ALBERT

Description: Anoxic sediments, as compared to oxic settings, encompass a much higher proportion of relatively labile and thus more reactive organic matter, naturally giving rise to structural changes of the organic molecules themselves, as well as cross-linking between them (e.g., through reactive sulfur species). Both processes transform the original biomolecules into geomolecules. For the oxic environment, these intermolecular and intramolecular transformations also operate, but cross-linking may be less important since the labile, reactive component is rapidly removed. As such, one may expect a structurally better preservation of the more refractory initial biomolecules in the oxic environment. To test this hypothesis, initially identical biomolecules need to be compared between different preservational environments. Here, we use the species-specific morphology of organic microfossils to assure a single initial biosynthetic product (the cysts of the fossil dinoflagellate species Thalassiphora pelagica) for comparison. We assess the macromolecular structures of cysts from the Eocene (∼40 Ma) sulfidic Rhine Graben and the oxic Kerguelen Plateau and compare them with each other and the structures of recent cysts. While between the sites the T. pelagica cysts are morphologically identical and show no signs of morphological modification, pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectroscopy and micro Fourier transform infrared analyses show that their macromolecular characteristics are strongly different. Comparison with recent cysts shows that the cysts deposited in the sulfidic Rhine Graben show a strong additional contribution of long-chain aliphatic moieties and thus less diagenetic intermolecular cross-linking. The presence of organic sulfur identifies natural volcanization as one of the diagenetic processes. Furthermore, we observe a loss of bound oxygen and no trace of the original carbohydrate signature of the cyst wall biomacromolecule. The material deposited in the oxic sediments of the Kerguelen Plateau shows no traces of sulfurization. It shows a minor contribution of short carbon chains only and thus less diagenetic intermolecular cross-linking. Furthermore, a carbohydrate signature was still preserved evidencing a better molecular preservation of the initial biomacromolecule, supporting our initial hypothesis. This shows that excellent morphological preservation does not imply excellent chemical preservation. It also leads to the conclusion that the best preservation of molecular structure is not necessarily where most organic matter gets preserved, which, in turn, is important for understanding the nature and fate of sedimentary organic matter and its isotopic signature.

Description: We examined recent atmospheric mercury concentrations measured with a high temporal resolution of 15 min at Mace Head, a GAW station on the western coast of Ireland. We attributed a direct contribution of 34 % (0.44 ng m−3) to primary sources. Additionally, a steep decline (0.05 ng yr−1) in mercury concentrations was observed between 2013 and 2018. Using a stereo algorithm we reconstructed 99.9 % of the atmospheric mercury. A conservative analysis demonstrated no decrease in total gaseous mercury (TGM) associated with atmospheric species typically used as tracers for oceanic emissions. The results show that the atmospheric mercury mass is mainly loaded in a baseline factor with an ongoing decline. Moreover, we exploit temporal variation and wind pattern effects in the measured atmospheric species; the results show that the diurnal variation and seasonality in TGM observed in Mace Head are closely related to other species linked to primary sources and can be explained by transport from continental areas.

Description: Dynamic stall phenomena carry the risk of negative damping and instability in wind turbine blades. It is crucial to model these phenomena accurately to reduce inaccuracies in predicting design driving (fatigue and extreme) loads. Some of the inaccuracies in current dynamic stall models may be due to the fact that they are not properly designed for high angles of attack and that they do not specifically describe vortex shedding behaviour. The Snel second-order dynamic stall model attempts to explicitly model unsteady vortex shedding. This model could therefore be a valuable addition to a turbine design software such as Bladed. In this paper the model has been validated with oscillating aerofoil experiments, and improvements have been proposed for reducing inaccuracies. The proposed changes led to an overall reduction in error between the model and experimental data. Furthermore the vibration frequency prediction improved significantly. The improved model has been implemented in Bladed and tested against small-scale turbine experiments at parked conditions. At high angles of attack the model looks promising for reducing mismatches between predicted and measured (fatigue and extreme) loading, leading to possible lower safety factors for design and more cost-efficient designs for future wind turbines.

