An ichnofossil assemblage from the fluvial deposits of the Upper Pliocene–Pleistocene Pinjor Formation (Siwalik Group), northwestern Himalayas,India: Palaeoenvironmental implications

Continental (fluvial) strata of the Pinjor Formation (Siwalik Group), northwestern Himalayas, India, contain an invertebrate trace fossil assemblage containing Planolites beverleyensis, Palaeophycus isp., Scoyenia gracilis, Taenidium barretti and other undifferentiated traces. The traces are found in an \(\sim \)26 m thick interval of alternating pinkish red siltstone, which is intercalated with mudstone, and thickly-bedded buff and greenish coloured sandstone. These sediments are interpreted as the deposits of floodplains and channel-bars of fluvial environments and low-energy overbank floodplain deposits. The trace fossils studied here are the first well documented ichnofossil assemblage from the vast, late Cenozoic Siwalik depositional system. They are not only of palaeoenvironmental significance, but they add to the growing ichnofossil database in facies of fluvial origin and should be an impetus to further ichnological studies of the Siwalik Group.     

When hazard avoidance is not an option: lessons learned from monitoring the postdisaster Oso landslide,USA

On 22 March 2014, a massive, catastrophic landslide occurred near Oso, Washington, USA, sweeping more than 1 km across the adjacent valley flats and killing 43 people. For the following 5 weeks, hundreds of workers engaged in an exhaustive search, rescue, and recovery effort directly in the landslide runout path. These workers could not avoid the risks posed by additional large-scale slope collapses. In an effort to ensure worker safety, multiple agencies cooperated to swiftly deploy a monitoring and alerting system consisting of sensors, automated data processing and web-based display, along with defined communication protocols and clear calls to action for emergency management and search personnel. Guided by the principle that an accelerating landslide poses a greater threat than a steadily moving or stationary mass, the system was designed to detect ground motion and vibration using complementary monitoring techniques. Near real-time information was provided by continuous GPS, seismometers/geophones, and extensometers. This information was augmented by repeat-assessment techniques such as terrestrial and aerial laser scanning and time-lapse photography. Fortunately, no major additional landsliding occurred. However, we did detect small headscarp failures as well as slow movement of the remaining landslide mass with the monitoring system. This was an exceptional response situation and the lessons learned are applicable to other landslide disaster crises. They underscore the need for cogent landslide expertise and ready-to-deploy monitoring equipment, the value of using redundant monitoring techniques with distinct goals, the benefit of clearly defined communication protocols, and the importance of continued research into forecasting landslide behavior to allow timely warning.

     

New UV-source catalogs,UV spectral database,UV variables and science tools from the GALEX surveys

We present a new, expanded and improved catalog of Ultraviolet (UV) sources from the GALEX All-Sky Imaging survey: GUVcat_AIS (Bianchi et al. in Astrophys. J. Suppl. Ser. 230:24, 2017). The catalog includes 83 million unique sources (duplicate measurements and rim artifacts are removed) measured in far-UV and near-UV. With respect to previous versions (Bianchi et al. in Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 411:2770 2011a, Adv. Space Res. 53:900–991, 2014), GUVcat_AIS covers a slightly larger area, 24,790 square degrees, and includes critical corrections and improvements, as well as new tags, in particular to identify sources in the footprint of extended objects, where pipeline source detection may fail and custom-photometry may be necessary. The UV unique-source catalog facilitates studies of density of sources, and matching of the UV samples with databases at other wavelengths.We also present first results from two ongoing projects, addressing respectively UV variability searches on time scales from seconds to years by mining the GALEX photon archive, and the construction of a database of ～120,000 GALEX UV spectra (range ～1300–3000 Å), including quality and calibration assessment and classification of the grism, hence serendipitous, spectral sources.     

Effects of ocean acidification and high temperatures on the bryozoan Myriapora truncata at natural CO2 vents

There are serious concerns that ocean acidification will combine with the effects of global warming to cause major shifts in marine ecosystems, but there is a lack of field data on the combined ecological effects of these changes due to the difficulty of creating large‐scale, long‐term exposures to elevated CO₂ and temperature. Here we report the first coastal transplant experiment designed to investigate the effects of naturally acidified seawater on the rates of net calcification and dissolution of the branched calcitic bryozoan Myriapora truncata (Pallas, 1766). Colonies were transplanted to normal (pH 8.1), high (mean pH 7.66, minimum value 7.33) and extremely high CO₂ conditions (mean pH 7.43, minimum value 6.83) at gas vents off Ischia Island (Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). The net calcification rates of live colonies and the dissolution rates of dead colonies were estimated by weighing after 45 days (May–June 2008) and after 128 days (July–October) to examine the hypothesis that high CO₂ levels affect bryozoan growth and survival differently during moderate and warm water conditions. In the first observation period, seawater temperatures ranged from 19 to 24 °C; dead M. truncata colonies dissolved at high CO₂ levels (pH 7.66), whereas live specimens maintained the same net calcification rate as those growing at normal pH. In extremely high CO₂ conditions (mean pH 7.43), the live bryozoans calcified significantly less than those at normal pH. Therefore, established colonies of M. truncata seem well able to withstand the levels of ocean acidification predicted in the next 200 years, possibly because the soft tissues protect the skeleton from an external decrease in pH. However, during the second period of observation a prolonged period of high seawater temperatures (25–28 °C) halted calcification both in controls and at high CO₂, and all transplants died when high temperatures were combined with extremely high CO₂ levels. Clearly, attempts to predict the future response of organisms to ocean acidification need to consider the effects of concurrent changes such as the Mediterranean trend for increased summer temperatures in surface waters. Although M. truncata was resilient to short‐term exposure to high levels of ocean acidification at normal temperatures, our field transplants showed that its ability to calcify at higher temperatures was compromised, adding it to the growing list of species now potentially threatened by global warming.     

