Nitrogen uptake and primary productivity rates in the Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB)     

Katherine C. Filippino  Margaret R. MulhollandPeter W. Bernhardt 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2011

Nutrient concentrations, primary productivity, and nitrogen uptake rates were measured in coastal waters of the Mid-Atlantic Bight over a two-year period that included measurements from all four seasons. In order to assess carbon productivity and nitrogen demand within the context of the physical environment, the region was divided into three distinct hydrographic regimes: the Chesapeake and Delaware Bay outflow plumes (PL), the southern Mid-Atlantic shelf influenced by the Gulf Stream (SS), and the mid-shelf area to the north of the Chesapeake Bay mouth (MS). Annual areal rates of total nitrogen (N) uptake were similar across all regions (10.9 ± 2.1 mol N m⁻² y⁻¹). However, annual areal rates of net primary productivity were higher in the outflow plume region (43 mol C m⁻² y⁻¹), than along the Mid-Atlantic shelf and in areas influenced by the Gulf Stream (41 and 34 mol C m⁻² y⁻¹, respectively). Rates of net primary productivity were not well correlated with Chl a concentrations and were uncoupled with net N uptake rates. Seasonally averaged annual areal rates of net primary productivity for the Mid-Atlantic Bight measured in this study were higher than those calculated in previous decades and provide important validation information for biogeochemical models and satellite remote sensing algorithms developed for the region.  相似文献   

Woodland expansion’s influence on belowground carbon and nitrogen in the Great Basin U.S.     

Benjamin M. Rau  Dale W. Johnson  Bruce A. Roundy  Richard F. Miller  Todd G. Caldwell  Annmarie Lucchesi 《Journal of Arid Environments》2011,75(9):827-835

Vegetation changes associated with climate shifts and anthropogenic disturbance can have major impacts on biogeochemical cycling and soils. Much of the Great Basin, U.S. is currently dominated by sagebrush (Artemisia tridentate (Rydb.) Boivin) ecosystems. Sagebrush ecosystems are increasingly influenced by pinyon (Pinus monophylla Torr. & Frém and Pinus edulis Engelm.) and juniper (Juniperus osteosperma Torr. and Juniperus occidentalis Hook.) expansion. Some scientists and policy makers believe that increasing woodland cover in the intermountain western U.S. offers the possibility of increased organic carbon (OC) storage on the landscape; however, little is currently known about the distribution of OC on these landscapes, or the role that nitrogen (N) plays in OC retention. We quantified the relationship between tree cover, belowground OC, and total below ground N in expansion woodlands at 13 sites in Utah, Oregon, Idaho, California, and Nevada, USA. One hundred and twenty nine soil cores were taken using a mechanically driven diamond tipped core drill to a depth of 90 cm. Soil, coarse fragments, and coarse roots were analyzed for OC and total N. Woodland expansion influenced the vertical distribution of root OC by increasing 15-30 cm root OC by 2.6 Mg ha⁻¹ and root N by 0.04 Mg ha⁻¹. Root OC and N increased through the entire profile by 3.8 and 0.06 Mg ha⁻¹ respectively. Woodland expansion influenced the vertical distribution of soil OC by increasing surface soil (0-15 cm) OC by 2.2 Mg ha⁻¹. Woodland expansion also caused a 1.3 Mg ha⁻¹ decrease in coarse fragment associated OC from 75-90 cm. Our data suggests that woodland expansion into sagebrush ecosystems has limited potential to store additional belowground OC, and must be weighed against the risk of increased wildfire and exotic grass invasion.  相似文献   

Ability of beach users to identify rip currents at Pensacola Beach, Florida   总被引：3，自引：2，他引：1  

Nicole Caldwell  Chris Houser  Klaus Meyer-Arendt 《Natural Hazards》2013,68(2):1041-1056

