ALBERT

Description: The genus Alexandrium (Halim) is perhaps the most intensively studied among toxic marine dinoflagellates. This is largely attributable to the devastating consequences of toxigenic blooms of this genus, with human poisonings from contaminated seafood, primarily from shellfish and more rarely from finfish; socio–economic losses to the aquaculture and fisheries industries; marine faunal mortalities; and food web disruptions common in coastal waters throughout the world. Members of this genus are globally distributed from the Arctic to the tropics, and in both hemispheres from sub–polar through temperate to sub–tropical to tropicalwaters. At least four distinct groups of marine phycotoxins are associated with various Alexandrium species, along with poorly characterized bioactive compounds (allelochemicals) that may affect species interactions among the plankton. According to the most recent iteration of the IOC–UNESCO reference list of toxic microalgae, there are now more than 30 recognized morphological species of Alexandrium, posing a daunting challenge for risk assessment and accurate identification in toxic phytoplankton monitoring programs.

Description: Understanding how the Antarctic ice sheet will respond to global warming relies on knowledge of how it has behaved in the past. The use of numerical models, the only means to quantitatively predict the future, is hindered by limitations to topographic data both now and in the past, and in knowledge of how subsurface oceanic, glaciological and hydrological processes interact. Incorporating the variety and interplay of such processes, operating at multiple spatio-temporal scales, is critical to modeling the Antarctic’s system evolution and requires direct observations in challenging locations. As these processes do not observe disciplinary boundaries neither should our future research.

Description: Natural dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises a broad range of dissolved organic molecules in aquatic systems and is among the most complex molecular mixtures known. Here we show, by comparing detailed structural fingerprints of individual molecular formulae in DOM from a set of four marine and one freshwater environments, that a major component of DOM is molecularly indistinguishable in these diverse samples. Molecular conformity was not only apparent by the co-occurrence of thousands of identical molecular formulae, but also by identical structural features of those isomers that collectively represent a molecular formula. The presence of a large pool of compounds with identical structural features in DOM is likely the result of a cascade of degradation processes or common synthetic pathways that ultimately lead to the formation of a universal background, regardless of origin and history of the organic material. This novel insight impacts our understanding of long-term turnover of DOM as the underlying mechanisms are possibly universal.

Description: Traditionally, the description of microorganisms starts with their isolation from an environmental sample. Many environmentally relevant anaerobic microorganisms grow very slowly, and often they rely on syntrophic interactions with other microorganisms. This impedes their isolation and characterization by classic microbiological techniques. We developed and applied an approach for the successive enrichment of syntrophic hydrocarbon-degrading microorganisms from environmental samples. We collected samples from microbial mat-covered hydrothermally heated hydrocarbon-rich sediments of the Guaymas Basin and mixed them with synthetic mineral medium to obtain sediment slurries. Supplementation with defined substrates (i.e., methane or butane), incubation at specific temperatures, and a regular maintenance procedure that included the measurement of metabolic products and stepwise dilutions enabled us to establish highly active, virtually sediment-free enrichment cultures of actively hydrocarbon-degrading communities in a 6-months to several-years' effort. Using methane as sole electron donor shifted the originally highly diverse microbial communities toward defined mixed cultures dominated by syntrophic consortia consisting of anaerobic methane-oxidizing archaea (ANME) and different sulfate-reducing bacteria. Cultivation with butane at 50 °C yielded consortia of archaea belonging to Candidatus Syntrophoarchaeum and Candidatus Desulfofervidus auxilii partner bacteria. This protocol also describes sampling for further molecular characterization of enrichment cultures by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), and transcriptomics and metabolite analyses, which can provide insights into the functioning of hydrocarbon metabolism in archaea and resolve important mechanisms that enable electron transfer to their sulfate-reducing partner bacteria.

Description: The construction of high capacity data sharing networks to support increasing government and commercial data exchange has highlighted a key roadblock: the content of existing Internet-connected information remains siloed due to a multiplicity of local languages and data dictionaries. This lack of a digital lingua franca is obvious in the domain of human food as materials travel from their wild or farm origin, through processing and distribution chains, to consumers. Well defined, hierarchical vocabulary, connected with logical relationships—in other words, an ontology—is urgently needed to help tackle data harmonization problems that span the domains of food security, safety, quality, production, distribution, and consumer health and convenience. FoodOn (http://foodon.org) is a consortium-driven project to build a comprehensive and easily accessible global farm-to-fork ontology about food, that accurately and consistently describes foods commonly known in cultures from around the world. FoodOn addresses food product terminology gaps and supports food traceability. Focusing on human and domesticated animal food description, FoodOn contains animal and plant food sources, food categories and products, and other facets like preservation processes, contact surfaces, and packaging. Much of FoodOn’s vocabulary comes from transforming LanguaL, a mature and popular food indexing thesaurus, into a World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) OWL Web Ontology Language-formatted vocabulary that provides system interoperability, quality control, and software-driven intelligence. FoodOn compliments other technologies facilitating food traceability, which is becoming critical in this age of increasing globalization of food networks.

Description: The relationships between trachytes and peralkaline rhyolites (i.e. pantellerites and comendites), which occur in many continental rift systems, oceanic islands and continental intraplate settings, is unclear. To fill this gap, we have performed phase equilibrium experiments on two representative metaluminous trachytes from Pantelleria to determine both their pre-eruptive equilibration conditions (pressure, temperature, H2O content and redox state) and liquid lines of descent. Experiments were performed in the temperature range 750–950 C, pressure 0 5–1 5 kbar and fluid saturation conditions with XH2O [¼H2O/(H2OþCO2)] ranging between zero and unity. Redox conditions were fixed below the nickel–nickel oxide buffer (NNO). The results show that at 950 C and melt water contents (H2Omelt) close to saturation, trachytes are at liquidus conditions at all pressures. Clinopyroxene is the liquidus phase, being followed by iron-rich olivine and alkali feldspar. Comparison of experimental and natural phases (abundances and compositions) yields the following pre-eruptive conditions: P¼160 5 kbar, T¼925625 C, H2Omelt¼261wt %, and fO2 between NNO– 0 5 and NNO– 2. A decrease in temperature from 950 C to 750 C, as well as of H2Omelt, promotes a massive crystallization of alkali feldspar to over 80 wt %. Iron-bearing minerals show gradual iron enrichment when T and fO2 decrease, trending towards the compositions of the phenocrysts of natural pantellerites. Despite the metaluminous character of the bulk-rock compositions, residual glasses obtained after 80 wt % crystallization evolve toward comenditic compositions, owing to profuse alkali feldspar crystallization, which decreases the Al2O3 of the melt, leading to a consequent increase in the peralkalinity index [PI¼molar (Na2OþK2O)/Al2O3]. This is the first experimental demonstration that peralkaline felsic derivatives can be produced by low-pressure fractional crystallization of metaluminous mafic magmas. Our results show that the pantelleritic magmas of basalt–trachyte–rhyolite igneous suites require at least 95 wt % of parental basalt crystallization, consistent with trace element evidence. Redox conditions, through their effect on Fe–Ti oxide stabilities, control the final iron content of the evolving melt.

Description: Published

Description: 559- 588

Description: 2V. Struttura e sistema di alimentazione dei vulcani

Description: JCR Journal

Description: Our study area is a ~50 km long section of the central-southern Apennines tectonic belt that includes the Pergola-Melandro basin and the Agri valley. This region is located between the areas interested by the 1980 Ms=6.9 Irpinia and the 1857 M=7.0 Val d’Agri earthquakes and is characterized by rare historical events and very low and sparse background seismicity. In this study we provide new seismological and geophysical information to identify the characteristics of the seismotectonics in the area, as the prevailing faulting mechanism and the fit of local to regional stress field. These data concern focal mechanisms from waveform modeling and P-wave polarities, analyses of borehole breakouts and detailed investigation of two seismic sequences. All the data cover a significantly broad range of magnitudes and depths and suggest that no important local variation in stress orientation seems to affect this area, which shows a NE-SW direction of extension consistent with that regionally observed in Southern Italy. Such local homogeneity in the stress field pattern is peculiar of the study area; the variations of orientation and/or type of stress observed in the northern Apennines or only less than 100 km toward the northwest within the same tectonic belt are absent here. Furthermore, there is a suggestion for a northeastward sense of dip of the seismogenic faults in the region, an interesting constraint to the characterization of seismic sources

Description: Published

Description: 575-583

Description: 2T. Sorgente Sismica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 1287, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03468-6.

Description: Warm subtropical-origin Atlantic water flows northward across the Greenland-Scotland Ridge into the Nordic Seas, where it relinquishes heat to the atmosphere and gradually transforms into dense Atlantic-origin water. Returning southward along east Greenland, this water mass is situated beneath a layer of cold, fresh surface water and sea ice. Here we show, using measurements from autonomous ocean gliders, that the Atlantic-origin water was re-ventilated while transiting the western Iceland Sea during winter. This re-ventilation is a recent phenomenon made possible by the retreat of the ice edge toward Greenland. The fresh surface layer that characterises this region in summer is diverted onto the Greenland shelf by enhanced onshore Ekman transport induced by stronger northerly winds in fall and winter. Severe heat loss from the ocean offshore of the ice edge subsequently triggers convection, which further transforms the Atlantic-origin water. This re-ventilation is a counterintuitive occurrence in a warming climate, and highlights the difficulties inherent in predicting the behaviour of the complex coupled climate system.

Description: Support for this work was provided by the Norwegian Research Council under Grant agreement no. 231647 (L.H. and K.V.), the Bergen Research Foundation under Grant BFS2016REK01 (K.V.), and the Centre for Climate Dynamics at the Bjerknes Centre through the FRESHWATER project (K.V.). Additional funding was provided by the Swiss National Science Foundation grants P2EZP2162267 and P300P2174307 (L.P.), the National Science Foundation grant OCE-1558742 (M.A.S.), the Norway Fulbright Foundation (K.V.), the Canada Fulbright Foundation (G.W.K.M.), and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (G.W.K.M.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4917, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-23167-y.

Description: Intertidal inhabitants are exposed to the 24-hour solar day, and the 12.4 hour rising and falling of the tides. One or both of these cycles govern intertidal organisms’ behaviour and physiology, yet little is known about the molecular clockworks of tidal rhythmicity. Here, we show that the limpet Cellana rota exhibits robust tidally rhythmic behaviour and gene expression. We assembled a de-novo transcriptome, identifying novel tidal, along with known circadian clock genes. Surprisingly, most of the putative circadian clock genes, lack a typical rhythmicity. We identified numerous tidally rhythmic genes and pathways commonly associated with the circadian clock. We show that not only is the behaviour of an intertidal organism in tune with the tides, but so too are many of its genes and pathways. These findings highlight the plasticity of biological timekeeping in nature, strengthening the growing notion that the role of ‘canonical’ circadian clock genes may be more fluid than previously thought, as exhibited in an organism which has evolved in an environment where tidal oscillations are the dominant driving force.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 8128, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26484-4.

Description: The kakapo is a critically endangered, herbivorous parrot endemic to New Zealand. The kakapo hindgut hosts a dense microbial community of low taxonomic diversity, typically dominated by Escherichia fergusonii, and has proven to be a remarkably stable ecosystem, displaying little variation in core membership over years of study. To elucidate mechanisms underlying this robustness, we performed 16S rRNA gene-based co-occurrence network analysis to identify potential interactions between E. fergusonii and the wider bacterial community. Genomic and metagenomic sequencing were employed to facilitate interpretation of potential interactions observed in the network. E. fergusonii maintained very few correlations with other members of the microbiota, and isolates possessed genes for the generation of energy from a wide range of carbohydrate sources, including plant fibres such as cellulose. We surmise that this dominant microorganism is abundant not due to ecological interaction with other members of the microbiota, but its ability to metabolise a wide range of nutrients in the gut. This research represents the first concerted effort to understand the functional roles of the kakapo microbiota, and leverages metagenomic data to contextualise co-occurrence patterns. By combining these two techniques we provide a means for studying the diversity-stability hypothesis in the context of bacterial ecosystems.

Description: This work was supported by funding from the Department of Conservation (DOC) as well as a University of Auckland Faculty Research Development Fund grant (9841 3626187) to MWT, and a University of Auckland Doctoral Scholarship to DWW.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 7363, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-25565-8.

Description: Satellite-tracking of mature white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) has revealed open-ocean movements spanning months and covering tens of thousands of kilometers. But how are the energetic demands of these active apex predators met as they leave coastal areas with relatively high prey abundance to swim across the open ocean through waters often characterized as biological deserts? Here we investigate mesoscale oceanographic variability encountered by two white sharks as they moved through the Gulf Stream region and Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic Ocean. In the vicinity of the Gulf Stream, the two mature female white sharks exhibited extensive use of the interiors of clockwise-rotating anticyclonic eddies, characterized by positive (warm) temperature anomalies. One tagged white shark was also equipped with an archival tag that indicated this individual made frequent dives to nearly 1,000 m in anticyclones, where it was presumably foraging on mesopelagic prey. We propose that warm temperature anomalies in anticyclones make prey more accessible and energetically profitable to adult white sharks in the Gulf Stream region by reducing the physiological costs of thermoregulation in cold water. The results presented here provide valuable new insight into open ocean habitat use by mature, female white sharks that may be applicable to other large pelagic predators.

Description: This work was supported by the WHOI Ocean Life Institute and awards from NASA and NSF.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2398, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04809-1.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 10610, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28871-3.

Description: Foraminifera in sediments exposed to gas-hydrate dissociation are not expected to have cellular adaptations that facilitate inhabitation of chemosynthesis-based ecosystems because, to date, there are no known endemic seep foraminifera. To establish if foraminifera inhabit sediments impacted by gas-hydrate dissociation, we examined the cellular ultrastructure of Melonis barleeanus (Williamson, 1858) from the Vestnesa gas hydrate province (Arctic Ocean, west of Svalbard at ~79 °N; ~1200-m depth; n = 4). From sediments with gas hydrate indicators, living M. barleeanus had unusual pore plugs composed of a thick, fibrous meshwork; mitochondria were concentrated at the cell periphery, under pore plugs. While there was no evidence of endosymbioses with prokaryotes, most M. barleeanus specimens were associated with what appear to be Type I methanotrophic bacteria. One foraminifer had a particularly large bolus of these microbes concentrated near its aperture. This is the first documented instance of bona fide living M. barleeanus in gas-hydrate sediments and first documentation of a foraminifer living in close association with putative methanotrophs. Our observations have implications to paleoclimate records utilizing this foundational foraminiferal species.

Description: JMB was funded by a WHOI Independent Study Award (Mellon Grant), with partial support from NSF grant OCE-1634469. GP and CAGE 15-2 cruise were supported by the Research Council of Norway through CAGE Center for Excellence in Arctic Gas Hydrate Environment and Climate project 223259 and NORCRUST (project number 255150).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2809, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05253-x.

Description: Voltage-sensing (VSD) and cyclic nucleotide-binding domains (CNBD) gate ion channels for rapid electrical signaling. By contrast, solute carriers (SLCs) that passively redistribute substrates are gated by their substrates themselves. Here, we study the orphan sperm-specific solute carriers SLC9C1 that feature a unique tripartite structure: an exchanger domain, a VSD, and a CNBD. Voltage-clamp fluorimetry shows that SLC9C1 is a genuine Na+/H+ exchanger gated by voltage. The cellular messenger cAMP shifts the voltage range of activation. Mutations in the transport domain, the VSD, or the CNBD strongly affect Na+/H+ exchange, voltage gating, or cAMP sensitivity, respectively. Our results establish SLC9C1 as a phylogenetic chimaera that combines the ion-exchange mechanism of solute carriers with the gating mechanism of ion channels. Classic SLCs slowly readjust changes in the intra- and extracellular milieu, whereas voltage gating endows the Na+/H+ exchanger with the ability to produce a rapid pH response that enables downstream signaling events.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 14955, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33021-w.

