Natural and anthropogenic controls on sediment rating curves in northern California coastal watersheds

The watersheds along the north coast of California span a wide range of geologic settings, tectonic uplift rates, and historic timber harvest activity. Known trends in how each of these factors influence erosion rates provides an opportunity to examine their relative importance. We analyzed 71 watersheds within nine larger river basins, investigated the factors influencing suspended sediment rating curves (SRCs), investigated how SRCs varied among our study watersheds, and used Random Forest modeling (RFM) to determine which environmental characteristics and land management metrics influence SRC shapes, vertical offsets, and slopes. While SRCs typically take the form of a power function, they also can exhibit threshold or peak relationships. First, we found both power and threshold relationships for the SRCs within our study watersheds. Second, the SRC offsets and slopes systematically varied with regional tectonic uplift. Third, SRC offsets increased in several watersheds following intensive timber harvest events and SRC slopes decreased due to a greater relative increase in suspended sediment concentration at lower flows than higher flows. Our RFM correctly classified 96% of the SRC shapes using two near-channel metrics; near-channel precipitation-sensitive deep-seated landslide susceptibility and near-channel soil erodibility. Our RFM models also showed that timber harvest activity and near-channel local relief can explain 40% of the variability in SRC offsets, whereas tectonic uplift rates, millennial-scale erosion rates, and precipitation patterns explain 40% of the variability in SRC slopes.     

Metal sources to the Baltic clam Macoma balthica (Mollusca: Bivalvia) in the southern Baltic Sea (the Gulf of Gdansk)

Metal concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn in an infaunal facultative deposit-feeding bivalve, the Baltic clam Macoma balthica, in the Gulf of Gdansk (southern Baltic Sea) were assessed and compared to selected concentrations of metals in the environment. Between October 1996 and September 1997, dissolved and easy extractable (by 1M HCl) metal fractions of total suspended particulate matter (TPM) in the overlying water and of surficial sediments (<63 microm) were measured monthly at five sublittoral sites in the Gulf of Gdansk, and accumulated tissue metal concentrations in M. balthica were determined simultaneously. The study highlights the importance of sediment geochemistry as a factor modifying ambient trace metal bioavailabilities. Surficial sediments appeared to contribute most to the accumulation of Cu and Pb in M. balthica, reflecting the high metal availability in the Gulf. Assimilation of Cu from sediments is controlled by Mn components possibly through an inhibitory effect of Mn oxyhydroxides, while Pb accumulation from sediments depends on the organic content of the sediment. A dual metal uptake pathway, with a suspended particulate-bound fraction and surficial sediments, was apparent for Mn and Zn. Partitioning of Mn in sediments was related to the concentration of labile Fe, with increased levels of Fe tending to inhibit the accumulation of Mn by the clam. Tissue accumulated Zn might have been altered by the clam's internal regulation, making Zn tissue concentrations, to some degree, independent of its environmental level. The principal source of Ni accumulated by the clams exists in the soluble phase.     

Comparing fire-history interpretations based on area, number and estimated volume of macroscopic charcoal in lake sediments

Sedimentary charcoal particles from lakes are commonly used to investigate fire history. Fire-history reconstructions are based on measuring the surface area or counting the number of charcoal fragments in adjacent samples. Recently, the volume of charcoal particles was advised as a more accurate method for quantifying past charcoal production. Large charcoal datasets, used to synthesize global fire history, include these different types of charcoal measurements and implicitly assume that they provide comparable fire-history information. However, no study has demonstrated that this assumption is valid. Here we compare fire-frequency reconstructions based on measurements of charcoal area and number, and estimates of charcoal volume from two lake sediment records from the eastern Canadian boreal forest. Results indicate that the three proxies provide comparable fire-history interpretations when using a locally defined threshold to identify fire events.     