Quasi-permanent rip current hot spots at Pensacola Beach, Florida, pose a significant hazard to beach users, largely because the hot spots are located at or close to the primary access points. While an increase in the number of lifeguards has led to a decrease in the number of drownings since 2004, the number of rescues and contacts has increased to over a 30,000 year. Despite warning signs at access points along the beach, it is not clear whether beach users are able to identify a rip channel or an active rip current. To assess beach users’ knowledge of rip currents and their ability to identify rip channels and currents, 97 surveys were conducted between June and September of 2010 at Pensacola Beach. Beach users were asked to identify rip channels in oblique photographs taken on green, yellow and red flag days when the potential for rip currents is low, medium and high, respectively. A majority of participants suggested that they could identify a rip channel or current (if present), but less than 20 % of beach users were able to identify the rip channels and currents. The majority of participants identified heavy surf areas as the location of the rips versus the relatively flat water of the current or the darker color water of the channel. Results further suggest that most beach users, and particularly local participants, are overconfident in their ability to identify rip channels and currents. The focus of beach users on heavy surf as an indication of the rip current potential and the overconfidence in identifying a rip channel or current affects the spatial distribution of beach users and to some degree the location of rescues and drownings. While it can be quite difficult for the average beach user to identify rip channels and active rip currents, the results of the study suggest a need for further education efforts to reduce the rip hazard, particularly in areas where lifeguards are not permanently stationed.  相似文献   

Scenario Reduction Applied to Geostatistical Simulations     

Margaret Armstrong  Aziz Ndiaye  Rija Razanatsimba  Alain Galli 《Mathematical Geosciences》2013,45(2):165-182

Having a large number of geostatistical simulations of a mineral or petroleum deposit provides a better idea of its upside potential and downside risk; however, large numbers of simulated realizations of a deposit may pose computational difficulties in subsequent decision-making phases. Hence, depending on the specific case, there can be a need to select a representative subset of conditionally simulated deposit realizations. This paper examines and extends an approach developed by the stochastic optimization community based on stochastic mathematical programming with recourse and is discussed here in the context of mineral deposits while it is possibly suitable for other earth science applications. The approach is based on measuring the “distance” between simulations and the introduced distance measure between simulated realizations of a mineral deposit is based on the metal above a given set of cutoff grades while a pre-existing mine design is available. The approach is tested on 100 simulations of the Walker Lake data with promising results.  相似文献   

Geophysical Finite-Element Simulation Tool (GeoFEST): Algorithms and Validation for Quasistatic Regional Faulted Crust Problems     

Jay Parker  Gregory Lyzenga  Charles Norton  Cinzia Zuffada  Margaret Glasscoe  John Lou  Andrea Donnellan 《Pure and Applied Geophysics》2008,165(3-4):497-521

GeoFEST (Geophysical Finite Element Simulation Tool) is a two- and three-dimensional finite element software package for the modeling of solid stress and strain in geophysical and other continuum domain applications. It is one of the featured high-performance applications of the NASA QuakeSim project. The program is targeted to be compiled and run on UNIX systems, and is running on diverse systems including sequential and message-passing parallel systems. Solution to the elliptical partial differential equations is obtained by finite element basis sampling, resulting in a sparse linear system primarily solved by conjugate gradient iteration to a tolerance level; on sequential systems a Crout factorization for the direct inversion of the linear system is also supported. The physics models supported include isotropic linear elasticity and both Newtonian and power-law viscoelasticity, via implicit quasi-static time stepping. In addition to triangular, quadrilateral, tetrahedral and hexahedral continuum elements, GeoFEST supports split-node faulting, body forces, and surface tractions. This software and related mesh refinement strategies have been validated on a variety of test cases with rigorous comparison to analytical solutions. These include a box-shaped domain with imposed motion on one surface, a pair of strike slip faults in stepover arrangement, and two community-agreed benchmark cases: a strike slip fault in an enclosing box, and a quarter-domain circular fault problem. Scientific applications of the code include the modeling of static and transient co- and post-seismic earth deformation, Earth response to glacial, atmospheric and hydrological loading, and other scenarios involving the bulk deformation of geologic media.  相似文献   

Quantifying the effects of environmental change on an oyster population: A modeling study     

Margaret M. Dekshenieks  Eileen E. Hofmann  John M. Klinck  Eric N. Powell 《Estuaries and Coasts》2000,23(5):593-610