Description: Glomeruli are the functional units of olfactory information processing but little remains known about their individual unit function. This is due to their widespread activation by odor stimuli. We expressed channelrhodopsin-2 in a single olfactory sensory neuron type, and used laser stimulation and simultaneous in vivo calcium imaging to study the responses of a single glomerulus to optogenetic stimulation. Calcium signals in the neuropil of this glomerulus were representative of the sensory input and nearly identical if evoked by intensity-matched odor and laser stimuli. However, significantly fewer glomerular layer interneurons and olfactory bulb output neurons (mitral cells) responded to optogenetic versus odor stimuli, resulting in a small and spatially compact optogenetic glomerular unit response. Temporal features of laser stimuli were represented with high fidelity in the neuropil of the glomerulus and the mitral cells, but not in interneurons. Increases in laser stimulus intensity were encoded by larger signal amplitudes in all compartments of the glomerulus, and by the recruitment of additional interneurons and mitral cells. No spatial expansion of the glomerular unit response was observed in response to stronger input stimuli. Our data are among the first descriptions of input-output transformations in a selectively activated olfactory glomerulus.

Description: Funded by the World Class Institute/National Research Foundation of Korea (KRF: WCI 2009-003) and NIH: DC005259 and NS099691 grants.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15517, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33610-9.

Description: Subduction zones impose an important control on the geochemical cycling between the surficial and internal reservoirs of the Earth. Sulphur and carbon are transferred into Earth’s mantle by subduction of pelagic sediments and altered oceanic lithosphere. Release of oxidizing sulphate- and carbonate-bearing fluids modifies the redox state of the mantle and the chemical budget of subduction zones. Yet, the mechanisms of sulphur and carbon cycling within subduction zones are still unclear, in part because data are typically derived from arc volcanoes where fluid compositions are modified during transport through the mantle wedge. We determined the bulk rock elemental, and sulphur and carbon isotope compositions of exhumed ultramafic and metabasic rocks from Syros, Greece. Comparison of isotopic data with major and trace element compositions indicates seawater alteration and chemical exchange with sediment-derived fluids within the subduction zone channel. We show that small bodies of detached slab material are subject to metasomatic processes during exhumation, in contrast to large sequences of obducted ophiolitic sections that retain their seafloor alteration signatures. In particular, fluids circulating along the plate interface can cause sulphur mobilization during several stages of exhumation within high-pressure rocks. This takes place more pervasively in serpentinites compared to mafic rocks.

Description: This project was supported by NSF-EAR grant 1324566 to E.M.S. and B.C.G., and NSF EAR award 1250470 to M.J.C. We acknowledge support by the German Research Foundation and the Open Access Publication Fund of the Freie Universität Berlin.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 3077, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05574-x.

Description: Paleoclimate reconstructions are only as good as their chronology. In particular, different chronological assumptions for marine sediment cores can lead to different reconstructions of ocean ventilation age and atmosphere−ocean carbon exchange history. Here we build the first high-resolution chronology that is free of the dating uncertainties common in marine sediment records, based on radiocarbon dating twigs found with computed tomography scans in two cores from the Eastern Equatorial Pacific (EEP). With this accurate chronology, we show that the ventilation ages of the EEP thermocline and intermediate waters were similar to today during the Last Glacial Maximum and deglaciation, in contradiction with previous studies. Our results suggest that the glacial respired carbon pool in the EEP was not significantly older than today, and that the deglacial strengthening of the equatorial Pacific carbon source was probably driven by low-latitude processes rather than an increased subsurface supply of upwelled carbon from high-latitude oceans.

Description: The lab work at NOSAMS was supported by Ocean Ventures Fund from WHOI and an NOSAMS graduate internship granted to N.Z

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15219, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33283-4.

Description: This Article corrects an error in Equation 1

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 15740, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-33640-3.

Description: Hurricanes passing over the ocean can mix the water column down to great depths and resuspend massive volumes of sediments on the continental shelves. Consequently, organic carbon and reduced inorganic compounds associated with these sediments can be resuspended from anaerobic portions of the seabed and re-exposed to dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water column. This process can drive DO consumption as sediments become oxidized. Previous studies have investigated the effect of hurricanes on DO in different coastal regions of the world, highlighting the alleviation of hypoxic conditions by extreme winds, which drive vertical mixing and re-aeration of the water column. However, the effect of hurricane-induced resuspended sediments on DO has been neglected. Here, using a diverse suite of datasets for the northern Gulf of Mexico, we find that in the few days after a hurricane passage, decomposition of resuspended shelf sediments consumes up to a fifth of the DO added to the bottom of the water column during vertical mixing. Despite uncertainty in this value, we highlight the potential significance of this mechanism for DO dynamics. Overall, sediment resuspension likely occurs over all continental shelves affected by tropical cyclones, potentially impacting global cycles of marine DO and carbon.

Description: Support for J. Moriarty was provided by the USGS Mendenhall Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2864, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05313-2.

Description: The mechanisms of transfer of crustal material from the subducting slab to the overlying mantle wedge are still debated. Mélange rocks, formed by mixing of sediments, oceanic crust, and ultramafics along the slab-mantle interface, are predicted to ascend as diapirs from the slab-top and transfer their compositional signatures to the source region of arc magmas. However, the compositions of melts that result from the interaction of mélanges with a peridotite wedge remain unknown. Here we present experimental evidence that melting of peridotite hybridized by mélanges produces melts that carry the major and trace element abundances observed in natural arc magmas. We propose that differences in nature and relative contributions of mélanges hybridizing the mantle produce a range of primary arc magmas, from tholeiitic to calc-alkaline. Thus, assimilation of mélanges into the wedge may play a key role in transferring subduction signatures from the slab to the source of arc magmas.

Description: This project was supported by the WHOI Ocean Exploration Institute (OEI) 27071178 to V.L.R.; Previous related projects were supported by NSF EAR-1348063 and WHOI OEI to H.R.M.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Conservation Physiology 6 (2018): coy049, doi:10.1093/conphys/coy049.

Description: Male baleen whales have long been suspected to have annual cycles in testosterone, but due to difficulty in collecting endocrine samples, little direct evidence exists to confirm this hypothesis. Potential influences of stress or adrenal stress hormones (cortisol, corticosterone) on male reproduction have also been difficult to study. Baleen has recently been shown to accumulate steroid hormones during growth, such that a single baleen plate contains a continuous, multi-year retrospective record of the whale’s endocrine history. As a preliminary investigation into potential testosterone cyclicity in male whales and influences of stress, we determined patterns in immunoreactive testosterone, two glucocorticoids (cortisol and corticosterone), and stable-isotope (SI) ratios, across the full length of baleen plates from a bowhead whale (Balaena mysticetus), a North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) and a blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus), all adult males. Baleen was subsampled at 2 cm (bowhead, right) or 1 cm (blue) intervals and hormones were extracted from baleen powder with methanol, followed by quantification of all three hormones using enzyme immunoassays validated for baleen extract of these species. Baleen of all three males contained regularly spaced peaks in testosterone content, with number and spacing of testosterone peaks corresponding well to SI data and to species-specific estimates of annual baleen growth rate. Cortisol and corticosterone exhibited some peaks that co-occurred with testosterone peaks, while other glucocorticoid peaks occurred independent of testosterone peaks. The right whale had unusually high glucocorticoids during a period with a known entanglement in fishing gear and a possible disease episode; in the subsequent year, testosterone was unusually low. Further study of baleen testosterone patterns in male whales could help clarify conservation- and management-related questions such as age of sexual maturity, location and season of breeding, and the potential effect of anthropogenic and natural stressors on male testosterone cycles.

Description: This work was supported by (1) the Arizona Board of Regents Technology Research Initiative Fund; (2) the Center for Bioengineering Innovation at Northern Arizona University; (3) the Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; (4) the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Ocean Life Institute and (5) Fisheries and Ocean Canada’s (DFO) Priorities and Partnership Strategic Initiatives Fund and Oceans Protection Plan.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Cell Death and Disease 9 (2018): 663, doi:10.1038/s41419-018-0704-9.

Description: The poor regenerative capacity of descending neurons is one of the main causes of the lack of recovery after spinal cord injury (SCI). Thus, it is of crucial importance to find ways to promote axonal regeneration. In addition, the prevention of retrograde degeneration leading to the atrophy/death of descending neurons is an obvious prerequisite to activate axonal regeneration. Lampreys show an amazing regenerative capacity after SCI. Recent histological work in lampreys suggested that GABA, which is massively released after a SCI, could promote the survival of descending neurons. Here, we aimed to study if GABA, acting through GABAB receptors, promotes the survival and axonal regeneration of descending neurons of larval sea lampreys after a complete SCI. First, we used in situ hybridization to confirm that identifiable descending neurons of late-stage larvae express the gabab1 subunit of the GABAB receptor. We also observed an acute increase in the expression of this subunit in descending neurons after SCI, which further supported the possible role of GABA and GABAB receptors in promoting the survival and regeneration of these neurons. So, we performed gain and loss of function experiments to confirm this hypothesis. Treatments with GABA and baclofen (GABAB agonist) significantly reduced caspase activation in descending neurons 2 weeks after a complete SCI. Long-term treatments with GABOB (a GABA analogue) and baclofen significantly promoted axonal regeneration of descending neurons after SCI. These data indicate that GABAergic signalling through GABAB receptors promotes the survival and regeneration of descending neurons after SCI. Finally, we used morpholinos against the gabab1 subunit to knockdown the expression of the GABAB receptor in descending neurons. Long-term morpholino treatments caused a significant inhibition of axonal regeneration. This shows that endogenous GABA promotes axonal regeneration after a complete SCI in lampreys by activating GABAB receptors.

Description: Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the European Regional Development Fund 2007–2013 (Grant number: BFU2014-56300-P) and Xunta de Galicia (Grant number: GPC2014/030). D.R.-S. was supported by a fellowship from EMBO (Ref.: 7010) to carry out a short-term stay at the laboratory of JRM. A.B.-I. was supported by a grant from the Xunta de Galicia (Grant number: 2016-PG008) and a grant from the crowdfunding platform Precipita (FECYT; Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness; grant number 2017-CP081).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 2431, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-04421-3.

Description: Tectonic landforms reveal that the West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) lies atop a major volcanic rift system. However, identifying subglacial volcanism is challenging. Here we show geochemical evidence of a volcanic heat source upstream of the fast-melting Pine Island Ice Shelf, documented by seawater helium isotope ratios at the front of the Ice Shelf cavity. The localization of mantle helium to glacial meltwater reveals that volcanic heat induces melt beneath the grounded glacier and feeds the subglacial hydrological network crossing the grounding line. The observed transport of mantle helium out of the Ice Shelf cavity indicates that volcanic heat is supplied to the grounded glacier at a rate of ~ 2500 ± 1700 MW, which is ca. half as large as the active Grimsvötn volcano on Iceland. Our finding of a substantial volcanic heat source beneath a major WAIS glacier highlights the need to understand subglacial volcanism, its hydrologic interaction with the marine margins, and its potential role in the future stability of the WAIS.

Description: This research was supported by the NSF Antarctic program through Award #1341630.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Environmental Epigenetics 4 (2018): dvy005, doi:10.1093/eep/dvy005.

Description: There is growing evidence that environmental toxicants can affect various physiological processes by altering DNA methylation patterns. However, very little is known about the impact of toxicant-induced DNA methylation changes on gene expression patterns. The objective of this study was to determine the genome-wide changes in DNA methylation concomitant with altered gene expression patterns in response to 3, 3’, 4, 4’, 5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PCB126) exposure. We used PCB126 as a model environmental chemical because the mechanism of action is well-characterized, involving activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor, a ligand-activated transcription factor. Adult zebrafish were exposed to 10 nM PCB126 for 24 h (water-borne exposure) and brain and liver tissues were sampled at 7 days post-exposure in order to capture both primary and secondary changes in DNA methylation and gene expression. We used enhanced Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing and RNAseq to quantify DNA methylation and gene expression, respectively. Enhanced reduced representation bisulfite sequencing analysis revealed 573 and 481 differentially methylated regions in the liver and brain, respectively. Most of the differentially methylated regions are located more than 10 kilobases upstream of transcriptional start sites of the nearest neighboring genes. Gene Ontology analysis of these genes showed that they belong to diverse physiological pathways including development, metabolic processes and regeneration. RNAseq results revealed differential expression of genes related to xenobiotic metabolism, oxidative stress and energy metabolism in response to polychlorinated biphenyl exposure. There was very little correlation between differentially methylated regions and differentially expressed genes suggesting that the relationship between methylation and gene expression is dynamic and complex, involving multiple layers of regulation.

Description: This work was supported by the National Institute of Health Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award to NA (NIH R01ES024915) and Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health [National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant P01ES021923 and National Science Foundation Grant OCE-1314642 to M. Hahn, J. Stegeman, NA and SK].

Description: Author Posting. © The Authors, 2018. 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 215 (2018): 1072–1087, doi:10.1093/gji/ggy203.

Description: An earthquake rupture process can be kinematically described by rupture velocity, duration and spatial extent. These key kinematic source parameters provide important constraints on earthquake physics and rupture dynamics. In particular, core questions in earthquake science can be addressed once these properties of small earthquakes are well resolved. However, these parameters of small earthquakes are poorly understood, often limited by available data sets and methodologies. The Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology Community Wavefield Experiment in Oklahoma deployed ∼350 three-component nodal stations within 40 km2 for a month, offering an unprecedented opportunity to test new methodologies for resolving small earthquake finite source properties in high resolution. In this study, we demonstrate the power of the nodal data set to resolve the variations in the seismic wavefield over the focal sphere due to the finite source attributes of an M2 earthquake within the array. The dense coverage allows us to tightly constrain rupture area using the second moment method even for such a small earthquake. The M2 earthquake was a strike-slip event and unilaterally propagated towards the surface at 90 per cent local S-wave speed (2.93 km s−1). The earthquake lasted ∼0.019 s and ruptured Lc ∼70 m and Wc ∼45 m. With the resolved rupture area, the stress-drop of the earthquake is estimated as 7.3 MPa for Mw 2.3. We demonstrate that the maximum and minimum bounds on rupture area are within a factor of two, much lower than typical stress-drop uncertainty, despite a suboptimal station distribution. The rupture properties suggest that there is little difference between the M2 Oklahoma earthquake and typical large earthquakes. The new three-component nodal systems have great potential for improving the resolution of studies of earthquake source properties.

Description: WF is currently supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the Weston Howland Jr. Postdoctoral Scholarship. JM was partially supported by SCEC grant #17177 at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. This research was supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center (Contribution No. 8014). SCEC is funded by NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR-1033462 and USGS Cooperative Agreement G12AC20038.

Description: Author Posting. © The Authors, 2018. 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 215 (2018): 942–958, doi:10.1093/gji/ggy316.

Description: Surface waves recorded by global arrays have proven useful for locating tectonic earthquakes and in detecting slip events depleted in high frequency, such as glacial quakes. We develop a novel method using an aggregation of small- to continental-scale arrays to detect and locate seismic sources with Rayleigh waves at 20–50 s period. The proposed method is a hybrid approach including first dividing a large aperture aggregate array into Delaunay triangular subarrays for beamforming, and then using the resolved surface wave propagation directions and arrival times from the subarrays as data to formulate an inverse problem to locate the seismic sources and their origin times. The approach harnesses surface wave coherence and maximizes resolution of detections by combining measurements from stations spanning the whole U.S. continent. We tested the method with earthquakes, glacial quakes and landslides. The results show that the method can effectively resolve earthquakes as small as ∼M3 and exotic slip events in Greenland. We find that the resolution of the locations is non-uniform with respect to azimuth, and decays with increasing distance between the source and the array when no calibration events are available. The approach has a few advantages: the method is insensitive to seismic event type, it does not require a velocity model to locate seismic sources, and it is computationally efficient. The method can be adapted to real-time applications and can help in identifying new classes of seismic sources.

