Routing of canopy drip in the snowpack below a spruce crown

Snow that is retained by a forest canopy may either sublimate or evaporate directly from the crown or drop as snow clumps or meltwater to the ground. Redistributed snow and meltwater affect the snow structure and prevent the formation of mechanically weak layers, which is the prerequisite for avalanche formation in forests. In this paper we describe the results of dye tracer experiments conducted in a subalpine forest near Davos, Switzerland. Before a snowfall event we stained snow‐free branches of a spruce with a dye tracer solution. After snowfall the coloured meltwater dripping from the branches down on to the snowpack stained the percolation pathways of the meltwater in the snowpack. Photographs of the snow profiles indicate that the meltwater seeped almost vertically through the isothermal snowpack to the soil surface not exceeding the projected crown edge. Meltwater of different events moves along different preferential flow channels in the snow suggesting that old channels are not non‐conducting and additional meltwater fronts create new channels. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biologischer Abbau der Photolyseprodukte von FeIIIEDTA

Biodegradation of the Photolysis Products of Fe^IIIEDTA Ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) is not biodegraded by activated sludge from a wastewater treatment plant. This work shows that after photolysis of Fe^IIIEDTA, easily degradable metabolites are formed. The OECD Test 302 B yielded a 53% bioelimination with a sunlight irradiation time of 6.5 hours followed by a 4-week incubation. After 20 hours of sunlight irradiation, EDTA is bioeliminated to 92%. One of the photolytic degradation products, ethylenediaminediacetate (EDDA), has been quantitatively eliminated within 14 days following a lag-phase of 2 weeks. The photolysis of the iron complexes of the phosphonates ATMP and DTPMP did not result in biologically degradable metabolites. With these results, the environmental impact of EDTA can be re-evaluated emphasizing the amount and fate of Fe^IIIEDTA in the environment. Fe^IIIEDTA was found to be present in effluents of wastewater treatment plants at fractions from 20 to 90% of the total EDTA. Fe^IIIEDTA has a half life of about 2 hours in sunlit waters. Complexes of EDTA with other metals do not exchange with iron and are photostable. Therefore, EDTA behaves like 2 different compounds: – Fe^IIIEDTA undergoes fast photolysis with biodegradation of the metabolites. – The other metal-EDTA complexes are persistent in the environment. Ecological arguments against the use of EDTA are therefore still valid for all EDTA-complexes except the one of Fe(III). However, Fe(III) complexes with the phosphonates ATMP and DTPMP do not exhibit such favorable properties over other metal-complexes, and so all arguments against the use of phosphonates are still valid.     

Voluminous lava flows at Oldoinyo Lengai in 2006: chronology of events and insights into the shallow magmatic system

The largest natrocarbonatite lava flow eruption ever documented at Oldoinyo Lengai, NW Tanzania, occurred from March 25 to April 5, 2006, in two main phases. It was associated with hornito collapse, rapid extrusion of lava covering a third of the crater and emplacement of a 3-km long compound rubbly pahoehoe to blocky aa-like flow on the W flank. The eruption was followed by rapid enlargement of a pit crater. The erupted natrocarbonatite lava has high silica content (3% SiO₂). The eruption chronology is reconstructed from eyewitness and news media reports and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data, which provide the most reliable evidence to constrain the eruption’s onset and variations in activity. The eruption products were mapped in the field and the total erupted lava volume estimated at 9.2 ± 3.0 × 10⁵ m³. The event chronology and field evidence are consistent with vent construct instability causing magma mixing and rapid extrusion from shallow reservoirs. It provides new insights into and highlights the evolution of the shallow magmatic system at this unique natrocarbonatite volcano.     

Reporting negative results to stimulate experimental hydrology: discussion of “The role of experimental work in hydrological sciences – insights from a community survey”*

Experimental work in hydrology is in decline. Based on a community survey, Blume et al. showed that the hydrological community associates experimental work with greater risks. One of the main issues with experimental work is the higher chance of negative results (defined here as when the expected or wanted result was not observed despite careful experimental design, planning and execution), resulting in a longer and more difficult publishing process. Reporting on negative results would avoid putting time and resources into repeating experiments that lead to negative results, and give experimental hydrologists the scientific recognition they deserve. With this commentary, we propose four potential solutions to encourage reporting on negative results, which might contribute to a stimulation of experimental hydrology.     

Urbanization in China from the end of 1980s until 2010 – spatial dynamics and patterns of growth using EO-data

Urbanization in China has been experiencing a remarkable dynamism in the past 40 years. The most evident implication of urbanization is the physical growth of cities. We analyze urban land growth rates and changes in spatial urban forms from the end of the 1980s to 2010 based on the authoritative National Land Use/Cover Database of China. We present new spatial measures that describe ‘urban land growth types’ and ‘fluctuations in urban land growth’ within the monitoring time span with a temporal interval of five-year steps. We evaluate the correlations between urban land growth rates and socioeconomic data. Results show that (1) distinct characteristics exist on the spatiotemporal evolutions of urban land growth rates in terms of area and perimeter, e.g. coastal areas exhibit the most dramatic growth rates; (2) the spatial distribution characteristics of ‘urban land growth types’ and ‘fluctuations in urban land growth’ follow similar spatial patterns across China, e.g. significant differences exist between the eastern region and other regions; and (3) a moderate correlation exists between urban area growth rate and urban population growth rate at an R² of 0.37. By contrast, we determine no significant correlation between urban area growth rate and tertiary industry value growth rate.     

