An ice-core based history of Siberian forest fires since AD 1250     

Anja Eichler  Willy Tinner  Sabina Brütsch  Susanne Olivier  Tatyana Papina  Margit Schwikowski 《Quaternary Science Reviews》2011,30(9-10):1027-1034

Forest fires play a key role in the global carbon cycle and thus, can affect regional and global climate. Although fires in extended areas of Russian boreal forests have a considerable influence on atmospheric greenhouse gas and soot concentrations, estimates of their impact on climate are hampered by a lack of data on the history of forest fires. Especially regions with strong continental climate are of high importance due to an intensified development of wildfires. In this study we reconstruct the fire history of Southern Siberia during the past 750 years using ice-core based nitrate, potassium, and charcoal concentration records from Belukha glacier in the continental Siberian Altai. A period of exceptionally high forest-fire activity was observed between AD 1600 and 1680, following an extremely dry period AD 1540–1600. Ice-core pollen data suggest distinct forest diebacks and the expansion of steppe in response to dry climatic conditions. Coherence with a paleoenvironmental record from the 200 km distant Siberian lake Teletskoye shows that the vegetational shift AD 1540–1680, the increase in fire activity AD 1600–1680, and the subsequent recovery of forests AD 1700 were of regional significance. Dead biomass accumulation in response to drought and high temperatures around AD 1600 probably triggered maximum forest-fire activity AD 1600–1680. The extreme dry period in the 16th century was also observed at other sites in Central Asia and is possibly associated with a persistent positive mode of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO). No significant increase in biomass burning occurred in the Altai region during the last 300 years, despite strongly increasing temperatures and human activities. Our results imply that precipitation changes controlled fire-regime and vegetation shifts in the Altai region during the past 750 years. We conclude that high sensitivity of ecosystems to occasional decadal-scale drought events may trigger unprecedented environmental reorganizations under global-warming conditions.  相似文献   

Holocene environmental and climatic changes at Gorgo Basso,a coastal lake in southern Sicily,Italy     

Willy Tinner  Jacqueline F.N. van Leeuwen  Daniele Colombaroli  Elisa Vescovi  W.O. van der Knaap  Paul D. Henne  Salvatore Pasta  Stefania D'Angelo  Tommaso La Mantia 《Quaternary Science Reviews》2009,28(15-16):1498-1510

We used a new sedimentary record to reconstruct the Holocene vegetation and fire history of Gorgo Basso, a coastal lake in south-western Sicily (Italy). Pollen and charcoal data suggest a fire-prone open grassland near the site until ca 10,000 cal yr BP (8050 cal BC), when Pistacia shrubland expanded and fire activity declined, probably in response to increased moisture availability. Evergreen Olea europaea woods expanded ca 8400 to decline abruptly at 8200 cal yr BP, when climatic conditions became drier at other sites in the Mediterranean region. Around 7000 cal yr BP evergreen broadleaved forests (Quercus ilex, Quercus suber and O. europaea) expanded at the cost of open communities. The expansion of evergreen broadleaved forests was associated with a decline of fire and of local Neolithic (Ficus carica–Cerealia based) agriculture that had initiated ca 500 years earlier. Vegetational, fire and land-use changes ca 7000 cal yr BP were probably caused by increased precipitation that resulted from (insolation-forced) weakening of the monsoon and Hadley circulation ca 8000–6000 cal yr BP. Low fire activity and dense coastal evergreen forests persisted until renewed human activity (probably Greek, respectively Roman colonists) disrupted the forest ca 2700 cal yr BP (750 BC) and 2100 cal yr BP (150 BC) to gain open land for agriculture. The intense use of fire for this purpose induced the expansion of open maquis, garrigue, and grassland-prairie environments (with an increasing abundance of the native palm Chamaerops humilis). Prehistoric land-use phases after the Bronze Age seem synchronous with those at other sites in southern and central Europe, possibly as a result of climatic forcing. Considering the response of vegetation to Holocene climatic variability as well as human impact we conclude that under (semi-)natural conditions evergreen broadleaved Q. ilex–O. europaea (s.l.) forests would still dominate near Gorgo Basso. However, forecasted climate change and aridification may lead to a situation similar to that before 7000 cal yr BP and thus trigger a rapid collapse of the few relict evergreen broadleaved woodlands in coastal Sicily and elsewhere in the southern Mediterranean region.  相似文献   

Experimental measurements and modeling of sorption competition on montmorillonite     

Michael H. Bradbury  Bart Baeyens 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2005,69(17):4187-4197

