Experimental constraints on the origins of primitive potassic lavas from the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt

Primitive magmas in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) span a wide geochemical range that includes calc-alkaline basalt and basaltic andesite, potassic shoshonites, and intraplate alkaline basalts, indicating that the subarc mantle wedge is chemically heterogeneous. The aim of this study is to experimentally constrain the origins of potassic lavas that have erupted along the volcanic front in the TMVB. We used a piston-cylinder apparatus to determine the P–T–H₂O near-liquidus phase relations for two primitive potassic lavas: a hornblende trachybasalt (shoshonite) from Cerro La Pilita in the central TMVB and a high-K calc-alkaline basalt from Ayutla in the western TMVB. Experiments were conducted at mantle pressures (0.8–2.5 GPa) and temperatures (1,100–1,400 °C) with 1.5–6 wt% H₂O. Results show that both samples were last equilibrated with an olivine + clinopyroxene assemblage at upper mantle pressures. Integrating our results with trace element characteristics, we conclude that the potassic magmas formed by a complex, multistage process in which melts from the hottest part of the mantle wedge either reequilibrated with clinopyroxene-rich veins in the shallow upper mantle or caused melting of such veins by advective heating. We combine our results with previous experiments on TMVB lavas to provide an along-arc perspective of melt equilibration depths in the mantle wedge. The results suggest that although melts may initially form deep in the wedge, they commonly reequilibrate with heterogeneous mantle at shallower depths. Primitive, medium-K basaltic andesites in the TMVB form by reequilibration with harzburgite, which we infer to be a common lithology in the upper mantle, whereas some potassic magmas like the ones studied here form through reequilibration with or melting of veins of olivine + clinopyroxene ± phlogopite. Though somewhat rare at the volcanic front relative to the more abundant medium-K volcanic rocks, the potassic magmas are an important lava type for revealing mantle chemical heterogeneities.     

Future changes of the terrestrial ecosystem based on a dynamic vegetation model driven with RCP8.5 climate projections from 19 GCMs

Future changes of terrestrial ecosystems due to changes in atmospheric CO₂ concentration and climate are subject to a large degree of uncertainty, especially for vegetation in the Tropics. Here, we evaluate the natural vegetation response to projected future changes using an improved version of a dynamic vegetation model (CLM-CN-DV) driven with climate change projections from 19 global climate models participating in the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5). The simulated equilibrium vegetation distribution under historical climate (1981–2000) has been compared with that under the projected future climate (2081–2100) scenario for Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) to qualitatively assess how natural potential vegetation might change in the future. With one outlier excluded, the ensemble average of vegetation changes corresponding to climates of 18 GCMs shows a poleward shift of forests in northern Eurasia and North America, which is consistent with findings from previous studies. It also shows a general “upgrade” of vegetation type in the Tropics and most of the temperate zones, in the form of deciduous trees and shrubs taking over C3 grass in Europe and broadleaf deciduous trees taking over C4 grasses in Central Africa and the Amazon. LAI and NPP are projected to increase in the high latitudes, southeastern Asia, southeastern North America, and Central Africa. This results from CO₂ fertilization, enhanced water use efficiency, and in the extra-tropics warming. However, both LAI and NPP are projected to decrease in the Amazon due to drought. The competing impacts of climate change and CO₂ fertilization lead to large uncertainties in the projection of future vegetation changes in the Tropics.     

Forest disturbance enhanced the activity of epedaphic collembola in windthrown stands of the High Tatra mountains

