Projections of the impacts of climate change on the water deficit and on the precipitation erosive indexes in Mantaro River Basin,Peru

Projections of climate change are essential to guide sustainable development plans in the tropical Andean countries such as Peru. This study assessed the projections of precipitation and potential evaporation, rain erosive potential, and precipitation concentration in the Mantaro River Basin, in the Peruvian Andes, which is important for agriculture and energy production in Peru. We assumed the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) A1B greenhouse gas emission scenario and simulated the global climate change by the HadCM3 global climate model. Due to the steepness of the mountain slopes and the narrowness of the river valley, this study uses the downscaling of the global model simulations by the regional Eta model down to 20-km resolution. The downscaling projections show decrease in the monthly precipitation with respect to the baseline period, especially during the rainy season, between February and April, until the end of the 21st century. Meanwhile, a progressive increase in the monthly evaporation from the baseline period is projected. The Modified Fournier Index (MFI) shows a statistically significant downward trend in the Mantaro River Basin, which suggests a possible reduction in the rain erosive potential. The Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI) shows a statistically significant increasing trend, which indicates increasingly more irregular temporal distribution of precipitation towards the end of the century. The results of this study allow us to conclude that there should be a gradual increase in water deficit and precipitation concentration. Both changes can be negative for agriculture, power generation, and water supply in the Mantaro River Basin in Peru.     

Differentiated payments for environmental services schemes: Amethodology proposal

Payment schemes for environmental services face serious budget constraints in Mexico. Payments are equally distributed among forest owners, and the governmental agencies that make payments to beneficiaries do not evaluate the amount of environmental services produced by forested areas. This lack of evaluation could lead to economic and environmental deficiencies that restrict the possible benefits of such programmes. In general, these programmes do not achieve their conservation objectives, and local beneficiaries are not involved in the design or application of these programmes. Similarly, the Payments for Hydrological Environmental Services (PHES) programme of the State of Mexico, Mexico, makes equal payments to beneficiaries of forested areas considering tree density. The objective of the present work was to create a methodology for determining differentiated payments schemes for hydrological environmental services, prioritising areas that contribute the most to groundwater recharge and promote the participation of society. In the Nevado de Toluca Natural Protected Area, the environmental criteria of forest type, tree density and aquifer overexploitation as well as social participation were considered in a multi-criteria analysis implemented in a Geographic Information System. A methodology was developed to determine differentiated payments based on specific forest characteristics that influence the potential capacity of forests to recharge groundwater reserves in addition to the level of social participation. In particular, social participation is key as it could ensure the viability of PHES programmes as conservation alternatives in forested areas with high groundwater recharge potential.     

Mushroom production as an alternative for rural development in a forested mountainous area

Wild mushrooms are recognized as important non-wood forest products in mountainous ecosystems, but their real potential for generating rural economies has not been fully evaluated due to the difficulties in obtaining reliable productivity data, minimizing their true potential as contributor to rural economies. Mushroom yield models based on large data series from Pinus forest ecosystems in the region of Catalonia(Spain), combined with data from the Spanish National Forest Inventory allow us to estimate the potential mushroom productivity by forest ecosystems. The results of 24,500 tons/yr of mushrooms of which 16,300 tons are classified as edible and 7,900 tons are commonly marketed demonstrate the importance of mushroom productions in Catalonian pine forests, mostly located in mountainous areas where the development of agricultural activities is limited. Economic mushroom value is estimated at 48 million € for the edible mushroom and 32 million € for those corresponding to marketable yields, confirming the potential of this non-wood forest product. These production results and corresponding economic values provide a basis for the incorporation of wild mushrooms as significant non-wood forest products in the development of forest policies in mountainous areas.     

Influence of shallow infiltration on time-lapse ERT: Experience of advanced interpretation

Previous time-lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) studies have experienced difficulties in reconstructing reliable calculated resistivity changes in the subsurface. Increases or decreases of resistivity appear in the calculated ERT image where no changes were noted in the subsurface, leading to erroneous hydrological interpretations of the geophysical results. In this article, we investigate how a variation of actual resistivity with time and at shallow depth can influence time-lapse ERT results and produce resistivity artefacts at depth. We use 1 and 2-D numerical modelling to simulate infiltration scenarios. Using a standard time-lapse inversion, we demonstrate the resistivity artefact production according to the electrode spacing parameter. We used an advanced inversion methodology with a decoupling line at shallow depth to attenuate or remove resistivity artefacts. We also applied this methodology to a field data set obtained in a semi-arid environment in Burkina Faso, West Africa. Here, time-lapse ERT shows several resistivity artefacts of calculated resistivity if a standard inversion is used. We demonstrate the importance of a dense sampling of shallow resistivity variations at shallow depth. Advanced interpretation allows us to significantly attenuate or remove the resistivity artefact production at intermediate depth and produce reliable interpretation of hydrological processes.     

