Efficiency of static core turn-off in a system-on-a-chip with variation

DOEpatents

Cher, Chen-Yong; Coteus, Paul W; Gara, Alan; Kursun, Eren; Paulsen, David P; Schuelke, Brian A; Sheets, II, John E; Tian, Shurong

2013-10-29

A processor-implemented method for improving efficiency of a static core turn-off in a multi-core processor with variation, the method comprising: conducting via a simulation a turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's design stage, wherein the turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's design stage includes a first output corresponding to a first multi-core processor core to turn off; conducting a turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's testing stage, wherein the turn-off analysis of the multi-core processor at the multi-core processor's testing stage includes a second output corresponding to a second multi-core processor core to turn off; comparing the first output and the second output to determine if the first output is referring to the same core to turn off as the second output; outputting a third output corresponding to the first multi-core processor core if the first output and the second output are both referring to the same core to turn off.

Benthic foraminiferal census data from Mobile Bay, Alabama--counts of surface samples and box cores

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richwine, Kathryn A.; Osterman, Lisa E.

2012-01-01

A study was undertaken in order to understand recent environmental change in Mobile Bay, Alabama. For this study a series of surface sediment and box core samples was collected. The surface benthic foraminiferal data provide the modern baseline conditions of the bay and can be used as a reference for changing paleoenvironmental parameters recorded in the box cores. The 14 sampling locations were chosen in the bay to cover the wide diversity of fluvial and marine-influenced environments on both sides of the shipping channel.

Non-synchronous climate change along the western margin of North America during glacial terminations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herbert, T. D.; Liu, Z.; Barron, J.; Heusser, L.; Lyle, M.; Mix, A.; Ravelo, A. C.

2003-04-01

A regional set of cores now exists to study the evolution of ocean surface temperatures and other paleoclimatic signals along the west coast of North America. Core locations range from Vancouver Island to the north, to the tip of Baja California to the south. We report on the evolution of sea surface temperatures and marine productivity, as recorded by alkenones. Several sites also have pollen records, allowing us to compare marine and terrestrial responses. We find that surface climate signals covary tightly with global climate, as represented by benthic d18O, through 80% of a typical glacial-interglacial cycle. However, the associations during glacial maxima and terminations break into three regional patterns. North of Point Conception (heart of the California Current), SST patterns are very similar to benthic d18O and to Greenland ice core surface temperature data to at least 30 ka (ODP Site 1019). In the California borderland region, warmings begin during peak glacial conditions, and significantly precede the deglacial sea level rise. Off Baja California, SST follows benthic d18O, but without the high frequency oscillations of temperature observed in Greenland. These changes outline regional reorganizations of surface winds and currents during times of maximum ice volume. Our data suggests that the geographic extent and intensity of the California Current system was much reduced during glacial maxima in comparison to modern conditions.

Hydrological Changes in the Indian Ocean Around the Last Glacial Maximum and Deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camille, L.; Laurent, L.; Harry, E.; Mervyn, G.; Franck, B.; Francois, G.; Martine, P.; Xuan, D.; Marie-alexandrine, S.

2001-12-01

The tropical ocean plays a key role in the global climate system. However, changes in tropical circulation have far reaching and hitherto unknown effects which could trigger global changes in climate. Precisely dated reconstructions of past sea surface temperature (SST) changes are therefore mandatory in order to establish the exact phase between tropical and high latitude climate variability during past abrupt climate events. Few SST records are sufficiently detailed to constrain accurately the low latitude climatology around the last glacial maximum. Available results are presented from 2 high sedimentation rate cores (IMAGES MD9821-65 and MD9821-72) with additional material from older cruises. These cores are located within the inner part of the Indonesian arc and in the vicinity of the outflow straits (between Timor and Sumbawa). With high resolution records (about 100 yr.) for the past 20 kyr and lower resolution records back to 300 kyr., planktonic and benthic isotopic records set the general stratigraphy and the hydrology of surface and deep waters. Sea surface temperature is reconstructed using Mg/Ca content from G.ruber (analysed in Cambridge's ICP\\-AES), foraminiferal assemblages (MAT) and alkenone unsaturation index Uḱ37. Sea surface salinity is derived from the coupled G.ruber δ 18O and Mg/Ca ratio. The time scale is constrained by AMS14C and the benthic foraminifera δ 18O. Preliminary results would indicate that at the initiation of the deglaciation SST leads planktic δ 18O by about 1 kyr but are in phase with benthic δ 18O. Similar lead of the benthic vs planktic δ 18O is also observed in other cores from the Indian Ocean.

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernández, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-12-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resulting in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.

Vertical distribution of living ostracods in deep-sea sediments, North Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jöst, Anna B.; Yasuhara, Moriaki; Okahashi, Hisayo; Ostmann, Alexandra; Arbizu, Pedro Martínez; Brix, Saskia

2017-04-01

The depth distribution of living specimens of deep-sea benthic ostracods (small crustaceans with calcareous shells that are preserved as microfossils) in sediments is poorly understood, despite the importance of this aspect of basic ostracod biology for paleoecologic and paleoceanographic interpretations. Here, we investigated living benthic ostracod specimens from deep-sea multiple core samples, to reveal their depths distributions within sediment cores. The results showed shallow distribution and low population density of living deep-sea benthic ostracods (which are mostly composed of Podocopa). The living specimens are concentrated in the top 1 cm of the sediment, hence deep-sea benthic ostracods are either epifauna or shallow infauna. This observation is consistent with the information from shallow-water species. We also confirmed shallow infaunal (0.5-2 cm) and very shallow infaunal (0-1 cm) habitats of the deep-sea ostracod genera Krithe and Argilloecia, respectively.

Multi-core processing and scheduling performance in CMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hernandez, J. M.; Evans, D.; Foulkes, S.

2012-01-01

Commodity hardware is going many-core. We might soon not be able to satisfy the job memory needs per core in the current single-core processing model in High Energy Physics. In addition, an ever increasing number of independent and incoherent jobs running on the same physical hardware not sharing resources might significantly affect processing performance. It will be essential to effectively utilize the multi-core architecture. CMS has incorporated support for multi-core processing in the event processing framework and the workload management system. Multi-core processing jobs share common data in memory, such us the code libraries, detector geometry and conditions data, resultingmore » in a much lower memory usage than standard single-core independent jobs. Exploiting this new processing model requires a new model in computing resource allocation, departing from the standard single-core allocation for a job. The experiment job management system needs to have control over a larger quantum of resource since multi-core aware jobs require the scheduling of multiples cores simultaneously. CMS is exploring the approach of using whole nodes as unit in the workload management system where all cores of a node are allocated to a multi-core job. Whole-node scheduling allows for optimization of the data/workflow management (e.g. I/O caching, local merging) but efficient utilization of all scheduled cores is challenging. Dedicated whole-node queues have been setup at all Tier-1 centers for exploring multi-core processing workflows in CMS. We present the evaluation of the performance scheduling and executing multi-core workflows in whole-node queues compared to the standard single-core processing workflows.« less

Dynamics of dissolved organic matter in riverine sediments affected by weir impoundments: Production, benthic flux, and environmental implications.

PubMed

Chen, Meilian; Kim, Sung-Han; Jung, Heon-Jae; Hyun, Jung-Ho; Choi, Jung Hyun; Lee, Hyo-Jin; Huh, In-Ae; Hur, Jin

2017-09-15

In order to understand the characteristics and dynamics of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the sediment of rivers affected by impoundments, we examined the vertical profiles and the benthic fluxes of DOM in four different core sediments located at upstream sites of weirs in major rivers of South Korea. In three out of four sites, exponential accumulation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) with depth was observed with the signature of seasonal variability. Except for the site displaying a below-detection limit of Fe(II), the general accumulation trends of DOC with depth was concurrent with the increases of Fe(II) and NH 4 + and the decrease of PO 4 3- , signifying a close linkage of the DOM dynamics with anaerobic respiration via iron reduction, an important early diagenesis pathway. The estimated benthic fluxes from the cores revealed that the sediments likely serve as DOC, chromophoric DOM (CDOM), and fluorescent DOM (FDOM) sources to the overlying water. The benthic effluxes based on DOC were comparable to the ranges previously reported in lake and coastal areas, and those of CDOM and FDOM showed even higher levels. These findings imply that impoundment-affected river systems would change the DOM composition of the overlying water, ultimately influencing the subsequent water treatment processes such as disinfection byproducts production and membrane fouling. A simple mass balance model indicated that the impoundment-affected river sediments may operate as a net carbon sink in the environments due to a greater extent of sedimentation compared to the estimated benthic efflux and sediment biological respiration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preliminary paleontologic report on core 37 from Pass Key, Everglades National Park, Florida Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brewster-Wingard, G. L.; Ishman, S.E.; Waibel, N.J.; Willard, D.A.; Edwards, L.E.; Holmes, C.W.

1998-01-01

Sediments from Pass Key core 37, in eastern Florida Bay (N 25.1478?, W 80.5745?) record a history of rapid sedimentation during this century. The lowest portion of the core contains benthic fauna indicative of relatively low salinities and sparse seagrass coverage. This period is followed by an increase in salinity and seagrass. In the middle portion of the core, a slight decrease in salinity and an increase in seagrass occur. These shifts in the benthic fauna correspond to a period when the terrestrial flora change, and an increase in dinocyst absolute abundance occurs, indicating changes in factors affecting the entire South Florida ecosystem. These changes may represent a period of increased terrestrial flushing, due to rainfall, water management practices or a combination of both. The benthic faunas in the upper portion of the core indicate an increase in salinity and seagrass density. This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with the North American Stratigraphic Code. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

Regional benthic δ18O stacks with radiocarbon age models show Termination I onset differences of up to 4,000 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, J.; Lisiecki, L. E.

2013-12-01

The assumption of globally synchronous benthic foraminiferal δ18O changes is central to the development of global stacks (averages) and many other types of paleoclimate studies. However, a few well-dated individual benthic δ18O records have suggested the possibility of regional differences in the timing of Termination I (e.g., Skinner and Shackleton, 2005; Waelbroeck et al., 2011). These previous studies often used single core locations to describe vast areas of the ocean, so it has remained unclear whether the observed diachroneities are truly regional in scale or merely local. Here, we bridge the gap between global benthic δ18O stacks and individual records by presenting eight regional benthic δ18O stacks from 252 cores with age models based on a total of 776 planktonic foraminiferal radiocarbon dates from 61 of those cores. The earliest termination onset (beginning of deglacial benthic δ18O decrease) occurs in the intermediate South Atlantic stack at 18.5 kyr BP, shortly after the initial deglacial melting of Northern Hemisphere ice sheets. The latest termination onset occurs in the deep Indian stack at 14.5 kyr BP, coeval with the Bølling-Allerød warming. We find synchronous termination onsets at 17.5 kyr BP in the intermediate North Atlantic, deep North Atlantic, and deep South Atlantic, contrary to Waelbroeck et al. (2011). The deglacial benthic δ18O decrease in the deep Pacific lagged that of the deep Atlantic by an average of 1000 yr, with a maximum lag of ~1700 yr during the middle of the termination. The intermediate Pacific termination onset at 16.5 kyr BP happens 1000 yr after the deep Pacific termination onset at 17.5 kyr BP. The stacks extend beyond Termination I to ~40 kyr BP, allowing us to clarify and update certain aspects of millennial-scale benthic δ18O chronostratigraphy surrounding Heinrich events 2-3 and the transition into the Last Glacial Maximum. Our radiocarbon-dated regional benthic δ18O stacks demonstrate some of the limitations of benthic δ18O correlations while providing valuable regional-scale age models and constraints on water mass property and ocean circulation changes over the last ~40 kyr.

A Latest Glacial and Holocene Record From Medicine Lake, Siskiyou County, California: Preliminary Diatom, Pollen, and Sediment Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Starratt, S. W.; Barron, J. A.; Kneeshaw, T.; Phillips, L.; Lowenstern, J.; Wanket, J. A.

2002-12-01

Medicine Lake is a small (165 ha), relatively shallow (average 7.3 m), medium- altitude (2,036 m) lake located within the summit caldera of Medicine Lake volcano, a dormant Quaternary shield volcano located in the southern Cascade Range. During September 1999 and 2000, high-resolution bathymetry, seismic-reflection profiles, and sediment cores were collected from the lake. Twenty six samples from core B100NC-1 (water depth 12.6 m; length 226 cm) were analyzed for physical properties, sediment grain size, diatoms, pollen, and total organic carbon (TOC). Using both 14C (AMS) dating and tephrochronology, the sediments at the bottom of the core are estimated to be 11,000 cal yr B.P., thus yielding an estimated average sedimentation rate of about 21 cm/1,000 yr. The lowermost part of the core (226 cm - ~200 cm) records the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions. During the period from about 11,000-7,200 cal yr B.P., lake level fluctuated between deeper oligotrophic conditions with a diatom flora dominated by Cyclotella spp. and shallower intervals with a diverse benthic flora. The relative low abundance (10-15%) of Abies (fir) pollen and relative high abundance (30-40%) of Artemesia (sagebrush) pollen in this interval suggest drier than present-day conditions. The lowest part of this interval (226 cm - 210 cm) is almost devoid of Cyclotella and may represent an ice-covered lake in which only a small benthic flora could exist around the margins of the lake where light penetration was the greatest. The sediments in this interval are relatively low in TOC and are dominated by glacial flour. From about 7,200 cal yr B.P. to the present, conditions have fluctuated between higher lake levels (three intervals) that are dominated by Cyclotella with a reduced number and diversity of benthic taxa, and lower lake levels (two intervals) during which the abundances of Cyclotella decrease to less than 10%. Relative values of Abies and Pinus (pine) pollen are higher during high lake levels, whereas pollen of aquatic taxa (primarily Isoetes [quillwort]) increases in significance at lower lake levels. Total organic carbon is higher during high stands and lower during low stands. Comparison with recently published multi-proxy studies of the Lake Tahoe-Truckee River-Pyramid Lake drainage system suggest that some of the changes in lake level observed at Medicine Lake between about 7,500-4,500 cal yr B.P. may be regional in nature, while fluctuations over the last 4,500 yr probably reflect conditions affecting only the local watershed.

A Study on Benthic Foraminifera Assemblages in the Upper Slope off Southwest Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yeh, Jen-Chu; Lin, Andrew T.; Chien, Chih-Wei

2016-04-01

This study attempts to establish the spatial distribution of benthic foraminifera in the upper accretionary wedge off SW Taiwan. A few box cores (each core up to 49 cm thick) are retrieved onboard R/V Ocean Researcher I during 1092 cruise in 2014 at water depths ranging from 1,135 to 1,586 m lying in between the Good Weather Ridge and the Yuan-An Ridge. Analyses on grain size reveal that the sediment size ranges from clay to silt for all sites with the exception of YT1 site, where a small percentage of fine sand (< 20%) is found to distribute evenly in a 32 cm-thick box core. Core images from X-radiographs show some layers of foraminifera ooze and rare traces of bioturbation. Age of sedimentation is obtained by using 210Pb dating method. The 210Pb concentration profile decays exponentially down core, indicating sedimentation from suspension. The measured sedimentation rate ranges from 0.47 to 2.4 mm/yr. Site YT1 has the lowest sedimentation rate (around 0.47 mm/yr), leading to high abundance of individual benthic foraminiferal species. Living foraminiferal individuals were distinguished from dead assemblages by Rose Bengal staining method during the cruise. Our results show that the dominant living species of all studied cores is Chilostomella oolina, with subsidiary occurrences of Bulimina aculeata, Bolivinita quadrilateral, and Lenticulina spp. etc. Cluster analysis suggests that the forams have similar spatial distribution pattern at all studied sites, indicating uniform and stable hemipelagic sedimentation. Analyses of dead assemblages reveal a remarkable decrease in the abundance of Bulimina and Uvigerina for the last 100 years at YT-2 site, with increasing abundance of Chilostomella. This indicates that the water masses may have turned from suboxic to dysoxic conditions since c. 100 year ago. This is the first study to report the living benthic foraminifera distribution in water depths up to c. 1,600 m off SW Taiwan, providing a basis for future studies. Keywords: benthic foraminifera, upper slope, Taiwan

VLBI-resolution radio-map algorithms: Performance analysis of different levels of data-sharing on multi-socket, multi-core architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tabik, S.; Romero, L. F.; Mimica, P.; Plata, O.; Zapata, E. L.

2012-09-01

A broad area in astronomy focuses on simulating extragalactic objects based on Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) radio-maps. Several algorithms in this scope simulate what would be the observed radio-maps if emitted from a predefined extragalactic object. This work analyzes the performance and scaling of this kind of algorithms on multi-socket, multi-core architectures. In particular, we evaluate a sharing approach, a privatizing approach and a hybrid approach on systems with complex memory hierarchy that includes shared Last Level Cache (LLC). In addition, we investigate which manual processes can be systematized and then automated in future works. The experiments show that the data-privatizing model scales efficiently on medium scale multi-socket, multi-core systems (up to 48 cores) while regardless of algorithmic and scheduling optimizations, the sharing approach is unable to reach acceptable scalability on more than one socket. However, the hybrid model with a specific level of data-sharing provides the best scalability over all used multi-socket, multi-core systems.

Benthic Species Richness of U.S. Pacific Estuaries

EPA Science Inventory

Understanding the spatial distribution of biodiversity is of paramount importance due to the potential consequences of its loss on human welfare. We demonstrate that biodiversity of soft-bottomed estuarine benthic organisms can be predicted with relatively high accuracy at multi...

Multiproxy Study of a Holocene Record From Western Pescadero Basin, Gulf of California, Mexico: Paleoclimatic inferences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Cruz, L. L.; Valdez, M.; Roy, P. D.

2013-12-01

A sedimentary sequence (gravity core T-56, 256 cm length) from Pescadero Basin on the western side of the Gulf of California is analyzed as part of a multiproxy study. The core was collected within the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) at 597 m depth, aboard of the R/V "El Puma". Pescadero basin is located at mouth of the gulf; in a location sensitive to record the changes in the gulf and the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The sedimentary sequence is analyzed to contribute to understanding the climatic variability in the southern part of the gulf of California during the Holocene using geochemistry (major and trace elements and Corg), magnetic properties and benthic foraminifera assemblages as proxy of changes in paleoproductivity, paleoprecipitation and bottom water oxygenation. The core is characterized by silty-clay sediments, and exhibits a turbidite between 130 and 235 cm, distinguished by sandy sediments and reworking material. From 130 cm to the top it shows a visible laminated structure. Chronology is based on six AMS radiocarbon dates, and estimated sedimentation rates are 0.22, 0.18, 0.17 and 0.05 mm/yr. The core covers c. last 10,500 years. Variations in major and trace elements (Ti, K, Al, K, Zr) and magnetic susceptibility indicate fluctuations in terrigenous input related to changes in hydrological conditions, Benthic foraminifera assemblages and Corg along the sequence indicate that Pescadero basin is sensitive to paleoceanographic changes. Corg and benthic foraminiferal assemblages show downcore variations related to paleoproductivity changes. For the Early Holocene, low values of Corg and epifaunal benthic foraminifera suggest oxic conditions in bottom waters and strong stratification with low productivity. Organic carbon shows higher values towards the bottom of the core, for the last 1300 years.

Efficient provisioning for multi-core applications with LSF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dal Pra, Stefano

2015-12-01

Tier-1 sites providing computing power for HEP experiments are usually tightly designed for high throughput performances. This is pursued by reducing the variety of supported use cases and tuning for performances those ones, the most important of which have been that of singlecore jobs. Moreover, the usual workload is saturation: each available core in the farm is in use and there are queued jobs waiting for their turn to run. Enabling multi-core jobs thus requires dedicating a number of hosts where to run, and waiting for them to free the needed number of cores. This drain-time introduces a loss of computing power driven by the number of unusable empty cores. As an increasing demand for multi-core capable resources have emerged, a Task Force have been constituted in WLCG, with the goal to define a simple and efficient multi-core resource provisioning model. This paper details the work done at the INFN Tier-1 to enable multi-core support for the LSF batch system, with the intent of reducing to the minimum the average number of unused cores. The adopted strategy has been that of dedicating to multi-core a dynamic set of nodes, whose dimension is mainly driven by the number of pending multi-core requests and fair-share priority of the submitting user. The node status transition, from single to multi core et vice versa, is driven by a finite state machine which is implemented in a custom multi-core director script, running in the cluster. After describing and motivating both the implementation and the details specific to the LSF batch system, results about performance are reported. Factors having positive and negative impact on the overall efficiency are discussed and solutions to reduce at most the negative ones are proposed.

Energy-aware Thread and Data Management in Heterogeneous Multi-core, Multi-memory Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Su, Chun-Yi

By 2004, microprocessor design focused on multicore scaling—increasing the number of cores per die in each generation—as the primary strategy for improving performance. These multicore processors typically equip multiple memory subsystems to improve data throughput. In addition, these systems employ heterogeneous processors such as GPUs and heterogeneous memories like non-volatile memory to improve performance, capacity, and energy efficiency. With the increasing volume of hardware resources and system complexity caused by heterogeneity, future systems will require intelligent ways to manage hardware resources. Early research to improve performance and energy efficiency on heterogeneous, multi-core, multi-memory systems focused on tuning a single primitivemore » or at best a few primitives in the systems. The key limitation of past efforts is their lack of a holistic approach to resource management that balances the tradeoff between performance and energy consumption. In addition, the shift from simple, homogeneous systems to these heterogeneous, multicore, multi-memory systems requires in-depth understanding of efficient resource management for scalable execution, including new models that capture the interchange between performance and energy, smarter resource management strategies, and novel low-level performance/energy tuning primitives and runtime systems. Tuning an application to control available resources efficiently has become a daunting challenge; managing resources in automation is still a dark art since the tradeoffs among programming, energy, and performance remain insufficiently understood. In this dissertation, I have developed theories, models, and resource management techniques to enable energy-efficient execution of parallel applications through thread and data management in these heterogeneous multi-core, multi-memory systems. I study the effect of dynamic concurrent throttling on the performance and energy of multi-core, non-uniform memory access (NUMA) systems. I use critical path analysis to quantify memory contention in the NUMA memory system and determine thread mappings. In addition, I implement a runtime system that combines concurrent throttling and a novel thread mapping algorithm to manage thread resources and improve energy efficient execution in multi-core, NUMA systems.« less

Paleoenvironmental evolution based on benthic foraminifera biofacies of the Paraíba do Sul Deltaic Complex, eastern Brazil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gasparini, Sarah Pereira; Vilela, Claudia Gutterres

2017-12-01

The paleoecology and distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed in the core 2-MU-1-RJ well, drilled in the Paraíba do Sul Deltaic Complex, Rio de Janeiro (Brazil). An abundant assemblage was found in the upper portion of the well core, inferred to be pleistocenic deposits. The coastal dynamic was recognized from five biofacies based on clusters, the Planktonic/Benthic (P/B) ratios and indicator species distribution in the core. Several biofacies were identified along the core depending on the species dominance. From the bottom to the top of the core, the biofacies succession represents the environmental changes in the coastal area associated to sea-level oscillations. The biofacies ABP dominated by Ammonia parkinsoniana and Bolivina spp. and Pararotalia cananeiaensis represents an inner shelf environment; biofacies QP dominated by shelf miliolids species; biofacies PGH, dominated by P. cananeiaensis, Gavelinopsis praegeri, and Hanzawaia nitidula, represents the estuary complex with middle or outer shelf influence; biofacies QL represents hypersaline waters dominated by lagoonal miliolids; and biofacies HP characterized by Haynesina germanica and P. cananeiaensis is associated with paralic environments. Marine ingressions are recorded and those biofacies show the pleistocenic coastal hydrodinamic in the deltaic complex. The foraminiferal biofacies contribute with detailed information to sedimentary facies previously characterized in the study area by the reconstruction of paleoenvironment succession.