Description: WF is currently supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the Weston Howland Jr. Postdoctoral Scholarship. This work was supported by National Science Foundation grant EAR-1358520 at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 11997, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-30091-8.

Description: The abundance of organic carbon (OC) in vegetation and soils (~2,600 PgC) compared to carbon in the atmosphere (~830 PgC) highlights the importance of terrestrial OC in global carbon budgets. The residence time of OC in continental reservoirs, which sets the rates of carbon exchange between land and atmosphere, represents a key uncertainty in global carbon cycle dynamics. Retention of terrestrial OC can also distort bulk OC- and biomarker-based paleorecords, yet continental storage timescales remain poorly quantified. Using “bomb” radiocarbon (14C) from thermonuclear weapons testing as a tracer, we model leaf-wax fatty acid and bulk OC 14C signatures in a river-proximal marine sediment core from the Bay of Bengal in order to constrain OC storage timescales within the Ganges-Brahmaputra (G-B) watershed. Our model shows that 79–83% of the leaf-waxes in this core were stored in continental reservoirs for an average of 1,000–1,200 calendar years, while the remainder was stored for an average of 15 years. This age structure distorts high-resolution organic paleorecords across geologically rapid events, highlighting that compound-specific proxy approaches must consider storage timescales. Furthermore, these results show that future environmental change could destabilize large stores of old - yet reactive - OC currently stored in tropical basins.

Description: We acknowledge funding support from the Agouron Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship (K.L.F), the US National Science Foundation (Awards: OCE-1333387 and OCE-13333826), the Investment in Science Fund given primarily by WHOI Trustee and Corporation Members, and the Swiss National Science Foundation (Award: 200020_163162).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 13478, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31175-1.

Description: Agricultural intensification offers potential to grow more food while reducing the conversion of native ecosystems to croplands. However, intensification also risks environmental degradation through emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) and nitrate leaching to ground and surface waters. Intensively-managed croplands and nitrogen (N) fertilizer use are expanding rapidly in tropical regions. We quantified fertilizer responses of maize yield, N2O emissions, and N leaching in an Amazon soybean-maize double-cropping system on deep, highly-weathered soils in Mato Grosso, Brazil. Application of N fertilizer above 80 kg N ha−1 yr−1 increased maize yield and N2O emissions only slightly. Unlike experiences in temperate regions, leached nitrate accumulated in deep soils with increased fertilizer and conversion to cropping at N fertilization rates 〉80 kg N ha−1, which exceeded maize demand. This raises new questions about the capacity of tropical agricultural soils to store nitrogen, which may determine when and how much nitrogen impacts surface waters.

Description: This project was supported by grants from NSF (DEB-1257944, DEB-1257391, DEB1457017, EF-1541770, EF-1655432, EF-1519342, IOS-1660034, IOS-1457662, and EAR-1739724) to M. Macedo, C. Neill, and M.T. Coe.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 10140, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28455-1.

Description: Haynesina germanica, an ubiquitous benthic foraminifer in intertidal mudflats, has the remarkable ability to isolate, sequester, and use chloroplasts from microalgae. The photosynthetic functionality of these kleptoplasts has been demonstrated by measuring photosystem II quantum efficiency and O2 production rates, but the precise role of the kleptoplasts in foraminiferal metabolism is poorly understood. Thus, the mechanism and dynamics of C and N assimilation and translocation from the kleptoplasts to the foraminiferal host requires study. The objective of this study was to investigate, using correlated TEM and NanoSIMS imaging, the assimilation of inorganic C and N (here ammonium, NH4+) in individuals of a kleptoplastic benthic foraminiferal species. H. germanica specimens were incubated for 20 h in artificial seawater enriched with H13CO3− and 15NH4+ during a light/dark cycle. All specimens (n = 12) incorporated 13C into their endoplasm stored primarily in the form of lipid droplets. A control incubation in darkness resulted in no 13C-uptake, strongly suggesting that photosynthesis is the process dominating inorganic C assimilation. Ammonium assimilation was observed both with and without light, with diffuse 15N-enrichment throughout the cytoplasm and distinct 15N-hotspots in fibrillar vesicles, electron-opaque bodies, tubulin paracrystals, bacterial associates, and, rarely and at moderate levels, in kleptoplasts. The latter observation might indicate that the kleptoplasts are involved in N assimilation. However, the higher N assimilation observed in the foraminiferal endoplasm incubated without light suggests that another cytoplasmic pathway is dominant, at least in darkness. This study clearly shows the advantage provided by the kleptoplasts as an additional source of carbon and provides observations of ammonium uptake by the foraminiferal cell.

Description: This work was supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant no. 200021_149333) and was part of the CNRS EC2CO-Lefe project ForChlo. It was also supported by the Region Pays de la Loire (Post-doc position of TJ, on FRESCO project) as well as the WHOI Robert W. Morse Chair for Excellence in Oceanography and The Investment in Science Fund at WHOI.

Description: Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2018. 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 214 (2018): 2224–2235, doi:10.1093/gji/ggy201.

Description: The key kinematic earthquake source parameters: rupture velocity, duration and area, shed light on earthquake dynamics, provide direct constraints on stress drop, and have implications for seismic hazard. However, for moderate and small earthquakes, these parameters are usually poorly constrained due to limitations of the standard analysis methods. Numerical experiments by Kaneko and Shearer demonstrated that standard spectral fitting techniques can lead to roughly one order of magnitude variation in stress-drop estimates that do not reflect the actual rupture properties even for simple crack models. We utilize these models to explore an alternative approach where we estimate the rupture area directly. For the suite of models, the area averaged static stress drop is nearly constant for models with the same underlying friction law, yet corner-frequency-based stress-drop estimates vary by a factor of 5–10 even for noise-free data. Alternatively, we simulated inversions for the rupture area as parametrized by the second moments of the slip distribution. A natural estimate for the rupture area derived from the second moments is A = πLcWc, where Lc and Wc are the characteristic rupture length and width. This definition yields estimates of stress drop that vary by only 10 per cent between the models but are slightly larger than the true area averaged values. We simulate inversions for the second moments for the various models and find that the area can be estimated well when there are at least 15 available measurements of apparent duration at a variety of take-off angles. The improvement compared to azimuthally averaged corner-frequency-based approaches results from the second moments accounting for directivity and removing the assumption of a circular rupture area, both of which bias the standard approach. We also develop a new method that determines the minimum and maximum values of rupture area that are consistent with a particular data set at the 95 per cent confidence level. For the Kaneko and Shearer models with 20+ randomly distributed observations and ∼10 per cent noise levels, we find that the maximum and minimum bounds on rupture area typically vary by a factor of two and that the minimum stress drop is often more tightly constrained than the maximum.

Description: This work was supported by USGS NEHRP Award G17AP00029. The research was supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC; Contribution No. 8013). SCEC is funded by NSF Cooperative Agreement EAR-1033462 and USGS Cooperative Agreement G12AC20038. YK was supported by both public funding from the Government of New Zealand and the Royal Society of New Zealand’s Rutherford Discovery Fellowship.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 13556, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31710-0.

Description: In mammals, a complex array of oral sensors assess the taste, temperature and haptic properties of food. Although the representation of taste has been extensively studied in the gustatory cortex, it is unclear how the somatosensory cortex encodes information about the properties of oral stimuli. Moreover, it is poorly understood how different oral sensory modalities are integrated and how sensory responses are translated into oral motor actions. To investigate whether oral somatosensory cortex processes food-related sensations and movements, we performed in vivo whole-cell recordings and motor mapping experiments in rats. Neurons in oral somatosensory cortex showed robust post-synaptic and sparse action potential responses to air puffs. Membrane potential showed that cold water evoked larger responses than room temperature or hot water. Most neurons showed no clear tuning of responses to bitter, sweet and neutral gustatory stimuli. Finally, motor mapping experiments with histological verification revealed an initiation of movements related to food consumption behavior, such as jaw opening and tongue protrusions. We conclude that somatosensory cortex: (i) provides a representation of the temperature of oral stimuli, (ii) does not systematically encode taste information and (iii) influences orofacial movements related to food consummatory behavior.

Description: This work was supported by the Marine Biological Laboratory, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and Neurocure.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 3500, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05804-2.

Description: Subduction zone magmas are more oxidised on eruption than those at mid-ocean ridges. This is attributed either to oxidising components, derived from subducted lithosphere (slab) and added to the mantle wedge, or to oxidation processes occurring during magma ascent via differentiation. Here we provide direct evidence for contributions of oxidising slab agents to melts trapped in the sub-arc mantle. Measurements of sulfur (S) valence state in sub-arc mantle peridotites identify sulfate, both as crystalline anhydrite (CaSO4) and dissolved SO42− in spinel-hosted glass (formerly melt) inclusions. Copper-rich sulfide precipitates in the inclusions and increased Fe3+/∑Fe in spinel record a S6+–Fe2+ redox coupling during melt percolation through the sub-arc mantle. Sulfate-rich glass inclusions exhibit high U/Th, Pb/Ce, Sr/Nd and δ34S (+ 7 to + 11‰), indicating the involvement of dehydration products of serpentinised slab rocks in their parental melt sources. These observations provide a link between liberated slab components and oxidised arc magmas.

Description: We acknowledge financial support by the Australian Research Council (DE120100513 and DP120104240) and the ESRF for beam time (EC1061 and ES238).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 9478, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-26948-7.

Description: Tidal wetlands produce long-term soil organic carbon (C) stocks. Thus for carbon accounting purposes, we need accurate and precise information on the magnitude and spatial distribution of those stocks. We assembled and analyzed an unprecedented soil core dataset, and tested three strategies for mapping carbon stocks: applying the average value from the synthesis to mapped tidal wetlands, applying models fit using empirical data and applied using soil, vegetation and salinity maps, and relying on independently generated soil carbon maps. Soil carbon stocks were far lower on average and varied less spatially and with depth than stocks calculated from available soils maps. Further, variation in carbon density was not well-predicted based on climate, salinity, vegetation, or soil classes. Instead, the assembled dataset showed that carbon density across the conterminous united states (CONUS) was normally distributed, with a predictable range of observations. We identified the simplest strategy, applying mean carbon density (27.0 kg C m−3), as the best performing strategy, and conservatively estimated that the top meter of CONUS tidal wetland soil contains 0.72 petagrams C. This strategy could provide standardization in CONUS tidal carbon accounting until such a time as modeling and mapping advancements can quantitatively improve accuracy and precision.

Description: Synthesis efforts were funded by NASA Carbon Monitoring System (CMS; NNH14AY67I), USGS LandCarbon and the Smithsonian Institution. J.R.H. was additionally supported by the NSF-funded Coastal Carbon Research Coordination Network while completing this manuscript (DEB-1655622). J.M.S. coring efforts were funded by NSF (EAR-1204079). B.P.H. coring efforts were funded by Earth Observatory (Publication Number 197).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Communications Biology 1 (2018): 177, doi:10.1038/s42003-018-0183-7.

Description: The oceans are warming and coral reefs are bleaching with increased frequency and severity, fueling concerns for their survival through this century. Yet in the central equatorial Pacific, some of the world’s most productive reefs regularly experience extreme heat associated with El Niño. Here we use skeletal signatures preserved in long-lived corals on Jarvis Island to evaluate the coral community response to multiple successive heatwaves since 1960. By tracking skeletal stress band formation through the 2015-16 El Nino, which killed 95% of Jarvis corals, we validate their utility as proxies of bleaching severity and show that 2015-16 was not the first catastrophic bleaching event on Jarvis. Since 1960, eight severe (〉30% bleaching) and two moderate (〈30% bleaching) events occurred, each coinciding with El Niño. While the frequency and severity of bleaching on Jarvis did not increase over this time period, 2015–16 was unprecedented in magnitude. The trajectory of recovery of this historically resilient ecosystem will provide critical insights into the potential for coral reef resilience in a warming world.

Description: Funding for this study was provided by National Science Foundation awards OCE 1537338, OCE 1605365, and OCE 1031971 to A.L.C., and the Robertson Foundation to A.L.C., National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowships to T.M.D. and A.E.A., and a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship to H.E.R.

Description: Author Posting. © The Authors, 2018. 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 215 (2018): 713–735, doi:10.1093/gji/ggy313.

Description: Gas flux in volcanic conduits is often associated with long-period oscillations known as seismic tremor (Lesage et al.; Nadeau et al.). In this study, we revisit and extend the ‘magma wagging’and ‘whirling’models for seismic tremor, in order to explore the effects of gas flux on the motion of a magma column surrounded by a permeable vesicular annulus (Jellinek & Bercovici; Bercovici et al.; Liao et al.). We find that gas flux flowing through the annulus leads to a Bernoulli effect, which causes waves on the magma column to become unstable and grow. Specifically, the Bernoulli effects are associated with torques and forces acting on the magma column, increasing its angular momentum and energy. As the displacement of the magma column becomes large due to the Bernoulli effect, frictional drag on the conduit wall decelerates the motions of the column, restoring them to small amplitude. Together, the Bernoulli effect and the damping effect contribute to a self-sustained wagging-and-whirling mechanism that help explain the longevity of long-period seismic tremor.

Description: This work was supported by National Science Foundation grants EAR-1344538 and EAR-1645057

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 17437, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-35309-3.

Description: During recent years, rapid seasonal growth of macroalgae covered extensive areas within the Yellow Sea, developing the world’s most spatially extensive “green tide”. The remarkably fast accumulation of macroalgal biomass is the joint result of high nitrogen supplies in Yellow Sea waters, plus ability of the macroalgae to optionally use C4 photosynthetic pathways that facilitate rapid growth. Stable isotopic evidence shows that the high nitrogen supply is derived from anthropogenic sources, conveyed from watersheds via river discharges, and by direct atmospheric deposition. Wastewater and manures supply about half the nitrogen used by the macroalgae, fertiliser and atmospheric deposition each furnish about a quarter of the nitrogen in macroalgae. The massive green tides affecting the Yellow Sea are likely to increase, with significant current and future environmental and human consequences. Addressing these changing trajectories will demand concerted investment in new basic and applied research as the basis for developing management policies.

Description: This work was supported by the State Key Project of Research and Development Plan (2016YFC1402106).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 5179, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07346-z.

Description: Sunlight is the dominant control on phytoplankton biosynthetic activity, and darkness deprives them of their primary external energy source. Changes in the biochemical composition of phytoplankton communities over diel light cycles and attendant consequences for carbon and energy flux in environments remain poorly elucidated. Here we use lipidomic data from the North Pacific subtropical gyre to show that biosynthesis of energy-rich triacylglycerols (TAGs) by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton during the day and their subsequent consumption at night drives a large and previously uncharacterized daily carbon cycle. Diel oscillations in TAG concentration comprise 23 ± 11% of primary production by eukaryotic nanophytoplankton representing a global flux of about 2.4 Pg C yr−1. Metatranscriptomic analyses of genes required for TAG biosynthesis indicate that haptophytes and dinoflagellates are active members in TAG production. Estimates suggest that these organisms could contain as much as 40% more calories at sunset than at sunrise due to TAG production.

