Interactive effects of environmental variability and human impacts on the long-term dynamics of an Amazonian floodplain lake and a South Atlantic coastal lagoon

Human activities are exposing freshwater ecosystems to a wide range of stressors, whose direct and indirect effects can be alleviated or exacerbated through interactive effects with dynamic environmental drivers. This study used long-term data from two Neotropical lacustrine freshwater systems (Batata Lake, an Amazonian floodplain lake and Imboassica lagoon, an Atlantic coastal lagoon) subjected to different kinds of environmental fluctuations (i.e., flood pulse and sandbar opening) and anthropogenic impacts (i.e., siltation and eutrophication). Our objective was to determine whether the effects of human perturbations are contingent on modifications of important biotic and abiotic characteristics through environmental variability. For both ecosystems, environmental variability consistently interacted with anthropogenic perturbations to alter most of the variables analyzed, such as nutrient dynamics, chlorophyll-a concentration, zooplankton and benthic invertebrate species richness, and temporal community stability, which indicates that interactive effects between environmental variability and anthropogenic perturbations may impact a myriad of ecosystem properties. Furthermore, the nature of these interactive effects was highly dependent on the variable considered and on the ecosystem analyzed. For example, at Imboassica lagoon, sandbar openings interacted synergistically with trophic state to increase the phosphorus concentration in the water column. At Batata Lake, flooding generally alleviated the negative effects of siltation on species richness by both diluting inorganic suspended material concentration and by promoting local recruitment from the regional species pool. Such results indicate that our ability to understand and predict the outcome of anthropogenic impacts on inland aquatic systems can be hampered if we consider human stressors as “static” phenomena disconnected from dynamic interactions with major local environmental drivers.     

Estimation of load reduction factors for clay masonry walls

The in‐plane cyclic behaviour of three types of unreinforced clay masonry was characterized by means of laboratory tests on full‐scale specimens. The masonry walls were assembled with various bonding arrangements (head joints made with mortar pockets, dry head joints with mechanical interlocking, thin‐layer mortar bed joints), which are not yet inserted in seismic codes. Experimental behaviour was modelled with an analytical hysteretic model able to predict lateral load–displacement curves in case of shear failure of the unreinforced walls. According to the experimental results and those of the selected analytical model, parametric study to evaluate the reduction in lateral strength demand produced by non‐linear behaviour in masonry walls, i.e. the load reduction factor was carried out by non‐linear dynamic analyses. The calculated values of the load reduction factor were modest. The differences in values found for the three masonry types, although consistent with them, were not great. This may indicate that, in the ultimate limit state, the type of masonry cannot significantly affect the behaviour of an entire building. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Environmental conditions for gravelly and pebbly dunes and sorted bedforms on a moderate-energy inner shelf (Marettimo Island,Italy, western Mediterranean)

Side scan sonar records, sediment textural characteristics, and in-situ field observations were used to study gravelly and pebbly dunes and sorted bedforms on the inner shelf of Marettimo Island, along the northwestern Sicilian shelf. The dunes are composed of coarse sands, gravels and pebbles (D50: 2–16 mm), displaying a symmetrical shape with a wavelength in the range of 1–2.5 m and a height of 0.15–0.30 m. The bedforms are distributed in a patchy pattern in a depth range of 10–50 m, and are described for the first time on a Mediterranean inner shelf. Sorted bedforms are linear morphological features developed almost perpendicular to the coast in the eastern sector of the island between 15 and 50 m water depth. Bottom shear stresses required for sediment entrainment and the generation of the shallower dunes can be reached during strong storms (Hs=5–6 m; Tp=9–11 s), which are not common in the Mediterranean Sea. However, wave storm events recorded in the study area during the last 17 years are not able to generate the coarsest and deeper dunes, suggesting that the stirring mechanism for dune formation is associated with severe storms that have a recurrence interval of more than 17 years. The long-term stability of the coarse bedforms is supported by the permanence of sorted bedforms without significant morphological changes for long periods (>13 years). Therefore, it is shown that processes forming coarse bedforms can occur in tideless and moderate-energy settings like those of the Mediterranean continental shelves, although the morphological features are probably less dynamic and remain unaltered for longer periods than on higher-energy shelves.     