Taxonomic and Functional Metagenomic Signature of Turfs in the Abrolhos Reef System (Brazil)

PubMed Central

Walter, Juline M.; Tschoeke, Diogo A.; Meirelles, Pedro M.; de Oliveira, Louisi; Leomil, Luciana; Tenório, Márcio; Valle, Rogério; Salomon, Paulo S.; Thompson, Cristiane C.; Thompson, Fabiano L.

2016-01-01

Turfs are widespread assemblages (consisting of microbes and algae) that inhabit reef systems. They are the most abundant benthic component in the Abrolhos reef system (Brazil), representing greater than half the coverage of the entire benthic community. Their presence is associated with a reduction in three-dimensional coral reef complexity and decreases the habitats available for reef biodiversity. Despite their importance, the taxonomic and functional diversity of turfs remain unclear. We performed a metagenomics and pigments profile characterization of turfs from the Abrolhos reefs. Turf microbiome primarily encompassed Proteobacteria (mean 40.57% ± s.d. 10.36, N = 1.548,192), Cyanobacteria (mean 35.04% ± s.d. 15.5, N = 1.337,196), and Bacteroidetes (mean 11.12% ± s.d. 4.25, N = 424,185). Oxygenic and anoxygenic phototrophs, chemolithotrophs, and aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic (AANP) bacteria showed a conserved functional trait of the turf microbiomes. Genes associated with oxygenic photosynthesis, AANP, sulfur cycle (S oxidation, and DMSP consumption), and nitrogen metabolism (N2 fixation, ammonia assimilation, dissimilatory nitrate and nitrite ammonification) were found in the turf microbiomes. Principal component analyses of the most abundant taxa and functions showed that turf microbiomes differ from the other major Abrolhos benthic microbiomes (i.e., corals and rhodoliths) and seawater. Taken together, these features suggest that turfs have a homogeneous functional core across the Abrolhos Bank, which holds diverse microbial guilds when comparing with other benthic organisms. PMID:27548380

The timing of deglacial circulation changes in the Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waelbroeck, C.; Skinner, L.; Gersonde, R.; Mackensen, A.; Michel, E.; Labeyrie, L. D.; Duplessy, J.

2009-12-01

We present new benthic isotopic data from core MD07-3076 retrieved in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean (44°09’S, 14°13’W, 3770 m water depth), and place them in the context of well-dated published Atlantic benthic foraminifera isotopic records covering the last 30 ky. Dating of core MD07-3076 was achieved by a combination of 14C AMS measurements on planktonic foraminifera and correlation of sea surface temperature signals derived from both planktonic foraminifera Mg/Ca and census counts, with Antarctic ice isotopic records (Skinner et al., submitted). Comparison of benthic isotopic records from various depths in the North and South Atlantic reveals that circulation changes over the last deglaciation did not take place simultaneously in the 1000-2000 m and in the 3000-4500 m depth ranges. Circulation changes first occurred at lower depth, causing large and relatively rapid changes in benthic δ18O and δ13C at the beginning of Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) and the Younger Dryas. Below 3000 m depth, North Atlantic deep water hydrology changed only gradually until a large increase in deep water ventilation took place, resulting from the resumption of North Atlantic Deep Water formation at the end of HS1. In contrast, our deep South Atlantic record indicates that Circumpolar Deep Water around 3800 m depth remained quasi-isolated from northern water masses until the end of HS1. Furthermore, our record shows that core MD07-3076 site was then flushed with better ventilated waters for a few hundred years from ~14.5 to 14 calendar ky BP, before benthic δ18O and δ13C values resumed their progression towards Holocene levels. In conclusion, this set of well-dated Atlantic records demonstrates that benthic δ18O records followed different time evolutions across the last deglaciation, depending on the site latitude and water depth, so that benthic δ18O can not be used as a global correlation tool with a precision better than 3 ky.

Stack-and-Draw Manufacture Process of a Seven-Core Optical Fiber for Fluorescence Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Samir, Ahmed; Batagelj, Bostjan

2018-01-01

Multi-core, optical-fiber technology is expected to be used in telecommunications and sensory systems in a relatively short amount of time. However, a successful transition from research laboratories to industry applications will only be possible with an optimized design and manufacturing process. The fabrication process is an important aspect in designing and developing new multi-applicable, multi-core fibers, where the best candidate is a seven-core fiber. Here, the basics for designing and manufacturing a single-mode, seven-core fiber using the stack-and-draw process is described for the example of a fluorescence sensory system.

Can a rapid underwater video approach enhance the benthic assessment capability of the National Coastal Condition Assessmentin the Great Lakes?

EPA Science Inventory

In the U.S. National Coastal Condition Assessment (NCCA) field survey in summer 2010, over 400 sites in the nearshore zone of the U.S. Great Lakes were sampled. As a supplement to core NCCA benthic taxonomy and sediment chemistry, underwater video images of the bottom condition ...

Response of Benthic Foraminiferal Size to Oxygen Concentration in Antarctic Sediment Cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, D.; Keating-Bitonti, C.; Payne, J.

2014-12-01

Oxygen availability is important for biological reactions and the demand of oxygen is determined by the size of the organism. Few marine organisms can tolerate low oxygen conditions, but benthic foraminifera, a group of amoeboid protists that are highly sensitive to environmental factors, are known to live in these conditions. Benthic foraminifera may be able to live in oxygen stressed environments by changing the size and shape of their test. Low oxygen concentrations should favor smaller, thinner-shelled, flattened test morphologies. We hypothesize that the volume-to-surface area ratio of benthic foraminifera will decrease with decreasing dissolved oxygen concentrations. To test this hypothesis, we picked two calcareous species (Epistominella exigua and Cassulinoides porrectus) and one agglutinated species (Portatrochammina antarctica) from three sediment cores collected from Explorer's Cove, Antarctica. Starting at the sediment-water interface, each core spans approximately 5-8 cm of depth. Profiles of dissolved oxygen concentrations were measured at the time of collection. At specific depths within the cores, we measured the three dimensions of picked foraminiferal tests using NIS-Elements. We calculated the volume and surface area of the tests assuming the shape of the foraminifers was an ellipsoid. The size trends of E. exigua confirm our hypothesis that the test volume-to-surface area ratios correlate positively with dissolved oxygen concentrations (p-value < 0.001). However, the size trends of the other species refute our hypothesis: P. antarctica shows no correlation and C. porrectus shows a negative correlation (p-value < 0.001) to dissolved oxygen concentrations. Thus, our results show that the change in size in response to variations in dissolved oxygen concentrations is species dependent. Moreover, we find that calcareous species are more sensitive to oxygen fluctuations than agglutinated species.

Historical trends in Chesapeake Bay dissolved oxygen based on benthic foraminifera from sediment cores

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karlsen, A.W.; Cronin, T. M.; Ishmans, S.E.; Willard, D.A.; Kerhin, R.; Holmes, C.W.; Marot, M.

2000-01-01

Environmentally sensitive benthic foraminifera (protists) from Chesapeake Bay were used as bioindicators to estimate the timing and degree of changes in dissolved oxygen (DO) over the past five centuries. Living foraminifers from 19 surface samples and fossil assemblages from 11 sediment cores dated by 210Pb, 137Cs, 14C, and pollen stratigraphy were analyzed from the tidal portions of the Patuxent, Potomac, and Choptank Rivers and the main channel of the Chesapeake Bay. Ammonia parkinsoniana, a facultative anaerobe tolerant of periodic anoxic conditions, comprises an average of 74% of modern Chesapeake foraminiferal assemblages (DO = 0.47 and 1.72 ml l-1) compared to 0% to 15% of assemblages collected in the 1960s. Paleoecological analyses show that A. parkinsoniana was absent prior to the late 17th century, increased to 10-25% relative frequency between approximately 1670-1720 and 1810-1900, and became the dominant (60-90%) benthic foraminiferal species in channel environments beginning in the early 1970s. Since the 1970s, deformed tests of A. parkinsoniana occur in all cores (10-20% of Ammonia), suggesting unprecedented stressful benthic conditions. These cores indicate that prior to the late 17th century, there was limited oxygen depletion. During the past 200 years, decadal scale variability in oxygen depletion has occurred, as dysoxic (DO = 0.1-1.0 ml l-1), perhaps short-term anoxic (DO < 0.1 ml l-1) conditions developed. The most extensive (spatially and temporally) anoxlc conditions were reached during the 1970s. Over decadal timescales, DO variability seems to be linked closely to climatological factors influencing river discharge; the unprecedented anoxia since the early 1970s is attributed mainly to high freshwater flow and to an increase in nutrient concentrations from the watershed.

Mercury flux from salt marsh sediments: Insights from a comparison between 224Ra/228Th disequilibrium and core incubation methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Xiangming; Mason, Robert P.; Charette, Matthew A.; Mazrui, Nashaat M.; Cai, Pinghe

2018-02-01

In aquatic environments, sediments are the main location of mercury methylation. Thus, accurate quantification of methylmercury (MeHg) fluxes at the sediment-water interface is vital to understanding the biogeochemical cycling of mercury, especially the toxic MeHg species, and their bioaccumulation. Traditional approaches, such as core incubations, are difficult to maintain at in-situ conditions during assays, leading to over/underestimation of benthic fluxes. Alternatively, the 224Ra/228Th disequilibrium method for tracing the transfer of dissolved substances across the sediment-water interface, has proven to be a reliable approach for quantifying benthic fluxes. In this study, the 224Ra/228Th disequilibrium and core incubation methods were compared to examine the benthic fluxes of both 224Ra and MeHg in salt marsh sediments of Barn Island, Connecticut, USA from May to August, 2016. The two methods were comparable for 224Ra but contradictory for MeHg. The radiotracer approach indicated that sediments were always the dominant source of both total mercury (THg) and MeHg. The core incubation method for MeHg produced similar results in May and August, but an opposite pattern in June and July, which suggested sediments were a sink of MeHg, contrary to the evidence of significant MeHg gradients between overlying water and porewater at the sediment-water interface. The potential reasons for such differences are discussed. Overall, we conclude that the 224Ra/228Th disequilibrium approach is preferred for estimating the benthic flux of MeHg and that sediment is indeed an important MeHg source in this marshland, and likely in other shallow coastal waters.

Core-to-core uniformity improvement in multi-core fiber Bragg gratings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lindley, Emma; Min, Seong-Sik; Leon-Saval, Sergio; Cvetojevic, Nick; Jovanovic, Nemanja; Bland-Hawthorn, Joss; Lawrence, Jon; Gris-Sanchez, Itandehui; Birks, Tim; Haynes, Roger; Haynes, Dionne

2014-07-01

Multi-core fiber Bragg gratings (MCFBGs) will be a valuable tool not only in communications but also various astronomical, sensing and industry applications. In this paper we address some of the technical challenges of fabricating effective multi-core gratings by simulating improvements to the writing method. These methods allow a system designed for inscribing single-core fibers to cope with MCFBG fabrication with only minor, passive changes to the writing process. Using a capillary tube that was polished on one side, the field entering the fiber was flattened which improved the coverage and uniformity of all cores.

Deep-sea benthic response to rapid climatic oscillations of the last glacial cycle in the SE Bay of Biscay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Lazaro, J.; Pascual, A.; Cacho, I.; Varela, Z.; Pena, L. D.

2017-12-01

Paleoclimatic evolution of the last 140 ka (Marine Isotopic Stages MIS 1 to MIS 5) in the South Bay of Biscay has been studied by considering microfossil changes in sediment samples of deep core PP10-17. This core was retrieved at 2882 m water depth (mwd) in the Landas Plateau and is formed by 1792 cm of clay-silt continuously deposited sediment. For this study, a total of 114 samples have been examined, yielding approximately 60 thousands of specimens of foraminifers (181 benthic species, BF) and ostracods (70 spp.). Reconstruction of the benthic response is based on the main foraminifer and ostracod species by considering their oxic/anoxic character as well as other ecological features of the assemblages. Detailed quantification of microfossils (planktonic and benthic foraminifers, ostracods) together with grain size analyses and magnetic susceptibility of the sediments allow us to characterize many of the climatic events registered in this core. Based on a robust chronostratigraphy by correlation with reference core MD95-2002 and Greenland ice core records (GICC05modelext), we are able to characterize a detailed response of benthic environments to cooling/warming, oxygen-content and productivity cycles in the region. MIS 5 has been characterized by oscillations of the planktonic/benthic foraminifer ratio (Oceanity index, OI; 60-90%); this index was higher (90-100%) and stable through the MIS 4-MIS 3 intervals. We found BF species indicators of different climatic-related events. Thus, MIS 5a, c, e interstadials are evidenced by Bulimina gibba and B. aculeata while the stadials MIS 5b, d are shown by the occurrence of Melonis pompilioides. Heinrich events, with massive iceberg discharges into the N Atlantic Ocean, are indicated by presence of Globobulimina affinis, particularly during the MIS 4 to MIS 2 interval. The beginning of MIS 4 is indicated by the appearance of new species of BF and an increase of Cassidulina laevigata. Krithe spp. and C. laevigata are good indicators of the LGM (Last Glacial Maximum, 19-23 ka) when the OI decreased. Other cooling periods (e.g. Younger Dryas, YD, around 12-13 ka) are shown as well by an increase of M. pompilioides, similar to that of the MIS 5d stadial. The Holocene (11.5 ka to present) is marked by an increase in the oceanity index, disappearance of cold-water indicators and the occurrence of Uvigerina peregrina. A shallow infaunal microhabitat of benthics foraminifers (Cibicides, Cassidulina, Uvigerina) and ostracods (Krithe, Argilloecia) has been linked to favorable bottom conditions, with oxic to slightly suboxic conditions (high diversity and equitability of assemblages) reflecting an active Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) during many D/O interstadials. The opposite conditions were established for deep infaunal BF (Bulimina, Globobulimina) where the strong dysoxic bottom conditions are indicative of poor ventilation produced by a reduction or shutdown of the AMOC during Heinrich stadials.

Heterometric sediment and benthic micro-habitat: In situ and experimental approaches.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navon, Maxime; Dauvin, Jean-Claude; Lesourd, Sandric

2016-04-01

The eastern Bay of Seine and its estuary are characterized by complex sediment structures with high temporal, spatial and vertical heterogeneities. As the result of different hydrodynamics forcing, estuary is a particular area with fine sediment accumulation since the last decades. This complex system involves particular relationships between benthic species and the environment. Dominant species show particular traits of life: bentho-pelagic reproductive cycle, burrowing, tubicoulous, surface and subsurface species. Moreover, species behaviours are different according to the sediment properties: grain size, stratification, texture, silt and clay contents… Although benthic macrofauna and sediment relationship is often describe as the major factor structuring benthic communities, no spatial and temporal relationships has been highlighted in this area. So, our study is focused on the relationship between species and sediment at the individual scale and on micro-habitats. The aim of the study is to define the macrofauna vertical distribution to understand how the sediment structure acts on organisms and the organism behaviour in a heterometric sediment context, i.e. how organisms act in return on the sediment structure. An in situ approach is used to answer these questions with four campaigns on board on the Oceanographic Vessel 'Le Côtes de la Manche'. A total of 43 cores (16 cm diameter, 35 cm high) in three typical sediment facies are sampled. Cores are analysed with Computer-Aided Tomography scan (Cyceron Laboratory, Caen) to 3D visualize organisms and to determine volumetric space occupation by biogenic structures. The same cores are transversally cut to check the species out and to analyse sediment parameters (grain size, organic matter and other chemical components on XRF device). Results show that most of the organism are closed to the surface sediment but also that some species, even small size individuals, are found deeper in the sediment-column until 9 cm depth. This approach gives nondestructive 3D picture on the organism position in sediment and provides information on the manner how sediment structure acts on organisms and in return how organisms disturb sediment structure.

MIMO signal progressing with RLSCMA algorithm for multi-mode multi-core optical transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bi, Yuan; Liu, Bo; Zhang, Li-jia; Xin, Xiang-jun; Zhang, Qi; Wang, Yong-jun; Tian, Qing-hua; Tian, Feng; Mao, Ya-ya

2018-01-01

In the process of transmitting signals of multi-mode multi-core fiber, there will be mode coupling between modes. The mode dispersion will also occur because each mode has different transmission speed in the link. Mode coupling and mode dispersion will cause damage to the useful signal in the transmission link, so the receiver needs to deal received signal with digital signal processing, and compensate the damage in the link. We first analyzes the influence of mode coupling and mode dispersion in the process of transmitting signals of multi-mode multi-core fiber, then presents the relationship between the coupling coefficient and dispersion coefficient. Then we carry out adaptive signal processing with MIMO equalizers based on recursive least squares constant modulus algorithm (RLSCMA). The MIMO equalization algorithm offers adaptive equalization taps according to the degree of crosstalk in cores or modes, which eliminates the interference among different modes and cores in space division multiplexing(SDM) transmission system. The simulation results show that the distorted signals are restored efficiently with fast convergence speed.

Denitrification in nitrate-rich streams: Application of N2:Ar and 15N-tracer methods in intact cores

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, Lesley K.; Voytek, M.A.; Böhlke, J.K.; Harvey, J.W.

2006-01-01

Rates of benthic denitrification were measured using two techniques, membrane inlet mass spectrometry (MIMS) and isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS), applied to sediment cores from two NO3--rich streams draining agricultural land in the upper Mississippi River Basin. Denitrification was estimated simultaneously from measurements of N 2:Ar (MIMS) and 15N[N2] (IRMS) after the addition of low-level 15NO3- tracer ( 15N:N = 0.03-0.08) in stream water overlying intact sediment cores. Denitrification rates ranged from about 0 to 4400 lmol N??m -2??h-1 in Sugar Creek and from 0 to 1300 ??mol N??m-2??h-1 in Iroquois River, the latter of which possesses greater streamflow discharge and a more homogeneous streambed and water column. Within the uncertainties of the two techniques, there is good agreement between the MIMS and IRMS results, which indicates that the production of N2 by the coupled process of nitrification/denitrification was relatively unimportant and surface-water NO3- was the dominant source of NO3- for benthic denitrification in these streams. Variation in stream NO3- concentration (from about 20 ??mol/L during low discharge to 1000 ??mol/L during high discharge) was a significant control of benthic denitrification rates, judging from the more abundant MIMS data. The interpretation that NO3- concentration directly affects denitrification rate was corroborated by increased rates of denitrification in cores amended with NO 3-. Denitrification in Sugar Creek removed ???11% per day of the instream NO3- in late spring and removed roughly 15-20% in late summer. The fraction of NO3- removed in Iroquois River was less than that of Sugar Creek. Although benthic denitrification rates were relatively high during periods of high stream flow, when NO3 concentrations were also high, the increase in benthic denitrification could not compensate for the much larger increase in stream NO3- fluxes during high flow. Consequently, fractional NO3- losses were relatively low during high flow. ?? 2006 by the Ecological Society of America.

Deep-sea trace fossil and benthic foraminiferal assemblages across glacial Terminations 1, 2 and 4 at the "Shackleton Site" (IODP Expedition 339, Site U1385)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco J.; Dorador, Javier; Grunert, Patrick; Hodell, David

2015-10-01

Numerous studies focused on the transitions between glacial and interglacial periods, the so-called terminations, due to the associated significant reorganizations of the ocean-atmosphere system. However, analyses combining macro- and micropaleontological information are near absent. In this research, an integrative study of trace fossils and benthic foraminiferal assemblages is conducted in order to improve the characterization of Terminations 1, 2 and 4, as revealing the response of the macro-and microbenthic habitats to the involved paleoenvironmental changes. For this purpose, selected cores from Site U1385 (IODP Expedition 339) located off the western Iberian Margin, have been studied. Changes in trace fossils and benthic foraminifera related to both long-term variations at the glacial/interglacial scale, and short-term millennial-scale climatic events. Food and oxygen availability have been identified as the main factors determining variations in the macro- and microbenthic community structure across glacial terminations in the context of changes in water mass distribution and productivity in the NE Atlantic. A deep-sea multi-tiered tracemaker community, consisting of biodeformational structures, Chondrites, ?Nereites, Palaeophycus, Planolites, Thalassinoides, and Zoophycos, suggest generally well-oxygenated bottom and pore-water conditions during interglacial as well as glacial intervals, with punctual decreases in oxygenation. Short-climatic events registered during Terminations 1, 2, and 4 induce a similar response of trace fossil and benthic foraminifera communities to the variable incidence of food and oxygen availability. Termination 1 shows a severe deterioration of oxic conditions and increasing food availability during the YD and HS 1, favoring appearance/dominance of Zoophycos, together with the lowest miliolid and the highest deep infaunal taxa abundances. Short-term climatic events (HS 11, IRE 10.1) associated with Terminations 2 and 4 are characterized by a major incidence of export productivity and accumulation of organic matter respect to depletion oxygenation, especially affecting the microbenthic habitat. Dark sediment intervals of HS 11 and IRE 10.1 are characterized by higher abundances of Zoophycos, together with strong peaks in hBFAR values, significant lows in miliolids and lower abundance of deep infaunal taxa. The presence of Chondrites during IRE 10.1 also indicates the impoverishment in pore-water conditions deep within the sediment.

Benthic hypoxia and early diagenesis in the Black Sea shelf sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Plante, Audrey; Roevros, Nathalie; Capet, Arthur; Grégoire, Marilaure; Fagel, Nathalie; Chou, Lei

2017-04-01

Marine waters of semi-enclosed seas are affected by a major environmental issue which is oxygen depletion in bottom waters. Deoxygenation is one of the most widespread man-induced consequences which can be catastrophic for living species. Between 1970 and 1990, the benthic compartment of the Black Sea underwent modifications due to the occurrence and increase of hypoxia. Indeed, these changes might cause a deterioration of the structure and functioning of the ecosystems. Nowadays, some regions, such as the north-western shelf, are still affected seasonally by this phenomenon. Within the framework of the BENTHOX project, a biogeochemical study focusing on the early diagenesis is conducted in the Black Sea. It aims (1) to obtain a better understanding of the impact of benthic hypoxia on the diagenetic pathways, (2) to contribute to a new dataset of biogeochemical measurements in the sediments including porewaters. During a cruise (Emblas II - May 2016), on board the RV Mare Nigrum, sediment cores were taken at 4 stations on the Ukrainian shelf. Porewaters were extracted on board the ship using Rhizon technique under N2 atmosphere and will be analyzed for dissolved nutrients and major ions. In addition, sediments were sliced and will be determined for major solid phases and trace element contents. A multi-proxies (biological, sedimentological, mineralogical and geochemical) approach will be used to identify the hypoxic events and to reconstruct the history of bottom hypoxia. The results obtained will be presented and discussed with emphasis on the first outcomes and the major biogeochemical processes involved in the early diagenesis.

Carbon isotopes of benthic foraminifera associated with methane seeps in Four-Way Closure Ridge, offshore southwestern Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, W. R.; Wei, K. Y.; Mii, H. S.; Lin, Y. S.; Huang, J. J.; Wang, P. L.; Lin, A. T.

