Submerged vegetation of Lakes Sumner,Marion, Katrine,Taylor, and Sheppard in Canterbury,New Zealand

The submerged vegetation of Lakes Sumner, Marion, Katrine, Taylor, and Sheppard was surveyed in May 1987. These high‐altitude lakes lie at c. 600 m a.s.l., within the largely unmodified upper Hurunui catchment. Submerged vegetation was diverse and included numerous short shallow‐water species, dense swards of Isoetes alpinus, low covers of taller native vascular plants, and charophyte meadows beyond the depth limit of vascular plants to a maximum of 15 m. A sparse deepwater bryophyte community was observed from 11 to 32 m depth in Lake Sumner. Displacement of native vegetation by dense growths of the adventive oxygen weed Elodea canadensis over mid‐depths of 3–6 m was noted in all lakes, except Lake Marion.     

A subsurface evacuation model for submarine slope failure

Analysis of three-dimensional (3D) seismic reflection data from the Norwegian continental margin provides an insight into an unusual, buried submarine slope failure, which occurred adjacent to the later Holocene-age Storegga Slide. The identified failure, informally named the 'South Vøring Slide' (SVS), occurs in fine-grained hemipelagic and contourite sediments on a slope of 0.5°, and is characterised by a deformed seismic facies unit consisting of closely spaced pyramidal blocks and ridges bound by small normal faults striking perpendicular to the slope. The SVS contrasts with other previously described submarine slope failures in that it cannot be explained by a retrogressive model. The defining characteristic is the high relative volume loss. The area affected by sliding has thinned by some 40%, seen in combination with very modest extension in the translation direction, with line length balancing yielding an extension value of only 4.5%. The volume loss is explained by the mobilisation of an approximately 40 m thick interval at the lower part of the unit and its removal from beneath a thin overburden, which subsequently underwent extensional fragmentation. Evidence for the mobilisation of a thick fine-grained interval in the development of a submarine slope failure from a continental margin setting may have implications for the origins of other large-scale slope failures on the Norwegian margin and other glacially influenced margins worldwide.     

Facilitating adaptation of biodiversity to climate change: a conceptual framework applied to the world’s largest Mediterranean-climate woodland

The importance of ecological management for reducing the vulnerability of biodiversity to climate change is increasingly recognized, yet frameworks to facilitate a structured approach to climate adaptation management are lacking. We developed a conceptual framework that can guide identification of climate change impacts and adaptive management options in a given region or biome. The framework focuses on potential points of early climate change impact, and organizes these along two main axes. First, it recognizes that climate change can act at a range of ecological scales. Secondly, it emphasizes that outcomes are dependent on two potentially interacting and countervailing forces: (1) changes to environmental parameters and ecological processes brought about by climate change, and (2) responses of component systems as determined by attributes of resistance and resilience. Through this structure, the framework draws together a broad range of ecological concepts, with a novel emphasis on attributes of resistance and resilience that can temper the response of species, ecosystems and landscapes to climate change. We applied the framework to the world’s largest remaining Mediterranean-climate woodland, the ‘Great Western Woodlands’ of south-western Australia. In this relatively intact region, maintaining inherent resistance and resilience by preventing anthropogenic degradation is of highest priority and lowest risk. Limited, higher risk options such as fire management, protection of refugia and translocation of adaptive genes may be justifiable under more extreme change, hence our capacity to predict the extent of change strongly impinges on such management decisions. These conclusions may contrast with similar analyses in degraded landscapes, where natural integrity is already compromised, and existing investment in restoration may facilitate experimentation with higher risk?options.     

“We will go side-by-side with you.” Labour union engagement with Aboriginal peoples in Canada

The inclusion of new groups of workers has been an important component of union renewal efforts. Several unions in Canada have begun to dedicate significant resources to better organize and represent Aboriginal workers. Drawing on interviews with union activists, organizers and representatives from two national public sector unions in Canada, we present an overview of union strategies to engage with Aboriginal peoples. Results suggest that understanding the distinct territorial context of Aboriginal peoples’ relationships to work and unions has been necessary to the success of these union strategies. This approach begins by drawing connections between Aboriginal peoples’ present-day relationships to work and their prior occupancy of, and dispossession from, lands and resources. Because of the geographical specificity of how the colonial experience affected Aboriginal peoples’ relationships to work and unions, unions have had to adopt non-normative approaches to their engagements with Aboriginal peoples. In workplaces where settlers were dominant, addressing racism in the workplace and gaining support for initiatives to hire and train Aboriginal workers were important. Alternatively, in Aboriginal workplaces, organizing was a priority. Here questions of union legitimacy have taken precedence and the focus of unions has been on partnership building. Most importantly, however, engagement with Aboriginal peoples has brought attention to the colonial practices within unions and helped to foster growing Aboriginal voice within the labour movement.     

A Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for Management of Coastal Marsh Systems

Sea level rise is causing shoreline erosion, increased coastal flooding, and marsh vulnerability to the impact of storms. Coastal marshes provide flood abatement, carbon and nutrient sequestration, water quality maintenance, and habitat for fish, shellfish, and wildlife, including species of concern, such as the saltmarsh sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus). We present a climate change adaptation strategy (CCAS) adopted by scientific, management, and policy stakeholders for managing coastal marshes and enhancing system resiliency. A common adaptive management approach previously used for restoration projects was modified to identify climate-related vulnerabilities and plan climate change adaptive actions. As an example of implementation of the CCAS, we describe the stakeholder plans and management actions the US Fish and Wildlife Service and partners developed to build coastal resiliency in the Narrow River Estuary, RI, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. When possible, an experimental BACI (before-after, control-impact) design, described as pre- and post-sampling at the impact site and one or more control sites, was incorporated into the climate change adaptation and implementation plans. Specific climate change adaptive actions and monitoring plans are described and include shoreline stabilization, restoring marsh drainage, increasing marsh elevation, and enabling upland marsh migration. The CCAS provides a framework and methodology for successfully managing coastal systems faced with deteriorating habitat, accelerated sea level rise, and changes in precipitation and storm patterns.     

Calcite twinning strain variations across the Proterozoic Grenville orogen and Keweenaw-Kapuskasing inverted foreland,USA and Canada

We report the calcite twinning strain results of a traverse across the Grenville orogen from Parry Sound, Ontario (NW) to Ft. Ann, New York (SE), including the younger, adjacent Ordovician Taconic allochthon. Fifty four carbonates (marbles, calcite veins, Ordovician limestone) were collected resulting in 68 strain analyses on mechanically twinned calcite (n = 2337 grains) across the Central Gneiss Belt (CGB; 3 samples), the Central Metasedimentary Belt (CMB; 27 samples), the Central Granulite Terrane (CGT; Adirondack's; 13 samples) and the Ottawan Orogenic Lid (OOL; 11 samples). Twinning strains in the greenschist-grade OOL marbles preserve N–S shortening and U-Pb titanite ages (～1150 Ma; n = 4) document these marbles formed during the Shawinigan (1190–1140 Ma) part of the Grenville orogen. From northwest to southeast, the Ottawan (1095–1020 Ma) twinning strain is dominantly a layer-parallel shortening fabric oriented N–S (Parry Sound), then becomes parallel to the Grenville thrust direction (NW–SE) across the CMB to the Adirondack Highlands where the sub-horizontal shortening strain becomes margin-parallel (SW–NE). Within the regional sample suite there are two areas studied in detail, the Bancroft shear zone (n = 11) and a roadcut on the southeast side of the Adirondack Mountains (Ft. Ann, NY; n = 8). Marbles from the Bancroft shear zone contain calcite grains with 2 sets of twin lamellae (e₁ and e₂). The better-developed e₁ sets (n = 406) record a horizontal fabric oriented NW–SE whereas the younger e₂ lamellae (n = 146) preserve a margin-parallel (SW–NE) horizontal fabric. Both the e₁ and e₂ strains record an overprint vertical shortening strain (NEV), perhaps related to extensional orogenic collapse. We also report an Ottawan orogen-aged granoblastic mylonite (1093 Ma, U-Pb zircon; 1102 Ma Ar-Ar biotite) in the Keweenaw thrust hanging wall 500 km inboard of the Grenville front and interpret the relations of Grenville-Keweenaw far-field dynamics.     

On the Vp/Vs–Mg# correlation in mantle peridotites: Implications for the identification of thermal and compositional anomalies in the upper mantle