Pb isotope variations in hydrogenetic Fe–Mn crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc

Fe–Mn crusts were recovered from the western escarpment of the Bonin Ridge in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region (dive site #824: 28.612°N, 141.803°E) at water depths of c. 2900 m using the Shinkai 6500 submersible during cruise YK 04–05. Major and trace element data and XRD mineralogy indicate that the crusts are hydrogenetic in origin. We present profiles of variations in Pb isotope composition measured in-situ by laser ablation MC-ICP-MS across two of the crusts. The isotopic variations are systematic and can be matched up between the two crusts, indicating similar growth rates. The crust Pb isotope composition rules out any local source for Pb from within the Izu–Bonin–Mariana arc system, either from hydrothermal activity or through leaching of volcanic detritus. Input of a globally well-mixed volcanic Pb component, either from aerosols or as an absorbed component on aeolian dust, has been proposed as a mechanism to explain the Pb isotope composition of Central Pacific deep water. However, the Izu–Bonin crusts are displaced to lower ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb and higher ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁴Pb, which requires an additional Pb source. One possibility is that as water is advected from the south, outboard of the Luzon–Ryukyu–Honshu arc system, it is progressively polluted by Pb derived by weathering and erosion of these young island arc volcanic systems. Using a constant Co-flux model, growth rates are estimated at ～ 7–13 mm/Ma, which would suggest that these crusts provide a record of changes in the composition of deep water in the Izu–Bonin fore-arc region of the western Pacific Ocean over the last 4–8 Ma. Over this interval, the main feature has been a progressive decrease in ²⁰⁷Pb/²⁰⁶Pb (0.843 to 0.839) and ²⁰⁸Pb/²⁰⁶Pb (2.088 to 2.080) with time. The interior parts have compositions similar to those of crusts from the Izu–Bonin fore-arc, while the rims have compositions similar to crusts from the central Western Pacific.     

Identification of a sulfide derivative with a bicyclic hydrocarbon skeleton related to squalene. Part I: synthesis of a dithiane triterpenoid

In order to confirm the tentative structure of a dithiane sulfide with a bicyclic squalene hydrocarbon skeleton representing the predominant alkyl sulfide in Shell Beach samples from the Monterey Formation (Miocene, CA) and also occurring in various immature sulphur-rich sediments [Schouten, S., Sinninghe Damsté, J.S., de Leeuw, J.W., 1995. A novel triterpenoid carbon skeleton in immature sulphur-rich sediments. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 59, 953–958], synthesis of a reference compound bearing two thiochromane moieties has been carried out. The product was obtained as a diastereomeric mixture appearing in the form of five peaks (partly) resolved in gas chromatography (GC). This is in sharp contrast with the geochemical compound, which appears as a single broad peak in GC. Co-elution experiments showed that none of the peaks from the synthetic mixture coelute in GC with that of the geochemical sulfide. Furthermore, the different synthetic isomers have identical mass spectra, which are clearly distinct from that of the naturally-occurring compound. The results unambiguously indicate that the natural compound is not the dithiane triterpenoid originally envisaged. Instead, we propose that the compound has a structure of a bicyclic squalene derivative bearing two “S-spiro”-type moieties as is the case for other sulfides related to regular polycyclic polyprenoids and hopanoids in Monterey sediments.     

Resurfacing of Titan by ammonia-water cryomagma

The Cassini Titan Radar Mapper observed on Titan several large features interpreted as cryovolcanic during the October 26, 2004 pass at high northern latitudes [Lopes, R.M.C., and 43 colleagues, 2007. Icarus 186, 395-412]. To date, models of ammonia-water resurfacing have not been tied to specific events or evolutionary stages of Titan. We propose a model of cryovolcanism that involves cracking at the base of the ice shell and formation of ammonia-water pockets in the ice. As these ammonia-water pockets undergo partial freezing in the cold ice shell, the ammonia concentration in the pockets increases, decreasing the negative buoyancy of the ammonia-water mixture. If the ice shell is contaminated by silicates delivered in impacts, the liquid-solid density difference would be even less. While the liquid cannot easily become buoyant relative to the surrounding ice, these concentrated ammonia-water pockets are sufficiently close to the neutral buoyancy point that large-scale tectonic stress patterns (tides, non-synchronous rotation, satellite volume changes, solid state convection, or subsurface pressure gradients associated with topography) would enable the ammonia to erupt effusively onto the surface. Rather than suggesting steady-state volcanism over the history of the Solar System, we favor a scenario where the cryovolcanic features could have been associated with episodic (potentially late) geological activity.     