2015-12-01

Release of large amounts of methane from marine gas hydrate reservoirs has been considered as a possible trigger of climate change, which can be recorded by the variation of carbon isotopes (δ13C) of the benthic foraminifera. In modern analogs, previous studies have suggested that δ13C becomes more negative when influenced by methane seeps. However, values of δ13C of benthic foraminifera might vary with different species and sedimentary settings in different regions. Seismic profiles in offshore southwestern Taiwan show the existence of Bottom Simulating Reflector (BSR) in the region, indicative of gas hydrate reservoirs. Various methane seepages have been found, and they are suspected to be related to the gas hydrates buried underneath. A better understanding of the δ13C signals of benthic foraminifera near the methane seepages can further clarify the origin of the methane and to evaluate it as a proxy of methane release for the geologic past. We have analyzed δ13C of benthic foraminifera Uvigerina proboscidea (150-250 mm) in the topmost 15 cm sediments in five marine cores (OR1-1092-WFWC-1, OR1-1092-WFWC-4, OR1-1092-WFWC-6, OR3-1806-C5-2 and OR3-1806-C10) collected from the Four-Way Closure Ridge in offshore southwestern Taiwan (water depth from 1330 to 1580 m). Our results show that δ13C values of U. proboscidea range from -0.98‰ to -6.21‰ (VPDB) for core OR3-1806-C5-2, which is considered as a seeps-influenced site. On the other hand, δ13C values of U. proboscidea from the background sites range from -0.40‰ to -1.00‰. The difference between the methane seep-affected and the background sites is in the range of 0.00‰ to 5.01‰, comparable to those documented in previous studies in other areas. The significant negative excursion in carbon isotopes in the seep site foraminifera is likely caused by incorporation of light inorganic carbon generated by methanotrophy in the system.

Variations of the paleo-productivity in benthic foraminifera records in MIS 3 from western South China Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Y.; Du, J.; Huang, B.; Chen, M.

2010-12-01

Understanding climate change of last glacial age as the background information of climate forecasting is particularly important in climate research. Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3, 61-24 ka B.P.) is a relative warm and unstable period in the last glacial. Millennium scale abrupt climate changes, such as Heinrich events and Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) cycles, are identified in this period. Research topic on the variations of monsoon during the glacial cycles, especially in MIS 3, is critical for understanding low latitude climatic change and the global paleo-environment as a whole. Fortunately, high resolution sedimentary records in western South China Sea provide us valuable materials to uncover how East Asia Summer Monsoon (EASM) system acts in a highly fluctuating climate ambient like MIS 3. Core 17954 is located in the modern summer upwelling area off the Vietnam coast in western South China Sea (SCS), its sediments record the variations of upwelling generated by EASM. In this work, we carry out paleo-ecological analyses on planktonic ( Neogloboquadrina dutertrei, Globigerina bulloides) and benthic foraminifera (Bulimina aculeate, Uvigerina peregrina, Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, ect.) sampled from Core 17954 to investigate paleo-productivity and nutrition change of western SCS and its relation to EASM. The results show that benthic and planktonic foraminifera have similar responses to nutrition change. Various indicators of productivity on the basis of benthic foraminiferal analyses reflect an overall three stage change trend: productivity gradually increases from the beginning of MIS 3 (60-40 ka) to its maximum during 35-30 ka, and finally declines after 30 ka. There is also another important discovery, if we observe the climate change in MIS 3 as a whole, we can also find western SCS and Northern Hemisphere High latitude have strong correspondences in such changes: Heinrich events coincided with high productivity events in the western SCS. Further, the result of this study also support precious study’s conclusion of five strengthened EASM periods (referred as S1-5) because productivity inferred form benthic foraminiferal analysis during these periods are relative high.

In-Pile Instrumentation Multi- Parameter System Utilizing Photonic Fibers and Nanovision

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burgett, Eric

2015-10-13

An advanced in-pile multi-parameter reactor monitoring system is being proposed in this funding opportunity. The proposed effort brings cutting edge, high fidelity optical measurement systems into the reactor environment in an unprecedented fashion, including in-core, in-cladding and in-fuel pellet itself. Unlike instrumented leads, the proposed system provides a unique solution to a multi-parameter monitoring need in core while being minimally intrusive in the reactor core. Detector designs proposed herein can monitor fuel compression and expansion in both the radial and axial dimensions as well as monitor linear power profiles and fission rates during the operation of the reactor. In additionmore » to pressure, stress, strain, compression, neutron flux, neutron spectra, and temperature can be observed inside the fuel bundle and fuel rod using the proposed system. The proposed research aims at developing radiation-hard, harsh-environment multi-parameter systems for insertion into the reactor environment. The proposed research holds the potential to drastically increase the fidelity and precision of in-core instrumentation with little or no impact in the neutron economy in the reactor environment while providing a measurement system capable of operation for entire operating cycles.« less

Oxygen, carbon, and nutrient exchanges at the sediment-water interface in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy).

PubMed

De Vittor, Cinzia; Relitti, Federica; Kralj, Martina; Covelli, Stefano; Emili, Andrea

2016-07-01

In the shallow environment, the nutrient and carbon exchanges at the sediment-water interface contribute significantly to determine the trophic status of the whole water column. The intensity of the allochthonous input in a coastal environment subjected to strong anthropogenic pressures determines an increase in the benthic oxygen demand leading to depressed oxygen levels in the bottom waters. Anoxic conditions resulting from organic enrichment can enhance the exchange of nutrients between sediments and the overlying water. In the present study, carbon and nutrient fluxes at the sediment-water interface were measured at two experimental sites, one highly and one moderately contaminated, as reference point. In situ benthic flux measurements of dissolved species (O2, DIC, DOC, N-NO3 (-), N-NO2 (-), N-NH4 (+), P-PO4 (3-), Si-Si(OH)4, H2S) were conducted using benthic chambers. Furthermore, undisturbed sediment cores were collected for analyses of total and organic C, total N, and biopolymeric carbon (carbohydrates, proteins, and lipids) as well as of dissolved species in porewaters and supernatant in order to calculate the diffusive fluxes. The sediments were characterized by suboxic to anoxic conditions with redox values more negative in the highly contaminated site, which was also characterized by higher biopolymeric carbon content (most of all lipids), lower C/N ratios and generally higher diffusive fluxes, which could result in a higher release of contaminants. A great difference was observed between diffusive and in situ benthic fluxes suggesting the enhancing of fluxes by bioturbation and the occurrence of biogeochemically important processes at the sediment-water interface. The multi-contamination of both inorganic and organic pollutants, in the sediments of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (declared SIN in 1998), potentially transferable to the water column and to the aquatic trophic chain, is of serious concern for its ecological relevance, also considering the widespread fishing and mussel farming activities in the area.

Benthic macroinvertebrate field sampling effort required to produce a sample adequate for the assessment of rivers and streams of Neuquén Province, Argentina

EPA Science Inventory

This multi-year pilot study evaluated a proposed field method for its effectiveness in the collection of a benthic macroinvertebrate sample adequate for use in the condition assessment of streams and rivers in the Neuquén Province, Argentina. A total of 13 sites, distribut...

Multi-scale effects of resource patchiness on foraging behaviour and habitat use by longnose dace, Rhinichthys cataractae

Treesearch

Andrew R. Thompson; J. Todd Petty; Gary D. Grossman

2001-01-01

1. We examined the response of a predatory benthic fish, the longnose dace (Rhinichthys cataractae), to patchiness in the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates on cobbles at three hierarchical spatial scales during summer and autumn 1996, and spring 1997 in a southern Appalachian stream. 2. At the primary scale (four to five individual cobbles...

Ecological Functioning in Two Mid-Atlantic Bight Submarine Canyons: Macrofauna Community Trends and the Role of Canyon Specific Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, C.; Bourque, J. R.; Davies, A. J.; Duineveld, G.; Mienis, F.; Brooke, S.; Ross, S. W.; Demopoulos, A. W.

2016-02-01

Submarine canyons are complex systems, acting as major conduits of organic matter along continental shelves and promoting gradients in food resources, turbidity flows, habitat heterogeneity, and areas of sediment resuspension and deposition. In the western North Atlantic, a large multidisciplinary program was conducted in two major Mid-Atlantic Bight (MAB) canyons (Baltimore and Norfolk canyons). This Atlantic Deepwater Canyons project was funded by BOEM, NOAA, and USGS. Here we investigate the `canyon effect' on benthic ecosystem ecology and functioning of two canyon systems by defining canyon specific processes influencing MAB shelf benthic community trends. Sediment cores were collected in 2012 and 2013 with a NIOZ box corer along the main axes ( 180-1200m) of Baltimore and Norfolk Canyon and at comparable depths on the adjacent continental slope. Whole community macrofaunal (>300 μm) abundance and biomass data provided insight into community trends across depth and biogeochemical gradients by coupling diversity metrics and biological trait analyses with sediment biogeochemistry and hydrodynamic data. The canyons exhibited clear differences in sediment profiles, hydrodynamic regimes and enrichment depocenters as well as significantly distinct infauna communities. Interestingly, both canyons showed bimodal distributions in abundances and diversity of infauna and a shallowing of species maxima which was not present on adjacent slopes. We hypothesize that physical canyon processes are important regulators in the depth of observed species maxima and community functioning on the MAB shelf, on local and regional scales. Unique sediment dynamics, organic enrichment, and hydrographic conditions were significant factors in structuring benthic community differences in MAB canyons The study provides a complete benthic infaunal appraisal of two canyon systems in the western Atlantic, incorporating biogeochemistry and oceanography to increase our understanding of canyon ecosystem ecology and provide baseline information on canyon functioning.

Multi-tiered S-SOA, Parameter-Driven New Islamic Syariah Products of Holistic Islamic Banking System (HiCORE): Virtual Banking Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Halimah, B. Z.; Azlina, A.; Sembok, T. M.; Sufian, I.; Sharul Azman, M. N.; Azuraliza, A. B.; Zulaiha, A. O.; Nazlia, O.; Salwani, A.; Sanep, A.; Hailani, M. T.; Zaher, M. Z.; Azizah, J.; Nor Faezah, M. Y.; Choo, W. O.; Abdullah, Chew; Sopian, B.

The Holistic Islamic Banking System (HiCORE), a banking system suitable for virtual banking environment, created based on universityindustry collaboration initiative between Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and Fuziq Software Sdn Bhd. HiCORE was modeled on a multitiered Simple - Services Oriented Architecture (S-SOA), using the parameterbased semantic approach. HiCORE's existence is timely as the financial world is looking for a new approach to creating banking and financial products that are interest free or based on the Islamic Syariah principles and jurisprudence. An interest free banking system has currently caught the interest of bankers and financiers all over the world. HiCORE's Parameter-based module houses the Customer-information file (CIF), Deposit and Financing components. The Parameter based module represents the third tier of the multi-tiered Simple SOA approach. This paper highlights the multi-tiered parameter- driven approach to the creation of new Islamiic products based on the 'dalil' (Quran), 'syarat' (rules) and 'rukun' (procedures) as required by the syariah principles and jurisprudence reflected by the semantic ontology embedded in the parameter module of the system.

Assessing environmental impact from gas and oil exploration in the SW Barents Sea using benthic foraminiferal assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dijkstra, N.; Junttila, J.; Husum, K.; Carroll, J.; Hald, M.

2012-04-01

During the last decades petroleum industry and shipping activities have increased in the SW Barents Sea. Oil exploration wells were drilled in the 1980s with production starting in 2007. These activities are projected to expand in the coming years. As part of the Northern Environmental Waste Management (EWMA) project, a competence cluster for petroleum industry related waste handling, we investigate the impacts of enhanced anthropogenic activities on benthic foraminiferal assemblages in the SW Barents Sea. Sediment cores (0-20 cm) from sites in proximity to two oil- and gas fields are under investigation. These sediment cores, dated with the 210Pb method, represent the last 90 to 150 years. Both dead and living benthic foraminifera (100 µm-1 mm) were counted to elucidate differences in foraminiferal assemblages between pre-impact and recent conditions. In addition, the heavy metal concentrations, persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations, grain size and total organic content (TOC) of the sediment cores have been analyzed. Pollution levels of the surface sediments (0-1 cm) are of background to good level (level I-II) according to the definitions of the Water Framework Directorate (WFD). Patterns in living benthic foraminiferal assemblages identified in the sea floor surface sediments, are the result of natural environmental changes such as depth, water mass and sediment composition. Further downcore (1-20 cm) pollution levels are in general of background environmental status (WFD level I). However, at some depth intervals, especially in sediment cores from the near proximity of the oil- and gas- fields, pollution levels are slightly enhanced (WFD level II). Further work will include statistical comparison of dead and living foraminiferal assemblages with sediment pollution levels, sediment properties, and oceanographic conditions. This research contributes to the development of foraminifera as a useful bio-monitoring technique for the Arctic region as industrial activities increase in the coming years.

Long-term ecological changes in the north Adriatic Sea: Epi-to Infauna turnover at the Brijuni islands national park

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pifeas, Iason; Gallmetzer, Ivo; Haselmair, Alexandra; Stachowitsch, Michael; Zuschin, Martin

2015-04-01

The northern Adriatic Sea with its densely populated coastline experienced strong anthropogenic impacts during the last centuries. The Brijuni islands at the southern tip of Istria, Croatia, are a national park since 1983 and represent a study area of special interest when comparing impacted marine areas with regions under relatively long-term protection that were able to recover from the pressure of fishing and bottom trawling. The present study is part of a project on the historical ecology of the northern Adriatic sea and focusses on long-term ecological changes and benthic community shifts as a result of anthropogenic impacts since the Holocene transgression. Several cores of 1.5 m length and a diameter of 90 mm were taken close to the main island of Brijuni and sliced into smaller subunits for sediment analyses and the investigation of death assemblages. Hard part remains of molluscs, crustaceans, bryozoans, echinoderms and sedentary polychaetes were analysed for species composition, abundance and indicators for high biomass epifauna. Death assemblages were compared with surface samples of the recent fauna taken at the same area by grab-sampling and by divers using a 100 x 100 cm frame. Data analyses revealed a steep increase of species abundance and diversity in the early stages of the Holocene transgression, at the very bottom of the core, followed by a steady decline, representing a major shift from a previously epibenthic to an infauna dominated community. Towards the top of the core, this trend weakens, and in the uppermost 6 cm it even reverses indicating a possible recovery of the benthic communities since the protection of the area. By correlating down-core changes in benthic community structure with sediment parameters (grain size distribution, TOC, heavy metal content, concentrations of organic pollutants) and data from radiometric sediment dating, we can further improve our understanding of the timing and the magnitude of past ecological changes and their consequences for benthic communities.

Late Quaternary changes in intermediate water oxygenation and oxygen minimum zone, northern Japan: A benthic foraminiferal perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shibahara, Akihiko; Ohkushi, Ken'ichi; Kennett, James P.; Ikehara, Ken

2007-09-01

A strong oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) currently exists at upper intermediate water depths on the northern Japanese margin, NW Pacific. The OMZ results largely from a combination of high surface water productivity and poor ventilation of upper intermediate waters. We investigated late Quaternary history (last 34 kyr) of ocean floor oxygenation and the OMZ using quantitative changes in benthic foraminiferal assemblages in three sediment cores taken from the continental slope off Shimokita Peninsula and Tokachi, northern Japan, at water depths between 975 and 1363 m. These cores are well located within the present-day OMZ, a region of high surface water productivity, and in close proximity to the source region of North Pacific Intermediate Water. Late Quaternary benthic foraminiferal assemblages experienced major changes in response to changes in dissolved oxygen concentration in ocean floor sediments. Foraminiferal assemblages are interpreted to represent three main groups representing oxic, suboxic, and dysoxic conditions. Assemblage changes in all three cores and hence in bottom water oxygenation coincided with late Quaternary climatic episodes, similar to that known for the southern California margin. These episodes, in turn, are correlated with orbital and millennial climate episodes in the Greenland ice core including the last glacial episode, Bølling-Ållerød (B/A), Younger Dryas, Preboreal (earliest Holocene), early Holocene, and late Holocene. The lowest oxygen conditions, marked by dysoxic taxa and laminated sediments in one core, occurred during the B/A and the Preboreal intervals. Suboxic taxa dominated mainly during the last glacial, the Younger Dryas, and most of the Holocene. Dysoxic conditions during the B/A and Preboreal intervals in this region were possibly caused by high surface water productivity at times of reduced intermediate ventilation in the northwestern Pacific. Remarkable similarities are evident in the late Quaternary sequence of benthic foraminiferal assemblage change between the two very distant continental margins of northern Japan and southern California. The oscillations in OMZ strength, reflected by these faunal changes, were widespread and apparently synchronous over wide areas of the North Pacific, reflecting broad changes in intermediate water ventilation and surface ocean productivity closely linked with late Quaternary climate change on millennial and orbital timescales.

Global reductions in seafloor biomass in response to climate change.

PubMed

Jones, Daniel O B; Yool, Andrew; Wei, Chih-Lin; Henson, Stephanie A; Ruhl, Henry A; Watson, Reg A; Gehlen, Marion

2014-06-01

Seafloor organisms are vital for healthy marine ecosystems, contributing to elemental cycling, benthic remineralization, and ultimately sequestration of carbon. Deep-sea life is primarily reliant on the export flux of particulate organic carbon from the surface ocean for food, but most ocean biogeochemistry models predict global decreases in export flux resulting from 21st century anthropogenically induced warming. Here we show that decadal-to-century scale changes in carbon export associated with climate change lead to an estimated 5.2% decrease in future (2091-2100) global open ocean benthic biomass under RCP8.5 (reduction of 5.2 Mt C) compared with contemporary conditions (2006-2015). Our projections use multi-model mean export flux estimates from eight fully coupled earth system models, which contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5, that have been forced by high and low representative concentration pathways (RCP8.5 and 4.5, respectively). These export flux estimates are used in conjunction with published empirical relationships to predict changes in benthic biomass. The polar oceans and some upwelling areas may experience increases in benthic biomass, but most other regions show decreases, with up to 38% reductions in parts of the northeast Atlantic. Our analysis projects a future ocean with smaller sized infaunal benthos, potentially reducing energy transfer rates though benthic multicellular food webs. More than 80% of potential deep-water biodiversity hotspots known around the world, including canyons, seamounts, and cold-water coral reefs, are projected to experience negative changes in biomass. These major reductions in biomass may lead to widespread change in benthic ecosystems and the functions and services they provide. © 2013 The Authors Global Change Biology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Multi-phase model development to assess RCIC system capabilities under severe accident conditions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kirkland, Karen Vierow; Ross, Kyle; Beeny, Bradley

The Reactor Core Isolation Cooling (RCIC) System is a safety-related system that provides makeup water for core cooling of some Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs) with a Mark I containment. The RCIC System consists of a steam-driven Terry turbine that powers a centrifugal, multi-stage pump for providing water to the reactor pressure vessel. The Fukushima Dai-ichi accidents demonstrated that the RCIC System can play an important role under accident conditions in removing core decay heat. The unexpectedly sustained, good performance of the RCIC System in the Fukushima reactor demonstrates, firstly, that its capabilities are not well understood, and secondly, that themore » system has high potential for extended core cooling in accident scenarios. Better understanding and analysis tools would allow for more options to cope with a severe accident situation and to reduce the consequences. The objectives of this project were to develop physics-based models of the RCIC System, incorporate them into a multi-phase code and validate the models. This Final Technical Report details the progress throughout the project duration and the accomplishments.« less

Mg/Ca- Δ CO3porewater2- -temperature calibration for Globobulimina spp.: A sensitive paleothermometer for deep-sea temperature reconstruction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weldeab, Syee; Arce, Adam; Kasten, Sabine

2016-03-01

Existing benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca-temperature calibrations are surrounded by substantial uncertainties mainly due to low temperature sensitivity of Mg/Ca in most benthic foraminifers and the effect of carbonate ion concentration on benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca. Here we present Mg/Ca analysis of Rose Bengal stained and exceptionally well-preserved tests of the infaunal benthic foraminifer Globobulimina spp. from 39 eastern equatorial Atlantic core top samples. Mg/Ca in Globobulimina spp. varies between 2.5 mmol/mol and 9.1 mmol/mol corresponding to bottom water temperatures (BWT) between 1.8 °C and 19.1 °C and Δ CO3pore water2- between 33.7 ± 4 and - 34.3 ± 4 μmol /kg in sediment depths between 1 and 10 cm. Mg/Ca and BWT are linearly correlated with a best fit of Mg/Ca [mmol/mol] = (0.36 ± 0.02) * BWT [°C] + 2.22 ± 0.19 (r2 = 0.92, p-value: 11 *10-20, and n = 39). Using total alkalinity and pH data of pore water samples from 64 Atlantic multi-corer sites, we obtained Δ CO3pore water2- data from the depth habitat range of Globobulimina spp. (≥1 cm ≤ 10 cm below sediment surface). We show that Δ CO3pore waterSUP>2- is significantly lower than and linearly co-varies with the ΔCO2-3 of the overlying bottom water: Δ CO3pore water2- = (0.67 ± 0.05) * Δ CO3bottom water2- - (39.84 ± 1.98); r2 = 0.75, p-value: 6 *10-20, n = 64. We found a Mg/Ca sensitivity of 0.009 ± 0.0044 mmol /mol per μmol/kg Δ CO3pore water2- and Mg/Ca temperature sensitivity of 0.32 ± 0.06 mmol /mol / °C after a correction for the Δ CO3pore water2- effect. This study provides a robust Mg/Ca-temperature calibration, highlights that Δ CO3pore water2- is spatially and most likely temporally variable, and contradicts the notion that infaunal foraminiferal Mg/Ca is relatively immune from ΔCO2-3 changes in the overlying bottom water. Furthermore, comparison of down core Mg/Ca data of Cibicides pachyderma and Globobulimina spp. demonstrates that the high temperature sensitivity of Mg/Ca in Globobulimina spp. presents a more robust paleothermometer to reconstruct past changes in the thermal state of the deep ocean.

Benthic macrofaunal colonization patterns and preservation of laminated sediments: Observations in an extreme coastal basin environment in the lower Gulf of California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herguera, J.; Paull, C. K.; Anderson, K.; Gwiazda, R.; Lundsten, E. M.; Kundz, L.; Edwards, B. D.; McGann, M. L.

2012-12-01

New observations and cores obtained with the ROV Doc Ricketts operated from the RV/Western Flyer provide a glimpse into a macrofauna barren sea-floor where laminated sediments are known to accumulate on the sea-floor of Alfonso Basin. This basin, located north of La Paz Bay, Baja California, is known to be an important repository of laminated sediments due to a combination of the relatively high input of terrigenous sediments brought in by summer rains, a moderate to high export productivity from its surface waters, and the very low oxygen concentrations at depth bathed by tropical subsurface waters. These laminated sediments are unique repositories of paleoceanographic and paleoclimatic information for its very high resolution records of past conditions comparable to ice core, tree ring, coral and cave records although spanning continuously much further back in time. However, the paleoceanographic community rarely has had the opportunity to visualize the seafloor surface where these sediments are accumulating and examine the biological abundance patterns in these extreme environments. Here we will show results from ROV Doc Ricketts quantitative video transects providing benthic faunal abundance patterns on the seafloor in these highly oxygen depleted bottom waters. These observations are further compared with the underlying stratigraphy. A coring system carried on the ROV allowed us to replicate cores and to collect a transect of 5 closely spaced cores to evaluate the horizontal extent of the observed variability down-core. We will also show some preliminary results from x-radiographs showing the nature of the laminations and its sediment composition based on elemental analysis on organic carbon, carbonate and biogenic opal analysis. New XRF results from a box core will be used to calibrate its terrigenous components with the historical rainfall record and evaluate its potential to reconstruct summer precipitation patterns in this region.

