The feeding habits of Austrolethops wardi, a gobiid fish inhabiting burrows of the thalassinidean shrimp Neaxius acanthus

The feeding habit of Austrolethops wardi (Gobiidae) in the seagrass beds of Barrang Lompo and Bone Batang Island in the Spermonde Archipelago, South West Sulawesi, Indonesia, was investigated through gut content analysis. The feeding preferences of this species are very similar on both islands: A. wardi, a burrow associate of Neaxius acanthus, was found to feed almost exclusively on seagrass (which was found in 100% of the investigated stomachs and made up >94% of food items). However, seagrass epiphytes (<5% of food items) and animal food (<1% of food items) occurred in the guts as well, the latter predominantly in terms of copepods and to a lesser degree in other small invertebrates. These results indicate that animal food is of little importance for A. wardi. Some specimens even contained no parts of animal food.     

Testing landslide and atmospheric-effects models for the formation of double-layered ejecta craters on Mars

Double-layered ejecta (DLE) craters are distinctive among the variety of crater morphologies observed on Mars, but the mechanism by which they form remains under debate. We assess two ejecta emplacement mechanisms: (1) atmospheric effects from ejecta curtain-induced vortices or a base surge and (2) ballistic emplacement followed by a landslide of ejecta assisted by either surface- or pore-ice. We conduct a morphological analysis of the ejecta facies for three DLE craters which impacted into irregular pre-existing topography. We find that the unique topographic environments affected the formation of grooves and the inner facies, and thus appear to be inconsistent with an atmospheric-effects origin but are supportive of the landslide hypothesis. We distinguish between the two landslide models (lubrication by either surface- or pore-ice) by assessing relationships between DLE crater ejecta and morphologic features indicative of buried ice deposits, including sublimation pits, ring-mold craters, expanded secondary craters, and excess ejecta craters. The association of DLE craters with these features suggests that surface ice was present at the time of the impacts that formed the DLE craters. We also compare the Froude numbers of DLE crater ejecta to landslides, and find that the ejecta of DLE craters are kinematically and frictionally similar to terrestrial landslides that overran glaciers. This suggests that the grooves on DLE craters may plausibly form through the same shear/splitting mechanism as the landslides. In summary, our analysis supports the hypothesis that DLE craters form through meteoroid impacts into decameters-thick surface ice deposits (emplaced during periods of higher obliquity) followed by ejecta sliding on the ice.     

An unusual compound object in Yamato 793408 (H3.2‐an): The missing link between compound chondrules and macrochondrules?

We found a large (~2 mm) compound object in the primitive Yamato 793408 (H3.2‐an) chondrite. It consists mostly of microcrystalline material, similar to chondrule mesostasis, that hosts an intact barred olivine (BO) chondrule. The object contains euhedral pyroxene and large individual olivine grains. Some olivine cores are indicative of refractory forsterites with very low Fe‐ and high Ca, Al‐concentrations, although no ¹⁶O enrichment. The entire object is most likely a new and unique type, as no similar compound object has been described so far. We propose that it represents an intermediate stage between compound chondrules and macrochondrules, and formed from the collision between chondrules at low velocities (below 1 m s^?1) at high temperatures (around 1550 °C). The macrochondrule also trapped and preserved a smaller BO chondrule. This object appears to be the first direct evidence for a genetic link between compound chondrules and macrochondrules. In accordance with previous suggestions and studies, compound chondrules and macrochondrules likely formed by the same mechanism of chondrule collisions, and each represents different formation conditions, such as ambient temperature and collision speed.     