Accessory mineral U–Th–Pb ages and <Superscript>40</Superscript>Ar/<Superscript>39</Superscript>Ar eruption chronology,and their bearing on rhyolitic magma evolution in the Pleistocene Coso volcanic field,California

We determined Ar/Ar eruption ages of eight extrusions from the Pleistocene Coso volcanic field, a long-lived series of small volume rhyolitic domes in eastern California. Combined with ion-microprobe dating of crystal ages of zircon and allanite from these lavas and from granophyre geothermal well cuttings, we were able to track the range of magma-production rates over the past 650 ka at Coso. In ≤230 ka rhyolites we find no evidence of protracted magma residence or recycled zircon (or allanite) from Pleistocene predecessors. A significant subset of zircon in the ~85 ka rhyolites yielded ages between ~100 and 200 Ma, requiring that generation of at least some rhyolites involves material from Mesozoic basement. Similar zircon xenocrysts are found in an ~200 ka granophyre. The new age constraints imply that magma evolution at Coso can occur rapidly as demonstrated by significant changes in rhyolite composition over short time intervals (≤10’s to 100’s ka). In conjunction with radioisotopic age constraints from other young silicic volcanic fields, dating of Coso rhyolites highlights the fact that at least some (and often the more voluminous) rhyolites are produced relatively rapidly, but that many small-volume rhyolites likely represent separation from long-lived mushy magma bodies.     

Resource Flows of Villages with Contrasting Lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve, Central Himalaya, India

Resource use efficiency analyses of village ecosystem are necessary for effective and efficient planning of resource utilization. This paper deals with economic and energy input-output analyses of different components of village ecosystem in representative buffer zone villages, which are practicing transhumance and settled way of lifestyles in Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve （NDBR） of Garhwal Himalaya. While the villages practicing transhumance used various natural resources spatially segregated,the villages practicing settled way of lifestyle have to manage resources from a limited spatial area through rotation and varied extraction intensities. Forests subsidized the production activity in both type of villages and the per capita resource extractions were found to be greater in tran~humance village than settled village. Though crops provided maximum energy, in terms of economic criteria, animal husbandry played important role in both settled and transhumance villages. As villages representing both the situations showed different ways of adjustments to the conservation oriented land use changes, management authority needs to address the eco-development plans fulfilling the aspirations of all people traditionally using the resources of the Reserve to reduce the conflicts and encourage their participation in the conservation of the area.     

Age and early metamorphic history of the Sanbagawa belt: Lu–Hf and P–T constraints from the Western Iratsu eclogite

Two distinct age estimates for eclogite-facies metamorphism in the Sanbagawa belt have been proposed: (i) c.  120–110 Ma based on a zircon SHRIMP age for the Western Iratsu unit and (ii) c.  88–89 Ma based on a garnet–omphacite Lu–Hf isochron age from the Seba and Kotsu eclogite units. Despite the contrasting estimates of formation ages, petrological studies suggest the formation conditions of the Western Iratsu unit are indistinguishable from those of the other two units—all ∼20 kbar and 600–650 °C. Studies of the associated geological structures suggest the Seba and Western Iratsu units are parts of a larger semi-continuous eclogite unit. A combination of geochronological and petrological studies for the Western Iratsu eclogite offers a resolution to this discrepancy in age estimates. New Lu–Hf dating for the Western Iratsu eclogite yields an age of 115.9 ± 0.5 Ma that is compatible with the zircon SHRIMP age. However, petrological studies show that there was significant garnet growth in the Western Iratsu eclogite before eclogite facies metamorphism, and the early core growth is associated with a strong concentration of Lu. Pre-eclogite facies garnet (Grt1) includes epidote–amphibolite facies parageneses equilibrated at 550–650 °C and ∼10 kbar, and this is overgrown by prograde eclogite facies garnet (Grt2). The Lu–Hf age of c.  116 Ma is strongly skewed to the isotopic composition of Grt1 and is interpreted to reflect the age of the pre-eclogite phase. The considerable time gap ( c.  27 Myr) between the two Lu–Hf ages suggests they may be related to separate tectonic events or distinct phases in the evolution of the Sanbagawa subduction zone.     

Peat bank growth,Holocene palaeoecology and climate history of South Georgia (sub-Antarctica), based on a botanical macrofossil record

Botanical macrofossil analysis of a more than 9000 years old, radiocarbon dated peat sequence of a moss peat bank from South Georgia, shows a clear evolution in the vegetation. Seven ecological phases could be distinguished and they can be interpreted in terms of climate development during the Holocene. Until 2200 years ago, Warnstorfia fontinaliopsis was the dominant moss species pointing to a wet environment. Lower numbers of this species in association with the presence of drier species are assumed to indicate drier periods, such as occurring between ca 6000–5200 and 4400–3400 cal yr BP. The most prominent and definitive vegetation change took place around 2200 cal yr BP. A Polytrichum–Chorisodontium moss peat bank was formed, which is still growing there today. The forcing mechanism for this vegetation change is thought to be a temperature decrease, rather than a precipitation decrease. This conclusion is mainly based on the fact that, today, moss peat banks have their optimal occurrence range in the maritime Antarctic, a region were the mean annual temperature is ca 4 °C lower than on South Georgia. The remarkable change in the moss bank vegetation at 2200 cal yr BP raises the question whether this moment was only a short climatic deterioration, or a definitive change to a cooler and wetter climate after a Holocene climatic optimum period.     