Biomonitoring polluted sediments in Arctic regions - possibilities and challenges using benthic foraminifera. Case studies from northern Norway

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skirbekk, Kari; Dijkstra, Noortje; Junttila, Juho; Sternal, Beata; Pedersen, Kristine Bondo; Forwick, Matthias; Carroll, JoLynn

2016-04-01

Biomonitoring pollution in marine environments using benthic foraminifera assemblages have proven to be a valid method for many regions. Two important reasons for their suitability are their sensitivity to changes in the environment and their rapid response time due to short life cycles. In addition, they are preserved in the sedimentary record, allowing for baseline studies of conditions prior to introduction of contaminants. Species of benthic foraminifera that appear to tolerate polluted sediments are referred to as opportunistic species. This notion is in general used for species able to dominate environments that are too stressful for most species. The high latitude setting of the northern Norwegian coastal zone experience high seasonality and, hence, largely changing conditions throughout a year: variations in water mass domination, freshwater influence, temperature and current velocity. It is possible that an environment like this is inhibited by a higher amount of opportunistic species generally thriving under high stress conditions. This might make the use of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring more challenging, as the faunal compositions may be a result of a complex set of processes. Consequently, large datasets are necessary in order to make reliable conclusions, which in time may be used as generalized guidelines for biomonitoring in this geographical area. Here, we present preliminary results of benthic foraminiferal assemblages from two sites in Finnmark, northern Norway, which have been exposed to pollution. The main site is Repparfjorden, where the inner parts of the fjord were used as a submarine waste deposal site for mine tailings from a local copper mine during the 1970´s. Results from four marine sediment cores (10-20 cm long) containing sediments classified to be in moderate to very bad state (according to Norwegian sediment quality criteria) are presented. The contamination is seen in intervals of elevated copper content dated to the 1970´s. Metal availability studies have been performed on one of the cores. In addition, a sediment core from Hammerfest Harbour was studied. The core comprises 20 cm of sediments containing elevated levels of a variety of environmental pollutants and heavy metals from various sources (moderate to poor state, according to Norwegian sediment quality criteria). For comparison, surface sediments (upper 5 cm) from the unpolluted fjord Revbotn, located in proximity to the two polluted sites, are studied. In the polluted cores, some correlations are seen between contaminants and faunal composition. However, none of these appear to be consistent for the entire area. This may be related to the difference in contaminants and the availability of the contaminants present at the two sites. In addition, other local influences such as grain size distribution and salinity variations, may contribute to a higher complexity of the faunal compositions. The study suggests that more comprehensive investigations of benthic foraminifera in contaminated sediments are needed for this region. In addition, it acknowledges the need for site-specific baseline studies of pre-polluted sediments.

Paleoenvironmental recovery from the Chesapeake Bay bolide impact: The benthic foraminiferal record

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poag, C.W.

2009-01-01

The late Eocene Chesapeake Bay bolide impact transformed its offshore target site from an outer neritic, midshelf seafl oor into a bathyal crater basin. To obtain a depositional record from one of the deepest parts of this basin, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the International Continental Scientifi c Drilling Program (ICDP) drilled a 1.76-km-deep core hole near Eyreville, Virginia. The Eyreville core and eight previously cored boreholes contain a rarely obtainable record of marine deposition and microfossil assemblages that characterize the transition from synimpact to postimpact paleoenvironments inside and near a submarine impact crater. I used depositional style and benthic foraminiferal assemblages to recognize a four-step transitional succession, with emphasis on the Eyreville core. Step 1 is represented by small-scale, silt-rich turbidites, devoid of indigenous microfossils, which lie directly above the crater-fi lling Exmore breccia. Step 2 is represented by very thin, parallel, silt and clay laminae, which accumulated on a relatively tranquil and stagnant seafl oor. This stagnation created a dead zone, which excluded seafl oor biota, and it lasted ~3-5 ka. Step 3 is an interval of marine clay deposition, accompanied by a burst of microfaunal activity, as a species-rich pioneer community of benthic foraminifera repopulated the impact site. The presence of a diagnostic suite of agglutinated foraminifera during step 3 indicates that paleoenvironmental stress related to the impact lasted from ~9 ka to 400 ka at different locations inside the crater. During step 4, the agglutinated assemblage disappeared, and an equilibrium foraminiferal community developed that contained nearly 100% calcareous species. In contrast to intracrater localities, core sites outside and near the crater rim show neither evidence of the agglutinated assemblage, nor other indications of long-term biotic disruption from the bolide impact. 

Recent advances in the use of estuarine meiobenthos to assess contaminated sediment effects in multi-species whole sediment microcosms

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chandler, G.T.; Coull, B.C.; Schizas, N.V.

1995-12-31

Many marine meiobenthic taxa (i.e. invertebrates passing a 1-mm sieve but retaining on a 0.063 mm sieve) are ideal for ``whole-sediment`` and porewater bioassay of sedimented pollutants. Annual production of meiobenthos is 5--10 times that of the more commonly studied macrobenthos, and > 95% of all meiobenthos live in the oxic zone of muddy sediments at densities of 4--12 million per M{sup 2}. Most spend their entire lifecycles, burrowing freely and feeding on/within the sediment:porewater matrix, many taxa undergo 10--14 generations per year, most larval/juvenile stages are benthic, and many have easily quantifiable reproductive output. Furthermore, many meiobenthic taxa canmore » be cultured indefinitely over multiple life-cycles within simple sediment microcosms consisting of sealed whole-sediment cores collected intact from intertidal mudflats. The authors describe several recent technical developments exploiting meiofaunal sediment culture for rapid contaminated sediment bioassays of toxicant effects on survival, reproduction and population growth of meiobenthic taxa in whole-sediment microcosms. Currently meiobenthic copepods, nematodes, foraminifers and polychaetes are being continuously cultured to study these parameters under exposure to model sediment-associated toxicants (e.g. cadmium). Bioassays are run for 21-d under flowing seawater. With this approach, fertile benthic copepods (e.g. Amphiascus tenuiremis) can be added to core microcosms to assess survival and growth of a fixed population cohort. All other meiobenthic taxa are enumerated relative to controls and evaluated for toxicant effects on higher order community-level endpoints. This approach exploits meiobenthos` high abundance and rapid reproductive rates to yield on a micro scale better endpoints than much larger sediment mesocosms targeted at macrofaunal endpoints.« less

The biogeochemistry of Arabian Sea surficial sediments: A review of recent studies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowie, Greg

2005-05-01

The Arabian Sea’s unusual features have drawn attention from oceanographers and other scientists since the late 1800s. Water-column processes, including the seasonally reversing monsoon-driven circulation and the associated upwelling and productivity, as well as a basin-wide, mid-water layer of intense oxygen depletion have been the foci of many studies. However, the importance of benthic processes in the Arabian Sea has also been recognized. Both the abyssal region and the continental margins have been sites of major studies focused on the biology and geochemistry of surficial sediments and key biogeochemical processes that occur across the benthic boundary layer, especially in the last decade. A summary of benthic studies carried out up to the 1990s is followed by descriptions and syntheses of biological and geochemical studies conducted since that time. The results highlight that the benthic system of the Arabian Sea is highly dynamic, with evidence of strong benthic-pelagic coupling displayed as a cross-basin trophic gradient and in benthic response to seasonal variability in productivity and C flux. Benthic biogeochemical processes, especially on the upper slope and within the oxygen minimum zone, including denitrification, phosphogenesis, and fluxes of trace metals, nutrients and dissolved organic matter, may be of global significance but remain poorly quantified. Sedimentary organic matter distributions across the Arabian Sea have served to fuel an ongoing debate over the controlling environmental factors. Recent studies have illustrated that factors including the supply of reactive organic matter, oxygen exposure, digestion and mixing by the benthos, sorptive preservation, and sediment dilution, winnowing and down-slope transport, all interact in a complex fashion and with varied impact to determine distributions of sedimentary organic matter across the different margins of this basin. Notable features include the facts that it is only at the core of the oxygen minimum zone on the Indian and Pakistan margins where laminated sediments occur and oxygen concentrations appear to fall below the threshold required for macrobenthos, and that sulfate reduction is surprisingly suppressed when compared to rates observed on other upwelling margins with oxygen minimum zones. The review is completed by suggestions for future benthic research in the Arabian Sea.

CMS Readiness for Multi-Core Workload Scheduling

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Balcas, J.; Hernandez, J.

In the present run of the LHC, CMS data reconstruction and simulation algorithms benefit greatly from being executed as multiple threads running on several processor cores. The complexity of the Run 2 events requires parallelization of the code to reduce the memory-per- core footprint constraining serial execution programs, thus optimizing the exploitation of present multi-core processor architectures. The allocation of computing resources for multi-core tasks, however, becomes a complex problem in itself. The CMS workload submission infrastructure employs multi-slot partitionable pilots, built on HTCondor and GlideinWMS native features, to enable scheduling of single and multi-core jobs simultaneously. This provides amore » solution for the scheduling problem in a uniform way across grid sites running a diversity of gateways to compute resources and batch system technologies. This paper presents this strategy and the tools on which it has been implemented. The experience of managing multi-core resources at the Tier-0 and Tier-1 sites during 2015, along with the deployment phase to Tier-2 sites during early 2016 is reported. The process of performance monitoring and optimization to achieve efficient and flexible use of the resources is also described.« less

CMS readiness for multi-core workload scheduling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Balcas, J.; Hernandez, J.; Aftab Khan, F.; Letts, J.; Mason, D.; Verguilov, V.

2017-10-01

In the present run of the LHC, CMS data reconstruction and simulation algorithms benefit greatly from being executed as multiple threads running on several processor cores. The complexity of the Run 2 events requires parallelization of the code to reduce the memory-per- core footprint constraining serial execution programs, thus optimizing the exploitation of present multi-core processor architectures. The allocation of computing resources for multi-core tasks, however, becomes a complex problem in itself. The CMS workload submission infrastructure employs multi-slot partitionable pilots, built on HTCondor and GlideinWMS native features, to enable scheduling of single and multi-core jobs simultaneously. This provides a solution for the scheduling problem in a uniform way across grid sites running a diversity of gateways to compute resources and batch system technologies. This paper presents this strategy and the tools on which it has been implemented. The experience of managing multi-core resources at the Tier-0 and Tier-1 sites during 2015, along with the deployment phase to Tier-2 sites during early 2016 is reported. The process of performance monitoring and optimization to achieve efficient and flexible use of the resources is also described.

Options for Parallelizing a Planning and Scheduling Algorithm

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, Bradley J.; Estlin, Tara A.; Bornstein, Benjamin D.

2011-01-01

Space missions have a growing interest in putting multi-core processors onboard spacecraft. For many missions processing power significantly slows operations. We investigate how continual planning and scheduling algorithms can exploit multi-core processing and outline different potential design decisions for a parallelized planning architecture. This organization of choices and challenges helps us with an initial design for parallelizing the CASPER planning system for a mesh multi-core processor. This work extends that presented at another workshop with some preliminary results.

The Terrestrial Paleoclimatic Record of the Late Quaternary as Revealed by Drilling Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, P. A.; Fritz, S. C.; Seltzer, G. O.; Ballantyne, A. P.; Rigsby, C. A.

2004-12-01

Seven drill cores were recovered from Lake Titicaca during the NSF/ICDP/DOSECC drilling expedition of 2001; our most detailed multi-proxy analyses have been done on Core 2B raised from 232 m water depth in the central basin of the lake. This site was drilled to 139 mblf with 141 m of total sediment recovered (101%). The recovered sediments consist of two main lithologies, organic- and inorganic-carbon-rich (often-laminated) muds that alternate with detrital-rich muds. These lithologies represent respectively low and high lakestand deposits. Proxies for water level include planktic-to-benthic diatom ratio, sedimentary carbonate content, and stable isotopic ratio of organic carbon. There are six highstand intervals separated by five lowstand intervals indicating that the level and volume of Lake Titicaca underwent several large changes during the late Quaternary. We infer from high values of magnetic susceptibility in most highstand muds that glacial advances in the surrounding Andes coincided with periods of relative wetness. During the most recent lowstand, in the early and middle Holocene, Lake Titicaca fell to 85 m below its modern level, salinity increased several-fold, and the downstream Salar de Uyuni desiccated. By contrast, throughout the LGM from ca. 25,000 cal BP to 15,000 cal BP, Lake Titicaca was deep and fresh, and overflowed southward to the Salar de Uyuni. Prior to the LGM, back to ca. 53,000 BP, the lake was predominantly fresh and overflowing. Pulses of increased benthic diatom abundance and inorganic carbon concentration during that time were likely due to episodes of downslope transport. We believe (based on U-Th dates of authigenic carbonate layers) that the penultimate lowstand of Lake Titicaca (seismic evidence indicates a lake level 200 m lower than today) was coincident with MIS 5. We recovered sediments recording three older lowstands, each separated by periods in which the lake freshened dramatically and when glaciers apparently advanced in the Andes. We tentatively correlate these lowstands with MIS 7, 9, and 11. The high abundance of benthic diatoms in the lowermost 40 m of drill core may imply that the Altiplano was persistently drier than today, prior to and including MIS 9. Alternatively, basin morphometry may have been significantly different than today because of geomorphic or tectonic effects. This period apparently coincides with a period when the Salar de Uyuni was mostly dry and dominated by salt deposition.

In Situ and Ex Situ Estimates of Benthic Silica Fluxes in NGOM Shelf Sediments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ebner, B. C.; Ghaisas, N. A.; Maiti, K.

2017-12-01

Biogenic silica (bSi), plays an important role in regulating primary productivity of diatoms in coastal and shelf ecosystems fed by major rivers. In the Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM), loading of nitrogen (N) and phosphorous (P) have increased compared to a decline in silicic acid in the Mississippi River (MR). Continued decreasing in silicic acid concentration could lead to limited diatom growth and production, therefore, it is important understand the role of benthic fluxes in providing silica to the overlying water column. The benthic flux of Si from shelf sediments can thus represent an important source of Si to be utilized by diatoms. Sediment core incubations and benthic chamber deployments were conducted at 5 sites in the Mississippi river plume with varying salinities during periods of high river discharge (May 2017), low river discharge (August 2016) and peak in hypoxia (July 2017). Preliminary data indicates large spatial and temporal variability in benthic silica fluxes ranging between 1.1 to 5.9 mmol/m2/d. This large variability in benthic silica flux is probably related to the seasonal changes in river discharge, primary production, community composition and sediment biogeochemistry in the region.

Nonlinear Light Dynamics in Multi-Core Structures

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-27

be generated in continuous- discrete optical media such as multi-core optical fiber or waveguide arrays; localisation dynamics in a continuous... discrete nonlinear system. Detailed theoretical analysis is presented of the existence and stability of the discrete -continuous light bullets using a very...and pulse compression using wave collapse (self-focusing) energy localisation dynamics in a continuous- discrete nonlinear system, as implemented in a

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and bottom water evolution off the Portuguese margin since the Middle Pleistocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Qimei; Li, Baohua; Kim, Jin-Kyoung

2017-03-01

The upper 250 meter-long sediment core of Site U1391 (1085 m water depth) retrieved from the Portuguese margin in the Northeast Atlantic Ocean was adopted for the benthic foraminiferal analyses to disclose the variations in Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) intensity over the last 0.9 Ma. Benthic foraminifera are abundant at this site and mainly composed of the hyaline forms (80%, such as Cibicidoides/Cibicides spp., Globobulimina spp., Bulimina spp., Uvigerina spp., Melonis spp., Sphaeroidina bulloides, Hoeglundina elegans, Gyroidinoides spp., Lenticulina spp. and Planulina ariminensis), while the agglutinated and porcelaneous forms have only 5% and 14.1% on average, respectively. Down-core variations of the benthic foraminifera show glacial-interglacial contrasts, especially those of Lenticulina spp. and Planulina ariminensis, which is also supported by the benthic foraminiferal cluster analysis. During the interglacial periods, the fauna are dominated by Sphaeroidina bulloides, Lenticulina spp., Planulina ariminensis, Dentalina spp., Cibicidoides robertsonianus and the agglutinated forms, while by Cibicidoides pachyderma, Praeglobobulimina ovata, Praeglobobulimina pupoides, Bulimina mexicana, Uvigerina mediterranea, Bolivinita quadrilatera and mililoids during the glacial periods. Benthic foraminiferal faunal data at Site U1391 was detailed analyzed to disclose the bottom water property over the last 0.9 Ma. Variations of the character species or assemblages, such as Planulina ariminensis, and the ;elevated epibenthos; group suggest that the MOW intensity has typical glacial-interglacial cycles, strengthening during the interglacial periods and weakening during the glacial periods, and reaches its peak at MIS 11. The strongest MOW intensity during MIS 11 confirms the climatic influence of waving sea level on the MOW current by its + 20 m high-stand above the present sea level. The agglutinated benthic foraminifera have a significantly positive correlation with the MOW index of ;elevated epibenthos;, which suggests that their abundance can be used to monitor the hydrodynamic conditions of bottom water off the Portuguese margin. Consistent with the MOW intensity, the lower miliolids content implies a lower salinity which supported the stronger vertical density gradient during the interglacial periods in this region; while the glacial ocean has a higher salinity with a weak vertical density gradient/MOW intensity.

Benthic-Pelagic Coupling in Biogeochemical and Climate Models: Existing Approaches, Recent developments and Roadblocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arndt, Sandra

2016-04-01

Marine sediments are key components in the Earth System. They host the largest carbon reservoir on Earth, provide the only long term sink for atmospheric CO2, recycle nutrients and represent the most important climate archive. Biogeochemical processes in marine sediments are thus essential for our understanding of the global biogeochemical cycles and climate. They are first and foremost, donor controlled and, thus, driven by the rain of particulate material from the euphotic zone and influenced by the overlying bottom water. Geochemical species may undergo several recycling loops (e.g. authigenic mineral precipitation/dissolution) before they are either buried or diffuse back to the water column. The tightly coupled and complex pelagic and benthic process interplay thus delays recycling flux, significantly modifies the depositional signal and controls the long-term removal of carbon from the ocean-atmosphere system. Despite the importance of this mutual interaction, coupled regional/global biogeochemical models and (paleo)climate models, which are designed to assess and quantify the transformations and fluxes of carbon and nutrients and evaluate their response to past and future perturbations of the climate system either completely neglect marine sediments or incorporate a highly simplified representation of benthic processes. On the other end of the spectrum, coupled, multi-component state-of-the-art early diagenetic models have been successfully developed and applied over the past decades to reproduce observations and quantify sediment-water exchange fluxes, but cannot easily be coupled to pelagic models. The primary constraint here is the high computation cost of simulating all of the essential redox and equilibrium reactions within marine sediments that control carbon burial and benthic recycling fluxes: a barrier that is easily exacerbated if a variety of benthic environments are to be spatially resolved. This presentation provides an integrative overview of the benthic-pelagic coupling that accounts for the complex process interplay from the euphotic ocean to the deep sediment. It explores the intensity of the benthic-pelagic coupling across different environments and from the seasonal to the geological timescale. Different modelling approaches of coupling sediment and water column dynamics in regional/global biogeochemical models and (paleo)climate models are critically evaluated and their most important limitations, as well as the implications for our ability to predict the response of the global carbon cycle to past or future perturbations is discussed. Finally, the presentation identifies major roadblocks to the development of new model approaches and highlights how new techniques, new observational and laboratory data, as well as a close interdisciplinary collaboration can overcome these roadblocks.

Multi-decadal synthesis of benthic pelagic coupling in the western arctic: Role of cross-shelf advective processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunton, Kenneth H.; Goodall, Jonathan L.; Schonberg, Susan V.; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M.; Maidment, David R.

2005-12-01

Using geographic information systems (GIS) software and geostatistical techniques, we utilized three decades of water-column chlorophyll a data to examine the relative importance of autochthonous versus allochthonous sources of reduced carbon to benthic communities that occur from the northern Bering to the eastern Beaufort Sea shelf. Spatial trend analyses revealed areas of high benthic biomass (>300 g m -2) and chlorophyll (>150 mg m -2) on both the southern and northern Chukchi shelf; both areas are known as depositional centers for reduced organic matter that originates on the Bering Sea shelf and is advected northward in Anadyr and Bering shelf water masses. We found a significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll a in the Chukchi Sea, reflective of the strong benthic-pelagic coupling in a system that is utilized heavily by benthic-feeding marine mammals. In contrast, there was no significant correlation between biomass and chlorophyll in the Beaufort Sea, which by comparison, is considerably less productive (biomass and chlorophyll, <75 g m -2 and <50 mg m -2, respectively). One notable exception is an area of relatively high biomass (50-100 g m -2) and chlorophyll (80 mg m -2) near Barter Island in the eastern Beaufort Sea. Compared to other adjacent areas in the Beaufort Sea, the chlorophyll values in the vicinity of Barter Island were considerably higher and likely reflect a long-hypothesized upwelling in that area and close coupling between the benthos and autochthonous production. In the Bering Sea, a drop in benthic biomass in 1994 compared with previous measurements (1974-1993) may support earlier observations that document a decline in biomass that began between the 1980s and 1990s in the Chirikov Basin and south of St. Lawrence Island. The results of this study indicate that the benthos is an excellent long-term indicator of both local and physical advective processes. In addition, this work provides further evidence that secondary production on arctic shelves can be significantly augmented by reduced carbon advected from highly productive adjacent shelves.

Characterizing the role benthos plays in large coastal seas and estuaries: A modular approach

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tenore, K.R.; Zajac, R.N.; Terwin, J.; Andrade, F.; Blanton, J.; Boynton, W.; Carey, D.; Diaz, R.; Holland, Austin F.; Lopez-Jamar, E.; Montagna, P.; Nichols, F.; Rosenberg, R.; Queiroga, H.; Sprung, M.; Whitlatch, R.B.

2006-01-01

Ecologists studying coastal and estuarine benthic communities have long taken a macroecological view, by relating benthic community patterns to environmental factors across several spatial scales. Although many general ecological patterns have been established, often a significant amount of the spatial and temporal variation in soft-sediment communities within and among systems remains unexplained. Here we propose a framework that may aid in unraveling the complex influence of environmental factors associated with the different components of coastal systems (i.e. the terrestrial and benthic landscapes, and the hydrological seascape) on benthic communities, and use this information to assess the role played by benthos in coastal ecosystems. A primary component of the approach is the recognition of system modules (e.g. marshes, dendritic systems, tidal rivers, enclosed basins, open bays, lagoons). The modules may differentially interact with key forcing functions (e.g. temperature, salinity, currents) that influence system processes and in turn benthic responses and functions. Modules may also constrain benthic characteristics and related processes within certain ecological boundaries and help explain their overall spatio-temporal variation. We present an example of how benthic community characteristics are related to the modular structure of 14 coastal seas and estuaries, and show that benthic functional group composition is significantly related to the modular structure of these systems. We also propose a framework for exploring the role of benthic communities in coastal systems using this modular approach and offer predictions of how benthic communities may vary depending on the modular composition and characteristics of a coastal system. ?? 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Software Defined Radio with Parallelized Software Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heckler, Greg

2013-01-01

This software implements software-defined radio procession over multi-core, multi-CPU systems in a way that maximizes the use of CPU resources in the system. The software treats each processing step in either a communications or navigation modulator or demodulator system as an independent, threaded block. Each threaded block is defined with a programmable number of input or output buffers; these buffers are implemented using POSIX pipes. In addition, each threaded block is assigned a unique thread upon block installation. A modulator or demodulator system is built by assembly of the threaded blocks into a flow graph, which assembles the processing blocks to accomplish the desired signal processing. This software architecture allows the software to scale effortlessly between single CPU/single-core computers or multi-CPU/multi-core computers without recompilation. NASA spaceflight and ground communications systems currently rely exclusively on ASICs or FPGAs. This software allows low- and medium-bandwidth (100 bps to .50 Mbps) software defined radios to be designed and implemented solely in C/C++ software, while lowering development costs and facilitating reuse and extensibility.

