Record of Late Pleistocene Glaciation and Deglaciation in the Southern Cascade Range. I. Petrological Evidence from Lacustrine Sediment in Upper Klamath Lake, Southern Oregon

Petrological and textural properties of lacustrine sediments from Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon, reflect changing input volumes of glacial flour and thus reveal a detailed glacial history for the southern Cascade Range between about 37 and 15 ka. Magnetic properties vary as a result of mixing different amounts of the highly magnetic, glacially generated detritus with less magnetic, more weathered detritus derived from unglaciated parts of the large catchment. Evidence that the magnetic properties record glacial flour input is based mainly on the strong correlation between bulk sediment particle size and parameters that measure the magnetite content and magnetic mineral freshness. High magnetization corresponds to relatively fine particle size and lower magnetization to coarser particle size. This relation is not found in the Buck Lake core in a nearby, unglaciated catchment. Angular silt-sized volcanic rock fragments containing unaltered magnetite dominate the magnetic fraction in the late Pleistocene sediments but are absent in younger, low magnetization sediments. The finer grained, highly magnetic sediments contain high proportions of planktic diatoms indicative of cold, oligotrophic limnic conditions. Sediment with lower magnetite content contains populations of diatoms indicative of warmer, eutrophic limnic conditions. During the latter part of oxygen isotope stage 3 (about 37–25 ka), the magnetic properties record millennial-scale variations in glacial-flour content. The input of glacial flour was uniformly high during the Last Glacial Maximum, between about 21 and 16 ka. At about 16 ka, magnetite input, both absolute and relative to hematite, decreased abruptly, reflecting a rapid decline in glacially derived detritus. The decrease in magnetite transport into the lake preceded declines in pollen from both grass and sagebrush. A more gradual decrease in heavy mineral content over this interval records sediment starvation with the growth of marshes at the margins of the lake and dilution of detrital material by biogenic silica and other organic matter.     

Efficacy of a multi-metric fish index as an analysis tool for the transitional fish component of the Water Framework Directive

The WFD has introduced an international commitment to assess the ecological status of transitional waters (TWs), within which fish communities are a key biological monitoring component. The Transitional Fish Classification Index (TFCI) outlined in this paper uses 10 ecological measures to analyse fish populations caught from various ecological niches using a variety of gear types within the Thames estuary. These reach and method-specific communities are then compared to a reference population created from a 'healthy' population from TWs of a similar type. The results indicate a progressive downstream increase the quality of fish communities, consistent with previous work; variation between methods can be accounted for by gear selectivity. Overall, the TFCI is an effective communication tool for converting ecological information into an easily understood format for managers, policy makers and the general public.     

Unveiling buried aeolian landscapes: reconstructing a late Holocene dune environment using 3D ground-penetrating radar

Across the UK, sandy beaches and dunes protect coastal infrastructure from waves and extreme water levels during large-scale storms, while providing important habitats and recreational opportunities. Understanding their long-term evolution is vital in managing their condition in a changing climate. Recently, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) methods have grown in popularity in geomorphological applications, yielding centimetre-scale resolution images of near-surface stratigraphy and structure, thus allowing landscape evolution to be reconstructed. Additionally, abrupt changes in palaeo-environments can be visualized in three dimensions. Although often complemented by core data, GPR allows interpretations to be extended into areas with minimal ground-truth control. Nonetheless, GPR data interpretation can be non-intuitive and ambiguous, and radargrams may not initially resemble the expected subsurface geometry. Interpretation can be made yet more onerous when handling the large 3D data volumes that are facilitated with modern GPR technology. Here we describe the development of novel semi-automated GPR feature-extraction tools, based on ‘edge detection’ and ‘thresholding’ methods, which detect regions of increased GPR reflectivity which can be applied to aid in the reconstruction of a range Quaternary landscapes. Since reflectivity can be related to lithological and/or pore fluid changes, the 3D architecture of the palaeo-landscape can be reconstructed from the features extracted from a geophysical dataset. We present 500 MHz GPR data collected over a buried Holocene coastal dune system in North Wales, UK, now reclaimed for use as an airfield. Core data from the site, reaching a maximum depth 2 m, suggest rapid vertical changes from sand to silty-organic units, and GPR profiles suggest similar lateral complexity. By applying thresholding methods to GPR depth slices, these lateral complexities are effectively and automatically mapped. Furthermore, automatic extraction of the local reflection power yields a strong correlation with the depth variation of organic content, suggesting it is a cause of reflectivity contrast. GPR-interpolated analyses away from core control thus offer a powerful proxy for parameters derived from invasive core logging. The GPR data collected at Llanbedr airfield highlight a complex dune system to a depth of 2.8 m, probably deposited in several phases over ~700 years, similar to elsewhere in North Wales.     

