Wetland nitrogen dynamics in an Adirondack forested watershed

Wetlands often form the transition zone between upland soils and watershed streams, however, stream–wetland interactions and hydrobiogeochemical processes are poorly understood. We measured changes in stream nitrogen (N) through one riparian wetland and one beaver meadow in the Archer Creek watershed in the Adirondack Mountains of New York State, USA from 1 March to 31 July 1996. In the riparian wetland we also measured changes in groundwater N. Groundwater N changed significantly from tension lysimeters at the edge of the peatland to piezometer nests within the peatland. Mean N concentrations at the peatland perimeter were 1·5, 0·5 and 18·6 µmol L^?1 for NH₄⁺, NO₃^? and DON (dissolved organic nitrogen), respectively, whereas peatland groundwater N concentration was 56·9, 1·5 and 31·6 µmol L^?1 for NH₄⁺, NO₃^? and DON, respectively. The mean concentrations of stream water N species at the inlet to the wetlands were 1·5, 10·1 and 16·9 µmol L^?1 for NH₄⁺, NO₃^? and DON, respectively and 1·6, 28·1 and 8·4 µmol L^?1 at the wetland outlet. Although groundwater total dissolved N (TDN) concentrations changed more than stream water TDN through the wetlands, hydrological cross‐sections for the peatland showed that wetland groundwater contributed minimally to stream flow during the study period. Therefore, surface water N chemistry was affected more by in‐stream N transformations than by groundwater N transformations because the in‐stream changes, although small, affected a much greater volume of water. Stream water N input–output budgets indicated that the riparian peatland retained 0·16 mol N ha^?1 day^?1 of total dissolved N and the beaver meadow retained 0·26 mol N ha^?1 day^?1 during the study period. Nitrate dominated surface water TDN flux from the wetlands during the spring whereas DON dominated during the summer. This study demonstrates that although groundwater N changed significantly in the riparian peatland, those changes were not reflected in the stream. Consequently, although in‐stream changes of N concentrations were less marked than those in groundwater, they had a greater effect on stream water chemistry—because wetland groundwater contributed minimally to stream flow. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal detection and attribution of climate change: sensitivity of results to climate model differences

Fingerprint techniques for the detection of anthropogenic climate change aim to distinguish the climate response to anthropogenic forcing from responses to other external influences and from internal climate variability. All these responses and the characteristics of internal variability are typically estimated from climate model data. We evaluate the sensitivity of detection and attribution results to the use of response and variability estimates from two different coupled ocean atmosphere general circulation models (HadCM2, developed at the Hadley Centre, and ECHAM3/LSG from the MPI für Meteorologie and Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum). The models differ in their response to greenhouse gas and direct sulfate aerosol forcing and also in the structure of their internal variability. This leads to differences in the estimated amplitude and the significance level of anthropogenic signals in observed 50-year summer (June, July, August) surface temperature trends. While the detection of anthropogenic influence on climate is robust to intermodel differences, our ability to discriminate between the greenhouse gas and the sulfate aerosol signals is not. An analysis of the recent warming, and the warming that occurred in the first half of the twentieth century, suggests that simulations forced with combined changes in natural (solar and volcanic) and anthropogenic (greenhouse gas and sulfate aerosol) forcings agree best with the observations.     

Mapping floods due to Hurricane Sandy using NPP VIIRS and ATMS data and geotagged Flickr imagery

In this study, we present an approach to estimate the extent of large-scale coastal floods caused by Hurricane Sandy using passive optical and microwave remote sensing data. The approach estimates the water fraction from coarse-resolution VIIRS and ATMS data through mixed-pixel linear decomposition. Based on the water fraction difference, using the physical characteristics of water inundation in a basin, the flood map derived from the coarse-resolution VIIRS and ATMS measurements was extrapolated to a higher spatial resolution of 30 m using topographic information. It is found that flood map derived from VIIRS shows less inundated area than the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood map and the ground observations. The bias was mainly caused by the time difference in observations. This is because VIIRS can only detect flood under clear conditions, while we can only find some clear-sky data around the New York area on 4 November 2012, when most flooding water already receded. Meanwhile, microwave measurements can penetrate through clouds and sense surface water bodies under clear-or-cloudy conditions. We therefore developed a new method to derive flood maps from passive microwave ATMS observations. To evaluate the flood mapping method, the corresponding ground observations and the FEMA storm surge flooding (SSF) products are used. The results show there was good agreement between our ATMS and the FEMA SSF flood areas, with a correlation of 0.95. Furthermore, we compared our results to geotagged Flickr contributions reporting flooding, and found that 95% of these Flickr reports were distributed within the ATMS-derived flood area, supporting the argument that such crowd-generated content can be valuable for remote sensing operations. Overall, the methodology presented in this paper was able to produce high-quality and high-resolution flood maps over large-scale coastal areas.     