Performance of community-based coastal resource management (CBCRM) programs in the Philippines: A meta-analysis

Community-based coastal resource management (CBCRM) is a major conservation and fisheries management strategy in the tropics. In this study, the performance of 16 CBCRM programs in the Philippines was assessed using a meta-analysis of eight indicators that represented the perceptions of local resource users. Overall, the CBCRM programs in the Philippines were perceived to have a significant positive impact. However, the performance of each of the indicators was mixed. Although the CBCRM programs were perceived to be effective in empowering the local fishing communities, their perceived impact on improving the state of the local fisheries resources remained limited. This highlights the importance of incorporating ecological and socio-economic considerations in setting fisheries management regimes.     

Acidic deposition impacts mediated by sulfur cycling in a coastal plain forest ecosystem

Deposition in the New Jersey Pinelands was very acidic (pH=4.17) and contained high levels of SO₂ ⁻² based on bulk deposition measurementsfrom July 1984–July 1986. Streamwater over the same interval in undisturbed watersheds was less acidic (pH =4.52) and had proportionately less SO₄ ⁻². A preliminary alkalinity budget for undisturbed watersheds suggested that SO₄ ⁻² retention within Pinelands watersheds accounted for a large portion of the total alkalinity generated and thereby lessened the impact of acidic deposition on surface waters. The only process capable of explaining the retention of SO₄ ⁻² was microbial sulfate reduction in the extensive wetlands surrounding Pinelands streams which occurred at high rates.     

El Nino/Southern oscillation signals in the global tropical ocean

The monthly mean sea surface temperature data of 6 areas are used to study the El Nino/Southern Oscillation signals in the global tropical ocean. These areas are in the 5oN-5oS latitude zone at 1) eastern Pacific (110o-l40oW), 2) western Atlantic (30o-50oW), 3) eastern Atlantic (10oW-10oE), 4) western Indian Ocean (30o-50oE), 5) central Indian Ocean (70o-90oE) and 6) far western Pacific (120o-140oE), and the data cover the 120-month period of December 1968 to November 1978.A power spectrum analysts shows that the characteristic time of the El Nino/Southern Oscillation (about 3-4 years) appears not only in the eastern Pacific but also in other areas of the tropics except for the western Pa-cific, where the spectrum is of white noise. The amplitude of oscillation in the eastern Pacific is about 4 times larger than the others, making the El Nino/Southern Oscillation signal the strongest in this area. According to a cross-spectrum analysis, there is no time lag between the variation in the central Indian Ocean and that in the eastern Pacific. These two areas oscillate simultaneously and comprise the main feature of the El Nino/ Southern Oscillation. Other tropical areas are related with time lags, as shown by correlation and coherence calculations.It should be noted that the sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific oscillates in phase with that in the Indian Ocean, while the pressure oscillations in these two areas are out of phase with each other, according to the Southern Oscillation definition. It is suggested that the Southern Oscillation cannot be explained simply by the sea surface temperature anomalies.Variations in the far western equatorial Pacific do not have the time scale of the El Nino/Southern Oscilla-tion, perhaps because it is a buffer zone between the monsoon system and the trade wind system.     

Estimates of CO2 from wood fuel based on forest harvest data

Wood continues to be a major fuel source for vast numbers of the world's people. Even in the highly industrialized countries, use of wood and wood wastes as fuel produces a small (in comparison to fossil fuels) but non-negligible amount of CO₂. Although information on the worldwide harvest and use of wood is not as complete or as reliable as fossil fuel data, this paper uses what is available and develops annual estimates of CO₂ emissions for the period 1968–1983. Woods are separated into two types, coniferous and non-coniferous, and average content and carbon amounts are estimated for each type. Wood utilization is divided into several categories, e.g., fuelwood, lumber, poles, and use of wood wastes as fuels in the lumber and paper industries is included. Results are given for major world regions. In recent years the worldwide CO₂ emissions from wood used as fuels is estimated to be about one-tenth as much as CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels. This does not include fires in the forests, either associated with forest clearing or those from natural causes.