Potentiometric titrations of Bacillus subtilis cells to low pH and a comparison of modeling approaches

To provide constraints on the speciation of bacterial surface functional groups, we have conducted potentiometric titrations using the gram-positive aerobic species Bacillus subtilis, covering the pH range 2.1 to 9.8. Titration experiments were conducted using an auto-titrator assembly, with the bacteria suspended in fixed ionic strength (0.01 to 0.3 M) NaClO₄ solutions. We observed significant adsorption of protons over the entire pH range of this study, including to the lowest pH values examined, indicating that proton saturation of the cell wall did not occur under any of the conditions of the experiments. Ionic strength, over the range studied here, did not have a significant effect on the observed buffering behavior relative to experimental uncertainty. Electrophoretic mobility measurements indicate that the cell wall is negatively charged, even under the lowest pH conditions studied. These experimental results necessitate a definition of the zero proton condition such that the total proton concentration at the pH of suspension is offset to account for the negative bacterial surface charge that tends towards neutrality at pH <2.The buffering intensity of the bacterial suspensions reveals a wide spread of apparent pKa values. This spread was modeled using three significantly different approaches: a Non-Electrostatic Model, a Constant Capacitance Model, and a Langmuir-Freundlich Model. The approaches differ in the manner in which they treat the surface electric field effects, and in whether they treat the proton-active sites as discrete functional groups or as continuous distributions of related sites. Each type of model tested, however, provides an excellent fit to the experimental data, indicating that titration data alone are insufficient for characterizing the molecular-scale reactions that occur on the bacterial surface. Spectroscopic data on the molecular-scale properties of the bacterial surface are required to differentiate between the underlying mechanisms of proton adsorption inherent in these models. The applicability and underlying conceptual foundation of each model is discussed in the context of our current knowledge of the structure of bacterial cell walls.     

Episodic granite accumulation and extraction from the mid‐crust

The processes of long‐range granitic magma transfer from mid‐ and lower crustal anatectic zones to upper crustal pluton emplacement sites remain controversial in the literature. This is partly because feeder networks that could have accommodated this large‐scale magma transport remain elusive in the field. Existing granite ascent models are based largely on numerical and theoretical studies that seek to demonstrate the viability of fracture‐controlled magma transport through dykes or self‐propagating hydrofractures. In most cases, the models present very little supporting field evidence, such as sufficiently voluminous near‐ or within‐source magma accumulations, to support their basic premises. We document large (deca‐ to hectometre‐scale), steeply dipping and largely homogeneous granite lenses in suprasolidus (~5 kbar, ~750 °C) mid‐crustal rocks in the Damara Belt in Namibia. The lenses are surrounded by and connected to shallowly dipping networks of stromatic leucogranites in the well‐layered gneisses of the deeply incised Husab Gorge. The outcrops define a four‐stage process from (i) the initial formation and growth of large, subvertical magma‐filled lenses as extension fractures developed at high angles to the subhorizontal regional extension in relatively competent wall‐rock layers. This stage is followed by (ii) the simultaneous lateral inflation and (iii) subcritical vertical growth of the lenses to a critical length that (iv) promotes fracture destabilization, buoyancy‐driven upward fracture mobilization and, consequently, vertical magma transport. These field observations are compared with existing numerical models and are used to constrain, by referring to the dimensions of the largest preserved inflated leucogranite lens, an estimate of the minimum fracture length (~100 m) and volume (~2.4 × 10⁵ m³) required to initiate buoyancy‐driven brittle fracture propagation in this particular mid‐crustal section. The critical values and field relationships compare favourably with theoretical models of magma ascent along vertical self‐propagating hydrofractures which close at their tails during propagation. This process leaves behind subtle wake‐like structures and thin leucogranite trails that mark the path of magma ascent. Reutilization of such conduits by repeated inflation and drainage is consistent with the episodic accumulation and removal of magma from the mid‐crust and is reflected in the sheeted nature of many upper crustal granitoid plutons.     

Recent progress on combining geomorphological and geochronological data with ice sheet modelling,demonstrated using the last British–Irish Ice Sheet

Palaeo-ice sheets are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice sheets, offering a record of ice sheet behaviour that spans millennia. There are two main approaches to reconstructing palaeo-ice sheets. Empirical reconstructions use the available glacial geological and chronological evidence to estimate ice sheet extent and dynamics but lack direct consideration of ice physics. In contrast, numerically modelled simulations implement ice physics, but often lack direct quantitative comparison with empirical evidence. Despite being long identified as a fruitful scientific endeavour, few ice sheet reconstructions attempt to reconcile the empirical and model-based approaches. To achieve this goal, model-data comparison procedures are required. Here, we compare three numerically modelled simulations of the former British–Irish Ice Sheet with the following lines of evidence: (a) position and shape of former margin positions, recorded by moraines; (b) former ice-flow direction and flow-switching, recorded by flowsets of subglacial bedforms; and (c) the timing of ice-free conditions, recorded by geochronological data. These model–data comparisons provide a useful framework for quantifying the degree of fit between numerical model simulations and empirical constraints. Such tools are vital for reconciling numerical modelling and empirical evidence, the combination of which will lead to more robust palaeo-ice sheet reconstructions with greater explicative and ultimately predictive power.     

