ALBERT

Description: The sedimentation regime off Northwest Africa is shaped by: (1) structur~al factors. which result in generallv low relief on land. shelf widths between 40 and more than 120 km. and av-erage sfope inclinations between 10 30' and 30; (2) land climates. which contral the delivery of terrigenous particles to the margin: (3) water movements including boundary currents and upwelling; and (4) the post- Pleistocene sea level rise. This chapter combines published and new results arising from research into the sedimentation processes off Northwest Africa. and emphasizes particularly the activities of the Kiel marine geological group during the past few years. Reviews of cruise activities and results were given in Closs et al. (1969) (Meteor cruise 8. 1967. off Morocco) . Seibold (1972) (Meteor cmise 25 . 1971. off Sahara to Central Senegal). Seibold and Hinz (1976) (Meteor cmise 39,1975 . and Valdivia cruise 10. 1975, from Morocco to South Senegal), and Waiden et al. (1974) (Meteor cmise 30, 1973, off Sierra Leone). Some of these cmises were used for pre- or post-site surveys for the Deep-Sea Drilling Project, or to add undisturbed Quaternary cores to the Glomar Challenger cores (leg 41, ] 975; Lancelot, et al .• 1978); leg 47 A, Arthur er al .• 1979; Lutze et al., 1979). We have concentrated our geological investigations on a number of standard profiles from the shelf to the upper continental rise as given in Figure 1. The manuscript was finished May 1979.

Description: Ice of Antarctic ice shelves is assumed to behave on long-term as an incompressible viscous fluid, which is dominated on short time scales by the elastic response. Hence, a viscoelastic material model is required. The thermodynamic pressure is treated differently in elastic and viscous models. For small deformations, the elastic isometric stress for ν → 0.5 gives similar results to those solving for pressure in an incompressible laminar flow model. A viscous model, in which the thermodynamic pressure is approximated by an elastic isometric stress, can be easily extended to viscoelasticity.

Description: Pacific Water (PW) enters the Arctic Ocean through Bering Strait and brings heat, fresh water and nutrients from the northern Bering Sea. The circulation of PW in the central Arctic Ocean is only partially understood due to the lack of observations. In this paper pathways of PW are investigated using simulations with six state-of-the art regional and global Ocean General Circulation Models (OGCMs). In the simulations PW is tracked by a passive tracer, released in Bering Strait. Simulated PW water spreads from the Bering Strait region in three major branches. One of them starts in the Barrow Canyon, bringing PW along continental slope of Alaska into the Canadian Straits and then into Baffin Bay. The other initiates in the vicinity of the Herald Canyon and transports PW along the continental slope of the East-Siberian Sea into the transpolar drift, and then through Fram Strait and the Greenland Sea. The third branch begins near the Herald Shoal and the central Chukchi shelf and brings PW waters into the Beaufort Gyre. Models suggest that the spread of PW through the Arctic Ocean depends on the atmospheric circulation. In the models the wind, acting via Ekman pumping, drives the seasonal and interannual variability of PW in the Canadian Basin of the Arctic Ocean. The wind effects the simulated PW pathways by changing vertical shear of the relative vorticity of the ocean flow in the Canada Basin. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: We demonstrated atmospheric responses to a reduction in Arctic sea ice via simulations in which Arctic sea ice decreased stepwise from the present-day range to an ice-free range. In all cases, the tropospheric response exhibited a negative Arctic Oscillation (AO)-like pattern. An intensification of the climatological planetary-scale wave due to the present-day sea ice reduction on the Atlantic side of the Arctic Ocean induced stratospheric polar vortex weakening and the subsequent negative AO. Conversely, strong Arctic warming due to ice-free conditions across the entire Arctic Ocean induced a weakening of the tropospheric westerlies corresponding to a negative AO without troposphere-stratosphere coupling, for which the planetary-scale wave response to a surface heat source extending to the Pacific side of the Arctic Ocean was responsible. Because the resultant negative AO-like response was accompanied by secondary circulation in the meridional plane, atmospheric heat transport into the Arctic increased, accelerating the Arctic amplification.

Description: Improving the representation of the hydrological cycle in atmospheric general circulation models (AGCMs) is one of the main challenges in modeling the Earth’s climate system. One way to evaluate model performance is to simulate the transport of water isotopes. Among those available, tritium is an extremely valuable tracer, because its content in the different reservoirs involved in the water cycle (stratosphere, troposphere, and ocean) varies by order of magnitude. Previous work incorporated natural tritium into Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique Zoom (LMDZ)-iso, a version of the LMDZ general circulation model enhanced by water isotope diagnostics. Here for the first time, the anthropogenic tritium injected by each of the atmospheric nuclear bomb tests between 1945 and 1980 has been first estimated and further implemented in the model; it creates an opportunity to evaluate certain aspects of LDMZ over several decades by following the bomb tritium transient signal through the hydrological cycle. Simulations of tritium in water vapor and precipitation for the period 1950–2008, with both natural and anthropogenic components, are presented in this study. LMDZ-iso satisfactorily reproduces the general shape of the temporal evolution of tritium. However, LMDZ-iso simulates too high a bomb tritium peak followed by too strong a decrease of tritium in precipitation. The too diffusive vertical advection in AGCMs crucially affects the residence time of tritium in the stratosphere. This insight into model performance demonstrates that the implementation of tritium in an AGCM provides a new and valuable test of the modeled atmospheric transport, complementing water stable isotope modeling.

Description: Variations in oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) measured from modern precipitation and geologic archives provide a promising tool for understanding modern and past climate dynamics and tracking elevation changes over geologic time. In areas of extreme topography, such as the Tibetan Plateau, the interpretation of δ18O has proven challenging. This study investigates the climate controls on temporal (daily and 6 h intervals) and spatial variations in present-day precipitation δ18O (δ18Op) across the Tibetan Plateau using a 30 year record produced from the European Centre/Hamburg ECHAM5-wiso global atmospheric general circulation model (GCM). Results indicate spatial and temporal agreement between model-predicted δ18Op and observations. Large daily δ18Op variations of 25 to +5‰ occur over the Tibetan Plateau throughout the 30 simulation years, along with interannual δ18Op variations of ~2‰. Analysis of extreme daily δ18Op indicates that extreme low values coincide with extreme highs in precipitation amount. During the summer, monsoon vapor transport from the north and southwest of the plateau generally corresponds with high δ18Op, whereas vapor transport from the Indian Ocean corresponds with average to low δ18Op. Thus, vapor source variations are one important cause of the spatial-temporal differences in δ18Op. Comparison of GCM and Rayleigh Distillation Model (RDM)-predicted δ18Op indicates a modest agreement for the Himalaya region (averaged over 86°–94°E), confirming application of the simpler RDM approach for estimating δ18Op lapse rates across Himalaya.

Description: Sea ice leads in the Arctic are important features that give rise to strong localized atmospheric heating; they provide the opportunity for vigorous biological primary production, and predicting leads may be of relevance for Arctic shipping. It is commonly believed that traditional sea ice models that employ elastic-viscous-plastic (EVP) rheologies are not capable of properly simulating sea ice deformation, including lead formation, and thus, new formulations for sea ice rheologies have been suggested. Here we show that classical sea ice models have skill in simulating the spatial and temporal variation of lead area fraction in the Arctic when horizontal resolution is increased (here 4.5 km in the Arctic) and when numerical convergence in sea ice solvers is considered, which is frequently neglected. The model results are consistent with satellite remote sensing data and discussed in terms of variability and trends of Arctic sea ice leads. It is found, for example, that wintertime lead area fraction during the last three decades has not undergone significant trends.

