Helium isotopes in early Iceland plume picrites: Constraints on the composition of high 3He/4He mantle

A detailed study of the geochemistry of a new suite of early Iceland plume picrites shows that extremely high ³He/⁴He ratios (up to 50 R_a) are found in picrites from Baffin Island and West Greenland. High ³He/⁴He picrites display a wide range in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr (0.70288–0.70403), ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd (0.51288–0.51308) and incompatible trace element ratios (e.g. La/Sm_n = 0.5–1.6). These overlap the complete range of compositions of mid-ocean ridge basalts and most northern hemisphere ocean island basalts, including Iceland. Crustal contamination modelling in which high-grade Proterozoic crustal basement rocks for the region are mixed with a depleted parent cannot account for the trend displayed by the Baffin Island and West Greenland picrites. This rules out the possibility that the incompatible trace element, Sr and Nd isotope range of the high ³He/⁴He picrites is due to crustal contamination. The compositional range at high ³He/⁴He is also inconsistent with derivation from a primordial-He-rich reservoir that is a residue of ancient mantle depletion. This implies that the composition of the high ³He/⁴He mantle cannot be determined simply by extrapolating ocean island basalt He–Sr–Nd–Pb–Os isotope data.The apparent decoupling of He from trace element and lithophile radiogenic isotope tracers is difficult to attain by simple mixing of a high-[He], high ³He/⁴He reservoir with various depleted and enriched He-poor mantle reservoirs. The possibility that primordial He has diffused into a reservoir with a composition typical of convecting upper mantle cannot be ruled out. If so, the process must have occurred after the development of existing mantle heterogeneity, and requires the existence of a deep, primordial He-rich reservoir.     

Submersed macrophyte effects on nutrient exchanges in riverine sediments

Submersed macrophytes are important in nutrient cycling in marine and lacustrine systems, although their in nutrient exchange in tidally-influenced riverine systems is not well studied. In the laboratory, plants significantly lowered porewater nutrient pools of riverine sediments compared with bare controls. Deep-rootedVallisneria americana lowered the porewater nutrients to a greater extent than the shallow-rootedPotamogeton pectinatus. V. americana showed significantly higher tissue nutrient content (N in roots, P in leaves) thanP. pectinatus. porewater nutrients in the river increased from spring to summer (1995) when vegetation was at its peak (for porewater PO₄-P, p<0.05). In 1996, porewater nutrients were higher during peak plant biomass in the summer than in the fall (for porewater PO₄-P, p<0.05). In the summer (1995) vegetated patches had significantly greater porewater PO₄-P than bare patches. We hypothesize that the concentrating of particulates in riverine grassbeds and subsequent microbial processing may provide an indirect source of nutrients for submersed macrophytes. In tidally-influenced riverine systems, biological mechanisms such as root uptake of nutrients and lateral oxygen release may be masked by the interaction of physical forces (i.e., tides, currents) with the structure of the grassbeds.     

Influences of Natural and Anthropogenic Factors and Tidal Restoration on Terrestrial Arthropod Assemblages in West Coast North American Estuarine Wetlands

Compared to benthic and water-column invertebrate assemblages, considerably less is known about terrestrial arthropods inhabiting estuarine wetlands despite their importance to tidal wetland biodiversity and productivity. We also need to know more about how human modification of estuaries, including efforts to restore estuarine wetlands, affects these assemblages. To address this knowledge gap, we assembled data from multiple studies on terrestrial arthropod assemblages from 87 intertidal wetland sites in 13 estuaries along the west coast of North America. Arthropods were sampled between 1998 and 2013 with fallout traps deployed in wetlands for 1 to 3 days at a time. We describe patterns in the abundance and taxonomic composition of terrestrial arthropods and evaluate the relative ability of natural and anthropogenic factors to explain variation in abundance and composition. Arthropod abundance was highly variable. Vegetation assemblage, precipitation, and temperature best explained variation in arthropod abundance, while river discharge, latitude, and developed and agricultural land cover surrounding sampling sites were less important. Arthropod abundance rapidly achieved levels of reference wetlands after the restoration of tidal influence to leveed wetlands, regardless of surrounding land cover. However, arthropod assemblage composition was affected by the amount of developed land cover as well as restoration age. These results suggest that restoration of tidal influence to leveed wetlands can rapidly restore some components of estuarine wetland ecosystems but that recovery of other components will take longer and may depend on the extent of anthropogenic modification in the surrounding landscape.     