Using Multi-Core Systems for Rover Autonomy

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Clement, Brad; Estlin, Tara; Bornstein, Benjamin; Springer, Paul; Anderson, Robert C.

2010-01-01

Task Objectives are: (1) Develop and demonstrate key capabilities for rover long-range science operations using multi-core computing, (a) Adapt three rover technologies to execute on SOA multi-core processor (b) Illustrate performance improvements achieved (c) Demonstrate adapted capabilities with rover hardware, (2) Targeting three high-level autonomy technologies (a) Two for onboard data analysis (b) One for onboard command sequencing/planning, (3) Technologies identified as enabling for future missions, (4)Benefits will be measured along several metrics: (a) Execution time / Power requirements (b) Number of data products processed per unit time (c) Solution quality

Data Acquisition System for Multi-Frequency Radar Flight Operations Preparation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leachman, Jonathan

2010-01-01

A three-channel data acquisition system was developed for the NASA Multi-Frequency Radar (MFR) system. The system is based on a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) industrial PC (personal computer) and two dual-channel 14-bit digital receiver cards. The decimated complex envelope representations of the three radar signals are passed to the host PC via the PCI bus, and then processed in parallel by multiple cores of the PC CPU (central processing unit). The innovation is this parallelization of the radar data processing using multiple cores of a standard COTS multi-core CPU. The data processing portion of the data acquisition software was built using autonomous program modules or threads, which can run simultaneously on different cores. A master program module calculates the optimal number of processing threads, launches them, and continually supplies each with data. The benefit of this new parallel software architecture is that COTS PCs can be used to implement increasingly complex processing algorithms on an increasing number of radar range gates and data rates. As new PCs become available with higher numbers of CPU cores, the software will automatically utilize the additional computational capacity.

Multi-Sensor Systems and Data Fusion for Telecommunications, Remote Sensing and Radar (les Systemes multi-senseurs et le fusionnement des donnees pour les telecommunications, la teledetection et les radars)

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-04-01

The result of the project is a demonstration of the fusion process, the sensors management and the real-time capabilities using simulated sensors...demonstrator (TAD) is a system that demonstrates the core ele- ment of a battlefield ground surveillance system by simulation in near real-time. The core...Management and Sensor/Platform simulation . The surveillance system observes the real world through a non-collocated heterogene- ous multisensory system

Influence of diesel contamination on the benthic microbial/meiofaunal food web of a Louisiana salt marsh

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Carman, K.R.; Fleeger, J.W.; Pomarico, S.

The authors studied the influence of diesel-contaminated sediments on the benthic microbial/meiofaunal food web from a Louisiana salt marsh. Diesel-contaminated sediment was added to microcosms (intact cores of marsh mud) in a range of doses, and a suite of microbial and meiofaunal responses were measured over a 28-day period. The authors measured bacterial and microalgal (Chl a) abundance, bacterial and microalgal activity using radiotracers ({sup 14}C-acetate and {sup 14}CO{sub 2}, respectively), meiofaunal grazing on microalgae, meiofaunal community structure, and meiofaunal physiological condition. Preliminary results indicate that diesel-contaminated sediments influence microalgal biomass and activity, as well as the life histories ofmore » benthic copepod species.« less

The Impact of Hypoxia on Foraminifera in the Northern Mississippi Bight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunner, C. A.; Kuykendall, J. I.; Hartmann, V. A.; Howden, S. D.

2008-12-01

Hypoxia was measured in bottom water of the northern Mississippi Bight in the summers of 2006 and 2008. In 2006, the area covered approximately 200 km2, extending along the 10-m isobath from Horn Island to the eastern end of Petit Bois Island and southward to the USM buoy near the 20-m isobath. In 2008, the area increased, extending in addition southward along the 10-m isobath seaward of the Chandeleur Islands. Hypoxia was also measured at a site near the USM buoy in August 2004 and at nearby FH-2 in August 2003, and anecdotal reports have suggested hypoxia in August of other years. Because hypoxia in the Mississippi bight is much smaller and appears shorter than seasonal hypoxia in the Louisiana bight, we wanted to assess whether or not these events affect the benthic meiofauna, in this instance, using benthic foraminifers. Benthic foraminifers were collected in box and diver cores within the area of known hypoxia in June when bottom water was well oxygenated and in July and August when conditions were hypoxic. For comparison, cores were also collected east of the area of known hypoxia. All cores were collected from 20 m water depth, and each sample consisted of two replicate cores. The cores were sliced into 1-cm slabs from the top to 5 cm depth, stained with rose Bengal, and counted for live specimens. The assemblage of living foraminifers in normally oxygenated conditions consisted of ten common species, in addition to at least ten rare species. Only 24% of the specimens were hypoxia-tolerant species. In contrast, two hypoxia-tolerant species, Nonionella basiloba and Bolivina lowmani, comprising 80-90% of the fauna, dominated the live assemblage during the hypoxic periods. In addition, the biomass of the hypoxic samples was four times that of the control samples, though habitation depths were not significantly different. Interestingly, at one site sampled in June 2005, a turbid layer (possibly a fluid mud) had moved into the area covering the top two centimeters of the seafloor. The fluid-filled mud was dominated by the same hypoxia- tolerant species, Nonionella basiloba with significant numbers of Bolivina lowmani. We conclude based on these preliminary results that the meiofauna-represented by benthic foraminifers-responds to the August hypoxia with dominance of hypoxia-tolerant species.

Major Cation, Carbon System and Trace Element Chemistry in Pore Waters from a Depth Transect of Cores on the Iberian Margin: Implications for Paleoproxies.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greaves, M.; Elderfield, H.; Hodell, D. A.; Skinner, L. C.; Sevilgen, D.; Grauel, A. L.; de la Fuente, M.; Misra, S.

2014-12-01

A significant body of work exists on the chemistry of pore waters from DSDP and ODP drilling cores (e.g. Gieskes 1975; Sayles 1981) showing large gradients in sea salt cations and anions interpreted in terms of diagenetic reactions such as the formation of Mg-rich clays and dolomite formation (Higgins and Schrag, 2010). Another class of diagenetic reactions involves the breakdown of organic matter and trace element behaviour (Froelich et al., 1979). The translation of chemical gradients into fluxes requires estimates of pore water chemistry across the sea water - sediment surface boundary. Additionally, the use of the chemistry of benthic foraminiferal calcite for seawater paleochemistry requires estimation of the chemistry of pore waters which may differ from that of bottom seawater because of diagenetic reactions. In this work we have collected multi core samples from 10 core sites on cruise RRS James Cook JC089 on the southwest Iberian continental margin. Pore waters were extracted from the core surface and at 1 cm depth intervals down core (typically to ~40 cm depth) using Rhizon samplers and analysed for Alkalinity, DIC, ∂13C and Na, K, Mg, Ca, Li, Mn, Fe, Ba, B, Sr by atomic emission spectrophotometry as well as O2 penetration and pH by microelectrodes. This has allowed us to inspect chemical behavior at the bottom water - sediment interface. Some examples of results are a large gradient in ∂13C of DIC, the similarity of zero O2 penetration followed by an increase in Mn concentration and then decrease to zero, the similarity of Li to Mn and, in contrast to much DSDP/ODP work, Ca2+ and Mg2+both decrease with depth in pore waters near the sediment surface. References: Gieskes J.M. Annu. Rev. Earth Planet. Sci. 3, 433 (1975). Sayles F. L. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta45, 1061 (1981). Higgins J.A. and D.P. Schrag. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta.74, 5039 (2010). Froelich, P.N., et al., Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta. 43, 1075 (1979).

Last glacial to Holocene productivity and oxygen changes based on benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the western Alboran Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Asensio, José N.; Cacho, Isabel; Frigola, Jaime; Pena, Leopoldo D.; Asioli, Alessandra; Kuhlmann, Jannis; Huhn, Katrin

2016-04-01

Late glacial to Holocene productivity and oxygen changes in the Alboran Sea were investigated analyzing benthic foraminiferal assemblages from the marine sediment core HER-GC-UB06. This 255 cm-long core was recovered at 946 m water depth in the Alboran Sea (western Mediterranean Sea) and includes homogeneous greyish clays from the last 23 ka. Nowadays, the core site is bathed by the Western Mediterranean Deep Water (WMDW) and near the overlying Levantine Intermediate Water (LIW). Benthic foraminifera from the size fraction >63 μm were identified at species level and counted until reaching at least 300 individuals. Q-mode principal component analyses (PCA) was performed to establish benthic foraminiferal assemblages. In addition, benthic foraminifera were classified according to their microhabitat preferences. Diversity was assessed with several diversity indices. Four benthic foraminiferal assemblages have been identified along the core. The distribution of these assemblages records changes in productivity and oxygen conditions during the last 23 ka. The last glacial and deglaciation interval, 23-12.5 ka, shows low diversity and is characterized by the Nonionella iridea assemblage, which includes Cassidulina laevigata, Bolivina dilatata, Nonionoides turgida and Cibicides pachyderma as secondary taxa. This assemblage can be interpreted as a moderately oxygenated mesotrophic environment with episodic pulses of fresh organic matter. Although general mesotrophic conditions prevail, the Last Glacial Maximum shows a more oligotrophic and better oxygenated setting as suggested by higher abundance of epifaunal-shallow infaunal taxa. In contrast, along the Bølling-Allerød eutrophic conditions with higher productivity and lower oxygenation are recorded by a deep infaunal taxa maximum. During the Younger Dryas (YD) and the earliest Holocene (12.5-10.5 ka), the Bolivina dilatata assemblage dominates coinciding with a lower diversity, especially during the YD. This species and the additional taxa of the assemblage (Bolivina spathulata, Bolivina subspinescens, Bulimina marginata, Bolivina variabilis and Uvigerina peregrina) also thrive in mesotrophic environments with fresh organic matter supply and moderate oxygen content. The lower part of the early Holocene (10.5-7.3 ka) is dominated by the Cassidulina obtusa assemblage including Bolivina subspinescens, Bolivina variabilis, Bulimina marginata, Gyroidina altiformis, Nonionella iridea and Quinqueloculina sp. as associated taxa. A highly diverse mesotrophic setting with slightly higher oxygenation can be inferred for this assemblage. This is supported by the higher abundance of epifaunal-shallow infaunal taxa and the presence of G. altiformis and Quinqueloculina sp. Finally, the highly diverse Alabaminella weddellensis assemblage occurs along the upper part of the core (7.3-0 ka) encompassing the upper early Holocene and late Holocene. Additional species of this assemblages are Uvigerina mediterranea, Melonis barleeanus, Cassidulina laevigata, Cassidulina obtusa and Uvigerina peregrina. This assemblage suggests mesotrophic conditions with a more continuous organic matter supply as pointed out by the occurrence of U. mediterranea and the intermediate infaunal M. barleeanus that can feed from more degraded organic matter. The onset of this assemblage around 7.3 ka might be related to the establishment of the semi-permanent productive 'Malaga cell" dated at 7.7 ka.

Behavior-aware cache hierarchy optimization for low-power multi-core embedded systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Huatao; Luo, Xiao; Zhu, Chen; Watanabe, Takahiro; Zhu, Tianbo

2017-07-01

In modern embedded systems, the increasing number of cores requires efficient cache hierarchies to ensure data throughput, but such cache hierarchies are restricted by their tumid size and interference accesses which leads to both performance degradation and wasted energy. In this paper, we firstly propose a behavior-aware cache hierarchy (BACH) which can optimally allocate the multi-level cache resources to many cores and highly improved the efficiency of cache hierarchy, resulting in low energy consumption. The BACH takes full advantage of the explored application behaviors and runtime cache resource demands as the cache allocation bases, so that we can optimally configure the cache hierarchy to meet the runtime demand. The BACH was implemented on the GEM5 simulator. The experimental results show that energy consumption of a three-level cache hierarchy can be saved from 5.29% up to 27.94% compared with other key approaches while the performance of the multi-core system even has a slight improvement counting in hardware overhead.

Advanced and flexible multi-carrier receiver architecture for high-count multi-core fiber based space division multiplexed applications

PubMed Central

Asif, Rameez

2016-01-01

Space division multiplexing (SDM), incorporating multi-core fibers (MCFs), has been demonstrated for effectively maximizing the data capacity in an impending capacity crunch. To achieve high spectral-density through multi-carrier encoding while simultaneously maintaining transmission reach, benefits from inter-core crosstalk (XT) and non-linear compensation must be utilized. In this report, we propose a proof-of-concept unified receiver architecture that jointly compensates optical Kerr effects, intra- and inter-core XT in MCFs. The architecture is analysed in multi-channel 512 Gbit/s dual-carrier DP-16QAM system over 800 km 19-core MCF to validate the digital compensation of inter-core XT. Through this architecture: (a) we efficiently compensates the inter-core XT improving Q-factor by 4.82 dB and (b) achieve a momentous gain in transmission reach, increasing the maximum achievable distance from 480 km to 1208 km, via analytical analysis. Simulation results confirm that inter-core XT distortions are more relentless for cores fabricated around the central axis of cladding. Predominantly, XT induced Q-penalty can be suppressed to be less than 1 dB up-to −11.56 dB of inter-core XT over 800 km MCF, offering flexibility to fabricate dense core structures with same cladding diameter. Moreover, this report outlines the relationship between core pitch and forward-error correction (FEC). PMID:27270381

Dynamic Voltage-Frequency and Workload Joint Scaling Power Management for Energy Harvesting Multi-Core WSN Node SoC

PubMed Central

Li, Xiangyu; Xie, Nijie; Tian, Xinyue

2017-01-01

This paper proposes a scheduling and power management solution for energy harvesting heterogeneous multi-core WSN node SoC such that the system continues to operate perennially and uses the harvested energy efficiently. The solution consists of a heterogeneous multi-core system oriented task scheduling algorithm and a low-complexity dynamic workload scaling and configuration optimization algorithm suitable for light-weight platforms. Moreover, considering the power consumption of most WSN applications have the characteristic of data dependent behavior, we introduce branches handling mechanism into the solution as well. The experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm can operate in real-time on a lightweight embedded processor (MSP430), and that it can make a system do more valuable works and make more than 99.9% use of the power budget. PMID:28208730

Dynamic Voltage-Frequency and Workload Joint Scaling Power Management for Energy Harvesting Multi-Core WSN Node SoC.

PubMed

Li, Xiangyu; Xie, Nijie; Tian, Xinyue

2017-02-08

This paper proposes a scheduling and power management solution for energy harvesting heterogeneous multi-core WSN node SoC such that the system continues to operate perennially and uses the harvested energy efficiently. The solution consists of a heterogeneous multi-core system oriented task scheduling algorithm and a low-complexity dynamic workload scaling and configuration optimization algorithm suitable for light-weight platforms. Moreover, considering the power consumption of most WSN applications have the characteristic of data dependent behavior, we introduce branches handling mechanism into the solution as well. The experimental result shows that the proposed algorithm can operate in real-time on a lightweight embedded processor (MSP430), and that it can make a system do more valuable works and make more than 99.9% use of the power budget.

Efficiently Scheduling Multi-core Guest Virtual Machines on Multi-core Hosts in Network Simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoginath, Srikanth B; Perumalla, Kalyan S

2011-01-01

Virtual machine (VM)-based simulation is a method used by network simulators to incorporate realistic application behaviors by executing actual VMs as high-fidelity surrogates for simulated end-hosts. A critical requirement in such a method is the simulation time-ordered scheduling and execution of the VMs. Prior approaches such as time dilation are less efficient due to the high degree of multiplexing possible when multiple multi-core VMs are simulated on multi-core host systems. We present a new simulation time-ordered scheduler to efficiently schedule multi-core VMs on multi-core real hosts, with a virtual clock realized on each virtual core. The distinguishing features of ourmore » approach are: (1) customizable granularity of the VM scheduling time unit on the simulation time axis, (2) ability to take arbitrary leaps in virtual time by VMs to maximize the utilization of host (real) cores when guest virtual cores idle, and (3) empirically determinable optimality in the tradeoff between total execution (real) time and time-ordering accuracy levels. Experiments show that it is possible to get nearly perfect time-ordered execution, with a slight cost in total run time, relative to optimized non-simulation VM schedulers. Interestingly, with our time-ordered scheduler, it is also possible to reduce the time-ordering error from over 50% of non-simulation scheduler to less than 1% realized by our scheduler, with almost the same run time efficiency as that of the highly efficient non-simulation VM schedulers.« less

High resolution sedimentary record from the Cocos Ridge: evidence of land-ocean linkages in the Eastern Equatorial Pacific over the last 70 ka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murdmaa, I.; Ivanova, E.; Leduc, G.; Beaufort, L.; Peresypkin, V.; Vidal, L.; Ovsepyan, E.; Alekhina, G.; Kravtsov, V.; Vasileva, V.

2009-04-01

We analyzed n-alkanes spectra, TOC content, and C/N ratio in the upper 12 m of the giant IMAGES Core MD02-2529 from the Cocos Ridge (08°12.33'N; 84°07.32'W; 1619 m w.d.) to estimate terrestrial organic matter (TOM) and marine organic matter (MOM) contribution to the total organic matter budget in sediments. Multi-proxy studies of nannofossils, benthic and planktic foraminifers reveal productivity variations during the time interval of the last ~ 70 ka recovered by the upper part of the core according to the age model based on AMS-14C dates and benthic oxygen isotope record. According to the shipboard core description, the slightly calcareous hemipelagic mud recovered by Core MD02-2529 contains a considerable admixture of terrestrial plant remains. This is confirmed by optical microscopic and SEM studies which reveal a strong pyritization of the particular terrestrial organic matter. As estimated by the proportion of the mainly terrestrial long-molecular alkanes (C23 - C38) relative to mainly planktic short-molecular ones (C10 - C22), the TOM input largely controls variations in the TOC content throughout the studied core interval, possibly except for the Upper Holocene, where higher TOC values correspond to relatively increased MOM content. TOM strongly dominates over the MOM content in sediments of the beginning of Termination 1, most enriched in total organic matter (up to 3.4% TOC). High content of the TOM is also fixed by n-alkane data over the Younger Dryas and H-events. Mass accumulation rates (MAR) of TOC, as well as terrestrial and marine organic matter, generally support the data on percentages, but show that the MOM flux was considerable even during the maximum TOM input at the beginning of Termination I. We suggest that this abundant TOM flux was related to the glacioeustatic sea level lowstand at the LGM, during which the emerged shelf became a vegetated coastal plain affected by seasonally humid tropical monsoon climate. The terrestrial organic debris was most intensely washed off the coastal plain at the beginning of post-glacial transgression ~17 cal. ka BP. Glacioeustatic sea level oscillations, along with climate and river runoff changes, controlled variations in the TOM flux throughout the studied interval. The MOM commonly prevails in intervals with a low TOC content, although its relatively high MAR values may also coincide with TOC maxima, as at the beginning of Termination I. The MOM contribution to the total organic matter increased in the Early Holocene, at ~ 8 cal. ka, and especially at ~ 60 cal. ka (possibly coeval with the H-6 event). Relatively low and less variable accumulation rates of MOM, as compared to those of TOM may be explained by the location of the site MD02-2529 between the two high-productivity areas associated with coastal upwellings in the Panama Bight and Gulf of Papagayo. The paleoproductivity estimates based on coccolithophoride counts show a short-term variability with the extremal values during the Termination I. This high-productivity event corresponds to the highest planktic foraminiferal abundance and the maximum values of foraminiferal productivity index. The productivity increase at 16-14 cal ka BP might result from the nutrient rearrangement related to reorganization of the thermohaline circulation over the termination. However, high total abundance of benthic foraminifera and maximum values of several productivity-related benthic species are found at MIS 2, from ~ 25 to 22 cal ka BP. MOM export from the upper continental slope by the bottom nepheloid layer during the LGM sea level lowstand might serve as the food source for this benthic production pulse. Meanwhile, calcareous phytoplankton production seems to remain rather high through the late MIS3 - Termination I and decreased during the Holocene. The low total abundance of planktic foraminifera and an enhanced content of oligotrophic mixed-layer dwelling planktic foraminiferal species in the Holocene sediments confirm the productivity decrease. The low productivity might result from a pycnocline deepening due to abundant moisture supply from the Caribbean and corresponding surface water freshening at site MD02-2529.

Development of an extensible dual-core wireless sensing node for cyber-physical systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kane, Michael; Zhu, Dapeng; Hirose, Mitsuhito; Dong, Xinjun; Winter, Benjamin; Häckell, Mortiz; Lynch, Jerome P.; Wang, Yang; Swartz, A.

2014-04-01

The introduction of wireless telemetry into the design of monitoring and control systems has been shown to reduce system costs while simplifying installations. To date, wireless nodes proposed for sensing and actuation in cyberphysical systems have been designed using microcontrollers with one computational pipeline (i.e., single-core microcontrollers). While concurrent code execution can be implemented on single-core microcontrollers, concurrency is emulated by splitting the pipeline's resources to support multiple threads of code execution. For many applications, this approach to multi-threading is acceptable in terms of speed and function. However, some applications such as feedback controls demand deterministic timing of code execution and maximum computational throughput. For these applications, the adoption of multi-core processor architectures represents one effective solution. Multi-core microcontrollers have multiple computational pipelines that can execute embedded code in parallel and can be interrupted independent of one another. In this study, a new wireless platform named Martlet is introduced with a dual-core microcontroller adopted in its design. The dual-core microcontroller design allows Martlet to dedicate one core to standard wireless sensor operations while the other core is reserved for embedded data processing and real-time feedback control law execution. Another distinct feature of Martlet is a standardized hardware interface that allows specialized daughter boards (termed wing boards) to be interfaced to the Martlet baseboard. This extensibility opens opportunity to encapsulate specialized sensing and actuation functions in a wing board without altering the design of Martlet. In addition to describing the design of Martlet, a few example wings are detailed, along with experiments showing the Martlet's ability to monitor and control physical systems such as wind turbines and buildings.

Benthic foraminifera records in marine sediments during the Holocene from Pescadero basin, Gulf of California, Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valdez, M.; Perez-Cruz, L. L.; Roy, P.; Monreal, M.; Fenero, R.

2013-05-01

Gravity core T-56 (256 cm length) was collected in Pescadero Basin located on the western side of the Gulf of California within the oxygen minim zone (OMZ) at 597 cm depth, aboard of the R/V "El Puma". Pescadero basin is located at mouth of the gulf; because of its location is sensitive to record the changes in the gulf and in the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The sedimentary sequence is analyzed to contribute to the understanding the oceanographic variability in the southern part of the gulf of California during the Holocene using benthic foraminifera assemblages and organic carbon as proxies of organic matter flux and bottom water oxygenation. In general, the core is characterized by silty-clay sediments, and it exhibits a turbidite between 198 and 134 cm, distinguished by sandy sediments and reworking material. From 134 cm to the top shows a visible laminated structure. The initial chronology is based on three AMS radiocarbon dates, and estimated sedimentation rates are 0.22 and 0.19 mm/yr for the first 32 cm of the core. Six radiocarbon dates are in progress. Preliminary results of benthic foraminiferal assemblages showed that species of Bolivina are dominated, mainly megalospheric forms, from 134 cm to top of the core. They are small and thin-shelled forms (e.g., Bolivina subadvena, Bolivina minuta, Bolivina seminuda, Bolivina plicata), and also Buliminella, Cassidulina and Epistominella are abundant. In particular, species of Bolivina are environmental indicators and exhibit a typical reproductive dimorphism. The predominance of the genus Bolivina suggest organic flux variations, because of the productivity changes that might be related to changes in ocean circulation and in the environmental variability in the region.