Description: The density of firn is an important property for monitoring and modeling the ice sheet as well as to model the pore close-off and thus to interpret ice core-based greenhouse gas records. One feature, which is still in debate, is the potential existence of an annual cycle of firn density in low-accumulation regions. Several studies describe or assume seasonally successive density layers, horizontally evenly distributed, as seen in radar data. On the other hand, high-resolution density measurements on firn cores in Antarctica and Greenland showed no clear seasonal cycle in the top few meters. A major caveat of most existing snow-pit and firn-core based studies is that they represent one vertical profile from a laterally heterogeneous density field. To overcome this, we created an extensive dataset of horizontal and vertical density data at Kohnen Station, Dronning Maud Land on the East Antarctic Plateau. We drilled and analyzed three 90 m long firn cores as well as 160 one meter long vertical profiles from two elongated snow trenches to obtain a two dimensional view of the density variations. The analysis of the 45 m wide and 1 m deep density fields reveals a seasonal cycle in density. However, the seasonality is overprinted by strong stratigraphic noise, making it invisible when analyzing single firn cores. Our density dataset extends the view from the local ice-core perspective to a hundred meter scale and thus supports linking spatially integrating methods such as radar and seismic studies to ice and firn cores.

Description: Deepwater circulation plays a central role in global climate. Compared with the Atlantic, the Pacific deepwater circulation’s history remains unclear. The Luzon overflow, a branch of the North Pacific deep water, determines the ventilation rate of the South China Sea (SCS) basin. Sedimentary magnetic properties in the SCS reflect millennial-scale fluctuations in deep current intensity and orientation. The data suggest a slightly stronger current at the Last Glacial Maximum compared to the Holocene. But, the most striking increase in deep current occurred during Heinrich stadial 1 (H1) and to a lesser extent during the Younger Dryas (YD). Results of a transient deglacial experiment suggest that the northeastern current strengthening at the entrance of the SCS during H1 and the YD, times of weak North Atlantic Deep Water formation, could be linked to enhanced formation of North Pacific Deep Water.

Description: In recent years extensive studies on the Earth’s climate system have been carried out by means of advanced complex network statistics. The great majority of these studies, however, have been focusing on investigating correlation structures within single climatic fields directly on or parallel to the Earth’s surface. Here, we develop a novel approach of node weighted coupled network measures to study correlations between ocean and atmosphere in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics and construct 18 coupled climate networks, each consisting of two subnetworks. In all cases, one subnetwork represents monthly sea-surface temperature (SST) anomalies, while the other is based on the monthly geopotential height (HGT) of isobaric surfaces at different pressure levels covering the troposphere as well as the lower stratosphere. The weighted cross-degree density proves to be consistent with the leading coupled pattern obtained from maximum covariance analysis. Network measures of higher order allow for a further analysis of the correlation structure between the two fields and consistently indicate that in the Northern Hemisphere extratropics the ocean is correlated with the atmosphere in a hierarchical fashion such that large areas of the ocean surface correlate with multiple statistically dissimilar regions in the atmosphere. Ultimately we show that this observed hierarchy is linked to large-scale atmospheric variability patterns, such as the Pacific North American pattern, forcing the ocean on monthly time scales.

Description: Spectral albedo and transmittance in the range 400-900nm were measured on three separate dates on less than 15 cm thick new Arctic sea ice growing on Kongsfjorden, Svalbard at 78: 9 degrees N, 11: 9 degrees E. Inherent optical properties, including absorption coefficients of particulate and dissolved material, were obtained from ice samples and fed into a radiative transfer model, which was used to analyze spectral albedo and transmittance and to study the influence of clouds and snow on these. Integrated albedo and transmittance for photosynthetically active radiation (400-900 nm) were in the range 0.17-0.21 and 0.77-0.86, respectively. The average albedo and transmittance of the total solar radiation energy were 0.16 and 0.51, respectively. Values inferred from the model indicate that the ice contained possibly up to 40% brine and only 0.6% bubbles. Angular redistribution of solar radiation by clouds and snow was found to influence both the wavelength-integrated value and the spectral shape of albedo and transmittance. In particular, local peaks and depressions in the spectral albedo and spectral transmittance were found for wavelengths within atmospheric absorption bands. Simulated and measured transmittance spectra were within 5% for most of the wavelength range, but deviated up to 25% in the vicinity of 800 nm, indicating the need for more optical laboratory measurements of pure ice, or improved modeling of brine optical properties in this near-infrared wavelength region.

Description: Spectral Radiation Buoys and ice mass balance buoys were deployed on first-year ice near the North Pole in April 2012 and 2013, collecting in-band (350-800nm) solar radiation and ice and snow mass balance data over the complete summer melt seasons. With complementary European ERA-Interim reanalysis, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) Climate forecast system version 2 (CFSv2) analysis and satellite passive microwave data, we examine the evolution of atmospheric and surface melt conditions in the two differing melt seasons. Prevailing atmospheric conditions contributed to a longer and more continuous melt season in summer 2012 than in 2013, which was corroborated by in situ observations. ERA-Interim reanalysis data showed that longwave radiation likely played a key role in delaying the snowmelt onset in 2013. The earlier melt onset in 2012 reduced the albedo, providing a positive ice-albedo feedback at a time when solar insolation was high. Due to earlier melt onset and later freeze-up in 2012, more solar heat was deposited into the ice-ocean system than in 2013. Summer 2013 was characterized by later melt onset, intermittent freezing events and an earlier fall freeze-up, resulting in considerably fewer effective days of surface melt and a higher average albedo. Calculations for idealized seasonal albedo evolution show that moving the melt onset just 1week earlier in mid-June increases the total absorbed solar radiation by nearly 14% for the summer season. Therefore, the earlier melt onset may have been one of the most important factors driving the more dramatic melt season in 2012 than 2013, though atmospheric circulation patterns, e.g., cyclone in early August 2012, likely contributed as well.

Description: We present spatiotemporal mass balance trends for the Antarctic Ice Sheet from a statistical inversion of satellite altimetry, gravimetry, and elastic-corrected GPS data for the period 2003–2013. Our method simultaneously determines annual trends in ice dynamics, surface mass balance anomalies, and a time-invariant solution for glacio-isostatic adjustment while remaining largely independent of forward models. We establish that over the period 2003–2013, Antarctica has been losing mass at a rate of −84 ± 22 Gt yr−1, with a sustained negative mean trend of dynamic imbalance of −111 ± 13 Gt yr−1. West Antarctica is the largest contributor with −112 ± 10 Gt yr−1, mainly triggered by high thinning rates of glaciers draining into the Amundsen Sea Embayment. The Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a dramatic increase in mass loss in the last decade, with a mean rate of −28 ± 7 Gt yr−1 and significantly higher values for the most recent years following the destabilization of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula around 2010. The total mass loss is partly compensated by a significant mass gain of 56 ± 18 Gt yr−1 in East Antarctica due to a positive trend of surface mass balance anomalies.

Description: Amplification of global warming in Arctic and boreal regions is causing significant changes to permafrost-affected landscapes. The nature and extent of the change is complicated by ecological responses that take place across strong gradients in environmental conditions and disturbance regimes. Emerging remote sensing techniques based on a growing array of satellite and airborne platforms that cover a wide range of spatial and temporal scales increasingly allow robust detection of changes in permafrost landscapes. In this review, we summarise recent developments (2010 − 15) in remote sensing applications to detect and monitor landscape changes involving surface temperatures, snow cover, topography, surface water, vegetation cover and structure, and disturbances from fire and human activities. We then focus on indicators of degrading permafrost, including thermokarst lakes and drained lake basins, thermokarst bogs and fens, thaw slumps and active-layer detachment slides, thermal erosion gullies, thermokarst pits and troughs, and coastal erosion and flooding. Our review highlights the expanding sensor capabilities, new image processing and multivariate analysis techniques, enhanced public access to data and increasingly long image archives that are facilitating novel insights into the multi-decadal dynamics of permafrost landscapes. Remote sensing methods that appear especially promising for change detection include: repeat light detection and ranging, interferometric synthetic aperture radar and airborne geophysics for detecting topographic and subsurface changes; temporally dense analyses at high spatial resolution; and multi-sensor data fusion. Remotely sensed data are also becoming used more frequently as driving parameters in permafrost model and mapping schemes.

Description: Glacier-front dynamics is an important control on Greenland's ice mass balance. Warmer ocean waters trigger ice-front retreats of marine-terminating glaciers, and the corresponding loss in resistive stress leads to glacier acceleration and thinning. Here we present an approach to quantify the sensitivity and vulnerability of marine-terminating glaciers to ocean-induced melt. We develop a plan view model of Store Gletscher that includes a level set-based moving boundary capability, a parameterized ocean-induced melt, and a calving law with complete and precise land and fjord topographies to model the response of the glacier to increased melt. We find that the glacier is stabilized by a sill at its terminus. The glacier is dislodged from the sill when ocean-induced melt quadruples, at which point the glacier retreats irreversibly for 27 km into a reverse bed. The model suggests that ice-ocean interactions are the triggering mechanism of glacier retreat, but the bed controls its magnitude.

