ALBERT

Description: Length: 32 min What forms the landscapes of the Earth with its mountains, rivers, soils, the places we live in? Is Earth’s surface shaped when rocks are uplifted by geologic forces, and are then destroyed by rain, ice, and wind; or do plants with their roots, animals that dig into soil and the vast number of microorganisms shape the landscapes? Watch the scientists of the German-Chilean “EarthShape” project study these questions along a fascinating landscapes in Chile, and in their home laboratories. A science movie designed and produced by Friedhelm von Blanckenburg from GFZ Potsdam, Germany, Kirstin Übernickel from Universität Tübingen, and Wolfgang Dümcke from Filmbüro Potsdam, Germany, within the DFG-funded research network “EarthShape – Earth Surface Shaping by Biota” which is coordinated by Todd Ehlers (Universität Tübingen) und Friedhelm von Blanckenburg (GFZ Potsdam).

Description: The worlds 30 largest rivers represent half of the total runoff to the ocean and thus integrate the fluxes of Earth surface weathering and erosion over a large portion of global tectonic, geomorphic, and climatic zones. In-situ produced cosmogenic nuclides (10Be, 26Al) in detrital quartz sand can be used to constrain the mean millennial-scale denudation of these large basins. Yet cosmogenic nuclides have mostly been applied to small and intermediate size basins of significant relief. One reason is that in these settings, lowland sediment storage and burial are short compared to the half life of the nuclide (e.g. 1.4 Myr for 10Be). However, if sediment storage is long compared to the half-life, paired nuclides (e.g. 26Al/10Be), through their differential decay, allow to assess the duration of sediment transfer and burial ages from source to sink[1]. Here we present a new dataset of cosmogenic nuclides from 60 large rivers that integrate over ~30% of Earth’s terrestrial surface. 26Al/10Be ratios of around 6 to 7.5 for most rivers reveal burial durations shorter than the nuclides’ decay time scales, indicating high source-sink connectivity. In slowly-eroding basins such as the tectonically quiescent Australian Murray-Darling or the central African Okavango and Congo rivers, 26Al/10Be ratios of 〈6 indicate decay of nuclide concentrations. Such low nuclide ratios evolve during Myr-scale sediment burial during slow source to sink transfer. We converted denudation rates to sediment fluxes by estimating their actively eroding source areas. Extrapolating these millennial-scale sediment fluxes to global source areas provides an estimate of the global sediment flux. The comparison with estimates of modern sediment fluxes from river load gauging offers to deciphering the controls of sediment generation versus sediment transport across large basins.

Description: Primary productivity of forest ecosystems depends on the availability of plant‐essential mineral nutrients. Because nutrient demand of trees often exceeds nutrient supply from rock, tree nutrition is sustained by efficient re‐utilization of organic‐bound nutrients. These nutrients are continuously returned from trees to the forest floor in litterfall. However, over millennia nutrient limitation may develop in landscapes from which nutrients are permanently lost by drainage and erosion. Such a deficit is prevented if advection of unweathered bedrock towards the surface as driven by erosion continuously supplies fresh nutrients. Yet, the mechanisms and the depth range over which this deep nutrient resource is accessed are poorly known. We show that in two montane temperate forest ecosystems in the Black Forest and Bavarian Forest the geogenic source of nutrients was found within a depth zone of several meters. This deep zone contains a large pool of biologically available nutrients. We applied isotope ratios as proxies for nutrient uptake depth, and we tracked the regolith depth at which the isotope ratios of 87Sr/86Sr and 10Be(meteoric)/9Be match the respective values in plant tissue. We mapped the depth distribution of the biologically available calcium‐bound form of the most plant‐essential mineral nutrient phosphorus and found that the depth of phosphorus availability is as deep or even deeper as the range defined by the isotope ratios. We conclude that nutrient supply from a regolith depth of several meters is critical for forest ecosystem function in landscapes of moderate hillslopes and rainfall that are affected by permanent nutrient loss.

Description: The DFG Priority Program 1803 "EarthShape - Earth Surface Shaping by Biota” (www.earthshape.net, short description of the project below) installed a meteorological station network consisting of four stations between ~}26 °S to {~38 °S in the Coastal Cordillera of Chile, South America. The stations are intended to provide baseline meteorological data along the climate and ecological gradient investigated in the EarthShape program. The stations are located in the EarthShape study areas, encompassing desert, semi-desert, mediterranean, and temperate climate zones. Each station is configured to include sensors that record precipitation at ground level, radiation at 2.8 m height, wind at 3 m height, 25 cm depth soil temperature, soil water content and bulk electrical conductivity, 2 m air temperature and relative humidity, and barometric pressure at 30-minute intervals. The data recording started in March/April 2016. The EarthShape project runs until December 2021. Data collection will continue until that date, and potentially longer depending on available funds. This publication provides two sets of data: raw data and processed data. The raw data contains 2 file types per meteorological station: (1) all measured parameters of the whole dataset measured in 30 minutes intervals as downloaded from the station. Furthermore, we provide (2) one table per station of high-resolution precipitation events, measured in 5 min. intervals that were triggered during rain events at each station. The processed data consists of a continuous timeseries of observations since the activation of each station. The processing consists of the exclusion of erroneous data, caused by maintenance of the weather-stations and sporadic malfunction of sensors detected during data screening. The excluded data is communicated in a logfile (excel table), comments from data screening, solar eclipse and others are summarized in history files (ASCII ). the full description of the data and methods is provided in the data description file (Data description file).

