The Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front: physical and biological coupling at South Georgia     

Peter Ward  Mick Whitehouse  Mike Meredith  Eugene Murphy  Rachael Shreeve  Rebecca Korb  Jon Watkins  Sally Thorpe  Rachel Woodd-Walker  Andrew Brierley  Nathan Cunningham  Sharon Grant  Doug Bone 《Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers》2002,49(12):139

The coupling of physics and biology was examined along a 160 km long transect running out from the north coast of South Georgia Island and crossing the Southern Antarctic Circumpolar Current Front (SACCF) during late December 2000. Surface and near surface potential TS properties indicated the presence of three water types: a near-shore group of stations characterised by water which became progressively warmer and fresher closer to South Georgia, an offshore grouping in which sea surface temperatures and those at the winter water level were relatively warm (1.8°C and 0.5°C, respectively), and a third in which surface and winter water temperatures were cooler and reflected the presence of the SACCF. The transect bisected the SACCF twice, revealing that it was flowing in opposite directions, north-westward closest to South Georgia and south-eastwards at its furthest point from the island. The innermost limb was a narrow intense feature located just off the shelf break in 2000–3500 m of water and in which rapid surface baroclinic velocities (up to 35 cm s⁻¹) were encountered. Offshore in the outermost limb, shown subsequently to be a mesoscale eddy that had meandered south from the retroflected limb of the SACCF, flow was broader and slower with peak velocities around 20 cm s⁻¹. Chlorophyll a biomass was generally low (<1 mg m⁻³) over much of the transect but increased dramatically in the region of the innermost limb of the SACCF, where a deepening of the surface mixed layer was coincident with a subsurface chlorophyll maximum (7.4 mg m⁻³) and elevated concentrations down to 100 m. The bloom was coincident with depleted nutrient concentrations, particularly silicate, nitrate and phosphate, and although ammonium concentrations were locally depleted the bloom lay within an elevated band (up to 1.5 mmol m⁻³) associated with the frontal jet. Increased zooplankton abundance, higher copepod body carbon mass and egg production rates all showed a strong spatial integrity with the front. The population structure of the copepods Calanoides acutus and Rhincalanus gigas at stations within the front suggested that rather than simply resulting from entrainment and concentration within the jet, increased copepod abundance was the result of development in situ. Estimates of bloom duration, based on silicate and carbon budget calculations, set the likely duration between 82 and 122 d, a figure supported by the development schedule of the two copepod species. Given this timescale, model outputs from FRAM and OCCAM indicated that particles that occurred on the north side of South Georgia in December would have been in the central-southern Scotia Sea 2–3 months earlier, probably in sea ice affected regions.  相似文献   

Accuracy assessment of lidar-derived digital elevation models   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Fernando J.  Aguilar  Jon. P.  Mills 《The Photogrammetric Record》2008,23(122):148-169

Despite the relatively high cost of airborne lidar-derived digital elevation models (DEMs), such products are usually presented without a satisfactory associated estimate of accuracy. For the most part, DEM accuracy estimates are typically provided by comparing lidar heights against a finite sample of check point coordinates from an independent source of higher accuracy, supposing a normal distribution of the derived height differences or errors. This paper proposes a new methodology to assess the vertical accuracy of lidar DEMs using confidence intervals constructed from a finite sample of errors computed at check points. A non-parametric approach has been tested where no particular error distribution is assumed, making the proposed methodology especially applicable to non-normal error distributions of the type usually found in DEMs derived from lidar. The performance of the proposed model was experimentally validated using Monte Carlo simulation on 18 vertical error data-sets. Fifteen of these data-sets were computed from original lidar data provided by the International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing Working Group III/3, using their respective filtered reference data as ground truth. The three remaining data-sets were provided by the Natural Environment Research Council's Airborne Research and Survey Facility lidar system, together with check points acquired using high precision kinematic GPS. The results proved promising, the proposed models reproducing the statistical behaviour of vertical errors of lidar using a favourable number of check points, even in the cases of data-sets with non-normally distributed residuals. This research can therefore be considered as a potentially important step towards improving the quality control of lidar-derived DEMs.  相似文献   

