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At least 1,513 records · Page 84Linked to original sources

Estimates of metals contained in abyssal manganese nodules and ferromanganese crusts in the global ocean based on regional variations and genetic types of nodules

Deep-ocean ferromanganese crusts and manganese nodules are important marine repositories for global metals. Interest in these minerals as potential resources has led to detailed sampling in many regions of the global ocean, allowing for updated estimates of their global extent. Here, we present global estimates of total tonnage as well as contained metal concentrations and tonnages for ferromanganese crusts and manganese nodules using the most extensive compilation of geochemical data collected to date, along with updated boundaries of regions of interest for these minerals. We present results from mean composition calculated in two ways: first, a global flat average of regional mean compositions, and second, a regionally weighted average that considers differences in chemistry among genetic types and/or oceanographic and geologic settings for these mineral occurrences. For nodules, we use the three genetic types: (1) hydrogenetic, typified by nodules from the West Pacific Nodule Field and Penrhyn Basin; (2) diagenetic, typified by nodules from the Peru Basin; (3) mixed hydrogenetic-diagenetic, typified by nodules from the Clarion–Clipperton Zone and the Central Indian Ocean Basin, and Atlantic Ocean regional type hydrogenetic nodules. All crusts considered here are of hydrogenetic origin, which we divide into seven regional types that reflect a combination of ocean basin and other source inputs. Crust types include Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Continental Margin, Prime Crust Zone (PCZ), North Pacific (non PCZ), and South Pacific. Based on our areal estimates, we find that abyssal regions likely to contain hydrogenetic-type nodules are by far the most widespread in the global ocean (47% of total area), Atlantic Ocean (28%) are next, followed by mixed diagenetic-hydrogenetic (22%) and diagenetic (3%) types. For crusts, the Prime Crust Zone is the most extensive global region (27% of total area) followed by South Pacific (20%), Indian Ocean (18%), North Pacific (12%), Continental Margins (11%), Atlantic Ocean (10%), and Arctic Ocean (2%) types. The global total tonnage estimates that we calculated from this method are 21 × 10 10 dry tons for manganese nodules, within the range of previous estimates, and 93 × 10 10 dry tons for ferromanganese crusts, which is 4.5 times higher than the 20 × 10 10 dry tons reported by Hein et al. (2003). This geology and oceanography driven approach to marine mineral quantification contrasts with estimates typically carried out for terrestrial mineral resource deposits. Nevertheless, these estimates and the data that support them demonstrate that marine minerals are an impressive repository for global metals.

Book chapter↗

Integrating diverse stakeholder knowledge in recreational fisheries decision making

Scientists and policymakers increasingly recognize that recreational fisheries decision making should in some way involve the knowledge of affected stakeholders. There are myriad studies about integrating stakeholder knowledge, but they span broad disciplines and topics. Lacking is (i) simple taxonomies that organize general approaches for integrating knowledge, and (ii) a review and examples of their application to specifically recreational fisheries and specifically diverse stakeholders. This chapter first defines the terms “stakeholders” and “recreational” and recognizes that globally, the decision making for non-commercial fisheries often occurs outside of the North American concept of management agencies and even purely leisure-based fisheries. Most of the chapter reviews common approaches for integrating stakeholder knowledge, from near-complete external governance with minimal input from stakeholders (top-down, command-and-control) to self-governance by stakeholders. Organizationally, we adapt the existing cooperative management continuum to first separate non-participatory from participatory approaches and then separate participatory approaches into those aimed at creating knowledge (to eventually inform future decisions) and those focused on decision making itself. The approaches we consider include observing stakeholders (e.g., via survey), incorporating multiple types of knowing (e.g., local traditional knowledge), collaborative data collection (e.g., citizen science), collaborative modelling (e.g., mental models and quantitative modelling), participatory decision making (co-management proper and the special cases of structured decision making and adaptive management), and finally self-governance (including private management of recreational fisheries). We define each according to a broader literature beyond recreational fisheries, describe the recognized advantages and disadvantages, describe or summarize applications to recreational fisheries, and finally mention relevance for integrating specifically diverse stakeholder knowledge. We then provide advice for how to select different approaches, including situations in which certain approaches are more likely to produce intended consequences. We conclude by describing potential challenges to the more useful integration of diverse stakeholder knowledge and needs in recreational fisheries decision making.

