Joint principal component: wavelet analysis of atmospheric teleconnection: the North Atlantic Oscillation case

The impact of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) on synoptic conditions in Ukraine can not be considered as fully defined as the territory of Ukraine is located at the transitional boundary of processes associated with the NAO. As a rule, common methods based on the principal component analysis (PCA) can not reveal the impact of the NAO. Moreover, the analysis of synoptic-scale processes based on the data with the one-day (or lesser) discreteness is affected by noise. In this paper, the wavelet analysis is used jointly with the PCA to determine time intervals when a linkage between the NAO and processes over Ukraine was significant. Such an approach allowed revealing the time intervals during the cold seasons, when simultaneous variations of synoptic conditions in North Atlantic and Eastern Europe occurred at quasi-synoptic time scales. Usually, that process is observed not very often, but simultaneous variations can be in progress during a few weeks. The coherent changes of synoptic conditions do not depend on the strength and phase of the NAO and can be both in-phase and anti-phase. The significant wavelet coherence is probably registered when two intensive synoptic processes different from general synoptic situation are observed.     

Linking social drivers of marine debris with actual marine debris on beaches

The drivers (social) and pressures (physical) of marine debris have typically been examined separately. We redress this by using social and beach surveys at nine Tasmanian beaches, across three coastlines and within three categories of urbanisation, to examine whether people acknowledge that their actions contribute to the issue of marine debris, and whether these social drivers are reflected in the amount of marine debris detected on beaches. A large proportion (75%) of survey participants do not litter at beaches; with age, gender, income and residency influencing littering behaviour. Thus, participants recognise that littering at beaches is a problem. This social trend was reflected in the small amounts of debris that were detected. Furthermore, the amount of debris was not statistically influenced by the degree of beach urbanisation, the coastline sampled, or the proximity to beach access points. By linking social and physical aspects of this issue, management outcomes can be improved.     

Habitat heterogeneity influences cold‐seep macrofaunal communities within and among seeps along the Norwegian margin. Part 1: macrofaunal community structure

Håkon Mosby mud volcano (HMMV) is one of the most active and most studied seep sites in European waters. Many authors have described its thermal activity, dynamic of mud flows, and geochemical and microbial processes. It is characterised by a concentric zonation of successive biogenic habitats related to an activity and geochemical gradient from its centre to its periphery. Around the central area covered by mud flows, white and grey microbial mats occur among areas of bare sediment, whereas siboglinid tubeworm fields of Sclerolinum contortum and/or Oligobrachia haakonmosbiensis colonise the peripheral areas. The meiofaunal community is known to be structured among habitats, but the macrofauna has rarely been investigated and has never been sampled in situ. As part of the European project HERMES, using the ROVs Victor 6000 and Quest 4000, we sampled quantitatively the different habitats of the volcano for macrofauna sensus lato, retained on a 250‐ or 500‐μm sieve. We also sampled a newly discovered pockmark on Storegga slide (cne 5.6) and two pockmarks (G11, G12) in the Nyegga area. Macrofauna was identified and counted from phylum to family level. Our results on HMMV showed a gradient of increasing density and diversity from the volcano centre (1–3 taxa; 260 ind·m^?2) to the peripheral siboglinid fields (8–14 taxa, 93,000 ind·m^?2), with an intermediate situation for microbial mats. For macrofauna ≥500 μm, non‐siboglinid polychaetes dominated the communities of the central mud volcano area, white mats and S. contortum fields (83, 89 and 37% of the total, respectively), whereas gastropods dominated grey mats and O. haakonmosbiensis fields (89 and 44% of the total, respectively). Polychaete families followed the same pattern of diversity according to habitats within HMMV. Of 23 polychaete families identified, only one occurred in the centre, and three in the microbial mats. Capitellidae and Dorvilleidae (typical of organically and sulphide‐enriched areas) occurred at remarkably high densities in white microbial mats and in O. haakonmosbiensis fields. The S. contortum fields were the most diverse habitat with 12 polychaete families. The 250‐μm fraction showed similar taxa dominating the habitats, but taking meiofauna into account, nematodes became the major taxon in white mats and in S. contortum fields, where they were particularly large in size, whereas copepods dominated in other habitats. Meiofauna and macrofauna did not show the same patterns of density according to habitats. Using principal components analysis the habitats at HMMV were clearly distinct, and clustered according to dominant species of siboglinids and type of microbial mats. Pockmarks at Nyegga showed a similar concentric pattern of habitats around fluid sources as on the volcano, which seemed similarly to influence macrofauna composition, but at a much smaller scale. Total taxa and polychaete diversity are high in the S. contortum fields in these pockmarks as well. Regional‐scale comparisons including HMMV and Storegga suggested a higher influence of habitat‐type than seep‐site on the community structure.     

