Lipids of marine Archaea: Patterns and provenance in the water-column and sediments

We measured archaeal lipid distributions from globally distributed samples of freshwater, marine, and hypersaline suspended particulate matter. Cluster analysis of relative lipid distributions identified four distinct groups, including: (1) marine epipelagic (<100 m) waters, (2) marine mesopelagic (200-1500 m) and upwelling waters, (3) freshwater/estuarine waters, and (4) hypersaline waters. A pronounced difference in lipid composition patterns is the near absence of ring-containing glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs) at high salinity. Different archaeal communities populate marine (mesophilic Crenarchaeota and Euryarchaeota), and hypersaline environments (halophilic Euryarchaeota) and community shifts can regulate differences in lipid patterns between marine and hypersaline waters. We propose that community changes within meosphilic marine Archaea also regulate the lipid patterns distinguishing epipelagic and mesopelagic/upwelling zones. Changes in the relative amounts of crenarchaeol and caldarchaeol and low relative abundances of ringed structures in surface waters differentiate lipids from the epipelagic and mesopelagic/upwelling waters. Patterns of lipids in mesopelagic (and upwelling) waters are similar to those expected of the ammonia-oxidizing Group I Crenarchaeota, with predominance of crenarchaeol and abundant cyclic GDGTs; non-metric multidimensional analysis (NMDS) shows this pattern is associated with high nitrate concentrations. In contrast, limited culture evidence indicates marine Group II Euryarchaeota may be capable of producing mainly caldarchaeol and some, but not all, of the ringed GDGTs and we suggest that these organisms, along with the Crenarchaeota, contribute to lipids in epipelagic marine waters. Calculated TEX₈₆ temperatures in mesopelagic samples (reported here and in published data sets) are always much warmer than measured in situ temperatures. We propose lipids used in the temperature proxy derive from both Euryarchaeaota and Crenarchaeota, and observed values of TEX₈₆ are subject to changes in their ecology as influenced by nutrient fluctuations or other perturbations. Applications of published core-top TEX₈₆-SST correlations require that (1) the surface waters are always composed of similar communities with the same temperature response and (2) that deeper water GDGT production is not transported to the sediments. Our lipid distribution patterns demonstrate both surface-water archaeal community differences (which accompany greater nutrient influxes, shoaling of mesopelagic Crenarchaeota during upwelling periods, and possibly due to an influx of terrestrial Archaea), and changes in organic matter transport through the water column can affect the distribution of lipids recorded in sediments. We therefore suggest that reported temperature shifts in ancient applications indicate TEX₈₆ lipids recorded not only temperature changes, but also changes in archaeal ecology, nutrient concentrations, and possibly oceanographic conditions.     

I/I ratios in surface waters of the English Lake District

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) was used to measure ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratios in surface sea, lake, and river water samples collected in 2004 and 2005 from the English Lake District and from SW Scotland, areas which are in relatively close proximity to the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in NW England. The ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratios in surface water collected from the shore of the Irish Sea were in the range 2.8 × 10⁻⁶ to 8.2 × 10⁻⁶. These ratios are one order of magnitude higher than that of seawater collected from the Irish Sea in 1992, correlating with the increase in ¹²⁹I content of the Sellafield liquid effluent discharge over the last decade. The ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratios in lakes in the Lake District were in the range 0.7 × 10⁻⁶ to 6.4 × 10⁻⁶ and decreased exponentially as a function of distance from Sellafield. Consideration of the relative variation of stable I concentrations and ¹²⁹I/¹²⁷I ratios suggests that Sellafield gaseous discharges may be the dominant source of ¹²⁹I to the lakes.     

Cosmic-ray exposure age of Martian meteorite GRV 99027

We have determined the concentrations of 10Be and 26Al in GRV 99027 recovered by the 16th Chinese Antarctic expedition team, which are 14.1 ± 0.6 dpm/kg and 67.5 ± 3.4 dpm/kg, respectively. From the concentration of 10Be, we calculate a cosmic-ray exposure age of 4.4 ± 0.6 Ma for GRV 99027. The concentration of 26Al is too high compared to the 10Be exposure age, indicating extra production from solar ray. The exposure ages, petrologic and geochemical characteristics of mantle-derived Martian meteorites GRV 99027, LEW 88516, Y-793605, NWA 1950 and ALHA77005 are very similar, suggesting that these meteorites most probably were ejected from Mars in the same impact event.     