Description: Details of the characteristics of upward planetary wave propagation associated with Arctic sea-ice loss under present climate conditions are examined using reanalysis data and simulation results. Recent Arctic sea-ice loss results in increased stratospheric poleward eddy heat fluxes in the eastern and central Eurasia regions and enhanced upward propagation of planetary-scale waves in the stratosphere. A linear decomposition scheme reveals that this modulation of the planetary waves arises from coupling of the climatological planetary wave field with temperature anomalies for the eastern Eurasia region and with meridional wind anomalies for the central Eurasia region. Propagation of stationary Rossby wave packets results in a dynamic link between these temperature and meridional wind anomalies with sea-ice loss over the Barents–Kara Sea. The results provide strong evidence that recent Arctic sea-ice loss significantly modulates atmospheric circulation in winter to modify poleward eddy heat fluxes so as to drive stratosphere–troposphere coupling processes.

Description: A multi-year mooring record (2007-2014) and satellite imagery highlight the strong temperature variability and unique hydrographic nature of the Laptev Sea. This Arctic shelf is a key region for river discharge and sea ice formation and export, and includes submarine permafrost and methane deposits, which emphasizes the need to understand the thermal variability near the seafloor. Recent years were characterized by early ice retreat and a warming near-shore environment. However, warming was not observed on the deeper shelf until year-round under-ice measurements recorded unprecedented warm near-bottom waters of +0.6°C in winter 2012/2013, just after the Arctic sea ice extent featured a record minimum. In the Laptev Sea, early ice retreat in 2012 combined with Lena River heat and solar radiation produced anomalously warm summer surface waters, which were vertically mixed, trapped in the pycnocline, and subsequently transferred toward the bottom until the water column cooled when brine rejection eroded stratification.

Description: Gravity surveying is challenging in Antarctica because of its hostile environment and inaccessibility. Nevertheless, many ground-based, airborne, and shipborne gravity campaigns have been completed by the geophysical and geodetic communities since the 1980s. We present the first modern Antarctic-wide gravity data compilation derived from 13 million data points covering an area of 10 million km2, which corresponds to 73% coverage of the continent. The remove-compute-restore technique was applied for gridding, which facilitated leveling of the different gravity data sets with respect to an Earth gravity model derived from satellite data alone. The resulting free-air and Bouguer gravity anomaly grids of 10 km resolution are publicly available. These grids will enable new high-resolution combined Earth gravity models to be derived and represent a major step forward toward solving the geodetic polar data gap problem. They provide a new tool to investigate continental-scale lithospheric structure and geological evolution of Antarctica.

Description: Skillful sea ice forecasts from days to years ahead are becoming increasingly important for the operation and planning of human activities in the Arctic. Here we analyze the potential predictability of the Arctic sea ice edge in six climate models. We introduce the integrated ice-edge error (IIEE), a user-relevant verification metric defined as the area where the forecast and the “truth” disagree on the ice concentration being above or below 15%. The IIEE lends itself to decomposition into an absolute extent error, corresponding to the common sea ice extent error, and a misplacement error. We find that the often-neglected misplacement error makes up more than half of the climatological IIEE. In idealized forecast ensembles initialized on 1 July, the IIEE grows faster than the absolute extent error. This means that the Arctic sea ice edge is less predictable than sea ice extent, particularly in September, with implications for the potential skill of end-user relevant forecasts.

Description: Investigating the interbasin deepwater exchange between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans over glacial-interglacial climate cycles is important for understanding circum-Antarctic Southern Ocean circulation changes and their impact on the global Meridional Overturning Circulation. We use benthic foraminiferal δ13C records from the southern East Pacific Rise to characterize the δ13C composition of Circumpolar Deep Water in the South Pacific, prior to its transit through the Drake Passage into the South Atlantic. A comparison with published South Atlantic deepwater records from the northern Cape Basin suggests a continuous water mass exchange throughout the past 500 ka. Almost identical glacial-interglacial δ13C variations imply a common deepwater evolution in both basins suggesting persistent Circumpolar Deep Water exchange and homogenization. By contrast, deeper abyssal waters occupying the more southern Cape Basin and the southernmost South Atlantic have lower δ13C values during most, but not all, stadial periods. We conclude that these values represent the influence of a more southern water mass, perhaps Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW). During many interglacials and some glacial periods, the gradient between Circumpolar Deep Water and the deeper southern Cape Basin bottom water disappears suggesting either no presence of AABW or indistinguishable δ13C values of both water masses.

Description: About 50 Gt of carbon is fixed photosynthetically by surface ocean phytoplankton communities every year. Part of this organic matter is reprocessed within the plankton community to form aggregates which eventually sink and export carbon into the deep ocean. The fraction of organic matter leaving the surface ocean is partly dependent on aggregate sinking velocity which accelerates with increasing aggregate size and density, where the latter is controlled by ballast load and aggregate porosity. In May 2011, we moored nine 25 m deep mesocosms in a Norwegian fjord to assess on a daily basis how plankton community structure affects material properties and sinking velocities of aggregates (Ø 80–400 µm) collected in the mesocosms' sediment traps. We noted that sinking velocity was not necessarily accelerated by opal ballast during diatom blooms, which could be due to relatively high porosity of these rather fresh aggregates. Furthermore, estimated aggregate porosity (Pestimated) decreased as the picoautotroph (0.2–2 µm) fraction of the phytoplankton biomass increased. Thus, picoautotroph-dominated communities may be indicative for food webs promoting a high degree of aggregate repackaging with potential for accelerated sinking. Blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi revealed that cell concentrations of ~1500 cells/mL accelerate sinking by about 35–40%, which we estimate (by one-dimensional modeling) to elevate organic matter transfer efficiency through the mesopelagic from 14 to 24%. Our results indicate that sinking velocities are influenced by the complex interplay between the availability of ballast minerals and aggregate packaging; both of which are controlled by plankton community structure.

Description: Lake Baikal, the world's most voluminous freshwater lake, has experienced unprecedented warming during the last decades. A uniquely diverse amphipod fauna inhabits the littoral zone and can serve as a model system to identify the role of thermal tolerance under climate change. This study aimed to identify sublethal thermal constraints in two of the most abundant endemic Baikal amphipods, Eulimnogammarus verrucosus and Eulimnogammarus cyaneus, and Gammarus lacustris, a ubiquitous gammarid of the Holarctic. As the latter is only found in some shallow isolated bays of the lake, we further addressed the question whether rising temperatures could promote the widespread invasion of this non-endemic species into the littoral zone. Animals were exposed to gradual temperature increases (4 week, 0.8 °C/d; 24 h, 1 °C/h) starting from the reported annual mean temperature of the Baikal littoral (6 °C). Within the framework of oxygen- and capacity-limited thermal tolerance (OCLTT), we used a nonlinear regression approach to determine the points at which the changing temperature-dependence of relevant physiological processes indicates the onset of limitation. Limitations in ventilation representing the first limits of thermal tolerance (pejus (= “getting worse”) temperatures (Tp)) were recorded at 10.6 (95% confidence interval; 9.5, 11.7), 19.1 (17.9, 20.2), and 21.1 (19.8, 22.4) °C in E. verrucosus, E. cyaneus, and G. lacustris, respectively. Field observations revealed that E. verrucosus retreated from the upper littoral to deeper and cooler waters once its Tp was surpassed, identifying Tp as the ecological thermal boundary. Constraints in oxygen consumption at higher than critical temperatures (Tc) led to an exponential increase in mortality in all species. Exposure to short-term warming resulted in higher threshold values, consistent with a time dependence of thermal tolerance. In conclusion, species-specific limits to oxygen supply capacity are likely key in the onset of constraining (beyond pejus) and then life-threatening (beyond critical) conditions. Ecological consequences of these limits are mediated through behavioral plasticity in E. verrucosus. However, similar upper thermal limits in E. cyaneus (endemic, Baikal) and G. lacustris (ubiquitous, Holarctic) indicate that the potential invader G. lacustris would not necessarily benefit from rising temperatures. Secondary effects of increasing temperatures remain to be investigated.