Submarine groundwater discharge and benthic biogeochemical zonation in the Huanghe River Estuary

Submarine groundwater discharge(SGD) has received increasing attention by studies on coastal areas; however,its effects on biogeochemical zonation have not been investigated to date. The Huanghe River Estuary(HRE) is a world class river estuary with high turbidity, and heavy human regulation. This study investigated how SGD is related to the benthic biogeochemistry of the HRE. Based on the distribution of several parameters(e.g., salinity,temperature, dissolved oxygen(DO) levels, p H, radium iso...     

Meltwater discharge during the Holocene from the Wilkes subglacial basin revealed by beryllium isotope analysis of marine sediments

Understanding Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics related to global climate change is of scientific and societal interest as the future behaviour of the ice sheet under the currently changing climate is unknown. We present beryllium‐10 (¹⁰Be) analysis of a high‐resolution marine sediment core from the Adélie Basin near the eastern Wilkes Land margin, which is susceptible to marine ice sheet instability due to the low‐lying nature and down‐sloping trough of the Wilkes Subglacial Basin. Combined with a newly constructed age model using compound specific radiocarbon dates, the data reveal three events associated with high meteoric ¹⁰Be at ca. ~10 ka, ca. ~6.5 ka and from ca. ~4 ka. We interpret these high meteoric ¹⁰Be events to be derived from the deposition of ¹⁰Be released from the ice sheet during meltwater discharge. In particular, the shift to higher meteoric ¹⁰Be concentration at~4 ka may correspond to changes in climate patterns at this time. Copyright © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Middle Paleozoic paleomagnetism of east Kazakhstan: post-Middle Devonian rotations in a large-scale orocline in the central Ural–Mongol belt

In order to test different hypotheses concerning the Paleozoic evolution of the Ural–Mongol belt (UMB) and the amalgamation of Eurasia, we studied Middle Devonian basalts from two localities (11 sites) and Lower Silurian volcanics, redbeds, and intra-formational conglomerates from three localities (20 sites) in the Chingiz Range of East Kazakhstan. The Devonian rocks prove to be heavily overprinted in the late Paleozoic, and a high-temperature, presumably primary, southerly, and down component is isolated at only four sites from a homoclinal section. Most Silurian redbeds are found to be remagnetized in the late Paleozoic; in contrast, a bipolar near-horizontal remanence, isolated from Silurian volcanics, is most probably primary as indicated by positive tilt and conglomerate tests. Analysis of paleomagnetic data from the Chingiz Range shows that southward-pointing directions in Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian rocks are of normal polarity and hence indicate large-scale rotations after the Middle Devonian. The Chingiz paleomagnetic directions can be compared with Paleozoic data from the North Tien Shan and with the horseshoe-shaped distribution of subduction-related volcanic complexes in Kazakhstan. Both paleomagnetic and geological data support the idea that today's strongly curved volcanic belts of Kazakhstan are an orocline, deformed mostly before mid-Permian time. Despite the determination of nearly a dozen new Paleozoic paleopoles in this study and other recent publications by our team, significant temporal and spatial gaps remain in our knowledge of the paleomagnetic directions during the middle and late Paleozoic. However, the paleomagnetic results from the Chingiz Range and the North Tien Shan indicate that these areas show generally coherent motions with Siberia and Baltica, respectively.     

