Discerning resuspended chlorophyll concentrations from ocean color satellite imagery

Ocean color satellite imagery has been used to detect blooms of phytoplankton for decades. A bloom in this sense is defined as a rapid increase in chlorophyll-a concentration from newly synthesized sources (primary production) within the photic zone. Chlorophyll also has the potential to enter the water column from benthic sources as a result of resuspension events. Currently available bio-optical ocean color algorithms estimate the near-surface chlorophyll concentration in the water column but cannot characterize the source. By estimating resuspension, one can isolate the proportion of the total chlorophyll present in the water column that originated from benthic sources. The increase in remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) at 670nm as measured by SeaWiFS appears as a result of an increase in suspended materials, therefore, providing an estimate of resuspension. After examining imagery in locations of variable resuspension along the Texas coast, a strong positive correlation between the Rrs(670) produced by resuspension and the ratio of resuspended chlorophyll to total water column chlorophyll was observed.     

Simulated climate change during the last 1,000 years: comparing the ECHO-G general circulation model with the MAGICC simple climate model

An intercomparison of eight climate simulations, each driven with estimated natural and anthropogenic forcings for the last millennium, indicates that the so-called “Erik” simulation of the ECHO-G coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model exhibits atypical behaviour. The ECHO-G simulation has a much stronger cooling trend from 1000 to 1700 and a higher rate of warming since 1800 than the other simulations, with the result that the overall amplitude of millennial-scale temperature variations in the ECHO-G simulation is much greater than in the other models. The MAGICC (Model for the Assessment of Greenhouse-gas-Induced Climate Change) simple climate model is used to investigate possible causes of this atypical behaviour. It is shown that disequilibrium in the initial conditions probably contributes spuriously to the cooling trend in the early centuries of the simulation, and that the omission of tropospheric sulphate aerosol forcing is the likely explanation for the anomalously large recent warming. The simple climate model results are used to adjust the ECHO-G Erik simulation to mitigate these effects, which brings the simulation into better agreement with the other seven models considered here and greatly reduces the overall range of temperature variations during the last millennium simulated by ECHO-G. Smaller inter-model differences remain which can probably be explained by a combination of the particular forcing histories and model sensitivities of each experiment. These have not been investigated here, though we have diagnosed the effective climate sensitivity of ECHO-G to be 2.39±0.11 K for a doubling of CO₂.     

Application of Landsat-7 satellite data and a DEM for the quantification of thermokarst-affected terrain types in the periglacial Lena–Anabar coastal lowland

Extensive parts of Arctic permafrost-dominated lowlands were affected by large-scale permafrost degradation, mainly through Holocene thermokarst activity. The effect of thermokarst is nowadays observed in most periglacial lowlands of the Arctic. Since permafrost degradation is a consequence as well as a significant factor of global climate change, it is necessary to develop efficient methods for the quantification of its past and current magnitude. We developed a procedure for the quantification of periglacial lowland terrain types with a focus on degradation features and applied it to the Cape Mamontov Klyk area in the western Laptev Sea region. Our terrain classification approach was based on a combination of geospatial datasets, including a supervised maximum likelihood classification applied to Landsat-7 ETM+ data and digital elevation data. Thirteen final terrain surface classes were extracted and subsequently characterized in terms of relevance to thermokarst and degradation of ice-rich deposits. 78% of the investigated area was estimated to be affected by permafrost degradation. The overall classification accuracy was 79%. Thermokarst did not develop evenly on the coastal plain, as indicated by the increasingly dense coverage of thermokarst-related areas from south to north. This regionally focused procedure can be extended to other areas to provide the highly detailed periglacial terrain mapping capabilities currently lacking in global-scale permafrost datasets.     

A mass movement origin for cirques

The glacial process of cirque initiation, whereby small initial hillslope hollows grow by nivation until snow can form glacier ice, and ice motion then enlarges the hollow to a fully developed cirque, appears to have difficulty explaining the creation of large cirques in the time available during Quaternary glaciations, at the rates at which glaciers are reported to erode rock, and in rapidly uplifting mountain ranges. It also has difficulty explaining the striking proliferation of cirques in Fiordland, South Island, New Zealand, an area of harder rock and less glaciation than the nearby cirque‐poor area of South Westland. Here we show that cirques can be initiated as large, deep‐seated, often coseismic rock slope failure source area depressions in which snow may accumulate to form cirque glaciers, which can then remove detritus from, smooth, and enlarge the cirque. We present an example of a classically shaped cirque that has never held a glacier. We show that many similarities between the locations, sizes and shapes of rock slope failure source area depressions and cirques are understandable on this basis, as is the occurrence of cirques in presently aseismic intraplate locations and their relative paucity in actively uplifting ranges. The extent to which cirques may be of mass movement origin has implications for their value as palaeoclimatic indicators. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Permanent seismic deformation analysis of a landslide

A failed slope may not necessarily require a remedial treatment if it can be shown with confidence that the maximum movement of the slide mass will be within tolerable limits, i.e., not cause loss of life or property. A permanent displacement analysis of a landslide for static and seismic conditions is presented using a continuum mechanics approach. Computed values of displacement for static conditions compare favorably with field measurements and computed values of seismic displacements for a postulated earthquake motion appear reasonable. Also, the seismic displacements using the continuum mechanics approach compare favorably with those obtained using the Newmark sliding block procedure for assessing seismically-induced slope deformations.     

Persistent alluvial fanhead trenching resulting from large,infrequent sediment inputs

We present laboratory and field evidence that in mountainous catchment‐fan systems persistent alluvial fanhead aggradation and trenching may result from infrequent, large sediment inputs. We suggest that the river‐fan systems along the fault‐bounded range front of the western Southern Alps, New Zealand, are likely to be in a dynamic equilibrium on ≥10³‐yr timescales, superimposed on which their fanheads undergo long‐term cumulative episodic aggradation. These fanheads are active only in rare events, do not take part in the usual behaviour of the catchment‐fan system and require much longer to exhibit dynamic equilibrium than the rest of the fan. These findings (1) increase our knowledge of the effects of extreme events on alluvial fan morphodynamics in humid climates, (2) question the general applicability of inferring past climatic or tectonic regimes from alluvial‐fan morphology and stratigraphy and (3) provide a conceptual basis for hazard zonation on alluvial fans. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Organic compounds in produced waters from coalbed natural gas wells in the Powder River Basin,Wyoming, USA

The organic composition of produced water samples from coalbed natural gas (CBNG) wells in the Powder River Basin, WY, sampled in 2001 and 2002 are reported as part of a larger study of the potential health and environmental effects of organic compounds derived from coal. The quality of CBNG produced waters is a potential environmental concern and disposal problem for CBNG producers, and no previous studies of organic compounds in CBNG produced water have been published. Organic compounds identified in the produced water samples included: phenols, biphenyls, N-, O-, and S-containing heterocyclic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aromatic amines, various non-aromatic compounds, and phthalates. Many of the identified organic compounds (phenols, heterocyclic compounds, PAHs) are probably coal-derived. PAHs represented the group of organic compounds most commonly observed. Concentrations of total PAHs ranged up to 23 μg/L. Concentrations of individual compounds ranged from about 18 to <0.01 μg/L. Temporal variability of organic compound concentrations was documented, as two wells with relatively high organic compound contents in produced water in 2001 had much lower concentrations in 2002.