Description: Hydrothermal vent fields found at mid-ocean ridges emit hydrothermal fluids that disperse as neutrally buoyant plumes. From these fluids seafloor massive sulfides (SMS) deposits are formed, which are being explored as possible new mining sites for (trace) metals and rare earth elements (REEs). It has been suggested that during mining activities large amounts of suspended matter will appear in the water column due to excavation processes and discharge of mining waste from the surface vessel. Understanding how hydrothermal plumes can be characterised by means of geochemistry and microbiology as they spread away from their source and how they affect their surrounding environment may help in characterising the behaviour of the dilute distal part of chemically enriched mining plumes. This study on the extensive Rainbow hydrothermal plume, observed up to 25 km downstream from the vent site, enabled us to investigate how microbial communities and (trace) metal composition change in a natural plume with distance. The (trace) metal and REE content of suspended particulate matter (SPM) was determined using sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (SF-ICP-MS) with high resolution (HR), and the microbial communities of the neutrally buoyant plume, above-plume, below-plume, and near-bottom water and sediment were characterised by using 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing methods. Both vertically in the water column and horizontally along the neutrally buoyant plume, geochemical and biological changes were evident, as the neutrally buoyant plume stood out by its enrichments in (trace) metals and REEs, as, for example, Fe, Cu, V, Mn and REEs were enriched by factors of up to ∼80, ∼90, ∼52, ∼2.5 and ∼40, respectively, compared to above-plume water samples taken at 1000 m water depth. The concentrations of these elements changed as the plume aged, shown by the decrease in element ∕ Fe molar ratios of chalcophile elements (Cu, Co, Zn), indicative of rapid removal from the hydrothermal plume or removal from the solid phase. Conversely, increasing REE ∕ Fe molar ratios imply uptake of REEs from the ambient seawater onto Fe-oxyhydroxides. This was also reflected in the background pelagic system, as Epsilonproteobacteria started to dominate and univariate microbial biodiversity declined with distance away from the Rainbow hydrothermal vent field. The Rainbow hydrothermal plume provides a geochemically enriched natural environment, which is a heterogeneous, dynamic habitat that is conducive to ecological changes in a short time span. This study of a hydrothermal plume provides a baseline study to characterise the natural plume before the interference of deep-sea mining.

Description: Landscape evolution models can be used to assess the impact of rainfall variability on bedrock river incision over millennial timescales. However, isolating the role of rainfall variability remains difficult in natural environments, in part because environmental controls on river incision such as lithological heterogeneity are poorly constrained. In this study, we explore spatial differences in the rate of bedrock river incision in the Ecuadorian Andes using three different stream power models. A pronounced rainfall gradient due to orographic precipitation and high lithological heterogeneity enable us to explore the relative roles of these controls. First, we use an area-based stream power model to scrutinize the role of lithological heterogeneity in river incision rates. We show that lithological heterogeneity is key to predicting the spatial patterns of incision rates. Accounting for lithological heterogeneity reveals a nonlinear relationship between river steepness, a proxy for river incision, and denudation rates derived from cosmogenic radionuclide (CRNs). Second, we explore this nonlinearity using runoff-based and stochastic-threshold stream power models, combined with a hydrological dataset, to calculate spatial and temporal runoff variability. Statistical modeling suggests that the nonlinear relationship between river steepness and denudation rates can be attributed to a spatial runoff gradient and incision thresholds. Our findings have two main implications for the overall interpretation of CRN-derived denudation rates and the use of river incision models: (i) applying sophisticated stream power models to explain denudation rates at the landscape scale is only relevant when accounting for the confounding role of environmental factors such as lithology, and (ii) spatial patterns in runoff due to orographic precipitation in combination with incision thresholds explain part of the nonlinearity between river steepness and CRN-derived denudation rates. Our methodology can be used as a framework to study the coupling between river incision, lithological heterogeneity and climate at regional to continental scales.

Description: The role of polar regions is increasing in terms of megatrends such as globalization, new transport routes, demography, and the use of natural resources with consequent effects on regional and transported pollutant concentrations. We set up the ERA-PLANET Strand 4 project “iCUPE – integrative and Comprehensive Understanding on Polar Environments” to provide novel insights and observational data on global grand challenges with an Arctic focus. We utilize an integrated approach combining in situ observations, satellite remote sensing Earth observations (EOs), and multi-scale modeling to synthesize data from comprehensive long-term measurements, intensive campaigns, and satellites to deliver data products, metrics, and indicators to stakeholders concerning the environmental status, availability, and extraction of natural resources in the polar areas. The iCUPE work consists of thematic state-of-the-art research and the provision of novel data in atmospheric pollution, local sources and transboundary transport, the characterization of arctic surfaces and their changes, an assessment of the concentrations and impacts of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants and their cycling, the quantification of emissions from natural resource extraction, and the validation and optimization of satellite Earth observation (EO) data streams. In this paper we introduce the iCUPE project and summarize initial results arising out of the integration of comprehensive in situ observations, satellite remote sensing, and multi-scale modeling in the Arctic context.