Book chapter↗

Ecohydrology and Its Relation to Integrated Groundwater Management

In the twentieth century, groundwater characterization focused primarily on easily measured hydraulic metrics of water storage and flows. Twenty-first century concepts of groundwater availability, however, encompass other factors having societal value, such as ecological well-being. Effective ecohydrological science is a nexus of fundamental understanding derived from two scientific disciplines: (1) ecology, where scale, thresholds, feedbacks and tipping points for societal questions form the basis for the ecologic characterization, and (2) hydrology, where the characteristics, magnitude, and timing of water flows are characterized for a defined system of interest. In addition to ecohydrology itself, integrated groundwater management requires input from resource managers to understand which areas of the vast world of ecohydrology are important for decision making. Expectations of acceptable uncertainty, or even what ecohydrological outputs have utility, are often not well articulated within societal decision making frameworks, or within the science community itself. Similarly, “acceptable levels of impact” are difficult to define. Three examples are given to demonstrate the use of ecohydrological considerations for long-term sustainability of groundwater resources and their related ecosystem function. Such examples illustrate the importance of accommodating ecohydrogeological aspects into integrated groundwater management of the twenty-first century, regardless of society, climate, or setting.

Book chapter↗

Biological soil crusts as an organizing principle in drylands

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts) have been present on Earth’s terrestrial surfaces for billions of years. They are a critical part of ecosystem processes in dryland regions, as they cover most of the soil surface and thus mediate almost all inputs and outputs from soils in these areas. There are many intriguing, but understudied, roles these communities may play in drylands. These include their function in nutrient capture and transformation, influence on the movement and distribution of nutrients and water within dryland soils, ability to structure vascular plant communities, role in creating biodiversity hotspots, and the possibility that they can be used as indicators of soil health. There are still many fascinating aspects of these communities that need study, and we hope that this chapter will facilitate such efforts.

Book chapter↗

Biological soil crusts: An organizing principle in dryland ecosystems (aka: the role of biocrusts in arid land hydrology)

Biocrusts exert a strong influence on hydrological processes in drylands by modifying numerous soil properties that affect water retention and movement in soils. Yet, their role in these processes is not clearly understood due to the large number of factors that act simultaneously and can mask the biocrust effect. The influence of biocrusts on soil hydrology depends on biocrust intrinsic characteristics such as cover, composition, and external morphology, which differ greatly among climate regimes, but also on external factors as soil type, topography and vegetation distribution patterns, as well as interactions among these factors. This chapter reviews the most recent literature published on the role of biocrusts in infiltration and runoff, soil moisture, evaporation and non-rainfall water inputs (fog, dew, water absorption), in an attempt to elucidate the key factors that explain how biocrusts affect land hydrology. In addition to the crust type and site characteristics, recent studies point to the crucial importance of the type of rainfall and the spatial scale at which biocrust effects are analyzed to understand their role in hydrological processes. Future studies need to consider the temporal and spatial scale investigated to obtain more accurate generalizations on the role of biocrusts in land hydrology.

Book chapter↗

Polar bears and sea ice habitat change

The polar bear ( Ursus maritimus ) is an obligate apex predator of Arctic sea ice and as such can be affected by climate warming-induced changes in the extent and composition of pack ice and its impacts on their seal prey. Sea ice declines have negatively impacted some polar bear subpopulations through reduced energy input because of loss of hunting habitats, higher energy costs due to greater ice drift, ice fracturing and open water, and ultimately greater challenges to recruit young. Projections made from the output of global climate models suggest that polar bears in peripheral Arctic and sub-Arctic seas will be reduced in numbers or become extirpated by the end of the twenty-first century if the rate of climate warming continues on its present trajectory. The same projections also suggest that polar bears may persist in the high-latitude Arctic where heavy multiyear sea ice that has been typical in that region is being replaced by thinner annual ice. Underlying physical and biological oceanography provides clues as to why polar bear in some regions are negatively impacted, while bears in other regions have shown no apparent changes. However, continued declines in sea ice will eventually challenge the survival of polar bears and efforts to conserve them in all regions of the Arctic.

