Inorganic and Organic Nitrogen Use by Phytoplankton Along Chesapeake Bay,Measured Using a Flow Cytometric Sorting Approach

Two different approaches to measuring phytoplankton nitrogen (N) use were compared in late summer 2004 along the main axis of Chesapeake Bay. Uptake of ¹⁵N-labeled ammonium and nitrate and dual-labeled (¹⁵N and ¹³C) urea and dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) were measured in surface water samples from upper, mid, and lower bay stations. Two distinct methods were used to assess the relative uptake of N substrates by phytoplankton and correct for bacterial artifacts: (1) traditional filtration using Whatman glass fiber (GF/F) filters and (2) flow cytometric (FCM) sorting of chlorophyll-containing cells. The concentration of dissolved inorganic N (DIN) decreased with distance south along the bay, whereas dissolved organic N (DON) concentrations were relatively constant. Absolute N uptake rates measured using the traditional approach exceeded those of FCM-sorted phytoplankton, thereby suggesting the possibility of bacterial “contamination.” Ammonium was the dominant N form used throughout the transect, although FCM-sorted phytoplankton relied more on urea and DFAA as the ratio of DON/DIN increased toward the bay mouth. Overall, ammonium comprised 74 ± 17%, urea 10 ± 9%, DFAA 9 ± 7%, and nitrate 7 ± 12% of total measured N uptake by phytoplankton. Results suggest that bacteria relied primarily on DFAA and ammonium for N nutrition but also used N from urea at a rate similar to that of phytoplankton, whereas bacterial nitrate uptake was insignificant. On average, phytoplankton uptake of ammonium, urea, and DFAA was overestimated by 61%, 53%, and 135%, respectively, as a result of bacterial retention on GF/F filters.     

Photometric correction of Mercury's global color mosaic

During the third flyby of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft, a dedicated disk-integrated photometric sequence was acquired with the wide-angle multispectral camera to observe Mercury's global photometric behavior in 11 spectral filters over as broad a range of phase angle as possible within the geometric constraints of the flyby. Extraction of disk-integrated measurements from images acquired during this sequence required careful accounting for scattered light and residual background effects. The photometric model fit to these measurements is shown to fit observed radiances at phase angles below 110°, possibly except where both solar incidence and emission angles are high (>70°). The complexity of the scattered light at wavelengths greater than 828 nm contributes to a less accurate photometric correction at these wavelengths. The model is used to correct the global imaging data set acquired at a variety of geometries to a common geometry of incidence angle=30°, emission angle=0°, and phase angle=30°, yielding a relatively seamless mosaic. The results here will be used to correct image mosaics of Mercury acquired in orbit.     

Production of chromophoric dissolved organic matter by Sargasso Sea microbes

Time series of chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) light absorption coefficients indicate a local origin for a large fraction of the CDOM in the upper water column of the Sargasso Sea. In the present study, we demonstrate that CDOM is produced in bacterial culture experiments using Sargasso Sea water and naturally occurring microbial assemblages. Seawater cultures were prepared and grown at in situ temperatures in the dark for periods of weeks. Selected cultures were treated with amendments including inorganic nutrients, glucose, phytoplankton exudates, and zooplankton excretia. In all experiments, when bacterial biomass increased, CDOM increased during the first week of the experiment, followed by a decrease over a longer period of time. Cultures amended with both glucose and inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus produced more CDOM than controls or cultures amended with glucose or inorganic nutrients alone. However, when complex DOM substrates (derived from phytoplankton or zooplankton cultures) were added to seawater cultures, there was a net accumulation of CDOM over the course of the experiments. These data suggest that, in addition to microbial growth, the quality of the substrate plays an important role in net CDOM production. ‘New’ CDOM produced in culture was spectroscopically similar to CDOM appearing below the surface during summer stratification. The results of the present study support a new paradigm for CDOM in the open ocean, which allows for local origin and significant dynamics. Appreciation of CDOM dynamics will, in turn, add to our understanding of microbial productivity, photochemical rate processes, and ultraviolet radiation availability in the global ocean.     

