Deadly oasis:Recurrent annihilation of Cretaceous desert bryophyte colonies;the role of solar,climate and lithospheric forcing

Many oases(wet interdunes)are sedimentary systems characterized by high-frequency water-level oscillations,marked changes in salinity and intense biological activity at their margins.They are considered to be one of the most challenging environments on Earth for ecosystem development.These dynamic,depositional settings are usually unfavourable for fossilization and subsequent preservation of vegetal remains.This paper describes bryophyte(liverwort)assemblages occurring in three successive horizons interpreted to represent(i)recurrent early successional phases of biological soil crust colonization of wet interdune margins or(ii)exceptional preservation of floating or riparian liverworts in oasis pond waters associated with a progressive fall of the interdune water level.The record of in situ colonization surfaces characterized by delicate(e.g.lignin-free)three-dimensional structures represents an exceptional type of preservation herein associated with a rapid variation in phreatic interdune water level and the subsequent establishment of anoxic and reducing conditions.The occurrence of exceptionally preserved liverwort colonies coincides with the sedimentary record of,at least,three seismite levels in the oasis.Data gathered from the site suggests that the water table of the oasis was controlled by a combination of(i)a positive creation of accommodation space due to subsidence associated with movement on syn-sedimentary extensional faults,and(ii)the rise and fall of the oasis water table controlled by the oscillations of the groundwater system due to orbital changes which appear to drive the variability of the climate system.Rising groundwater levels flooded the oasis soil crusts and lead to the exceptional recurrent preservation of liverwort colonies at the oasis margins.Alternatively,considering the hypothesis of floating or riparian liverworts in the oasis pond waters,the fall in the level of the oasis water table placed the floating liverworts in contact with the oasis bottom sediments.This fall in the level of the oasis water table could indicate a cessation of accommodation space by syn-sedimentary extensional faults and/or a regional lowering of the groundwater system level associated with drought periods.Preliminary results indicate that oasis lamination between liverwort colonies records decadal and sub-decadal cyclicity,related with 11-year Schwabe sunspot and sub-decadal NAO cyclicities,conferring for every sedimentary cycle between liverwort colonies a duration of approximately 200 years,that otherwise matches the expected recurrence period for the De Vries cycle of solar activity.     

Strategies to Make Methods Based on Flow Injection Analysis Greener

The implementation of flow injection analysis (FIA) systems and correlated techniques in the laboratory routine provides an increase of analytical throughput and the reduction of risks of analyte losses and contamination. Naturally, it contributes to the reduction of reagent consumption and minimization of waste generation. This paper presents and discusses an overview of the main strategies adopted to make methods based on FIA systems more environmentally friendly, and offers a review of these methods that covers the period from January 2002 to December 2019. Strategies based on reagent management (adoption of procedures without reagents, replacement of toxic reagents, recycling and reuse of reagents and, use of immobilized reagents), the online waste treatment, and the improvements of FIA systems (flow system configurations that avoid reagent wastage, use of green detectors, automation, and miniaturization) are approached in this perspective.     

Analysis of the impact of large scale seismic retrofitting strategies through the application of a vulnerability-based approach on traditional masonry buildings

The buildings’ capacity to maintain minimum structural safety levels during natural disasters, such as earthquakes, is recognisably one of the aspects that most influence urban resilience. Moreover, the public investment in risk mitigation strategies is fundamental, not only to promote social and urban and resilience, but also to limit consequent material, human and environmental losses. Despite the growing awareness of this issue, there is still a vast number of traditional masonry buildings spread throughout many European old city centres that lacks of adequate seismic resistance, requiring therefore urgent retrofitting interventions in order to both reduce their seismic vulnerability and to cope with the increased seismic requirements of recent code standards. Thus, this paper aims at contributing to mitigate the social and economic impacts of earthquake damage scenarios through the development of vulnerability-based comparative analysis of some of the most popular retrofitting techniques applied after the 1998 Azores earthquake. The influence of each technique individually and globally studied resorting to a seismic vulnerability index methodology integrated into a GIS tool and damage and loss scenarios are constructed and critically discussed. Finally, the economic balance resulting from the implementation of that techniques are also examined.     