Major changes in ice stream dynamics during deglaciation of the north-western margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

Victoria Island lies at the north-western limit of the former North American (Laurentide) Ice Sheet in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and displays numerous cross-cutting glacial lineations. Previous work suggests that several ice streams operated in this region during the last (Wisconsinan) glaciation and played a major role in ice sheet dynamics and the delivery of icebergs into the Arctic Ocean. This paper produces the first detailed synthesis of their behaviour from the Last Glacial Maximum through to deglaciation (～21–9.5 cal ka BP) based on new mapping and a previously published radiocarbon-constrained ice sheet margin chronology. Over 70 discrete ice flow events (flow-sets) are ‘fitted’ to the ice margin configuration to allow identification of several ice streams ranging in size from large and long-lived (thousands of years) to much smaller and short-lived (hundreds of years). The reconstruction depicts major ice streams in M'Clure Strait and Amundsen Gulf which underwent relatively rapid retreat from the continental shelf edge at some time between ～15.2 and 14.1 cal ka BP: a period which encompasses climatic warming and rapid sea level rise (meltwater pulse-1a). Following this, overall retreat was slower and the ice streams exhibited asynchronous behaviour. The Amundsen Gulf Ice Stream continued to operate during ice margin retreat, whereas the M'Clure Strait Ice Stream ceased operating and was replaced by an ice divide within ～1000 years. This ice divide was subsequently obliterated by another short-lived phase of ice streaming in M'Clintock Channel ～13 cal ka BP. The timing of this large ice discharge event coincides with the onset of the Younger Dryas. Subsequently, a minor ice divide developed once again in M'Clintock Channel, before final deglaciation of the island shortly after 9.5 cal ka BP. It is concluded that large ice streams at the NW margin of the Laurentide Ice Sheet, equivalent in size to the Hudson Strait Ice Stream, underwent major changes during deglaciation, resulting in punctuated delivery of icebergs into the Arctic Ocean. Published radiocarbon dates constrain this punctuated delivery, as far as is possible within the limits imposed by their precision, and we note their coincidence with pulses of meltwater delivery inferred from numerical modelling and ocean sediment cores.     

Pollen stratigraphy,vegetation and climate history of the last 215 ka in the Azzano Decimo core (plain of Friuli,north-eastern Italy)

The pollen record of the long succession of marine and continental deposits filling the subsident north-Adriatic foredeep basin (NE Italy) documents the history of vegetation, the landscape evolution and the climate forcing during the last 215 ka at the south-eastern Alpine foreland. The chronology relies on several ¹⁴C determinations as well as on estimated ages of pollen-stratigraphical and sea-level event tie-points derived from comparison with high-resolution marine records, speleothemes and ice cores.Mixed temperate rainforests persisted throughout MIS 7a–7c, being replaced by conifer forests after the local glacioeustatic regression during early MIS 6. The Alpine piedmont facing the Adriatic foredeeep was glaciated at the culmination of the penultimate glaciation, as directly testified by in situ fluvioglacial aggradation related to the building of a large morainic amphitheatre. The pollen record allows correlation with other European records and with the IRD from N-Atlantic and off Iberia, thus the duration of the penultimate glacial culmination at the southalpine fringe is estimated less than 13 ka between 148 ± 1 and >135 ka. The site was not reached by the Last Interglacial maximum sea transgression and enregistered a typical, though incomplete, Eemian forest record, lacking Mediterranean evergreen trees. A complex sequence of stadial–interstadial episodes is reconstructed during the Early and Middle Würm: major xerophyte peaks match IRD maxima occurred during Heinrich events in deep-sea cores offshore Iberia and in the N-Atlantic and allows to frame lumps of interstadial phases, marked by Picea peaks, each one including several DO warm events. Broad-leaved thermophilous forests disappeared from the north-eastern plain of Italy at the end of the Early Würm, whereas reduced populations of Abies and Fagus probably sheltered even during the Last Glacial Maximum. A renewed fluvioglacial in situ deposition between 30.4 ± 0.4 and 21.6 ± 0.5 ka cal BP sets the time and duration of the last glacial culmination in the pedemontane morainic amphitheatre. Palynomorphs from Plio-Pleistocene marine successions were reworked by glacier erosion and deposited in the lowland during both the penultimate and the last deglaciation phases. This explains a bias affecting previous pollen records from the region.