The source terms arising from radioactive/toxic metal waste repositories will contain a multitude of dissolved metal species, as do natural systems. The influence of sorption competition on the uptake of safety-relevant metals, and the effects this may have on transport rates to the biosphere, is an important repository performance assessment issue which has not, as yet, been resolved. The main aim of this work was to quantify the influence of competition between metals in different valence states on their individual sorption characteristics under conditions dominated by pH-dependent sorption. The sorption experiments were carried out on Na- and Ca-montmorillonites using various combinations and concentrations of Co(II), Ni(II), Zn(II), Eu(III), Nd(III), Am(III), Th(IV), and U(VI). For metals sorbing at trace concentrations in a background electrolyte containing a competing metal up to mmolar concentrations, and pH values generally greater than 6, all of the experimental results were consistent with the observation that metals with similar chemistries (valence state, hydrolysis behavior) compete with one another, but metals with dissimilar chemistries do not compete, i.e., competition is selective. For example Eu, Nd, and Am exhibit unambiguous sorption competition effects, as do Ni, Co, and Zn. On the basis of the above preliminary criteria, competition between divalent transition metals and trivalent lanthanides, Th(IV), and U(VI) and between Th (IV) and U(VI) would not be expected, and this is found experimentally. In general, neither single-fixed-site capacity models nor two-site (strong/weak) models with fixed capacities, whether with or without electrostatic terms, are capable of modeling the spectrum of experimental results presented here. To explain the competitive effects observed it is proposed that multiple sets of strong sites exist as subsets of the 40 mmol kg⁻¹ of weak sites present in the montmorillonite conceptual model. It is shown that if the 2SPNE SC/CE sorption model is extended to include multiple strong sites, and the average site capacity and protolysis constant values defined in previous publications are assigned to each of the sets of strong sites, then the model can be used to reproduce all of the experimental data, provided it can be specified which groups of metals are competitive and which are not.  相似文献   

Detailed geochemical studies of a He-U lake anomaly in permafrost, Baker Lake Area, N.W.T.     

Willy Dyck  Dwaine Car 《Journal of Geochemical Exploration》1987,28(1-3)

A strong He-U anomaly, discovered in the Thelon basin of the N.W.T. during a regional U exploration program in 1981, was studied in detail in 1982. The anomaly is confined to a 3-km² lake situated 160 km northwest of Baker Lake. Lake bottom water and sediment samples taken in June through the ice on a 50 m × 50 m grid, were analyzed for a number of trace and minor elements.In the lake sediments He and U were highly anomalous and parallel the strong anomaly patterns of He observed in the water. Median and maximum values in the sediments were 57 ppm and 396 ppm U, and 296 nL/L and 13870 nL/L He. Regional medians were 4.3 ppm U and 50 nL/L He. Se and V in sediments gave weak but similar anomaly patterns to those observed for U and He.The anomaly is somewhat of an enigma. The unusually high U content indicates an oxidizing, hence, near surface, water regime, and the highly anomalous He flux into the lake and a thick cover of permafrost in the region indicate a very deep source where conditions are normally reducing, rendering U immobile.Coincident anomaly patterns and increasing concentrations with depth of minor and trace elements and gases in the lake water prove that groundwater is the source of the anomalies. Contoured element maps indicate that this groundwater enters the lake in at least four places.The fact that up to 35 ppb U, 6 ppm dissolved O₂ and virtually no Fe and Mn, were detected in lake waters above groundwater entry points indicates that the groundwaters were oxidizing with respect to these elements. This is indeed surprising because permafrost is believed to be about 300 m thick in the region; at such depths groundwaters are usually rich in Fe and void of U.The highly anomalous He in this lake indicates deep fractures which serve as conduits for mineralized water entering the lake from depth and creating a frost-free window in the permafrost. The fractures probably penetrate well into the basement for only major deep fractures are known to produce such strong He anomalies. The additional presence of anomalous U suggests U mineralization at depth.  相似文献   

Elemental Composition of Mineral Aerosol Generated from Sudan Sahara Sand     

Mohamed A. H. Eltayeb  Jasna Injuk  Willy Maenhaut  René E. Van Grieken 《Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry》2001,40(3):247-273