Book chapter↗

Biological phosphorus cycling in dryland regions

The relatively few studies done on phosphorus (P) cycling in arid and semiarid lands (drylands) show many factors that distinguish P cycling in drylands from that in more mesic regions. In drylands, most biologically relevant P inputs and losses are from the deposition and loss of dust. Horizontal and vertical redistribution of P is an important process. P is concentrated at the soil surface and thus vulnerable to loss via erosion. High pH and CaCO 3 limit P bioavailability, and low rainfall limits microbe and plant ability to free abiotically bound P via exudates, thus making it available for uptake. Many invasive plants are able to access recalcitrant P more effectively than are native plants. As P availability depends on soil moisture and temperature, climate change is expected to have large impacts on P cycling.

Book chapter↗

Stochastic ground motion simulation

Strong earthquake ground motion records are fundamental in engineering applications. Ground motion time series are used in response-history dynamic analysis of structural or geotechnical systems. In such analysis, the validity of predicted responses depends on the validity of the input excitations. Ground motion records are also used to develop ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for intensity measures such as spectral accelerations that are used in response-spectrum dynamic analysis . Despite the thousands of available strong ground motion records, there remains a shortage of records for large-magnitude earthquakes at short distances or in specific regions, as well as records that sample specific combinations of source, path, and site characteristics.

Book chapter↗

210Pb dating

Roughly fifty years ago, a small group of scientists from Belgium and the United States, trying to better constrain ice sheet accumulation rates, attempted to apply what was then know about environmental lead as a potential geochronometer. Thus Goldberg (1963) developed the first principles of the 210 Pb dating method, which was soon followed by a paper by Crozaz et al. (1964), who examined accumulation history of Antarctic snow using 210 Pb. Shortly thereafter, Koide et al. (1972, 1973) adapted this technique to unravel sediment deposition and accumulation records in deep-sea environments. Serendipitously, they chose to work in a deep basin off California, where an independent and robust age model had already been developed. Krishanswami et al. (1971) extended the use of this technique to lacustrine deposits to reconstruct depositional histories of lake sediment, and maybe more importantly, contaminant inputs and burial. Thus, the powerful tool for dating recent (up to about one century old) sediment deposits was established and soon widely adopted. Today almost all oceanographic or limnologic studies that address recent depositional reconstructions employ 210 Pb as one of several possible geochronometers (Andrews et al., 2009; Gale, 2009; Baskaran, 2011; Persson and Helms, 2011). This paper presents a short overview of the principles of 210 Pb dating and provides a few examples that illustrate the utility of this tracer in contrasting depositional systems. Potential caveats and uncertainties (Appleby et al., 1986; Binford, 1990; Binford et al., 1993; Smith, 2001; Hancock et al., 2002) inherent to the use and interpretation of 210 Pb-derived age-models are also introduced. Recommendations as to best practices for most reliable uses and reporting are presented in the summary.

Book chapter↗

The effects of atmospheric nitrogen deposition on terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity

This chapter reports the findings of a Working Group on how atmospheric nitrogen (N) deposition affects both terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity. Regional and global scale impacts on biodiversity are addressed, together with potential indicators. Key conclusions are that: the rates of loss in biodiversity are greatest at the lowest and initial stages of N deposition increase; changes in species compositions are related to the relative amounts of N, carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) in the plant soil system; enhanced N inputs have implications for C cycling; N deposition is known to be having adverse effects on European and North American vegetation composition; very little is known about tropical ecosystem responses, while tropical ecosystems are major biodiversity hotspots and are increasingly recipients of very high N deposition rates; N deposition alters forest fungi and mycorrhyzal relations with plants; the rapid response of forest fungi and arthropods makes them good indicators of change; predictive tools (models) that address ecosystem scale processes are necessary to address complex drivers and responses, including the integration of N deposition, climate change and land use effects; criteria can be identified for projecting sensitivity of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to N deposition. Future research and policy-relevant recommendations are identified.