Assessing millennial-scale variability during the Holocene: A perspective from the western tropical Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khider, D.; Jackson, C. S.; Stott, L. D.

2014-03-01

We investigate the relationship between tropical Pacific and Southern Ocean variability during the Holocene using the stable oxygen isotope and magnesium/calcium records of cooccurring planktonic and benthic foraminifera from a marine sediment core collected in the western equatorial Pacific. The planktonic record exhibits millennial-scale sea surface temperature (SST) oscillations over the Holocene of 0.5°C while the benthic δ18Oc document 0.10‰ millennial-scale changes of Upper Circumpolar Deep Water (UCDW), a water mass which outcrops in the Southern Ocean. Solar forcing as an explanation for millennial-scale SST variability requires (1) a large climate sensitivity and (2) a long 400 year delayed response, suggesting that if solar forcing is the cause of the variability, it would need to be considerably amplified by processes within the climate system at least at the core location. We also explore the possibility that SST variability arose from volcanic forcing using a simple red noise model. Our best estimates of volcanic forcing falls short of reproducing the amplitude of observed SST variations although it produces power at low-frequency similar to that observed in the MD81 record. Although we cannot totally discount the volcanic and solar forcing hypotheses, we are left to consider that the most plausible source for Holocene millennial-scale variability lies within the climate system itself. In particular, UCDW variability coincided with deep North Atlantic changes, indicating a role for the deep ocean in Holocene millennial-scale variability.

Earth-System Scales of Biodiversity Variability in Shallow Continental Margin Seafloor Ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moffitt, S. E.; White, S. M.; Hill, T. M.; Kennett, J.

2015-12-01

High-resolution paleoceanographic sedimentary sequences allow for the description of ecosystem sensitivity to earth-system scales of climate and oceanographic change. Such archives from Santa Barbara Basin, California record the ecological consequences to seafloor ecosystems of climate-forced shifts in the California Current Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ). Here we use core MV0508-20JPC dated to 735,000±5,000 years ago (Marine Isotope Stage 18) as a "floating window" of millennial-scale ecological variability. For this investigation, previously published archives of planktonic δ18O (Globigerina bulloides) record stadial and interstadial oscillations in surface ocean temperature. Core MV0508-20JPC is an intermittently laminated archive, strongly influenced by the California Current OMZ, with continuously preserved benthic foraminifera and discontinuously preserved micro-invertebrates, including ophiuroids, echinoderms, ostracods, gastropods, bivalves and scaphopods. Multivariate statistical approaches, such as ordinations and cluster analyses, describe climate-driven changes in both foraminiferal and micro-invertebrate assemblages. Statistical ordinations illustrate that the shallow continental margin seafloor underwent predictable phase-shifts in oxygenation and biodiversity across stadial and interstadial events. A narrow suite of severely hypoxic taxa characterized foraminiferal communities from laminated intervals, including Bolivina tumida, Globobulimina spp., and Nonionella stella. Foraminiferal communities from bioturbated intervals are diverse and >60% similar to each other, and they are associated with echinoderm, ostracod and mollusc fossils. As with climate shifts in the latest Quaternary, there is a sensitive benthic ecosystem response in mid-Pleistocene continental margins to climatically related changes in OMZ strength.

Biological, Physical, And Chemical Data From Gulf of Mexico Core PE0305-GC1

USGS Publications Warehouse

Osterman, Lisa E.; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Hollander, David

2010-01-01

This paper presents benthic foraminiferal census data, and magnetic susceptibility, 210Pb , radiocarbon, and geochemical measurements from gravity core PE0305-GC1 (=GC1). Core GC1 was collected from the Louisiana continental shelf as part of an initiative to investigate the geographic and temporal extent of hypoxia, low-oxygen water, in the Gulf of Mexico. Hypoxia (<1.4 ml/l or <2 ppm oxygen concentration) in Gulf of Mexico waters can eventually lead to death of marine species. The development of hypoxia off the Mississippi delta has increased steadily since routine and systematic measurements were begun in 1985 and has been linked to the use of fertilizer in the Mississippi basin. Benthic foraminifers provide a proxy to track the development of hypoxia prior to 1985. Previous work determined that the relative occurrence of three low-oxygen-tolerant species is highest in the hypoxia zone. The cumulative percentage of these three species (% Pseudononion atlanticum + % Epistominella vitrea, + % Buliminella morgani = PEB index of hypoxia) was used to investigate fluctuation in paleohypoxia in four cores, including the upper 60 cm of GC1. In this report, we compile all available data from GC1 as the basis for further publications.

Magnitude of the Suess Effect in North Atlantic - a Study of Foraminifera and Transient Tracer Simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Y.; Oppo, D.; Gebbie, G.; Thornalley, D. J.

2016-02-01

The Suess Effect is the decrease of δ 13C in the atmosphere due to the burning of fossil fuels. The recent decrease in δ 13C in the deep sea due to uptake of carbon has been measured in samples taken on hydrographic surveys, although these surveys only provide snapshots of deep sea δ 13C. The long-term decrease in δ 13C has been estimated using modern hydrographic properties, but there are no direct measurements. Here we present records of δ 13C from benthic and planktonic foraminifera, collected south of Iceland in the North Atlantic Ocean. The cores have high accumulation rates and, based on radiocarbon, modern core tops. We find a monotonic decreasing trend since 1850 that is significant in two out of the three benthic records we have generated. A tracer simulation, with Transit Time Distribution and Equilibrium Time Distribution generated from previous tracer modeling studies, predicts a trend that is similar to our observations at the core sites. The presence of the Suess Effect in some of the cores is consistent with previous estimates on the uptake of anthropogenic CO{}2 in the newly formed North Atlantic Deep Water.

Was the extreme and wide-spread marine oil-snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA) event during the Deepwater Horizon blow-out unique?

PubMed

Vonk, Sophie M; Hollander, David J; Murk, AlberTinka J

2015-11-15

During the Deepwater Horizon blowout, thick layers of oiled material were deposited on the deep seafloor. This large scale benthic concentration of oil is suggested to have occurred via the process of Marine Oil Snow Sedimentation and Flocculent Accumulation (MOSSFA). This meta-analysis investigates whether MOSSFA occurred in other large oil spills and identifies the main drivers of oil sedimentation. MOSSFA was found to have occurred during the IXTOC I blowout and possibly during the Santa Barbara blowout. Unfortunately, benthic effects were not sufficiently studied for the 52 spills we reviewed. However, based on the current understanding of drivers involved, we conclude that MOSSFA and related benthic contamination may be widespread. We suggest to collect and analyze sediment cores at specific spill locations, as improved understanding of the MOSSFA process will allow better informed spill responses in the future, taking into account possible massive oil sedimentation and smothering of (deep) benthic ecosystems. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tracking Biological and Ecosystem Responses to Changing Environmental Conditions in the Pacific Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebmeier, J. M.; Cooper, L. W.; Frey, K. E.; Moore, S. E.

2014-12-01

Changing seasonal sea ice conditions and seawater temperatures strongly influence biological processes and marine ecosystems at high latitudes. In the Pacific Arctic, persistent regions termed "hotspots", are localized areas with high benthic macroinfaunal biomass that have been documented over four decades (see Figure). These regions are now being more formally tracked to relate physical forcing and ecosystem response as an Arctic Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) supported by the US National Ocean Policy Implementation Plan and international partners. These hotspots are important foraging areas for upper trophic level benthic feeders, such as marine mammals and seabirds. South of St. Lawrence Island (SLI) in the northern Bering Sea, benthic feeding spectacled eiders, bearded seals and walruses are important winter consumers of infauna, such as bivalves and polychaetes. Gray whales have historically been a major summer consumer of benthic amphipods in the Chirikov Basin to the north of SLI, although summertime sightings of gray whales declined in the Chirikov from the 1980s up until at least 2002. The SE Chukchi Sea hotspot, as are the other hotspots, is maintained by export of high chlorophyll a that is produced locally as well as advected by water masses transiting northward through the system. Both walrus and gray whales are known to forage in this hotspot seasonally on high biomass levels of benthic prey. Notably the center of the highest benthic biomass regions has shifted northward in three of the DBO hotspots in recent years. This has coincided with changing sediment grain size, an indicator of current speed, and is also likely a response to changes in primary production in the region. Studies of these broad biological responses to changing physical drivers have been facilitated through development of the DBO cooperative effort by both US and international scientists. The DBO includes a series of coordinated, multi-trophic level observations that integrate physical, biogeochemical and biological measurements along transect lines that intersect all of the benthic hotspots. We will highlight results at three of the DBO time-series sites from the northern Bering Sea to the SE Chukchi Sea in relation to retrospective and ongoing process-oriented studies in the region.

Comparing Four Age Model Techniques using Nine Sediment Cores from the Iberian Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lisiecki, L. E.; Jones, A. M.; Lawrence, C.

2017-12-01

Interpretations of paleoclimate records from ocean sediment cores rely on age models, which provide estimates of age as a function of core depth. Here we compare four methods used to generate age models for sediment cores for the past 140 kyr. The first method is based on radiocarbon dating using the Bayesian statistical software, Bacon [Blaauw and Christen, 2011]. The second method aligns benthic δ18O to a target core using the probabilistic alignment algorithm, HMM-Match, which also generates age uncertainty estimates [Lin et al., 2014]. The third and fourth methods are planktonic δ18O and sea surface temperature (SST) alignments to the same target core, using the alignment algorithm Match [Lisiecki and Lisiecki, 2002]. Unlike HMM-Match, Match requires parameter tuning and does not produce uncertainty estimates. The results of these four age model techniques are compared for nine high-resolution cores from the Iberian margin. The root mean square error between the individual age model results and each core's average estimated age is 1.4 kyr. Additionally, HMM-Match and Bacon age estimates agree to within uncertainty and have similar 95% confidence widths of 1-2 kyr for the highest resolution records. In one core, the planktonic and SST alignments did not fall within the 95% confidence intervals from HMM-Match. For this core, the surface proxy alignments likely produce more reliable results due to millennial-scale SST variability and the presence of several gaps in the benthic δ18O data. Similar studies of other oceanographic regions are needed to determine the spatial extents over which these climate proxies may be stratigraphically correlated.

Elemental concentration variations in Plio-Pleistocene sediments from ODP Site 1143 (southern South China Sea) obtained by XRF analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, J.; Xie, X.; Jin, H.; Wang, P.; Jian, Z.

2009-12-01

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) scanning technology provides the most accurate and most economic analytical methods for the determination of major and minor elements of the deep-sea sediment ranging from sodium (11) to uranium (92). Scanning on the smooth core surface by XRF Core scanner is reliable and non-destructive to the sediment, requiring little or no time to prepare the core. This method overcomes the drawback of the traditional analytical method by ICP-AES or ICP-MS which requires long time for sample preparation. Thus, it makes it viable to reconstruct long and high-resolution elemental time series from sediment cores. We have performed relatively elemental concentration analyses on the deep sea sediment cores from ODP site 1143 (southern SCS) down to 190.77 mcd (meters composite depth) by XRF core scanner. The depth resolution of the scanning is 1 cm, equivalent to a time resolution of ~250 years. The age model is based on tuning the benthic foraminiferal d18O at Site 1143 to obliquity and precession (Tian et al., 2002) which indicates that the 190.77 meters long sediment spans the past 5 Myr. We compared the records between 99.5 and 136.46 mcd with the elemental records from the same site obtained by Philips PW 2400 X-ray spectrometer (Wehausen et al., online publication). Comparison reveals, regardless of the absolute changes of the elements, that the elemental records (Si, Ti, Al, Fe, Mn, Ca, K, P, Ba, Rb, Sr) obtained by two methods are nearly the same. Results show that the relative concentration variations of the productivity related elements such as Ba and Ca display distinctive glacial-interglacial cycles for the past 5 Myr. These productivity cycles recorded show one-on-one relationship with the glacial-interglacial cycles of the global ice volume change recorded in the benthic foraminiferal d18O. The glacial-interglacial cycles in productivity and global ice volume changes are consistent with each other not only in amplitude but also in secular variations. The benthic d18O implies the final formation of the northern hemisphere glaciation between ~2.5 Ma and ~3.3 Ma, as indicated by gradually increased values of d18O. During this period, both Ba and Ca show gradually increased values of relative concentration, indicating increased productivity which was probably caused by intensified East Asia summer monsoon. The close relationship of the productivity related elemental variations with benthic foraminiferal d18O reveals that the Plio-Pleistocene variations of the East Asian monsoon have been greatly dominated by global ice volume change. Although the elements related to terrigenous detrital matter composition of site 1143 such as Ti, Fe, As, Co and Ni display distinct glacial-interglacial cycles for the past 5 Myr, they display different patterns in secular variation with that of the benthic foraminiferal d18O. The mismatch indicates that besides northern hemisphere glaciation other multiple processes including changes in provenance and weathering intensity caused by monsoonal climate variability and sea level fluctuations could have affected the terrigenous detrital matter composition of site 1143.

Environmental Drivers of Benthic Flux Variation and Ecosystem Functioning in Salish Sea and Northeast Pacific Sediments.

PubMed

Belley, Rénald; Snelgrove, Paul V R; Archambault, Philippe; Juniper, S Kim

2016-01-01

The upwelling of deep waters from the oxygen minimum zone in the Northeast Pacific from the continental slope to the shelf and into the Salish Sea during spring and summer offers a unique opportunity to study ecosystem functioning in the form of benthic fluxes along natural gradients. Using the ROV ROPOS we collected sediment cores from 10 sites in May and July 2011, and September 2013 to perform shipboard incubations and flux measurements. Specifically, we measured benthic fluxes of oxygen and nutrients to evaluate potential environmental drivers of benthic flux variation and ecosystem functioning along natural gradients of temperature and bottom water dissolved oxygen concentrations. The range of temperature and dissolved oxygen encountered across our study sites allowed us to apply a suite of multivariate analyses rarely used in flux studies to identify bottom water temperature as the primary environmental driver of benthic flux variation and organic matter remineralization. Redundancy analysis revealed that bottom water characteristics (temperature and dissolved oxygen), quality of organic matter (chl a:phaeo and C:N ratios) and sediment characteristics (mean grain size and porosity) explained 51.5% of benthic flux variation. Multivariate analyses identified significant spatial and temporal variation in benthic fluxes, demonstrating key differences between the Northeast Pacific and Salish Sea. Moreover, Northeast Pacific slope fluxes were generally lower than shelf fluxes. Spatial and temporal variation in benthic fluxes in the Salish Sea were driven primarily by differences in temperature and quality of organic matter on the seafloor following phytoplankton blooms. These results demonstrate the utility of multivariate approaches in differentiating among potential drivers of seafloor ecosystem functioning, and indicate that current and future predictive models of organic matter remineralization and ecosystem functioning of soft-muddy shelf and slope seafloor habitats should consider bottom water temperature variation. Bottom temperature has important implications for estimates of seasonal and spatial benthic flux variation, benthic-pelagic coupling, and impacts of predicted ocean warming at high latitudes.

Experiments on Lunar Core Composition: Phase Equilibrium Analysis of A Multi-Element (Fe-Ni-S-C) System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Go, B. M.; Righter, K.; Danielson, L.; Pando, K.

2015-01-01

Previous geochemical and geophysical experiments have proposed the presence of a small, metallic lunar core, but its composition is still being investigated. Knowledge of core composition can have a significant effect on understanding the thermal history of the Moon, the conditions surrounding the liquid-solid or liquid-liquid field, and siderophile element partitioning between mantle and core. However, experiments on complex bulk core compositions are very limited. One limitation comes from numerous studies that have only considered two or three element systems such as Fe-S or Fe-C, which do not supply a comprehensive understanding for complex systems such as Fe-Ni-S-Si-C. Recent geophysical data suggests the presence of up to 6% lighter elements. Reassessments of Apollo seismological analyses and samples have also shown the need to acquire more data for a broader range of pressures, temperatures, and compositions. This study considers a complex multi-element system (Fe-Ni-S-C) for a relevant pressure and temperature range to the Moon's core conditions.

Detecting changes resulting from human pressure in a naturally quick-changing and heterogeneous environment: Spatial and temporal scales of variability in coastal lagoons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pérez-Ruzafa, A.; Marcos, C.; Pérez-Ruzafa, I. M.; Barcala, E.; Hegazi, M. I.; Quispe, J.

2007-10-01

To detect changes in ecosystems due to human impact, experimental designs must include replicates at the appropriate scale to avoid pseudoreplication. Although coastal lagoons, with their highly variable environmental factors and biological assemblages, are relatively well-studied systems, very little is known about their natural scales of variation. In this study, we investigate the spatio-temporal scales of variability in the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (SE Spain) using structured hierarchical sampling designs, mixed and permutational multi-variate analyses of variance, and ordination multi-variate analyses applied to hydrographical parameters, nutrients, chlorophyll a and ichthyoplankton in the water column, and to macrophyte and fish benthic assemblages. Lagoon processes in the Mar Menor show heterogeneous patterns at different temporal and spatial scales. The water column characteristics (including nutrient concentration) showed small-scale spatio-temporal variability, from 10 0 to 10 1 km and from fortnightly to seasonally. Biological features (chlorophyll a concentration and ichthyoplankton assemblage descriptors) showed monthly changes and spatial patterns at the scale of 10 0 (chlorophyll a) - 10 1 km (ichthyoplankton). Benthic assemblages (macrophytes and fishes) showed significant differences between types of substrates in the same locality and between localities, according to horizontal gradients related with confinement in the lagoon, at the scale of 10 0-10 1 km. The vertical zonation of macrophyte assemblages (at scales of 10 1-10 2 cm) overlaps changes in substrata and horizontal gradients. Seasonal patterns in vegetation biomass were not significant, but the significant interaction between Locality and Season indicated that the seasons of maximum and minimum biomass depend on local environmental conditions. Benthic fish assemblages showed no significant patterns at the monthly scale but did show seasonal patterns.

A new look at the multi-G model for organic carbon degradation in surface marine sediments for coupled benthic-pelagic simulations of the global ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stolpovsky, Konstantin; Dale, Andrew W.; Wallmann, Klaus

2018-06-01

The kinetics of particulate organic carbon (POC) mineralization in marine surface sediments is not well constrained. This creates considerable uncertainties when benthic processes are considered in global biogeochemical or Earth system circulation models to simulate climate-ocean interactions and biogeochemical tracer distributions in the ocean. In an attempt to improve our understanding of the rate and depth distribution of organic carbon mineralization in bioturbated (0-20 cm) sediments at the global scale, we parameterized a 1-D diagenetic model that simulates the mineralization of three discrete POC pools (a multi-G model). The rate constants of the three reactive classes (highly reactive, reactive, refractory) are fixed and determined to be 70, 0.5 and ˜ 0.001 yr-1, respectively, based on the Martin curve model for pelagic POC degradation. In contrast to previous approaches, however, the reactivity of the organic material degraded in the seafloor is continuous with, and set by, the apparent reactivity of material sinking through the water column. Despite the simplifications of describing POC remineralization using G-type approaches, the model is able to simulate a global database (185 stations) of benthic oxygen and nitrate fluxes across the sediment-water interface in addition to porewater oxygen and nitrate distributions and organic carbon burial efficiencies. It is further consistent with degradation experiments using fresh phytoplankton reported in a previous study. We propose that an important yet mostly overlooked consideration in upscaling approaches is the proportion of the reactive POC classes reaching the seafloor in addition to their reactivity. The approach presented is applicable to both steady-state and non-steady state scenarios, and links POC degradation kinetics in sedimentary environments to water depth and the POC rain rate to the seafloor.

The design of multi-core DSP parallel model based on message passing and multi-level pipeline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niu, Jingyu; Hu, Jian; He, Wenjing; Meng, Fanrong; Li, Chuanrong

2017-10-01

Currently, the design of embedded signal processing system is often based on a specific application, but this idea is not conducive to the rapid development of signal processing technology. In this paper, a parallel processing model architecture based on multi-core DSP platform is designed, and it is mainly suitable for the complex algorithms which are composed of different modules. This model combines the ideas of multi-level pipeline parallelism and message passing, and summarizes the advantages of the mainstream model of multi-core DSP (the Master-Slave model and the Data Flow model), so that it has better performance. This paper uses three-dimensional image generation algorithm to validate the efficiency of the proposed model by comparing with the effectiveness of the Master-Slave and the Data Flow model.

