Determining the climatic requirements of trees suitable for agroforestry

After fossil fuel burning, clearing of forests for agriculture is the second most significant factor increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Replanting trees on previously cleared land around the world could reduce the buildup of atmospheric carbon dioxide. However, forests were usually cleared to grow crops or graze animals, so there is no possibility of completely restoring forests on most cleared lands. There is a need to develop agroforestry systems, which integrate trees with agricultural activities.One of the key problems in developing successful agroforestry systems is identifying which trees can be successfully grown in different areas. This problem will become even greater as tree breeding produces a wider variety of genotypes available for planting. General methods are described to identify where a particular tree (species, provenance or clone) with potential for use in agroforestry systems can be grown. The methods also help to identify locations where particular trees are growing under relatively extreme climatic conditions for that taxa. Conditions at these locations should be carefully evaluated as more reliable future climatic scenarios are developed. In the meantime they could be monitored to provide early warning of the effects of climatic and atmospheric change.     

Mass balance and sliding velocity of the Puget lobe of the cordilleran ice sheet during the last glaciation

An estimate of the sliding velocity and basal meltwater discharge of the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet can be calculated from its reconstructed extent, altitude, and mass balance. Lobe dimensions and surface altitudes are inferred from ice limits and flow-direction indicators. Net annual mass balance and total ablation are calculated from relations empirically derived from modern maritime glaciers. An equilibrium-line altitude between 1200 and 1250 m is calculated for the maximum glacial advance (ca. 15,000 yr B.P.) during the Vashon Stade of the Fraser Glaciation. This estimate is in accord with geologic data and is insensitive to plausible variability in the parameters used in the reconstruction. Resultant sliding velocities are as much as 650 m/a at the equilibrium line, decreasing both up- and downglacier. Such velocities for an ice sheet of this size are consistent with nonsurging behavior. Average meltwater discharge increases monotonically downglacier to 3000 m³/sec at the terminus and is of a comparable magnitude to ice discharge over much of the glacier's ablation area. Palcoclimatic inferences derived from this reconstruction are consistent with previous, independently derived studies of late Pleistocene temperature and precipitation in the Pacific Northwest.     

Analysis of the crustal velocity structure of the British Isles using teleseismic receiver functions

The onshore crustal and upper mantle velocity structure of the British Isles has been investigated by teleseismic receiver function analysis. The results of the study augment the dense offshore and sparse onshore models of the velocity structure beneath the area. In total almost 1500 receiver functions have been analysed, which have been calculated using teleseismic data from 34 broadband and short-period, three-component seismic recording instruments. The crustal structure has primarily been investigated using 1-D grid search and forward modelling techniques, returning crustal thicknesses, bulk crustal V_p / V_s ratio and velocity-depth models. H −κ stacking reveals crustal thicknesses between 25 and 36 km and V_p / V_s ratios between 1.6 and 1.9. The crustal thicknesses correlate with the results of previous seismic reflection and refraction profiles to within ±2 km. The significant exceptions are the stations close to the Iapetus Suture where the receiver function crustal thicknesses are up to 5 km less than the seismic refraction Moho. This mismatch could be linked to the presence of underplated magmatic material at the base of the crust. 1-D forward modelling has revealed subcrustal structures in northern Scotland. These correlate with results from other UK receiver function studies, and correspond with the Flannan and W-reflectors. The structures are truncated or pinch out before they reach the Midland Valley of Scotland. The isolated subcrustal structure at station GIM on the Isle of Man may be related to the closure of the Iapetus Ocean.     

Complex kame belt morphology,stratigraphy and architecture

The development of glacier karst at the margins of melting ice sheets produces complex glaciofluvial sediment-landform assemblages that provide information on ice sheet downwasting processes. We present the first combined geomorphological, sedimentological and geophysical investigation of the Brampton Kame Belt, an important glaciofluvial depositional zone at the centre of the last British-Irish Ice Sheet. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) data allow the broad scale internal architecture of ridges (eskers) and flat-topped hills (ice-walled lake plains) to be determined at four sites. In combination with sediment exposures, these provide information on lateral and vertical variations in accretion styles, depositional boundaries, and grain size changes. Building on existing work on the subject, we propose a refined model for the formation of ice-walled lake plains resulting from the evolution and collapse of major drainage axes into lakes as stable glacier karst develops during deglaciation. The internal structure of esker ridges demonstrates variations in sedimentation that can be linked to differences in ridge morphologies across the kame belt. This includes low energy flow conditions and multiple accretion phases identified within large S-N oriented esker ridges; and fluctuating water pressures, hyperconcentrated flows, and significant deformation within a fragmented SW–NE oriented esker ridge. In combination with updated geomorphological mapping, this work allows us to identify two main styles of drainage within the kame belt: (1) major drainage axes aligned broadly S-N that extend through the entire kame belt and collapsed into a chain of ice-walled lakes; and (2) a series of smaller, fragmented SW–NE aligned esker ridges that represent ice-marginal drainage as the ice sheet receded south-eastwards up the Vale of Eden. Our study demonstrates the importance of integrated geomorphological, sedimentological and geophysical investigations in order to understand complex and polyphase glaciofluvial sediment-landform assemblages. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

NGC7538 Irs1 N: Modeling a Circumstellar Maser Disk

We present an edge-on Keplerian disk model to explain the main component of the 12.2 and 6.7 GHz methanol maser emission detected toward NGC7538-IRS1N. The brightness distribution and spectrum of the line of bright masers are successfully modeled with high amplification of background radio continuum emission along velocity coherent paths through a maser disk. The bend seen in the position–velocity diagram is a characteristic signature of differentially rotating disks. For a central mass of 30M, suggested by other observations, our model fixes the masing disk to have inner and outer radii of 270 and 750 AU.     

