Large-sample hydrology: recent progress,guidelines for new datasets and grand challenges

ABSTRACT

Large-sample hydrology (LSH) relies on data from large sets (tens to thousands) of catchments to go beyond individual case studies and derive robust conclusions on hydrological processes and models. Numerous LSH datasets have recently been released, covering a wide range of regions and relying on increasingly diverse data sources to characterize catchment behaviour. These datasets offer novel opportunities, yet they are also limited by their lack of comparability, uncertainty estimates and characterization of human impacts. This article (i) underscores the key role of LSH datasets in hydrological studies, (ii) provides a review of currently available LSH datasets, (iii) highlights current limitations of LSH datasets and (iv) proposes guidelines and coordinated actions to overcome these limitations. These guidelines and actions aim to standardize and automatize the creation of LSH datasets worldwide, and to enhance the reproducibility and comparability of hydrological studies.     

Mineral magnetic and physical properties of surficial sediments and onshore samples from the southern basin of Lake Baikal, Siberia

Results of lithostratigraphic and mineral magnetic analysis of two surficial sediment cores (21 cm and 45 cm in length) collected from the Southern basin of Lake Baikal at a water depth of 1390 m, are presented. The sediments have been measured for a wide range of mineral magnetic parameters in order to assess their value in the identification of turbidite layers. Particle size and geochemical data are also presented and these explain some of the down core variations in magnetic mineralogy. It is suggested that changes in the particle size frequency distributions down core may be related to fossil diatom shells. One of the cores has been dated using ²¹⁰Pb. The sediment cores were cross-correlated using low frequency magnetic susceptibility (f) and these cores can also be correlated with a nearby core collected earlier in 1992. Changes in the magnetic parameters of lf, IRMs and HIRM₂₁₀ suggest that there are significant changes in the concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals in the sediment cores, indicating changing sediment sources and/or increasing concentrations of spheroidal carbonaceous particles and the dissolution of minerals through reduction below the oxidised layer within the sediment core.     

Levels of chlorinated hydrocarbons and trace metals in bivalves and nearshore sediments from the Dominican Republic

Bivalves (Crassostrea rizhophorae, Isognomon alatus, Codakia orbicularis Linné, and Tellina fausta) and sediment samples collected from 12 locations along the Dominican Republic coastline were used to assess the degree of nearshore contamination by selected chlorinated hydrocarbons and heavy metals. Concentrations of total chlordanes, DDTs and PCBs ranged from 0.51 to 7.47 ng/g, < MDL to 30.9 ng/g and 11.3 to 82.3 ng/g, and from < MDL to 1.73 ng/g, 0.21 to 12.5 ng/g and 0.46 to 41.9 ng/g in bivalves and surface sediments, respectively. The concentration ranges of predominantly anthropogenic Cu, Pb and Zn were 3.08–866 μg/g, 0.08–1.46 μg/g and 22.9–4380 μg/g in bivalve soft parts and 1.01–111 mg/g, 0.420–134 μg/g and 1.96–277 μg/g in surface sediments, respectively. Mercury concentrations ranged from 0.290 to 7.02 μg/g and from 0.096 to 0.565 μg/g in both matrices. The relatively high Hg concentrations found in bivalves from two stations in Bahia Samana, near to a known source of past Hg contamination in the sediments, require a more in-depth survey of the area. In general the concentrations of selected chlorinated hydrocarbons and trace metals, compared with those reported for the same matrices in the Caribbean and west Atlantic coastal areas, show at present the existence of only very localized contamination problems in the Dominican Republic.     

Testing the credibility of historical newspaper reporting of extreme climate and weather events

In recent years, newspaper research has been streamlined by digitisation and online hosting by PapersPast. This paper tests the reliability and credibility of reporting of extreme weather and climatic events through PapersPast to determine if newspaper research of past climate can be further streamlined. Searches were conducted through four early‐20th‐century Auckland newspapers, where counts of articles returned by key‐word searches for particular periods were compared against periods of known extremes. We find that blind searches have only limited potential in identifying extreme weather and climatic events and that they are no substitute for thorough analyses of documentary sources.     

The Little Ice Age climate of New Zealand reconstructed from Southern Alps cirque glaciers: a synoptic type approach