We use thermodynamically self-consistent and hybrid methods to analyze the correlation of important physical parameters (e.g. bulk density, elastic moduli) with bulk Mg# and modal composition in mantle peridotites at upper mantle conditions. Temperature (anharmonic and anelastic), pressure and compositional derivatives for all these parameters are evaluated. The results show that the widely used correlations between Vp/Vs and Mg# in peridotites are strictly valid only for garnet-bearing assemblages at temperatures < 900 °C. The correlation breaks down when: i) spinel is the stable Al-rich phase in the assemblage and ii) when anelastic attenuation of seismic velocities becomes important (T ? 900 °C). This implies that the range of applicability of published Vp/Vs–Mg# correlations for the upper mantle is limited to a depth interval between the spinel–garnet phase transition and the 900 °C isotherm. We use numerical simulations to show that this depth interval is virtually nonexistent in lithospheres thinner than ～ 140 km and can comprise up to ～ 50% of the lithospheric mantle in thick (> 220 km) lithospheric domains. In addition, we show that for most of the upper mantle the expected Δ(Vp/Vs) values associated with compositional variations are smaller than the resolution limit of current seismological methods. All these considerations suggest that the Vp/Vs ratio is not a reliable measure of compositional variations and that for large parts of the upper mantle compositional anomalies cannot be separated from thermal anomalies on the basis of seismological studies only. We further confirm that the only reliable indicator of compositional anomalies in a peridotitic mantle is the ratio of density to shear wave velocities (ρ/Vs). Our results demonstrate that geophysical–petrological models (forward or inverse) that model these two fields (i.e. density and Vs) self-consistently within a robust thermodynamic framework are necessary for characterizing the small-scale thermal and compositional structure of the lithosphere and sublithospheric upper mantle.     

Evidence for climatic and hillslope‐aspect controls on vadose zone hydrology and implications for saprolite weathering

Through the delivery of water in snowmelt, climate should govern the rate and extent of saprolite formation in snow‐dominated mountain watersheds, yet the mechanisms by which water flows deeply into regolith are largely unexplored. In this study we link rainfall, snow depth, and water content data from both soil and shallow saprolite to document vadose zone dynamics in two montane catchments over 2 years. Measurements of snow pack thickness and soil moisture reveal strong contrasts between north‐ and south‐facing slopes in both the timing of meltwater delivery and the duration of significant soil wetting in the shallow vadose zone. Despite similar magnitudes of snowmelt recharge, north‐facing slopes have higher sustained soil moisture compared to south‐facing slopes. To help interpret these observations, we use a 2D numerical model of vadose zone dynamics to calculate the expected space–time moisture patterns on an idealized hillslope under two wetting scenarios: a single sustained recharge pulse versus a set of short pulses. The model predicts that the duration of the recharge event exerts a stronger control on the depth and residence time of water in the upper unsaturated zone than the magnitude of the recharge event. Model calculations also imply that water should move more slowly through the subsurface and downward water flux should be substantially reduced when water is applied in several pulses rather than in one sustained event. The results suggest that thicker soil and more deeply weathered rock on north‐facing slopes may reflect greater water supply to the deep subsurface. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Holocene palaeoecology of southwest Greenland inferred from macrofossils in sediments of an oligosaline lake

We retrieved a lake sediment record from an oligosaline, meromictic lake in southwest Greenland. The record spans the last 8,200 cal. years and was radiocarbon dated and analysed for macroscopic remains of plants and animals. The record extends the known history of several invertebrate species back in time, and provides minimum ages for their immigration to Greenland after the last deglaciation. Shells of the ostracod Ilyocypris bradyi were found in sediments dated to the time interval c. 7,000–6,500 cal. years BP. Shells of this species were found previously in a nearby oligosaline lake, where its occurrence was dated to about the same short time interval. The species is a thermophilous, non-arctic taxon that is absent from the present day Greenland fauna, and we suggest that its former occurrence in west Greenland marks the peak of the Holocene thermal maximum. This is in agreement with other records from Greenland.     

The Monitor project: rotation of low-mass stars in NGC 2362 – testing the disc regulation paradigm at 5 Myr

We report on the results of a time-series photometric survey of NGC 2362, carried out using the CTIO 4-m Blanco telescope and Mosaic-II detector as part of the Monitor project. Rotation periods were derived for 271 candidate cluster members over the mass range  0.1 ≲ M /M_⊙≲ 1.2  . The rotation period distributions show a clear mass-dependent morphology, qualitatively similar to that in NGC 2264, as would be expected from the age of this cluster. Using models of angular momentum evolution, we show that angular momentum losses over the ∼1–5 Myr age range appear to be needed in order to reproduce the evolution of the slowest rotators in the sample from the ONC to NGC 2362, as found by many previous studies. By incorporating Spitzer IRAC mid-infrared (mid-IR) measurements, we found that three to four objects showing mid-IR excesses indicative of the presence of circumstellar discs were all slow rotators, as would be expected in the disc regulation paradigm for early pre-main-sequence angular momentum evolution, but this result is not statistically significant at present, given the extremely limited sample size.