ALBERT

Description: Eragrostis tef is an allotetraploid (2n = 4 × = 40) annual, C4 grass with an estimated nuclear genome size of 730 Mbp. It is widely grown in Ethiopia, where it provides basic nutrition...

Description: Abstract Climate change is of major relevance to wine production as most of the wine‐growing regions of the world are located within relatively narrow latitudinal bands with average growing‐season temperatures limited to 13–21 °C. This study focuses on the incidence of climate variables and indices that are relevant both for climate change assessment and for grape production, with emphasis on grapevine bioclimatic indices and extreme events (e.g. cold waves, storms, heatwaves). Dynamical downscaling of European Reanalysis‐Interim (ERA‐Interim) and Max Planck Institute Earth System low‐resolution (MPI‐ESM‐LR) global simulations forced with a Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5 (RCP8.5) greenhouse gas (GHG) emission scenario was performed with the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model to a regional scale including the Douro Valley of Portugal for recent‐past (1986–2005) and future periods (2046–2065, 2081–2100). The number, duration and intensity of events were superimposed over critical phenological phases estimated by using a specific local grapevine varietal phenological model in order to assess their positive or negative implications for wine production in the region. An assessment of the relevance of climate parameters and indices and their progression in recent‐past and future climate scenarios with regard to the potential impact on wine production was performed. Results indicate a positive relation between higher growing‐season heat accumulations and greater vintage yields. A moderate incidence of very hot days (daily maximum temperature above 35 °C) and drought from pre‐véraison phenological conditions have a positive association with vintage ratings. However, the mid‐ and long‐term WRF‐MPI RCP8.5 future climate scenarios reveal shifts to warmer and drier conditions, with the mean growing‐season temperature (GST) not remaining within range for quality wine production in the long‐term future climate scenario. These results indicate potential impacts that suggest a range of strategies to maintain wine production and quality in the region.

Description: Abstract The Petrified Forest of Lesbos comprises silicified tree fossils at multiple stratigraphic levels within the Lower Miocene Sigri Pyroclastic Formation. Our objective was to understand the interplay of tectonic setting, structural evolution, volcanological setting and basin evolution in the preservation of this remarkable natural monument. Sections were logged for lithology, sedimentary structures and hydrothermal alteration. Orientations of fallen fossil trees were measured. Samples were taken for mineralogical and geochemical analysis. 40Ar/39Ar dating was carried out on mineral separates from four samples. Widespread andesite‐dacite domes, the Eressos Formation, intrude and overlie metamorphic basement and are overlain by the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation, which comprises several hundreds of metres of pyroclastic flow tuffs (unwelded ignimbrites) interbedded with fluvial conglomerate and volcaniclastic sandstone. The Sigri Pyroclastic Formation ranges in age from 21.5 to 22 Ma, where it overlies the lacustrine Gavathas Formation, to younger than 18.4 Ma. Tuffs and fluvial conglomerates in the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation coarsen eastwards, and petrified trees and soil horizons occur throughout the Formation. The recurrence of pyroclastic flows was approximately one every 20 ka, so destructive flows were relatively infrequent, allowing the development of climax vegetation between most eruptions. Conglomerate‐filled channels show that rivers flowed westwards. Tree fall directions indicate NW to N movement of pyroclastic flows, implying a source near the younger Mesotopos–Tavari caldera to the south. The basin, which formed in a NNE‐trending dextral strike‐slip regime, provided some topographic steering. Following the Sigri Pyroclastic Formation at ca. 18 Ma, there was a rapid increase in the pace of volcanic activity, with the eruption of thick lava sequences and welded ignimbrites, and intrusion of dykes and laccoliths in SW Lesbos. Rapid burial by permeable tuffs, silica from alteration of volcanic ash, and later hydrothermal circulation all contributed to the preservation of the petrified trees.

Description: The Baijiantan and Darbut ophiolites in West Junggar are exposed in steep fault zones (〉70°) containing serpentinite mélange, in contact on either side with regionally distributed Upper Devonian–Lower Carboniferous ocean-floor peperitic basalts and overlying sedimentary successions. The ophiolitic mélanges show classic structural features created by strike-slip faulting and consistent shear-sense indicators of left-slip kinematics. Sandstone blocks within the mélanges resemble the surrounding sediments in lithology and age, indicating that the ophiolitic mélanges consist of locally derived rocks. The ophiolitic mélanges therefore originated from left-slip fault zones within a remnant basin and are not plate boundaries nor subduction-suture zones. Sandstone is the youngest lithology involved in the mélange and provides a maximum age for the mélange of 322 Ma, whereas stitching plutons are younger than 302 Ma. Multiple clusters in zircon ages from single gabbro blocks in the mélange at ~375, ~360, ~354 and ~340 Ma are inconsistent with accretionary incorporation of subducting ocean crust, but rather suggest that episodic movement of the faults provided pathways for magma from the mantle into magma chambers. Late Paleozoic tectonic evolution of West Junggar involved late Devonian to Carboniferous relative motion between the Junggar block and West Junggar ocean basin, which triggered the left-slip fault zones within a remnant ocean basin, along which the oceanic crust was disrupted to form linear ophiolitic mélanges. Final filling of this remnant ocean basin and its dismemberment by strike-slip faulting occurred in the late Carboniferous, followed by crustal thickening by juvenile granites at the Carboniferous–Permian boundary.

