Bacterial decay of the autumnal phytoplankton in Lake Constance (Bodensee)

The breakdown of autumnal phytoplankton was studied in Lake Constance by combining chemical seston analyses, bacterial counts and scanning electron microscopy. High algal biomass was associated with low numbers of free-living bacteria. The degradation of algae occurred in two phases: First, dissolved material was released leading to growth of free-living bacteria. Thereafter, bacteria attached to the decaying particles and decomposed them until highly refractory material was left behind. Attached bacteria always comprised less than 25% of total bacteria. Dead organic seston exceeded microbial biomass by a factor of 4–10. Pheopigments increased in senescent and dying algal cells relative to chlorophyll. Therefore, pheopigment fractions were used as a relative index of algal decay.     

A Temporal Variant‐Invariant Validation Approach for Agent‐based Models of Landscape Dynamics

Agent‐based modeling provides a means for addressing the way human and natural systems interact to change landscapes over time. Until recently, evaluation of simulation models has focused on map comparison techniques that evaluate the degree to which predictions match real‐world observations. However, methods that change the focus of evaluation from patterns to processes have begun to surface; that is, rather than asking if a model simulates a correct pattern, models are evaluated on their ability to simulate a process of interest. We build on an existing agent‐based modeling validation method in order to present a temporal variant‐invariant analysis (TVIA). The enhanced method, which focuses on analyzing the uncertainty in simulation results, examines the degree to which outcomes from multiple model runs match some reference to how land use parcels make the transition from one land use class to another over time. We apply TVIA to results from an agent‐based model that simulates the relationships between landowner decisions and wildfire risk in the wildland‐urban interface of the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. The TVIA approach demonstrates a novel ability to examine uncertainty across time to provide an understanding of how the model emulates the system of interest.     

The geology of Howth and Ireland's Eye,Co. Dublin

The Cambrian sediments in Howth and Ireland's Eye to the northeast of Dublin have been mapped and the submarine deltaic Censure Group and the overlying Nose of Howth Group, which consists of interbedded turbidites and olistostromes, have been distinguished. Large scale sedimentary disruption has accompanied detachment of quartzitic sandstone beds in the Censure Group, where the bases of detached blocks have slump features while their tops generally do not. This contrasts with the chaotic sedimentary breccias in the olistostromes of the Nose of Howth Group. Blocks in the Censure and Nose of Howth Groups are up to 450 m and 700 m across respectively. The turbidies have come from the southeast and east whereas the slumping appears to have been generated from the southwest. Slumping during sedimentation was followed closely by large-scale folding and sliding of sedimentary or tectono-sedimentary origin, and the bulk appearance of the sediments is due to these sedimentary and tectono-sedimentary mechanisms. The main structure is an easterly facing, steep plunging syncline which locally is associated with a poorly preserved cleavage. This structure predated the main penetrative cleavage which is not axial planar to it.     

Magnetic crustal character in Central Ireland

The simplest magnetic model for the upper 20 km of crust in central Ireland is of two layers. A thin, weakly magnetic upper layer carrying a number of magnetic bodies that can be related to surface geology overlies a magnetic crustal zone whose gross magnetization increases towards the north. The deeper trace of the lapetus Suture in central Ireland forms the boundary between a more magnetic northern crustal area and a less magnetic southern area. A pre-Carboniferous major dextral offset of this suture boundary occurs in the Limerick area. The suture is traced beneath the Dingle peninsula in the far south-west of Ireland. In east-central Ireland, between the Iapetus Suture and Southern Upland Line, the crust contains a large, south-dipping magnetic body with no surface expression, which produces the Virginia magnetic anomaly. The development of magnetic bodies — in particular, volcanic rocks of Carboniferous age — has been controlled by regional stress patterns. The major volcanic centre at Limerick lies at the intersection of two major Caledonian block fault systems just to the north of the surface trace of the Hercynian Front.     

Insights into Holocene relative sea-level changes in the southern North Sea using an improved microfauna-based transfer function

In light of global warming and rising relative sea level (RSL), detailed reconstructions of RSL histories and their controlling processes are essential in order to manage coastal-protection challenges. This study contributes to unravelling Holocene RSL change on the East Frisian North Sea coast in high resolution and with a new approach for the German Bight. For the first time, a transfer function (vertical error: 29.7 cm ? ~11% of the mean tidal range) for RSL change based on a combined training set of benthic foraminifers and ostracods from the back-barrier tidal basin of Spiekeroog is applied to the Holocene record of the back-barrier tidal basin of Norderney. The resulting RSL curve for the Norderney tidal basin is corrected for decompaction and shows a deceleration in RSL rise between 6000 and 5000 cal bp. The smallest possible error envelope (~1 m) results from the good suitability of salt-marsh layers between 5000 and 4000 cal bp. The RSL curve provides an approach towards the closure of the common data gap of peat-based curves for the southern North Sea related to a lack of basal peats in the youngest age range, and verifies regional differences in glacial isostatic adjustment.