Mountain restoration: Soil and surface wildlife habitat

Much wildlife habitat is being destroyed by extractive resource industries in mountain environments. This article illustrates how mountain wildlife habitat was restored in a devastated area. A strip mine for coal on the east slopes of the Alberta Rockies, occupied during its operations by Rocky Mountain bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis canadensis, Shaw 1803), was reclaimed as bighorn habitat. By considering the behaviour and habitat requirements of bighorns in conjunction with an operating coal mine and reclamation process, a large coal mining company has been able to reconstruct the mine site restoration to benefit mountain sheep. Although bighorn habitat requirements are well known, it was not until the animal and its requirements were studied against the backdrop of an operating coal mine that obvious recommendations regarding the maintenance and placement of high steep excavated rock faces were made and accepted by the government regulatory agencies. An open pit mine is a devastated landscape; trees, soil and overburden are removed to retrieve coal that may be up to 215 m underground. Overburden and soil are returned, but the disturbance compares to the barren landscapes left behind by glaciers. Contouring of the land, grading of overburden and soil, seeding with grass and legume mixtures and extensive fertilization are designed to speed plant colonization and soil development. By examining the bighorn's biological needs with respect to specific mining operations, a unique opportunity arose to employ McHarg's design with nature concept. This approach incorporates environmental and societal values into every aspect of development, and promotes the evaluation of the constraints and opportunities arising. The sheep numbered about 200. Their seasonal movements were similar to those found on native ranges. They used the reclaimed areas as winter range and for the mineral licks exposed during mining; in summer, the sheep moved to nearby alpine areas. Two thirds of all sightings were confined to 1.3 km² of reclaimed grassland; its average productivity (4190 kg/ha) exceeded native ranges (1700 kg/ha). The body mass of female sheep in autumn equalled that of the largest in Alberta, but the skull dimensions were not larger than those of adjacent ranges. Infestation with lungworms was moderate. Lamb production and survival were high. Design criteria should be: feeding areas should be dry and lie within 300 m of escape terrain, which should have a slope of 40% and contain at least three benches. Rock piles should be placed on grazing areas. Mineral licks, a vital welfare factor, already existed within the high walls created by strip mining.     

Gravity reduction with three-dimensional atmospheric pressure data for precise ground gravity measurements

The redistribution of air masses induces gravity variations (atmospheric pressure effect) up to about 20 μgal. These variations are disturbing signals in gravity records and they must be removed very carefully for detecting weak gravity signals. In the past, different methods have been developed for modelling of the atmospheric pressure effect. These methods use local or two-dimensional (2D) surface atmospheric pressure data and a standard height-dependent air density distribution. The atmospheric pressure effect is consisting of the elastic deformation and attraction term. The deformation term can be well modelled with 2D surface atmospheric pressure data, for instance with the Green's function method. For modelling of the attraction term, three-dimensional (3D) data are required. Results with 2D data are insufficient.From European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) 3D atmospheric pressure data are now available. The ECMWF data used here are characterised by a spacing of Δ and Δλ = 0.5°, 60 pressure levels up to a height of 60 km and an interval of 6 h. These data are used for modelling of the atmospheric attraction term. Two attraction models have been developed based on the point mass attraction of air segments and the gravity potential of the air masses. The modelling shows a surface pressure-independent part of gravity variations induced by mass redistribution of the atmosphere in the order of some μgal. This part can only be determined by using 3D atmospheric pressure data. It has been calculated for the Vienna Superconducting Gravimeter site.From this follows that the gravity reduction can be improved by applying the 3D atmospheric attraction model for analysing long-periodic tidal waves including the polar tide. The same improvement is expected for reduction of long-term absolute gravity measurements or comparison of gravity measurements at different seasonal times. By using 3D atmospheric pressure data, the gravity correction can be improved up to some μgal.     

