Dissolved free amino acids in interstitial waters of Georgia salt marsh soils

The patterns of concentration of dissolved free amino acids (DFAA) are different and more variable in pore water of soils from a Georgia salt marsh than in most surface waters. Elevated concentrations of DFAA (up to 8850 nmoles liter^?1) and high relative levels of alanine and glutamic acid suggest that bacteria may produce these amino acids. In addition to the common protein amino acids, an unidentified compound was present and was the dominant free amino acid in some sections. This compound appeared to be specific to pore waters as it was not observed in surface waters or in hydrolysates of sediments, bacteria or plants from the marsk.     

Geochronology and geochemistry of multiple generations of monazite from the Wepawaug Schist,Connecticut, USA: implications for monazite stability in metamorphic rocks

 U-Pb isotope analyses, rare earth and trace element analyses, and petrographic observations are presented for monazites from the Wepawaug Schist in southern Connecticut, USA. Two samples of kyanite zone schist were collected less than a meter apart. Each sample contains a different variety of monazite with distinct morphology, chemistry, and Pb isotopic composition. One sample preserves a largely amphibolite facies mineralogy, including kyanite, staurolite, garnet, biotite, and chlorite, with little textural evidence of later shearing. Monazites from this sample are xenoblastic with about 1 wt% ThO₂, 0.3 wt% CaO, and a more LREE enriched pattern than monazites from the second sample. These xenoblastic monazites preserve textural evidence of a retrograde reaction to apatite which involves chlorite, indicating that these monazites became unstable during retrograde chloritization of biotite. These monazites give strongly discordant U-Pb ages which fit a chord with an upper intercept age of 411±18 Ma, interpreted as the minimum growth age of these xenoblastic monazites, perhaps during amphibolite facies metamorphism. The second sample contains S-C banding, evidence of dynamic recrystallization, and abundant retrograde chlorite. This sample contains idioblastic monazites with about 3 wt% ThO₂, 0.8 wt% CaO, and with less fractionated REE patterns. These monazites give close to concordant U-Pb ages with a mean ²⁰⁷Pb*/²⁰⁶Pb* age of 388 ± 2 Ma. This age is interpreted as probably representing the time of monazite growth during retrogression of the sample from an amphibolite to greenschist facies mineralogy. Received: 26 June 1995/Accepted: 25 May 1996     

Processes of magma/wet sediment interaction in a large-scale Jurassic andesitic peperite complex, northern Sierra Nevada, California

 The Middle Jurassic Tuttle Lake Formation in the northern Sierra Nevada, California, comprises a thick volcaniclastic sequence deposited in a submarine island-arc setting and penetrated by numerous related hypabyssal intrusions. A composite andesite-diorite intrusive complex ≥4.5 km long and ≥1.5 km thick was emplaced while the host Tuttle Lake sediments were still wet and unconsolidated. Large parts of the intrusive complex consist of peperite formed where andesitic magma intruded and intermixed with tuff, lapilli-tuff and tuff-breccia. The southern half of the complex consists of augite-phyric andesite containing peperite in numerous small, isolated pockets and in more extensive, laterally continuous zones. The peperites comprise three main types recognized previously in other peperite studies. Fluidal peperite consists of small (≤30 cm), closely spaced, at least partly interconnected, globular to amoeboid andesite bodies enclosed by tuff. This peperite type developed during intrusion of magma into fine-grained wet sediment along unstable interfaces, and fluidization of the sediment facilitated development of complex intrusive geometries. Blocky peperite and mixed blocky and fluidal peperite formed where magma intruded coarser sediment and underwent variable degrees of brittle fragmentation by quenching and dynamic stressing of rigid margins, possibly aided by small steam explosions. The northern half of the intrusive complex consists predominantly of a different type of peperite, in which decimetre-scale plagioclase-phyric andesite clasts with ellipsoidal, elongate, or angular, polyhedral shapes are closely packed to widely dispersed within disrupted host sediment. Textural features suggest the andesite clasts were derived from conduits through which magma was flowing, and preserved remnants of the conduits are represented by elongate, sinuous bodies up to 30 m or more in length. Disruption and dispersal of the andesite clasts are inferred to have occurred at least partly by steam explosions that ripped apart a network of interconnected feeder conduits penetrating the host sediments. Closely packed peperite is present adjacent to mappable intrusions of coherent andesite, and along the margin of a large mass of coarse-grained diorite. These coherent intrusions are considered to be major feeders for this part of the complex. Examples of magma/wet sediment interaction similar in scale to the extensive peperites described here occur elsewhere in ancient island-arc strata in the northern Sierra Nevada. Based on these and other published examples, large-scale peperites probably are more common than generally realized and are likely to be important in settings where thick sediment sequences accumulate during active volcanism. Careful mapping in well-exposed terrains may be required to recognize large-scale peperite complexes of this type. Received: 8 June 1998 / Accepted: 4 December 1998     

Selective uptake of prokaryotic picoplankton by a marine sponge (Callyspongia sp.) within an oligotrophic coastal system

