An Operational Circulation Modeling System for the Gulf of Maine/Georges Bank Region—Part I: Basic Elements

The basic elements of a prototype operational data assimilation modeling system that can provide near-real-time information on the ocean water property and circulation environment in the Gulf of Maine (GOM)/Georges Bank (GB) region are described in this paper. This application of the Harvard Ocean Prediction System (HOPS, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA) model includes development of protocols for the following: 1) the production of model initial fields from an objective blending of climatological and feature model (FM) hydrographic data with fishing-boat-measured bottom temperature data, 2) the ldquowarm startrdquo of the model to produce reasonably realistic initial model fields, 3) converting real-time Fleet Numerical Meteorological and Oceanographic Center (FNMOC, Monterey, CA) model nowcast and forecast winds and/or National Data Buoy Center (NDBC, Stennis Space Center, MS) operational wind measurements to model wind stress forcing fields, and 4) the assimilation of satellite-derived sea surface temperature (SST). These protocols are shown herein to evolve the initial model fields, which were dominated by climatological data, toward more dynamically balanced, realistic fields. Thus, the model nowcasts, with the assimilation of one SST field, are well positioned to produce reasonably realistic ocean fields within a few model days (MDs).     

The REVEALS model,a new tool to estimate past regional plant abundance from pollen data in large lakes: validation in southern Sweden

The REVEALS model was developed to reconstruct quantitatively regional vegetation abundance (in a 10⁴–10⁵ km² area) from pollen assemblages in large lakes (≥100–500 ha). This model corrects for biases in pollen percentages caused by inter‐taxonomic differences in pollen productivity and dispersal. This paper presents the first case study to validate REVEALS, using empirical data from southern Sweden. Percentage cover of modern regional vegetation in Skåne and Småland, two contrasting vegetation regions, was predicted with REVEALS for 26 key taxa, using pollen assemblages from surface sediments in 10 large lakes, and compared to the actual vegetation within 10⁴ km² compiled from satellite data, forestry inventories, crop statistics, aerial photographs, and vegetation inventories. REVEALS works well in predicting the percentage cover of large vegetation units such as total trees (wooded land), total herbs (open land), total conifers and total broad‐leaved trees, and it provides reasonable estimates for individual taxa, including Pinus, Picea, Betula, Corylus, Alnus, Tilia, Salix spp., Juniperus, Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Cerealia and Secale. The results show great potential for REVEALS applications, including (1) quantitative reconstructions of past regional land cover important for palaeoclimatology and nature conservation, and (2) local‐scale reconstruction of vegetation (<1 km² up to ～ 5 km² area) relevant for palaeoecology and archaeology. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Measuring hydraulic permeability in a streambed using the packer test

Permeability of a streambed is an important factor regulating nutrient and oxygen availability for aquatic biota. In order to investigate the relationship, an accurate permeability should be measured. However, it is difficult to measure permeability in a coarse gravel bed using a conventional permeability test. Moreover, turbulent flow may occur in coarse bed material, and then deviations from Darcy's law do occur. Thus, permeability calculated following Darcy's law may be overestimated under turbulent flow conditions and should be corrected. The packer test can be used in highly permeable gravel beds. We developed a field method applicable to a gravel bed using the packer test and derived an equation adopting a law of turbulent flow to study the problems under any type of flow condition. The accuracy of the equation was examined using a laboratory flume with a gravel bed. The results suggested that permeability calculated from Hvorslev's equation is overestimated for turbulent flow. In contrast, our equation, developed here, could evaluate permeability accurately under any type of flow condition. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial evolution of nitrogen and phosphorus loads along a small Mediterranean river: implication of bed sediments

This study addresses the spatial variations in water quality along the River Vène (France). The Vène drains a 67 km² rural basin, with a large karstic area, located in a Mediterranean context. A 1 day sampling campaign was conducted along the river, in winter low‐flow conditions (February 2003). Physico‐chemical parameters and water flow discharge were measured in situ during the sampling campaign. Water quality was evaluated by determining the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in water and bed‐sediment samples. Nitrogen and phosphorus loads were evaluated taking into account the measured concentrations and discharge. The campaign included 18 sampling points and concerned the whole river from the spring to the outlet, plus the main inputs, i.e. sewage treatment works, main tributaries and karstic springs. The spatial evolution of nitrogen and phosphorus loads along the river allowed the significant role of point‐source inputs to be demonstrated. The decrease in nutrient loads along the river occurred mainly in specific reaches where fine sediments had accumulated. In these zones, phosphorus is trapped in the bed sediments in calcium‐bound phosphates due to precipitation processes. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dur'ngoi Ophiolite in East Kunlun, Northeast Tibetan Plateau: Evidence for Paleo-Tethyan Suture in Northwest China

