Assessment of long‐term Holocene soil erosion rates in Polish loess areas using sedimentary archives from closed depressions

Soil erosion is a particularly important problem in the loess areas of Central Europe. Numerous studies of past and present soil erosion based on colluvial sediments have so far been conducted. The main problem is the fact that colluvia usually do not represent the complete sedimentation record. Closed depressions (CDs) collect all colluvial sediments from their catchment, therefore, constitute sediment stores enabling the calculation of soil erosion rates. Colluvial sediments and fossil soils, infilling four CDs in the Polish loess belt, were OSL and C‐14 dated. Human settlements near the studied CDs were analyzed. Phases of soil erosion and colluviation from the Neolithic (5400–2900 bc ), from the Middle Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age (1600–0 bc ), and from the Early Middle Ages to Modern Times (500 AD until today) were documented within the CDs studied. Phases of low soil erosion rate and pedogenesis occurred from the Late Vistulian to the Early Neolithic and from the Iron Age to Early Middle Ages. This study reveals that these phases are not synchronous with the soil erosion phases in Central Europe, as the latter mainly occurred in the Bronze Age, Roman Period and Middle Ages. The obtained soil erosion rates were compared with erosion rates in different areas of Central Europe. This study indicates that in loess regions with long‐term agricultural land use, mean erosion rates (i.e. 3.7–5.9 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1) from the Middle Ages to Modern Times were ten times higher than during the entire prehistoric period (0.39–0.67 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1). The mean soil erosion rates for forested CDs was 0.24–0.74 t ha^‐1 yr^‐1. Soil erosion phases are most probably caused by human activities (i.e. land use change) but the early Holocene erosion phase (7.96 +/‐ 0.67 kyr) could have been induced by a climatic fluctuation (e.g. a 8.2 kyr Bond event). Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Controls on Methane Occurrences in Shallow Aquifers Overlying the Haynesville Shale Gas Field,East Texas

Understanding the source of dissolved methane in drinking‐water aquifers is critical for assessing potential contributions from hydraulic fracturing in shale plays. Shallow groundwater in the Texas portion of the Haynesville Shale area (13,000 km²) was sampled (70 samples) for methane and other dissolved light alkanes. Most samples were derived from the fresh water bearing Wilcox formations and show little methane except in a localized cluster of 12 water wells (17% of total) in a approximately 30 × 30 km² area in Southern Panola County with dissolved methane concentrations less than 10 mg/L. This zone of elevated methane is spatially associated with the termination of an active fault system affecting the entire sedimentary section, including the Haynesville Shale at a depth more than 3.5 km, and with shallow lignite seams of Lower Wilcox age at a depth of 100 to 230 m. The lignite spatial extension overlaps with the cluster. Gas wetness and methane isotope compositions suggest a mixed microbial and thermogenic origin with contribution from lignite beds and from deep thermogenic reservoirs that produce condensate in most of the cluster area. The pathway for methane from the lignite and deeper reservoirs is then provided by the fault system.     

Controls on Methane Occurrences in Aquifers Overlying the Eagle Ford Shale Play,South Texas

Assessing natural vs. anthropogenic sources of methane in drinking water aquifers is a critical issue in areas of shale oil and gas production. The objective of this study was to determine controls on methane occurrences in aquifers in the Eagle Ford Shale play footprint. A total of 110 water wells were tested for dissolved light alkanes, isotopes of methane, and major ions, mostly in the eastern section of the play. Multiple aquifers were sampled with approximately 47 samples from the Carrizo‐Wilcox Aquifer (250‐1200 m depth range) and Queen City‐Sparta Aquifer (150‐900 m depth range) and 63 samples from other shallow aquifers but mostly from the Catahoula Formation (depth <150 m). Besides three shallow wells with unambiguously microbial methane, only deeper wells show significant dissolved methane (22 samples >1 mg/L, 10 samples >10 mg/L). No dissolved methane samples exhibit thermogenic characteristics that would link them unequivocally to oil and gas sourced from the Eagle Ford Shale. In particular, the well water samples contain very little or no ethane and propane (C1/C2+C3 molar ratio >453), unlike what would be expected in an oil province, but they also display relatively heavier δ¹³C_methane (>?55‰) and δD_methane (>?180‰). Samples from the deeper Carrizo and Queen City aquifers are consistent with microbial methane sourced from syndepositional organic matter mixed with thermogenic methane input, most likely originating from deeper oil reservoirs and migrating through fault zones. Active oxidation of methane pushes δ¹³C_methane and δD_methane toward heavier values, whereas the thermogenic gas component is enriched with methane owing to a long migration path resulting in a higher C1/C2+C3 ratio than in the local reservoirs.     