Description: A significant increase in sea surface temperature (SST) is observed over the midlatitude western boundary currents (WBCs) during the past century. However, the mechanism for this phenomenon remains poorly understood due to limited observations. In the present paper, several coupled parameters (i.e., sea surface temperature (SST), ocean surface heat fluxes, ocean water velocity, ocean surface winds and sea level pressure (SLP)) are analyzed to identify the dynamic changes of the WBCs. Three types of independent data sets are used, including reanalysis products, satellite-blended observations. and climate model outputs from the fifth phase of the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5). Based on these broad ranges of data, we find that the WBCs (except the Gulf Stream) are intensifying and shifting toward the poles as long-term effects of global warming. An intensification and poleward shift of near-surface ocean winds, attributed to positive annular mode-like trends, are proposed to be the forcing of such dynamic changes. In contrast to the other WBCs, the Gulf Stream is expected to be weaker under global warming, which is most likely related to a weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). However, we also notice that the natural variations of WBCs might conceal the long-term effect of global warming in the available observational data sets, especially over the Northern Hemisphere. Therefore, long-term observations or proxy data are necessary to further evaluate the dynamics of the WBCs.

Description: The Suvarov Trough is a graben structure that deviates from the Danger Islands Troughs within the Manihiki Plateau, a Large Igneous Province (LIP) located in the Central Pacific. New high resolution seismic reflection data provide evidence that the graben formed in two phases during the Paleocene (65-45 Ma). In a first phase extension occurred in south-westward direction, pulling apart the northern part of the Suvarov Trough and a parallel trending, unnamed trough. In a second phase a change of extensional force direction occurred from southwest to west-northwest, forming the southern part of the Suvarov Trough that extends onto the High Plateau. The formation of the Suvarov Trough is accompanied by a series of normal fault systems that apparently formed simultaneously. Comparing the seismic results to existing Pacific paleo strain reconstructions, the timing of increased strain and local deformation direction fits well to our findings. We thus suggest that the multiple strike directions of the Suvarov Trough represent an extensional structure that was caused by the major, stepwise Pacific Plate reorganization during the Paleocene.

Description: In this paper impact of intensive biomass burning (BB) in North America in July 2015, on aerosol optical and microphysical properties measured in the European Arctic is discussed. This study was made within the framework of the Impact of Absorbing Aerosols on radiating forcing in the European Arctic (iAREA) project. During the BB event aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm exceeded 1.2 in Spitsbergen and 0.7 in Andenes (Norway). Ångström Exponent (AE) exceeded 1.4 while the absorbing Ångström Exponent (AAE) varied between 1 and 1.25. BB aerosols were observed in humid atmosphere with a total water vapor column between 2 and 2.5 cm. In such conditions aerosols are activated and may produce clouds at different altitudes. Vertical structure of aerosol plumes over Svalbard, obtained from ceilometers and lidars, shows variability of range corrected signal between surface and middle and upper troposphere. Aerosol backscattering coefficients show values up to 10 -5m-1sr-1at 532 nm. Aerosol surface observations indicate chemical composition typical for biomass burning particles and very high single scattering properties. Scattering and absorption coefficients at 530 nm were up to 130 and 15 Mm-1, respectively. Single scattering albedo at the surface varied from 0.9 to 0.94. The averaged values over the entire atmospheric column, ranged from 0.93 to 0.99. Preliminary statistics of model and sunphotometer data as well as previous studies indicate that this event, in the Arctic region, must be considered extreme (such AOD was not observed in Svalbard since 2005) with a significant impact on energy budget.

Description: Two full-year mooring records of sea ice, physical and bio-optical parameters illuminate tight temporal coupling between the retreating seasonal ice edge and the summer phytoplankton bloom on the Laptev Sea shelf. Our records showed no sign of pelagic under-ice blooms despite available nutrients and thinning sea ice in early summer; presumably because stratification had not yet developed. Chlorophyll blooms were detected immediately after the ice retreated in late May 2014 and late July 2015. Despite radically different timing, the blooms were similar in both magnitude and length, interpreted as community-level nutrient limitation. Acoustic backscatter records suggest the delayed 2015-bloom resulted in lower zooplankton abundance, perhaps due to a timing mismatch between ice algal and pelagic blooms and unfavorable thermal conditions. Our observations provide classical examples of ice-edge blooms and further emphasize the complexity of high-latitude shelves and the need to understand vertical mixing processes important for stratification and nutrient fluxes.

Description: Multiscale sea ice algae observations are fundamentally important for projecting changes to sea ice ecosystems, as the physical environment continues to change. In this study, we developed upon previously established methodologies for deriving sea ice-algal chlorophyll a concentrations (chl a) from spectral radiation measurements, and applied these to larger-scale spectral surveys. We conducted four different under-ice spectral measurements: irradiance, radiance, transmittance, and transflectance, and applied three statistical approaches: Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF), Normalized Difference Indices (NDI), and multi-NDI. We developed models based on ice core chl a and coincident spectral irradiance/transmittance (N = 49) and radiance/transflectance (N = 50) measurements conducted during two cruises to the central Arctic Ocean in 2011 and 2012. These reference models were ranked based on two criteria: mean robustness R2 and true prediction error estimates. For estimating the biomass of a large-scale data set, the EOF approach performed better than the NDI, due to its ability to account for the high variability of environmental properties experienced over large areas. Based on robustness and true prediction error, the three most reliable models, EOF-transmittance, EOF-transflectance, and NDI-transmittance, were applied to two remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and two Surface and Under-Ice Trawl (SUIT) spectral radiation surveys. In these larger-scale chl a estimates, EOF-transmittance showed the best fit to ice core chl a. Application of our most reliable model, EOF-transmittance, to an 85 m horizontal ROV transect revealed large differences compared to published biomass estimates from the same site with important implications for projections of Arctic-wide ice-algal biomass and primary production.

Description: We provide an updated present-day stress map for the Italian territory. Following the World Stress Map (WSM) Project guidelines, we list the different stress indicators, explaining the criteria used to select data. We discuss the data, which will also be included in the 2016 release of the WSM, highlighting the areas for which we have added stress information. Our map displays the minimum horizontal stress orientations inferred from crustal stress indicators down to 40 km depth using data of A–C quality, updated for earthquakes until December 2015. We have completely reviewed all data, and the data set now contains 855 entries, in contrast to the previous 715. The number of data with A–C quality of 630 corresponds to an increase of 26 per cent relative to the previous data set. In particular, the new data set contains the results of the analysis of borehole breakouts, critically reviewed data from earthquake focal mechanisms, data concerning active faults, formal inversions of focal mechanisms of seismic sequences or of restricted areas and one stress determination from overcoring. The new data set defines the stress field in areas not well covered by the previous data: the region north to the Po Plain and the central Adriatic sea, both characterized by a thrust- and strike-faulting regime, the northern Sicilian belt with a prevailing normal-faulting regime, and the Ionian sea with a strike-slip regime.

Description: Published

Description: 1525-1531

Description: 2T. Tettonica attiva

Description: JCR Journal

Description: restricted

Description: Although there are many methods for investigating tectonic structures, many faults remain hidden, and they can endanger the life and property of people living along them. The slopes of volcanoes are covered with such hidden faults, near which strong earthquakes and gas releases can appear. Revealing hidden faults can therefore contribute significantly to the protection of people living in volcanic areas. In the study, seven different techniques were used for making measurements of in-soil radon concentrations in order to search for hidden faults on the SE flank of the Mt. Etna volcano. These reported methods had previously been proved to be useful tools for investigating fault structures. The main aim of the experiment presented here was to evaluate the usability of these methods in the geological conditions of the Mt. Etna region, and to find the best place for continual radon monitoring using a permanent station in the near future.