西秦岭勉略带陆内构造变形研究

秦岭造山带勉略缝合带是古特提斯洋盆向北俯冲形成的华北与华南最后拼接带。这个主缝合带俯冲-碰撞过程中以由北向南的一系列韧性逆冲推覆构造为特征,形成由前泥盆系、泥盆-石炭系和蛇绿混杂岩等不同构造岩片叠置的复杂构造带,碰撞时代从245Ma一直延续到230Ma左右。最近,作者对勉略缝合带内发育的韧性和脆性左行走滑剪切变形进行了研究,结果表明这些顺造山带的左行韧性走滑剪切变形带的变形时代为223±2Ma,与碰撞后花岗岩所确定的碰撞后构造环境的起始时间(225Ma)一致,显示这些韧性走滑剪切变形带是勉略带陆内变形初期变形产物。亦即华北、扬子大陆碰撞之后很快就转入陆内变形阶段,并且是以顺造山带的侧向走滑位移为主要变形方式。勉略带内顺造山带的脆性左行走滑断层的发育,表明这种顺造山带的侧向位移过程从深部到地壳浅层是一致的。因此,大陆碰撞在直接碰撞之后很快转变为顺造山带的侧向走滑位移为主的陆内变形,这种位移可能表现为两个大陆碰撞后的相对走滑,或是碰撞带中强烈变形部分顺造山带的侧向挤出,从而消减了正向碰撞所造成的地壳缩短和增厚。     

Megafan formation driven by explosive volcanism and active tectonic processes in a humid tropical environment

Quaternary volcanism in the Central Cordillera of Costa Rica has created an orographic barrier that concentrates rainfall on its northern side. This humid climate produces weathered bedrock prone to landsliding. Ash fall from explosive eruptions kills the vegetation cover and intensifies erosion processes. These eruptions, hydrothermal activity and associated earthquakes destabilize the slopes of river valleys, and even the volcanic edifices, producing landslides and large debris avalanches. All these processes mobilize an extra sediment input that is deposited in the piedmont lowlands forming the Santa Clara megafan. The megafans described in the literature mainly grow according to climatic fluctuations; however, sedimentation in the Santa Clara megafan is also controlled by endogenic processes with longer recurrence periods. Analysis of this megafan provides new insight into the origin and evolution of these landforms. In volcanic regions, active volcanism should be considered when investigating the formation of some megafans.     

Interactions between perturbations to different Earth system components simulated by a fully-coupled climate model

We examine the global mean surface temperature and carbon cycle responses to the A1B emissions scenario for a new 57 member perturbed-parameter ensemble of simulations generated using the fully coupled atmosphere-ocean-carbon cycle climate model HadCM3C. The model variants feature simultaneous perturbation to parameters that control atmosphere, ocean, land carbon cycle and sulphur cycle processes in this Earth system model, and is the first experiment of its kind. The experimental design, based on four earlier ensembles with parameters varied within each individual Earth system component, allows the effects of interactions between uncertainties in the different components to be explored. A large spread in response is obtained, with atmospheric CO₂ at the end of the twenty-first century ranging from 615 to 1,100 ppm. On average though, the mean effect of the parameter perturbations is to significantly reduce the amount of atmospheric CO₂ compared to that seen in the standard HadCM3C model. Global temperature change for 2090–2099 relative to the pre-industrial period ranges from 2.2 to 7.5 °C, with large temperature responses occurring when atmospheric model versions with high climate sensitivities are combined with carbon cycle components that emit large amounts of CO₂ to the atmosphere under warming. A simple climate model, tuned to reproduce the responses of the separate Earth system component ensembles, is used to demonstrate that interactions between uncertainties in the different components play a significant role in determining the spread of responses in global mean surface temperature. This ensemble explores a wide range of interactions and response, and therefore provides a useful resource for the provision of regional climate projections and associated uncertainties.     

Abundance, variability, and potential grazing impact of planktonic ciliates in the open subaratic Pacific Ocean

The abundance and variability of planktonic ciliates in the open subarctic Pacific were determined during four month-long cruises in 1987 and 1988. The ciliate community, numerically dominated by relatively small aloricate choreotrichs, was comparable in abundance to communities in a range of oceanic and neritic environments, including waters with much higher average chlorophyll concentrations. Integrated (0–80m) ciliate biomass was typically 100–200mgC m⁻², although 3- to 4-fold higher levels were observed on two occasions in spring. Ciliate community biomass, in general, was dominated by large (>20μm width) individuals, although in August 1988 the biomass of smaller cells was as great or greater. The estimated grazing impact of the ciliate community averaged 20% of the primary production. On one instance in May 1988, however, a large biomass of ciliates led to an estimated grazing impact equivalent to 55% of phytoplankton production. While ciliates may be major phytoplankton grazers during sporadic ciliate “blooms”, dino- and other heterotrophic flagellates, which make up the bulk of microheterotroph biomass, must normally be of equal or greater importance as herbivores in this ocean region.