Lipid biomarkers and bacterial lipase activities as indicators of organic matter and bacterial dynamics in contrasted regimes at the DYFAMED site, NW Mediterranean

This study investigated the relationships between dissolved organic matter (DOM) composition and bacterial dynamics on short time scale during spring mesotrophic (March 2003) and summer oligotrophic (June 2003) regimes, in a 0–500 m depth water column with almost no advection, at the DYFAMED site, NW Mediterranean. DOM was characterized by analyzing dissolved organic carbon (DOC), colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) and lipid class biotracers. Bacterial dynamic was assessed through the measurement of in situ bacterial lipase activity, abundance, production and bacterial community structure. We made the assumption that by coupling the ambient concentration of hydrolysable acyl-lipids with the measurement of their in situ bacterial hydrolysis rates (i.e. the free fatty acids release rate) would provide new insights about bacterial response to change in environmental conditions. The seasonal transition from spring to summer was accompanied by a significant accumulation of excess DOC (+5 μM) (ANOVA, p<0.05, n=8) in the upper layer (0–50 m). In this layer, the free fatty acids release rate to the bacterial carbon demand (BCD) ratio increased from 0.6±0.3 in March to 1.3±1.0 in June (ANOVA, p<0.05, n=8) showing that more uncoupling between the hydrolysis of the acyl-lipids and the BCD occurred during the evolution of the season, and that free fatty acids contributed to the excess DOC. The increase of lipolysis index and CDOM absorbance (from 0.24±0.17 to 0.39±0.13 and from 0.076±0.039 to 0.144±0.068; ANOVA, p<0.05, n=8, respectively), and the higher contribution of triglycerides, wax esters and phospholipids (from <5% to 12–31%) to the lipid pool reflected the change in the DOM quality. In addition to a strong increase of bacterial lipase activity per cell (51.4±29.4–418.3±290.6 Ag C cell⁻¹ h⁻¹), a significant percentage of ribotypes (39%) was different between spring and summer in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) layer in particular, suggesting a shift in the bacterial community structure due to the different trophic conditions. At both seasons, in the chlorophyll layers, diel variations of DOM and bacterial parameters reflected a better bioavailability and/or DOM utilization by bacteria at night (the ratio of free fatty acids release rate to bacterial carbon demand decreased), most likely related to the zooplankton trophic behaviour. In mesotrophic conditions, such day/night pattern was driving changes in the bacterial community structure. In more oligotrophic period, diel variations in bacterial community structure were depth dependent in relation to the strong summer stratification.     

A site‐consistent method to quantify sufficiency of alternative IMs in relation to PSDA

In probabilistic seismic demand analysis, evaluation of the sufficiency of an intensity measure (IM) is an important criterion to avoid biased assessment of the demand hazard. However, there exists no metric to quantify the degree of sufficiency as per the criterion of Luco and Cornell (2007). This paper proposes a site‐specific unified measure for degree of sufficiency from all seismological parameters under consideration using a total information gain metric. This unified metric for sufficiency supports not only comparison of the performance of different IMs given a response quantity but also assessment of the performance of a particular IM across different response quantities. The proposed sufficiency metric was evaluated for a 4‐story steel moment frame building, and the influence of ground motion selection on the degree of sufficiency was investigated. It was observed that ground motion selection can have a significant impact on IM sufficiency. Because computing the total information gain requires continuous deaggregation across the IM space, an approximate deaggregation technique that allows for a more practical estimation of marginal deaggregation probabilities is proposed. It is expected that the total information gain metric proposed in this paper will aid in understanding the efficiency‐sufficiency relation, thus enabling the selection of a proper scalar IM for a given site and application in probabilistic seismic demand analysis.     

Nulling,Mode-Changing and Drifting Subpulses in the Highly Asymmetric Conal Quadruple Radio Pulsar B2034$$$$19

Radio pulsar B2034\(+\)19 exhibits all three ‘canonical’ pulse-sequence phenomena—that is, pulse nulling, two distinct profile modes and subpulses with periodic modulation. Indeed, the bursts and nulls in the pulsar are short at several score pulses and quasi-periodic such that about 1/3 of the pulses are nulls. The pulsar’s two modes have very different characteristics, the first shows emission almost completely confined to the leading half of the profile and highly modulated in a 2-period odd–even manner; whereas the second mode illuminates both the leading and trailing parts of the star’s profile about equally with the appearance of drift bands at about a 3-period separation. The second mode occurs much less frequently than the first (about 15% of the time) and thus the leading part of the profile has a much larger average intensity than the trailing part. B2034\(+\)19 represents an interesting example of a pulsar with emission primarily in the leading part of its profile window with only occasional illumination in the trailing part. This suggests that there are pulsars that perhaps never emit in a part of their profile window, connecting with earlier work on pulsars with apparent ‘partial cone’ profiles.     