Piecewise uniform potential vorticity pancake shielded vortices

Shielded vortices consist of a core of potential vorticity (PV) of a given sign surrounded (or shielded) by a layer of opposite-signed PV. Such vortices have specific properties and have been the focus of numerous studies, first in two dimensional geometries (where PV is just the vertical component of the vorticity vector) and in geophysical applications (mostly in layered models). The present paper focuses on three-dimensional, spheroidal shielded vortices. In particular, we focus on vortical structures whose overall volume-integrated PV is zero. We restrict attention to vortices of piecewise uniform PV in the present research. We first revisit the problem within the quasi-geostrophic model, then we extend the results to the non-hydrostatic regime. We show that the stability of the structure depends on the ratio of PV between the inner core and the outer shield. In particular it depends on the polarity of the core and of the wavenumber of the azimuthal mode perturbed.     

Fractal characterization of sediment particle-size distribution in the water-level fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir,China

The combined effect of periodic water impoundment and seasonal natural flood events has created a 30 m high water-level fluctuation zone(WLFZ) around the Three Gorges Reservoir(TGR), China, forming a unique eco-landscape. Siltation, eutrophication, enrichment of heavy metals, and methane emissions in the WLFZ have been widely associated with sediment and soil particles generated from the upstream catchment or upland slopes. However, little attention has been paid to the complexity of sediment particle-size distributions in the WLFZ. In the present study, core samples(from a 345 cm thick sediment core from the base of the WLFZ), slope transect surface samples(across/up a WLFZ slope), and along-river/longitudinal surface samples(from the reservoir reaches) were collected. Laser granulometry and a volume-based fractal model were used to reveal the characteristics of sediment particle-size distributions. Results indicate that the alternation of coarse and fine particles in the sedimentary core profile is represented as a fluctuation of low and high values of fractal dimension(D), ranging from 2.59 to 2.77. On the WLFZ slope transect, surface sediment particles coarsen with increasing elevation, sand content increases from 3.3% to 78.5%, and D decreases from 2.76 to 2.53. Longitudinally, surface sediments demonstrate a downstream-fining trend, and D increases gradually downstream. D is significantly positively correlated with the fine particle content. We conclude that D is a useful measure for evaluating sediment particle-size distribution.     

A new probabilistic approach to estimating marine gastropod densities from baited traps

A new probabilistic approach is proposed to assess muricid species population abundances at scales relevant to both Ancient and Modern coastal fisheries. Motivated by the long‐term goal of reconstructing the dynamics of exploited murex populations during Antiquity, the objective was to estimate the population density of the banded dye‐murex, Hexaplex trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758) from successive captures with baited traps, using a method similar to the technique employed in the Mediterranean purple dye industry. The stochastic model developed simulates cumulative captures while accounting for high variability. It was calibrated with data acquired during a field trapping experiment (Crete Island, Greece). Traps’ catchability and Effective Area of Attraction (EAA) were estimated using the individual speed and behavioural response towards bait from laboratory experiments. Average density of H. trunculus was estimated as 2.2 ± 1.4 SE individuals per square metre, with no significant differences between seagrass and rocky habitats. The clearing time of successive capture experiments averaged 84 ± 6 SE hr. Clearing ca. 0.4 ha of subtidal area would be necessary to produce ca. 1.0 g of pure Tyrian purple pigment. The method described is generalizable to making population abundance estimates for similar groups, such as whelks, in modern fisheries.     