Macrofaunal Spatial Patterns in Relationship to Environmental Variables in the Richibucto Estuary,New Brunswick,Canada   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

Lin Lu  Jon Grant  Jeffrey Barrell 《Estuaries and Coasts》2008,31(5):994-1005

Estuarine macrobenthos respond to a variety of environmental gradients such as sediment type and salinity, and organic enrichment. A relatively new influence, organic loading from suspended bivalve culture, has the potential to alter this response. A study on soft-bottom macrobenthic communities was carried out in the Richibucto estuary (46°40′N, 64°50′W), New Brunswick, Canada, with samples collected from 18 stations in late September and early October 2006. The site consisted of a large tidal channel originating upstream in a small river. The channel was punctuated by bag culture of oysters along its length. A total of 88 species were recorded. The mean values of abundance, species richness, and diversity (H′) of macrofauna were 11,199 ind. m⁻² (ranged from 4,371 to 19,930 ind. m⁻²), 23.4 species grab⁻¹ and 3.29 grab⁻¹, respectively. In general species richness and H′ increased from the upper estuary to the estuarine mouth. Multivariate analyses clearly exhibited the spatial distribution in community structure, which coincided with the locations along the estuary (the upper, the lower and the mouth), as well as inside and outside the channel. Species richness and diversity H′ showed strong positive correlations with salinity (21.2–25.2 ppt), and abundance was positively correlated with water depth (1.0–4.5 m). Abundance and species richness were negatively correlated with both of silt–clay fraction (3.3–24.8%) and sorting (σ_I). Species richness was also negatively correlated with organic content (1.9–12.7%). The BIO-ENV analyses identified silt–clay fraction, σ_I and salinity as the major environmental variable combination influencing the macrofaunal patterns, and silt–clay fraction as the single best-correlated variable.  相似文献   

Nestling diets of coexisting salt marsh sparrows: Opportunism in a food-rich environment     

William Post  Jon S. Greenlaw 《Estuaries and Coasts》2006,29(5):765-775

The saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus caudacutus) and the morphologically similar seaside sparrow (Ammodramus maritimus) occur together in Atlantic coast salt marshes. Over 2 yr we examined food exploitation patterns to gain an understanding of how these species coexist and to characterize the trophic conditions that allow the maintenance of different mating systems within the same habitat. In the promiscuous saltmarsh sharp-tailed sparrow, only females feed the young, while the young of the socially monogramous seaside sparrow are fed by both parents. To determine dietary patterns, we used a nonlethal method (throat constriction) to obtain food samples from nestlings. Resource states were determined by sweep-netting the vegetation and by taking cores from the marsh surface. Based on volume, the same 4 prey groups (flies, amphipods, grasshoppers, moths) composed > 80% of each species diet. The main food of both sparrows was adult and juvenile (larval and pupal) soldier flies (Stratiomyidae:Odontomyia microstomata). Measures of dietary overlap, based on resource states, indicated that nestling diets did not differ between species on a seasonal basis or over 2-wk intervals. As the season progressed, each species tracked in parallel changes in resource abundance. Diets did not diverge from what was expected if food was exploited randomly; diets frequently overlapped significantly more than expected. Interspecific resource-use patterns were congruent over 2 yr. Based on the results of this study, and on an evaluation of hypotheses based on life history information from previously published work, we conclude that food usually is not limiting for these sparrows and that resource abundance has fostered behavioral and dietary opportunism.  相似文献   

The role of prokaryotes in subsurface weathering of hydrothermal sediments: A combined geochemical and microbiological investigation     

Silke Severmann  Rachel A. Mills  Jon P. Telling  R. John Parkes 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2006,70(7):1677-1694

