Sediment budget of the Napo River,Amazon basin,Ecuador and Peru

The upstream‐downstream sediment budget along the Napo River (100 520 km², 6300 m³ s^?1) was studied in the Andean foothills of Ecuador, at the west of the Amazon basin. A comparative study was made during four hydrological cycles (2001–2005) for three hydrological stations located upstream, and during one hydrological cycle (2004–2005) for the fourth one located near the mouth of the Napo River (region of Iquitos in Peru). This analysis showed an unusual increase in the concentration of suspended sediment recorded for the western part of the Amazon plain. Like the runoff (81 l s^?1 km²), which is a world's maximum, the erosion rate (1160 t km^?2 year^?1, i.e. 47% of total suspended solid (TSS) export at the exit of Ecuador), one of the highest for a floodplain basin is the result of a stepper slope than in the rest of the Andean foothills, where typically sedimentation phenomena are predominant, and can be explained in part by a greater tectonic activity. Similar phenomenes were evidenced in small mountainous rivers in New Guinea (Milliman and Syvitski, 1992; Milliman, 1995). On the headwaters of the Napo River drainage basin, the tectonic uplift causes the Pastaza Megafan's existence. This progressively diverts the course of Napo River towards north and also provokes the remobilization of fine fluvial deposits. Moreover, this geodynamic trend is completed by the impact of volcanic eruption, earthquakes and landslides. The combination of these phenomena, so common in the region, has provided a large sediment transfer, not only at present but also in the past, as can be confirmed by the presence of incised terraces, mainly formed by volcanic materials. Then, these results were compared with a similar study carried out further south in the Madeira basin at the Bolivian foothills. These studies show the spatio‐temporal variability of the relation between sediment transfer and geodynamic processes at the Andean Piedmont. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring seven hundred years of transhumance,climate dynamic,fire and human activity through a historical mountain pass in central Spain

A high-altitude peat sequence from the heart of the Spanish Central System (Gredos range) was analysed through a multi-proxy approach to determine the sensitivity of high-mountain habitats to climate, fire and land use changes during the last seven hundred years, providing valuable insight into our understanding of the vegetation history and environmental changes in a mountain pass close to a traditional route of transhumance. The pollen data indicate that the vegetation was dominated by shrublands and grasslands with scattered pines in high-mountain areas, while in the valleys cereals, chestnut and olive trees were cultivated. Strong declines of high-mountain pines percentages are recorded at 1540, 1675, 1765, 1835 and 1925 cal AD, which may be related to increasing grazing activities and/or the occurrence of anthropogenic fires. The practice of mountain summer farming and transhumance deeply changed and redesigned the landscape of the high altitudes in central Spain (Gredos range) since the Middle Ages, although its dynamics was influenced in some way by climate variability of the past seven centuries.     

Hydro-hypsometric analysis of tropical river basins,Southwest Coast of India using geospatial technology

The key aspect in planning and management of water resources is to analyze the runoff potential and erosion status of the river basin. For the detailed investigation of hydrological response, freely available Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) data was used for the preparation of digital elevation model (DEM). The runoff potential and type of erosive process of 22 river basins originating in the global biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, was inferred through hypsometric analysis. Several parameters like Hypsometric integral (HI), maximum concavity (Eh), coordinates of slope inflection point (I) given by a* and h* and normalized height of hypsometric curve (h) were extracted from the hypsometric curves and used for understanding the hydrological responses. From the hypsometric curves, the landform evolution processes were inferred. Contribution of diffusive and fluvial processes in slope degradation of the river basins was understood. Basins with lesser area (<100 km²) were found to have a positive correlation between hypsometric integral and basin area, whereas for large basins no such correlation exists. Based on the study, river basins can be prioritized for the appropriate conservation measures.     

Complementary Notes on a ‘Well-known’ Marine Heterotrichous Ciliate, Folliculinopsis producta (Wright, 1859) Frauré-Fremiet, 1936 (Protozoa, Ciliophora)

1　Introduction　Folliculina likeciliatesarecommonlyfoundinlit toralzonesandareeasilyrecognizedbytheirlargesi zesandspecialstructures (i.e.vase shapedloricaandperistomiallobe) .Tillnow ,dozensofspecieshavebeenreportedworldwide (Kahl,1 932 ;Faur啨Fremiet,1…     

Metabolic plasticity of nitrogen assimilation by Porphyra umbilicalis (Linnaeus) Kützing