Description: Published

Description: 70-73

Description: 5V. Sorveglianza vulcanica ed emergenze

Description: JCR Journal

Description: restricted

Description: A bottom-simulating reflector (BSR) occurs west of Svalbard in water depths exceeding 600 m, indicating that gas hydrate occurrence in marine sediments is more widespread in this region than anywhere else on the eastern North Atlantic margin. Regional BSR mapping shows the presence of hydrate and free gas in several areas, with the largest area located north of the Knipovich Ridge, a slow-spreading ridge segment of the Mid Atlantic Ridge system. Here, heat flow is high (up to 330 mW m-2), increasing towards the ridge axis. The coinciding maxima in across-margin BSR width and heat flow suggest that the Knipovich Ridge influenced methane generation in this area. This is supported by recent finds of thermogenic methane at cold seeps north of the ridge termination. To evaluate the source rock potential on the western Svalbard margin, we applied 1D petroleum system modeling at three sites. The modeling shows that temperature and burial conditions near the ridge were sufficient to produce hydrocarbons. The bulk petroleum mass produced since the Eocene is at least 5 kt and could be as high as ~0.2 Mt. Most likely, source rocks are Miocene organic-rich sediments and a potential Eocene source rock that may exist in the area if early rifting created sufficiently deep depocenters. Thermogenic methane production could thus explain the more widespread presence of gas hydrates north of the Knipovich Ridge. The presence of microbial methane on the upper continental slope and shelf indicates that the origin of methane on the Svalbard margin varies spatially.

Description: The West African monsoon rainfall is essential for regional food production, and decadal predictions are necessary for policy makers and farmers. However, predictions with global climate models reveal precipitation biases. This study addresses the hypotheses that global prediction biases can be reduced by dynamical downscaling with a multimodel ensemble of three regional climate models (RCMs), a RCM coupled to a global ocean model and a RCM applying more realistic soil initialization and boundary conditions, i.e., aerosols, sea surface temperatures (SSTs), vegetation, and land cover. Numerous RCM predictions have been performed with REMO, COSMO-CLM (CCLM), and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) in various versions and for different decades. Global predictions reveal typical positive and negative biases over the Guinea Coast and the Sahel, respectively, related to a southward shifted Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and a positive tropical Atlantic SST bias. These rainfall biases are reduced by some regional predictions in the Sahel but aggravated by all RCMs over the Guinea Coast, resulting from the inherited SST bias, increased westerlies and evaporation over the tropical Atlantic and shifted African easterly waves. The coupled regional predictions simulate high-resolution atmosphere-ocean interactions strongly improving the SST bias, the ITCZ shift and the Guinea Coast and Central Sahel precipitation biases. Some added values in rainfall bias are found for more realistic SST and land cover boundary conditions over the Guinea Coast and improved vegetation in the Central Sahel. Thus, the ability of RCMs and improved boundary conditions to reduce rainfall biases for climate impact research depends on the considered West African region.

Description: Tectonic models predict that following breakup, rift margins undergo only decaying thermal subsidence during their postrift evolution. However, postbreakup stratigraphy beneath the NE Atlantic shelves shows evidence of regional-scale unconformities, commonly cited as outer margin responses to inner margin episodic uplift, including the formation of coastal mountains. The origin of these events remains enigmatic. We present a seismic reflection study from the Greenland Fracture Zone-East Greenland Ridge (GFZ-EGR) and the NE Greenland shelf. We document a regional intra-Miocene seismic unconformity (IMU), which marks the termination of synrift deposition in the deep-sea basins and onset of (i) thermomechanical coupling across the GFZ, (ii) basin compression, and (iii) contourite deposition, north of the EGR. The onset of coupling across the GFZ is constrained by results of 2-D flexural backstripping. We explain the thermomechanical coupling and the deposition of contourites by the formation of a continuous plate boundary along the Mohns and Knipovich ridges, leading to an accelerated widening of the Fram Strait. We demonstrate that the IMU event is linked to onset of uplift and massive shelf progradation on the NE Greenland margin. Given an estimated middle to late Miocene (~15–10Ma) age of the IMU, we speculate that the event is synchronous with uplift of the east and west Greenland margins. The correlation between margin uplift and plate motion changes further indicates that the uplift was triggered by plate tectonic forces, induced perhaps by a change in the Iceland plume (a hot pulse) and/or by changes in intraplate stresses related to global tectonics.

Description: Global climate change affects marine fish through drivers such as ocean warming, acidification and oxygen depletion, causing changes in marine ecosystems and socioeconomic impacts. While experimental and observational results can inform about anticipated effects of different drivers, linking between these results and ecosystem-level changes requires quantitative integration of physiological and ecological processes into models to advance research and inform management. We give an overview of important physiological and ecological processes affected by environmental drivers. We then provide a review of available modelling approaches for marine fish, analysing their capacities for process-based integration of environmental drivers. Building on this, we propose approaches to advance important research questions. Examples of integration of environmental drivers exist for each model class. Recent extensions of modelling frameworks increase the potential for including detailed mechanisms and improving model projections. Experimental results on energy allocation, behaviour and physiological limitations will advance the understanding of organism-level trade-offs and thresholds in response to multiple drivers. More explicit representation of life cycles and biological traits can improve description of population dynamics and adaptation, and data on food web topology and feeding interactions help to detail the conditions for possible regime shifts. Identification of relevant processes will also benefit the coupling of different models to investigate spatial–temporal changes in stock productivity and integrated responses of social–ecological systems. Thus, a more process-informed foundation for models will promote the integration of experimental and observational results and increase the potential for model-based extrapolations into a future under changing environmental conditions.

Description: The South Pacific is a sensitive location for the variability of the global oceanic thermohaline circulation given that deep waters from the Atlantic Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Pacific Basin are exchanged. Here we reconstruct the deep water circulation of the central South Pacific for the last two glacial cycles (from 240,000 years ago to the Holocene) based on radiogenic neodymium (Nd) and lead (Pb) isotope records complemented by benthic stable carbon data obtained from two sediment cores located on the flanks of the East Pacific Rise. The records show small but consistent glacial/interglacial changes in all three isotopic systems with interglacial average values of 5.8 and 18.757 for εNd and 206Pb/204Pb, respectively, whereas glacial averages are 5.3 and 18.744. Comparison of this variability of Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW) to previously published records along the pathway of the global thermohaline circulation is consistent with reduced admixture of North Atlantic Deep Water to CDW during cold stages. The absolute values and amplitudes of the benthic δ13C variations are essentially indistinguishable from other records of the Southern Hemisphere and confirm that the low central South Pacific sedimentation rates did not result in a significant reduction of the amplitude of any of the measured proxies. In addition, the combined detrital Nd and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotope signatures imply that Australian and New Zealand dust has remained the principal contributor of lithogenic material to the central South Pacific.

Description: In Antarctica, ice crystals emerge from ice shelf cavities and accumulate in unconsolidated layers beneath nearby sea ice. Such sub-ice platelet layers form a unique habitat and serve as an indicator for the state of an ice shelf. However, the lack of a suitable methodology impedes an efficient quantification of this phenomenon on scales beyond point measurements. In this study, we inverted multifrequency electromagnetic (EM) induction soundings, obtained on fast ice with an underlying platelet layer along profiles of 〉100 km length in the eastern Weddell Sea. EM-derived platelet layer thickness and conductivity are consistent with other field observations. Our results suggest that platelet layer volume is higher than previously thought in this region and that platelet layer ice volume fraction is proportional to its thickness. We conclude that multifrequency EM is a suitable tool to determine platelet layer volume, with the potential to obtain crucial knowledge of associated processes in otherwise inaccessible ice shelf cavities.

Description: The West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered the major contributor to global sea level rise in the Last Interglacial (LIG) and potentially in the future. Exposed fossil reef terraces suggest sea levels in excess of 7 meters in the last warm era, of which probably not much more than 2 meters are considered to originate from melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet. We simulate the evolution of the Antarctic Ice Sheet during the LIG with a 3D thermomechanical ice sheet model forced by an atmosphere ocean general circulation model (AOGCM). Our results show that high LIG sea levels, cannot be reproduced with the atmosphere-ocean forcing delivered by current AOGCMs. However, when taking reconstructed Southern Ocean temperature anomalies of several degrees, sensitivity studies indicate a Southern Ocean temperature anomaly threshold for total WAIS collapse of 2-3∘C, accounting for a sea level rise of 3-4 meters during the LIG. Potential future Antarctic Ice Sheet dynamics range from a moderate retreat to a complete collapse, depending on rate and amplitude of warming.