Book chapter↗

Identifying sources of aeolian mineral dust: Present and past

Aeolian mineral dust is an important component of the Earth’s environmental systems, playing roles in the planetary radiation balance, as a source of fertilizer for biota in both terrestrial and marine realms and as an archive for understanding atmospheric circulation and paleoclimate in the geologic past. Crucial to understanding all of these roles of dust is the identification of dust sources. Here we review the methods used to identify dust sources active at present and in the past. Contemporary dust sources, produced by both glaciogenic and non-glaciogenic processes, can be readily identified by the use of Earth-orbiting satellites. These data show that present dust sources are concentrated in a global dust belt that encompasses large topographic basins in low-latitude arid and semiarid regions. Geomorphic studies indicate that specific point sources for dust in this zone include dry or ephemeral lakes, intermittent stream courses, dune fields, and some bedrock surfaces. Back-trajectory analyses are also used to identify dust sources, through modeling of wind fields and the movement of air parcels over periods of several days. Identification of dust sources from the past requires novel approaches that are part of the geologic toolbox of provenance studies. Identification of most dust sources of the past requires the use of physical, mineralogical, geochemical, and isotopic analyses of dust deposits. Physical properties include systematic spatial changes in dust deposit thickness and particle size away from a source. Mineralogy and geochemistry can pinpoint dust sources by clay mineral ratios and Sc-Th-La abundances, respectively. The most commonly used isotopic methods utilize isotopes of Nd, Sr, and Pb and have been applied extensively in dust archives of deep-sea cores, ice cores, and loess. All these methods have shown that dust sources have changed over time, with far more abundant dust supplies existing during glacial periods. Greater dust supplies in glacial periods are likely due to greater production of glaciogenic dust particles from expanded ice sheets and mountain glaciers, but could also include dust inputs from exposed continental and insular shelves now submerged. Future dust sources are difficult to assess, but will likely differ from those of the present because of global warming. Global warming could bring about shifts in dust sources by changes in degree or type of vegetation cover, changes in wind strength, and increases or decreases in the size of water bodies. A major uncertainty in assessing dust sources of the future is related to changes inhuman land use, which could affect land surface cover, particularly due to increased agricultural endeavors and water usage.

Book chapter↗

Application of paleoecology to ecosystem restoration: A case study from south Florida’s estuaries

Paleoecological analyses of biotic assemblages from cores collected throughout south Florida’s estuaries indicate gradually increasing salinities over approximately the last 2000 years, consistent with rising sea level. Around the beginning of the twentieth century these gradual patterns of change began to shift, corresponding to the beginning of human alteration of the environment via canal construction, railroad construction and other land use changes. Between 1950 and 1960, at a time of significant construction of water management structures another distinctive shift in the biological assemblages occurred. Analysis of the assemblages provides essential information on long-term patterns of change in the estuaries and provides a basis for predicting future trajectories of change. Paleosalinity estimates derived from the cores are providing input to linear regression models to determine related freshwater flow into the estuaries of south Florida. These analyses are being used to help establish performance measures and targets for the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration, established following an Act of Congress in 2000. Restoration of south Florida’s ecosystems is slated to be a 30–50 year effort that will require detailed knowledge of past decadal to centennial-scale changes in climate, freshwater flow and salinity. This historical perspective provides information that allows land managers to set realistic and sustainable goals for restoration, and provides insight into the potential response of south Florida’s ecosystem to various future scenarios of global change.

Florida↗

Strength and acoustic properties of Ottawa sand containing laboratory-formed methane gas hydrate

Although gas hydrate occurs in a wide variety of sediment types and is present and even pervasive at some locations on continental margins, little is known about how it forms naturally. Physical properties of the resultant gas hydrate-sediment mixtures, data needed for input into models that predict location and quantity of in situ hydrate are also lacking. Not only do properties of the host materials influence the type and quantity of hydrate formed and whether a particular deposit may be an economic resource or a geohazard, the properties of the natural sediment are also subsequently changed by the formation of gas hydrate in the pore space. The magnitude of the change is primarily related to the amount and the weighted inter-particle distribution of the hydrate deposits in relation to the actual sediment grains. Our goal is to understand the interaction between natural sediments and gas hydrate formation in order to quantify physical properties that are useful to predictive models.