Groundwater flushing of solutes at wetland and hillslope positions during storm events in a small glaciated catchment in western New York,USA

While the role of groundwater in flushing of solutes has long been recognized, few studies have explicitly studied the within‐event changes in groundwater chemistry. We compared the changes in groundwater chemistry during storm events for a wetland and hillslope position in a small (1·5 ha) glaciated, forested catchment in western New York. Flushing responses for dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nitrogen (DON), nitrate (NO₃) and sulfate (SO₄) in wetland and hillslope groundwaters were also compared against the corresponding responses in stream water. Eight storm events with varying intensity, amount, and antecedent moisture conditions were evaluated. Solute flushing patterns for wetland and hillslope groundwaters differed dramatically. While DOC concentrations in wetland groundwater followed a dilution trend, corresponding values for hillslope groundwater showed a slight increase. Concentrations for NO₃ in wetland groundwater were below detection limits, but hillslope groundwaters displayed high NO₃ concentrations with a pronounced increase during storm events. Flushing responses at all positions were also influenced by the size of the event and the time between events. We attributed the differences in flushing to the differences in hydrologic flow paths and biogeochemical conditions. Flushing of the wetland did appear to influence storm‐event stream chemistry but the same could not be said for hillslope groundwaters. This suggests that while a variety of flushing responses may be observed in a catchment, only a subset of these responses affect the discharge chemistry at the catchment outlet. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The ∼1100 Ma Sturgeon Falls paleosol revisited: Implications for Mesoproterozoic weathering environments and atmospheric CO2 levels

During the active rifting stage of the ∼1100 Ma Midcontinental Rift in North America, alluvial sediments were deposited intermittently between basalt flows on the north and south shores of present day Lake Superior. At times of depositional quiescence, paleosols developed in both areas on the alluvial sediments and on the antecedent basalt. New results from the Sturgeon Falls paleosol in Michigan characterizing the weathering processes at the time of its formation indicate moderate maturity, high degrees of hydrolysis and leaching, and a low degree of salinization. Geochemical provenance indices indicate a homogeneous source for the paleosols, and in contrast to earlier work, there is little evidence for K metasomatism. As a result, atmospheric CO₂ levels of 4–6× pre-industrial atmospheric levels were calculated using a mass-balance model. This result is consistent with previous calculations from nearly contemporaneous paleosols from the other side of the Keweenawan Rift and from the ∼100 Ma younger Sheigra paleosol in Scotland. The calculated CO₂ values are also consistent with the calculated weathering environment proxies that indicate weak to moderate weathering at this time frame and suggest that the higher greenhouse gas loads indicated by Paleoproterozoic paleosols had dissipated by the mid-late Mesoproterozoic.     

In situ U–Pb age determination and Nd isotopic analysis of perovskites from kimberlites in southern Africa and Somerset Island,Canada

Determination of the emplacement ages and initial isotopic composition of kimberlite by conventional isotopic methods using bulk rock samples is unreliable as these rocks usually contain diverse clasts of crustal- and mantle-derived materials and can be subject to post-intrusion sub-aerial alteration. In this study, 8 samples from 5 kimberlites in southern Africa and twelve samples from 7 kimberlites from Somerset Island, Canada have been selected for in situ perovskite U–Pb isotopic age determination and Nd isotopic analysis by laser ablation using thin sections and mineral separates. These fresh perovskites occur as primary groundmass minerals with grain-sizes of 10–100 μm. They were formed during the early stage of magmatic crystallization, and record data for the least contaminated or contamination-free kimberlitic magma. U–Pb isotopic data indicate that the majority of the southern Africa kimberlites investigated were emplaced during the Cretaceous with ages of 88 ± 3 to 97 ± 6 Ma, although one sample yielded an Early Paleozoic age of 515 ± 6 Ma. Twelve samples from Somerset Island yielded ages ranging from 93 ± 4 Ma to 108 ± 5 Ma and are contemporaneous with other Cretaceous kimberlite magmatism in central Canada (103–94 Ma). Although whole-rock compositions of the kimberlites from southern Africa have a large range of ε_Nd(t) values (? 0.5 to + 5.1), the analysed perovskites show a more limited range of + 1.2 to + 3.1. Perovskites from Somerset Island have ε_Nd(t) values of ? 0.2 to + 1.4. These values are lower than that of depleted asthenospheric mantle, suggesting that kimberlites might be derived from the lower mantle. This study shows that in situ U–Pb and Nd isotopic analysis of perovskite by laser ablation is both rapid and economic, and serves as a powerful tool for the determination of the emplacement age and potential source of kimberlite magmas.     

