Soil erosion and sediment transport in Tanzania: Part II – sedimentological evidence of phased land degradation

Soil resources in parts of Tanzania are rapidly being depleted by increased rates of soil erosion and downstream sediment transport, threatening ecosystem health, water and livelihood security in the region. However, incomplete understanding to what effect the dynamics of soil erosion and sediment transport are responding to land-use changes and climatic variability are hindering the actions needed to future-proof Tanzanian land-use practices. Complementary environmental diagnostic tools were applied to reconstruct the rates and sources of sedimentation over time in three Tanzanian river systems that have experienced changing land use and climatic conditions. Detailed historical analysis of sediment deposits revealed drastic changes in sediment yield and source contributions. Quantitative sedimentation reconstruction using radionuclide dating showed a 20-fold increase in sediment yield over the past 120 years. The observed dramatic increase in sediment yield is most likely driven by increasing land-use pressures. Deforestation, cropland expansion and increasing grazing pressures resulted into accelerating rates of sheet erosion. A regime shift after years of progressive soil degradation and convergence of surface flows resulted into a highly incised landscape, where high amounts of eroded soil from throughout the catchment are rapidly transported downstream by strongly connected ephemeral drainage networks. By integrating complementary spatial and temporal evidence bases, this study demonstrated links between land-use change, increased soil erosion and downstream sedimentation. Such evidence can guide stakeholders and policy makers in the design of targeted management interventions to safeguard future soil health and water quality.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a groundwater-fed river and potential response to perturbations changing rainfall patterns under UK climate change scenarios

We report the complex spatial and temporal dynamics of hyporheic exchange flows (HEFs) and nitrogen exchange in an upwelling reach of a 200 m groundwater-fed river. We show how research combining hydrological measurement, geophysics and isotopes, together with nutrient speciation techniques provides insight on nitrogen pathways and transformations that could not have been captured otherwise, including a zone of vertical preferential discharge of nitrate from deeper groundwater, and a zone of rapid denitrification linking the floodplain with the riverbed. Nitrate attenuation in the reach is dominated by denitrification but is spatially highly variable. This variability is driven by groundwater flow pathways and landscape setting, which influences hyporheic flow, residence time and nitrate removal. We observed the spatial connectivity of the river to the riparian zone is important because zones of horizontal preferential discharge supply organic matter from the floodplain and create anoxic riverbed conditions with overlapping zones of nitrification potential and denitrification activity that peaked 10–20 cm below the riverbed. Our data also show that temporal variability in water pathways in the reach is driven by changes in stage of the order of tens of centimetres and by strength of water flux, which may influence the depth of delivery of dissolved organic carbon. The temporal variability is sensitive to changes to river flows under UK climate projections that anticipate a 14%–15% increase in regional median winter rainfall and a 14%–19% reduction in summer rainfall. Superimposed on seasonal projections is more intensive storm activity that will likely lead to a more dynamic and inherently complex (hydrologically and biogeochemically) hyporheic zone. We recorded direct evidence of suppression of upwelling groundwater (flow reversal) during rainfall events. Such flow reversal may fuel riverbed sediments whereby delivery of organic carbon to depth, and higher denitrification rates in HEFs might act in concert to make nitrate removal in the riverbed more efficient.     

Role of reservoir regulation and groundwater feedback in a simulated ground-soil-vegetation continuum: A long-term regional scale analysis

The regional terrestrial water cycle is strongly altered by human activities. Among them, reservoir regulation is a way to spatially and temporally allocate water resources in a basin for multi-purposes. However, it is still not sufficiently understood how reservoir regulation modifies the regional terrestrial- and subsequently, the atmospheric water cycle. To address this question, the representation of reservoir regulation into the terrestrial component of fully coupled regional Earth system models is required. In this study, an existing process-based reservoir network module is implemented into NOAH-HMS, that is, the terrestrial component of an atmospheric–hydrologic modelling system, namely, the WRF-HMS. It allows to quantitatively differentiate role of reservoir regulation and of groundwater feedback in a simulated ground-soil-vegetation continuum. Our study focuses on the Poyang Lake basin, where the largest freshwater lake of China and reservoirs of different sizes are located. As compared to streamflow observations, the newly extended NOAH-HMS slightly improves the streamflow and streamflow duration curves simulation for the Poyang Lake basin for the period 1979–1986. The inclusion of reservoir regulation leads to major changes in the simulated groundwater recharges and evaporation from reservoirs at local scale, but has minor effects on the simulated soil moisture and surface runoff at basin scale. The performed groundwater feedback sensitivity analysis shows that the strength of the groundwater feedback is not altered by the consideration of reservoir regulation. Furthermore, both reservoir regulation and groundwater feedback modify the partitioning of the simulated evapotranspiration, thus affecting the atmospheric water cycle in the Poyang Lake region. This finding motivates future research with our extended fully coupled atmospheric–hydrologic modelling system by the community.     