Vegetation succession in deglaciated landscapes: implications for sediment and landscape stability

Landscapes exposed by glacial retreat provide an ideal natural laboratory to study the processes involved in transforming a highly disturbed, glacially influenced landscape to a stable, diverse ecosystem which supports numerous species and communities. Large‐scale vegetation development and changes in sediment availability, used as a proxy for paraglacial adjustment following rapid deglaciation, were assessed using information from remote sensing. Delineation of broad successional vegetation cover types was undertaken using Landsat satellite imagery (covering a 22 year period) to document the rate and trajectory of terrestrial vegetation development. Use of a space‐for‐time substitution in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, allowed ‘back‐calculation’ of the age and stage of development of six catchments over 206 years. The high accuracy (89.2%) of the remotely sensed information used in monitoring successional change allowed detection of a high rate of change in vegetation classes in early successional stages (bare sediment and alder). In contrast, later successional stages (spruce and spruce–hemlock dominated forest) had high vegetation class retention, and low turnover. Modelled rates of vegetation change generally confirmed the estimated rates of successional turnover previously reported. These data, when combined with the known influence of terrestrial succession on soil development and sediment availability, suggest how physical and biological processes interact over time to influence paraglacial adjustment following deglaciation. This study highlights the application of remote sensing of successional chronosequence landscapes to assess the temporal dynamics of paraglacial adjustment following rapid deglaciation and shows the importance of incorporating bio‐physical interactions within landscape evolution models. © 2014 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

Does quantifying antecedent flow conditions improve stream phosphorus export estimation?

A reliable and economical method for the estimation of nutrient export (e.g. phosphorus) in stream flow from catchments is necessary to quantify the impact of land use or land use change upon aquatic systems. The transport of phosphorus (P) from soil to water is known to impact negatively on water quality. A key observation from studies is that most P export occurs during high stream flow. However, it is not yet clear how flood-antecedent conditions affect the P export during flood events. In this study, the P loss from soil to water as represented by soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) in stream waters from three different catchments, varying in land use, scale and location in Ireland was monitored over 1 year. This study examined the role of antecedent stream flow conditions on SRP export and identifies a catchment-specific relationship between SRP flood event load (EL) and a flow ratio (FR). The FR is defined as the ratio of the flood event volume (EV) to the pre-event volume (PEV). The latter is the cumulative flow volume for a number of days preceding the event. This PEV period was found to be longer (average 81 days) in the grassland catchments which were known to be saturated with soil P than in the forested catchments (average 21 days) with minimal soil P. This FR ratio is a measure of the antecedent hydrological state (wet or dry) of the catchment. For SRP for each catchment, a specific relationship between SRP EL and FR was identified. The annual SRP export was estimated, using this ratio and compared with the concentration/discharge (C/Q) method. The new flow ratio method was used with data from 12 flood events during the year to estimate an annual export of SRP. For the two grassland catchments in the study, using the FR method, we estimated an SRP export of 1.77 and 0.41 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Using the C/Q method, for the same sites, our estimate of SRP export was 1.70 and 0.50 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ respectively. The C/Q method used SRP concentrations covering 40% of the year while the FR method used only 12 flood events covering less than 2% of the year. This new method which takes account of the antecedent flow state of the river is an alternative to and may be more promising than the traditional C/Q method, particularly when short duration or flood sampling of water quality is carried out.     

Stratigraphical correlation of the Late Jurassic Lourinhã Formation in the Consolação Sub‐basin (Lusitanian Basin), Portugal

The c. 700 m thick succession of continental–brackish‐marine deposits forming the Lourinhã Formation, cropping out along the coast of western Portugal between Baleal and Santa Cruz, has been correlated using laterally persistent shelly marker beds. Three shelly units record the episodic establishment of relatively short‐lived, brackish‐marine embayments, transgressing from the southwest, onto a low‐lying coastal plain. The succession displays systematic changes in facies types and stacking patterns reflecting differences in fluvial style, bedload character and palaeontological content. Based on these observations, four new members for the Lourinhã Formation are proposed: the Sáo Bernardino, Porto de Barças, Areia Branca and Ferrel members. New biostratigraphical data indicate that the Lourinhã Formation is Late Kimmeridgian to earliest Early Tithonian in age. This age has also been obtained from the underlying mixed carbonate and clastic deposits of the Abadia Formation at Consolação. As a result, these latter sediments are now re‐assigned to the Alcobaça Formation, a lithostratigraphical term currently in use in other areas of the Lusitanian Basin. Improved regional mapping of the Lourinhã Formation has established a new sub‐basin within the western parts of the Lusitanian Basin. This sub‐basin, now named the Consolação Sub‐basin, is bounded to the east by the Lourinhã–Caldas de Rainha (L–C) fault zone and to the west by the Berlengas Horst. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.