Description: This work was supported by a grant from the Simons Foundation, and is a contribution of the Simons Collaboration on Ocean Processes and Ecology (SCOPE award # 329108, B.A.S.V.M.). K.W.B. was further supported by the Postdoctoral Scholarship Program at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution & U.S. Geological Survey.

Description: Author Posting. © The Authors, 2018. 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 215 (2018): 460–473, doi:10.1093/gji/ggy152.

Description: In this work, we present a new methodology to predict grain-size distributions from geophysical data. Specifically, electric conductivity and magnetic susceptibility of seafloor sediments recovered from electromagnetic profiling data are used to predict grain-size distributions along shelf-wide survey lines. Field data from the NW Iberian shelf are investigated and reveal a strong relation between the electromagnetic properties and grain-size distribution. The here presented workflow combines unsupervised and supervised machine-learning techniques. Non-negative matrix factorization is used to determine grain-size end-members from sediment surface samples. Four end-members were found, which well represent the variety of sediments in the study area. A radial basis function network modified for prediction of compositional data is then used to estimate the abundances of these end-members from the electromagnetic properties. The end-members together with their predicted abundances are finally back transformed to grain-size distributions. A minimum spatial variation constraint is implemented in the training of the network to avoid overfitting and to respect the spatial distribution of sediment patterns. The predicted models are tested via leave-one-out cross-validation revealing high prediction accuracy with coefficients of determination (R2) between 0.76 and 0.89. The predicted grain-size distributions represent the well-known sediment facies and patterns on the NW Iberian shelf and provide new insights into their distribution, transition and dynamics. This study suggests that electromagnetic benthic profiling in combination with machine learning techniques is a powerful tool to estimate grain-size distribution of marine sediments.

Description: This work was funded through DFG Research Center/Cluster of Excellence ‘The Ocean in the Earth System’ and was part of MARUM Research Area SD

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 4702, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-07076-2.

Description: The orbital-scale timing of South Asian monsoon (SAM) precipitation is poorly understood. Here we present new SST and seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) records from the Bay of Bengal, the core convective region of the South Asian monsoon, over the past 1 million years. Our records reveal that SAM precipitation peaked in the precession band ~9 kyrs after Northern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima, in phase with records of SAM winds in the Arabian Sea and eastern Indian Ocean. Precession-band variance, however, accounts for ~30% of the total variance of SAM precipitation while it was either absent or dominant in records of the East Asian monsoon (EAM). This and the observation that SAM precipitation was phase locked with obliquity minima and was sensitive to Southern Hemisphere warming provides clear evidence that SAM and EAM precipitation responded differently to orbital forcing and highlights the importance of internal processes forcing monsoon variability.

Description: This study was partly funded by the German Science Foundation, DFG, IODP Priority Program (grant HA 5751/3-1).

Description: Conduit geometry affects magma ascent dynamics and, consequently, the style and evolution of volcanic eruptions. However, despite geological evidences support the occurrence of conduit widening during most volcanic eruptions, the factors controlling conduit enlargement are still unclear, and the effects of syn-eruptive variations of conduit geometry have not been investigated in depth yet. Based on numerical modeling and the application of appropriate stability criteria, we found out a strong relationship between magma rheology and conduit stability, with significant effects on eruptive dynamics. Indeed, in order to be stable, conduits feeding dacitic/rhyolitic eruptions need larger diameters respect to their phonolitic/trachytic counterparts, resulting in the higher eruption rates commonly observed in dacitic/rhyolitic explosive events. Thus, in addition to magma source conditions and viscosity-dependent efficiency for outgassing, we suggest that typical eruption rates for different magma types are also controlled by conduit stability. Results are consistent with a compilation of volcanological data and selected case studies. As stability conditions are not uniform along the conduit, widening is expected to vary in depth, and three axisymmetric geometries with depth-dependent radii were investigated. They are able to produce major modifications in eruptive parameters, suggesting that eruptive dynamics is influenced by syn-eruptive changes in conduit geometry.

Description: Published

Description: 4125

Description: 5V. Processi eruttivi e post-eruttivi

Description: JCR Journal

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4494, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22758-z.

Description: Six velocity sections straddling Cape Hatteras show a deep counterflow rounding the Cape wedged beneath the poleward flowing Gulf Stream and the continental slope. This counterflow is likely the upper part of the equatorward-flowing Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC). Hydrographic data suggest that the equatorward flow sampled by the shipboard 38 kHz ADCP comprises the Upper Labrador Sea Water (ULSW) layer and top of the Classical Labrador Sea Water (CLSW) layer. Continuous DWBC flow around the Cape implied by the closely-spaced velocity sections here is also corroborated by the trajectory of an Argo float. These findings contrast with previous studies based on floats and tracers in which the lightest DWBC constituents did not follow the boundary to cross under the Gulf Stream at Cape Hatteras but were diverted into the interior as the DWBC encountered the Gulf Stream in the crossover region. Additionally, our six quasi-synoptic velocity sections confirm that the Gulf Stream intensified markedly at that time as it approached the separation point and flowed into deeper waters. Downstream increases were observed not only in the poleward transport across the sections but also in the current’s maximum speed.

Description: This research was supported by NSF through OCE-1558521 and OCE-1332667 and by a grant from North Carolina to the Renewable Ocean Energy Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 660, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-02984-9.

Description: Efforts to estimate the physical and economic impacts of future climate change face substantial challenges. To enrich the currently popular approaches to impact analysis—which involve evaluation of a damage function or multi-model comparisons based on a limited number of standardized scenarios—we propose integrating a geospatially resolved physical representation of impacts into a coupled human-Earth system modeling framework. Large internationally coordinated exercises cannot easily respond to new policy targets and the implementation of standard scenarios across models, institutions and research communities can yield inconsistent estimates. Here, we argue for a shift toward the use of a self-consistent integrated modeling framework to assess climate impacts, and discuss ways the integrated assessment modeling community can move in this direction. We then demonstrate the capabilities of such a modeling framework by conducting a multi-sectoral assessment of climate impacts under a range of consistent and integrated economic and climate scenarios that are responsive to new policies and business expectations.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 3926, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22313-w.

Description: Despite concerted international effort to track and interpret shifts in the abundance and distribution of Adélie penguins, large populations continue to be identified. Here we report on a major hotspot of Adélie penguin abundance identified in the Danger Islands off the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula (AP). We present the first complete census of Pygoscelis spp. penguins in the Danger Islands, estimated from a multi-modal survey consisting of direct ground counts and computer-automated counts of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery. Our survey reveals that the Danger Islands host 751,527 pairs of Adélie penguins, more than the rest of AP region combined, and include the third and fourth largest Adélie penguin colonies in the world. Our results validate the use of Landsat medium-resolution satellite imagery for the detection of new or unknown penguin colonies and highlight the utility of combining satellite imagery with ground and UAV surveys. The Danger Islands appear to have avoided recent declines documented on the Western AP and, because they are large and likely to remain an important hotspot for avian abundance under projected climate change, deserve special consideration in the negotiation and design of Marine Protected Areas in the region.

Description: We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Dalio Foundation, Inc. through the Dalio Explore Fund, which provided all the financing for the Danger Island Expedition. We would like to thank additional support for analysis from the National Science Foundation (NSF PLR&GSS 1255058 - H.J.L. and P.M.; NSF PLR 1443585 – M.J.P.) and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NNX14AC32G; H.J.L. and M.S.). Geospatial support for the analysis of high resolution satellite imagery provided by the Polar Geospatial Center under NSF PLR awards 1043681 & 1559691.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 7 (2017): 115, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-00091-1.

Description: Mutations in Fused in Sarcoma/Translocated in Liposarcoma (FUS) cause familial forms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a neurodegenerative disease characterized by progressive axonal degeneration mainly affecting motor neurons. Evidence from transgenic mouse models suggests mutant forms of FUS exert an unknown gain-of-toxic function in motor neurons, but mechanisms underlying this effect remain unknown. Towards this end, we studied the effect of wild type FUS (FUS WT) and three ALS-linked variants (G230C, R521G and R495X) on fast axonal transport (FAT), a cellular process critical for appropriate maintenance of axonal connectivity. All ALS-FUS variants impaired anterograde and retrograde FAT in squid axoplasm, whereas FUS WT had no effect. Misfolding of mutant FUS is implicated in this process, as the molecular chaperone Hsp110 mitigated these toxic effects. Interestingly, mutant FUS-induced impairment of FAT in squid axoplasm and of axonal outgrowth in mammalian primary motor neurons involved aberrant activation of the p38 MAPK pathway, as also reported for ALS-linked forms of Cu, Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1). Accordingly, increased levels of active p38 MAPK were detected in post-mortem human ALS-FUS brain tissues. These data provide evidence for a novel gain-of-toxic function for ALS-linked FUS involving p38 MAPK activation.

Description: We are grateful for funding from NIH/NINDS (R01 NS078145, R01 NS090352, and R21 NS091860 to D.A.B., R01 NS066942A and R21 NS096642 to G.M., R01NS023868 and R01NS041170 to S.T.B.), the ALS Therapy Alliance/CVS Pharmacy (to D.A.B. and G.M.) and the ALS Association (to C.F. and J.M.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 1124, doi:10.1038/s41467-018-03134-x.

Description: The ocean’s role in global climate change largely depends on its heat transport. Therefore, understanding the oceanic meridional heat transport (MHT) variability is a fundamental issue. Prevailing observational and modeling evidence suggests that MHT variability is primarily determined by the large-scale ocean circulation. Here, using new in situ observations in the eastern subpolar North Atlantic Ocean and an eddy-resolving numerical model, we show that energetic mesoscale eddies with horizontal scales of about 10–100 km profoundly modulate MHT variability on time scales from intra-seasonal to interannual. Our results reveal that the velocity changes due to mesoscale processes produce substantial variability for the MHT regionally (within sub-basins) and the subpolar North Atlantic as a whole. The findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms for poleward heat transport variability in the subpolar North Atlantic Ocean, a key region for heat and carbon sequestration, ice–ocean interaction, and biological productivity.

Description: J.Z. was financially supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at WHOI, with funding provided by the Ocean and Climate Change Institute. This work was also supported by the US National Science Foundation (OCE-1258823 and OCE-1634886), as well as by China’s national key research and development projects (2016YFA0601803), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41521091 and U1606402), the Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (2015ASKJ01), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (201424001 and 201362048).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 742, doi:10.1038/s41598-017-18757-1.

Description: In mammals, spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to dramatic losses in neurons and synaptic connections, and consequently function. Unlike mammals, lampreys are vertebrates that undergo spontaneous regeneration and achieve functional recovery after SCI. Therefore our goal was to determine the complete transcriptional responses that occur after SCI in lampreys and to identify deeply conserved pathways that promote regeneration. We performed RNA-Seq on lamprey spinal cord and brain throughout the course of functional recovery. We describe complex transcriptional responses in the injured spinal cord, and somewhat surprisingly, also in the brain. Transcriptional responses to SCI in lampreys included transcription factor networks that promote peripheral nerve regeneration in mammals such as Atf3 and Jun. Furthermore, a number of highly conserved axon guidance, extracellular matrix, and proliferation genes were also differentially expressed after SCI in lampreys. Strikingly, ~3% of differentially expressed transcripts belonged to the Wnt pathways. These included members of the Wnt and Frizzled gene families, and genes involved in downstream signaling. Pharmacological inhibition of Wnt signaling inhibited functional recovery, confirming a critical role for this pathway. These data indicate that molecular signals present in mammals are also involved in regeneration in lampreys, supporting translational relevance of the model.

Description: We gratefully acknowledge support from the National Institutes of Health (R03NS078519 to OB; R01GM104123 to JJS; R01NS078165 to JRM), The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research and The Marine Biological Laboratory, including the Charles Evans Foundation Research Award, the Albert and Ellen Grass Foundation Faculty Research Award, and The Eugene and Millicent Bell Fellowship Fund in Tissue Engineering.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 266, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02571-4.

Description: Because microbial plankton in the ocean comprise diverse bacteria, algae, and protists that are subject to environmental forcing on multiple spatial and temporal scales, a fundamental open question is to what extent these organisms form ecologically cohesive communities. Here we show that although all taxa undergo large, near daily fluctuations in abundance, microbial plankton are organized into clearly defined communities whose turnover is rapid and sharp. We analyze a time series of 93 consecutive days of coastal plankton using a technique that allows inference of communities as modular units of interacting taxa by determining positive and negative correlations at different temporal frequencies. This approach shows both coordinated population expansions that demarcate community boundaries and high frequency of positive and negative associations among populations within communities. Our analysis thus highlights that the environmental variability of the coastal ocean is mirrored in sharp transitions of defined but ephemeral communities of organisms.

Description: This work was supported by grants from the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1441943) to M.F.P. and the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-SC0008743) to M.F.P. and E.J.A. A.M.M.-P. was partially supported by the Ramon Areces foundation through a postdoctoral fellowship. D.J.M. was supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (OCE-1314642) and National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (1P01ES021923-01) through the Woods Hole Center for Oceans and Human Health.

Description: Author Posting. © Author(s), 2017. 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 212 (2018): 1429–1449, doi:10.1093/gji/ggx488.

Description: We conducted detailed analyses of a global array of trenches, revealing systematic intra- and intertrench variations in plate bending characteristics. The intratrench variations of the Manila and Mariana Trenches were analysed in detail as end-member cases of the relatively young (16–36 Ma) and old (140–160 Ma) subducting plates, respectively. Meanwhile, the intertrench variability was investigated for a global array of additional trenches including the Philippine, Kuril, Japan, Izu-Bonin, Aleutian, Tonga-Kermadec, Middle America, Peru, Chile, Sumatra and Java Trenches. Results of the analysis show that the trench relief (W0) and width (X0) of all systems are controlled primarily by the faulting-reduced elastic thickness near the trench axis (Tme) and affected only slightly by the initial unfaulted thickness (TMe) of the incoming plate. The reduction in Te has caused significant deepening and narrowing of trench valleys. For the cases of relatively young or old plates, the plate age could be a dominant factor in controlling the trench bending shape, regardless the variations in axial loadings. Our calculations also show that the axial loading and stresses of old subducting plates can vary significantly along the trench axis. In contrast, the young subducting plates show much smaller values and variations in axial loading and stresses.

Description: This work was supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences Grants (Y4SL021001, QYZDY-SSW-DQC005, YZ201325 and YZ201534), National Natural Science Foundation of China Grants (91628301, U1606401, 41376063 and 41706056) and HKSAR Research Grant Council Grants (24601515, 14313816).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 121, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02504-1.

Description: Sediments in deep ocean trenches may contain crucial information on past earthquake history and constitute important sites of carbon burial. Here we present 14C data on bulk organic carbon (OC) and its thermal decomposition fractions produced by ramped pyrolysis/oxidation for a core retrieved from the 〉7.5 km-deep Japan Trench. High-resolution 14C measurements, coupled with distinctive thermogram characteristics of OC, reveal hemipelagic sedimentation interrupted by episodic deposition of pre-aged OC in the trench. Low δ13C values and diverse 14C ages of thermal fractions imply that the latter material originates from the adjacent margin, and the co-occurrence of pre-aged OC with intervals corresponding to known earthquake events implies tectonically triggered, gravity-flow-driven supply. We show that 14C ages of thermal fractions can yield valuable chronological constraints on sedimentary sequences. Our findings shed new light on links between tectonically driven sedimentological processes and marine carbon cycling, with implications for carbon dynamics in hadal environments.

Description: This study is supported by Doc.Mobility Fellowship (P1EZP2_159064) (R.B.) from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). This work is also supported by SNF “CAPS-LOCK” project 200021_140850 (T.I.E.), by SNSF grant (133481) (M.S.), and Austrian Science Foundation (P 29678-N28) (M.S.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 8 (2018): 4547, doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22732-9.

