The Summer Surface Energy Balance of the High Antarctic Plateau

The summertime surface energy balance (SEB) at Kohnen station, situated on the high Antarctic plateau (75°00′ S, 0°04′ E, 2892m above sea level) is presented for the period of 8 January to 9 February 2002. Shortwave and longwave radiation fluxes were measured directly; the former was corrected for problems associated with the cosine response of the instrument. Sensible and latent heat fluxes were calculated using the bulk method, and eddy-correlation measurements and the modified Bowen ratio method were used to verify these calculated fluxes. The calculated sub-surface heat flux was checked by comparing calculated to measured snow temperatures. Uncertainties in the measurements and energy-balance calculations are discussed. The general meteorological conditions were not extraordinary during the period of the experiment, with a mean 2-m air temperature of −27.5°C, specific humidity of 0.52×10⁻³kg kg⁻¹ and wind speed of 4.1ms⁻¹. The experiment covered the transition period from Antarctic summer (positive net radiation) to winter (negative net radiation), and as a result the period mean net radiation, sensible heat, latent heat and sub-surface heat fluxes were small with values of −1.1, 0.0, −1.0 and 0.7 Wm⁻², respectively. Daily mean net radiation peaked on cloudy days (16 Wm⁻²) and was negative on clear-sky days (minimum of −19 W m⁻²). Daily mean sensible heat flux ranged from −8 to +10 Wm⁻², latent heat flux from −4 to 0 Wm⁻² and sub-surface heat flux from −8 to +7 Wm⁻².     

The lateglacial Quercus expansion in the southern European Alps: rapid vegetation response to a late Allerød climate warming?

A pollen‐inferred vegetation shift, from pioneer birch–pine woodland to mixed pine–summergreen oak forests, in the southern Alpine forelands, is commonly attributed to a centennial‐scale warming that occurred between the Gerzensee Oscillation (GO) and the Younger Dryas. Two microtephra layers bracketing the Younger Dryas onset (the Laacher See Tephra and the Vedde Ash) improve the chronology at Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (northern Italy) and allowed accurate correlation with Central European records where the GO is clearly detected. We used pollen percentages, pollen accumulation rates (PARs) and plant macrofossils to assess the population dynamics of Quercus, and leaf‐cuticle analysis for a better taxonomic identification of Quercus. Our results indicate that the species that was locally present was probably Quercus robur. PARs suggest that the population expansion started as early as the Bølling and followed an exponential increase through time. We attribute this gradual shift to increasing summer temperatures and longer growing seasons which contrast with a gradually decreasing temperature trend as recorded in Greenland ice cores and in Central Europe. Breaks or set‐backs in the PAR record may indicate the biotic response to minor Lateglacial cooling events of different life‐history stages in the Quercus population. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Paleontological records indicate the occurrence of open woodlands in a dry inland climate at the present-day Arctic coast in western Beringia during the Last Interglacial

Permafrost records, accessible at outcrops along the coast of Oyogos Yar at the Dmitry Laptev Strait, NE-Siberia, provide unique insights into the environmental history of Western Beringia during the Last Interglacial. The remains of terrestrial and freshwater organisms, including plants, coleopterans, chironomids, cladocerans, ostracods and molluscs, have been preserved in the frozen deposits of a shallow paleo-lake and indicate a boreal climate at the present-day arctic mainland coast during the Last Interglacial. Terrestrial beetle and plant remains suggest the former existence of open forest-tundra with larch (Larix dahurica), tree alder (Alnus incana), birch and alder shrubs (Duschekia fruticosa, Betula fruticosa, Betula divaricata, Betula nana), interspersed with patches of steppe and meadows. Consequently, the tree line was shifted to at least 270 km north of its current position. Aquatic organisms, such as chironomids, cladocerans, ostracods, molluscs and hydrophytes, indicate the formation of a shallow lake as the result of thermokarst processes. Steppe plants and beetles suggest low net precipitation. Littoral pioneer plants and chironomids indicate intense lake level fluctuations due to high evaporation. Many of the organisms are thermophilous, indicating a mean air temperature of the warmest month that was greater than 13 °C, which is above the minimum requirements for tree growth. These temperatures are in contrast to the modern values of less than 4 °C in the study area. The terrestrial and freshwater organism remains were found at a coastal exposure that was only 3.5 m above sea level and in a position where they should have been under sea during the Last Interglacial when the global sea level was 6–10 m higher than the current levels. The results suggest that during the last warm stage, the site was inland, and its modern coastal situation is the result of tectonic subsidence.     

Zircon fission‐track ages from Newfoundland—A proxy for high geothermal gradients and exhumation before opening of the Central Atlantic Ocean

Following Appalachian orogenesis, metamorphic rocks in central Newfoundland were exhumed and reburied under Tournaisian strata. New zircon fission‐track (ZFT) ages of metamorphic rocks below the Tournaisian unconformity yield post‐depositionally reset ages of 212–235 Ma indicating regional fluid‐absent reheating to at least ≥220°C. Post‐Tournaisian sedimentary thicknesses in surrounding basins show that burial alone cannot explain such temperatures, thus requiring that palaeo‐geothermal gradients increased to ≥30–40°C/km before final late Triassic accelerated cooling. We attribute these elevated palaeo‐geothermal gradients to localized thermal blanketing by insulating sediments overlying radiogenic high‐heat‐producing granitoids. Late Triassic rifting and magmatism before break up of Pangaea likely also contributed to elevated heat flow, as well as uplift, triggering late Triassic accelerated cooling and exhumation. Thermochronological ages of 240–200 Ma are seen throughout Atlantic Canada, and record rifting and basaltic magmatism on the conjugate margins of the Central Atlantic Ocean preceding the onset of oceanic spreading at ~190 Ma.     