Description: Background: The local environment plays a major role in the spatial distribution of plant populations. Natural plant populations have an extremely poor displacing capacity, so their continued survival in a given environment depends on how well they adapt to local pedoclimatic conditions. Genomic tools can be used to identify adaptive traits at a DNA level and to further our understanding of evolutionary processes. Here we report the use of genotyping-by-sequencing on local groups of the sequenced monocot model species Brachypodium distachyon. Exploiting population genetics, landscape genomics and genome wide association studies, we evaluate B. distachyon role as a natural probe for identifying genomic loci involved in environmental adaptation. Results: Brachypodium distachyon individuals were sampled in nine locations with different ecologies and characterized with 16,697 SNPs. Variations in sequencing depth showed consistent patterns at 8,072 genomic bins, which were significantly enriched in transposable elements. We investigated the structuration and diversity of this collection, and exploited climatic data to identify loci with adaptive significance through i) two different approaches for genome wide association analyses considering climatic variation, ii) an outlier loci approach, and iii) a canonical correlation analysis on differentially sequenced bins. A linkage disequilibrium-corrected Bonferroni method was applied to filter associations. The two association methods jointly identified a set of 15 genes significantly related to environmental adaptation. The outlier loci approach revealed that 5.7% of the loci analysed were under selection. The canonical correlation analysis showed that the distribution of some differentially sequenced regions was associated to environmental variation. Conclusions: We show that the multi-faceted approach used here targeted different components of B. distachyon adaptive variation, and may lead to the discovery of genes related to environmental adaptation in natural populations. Its application to a model species with a fully sequenced genome is a modular strategy that enables the stratification of biological material and thus improves our knowledge of the functional loci determining adaptation in near-crop species. When coupled with population genetics and measures of genomic structuration, methods coming from genome wide association studies may lead to the exploitation of model species as natural probes to identify loci related to environmental adaptation.

Description: Abstract Source‐to‐sink studies and numerical modeling software are increasingly used to better understand sedimentary basins, and to predict sediment distributions. However, predictive modeling remains problematic in basins dominated by salt tectonics. The Lower Cretaceous delta system of the Scotian Basin is well suited for source to sink studies and provides an opportunity to apply this approach to a region experiencing active salt tectonism. This study uses forward stratigraphic modeling software and statistical analysis software to produce predictive stratigraphic models of the central Scotian Basin, test their sensitivity to different input parameters, assess proposed provenance pathways, and determine the distribution of sand and factors that control sedimentation in the basin. Models have been calibrated against reference wells and seismic surfaces, and implement a multidisciplinary approach to define simulation parameters. Simulation results show that previously proposed provenance pathways for the Early Cretaceous can be used to generate predictive stratigraphic models, which simulate the overall sediment distribution for the central Scotian Basin. Modeling confirms that the shaly nature of the Naskapi Member is the result of tectonic diversion of the Sable and Banquereau rivers and suggests additional episodic diversion during the deposition of the Cree Member. Sand is dominantly trapped on the shelf in all units, with transport into the basin along salt corridors and as a result of turbidity current flows occurring in the Upper Missisauga Formation and Cree Member. This led to sand accumulation in minibasins with a large deposit seaward of the Tantallon M‐41 well. Sand also appears to by‐pass the basin via salt corridors which lead to the down‐slope edge of the study area. Sensitivity analysis suggests that the grain size of source sediments to the system is the controlling factor of sand distribution. The methodology applied to this basin has applications to other regions complicated by salt tectonics, and where sediment distribution and transport from source‐to‐sink remain unclear. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: The pathways by which alien species are introduced to new regions fall into six broad classes: deliberate release ; escape from captivity; contaminant of a commodity; stowaway on a transport vector; via an infrastructure corridor (without which spread would not be possible) or unaided from other invaded regions (Hulme et al. 2008). However, Gilroy et al. (2016) argue that species dispersing naturally, through the infrastructure corridor or unaided pathway, should be classed as native rather than alien. We contend their proposal is not only unworkable but also unwise. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

Description: In May 2014, the East Hampton Roads Aerosol Flux (EHRAF) campaign was conducted at Hampton University (HU) to examine small-scale aerosol transport using aerosol, Raman, and Doppler lidars, and rawindsonde launches. We present the results of analyses performed on these high-resolution planetary boundary layer and lower atmospheric measurements, with a focus on the low-level jets (LLJs) that form in this region during spring and summer. We present a detailed case study of a LLJ lasting from evening 20 May to morning 21 May using vertical profiles of aerosol backscatter, wind speed and direction, water vapor mixing ratio, temperature, and turbulence structure. We show with higher resolution than in previous studies that enhanced nighttime turbulence triggered by LLJs can cause the aerosol and water vapor content of the boundary layer to be transported vertically and form a well-mixed region containing the cloud condensation nuclei that are necessary for cloud formation.