Floodplain stratigraphy of the ice jam dominated middle Yukon River: a new approach to long‐term flood frequency

Floodplain stratigraphy is used as a new method for reconstructing ice jam flood histories of northern rivers. The method, based on reconstruction of the sedimentary record of vertically‐accreting floodplains, relies on stratigraphic logging and interpretation of floodplain sediments, which result from successive ice jam floods, and radiocarbon dating of inter‐flood organic material for chronology. In a case study along a reach of the Yukon River that straddles the Yukon–Alaska border, the method is used to develop a record of ice jam flooding for the last 2000 years. Detailed chronostratigraphic logs from three sites along the Yukon River indicates that the long‐term recurrence interval varies depending on location, but ranges from approximately once in 25 years to once in 38 years (or a probability of ca 3–4% in any given year). This is broadly similar to the 4·5% probability of recurrence calculated from archival and gauged data at Dawson City, Yukon Territory, for the period 1898–2006. Two of the three study locations, with sufficient chronology, suggest a decrease in flood frequency in the last several hundred years relative to the preceding period at each site, broadly corresponding to the Little Ice Age, suggesting climate exerts some control over long‐term ice jam flood frequency. This study demonstrates that the floodplain sedimentary record offers the potential to extend records of ice jam flooding in remote, ungauged northern rivers and provides a broader temporal context for assessing the frequency and variability of ice jam flooding. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sub‐fossil Chironomidae as indicators of palaeoflow regimes: integration into the PalaeoLIFE flow index

The sub‐fossil head capsules of larval Chironomidae have been widely exploited as palaeoecological indicators of lentic ecosystems but their value in the interpretation of the evolution of lotic systems has been underutilised by comparison. Recent research has demonstrated that the remains of Chironomidae are abundant within fluvial sequences and that they offer a valuable record of channel change and floodplain evolution that may complement that derived from existing biological and sedimentological techniques. This paper demonstrates the use of Chironomidae in characterising the palaeoflow regime of a large mid–late Holocene floodplain palaeochannel (5470–4960 to 1530–1350 cal. a BP) of the River Trent (Derbyshire, UK). Using expert knowledge and published information regarding flow preferences, larval Chironomidae were incorporated into the PalaeoLIFE (Lotic‐invertebrate Index for Flow Evaluation) methodology. The results clearly demonstrate that the sub‐fossil record provided by Chironomidae can be used to characterise changes in the flow regime within palaeochannel sections. At the scale of the channel section, species‐ and generic‐level ecological associations can provide useful information regarding habitat characteristics, including the presence of instream vegetation, mineral substrates and woody debris. The ability to undertake environmental reconstruction and channel evolution history was significantly enhanced through the application of a multi‐proxy approach, by incorporating other aquatic insect groups (Trichoptera and Coleoptera) into the PalaeoLIFE metric, together with sedimentological data. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Climate change policy responses for Canada's Inuit population: The importance of and opportunities for adaptation

We identify and examine how policy intervention can help Canada's Inuit population adapt to climate change. The policy responses are based on an understanding of the determinants of vulnerability identified in research conducted with 15 Inuit communities. A consistent approach was used in each case study where vulnerability is conceptualized as a function of exposure-sensitivity to climatic risks and adaptive capacity to deal with those risks. This conceptualization focuses on the biophysical and human determinants of vulnerability and how they are influenced by processes and conditions operating at multiple spatial-temporal scales. Case studies involved close collaboration with community members and policy makers to identify conditions to which each community is currently vulnerable, characterize the factors that shape vulnerability and how they have changed over time, identify opportunities for adaptation policy, and examine how adaptation can be mainstreamed. Fieldwork, conducted between 2006 and 2009, included 443 semi-structured interviews, 20 focus groups/community workshops, and 65 interviews with policy makers at local, regional, and national levels. Synthesizing findings consistent across the case studies we document significant vulnerabilities, a function of socio-economic stresses and change, continuing and pervasive inequality, and magnitude of climate change. Nevertheless, adaptations are available, feasible, and Inuit have considerable adaptive capacity. Realizing this adaptive capacity and overcoming adaptation barriers requires policy intervention to: (i) support the teaching and transmission of environmental knowledge and land skills, (ii) enhance and review emergency management capability, (iii) ensure the flexibility of resource management regimes, (iv) provide economic support to facilitate adaptation for groups with limited household income, (v) increase research effort to identify short and long term risk factors and adaptive response options, (vi) protect key infrastructure, and (vii) promote awareness of climate change impacts and adaptation among policy makers.     

