Aquifers Shared Between Mexico and the United States: Management Perspectives and Their Transboundary Nature

Totally 36 aquifers have been identified along the Mexico‐U.S. border. Of these, only 16 have adequate data to provide a reasonable level of confidence to categorize them as transboundary. Limited and/or contrasting data over the other aquifers in the region reflects the void in transboundary groundwater management and assessment mechanisms throughout much of the Mexico‐U.S. border. This paper identifies management mechanisms, structures, and institutional prioritization related to transboundary aquifers shared between Mexico and the United States. It also evaluates the differences in the transboundary nature of these aquifers, and how their combined hydrological and geographical considerations interrelate with local and regional social, economic, political, and even scale dimensions to create complex management challenges.     

Criteria for recognizing shelf-slope clinoforms in outcrop; Jurassic Lajas and Los Molles formations,S. Neuquén Basin,Argentina

Seismic-reflection data show that most deepwater (>200 m water depth) basins are filled by sand and mud dispersed across clinoformal geometries characterized by gently dipping topsets, steeper foresets and gently dipping bottomsets. However, the entire geometry of these ubiquitous clinoforms is not always recognized in outcrops. Sometimes the infill is erroneously interpreted as “layer cake” or “ramp” stratigraphy because the topset-foreset-bottomset clinoforms are not well exposed. Regional 2-D seismic lines show clinoforms in the Lower to Middle Jurassic Challaco, Lajas, and Los Molles formations in S. Neuquén Basin in Argentina. Time equivalent shelf, slope and basin-floor segments of clinoforms are exposed, and can be walked out in hundreds of metres thick and kilometres-wide outcrops. The studied margin-scale clinoforms are not representing a continental-margin but a deepwater shelf margin that built out in a back-arc basin. Lajas-Los Molles clinoforms have been outcrop-mapped by tracing mudstones interpreted as flooding surfaces on the shelf and abandonment surfaces (low sedimentation rate) in the deepwater basin. The downslope and lateral facies variability in the outcrops is also consistent with a clinoform interpretation. The Lajas topset (shelf) is dominated by fluvial and tidal deposits. The shelf-edge rollover zone is occasionally occupied by a 40–50-m-thick coarse-grained shelf-edge delta, sometimes incising into the underlying slope mudstones, producing oblique clinoforms expressing toplap erosion on seismic. A muddy transgressive phase capping the shelf-edge deltas contains tidal sandbodies. Shelf-edge deltas transition downslope into turbidite- and debris flow-filled channels that penetrate down the mud-prone Los Molles slope. At the base-of-slope, some 300m below the shelf edge, there are basin-floor fan deposits (>200 m thick) composed of sandy submarine-fan lobes separated by muddy abandonment intervals. The large-scale outcrop correlation between topset–foreset–bottomset allows facies and depositional interpretation and sets outcrop criteria recognition for each clinoform segment.     

Deglitching methods by the ISOPHOT Interactive Analysis (PIA)

The ISOPHOT detectors were continuously exposed to high energy cosmic particles hits, resulting in an average hit rate frequency of an event per every 7 s. The net effect is a disturbance of the readout voltages, which decreases the signal-to-noise ratio and hence the photometric accuracy level. Thanks to the highly redundant readout method of ISOPHOT it is relatively easy to identify cosmic particle hits which have enough energy to produce a noticeable deviation in the readouts. The most energetic particles can cause a short term change in the detector response. Different algorithms are implemented into PIA to cope with this problem. PIA provides handy interfaces to perform individual treatment of the data and optimize the parameters of the deglitching algorithms.     

Modelling Vegetation-Atmosphere Co2 Exchange By A Coupled Eulerian-Langrangian Approach

A Eulerian-Lagrangian canopy microclimate model wasdeveloped with the aim of discerning physical frombiophysical controls of CO₂ and H₂O fluxes. The model couples radiation attenuation with mass,energy, and momentum exchange at different canopylevels. A unique feature of the model is its abilityto combine higher order Eulerian closure approachesthat compute velocity statistics with Lagrangianscalar dispersion approaches within the canopy volume. Explicit accounting for within-canopy CO₂,H₂O, and heat storage is resolved by consideringnon-steadiness in mean scalar concentration andtemperature. A seven-day experiment was conducted inAugust 1998 to investigate whether the proposedmodel can reproduce temporal evolution of scalar(CO₂, H₂O and heat) fluxes, sources andsinks, and concentration profiles within and above auniform 15-year old pine forest. The modelreproduced well the measured depth-averaged canopy surfacetemperature, CO₂ and H₂O concentrationprofiles within the canopy volume, CO₂ storageflux, net radiation above the canopy, and heat andmass fluxes above the canopy, as well as the velocitystatistics near the canopy-atmosphere interface. Implications for scaling measured leaf-levelbiophysical functions to ecosystem scale are alsodiscussed.     

