Ocean Waves: Half-a-Century of Discovery

While the nature of most ocean waves has long been known and their basic physics understood since the nineteenth century, intense study of ocean waves during the second half of the twentieth century has taken the subject from the realm of mathematical exercises to that of practical engineering. Modern understanding of the generation, propagation and interactions of ocean waves with each other and with oceanic features has advanced to a quantitative level offering predictive capacity. This paper presents a brief qualitative review of advances in knowledge of sound waves, wind waves, tsunamis, tides, internal waves and long-period vorticity waves. The review is aimed at non-specialists who may benefit from an overview of the current state of the subject and access to a bibliography of general-interest references. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A Reflection on Mg, Cd, Ca, Li and Si Isotopic Measurements and Related Reference Materials

This contribution aims to report the reflections we had with the scientific community during two international workshops on reference materials for stable isotopes in Davos (2002) and Nice (2003). After evaluating the isotopic homogeneity of some existing reference materials, based on either certificates, literature data or specific inter-laboratory rounds, we confirm these as primary reference materials or propose new ones relative to which stable isotope compositions should be reported. We propose DSM-3 for Mg, NIST SRM 915a for Ca, L-SVEC for Li and NBS28 for Si. Cadmium does not yet have a well identified delta zero material, although three commercial mono-elemental Cd solutions have yielded the same isotopic composition relative to one another. In order to scale the linearity of any mass spectrometer, some secondary reference materials are also proposed: Cambridge-1 solution for Mg, the "Münster-Cd" and JEPPIM Cd solutions for Cd and the "Big Batch" silicate for Si. The team from Nancy propose to prepare a mixed spike solution for Li isotopes. Well-characterised natural samples such as ocean or continental waters, diatoms, sponges, rocks and minerals are needed to validate the entire analytical procedure, particularly to take into account the effect of sample mineralisation and of chemical manipulations for elemental separation prior to analysis.     

Preliminary data on chemical changes in the Aral Sea during low-level periods from the last 9000 years

The withdrawal of the Aral Sea tributaries (Amu and Syr Daria) for cultures has led to significant falls of its level and an important increase in its salinity. During the Holocene, a succession of low and high water inputs occurred. Silty deposits correspond to the high levels and carbonates to the low levels. This study makes a distinction between the Syr Daria and the Amu Daria water inputs during low-level periods by using mineralogical and chemical compositions of the carbonates deposits. Waters from the Syr Daria are more sulphatic and have a low iron content in comparison with that of the Amu Daria. The Syr Daria was the major tributary around 7500, 4956 and 970 yr?BP, whereas around 6200 and 3610 yr?BP, inflow also from the Amu Daria is observed. To cite this article: L. Le Callonnec et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Turbulent Transfer Between Street Canyons and the Overlying Atmospheric Boundary Layer

The turbulent exchange of momentum between a two-dimensional cavity and the overlying boundary layer has been studied experimentally, using hot-wire anemometry and particle image velocimetry (PIV). Conditions within the boundary layer were varied by changing the width of the canyons upstream of the test canyon, whilst maintaining the square geometry of the test canyon. The results show that turbulent transfer is due to the coupling between the instabilities generated in the shear layer above the canyons and the turbulent structures in the oncoming boundary layer. As a result, there is no single, unique velocity scale that correctly characterizes all the processes involved in the turbulent exchange of momentum across the boundary layer. Similarly, there is no single velocity scale that can characterize the different properties of the turbulent flow within the canyon, which depends strongly on the way in which turbulence from the outer flow is entrained into the cavity and carried round by the mean flow. The results from this study will be useful in developing simple parametrizations for momentum exchange in the urban canopy, in situations where the street geometry consists principally of relatively long, uniform streets arranged in grid-like patterns; they are unlikely to be applicable to sparse geometries composed of isolated three-dimensional obstacles.     

Vegetation response to obliquity and precession forcing during the Mid-Pleistocene Transition in Western Mediterranean region (ODP site 976)

The ODP leg 161 Site 976 (Alboran Sea) is a deep-sea section sampled at a water depth of 1108 m in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Pollen analysis provides a vegetation and climate record of the Mid Pleistocene Transition (MPT), roughly one million years ago. The age-model tied to biostratigraphic events was revised by aligning the pollen climate index (PCI) to Mediterranean (KC01b) and global (LR04) oxygen isotope records. The studied time slice spans the interval ～1.09 Ma (MIS 31) to ～0.90 Ma (MIS 23).Across this interval, past phytogeography of nowadays extinct taxa, which were rare, allows a successful application of the modern analogues technique (MAT) to quantitative climate reconstructions for the MPT. Five, long-term, obliquity-related vegetation successions (O1 to O5), and eight short-term, precession-related vegetation successions (P1 to P8) are observed within the studied interval. These vegetation successions, regardless of their duration, show the same pattern: the progressive replacement of temperate trees by mountainous taxa, and then by herbs and steppe maxima. Precession-related successions correspond, therefore, to as dramatic vegetation changes as those driven by obliquity, including a final steppe phase under deteriorated climate conditions.Wavelet analysis of the PCI record shows that the Western Mediterranean experienced a shift at 1.01 Ma from precession-dominated frequencies (1.05–1.01 Ma) to obliquity-dominated frequencies (1.01–0.9 Ma). There is, therefore, an apparent discrepancy between wavelet analysis results and vegetation dynamic analysis (which suggests that obliquity and precession are recorded throughout the entire studied interval). This discrepancy could result from the fact that the PCI record sums, somehow, similar vegetation changes (wet to dry) occurring at different periodicities. Such a complex vegetation dynamics is mathematically rendered through a single parameter (i.e. principal component), which does not successfully catch the subtle combinations of variability occurring at two close periodicities. Furthermore, the pollen-inferred Early Pleistocene vegetation dynamic (and climate) of the Western Mediterranean region does not show a decrease of the obliquity response relative to the precession response at the onset of the MPT.     