1998 Eruption at Volcán Cerro Azul, Galápagos Islands: I. Syn-Eruptive Petrogenesis

The 1998 eruption of Volcán Cerro Azul in the Galápagos Islands produced two intra-caldera vents and a flank vent that erupted more than 1.0×10⁸ m³ of lava. Lava compositions changed notably during the 5-week eruption, and contemporaneous eruptions in the caldera and on the flank produced different compositions. Lavas erupted from the flank vent range from 6.3 to 14.1% MgO, nearly the entire range of MgO contents previously reported from the volcano. On-site monitoring of eruptive activity is linked with petrogenetic processes such that geochemical variations are evaluated in a temporal context. Lavas from the 1998 eruption record two petrogenetic stages characterized by progressively more mafic lavas as the eruption proceeded. Crystal compositions, whole rock major and trace element compositions, and isotope ratios indicate that early lavas are the product of mixing between 1998 magma and remnant magma of the 1979 eruption. Intra-caldera lavas and later lavas have no 1979 signature, but were produced by the 1998 magma incorporating olivine and clinopyroxene xenocrysts. Thus, early magma petrogenesis is characterized by mixing with the 1979 magma, followed by the magma progressively entraining wehrlite cumulate mush.Editorial Responsibility: M.R. Carroll     

Megacryst-bulk rock isotopic disequilibrium as an indicator of contamination processes: The Edgecumbe Volcanic Field,SE Alaska

Sr and Nd isotopic ratios are reported from mineral separates and bulk rock samples from the Edgecumbe Volcanic Field in southeast Alaska, a suite of lavas that has developed by assimilation. Megacrysts in the basaltic unit and the rhyodacites are in isotopic equilibrium with their matrices. Because the rhyodacites developed as the result of assimilation, the assimilate must have been completely dissolved. In contrast, megacrysts in the two andesitic units are in isotopic disequilibrium with their matrix. These megacrysts must be a mixture of those inherited from the contaminant, crystals in equilibrium with the groundmass, and possibly crystals inherited from a mafic liquid.     

A Method for Installing Piezometers in Large Cobble Bed Rivers

An impact drive point method is described for emplacing piezometers in a cobble river bottom where this has previously been difficult without the use of drilling rigs. To force the drive point piezometers through coble, the vibrational impact of an air-powered hammer was carried directly to the drive point by the use of an internal drive rod. After insertion to depth, the drive rod was removed from the lower portion of the piezometer and a standpipe was added to extend the piezometer above the river level. Piezometers installed in this way have permitted water quality analysis and dynamic measurement of vertical potentials in cobble sediments ranging in size from 2.5 to >30 cm and the method has been successfully used in the Columbia River, USA, and Töss River, Switzerland. This innovative method provides information on the hydrodynamics of pore water in highly permeable, cobble deposits that are common in high-energy river and lake bottoms. Piezometers installed using the internal drive rod method facilitate the assessment of the temporal and spatial dynamics of recharge and discharge at the ground water/surface water interface and analyses of the ecological connectivity between the hyporheic zone and surface water of rivers and streams. This information will lead to improved management decisions related to our nation's ground water and surface water supplies.     

The emergence of a Galápagos shield volcano, Roca Redonda

Roca Redonda volcano is a mostly submarine shield volcano that rises nearly 3 km from the adjacent seafloor. Over twenty lava flows and palagonite tuff are exposed in a 60 meter high oblong outcrop above sea level, and several other flows are exposed in the shallow water surrounding the islet. Thick, slightly alkaline picritic flows form the base of the section. Thinner picrites interbedded with sparsely porphyritic alkali-olivine basaltic pahoehoe toes characterize the upper section. The subaerial section probably records the filling of a palagonite tuff cone with younger lavas. Numerous fumaroles that may have a magmatic component are present in the shallow (<30 m) submarine zone and indicate that the volcano is probably still active. Three lava types are exposed: the basal picrites with 19% > MgO > 14%, high-Mg basalts with MgO of about 9%, and low-Mg basalts with MgO of about 6%. The Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of the three lava types are within analytical uncertainty. Olivine compositions indicate that the picrites are basaltic liquids that have accumulated olivine whose composition is in equilibrium with the host basaltic liquid. Apparently, basaltic magmas percolated through dunite and troctolite that had crystallized from slightly older Roca Redonda basaltic magma. Lavas from Roca Redonda have enriched trace element contents and isotopic ratios relative to nearby Wolf volcano, but they are quite similar to lavas from Cerro Azul and Ecuador volcanoes. The common characteristic of these volcanoes is that they lie on the periphery of the archipelago and are in a stage of subaerial growth. This suggests that Galápagos volcanoes may go through a juvenile alkaline stage before a mature tholeiitic stage, analogous to the Loihi stage of Hawaiian volcanism. A low ³He/⁴He ratio in olivine from one of the picrites indicates a small contribution by the Galápagos mantle plume. Received: 15 December 1997 / Accepted: 6 May 1998     

