Estimation of vegetation LAI from hyperspectral reflectance data: Effects of soil type and plant architecture

The retrieval of canopy biophysical variables is known to be affected by confounding factors such as plant type and background reflectance. The effects of soil type and plant architecture on the retrieval of vegetation leaf area index (LAI) from hyperspectral data were assessed in this study. In situ measurements of LAI were related to reflectances in the red and near-infrared and also to five widely used spectral vegetation indices (VIs). The study confirmed that the spectral contrast between leaves and soil background determines the strength of the LAI–reflectance relationship. It was shown that within a given vegetation species, the optimum spectral regions for LAI estimation were similar across the investigated VIs, indicating that the various VIs are basically summarizing the same spectral information for a given vegetation species. Cross-validated results revealed that, narrow-band PVI was less influenced by soil background effects (0.15 ≤ RMSE_cv ≤ 0.56). The results suggest that, when using remote sensing VIs for LAI estimation, not only is the choice of VI of importance but also prior knowledge of plant architecture and soil background. Hence, some kind of landscape stratification is required before using hyperspectral imagery for large-scale mapping of vegetation biophysical variables.     

Ocean circulation and exchanges through the northern Bering Sea—1979–2001 model results

We have developed and run a model with sufficiently high resolution (9 km and 45 levels) and a large enough spatial domain to allow for realistic representation of flow through the narrow and shallow straits in the northern Bering Sea. This is potentially important for quantification of long-term mean and time-dependent ocean circulation, and water mass and property exchanges between the Pacific and Arctic Oceans. Over a 23 year interval (1979–2001), mean transport through Bering Strait is estimated to be 0.65 Sv. Comparison of our model results with published observations indicates that ocean circulation is not only variable at seasonal to interdecadal scales but it is also responsive to short-term atmospheric forcing. One of such events occurred during the winter of 2000–2001 with reversed oceanic flow in some areas and much reduced sea-ice cover. Analyses of eddy kinetic energy fields identify some high biological productivity regions of the Chirikov Basin coincident with persistent high energy (up to 2700 cm² s⁻² in the surface layer and up to 2600 cm² s⁻² at mid-depth) throughout the annual cycle. Model output in the Bering Strait region is validated against several time series of moored observations of water mass properties. Comparison with shipboard observations of near-bottom salinity from late winter through autumn indicates that the model reasonably represents the major water-mass properties in the region. The modeled vertical water-column structure in the northern Bering Sea allows increased understanding of the mechanisms of water transformation and transport northward through Bering Strait into the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas. We conclude that the long-term model results for the northern Bering Sea provide important insights into the ocean circulation and fluxes and they are a useful frame of reference for limited observations that are short-term and/or cover only a small geographic region.     

Neogene-Quaternary contourite and related deposition on the West Shetland Slope and Faeroe-Shetland Channel revealed by high-resolution seismic studies

The Neogene and Quaternary sediments of the Faeroe-Shetland Channel and West Shetland shelf and slope rest upon a major regional unconformity, the Latest Oligocene Unconformity (LOU), and have been deposited through the interaction of downslope and parallel-to-slope depositional processes. The upper to middle continental slope is dominated by mass-transport deposits (debris flows), which progressively diminish downslope, and were largely generated and deposited during glacial cycles when ice sheets supplied large quantities of terrigeneous sediment to the upper slope and icebergs scoured sea-floor sediments on the outer shelf and uppermost slope. Large-scale sediment failures have also occurred on the upper slope and resulted in deposition of thick, regionally extensive mass-transport deposits on portions of the lower slope and channel floor. In contrast, large fields of migrating sediment waves and drift deposits dominate most of the middle to lower slope below 700 m water depth and represent deposition by strong contour currents of the various water masses moving northeastward and southwestward through the channel. These migrating sediment waves indicate strong northeastward current flow at water depths shallower than 700 m and strong southwestward current flow at water depths from 700 to >1,400 m. These flow directions are consistent with present-day water-mass flow through the Faeroe-Shetland Channel. The Faeroe-Shetland Channel floor is underlain by thin conformable sediments that appear to be predominantly glacial marine and hemipelagic with less common turbidites and debris flows. No evidence is observed in seismic or core data that indicates strong contour-current erosion or redistribution of sediments along the channel floor.     

Precambrian plate tectonics: The midcontinent gravity high

Examination of the shape of the midcontinent gravity high of central North America has led to the hypothesis that the Keweenawan rift system that caused it is the result of plate tectonic interaction. A numerical test has been carried out on the width and postulated transform fault offsets of the gravity high. The exactness of fit to a plate tectonic geometry implies that the continental lithosphere behaved as rigid plates during the Late Precambrian, about 1.1 by ago. This exactness of fit also suggests that the total amount of separation on the Keweenawan rifts is equal to the width of the gravity high. Gravity modelling studies bear out the plausibility of a major amount of rifting, up to 90 km under central Lake Superior. The midcontinent gravity high may represent an intermediate stage of continental rifting, since similar gravity highs and strong associated magnetic anomalies are found on the modern rifted margins of the Atlantic Ocean.     

Paleomagnetic estimate of the emplacement temperature of the long-runout Nevado de Colima volcanic debris avalanche deposit, Mexico

Stoopes and Sheridan have mapped a volcanic debris avalanche of Nevado de Colima which has an exceptionally long runout (120 km) and low fall-height to length ratio (H/L = 0.04). We present paleomagnetic results from this volcanic debris avalanche deposit which provide evidence that this avalanche was emplaced at elevated temperatures. The majority of samples, collected from lithic clasts in the volcanic debris avalanche deposit, exhibit two-component remanent magnetizations with a low-temperature component (25–350°C) which is well grouped about the geomagnetic field direction at Colima and a high-temperature component (350–580°C) which is randomly oriented. Although the temperature of the deposit most likely varied with distance from the volcanic source and the thickness of the deposit, our results suggest an emplacement temperature of approximately 350°C at intermediate distances (18–26 km) from the source. In order for the rock clasts (20–40 cm diameter) to be heated to these temperatures, the avalanche was most likely the results of a magmatic, Bezymianny-type eruption. The mixing of hot, juvenile gases with the clasts provides an explanation for the high degree of fluidization of this material, as evidenced by the long runout of this avalanche deposit.