An assessment of monitoring requirements and costs of 'Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation'

Background  

Negotiations on a future climate policy framework addressing Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) are ongoing. Regardless of how such a framework will be designed, many technical solutions of estimating forest cover and forest carbon stock change exist to support policy in monitoring and accounting. These technologies typically combine remotely sensed data with ground-based inventories. In this article we assess the costs of monitoring REDD based on available technologies and requirements associated with key elements of REDD policy.     

A crustal origin for eclogites and a mantle origin for garnet peridotites: Strontium isotopic evidence from clinopyroxenes

Strontium isotopic data suggest that the classic eclogite-facies rocks of western south Norway described by Eskola (1921) formed from several parental materials in a variety of environments. Mineral separates from essentially basic, bi-minerallic (clinopyroxene and garnet) eclogites that occur as lens-shaped masses within high grade gneisses (country rock eclogites) have Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ values that range from 0.704 for fine-grained varieties to 0.716 for coarse-grained, orthopyroxene-bearing varieties. These high, varied ratios contrast with the very low, restricted ratios (0.701 to 0.704) of similar minerals from ultrabasic, garnet-clinopyroxene-orthopyroxene-olivine assemblages (garnet peridotites) that occur as lenses within large peridotite bodies. The eclogite-facies metamorphism that generated the garnet peridotites may have occurred in the mantle. However, the metamorphism that generated at least the more radiogenic country-rock eclogites must have occurred in the crust. The high Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios of these eclogites could be generated either by forming them from crustal parental rocks or by contaminating mantle-derived parental rocks with radiogenic strontium from the country rocks. If this contamination occurred after intrusion and before eclogite-facies metamorphism, a rather contrived history must be postulated that involves intrusion, contamination accompanied by hydration, subsequent dehydration, and finally eclogite-facies metamorphism. These processes could have occurred within the long, complicated history of the enclosing country rocks. Alternatively, if the contamination occurred during eclogite-facies metamorphism, the presence of some hydrous fluid appears to be required to transport the radiogenic strontium from the enclosing country rocks. The eclogites with the highest Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios are also the most coarse-grained and it is possible that the presence of some intergranular fluid enabled these eclogites to recrystallize to a much larger grain size than would have been possible in a totally anhydrous environment. The garnet peridotites and fine-grained country rock eclogites may have formed from mantle material in the crust but escaped contamination by radiogenic strontium as a result of their position in a dry environment in the crust.Lamont-Doherty Geological Observatory Contribution No. 2443     

The influence of drill cuttings on physical characteristics of phytodetritus

Sinking of aggregated phytoplankton cells is a crucial mechanism for transporting carbon to the seafloor and benthic ecosystem, with such aggregates often scavenging particulate material from the water column as they sink. In the vicinity of drilling rigs used by the oil and gas industry, the concentration of particulate matter in the water column may at times be enriched as a result of the discharge of ‘drill cuttings’ - drilling waste material. This investigation exposed laboratory produced phytoplankton aggregates to drill cuttings of various composition (those containing no hydrocarbons from reservoir rocks and those with a <1% hydrocarbon content) and assessed the change in aggregate size, settling rate and resuspension behavior of these using resuspension chambers and settling cylinders. Results indicate that both settling velocity and seabed stress required to resuspend the aggregates are greater in aggregates exposed to drill cuttings, with these increases most significant in aggregates exposed to hydrocarbon containing drill cuttings.     

Textural variation in juvenile pyroclasts from an emergent,Surtseyan-type,volcanic eruption: The Capelas tuff cone,São Miguel (Azores)

Here I present textural data (i.e., vesicularity, vesicle size distributions (VSD), plagioclase crystallinity, crystal size distributions (CSD), combined with fractal analyses of particle outlines) from a natural succession of alternating fall and surge deposits in the emergent Capelas tuff cone (Azores).The textural variation in the Capelas succession is surprisingly small considering the wide variety of fragmentation processes, vent activity and emplacement mechanisms that are characteristic of emergent eruptions. The plagioclase crystal content varies between 24 and 33 vol.%. CSD analyses of plagioclase show near-linear trends with a slight increase in time for the smallest crystal sizes (with surge deposits having more groundmass plagioclase when compared with fall deposits). This is consistent with crystallization induced by degassing and decompression at lower eruption rates. The vesicularities of the Capelas pyroclasts are more variable (18 to 59 vol.%), with VSDs displaying kinked trends characteristic of coalescence. This is especially evident in the fall deposits, and consistent with being formed in continuous uprush (jetting) with an overall shallow fragmentation level within the conduit. Bubble coalescence can also be identified in the surge deposits, although to a much lesser extent. The amount of bubble coalescence is negatively correlated with the amount of groundmass crystallization (i.e., plagioclase) in the Capelas deposits.A relatively broad range of fractal dimensions (with average D_box = 1.744 and σ = 0.032) for the outlines of pyroclastic fragments emplaced by fall or as surges indicate that there is little difference in the fragmentation process itself at Capelas. In addition to this, the fact that the fractal dimensions for both the fall and surge end-members completely overlap suggests that shape modification due to abrasion and chipping of grain edges was minor during emplacement of base surges. These results are consistent with emergent eruptions, building tuff cones, to be a relatively low-energy phreatomagmatic landform (e.g., at least when compared with more energetic phreatomagmatic eruptions producing tuff rings and maar volcanoes).