Characterisation of hydroclimatological trends and variability in the Lake Naivasha basin,Kenya

Recent hydro‐climatological trends and variability characteristics were investigated for the Lake Naivasha basin with the aim of understanding the changes in water balance components and their evolution over the past 50 years. Using a Bayesian change point analysis and modified Mann–Kendall tests, time series of annual mean, maximum, minimum, and seasonal precipitation and flow, as well as annual mean lake volumes, were analysed for the period 1960–2010 to uncover possible abrupt shifts and gradual trends. Double cumulative curve analysis was used to investigate the changes in hydrological response attributable to either human influence or climatic variability. The results indicate a significant decline in lake volumes at a mean rate of 9.35 × 10⁶ m³ year^?1. Most of the river gauging stations showed no evidence of trends in the annual mean and maximum flows as well as seasonal flows. Annual minimum flows, however, showed abrupt shifts and significant (upward/downward) trends at the main outlet stations. Precipitation in the basin showed no evidence of abrupt shifts, but a few stations showed gradual decline. The observed changes in precipitation could not explain the decline in both minimum flows and lake volumes. The findings show no evidence of any impact of climate change for the Lake Naivasha basin over the past 50 years. This implies that other factors, such as changes in land cover and infrastructure development, have been responsible for the observed changes in streamflow and lake volumes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Basin evolution and palaeoenvironmental variability of the thermokarst lake El'gene‐Kyuele,Arctic Siberia

Thermokarst lakes are a widespread feature of the Arctic tundra, in which highly dynamic processes are closely connected with current and past climate changes. We investigated late Quaternary sediment dynamics, basin and shoreline evolution, and environmental interrelations of Lake El'gene‐Kyuele in the NE Siberian Arctic (latitude 71°17′N, longitude 125°34′E). The water‐body displays thaw‐lake characteristics cutting into both Pleistocene Ice Complex and Holocene alas sediments. Our methods are based on grain size distribution, mineralogical composition, TOC/N ratio, stable carbon isotopes and the analysis of plant macrofossils from a 3.5‐m sediment profile at the modern eastern lake shore. Our results show two main sources for sediments in the lake basin: terrigenous diamicton supplied from thermokarst slopes and the lake shore, and lacustrine detritus that has mainly settled in the deep lake basin. The lake and its adjacent thermokarst basin rapidly expanded during the early Holocene. This climatically warmer than today period was characterized by forest or forest tundra vegetation composed of larches, birch trees and shrubs. Woodlands of both the HTM and the Late Pleistocene were affected by fire, which potentially triggered the initiation of thermokarst processes resulting later in lake formation and expansion. The maximum lake depth at the study site and the lowest limnic bioproductivity occurred during the longest time interval of ～7 ka starting in the Holocene Thermal Maximum and lasting throughout the progressively cooler Neoglacial, whereas partial drainage and an extensive shift of the lake shoreline occurred ～0.9 cal. ka BP. Correspondingly, this study discusses different climatic and environmental drivers for the dynamics of a thermokarst basin.     

Spatiotemporal variability in hydrochemistry of shallow groundwater in a small pre‐alpine catchment: The importance of landscape elements

Topography and landscape characteristics affect the storage and release of water and, thus, groundwater dynamics and chemistry. Quantification of catchment scale variability in groundwater chemistry and groundwater dynamics may therefore help to delineate different groundwater types and improve our understanding of which parts of the catchment contribute to streamflow. We sampled shallow groundwater from 34 to 47 wells and streamflow at seven locations in a 20‐ha steep mountainous catchment in the Swiss pre‐Alps, during nine baseflow snapshot campaigns. The spatial variability in electrical conductivity, stable water isotopic composition, and major and trace ion concentrations was large and for almost all parameters larger than the temporal variability. Concentrations of copper, zinc, and lead were highest at sites that were relatively dry, whereas concentrations of manganese and iron were highest at sites that had persistent shallow groundwater levels. The major cation and anion concentrations were only weakly correlated to individual topographic or hydrodynamic characteristics. However, we could distinguish four shallow groundwater types based on differences from the catchment average concentrations: riparian zone‐like groundwater, hillslopes and areas with small upslope contributing areas, deeper groundwater, and sites characterized by high magnesium and sulfate concentrations that likely reflect different bedrock material. Baseflow was not an equal mixture of the different groundwater types. For the majority of the campaigns, baseflow chemistry most strongly resembled riparian‐like groundwater for all but one subcatchment. However, the similarity to the hillslope‐type groundwater was larger shortly after snowmelt, reflecting differences in hydrologic connectivity. We expect that similar groundwater types can be found in other catchments with steep hillslopes and wet areas with shallow groundwater levels and recommend sampling of groundwater from all landscape elements to understand groundwater chemistry and groundwater contributions to streamflow.     

Preservation of Re‐Os isotope signatures in pyrite throughout low‐T,high‐P eclogite facies metamorphism

Pyrite in LT–HP eclogites from the western Tianshan orogenic belt yields a Re‐Os age of 378.1 ± 8.9 Ma, which is 30–70 Ma older than ages previously obtained for the same rocks using the Rb–Sr, Sm–Nd, Ar–Ar, U–Pb, and Lu–Hf isotope systems. The Tianshan LT–HP eclogite experienced temperatures of up to ~570 °C combined with pressures of up to 2.1 GPa during metamorphism. These conditions are below the transition of pyrite to pyrrhotite, which defines both pyrite stability and possibly its closure temperature for Re‐Os. Pyrite can preserve Re‐Os signatures through eclogite facies peak metamorphic conditions, and thus allow determination of the formation age of pyrite in the protolith.