How well do we understand cosmological recombination?

The major theoretical limitation for extracting cosmological parameters from the cosmic microwave background (CMB) sky lies in the precision with which we can calculate the cosmological recombination process. Uncertainty in the details of hydrogen and helium recombination could effectively increase the errors or bias the values of the cosmological parameters derived from the Planck satellite, for example. Here, we modify the cosmological recombination code recfast by introducing one more parameter to reproduce the recent numerical results for the speed-up of the helium recombination. Together with the existing hydrogen fudge factor, we vary these two parameters to account for the remaining dominant uncertainties in cosmological recombination. By using the C osmo MC code with Planck forecast data, we find that we need to determine the parameters to better than 10 per cent for He  i and 1 per cent for H, in order to obtain negligible effects on the cosmological parameters. For helium recombination, if the existing studies have calculated the ionization fraction to the 0.1 per cent level by properly including the relevant physical processes, then we already have numerical calculations which are accurate enough for Planck . For hydrogen, setting the fudge factor to speed up low-redshift recombination by 14 per cent appears to be sufficient for Planck . However, more work still needs to be done to carry out comprehensive numerical calculations of all the relevant effects for hydrogen, as well as to check for effects which couple hydrogen and helium recombination through the radiation field.     

Comparison of groundwater recharge estimation techniques in an alluvial aquifer system with an intermittent/ephemeral stream (Queensland,Australia)

This study demonstrates the importance of the conceptual hydrogeological model for the estimation of groundwater recharge rates in an alluvial system interconnected with an ephemeral or intermittent stream in south-east Queensland, Australia. The losing/gaining condition of these streams is typically subject to temporal and spatial variability, and knowledge of these hydrological processes is critical for the interpretation of recharge estimates. Recharge rate estimates of 76–182 mm/year were determined using the water budget method. The water budget method provides useful broad approximations of recharge and discharge fluxes. The chloride mass balance (CMB) method and the tritium method were used on 17 and 13 sites respectively, yielding recharge rates of 1–43 mm/year (CMB) and 4–553 mm/year (tritium method). However, the conceptual hydrogeological model confirms that the results from the CMB method at some sites are not applicable in this setting because of overland flow and channel leakage. The tritium method was appropriate here and could be applied to other alluvial systems, provided that channel leakage and diffuse infiltration of rainfall can be accurately estimated. The water-table fluctuation (WTF) method was also applied to data from 16 bores; recharge estimates ranged from 0 to 721 mm/year. The WTF method was not suitable where bank storage processes occurred.     

Groundwater hydrochemistry and origin in the south-eastern part of Wadi El Natrun,Egypt

The demand for water is rapidly increasing in Egypt, because of high population and agriculture production growth rate, which makes research of water resources necessary. The regional multi-aquifer system of the Miocene–Pleistocene age is discharged in Wadi El Natrun area. Intensive aquifer overexploitation and agricultural development in the area are related to groundwater quality deterioration. Hydrochemical and hydrogeological data was evaluated to determine the groundwater origin and quality in the south-eastern part of wadi, which appears to be more significant for water supply owing to lower groundwater salinity. The dominance of the high mineralised Cl groundwater type was found; however, also less mineralised SO₄ and HCO₃ types were identified there. Based on the ion relations, halite and gypsum dissolution and ion exchange are the most important hydrochemical processes forming the groundwater chemical composition. The Cl dominated groundwater matches the discharge part of the regional hydrogeological system. Contrary, the presence of HCO₃ and SO₄ hydrochemical types corresponds to the infiltration and transferring parts of the hydrogeological system indicating the presence of zones conducting low mineralised groundwater. The discharge area of the over-pumped aquifer in Wadi El-Natrun lies 23 m beneath the sea level with the shoreline being at the distance of 100 km, thus there is a real risk of seawater intrusion. Using the hydrochemical facies evolution diagram, four samples in the centre of the discharge area indicate advanced seawater intrusion. The zones of the highest demand for groundwater quality protection were indicated based on a spatial pattern of hydrogeochemical composition.