alga Peyssonnelia meridionalis and crustose corallines) can colonize the shells of living Tegula brunnea snails. The growth patterns of these epibiontic crustose algae allow them to cover their host’s surface completely, which may, in turn, protect their hosts from predation. A multi‐site field survey of T. brunnea revealed that >60% of snails were at least 75% covered with one or more species of crustose algae, with 35% fully covered, indicating that this is common in the field. Laboratory feeding assays revealed that sea stars, a primary predator of T. brunnea, distinguished among snails with different shell coverings; Pisaster consumed nearly three times as many bare (i.e. no crustose algae) snails as those covered with Peyssonnelia, while Pycnopodia consumed four times as many bare snails as those covered with crustose corallines. These results suggest that epibiont crustose algae can benefit their hosts via associational resistance; this finding may have implications for the role of associational resistance in trophic interactions.     

Evaluation of amendments used to prevent sodification of irrigated fields

Gypsum and S are applied to soils being irrigated with Na–HCO₃ dominated coalbed natural gas (CBNG) produced water to protect soil structure and fertility. Wyoming law requires beneficial use of produced water and irrigation with CBNG produced water in the semi-arid Powder River Basin is becoming more common. Strontium isotopes were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the gypsum and S applications in preventing sodification of these irrigated soils. The isotope ratio of Sr on the cation exchange complex of irrigated soil falls between that of the gypsum amendment (0.7074) and that of local soil (0.712–0.713). Strontium isotopes indicate that, to a depth of 30 cm, as much as 50% of the Sr on the irrigated soil cation exchange sites originated from the applied gypsum amendment on a field irrigated for 3 a. This was also true to a depth of 5 cm on a field irrigated less than 1 a. Strontium isotope ratio measurements of vegetation illustrate plant utilization of Sr from gypsum amendments, thereby reinforcing the conclusions about the presence of Sr from gypsum on the soil’s exchange sites. This Sr tracing technique may be useful in a wide variety of settings where monitoring soil health is necessary, especially in settings where poor quality water is used for irrigation: a more common occurrence as demand for fresh water increases.     

Factors controlling nitrogen release from two forested catchments with contrasting hydrochemical responses

Quantifying biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen (N) and the associated fluxes to surface waters remains challenging, given the need to deal with spatial and temporal variability and to characterize complex and heterogeneous landscapes. We focused our study on catchments S14 and S15 located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York, USA, which have similar topographic and hydrologic characteristics but contrasting stream nitrate ( ) concentrations. We characterized the mechanisms by which reaches the streams during hydrological events in these catchments, aiming to reconcile our field data with our conceptual model of factors that regulate nutrient exports from forested catchments. Combined hydrometric, chemical and isotopic (δ ) data showed that the relative contributions of both soil and ground water sources were similar between the two catchments. Temporal patterns of stream chemistry were markedly different between S14 and S15, however, because the water sources in the two catchments have different solute concentrations. During late summer/fall, the largest source of in S14 was till groundwater, whereas shallow soil was the largest source in S15. concentrations in surface water decreased in S14, whereas they increased in S15 because an increasing proportion of stream flow was derived from shallow soil sources. During snowmelt, the largest sources of were in the near‐surface soil in both catchments. Concentrations of increased as stream discharge increased and usually peaked before peak discharge, when shallow soil water sources made the largest contribution to stream discharge. The timing of peaks in stream concentrations was affected by antecedent moisture conditions. By elucidating the factors that affect sources and transport of N, including differences in the soil nutrient cycling and hydrological characteristics of S14 and S15, this study contributes to the overall conceptualization of release from temperate forested catchments. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diet of winter flounder in a New Jersey estuary: Ontogenetic change and spatial variation

Juvenile and adult winter flounder,Pseudopleuronectes americanus Walbaum (Pleuronectidae), from the Navesink River and Sandy Hook Bay, New Jersey, U.S., were examined for ontogenetic, seasonal, and spatial variation in dietary content. Fish (n=1291 non-empty) were placed by cluster analysis of dietary content into three size groups: 15–49, 50–299, and ≥300 mm total length. Clear ontogenetic patterns were revealed, in particular the disappearance of calanoid copepods from the diet as fish grew >50 mm and an increase in number of taxa in the diet with growth. Fish in size group 1 fed upon spionid polychaetes, the calanoid copepodEurytemora affinis, and ampeliscid amphipods. Fish in size group 2 added various species of polychaetes, amphipods, and siphons of the bivalveMya aremaria to their diets. Size group 2 was present during all months of the survey, but only minor seasonal differences in their diet were apparent. One obvious change was the increase in consumption of the shrimpCrangon septemspinosa in summer and fall. Size group 3 fish, collected mainly in fall, ate large volumes ofM. arenaria and glycerid polychaetes. Cluster analysis showed a largescale spatial pattern in diet among fish of size group 1, related to the presence ofE. affinis in winter flounder diets in the river and a marsh cove in the bay. Small-scale spatial differences in diets of fish in size group 2 were possibly related to prey distribution.     

Crew variability in topographic surveys for monitoring wadeable streams: a case study from the Columbia River Basin

Digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from ground‐based topographic surveys have become ubiquitous in the field of fluvial geomorphology. Their wide application in spatially explicit analysis includes hydraulic modeling, habitat modeling, and morphological sediment budgeting. However, there is a lack of understanding regarding the repeatability and precision of DEMs derived from ground‐based surveys conducted by different, and inherently subjective, observers. This is of particular concern when we consider the proportion of studies and monitoring programs that are implemented across multiple sites and over time by different observers. We used a case study from the Columbia Habitat Monitoring Program (CHaMP), where seven field crews sampled the same six sites, to quantify the magnitude and effect of observer variability on DEMs interpolated from total station surveys. We quantified the degree to which DEM‐derived metrics and measured geomorphic change were repeatable. Across all six sites, we found an average elevation standard deviation of 0.05 m among surveys, and a mean total range of 0.16 m. A variance partition between site, crew, and unexplained errors for several topographically derived metrics showed that crew variability never accounted for > 1.5% of the total variability. We calculated minor geomorphic changes at one site following a relatively dry flow year between 2012 and 2011. Calculated changes were minimal (unthresholded net changes ±1–3 cm) with six crews detecting an indeterminate sediment budget and one crew detecting a minor net erosional sediment budget. While crew variability does influence the quality of topographic surveys, this study highlights that when consistent surveying methods are employed, the data sets are still sufficient to support derivation of topographic metrics and conduct basic geomorphic change detection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.