A detailed geochemical and microbiological study of a ∼2 m sediment core from the inactive Alvin mounds within the TAG hydrothermal field was conducted to examine, for the first time, the role of prokaryotes in subsurface weathering of hydrothermal sediments. Results show that there has been substantial post-depositional remobilisation of metal species and diagenetic overprinting of the original high-temperature hydrothermal minerals, and aspects have involved prokaryotic processes. Prokaryotic enumeration demonstrates the presence of a population smaller than the average for deep sea sediments, probably due to the low organic carbon content, but not inhibited by (and hence adapted to) the metal rich environment. There was a small but significant increase in population size associated with the active redox boundary in an upper metal sulphide layer (50-70 cm) around which active metal remobilisation was concentrated (Cu, Au, Cd, Ag, U, Zn and Zn). Hence, subsurface prokaryotes were potentially obtaining energy from metal metabolism in this near surface zone. Close association of numbers of culturable Mn and Fe reducing prokaryotes with subsurface Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ pore water profiles suggested active prokaryotic metal reduction at depth in core CD102/43 (to ∼175 cm). In addition, a prokaryotic mechanism, which is associated with bacterial sulphate reduction, is invoked to explain the U enrichment on pyrite surfaces and Zn and Pb remobilisation in the upper sediment. Although prokaryotic populations are present throughout this metalliferous sediment, thermodynamic calculations indicated that the inferred low pH of pore waters and the suboxic/anoxic conditions limits the potential energy available from Fe(II) oxidation, which may restrict prokaryotic chemolithotrophic biomass. This suggests that intense prokaryotic Fe oxidation and weathering of seafloor massive sulphide deposits may be restricted to the upper portion of the deposit that is influenced by near neutral pH and oxic seawater unless there is significant subsurface fluid flow.  相似文献   

Exposure ages from relict lateral moraines overridden by the Fennoscandian ice sheet     

Derek Fabel  David Fink  Jon Harbor  Arjen P. Stroeven 《Quaternary Research》2006,65(1):136-146

Lateral moraines constructed along west to east sloping outlet glaciers from mountain centred, pre-last glacial maximum (LGM) ice fields of limited extent remain largely preserved in the northern Swedish landscape despite overriding by continental ice sheets, most recently during the last glacial. From field evidence, including geomorphological relationships and a detailed weathering profile including a buried soil, we have identified seven such lateral moraines that were overridden by the expansion and growth of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. Cosmogenic ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al exposure ages of 19 boulders from the crests of these moraines, combined with the field evidence, are correlated to episodes of moraine stabilisation, Pleistocene surface weathering, and glacial overriding. The last deglaciation event dominates the exposure ages, with ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al data derived from 15 moraine boulders indicating regional deglaciation 9600 ± 200 yr ago. This is the most robust numerical age for the final deglaciation of the Fennoscandian ice sheet. The older apparent exposure ages of the remaining boulders (14,600-26,400 yr) can be explained by cosmogenic nuclide inheritance from previous exposure of the moraine crests during the last glacial cycle. Their potential exposure history, based on local glacial chronologies, indicates that the current moraine morphologies formed at the latest during marine oxygen isotope stage 5. Although numerous deglaciation ages were obtained, this study demonstrates that numerical ages need to be treated with caution and assessed in light of the geomorphological evidence indicating moraines are not necessarily formed by the event that dominates the cosmogenic nuclide data.  相似文献   

GGR Critical Review of Analytical Developments in 2004–2005     

Janet M. Hergt  L. Paul Bédard  Etienne Deloule  Klaus Peter Jochum  Kathryn L. Linge  Paul J. Sylvester  Matthias Willbold  Jon D. Woodhead 《Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research》2006,30(3):141-142

In 2005 Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research embarked upon a new initiative for its readers. Key researchers in various fields of geoanalytical technique development and their application were identified and invited to provide reviews pertinent to their expertise. As noted in the first of these publications "…instead of revisiting the historical context or decades of development in each analytical technique, the goal here has been to capture a snapshot of "hot topics" across a range of fields as represented in the… literature" (Hergt et al . 2005). Rather than prepare an annual review, a decision was taken earlier this year to provide a biennial summary of progress and accomplishments, in this case for the years 2004–2005. The principal techniques employed in Earth and environmental sciences are covered here, and include laser ablation and multicollector ICP-MS, ICP-AES, thermal ionisation and secondary ion mass spectrometry, as well as neutron activation analysis, X-ray fluorescence and atomic absorption spectrometry. A comprehensive review of the development of reference materials, often essential to these techniques, is also provided. The contributions assembled serve both to keep readers informed of advances they may be unfamiliar with, but also as a means of showcasing examples of the breadth and depth of work being conducted in these fields.  相似文献   

