Benthic species as mud patrol - modelled effects of bioturbators and biofilms on large-scale estuarine mud and morphology

Sediment-stabilizing and -destabilizing organisms, i.e. microphytobenthos (biofilms) and macrozoobenthos (bioturbators), affect the erodibility of muddy sediments, potentially altering large-scale estuarine morphology. Using a novel eco-morphodynamic model of an idealized estuary, we investigate eco-engineering effects of microphytobenthos and two macrozoobenthic bioturbators. Local mud erodibility is based on species pattern predicted through hydrodynamics, soil mud content, competition and grazing. Mud resuspension and export is enhanced under bioturbation and prevented under biostabilization through respective exposure and protection of the supra- and intertidal. Bioturbation decreases mud thickness and bed elevations, which increases net mud fluxes. Microphytobenthos reduces erosion, leading to a local mud increase of intertidal sediments. In multi-species scenarios, an effective mud-prone bioturbator strongly alters morphology, exceeding that of a more abundant sand-prone moderate species, showing that morphological change depends on species traits as opposed to abundance. Altering their habitat, the effective mud-prone bioturbator facilitates expansion of the sand-prone moderate bioturbator. Grazing and species competition favor species distributions of dominant bioturbators. Consequently, eco-engineering affects habitat conditions while species interactions determine species dominance. Our results show that eco-engineering species determine the mud content of the estuary, which suggests large effects on the morphology of estuaries with aggravating habitat degradation.     

Source apportionment of sedimentary hydrocarbons in the Segara Anakan Nature Reserve,Indonesia

The study aimed to determine the spatial distribution of n-alkanes and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in surface sediments of the Segara Anakan nature reserve and their potential origins using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Total alkane concentrations ranged from 3755 to 129,027 μg kg⁻¹, and the concentrations of 16 PAHs ranged from 375 to 29,517 μg kg⁻¹. The ratios of specific n-alkanes (e.g., CPI_24–34, WaxC_n, and Paq), including a new proposed index, terrestrial–marine discriminant (TMD), as well as the ratios of selected PAHs (e.g., Ant/∑178, Fl/∑202, BaAnt/∑228, and IPyr/∑276), showed that the sources of hydrocarbons in the sediments were generally biogenic, including both terrigenous and marine, with an anthropogenic pyrolytic contribution (petrogenic and biogenic combustion). For the environmental risk assessment, a sediment quality guideline (SQGs) comparison indicated that the station risk levels ranged from low to medium-low, except for R6, which has a greater impact on the ecological risk for marine organisms.     

Channel network extent in the context of historical land use,flow generation processes,and landscape evolution in the North Carolina Piedmont

Intensive agricultural land use in the 18th to early 20th centuries on the southeastern Piedmont resulted in substantial soil erosion and gully development. Today, many historically farmed areas have been abandoned and afforested, and such landscapes are an opportunity to study channel network recovery from disturbance by gullying. Channel initiation mapping, watershed area–slope relationships, and field monitoring of flow generation processes are used to identify channel network extent and place it in hydrologic, historical and landscape evolution context. In six study areas in the North Carolina Piedmont, 100 channel heads were mapped in fully‐forested watersheds, revealing a channel initiation relationship of 380 = AS^1.27, where A is contributing area (m²) and S is local slope (m/m). Flow in these channels is generated by subsurface and overland flow. The measured relative slope exponent is lower than expected based on literature values of ~2 for forested watersheds with subsurface and overland flow, suggesting that the channel network extent may reflect a former hydrological regime. However, geomorphic evidence of recovery in channel heads within fully forested watersheds is greater than those with present day pasture. Present day channel heads lie within hollows or downslope of unchanneled valleys, which may be remnants of historical gullies, and area–slope relationships provide evidence of colluvial aggradation within the valleys. Channel network extent appears to be sensitive to land use change, with recovery beginning within decades of afforestation. Channel initiation mapping and area–slope relationships are shown to be useful tools for interpreting geomorphic effects of land use change. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trophic Links in the Plankton in the Low Salinity Zone of a Large Temperate Estuary: Top-down Effects of Introduced Copepods