Monitoring Changes of Ice Streams Using Time Series of Satellite-Altimetry-Based Digital Terrain Models

The Antarctic Ice Sheet plays a major role in the global system, and the large ice streams discharging into the circumpolar sea represent its gateways to the world's oceans. Satellite radar altimeter data provide an opportunity for mapping surface elevation at kilometer-resolution with meter-accuracy. Geostatistical methods have been developed for the analysis of these data. Applications to Seasat data and data from the Geosat Exact Repeat Mission indicate that the grounding line of Lambert Glacier/Amery Ice Shelf, the largest ice stream in East Antarctica, has advanced 10–12 km between 1978 and 1987–89. The objectives of this paper are to explore possibilities and limitations of satellite-altimetry-based mapping to capture changes for shorter time windows and for smaller areas, and to investigate some methodological aspects of the data analysis. We establish that one season of radar altimeter data is sufficient for constructing a map. This allows study of interannual variation and is the key for a time-series analysis approach to study changes in ice streams. Maps of the lower Lambert Glacier and the entire Amery Ice Shelf are presented for austral winters 1978, 1987, 1988, and 1989. As a first step toward understanding the dynamics of the ice-stream/ice-shelf system, elevation changes are calculated for grounded ice, the grounding zone, and floating ice. In the absence of (sufficient) surface gravity control for the Lambert Glacier/Amery Ice Shelf area, altimetry-based maps may facilitate improvement of geoid models as they provide constraints on the terrain correction in the inverse gravimetric problem.     

Infrared spectroscopy of interplanetary dust in the laboratory

Diagnostic infrared spectra of individual nanogram-sized interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) collected in the Earth's stratosphere have been obtained. A mount containing three crushed “chondritic” IDPs shows features near 1000 and 500 cm^?1, suggestive of crystalline pyroxene, and different from those of crystalline olivine, amorphous olivine, or meteoritic clay minerals. The structural diversity of chondritic IDPs and possible effects of atmospheric heating must be considered when comparing this spectrum with astrophysical spectra of interplanetary and cometary dust. Transmission electron microscope (TEM) and infrared observations are also reported on one member of the rare subset of IDPs which resemble hydrated carbonaceous chondrite matrix material. The infrared spectrum of this particle between 4000 and 400 cm^?1 closely matches that of the C2 meteorite Murchison. TEM observations suggest that this class of particles might serve as a thermometer for the process of heating on atmospheric entry.     

The galilean satellites and the Jovian magnetic field

Alfvén and Arrhenius have proposed that satellites may form from the condensation of plasma suspended in the dipole magnetic field of a central body. Further, they predict that the condensed material will appear at an orbit distance of two-thirds the distance of the plasma. Recent spacecraft measurements have defined the radial extent of the stable quasi-dipole Jovian magnetic field. In support of the Alfvén and Arrhenius hypothesis, we note that all the Galilean satellites lie within two-thirds of this distance.Paper dedicated to Professor Hannes Alfvén on the occasion of his 70th birthday, 30 May 1978.     

Black Sea chemocline oscillations during the Holocene: molecular and isotopic studies of marginal sediments

We measured δ¹³C values of free and sulfur-bound lipids and framboidal pyrite-size distributions in three sediment cores from the southern margins of the Black Sea. The margin cores show a marked difference in the occurrence of biomarkers from green sulfur bacteria compared with the deep-basin cores, as a result of deepening of the chemocline resulting from enhanced mixing and/or decreased light-penetration as a consequence of high turbidity and productivity in shelf waters. Quantitation of biomarkers suggests that photic-zone anoxia along the shelf margin was generally absent during the deposition of unit I, although occurred during the deposition of Unit IIb at two sites.     

Cyclic spattering,seismic tremor,and surface fluctuation within a perched lava channel,Kīlauea Volcano

In late 2007, a perched lava channel, built up to 45 m above the preexisting surface, developed during the ongoing eruption near Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō cone on Kīlauea Volcano’s east rift zone. The lava channel was segmented into four pools extending over a total of 1.4 km. From late October to mid-December, a cyclic behavior, consisting of steady lava level rise terminated by vigorous spattering and an abrupt drop in lava level, was commonly observed in pool 1. We use geologic observations, video, time-lapse camera images, and seismicity to characterize and understand this cyclic behavior. Spattering episodes occurred at intervals of 40–100 min during peak activity and involved small (5–10-m-high) fountains limited to the margins of the pool. Most spattering episodes had fountains which migrated downchannel. Each spattering episode was associated with a rapid lava level drop of about 1 m, which was concurrent with a conspicuous cigar-shaped tremor burst with peak frequencies of 4–5 Hz. We interpret this cyclic behavior to be gas pistoning, and this is the first documented instance of gas pistoning in lava well away from the deeper conduit. Our observations and data indicate that the gas pistoning was driven by gas accumulation beneath the visco-elastic component of the surface crust, contrary to other studies which attribute similar behavior to the periodic rise of gas slugs. The gas piston events typically had a gas mass of about 2,500 kg (similar to the explosions at Stromboli), with gas accumulation and release rates of about 1.1 and 5.7 kg s⁻¹, respectively. The time-averaged gas output rate of the gas pistoning events accounted for about 1–2% of the total gas output rate of the east rift zone eruption.