Internal nutrient sources and nutrient distributions in Alviso Pond A3W, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Topping, Brent R.; Kuwabara, James S.; Garrett, Krista K.; Takekawa, John Y.; Parcheso, Francis; Piotter, Sara; Clearwater, Iris; Shellenbarger, Gregory

2013-01-01

Within the Alviso Salt Pond complex, California, currently undergoing avian-habitat restoration, pore-water profilers (U.S. Patent 8,051,727 B1) were deployed in triplicate at two contrasting sites in Pond A3W (“Inlet”, near the inflow, and “Deep”, near the middle of the pond; figs. 1 and 2; table 1, note that tables in this report are provided online only as a .xlsx workbook at http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2013/1128/). Deployments were conducted in 2010 and 2012 during the summer algal-growth season. Specifically, three deployments, each about 7 weeks apart, were undertaken each summer. This study provides the first measurements of the diffusive flux of nutrients across the interface between the pond bed and water column (that is, benthic nutrient flux). These nutrient fluxes are crucial to pond restoration efforts because they typically represent a major (if not the greatest) source of nutrients to the water column in both ponds and other lentic systems. For soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP, the most biologically available form in solution), benthic flux was positive both years (that is, out of the sediment into the water column; table 2), with the exception of the August 2010 deployment, which exhibited nearly negligible but negative flux. Overall, the average SRP flux was significantly greater at Deep (23.9 ± 8.6 micromoles per square meter per hour (µmol-m-2-h-1); all errors shown reflect the 95-percent confidence interval) than Inlet (12.6 ± 4.9 µmol-m-2-h-1). There was much greater temporal variability in SRP flux in the pond than reported for the lower estuary (Topping and others, 2001). For dissolved ammonia, benthic flux was consistently positive on all six sampling trips, and similar to SRP, the fluxes at Deep (258 ± 49 µmol-m-2-h-1) were consistently greater than those at Inlet (28 ± 11 µmol-m-2-h-1). Dissolved ammonia fluxes reported for South San Francisco Bay by Topping and others (2001) fall in between these values. Once again, greater variability for benthic fluxes determined in the pond was observed relative to adjacent South San Francisco Bay. With the near absence of any measurable concentration gradient, dissolved-nitrate fluxes were consistently negligible in the pond. Silica fluxes are often used to represent sediment diagenetic processes that biogeochemically cycle silica (an important algal macronutrient) between biogenic and inorganic phases (Fanning and Pilson, 1974; Emerson and others, 1984). For South San Francisco Bay, those values are consistently positive from core-incubation experiments. In Pond A3W, dissolved-silica fluxes averaged 49 ± 25 µmol-m-2-h-1 at Inlet and were much higher at Deep (482 ± 370 µmol-m-2-h-1), similar to the spatially variability observed for SRP and dissolved ammonia. An elevated silica flux can stimulate diatom production and subsequent eutrophication effects. Variability in these silica fluxes is consistent with season patterns in pond primary productivity. On the basis of comparisons of dissolved-oxygen flux measurements by profilers and core incubations, it appears that diffusive flux estimates for the sediment in this pond, as one might expected in such benthically productive environments, result in a significant underestimation of true sediment oxygen demand. Therefore, a core incubation experiment was conducted to better quantify the demand. To complement these benthic-flux studies, a diurnal study of nutrient advective flux into and out of the pond was measured during neap and spring tides to provide comparative estimates for allochthonous solute transport (Garret, 2012). Using the two different tides as the probable upper and lower boundaries, we can estimate a range of probable values throughout the year. After converting this advective flux into kg/yr, we can compare it directly to benthic flux estimates for the pond extrapolated over the 2.27 square kilometer (km2) pond surface. Benthic flux of nitrogen species, averaged over all sites and dates, was about 80,000 kilograms per year (kg/yr), well above the adjective flux range of -50 to 1,500 kg/yr. By contrast, the average benthic flux of orthophosphate was about 12,000 kg/yr, well below the advective flux range of 21,500 to 30,000 kg/yr. Initial benthic flux estimates were also made for trace metals, including copper, nickel, iron, and manganese. These analyses indicated that the two sites, Inlet and Deep, have different pore-water profiles, with Inlet exhibiting much higher benthic flux estimates for nickel, iron, and manganese. These initial benthic-flux values reported for macronutrients are particularly impressive in magnitude when one considers that diffusive flux of dissolved solutes based on pore-water profiles provides a conservative determination that may be enhanced by other biogeochemical processes. These enhancement processes (Boudreau and Jorgensen, 2001) include bioturbation, bioirrigation, wind resuspension, and potential groundwater inflows, some of which are captured in core-incubation experiments (Kuwabara and others, 2009). Hence, the values reported herein represent lower bounds to indicate the potential importance of such internal solute sources. The elevated diffusive fluxes for nutrients in the pond relative to the adjacent estuary indicate that vertical nutrient transport between the pond bed and water column is consistently an important (and at times the most important) source of nutrients that stimulate phytoplankton growth in the water column. One might therefore reasonably hypothesize that this benthic transport of biologically reactive solutes (both nutrients and toxicants) represents the most important step at the base of the food web for trophic transfer.

Methane seep events of the southern Joetsu Knoll since middle Pleistocene based on benthic foraminifera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oi, T.; Akiba, F.; Matsumoto, R.; Kakuwa, Y.

2016-12-01

Gas hydrates were collected at several sites off Joetsu which presented anomalous seismic structures. "Gas chimneys", major host structures for shallow gas hydrates, were recognized ROV off Joetsu in eastern margin of the Japan Sea, as were a number of active methane seeps. The assemblage components and carbon isotope of benthic foraminifera, which are ubiquitous in global marine settings, can indicate methane seep environments (Akimoto et al., 1994; Bhaumik and Gupta, 2007). Preliminary work by Oi et al. (2015) documented the obvious occurrences of methane related foraminifera, Rutherfordoides sp., in three core sediments recovered from Umitaka Spur, west Oki Trough and north Mogami Trough in the eastern margin of the Japan Sea, and found them to comprise the early part of the MIS 2, calculated to 28-25ka. These records suggest that active methane seep events might occur at the same time during early MIS 2, but were confined within the last 100ka. In this study, we analyzed benthic foraminiferal fossils from drilling core J04RB (core length 122 m; one of the gas hydrate bearing sites at a southern part of the Joetsu Knoll) in order to document methane seep events during the last 500ka. Firstly, we estimated sedimentation ages from diatom biostratigraphy and identification of Aso-1 tephra. Based on diatom components, we recognized a boundary between NPD (Neogene North Pacific diatom Zonations) 12 and NPD11, estimated at 300 ka (MIS8/9; Yanagisawa and Akiba, 1998). The bottom age was estimated to almost 530-560 ka (around MIS14) especially from the alternation with warm and cold diatom zones (Akiba et al., 2014). Secondary, we could suppose the paleoenvironments from benthic foraminifera as below. 1. The rare benthic foraminifera during the cold stages (MIS8, MIS10, and MIS12) indicate anoxic bottom conditions characteristic of falling sea level, just as with MIS 2. 2. We recognized the continuous distributions of tiny methane related specimens of Rutherfordoides sp. during MIS10. In order to confirm new records of active methane seep events in the Joetsu Knoll, we need to measure isotope records of this species. This study was conducted under the commission from AIST as a part of the methane hydrate research project of METI (the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Japan).

Integrated stratigraphy of a shallow marine Paleocene-Eocene boundary section, MCBR cores, Maryland (USA)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Self-Trail, J. M.; Robinson, M. M.; Edwards, L. E.; Powars, D. S.; Wandless, G. A.; Willard, D. A.

2013-12-01

An exceptional Paleocene-Eocene boundary section occurs in a cluster of six short (<15m) coreholes (MCBR 1 through 6) drilled near Mattawoman Creek in western Charles County, Maryland. The sediments consist of glauconite-rich sand of the upper Paleocene Aquia Formation and silty clay of the lower Eocene Marlboro Clay. Sediment samples were analyzed for carbon and oxygen isotopes, percent calcium carbonate, calcareous nannofossils, planktic and benthic foraminifera, dinoflagellates, pollen, and lithology. A well-defined carbon isotope excursion (CIE) documents a gradual negative shift in δ13C values that starts below the lithologic break between the Aquia Formation and the Marlboro Clay. A benthic foraminifer extinction event, reduction of calcareous nannofossil assemblages, and change in core color from gray to alternating gray and pink also occurs within the CIE transition. These alternating changes in color coincide with cyclic peaks in the carbon isotope and percent calcium carbonate curves, where gray color corresponds to a positive shift in carbon isotope values and to a corresponding increase in percent benthic and planktic foraminifera. The upper third of the Marlboro Clay is barren of all calcareous microfossil material, although the presence of foraminiferal molds and linings proves that deposition occurred in a marine environment. Co-occurrence of the dinoflagellates Apectodinium augustum and Phthanoperidinium crenulatum at the top of the Marlboro Clay suggests that the Marlboro Clay at Mattawoman Creek is truncated. This is corroborated by the absence in the Marlboro of specimens of the calcareous nannofossil Rhomboaster-Discoaster assemblage, which is restricted to early Eocene Zone NP9b. Based on planktic/benthic foraminifera ratios, deposition of sediments at Mattawoman Creek occurred predominantly in an inner neritic environment, at water depths between 25-50 m. Occasional deepening to approximately 75m (middle neritic environment) occurred in the early Eocene, as represented by the basal Marlboro Clay. The planktic/benthic ratio, however, could also be affected by surface productivity and/or river runoff. The gradual shift up-section in core color from gray to alternating gray and red, to dark red, coupled with dissolution of calcareous microfossil assemblages, is possibly secondary and may represent lysocline shoaling in a nearshore environment. This would suggest that lysocline shoaling continued after the CIE and well into the early Eocene.

Spatial and temporal distribution patterns of benthic foraminifera in the Northeast Water Polynya, Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahrens, Michael J.; Graf, Gerhard; Altenbach, Alexander V.

1997-01-01

Abundance, biofacies and ATP content of benthic foraminifera (>63 μm) were studied in the Northeast Water (NEW) Polynya (77-81°N, 5-17°W) over the ice-free summer, 1993, to investigate how a polynya system might influence the underlying benthic community. In the living assemblage, distinguished by Rose Bengal staining, over 60 taxa could be identified. The biofacies identified was similar to that of other Arctic shelf habitats. Foraminifera were counted in 3 size fractions (63-125 μm, 125-250 μm and >250 μm), with 65% of the foraminifera occurring in the smallest size fraction (63-125 μm). Total abundances (>63 μm) in the uppermost 1 cm averaged approximately 200 ind/10 cm 3 and declined down-core, as did the number of species. Abundances and species composition correlated positively with sediment chlorophyll and ATP content, with maxima occurring in the shallower northern regions of the polynya, suggesting a general dependence on food. Foraminera biomass was estimated to be 0.1-0.3 g C org/m 2. Abundances, biomass and ATP content were comparable to ice-free, deep-sea regions in the Norwegian Sea. Temporal changes observed over a 2 month period at one location were difficult to distinguish from spatial and analytical variability. Contrary to expectations, growth was unpronounced at the community and at a species level, implying either a delayed response of the benthic foraminiferal community to food inputs from the overlying water column or the presence of biological limitations other than food, such as predation.

Modeling Benthic Sediment Processes to Predict Water ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

The benthic sediment acts as a huge reservoir of particulate and dissolved material (within interstitial water) which can contribute to loading of contaminants and nutrients to the water column. A benthic sediment model is presented in this report to predict spatial and temporal benthic fluxes of nutrients and chemicals in Narragansett Bay. A benthic sediment model is presented in this report to identify benthic flux into the water column in Narragansett Bay. Benthic flux is essential to properly model water quality and ecology in estuarine and coastal systems.

Timing of Benthic Foraminiferal δ18O Change in Deep and Intermediate Waters of the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific for 0-45 ka

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stern, J.; Lisiecki, L. E.

2011-12-01

Isotopic and compositional studies of marine sediment cores provide a wealth of insight into past and present climate processes, but accurately dating these records remains problematic. Age models developed by correlation of marine isotope stages in benthic foraminiferal δ18O are limited by the degree to which similarity in the timing and character of the records can be assumed. Skinner and Shackleton (2005) demonstrated that the marine isotope stage (MIS) 2/1 boundary in benthic foraminiferal δ18O occurred ~4,000 yr later at a deep equatorial Pacific site compared to a deep North Atlantic site due to diachronous changes in deep water temperature and local hydrography during the deglaciation. To further investigate the extent of potential differences at both orbital and millennial timescales, we compare stacks of benthic foraminiferal δ18O for the intermediate Atlantic, deep Atlantic, intermediate Indo-Pacific, and deep Indo-Pacific. The four stacks were generated by averaging together 40, 153, 30, and 75 individual records, respectively. Unique age models for each of the four stacks from 0-45 ka are based on a total of >1,200 radiocarbon dates from planktonic foraminfera in a subset of the cores used for the stacks. We discuss the relative timing of major events during Termination I in the four stacks, including a prominent reversal ~13-15 ka in the intermediate Atlantic. We also compare the expression of millennial-scale climate change associated with Heinrich Event 4 in the four stacks.

Long-term impact of bottom trawling on pelagic-benthic coupling in the southern North Sea (German Bight)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Friedrich, Jana; van Beusekom, Justus E. E.; Neumann, Andreas; Naderipour, Celine; Janssen, Felix; Ahmerkamp, Soeren; Holtappels, Moritz; Schueckel, Ulrike

2016-04-01

The southern North Sea, and the German Bight, has been systematically bottom-trawled at least since the late 19th century (Christiansen, 2009; Reiss et al., 2009; Kröncke 2011; Emeis et al., 2015, Neumann et al., 2016). As a result, benthic habitats and benthic biogenic structures created by bivalves, polychaetes and hydroids where destroyed or reduced. The parallel removal of hard substrate (gravel and boulders) avoids the resettlement of hard-substrate depended species. For example, the Oyster ground, a huge oyster bank a hundred years ago (Olsen, 1883), turned into a muddy depression today. In addition, shallow depth of max 40 m, strong tidal currents and frequent storms result in a high-energy environment with low sedimentation rates and recurrent sediment resuspension. The decrease in benthic filtering capacity by disturbance in epifauna and bottom roughness (Callaway et al., 2007) apparently influence pelagic-benthic coupling of biogeochemical fluxes. Heip et al. (1995) indicate that benthic respiration at depths prevailing in the German Bight accounts for 10-40% of total respiration, whereas pelagic respiration accounts for 60-90%. Previous estimates are in the middle of this range (Heip et al., 1995). To test these hypotheses and to assess the partitioning of benthic and pelagic processes, and the factors influencing organic matter mineralization, we measured pelagic production and respiration based on Winkler titration, in-situ benthic fluxes using chamber landers, we did ex-situ incubations of intact sediment cores and analysed still images from a towed benthic video sled. In addition, O2 fluxes in permeable sediments were estimated by integrating the volumetric rate measurements of the upper sediment layer over in-situ microsensor-measured O2 penetration depth. Our current results show significant seasonality in benthic respiration, with highest rates in summer and lowest rates in winter. No significant differences in total benthic respiration rates were measured on sandy (permeable) and silty (diffusive) sediments, whereas significant differences of microbial O2 uptake were observed indeed between permeable and diffusive sediments. Nevertheless, when considering the multitude of different methods, we found that benthic respiration over the season seemed to be governed mainly by settling of fresh organic matter during calm periods and its rapid turnover in a region where strong tidal and wind-forced currents distribute suspended particles over large areas. Summer pelagic respiration rates were an order of magnitude higher then benthic rates, and account for 88-93% of total respiration, which represents 79-98% of pelagic primary production. Our measurements of benthic respiration account for 7-12% of the total in the German Bight, which is lower compared to earlier studies. Strong tidal and wind-forced currents along with the lack of complex three-dimensional biogenic structures seem to prevent settling of suspended matter and foster resuspension, thereby supporting pelagic turnover processes. Hence, we assume that benthic turnover might have been higher before systematic bottom trawling destroyed the bottom hydrobiological regime. Today, due to the strong current regime in the German Bight, the pelagic system appears to be a largely closed system of production and respiration, with comparably little for export to the benthic system due to absence of biogenic structures. References Callaway R, Engelhard GH, Dann J, Cotter J, Rumohr H (2007) One century of North Sea epibenthos and fishing: comparison between 1902-1912, 1982-1985 and 2000. Marine Ecology Progress Series 346, 27-43. Christiansen S (2009) Towards good environmental status - A network of marine protected areas for the North Sea. In: Lutter S (ed) WWF Germany, Fankfurt/Main Emeis K-C, van Beusekom J, Callies U, Ebinghaus R, Kannen A, Kraus G, Kröncke I, Lenhart H, Lorkowski I, Matthias V, Möllmann C, Pätsch J, Scharfe M, Thomas H, Weisse R, Zorita E (2015) The North Sea -A shelf sea in the Anthropocene. Journal of Marine Systems 141:18-33 Heip CHR, Goosen NK, Herman PMJ, Kromkamp J, Middelburg JJ, Soetaerd K (1995) Production and consumption of biological particles in temperate tidal estuaries. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review 33:1-149 Kröncke I (2011) Changes in Dogger Bank macrofauna communities in the 20th century caused by fishing and climate. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sciences 94 (3): 234-245. Neumann H, Diekmann R, Kröncke I (2016) The influence of habitat characteristics and fishing effort on functional composition of epifauna in the south-eastern North Sea. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Sciences 169: 182-194. Olsen OT (1883) The Piscatorial Atlas of the North Sea, English and St. George's Channels. Taylor and Francis, London Reiss H, Greenstreet S, Sieben K, Ehrich S, Piet G, Quirijns F, Robinson F, Wolff W, Kröncke I (2009) Effects of fishing disturbance on benthic communities and secondary production within an intensively fished area. Marine Ecology Progress Series 394:201-213

Fault Tolerance Middleware for a Multi-Core System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Some, Raphael R.; Springer, Paul L.; Zima, Hans P.; James, Mark; Wagner, David A.

2012-01-01

Fault Tolerance Middleware (FTM) provides a framework to run on a dedicated core of a multi-core system and handles detection of single-event upsets (SEUs), and the responses to those SEUs, occurring in an application running on multiple cores of the processor. This software was written expressly for a multi-core system and can support different kinds of fault strategies, such as introspection, algorithm-based fault tolerance (ABFT), and triple modular redundancy (TMR). It focuses on providing fault tolerance for the application code, and represents the first step in a plan to eventually include fault tolerance in message passing and the FTM itself. In the multi-core system, the FTM resides on a single, dedicated core, separate from the cores used by the application. This is done in order to isolate the FTM from application faults and to allow it to swap out any application core for a substitute. The structure of the FTM consists of an interface to a fault tolerant strategy module, a responder module, a fault manager module, an error factory, and an error mapper that determines the severity of the error. In the present reference implementation, the only fault tolerant strategy implemented is introspection. The introspection code waits for an application node to send an error notification to it. It then uses the error factory to create an error object, and at this time, a severity level is assigned to the error. The introspection code uses its built-in knowledge base to generate a recommended response to the error. Responses might include ignoring the error, logging it, rolling back the application to a previously saved checkpoint, swapping in a new node to replace a bad one, or restarting the application. The original error and recommended response are passed to the top-level fault manager module, which invokes the response. The responder module also notifies the introspection module of the generated response. This provides additional information to the introspection module that it can use in generating its next response. For example, if the responder triggers an application rollback and errors are still occurring, the introspection module may decide to recommend an application restart.

Bacterial Liasons: Bacteria Associated With Marine Benthic Meiofauna in the Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diaz, K. S.; Sevigny, J.; Leasi, F.; Thomas, W. K.

2017-12-01

All macroorganisms are colonized by and harbor microbial associates that form their microbiome. Some microbial associates establish predictable symbioses across a host species. Other microbial assemblages, such as the human gut microbiome, exhibit semi-predictable patterns dependent on various factors such as host habitat and diet. Host species typically share core microbiota that remain temporally and spatially stable, but turnover of accessory microbiota due to to environmental change often confers adaptive advantage to the host would not receive from its own genome or core microbiome. Benthic meiofauna, microscopic eukaryotes that live in marine sediments, harbor bacterial associates that may confer functional advantages in the face of environmental perturbation that allow the host to persist and adapt during an environmental disturbance such as an oil spill. However, benthic meiofauna and their microbiota represent relatively unknown components of marine environments. In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill poured over 0.5 million metric tons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Now, much of the oil has dispersed, but some still lingers in environments such as marine sediments. Benthic meiofauna remain affected by these lingering hydrocarbons. Their inability to simply leave their habitat makes them ideal sentinels of environmental change that can factor into understanding oil spill impacts and inform response and mitigation of similar future events. Binning bacterial sequences from host whole shotgun genomes allows for analysis of microbiome gene coding and functional potentials that may assist the host through environmental disturbances, such as genes involved in hydrocarbon degradation pathways. 16S rRNA gene surveys reveal of microbiome composition of diverse meiofaunal taxa collected throughout the Gulf of Mexico. This work will examine structure and distribution of benthic meiofauna microbiomes in the Gulf of Mexico. Thus far, 16S surveys display differences between host microbiome composition and environmental microbiota. Microbiomes cluster based on host taxonomy and sampling location around the gulf.

Abrupt changes of intermediate-water oxygen in the northwestern Pacific during the last 27 kyr

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ishizaki, Yui; Ohkushi, Ken'ichi; Ito, Takashi; Kawahata, Hodaka

2009-04-01

An oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) currently exists at intermediate water depths on the northern Japanese margin in the northwestern Pacific. The OMZ results largely from a combination of high surface-water productivity and poor ventilation of intermediate waters. We investigated the late Quaternary history (last 27 kyr) of the intensity of this OMZ using changes in benthic foraminiferal carbon isotopes and assemblages in a sediment core taken on the continental slope off Shimokita Peninsula, northern Japan, at a water depth of 975 m. The core was located well within the region of the present-day OMZ and high surface-water productivity. The benthic foraminiferal δ13C values, which indicate millennial-scale fluctuations of nutrient contents at the sediment-water interface, were 0.48‰ lower during the last glacial maximum (LGM) than during the late Holocene. These results do not indicate the formation of glacial intermediate waters of subarctic Pacific origin, but rather the large contribution of high-nutrient water masses such as the Antarctic Intermediate Water, implying that the regional circulation pattern during the LGM was similar to that of modern times. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages underwent major changes in response to changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations in ocean floor sediments. The lowest oxygen and highest nutrient conditions, marked by dysoxic taxa and negative values of benthic foraminiferal δ13C, occurred during the Bølling/Allerød (B/A) and Pre-Boreal warming events. Dysoxic conditions in this region during these intervals were possibly caused by high surface-water productivity at times of reduced intermediate-water ventilation in the northwestern Pacific. The benthic assemblages show dysoxic events on approx. 100- to 200-year cycles during the B/A, reflecting centennial-scale productivity changes related to freshwater cycles and surface-water circulation in the North Pacific.

Benthic macrofauna data for San Francisco Bay, California, September 1986

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schemel, Laurence E.; Thompson, J.K.; Harmon, J.G.; Yost, B.T.

1995-01-01

Benthic macrofauna were collected during September 1986 to evaluate locations for long-term monitoring stations as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Regional Effects Monitoring Program in San Francisco Bay, California. Three to ten replicate samples were collected with a modified Van Veen sampler (0.05 m2 area) at ten locations. One box core sample (0.06 m2 area) was collected at seven to the ten locations. Six of the box core samples were split into an upper 10 cm sample and a deeper sample before analysis. Macrofauna specimens were identified to the lowest possible taxon, usually genus and species, then counted. An average of 88 percent of the benthic macrofauna specimens were identified to the species level. The fraction identified varied among stations from 54 to 98 percent. Nematodes and oligochaetes accounted for most of the unidentified specimens. Relative to the total number of species identified in five replicates at each location, an average of 90 percent of the species were collected with three replicates. In general, species with high to moderate abundances were present in all replicates, and species collected only after three or more replicates averaged less than one specimen per replicate. Results from the box cores showed that the dominant species were most abundant in the upper 10 cm, the depth of sediment that can be adequately sampled with a modified Van Veen sampler. On the basis of the number of species and their abundances at each location, seven of the ten locations were selected for sampling in the regular program, which began in March 1987.

Benthic meiofaunal community response to the cascading effects of herbivory within an algal halo system of the Great Barrier Reef

PubMed Central

Hammill, Edward; Booth, David J.; Madin, Elizabeth M. P.; Hinchliffe, Charles; Harborne, Alastair R.; Lovelock, Catherine E.; Macreadie, Peter I.; Atwood, Trisha B.

2018-01-01

Benthic fauna play a crucial role in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling at the sediment-water boundary in aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial systems, grazing herbivores have been shown to influence below-ground communities through alterations to plant distribution and composition, however whether similar cascading effects occur in aquatic systems is unknown. Here, we assess the relationship between benthic invertebrates and above-ground fish grazing across the ‘grazing halos’ of Heron Island lagoon, Australia. Grazing halos, which occur around patch reefs globally, are caused by removal of seagrass or benthic macroalgae by herbivorous fish that results in distinct bands of unvegetated sediments surrounding patch reefs. We found that benthic algal canopy height significantly increased with distance from patch reef, and that algal canopy height was positively correlated with the abundances of only one invertebrate taxon (Nematoda). Both sediment carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N) and mean sediment particle size (μm) demonstrated a positive correlation with Nematoda and Arthropoda (predominantly copepod) abundances, respectively. These positive correlations indicate that environmental conditions are a major contributor to benthic invertebrate community distribution, acting on benthic communities in conjunction with the cascading effects of above-ground algal grazing. These results suggest that benthic communities, and the ecosystem functions they perform in this system, may be less responsive to changes in above-ground herbivorous processes than those previously studied in terrestrial systems. Understanding how above-ground organisms, and processes, affect their benthic invertebrate counterparts can shed light on how changes in aquatic communities may affect ecosystem function in previously unknown ways. PMID:29513746

Benthic meiofaunal community response to the cascading effects of herbivory within an algal halo system of the Great Barrier Reef.

