Macrofaunal Spatial Patterns in Relationship to Environmental Variables in the Richibucto Estuary,New Brunswick,Canada

Estuarine macrobenthos respond to a variety of environmental gradients such as sediment type and salinity, and organic enrichment. A relatively new influence, organic loading from suspended bivalve culture, has the potential to alter this response. A study on soft-bottom macrobenthic communities was carried out in the Richibucto estuary (46°40′N, 64°50′W), New Brunswick, Canada, with samples collected from 18 stations in late September and early October 2006. The site consisted of a large tidal channel originating upstream in a small river. The channel was punctuated by bag culture of oysters along its length. A total of 88 species were recorded. The mean values of abundance, species richness, and diversity (H′) of macrofauna were 11,199 ind. m⁻² (ranged from 4,371 to 19,930 ind. m⁻²), 23.4 species grab⁻¹ and 3.29 grab⁻¹, respectively. In general species richness and H′ increased from the upper estuary to the estuarine mouth. Multivariate analyses clearly exhibited the spatial distribution in community structure, which coincided with the locations along the estuary (the upper, the lower and the mouth), as well as inside and outside the channel. Species richness and diversity H′ showed strong positive correlations with salinity (21.2–25.2 ppt), and abundance was positively correlated with water depth (1.0–4.5 m). Abundance and species richness were negatively correlated with both of silt–clay fraction (3.3–24.8%) and sorting (σ_I). Species richness was also negatively correlated with organic content (1.9–12.7%). The BIO-ENV analyses identified silt–clay fraction, σ_I and salinity as the major environmental variable combination influencing the macrofaunal patterns, and silt–clay fraction as the single best-correlated variable.     

Phytoliths as indicators of pedogenesis and paleoenvironmental changes in the Brazilian cerrado

This paper presents the preliminary results of phytolith analyses of a peat located in the cerrado of the Uberaba municipality, State of Minas Gerais, Brazil. The phytolith soil sequence is discussed by comparison with phytolith assemblages extracted from dominant plants (Cyperaceae and Poaceae). Increasing mean age of phytolith assemblages with depth is assumed. Poaceae Cuneiform bulliform cell, Parallelepiped bulliform cell and Elongate smooth long cell types dominate up to 80 cm, rapidly drop to 42% at 80 cm and regularly decrease from 42% to 2% upwards. Cyperaceae Rondel concave type shows the inverse trend, being dominant in the upper part of the profile. This pattern can be assigned to increasing selective dissolution of the Cyperaceae phytolith type with depth, or/and to a decrease of water stress suffered by the grasses, leading to a decrease of bulliform cell silicification. Soil processes and paleo-environmental changes hypotheses are discussed.     

Regional record of a global oceanic anoxic event: OAE1a on the Apulia Platform margin, Gargano Promontory, southern Italy

The Gargano Promontory of southern Italy, located on the eastern margin of the Apulia Platform, represents a peculiar Tethyan area where the transition between carbonate platform and adjacent basins is exposed on land. The Aptian stratigraphic record, represented in shallow-water, slope and deep-water deposits, provides a good opportunity to investigate the regional response to the worldwide documented climatic, biotic and palaeoceanographic changes related to Oceanic Anoxic Event 1a (OAE1a). A synthesis of data previously published (Ischitella and Coppitella sections), together with original data (Val Carbonara and Coppa della Guardia sections), from four stratigraphic sections from different depositional settings (proximal to distal) is provided, using an integrated, high-resolution micropalaeontological (planktonic foraminifera and calcareous nannofossils) and, for one section, geochemical (stable carbon and oxygen isotopes) approach. Organic matter preservation is confined to the more distal areas and consists of two thin intervals of black shales in the Aptian portion of the Marne a Fucoidi Formation. Biostratigraphic data assign the older black shale (5 cm thick) to the Selli Level equivalent (OAE1a, Lower Aptian); this carbon-rich interval is immediately followed by another black shale (7–10 cm thick) of early Late Aptian age.OAE1a is generally interpreted as a high-productivity event during a warming interval, followed by a cooling trend. In the Gargano Promontory, although the oxygen isotope curve indicates the above-mentioned climatic evolution, the micropalaeontological data do not support high fertility of the surface water, whereas micropalaeontological and geochemical data for the younger black shale do record high productivity (radiolarian increase in overall abundance, low nannofossil and foraminiferal species richness, increase in abudance of nannofossil fertility indices) associated with a cooling trend. The carbon and oxygen isotope record is in line with evidence from the curves documented elsewhere, whereas, among the biotic events, only the “nannoconid crisis” preceding OAE1a is revealed to be globally correlable.Environmental models for the two episodes of organic matter preservation are proposed, taking into account both global and local controlling factors.     

Glacial survival of blockfields on the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway

For more than hundred years it has been debated whether blockfields in mountain summit areas can be used to delimit the vertical extent of Pleistocene ice sheets. In this study the relationship between blockfields, developed in quartzites and sandstones on the Varanger Peninsula, northern Norway, and glacially derived features have been evaluated. Erratics and circular ablation moraines are superimposed on the blockfields and lateral meltwater channels are eroded into them. Glacial striations and other signs of glacial sculpturing are restricted to low-lying areas with channelled ice flow. Relative ages of the blockfields and the features in them are inferred, and the first measurements of in-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides from the Varanger Peninsula are reported. We conclude that the blockfields have survived underneath at least one thick, cold-based ice sheet. Thus, these blockfields cannot be used as indicators of ice-free conditions as previously suggested for southern Norway. Our results have implications for the potential for land surface preservation beneath ice sheets and for glacial reconstructions in northern Fennoscandia.     