Little Ice Age (LIA) austral summer temperature anomalies were derived from palaeoequilibrium line altitudes at 22 cirque glacier sites across the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Modern analog seasons with temperature anomalies akin to the LIA reconstructions were selected, and then applied in a sampling of high-resolution gridded New Zealand climate data and global reanalysis data to generate LIA climate composites at local, regional and hemispheric scales. The composite anomaly patterns assist in improving our understanding of atmospheric circulation contributions to the LIA climate state, allow an interrogation of synoptic type frequency changes for the LIA relative to present, and provide a hemispheric context of the past conditions in New Zealand. An LIA summer temperature anomaly of ?0.56 °C (±0.29 °C) for the Southern Alps based on palaeo-equilibrium lines compares well with local tree-ring reconstructions of austral summer temperature. Reconstructed geopotential height at 1,000 hPa (z1000) suggests enhanced southwesterly flow across New Zealand occurred during the LIA to generate the terrestrial temperature anomalies. The mean atmospheric circulation pattern for summer resulted from a crucial reduction of the ‘HSE’-blocking synoptic type (highs over and to the west of NZ; largely settled conditions) and increases in both the ‘T’- and ‘SW’-trough synoptic types (lows passing over NZ; enhanced southerly and southwesterly flow) relative to normal. Associated land-based temperature and precipitation anomalies suggest both colder- and wetter-than-normal conditions were a pervasive component of the base climate state across New Zealand during the LIA, as were colder-than-normal Tasman Sea surface temperatures. Proxy temperature and circulation evidence were used to corroborate the spatially heterogeneous Southern Hemisphere composite z1000 and sea surface temperature patterns generated in this study. A comparison of the composites to climate mode archetypes suggests LIA summer climate and atmospheric circulation over New Zealand was driven by increased frequency of weak El Niño-Modoki in the tropical Pacific and negative Southern Annular Mode activity.     

Phase Equilibria Constraints on the Chemical and Physical Evolution of the Campanian Ignimbrite

The Campanian Ignimbrite is a > 200 km³ trachyte–phonolitepyroclastic deposit that erupted at 39·3 ± 0·1ka within the Campi Flegrei west of Naples, Italy. Here we testthe hypothesis that Campanian Ignimbrite magma was derived byisobaric crystal fractionation of a parental basaltic trachyandesiticmelt that reacted and came into local equilibrium with smallamounts (5–10 wt%) of crustal rock (skarns and foid-syenites)during crystallization. Comparison of observed crystal and magmacompositions with results of phase equilibria assimilation–fractionationsimulations (MELTS) is generally very good. Oxygen fugacitywas approximately buffered along QFM + 1 (where QFM is the quartz–fayalite–magnetitebuffer) during isobaric fractionation at 0·15 GPa ( 6km depth). The parental melt, reconstructed from melt inclusionand host clinopyroxene compositions, is found to be basaltictrachyandesite liquid (51·1 wt% SiO₂, 9·3 wt%MgO, 3 wt% H₂O). A significant feature of phase equilibria simulationsis the existence of a pseudo-invariant temperature, 883 °C,at which the fraction of melt remaining in the system decreasesabruptly from 0·5 to < 0·1. Crystallizationat the pseudo-invariant point leads to abrupt changes in thecomposition, properties (density, dissolved water content),and physical state (viscosity, volume fraction fluid) of meltand magma. A dramatic decrease in melt viscosity (from 1700Pa s to 200 Pa s), coupled with a change in the volume fractionof water in magma (from 0·1 to 0·8) and a dramaticdecrease in melt and magma density acted as a destabilizingeruption trigger. Thermal models suggest a timescale of 200kyr from the beginning of fractionation until eruption, leadingto an apparent rate of evolved magma generation of about 10^–3km³/year. In situ crystallization and crystal settling in density-stratifiedregions, as well as in convectively mixed, less evolved subjacentmagma, operate rapidly enough to match this apparent volumetricrate of evolved magma production. KEY WORDS: assimilation; Campanian Ignimbrite; fractional crystallization; magma dynamics; phase equilibria     

Global distribution of the intensity and frequency of hourly precipitation and their responses to ENSO

Climate Dynamics - We investigate the global distribution of hourly precipitation and its connections with the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) using both satellite precipitation...     

Orion: A 1–5 Micron Focal Plane for the 21st Century

The Orion program is a project to develop a 2K × 2K infrared focal plane using InSb p-on-n diodes for detectors. It is the natural follow-up to the successful Aladdin 1K × 1K program started in the early 90's. The work is being done at the Raytheon Infrared Operations Division (RIO, previously known as the Santa Barbara Research Center) by many of the same people who created the Aladdin focal plane. The design is very similar to the successful Aladdin design with the addition of reference pixels, whole array readout (no quadrants), two-adjacent-side buttability, and a packaging design that includes going directly to the ultimate focal plane size of 4K × 4K. So far we have successfully made a limited number of hybrid modules with InSb detectors. In this paper we will describe the design features and test data taken from some of these devices. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge: structure at 45° N

Summary. A structural model of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge at 45° N is proposed on the basis of travel-time data, amplitudes and synthetic seismograms. The crustal structure seems to be similar to that in the FAMOUS area (Fowler). At the ridge axis there is an absorptive zone in the upper mantle, the depth below the seabed to the top of this zone being about 6 km. Away from the ridge axis there is a positive velocity gradient of about 0.04 to 0.05 km/(skm) in the top 5 to 8 km of the upper mantle. Shear waves propagate across the ridge axis, suggesting that there is no sizeable crustal magma chamber. The shear-wave velocity of the uppermost mantle is 4.35 km/s.