The study aimed to assess the response of ep- and hemiedaphic Collembola communities （activity, richness, community structure） to a disturbance, the subsequent management regime and to the season （summer, winter） in a High Tatra Mountainsspruce forest destroyed by a windstorm. Fire and clear-cut resulted in an initial increase in the activity of Collembola inhabiting open areas, opportunistic or generalist species, while forest specialists diminished in numbers or disappeared. Our results indicated that treatment with non-extracted fallen trees （NEX） provided a better chance for forest species to survive compared with their survival in open habitats of extracted （EXT） and wildfire （FIR） treatments. Great species’ potential of NEX treatment was indicated by Chao2 estimator and activity/species rarefaction curves. Communities of NEX treatment were more similar to the reference （REF） treatment, documented by ordination and cluster analyses. Thus, leaving fallen timber after a windthrow to natural process of succession is suitable for survival of forest species and maintenance of diversity in forests restoration than timber extraction. Community structure in wildfire （FIR） stands was the most dissimilar to the other treatments. Most of the species trapped in this treatment belonged to hemiedaphic life forms, while the activity of larger epedaphic species diminished. In contrast, the highest number of trapped Collembola in EXT treatment was connected with the larger-bodied epigeic species with fast dispersal ability. The trapping period affected both the number of individuals and species richness; Collembola activity and species diversity in the individual treatments were lower in winter compared with the summer period. Several species increased activity during the winter period, namelyFolsomia penicula, Friesea mirabilis, F. truncata,Hypogastrura socialisand Protaphorura aurantiaca.     

Toward a Synthesis: Lessons from Thirteen Cropland Watershed-Scale Studies

To integrate lessons from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture–Conservation Effects Assessment Project (NIFA CEAP) program, key informant (KI) interviews were conducted in all 13 project areas. The purpose of these interviews was to supplement technical information about watersheds, their contaminants, modeling, economics, and key findings. We interviewed a wide range of people to develop a systematic look at individual project results, synthesize meanings, and derive principles useful in guiding future watershed management. Findings revealed common themes, which tended to align with KI categories, regardless of location. For instance, farmers and ranchers often understood water quality problems as well as federal and state personnel and university employees do. Conservation adoption by farmers was related to perceived need, cost, and convenience of the practice, as well as practice specifics and individual situations. Possible implications of these findings are advanced.     

DEM Extraction in Urban Areas Using High-Resolution TerraSAR-X Imagery

Three-dimensional (3D) spatial information is crucial for improving the quality of human life through urban planning and management, and it is widely utilized due to its rapid, periodic and inexpensive acquisition. In this context, extraction of digital surface and elevation models (DSM and DEM) is a significant research topic for space-borne optical and synthetic aperture radar (SAR) remote sensing. The DSMs include visible features on the earth’s surface such as vegetation, forest and elevated man-made objects, while DEMs contain only the bare ground. In this paper, using TerraSAR-X (TSX) high resolution Spotlight (HS) images, high-resolution interferometric DEM generation in a part of Istanbul urban area is aimed. This is not an easy task because of SAR imaging problems in complex geometry of urban settlements. The interferometric processing steps for DSM generation were discussed including critical parameters and thresholds to improve the quality of the final product and a 3 m gridded DSM was generated. The DSM-DEM conversion was performed by filtering and the quality of generated DEM was verified against a reference DEM from stereo photogrammetry with 3 m original grid spacing. The achieved root mean square error of height differences (RMSZ) varies from 7.09 to 8.11 m, depending on the terrain slope. The differential DEM, illustrates the height differences between generated DEM and the reference DEM, was generated to show the correlation between height differences and the coherence map. Finally, a perspective view of test area was created draping extracted DEM and a high-resolution IKONOS panchromatic image.     

Investigating Grazing Intensity and Range Condition of Grasslands in Northeastern Kansas Using Landsat Thematic Mapper Data

Abstract

Grazing changes plant species composition of grassland ecosystems by selective removal and trampling. Grazing also alters soil physical and biogeochemical properties and can dramatically change hydrologic processes that can impact water budgets and quality. For these reasons, practical means are needed to assess grazing management practices and its impacts upon the land. This study examines whether a grazing intensity and range condition gradient can be detected in spectral reflectance characteristics of grasslands in northeastern Kansas. Multitemporal Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) data, the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and field data collected concurrent with the TM overpasses, were used in the analysis. Correlation analysis was used to examine relationships between spectral data and biophysical data. Next, the study sites within each grassland type were classified into three spectrally similar clusters. Grazing intensity, range condition, and biophysical characteristics were summarized for each spectral cluster and compared.