Numerical simulation of energetic electron microsignature drifts at Saturn: Methods and applications

Many recent studies show that energetic electron microsignatures are a powerful tool for characterizing key aspects of Saturn’s magnetospheric configuration and dynamics. In all previous investigations, however, analysis of these features was performed through the use of a series of simplifying assumptions (e.g. dipole field model). Furthermore, typical observable parameters of microsignatures (e.g. energy dependent location) have only been discussed qualitatively and a clear understanding about how microsignatures evolve in the magnetosphere is currently lacking. In this study we present a numerical simulation that we developed in order to describe the apparent motion of microsignatures in Saturn’s magnetosphere, under the influence of arbitrary magnetic and electric field models. Our simulations reproduce successfully some typical microsignature properties (energy–time dispersion, high/low lifetime at low/high electron energies). They also indicate how simplifying assumptions used in analytical methods introduce several systematic errors. We demonstrate that, depending on the application and under certain conditions these errors can be neglected, like for instance for small pitch angles and at regions that the dipole approximation is sufficient (inside the orbit of Dione) or for electron energies below few hundred keV. For higher electron energies, systematic errors amplify significantly and existing analytical methods cannot be used. Our model can reconstruct the energy dependent position of microsignatures observed by the MIMI/LEMMS detector with high accuracy, allowing the inference of non-corotational flows (or electric fields) that can be as low as few tens of m s⁻¹. Since, however the calculation of such flows is indirect, the accuracy of such a determination can be reduced by more than an order of magnitude, if some of these free parameters involved in the simulation cannot be sufficiently constrained. One way to provide such constraints is through inputs (e.g. instantaneous plasma moments) from various Cassini instruments and updated magnetospheric field models. In that case, microsignature analysis may prove to be one of the best methods for attempting to measure or to at least constrain the magnitude of the very slow and global plasma outflow in Saturn’s magnetosphere that is driven by mass loading at Enceladus.     

Ocean wave characteristics around New Zealand

Nearly 17 years wave records from deep water and shore‐based stations are used to describe the ocean wave characteristics around New Zealand. The wave environment is dominated by west and southwest swell and storm waves generated in the temperate latitude belt of westerly winds. As a result, the west and south coasts are exposed, high energy shores, the east coast is a high energy lee shore, and the northern coast from North Cape to East Cape is a low energy lee shore sheltered from these winds and waves. South of New Zealand, wave energies are extremely high; the prevailing deep water wave is 3.5–4.5 m high and has a 10–12 s period, with a slight increase in wave heights in winter.

The west coast wave environment is mixed, and consists of locally generated westerly and southerly storm waves, and swell waves generated to the south. The prevailing wave is t.0–3.0 m and 6–8 s period. There are no strong seasonal rhythms, only shorter period cycles of wave height (5 day) associated with similar quasi‐rhythmic cycles in the weather.

The east coast also has a mixed wave climate with southerly swells, originating in the westerlies south of New Zealand, and locally generated southerly and northerly storm waves. The prevailing wave is 0.5–2.0 m and 7–11 s period. A short period rhythmic cycle, similar to that on the west coast, is superimposed on a weak seasonal cycle. The seasonal, cycle results from an increase in the frequency of local northerly waves in summer.

The prevailing wave on the north coast is a northeasterly, 0.5–1.5 m high and 5–7 s period. Subtropical disturbances and southward‐moving depressions generate a mixed wave environment and a possible seasonally reflecting a winter increase in. storminess.