Origin of salinity in a multilayered aquifer with high salinization vulnerability

The Kaluvelly watershed is a coastal area (Tamil Nadu, India) where water abstraction has resulted in a dramatic fall in the level of the water table and a piezometric depression in the most exploited aquifer, the Vanur aquifer. In addition, intensification/mechanization of agriculture may have affected the quality of recharge water. An initial hydrodynamic study showed that the Vanur aquifer is highly vulnerable to salinization due to potential seawater intrusion, and our aim was to determine the source of salinity recorded in the groundwater of this multilayered aquifer. Our approach involved the use of existing boreholes and of a moderate number of samples, with the aim of developing appropriate water resource management techniques. Major element, ¹⁸O/¹⁶O, ²H/¹H and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ratios were measured in rainwater, surface water and groundwater collected during five sampling campaigns over a 2‐year period. Geochemical data indicate that the Vanur aquifer is recharged and that small mixings between aquifers fluctuate according to monsoon intensity. There was no evidence of seawater intrusion. The range of recorded salinity originated mainly from water–rock interaction but a disconnection of some deeper parts of the aquifer was apparent. Strontium isotopic ratios in the recharge area suggest an anthropogenic influence, possibly related to fertilizer use. A high SO₄/Cl ratio was observed in the aquifer; in the deeper parts, the influence of a formation containing lignite is hypothesized, whereas near the surface, sulphate may partly originate from fertilizer use and fossil fuel combustion. Water isotopic data suggest that the origin of precipitation in this region has been unchanged for several hundreds or thousands of years. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Trends,drivers and impacts of changes in swidden cultivation in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers: A global assessment

This meta-analysis of land-cover transformations of the past 10–15 years in tropical forest-agriculture frontiers world-wide shows that swidden agriculture decreases in landscapes with access to local, national and international markets that encourage cattle production and cash cropping, including biofuels. Conservation policies and practices also accelerate changes in swidden by restricting forest clearing and encouraging commercial agriculture. However, swidden remains important in many frontier areas where farmers have unequal or insecure access to investment and market opportunities, or where multi-functionality of land uses has been preserved as a strategy to adapt to current ecological, economic and political circumstances. In some areas swidden remains important simply because intensification is not a viable choice, for example when population densities and/or food market demands are low. The transformation of swidden landscapes into more intensive land uses has generally increased household incomes, but has also led to negative effects on the social and human capital of local communities to varying degrees. From an environmental perspective, the transition from swidden to other land uses often contributes to permanent deforestation, loss of biodiversity, increased weed pressure, declines in soil fertility, and accelerated soil erosion. Our prognosis is that, despite the global trend towards land use intensification, in many areas swidden will remain part of rural landscapes as the safety component of diversified systems, particularly in response to risks and uncertainties associated with more intensive land use systems.     

Deriving TDS values in coarse sediments from long normal and electromagnetic logs

This paper presents an empirical relationship of quantitatively linked electromagnetic (EM) borehole recordings of the total dissolved solids (TDS) in pore water in the Quaternary deposits of the Belgian coastal plain. First, the long normal (LN) logs are linked to EM logs, then the already developed relationships between LN resistivity measurements and the TDS values are rewritten for EM recordings. The main parameter in these equations is the formation factor, which is derived from ground water analyses and LN logs through Archie's law. The EM recording has several advantages compared to the LN logs. The EM analysis allows measuring in PVC-cased wells and is not hindered by the invasion zone around the well. Furthermore, it has a high vertical resolution. LN logs can be measured only once, after drilling a well; EM recordings can be repeated several times in monitoring wells, which allows the gathering of time-dependent data over a complete vertical cross section. Such data could be obtained with LN logs only in wells with screens over the full-depth interval, which causes a hydraulic short circuit. This short circuit can result in a large artificial flow through the well between different levels, resulting in a salinity profile, which is no longer representative for the studied site. Remediation against short circuiting is a reduction of the screened interval, which strongly reduces the gathered information. The application of the derived equations is one of setting up a monitoring network along the Belgian coast to monitor the trend in salinity levels and comparing present salinity levels with older LN recordings to investigate the salinity changes in the last 30 years. Deep wells already present in the Belgiancoastal plain can then be used to monitor both the fresh water head changes and the salt water evolution. The technique has also been used for parameter identification for which real concentration measurements were needed.