Results from a Multi-disciplinary Sedimentary Pilot Study of Tectonic Lake Iznik (NW Turkey) – Geochemistry and Paleolimnology of the Recent Past     

Sven O. Franz  Lorenz Schwark  Cathrin Brüchmann  Burkhard Scharf  Ralf Klingel  Jon D. Van Alstine  Namık Çagatay  Umut B. Ülgen 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2006,35(4):715-736

A limnogeological reconnaissance study was carried out on Lake Iznik, located in the southeast of the Marmara region of Turkey, involving a seismic survey and collection of short sediment cores. This lake is located on the middle branch of the North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ), a transform plate boundary between the Eurasian and Anatolian Plates. It is, therefore, tectonically active and offers an opportunity to investigate the interplay of sedimentary and seismo-tectonic processes, as well as climate change and human impact in the region. Short cores of the three sub-basins, maximum length of 35.5 cm, recovered non-laminated, blackish clays and silts with varying amounts of biogenic and minerogenic (allochthonous, autochthonous) material, which documented almost the last 80 years of deposition and environmental history. High sedimentation rates in the deeper core sections are accompanied by changes in land use (conversion of woodland to farmland) in the northern areas of Lake Iznik, which caused the deposition of more weathered material (high K/Na ratios) and higher contents of Mn in the lake. A tendency towards eutrophic conditions within the last 20 years is indicated by high nutrient content (N, TOC, P), decreasing C/N-ratios, and characteristic diatom and cladoceran associations. Also increased pollution is revealed by higher Pb, Cu, and Zn contents and increased supply of human and animal faeces (high coprostanol content) during the last two decades. But simultaneous lower sedimentation rates towards the core tops complicate the reconstruction of recent and past eutrophication and pollution states of Lake Iznik. This requires an extension of the pilot study and deeper sediment cores, to recover non-anthropogenic influenced sediment levels.  相似文献   

Stochastic Structural Modeling   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Lars Holden  Petter Mostad  Bjørn Fredrik Nielsen  Jon Gjerde  Chris Townsend  Signe Ottesen 《Mathematical Geology》2003,35(8):899-914

A consistent stochastic model for faults and horizons is described. The faults are represented as a parametric invertible deformation operator. The faults may truncate each other. The horizons are modeled as correlated Gaussian fields and are represented in a grid. Petrophysical variables may be modeled in a reservoir before faulting in order to describe the juxtaposition effect of the faulting. It is possible to condition the realization on petrophysics, horizons, and fault plane observations in wells in addition to seismic data. The transmissibility in the fault plane may also be included in the model. Four different methods to integrate the fault and horizon models in a common model is described. The method is illustrated on an example from a real petroleum field with 18 interpreted faults that are handled stochastically.  相似文献   

Climate Dangers and Atoll Countries   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：2  

Jon Barnett  W. Neil Adger 《Climatic change》2003,61(3):321-337

Climate change-induced sea-level rise, sea-surface warming, and increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events puts the long-term ability of humans to inhabit atolls at risk. We argue that this risk constitutes a dangerous level of climatic change to atoll countries by potentially undermining their national sovereignty. We outline the novel challenges this presents to both climate change research and policy. For research, the challenge is to identify the critical thresholds of change beyond which atoll social-ecological systems may collapse. We explain how thresholds may be behaviorally driven as well as ecologically driven through the role of expectations in resource management. The challenge for the international policy process, centred on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), is to recognize the particular vulnerability of atoll countries by operationalising international norms of justice, sovereignty, and human and national security in the regime.  相似文献