The population of pulsars with interpulses and the implications for beam evolution

The observed fraction of pulsars with interpulses, their period distribution and the observed pulse width versus pulse period correlation are shown to be inconsistent with a model in which the angle α between the magnetic axis and the rotation axis is random. This conclusion appears to be unavoidable, even when non-circular beams are considered. Allowing the magnetic axis to align from a random distribution at birth with a time-scale of  ∼7 × 10⁷ yr  can, however, explain those observations well. The time-scale derived is consistent with that obtained via independent methods. The probability that a pulsar beam intersects the line of sight is a function of the angle α and therefore beam evolution has important consequences for evolutionary models and for estimations of the total number of neutron stars. The validity of the standard formula for the spin-down rate, which is independent of α, appears to be questionable.     

Tectonometamorphic evolution of the Atbashi high‐P units (Kyrgyz CAOB,Tien Shan): Implications for the closure of the Turkestan Ocean and continental subduction–exhumation of the South Kazakh continental margin

The South Tien Shan (STS) belt results from the last collision event in the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Understanding its formation is of prime importance in the general framework of the CAOB. The Atbashi Range preserves high‐P (HP) rocks along the STS suture, but still, its global metamorphic evolution remains poorly constrained. Several HP units have been identified: (a) a HP tectonic mélange including boudins of mafic eclogites in a sedimentary matrix, (b) a large (>100 km long) high‐P metasedimentary unit (HPMU) and (c) a lower blueschist facies accretionary prism. Raman Spectroscopy on carbonaceous material combined with phengite and chlorite multiequilibria and isochemical phase diagram modelling indicates that the HPMU recorded homogeneous P–T conditions of 23–25 kbar and 560–570°C along the whole unit. ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating on phengite from the HPMU ranges between 328 and 319 Ma at regional scale. These ages are interpreted as (re‐) crystallization ages of phengite during T_max conditions at a pressure range of 20–25 kbar. Thermobarometry on samples from the HP tectonic mélange provides similar metamorphic peak conditions. Thermobarometry on the blueschist to lower greenschist facies accretionary prism indicates that it underwent P–T conditions of 5–6 kbar and 290–340°C, highlighting a 17–20 kbar pressure gap between the HPMU‐tectonic mélange units and the accretionary prism. Comparison with available geochronological data suggests a very short time span between the prograde path (340 Ma), HP metamorphic peak (330 Ma), the T_max (328–319 Ma) and the final exhumation of the HPMU (303–295 Ma). Extrusion of the HPMU, accommodated by a basal thrust and an upper detachment, was driven by buoyant forces from 70–75 km up to 60 km depth, which directly followed continental subduction and detachment of the HPMU. At crustal depths, extrusion was controlled by collisional tectonics up to shallow levels. Lithological homogeneity of the HPMU and its continental‐derived character from the North Tien Shan suggest this unit corresponds to the hyper‐extended continental margin of the Kazakh continent, subducted southward below the north continental active margin of the Tarim craton. Integration of the available geological data allows us to propose a general geodynamic scenario for Tien Shan during the Carboniferous with a combination of (a) N‐dipping subduction below the Kazakh margin of Middle Tien Shan until 390–340 Ma and (b) S‐dipping subduction of remaining Turkestan marginal basins between 340 and 320 Ma.     

An extended finite volume method and fixed-stress approach for modeling fluid injection–induced tensile opening in fractured reservoirs

Fluid injection–induced tensile opening is modeled using an extended finite volume method (XFVM). An embedded fracture strategy is used for the flow problem, that is, the fractures are discretized using finite volume segments without resolving the grid around them. Further, the discontinuities across fractures are modeled using special basis functions. The fracture openings due to enhanced fluid pressure and the associated shear slip due to traction free boundary condition on the fracture segments are both modeled using these special discontinuity basis functions. Mass transfer between fractures and matrix is modeled using the pressure difference. The enhancement of fracture storativity due to tensile opening leads to stronger coupling between flow and mechanics. An iterative scheme relying on the fixed-stress approach for fractures, which conserves the stress dependent terms over each iteration of the flow problem, has been introduced. Tensile opening has been simulated for single fractures embedded in two- and three-dimensional matrices. The convergence criterion for sequentially implicit fixed-stress scheme for fractures embedded in elastic media is established and has been validated numerically. Further, for 2D simulations, the effect of the matrix permeability for fracture propagation due to tensile opening has been studied.     