Early Holocene water budget of the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin, Central Kenya Rift

The Nakuru-Elmenteita basin in the Central Kenya Rift, contains two shallow, alkaline lakes, Lake Nakuru (1770 m above sea level) and Lake Elmenteita (1786 m). Ancient shorelines and lake sediments at 1940 m suggest that these two lakes formed a single large and deep lake as a result of a wetter climate during the early Holocene. Here, we used a hydrological model to compare the precipitation–evaporation balance during the early Holocene to today. Assuming that the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin was hydrologically closed, as it is today, the most likely climate scenario includes a 45% increase in mean-annual precipitation, a 0.5°C decrease in air temperature, and an increase of 9% in cloud coverage from the modern values. Compared to the modeling results from other East African lake basins, this dramatic increase in precipitation seems to be unrealistic. Therefore, we propose a significant flow of water from the early Holocene Lake Naivasha in the south towards the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin to compensate the extremely negative hydrological budget of this basin. Since we did not find any field evidence for a surface connection, as often proposed during the last 70 years, the hydrological deficit of the Nakuru-Elmenteita basin could have also been compensated by a subsurface water exchange.     

Marine birds breeding in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut, Canada

Surveys of breeding birds on small islands in Penny Strait and Queens Channel, Nunavut Territory, Canada, were conducted in July 2002 and 2003. Approximately 3600 marine birds were observed, with the most common species being Arctic terns ( Sterna paradisaea , N=2400) and common eiders ( Somateria mollissima borealis , N=620). We observed no Ross's gulls ( Rhodostethia rosed ) in either year, and we found ivory gulls ( Pagophila eburned ) only in 2003, even though these species commonly bred here in the 1970s. This previously unsurveyed region supports numerous breeding marine birds, but reproductive success on these small islands may be dependent on annual ice conditions and consequent movements of Arctic foxes ( Alopex lagopus ).     

Tensor time domain electromagnetic resistivity measurements at Ngatamariki geothermal field, New Zealand

Experimental measurements in the Ngatamariki geothermal field, North Island, New Zealand were made to test the applicability of the time domain electromagnetic method for detailed investigation of the resistivity structure within a geothermal field. Low-frequency square wave signals were transmitted through three grounded bipole current sources sited about 8 km from the measurement lines. Despite high levels of electrical noise, transient electric field vectors could be determined reliably for times between 0.02 and 3.3 s after each step in the source current. Instantaneous apparent resistivity tensors were then calculated. Apparent resistivity pseudosections along the two measurement lines show smooth variations of resistivity from site to site. Over most of the field the images consistently show a three-layer resistivity structure with a conductive middle layer (3–10 Ωm) representing the conductive upper part of the thermal reservoir. A deep-seated region of low resistivity in the northwest of the field may indicate a conductive structure at about 1 km associated with a deeper diorite intrusion. Measurements sited closer than about 100 m to drillholes appear to have been disturbed by metallic casing in the holes. A change in resistivity structure in the east of the field may indicate a major geological or hydrothermal boundary.     

Solar modulation of cosmogenic nuclide production over the last millennium: comparison between C and Be records

For about the last 30 years it has been recognized that the high frequency component of the tree rings ¹⁴C/¹²C record is dominated by the modulation of the cosmic ray flux by the solar wind. In particular, it has been demonstrated that the three most recent periods of low sunspot occurrence were characterized by high values of atmospheric ¹⁴C/¹²C. During the last millennium other periods of high ¹⁴C/¹²C values were observed but their solar origin is still debatable. In the present work we compare these fluctuations with an independent record of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be measured in ice from the South Pole to check the solar origin of the observed ¹⁴C/¹²C variations. In order to compare quantitatively the results obtained on ¹⁰Be and ¹⁴C, it is necessary to take into account the different behaviour of these two cosmogenic isotopes, and especially the damping effect of the carbon cycle in the case of ¹⁴C. As an input to a 12-box numerical model we used the relative fluctuations of the ¹⁰Be concentrations record measured in South Pole ice and converted it into a synthetic ¹⁴C record. We took into account the fact that ¹⁰Be modulation is enhanced in polar regions due to the orientation of the geomagnetic field. As expected, the fluctuations of the modelled ¹⁴C record are much smaller (a factor of 20) than those observed for the raw ¹⁰Be record. In addition, the variations are smoother and shifted in time by a few decades. The ¹⁰Be-based ¹⁴C variations closely resemble the ¹⁴C measurements obtained on tree rings (R = 0.81). In particular, it is easy to identify periods of maximal ¹⁴C/¹²C which correspond to solar activity minima centred at about 1060, 1320 (Wolf), 1500 (Spörer), 1690 (Maunder) and 1820 (Dalton) yr A.D. Cross-correlation calculations suggest that there is no significant lag between the ¹⁰Be-based ¹⁴C and the tree-ring ¹⁴C records. Our study strongly suggests the dominance of the solar modulation on the cosmonuclide production variations during the last millennium.