Description: Substantial quantities of organic carbon (OC) are stored in the thick, ice-rich, and organic-rich sediments called yedoma deposits, distributed in eastern Siberia and Alaska today. Quantifying yedoma carbon stocks during the glacial period is important for understanding how much carbon could have been decomposed during the last deglaciation. Yet processes that yield the formation of thick frozen OC in yedoma deposits are missing in global carbon cycle models. Here we incorporate sedimentation parameterizations into the Organizing Carbon and Hydrology In Dynamic Ecosystems (ORCHIDEE-MICT) land surface model, which leads to reasonable results in OC vertical distribution and regional budgets, compared with site-specific observations and inventories for today's nondegraded yedoma region. Simulated total soil OC stock for the northern permafrost region during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) is 1536–1592 Pg C, of which 390–446 Pg C is within today's yedoma region. This result is an underestimation since we did not account for the potentially much larger yedoma area during the LGM than the present day.

Description: Global warming and ocean acidification are among the most important stressors for aquatic ecosystems in the future. To investigate their direct and indirect effects on a near-natural plankton community, a multiple-stressor approach is needed. Hence, we set up mesocosms in a full-factorial design to study the effects of both warming and high CO2 on a Baltic Sea autumn plankton community, concentrating on the impacts on microzooplankton (MZP). MZP abundance, biomass, and species composition were analysed over the course of the experiment. We observed that warming led to a reduced time-lag between the phytoplankton bloom and an MZP biomass maximum. MZP showed a significantly higher growth rate and an earlier biomass peak in the warm treatments while the biomass maximum was not affected. Increased pCO2 did not result in any significant effects on MZP biomass, growth rate, or species composition irrespective of the temperature, nor did we observe any significant interactions between CO2 and temperature. We attribute this to the high tolerance of this estuarine plankton community to fluctuations in pCO2, often resulting in CO2 concentrations higher than the predicted end-of-century concentration for open oceans. In contrast, warming can be expected to directly affect MZP and strengthen its coupling with phytoplankton by enhancing its grazing pressure.

Description: The Arctic sea-ice extent amounted to its record minimum to date in September 2012. Sea-ice decline increases the absorption of solar energy in the Arctic Ocean, affecting primary production and plankton community. How this will modulate the sinking of POC from the ocean surface remains a key question. In this study we use the 234Th/238U and 210Po/210Pb radionuclide pairs to estimate the magnitude of the POC export fluxes in the upper ocean of the central Arctic in summer 2012, covering time scales from weeks to months, respectively. The 234Th/238U proxy reveals that POC fluxes at the base of the euphotic zone were very low (2 ± 2 mmol C m-2 d-1) in August and September. Relationships obtained between the 234Th export fluxes and the phytoplankton community suggest that prasinophytes would have contributed significantly to downward fluxes in late summer, likely via incorporation into sea-ice algal aggregates and zooplankton-derived material. In turn, the magnitude of the depletion of 210Po in the upper water column over the entire study area indicates that particle export fluxes were more relevant before July/August than later in the season. 210Po fluxes and 210Po-derived POC fluxes correlated positively with sea-ice concentration, showing that particle sinking was more important under heavy sea-ice conditions than under partially ice covered regions. Although the POC fluxes were low, a large fraction of primary production (〉30%) was exported at the base of the euphotic zone in most of the study area during summer 2012, indicating a high export efficiency of the biological pump in the central Arctic.

Description: Author Posting. © Crown Copyright, 2015. This article is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 204 (2016): 1-20, doi:10.1093/gji/ggv416.

Description: The Canada Basin and the southern Alpha-Mendeleev ridge complex underlie a significant proportion of the Arctic Ocean, but the geology of this undrilled and mostly ice-covered frontier is poorly known. New information is encoded in seismic wide-angle reflections and refractions recorded with expendable sonobuoys between 2007 and 2011. Velocity–depth samples within the sedimentary succession are extracted from published analyses for 142 of these records obtained at irregularly spaced stations across an area of 1.9E + 06 km2. The samples are modelled at regional, subregional and station-specific scales using an exponential function of inverse velocity versus depth with regionally representative parameters determined through numerical regression. With this approach, smooth, non-oscillatory velocity–depth profiles can be generated for any desired location in the study area, even where the measurement density is low. Practical application is demonstrated with a map of sedimentary thickness, derived from seismic reflection horizons interpreted in the time domain and depth converted using the velocity–depth profiles for each seismic trace. A thickness of 12–13 km is present beneath both the upper Mackenzie fan and the middle slope off of Alaska, but the sedimentary prism thins more gradually outboard of the latter region. Mapping of the observed-to-predicted velocities reveals coherent geospatial trends associated with five subregions: the Mackenzie fan; the continental slopes beyond the Mackenzie fan; the abyssal plain; the southwestern Canada Basin; and, the Alpha-Mendeleev magnetic domain. Comparison of the subregional velocity–depth models with published borehole data, and interpretation of the station-specific best-fitting model parameters, suggests that sandstone is not a predominant lithology in any of the five subregions. However, the bulk sand-to-shale ratio likely increases towards the Mackenzie fan, and the model for this subregion compares favourably with borehole data for Miocene turbidites in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The station-specific results also indicate that Quaternary sediments coarsen towards the Beaufort-Mackenzie and Banks Island margins in a manner that is consistent with the variable history of Laurentide Ice Sheet advance documented for these margins. Lithological factors do not fully account for the elevated velocity–depth trends that are associated with the southwestern Canada Basin and the Alpha-Mendeleev magnetic domain. Accelerated porosity reduction due to elevated palaeo-heat flow is inferred for these regions, which may be related to the underlying crustal types or possibly volcanic intrusion of the sedimentary succession. Beyond exploring the variation of an important physical property in the Arctic Ocean basin, this study provides comparative reference for global studies of seismic velocity, burial history, sedimentary compaction, seismic inversion and overpressure prediction, particularly in mudrock-dominated successions.

Description: © The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Genome Biology and Evolution 7 (2015): 3207-3225, doi:10.1093/gbe/evv210.

Description: High-throughput sequencing of reduced representation libraries obtained through digestion with restriction enzymes—generically known as restriction site associated DNA sequencing (RAD-seq)—is a common strategy to generate genome-wide genotypic and sequence data from eukaryotes. A critical design element of any RAD-seq study is knowledge of the approximate number of genetic markers that can be obtained for a taxon using different restriction enzymes, as this number determines the scope of a project, and ultimately defines its success. This number can only be directly determined if a reference genome sequence is available, or it can be estimated if the genome size and restriction recognition sequence probabilities are known. However, both scenarios are uncommon for nonmodel species. Here, we performed systematic in silico surveys of recognition sequences, for diverse and commonly used type II restriction enzymes across the eukaryotic tree of life. Our observations reveal that recognition sequence frequencies for a given restriction enzyme are strikingly variable among broad eukaryotic taxonomic groups, being largely determined by phylogenetic relatedness. We demonstrate that genome sizes can be predicted from cleavage frequency data obtained with restriction enzymes targeting “neutral” elements. Models based on genomic compositions are also effective tools to accurately calculate probabilities of recognition sequences across taxa, and can be applied to species for which reduced representation data are available (including transcriptomes and neutral RAD-seq data sets). The analytical pipeline developed in this study, PredRAD (https://github.com/phrh/PredRAD), and the resulting databases constitute valuable resources that will help guide the design of any study using RAD-seq or related methods.

Description: This research was supported by the Office of Ocean Exploration and Research of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NA09OAR4320129 to T.S.); the Division of Ocean Sciences of the National Science Foundation (OCE-1131620 to T.S.); the Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NNX09AB76G to T.S.); and the Academic Programs Office (Ocean Ventures Fund to S.H.), the Ocean Exploration Institute (Fellowship support to T.M.S.), and the Ocean Life Institute of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (internal grant to T.M.S. and S.H.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nucleic Acids Research 44 (2016): e157, doi:10.1093/nar/gkw738.