Changes in water table level influence solute transport in uniform porous media

Changes in the water table level result in variable water saturation and variable hydrological fluxes at the interface between the unsaturated and saturated zone. This may influence the transport and fate of contaminants in the subsurface. The objective of this study was to examine the impact of a decreasing and an increasing water table on solute transport. We conducted tracer experiments at downward flow conditions in laboratory columns filled with two different uniform porous media under static and transient flow conditions either increasing or decreasing the water table. Tracer breakthrough curves were simulated using a mobile–immobile transport model. The resulting transport parameters were compared to identify dominant transport processes. Changes in the water table level affected dispersivities and mobile water fractions depending on the direction of water table movement and the grain size of the porous media. In fine glass beads, the water flow velocity was similar to the decline rate of the water table, and the mobile water fraction was decreased compared with steady‐state saturated conditions. However, immobile water was negligible. In coarse glass beads, water flow was faster because of fingered flow in the unsaturated part, and the mobile water fraction was smaller than in the fine material. Here, a rising water table led to an even smaller mobile water fraction and increased solute spreading because of diffusive interaction with immobile water. We conclude that changes of the water table need to be considered to correctly simulate transport in the subsurface at the transition of the unsaturated–saturated zone. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Classifying the flow regimes of Mediterranean streams using multivariate analysis

Rivers in the Mediterranean region often exhibit an intermittent character. An understanding and classification of the flow regimes of these rivers is needed, as flow patterns control both physicochemical and biological processes. This paper reports an attempt to classify flow regimes in Mediterranean rivers based on hydrological variables extracted from discharge time series. Long‐term discharge records from 60 rivers within the Mediterranean region were analysed in order to classify the streams into different flow regime groups. Hydrological indices (HIs) were derived for each stream and principal component analysis (PCA) and then applied to these indices to identify subsets of HIs describing the major sources of variations, while simultaneously minimizing redundancy. PCA was performed for two groups of streams (perennial and temporary) and for all streams combined. The results show that whereas perennial streams are mainly described by high‐flow indices, temporary streams are described by duration, variability and predictability indices. Agglomerative cluster analysis based on HIs identified six groups of rivers classified according to differences in intermittency and variability. A methodology allowing such a classification for ungauged catchments was also tested. Broad‐scale catchment characteristics based on digital elevation, climate, soil and land use data were derived for each long‐term station where these data were available. By using stepwise multiple regression analysis, statistically significant relationships were fitted, linking the three selected hydrological variables (mean annual number of zero‐flow days, predictability and flashiness) to the catchment characteristics. The method provides a means of simplifying the complexity of river systems and is thus useful for river basin management. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Error analysis for European IGS stations

Each of the GPS time series that describes the changes of topocentric components consists of a deterministic and a stochastic part, whose character influences the errors of the deterministic parameters. As to the uncertainties of reliable velocities of permanent satellite station systems, surveys that estimate and take into account any dependencies that may affect subsequent operational efficiency are very important. For this analysis, we used 42 stations from the IGS (International GNSS Service) network from Europe, processed at the Military University of Technology EUREF Permanent Network Local Analysis Centre (MUT LAC). The deterministic part of the GPS time series was removed using the least squares method. The seasonal periods in topocentric components were determined assuming the existence of the residual Chandler oscillation (1.67 cpy), as well as the annual tropical (1 cpy) and draconitic (1.04 cpy) oscillations with their harmonics up to 4th. We assumed the character of the residue as a combination of white and powerlaw noise. The obtained results show, that in the case of the European sub-network of IGS stations we are dealing with the coloured noise between white and flicker noise with the amplitudes between 3 to 6 mm/year^-k/4 for horizontal components and between 6 to 15 mm/year^-κ/4 for the vertical ones, where κ is a spectral index. Finally, we showed that the amplitudes and spectral indices of noise are reduced after performing a spatio-temporal filtering. All the elicited results referred to the uncertainties of velocities by estimating them before and after filtration and the simulation of their values for different lengths of the time series.     

四川宣汉盘龙洞长兴组生物礁沉积特征及成礁模式

结合野外露头剖面观察与深入剖析,对宣汉盘龙洞长兴组生物礁沉积特征和成礁模式进行了室内综合分析。该礁位于鄂西城口海槽西侧台缘带,为相对海平面整体下降背景下形成的一套加积-进积型台地边缘生物礁。该露头出露良好,长兴组以海绵骨架礁灰岩和海绵骨架礁白云岩为主。综合岩性、古生物等沉积相标志,该区长兴组属于碳酸盐岩台地边缘沉积体系,可进一步划分出斜坡相、台地边缘生物礁和台地边缘生屑滩相,其中台地边缘生物礁又可划分为礁基、礁核、礁盖、礁前、礁后等亚相。区域沉积环境、岩性、古生物以及生物礁的内部构成分析认为,盘龙洞生物礁可分为3期成礁旋回:第一旋回礁是低能环境下形成的未经充分生长而被淹死的礁,主要由生屑泥晶灰岩和少量骨架岩组成;第二旋回礁形成于较高能环境下,经历了充分生长后暴露而死亡,暴露时间短,仅顶部发生了较弱的白云岩化;第三旋回礁则形成于高能环境下,经历了充分生长并暴露出海平面后死亡,其死亡后经波浪和水流的改造作用而形成生屑滩,长期暴露发生强烈白云岩化。     

Land use and land cover changes in small Carpathian catchments between the mid-19<Superscript>th</Superscript> and early 21<Superscript>st</Superscript> centuries and their record on the land surface

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes and their impact on the mountain environment were studied in six catchments (~10 km² each) in the Polish Western Carpathians from the mid-19^th century to the early 21^st century. The analysis of cadastral and orthophoto maps indicates that during the investigated period, the forest area increased, quantified by an annual change index (Annch), between +0.12% to +0.27%, with a decrease of arable land index to–0.45% and–2.28% in the analysed catchments. LULC changes were accompanied by a continuous increase in settlement developments (residential and farming houses) by 50%-140% as well as significant changes related to their spatial distribution. Abandonment of arable land and forest succession have resulted in the geomorphological transformation of hillslopes, which predominantly includes a decrease in used road density, their transformation to road cuts and gorges. Overpopulation and the domination agriculture in the past caused the expansion of unpaved roads density and then the fragmentation of hillslopes, as well as the development of agricultural terraces.