We investigated trophic relationships involving microzooplankton in the low salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary (SFE) as part of a larger effort aimed at understanding the dynamics of the food web supporting the endangered delta smelt, Hypomesus transpacificus. We performed 14 cascade experiments in which we manipulated the biomass of a copepod (Limnoithona tetraspina, Pseudodiaptomus forbesi, or Acartiella sinensis) and quantified responses of lower trophic levels including bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, and microzooplankton. Microzooplankton comprised a major food source for copepods; 9 out of 14 experiments showed removal of at least one group of microzooplankton by copepods. In contrast, the impact of copepods on phytoplankton was indirect; increased copepod biomass led to greater growth of phytoplankton in 3 of 14 experiments. Estimated clearance rates on microzooplankton were 4 mL day^?1 for L. tetraspina and 2–6 mL day^?1 for P. forbesi, whereas A. sinensis consumed mainly copepod nauplii. Complex trophic interactions, including omnivory, among copepods, microzooplankton, and different components of the phytoplankton likely obscured clear trends. The food web of the SFE is probably less efficient than previously thought, providing poor support to higher trophic levels; this inefficient food web is almost certainly implicated in the continuing low abundance of fishes, including the delta smelt that use the low salinity zone of the San Francisco Estuary.     

Manganese-reducing Pseudomonas fluorescens-group bacteria control arsenic mobility in gold mining-contaminated groundwater

Previous studies show the importance of iron- and arsenate-reducing bacteria in mobilizing arsenic in groundwater. Here the authors present experimental evidence of arsenic mobilization in connection with bacterially mediated manganese reduction in groundwater affected by mining activities. Manganese-reducing Pseudomonas species were enriched, isolated and identified by 16S rRNA gene phylogeny from groundwater containing high co-dissolved arsenic (as As^III) and manganese. Enrichment cultures dissolved synthetic birnessite and hausmannite efficiently, but Mn reduction by isolates was reduced at the upper range of environmental levels of dissolved As^III. Results suggest either a self-limiting release of arsenic coupled to bacterial manganese reduction, in the absence of other electron donors like sulfide, or increased arsenic resistance conferred to Mn-reducing bacteria in consortia.     

Spatial Variability of Stable Isotope Ratios in Oysters (Crassostrea gigas) and Primary Producers Along an Estuarine Gradient (Bay of Brest, France)

This study aimed at characterizing the diet of the oyster Crassostrea gigas along an estuarine gradient in the Bay of Brest (France), through stable isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) measurements in primary producers and wild oysters. The contribution of different potential food sources to the diet of C. gigas was estimated at high spatial resolution (over a gradient of 40 km with samplings every 2 km) to identify ecological transition zones and highlighted the dominance of resuspended biofilm in oysters diet. Although the different primary producers did not display any obvious pattern along the estuarine gradient, the stable isotope signatures of C. gigas differed among estuarine, inner Bay, and open sea sites. In particular, a striking ¹⁵N depletion pattern was found along the gradient which allowed to identify seven homogeneous groups. Moreover, some unexpected values found at two stations within the estuary revealed localized anthropogenic disturbances. Overall, our results suggest that suspension feeders might be better indicators of ecosystem functioning than primary producers and reflect the different ecological processes occurring along estuarine gradients, including localized anthropogenic inputs. We suggest that the usefulness of suspension feeders as indicators of ecosystem functional typology lies in the dominance of benthic material in their diet, which results in locally occurring processes being reflected in oysters’ stable isotope ratios.     