Description: Site-directed RNA editing (SDRE) is a strategy to precisely alter genetic information within mRNAs. By linking the catalytic domain of the RNA editing enzyme ADAR to an antisense guide RNA, specific adenosines can be converted to inosines, biological mimics for guanosine. Previously, we showed that a genetically encoded iteration of SDRE could target adenosines expressed in human cells, but not efficiently. Here we developed a reporter assay to quantify editing, and used it to improve our strategy. By enhancing the linkage between ADAR's catalytic domain and the guide RNA, and by introducing a mutation in the catalytic domain, the efficiency of converting a UAG premature termination codon (PTC) to tryptophan (UGG) was improved from ∼11% to ∼70%. Other PTCs were edited, but less efficiently. Numerous off-target edits were identified in the targeted mRNA, but not in randomly selected endogenous messages. Off-target edits could be eliminated by reducing the amount of guide RNA with a reduction in on-target editing. The catalytic rate of SDRE was compared with those for human ADARs on various substrates and found to be within an order of magnitude of most. These data underscore the promise of site-directed RNA editing as a therapeutic or experimental tool.

Description: National Institutes of Health [1R0111223855, 1R01NS64259]; Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics [Rosent14XXO]; Infrastructural support was provided by the National Institutes of Health [NIGMS 1P20GM103642, NIMHD 8G12-MD007600]; National Science Foundation [DBI 0115825, DBI 1337284]; Department of Defense [52680-RT-ISP].

Description: Ice-rich permafrost coasts in the Arctic are highly sensitive to climate warming and erode at a pace that exceeds the global average. Permafrost coasts deliver vast amounts of organic carbon into the nearshore zone of the Arctic Ocean. Numbers on flux exist for particulate organic carbon (POC) and total or soil organic carbon (TOC, SOC). However, they do not exist for dissolved organic carbon (DOC), which is known to be highly bioavailable. This study aims to estimate DOC stocks in coastal permafrost as well as the annual flux into the ocean. DOC concentrations in ground ice were analyzed along the ice-rich Yukon coast (YC) in the western Canadian Arctic. The annual DOC flux was estimated using available numbers for coast length, cliff height, annual erosion rate, and volumetric ice content in different stratigraphic horizons. Our results showed that DOC concentrations in ground ice range between 0.3 and 347.0 mg L^-1 with an estimated stock of 13.6 ± 3.0 g m^-3 along the YC. An annual DOC flux of 54.9 ± 0.9 Mg yr^-1 was computed. These DOC fluxes are low compared to POC and SOC fluxes from coastal erosion or POC and DOC fluxes from Arctic rivers. We conclude that DOC fluxes from permafrost coasts play a secondary role in the Arctic carbon budget. However, this DOC is assumed to be highly bioavailable. We hypothesize that DOC from coastal erosion is important for ecosystems in the Arctic nearshore zones, particularly in summer when river discharge is low, and in areas where rivers are absent.

Description: Author Posting. © Oxford University Press, 2016. This article is posted here by permission of Oxford University Press for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 205 (2016): 728-743, doi:10.1093/gji/ggw044.

Description: While elasticity is a defining characteristic of the Earth's lithosphere, it is often ignored in numerical models of long-term tectonic processes in favour of a simpler viscoplastic description. Here we assess the consequences of this assumption on a well-studied geodynamic problem: the growth of normal faults at an extensional plate boundary. We conduct 2-D numerical simulations of extension in elastoplastic and viscoplastic layers using a finite difference, particle-in-cell numerical approach. Our models simulate a range of faulted layer thicknesses and extension rates, allowing us to quantify the role of elasticity on three key observables: fault-induced topography, fault rotation, and fault life span. In agreement with earlier studies, simulations carried out in elastoplastic layers produce rate-independent lithospheric flexure accompanied by rapid fault rotation and an inverse relationship between fault life span and faulted layer thickness. By contrast, models carried out with a viscoplastic lithosphere produce results that may qualitatively resemble the elastoplastic case, but depend strongly on the product of extension rate and layer viscosity U × ηL. When this product is high, fault growth initially generates little deformation of the footwall and hanging wall blocks, resulting in unrealistic, rigid block-offset in topography across the fault. This configuration progressively transitions into a regime where topographic decay associated with flexure is fully accommodated within the numerical domain. In addition, high U × ηL favours the sequential growth of multiple short-offset faults as opposed to a large-offset detachment. We interpret these results by comparing them to an analytical model for the fault-induced flexure of a thin viscous plate. The key to understanding the viscoplastic model results lies in the rate-dependence of the flexural wavelength of a viscous plate, and the strain rate dependence of the force increase associated with footwall and hanging wall bending. This behaviour produces unrealistic deformation patterns that can hinder the geological relevance of long-term rifting models that assume a viscoplastic rheology.

Description: This work was supported by NSF grants OCE-11-54238 (JAO, MDB), EAR-10-10432 (MDB) and OCE-11-55098 (GI), as well as a WHOI Deep Exploration Institute grant and start-up support from the University of Idaho (EM).

Description: © The Author(s), 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Conservation Physiology 4 (2016): cow014, doi:10.1093/conphys/cow014.

Description: Reproduction of mysticete whales is difficult to monitor, and basic parameters, such as pregnancy rate and inter-calving interval, remain unknown for many populations. We hypothesized that baleen plates (keratinous strips that grow downward from the palate of mysticete whales) might record previous pregnancies, in the form of high-progesterone regions in the sections of baleen that grew while the whale was pregnant. To test this hypothesis, longitudinal baleen progesterone profiles from two adult female North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) that died as a result of ship strike were compared with dates of known pregnancies inferred from calf sightings and post-mortem data. We sampled a full-length baleen plate from each female at 4 cm intervals from base (newest baleen) to tip (oldest baleen), each interval representing ∼60 days of baleen growth, with high-progesterone areas then sampled at 2 or 1 cm intervals. Pulverized baleen powder was assayed for progesterone using enzyme immunoassay. The date of growth of each sampling location on the baleen plate was estimated based on the distance from the base of the plate and baleen growth rates derived from annual cycles of stable isotope ratios. Baleen progesterone profiles from both whales showed dramatic elevations (two orders of magnitude higher than baseline) in areas corresponding to known pregnancies. Baleen hormone analysis shows great potential for estimation of recent reproductive history, inter-calving interval and general reproductive biology in this species and, possibly, in other mysticete whales.

Description: This work was supported by the Eppley Foundation for Research, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Program and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Life Institute.

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2016. This article is posted here by permission of The Royal Astronomical Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Journal International 205 (2016): 785-795, doi:10.1093/gji/ggw036.

Description: An L-configured, three-component short period seismic array was deployed on the Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica during November 2014. Polarization analysis of ambient noise data from these stations shows linearly polarized waves for frequency bands between 0.2 and 2 Hz. A spectral peak at about 1.6 Hz is interpreted as the resonance frequency of the water column and is used to estimate the water layer thickness below the ice shelf. The frequency band from 4 to 18 Hz is dominated by Rayleigh and Love waves propagating from the north that, based on daily temporal variations, we conclude were generated by field camp activity. Frequency–slowness plots were calculated using beamforming. Resulting Love and Rayleigh wave dispersion curves were inverted for the shear wave velocity profile within the firn and ice to ∼150 m depth. The derived density profile allows estimation of the pore close-off depth and the firn–air content thickness. Separate inversions of Rayleigh and Love wave dispersion curves give different shear wave velocity profiles within the firn. We attribute this difference to an effective anisotropy due to fine layering. The layered structure of firn, ice, water and the seafloor results in a characteristic dispersion curve below 7 Hz. Forward modelling the observed Rayleigh wave dispersion curves using representative firn, ice, water and sediment structures indicates that Rayleigh waves are observed when wavelengths are long enough to span the distance from the ice shelf surface to the seafloor. The forward modelling shows that analysis of seismic data from an ice shelf provides the possibility of resolving ice shelf thickness, water column thickness and the physical properties of the ice shelf and underlying seafloor using passive-source seismic data.

Description: PDB, AD and PG were supported by NSF Grant PLR 1246151. RAS was supported by NSF Grant PLR-1246416. DAW, RA and AN were supported under NSF Grants PLR-1142518, 1141916 and 1142126, respectively. PDB also received support from the California Department of Parks and Recreation, Division of Boating and Waterways under contract 11-106-107.