The A'nyemaqen (阿尼玛卿) ophiolite belt along the southern margin of the East Kunlun (昆仑) Mountains marks the suture formed by the closure of paleo-Tethys. The Dur'ngoi ophiolite in the eastern part of this belt consists of meta-peridotite, mafic-ultramafic cumulates, sheeted dikes and basaltic lavas. The meta-peridotites consist of dunite, harzburgite, Iherzolite, feldspar-bearing lherzolite and garnet-bearing Iherzolite and contain residual spinel with Cr# [100×Cr/(Cr+AI)] ranging from 30 to 57 and Mg# [100×Mg/(Mg+Fe2+)] ranging from 50 to 75, indicating an AI- and Mg-rich series. The meta-peridotites have a relatively narrow range of composition with Mg# of 89.2-92.6, Al2O3 contents of (1-4) wt.% and slightly depleted chondrite normalized REE patterns, indicating that they represent relict mantle material that has undergone intermediate to low degrees of partial melting. Garnets in the Iherzolite are andradite, enriched in Ca and Fe and depleted in Mg and Al (And=95-97, Pyr=0.3-5, Gro=0-3), indicating a metamorphic origin. The cumulate rocks mainly consist of dunite, wehrlite, py-roxenite and gabbro. A well-layered gabbro-pyroxenite complex is defined by modal variations in pla-gioclase and pyroxene. Blocks of garnet-pyroxenite or rodingite are locally present in the meta-peridotites. Garnets in the cumulate rocks are grossular (Gro=69-90, And=9-19, Br=1-12), also metamorphic origin. The diabase dikes are moderately depleted in LREE [(La/Sm)N=0.5-0.8] and HREE resulting in slightly convex chondrite-normalized patterns with slightly positive Eu anomalies (δEu=1.1-1.3). The basaltic lavas have REE patterns similar to those of MORB with (La/Sm)N ratios of 0.5-1 and small negative Eu anomalies. They appear to have been derived from a depleted mantle source and to have undergone little or no differentiation during crystallization. SHRIMP U-Pb dating of zircons from the basaits yields 206pb/238U ages of 276-319 Ma (average 308.0±4.9 Ma). The Dur'ngoi ophiolite is interpreted as a dismembered fragment of paleo-oceanic crust emplaced during closure of the paleo-Tethyan Ocean basin. Three other suites of oceanic lavas are recognized in the area: island arc volcanic (IAV) rocks, possible back arc basin (BAB) basalts and possible post-collisional vol-canic (PCV) and plutonic rocks. The distribution of these rocks suggests north-directed subduc-tion. Opening of the A'nyemaqen oceanic basin started at least as early as Late Carboniferous(308 Ma) and the basin probably closed during the Early Triassic. The IAV formed in Late Permian (260 Ms), the BAB in Early-Middle Triassic, and the PCV in Late Triassic. Several large scale, ductile, sinistrai strike-slip fault zones, extending hun-dreds to thousands kilometers, formed along or north of the suture during the Early-Late Triassic, e.g., they are the south margin fault zone of East Kunlun (200-220 Ma), the Aityn Tagh fault (220-230 Ma), and the North Qaidam fault zone (240-250 Ma). These strike-slip faults were probably generated by oblique subduction and closure of the paleo-Tethyan Ocean basin, possibly during exhumation of the subducted plate or uplift of the overriding plate, coincident with post-collisional magmatism.     

Space Techniques For Remote Sensing Of Environmental Risks In Seas And Oceans

The ocean is an important component of the globalenvironment and must not be ignored in the assessmentof environmental risks, even when attention is focusedon land surface issues. This paper addresses the useof space techniques for remote sensing of the ocean,in the context of how marine environmental risks maybe monitored. Since there are several significantdifferences between remote sensing over land and oversea, the techniques specific to ocean observation arefirst reviewed, identifying what can be measured fromspace and what are the sampling capabilities andinherent limitations. Ocean environmental risks arethen identified at global, regional and local scales,and serve as examples of how space techniques can beused to address them. Finally operationalenvironmental monitoring and risk management is shownto require an integrated approach using models andmeasurements from space and at sea.     