Description: The dynamics of marine-terminating outlet glaciers are of fundamental interest in glaciology and affect mass loss from ice sheets in a warming climate. In this study, we analyze the response of outlet glaciers to different sources of climate forcing. We find that outlet glaciers have a characteristically different transient response to surface-mass-balance forcing applied over the interior than to oceanic forcing applied at the grounding line. A recently developed reduced model represents outlet-glacier dynamics via two widely separated response timescales: a fast response associated with grounding-zone dynamics and a slow response of interior ice. The reduced model is shown to emulate the behavior of a more complex numerical model of ice flow. Together, these models demonstrate that ocean forcing first engages the fast, local response and then the slow adjustment of interior ice, whereas surface-mass-balance forcing is dominated by the slow interior adjustment. We also demonstrate the importance of the timescales of stochastic forcing for assessing the natural variability in outlet glaciers, highlighting that decadal persistence in ocean variability can affect the behavior of outlet glaciers on centennial and longer timescales. Finally, we show that these transient responses have important implications for attributing observed glacier changes to natural or anthropogenic influences; the future change already committed by past forcing; and the impact of past climate changes on the preindustrial glacier state, against which current and future anthropogenic influences are assessed.

Description: In the fall of 2017, an airborne field campaign was conducted from the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Palmdale, California, to advance the remote sensing of aerosols and clouds with multi-angle polarimeters (MAP) and lidars. The Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) campaign was jointly sponsored by NASA and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON). Six instruments were deployed on the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft. Four were MAPs: the Airborne Hyper Angular Rainbow Polarimeter (AirHARP), the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI), the Airborne Spectrometer for Planetary EXploration (SPEX airborne), and the Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP). The remainder were lidars, including the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL) and the High Spectral Resolution Lidar 2 (HSRL-2). The southern California base of ACEPOL enabled observation of a wide variety of scene types, including urban, desert, forest, coastal ocean, and agricultural areas, with clear, cloudy, polluted, and pristine atmospheric conditions. Flights were performed in coordination with satellite overpasses and ground-based observations, including the Ground-based Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (GroundMSPI), sun photometers, and a surface reflectance spectrometer. ACEPOL is a resource for remote sensing communities as they prepare for the next generation of spaceborne MAP and lidar missions. Data are appropriate for algorithm development and testing, instrument intercomparison, and investigations of active and passive instrument data fusion. They are freely available to the public. The DOI for the primary database is https://doi.org/10.5067/SUBORBITAL/ACEPOL2017/DATA001 (ACEPOL Science Team, 2017), while for AirMSPI it is https://doi.org/10.5067/AIRCRAFT/AIRMSPI/ACEPOL/RADIANCE/ELLIPSOID_V006 and https://doi.org/10.5067/AIRCRAFT/AIRMSPI/ACEPOL/RADIANCE/TERRAIN_V006 (ACEPOL AirMSPI 75 Science Team, 2017a, b). GroundMSPI data are at https://doi.org/10.5067/GROUND/GROUNDMSPI/ACEPOL/RADIANCE_v009 (GroundMSPI Science Team, 2017). Table 3 lists further details of these archives. This paper describes ACEPOL for potential data users and also provides an outline of requirements for future field missions with similar objectives.

Description: A two-part intercomparison campaign was conducted at Observatoire de Haute-Provence (OHP) for the validation of lidar ozone and temperature profiles using the mobile NASA Stratospheric Ozone Lidar (NASA STROZ), satellite overpasses from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER), meteorological radiosondes launched from Nîmes, and locally launched ozonesondes. All the data were submitted and compared “blind”, before the group could see results from the other instruments. There was good agreement between all ozone measurements between 20 and 40 km, with differences of generally less than 5 % throughout this region. Below 20 km, SABER and MLS measured significantly more ozone than the lidars or ozonesondes. Temperatures for all lidars were in good agreement between 30 and 60 km, with differences on the order of ±1 to 3 K. Below 30 km, the OHP lidar operating at 532 nm has a significant cool bias due to contamination by aerosols. Systematic, altitude-varying bias up to ±5 K compared to the lidars was found for MLS at many altitudes. SABER temperature profiles are generally closer to the lidar profiles, with up 3 K negative bias near 50 km. Total uncertainty estimates for ozone and temperature appear to be realistic for nearly all systems. However, it does seem that the very low estimated uncertainties of lidars between 30 and 50 km, between 0.1 and 1 K, are not achieved during Lidar Validation Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) Experiment (LAVANDE). These estimates might have to be increased to 1 to 2 K.

Description: We validate the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) Ozone Profile (PROFOZ) product from October 2004 through December 2014 retrieved by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) algorithm against ozonesonde observations. We also evaluate the effects of OMI row anomaly (RA) on the retrieval by dividing the dataset into before and after the occurrence of serious OMI RA, i.e., pre-RA (2004–2008) and post-RA (2009–2014). The retrieval shows good agreement with ozonesondes in the tropics and midlatitudes and for pressure