Impact of ambient temperature on spring-based relative gravimeter measurements

In this paper, we investigate the impact of ambient temperature changes on the gravity reading of spring-based relative gravimeters. Controlled heating experiments using two Scintrex CG5 gravimeters allowed us to determine a linear correlation (R \(^{2}>\) 0.9) between ambient temperature and gravity variations. The relation is stable and constant for the two CG5 we used: ?5 nm/s\(^{2}/^\circ \)C. A linear relation is also seen between gravity and residual sensor temperature variations (R \(^{2}>\) 0.75), but contrary to ambient temperature, this relation is neither constant over time nor similar between the two instruments. The linear correction of ambient temperature on the controlled heating time series reduced the standard deviation at least by a factor of 2, to less than 10 nm/s\(^{2}\). The laboratory results allowed for reprocessing the data gathered on a field survey that originally aimed to characterize local hydrological heterogeneities on a karstic area. The correction of two years of monthly CG5 measurements from ambient temperature variations halved the standard deviation (from 62 to 32 nm/s\(^{2}\)) and led us to a better hydrological interpretation. Although the origin of this effect is uncertain, we suggest that an imperfect control of the sensor temperature may be involved, as well as a change of the properties of an electronic component.     

Depiction of Wild Food Foraging Practices in the Media: Impact of the Great Recession

The practice of gathering and harvesting wild foods has seen renewed interest in recent decades. In addition to contributing to food security and food sovereignty, foraging plays a role in promoting socioecological resilience and creating communities of belonging. However, foraging is generally prohibited by regulations governing public lands in the United States and elsewhere. The growth in food forests suggests public policymakers and land managers’ may be interested in reconsidering this broad prohibition of foraging but require an information base to do so. While a body of research on foraging exists, news media coverage of foraging represents an additional, readily available source of input. As a consequence, framings of foraging in media coverage likely influence managers’ deliberations on this practice. The current paper uses automated content analysis to understand how the practice of gathering and consuming wild foods is framed in print and digital news media, and how these depictions have varied in a 15-year period that includes the Great Recession. Our results show that prevalent framings of foraging represent it variously as a self-provisioning practice or a source of luxury commodities and experiences, with economic uncertainty appearing to affect the frequency of each framing by news media sources. Given managers’ ease of access to them, these distinct framings may influence future regulatory landscapes of foraging.     

High-resolution mass spectrometric characterization of dissolved organic matter from warm and cold periods in the NEEM ice core

Dissolved organic matter(DOM) is an important component of ice cores but is currently poorly characterized. DOM from one Holocene sample(HS, aged at 1600–4500 B.P.) and one Last Glacial Maximum sample(LS, aged at 21000–25000 B.P.) from the North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling(NEEM) ice core were analyzed by ultra-high resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry(FT-ICR-MS). CHO compounds contributed 50% of the compounds identified in negative-ionization mode in these two samples, with significant contributions from organic N, S, and P compounds, likely suggesting that marine DOM was an important source in these samples. Overall, the chemical compositions are similar between these two samples, suggesting their consistent DOM sources. However, subtle differences in the DOM between these two samples are apparent and could indicate differences in source strength or chemistry occurring through both pre-and post-depositional processes. For example, higher relative amounts of condensed carbon compounds in the HS DOM(5%), compared to the LS DOM(2%), suggest potentially important contributions from terrestrial sources. Greater incorporation of P in the observed DOM in the LS DOM(22%), compared to the HS DOM(13%), indicate more active microbiological processes that likely contribute to phosphorus incorporation into the DOM pool. Although these two samples present only a preliminary analysis of DOM in glacial/interglacial periods, the data indicate a need to expand the analysis into a broader range of ice-core samples, geographical locations, and glacial/interglacial periods.     

Climate and climate change in the Austrian–Swiss region of the European Alps during the twentieth century according to Feddema

We present a 1-km² gridded German dataset of hourly surface climate variables covering the period 1995 to 2012. The dataset comprises 12 variables including temperature, dew point, cloud cover, wind speed and direction, global and direct shortwave radiation, down- and up-welling longwave radiation, sea level pressure, relative humidity and vapour pressure. This dataset was constructed statistically from station data, satellite observations and model data. It is outstanding in terms of spatial and temporal resolution and in the number of climate variables. For each variable, we employed the most suitable gridding method and combined the best of several information sources, including station records, satellite-derived data and data from a regional climate model. A module to estimate urban heat island intensity was integrated for air and dew point temperature. Owing to the low density of available synop stations, the gridded dataset does not capture all variations that may occur at a resolution of 1 km². This applies to areas of complex terrain (all the variables), and in particular to wind speed and the radiation parameters. To achieve maximum precision, we used all observational information when it was available. This, however, leads to inhomogeneities in station network density and affects the long-term consistency of the dataset. A first climate analysis for Germany was conducted. The Rhine River Valley, for example, exhibited more than 100 summer days in 2003, whereas in 1996, the number was low everywhere in Germany. The dataset is useful for applications in various climate-related studies, hazard management and for solar or wind energy applications and it is available via doi: 10.5676/DWD_CDC/TRY_Basis_v001.