Stoichiometry of the net ecosystem metabolism in a coastal inlet affected by upwelling. The Ría de Arousa (NW Spain)

The net uptake of inorganic carbon and nitrogen, phosphate and silicate and the net production of dissolved oxygen and organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus have been examined in the Ría de Arousa, a large coastal embayment in the NW Iberian upwelling system. Fluxes and net budgets were estimated with a non-stationary 2-D box model [Rosón, G., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Pérez, F.F., 1997. A non-stationary box-model to determine residual flows in a partially mixed estuary, based on both thermoline properties. Application to the Ría de Arousa (NW Spain). Estuarine, Coastal Shelf Sci., 44, 249–262] and the distributions of the different species acquired twice a week between May and October 1989 [Rosón, G., Pérez, F.F., Álvarez-Salgado, X.A., Figueiras, F.G., 1995. Variation of both thermohaline and chemical properties in an estuarine upwelling ecosystem: Ría de Arousa: 1. Time Evolution. Estuarine, Coastal Shelf Sci., 41, 195–213]. High N/P and N/Si net uptake ratios of 21 and 3.2 were observed during the upwelling season. The rapid recycling of phosphorus compared to nitrogen and the recurrent succession from pioneer diatoms (Si/N1) to red-tide forming species (Si/N=0) following the periodic upwelling pulses are the reasons behind the observed ratios. The molar ratios of dissolved oxygen production to inorganic carbon (−1.48) and nitrogen uptake (−10.2) during the upwelling season agree with the Redfield stoichiometry. On the contrary, net nutrient regeneration occurred with N/P, N/Si and O₂/C ratios of 7.4, 1.0 and −1.02 during an intense autumn downwelling event. These low ratios are due to the release of an excess of phosphate, silicate and CO₂ from the sediments. Conversely, the production of inorganic nitrogen is associated to the consumption of dissolved oxygen following a Redfield ratio of −10.0. Whereas the C/N ratio of the suspended organic matter produced during the upwelling season and consumed during the autumn downwelling event is 6.3–6.7, the N/P ratio changes from 11 during the upwelling season to 15 during the autumn downwelling. About 1/5 of the dissolved oxygen produced during the upwelling season and consumed during the autumn downwelling is delivered to and came from the atmosphere, respectively. Despite the C/N/P/O₂ ratios differ from the Redfield values, the high correlation between nutrient salts consumption and dissolved oxygen production (r²=0.74–0.86) allow to estimate an average net ecosystem production (NEP) from the individual elements. The 3–4 d time-scale variability of the average NEP depends on the 2-week periodicity of upwelling pulses, the heat exchange across the sea surface and the stability of the water column. As much as 70% of the total variability can be explained with a linear combination of these parameters.     

High-Reflectivity Coatings for a Vacuum Ultraviolet Spectropolarimeter

Precise polarization measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) region are expected to be a new tool for inferring the magnetic fields in the upper atmosphere of the Sun. High-reflectivity coatings are key elements to achieving high-throughput optics for precise polarization measurements. We fabricated three types of high-reflectivity coatings for a solar spectropolarimeter in the hydrogen Lyman-\(\upalpha \) (Ly\(\upalpha \); 121.567 nm) region and evaluated their performance. The first high-reflectivity mirror coating offers a reflectivity of more than 80 % in Ly\(\upalpha \) optics. The second is a reflective narrow-band filter coating that has a peak reflectivity of 57 % in Ly\(\upalpha \), whereas its reflectivity in the visible light range is lower than 1/10 of the peak reflectivity (\(\sim 5~\%\) on average). This coating can be used to easily realize a visible light rejection system, which is indispensable for a solar telescope, while maintaining high throughput in the Ly\(\upalpha \) line. The third is a high-efficiency reflective polarizing coating that almost exclusively reflects an s-polarized beam at its Brewster angle of 68° with a reflectivity of 55 %. This coating achieves both high polarizing power and high throughput. These coatings contributed to the high-throughput solar VUV spectropolarimeter called the Chromospheric Lyman-Alpha SpectroPolarimeter (CLASP), which was launched on 3 September, 2015.     

Primary production in the Strait of Gibraltar: Carbon fixation rates in relation to hydrodynamic and phytoplankton dynamics

Primary production was studied at nine sites distributed within the Strait of Gibraltar (Southern Spain) and North-Western (NW) Alboran Sea by analyzing photosynthesis-irradiance (P–I) relationships and integrated primary production rates in relation to the different types of Deep Chlorophyll Maxima (DCM) detected in the area. The characteristics of the DCM were examined by several methods, including flow cytometry, quantification of transparent expolymer particles and fluorimetric measurements that were applied in order to assess the photo-physiological state of the phytoplankton assemblages with respect to their species composition and water column structure (hydrology). The photosynthetic parameters (derived from P–I relationships) and integrated primary production (range 6–644 mg m⁻² d⁻¹) responded greatly to the diverse DCM identified and thereby the spatial variability of the primary production observed in the region was found to depend upon the occurrence of the different types of phytoplankton accumulations, which were themselves indicative of the previous history of the water column. The net contribution of the primary production to the air–sea CO₂ exchange process was also evaluated in the area. Results indicated that this region behaved as a net sink for the atmospheric CO₂, with the intensity of the flux being strongly modulated by the wind intensity.     