The results suggest that NDVI may be used as a surrogate for living biomass for both grassland types and may be useful for predicting grazing intensity in native warm season grasslands. And while there appeared to be relationships between total living and non‐living cover, and TM NIR and MIR bands, there were no direct relationships between spectral characteristics and grazing intensity or range condition.     

Propagating radial waves of travel cost in a grid

To calculate the minimum cost of travel to each location within a geographical area from a specified set of locations, most geographic information systems represent that area as a rectangular grid of discrete cells, each indicating the cost of traversing that cell's particular location. These increments of cost are then accumulated by proceeding from cell to adjacent cell in a manner that resembles the propagation of waves. Because this propagation is limited to the eight directions associated with each cell's eight neighbors, however, it is often misdirected, and travel costs are therefore often overestimated. This article discusses the context, precedent, design, implementation, performance, and implications of a new algorithm that eliminates such problems in a straightforward manner. It does so by retaining the octangular propagation mechanism of earlier algorithms while keeping track of the particular locations at which propagated waves of accumulating travel cost either refract or diffract. The approach also holds promise for significant improvement in areas ranging from dispersion modeling and shape analysis to interpolation and the delineation of cost-minimizing paths.     

A Survey of Seasonal and Permanent Landowners in Wisconsin's Northwoods: Following Dillman and Then Some

This article demonstrates the importance of obtaining high response rates for surveys of the general population while illustrating that survey design and procedures that adopt and modify factors known to positively affect survey returns can lead to high response rates, even for a lengthy survey of the general population. Using an expanded version of Dillman's “tailored design method,” we achieved an 82.8% response rate for a general population survey of landowners. When comparing early respondents to late respondents we found significant differences on several sociodemographic variables as well as a number of attitudinal measures central to the research project. In addition, costs are compared between this methodology and a more typical four-wave mailing. Our survey further highlights the importance of improving our understanding of the social changes taking place in rural communities and the implications these changes can have on natural resources management.

This article originally published in Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 17, Issue 5, pages 431–442, 2004. DOI: 10.1080/08941920490430223     

Analytical solutions to runoff on hillslopes with curvature: numerical and laboratory verification

Predicting the behavior of overland flow with analytical solutions to the kinematic wave equation is appealing due to its relative ease of implementation. Such simple solutions, however, have largely been constrained to applications on simple planar hillslopes. This study presents analytical solutions to the kinematic wave equation for hillslopes with modest topographic curvature that causes divergence or convergence of runoff flowpaths. The solution averages flow depths along changing hillslope contours whose lengths vary according hillslope width function, and results in a one-dimensional approximation to the two-dimensional flow field. The solutions are tested against both two-dimensional numerical solutions to the kinematic wave equation (in ParFlow) and against experiments that use rainfall simulation on machined hillslopes with defined curvature properties. Excellent agreement between numerical, experimental and analytical solutions is found for hillslopes with mild to moderate curvature. The solutions show that curvature drives large changes in maximum flow rate q_peak and time of concentration t_c , predictions frequently used in engineering hydrologic design and analysis.     

Inertial waves in spherical shells at low Ekman numbers

Inertial waves as oscillatory motions in rotating fluids generate internal shear layers at critical latitudes. We investigated the nonlinear interaction of inertial waves for global flows (3D flows) in dependence on the Ekman number. When the value of the Ekman number decreases, the influence of the Ekman layers to the flow pattern increases. Critical latitudes, the attractor flow pattern and certainly internal shear layers are observable mainly at greater values of the Ekman number. Although, with decreasing the Ekman number smaller flow structures become visible, nonlinear interactions in shear layers drive an axisymmetric flow whose amplitude diverges at the limit of the vanishing Ekman number. We show that this conclusion is valid not only for zonal wind driven by inertial modes but also for similarly driven global flows.