The physical stresses associated with emersion have long been considered major factors determining the vertical zonation of intertidal seaweeds.We examined Porphyra umbilicalis(Linnaeus) Kützing thalli from the vertical extremes in elevation of an intertidal population(i.e.upper and lower intertidal zones) to determine whether Porphyra thalli acclimate to different vertical elevations on the shore with different patterns of nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase(NR) and glutamine synthetase(GS) activities in response to different degrees of emersion stress.We found that the nitrate uptake and NR recovery in the emersed tissues took longer in lower intertidal sub-population than in upper intertidal sub-population;and GS activity was also significantly affected by emersion and,interestingly,such an activity was enhanced by emersion of thalli from both upper and lower intertidal zones.These results suggested that intra-population variability in post-emersion recovery of physiological functions such as nutrient uptake and NR activity enables local adaptation and contributes to the wide vertical distribution of P.umbilicalis.The high GS activity during periodic emersion stress may be a protective mechanism enabling P.umbilicalis to assimilate nitrogen quickly when it again becomes available,and may also be an evidence of photorespiration during emersion.     

Variations in stratigraphic and reservoir properties adjacent to the Mid-Paleocene sequence boundary, Campo section, Pyrenees, Spain

The Paleocene of the Campo section, Spain has different sedimentological characteristics above and below the Mid-Paleocene Unconformity. Beneath the unconformity sediments are dominated by evaporitic carbonates and collapse breccias. Above it they are characterized by continental detrital beds alternating with paleosols. Different subaerial features are observed and correspond to different porosity values, pore–throat sizes and micrite morphologies. Unexposed or intertidal facies have low porosity, low throat–pore size (mesoporosity) and well preserved rhombic crystals. Intermediate exposed facies (paleosols) possess medium porosity, medium pore–throat size (microporosity) and mainly micro-rhombic crystals. Finally, the facies corresponding to high exposure intensity and to evaporitic original facies presents high porosity, permeability, large pore–throat size and rounded micritic crystals. These observations show that the emersion phase caused important dissolution, especially when associated with an easily dissolved original lithofacies.     

Inheritance Pattern of Microsatellite Loci and Their Use for Kinship Analysis in the Japanese Scallop Patinopecten yessoensis

The inheritance mode of seven microsatellite markers was investigated in Patinopecten yessoensis larvae from four con-trolled crosses,and the feasibility of using these markers for kinship estimation was also examined. All the seven microsatellite loci were compatible with Mendelian inheritance. Neither sex-linked barriers to transmission nor major barriers to fertilization between gametes from the parents were evident. Two of the seven loci showed the presence of null alleles in two families,suggesting the...     

Spatial Variability of Mass Movements in the Satluj Valley,Himachal Pradesh during 1990～2006

Satluj Valley is known to have a history of landslides and related mass movement activities since the geological times. Geological and geomorphological settings combined with anthropogenic activities constitute a propensity towards slope failure. During the last two decades,the area witnessed substantial increase in athropogenic pressure,mainly due to the exploitation of hydropower potential,changing landuse pattern and population growth. In addition,a shift of the climatic patterns in the form of larger area falling under the influence of rains was observed. These natural as well as anthropogenic changes in the area have resulted in increased spatial coverage of landslide in the area. This paper documents these changes during 1990～2006.     

Aerosol optical depths at Mohal-Kullu in the northwestern Indian Himalayan high altitude station during ICARB

First time observations of spectral aerosol optical depths (AODs) at Mohal (31.9°N, 77.11°E; altitude 1154 m amsl) in the Kullu valley, located in the northwestern Indian Himalayan region, have been carried out during Integrated Campaign for Aerosols, gases and Radiation Budget (ICARB), as a part of the Indian Space Research Organisation-Geosphere Biosphere Program (ISRO-GBP). AODs at six wavelengths are obtained using Microtops-II Sunphotometer and Ozonometer. The monthly mean values of AOD at 500 nm are found to be 0.27 ± 0.04 and 0.24 ± 0.02 during March and April, 2006 respectively. However, their monthly mean values are 0.33 ± 0.04 at 380 nm and 0.20 ± 0.03 nm at 870 nm during March 2006 and 0.31 ± 0.3 at 380 nm and 0.17 ± 0.2 at 870 nm during April 2006, showing a gradual decrease in AOD with wavelength. The Ångstrom wavelength exponent ‘α’ had a mean value of 0.72 ± 0.05, implying reduced dominance of fine particles. Further, the afternoon AOD values are higher as compared to forenoon values by ～ 33.0% during March and by ～ 9.0% during April 2006 and are attributed to the pollutant lifted up from the valley by the evolving boundary layer. Besides the long-range transportation of aerosol particles by airmass from the Great Sahara and the Thar Desert regions to the observing site, the high values of AODs have also been influenced by biomass burning and frequent incidents of forest fire at local levels.