Description: The assembly of membranous extensions such as microvilli and cilia in polarized cells is a tightly regulated, yet poorly understood, process. Peptidylglycine α-amidating monooxygenase (PAM), a membrane enzyme essential for the synthesis of amidated bioactive peptides, was recently identified in motile and non-motile (primary) cilia and has an essential role in ciliogenesis in Chlamydomonas, Schmidtea and mouse. In mammalian cells, changes in PAM levels alter secretion and organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Here we show that lack of Pam in zebrafish recapitulates the lethal edematous phenotype observed in Pam−/− mice and reveals additional defects. The pam−/− zebrafish embryos display an initial striking loss of microvilli and subsequently impaired ciliogenesis in the pronephros. In multiciliated mouse tracheal epithelial cells, vesicular PAM staining colocalizes with apical actin, below the microvilli. In PAM-deficient Chlamydomonas, the actin cytoskeleton is dramatically reorganized, and expression of an actin paralogue is upregulated. Biochemical assays reveal that the cytosolic PAM C-terminal domain interacts directly with filamentous actin but does not alter the rate of actin polymerization or disassembly. Our results point to a critical role for PAM in organizing the actin cytoskeleton during development, which could in turn impact both microvillus formation and ciliogenesis.

Description: This study was supported by grants DK032949 (to BAE and REM), DK044464 (to JDG) and GM051293 (to SMK) from the National Institutes of Health.

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 12 (2018): 1-16, doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.187.

Description: The rock-hosted subseafloor crustal aquifer harbors a reservoir of microbial life that may influence global marine biogeochemical cycles. Here we utilized metagenomic libraries of crustal fluid samples from North Pond, located on the flanks of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a site with cold, oxic subseafloor fluid circulation within the upper basement to query microbial diversity. Twenty-one samples were collected during a 2-year period to examine potential microbial metabolism and community dynamics. We observed minor changes in the geochemical signatures over the 2 years, yet the microbial community present in the crustal fluids underwent large shifts in the dominant taxonomic groups. An analysis of 195 metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) were generated from the data set and revealed a connection between litho- and autotrophic processes, linking carbon fixation to the oxidation of sulfide, sulfur, thiosulfate, hydrogen, and ferrous iron in members of the Proteobacteria, specifically the Alpha-, Gamma- and Zetaproteobacteria, the Epsilonbacteraeota and the Planctomycetes. Despite oxic conditions, analysis of the MAGs indicated that members of the microbial community were poised to exploit hypoxic or anoxic conditions through the use of microaerobic cytochromes, such as cbb3- and bd-type cytochromes, and alternative electron acceptors, like nitrate and sulfate. Temporal and spatial trends from the MAGs revealed a high degree of functional redundancy that did not correlate with the shifting microbial community membership, suggesting functional stability in mediating subseafloor biogeochemical cycles. Collectively, the repeated sampling at multiple sites, together with the successful binning of hundreds of genomes, provides an unprecedented data set for investigation of microbial communities in the cold, oxic crustal aquifer.

Description: This work was supported by NSF OCE1062006 to JAH and NSF OCE1061827 to BTG. The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation sponsored most of the observatory components at North Pond through grant GBMF1609. The Center for Dark Energy Biosphere Investigations (C-DEBI) (OCE-0939564), a National Science Foundation-funded Science and Technology Centers of Excellence also supported the participation of CGW, JAH and BJT.

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 209, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02105-y.

Description: Correction to: Nature Communications 8:172 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-00197-0; Article published online: 2 August 2017

Description: © The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 9 (2018): 305, doi:10.1038/s41467-017-02701-y.

Description: Correction to: Nature Communications https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-017-01229-5, Article published online 07 November 2017

Description: © The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 12 (2018): 237–252, doi:10.1038/ismej.2017.165.

Description: Temperate coastal marine environments are replete with complex biotic and abiotic interactions that are amplified during spring and summer phytoplankton blooms. During these events, heterotrophic bacterioplankton respond to successional releases of dissolved organic matter as algal cells are lysed. Annual seasonal shifts in the community composition of free-living bacterioplankton follow broadly predictable patterns, but whether similar communities respond each year to bloom disturbance events remains unknown owing to a lack of data sets, employing high-frequency sampling over multiple years. We capture the fine-scale microdiversity of these events with weekly sampling using a high-resolution method to discriminate 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicons that are 〉99% identical. Furthermore, we used 2 complete years of data to facilitate identification of recurrent sub-networks of co-varying microbes. We demonstrate that despite inter-annual variation in phytoplankton blooms and despite the dynamism of a coastal–oceanic transition zone, patterns of microdiversity are recurrent during both bloom and non-bloom conditions. Sub-networks of co-occurring microbes identified reveal that correlation structures between community members appear quite stable in a seasonally driven response to oligotrophic and eutrophic conditions.

Description: PLB is supported by the European Research Council Advanced Investigator grant ABYSS 294757 to Antje Boetius. AF-G is supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Blue Growth: Unlocking the potential of Seas and Oceans) under grant agreement no. (634486) (project acronym INMARE). This study was funded by the Max Planck Society. Further support by the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (CSP COGITO) and DFG (FOR2406) is acknowledged by HT (TE 813/2-1) and RA (Am 73/9-1).