How to improve the representation of hydrological processes in SWAT for a lowland catchment – temporal analysis of parameter sensitivity and model performance

Model diagnostic analyses help to improve the understanding of hydrological processes and their representation in hydrological models. A detailed temporal analysis detects periods of poor model performance and model components with potential for model improvements, which cannot be found by analysing the whole discharge time series. In this study, we aim to improve the understanding of hydrological processes by investigating the temporal dynamics of parameter sensitivity and of model performance for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model applied to the Treene lowland catchment in Northern Germany. The temporal analysis shows that the parameter sensitivity varies temporally with high sensitivity for three groundwater parameters (groundwater time delay, baseflow recession constant and aquifer fraction coefficient) and one evaporation parameter (soil evaporation compensation factor). Whereas the soil evaporation compensation factor dominates in baseflow and resaturation periods, groundwater time delay, baseflow recession constant and aquifer fraction coefficient are dominant in the peak and recession phases. The temporal analysis of model performance identifies three clusters with different model performances, which can be related to different phases of the hydrograph. The lowest performance, when comparing six performance measures, is detected for the baseflow cluster. A spatially distributed analysis for six hydrological stations within the Treene catchment shows similar results for all stations. The linkage of periods with poor model performance to the dominant model components in these phases and with the related hydrological processes shows that the groundwater module has the highest potential for improvement. This temporal diagnostic analysis enhances the understanding of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool model and of the dominant hydrological processes in the lowland catchment. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Obliquity-driven mountain permafrost-related fluvial magnetic susceptibility cycles in the Quaternary mid-latitude long-term (2.5 Ma) fluvial Maros Fan in the Pannonian Basin

Magnetic susceptibility (MS) of the Quaternary long-term mid-latitude Maros fluvial fan (Pannonian Basin) was recorded to understand the stratigraphical features of source-proximal fluvial depositional settings. Three fully cored 500-m-deep boreholes were sampled at 0.5-m intervals; low-field and frequency dependent MS were measured, and complementary hysteresis and SEM-EDAX investigations were performed on selected samples. Logged susceptibility data were also used to log correlations established by a simultaneous comparison of wireline log and laboratory measurements. Time-series analyses of the susceptibility records reveal a ~41-ka and ~100-ka cyclicity. Towards the source-distal sections the intensity of the ~41-ka cycles decreases, while that of the ~100-ka cycles remains strong. Stratigraphical and spectral similarities were observed between the Maros fluvial fan and Chinese loess records; however, based on complementary magnetic data, the magnetic phase of the Maros Fan sections is related to the detrital magnetite that originates from the catchment during early postglacial permafrost degradations. The amplification of the ~41-ka cycles can be attributed to the very high susceptibility values in source-proximal settings and to the special stratigraphical feature of the distributive fluvial systems. This comprises the increased avulsion frequency on the fluvial fans in ‘glacial recession periods’, in concert with the ‘early postglacial’ occurrence of the permafrost-related magnetite originating from the catchment. As a local phenomenon, this is significant since it records the obliquity-driven variations in permafrost development in a catchment. However, fluvial and alluvial fans are widespread depositional landforms within the Eurasian mountain range and were possibly the same during the Quaternary deglaciations. Thus, obliquity-driven magnetic susceptibility variations in source-proximal fan deposits attached or adjacent to regions of loess deposition should also be considered when scanning for potential source material of aeolian deposits.     

Field Survey of the 27 February 2010 Chile Tsunami

On 27 February 2010, a magnitude M _w?=?8.8 earthquake occurred off the coast of Chile??s Maule region causing substantial damage and loss of life. Ancestral tsunami knowledge from the 1960 event combined with education and evacuation exercises prompted most coastal residents to spontaneously evacuate after the earthquake. Many of the tsunami victims were tourists in coastal campgrounds. The international tsunami survey team (ITST) was deployed within days of the event and surveyed 800?km of coastline from Quintero to Mehuín and the Pacific Islands of Santa María, Mocha, Juan Fernández Archipelago, and Rapa Nui (Easter). The collected survey data include more than 400 tsunami flow depth, runup and coastal uplift measurements. The tsunami peaked with a localized runup of 29?m on a coastal bluff at Constitución. The observed runup distributions exhibit significant variations on local and regional scales. Observations from the 2010 and 1960 Chile tsunamis are compared.     

