Quantitative relationship between water-depth and sub-fossil ostracod assemblages in Lake Donggi Cona,Qinghai Province,China

A calibration data set of 51 surface sediment samples from Lake Donggi Cona on the northeastern Tibetan Plateau was investigated to study the relationship between sub-fossil ostracod assemblages and water depth. Samples were collected over a depth range from 0.6 to 80 m. A total of 16 ostracod species was identified from the lake with about half of the species restricted to the Tibetan Plateau and its adjacent mountain ranges and poorly known in terms of ecological preferences, and the other half displaying a mainly Holarctic distribution. Living macrophytes and macroalgae were recorded in Lake Donggi Cona down to a depth of about 30 m, and bivalve (Pisidium cf. zugmayeri) and gastropod (Gyraulus, Radix) shells were found down to depths of 43 and 48 m, respectively. The ostracod-water-depth relationship was assessed by multivariate statistical analysis and ostracod-based transfer functions for water depth were constructed. Weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression provided the best model with a coefficient of determination r ² of 0.91 between measured and ostracod-inferred water depth, a root mean square error of prediction of 8% and a maximum bias of 10.6% of the gradient length, as assessed by leave-one-out cross-validation. Our results show the potential of ostracods as palaeo-depth indicators in appropriate settings. However, transfer-function applications using fossil ostracod assemblages for palaeo-depth estimations require a thorough understanding of the palaeolimnological conditions of lakes and therefore detailed multi-proxy analysis to avoid misinterpretation of ostracod-based inferences.     

Hyperspectral boundary detection based on the Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector and Alternating Vector Field Convolution snakes

Active contours, or snakes, are broadly used to detect linear features such as edges. However, they are often restricted in the delineation of regions of interest within the hyperspectral domain. In this paper, a new approach is presented, referred to as “Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector”, that enables hyperspectral boundary detection using active contours such as “Alternating Vector Field Convolution” snakes. The combination of “Alternating Vector Field Convolution” snakes with the “Busyness Multiple Correlation Edge Detector” opens a broad set of applications by concurrent high convergence quality and speed. Furthermore, specific snake initialisations are tested. A series of examples are used to both demonstrate the approach and underline the benefits of the new methods.     

A multidisciplinary study of Holocene sediment records from Hjort Sø on Store Koldewey, Northeast Greenland

Two sediment cores of 70 and 252 cm length were recovered from Hjort Sø, a small lake on Store Koldewey, Northeast Greenland, and studied with a multidisciplinary approach in order to reconstruct the local environmental history and to test the relevance of proxies for paleoenvironmental information. The basal sediments from the longer core are dominated by clastic matter, which was likely deposited during deglaciation of the lake basin. These clastic sediments are overlain by gyttja, which is also present throughout the shorter core. AMS radiocarbon dating was conducted on plant macrofossils of 11 samples from the gyttja in both cores. A reliable chronology was established for both cores, which dated the onset of organic accumulation at 9,500 cal. year BP. The Holocene temperature development, with an early to mid Holocene thermal maximum, is best reflected in the grain-size composition. Nutrient availability was apparently low during the early Holocene and led to low productivity in the lake and its vicinity. From ca. 7,000 cal. year BP, productivity in the lake increased significantly, probably induced by external nutrient input from goose excrements. From this time, micro- and macro-fossil remains reflect relatively well the climate history of East Greenland, with a cooling during the middle Holocene, the medieval warming, and the Little Ice Age. The amount of organic matter in the sequence seems to be more affected by lake ice cover or by nutrient supply from the catchment than by temperature changes. The record from Hjort Sø thus reveals the difficulties in interpreting sedimentary records from high arctic regions.     

Land use change increases flood hazard: a multi-modelling approach to assess change in flood characteristics driven by socio-economic land use change scenarios

Natural Hazards - We analysed in the work how change in land use/land cover influences on flood characteristics (frequency and magnitude) using a model inter-comparison approach, statistical...     

Shell growth history of geoduck clam (Panopea abrupta) in Parry Passage, British Columbia, Canada: Temporal variation in annuli and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation

An assemblage of geoduck clam shells from the marine environment of coastal British Columbia was studied. Shells were cut and the widths of internal shell growth increments, annuli, were measured from the hinge plate. The largest shells showed more than one hundred annual increments. Shell growth exhibited juvenile maxima at ontogenetic ages 3–6 years. The growth maximum was followed by a distinct decline that continued until the death of each individual. Further, this ontogenetic growth trend was mathematically removed from the data in order to examine growth variations other than ageing. The longest growth records from the oldest shells were compared to monthly indices of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). It was found that the PDO exerts the strongest influence on the shell growth during the very start of the growing season, in February and March. We also detected increased magnitude of growth variations towards the end of the 20th century. Similar trends were apparent in the PDO record. Moreover, the shell specimen displaying the strongest trend of increasing variance had the strongest PDO-linked regional growth signal. Our results support the view that PDO exerts a governing influence on the biological and ecological system along Northeast Pacific coastal areas. Incorporation of geoduck shell growth increment analyses into multi-disciplinary studies dealing with palaeoceanography and archaeology is suggested as a promising future approach.     