Wave observations from an array of directional buoys over the southern Brazilian coast

It is well known that the majority of buoy measurements are located around the US coast and along some Europeans countries. The lack of long-term and densely spaced in situ measurements in the Southern Hemisphere in general, and the South Atlantic in particular, hinders several investigations due to the lack of detailed metocean information. Here, we present an effort to overcome this limitation, with a dense network of buoys along the Brazilian coast, equipped with several meteorological and oceanographic sensors. Out of ten currently operational buoys, three are employed to present the main characteristics of waves in the Southern part of the network. For the first time, sensor characteristics and settings are described, as well as the methods applied to the raw wave data. Statistics and distributions of wave parameters, swell propagating events, comparison with a numerical model and altimeters and a discussion about the occurrence of freak waves are presented.     

Insights about the formation of a complex impact structure formed in basalt from numerical modeling: The Vista Alegre structure,southern Brazil

We present the outcomes of simulations of the formation of the Vista Alegre impact structure, Paraná Basin, Brazil. The target comprised a thick sequence of volcanic rocks of predominantly basaltic composition of the Serra Geral Formation that had been deposited on top of sedimentary rocks (sandstones) of the Pirambóia/Botucatu formations. The cratering process was modeled using the iSALE shock physics code. Our best‐fit model suggests that (1) the crater was originally ~10 km in size; (2) it was formed in ~115 s by a stony projectile of 1000 m in diameter, for an assumed impact velocity of 12 km s^?1; (3) target rocks underwent a peak pressure of ~20 GPa, in agreement with previous petrographic investigations of shock deformation. Furthermore, the model points out that the sedimentary strata below the layer of volcanic rocks were raised by ~650 meters at the central part of the crater, which resulted in the current partial exposure of the sandstones at the surface. The outcomes of our modeling suggest that parameters like cohesion and strength of the target rocks, after shock compression, determined the final morphology of the crater, especially the absence of a topographically prominent central peak. Finally, the results of the numerical modeling are roughly in agreement with gravity data over the structure, in particular with respect to the presence of the uplifted sedimentary strata, which are responsible for a low gravity signature at the center of the structure.     

Spatiotemporal variability of vegetation due to drought dynamics (2012–2017): a case study of the Upper Paraíba River basin,Brazil

Natural Hazards - Vegetation indices have been widely used for monitoring the spatiotemporal variables of vegetation and characterizing droughts, primarily in semiarid regions. Drought is a...     

Regional scenarios of sea level rise and impacts on Basque (Bay of Biscay) coastal habitats,throughout the 21st century

Global climate models have predicted a rise on mean sea level of between 0.18 m and 0.59 m by the end of the 21st Century, with high regional variability. The objectives of this study are to estimate sea level changes in the Bay of Biscay during this century, and to assess the impacts of any change on Basque coastal habitats and infrastructures. Hence, ocean temperature projections for three climate scenarios, provided by several atmosphere–ocean coupled general climate models, have been extracted for the Bay of Biscay; these are used to estimate thermosteric sea level variations. The results show that, from 2001 to 2099, sea level within the Bay of Biscay will increase by between 28.5 and 48.7 cm, as a result of regional thermal expansion and global ice-melting, under scenarios A1B and A2 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A high-resolution digital terrain model, extracted from LiDAR, data was used to evaluate the potential impact of the estimated sea level rise to 9 coastal and estuarine habitats: sandy beaches and muds, vegetated dunes, shingle beaches, sea cliffs and supralittoral rock, wetlands and saltmarshes, terrestrial habitats, artificial land, piers, and water surfaces. The projected sea level rise of 48.7 cm was added to the high tide level of the coast studied, to generate a flood risk map of the coastal and estuarine areas. The results indicate that 110.8 ha of the supralittoral area will be affected by the end of the 21st Century; these are concentrated within the estuaries, with terrestrial and artificial habitats being the most affected. Sandy beaches are expected to undergo mean shoreline retreats of between 25% and 40%, of their width. The risk assessment of the areas and habitats that will be affected, as a consequence of the sea level rise, is potentially useful for local management to adopt adaptation measures to global climate change.     