Paleontological,mineralogical and chemical studies of syngenetic and epigenetic Pb–Zn–Ba–P mineralizations at the stratotype of the K/P boundary (El Kef area,Tunisia)

The El Kef area, Tunisia, is host of the official stratotype of the K/P boundary and of a complex metallic and non-metallic mineralization at Djebel Sekarna, encompassing syn(dia)genetic shale- and carbonate-hosted Zn–P and epigenetic Pb–Zn–Ba ore mineralizations. Micropaleontological, geological, mineralogical, and chemical studies (major and minor elements, C- and O-isotopes) of Upper Santonian to Lower Eocene calcareous-siliciclastic sediments resulted in a subdivision of this mineralization into eight mineralizing stages. Stages 1 and 2 (late Cretaceous–early Paleogene) are representative of syn(diagenetic) shale- and carbonate-hosted sulfidic and siliceous (Fe)–Zn–P mineralization deposited in shallow marine to slightly brackish sediments. Stages 3–5 (early Eocene respectively—pre- and post-Nummulites involutus-exilis zones) are representatives of epigenetic sulfidic and sulfatic (Fe)–Zn–Pb–Ba mineralizations at temperatures as high as 170/200°C and stages 6 and 7 (early Eocene respectively—post-Alveolina oblonga zone) cover the non-sulfidic Zn–(Pb) mineralization at temperatures as high as 60°C which is transitional from hypogene into supergene mineralization (“epithermal calamine deposits”). Stage 8 represents alteration of the pre-existing mineral assemblages in course of the Holocene weathering. The Cretaceous through Paleogene aquatic system is characterized by a poisoning of the sea with base metals, mainly Zn, and the atmosphere was chocked with clouds of fine-grained volcanic ejecta. Both processes contributed to the build-up of Zn–(Pb) deposits and vast, but uneconomic bentonitic clay deposits around the K/P boundary. Ore mineralization in the El Kef area is a multiple-phase process which reached its climax during the early Eocene as indicated by the large foram zones. These inorganic concentration processes resulting in the formation of mineral deposits had obviously also a negative effect on the long-term course of regional Earth’s biological history during the late Cretaceous–early Eocene period with lethal consequences for some species. The joint studies of inorganic and organic data reveal that such extraordinary metallogenetic processes close to the K/P boundary in its stratotype area in Tunisia were “strictly terrestrial”.     

The geometry of continental displacement and its application to Arctic geology: Eugen Wegmann’s early approaches published in the Geologische Rundschau in 1943

Plate tectonics developed around 1965 as a powerful tool to describe the tectonic movements of the Earth’s crust. The article demonstrates that basically four already existing theoretical concepts—subduction, seafloor spreading, the application of Euler’s theorem and transform faults—had to be combined to arrive at the modern theory. Alfred Wegener, father of the theory of continental displacement, is often credited as the most direct forerunner of plate tectonics. However, none of the aforementioned concepts had been developed by him. The present article deals with the hitherto not duly credited contributions of the Swiss geologist Eugen Wegmann (1896–1982). He developed in a series of highly original papers published between 1943 and 1948 (one of them in the Geologische Rundschau), a critical test of the theory of continental displacement based on the regional geology of the Arctic. Furthermore, he gave a very concise account on the geometrical principles of drift movements. As a result, he developed for the first time—25 years before McKenzie and Parker’s Nature 216:1276–1280, landmark paper on the Pacific (1967)—the geometrical basis to graphically test plate motion directions. However, his work has not yet received the credit it deserves, neither by scientist nor by historians of science.     

Considerations on a suction drill for lunar surface drilling and sampling: II. experimental tests in vacuum conditions

Drilling devices with the ability to create narrow, but deep, boreholes in a planetary surface are important tools for the exploration of the structure and properties of planetary surface layers. Therefore, they are usually proposed for planetary landers for the Moon, Mars, Venus or small planetary bodies. A method based on the use of a cold gas flow for ejecting debris particles from the borehole has recently been suggested and investigated theoretically (K?mle et al. in Acta Geotech 3:201–214, 2008a). The current paper reports on laboratory experiments designed to validate this method under vacuum or low pressure conditions. Two different sample materials were used: (1) glass beads in the sub-millimeter size range, and (2) the certified lunar analog material JSC-1A, a finely crushed basaltic rock. For both materials, the suction process for removing the particles from a simulated borehole worked well and with a moderate gas consumption.