Book chapter↗

Geochemistry of aquatic humic substances in the Lake Fryxell basin, Antarctica

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in Lake Fryxell, 10 streams flowing into the lake, and the moat surrounding the lake was studied to determine the influence of sources and biogeochemical processes on its distribution and chemical nature. Lake Fryxell is an amictic, permanently ice-covered lake in the McMurdo Dry Valleys which contains benthic and planktonic microbial populations, but receives essentially no input of organic material from the ahumic soils of the watershed. Biological activity in the water column does not appear to influence the DOC depth profile, which is similar to the profiles for conservative inorganic constituents. DOC values for the streams varied with biomass in the stream channel, and ranged from 0.2 to 9.7 mg C/L. Fulvic acids in the streams were a lower percentage of the total DOC than in the lake. These samples contain recent carbon and appear to be simpler mixtures of compounds than the lake samples, indicating that they have undergone less humification. The fulvic acids from just above the sediments of the lake have a high sulfur content and are highly aliphatic. The main transformations occurring as these fractions diffuse upward in the water column are 1) loss of sulfur groups through the oxycline and 2) decrease in aliphatic carbon and increase in the heterogeneity of aliphatic moieties. The fraction of modem 14C content of the lake fulvic acids range from a minimum of 0.68 (approximately 3000 years old) at 15m depth to 0.997 (recent material) just under the ice. The major processes controlling the DOC in the lake appear to be: 1) The transport of organic matter by the inflow streams resulting in the addition of recent organic material to the moat and upper waters of the lake; 2) The diffusion of organic matter composed of relict organic material and organic carbon resulting from the degradation of algae and bacteria from the bottom waters or sediments of the lake into overlying glacial melt water; 3) The addition of recent organic matter to the bottom waters of the lake from the moat.

Biogeochemistry↗

Analysis of nitrogen saturation potential in Rocky Mountain tundra and forest: implications for aquatic systems

We employed grass and forest versions of the CENTURY model under a range of N deposition values (0.02–1.60 g N m −2 y −1 ) to explore the possibility that high observed lake and stream N was due to terrestrial N saturation of alpine tundra and subalpine forest in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Model results suggest that N is limiting to subalpine forest productivity, but that excess leachate from alpine tundra is sufficient to account for the current observed stream N. Tundra leachate, combined with N leached from exposed rock surfaces, produce high N loads in aquatic ecosystems above treeline in the Colorado Front Range. A combination of terrestrial leaching, large N inputs from snowmelt, high watershed gradients, rapid hydrologic flushing and lake turnover times, and possibly other nutrient limitations of aquatic organisms constrain high elevation lakes and streams from assimilating even small increases in atmospheric N. CENTURY model simulations further suggest that, while increased N deposition will worsen the situation, nitrogen saturation is an ongoing phenomenon.

Biogeochemistry↗

Atmospheric deposition and solute export in giant sequoia: Mixed conifer watersheds in the Sierra Nevada, California

Atmospheric depostion and stream discharge and solutes were measured for three years (September 1984 — August 1987) in two mixed conifer watersheds in Sequoia National Park, in the southern Sierra Nevada of California. The Log Creek watershed (50 ha, 2067–2397 m elev.) is drained by a perennial stream, while Tharp's Creek watershed (13 ha, 2067–2255 m elev.) contains an intermittent stream. Dominant trees in the area include Abies concolor (white fir), Sequoiadendron giganteum (giant sequoia), A. magnifica (red fir), and Pinus lambertiana (sugar pine). Bedrock is predominantly granite and granodiorite, and the soils are mostly Pachic Xerumbrepts. Over the three year period, sulfate (SO 4 2− ), nitrate (NO 3 − ), and chloride (Cl −1 ) were the major anions in bulk precipitation with volume-weighted average concentrations of 12.6, 12.3 and 10.0 μeq/1, respectively. Annual inputs of NO 3 -N, NH 4 -N and SO 4 -S from wet deposition were about 60 to 75% of those reported from bulk deposition collectors. Discharge from the two watersheds occurs primarily during spring snowmelt. Solute exports from Log and Tharp's Creeks were dominated by HCO 3 − , Ca 2+ and Na + , while H + , NO 3 − , NH 4 + and PO 4 3− outputs were relatively small. Solute concentrations were weakly correlated with instantaneous stream flow for all solutes (r 2 <0.2) except HCO 3 − (Log Cr. r 2 = 0.72; Tharp's Cr. r 2 = 0.38), Na + (Log Cr. r 2 = 0.56; Tharp's Cr. r 2 = 0.47), and silicate (Log Cr. r 2 = 0.71; Tharp's Cr. r 2 = 0.49). Mean annual atmospheric contributions of NO 3 -N (1.6 kg ha −1 ), NH 4 -N (1.7 kg ha −1 ), and SO 4 -S (1.8 kg ha −1 ), which are associated with acidic deposition, greatly exceed hydrologic losses. Annual watershed yields (expressed as eq ha −1 ) of HCO 3 − exceeded by factors of 2.5 to 37 the annual atmospheric deposition of H + .