Effects of naphthalene and phenanthrene on visual and prey capture endpoints during early stages of the dourado Salminus brasiliensis

Naphthalene (NAP) and phenanthrene (PHE) effects on Salminus brasiliensis, a carnivorous freshwater fish, were investigated using behavioral tests. Larval stages of S. brasiliensis were exposed to water concentrations of 0, 0.04 mg/l, 0.20mg/l and 0.50mg/l for naphthalene and 0, 0.01 mg/l, 0.05 mg/l and 0.1mg/l for phenanthrene during two developmental phases. The prey fish Prochilodus lineatus were not exposed. Visual acuity was measured at the end of phase 2 in individual S. brasiliensis, which were also tested at the end of each phase for number of attacks on prey, number of prey captured, prey capture efficiency, and distance swam. Vision was impaired by PHE exposure, as acuity angles increased in exposed fish. At Stage I 2.3+/-1.2 prey were captured with 46% efficiency in controls compared to 0.4+/-0.3 prey captured with 13.4% efficiency in fish exposed to 0.05 mg PHEl(-1), the LOEL for both endpoints. At Stage II 4.0+/-1.1 preys were captured in controls compared to 2.5+/-0.9 preys captured in fish exposed to 0.01 mg PHEl(-1), the LOEL. Stage II control fish captured prey with 70% efficiency compared to 30% efficiency at Stage II fish exposed to 0.05 mg PHEl(-1), the LOEL. Distance swam was not affected by either NAP or PHE exposure. The exposure of larval stages of S. brasiliensis to realistic water concentrations of PHE impairs foraging skills and could affect recruitment of the species.     

Fog water interception by Sophora denudata trees in a Reunion upper-montane forest, Indian Ocean

The forest water balance has never been studied in Reunion Island (Indian Ocean). This study focuses on the interception of fog water by Sophora denudata, an endemic tree, which provides an important water input into the hydrologic budget of the upper-montane forest. Canopy throughfall, rainfall and fog have been compared. The first data were obtained in 2001 in Nez de Bœuf, 2040 m asl, from manual rain gauges. The measurements were made during the day only. The aim was to propose a typology of events, to understand the spatial pattern of canopy throughfall, especially fogdrip, and their relation to the trade-wind direction. A second series of experiments, carried out in 2004 in Piton de Tangues, 2150 m asl, investigated how throughfall and atmospheric water varied with time, using automatic instruments such as the shielded Grunow-type fog collector. Here measurements were made continuously and night data were not excluded. Over a period of 8 months, the throughfall gauges, which were placed under the trees, indicated 1180 mm whereas the total amount of rainfall had reached only 948 mm. The difference (232 mm) is attributed to fog. Of 278 events, 234 showed fog contribution; fog occurred alone in 167 cases. The observations confirm what was found in Nez de Bœuf, namely that fog or rain can occur separately or together. The role of fog contribution to the forest water budget is significant: the spatial variation of canopy throughfall does not only depend on the type of event, but also on wind direction.     

Precipitation interannual variability in South America from the WCRP-CMIP3 multi-model dataset

The ability of coupled climate models from the WCRP-CMIP3 multi-model dataset to reproduce the interannual seasonal variability of precipitation in South America and the influence of the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on such variability is examined. Models are able to reproduce the northward migration of the precipitation variability maximum during autumn and winter and its later return towards the south during spring and summer as well as the high variability throughout the year in southern Chile. Nevertheless, most of them have problems in representing accurately the variability associated with the South Atlantic convergence zone during summer and the typical maximum of variability in the subtropical continent during autumn and winter. The annular-like structure characteristic of the SAM influence on the Southern Hemisphere circulation is basically simulated by all models, but they have serious deficiencies in representing the observed relationship between SAM and both precipitation and circulation anomalies in South America. In addition, most of the models are not able to reproduce the typical wavetrains observed in the circulation anomalies in the Southern Hemisphere associated to ENSO. Only few models, previously identified as those with reasonable ENSO representation at the equatorial Pacific, have evidences of such wavetrains. Coherently, they exhibit the best representation of the ENSO signal in the South American precipitation. Results show that considerable improvement in the model representation of the climate variability in South America and in the associated large-scale teleconnections is still needed.