Eighteen soil samples from central Sudan were fractionated by dry sieving ina size fraction from <45 m to >300 m while aerosols generatedfrom these soils were fractionated in the particle size range from 0.25 mto >16 m. The elemental concentrations of soil samples were determinedby energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence, while the elemental concentrationsof generated aerosols were analysed by particle-induced X-ray emission. Theelements Al, K and Rb show a slight positive fractionation with decreasingparticle size throughout the particle size range studied. The concentrationsof Ca, Mn, Fe, Sr and Y are maximum in the small soil size fraction (<45m) and decrease for the coarse soil size fractions, while in the mineralaerosol particle sizes (0.25– > 16 m) the concentrations remainmore or less constant. The size distributions for Cr, Ti and Zr show a maximumin the particle size range 45–100 m and the concentrations of theseelements decrease sharply in the aerosol fraction down to 16 m to remainconstant in the smaller aerosol fractions.Enrichment factors for the elements were calculated relative to five referencematerials: average crustal rock, average soil, the investigated Sahara bulksoil, the finest fraction of this soil and the aerosol generated from thissoil, and using four reference elements: Al, Si, Ti and Fe. The enrichmentfactors were found to vary significantly depending on the choice of thereference material or the reference element. The enrichment factors for theSudan mineral aerosol were almost identical to those for Khartoum atmosphericaerosol but different from those for Namib mineral aerosol and Israelatmospheric aerosol following dust storms. Multivariate display methods(cluster analysis, principal component analysis and linear discriminantanalysis) were applied to the element ratios in the mineral aerosol from theSahara and Namib and this showed that these mineral aerosol can bedifferentiated into different groups. An attempt was also made to relate themineral aerosol to its parent soil through the use of these multivariatetechniques and the elemental ratios in both the mineral aerosols and the bulksoils (Namib and Sahara). It was also possible using the elemental ratios andthe multivariate display methods to associate the crustal component to themineral aerosol generated from the Sahara.  相似文献   

An evaluation of solar radiation pressure strategies for the GPS constellation     

Ant Sibthorpe  Willy Bertiger  Shailen D. Desai  Bruce Haines  Nate Harvey  Jan P. Weiss 《Journal of Geodesy》2011,85(8):505-517

The subtle effects of different Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite force models are becoming apparent now that mature processing strategies are reaching new levels of accuracy and precision. For this paper, we tested several approaches to solar radiation pressure (SRP) modeling that are commonly used by International GNSS Service (IGS) analysis centers. These include the GPS Solar Pressure Model (GSPM; Bar-Sever and Kuang in The Interplanetary Network Progress Report 42-160, 2005) and variants of the so-called DYB model (Springer et al. in Adv Space Res 23:673–676, 1999). Our results show that currently observed differences between GPS orbit solutions from the various IGS analysis centers are in large part explained by differences between their respective approaches to modeling SRP. DYB-based strategies typically generate orbit solutions that have the smallest differences with respect to the IGS final combined solution, largely because the DYB approach is most commonly used by the contributing analysis centers. However, various internal and external metrics, including ambiguity resolution statistics and satellite laser ranging observations, support continued use of the GSPM-based approach for precise orbit determination of the GPS constellation, at least when using the GIPSY-OASIS software.  相似文献   

Investigation of the different binding edge sites for Zn on montmorillonite using P-EXAFS - The strong/weak site concept in the 2SPNE SC/CE sorption model     

Rainer Dähn  Bart Baeyens  Michael H. Bradbury 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》2011,75(18):5154-5168

The 2 site protolysis non electrostatic surface complexation and cation exchange (2SPNE SC/CE) sorption model has been used over the past decade or so to quantitatively describe the uptake of metals with oxidation states from II to VI on 2:1 clay minerals; montmorillonite and illite. One of the main features in this model is that there are two broad categories of amphoteric edge sorption sites; the so called strong (S^SOH) and weak (S^W1OH) sites. Because of their different sorption characteristics, it was expected that the coordination environments of the surface complexes on the two site types would be different. Zn isotherm data on two montmorillonites, Milos and STx-1, were measured and modelled using the 2SPNE SC/CE sorption model. The results were used to define the most favourable experimental conditions under which Zn sorption was either dominated by the strong (S^SOH, ∼2 mmol kg⁻¹) or by the weak sites (S^W1OH, ∼40 mmol kg⁻¹). Highly oriented self-supporting films were prepared for polarised extended X-ray absorption fine structure (P-EXAFS) investigations.Montmorillonites often contain Zn incorporated in the clay matrix. The Zn bound in this form was quantified and the results from the analysis of the P-EXAFS spectra were taken into account in the interpretation of the spectra measured at low Zn loadings (∼2 mmol kg⁻¹) and medium Zn loadings (∼30 mmol kg⁻¹). The Zn spectra on the “strong sites” exhibited a pronounced angular dependency and formed surface complexes in the continuity of the Al-octahedral sheets at the montmorillonite edges. In contrast, the Zn “weak site” spectra showed only a weak angular dependency. The spectroscopic evidence indicates the existence of two distinct groups of edge surface binding sites which is consistent with a multi-site sorption model and in particular with the strong/weak site concept intrinsic to the 2SPNE S/CE sorption model.  相似文献   