Description: The accurate interpretation of Si isotope signatures in natural systems requires knowledge of the equilibrium isotope fractionation between Si-bearing solids and the dominant Si-bearing aqueous species. Aqueous silicon speciation is dominated by silicic acid (H4SiO4o) in most natural aqueous fluids at pH 〈 8.5, but forms H3SiO4−, H2SiO42−, and polymeric Si species in more alkaline fluids. In this study isotope exchange experiments were performed at bulk chemical equilibrium between amorphous silica (SiO2∙0.32 H2O) and inorganic aqueous fluids at pH ranging from 5.8 to 9.9 at 25° and 75 °C with experiments running as long as 375 days. The three-isotope method was used to quantify the equilibrium Si isotope fractionation, Δeq30Si, between amorphous silica and aqueous Si; at pH ∼ 6 this equilibrium fractionation factor was found to be 0.45 ± 0.2‰ at 25 °C, and 0.07 ± 0.6‰ at 75 °C. At more basic pH (〉9), equilibrium Si isotope fractionation factors between solid and aqueous solution are higher, at 1.63 ± 0.23‰ at 25 °C, and 1.06 ± 0.13‰ at 75 °C. Taking account of the distribution of the aqueous Si species, equilibrium Si isotope fractionation factors between H3SiO4− and H4SiO4o of −2.34 ± 0.13‰ and −2.21 ± 0.05‰ at 25 and 75 °C, respectively, were determined. The distinct equilibrium isotope fractionation factors of H3SiO4− and H4SiO4o, and its variation with temperature can be used to establish paleo-pH and temperature proxies. The application of the three-isotope method also provides insight into the rates of isotopic exchange. For the solid grain size used (∼20 nm), these rates match closely the measured bulk dissolution rates for amorphous silica for most of the isotope exchange process, suggesting the dominant and rate controlling isotope exchange mechanism in the experiments is detachment and reattachment of material at the amorphous silica surface.

Description: Understanding and quantification of phosphorus (P) fluxes are key requirements for predictions of future forest ecosystems changes as well as for transferring lessons learned from natural ecosystems to croplands and plantations. This review summarizes and evaluates the recent knowledge on mechanisms, magnitude, and relevance by which dissolved and colloidal inorganic and organic P forms can be translocated within or exported from forest ecosystems. Attention is paid to hydrological pathways of P losses at the soil profile and landscape scales, and the subsequent influence of P on aquatic ecosystems. New (unpublished) data from the German Priority Program 1685 “Ecosystem Nutrition: Forest Strategies for limited Phosphorus Resources” were added to provide up-to-date flux-based information. Nitrogen (N) additions increase the release of water-transportable P forms. Most P found in percolates and pore waters belongs to the so-called dissolved organic P (DOP) fractions, rich in orthophosphate-monoesters and also containing some orthophosphate-diesters. Total solution P concentrations range from ca. 1 to 400 µg P L−1, with large variations among forest stands. Recent sophisticated analyses revealed that large portions of the DOP in forest stream water can comprise natural nanoparticles and fine colloids which under extreme conditions may account for 40–100% of the P losses. Their translocation within preferential flow passes may be rapid, mediated by storm events. The potential total P loss through leaching into subsoils and with streams was found to be less than 50 mg P m−2 a−1, suggesting effects on ecosystems at centennial to millennium scale. All current data are based on selected snapshots only. Quantitative measurements of P fluxes in temperate forest systems are nearly absent in the literature, probably due to main research focus on the C and N cycles. Therefore, we lack complete ecosystem-based assessments of dissolved and colloidal P fluxes within and from temperate forest Systems.

Description: Length: 1 min

Description: Length: 32 min What forms the landscapes of the Earth with its mountains, rivers, soils, and the places we live in? One view holds that Earth’s surface is shaped when rocks are uplifted by geologic forces, and are then destroyed by rain, ice, and wind that carve landscapes by erosion and weathering. Another view suggests that the green layer of life between rocks below and climate above is the key player. Do plants with their roots, animals that dig into soil and the vast number of microorganisms shape the landscapes? Or do minerals, soil, and water provide the environment for them to live? Or are they both interdependent? Can they together resist the massive climate change imposed by humans today? Watch the scientists of the German-Chilean “EarthShape” project study these questions along a climate gradient in Chile, in the National Parks Pan de Azúcar, La Campana, and Nahuelbuta. Take a tour through fascinating landscapes and see the young scientists study the interactions between geology and biology, from the dry Atacama Desert to dense forests, and in their sophisticated home laboratories. See how feedbacks control Earth’s climate. A science movie designed and produced by Friedhelm von Blanckenburg from GFZ Potsdam, Germany, Kirstin Übernickel from Universität Tübingen, and Wolfgang Dümcke from Filmbüro Potsdam, Germany, within the German National Science Foundation (DFG) funded research network “EarthShape – Earth Surface Shaping by Biota” which is coordinated by Todd Ehlers (Universität Tübingen) und Friedhelm von Blanckenburg (GFZ Potsdam).