Ukinrek Maars, Alaska, II. Deposits and formation of the 1977 craters

The initial phase of the eruption forming Ukinrek Maars during March and April 1977 were explosions from the site of West Maar. These were mainly phreatomagmatic and initially transitional to strombolian. Activity at West Maar ceased after three days upon the initiation of the East Maar. The crater quickly grew by strong phreatomagmatic explosions. During the first phases of phreatomagmatic activity at East Maar, large exotic blocks derived from a subsurface till were ejected. Ballistic studies indicate muzzle velocities for these blocks of 80–90 m s⁻¹.Phreatomagmatic explosions ejected both juvenile and non-juvenile material which formed a low rim of ejecta (< 26 mhigh) around the crater and a localized, coarse, wellsorted (σ_φ = 1−1.5) juvenile and lithic fall deposit. Other fine ash beds, interstratified with the coarse beds, are more poorly sorted (σ_φ = 2−3) and are interpreted as fallout of wet, cohesive ash from probably milder phases of activity in the crater. Minor base surge activity damaged trees and deposited fine ash, including layers plastered on vertical surfaces. Viscous basalt lava appeared in the center of the East Maar crater almost immediately and a lava dome gradually grew in the crater despite phreatomagmatic eruptions adjacent to it.The development of these maars appears to be mainly controlled by gradual collapse of crater and conduit walls, and blasting-out of the slumped debris by phreatomagmatic explosions when rising magma contacted groundwater beneath the regional water table and a local perched aquifer.Ballistic analysis on the ejected blocks indicates a maximum muzzle velocity of 100–150 m s^-1, values similar to those obtained from other ballistic studies on maar ejecta.     

Barriers in the science-policy-practice interface: Toward a knowledge-action-system in global environmental change research

This paper presents the results of a case study analysis from the knowledge domains of vulnerability and resilience. We analyzed 20 scientific assessments to provide empirical evidence for successes and failures in collaborative knowledge production, i.e., the joint creation of assessments reports by researchers and decision makers in policy and practice. It became clear that the latter typically use insufficiently the research-based knowledge available and researchers typically produce insufficiently knowledge that is directly usable. We found a number of functional, structural, and social factors inhibiting a joint problem identification and framing of knowledge producers and potential users: divergent objectives, needs, scope, and priorities; different institutional settings and standards, as well as differing cultural values, understanding, and mistrust. Combining understanding from multiple sources and providing mechanisms for linking solutions proposed by research with articulated needs and problems of practitioners would reduce the discrepancies in activities of different actors and result in more timely and context-appropriate solutions. In the concluding section we argue for a more locally embedded and socially contingent production of actionable knowledge and make suggestions about ways to enhance effectiveness of research-based knowledge.     

Evaluating along‐strike variation using thin‐bedded facies analysis,Upper Cretaceous Ferron Notom Delta,Utah

Thin‐bedded delta‐front and prodelta facies of the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Notom Delta Complex near Hanksville in southern Utah, USA, show significant along‐strike facies variability. Primary initiation processes that form these thin beds include surge‐type turbidity currents, hyperpycnal flows and storm surges. The relative proportion of sedimentary structures generated by each of these depositional processes/events has been calculated from a series of measured sedimentological sections within a single parasequence (PS6–1) which is exposed continuously along depositional strike. For each measured section, sedimentological data including grain size, lithology, bedding thickness, sedimentary structures and ichnological suites have been documented. Parasequence 6–1 shows a strong along‐strike variation with a wave‐dominated environment in the north, passing abruptly into a fluvial‐dominated area, then to an environment with varying degrees of fluvial and wave influence southward, and back to a wave‐dominated environment further to the south‐east. The lateral facies variations integrated with palaeocurrent data indicate that parasequence 6–1 is deposited as a storm‐dominated symmetrical delta with a large river‐dominated bayhead system linked to an updip fluvial feeder valley. This article indicates that it is practical to quantify the relative importance of depositional processes and determine the along‐strike variation within an ancient delta system using thin‐bedded facies analysis. The wide range of vertical stratification and grading sequences present in these event beds also allows construction of conceptual models of deposition from turbidity currents (i.e. surge‐type turbidity currents and hyperpycnal flows) and storm surges, and shows that there are significant interactions and linkages of these often paired processes.