Initial hydrologic and geomorphic response following a wildfire in the Colorado Front Range

A wildfire in May 1996 burned 4690 hectares in two watersheds forested by ponderosa pine and Douglas fir in a steep, mountainous landscape with a summer, convective thunderstorm precipitation regime. The wildfire lowered the erosion threshold in the watersheds, and consequently amplified the subsequent erosional response to shorter time interval episodic rainfall and created both erosional and depositional features in a complex pattern throughout the watersheds. The initial response during the first four years was an increase in runoff and erosion rates followed by decreases toward pre‐fire rates. The maximum unit‐area peak discharge was 24 m³ s^?1 km^?2 for a rainstorm in 1996 with a rain intensity of 90 mm h^?1. Recovery to pre‐fire conditions seems to have occurred by 2000 because for a maximum 30‐min rainfall intensity of 50 mm h^?1, the unit‐area peak discharge in 1997 was 6.6 m³ s^?1 km^?2, while in 2000 a similar intensity produced only 0.11 m³ s^?1 km^?2. Rill erosion accounted for 6 per cent, interrill erosion for 14 per cent, and drainage erosion for 80 per cent of the initial erosion in 1996. This represents about a 200‐fold increase in erosion rates on hillslopes which had a recovery or relaxation time of about three years. About 67 per cent of the initially eroded sediment is still stored in the watersheds after four years with an estimated residence time greater than 300 years. This residence time is much greater than the fire recurrence interval so erosional and depositional features may become legacies from the wildfire and may affect landscape evolution by acting as a new set of initial conditions for subsequent wildfire and flood sequences. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geology of the Atlantis Massif (Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30° N): Implications for the evolution of an ultramafic oceanic core complex

Marine Geophysical Research - The oceanic core complex comprising Atlantis Massif was formed within the past 1.5–2 Myr at the intersection of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, 30° N, and the...     

The beach: for enthusiasts of sun,surf and unusual geology,this is the place

The Carpinteria State Beach is a little known public park in Carpinteria, near Ventura, California, USA. Miocene‐age conglomerates and sandstone bluffs along the Pacific Ocean beachfront have featured continual natural oil seeps since the Pleistocene epoch. While not as famous as the La Brea Tar Pits of downtown Los Angeles, the park is the only public beach in North America where such a geological phenomenon is readily seen. Long used by the Chumash Indians for the asphaltum used to waterproof their seagoing canoes, asphaltum came into general use in the late nineteenth century. The beach is the former site of an industrial plant, devoted to removing and processing the asphaltum to yield many commercial products. Before it became a state park it served as a travel camp and a camp for World War II GIs suffering from battle fatigue.     

Fashioning furniture: restructuring the furniture commodity chain

The paper explores intersections between the fashion and furniture industries as manifest across magazine, retail and manufacturing spaces. We argue that the temporality and spatiality of furniture have begun to shift. As a result, furniture retailers and manufacturers in Canada and the UK have been required to restructure their methods of operating.     

A multi-perspective examination of heat waves affecting Metro Vancouver: now into the future

Using studies of places where heat waves are common, projected changes in heat waves in Metro Vancouver are assessed from a multi-disciplinary perspective with respect to the potential impacts of the physical change on the people and infrastructure with the intention of being better prepared for future events. Trends in maximum temperature parameters for Metro Vancouver for the past 75 years are generally not statistically significant; however, projections for 2041–2060 and 2081–2100 suggest that the region will experience such events more frequently in the future due to climate change. While Metro Vancouver, British Columbia (BC) generally does not typically experience heat waves it was strongly affected by a major heat event in July 2009, with temperature records being broken at Vancouver (≥31 °C) on the coast and at Abbotsford (≥36 °C) 65-km inland. A lack of sea breeze during this event meant that there was no cooling effect, and land surface temperatures over the downtown area approached 40 °C and excess deaths occurred. Many victims were either in the 65–74 age category, the vulnerable poor, or people with mental health issues. Because these events are rare, many buildings lack air-conditioning, and residents of Metro Vancouver under-anticipate their vulnerability. The costs of health-related impacts outweighed those related to higher electricity usage.     

Local Fractional Frequency Shifts Used as Tracers of Magnetic Activity

Using data from SOI-MDI (Haber et al., 2000), we compute the local frequencies of high-degree p modes and f modes. The frequencies are obtained through ring-diagram mode fitting. The Dense-Pack data set consists of a mosaic of 189 overlapping tiles, each tracked separately at the surface rotation rate over 1664-min time intervals during the Dynamics Programs. Each tile is 16° square and the tile centers are separated by 7.5° in latitude and longitude. For each sampling day and for each tile, we have computed the frequency shift measured relative to the temporal and spatial average of the entire set of frequencies. The motion of active regions as they rotate across the solar disk is vividly traced by these measurements. Active regions appear as locations of large positive frequency shifts. If the shifts are averaged over the solar disk and are scaled down to the appropriate wave number regime, the magnitude and frequency dependence of the shifts are consistent with the measured changes in global oscillation frequencies that occur over the solar cycle. As with the frequency shifts of low-degree global oscillations, the frequency dependence of the shifts indicates that the physical phenomena inducing the shifts is confined to the surface layers of the Sun.