Climatic trends and impact of climate change on agriculture in an arid Andean valley

Little is known about climate change and its impacts for the arid coastal and mountainous regions in northern Chile. The Elqui river basin, part of the Norte Chico of Chile between 27oS and 33oS latitude, is located south of the hyper-arid Atacama desert. Despite water scarcity, agricultural development in this region has been enhanced by agronomic practices and the marketing of valuable products. This paper characterizes the actual climate conditions and presents an overview and analyses of past climate variability, and future possible climate trends, emphasizing those relevant to agriculture. Precipitation shows an important decrease during the first decades of the past century. Runoff shows decreasing trends for the first half of the past century and increases for 1960 to 1985. Drought appears to be increasing. Statistical downscaling was accomplished using the Long Ashton Research Station Weather Generator. Both future periods of 2011 to 2030 and 2046–65 showed trends to higher minimum and maximum temperature. The number of hot days (maximum temperature greater than or equal to 30°C) has a strong increasing trend during October to April. Even though the downscaled results for precipitation do not show trends, the continuation of the present trend of low amounts is a concern. We discuss some implications of climatic changes for agriculture and we emphasize the importance of adaptation, especially to deal with water scarcity.     

Factors affecting spatial and temporal variability in material exchange between the Southern Everglades wetlands and Florida Bay (USA)

Physical and biological processes controlling spatial and temporal variations in material concentration and exchange between the Southern Everglades wetlands and Florida Bay were studied for 2.5 years in three of the five major creek systems draining the watershed. Daily total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) fluxes were measured for 2 years in Taylor River, and ten 10-day intensive studies were conducted in this creek to estimate the seasonal flux of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), total organic carbon (TOC), and suspended matter. Four 10-day studies were conducted simultaneously in Taylor, McCormick, and Trout Creeks to study the spatial variation in concentration and flux. The annual fluxes of TOC, TN, and TP from the Southern Everglades were estimated from regression equations. The Southern Everglades watershed, a 460-km² area that includes Taylor Slough and the area south of the C-111 canal, exported 7.1 g C m⁻², 0.46 g N m⁻², and 0.007 g P m⁻², annually. Everglades P flux is three to four orders of magnitude lower than published flux estimates from wetlands influenced by terrigenous sedimentary inputs. These low P flux values reflect both the inherently low P content of Everglades surface water and the efficiency of Everglades carbonate sediments and biota in conserving and recycling this limiting nutrient. The seasonal variation of freshwater input to the watershed was responsible for major temporal variations in N, P, and C export to Florida Bay; approximately 99% of the export occurred during the rainy season. Wind-driven forcing was most important during the later stages of the dry season when low freshwater head coincided with southerly winds, resulting in a net import of water and materials into the wetlands. We also observed an east to west decrease in TN:TP ratio from 212:1 to 127:1. Major spatial gradients in N:P ratios and nutrient concentration and flux among the creek were consistent with the westward decrease in surface water runoff from the P-limited Everglades and increased advection of relatively P-rich Gulf of Mexico (GOM) waters into Florida Bay. Comparison of measured nutrient flux from Everglades surface water inputs from this study with published estimates of other sources of nutrients to Florida Bay (i.e. atmospheric deposition, anthropogenic inputs from the Florida Keys, advection from the GOM) show that Everglades runoff represents only 2% of N inputs and 0.5% of P input to Florida Bay.     

The pH measurements in seawater on the NBS scale

A new standardization method for glass electrodes is proposed for pH measurements on the NBS scale. An expression is obtained to evaluate the apparent activity coefficient of hydrogen ions as a function of salinity and temperature, from determinations obtained by Mehrbach et al., 1973 (Limnol. Oceanogr., 18: 897–907). This expression must be used to estimate systematic errors produced by variations of residual liquid-junction potential by estimating the apparent activity coefficient of hydrogen ions. In this way, values of pH obtained in oceanographical cruises can be standardized in order to determine and compare different parameters of the CO₂ system.Some experiments to study the variation of pH with temperature are carried out to compare the different series of acid constants used at present. A simple and precise polynomial equation is also obtained to determine the variation of pH with temperature.     

Tectonic inversion assessed by integration of geological and geophysical data: The intracontinental Rio do Peixe Basin,NE Brazil

Common basin models assume that the post‐rift tectonic evolution of most basins is usually associated with tectonic quiescence. However, tectonic inversion during the post‐rift phase has been proposed for several sedimentary basins worldwide, but how and why it happens is still a matter of debate, especially in intracontinental settings where the lithosphere is old and thick. Here, we use geological and geophysical data from the Rio do Peixe Basin in NE Brazil to show evidence that intracontinental sedimentary basins can be tectonically inverted by far‐field compressive stresses acting on pre‐existing weakness zones of lithospheric‐scale where stresses can concentrate and inversion can occur. Geomorphological and field data combined with seismic reflection, gravimetric and borehole data show that: (a) inversion occurred along two main Precambrian lithospheric‐scale shear zones, the Patos (E‐W trending) and Portalegre (NE‐SW trending), which had already been reactivated as basin‐bounding faults during the earlier rift stage; (b) post‐rift reactivation affected (mostly) the original master normal faults with the largest rift displacements, and locally produced new reverse faults; (c) during contraction, deformation was partitioned between fault reactivation and buckling of the incompetent sediment pushed against the hard basement; (d) all these signs of inversion have been observed in the field and can be demonstrated on seismic reflection profiles; and (e) combined gravimetric and seismic data show that the main structures of the basin were followed by an inversion. These data are consistent with the operation of WSW‐ENE horizontal maximum compressive stress as a result of combined pushes of the Mid‐Atlantic Ridge (towards the W) and the Andes (towards the E), responsible for the post‐rift oblique inversion of normal faults inherited from the rift phase and formed with vertical maximum compressive stress.     