A new multiscale scheme for computing statistical moments in single phase flow in heterogeneous porous media

In this work we develop a new multiscale procedure to compute numerically the statistical moments of the stochastic variables which govern single phase flow in heterogeneous porous media. The technique explores the properties of the log-normally distributed hydraulic conductivity, characterized by power-law or exponential covariances, which shows invariance in its statistical structure upon a simultaneous change of the scale of observation and strength of heterogeneity. We construct a family of equivalent stochastic hydrodynamic variables satisfying the same flow equations at different scales and strengths of heterogeneity or correlation lengths. Within the new procedure the governing equations are solved in a scaled geology and the numerical results are mapped onto the original medium at coarser scales by a straightforward rescaling. The new procedure is implemented numerically within the Monte Carlo algorithm and also in conjunction with the discretization of the low-order effective equations derived from perturbation analysis. Numerical results obtained by the finite element method show the accuracy of the new procedure to approximated the two first moments of the pressure and velocity along with its potential in reducing drastically the computational cost involved in the numerical modeling of both power-law and exponential covariance functions.     

Genesis of zeolites in the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff: geological, volcanological and mineralogical evidence

 The study proposes a model by which a thick succession of volcanic tuffs can be zeolitized by alteration of pyroclastic material in the presence of sufficient eruptive water and at temperatures close to water vapour condensation. In the case of phreatomagmatic products, the model simplifies interpretation of problematic deposits that exhibit pronounced vertical and lateral variation in lithification grade. A major feature of the model is that thick zeolitized tuffs can be formed during emplacement of pyroclastic products, in marked contrast to later alteration in an open hydrologic system. Geological, volcanological and mineralogical data for the Neapolitan Yellow Tuff, a widespread trachytic pyroclastic deposit outcropping around Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy), have been used to infer the physico-chemical conditions that determined mineral genesis. This tuff shows a reduction in lithification grade towards the base, top and with distance from the vent and very variable zeolitization within the lithified portion. We suggest that during initial emplacement the erupted products chilled against the ground, inhibiting zeolite crystallization. During rapid deposition of the thick, wet succession thermal insulation allowed the persistence of elevated temperatures for a time sufficient for enhancement of hydration-dissolution processes in the volcanic glass. The highly reactive alkali-trachytic glass quickly buffered the acid pH of the system, favouring phillipsite crystallization followed by chabazite nucleation. The variable zeolite content reflects fluctuating emplacement conditions (e.g. changes in water content and temperature). Cooling of the upper and relatively thin distal deposits inhibited the zeolitization process, thereby preserving the primary unlithified deposit. Received: 25 May 1999 / Accepted: 28 October 1999     

Turbulence Statistics Above And Within Two Amazon Rain Forest Canopies

The turbulence structure in two Amazon rain forestswas characterised for a range of above-canopystability conditions, and the results compared withprevious studies in other forest canopies and recenttheory for the generation of turbulent eddies justabove forest canopies. Three-dimensional wind speedand temperature fluctuation data were collectedsimultaneously at up to five levels inside and abovetwo canopies of 30–40 m tall forests, during threeseparate periods. We analysed hourly statistics, jointprobability distributions, length scales, spatialcorrelations and coherence, as well as power spectraof vertical and horizontal wind speed.The daytime results show a sharp attenuation ofturbulence in the top third of the canopies, resultingin very little movement, and almost Gaussianprobability distributions of wind speeds, in the lowercanopy. This contrasts with strongly skewed andkurtotic distributions in the upper canopy. At night,attenuation was even stronger and skewness vanishedeven in the upper canopy. Power spectral peaks in thelower canopy are shifted to lower frequencies relativeto the upper canopy, and spatial correlations andcoherences were low throughout the canopy. Integrallength scales of vertical wind speed at the top of thecanopy were small, about 0.15 h compared to avalue of 0.28 h expected from the shear lengthscale at the canopy top, based on the hypothesis that theupper canopy air behaves as a plane mixing layer. Allthis suggests that, although exchange is not totallyinhibited, tropical rain forest canopies differ from other forests in that rapid, coherentdownward sweeps do not penetrate into the lowercanopy, and that length scales are suppressed. This isassociated with a persistent inversion of stability inthat region compared to above-canopy conditions. Theinversion is likely to be maintained by strong heatabsorption in the leaves concentrated near thecanopy top, with the generally weak turbulence beingunable to destroy the temperature gradients over thelarge canopy depth.     