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The strength of the lithosphere plays a key role in the formation and evolution of tectonic plate boundaries. Localized lithospheric deformation associated with plate tectonics requires a mechanism for weakening across the entire width of the lithosphere, including the strongest cold ductile region. We explore the microphysics of weakening of lithospheric materials, and in particular the coupled evolution of mineral grain size and intragranular defects and their control on lithospheric strength. We propose a model for the interaction between grain-boundaries and dislocation density to reduce the net free energy of grains during dynamic recrystallization (DRX). The driving forces for DRX arise from heterogeneity in dislocation density and grain boundary curvature. Our model shows that grain growth driven by variation in grain boundary curvature can be impeded by variation in dislocation density; this occurs because as the grains grow, to minimize their surface energy, their dislocation density and associated internal energy may increase and offset the driving forces for grain growth. The correlation between grain size and dislocation density can for example arise because the dislocation accumulation in smaller grains is suppressed due to the large stress that is needed to bend and elongate a short dislocation (as dictated by the small grain size), while the larger grains can have long dislocations and reach a steady state dislocation density dictated by the applied stress. In a lithospheric setting, slower grain growth means that it would require less mechanical work to establish weak localized shear zones through grain damage, and retard the healing of previously damaged zones. Furthermore, the competition of two different time-scales - that of grain growth and the dislocation kinetics - can lead to oscillating behavior over 1 to 10 years as the grain size and dislocation density advance towards their steady states. These oscillations are likely to have an effect on the rheology of lithospheric rocks, e.g. their strengthening and weakening through time, and have a potential application to geological processes such as postseismic creep in ductile shear zones.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Locating and monitoring passive seismic sources provides us important information for studying subsurface rock deformation, injected fluid migration, regional stress conditions as well as fault rupture mechanism. In this paper, we present a novel passive-source monitoring approach using vector-based elastic time-reversal imaging. By solving the elastic wave equation using observed multicomponent records as boundary conditions, we first compute back-propagated elastic wavefields in the subsurface. Then, we separate the extrapolated wavefields into compressional (P-wave) and shear (S-wave) modes using the vector Helmholtz decomposition. A zero-lag cross-correlation imaging condition is applied to the separated pure-mode vector wavefields to produce passive-source images. We compare imaging results using three implementations, i.e., dot-product, energy and power. Numerical experiments demonstrate that the power imaging condition gives us the highest resolution and is less sensitive to the presence of random noises. To capture the propagation of microseismic fracture and earthquake rupture, we modify the traditional zero-lag cross-correlation imaging condition by summing the multiplication of the separated P- and S-wavefields within local time windows, which enables us to capture the temporal and spatial evolution of earthquake rupture. 2D and 3D numerical examples demonstrate that the proposed method is capable of accurately locating point sources, as well as delineating dynamic propagation of hydraulic fracture and earthquake rupture.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Magnitudes of differential stress in the lithosphere, especially in the crust, are still disputed. Earthquake-based stress drop estimates indicate median values 〈 10 MPa whereas the lateral variation of gravitational potential energy per unit area (〈span〉GPE〈/span〉) across significant relief indicates stress magnitudes of ca. 100 MPa in average across a 100 km thick lithosphere between the Indian lowland and the Tibetan plateau. These standard 〈span〉GPE〈/span〉-based stress estimates correspond to membrane stresses, because they are associated with a deformation that is uniform with depth. We show here with new analytical results that lateral variations in 〈span〉GPE〈/span〉 can also cause bending moments and related bending stresses of several hundreds of MPa. Furthermore, we perform two-dimensional thermo-mechanical numerical simulations (1) to evaluate estimates for membrane and bending stresses based on 〈span〉GPE〈/span〉 variations, (2) to quantify minimum crustal stress magnitudes that are required to maintain the topographic relief between Indian lowland and Tibetan plateau for ca. 10 Ma and (3) to quantify the corresponding relative contribution of crustal strength to the total lithospheric strength. The numerical model includes viscoelastoplastic deformation, gravity and heat transfer. The model configuration is based on density fields from the CRUST1.0 data set and from a geophysically and petrologically constrained density model based on 〈span〉in situ〈/span〉 field campaigns. The numerical results indicate that values of differential stress in the upper crust must be 〉 ca. 180 MPa, corresponding to a friction angle of ca. 10°, to maintain the topographic relief between lowland and plateau for 〉 10 Ma. The relative contribution of crustal strength to total lithospheric strength varies considerably laterally. In the region between lowland and plateau and inside the plateau the depth-integrated crustal strength is approximately equal to the depth-integrated strength of the mantle lithosphere. Simple analytical formulae predicting the lateral variation of depth-integrated stresses agree with numerically calculated stress fields, which show both the accuracy of the numerical results and the applicability of simple, rheology-independent, analytical predictions to highly variable, rheology-dependent, stress fields. Our results indicate that (1) crustal strength can be locally equal to mantle lithosphere strength and that (2) crustal stresses must be at least one order of magnitude larger than median stress drops in order to support the plateau relief over a duration of ca. 10 Ma.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Scanning magnetometers are increasingly used to characterize the magnetization of mineral grains in rock samples. Up-scaling this measurement technique to large numbers of individual particles is hampered by the intrinsic non-uniqueness of potential-field inversion. Here it is shown that this problem can be circumvented by adding tomographic information that determines the location of the possible field sources. Standard potential theory is used to prove a uniqueness theorem which completely characterizes the mathematical background of the corresponding source-localized inversion. It exactly resolves under which conditions a potential field measurement on a surface can be uniquely decomposed into signals from the different source regions. The intrinsic non-uniqueness of potential field inversion prevents that the source distribution inside the tomographically outlined regions can be recovered, but the potential field of each region is uniquely defined. For scanning magnetometers in rock magnetism, this result implies that magnetic dipole vectors of large numbers of individual magnetic particles can be reliably reconstructed from surface scans of the magnetic field, if the particle positions are independently determined. This provides an incentive to improve scanning methods for future paleomagnetic applications.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The most common earthquake forecasting models assume that the magnitude of the next earthquake is independent from the past. This feature severely limits the capability to forecast large earthquakes with high probabilities. Here we investigate empirically on the magnitude-independence assumption, exploring if: i) background and triggered earthquakes have the same frequency-magnitude distribution, ii) variations of seismicity in the space-time-magnitude domain encode some information on the future earthquakes size. For this purpose, and to verify the stability of the findings, we consider seismic catalogues covering different space-time-magnitude windows, such as the Alto Tiberina Near Fault Observatory (TABOO), the California and Japanese seismic catalogues. Our approach is inspired by the nearest-neighbour method proposed by Baiesi & Paczuski (2004) and elaborated by Zaliapin et al. (2008) to distinguish between triggered and background earthquakes. Here we implement the same metric-based correlation to identify the precursory seismicity of any triggered earthquake; this allows us to analyse, for each triggered earthquake, the space-time-magnitude distribution of the seismicity that likely contributed to its occurrence. Our results show that the magnitude-independence assumption holds reasonably well in all catalogues, with a remarkable exception that is consistent with a previous independent study; this departure from the magnitude-independence assumption shows that larger events tend to nucleate at a higher distance from the ongoing sequence. We also notice that the reliability of this assumption may depend on the spatial scale considered; it holds for seismic catalogues of large areas, but we identify possible departures in small areas, reflecting different ways to release locally seismic energy. Finally, we come across an important issue that may lead to misleading results in similar studies, i.e., if a seismic catalogue appears overall complete above a fixed magnitude threshold, it may still yield spurious signals into the analysis. Specifically, we show that some significant departures from the magnitude-independence assumption do not survive when considering spatiotemporal variations of the magnitude of completeness.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Vp/Vs models provide important complementary information to Vp and Vs models, relevant to lithology, rock damage, partial melting, water saturation, etc. However, seismic tomography using body-wave traveltime data from local or regional earthquakes does not constrain Vp/Vs well due to the different resolution of Vp and Vs models, with the Vp models usually better constrained than Vs. Since surface-wave data are most sensitive to Vs, which leads to complementary strengths with respect to body-wave data, we jointly invert body- and surface-wave data to better resolve the Vp/Vs models. In order to show the robustness of our joint inversion method, we compare the results to other approaches, including dividing Vp by Vs models and Vp/Vs parameterization with body-wave or both body- and surface-wave data, using synthetic data and real data from the southern California plate boundary region. We confirm that Vp/Vs models from body-wave inversion obtained by division tend to include artifacts, even when both Vp and Vs models seem reasonable. The joint inversion with Vp/Vs parameterization is found to improve the Vp/Vs ratio model significantly and the resultant Vp/Vs model shows more geologically consistent features, such as high Vp/Vs along fault traces at shallow depths likely indicating fault-related damage. The Vp/Vs model also exhibits contrasts at intermediate depths along the Peninsular Range compositional boundary, and high Vp/Vs in the lower crust near the Salton Sea region correlated with high heat flow and may indicate partial melting. The improved Vp/Vs as well as individual Vp and Vs models are useful for earthquake relocation, high-resolution Moho depth imaging, and interpretation of other data and tectonic evolution in the region.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Interpretation of surface fault scarps and palaeoseismic trenches is a key component of estimating fault slip rates, earthquake recurrence rates and maximum magnitudes for hazard assessments. Often these analyses rely on the assumption that successive earthquakes all breached the surface and that the ruptures are recorded topographically, or by the deposits exposed in a trench. The M〈sub〉〈span〉w〈/span〉〈/sub〉7.2 1992 Suusamyr earthquake, Kyrgyzstan, is an apparently problematic case for such analyses because its ruptures show significant displacement but are only mapped as having broken the surface along small, disparate portions of the fault. Here we present the results of surveys conducted along the Suusamyr Fault to establish whether that is the case. Two sets of ruptures were identified following the earthquake. They are unusually short for their displacement and are separated by a 25 km gap. Using satellite imagery, high-resolution digital elevation models and palaeoseismic trenching we first reassess the distribution of the 1992 ruptures and then reconstruct the Holocene earthquake record to establish the extent to which the 1992 earthquake is representative of the rupture behaviour of this fault. We find evidence for at least two prehistoric surface rupturing earthquakes in the Holocene: one ∼3 ka and one 〉8 ka that, along with the modern event, gives recurrence intervals of ∼3 kyr and ∼5 kyr. Within spatial gaps between segments of the 1992 ruptures there are clear prehistoric surface ruptures and the ruptures in each prehistoric earthquake were discontinuous. We conclude that there is significant variability in the surface rupture pattern of successive earthquakes on the Suusamyr Fault, with implications for the completeness of palaeoseismic records obtained from thrust scarps.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉We provide a six-component (6-C) polarization model for 〈span〉P〈/span〉-, 〈span〉SV〈/span〉-, 〈span〉SH〈/span〉-, Rayleigh-, and Love-waves both inside an elastic medium as well as at the free surface. It is shown that single-station 6-C data comprised of three components of rotational motion and three components of translational motion provide the opportunity to unambiguously identify the wave type, propagation direction, and local 〈span〉P〈/span〉- and 〈span〉S〈/span〉-wave velocities at the receiver location by use of polarization analysis. To extract such information by conventional processing of three-component (3-C) translational data would require large and dense receiver arrays. The additional rotational components allow the extension of the rank of the coherency matrix used for polarization analysis. This enables us to accurately determine the wave type and wave parameters (propagation direction and velocity) of seismic phases, even if more than one wave is present in the analysis time window. This is not possible with standard, pure-translational 3-C recordings. In order to identify modes of vibration and to extract the accompanying wave parameters, we adapt the multiple signal classification algorithm (MUSIC). Due to the strong nonlinearity of the MUSIC estimator function, it can be used to detect the presence of specific wave types within the analysis time window at very high resolution. We show how the extracted wavefield properties can be used, in a fully automated way, to separate the wavefield into its different wave modes using only a single 6-C recording station. As an example, we apply the method to remove surface wave energy while preserving the underlying reflection signal and to suppress energy originating from undesired directions, such as side-scattered waves.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The Sentinel-1 mission comprises two synthetic aperture radar satellites, each with a 12 day orbital repeat, orbiting 6 days apart within a narrow tube. The mission design promises the ability to respond quickly to earthquakes with InSAR, and to facilitate production of interferograms with good interferometric correlation globally. We report on our efforts to study global seismicity using Sentinel-1 Interferometric Wide-Swath data between April 2015 and December 2016. We select 35 potentially detectable terrestrial earthquakes in the range 5.5 ≤ 〈span〉Mw〈/span〉 ≤ 7.8 on the basis of their locations, depths and magnitudes, and process the first post-event interferogram with the shortest possible time-span for each using the ISCE software. We evaluate each interferogram for earthquake deformation signals by visual inspection. We can identify deformation signals attributable to earthquakes in 18 of these interferograms (51%); a further six interferograms (17%) have ambiguous interferometric phase affected by tropospheric noise. 11 events (31%) could not be identified from their interferograms. The majority of these failed detections were due to interferogram decorrelation, particularly apparent for earthquakes that occurred between 15°N and 15°S, where climate conditions promote dense vegetation. The majority of the ambiguous interferograms are affected by tropospheric noise, suggesting that techniques to mitigate such noise could improve detection performance. The largest event we do not detect with Sentinel-1 data is a 〈span〉Mw〈/span〉7.0 earthquake that occurred in Vanuatu in April 2016; we also fail to detect the 2016 〈span〉Mw〈/span〉6.2 Kurayoshi earthquake in one out of two possible 24-day interferograms. We propose these as upper and lower estimates on the magnitude of completeness for earthquakes studied with Sentinel-1 data; to raise the magnitude of completeness we suggest that more frequent (e.g. six day) recurrence may be necessary in low latitude areas.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The correct estimation of site-specific attenuation is crucial for the assessment of seismic hazard. Downhole instruments provide in this context valuable information to constrain attenuation directly from data. In this study, we apply an interferometric approach to this problem by deconvolving seismic motions recorded at depth with those recorded at the surface. In doing so, incident and surface-reflected waves can be separated. We apply this technique not only to earthquake data but also to recordings of ambient vibrations. We compute the transfer function between incident and surface-reflected waves in order to infer frequency dependent quality factors for S-waves. The method is applied to a 87 m deep borehole sensor and a co-located surface instrument situated at a hard-rock site in West Bohemia/Vogtland, Germany. We show that the described method provides comparable attenuation estimates using either earthquake data or ambient noise for frequencies between 5-15 Hz. Moreover, a single hour of noise recordings seems to be sufficient to yield stable deconvolution traces and quality factors, thus, offering a fast and easy way to derive attenuation estimates from borehole recordings even in low to mid seismicity regions.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Injection of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 into tight reservoirs produces both gravity change and ground deformation, which provide great opportunities for more accurate coupled inverse modelling. In this study, we incorporate signals generated from several synthetic models to estimate the CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 distribution in the reservoir. A relationship is found that connects density variations to volumetric changes associated with injected CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, taking advantage of a common set of model parameters for both gravitational and geo-mechanical inverse modelling. This is achieved by assuming that the injected CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 increases pressure in the reservoir, which in turn generates extra porosity that is then filled in by the CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 mass in the generated space. Tikhonov regularization, supported by the Generalized Cross Validation (GCV) technique for finding the optimized model, is used to solve the ill-posed inverse problems. The results indicate that with a combination of gravity and ground deformation monitoring, the uncertainty and ambiguity in gravimetric modelling due to high levels of noise is mitigated by implementing highly accurate ground deformation measurements, which normally have a higher signal to noise ratio.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉As the number of seismic sensors grows, it is becoming increasingly difficult for analysts to pick seismic phases manually and comprehensively, yet such efforts are fundamental to earthquake monitoring. Despite years of improvements in automatic phase picking, it is difficult to match the performance of experienced analysts. A more subtle issue is that different seismic analysts may pick phases differently, which can introduce bias into earthquake locations. We present a deep-neural-network-based arrival-time picking method called ”PhaseNet” that picks the arrival times of both P and S waves. Deep neural networks have recently made rapid progress in feature learning, and with sufficient training, have achieved super-human performance in many applications. PhaseNet uses three-component seismic waveforms as input and generates probability distributions of P arrivals, S arrivals, and noise as output. We engineer PhaseNet such that peaks in the probability distributions provide accurate arrival times for both P and S waves. PhaseNet is trained on the prodigious available data set provided by analyst-labeled P and S arrival times from the Northern California Earthquake Data Center. The dataset we use contains more than seven hundred thousand waveform samples extracted from over thirty years of earthquake recordings. We demonstrate that PhaseNet achieves much higher picking accuracy and recall rate than existing methods when applied to the waveforms of known earthquakes, which has the potential to increase the number of S-wave observations dramatically over what is currently available. This will enable both improved locations and improved shear wave velocity models.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The low frequency earthquakes (LFEs) that constitute tectonic tremor are often inferred to be slow: to have durations of 0.2 to 0.5 s, a factor of 10 to 100 longer than those of typical 〈span〉MW〈/span〉 1-2 earthquakes. Here we examine LFEs near Parkfield, CA in order to assess several proposed explanations for LFEs’ long durations. We determine LFE rupture areas and location distributions using a new approach, similar to directivity analysis, where we examine how signals coming from various locations within LFEs’ finite rupture extents create differences in the apparent source time functions recorded at various stations. We use synthetic ruptures to determine how much the LFE signals recorded at each station would be modified by spatial variations of the source-station travel time within the rupture area given various possible rupture diameters, and then compare those synthetics with the data. Our synthetics show that the methodology can identify inter-station variations created by heterogeneous slip distributions or complex rupture edges, and thus lets us estimate LFE rupture extents for unilateral or bilateral ruptures. To obtain robust estimates of the sources’ similarity across stations, we stack signals from thousands of LFEs, using an empirical Green’s function approach to isolate the LFEs’ apparent source time functions from the path effects. Our analysis of LFEs in Parkfield implies that LFEs’ apparent source time functions are similar across stations at frequencies up to 8 to 16 Hz, depending on the family. The inter-station coherence observed at these relatively high frequencies, or short wavelengths (down to 0.2 to 0.5 km), suggest that LFEs in each of the 7 families examined occur on asperities. They are clustered in patches with sub-1-km diameters. The individual LFEs’ rupture diameters are estimated to be smaller than 1.1 km for all families, and smaller than 0.5 km and 1 km for the two shallowest families, which were previously found to have 0.2-s durations. Coupling the diameters with the durations suggests that it is possible to model these 〈span〉MW〈/span〉 1-2 LFEs with earthquake-like rupture speeds: around 70% of the shear wave speed. However, that rupture speed matches the data only at the edge of our uncertainty estimates for the family with highest coherence. The data for that family are better matched if LFEs have rupture velocities smaller than 40% of the shear wave speed, or if LFEs have different rupture dynamics. They could have long rise times, contain composite sub-ruptures, or have slip distributions that persist from event to event.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉On June 24, 2015, a 230,000 cubic metre landslide slid into the triangle bayou at the intersection of the Yangtze and Daning Rivers and generated a river tsunami that ran up 6.2 metres on the opposite shoreline at Wushan town. The slope failure and resulting waves killed two people and damaged many shipping facilities. Based on field surveys and eyewitness observations, we apply the ‘Tsunami Squares’ method to model the Hongyanzi landslide and its generated waves. Landslide simulations indicate a maximum impact velocity of ∼16 m/s that matches well with an eyewitness video. The computed post-slide mass stopped on the near riverbed with a shape fitting the observed geological profile. Tsunami simulations reveal a large region of wave impacts that coincide with the observed runup heights. The successful reproduction of the dynamics of this landslide-generated river tsunami emphasizes the capacity and efficiency of Tsunami Squares modeling in emergency reaction and risk assessment.