Time series of multivariate data in aquatic ecology

Coupling of multivariate methods and time series analysis can be ueful for studying dynamics of aquatic communities. This is demonstratred with a data set from the pelagic area of an oligo-mesotrophic lake in Central Spain during 61 consecutive days of Autumn overturn. Abiotic variables, phytoplankton species and their total biomass were traced. Species abundance and specific biomass were considered as indices of community structure and resource partitioning, respectively. Abiotic and algal data sets were subjected to factor analyses of cases separately. Atmospheric forcing and nitrogen could be considered as the main (2) driving variables of the abiotic matrix. The coupling of motile abilities and cell size was associated to the main factors of the community structure matrix whereas phosphorus limitation and species responses to buoyancy represented the main factors of the biomass matrix. Coordinates of the two first factors could be used to mimic the trajectories in the data space. Significant short term lags (1–4 days) were found in most time series. Lagged responses of atmospheric forcing and nitrogen on phytoplankton community structure and resource partitioning at scales of 1–7 days were also shown. Overall phytoplankton biomass did not show significant delayed responses, thereby suggesting that it might be resulting from the interplay of other non-studied factors.     

A numerical system to study the transport properties in the Ria de Aveiro lagoon

This work presents results from numerical modelling studies on the hydrodynamics and sediments and passive particles transport properties in Ria de Aveiro, a shallow lagoon located on the Portuguese Northwest Atlantic coast. The hydrodynamic of the lagoon was systematically studied, from both the Eulerian and Lagragian point of view, in order to understand the overall circulation in the lagoon, characterize the dynamics of its different channels and assess the transport of suspended cohesive sediments.Responsible Editor: Hans Burchard     

Redox Chemistry in the Root Zone of a Salt Marsh Sediment in the Tagus Estuary,Portugal

Measurements of O₂, Fe(II), Mn(II)and HS₅ in salt marshsediments in the Tagus Estuary, Portugal, made with a voltammetric microelectrode, reveal strong seasonal differences in pore water composition within the 20~cm deep root zone. In spring, oxygen was below detection limit except close to the sediment surface. Fe(II) was present below 5 cm in concentrations ranging from detection limit to 1700 M. In summer, oxygen was present in the pore water almost to the bottom of the root zone in concentrations ranging from detection limit to more than 100 M. The spatial variability was intense: O₂ concentrations as high as 78 M and as low as 25 M existed within 2~mm of each other. Fe(II) was below detection limit except towards the bottom of the root zone. In late fall, oxygen was found to 8 cm depth, but in concentrations lower than in summer, and Fe(II) was present below 9 cm. Mn(II) was found at levels declining from typical values of 200 M in spring to less than 20 M in late fall. With one exception, sulfide was below the detection limit in all measurements. During periods when dissolved Fe(II) is available in the pore water at the same time as ₂ is delivered by roots, iron-rich concretions can form on roots. These conditions, which lead to precipitation of iron oxide in the sediment adjacent to roots, exist in spring, when new roots infiltrate anoxic Fe(II) containing sediment. They do not exist in summer, when dissolved Fe(II) is unavailable, or in winter, when oxygen is unavailable. The seasonal redox pattern revealed by the pore water chemistry is driven by the annual cycle of growth and decay of roots.     

Active transfer fault zone linking a segmented extensional system (Betics, southern Spain): Insight into heterogeneous extension driven by edge delamination

Pliocene and Quaternary tectonic structures mainly consisting of segmented northwest–southeast normal faults, and associated seismicity in the central Betics do not agree with the transpressive tectonic nature of the Africa–Eurasia plate boundary in the Ibero-Maghrebian region. Active extensional deformation here is heterogeneous, individual segmented normal faults being linked by relay ramps and transfer faults, including oblique-slip and both dextral and sinistral strike-slip faults. Normal faults extend the hanging wall of an extensional detachment that is the active segment of a complex system of successive WSW-directed extensional detachments which have thinned the Betic upper crust since middle Miocene. Two areas, which are connected by an active 40-km long dextral strike-slip transfer fault zone, concentrate present-day extension. Both the seismicity distribution and focal mechanisms agree with the position and regime of the observed faults. The activity of the transfer zone during middle Miocene to present implies a mode of extension which must have remained substantially the same over the entire period. Thus, the mechanisms driving extension should still be operating. Both the westward migration of the extensional loci and the high asymmetry of the extensional systems can be related to edge delamination below the south Iberian margin coupled with roll-back under the Alborán Sea; involving the asymmetric westward inflow of asthenospheric material under the margins.     

Using solver to determine vertical groundwater velocities by temperature variations, Purdue University, Indiana, USA

Vertical groundwater velocities can be estimated based on directions of groundwater thermal gradients. Temperature-depth profiles were obtained from 12 monitoring wells at 3 different times of the year (Fall, Winter, and Spring) in West Lafayette, Indiana (USA) mainly on the Purdue University campus. Microsoft Excel Solver was used to match plots of groundwater temperature distribution in the wells with published type curves in order to find a dimensionless parameter β, from which vertical groundwater velocities were obtained. The vertical groundwater velocities found in the monitoring wells ranged from 0.92 to 4.53 cm/yr. Clay-rich aquitards presented greater vertical groundwater velocities than outwash aquifers. The highest groundwater velocities occurred in the Spring while the lowest were during the Winter. This method was found to be especially useful in glacially-derived materials with varying hydraulic conductivities for estimating vertical groundwater velocities in-situ.     