Marine sponges are key players in the transfer of carbon from the pelagic microbial food web into the benthos. Selective uptake of prokaryotic picoplankton (<2 μm) by a demosponge (Callyspongia sp.), and carbon flux through this process, were examined for the first time in the oligotrophic coastal waters of southwestern Australia, where sponge abundance and biodiversity ranks among the highest in the world. Water sampling and flow rate measurements were conducted over five sampling occasions following the InEx method of Yahel et al. (2005), with heterotrophic bacteria and autotrophic Synechococcus cyanobacteria identified and enumerated by flow cytometry. Callyspongia sp. demonstrated high filtration efficiencies, particularly for high DNA (HDNA) bacteria (up to 85.3% in summer 2008) and Synechococcus (up to 91.1% in autumn 2007), however efficiency varied non-uniformly with time and food type (p < 0.01). Overall filtration efficiency for Synechococcus (86.6 ± 6.3%; mean ± s.d.) was always significantly higher (p < 0.05) than for low DNA (LDNA) bacteria (40 ± 17.2%), except during winter 2007 (p = 0.14) when ambient Synechococcus concentrations were lowest. When compared to ambient abundances of the different food types, Callyspongia sp. exhibited consistently negative selectivity for LDNA bacteria and positive selectivity for Synechococcus, while HDNA bacteria was generally a neutral or positive selection. The total carbon removal rate (sum of all prokaryotic picoplankton cells), calculated on a per unit area basis, varied significantly with time (p < 0.01), with lowest rates recorded during the winter (0.5 ± 0.4–0.6 ± 0.8 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹) and highest values recorded in summer (3.5 ± 1.9 mg C m⁻² d⁻¹). These flux estimates quantify the role of a demosponge species in the ultimate fate of prokaryotic picoplankton within the nearshore food webs of southwestern Australia, and support the conclusion that sponges actively select food particles that optimise their nutritional intake.     

Nutrient enrichment and precipitation changes do not enhance resiliency of salt marshes to sea level rise in the Northeastern U.S.

In the Northeastern U.S., salt marsh area is in decline. Habitat change analysis has revealed fragmentation, displacement of high marsh by low marsh species, and marsh drowning, while development of adjacent uplands limits upslope migration. Measures of marsh vegetation loss for eight sites in Rhode Island and New York between ca.1970 and 2011 indicate that substantial loss has occurred over past decades, with higher loss rates found for lower elevation salt marshes. Using inundation experiments, field surveys, and LiDAR datasets, we developed an elevation-productivity relationship for Spartina alterniflora specific to the U.S. Northeast, and located current salt marsh orthometric heights on this curve. We estimate that 87 % of Northeastern salt marshes are located at elevations where growth is limited by inundation. By manipulating water column nutrients, precipitation, and elevation, we further found that altered precipitation regime was associated with significant reductions in biomass, and that nutrient enrichment adversely impacts organic matter accumulation and peat formation. These results provide evidence that Northeastern U.S. marshes are vulnerable to the effects of accelerated sea level rise, and that neither precipitation changes, nor cultural eutrophication, will contribute positively to long-term salt marsh survival.     

Modeling regional sediment transport and shoreline response in the vicinity of tidal inlets on the Long Island coast,United States

A new numerical model was developed to simulate regional sediment transport and shoreline response in the vicinity of tidal inlets based on the one-line theory combined with the reservoir analogy approach for volumetric evolution of inlet shoals. Sand bypassing onshore and sheltering effects on wave action from the inlet bar and shoals were taken into account. The model was applied to unique field data from the south coast of Long Island, United States, including inlet opening and closure. The simulation area extended from Montauk Point to Fire Island Inlet, including Shinnecock and Moriches Inlets. A 20-year long time series of hindcast wave data at three stations along the coast were used as input data to the model. The capacity of the inlet shoals and bars to store sand was estimated based on measured cross-sectional areas of the inlets as well as on comprehensive bathymetric surveys of the areas around the inlet. Several types of sediment sources and sinks were represented, including beach fills, groin systems, jetty blocking, inlet bypassing, and flood shoal and ebb shoal feeding. The model simulations were validated against annual net longshore transport rates reported in the literature, measured shorelines, and recorded sediment volumes in the flood and ebb shoal complexes. Overall, the model simulations were in good agreement with the measured data.     

The response of summer monsoon onset/retreat in Sumatra-Java and tropical Australia region to global warming in CMIP3 models

In this study, we assess the potential changes in the onset, retreat and duration of austral summer monsoon covering the domain from south Sumatra and Java region in the tropics to the northern Australian continent. We simply call it the Australian summer monsoon. Daily precipitable water and 850 hPa wind from 13 CMIP3 models are used in the diagnoses. A majority of the models can capture the northwest–southeast evolution of the summer monsoon, which starts from the south Sumatra and Java region around later November and then progressively approaches the Australian continent in late December. Nevertheless, significant biases exist in the modeled onset/retreat dates and the extent of the monsoon inland penetration. Under global warming, the agreement among the model projections varies across the domain. In between the Sumatra-Java archipelago and the top end of the Australian continent, over 80 % of the models simulate delayed monsoon onset and shortened duration by ~10 days, but less model agreement is seen over interior continent where the model ensembles show an approximate 7-day delay of both the onset and retreat with relatively little change in duration. Both El Nino-Southern Oscillation and Indian Ocean SST patterns appear to play important roles in determining the variations of the modeled monsoon onset. Nevertheless, the extent of their influence varies significantly across the models. Under global warming, a large proportion of models show relatively less warming in the eastern Indian Ocean and with a consequent increase in the modeled Indian Ocean Dipole index. Both a weakened and/or eastward shift of the upward branch of Walker circulation and the Indian Ocean contribute to the simulated delayed onset and shortened duration in the tropics under global warming.     

ON NOT EXCLUDING HALF OF THE HUMAN IN HUMAN GEOGRAPHY

Much research in human geography has been, often inadvertently, sexist. We first propose some reasons for this and then review the feminist contributions in other disciplines. The bulk of the paper examines some examples of sexist bias in the content, methods, and purposes of geographic research, suggests the nature of the damage that such bias inflicts on geographic knowledge, and identifies ways in which nonsexist geography might emerge.