Pleistocene deposits at Stoke Goldington,in the valley of the Great Ouse,UK

At Stoke Goldington in the valley of the Great Ouse in Buckinghamshire a river terrace at a height of about 7 m above the floodplain is underlain by fluvial sediments representing climatic fluctuations in the late Middle Pleistocene. Near the base of the succession, at a level only 1 m above the modern floodplain, a fossil assemblage, including pollen, plant macrofossils, molluscs, insects and ostracods, provides evidence for the local development of herb-rich grassland under temperate climatic conditions. The fossil record, amino-acid racemisation ratios and uranium disequilibrium dating all suggest deposition of this material during Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. The deposits containing the temperate assemblage are immediately overlain by typical cold-climate gravels of the Great Ouse. These have been subjected to a later cut-and-fill episode, with the fill accumulating in cool climatic conditions. The cut-and-fill episode was succeeded by aggradation, forming the overlying terrace surface. Amino-acid racemisation ratios indicate that the fill was emplaced, and the terrace surface created, during or after Oxygen Isotope Stage 5. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial and temporal variability in the responses of Arctic terrestrial ecosystems to environmental change

This paper compares the responses of two contrasting Arctic ecosystems to climate change simulations: a polar semi-desert (in Svalbard) and a dwarf shrub heath (at Abisko, northern Sweden). These ecosystems are located close to the northern-and southernmost extremes of the Arctic region, respectively. Inmacts of simulated climatic changes were determined through factorial perturbation experiments, where growing season temperature, nutrient availability and water supply were manipulated. The results are compared with the impact of interannual variation in climate on the growth of a keystone moss species, Hylocomium splendens , from the wider circumpolar area. The perturbation studies revealed that current interannual variability in temperature and the temperate tolerance of many species may exceed predicted changes in mean summer temperature over the next century. Arctic ecosystems differed in their responses to environmental manipulations, with the structure of the dwarf shrub health being affected through shifts in competitive hierarchy, potentially leading to lower biodiversity, and the polar semi-desert being affected through invasion, potentially leading to higher diversity. H. splendens showed negative responses to perturbation at the sub-Arctic site, in contrast to the positive relationship between temperature and growth observed in the natural environment. This apparent discrepancy may result from: (i) artefacts arising from the perturbations, such as lower atmospheric relative humidity; (ii) non-equilibrium responses during the relatively short-term perturbation studies and/or (iii) ecotypic variation in the moss population. Thus, caution should be employed when extrapolating from perturbations studies to both longer time-scales and different ecosystems within the Arctic.     

Hyperconcentrated flows on a forested alluvial fan of eastern Canada: geomorphic characteristics,return period,and triggering scenarios

The assessment of the dominant flow type on alluvial fans usually refers to two categories: debris‐flow fans (i.e. sediment gravity flows) and fluvial fans (i.e. fluid gravity flows). Here we report the results of combined morphometric, stratigraphic and sedimentological approaches which suggest that hyperconcentrated flows, a transitional process rheologically distinct from debris flows and floods and sometimes referred to as debris floods, mud floods, or transitional debris flows, are the dominant fan building process in eastern Canada. These flows produce transitional facies between those of debris flows which consist of a cohesive matrix‐supported diamicton, and those of river flows which display more distinct stratification. The size of the blocks in the channels and the abrasion scars at the base of several trees attest to the high transport capacity of these flows. The fan channels are routed according to various obstacles comprised primarily of woody debris that impede sediment transit. However, these conditions of sediment storage are combined with readily available sediment due to the friable nature of the local lithology. Tree‐ring analysis allowed the reconstruction of eight hydrogeomorphic events which are characterized by a return period of 9.25 years for the period 1934–2008, although most of the analyzed events occurred after 1970. Historical weather data analysis indicates that they were related to rare hydrometeorological events at regional and local scales. This evidence led to the elaboration of weather scenarios likely responsible for triggering flows on the fan. According to these scenarios, two distinct hydrologic regimes emerge: the torrential rainfall regime and the nival regime related to snowmelt processes. Hydrogeomorphic processes occurring in a cold‐temperate climate, and particularly on small forested alluvial fans of north‐eastern North America, should receive more attention from land managers given the hazard they represent, as well as because of their sensitivity to various meteorological parameters. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.