Microdeformation of lacustrine laminite sequences from Late Miocene formations of SE Spain: an interpretation of loop bedding

Lacustrine laminated sediments (laminites) present in Late Miocene formations of the Híjar Basin, SE Spain, display well developed loop bedding, a structure consisting of bundles of laminae that are sharply constricted at intervals, giving a morphology of loops or links of a chain. The laminite sequences, which are interbedded with turbidite marlstones, were accumulated on the bottom of a permanently stratified lake developed in a rapidly subsiding basin limited by 010° and 105° normal faults. As deduced from both macro- and microdeformational analyses, the basin evolved under an extensional stress field throughout the Late Miocene. Four main types of loops, simple and complex loops with subcategories, have been recognized within the laminite sequence. Simple loops of type 1 show the best definite pattern, quite similar to ' pinch and swell structures ', a type of boudinage typical of stretching of alternating beds where the competence contrast is not strongly marked. The remaining loop types display contortion and occasional breakage of laminae (microfaulted edges) indicative of microdeformation near the boundary between the ductile-brittle deformational fields. The distribution of the various loop types across the laminite sequence reflects an interplay between progressive lithification of the laminites as sedimentation progressed and tectonic stresses which affected the sediment sequence. Accordingly, a mechanism of deformation under an extensional stress field, ultimately related to the creep movement of the main basin faults which resulted in successive seismic shocks of low magnitude, is proposed to explain the formation of loop bedding in the laminites.     

Post-Wisconsinian paleoenvironments at Salinas del Bebedero basin, San Luis, Argentina

We present a climatic reconstruction of Holocene lacustrine episodes in the Salinas del Bebedero basin (Argentina), based on geological and diatom information.Morphological, sedimentological and diatom evidence between 11600 ± 140 yr BP and 325 ± 95 yr BP, allowed us to interpret the paleoenvironments of the basin. Episodes of high energy (sandy levels) are linked to large inflow of meltwater through the Desaguadero River, related to development of glaciers on the Andes. This inflow is characterized by peaks of relative abundance of the brackish water diatom Cyclotella choctawatcheeana Prasad. The values of C. choctawatcheeana decrease in deposits of low energy (clay levels), where it co-dominates with oligohalobous Fragilaria and Epithemia spp.To the last two peaks of large inflow of meltwater, radiocarbon dates corrected to sidereal ages, are AD 1280/1420 and AD 1443/1656. These ages agree with two cold episodes clearly recorded in dendrological studies from the Patagonian Andes and were correlated to the Little Ice Age. Thus, older Holocene episodes of large inflow of water to the basin were correlated with the Neoglacial Advances defined by Mercer (1976) for the Andes.     

Early Paleozoic Structural and Metamorphic Evolution of Western Sierra de San Luis (Argentina), in Relation to Cuyania Accretion

Structural, metamorphic and isotopic data obtained from the Nogoli Metamorphic Complex of western Sierra de San Luis indicate that the Early Paleozoic Famatinian Orogeny overprinted an already structured and metamorphosed older basement. The older geological features are relict NW trending fabric associated with high-grade (amphibolite facies) regional metamorphism preserved within thin strips of schists and paragneisses and in the core of mafic to ultramafic lenses. Arc magmatism, medium P (Barrovian type)/high T (amphibolite to granulite facies) regional metamorphism and penetrative NNE to NE trending foliation are related to the building of the Famatinian orogenic belt. The P-T conditions of the Famatinian prograde metamorphism reached a pressure peak of ca. 8 kb, with a thermal peak from -750°C up to -820°C. U-Pb conventional and chemical dating and Ar-Ar plateau ages constrain the peak of the main orogenic phase related to the Famatinian belt to 470–457 Ma (Early to Mid-Ordovician). Greenschist facies retrograde metamorphism closely associated with shear zones and secondary Ar-Ar plateau and Sm-Nd ages suggest that a late to post-orogenic phase of the Famatinian belt was active at least since -445 Ma. This phase continued during the Silurian to Late Devonian times through multiple reactivation of early shear zones. The Famatinian Orogeny reset a previous thermal history and therefore, the timing of the relict fabric could not be constrained conclusively with radiometric dates. Despite this difficulty, a range of 520 to 490 Ma suggests some inheritance from Pampean events registered by the older NW-SE fabric. The Early to Mid-Ordovician regional metamorphism and ductile deformation of the western Sierra de San Luis is interpreted as the orogenic effects of the collision of the allochthonous Cuyania terrane with the autochthonous proto-Pacific margin of Gondwana during the Famatinian Orogeny.