California↗

The evolution of sex-change mechanisms in fishes

Five distinct sex-change mechanisms are identified among sequentially hermaphroditic fishes based on socio-ecological characteristics. The primary determinants of the sex-change mechanisms appear to be social organization and mating system, which in turn depend on resource distribution in space and time. The ability of a single individual to control all mating in the social unit, which is related to the size of the social unit, differentiates three suppression mechanisms from two induction mechanisms. Sex-change suppression, which is characteristic of species with small group size and rigid dominance hierarchies, refers to inevitable sex change in the absence of group dominance. Ability to migrate between resource patches differentiates protogynous suppression (e.g. in Labroides dimidiatus ) from protandrous suppression (e.g. in Amphiprion spp.). Early sex change appears to have evolved from protogynous suppression under special conditions involving the loss of mating control by a single dominant individual in certain species (e.g. Centropyge spp. ). Sex-change induction, which is characteristic of species with large social groups lacking rigid dominance hierarchies, refers to the requirement that sex change must be induced by specific characteristics of (or changes in) the social group, regardless of dominance status. Ability to distinguish sex, or its importance, differentiates sex-ratio induction (e.g. Anthias squamipinnis ) from size-ratio induction (e.g. Thalassoma spp.). Alternative models account for the possibility that all cases of sex change require stimulation from smaller conspecifics (universal induction-inhibition model) or that all fish have the genetic capacity to switch mechanisms, depending on changing ecological conditions and resulting changes in mating system (behavioral-scaling model). Neurophysiological models suggest that induction mechanisms, which require at least two categories of environmental stimuli, may have evolved from the simpler suppression mechanisms, which require only one kind of input from the environment.

Environmental Biology of Fishes↗

Temporal fluctuations in grain size, organic materials and iron concentrations in intertidal surface sediment of San Francisco Bay

The physical and chemical characteristics of the oxidized surface sediment in an estuary fluctuate temporally in response to physical forces and apparently-fluctuating inputs. These characteristics, which include grain size and concentrations of organic materials and iron, will influence both trace-metal geochemistry and bioavailability. Temporal trends in the abundance of fine particles, total organic carbon content (TOC), absorbance of extractable organic material (EOM), and concentration of extractable iron in the sediment of San Francisco Bay were assessed using data sets containing approximately monthly samples for periods of two to seven years. Changes in wind velocity and runoff result in monthly changes in the abundance of fine particles in the intertidal zone. Fine-grained particles are most abundant in the late fall/early winter when runoff is elevated and wind velocities are low; particles are coarser in the summer when runoff is low and wind velocities are consistently high. Throughout the bay, TOC is linearly related to fine particle abundance (r = 0.61). Temporal variability occurs in this relationship, as particles are poor in TOC relative to percent of fine particles in the early rainy season. Iron-poor particles also appear to enter the estuary during high runoff periods; while iron is enriched on particle surfaces in the summer. Concentrations of extractable iron and absorbance of EOM vary strongly from year to year. Highest absorbances of EOM occurred in the first year following the drought in 1976-77, and in 1982 and 1983 when river discharge was unusually high. Extractable-iron concentrations were also highest in 1976-77, but were very low in 1982 and 1983.

California↗