High‐frequency storm event isotope sampling reveals time‐variant transit time distributions and influence of diurnal cycles

High‐frequency sampling of stable water isotopes in precipitation and stream water during winter and summer storm events was carried out in a 2·3 km² lowland agricultural catchment. During peak flows of monitored events, the responses of δ²H and δ¹⁸O were comparable and inferred the dominance (ca 70%) of ‘old’ pre‐event water. Transit Time Distribution (TTD) inferred by a gamma function were fitted (Nash–Sutcliffe = 0·8) and were also similar for δ²H and δ¹⁸O. However, the shape (α) and scaling (β) parameters were markedly different for summer and winter events. Consequently, when antecedent wetness was high, mean transit times were in the order of days; when drier, they increased to months. Moreover, while the responses of δ²H and δ¹⁸O exhibited similar gradual recovery to pre‐event conditions during winter hydrograph recessions, they differed dramatically on summer recessions. Time series analysis showed that δ²H isotope content was correlated with the diurnal cycle of air temperature, suggesting an evaporative fractionation pattern which could be reproduced by a temperature‐based first‐order autoregressive model. The heavier δ¹⁸O isotope showed no evidence for such diurnal variability. The study highlights the utility of high‐frequency stable isotope sampling to explore the time‐variant nature of TTDs. Furthermore, it shows that the time of sampling in a diurnal cycle may have crucial significance for interpreting stream isotope signatures, particularly δ²H. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Catchment instability and Asian summer monsoon variability during the early Holocene in southwestern China

A high‐resolution palaeorecord (06SD) from Lake Shudu, Yunnan Province, southwestern China indicates a broad trend towards catchment stability, enhanced organic productivity and regional forest‐cover expansion during the early to mid Holocene. These changes are congruent with a shift to warm, wet climatic conditions, probably driven by orbitally forced Asian summer monsoon strengthening. Intriguingly, however, during the very early Holocene (c. 10.7 to 10.1 cal. ka BP), there is a prominent reversal in this trend, suggesting a weakening Asian summer monsoon. The precise cause and extent of this event remain unclear but demonstrate the urgent need for more comprehensive dating of records from across the region to test for synchroneity and examine climatic forcing mechanisms.     

Earthlearningidea—ideas for the International Year of Planet Earth

'Earthlearningidea' will be putting up a new idea for learning about the Earth every week during 2008—the International Year of Planet Earth. The ideas are aimed at teacher trainers in science and geography who will be training teachers in the teaching of Earth science—but we hope they will be widely used by classroom teachers who have access to the internet too. A blog runs alongside them aiming to build up a worldwide discussion network of Earth science educators. Help us circulate Earthlearningideas around the globe!     

Weak lensing of the CMB by large-scale structure

Several recent papers have studied lensing of the CMB by large-scale structures, which probes the projected matter distribution from z=10³ to z0. This interest is motivated in part by upcoming high resolution, high sensitivity CMB experiments, such as APEX/SZ, ACT, SPT or Planck, which should be sensitive to lensing. In this paper, we examine the reconstruction of the large-scale dark matter distribution from lensed CMB temperature anisotropies. We go beyond previous work in using numerical simulations to include higher order, non-Gaussian effects and find that the convergence and its power spectrum are biased, with the bias increasing with the angular resolution. We also study the contamination by the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel'dovich signal, which is spectrally indistinguishable from lensed CMB anisotropies, and find that it leads to an overestimate of the convergence. We finish by estimating the sensitivity of the previously cited experiments and find that all of them could detect the lensing effect, but would be biased at around the 10% level.