The planet formation imager

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI, www.planetformationimager.org) is a next-generation infrared interferometer array with the primary goal of imaging the active phases of planet formation in nearby star forming regions. PFI will be sensitive to warm dust emission using mid-infrared capabilities made possible by precise fringe tracking in the near-infrared. An L/M band combiner will be especially sensitive to thermal emission from young exoplanets (and their disks) with a high spectral resolution mode to probe the kinematics of CO and H₂O gas. In this paper, we give an overview of the main science goals of PFI, define a baseline PFI architecture that can achieve those goals, point at remaining technical challenges, and suggest activities today that will help make the Planet Formation Imager facility a reality.     

New active galactic nuclei science cases with interferometry

Infrared (IR) interferometry has made widely recognised contributions to the way we look at the dusty environment of supermassive black holes on parsec scales. It finally provided direct evidence for orientation-dependent unification of active galaxies, however it also showed that the classical “torus” picture is oversimplified. New scientific opportunities for AGN have been suggested, and will soon be carried out, focusing on the dynamical aspects of spectrally and spatially resolved interferometry, as well as the potential to employ interferometry for cosmology. This will open interferometry to new scientific communities.     

Averaged model to study long-term dynamics of a probe about Mercury

This paper provides a method for finding initial conditions of frozen orbits for a probe around Mercury. Frozen orbits are those whose orbital elements remain constant on average. Thus, at the same point in each orbit, the satellite always passes at the same altitude. This is very interesting for scientific missions that require close inspection of any celestial body. The orbital dynamics of an artificial satellite about Mercury is governed by the potential attraction of the main body. Besides the Keplerian attraction, we consider the inhomogeneities of the potential of the central body. We include secondary terms of Mercury gravity field from \(J_2\) up to \(J_6\), and the tesseral harmonics \(\overline{C}_{22}\) that is of the same magnitude than zonal \(J_2\). In the case of science missions about Mercury, it is also important to consider third-body perturbation (Sun). Circular restricted three body problem can not be applied to Mercury–Sun system due to its non-negligible orbital eccentricity. Besides the harmonics coefficients of Mercury’s gravitational potential, and the Sun gravitational perturbation, our average model also includes Solar acceleration pressure. This simplified model captures the majority of the dynamics of low and high orbits about Mercury. In order to capture the dominant characteristics of the dynamics, short-period terms of the system are removed applying a double-averaging technique. This algorithm is a two-fold process which firstly averages over the period of the satellite, and secondly averages with respect to the period of the third body. This simplified Hamiltonian model is introduced in the Lagrange Planetary equations. Thus, frozen orbits are characterized by a surface depending on three variables: the orbital semimajor axis, eccentricity and inclination. We find frozen orbits for an average altitude of 400 and 1000 km, which are the predicted values for the BepiColombo mission. Finally, the paper delves into the orbital stability of frozen orbits and the temporal evolution of the eccentricity of these orbits.     

Reconstruction of the Late Holocene climate and environmental history from North Bolgoda Lake,Sri Lanka,using lipid biomarkers and pollen records

The catastrophic impact and unpredictability of the Indian Ocean Monsoon (IOM) over South Asia are evident from devastating floods, mudslides and droughts in one of the most densely populated regions of the globe. However, our understanding as to how the IOM has varied in the past, as well as its impact on local environments, remains limited. This is particularly the case for Sri Lanka, where erosional landscapes have limited the availability of well-stratified, high-resolution terrestrial archives. Here, we present novel data from an undisturbed sediment core retrieved from the coastal Bolgoda Lake. This includes the presentation of a revised Late Holocene age model as well as an innovative combination of pollen, source-specific biomarkers, and compound-specific stable carbon isotopes of n-alkanes to reconstruct the shifts in precipitation, salinity and vegetation cover. Our record documents variable climate between 3000 years and the present, with arid conditions c. 2334 and 2067 cal a bp. This extreme dry period was preceded and followed by more wet conditions. The high-resolution palaeoenvironmental reconstruction fills a major gap in our knowledge on the ramifications of IOM shifts across South Asia and provides insights during a time of major redistribution of dense human settlements across Sri Lanka.