Spartina maritima (cordgrass) rhizosediment extracellular enzymatic activity and its role in organic matter decomposition processes and metal speciation

Seasonal monitoring was carried out to investigate the influence of extracellular enzymatic activity (EEA) on metal speciation and organic matter cycling in the rhizosediment of Spartina maritima . Heavy metal speciation was achieved by the Tessier scheme, and showed a similar pattern of variation of the organic-bound fraction, indicating a decomposition process in progress. Both humic acid and organic matter showed the same seasonal pattern. The basal respiration of the rhizosediments also presented a similar seasonal pattern, indicating a microbial degradation of organic matter. The high organic-bound fraction found in the summer gradually decreased towards the winter. This decrease was found to be related to the increase of activity of peroxidase, β- N -acetylglucosaminidase and protease. Also the activity of sulphatase was found to be related to the depletion on the exchangeable fraction, probably due to sulphide formation and consequent mobilization. The results show an interaction between several microbial activities, affecting metal speciation.     

Environmental control on early life stages of flatfishes in the Lima Estuary (NW Portugal)

Several flatfishes spawn in oceanic waters and pelagic larvae are transported inshore to settle in the nursery areas, usually estuaries, where they remain during their juvenile life. Nursery areas appear as extremely important habitats, not only for juveniles but also for the earlier planktonic larval fish. Yet, the majority of nursery studies tend to focus only on one development stage, missing an integrative approach of the entire early life that fishes spent within a nursery ground. Thus, the present study assessed the influence of environmental parameters on the dynamics of the larval and juvenile flatfishes, throughout their nursery life in the Lima Estuary. Between April 2002 and April 2004, fortnightly subsurface ichthyoplankton samples were collected and juveniles were collected from October 2003 until September 2005. Larval assemblages comprised nine flatfish species, while only six were observed among the juvenile assemblages. Solea senegalensis and Platichthys flesus were the most abundant species of both fractions of the Lima Estuary flatfishes. Larval flatfish assemblages varied seasonally, without relevant differences between lower and middle estuary. Platichthys flesus dominated the spring samples and summer and autumn periods were characterized by an increase of overall abundance and diversity of larval flatfishes, mainly S. senegalensis, associated with temperature increase and reduced river flow. On the contrary, during the winter abundance sharply decreased, as a consequence of higher river run-off that might compromised the immigration of incompetent marine larvae. Juvenile flatfishes were more abundant in the middle and upper areas of the estuary, but the species richness was higher near the river mouth. Sediment type, distance from the river mouth, salinity, temperature and dissolved oxygen were identified as the main environmental factors structuring the juvenile flatfish assemblages. Juveniles were spatially discrete, with the most abundant species S. senegalensis and P. flesus associated with the middle and upper estuary, while the remaining species were associated with the lower estuarine areas. The larval fraction exhibited distinct dynamics from the juvenile estuarine flatfish community. Larval flatfishes showed a strong seasonal structure mainly regulated by biological features as the spawning season and also by seasonal variations of water characteristics. On the other hand, juvenile flatfishes were markedly controlled by site specific characteristics such as sediments structure, distance from the river mouth and salinity regime. The present study emphasized the idea that the environmental control varies throughout the ontogenetic development, stressing the importance of integrating all the early life of a species in flatfish nursery studies.     

Sex identification of Carcinus maenas by analysis of carapace geometrical morphometry

The European green crab Carcinus maenas is a widely spread invasive species. Studying the most recently introduced population of the species in the Atlantic coast off Patagonia, it became apparent to us that carapaces (the dorsal cover of the visceral-cavity detaching from the rest of the exoskeleton after ecdysis) accumulated on the intertidal may be used as a valuable complementary material to analyze the size structure of crabs. However, since growth rate (and consequently size at instar) of crabs differs between males and females, finding a method to distinguish crab sex by observation of carapace morphology was necessary to allow the construction of independent size frequency distributions for each sex. In this work, we examined the shape of the carapaces from both sexes of C. maenas, and using Elliptical Fourier Analysis successfully identified sexual dimorphism. Thus, a reliable method to identify sexes by visual observation of the carapace was developed. Based on our results, we discuss the evolutionary significance of carapace form differentiation of both sexes.