Three models are combined to investigate the effects of changes in environmental conditions on the population structure of the Eastern oyster,Crassostrea virginica. The first model, a time-dependent model of the oyster population as described in Powell et al. (1992, 1994, 1995a,b, 1996, 1997) and Hofmann et al. (1992, 1994, 1995), tracks the distribution, development, spawning, and mortality of sessile oyster populations. The second model, a time-dependent larval growth model as described in Dekshenieks et al. (1993), simulates larval growth and mortality. The final model, a finite element hydrodynamic model, simulates the circulation in Galveston Bay, Texas. The coupled post-settlement-larval model (the oyster model) runs within the finite element grid at locations that include known oyster reef habitats. The oyster model was first forced with 5 yr of mean environmental conditions to provide a reference simulation for Galveston Bay. Additional simulations considered the effects of long-term increases and decreases in freshwater inflow and temperature, as well as decreases in food concentration and total seston on Galveston Bay oyster populations. In general, the simulations show that salinity is the primary environmental factor controling the spatial extent of oyster distribution within the estuary. Results also indicate a need to consider all environmental factors when attempting to predict the response of oyster populations; it is the superposition of a combination of these factors that determines the state of the population. The results from this study allow predictions to be made concerning the effects of environmental change on the status of oyster populations, both within Galveston Bay and within other estuarine systems supporting oyster populations.  相似文献   

Run‐off processes from mountains to foothills: The role of soil stratigraphy and structure in influencing run‐off characteristics across high to low relief landscapes          下载免费PDF全文

Margaret A. Zimmer  John P. Gannon 《水文研究》2018,32(11):1546-1560

The critical zone features that control run‐off generation, specifically at the regional watershed scale, are not well understood. Here, we addressed this knowledge gap by quantitatively and conceptually linking regional watershed‐scale run‐off regimes with critical zone structure and climate gradients across two physiographic provinces in the Southeastern United States. We characterized long‐term (~20 years) discharge and precipitation regimes for 73 watersheds with United States Geological Survey in‐stream gaging stations across the Appalachian Mountain and Piedmont physiographic provinces of North Carolina. Watersheds included in this analysis had <10% developed land and ranged in size from 14.1–4,390 km². Thirty‐four watersheds were located in the Piedmont physiographic province, which is typically classified as a low relief landscape with deep, highly weathered soils and regolith. Thirty‐nine watersheds were located in the Appalachian Mountain physiographic province, which is typically classified as a steeper landscape with highly weathered, but shallower soils and regolith. From the United States Geological Survey daily mean run‐off time series, we calculated annual and seasonal baseflow indices (BFI), minimum, mean, and maximum daily run‐off, and Pearson's correlation coefficients between precipitation and baseflow. Our results showed that Appalachian Mountain watersheds systematically had higher minimum daily flows and BFI values. Piedmont watersheds displayed much larger deviations from mean annual BFI in response to year‐to‐year variability in precipitation. A series of linear regression models between 21 landscape metrics and annual BFIs showed non‐linear and complex terrestrial–hydrological relationships across the two provinces. From these results, we discuss how distinct features of critical zone architecture, with specific focus on soil depth and stratigraphy, may be dominating the regulation of hydrological processes and run‐off regimes across these provinces.  相似文献   

Evidence for solar neutrino flux variability and its implications     

D.O. Caldwell  P.A. Sturrock 《Astroparticle Physics》2005,23(6):543-556

Although KamLAND apparently rules out resonant-spin-flavor-precession (RSFP) as an explanation of the solar neutrino deficit, the solar neutrino fluxes in the Cl and Ga experiments appear to vary with solar rotation. Added to this evidence, summarized here, a power spectrum analysis of the Super-Kamiokande data reveals significant variation in the flux matching a dominant rotation rate observed in the solar magnetic field in the same time period. Three frequency peaks, all related to this rotation rate, can be explained quantitatively. A Super-Kamiokande paper reported no time variation of the flux, but showed the same peaks, there interpreted as statistically insignificant, due to an inappropriate analysis. This modulation is small (7%) in the Super-Kamiokande energy region (and below the sensitivity of the Super-Kamiokande analysis) and is consistent with RSFP as a subdominant neutrino process in the convection zone. The data display effects that correspond to solar-cycle changes in the magnetic field, typical of the convection zone. This subdominant process requires new physics: a large neutrino transition magnetic moment and a light sterile neutrino, since an effect of this amplitude occurring in the convection zone cannot be achieved with the three known neutrinos. It does, however, resolve current problems in providing fits to all experimental estimates of the mean neutrino flux, and is compatible with the extensive evidence for solar neutrino flux variability.  相似文献   

    

Margaret Armstrong 《Mathematical Geology》1985,17(8):855-859

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Frequency dependence of Q in the mantle underlying the shield areas of Eurasia, Part II: analyses of long period data     

Alison C. Lees  Zoltan A. Der  Vernon F. Cormier  Margaret E. Marshall  James A. Burnetti 《Geophysical Journal International》1986,87(3):1085-1101

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