Linkages between spatio‐temporal patterns of environmental factors and distribution of plant assemblages across a boreal peatland complex

Here we examine the arrangement of plant species across an oligotrophic bog/poor fen peatland complex in the North American boreal plain and the relationships of these species to their physical and chemical environment. A semi‐uniform spatial sampling approach was utilized to describe the species assemblages, pore‐water chemistry and physical condition of 100 plots throughout a single peatland complex. Regardless of sharing the same ground cover of Sphagnum mosses, the remaining species separated into four distinct assemblages, each with unique indicators. These species groups along with associated chemical and physical factors are organized into four ecosites: bog, margin (edge) and two poor fen ecosites. The plant assemblages of this peatland have a complex relationship with numerous gradients, both physical and chemical, including depth to water table, shade, pH, nutrient and base cation. Rather than being homogenous across the landscape, most environmental variables exhibit distinct spatial patterns and do so in relationship to the plant assemblages, forming spatially distinct ecosites across the complex. Base cation concentrations play a smaller role than previously thought in differentiating these ecosites, and in addition to shade and depth to water table, nitrogen in the form of dissolved organic nitrogen was highly related to the placement of these ecosites. Many significant chemical factors appear related to evaporative water loss within the peatland complex, and these chemical factors are used to differentiate the ecosites. However, the mediation of evaporative water loss is due largely to self‐generated responses of the plant assemblages related to shade through plant morphology and peat acrotelm development related to depth to water table. We conclude that plant species and associated environmental gradients act together to form spatially distinct ecosites. The distribution of these ecosites within this large, environmentally complex peatland is largely controlled by differing self‐generated responses along the hydrotopographical gradient of differential water loss.     

Variability in bedform morphology and kinematics with transport stage

Bedform geometry is widely recognized to be a function of transport stage. Bedform aspect ratio (height/length) increases with transport stage, reaches a maximum, then decreases as bedforms washout to a plane bed. Bedform migration rates are also linked to bedform geometry, in so far as smaller bedforms in coarser sediment tend to migrate faster than larger bedforms in finer sediment. However, how bedform morphology (height, length and shape) and kinematics (translation and deformation) change with transport stage and suspension have not been examined. A series of experiments is presented where initial flow depth and grain size were held constant and the transport stage was varied to produce bedload dominated, mixed‐load dominated and suspended‐load dominated conditions. The results show that the commonly observed pattern in bedform aspect ratio occurs because bedform height increases then decreases with transport stage, against a continuously increasing bedform length. Bedform size variability increased with transport stage, leading to less uniform bedform fields at higher transport stage. Total translation‐related and deformation‐related sediment fluxes all increased with transport stage. However, the relative contribution to the total flux changed. At the bedload dominated stage, translation‐related and deformation‐related flux contributed equally to the total flux. As the transport stage increased, the fraction of the total load contributed by translation increased and the fraction contributed by deformation declined because the bedforms got bigger and moved faster. At the suspended‐load dominated transport stage, the deformation flux increased and the translation flux decreased as a fraction of the total load, approaching one and zero, respectively, as bedforms washed out to a plane bed.     

Response of low‐angle dunes to variable flow

Current understanding of bedform dynamics is largely based on field and laboratory observations of bedforms in steady flow environments. There are relatively few investigations of bedforms in flows dominated by unsteadiness associated with rapidly changing flows or tides. As a consequence, the ability to predict bedform response to variable flow is rudimentary. Using high‐resolution multibeam bathymetric data, this study explores the dynamics of a dune field developed by tidally modulated, fluvially dominated flow in the Fraser River Estuary, British Columbia, Canada. The dunes were dominantly low lee angle features characteristic of large, deep river channels. Data were collected over a field ca 1·0 km long and 0·5 km wide through a complete diurnal tidal cycle during the rising limb of the hydrograph immediately prior to peak freshet, yielding the most comprehensive characterization of low‐angle dunes ever reported. The data show that bedform height and lee angle slope respond to variable flow by declining as the tide ebbs, then increasing as the tide rises and the flow velocities decrease. Bedform lengths do not appear to respond to the changes in velocity caused by the tides. Changes in the bedform height and lee angle have a counterclockwise hysteresis with mean flow velocity, indicating that changes in the bedform geometry lag changes in the flow. The data reveal that lee angle slope responds directly to suspended sediment concentration, supporting previous speculation that low‐angle dune morphology is maintained by erosion of the dune stoss and crest at high flow, and deposition of that material in the dune trough.     

Exhumation history of the Peake and Denison Inliers: insights from low-temperature thermochronology

Multi-method thermochronology applied to the Peake and Denison Inliers (northern South Australia) reveals multiple low-temperature thermal events. Apatite fission track (AFT) data suggest two main time periods of basement cooling and/or reheating into AFT closure temperatures (～60–120°C); at ca 470–440 Ma and ca 340–300 Ma. We interpret the Ordovician pulse of rapid basement cooling as a result of post-orogenic cooling after the Delamerian Orogeny, followed by deformation related to the start of the Alice Springs Orogeny and orocline formation relating to the Benambran Orogeny. This is supported by a titanite U/Pb age of 479 ± 7 Ma. Our thermal history models indicate that subsequent denudation and sedimentary burial during the Devonian brought the basement rocks back to zircon U–Th–Sm/He (ZHe) closure temperatures (～200–150°C). This period was followed by a renewal of rapid cooling during the Carboniferous, likely as the result of the final pulses of the Alice Springs Orogeny, which exhumed the inlier to ambient surface temperatures. This thermal event is supported by the presence of the Mount Margaret erosion surface, which indicates that the inlier was exposed at the surface during the early Permian. During the Late Triassic–Early Jurassic, the inlier was subjected to minor reheating to AFT closure temperatures; however, the exact timing cannot be deduced from our dataset. Cretaceous apatite U–Th–Sm/He (AHe) ages coupled with the presence of contemporaneous coarse-grained terrigenous rocks suggest a temporally thermal perturbation related with shallow burial during this time, before late Cretaceous exhumation cooled the inliers back to ambient surface temperatures.