Trace metal behaviour in riverine sediments: Role of organic matter and sulfides     

Adeline CharriauLudovic Lesven  Yue GaoMartine Leermakers  Willy BaeyensBaghdad Ouddane  Gabriel Billon 《Applied Geochemistry》2011,26(1):80-90

Three sediment cores were collected in the Scheldt, Lys and Spiere canals, which drain a highly populated and industrialized area in Western Europe. The speciation and the distribution of trace metals in pore waters and sediment particles were assessed through a combination of computational and experimental techniques. The concentrations of dissolved major and trace elements (anions, cations, sulfides, dissolved organic C, Cd, Co, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) were used to calculate the thermodynamic equilibrium speciation in pore waters and to evaluate the saturation of minerals (Visual Minteq software). A sequential extraction procedure was applied on anoxic sediment particles in order to assess the main host phases of trace elements. Manganese was the most labile metal in pore waters and was mainly associated with carbonates in particles. In contrast, a weak affinity of Cd, Co, Ni, Pb and Zn with carbonates was established because: (1) a systematic under-saturation was noticed in pore waters and (2) less than 10% of these elements were extracted in the exchangeable and carbonate sedimentary fraction. In the studied anoxic sediments, the mobility and the lability of trace metals, apart from Mn, seemed to be controlled through the competition between sulfidic and organic ligands. In particular, the necessity of taking into account organic matter in the modelling of thermodynamic equilibrium was demonstrated for Cd, Ni, Zn and Pb, the latter element exhibiting the strongest affinity with humic substances. Consequently, dissolved organic matter could favour the stabilization of trace metals in the liquid phase. Conversely, sulfide minerals played a key role in the scavenging of trace metals in sediment particles. Finally, similar trace metal lability rankings were obtained for the liquid and solid phases.  相似文献   

Dynamic patterns of dissolved nitrogen in the Southern Bight of the North Sea     

Willy Baeyens  Jean-Paul Mommaerts  Leo Goeyens  Frank Dehairs  Hugues Dedeurwaerder  Ghislain Decadt 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》1984,18(5):499-510

Spatial and temporal variations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) have been assessed in onshore and offshore areas of the Southern Bight on the basis of several years' measurements. They indicate that both the residual flow lines and DIN isoconcentration lines run parallel with the coast except in the vicinity of important freshwater discharge points such as the Scheldt estuary. Evidence was found that the seasonal DIN oscillations are not created through fluctuations in input conditions at the lateral boundaries, despite considerable fluctuations in these inputs which include the English Channel (from 500 tons(t) N day^?1 in June up to approximately 2000 t N day^?1 in February) and also rivers such as the Scheldt estuary (up to 50 t N day^?1 in January but less than 5 t N day^?1 in June–July). In both the onshore and offshore areas the sum of daylight phytoplanktonic nitrogen intake and sediment release of nitrogen corresponds to the observed DIN variations during most of the year. Pelagic N-mineralization from natural or grazing mortality of phytoplankton (220 mg N m^?2 day^?1 onshore at its maximum) can account for the differences (200 mg N m^?2 day^?1 onshore at its maximum), especially at the end of the phytoplankton spring bloom. Although the causes of DIN oscillations onshore and offshore are the same, the results differ because offshore (1) the vegetative season lasts longer, and (2) DIN is exhausted at the end of the phytoplankton spring bloom.  相似文献   

Elastic and isostatic subsidence of the Blåsjø artificial lake, Southern Norway     

Willy Fjeldskaar 《地学学报》1990,2(4):377-381

When a load is applied to the surface of the Earth, there is an immediate elastic deformation followed by a time-dependent isostatic subsidence. The two processes on the Blåsjø artifical lake, Southern Norway are modelled. The isostatic subsidence turns out to be negligible. A comparison of the modelled elastic deformation and the relative land levelling data gives valuable information about the elastic properties of the Earth's upper layers. The elastic parameters inferred from this study are lower than those from seismic investigations, and more in accordance with laboratory experiments.  相似文献