Persistence of mantle lithospheric Re–Os signature during asthenospherization of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle: insights from in situ isotopic analysis of sulfides from the Ronda peridotite (Southern Spain)

The western part of the Ronda peridotite massif (Southern Spain) consists mainly of highly foliated spinel-peridotite tectonites and undeformed granular peridotites that are separated by a recrystallization front. The spinel tectonites are interpreted as volumes of ancient subcontinental lithospheric mantle and the granular peridotites as a portion of subcontinental lithospheric mantle that underwent partial melting and pervasive percolation of basaltic melts induced by Cenozoic asthenospheric upwelling. The Re–Os isotopic signature of sulfides from the granular domain and the recrystallization front mostly coincides with that of grains in the spinel tectonites. This indicates that the Re–Os radiometric system in sulfides was highly resistant to partial melting and percolation of melts induced by Cenozoic lithospheric thermal erosion. The Re–Os isotopic systematics of sulfides in the Ronda peridotites thus mostly conserve the geochemical memory of ancient magmatic events in the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. Os model ages record two Proterozoic melting episodes at ~1.6 to 1.8 and 1.2–1.4 Ga, respectively. The emplacement of the massif into the subcontinental lithospheric mantle probably coincided with one of these depletion events. A later metasomatic episode caused the precipitation of a new generation of sulfides at ~0.7 to 0.9 Ga. These Proterozoic Os model ages are consistent with results obtained for several mantle suites in Central/Western Europe and Northern Africa as well as with the Nd model ages of the continental crust of these regions. This suggests that the events recorded in mantle sulfides of the Ronda peridotites reflect different stages of generation of the continental crust in the ancient Gondwana supercontinent.     

Evaluation of methods of spatial interpolation for monthly rainfall data over the state of Rio de Janeiro,Brazil

Five deterministic methods of spatial interpolation of monthly rainfall were compared over the state of Rio de Janeiro, southeast Brazil. The methods were the inverse distance weight (IDW), nearest neighbor (NRN), triangulation with linear interpolation (TLI), natural neighbor (NN), and spline tension (SPT). A set of 110 weather stations was used to test the methods. The selection of stations had two criteria: time series longer than 20 years and period of data from 1960 to 2009. The methods were evaluated using cross-validation, linear regression between values observed and interpolated, root mean square error (RMSE), coefficient of determination (r ²), coefficient of variation (CV, %), and the Willmott index of agreement (d). The results from different methods are influenced by the meteorological systems and their seasonality, as well as by the interaction with the topography. The methods presented higher precision (r ²) and accuracy (d, RMSE) during the summer and transition to autumn, in comparison with the winter or spring months. The SPT had the highest precision and accuracy in relation to other methods, in addition to having a good representation of the spatial patterns expected for rainfall over the complex terrain of the state and its high spatial variability.     

Changes in extremes and hydroclimatic regimes in the CREMA ensemble projections

We analyze changes of four extreme hydroclimatic indices in the RCP8.5 projections of the Phase I CREMA experiment, which includes 21st century projections over 5 CORDEX domains (Africa, Central America, South America, South Asia, Mediterranean) with the ICTP regional model RegCM4 driven by three CMIP5 global models. The indices are: Heat Wave Day Index (HWD), Maximum Consecutive Dry Day index (CDD), fraction of precipitation above the 95th intensity percentile (R95) and Hydroclimatic Intensity index (HY-INT). Comparison with coarse (GPCP) and high (TRMM) resolution daily precipitation data for the present day conditions shows that the precipitation intensity distributions from the GCMs are close to the GPCP data, while the RegCM4 ones are closer to TRMM, illustrating the added value of the increased resolution of the regional model. All global and regional model simulations project predominant increases in HWD, CDD, R95 and HY-INT, implying a regime shift towards more intense, less frequent rain events and increasing risk of heat wave, drought and flood with global warming. However, the magnitudes of the changes are generally larger in the global than the regional models, likely because of the relatively low “climate sensitivity” of the RegCM4, especially when using the CLM land surface scheme. In addition, pronounced regional differences in the change signals are found. The data from these simulations are available for use in impact assessment studies.