Adsorptive removal of nickel from water using volcanic rocks

This paper presents the results of a study on Ni(II) removal from water by adsorption using abundant and low-cost volcanic rock grains: Scoria (VSco) and Pumice (VPum), which could be used as an alternative approach to remove potentially harmful metals from contaminated water. Basic process characteristics were determined under batch conditions. The maximum adsorption capacities for Ni(II) on VSco and VPum were found to be 980 and 1187 mg kg⁻¹, respectively. These results were obtained at the optimized conditions of pH (5.0), temperature (24.9 °C), contact time (24 h), adsorbent/solution ratio (1:20), particle size (fine) and with the variation of initial concentrations between 0.5 and 50 mg L⁻¹. Competitive adsorption of Ni(II), Cd(II) and Cu(II) on the adsorbents present in binary as well as ternary mixtures were also compared with the single metal solution. Thus, given that enough volcanic rock grains are provided, Ni(II) ions could be removed even from a metal ion bearing matrix. A number of available models like Lagergren pseudo-first order kinetics, second-order kinetics, intra-particle diffusion and liquid film diffusion were utilized to evaluate the kinetics and the mechanism of the sorption interactions. The results revealed that the pseudo-second order equation best described the kinetics mechanisms of Ni(II) adsorption although the removal process was found to be complex. Moreover, three adsorption models have been evaluated in order to attempt to fit the experimental data, namely the Langmuir, the Freundlich and the Redlich–Peterson isotherm models. It was found that the first two isotherms most closely described the adsorption parameters.     

Petrogenesis of the Eppawala carbonatites, Sri Lanka: A cathodoluminescence and electron microprobe study

Field and petrographic investigations, cathodoluminescence (CL) studies as well as microprobe analyses of major rock-forming minerals were conducted to establish the crystallization processes in the Eppawala carbonatites, Sri Lanka. The well preserved magmatic textures and crystal morphologies combined with the chemistry of apatite, calcite and dolomite indicate two major stages of crystal growth, which were accompanied by dynamic crystallization conditions. Initially, nucleation of apatite, ilmenite and possibly olivine was associated with rapid crystal growth during slow cooling of the carbonatite melt at depth. The heat loss through the roof and crystallization processes induced the development of turbulent convective currents, which in turn prevented further nucleation and growth of crystals and led to the dispersion of these earlier formed crystals within the magma chamber. Then, rapid upward movement of magma along structural weaknesses led to (i) the transport of mineral clusters, (ii) deformation of ilmenite, (iii) fracturing of apatite and (iv) the emplacement of the carbonatite melt as dykes. Here, the conditions were favourable for the simultaneous crystallization of magnetite, calcite and dolomite in a non-turbulent environment. Subsequent subsolidus alteration caused the hydrothermal overprint of the documented mineral assemblages, particularly along grain boundaries. The study demonstrates that detailed textural examinations of carbonatites combined with mineral chemical analyses and CL investigations can reveal the crystallization processes within carbonatite melts.     

冰川物质平衡模式及其对比研究——以祁连山黑河流域十一冰川研究为例

冰川物质平衡是冰川连结气候和水资源的纽带, 对其的观测和模拟始终是冰川与气候变化研究领域的重点和前缘之一. 以祁连山黑河流域十一冰川为参照冰川, 结合实测物质平衡验证资料, 建立了基于冰川表面能量平衡的冰川物质平衡模型(物理模型)和基于温度参数、温度-辐射参数和温度-辐射-水汽压参数的三种度日因子模型(统计模型), 并对模拟结果进行了分析及评估. 结果表明: 净辐射是冰川表面最主要的能量来源, 占能量收入的82.3%; 其次为感热供热, 占收入的17.7%. 净长波辐射基本为负, 吸收的热量主要通过融化和蒸发/升华方式消耗, 分别占能量支出的84.7%和15.3%. 加入净短波辐射和水汽压参数的度日因子-物质平衡模型的模拟效果提高显著, 相对误差为7%, 与能量平衡模型的模拟误差6.7%, 相差不大. 研究表明, 能量-物质平衡模型的物理意义明确, 模拟能力强大, 尤其在日尺度上有绝对的优势; 统计物质平衡模型在特定的地理条件和气候条件下表现出不佳, 对于一些极端值的模拟能力欠缺, 但是具有输入变量少, 计算简单的优点. 研究结果对黑河流域乃至整个祁连山地区的冰川物质平衡模拟方法的建立具有参考意义.