DFTopoSim: Modeling Topographically-Controlled Deposition of Subseismic Scale Sandstone Packages Within a Mass Transport Dominated Deep-Water Channel Belt

Facies bodies in geostatistical models of deep-water depositional environments generally represent channel-levee-overbank-lobe morphologies. Such models adequately capture one set of the erosional and depositional processes resulting from turbidity currents traveling downslope to the ocean basin floor. However, depositional morphologies diverge from the straight forward channel-levee-overbank-lobe paradigm when the topography of the slope or the shape of the basin impacts the timing and magnitude of turbidity current deposition. Subaqueous mass-transport-deposits (MTDs) present the need for an exception to the channel-levee-overbank-lobe archetype. Irregular surface topography of subaqueous MTDs can play a primary role in controlling sand deposition from turbidity currents. MTD topography creates mini-basins in which sand accumulates in irregularly-shaped deposits. These accumulations are difficult to laterally correlate using well-log data due to their variable and unpredictable shape and size. Prediction is further complicated because sandstone bodies typical of this setting are difficult to resolve in seismic-reflection data. An event-based model is presented, called DFTopoSim, which simulates debris flows and turbidity currents. The accommodation space on top of and between debris flow lobes is filled in by sand from turbidity currents. When applied to a subsurface case in the Molasse Basin of Upper Austria, DFTopoSim predicts sand packages consistent with observations from core, well, and seismic data and the interpretation of the sedimentologic processes. DFTopoSim expands the set of available geostatistical deep-water depositional models beyond the standard channel-levee-overbank-lobe model.     

Multi-Waveband Emission Maps of Blazars

We are leading a comprehensive multi-waveband monitoring program of 34 γ-ray bright blazars designed to locate the emission regions of blazars from radio to γ-ray frequencies. The ‘maps’ are anchored by sequences of images in both total and polarized intensity obtained with the VLBA at an angular resolution of ～0.1 milliarcseconds. The time-variable linear polarization at radio to optical wavelengths and radio to γ-ray light curves allow us to specify the locations of flares relative to bright stationary features seen in the images and to infer the geometry of the magnetic field in different regions of the jet. Our data reveal that some flares occur simultaneously at different wavebands and others are only seen at some of the frequencies. The flares are often triggered by a superluminal knot passing through the stationary ‘core’ on the VLBA images. Other flares occur upstream or even parsecs downstream of the core.     

An (U‐Th)/He age for the shallow‐marine Wetumpka impact structure,Alabama, USA

Abstract– Single crystal (U‐Th)/He dating was applied to 24 apatite and 23 zircon grains from the Wetumpka impact structure, Alabama, USA. This small approximately 5–7.6 km impact crater was formed in a shallow marine environment, with no known preserved impact melt, thus offering a challenge to common geochronological techniques. A mean (U‐Th)/He apatite and zircon age of 84.4 ± 1.4 Ma (2σ) was obtained, which is within error of the previously estimated Late Cretaceous impact age of approximately 83.5 Ma. In addition, helium diffusion modeling of apatite and zircon grains during fireball/contact, shock metamorphism, and hydrothermal events was undertaken, to show the influence of these individual thermal processes on resetting (U‐Th)/He ages in the Wetumpka samples. This study has shown that the (U‐Th)/He geochronological technique has real potential for dating impact structures, especially smaller and eroded impact structures that lack impact melt lithologies.     

A resurgence in urban living? Trends in residential location patterns of young and older adults since 2000

ABSTRACT

Some have heralded a resurgence of urban living in the U.S., particularly among young adults. Are Americans abandoning suburbs in favor of more urban lifestyles? What is the scope and scale of this urban resurgence? We develop a typology of neighborhoods to analyze the residential location of young and older U.S. adults from 2000 to 2011–15. Census and national travel survey data reveal that suburban population growth continues to outpace that in urban neighborhoods. Although young adults are more likely than older adults to live in urban neighborhoods, recent urban population growth is neither associated with suburban decline, nor being led by young adults. Significant recent population growth in the newest, suburban neighborhoods suggests that greenfield development remains the primary means to increase American housing supply. Shifting metropolitan growth from the suburban fringe would likely require expanding housing supply in urban neighborhoods, and bringing urban amenities to established inner-ring suburbs.