Noble gas composition of the solar wind as collected by the Genesis mission

We present the elemental and isotopic composition of noble gases in the bulk solar wind collected by the NASA Genesis sample return mission. He, Ne, and Ar were analyzed in diamond-like carbon on a silicon substrate (DOS) and ^84,86Kr and ^129,132Xe in silicon targets by UV laser ablation noble gas mass spectrometry. Solar wind noble gases are quantitatively retained in DOS and with exception of He also in Si as shown by a stepwise heating experiment on a flown DOS target and analyses on other bulk solar wind collector materials. Solar wind data presented here are absolutely calibrated and the error of the standard gas composition is included in stated uncertainties. The isotopic composition of the light noble gases in the bulk solar wind is as follows: ³He/⁴He: (4.64 ± 0.09) × 10⁻⁴, ²⁰Ne/²²Ne: 13.78 ± 0.03, ²¹Ne/²²Ne: 0.0329 ± 0.0001, ³⁶Ar/³⁸Ar 5.47 ± 0.01. The elemental composition is: ⁴He/²⁰Ne: 656 ± 5, and ²⁰Ne/³⁶Ar 42.1 ± 0.3. Genesis provided the first Kr and Xe data on the contemporary bulk solar wind. The preliminary isotope and elemental composition is: ⁸⁶Kr/⁸⁴Kr: 0.302 ± 0.003, ¹²⁹Xe/¹³²Xe: 1.05 ± 0.02, ³⁶Ar/⁸⁴Kr 2390 ± 150, and ⁸⁴Kr/¹³²Xe 9.5 ± 1.0. The ³He/⁴He and the ⁴He/²⁰Ne ratios in the Genesis DOS target are the highest solar wind values measured in exposed natural and artificial targets. The isotopic composition of the other noble gases and the Kr/Xe ratio obtained in this work agree with data from lunar samples containing “young” (∼100 Ma) solar wind, indicating that solar wind composition has not changed within at least the last 100 Ma. Genesis could provide in many cases more precise data on solar wind composition than any previous experiment. Because of the controlled exposure conditions, Genesis data are also less prone to unrecognized systematic errors than, e.g., lunar sample analyses. The solar wind is the most authentic sample of the solar composition of noble gases, however, the derivation of solar noble gas abundances and isotopic composition using solar wind data requires a better understanding of fractionation processes acting upon solar wind formation.     

The Seasonal Prediction of the Exceptional Yangtze River Rainfall in Summer 2020

During June and July of 2020, the Yangtze River basin suffered from extreme mei-yu rainfall and catastrophic flooding. This study explores the seasonal predictability and associated dynamical causes for this extreme Yangtze River rainfall event, based on forecasts from the Met Office GloSea5 operational forecast system. The forecasts successfully predicted above-average rainfall over the Yangtze River basin, which arose from the successful reproduction of the anomalous western North Pacific subtropical high (WNPSH). Our results indicate that both the Indian Ocean warm sea surface temperature (SST) and local WNP SST gradient were responsible for the westward extension of the WNPSH, and the forecasts captured these tropical signals well. We explore extratropical drivers but find a large model spread among the forecast members regarding the meridional displacements of the East Asian mid-latitude westerly jet (EAJ). The forecast members with an evident southward displacement of the EAJ favored more extreme Yangtze River rainfall. However, the forecast Yangtze River rainfall anomaly was weaker compared to that was observed and no member showed such strong rainfall. In observations, the EAJ displayed an evident acceleration in summer 2020, which could lead to a significant wind convergence in the lower troposphere around the Yangtze River basin, and favor more mei-yu rainfall. The model forecast failed to satisfactorily reproduce these processes. This difference implies that the observed enhancement of the EAJ intensity gave a large boost to the Yangtze River rainfall, hindering a better forecast of the intensity of the event and disaster mitigation.     

Growing season evapotranspiration in boreal fens in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region: Variability and environmental controls

Current efforts to assess changes to the wetland hydrology caused by growing anthropogenic pressures in the Athabasca Oil Sands Region (AOSR) require well-founded spatial and temporal estimates of actual evapotranspiration (ET), which is the dominant component of the water budget in this region. This study assessed growing season (May–September) and peak growing season (July) ET variability at a treed moderate-rich fen and treed poor fen (in 2013–2018), open poor fen (in 2011–2014), and saline fen (in 2015–2018) using eddy covariance technique and a set of complementary environmental data. Seasonal fluctuations in ET were positively related to net radiation, air temperature and vapour pressure deficit and followed trends typical for the Boreal Plains (BP) and AOSR with highest rates in June–July. However, no strong effect of water table position on ET was found. Strong surface control on ET is evident from lower ET values than potential evapotranspiration (PET); the lowest ET/PET was observed at saline fen, followed by open fen, moderately treed fen, and heavily treed fen, suggesting a strong influence of vegetation on water loss. In most years PET exceeded precipitation (P), and positive relations between P/PET and ET were observed with the highest July ET rates occurring under P/PET ~1. However, during months with P/PET > 1, increased P/PET was associated with decreased July ET. With respect to 30-year mean values of air temperature and P in the area, both dry and wet, cool and warm growing seasons (GS) were observed. No clear trends between ET values and GS wetness/coldness were found, but all wet GS were characterized by peak growing seasons with high daily ET variability.