Early Mars climate near the Noachian–Hesperian boundary: Independent evidence for cold conditions from basal melting of the south polar ice sheet (Dorsa Argentea Formation) and implications for valley network formation

Currently, and throughout much of the Amazonian, the mean annual surface temperatures of Mars are so cold that basal melting does not occur in ice sheets and glaciers and they are cold-based. The documented evidence for extensive and well-developed eskers (sediment-filled former sub-glacial meltwater channels) in the south circumpolar Dorsa Argentea Formation is an indication that basal melting and wet-based glaciation occurred at the South Pole near the Noachian–Hesperian boundary. We employ glacial accumulation and ice-flow models to distinguish between basal melting from bottom-up heat sources (elevated geothermal fluxes) and top-down induced basal melting (elevated atmospheric temperatures warming the ice). We show that under mean annual south polar atmospheric temperatures (?100 °C) simulated in typical Amazonian climate experiments and typical Noachian–Hesperian geothermal heat fluxes (45–65 mW/m²), south polar ice accumulations remain cold-based. In order to produce significant basal melting with these typical geothermal heat fluxes, the mean annual south polar atmospheric temperatures must be raised from today’s temperature at the surface (?100 °C) to the range of ?50 to ?75 °C. This mean annual polar surface atmospheric temperature range implies lower latitude mean annual temperatures that are likely to be below the melting point of water, and thus does not favor a “warm and wet” early Mars. Seasonal temperatures at lower latitudes, however, could range above the melting point of water, perhaps explaining the concurrent development of valley networks and open basin lakes in these areas. This treatment provides an independent estimate of the polar (and non-polar) surface temperatures near the Noachian–Hesperian boundary of Mars history and implies a cold and relatively dry Mars climate, similar to the Antarctic Dry Valleys, where seasonal melting forms transient streams and permanent ice-covered lakes in an otherwise hyperarid, hypothermal climate.     

Evidence for Amazonian northern mid-latitude regional glacial landsystems on Mars: Glacial flow models using GCM-driven climate results and comparisons to geological observations

A fretted valley system on Mars located at the northern mid-latitude dichotomy boundary contains lineated valley fill (LVF) with extensive flow-like features interpreted to be glacial in origin. We have modeled this deposit using glacial flow models linked to atmospheric general circulation models (GCM) for conditions consistent with the deposition of snow and ice in amounts sufficient to explain the interpreted glaciation. In the first glacial flow model simulation, sources were modeled in the alcoves only and were found to be consistent with the alpine valley glaciation interpretation for various environments of flow in the system. These results supported the interpretation of the observed LVF deposits as resulting from initial ice accumulation in the alcoves, accompanied by debris cover that led to advancing alpine glacial landsystems to the extent observed today, with preservation of their flow texture and the underlying ice during downwasting in the waning stages of glaciation. In the second glacial flow model simulation, the regional accumulation patterns predicted by a GCM linked to simulation of a glacial period were used. This glacial flow model simulation produced a much wider region of thick ice accumulation, and significant glaciation on the plateaus and in the regional plains surrounding the dichotomy boundary. Deglaciation produced decreasing ice thicknesses, with flow centered on the fretted valleys. As plateaus lost ice, scarps and cliffs of the valley and dichotomy boundary walls were exposed, providing considerable potential for the production of a rock debris cover that could preserve the underlying ice and the surface flow patterns seen today. In this model, the lineated valley fill and lobate debris aprons were the product of final retreat and downwasting of a much larger, regional glacial landsystem, rather than representing the maximum extent of an alpine valley glacial landsystem. These results favor the interpretation that periods of mid-latitude glaciation were characterized by extensive plateau and plains ice cover, rather than being restricted to alcoves and adjacent valleys, and that the observed lineated valley fill and lobate debris aprons represent debris-covered residual remnants of a once more extensive glaciation.     

An intercomparison of model-simulated in extreme rainfall and temperature events during the last half of the twentieth century. Part 1: mean values and variability

In this study we examine the performance of eight of the IPCC AR4 global coupled climate models used in the WCRP CMIP3 Multimodel Dataset, as well as their ensemble mean, in simulating annual indices of extreme temperature and precipitation climate events in South America. In this first part we focus on comparing observed and modeled mean values and interannual variability. Two extreme temperature indices based on minimum temperature (warm nights and frost days) and three indices of extreme precipitation (R95t, R10 and consecutive dry days), obtained both from meteorological stations during 1961–2000 and model outputs, were compared. The number of warm nights are better represented by models than the FD. The interannual variability pattern is also in good agreement with the observed values. For precipitation, the index that is best represented by the models is the R95t, which relates the extreme precipitation to local climate. The maximum of dryness observed over the central Argentinian Andes or the extensive dry season of the Amazon region could not be represented by any model.     

On the randomness of pulsar nulls

Pulsar nulling is not always a random process; most pulsars, in fact, null non-randomly. The Wald–Wolfowitz statistical runs test is a simple diagnostic that pulsar astronomers can use to identify pulsars that have non-random nulls. It is not clear at this point how the dichotomy in pulsar nulling randomness is related to the underlying nulling phenomenon, but its nature suggests that there are at least two distinct reasons that pulsars null.     

Dynamics analysis of a system of hinge-connected flexible bodies

The subject of this work is the dynamics of flexible space vehicles modelled by a chain of rigid and elastic bodies with tree structure. The aim of this investigation is to obtained an impedance matrix giving in frequency domain the response of the structure to external forces. We show that it is possible to obtain an expansion of this impedance matrix in terms of an infinite set of modal frequencies termed constrained modes and an expansion of the inverse of this impedance matrix in terms of an other set of modes. The work is a generalization of the theory made by Hugues [3] and others for systems with star structure.