Walking through volcanic mud: the 2,100-year-old Acahualinca footprints (Nicaragua)

We present the stratigraphy, lithology, volcanology, and age of the Acahualinca section in Managua, including a famous footprint layer exposed in two museum pits. The ca. 4-m-high walls of the main northern pit (Pit I) expose excellent cross sections of Late Holocene volcaniclastic deposits in northern Managua. We have subdivided the section into six lithostratigraphic units, some of which we correlate to Late Holocene eruptions. Unit I (1.2 m thick), chiefly of hydroclastic origin, begins with the footprint layer. The bulk is dominated by mostly massive basaltic-andesitic tephra layers, interpreted to represent separate pulses of a basically phreatomagmatic eruptive episode. We correlate these deposits based on compositional and stratigraphic evidence to the Masaya Triple Layer erupted at Masaya volcano ca. 2,120 ± 120 a B.P.. The eruption occurred during the dry season. A major erosional channel unconformity up to 1 m deep in the western half of Pit I separates Units II and I. Unit II begins with basal dacitic pumice lapilli up to 10 cm thick overlain by a massive to bedded fine-grained dacitic tuff including a layer of accretionary lapilli and pockets of well-rounded pumice lapilli. Angular nonvesicular glass shards are interpreted to represent hydroclastic fragmentation. The dacitic tephra is correlated unequivocally with the ca. 1.9-ka-Plinian dacitic Chiltepe eruption. Unit III, a lithified basaltic-andesitic deposit up to 50 cm thick and extremely rich in branch molds and excellent leaf impressions, is correlated with the Masaya Tuff erupted ca. 1.8 ka ago. Unit IV, a reworked massive basaltic-andesitic deposit, rich in brown tuff clasts and well bedded and cross bedded in the northwestern corner of Pit I, cuts erosionally down as far as Unit I. A poorly defined, pale brown mass flow deposit up to 1 m thick (Unit V) is overlain by 1–1.5 m of dominantly reworked, chiefly basaltic tephra topped by soil (Unit VI). A major erosional channel carved chiefly between deposition of Units II and I may have existed as a shallow drainage channel even prior to deposition of the footprint layer. The swath of the footprints is oriented NNW, roughly parallel to, and just east of, the axis of the channel. The interpretation of the footprint layer as the initial product of a powerful eruption at Masaya volcano followed without erosional breaks by additional layers of the same eruptive phase is strong evidence that the group of 15 or 16 people tried to escape from an eruption.     

Effects of 12 years' operation of a sewage treatment plant on trace metal occurrence within a Mediterranean commercial sponge (Spongia officinalis, Demospongiae)

The present field study uses Spongia officinalis for assessing trace metals occurrence in time and space within Mediterranean rocky communities. Nine sites were selected in the Marseille area for studying spatial trends in 12 metal concentrations. Long term changes in 8 metal concentrations were assessed at sites that had been sampled before and 12 years after the opening of a treatment plant. Spongia officinalis highly concentrated all the trace metal surveyed excepted Hg and Cd. The overall contamination level registered provided a classification of the study sites which is congruent with that given by other studies on pollutant accumulation in neighbouring sandy-bottoms or benthic assemblages. Among the metals studied, Fe, Pb, Cr are those that best highlighted a pollution gradient. In the present study, only Cd concentration did not vary in space. Except for Ni, all pollutant concentrations clearly decreased between 1984 and 1999. This very impressive decrease in heavy metal concentrations within the Marseille area represents an indisputable evidence of the improvement of the seawater quality resulting from 12 years' operation of the Marseille sewage plant. Moreover, the significant decrease also recorded in the reference population at Port-Cros might reflect an overall improvement in the seawater quality of the NW Mediterranean.     

Coronal line-width variations

Line-width measurements of the coronal ion Siviii confirm earlier observations which show an increase in the non-thermal velocity above the solar limb. The present data, taken at the equatorial limb, show an increase from 24 km s^-1 at the limb to 28 km s^-1 some 25000 km above the limb. The electron density as measured from the Siviii line pair shows a decrease from 3.5 × 10⁸ cm^-3 to 1.8 × 10⁸ cm^-3 over the same distance. These data imply that the non-thermal velocity is inversely proportional to the quadratic root of the electron density, in excellent agreement with that predicted for undamped radially propagating Alfvén waves.