Description: © International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in ICES Journal of Marine Science 73 (2016): 1839-1850, doi: 10.1093/icesjms/fsw086.

Description: For terrestrial and marine benthic ecologists, landscape ecology provides a framework to address issues of complexity, patchiness, and scale—providing theory and context for ecosystem based management in a changing climate. Marine pelagic ecosystems are likewise changing in response to warming, changing chemistry, and resource exploitation. However, unlike spatial landscapes that migrate slowly with time, pelagic seascapes are embedded in a turbulent, advective ocean. Adaptations from landscape ecology to marine pelagic ecosystem management must consider the nature and scale of biophysical interactions associated with organisms ranging from microbes to whales, a hierarchical organization shaped by physical processes, and our limited capacity to observe and monitor these phenomena across global oceans. High frequency, multiscale, and synoptic characterization of the 4-D variability of seascapes are now available through improved classification methods, a maturing array of satellite remote sensing products, advances in autonomous sampling of multiple levels of biological complexity, and emergence of observational networks. Merging of oceanographic and ecological paradigms will be necessary to observe, manage, and conserve species embedded in a dynamic seascape mosaic, where the boundaries, extent, and location of features change with time.

Description: This work was supported by NASA grant NNX14AP62A “National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)” funded under the National Ocean Partnership Program (NOPP RFP NOAA-NOS-IOOS-2014-2003803 in partnership between NOAA, BOEM, and NASA), the NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Office, and the LenFest Ocean Program.

Description: We present a phylogenetic analysis of spiders using a dataset of 932 spider species, representing 115 families (only the family Synaphridae is unrepresented), 700 known genera, and additional representatives of 26 unidentified or undescribed genera. Eleven genera of the orders Amblypygi, Palpigradi, Schizomida and Uropygi are included as outgroups. The dataset includes six markers from the mitochondrial (12S, 16S, COI) and nuclear (histone H3, 18S, 28S) genomes, and was analysed by multiple methods, including constrained analyses using a highly supported backbone tree from transcriptomic data. We recover most of the higher-level structure of the spider tree with good support, including Mesothelae, Opisthothelae, Mygalomorphae and Araneomorphae. Several of our analyses recover Hypochilidae and Filistatidae as sister groups, as suggested by previous transcriptomic analyses. The Synspermiata are robustly supported, and the families Trogloraptoridae and Caponiidae are found as sister to the Dysderoidea. Our results support the Lost Tracheae clade, including Pholcidae, Tetrablemmidae, Diguetidae, Plectreuridae and the family Pacullidae (restored status) separate from Tetrablemmidae. The Scytodoidea include Ochyroceratidae along with Sicariidae, Scytodidae, Drymusidae and Periegopidae; our results are inconclusive about the separation of these last two families. We did not recover monophyletic Austrochiloidea and Leptonetidae, but our data suggest that both groups are more closely related to the Cylindrical Gland Spigot clade rather than to Synspermiata. Palpimanoidea is not recovered by our analyses, but also not strongly contradicted. We find support for Entelegynae and Oecobioidea (Oecobiidae plus Hersiliidae), and ambiguous placement of cribellate orb-weavers, compatible with their non-monophyly. Nicodamoidea (Nicodamidae plus Megadictynidae) and Araneoidea composition and relationships are consistent with recent analyses. We did not obtain resolution for the titanoecoids (Titanoecidae and Phyxelididae), but the Retrolateral Tibial Apophysis clade is well supported. Penestomidae, and probably Homalonychidae, are part of Zodarioidea, although the latter family was set apart by recent transcriptomic analyses. Our data support a large group that we call the marronoid clade (including the families Amaurobiidae, Desidae, Dictynidae, Hahniidae, Stiphidiidae, Agelenidae and Toxopidae). The circumscription of most marronoid families is redefined here. Amaurobiidae include the Amaurobiinae and provisionally Macrobuninae. We transfer Malenellinae (Malenella, from Anyphaenidae), Chummidae (Chumma) (new syn.) and Tasmarubriinae (Tasmarubrius, Tasmabrochus and Teeatta, from Amphinectidae) to Macrobuninae. Cybaeidae are redefined to include Calymmaria, Cryphoeca, Ethobuella and Willisius (transferred from Hahniidae), and Blabomma and Yorima (transferred from Dictynidae). Cycloctenidae are redefined to include Orepukia (transferred from Agelenidae) and Pakeha and Paravoca (transferred from Amaurobiidae). Desidae are redefined to include five subfamilies: Amphinectinae, with Amphinecta, Mamoea, Maniho, Paramamoea and Rangitata (transferred from Amphinectidae); Ischaleinae, with Bakala and Manjala (transferred from Amaurobiidae) and Ischalea (transferred from Stiphidiidae); Metaltellinae, with Austmusia, Buyina, Calacadia, Cunnawarra, Jalkaraburra, Keera, Magua, Metaltella, Penaoola and Quemusia; Porteriinae (new rank), with Baiami, Cambridgea, Corasoides and Nanocambridgea (transferred from Stiphidiidae); and Desinae, with Desis, and provisionally Poaka (transferred from Amaurobiidae) and Barahna (transferred from Stiphidiidae). Argyroneta is transferred from Cybaeidae to Dictynidae. Cicurina is transferred from Dictynidae to Hahniidae. The genera Neoramia (from Agelenidae) and Aorangia, Marplesia and Neolana (from Amphinectidae) are transferred to Stiphidiidae. The family Toxopidae (restored status) includes two subfamilies: Myroinae, with Gasparia, Gohia, Hulua, Neomyro, Myro, Ommatauxesis and Otagoa (transferred from Desidae); and Toxopinae, with Midgee and Jamara, formerly Midgeeinae, new syn. (transferred from Amaurobiidae) and Hapona, Laestrygones, Lamina, Toxops and Toxopsoides (transferred from Desidae). We obtain a monophyletic Oval Calamistrum clade and Dionycha; Sparassidae, however, are not dionychans, but probably the sister group of those two clades. The composition of the Oval Calamistrum clade is confirmed (including Zoropsidae, Udubidae, Ctenidae, Oxyopidae, Senoculidae, Pisauridae, Trechaleidae, Lycosidae, Psechridae and Thomisidae), affirming previous findings on the uncertain relationships of the \xe2\x80\x9cctenids\xe2\x80\x9d Ancylometes and Cupiennius, although a core group of Ctenidae are well supported. Our data were ambiguous as to the monophyly of Oxyopidae. In Dionycha, we found a first split of core Prodidomidae, excluding the Australian Molycriinae, which fall distantly from core prodidomids, among gnaphosoids. The rest of the dionychans form two main groups, Dionycha part A and part B. The former includes much of the Oblique Median Tapetum clade (Trochanteriidae, Gnaphosidae, Gallieniellidae, Phrurolithidae, Trachelidae, Gnaphosidae, Ammoxenidae, Lamponidae and the Molycriinae), and also Anyphaenidae and Clubionidae. Orthobula is transferred from Phrurolithidae to Trachelidae. Our data did not allow for complete resolution for the gnaphosoid families. Dionycha part B includes the families Salticidae, Eutichuridae, Miturgidae, Philodromidae, Viridasiidae, Selenopidae, Corinnidae and Xenoctenidae (new fam., including Xenoctenus, Paravulsor and Odo, transferred from Miturgidae, as well as Incasoctenus from Ctenidae). We confirm the inclusion of Zora (formerly Zoridae) within Miturgidae.

Description: There is still considerable debate about which mechanisms drive the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem function (BEF). Although most scientists agree on the existence of two underlying mechanisms, complementarity and selection, experimental studies keep producing contrasting results on the relative contributions of the two effects. We present a spatially explicit resource competition model and investigate how the strength of these effects is influenced by trait and environmental variability, resource distribution, and species pool size. Our results demonstrate that the increase of biomass production with increasing species numbers depends on the concurrence of environmental and trait variability: BEF relationships are stronger if functionally different species coexist in a landscape with heterogeneous resource supply. These large biodiversity effects arise from complementarity effects, whereas selection effects are maximized when broad trait ranges coincide with narrow ranges of resource supply ratios. Our results will therefore help to resolve the debate on complementarity and selection mechanisms.