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Improvement of global 3D Earth density and velocity models is based in part on measurements of Earth’s normal mode eigenfrequencies and splitting function coefficients. Despite many methods developed inconsistency in measurements still exists and it is difficult to understand which results are more precise, that is which methods introduce less systematic biases in the measurements. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to test the performances of typically used techniques in low-frequency normal mode studies: the optimal sequence estimation stacking method and the autoregressive method in the frequency domain, where validation of the estimates is performed with the phasor walkout method. Motivations for their utilization are their easy and fast implementation and their accurate performances when it comes to eigenfrequency estimates. For this purpose, we first perform the analysis with synthetic seismograms in order to evaluate how the station distributions and noise levels impact the estimates of eigenfrequencies and structure coefficients. Synthetic seismograms are calculated for a 3D realistic Earth model, which includes Earth’s rotation as well as ellipticity and other lateral heterogeneities. They were computed by means of normal mode summation and a perturbation theory for modes up to 1 mHz. The three methods above are also applied to long-period seismometer and superconducting gravimeter data recorded after six earthquakes of magnitude greater than 8.3. Finally, our study shows that the optimal sequence estimation is sensitive to the station distribution under the noise influence, while the autoregressive method for frequency estimation gives us reasonable estimates within the estimated error bars. Moreover, we present new estimates of eigenfrequencies and Q-factors for 〈sub〉0〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2, 0〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3, 2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 and 〈sub〉3〈/sub〉S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 multiplets. A new value for the 〈span〉c〈/span〉〈sub〉20〈/sub〉 structure coefficient of 〈sub〉0〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 multiplet −0.7233 ± 0.0623 μHz is obtained.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉We propose a novel approach to compute the gravity field due to density anomaly in both outside and inside of the solid Earth with high accuracy and efficiency. The high accuracy comes from the direct employment of the analytic gravitation solution between any point on a two-dimensional (2D) plane in the horizontal direction and individual mass cubes. The high computational efficiency comes from two aspects: 1, the application of the highly efficient 2D discrete convolution algorithm; and 2, a newly developed algorithm for the optimized computation of the weight coefficient matrix. Numerical examples for applying to compare with analytical solutions demonstrated its excellent accuracy. Comparison with other state-of-the-art gravity modeling algorithm has proved that this algorithm has superior performance in both accuracy and efficiency. Application to analyze real topography demonstrated the practicality. This algorithm will be an attractive candidate for carrying out the forward modeling step in geophysical inversion problems with the claimed and proved advantages.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉We assess the stress field that drives lithospheric deformation, focusing on the active New Zealand plate boundary zone between the Australian and Pacific plates. Here there is a rich database for the horizontal velocity field and crustal structure, used to derive gravitational potential energy (GPE). We solve the stress balance equations, in the context of a thin sheet model of a viscously deforming lithosphere, for characteristic deviatoric stresses and viscosities, defined as the integral of these with depth (divided by the layer thickness), using the stress method of Flesch 〈span〉et al.〈/span〉 (2001), where the input parameters are the fields of strain rate and GPE that apply to the sheet. Synthetic tests show that the stress method is able to resolve the stress field to high (20 per cent) levels of noise in the input strain rates, and the mean stress is a very robust feature of the inversions, regardless of noise levels. We invert for the stress and viscosity fields in New Zealand, calculating the field of GPE from topography/bathymetry and crustal data, and the field of strain rates from either a long term (multi millennial) velocity field inferred from the rate and pattern of Quaternary faulting, or a short term (decadal) velocity field directly observed with decadal Global Positioning System (GPS) measurements. In addition, we consider the effect of shear stresses on the subducted plate interface along the Hikurangi Margin (5–15 MPa), or regionally. We explore the effect of GPE on the inversion results by calculating these for a range of deforming layers (ie thin sheet with 35–150 km thickness), in effect sampling the lithospheric strength in the crust and mantle. The results show that the derived stress magnitudes (square root second invariant of the stress deviator) are in the range 0–35 MPa, with mean values of 13 ± 1 MPa for all models, comparable to typical earthquake stress drops. Gravitationally induced stresses account for approximately half of the full deviatoric stress. Effective characteristic viscosities are 0.5 - 5 × 10〈sup〉21〈/sup〉 Pas in the deforming zone, with an approximate inverse relation between strain rate and viscosity, most likely controlled by thermal structure and/or lithology.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉I present a source-independent fracture imaging method to use passive seismic data for mapping subwavelength natural fractures. Unlike conventional source-dependent imaging that often adopts reflection-type seismic imaging with known source that is not available in passive seismic surveys, the proposed fracture imaging approach relies on the transmission and diffraction data without the need for source information. I assume that passive seismic data can be decomposed into two types of data: primary transmission wave data and diffraction (coda) wave data. The imaging formula states that primary waves should coincide with coda waves at scatterer points at the time of scattering. Instead of generating source wavefields in the conventional imaging method, the proposed method only need to propagate transmission wave data and diffraction wave data from the receiver arrays and apply an imaging condition to produce an image of fractures. This imaging procedure can be used for processing P-wave or S-wave. In synthetic examples, I evaluate the proposed method in several aspects: inaccurate source location, inaccurate velocity model, sparse receivers and irregular receiver spacing, elastic data, and joint surface and borehole acquisitions. I found that the proposed approach performed well (or even better) comparable to source-dependent fracture imaging when assuming exact source information is known. With perturbed source locations with random shifts (e.g., estimated source location with errors), however, fractures were missing in the source-dependent fracture imaging results but the proposed approach was not influenced. In the presence of velocity errors and sparse and irregular receiver spacing, the proposed method produces better fracture images than the source-dependent imaging results.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We introduce a formalism for estimating local spatial averages of the core-mantle boundary (CMB) radial magnetic field and its time derivatives, based on magnetic field observations collected by low-Earth-orbit satellites. This provides a useful alternative to conventional core field modelling based on global spherical harmonic basis functions, where noise in the polar regions maps into all harmonics, and model regularization and spectral truncation are required. A powerful perspective offered by the proposed technique is formal appraisal of the spatial resolution and variance of the resulting field averages. We use the Green’s functions for the Neumann boundary value problem to link the satellite observations to the radial magnetic field on the CMB and estimate field averages using a modified Backus-Gilbert inversion approach. Our approach builds on the Subtractive Optimally Localized Averages (SOLA) method developed in helioseismology, that seeks averaging kernels as close as possible to a chosen target kernel. We are able to account for both internal and external field sources and can easily incorporate data error covariance information, for example describing along-track serial error correlation. As a proof of concept we present a global map collecting local estimates of the radial main field (MF) constructed on a grid at the CMB with one degree spacing in latitude and longitude, derived from one month of three component vector magnetic field data collected by the 〈span〉Swarm〈/span〉 satellite trio, using data from dark and geomagnetically quiet times. Using sums and differences of the field components taken along track and in the east-west direction we obtain estimates with spatial resolution kernel widths varying between 18 and 54 degrees depending on the latitude, and a standard deviation of approximately 10μT (i.e. 5% of the mean CMB field amplitude). The morphology of our CMB radial field map agrees well with results from conventional spherical harmonic field models. In a second application, we determine local estimates of the average rate of change, or secular variation (SV), of the radial field at the CMB, initially considering two year time windows, and performing the analysis on data collected by either the 〈span〉Swarm〈/span〉 or CHAMP satellites. We obtain stable local estimates of the SV at the CMB, and present maps of estimates with averaging kernel widths of approximately 42, 33 and 30 degrees on the equator, with corresponding standard derivations of 0.25, 2.5 and 5 μT/yr. By subtracting SV estimates constructed at different epochs we are able to calculate the local aggregated secular acceleration (SA) and to study its time changes. Differencing SV estimates 2 years apart, and considering an averaging kernel width of 42 degrees on the equator, we obtain SA maps very similar to those found in the CHAOS-6-x7 field model truncated at SH degree 10. Using our approach we are able to directly control the width of the spatial averaging kernel and the length of the time window, enabling us to directly study the robustness of the inferred SA. Pushing to higher resolution in time, considering one year differences of SV estimates constructed using one year windows, we are able to track the evolution of coherent SA structures in time-longitude plots at the equator. At 25° W in mid 2007 we find a distinctive SA ’cross-over’ event, with strong, oppositely signed and adjacent, SA features rapidly changing sign within a year. Our method is well suited for studying such spatio-temporally localized SA events at high resolution; there will be further opportunities for such investigations as the time series of data provided by the 〈span〉Swarm〈/span〉 mission lengthens.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The evolution of the ratio between P- and S-wave velocity (〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉P〈/sub〉/〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉) with increasing fluid-saturated porosity is computed for isotropic rocks containing spheroidal pores. The ratio 〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉P〈/sub〉/〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 is shown to either decrease or increase with increasing porosity, depending on the aspect ratio α of the pores, fluid to solid bulk modulus ratio ζ, and Poisson’s ratio ν〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 of the solid constituents of the rock. A critical initial Poisson’s ratio ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉 is computed, separating cases where 〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉P〈/sub〉/〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 increases (if ν〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 〈 ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉) or 〈span〉decreases〈/span〉 (if ν〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 〉 ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉) with increasing porosity. For thin cracks and highly compressible fluids, ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉 is approximated by 0.157 ζ/α, whereas for spherical pores ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉 is given by 0.2 + 0.8ζ. When ν〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 is close to ν〈sub〉0, crit〈/sub〉, the evolution of 〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉P〈/sub〉/〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 with increasing fluid-saturated porosity is near neutral and depends on subtle changes in pore shape and fluid properties. This regime is found to be relevant to partially dehydrated serpentinites in subduction zones (porosity of aspect ratio near 0.1 and ζ in the range 0.01–0.1), and makes detection of these rocks and possibly elevated fluid pressures difficult from 〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉P〈/sub〉/〈span〉V〈/span〉〈sub〉S〈/sub〉 only.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Secondary microseismic sources emit seismic waves over long time spans. Reoccurring signals with similar slowness and frequency therefore arrive at seismic arrays. Blind source separation techniques can be used to identify and isolate such reoccurring signals from other signals and from diffuse seismic noise. Along these lines, we use non-negative matrix factorization as blind source separation technique to decompose continuous seismic array records. We model the recorded energy as a mixture of a few components with static slowness-frequency and time dependent amplitudes. Components and amplitudes are fitted to optimally explain the recorded seismic energy over time. These components represent secondary microseismic signals with quasi-static slowness-frequency vector and fluctuating amplitude. Each fitted component reveals the geographical origin (through the slowness-frequency vector) and time evolution of an active secondary microseism with high precision because it is separated from other signals and diffuse seismic noise. Furthermore, relative travel times can be automatically extracted for the signals that correspond to a specific component that can potentially be used in tomographic studies. We show two examples of seismic signals that were extracted with this technique, one focusing on P-waves from the typhoons Goni and Atsani, and another showing secondary microseism PKP signals from typhoon Glenda.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉Locating microseismic events is essential for many areas of seismology including volcano and earthquake monitoring and reservoir engineering. Due to the large number of microseismic events in these settings, an automated seismic location method is required to perform real time seismic monitoring. The measurement environment requires a precise and noise-resistant event location method for seismic monitoring. In this paper, we apply Multichannel Coherency Migration (MCM) to automatically locate microseismic events of induced and volcano-tectonic seismicity using sparse and irregular monitoring arrays. Compared to other migration-based methods, in spite of the often sparse and irregular distribution of the monitoring arrays, the MCM can show better location performance and obtain more consistent location results with the catalogue obtained by manual picking. Our MCM method successfully locates many triggered volcano-tectonic events with local magnitude smaller that 0, which demonstrates its applicability on locating very small earthquakes. Our synthetic event location example at a carbon capture and storage site shows that continuous and coherent drilling noise in industrial settings will pose great challenges for source imaging. However, automatic quality control techniques including filtering in the frequency domain and weighting are used to automatically select high quality data, and can thus effectively reduce the effects of continuous drilling noise and improve source imaging quality. The location performance of the MCM method for synthetic and real microseismic datasets demonstrates that the MCM method can perform as a reliable and automatic seismic waveform analysis tool to locate microseismic events.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉The unification of local height systems has been a classical geodetic problem for a long time, the main challenges of which are the estimation of offsets between different height systems and the correction of tilts along the levelling lines. It has been proposed to address these challenges with clock networks. The latest generation of optical clocks as well as the dedicated frequency links, e.g., optical fibres, are now approaching to deliver the comparison of frequencies at the level of 1.0 × 10〈sup〉−18〈/sup〉. It corresponds to an accuracy of about 1.0 cm in height difference. Clock networks can thus serve as a powerful tool to connect local height systems. To verify the idea, we carried out simulations using the EUVN/2000 (European Unified Vertical Network) as a priori input. Four local height systems were simulated from the EUVN/2000 by introducing individual offsets and tilts, and were re-unified by using measurements in clock networks. The results demonstrate the great potential of clock networks for height system unification. In case that the offsets between different height systems and tilts along national levelling lines in both longitudinal and latitudinal directions are considered, three or four clocks measurements for each local region are sufficient for the unification. These clocks are to be interconnected and should be properly arranged so that they can sense the levelling tilts where necessary. Our results also indicate that even clocks with one magnitude poorer accuracy than the desired ones can still unify the height systems to some extent, but it may cause a shift for the re-unified system.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Summary〈/div〉We investigate slip-distribution models of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, with a particular focus on diffracted tsunamis and uplift-induced waves along the back-arc region of the Japanese Island Arc.The 2011 Tohoku earthquake produced a large amplitude tsunami that diffracted around Kyushu Island before reaching Korea. At the same time, this earthquake co-seismically induced short-period small-amplitude sea waves in the East Sea. We performed tsunami simulations using seven fault models of the Tohoku earthquake to examine whether the models can accurately reproduce the observed waveforms in the open sea of the western Pacific Ocean, the South Sea of Korea, and the coast of the East Sea. For each fault model, we investigate tsunami features due to geomorphological characteristics of the Korean Peninsula in the Korea offshore. To determine which slip distribution model shows a good performance in the tsunami simulations, we set three criteria; the delay time between observations and synthetic waveforms, the normalized mean residual, and the normalized RMS misfit. Depending on the study region, all models show varying degrees of accuracy. The fault dimensions and the amount of slip have a larger effect on the RMS misfit then the slip distribution patterns of the fault models for observations along the Korean coast and the western coast of Japan.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉The study of radiation patterns in poroelastic media allows us to visually explore the possibility of reconstructing crucial model properties describing reservoir rocks, and to examine the coupling effects between different parameters during full-waveform inversion (FWI). In this paper, we derive analytical formulae for the radiation patterns of single parameter perturbations in fluid-saturated porous media by deriving scattered wavefields based on plane-wave theory and the far-field approximation. We illustrate these scattered wavefields via their radiation patterns expressed as a function of the angle between the incident and scattered waves. To simplify the algebra, we consider poroelastic waves at seismic (low) frequencies, where the fast compressional wave and shear wave are propagating modes but the slow compressional wave is severely dispersive. To verify our derivation of the analytical radiation patterns, we also compute them numerically by perturbing one parameter at a single point, keeping the other parameters fixed at their background values. We find that all the analytical radiation patterns match the wavefronts of the numerically computed scattered wavefields, well indicating that our derivations are correct. Parameters such as the solid density, fluid density, viscosity of the fluid, and intrinsic permeability, have similar radiation patterns and thus show strong coupling effects. Therefore, we anticipate difficulties in recovering these parameters in a multi-parameter FWI procedure. In an attempt to mitigate these trade-offs, we analyze different parameterizations which result in different radiation patterns. As the patterns that we observe are similar to those of the elastic case, we anticipate that parameter separation might be easier when inverting for velocities than for moduli.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉Abstract〈/div〉In the Sea of Marmara, areas of gas seepage or cold seeps are tightly related to the faults system and understanding the spatial and temporal dynamics in gas-related processes is crucial for geohazard mitigation. Although acoustic surveys proved to be efficient in detecting and locating cold seeps, temporal variability or trends in the gas-related processes are still poorly understood. Two arrays of 10 ocean bottom seismometers were deployed in the western part of the Sea of Marmara in 2011 and 2014, respectively. In addition to the local seismic events, the instruments recorded a large number of short duration events and long-lasting tremors. Short duration events are impulsive signals with duration 〈 1 s, amplitude well above the noise level and a frequency spectrum with one or two narrow peaks. They are not correlated from one site to another, suggesting a very local source. Tremors consist of sequences of clustered impulsive signals lasting for minutes to more than an hour with a multi-peak frequency spectrum. Based on evidence of known seepage and by analogy with volcanic and hydrothermal models, we suggest that short duration events and tremors are associated with gas migration and seepage. There is a relationship between tremors associated with gas emission and the local seismicity, although not systematic. Rather than triggering gas migration out of the seabed, locally strong earthquakes act as catalysts when gas is already present or gas emission is already initiated.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉Long-period Rayleigh wave Horizontal to Vertical amplitude (H/V) ratios at a station provide information about local earth structure that is complementary to phase velocity. However, a number of studies (Ferreira and Woodhouse, 2007; Lin 〈span〉et al.〈/span〉, 2012) have observed that significant scatter appears in these measurements making it difficult to use H/V ratio measurements to resolve earth structure. Some of the scatter in these measurements has been attributed to local geological structure while some has remained unaccounted for. Most Global Seismographic Network (GSN) stations contain two nearby high-quality broadband seismometers (e.g. in the same vault, but on different piers or in different boreholes). For each broadband sensor in the IRIS/USGS component of the GSN, we estimate H/V ratios of fundamental mode Rayleigh waves using M 〉 6.5 earthquakes from 2001 to 2018 (around 19,000 measurements). We compute these ratios at a number of discrete periods (25, 50, 75, 100, and 150 s) and find that for well-isolated Rayleigh waves (windows where the correlation coefficients between radial and the phase-shifted vertical components are greater than 0.9) significant scatter in H/V ratios occurs between co-located sensors (greater than 25 per cent at 100 s period). This suggests the scatter in H/V ratio measurements can be at least partially attributed to extremely local phenomena such as sensor emplacement in the vault. We also find that H/V ratios can vary as a function of event back-azimuth, indicating that care must be taken when computing average ratios for a station, as a large number of events from a given region could bias H/V ratio measurements at a station.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We analyse noise characteristics of spatial and temporal correlation of 260 continuous GPS sites from Crustal Movement Observation Network of China (CMONOC). These data sets were mainly collected between 2010 and 2016, with an average of 6 yr of position time-series. In the functional analysis, a clear regional dependence of seasonal movements has been observed and other significant periodic signals are detected nearby the GPS draconitic period and its harmonics. The distribution of these periodic signals shows a spatial correlation, along with non-negligible local inconsistencies. In the stochastic analysis, impacts of the periodicities on the noise assessment have been investigated and Maximum likelihood estimation is used to study noise properties for deseasonalized residual time-series having the seasonal signals removed and filtered residual time-series having other periodic signals removed further. We demonstrate that for both solutions, the flicker noise is thought to be the dominant time-correlated noise and velocity uncertainties may be underestimated 8–10 times if assuming a pure white noise. Ignoring the periodicities could bias the estimation of noise amplitude, spectral index and velocity uncertainty. After removing the periodic signals, the median flicker noise magnitude shows an average of ∼10 per cent reductions and the noise process shifts closer towards white noise. A correlation between the index variations and RMS variations has been observed, indicating that the index varies more significantly for sites with more periodic signals removed. Besides, the spectral index in the vertical component has a better spatial correlation than that in the horizontal and the spatial distribution of the index of deseasonalized solutions seems to correlate well with the amplitudes of seasonal signals, probably implying common sources of spatial variations of these characteristics. Furthermore, analyses of intersite correlations indicate that the correlation induced from the periodic signals displays a similar pattern to the deseasonalized solutions, confirming that the period pattern is spatially correlated and can induce time-series correlations. Finally, the stochastic processes of the common mode noise are predominantly featured by spatially correlated flicker and white noise over a wide range, consistent with previous results.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉As temperature increases with depth and the creep resistance of rock decreases exponentially, a high-viscosity sub-lithospheric layer, just beneath the ‘elastic’ lithosphere is expected to exist. Depending on the temperature profile, a low-viscosity asthenosphere may also exist if the temperature deeper down gets high enough. Since the temperature profile is expected to change laterally – especially from below the oceans to cratonic areas underneath continents, rock properties of the lithosphere, high-viscosity sub-lithosphere and low-viscosity asthenosphere are expected to change laterally. Our aim is to constrain sub-lithospheric properties (depth, thickness and viscosity), lateral lithospheric thickness variations and asthenospheric properties using observed GIA data. A Coupled Laplace-Finite Element Method is used to compute gravitationally self-consistent sea level with time-dependent coastline and rotational feedback in addition to changes in deformation, gravity and the state of stress. We start with the VM5a-ICE-6G_C model combination and then modify the lithospheric, sub-lithospheric and asthenospheric properties (including lateral thickness variation) while keeping the mantle viscosities the same as VM5a. Through this study, we confirm that the sub-lithospheric and asthenospheric properties can significantly affect the predicted global relative sea level (RSL), present-day gravity rate-of-change (g-dot) and uplift rate (u-dot) in Laurentia and Fennoscandia. In addition, incorporating the elastic lithosphere with lateral thickness variation, sub-lithosphere and asthenosphere can improve the fit to global RSL, but the predicted peak values of g-dot and u-dot in Laurentia may decrease slightly but not significant enough to affect the fit to the observed data. Our results prefer an elastic lithosphere that has maximum thickness of 140 km under continental cratons but reduces to 60 km underneath the oceans. The results preferred depth of the asthenospheric bottom is around 190–200 km with asthenospheric viscosity around 10〈sup〉20〈/sup〉Pa s. Finally, we show that the best laterally heterogeneous mantle model we found in previous publication when combined with the lithosphere with lateral thickness variaion gives the best fit to global RSL and peak g-dot and u-dot in Laurentia simultaneously.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We implement an analytical model based on flexural deflection of a thin elastic disc to investigate the magnitude of lithospheric decompression caused by deglaciation at upper crustal magmatic reservoirs. Considering a published numerical climate model describing the space–time evolution of deglaciation after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) along the Southern Volcanic Zone (SVZ) of the Andes, we demonstrate that changes in pressure at upper crustal levels (〈10 km depth) at the scale of several hundred years are of the order of 10–100 MPa. Total decompression and decompression rate (300–150 kPa yr〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) are 1–2 orders of magnitude larger than values previously estimated by other authors who assume that glacial loads are supported by an elastic half-space, that is, of infinite elastic thickness. The large decompression caused by flexural unbending of an elastic plate of finite thickness as assumed here can easily surpass the tensile strength of rocks (5–20 MPa), creating adequate conditions for failure of the reservoir walls, dike propagation inside and outside the reservoir and the eventual collapse of the reservoir accompanying an explosive eruption. We apply our results to the analysis of post-glacial eruptions of SVZ volcanoes, which erupted large volumes (〉10 km〈sup〉3〈/sup〉) of mafic ignimbrites hundreds to thousands of years after deglaciation onset. We show that this time lag is necessary to achieve a decompression of several tens of megapascals at depths of several kilometres that are consistent with the location of magmatic reservoirs as estimated by independent petrologic, seismic and/or geodetic studies. Moreover the northward increase of this time lag is in agreement with a smaller size of the Andean ice cap in the north than in the south during the LGM. For wet, volatile-rich magmas typical of subduction zones, the effect of large decompression at upper crustal reservoirs caused by flexural unbending of the lithosphere after deglaciation could play a major role in promoting large explosive eruptions through devolatization of the magma, during past deglaciation events as demonstrated here for the LGM along the SVZ and current accelerated ice retreat caused by climate change over large segments of subduction-related arcs at higher latitudes.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉The unification of local height systems has been a classical geodetic problem for a long time, the main challenges of which are the estimation of offsets between different height systems and the correction of tilts along the levelling lines. It has been proposed to address these challenges with clock networks. The latest generation of optical clocks as well as the dedicated frequency links, for example optical fibres, are now approaching to deliver the comparison of frequencies at the level of 1.0 × 10〈sup〉−18〈/sup〉. It corresponds to an accuracy of about 1.0 cm in height difference. Clock networks can thus serve as a powerful tool to connect local height systems. To verify the idea, we carried out simulations using the EUVN/2000 (European Unified Vertical Network) as 〈span〉apriori〈/span〉 input. Four local height systems were simulated from the EUVN/2000 by introducing individual offsets and tilts, and were reunified by using measurements in clock networks. The results demonstrate the great potential of clock networks for height system unification. In case that the offsets between different height systems and tilts along national levelling lines in both longitudinal and latitudinal directions are considered, three or four clocks measurements for each local region are sufficient for the unification. These clocks are to be interconnected and should be properly arranged so that they can sense the levelling tilts where necessary. Our results also indicate that even clocks with one magnitude poorer accuracy than the desired ones can still unify the height systems to some extent, but it may cause a shift for the reunified system.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉Waveform backprojection (BP) is a key technique of earthquake-source imaging, which has been widely used for extracting information of earthquake source evolution that cannot be obtained by kinematic source inversion. The technique enjoys considerable popularity, owing to the simplicity of its implementation and the robustness of its processing, but the physical meaning of BP images has remained elusive. In this study, we reviewed the mathematical representation of BP and hybrid BP (HBP) methods, following the pioneering work of Fukahata 〈span〉et al〈/span〉. (〈a href="http://academic.oup.com/gji#bib15"〉2014〈/a〉), to clarify the physical implications of BP images. We found that signal intensity in BP and HBP images is scaled with the amplitude of the Green’s function that corresponds to a unit-step slip, which results in the signal intensity being depth dependent. We propose variants of BP and HBP, which we call kinematic BP and HBP, respectively, to relate the BP signal intensity to slip motion of an earthquake by modifying the normalizing factors used in the original BP and HBP methods. The original BP and HBP images remain useful for assessing the spatiotemporal strength of the wave radiation, which scales with the amplitude of the Green’s function, whereas the kinematic BP and HBP methods are suitable for imaging the slip motion that is responsible for the high-frequency radiation produced during the source-rupture process.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉 〈strong〉Moment Tensors of hydraulically induced AEs:〈/strong〉 Hydraulic fracturing is an important technique in the development of enhanced geothermal systems and unconventional resources. Although the fracture modes induced by hydraulic fracturing influence the recovery efficiency of the resources, the current understanding of this relationship is insufficient. In this study, we considered the acoustic emissions (AEs) induced during hydraulic fracturing under uniaxial loading conditions in the laboratory, and applied a moment tensor analysis by carefully correcting the coupling condition and directivity of AE transducers. Experiments were conducted for two types of Kurokami–jima granite samples: those with a rift plane perpendicular (Type H) or parallel (Type V) to the expected direction of fracture propagation (i.e. along the loading axis). In the experiments, both sample types experienced a significant number of shear, tensile and compressive events. The dominant fracture mode for Type H samples is found to be tensile events in which the fracture plane is parallel to the loading axis, whereas for Type V samples, shear events are dominant. This difference suggests that the dominant fracture modes induced by hydraulic fracturing are highly dependent on the relationship between the direction of fracture propagation and orientation of pre-existing weak planes.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We present a sensitivity analysis aimed at testing whether observables related to glacial isostatic adjustment can support or refute the occurrence of a low viscosity melt-rich layer (MRL) above the mantle transition zone, as required by the ‘transition-zone water-filter’ model (Bercovici & Karato 2003). In total, 1600 model runs were performed sampling a range of MRL thicknesses (1, 10 and 20 km) and viscosities (10〈sup〉15〈/sup〉–10〈sup〉19〈/sup〉 Pa·s), plausible viscosity values in the upper and lower mantle regions and four distinct ice histories. To determine decay time constraints, we consider relative sea level (RSL) data from two sites [Ångerman River (ÅR), Sweden and Richmond Gulf (RG), Canada] and use a new method of observational sea level data correction. Comparing model output of postglacial decay times and ${\skew{6}\dot{J}_2}$ to observational constraints, we find numerous possible solutions, largely as a result of parameter trade-off. The investigated observables are sensitive to the existence of an MRL and reasonable variations in its thickness and viscosity. The magnitude and nature of this sensitivity varies between the two data types as well as the adopted background viscosity structure. Decay time results from either considered location do not strictly support or exclude MRL existence. However, both locations offer MRL viscosity requirements for given thicknesses, with ÅR being more restrictive. RG constraints allow MRL viscosities as low as 10〈sup〉16〈/sup〉 Pa·s (10 km) and 10〈sup〉17〈/sup〉 Pa·s (20 km). ÅR results narrow these permitted viscosity ranges to 10〈sup〉18〈/sup〉 Pa·s or greater for both 10 and 20 km MRL thicknesses. In the case of a 1 km thick MRL, ÅR constraints permit the viscosity to be as low as 10〈sup〉17〈/sup〉 Pa·s, whereas those of RG permit any MRL viscosity. The decay time observations are satisfied by only a small subset of ‘background’ mantle viscosities (regardless of the MRL properties), none of which support a spherically symmetric solution of Earth viscosity. Finally, comparing model output to the observed ${\skew{6}\dot{J}_2}$ value did not provide any constraints on MRL properties. However, our results show that this observable has a strong preference for viscosity values in the lower mantle that are equal to or greater than 10〈sup〉22〈/sup〉 Pa·s.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We investigated an 〈span〉M〈/span〉〈sub〉w〈/sub〉 ∼ 6.2 earthquake doublet on the border of the USA and Canada using ALOS2 Light-of-Sight displacements and GPS measurements. We selected three L-band ALOS-2 interfergorams with temporal baselines of one yr to extract coseismic deformation maps, in which master and slave images were both acquired in July. A subpixel-based alignment and another range spectral splitting techniques under the GAMMA InSAR software framework were applied to improve the interferometric coherence and reduce the effects of phase anomalies in two of the three interferometric pairs due to either ionospheric delay or a potential focusing issues in the generation of the ALOS2 SLC data. The updated interferograms convincingly reveal deformation fringe patterns produced by the two earthquakes. We conducted a nonlinear geophysical inversion to estimate the geometric parameters of the earthquakes with the InSAR and GPS measurements. The best-fitting model shows that a thrust faulting on a reverse fault and left-lateral strike-slip faulting on a nearly vertical fault with the centroid depths of 9.3±0.6 and 8.4±0.7 km, respectively, are most likely responsible for the earthquake doublet. The eastern Denali fault (EDF) and Duke River fault are major active faults in the region and the earthquake doublet could be due to reactivation of the part of the two faults system.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉In this paper, we present a series of mathematical abstractions for seismologically relevant wave equations discretized using finite-element methods, and demonstrate how these abstractions can be implemented efficiently in computer code. Our motivation is to mitigate the combinatorial complexity present when considering geophysical waveform modelling and inversion, where a variety of spatial discretizations, material models, and boundary conditions must be considered simultaneously. We accomplish this goal by first considering three distinct classes of abstract mathematical models: (1) those representing the physics of an underlying wave equation, (2) those describing the discretization of the chosen equation onto a finite-dimensional basis and (3) those describing any spatial transforms. A full representation of the discrete wave equation can then be constructed using a hierarchical nesting of models from each class. Additionally, each class is functionally orthogonal to the others, and with certain restrictions models within one class can be interchanged independently from changes in another. We then show how this recasting of the relevant equations can be implemented concisely in computer software using an abstract object-oriented design, and discuss how recent developments in the numerical and computational sciences can be naturally incorporated. This builds to a set of results where we demonstrate how the developments presented can lead to an implementation capable of multiphysics waveform simulations in completely unstructured domains, on both hypercubical and simplical spectral-element meshes, in both two and three dimensions, while remaining concise, efficient and maintainable.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉Traveltime approximation plays an important role in seismic data processing, for example, anisotropic parameter estimation and seismic imaging. By exploiting seismic traveltimes, it is possible to improve the accuracy of anisotropic parameter estimation and the resolution of seismic imaging. Conventionally, the traveltime approximations in anisotropic media are obtained by expanding the anisotropic eikonal equation in terms of the anisotropic parameters and the elliptically anisotropic eikonal equation based on perturbation theory. Such an expansion assumes a small perturbation and weak anisotropy. In a realistic medium, however, the assumption of small perturbation likely breaks down. We present a retrieved zero-order deformation equation that creates a map from the anisotropic eikonal equation to a linearized partial differential equation system based on the homotopy analysis method. By choosing the linear and nonlinear operators in the retrieved zero-order deformation equation, we develop new traveltime approximations that allow us to compute the traveltimes for a medium of arbitrarily strength anisotropy. A comparison of the traveltimes and their errors from the homotopy analysis method and from the perturbation method suggests that the traveltime approximations provide a more reliable result in strongly anisotropic media.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉Guided waves in a water layer overlaying an elastic half-space are known as normal modes. They are often present in seismic recordings at long offsets in shallow-water environment and generally considered coherent noise. The normal modes, however, carry important information about the near-surface and, as demonstrated by a number of authors, can be used to obtain the shallow velocity model. There is a growing evidence that the latter needs not to be isotropic due to various geological reasons. Motivated by that, we consider the normal-mode propagation in case the elastic half-space exhibits orthorhombic anisotropy. We derive the period equation that describes the normal-mode phase velocity dispersion. To simplify the complicated expression, we present acoustic and ellipsoidal orthorhombic approximations. We also outline the approach towards the group velocity and group azimuth calculation and apply it to the ellipsoidal case to obtain concise and intuitive expressions. Using numerical test, we study the relation between phase and group domains in elastic orthorhombic case. The deviation between velocities and azimuths in these domains is the strongest for low frequencies and it rapidly decreases with increasing frequency. For higher frequencies, the anisotropy effects of the underlaying half-space are barely detectable since the observed signal is composed mainly of the direct acoustic wave, resulting in the two domains being nearly indistinguishable.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉Understanding why Earth’s lithosphere is divided into several plates while other terrestrial bodies have unbroken lids is a long-standing challenge, often addressed with the help of numerical modelling. A key mechanism defining the transition between these two convective regimes is the formation of shear zones that cut through the entire lithosphere in regions with high stresses. Here we present a modelling study in which lithospheric stresses resulting from small-scale convection in the upper mantle are analysed. We perform model simulations that include elasticity and a free surface and evaluate how these physical complexities affect stress distribution inside the lithosphere, which in turn controls the depths of yielding and the possible initiation of subduction. We show that the spatial distribution of stress is significantly altered by the presence of elastic deformation only when the model lithosphere acts as a thick plate capable of bending. Whether or not this is the case depends on the viscosity model. For an Arrhenius viscosity limited by a cut-off value that produces an essentially rigid lid, flexure dominates the observed lithospheric stress pattern in simulations with a free surface. The amplitudes of the stress are, when a free surface is assumed but elasticity is neglected, largely overestimated. Including both a free surface and elasticity results in stresses with maximum amplitudes close to those observed in the traditional models with a viscous rheology and a free-slip upper boundary, suggesting that having no additional complexity is, in a way, better than employing just a free surface. We also demonstrate how the use of impermeable free-slip side boundaries can result in the formation of unnatural, laterally locked convection cells, and bias the results of a parametric study. For each point in the parameter space, we perform several simulations with slightly different initial temperature fields in order to statistically eliminate the occurrence of locked states.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉The design of an array configuration is an important task in array seismology during experiment planning. Often the array response function (ARF), which depends on the relative position of array stations and frequency content of the incoming signals, is used as the array design criterion. In practice, additional constraints and parameters have to be taken into account, for example, land ownership, site-specific noise levels or characteristics of the seismic sources under investigation. In this study, a flexible array design framework is introduced that implements a customizable scenario modelling and optimization scheme by making use of synthetic seismograms. Using synthetic seismograms to evaluate array performance makes it possible to consider additional constraints. We suggest to use synthetic array beamforming as an array design criterion instead of the ARF. The objective function of the optimization scheme is defined according to the monitoring goals, and may consist of a number of subfunctions. The array design framework is exemplified by designing a seven-station small-scale array to monitor earthquake swarm activity in Northwest Bohemia/Vogtland in central Europe. Two subfunctions are introduced to verify the accuracy of horizontal slowness estimation; one to suppress aliasing effects due to possible secondary lobes of synthetic array beamforming calculated in horizontal slowness space and the other to reduce the event’s mislocation caused by miscalculation of the horizontal slowness vector. Subsequently, a weighting technique is applied to combine the subfunctions into one single scalar objective function to use in the optimization process.〈/span〉

Description: 〈span〉〈div〉SUMMARY〈/div〉We develop a new method for measuring ellipticity of Rayleigh waves from ambient noise records by degree-of-polarization (DOP) analysis. The new method, named DOP-E, shows a good capability to retrieve accurate ellipticity curves separated from incoherent noise. In order to validate the method we perform synthetic tests simulating noise in a 1-D earth model. We also perform measurements on real data from Antarctica and Northern Italy. Observed curves show a good fit with measurements from earthquake records and with theoretical ellipticity curves. The inversion of real data measurements for 〈span〉vS〈/span〉 structure shows a good agreement with previous models. In particular, the shear-wave structure beneath Concordia station shows no evidence of a significant layer of liquid water at the base of the ice. The new method can be used to measure ellipticity at high frequency and therefore it will allow the imaging of near-surface structure, and possibly of temporal changes in subsurface properties. It promises to be useful to study near-surface processes in a wide range of geological settings, such as volcanoes, fault zones and glaciers.〈/span〉