PubMed

Ollivier, Quinn R; Hammill, Edward; Booth, David J; Madin, Elizabeth M P; Hinchliffe, Charles; Harborne, Alastair R; Lovelock, Catherine E; Macreadie, Peter I; Atwood, Trisha B

2018-01-01

Benthic fauna play a crucial role in organic matter decomposition and nutrient cycling at the sediment-water boundary in aquatic ecosystems. In terrestrial systems, grazing herbivores have been shown to influence below-ground communities through alterations to plant distribution and composition, however whether similar cascading effects occur in aquatic systems is unknown. Here, we assess the relationship between benthic invertebrates and above-ground fish grazing across the 'grazing halos' of Heron Island lagoon, Australia. Grazing halos, which occur around patch reefs globally, are caused by removal of seagrass or benthic macroalgae by herbivorous fish that results in distinct bands of unvegetated sediments surrounding patch reefs. We found that benthic algal canopy height significantly increased with distance from patch reef, and that algal canopy height was positively correlated with the abundances of only one invertebrate taxon (Nematoda). Both sediment carbon to nitrogen ratios (C:N) and mean sediment particle size (μm) demonstrated a positive correlation with Nematoda and Arthropoda (predominantly copepod) abundances, respectively. These positive correlations indicate that environmental conditions are a major contributor to benthic invertebrate community distribution, acting on benthic communities in conjunction with the cascading effects of above-ground algal grazing. These results suggest that benthic communities, and the ecosystem functions they perform in this system, may be less responsive to changes in above-ground herbivorous processes than those previously studied in terrestrial systems. Understanding how above-ground organisms, and processes, affect their benthic invertebrate counterparts can shed light on how changes in aquatic communities may affect ecosystem function in previously unknown ways.

Explanatory Power of Multi-scale Physical Descriptors in Modeling Benthic Indices Across Nested Ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holburn, E. R.; Bledsoe, B. P.; Poff, N. L.; Cuhaciyan, C. O.

2005-05-01

Using over 300 R/EMAP sites in OR and WA, we examine the relative explanatory power of watershed, valley, and reach scale descriptors in modeling variation in benthic macroinvertebrate indices. Innovative metrics describing flow regime, geomorphic processes, and hydrologic-distance weighted watershed and valley characteristics are used in multiple regression and regression tree modeling to predict EPT richness, % EPT, EPT/C, and % Plecoptera. A nested design using seven ecoregions is employed to evaluate the influence of geographic scale and environmental heterogeneity on the explanatory power of individual and combined scales. Regression tree models are constructed to explain variability while identifying threshold responses and interactions. Cross-validated models demonstrate differences in the explanatory power associated with single-scale and multi-scale models as environmental heterogeneity is varied. Models explaining the greatest variability in biological indices result from multi-scale combinations of physical descriptors. Results also indicate that substantial variation in benthic macroinvertebrate response can be explained with process-based watershed and valley scale metrics derived exclusively from common geospatial data. This study outlines a general framework for identifying key processes driving macroinvertebrate assemblages across a range of scales and establishing the geographic extent at which various levels of physical description best explain biological variability. Such information can guide process-based stratification to avoid spurious comparison of dissimilar stream types in bioassessments and ensure that key environmental gradients are adequately represented in sampling designs.

Large Scale Document Inversion using a Multi-threaded Computing System

PubMed Central

Jung, Sungbo; Chang, Dar-Jen; Park, Juw Won

2018-01-01

Current microprocessor architecture is moving towards multi-core/multi-threaded systems. This trend has led to a surge of interest in using multi-threaded computing devices, such as the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), for general purpose computing. We can utilize the GPU in computation as a massive parallel coprocessor because the GPU consists of multiple cores. The GPU is also an affordable, attractive, and user-programmable commodity. Nowadays a lot of information has been flooded into the digital domain around the world. Huge volume of data, such as digital libraries, social networking services, e-commerce product data, and reviews, etc., is produced or collected every moment with dramatic growth in size. Although the inverted index is a useful data structure that can be used for full text searches or document retrieval, a large number of documents will require a tremendous amount of time to create the index. The performance of document inversion can be improved by multi-thread or multi-core GPU. Our approach is to implement a linear-time, hash-based, single program multiple data (SPMD), document inversion algorithm on the NVIDIA GPU/CUDA programming platform utilizing the huge computational power of the GPU, to develop high performance solutions for document indexing. Our proposed parallel document inversion system shows 2-3 times faster performance than a sequential system on two different test datasets from PubMed abstract and e-commerce product reviews. CCS Concepts •Information systems➝Information retrieval • Computing methodologies➝Massively parallel and high-performance simulations. PMID:29861701

Large Scale Document Inversion using a Multi-threaded Computing System.

PubMed

Jung, Sungbo; Chang, Dar-Jen; Park, Juw Won

2017-06-01

Current microprocessor architecture is moving towards multi-core/multi-threaded systems. This trend has led to a surge of interest in using multi-threaded computing devices, such as the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), for general purpose computing. We can utilize the GPU in computation as a massive parallel coprocessor because the GPU consists of multiple cores. The GPU is also an affordable, attractive, and user-programmable commodity. Nowadays a lot of information has been flooded into the digital domain around the world. Huge volume of data, such as digital libraries, social networking services, e-commerce product data, and reviews, etc., is produced or collected every moment with dramatic growth in size. Although the inverted index is a useful data structure that can be used for full text searches or document retrieval, a large number of documents will require a tremendous amount of time to create the index. The performance of document inversion can be improved by multi-thread or multi-core GPU. Our approach is to implement a linear-time, hash-based, single program multiple data (SPMD), document inversion algorithm on the NVIDIA GPU/CUDA programming platform utilizing the huge computational power of the GPU, to develop high performance solutions for document indexing. Our proposed parallel document inversion system shows 2-3 times faster performance than a sequential system on two different test datasets from PubMed abstract and e-commerce product reviews. •Information systems➝Information retrieval • Computing methodologies➝Massively parallel and high-performance simulations.

Quantifying and overcoming bioturbation in marine sediment cores: dual 14C and δ18O analysis on single foraminifera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lougheed, Bryan; Metcalfe, Brett; Wacker, Lukas

2017-04-01

Marine sediment cores used in palaeoceanography form the basis of our current understanding of past global climate and ocean chemistry. Precision and accuracy of geochronological control in these sediment cores are crucial in unravelling the timing of rapid shifts in palaeoclimate and, ultimately, the interdependency of global climate mechanisms and their causality. Aware of the problems associated with bioturbation (the mixing of ocean sediments by benthic organisms) palaeoceanographers generally aim to retrieve sediment cores from locations with high sediment accumulation rates, thus minimising the influence of bioturbation as much as possible. However, the practice of concentrating only on areas of the ocean floor with high sedimentation accumulation rates has the potential to introduce a geographical bias into our understanding of global palaeoclimate. For example, global time averaged sediment accumulation rates for the ocean floor (excluding continental margins) indicate that vast areas of the ocean floor have sediment accumulation rates less than the recommended minimum advised sediment accumulation rates of 10 cm/ka or greater. Whilst many studies have focussed on quantifying the impact of bioturbation on our understanding of the past, few have attempted to overcome the problems associated with bioturbation. Recent pioneering developments in 14C AMS at the Laboratory of Ion Beam Physics at ETH Zürich have led to the development of the Mini Carbon Dating System (MICADAS). This compact 14C AMS system can be coupled to a carbonate handling system, thus enabling the direct AMS measurement of gaseous samples, i.e. without graphitisation, allowing for the analysis of carbonate samples of <100 μg. Likewise, while earlier isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) technology required a minimum of 100 μg of carbonate to produce a successful δ18O measurement, more recent advances in IRMS technology have made routine measurements of as little as 5 μg possible. Combining both analytical techniques enables palaeoclimate reconstructions that are independent of depth. Here, we present work on a low sedimentation core ( 2 cm/ka) core in the North Atlantic (core T86-10P, 37° 8.13' N, 29° 59.15' W) on single shells of the benthic species of foraminifera, Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi. Preliminary downcore single specimen 14C data display a large scatter in 14C ages for the various discrete 1 cm depth intervals analysed. In the case of depth intervals where three or more single specimens have been analysed, we find that the standard deviation in 14C age varies between 1210 and 9437 14C yr, with the mean variation for all such discrete depths being 3384 14C yr.

A new seepage site south of Svalbard? Results from Eurofleets-2 BURSTER cruise

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giulia Lucchi, Renata; Morigi, Caterina; Sabbatini, Anna; Mazzini, Adriano; Krueger, Martin; de Vittor, Cinzia; Kovacevic, Vedrana; Deponte, Davide; Stefano, Graziani; Bensi, Manuel; Langone, Leonardo; Eurofleets2-Burster*, Scientific Party Of

2017-04-01

The oceanographic and environmental characteristics of the Kveithola Glacial Trough, located south of Svalbard, have been investigated during the Eurofleets2-BURSTER project onboard the German icebreaker Polarstern (expedition PS99-1a, June, 19-20, 2016). The inner part of the glacial trough contains a complex sediment drift that deposited under persistent bottom currents, active in the area after Last Glacial Maximum. Notwithstanding the highly dynamic environment depicted from the morphological and structural characteristics of the Kveithola sediment drift, previous studies indicated the presence of an apparently "stagnant" environment with black anoxic sediments and absence of bottom current related sediment features. We present the preliminary results from the new dataset that includes micropaleontological, geochemical and microbial analyses of multi-core sediments; morphological analyses of sea floor sediments with benthic camera (Ocean Floor Observatory System); acoustic analyses of the sub-bottom record, and oceanographic analyses of CTD-Rosette sampling, all together indicating the possible presence of a new seepage site in the Arctic area south of 75°N Latitude. *Bazzaro, M., Biebow, N., Carbonara, K., Caridi, F., Dominiczak, A., Gamboa Sojo, V.M., Laterza R., Le Gall, C., Musco, M.E., Povea, P., Relitti, F., Ruggiero, L., Rui, L., Sánchez Guillamón, O., Tagliaferro, M., Topchiy, M., Wiberg, D., Zoch, D.

Tracing the incorporation of carbon into benthic foraminiferal calcite following the Deepwater Horizon event.

PubMed

Schwing, Patrick T; Chanton, Jeffrey P; Romero, Isabel C; Hollander, David J; Goddard, Ethan A; Brooks, Gregg R; Larson, Rebekka A

2018-06-01

Following the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) event in 2010, hydrocarbons were deposited on the continental slope in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico through marine oil snow sedimentation and flocculent accumulation (MOSSFA). The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that benthic foraminiferal δ 13 C would record this depositional event. From December 2010 to August 2014, a time-series of sediment cores was collected at two impacted sites and one control site in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Short-lived radioisotopes ( 210 Pb and 234 Th) were employed to establish the pre-DWH, DWH, and post-DWH intervals. Benthic foraminifera (Cibicidoides spp. and Uvigerina spp.) were isolated from these intervals for δ 13 C measurement. A modest (0.2-0.4‰), but persistent δ 13 C depletion in the DWH intervals of impacted sites was observed over a two-year period. This difference was significantly beyond the pre-DWH (background) variability and demonstrated that benthic foraminiferal calcite recorded the depositional event. The longevity of the depletion in the δ 13 C record suggested that benthic foraminifera may have recorded the change in organic matter caused by MOSSFA from 2010 to 2012. These findings have implications for assessing the subsurface spatial distribution of the DWH MOSSFA event. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance evaluation of throughput computing workloads using multi-core processors and graphics processors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dave, Gaurav P.; Sureshkumar, N.; Blessy Trencia Lincy, S. S.

2017-11-01

Current trend in processor manufacturing focuses on multi-core architectures rather than increasing the clock speed for performance improvement. Graphic processors have become as commodity hardware for providing fast co-processing in computer systems. Developments in IoT, social networking web applications, big data created huge demand for data processing activities and such kind of throughput intensive applications inherently contains data level parallelism which is more suited for SIMD architecture based GPU. This paper reviews the architectural aspects of multi/many core processors and graphics processors. Different case studies are taken to compare performance of throughput computing applications using shared memory programming in OpenMP and CUDA API based programming.

Performance implications from sizing a VM on multi-core systems: A Data analytic application s view

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lim, Seung-Hwan; Horey, James L; Begoli, Edmon

In this paper, we present a quantitative performance analysis of data analytics applications running on multi-core virtual machines. Such environments form the core of cloud computing. In addition, data analytics applications, such as Cassandra and Hadoop, are becoming increasingly popular on cloud computing platforms. This convergence necessitates a better understanding of the performance and cost implications of such hybrid systems. For example, the very rst step in hosting applications in virtualized environments, requires the user to con gure the number of virtual processors and the size of memory. To understand performance implications of this step, we benchmarked three Yahoo Cloudmore » Serving Benchmark (YCSB) workloads in a virtualized multi-core environment. Our measurements indicate that the performance of Cassandra for YCSB workloads does not heavily depend on the processing capacity of a system, while the size of the data set is critical to performance relative to allocated memory. We also identi ed a strong relationship between the running time of workloads and various hardware events (last level cache loads, misses, and CPU migrations). From this analysis, we provide several suggestions to improve the performance of data analytics applications running on cloud computing environments.« less

Ecosystem history of southern and central Biscayne Bay; summary report on sediment core analyses

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wingard, G.L.; Cronin, T. M.; Dwyer, G.S.; Ishman, S.E.; Willard, D.A.; Holmes, C.W.; Bernhardt, C.E.; Williams, C.P.; Marot, M.E.; Murray, J.B.; Stamm, R.G.; Murray, J.H.; Budet, C.

2003-01-01

During the last century, the environs of Biscayne Bay have been greatly affected by anthropogenic alteration through urbanization of the Miami/Dade County area. The sources, timing, delivery, and quality of freshwater flow into the Bay have been changed by construction of a complex canal system that controls movement of water throughout south Florida. Changes in shoreline and sub-aquatic vegetation and marine organisms have been observed and changes in water delivery are believed to be the cause. Current restoration goals are attempting to restore natural flow of fresh water into Biscayne and Florida Bays and to restore the natural fauna and flora, but first we need to determine pre-alteration baseline conditions in order to establish targets and performance measures for restoration. This research is part of an ongoing study designed to address the needs of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands Project (BBCW) of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan (CERP). By establishing the natural patterns of temporal change in salinity, water quality, vegetation, and benthic fauna in Biscayne Bay and the nearby wetlands over the last 100- 500 years the USGS, in collaboration with our partners, will provide the data necessary to set realistic targets to achieve the BBCW Project goals. Six cores from three sites in Biscayne Bay were collected in April 2002 for multidisciplinary multi-proxy analyses. This report details the results of these analyses and compares the 2002 cores to cores collected in 1997. The following are our significant findings to date: ?\tThe salinity of central Biscayne Bay has become increasingly marine and increasingly stable over the last 100 years. o\tAt No Name Bank, prior to approximately 1915, the inter-decadal and decadal salinity fluctuations appear to have been greater than after 1915 when salinities stabilized at that site. o\tContinental shelf/open marine influence on the sites has increased during the 20th century. o\tThere is no indication of inter-decadal salinity extremes or periods of hypersalinity. o\tFreshwater and mesohaline salinities have had a minor influence on No Name bank throughout the time of deposition. At Featherbed Bank, the influence is reduced to mesohaline salinities. ?\tCard Bank has experienced relatively large swings in salinity over multi-decadal and centennial timescales, compared to central Biscayne Bay, but marine influence at the site has increased over the last century. ?\tIndications of regional scale patterns have been found, especially in the shell chemistry data and the pollen assemblages. These regional patterns indicate that the changes are not site specific and may not be limited to Biscayne Bay. ?\tSub-aquatic vegetation has undergone bay-wide patterns of change over the last 200-500 years, which includes expansion prior to 1900 and declines during the last century in central Biscayne Bay. o\tThalassia appears to have increased at all three core sites sometime between 1550 and 1750 AD. o\tA decline in Thalassia appears to have occurred after 1950 at No Name Bank and slightly earlier in the 20th century at Featherbed Bank. o\tCard Bank does not appear to have experienced any declines in vegetation on an inter-decadal scale during the 20th century. ?\tMolluscan faunal abundance and diversity have undergone significant changes in central Biscayne Bay. ?\tIndicators of increased organic-rich sediments at No Name occur between 1869 to 1888 and between the 1930's to 1975. These changes may correlate to human activities (settlement, population growth). These findings represent a first step towards the project's goal to reconstruct the history of Biscayne Bay and they provide us with a working model to be tested at other sites. It is clear from our findings that Biscayne Bay has been a dynamic environment over the last 500 years, with natural changes occurring in salinity and benthic habitats. However, several significant changes have occurred in the 20th ce

COMPARISON OF TWO INDICES OF BENTHIC COMMUNITY CONDITION IN CHESAPEAKE BAY

EPA Science Inventory

The Chesapeake Benthic Index of Biotic Integrity (B-IBI) and the EMAP-VP Benthic Index were applied to samples from 239 sites in Chesapeake Bay. The B-IBI weights several community measures equally and uses a simple scoring system while the EMAP-VP Benthic Index uses discriminant...

Impact of the temporal variation of oxygen contents in the water column on the biogeochemistry of the benthic zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rigaud, Sylvain; Deflandre, Bruno; Grenz, Christian; Pozzato, Lara; Cesbron, Florian; Meulé, Samuel; Bonin, Patricia; Michotey, Valérie; Mirleau, Pascal; Mirleau, Fatma; Knoery, Joel; Zuberer, Frédéric; Guillemain, Dorian; Marguerite, Sébatien; Mayot, Nicolas; Faure, Vincent; Grisel, Raphael; Radakovitch, Olivier

2017-04-01

The desoxygenation of the water column in coastal areas, refered as coastal hypoxia, is currently a growing phenomenon still particularly complex to predict. This is mainly due to the fact that the biogeochemical response of the benthic ecosystem to the variation of the oxygen contents in the water column remains poorly understood. Dissolved oxygen concentration is a key parameter controling the benthic micro- and macro-community as well as the biogeochemical reactions occuring in the surface sediment. More particularly, the variation over variable time scales (from hour to years) of the oxygen deficit may induce different pathways for biogeochemical processes such as the oxydation of freshly deposited organic matter and nutrients and metals recycling. This results in variable chemical fluxes at the sediment-water interface, that may in turn, support the eutrophication and desoxygenation of the aquatic system. Our study focus on the Berre lagoon, an eutrophicated mediterranean lagoon impacted by hypoxia events in the water column. Three stations, closely located but impacted by contrasted temporal variation of oxygen deficit in the water column were selected: one station with rare oxygen deficit and with functionnal macrofauna community, one station with almost permanent oxygen deficit and no macrofauna community and one intermediate station with seasonnal oxygen deficit and degraded macrofauna community. Each station was surveyed once during a same field survey while the intermediate station was surveyed seasonnaly. For each campaign, we report vertical profiles of the main chemical components (oxygen, nutrients, metals) along the water-column/sediment continuum, with an increased vertical resolution in the benthic zone using a multi-tool approach (high vertical resolution suprabenthic water sampler and microsensors profiler). In addition, total chemical fluxes at the sediment-water interface was obtained using benthic chambers. This dataset was used to evaluate the influence, of the oxygen concentrations (and its short and long-term variations) in the water column on the nature and location of the main biogeochemical reactions occuring in the benthic zone and the resulting fluxes at the sediment-water interface.

Quaternary Turbidite Sedimentation in the Moresby Trough, Preliminary Observations from the Papua New Guinea S2S Study Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bentley, S. J.; Muhammad, Z.; Dickens, J.; Droxler, A.; Peterson, L.; Opdyke, B.

2004-12-01

Multicores and jumbo piston cores were collected from the Moresby Trough from the R/V Melville in March-April 204 to study patterns of off-shelf sediment flux from the Gulf of Papua to the deep sea over Pleistocene-Holocene timescales. The Moresby Trough represents the primary deep-sea sediment conduit linking the Source to Sink Gulf of Papua study area to the north with the Coral Sea Basin to the south. Core locations were navigated from the surface using dynamic positioning and multibeam bathymetric mosaics collected during the cruise. Selected cores have been analyzed using a multi-sensor core logger, X-radiography, granulometry, and Pb-210 geochronology. Most piston cores collected from the Moresby Trough contain abundant mafic sandy turbidites overlain by fine-grained hemipelagic deposits 1-2 m thick. X-radiographs of multicores reveal mostly bioturbated hemipelagics. However, one core, MV25-0403-24MC, was collected from the axis of a primary channel, and contains at least two fine-grained turbidites within the upper 0.5 m of sediment. The uppermost turbidite contains low but uniform activities of excess Pb-210, and may have been 15-20 cm thick at the time of deposition (i.e., before subsequent disruption by bioturbation), based on fabric and radiochemical evidence. Application of a simple box-model for physical mixing (i.e., during the flow) and subsequent decay suggests that the uppermost turbidite was deposited 70-120 years before present. Bioturbation has since reworked about 60% of the bed, suggesting that such beds will only escape destruction by bioturbation if they are > 10 cm thick, and are deposited more frequently than once per century. Based on these observations, we suggest that gravity flows are presently active in the Moresby trough, and may account for a significant fraction of the hemipelagic drape present in channel systems. However, fabric evidence for these thin, fine-grained beds may be obscured by subsequent bioturbation. Also, at some point in the past, possibly at the onset of the Holocene Transgression, the character of sediment flux to the Moresby Trough shifted from sandy mafic-rich sandy turbidity currents to much finer sediments, delivered downslope by both benthic flows and vertical flux through the water column.

Impact of restriction of the Atlantic-Mediterranean gateway on the Mediterranean Outflow Water and eastern Atlantic circulation during the Messinian

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

PéRez-Asensio, J. N.; Aguirre, J.; Schmiedl, G.; Civis, J.

2012-09-01

Messinian foraminiferal stable oxygen and carbon isotopes of the Montemayor-1 core (Guadalquivir Basin, SW Spain) have been investigated. This record is exceptional to study the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) impact on the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (AMOC) and global climate during the Messinian because the core is near the Guadalhorce Corridor, the last Betic gateway to be closed during the early Messinian. Our results allow dating accurately its closure at 6.18 Ma. Constant benthicδ18O values, high difference between benthic and planktonic δ18O, and low sedimentation rates before 6.18 Ma indicate the presence of a two-layer water column, with bottom winnowing due to an enhanced Mediterranean outflow current. The enhanced contribution of dense MOW to the North Atlantic Ocean likely fostered the formation of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). After 6.18 Ma, benthicδ18O values parallel that of the global glacioeustatic curve, the difference between benthic and planktonic δ18O is low, and sedimentation rates considerably increased. This indicates a good vertical mixing of the water column, interruption of the MOW, and a dominant glacioeustatic control on the isotopic signatures. According to the role of MOW in the modern Atlantic thermohaline circulation, the reduction of the MOW after the closure of the Guadalhorce Corridor might have resulted in a decreased NADW formation rate between 6.0 and 5.5 Ma weakening the AMOC and promoting northern hemisphere cooling. After the Gibraltar Strait opening, the restoration of the MOW and related salt export from the Mediterranean could have promoted an enhanced NADW formation.

Vertical oxygen minimum zone oscillations since 20 ka in Santa Barbara Basin: A benthic foraminiferal community perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moffitt, Sarah E.; Hill, Tessa M.; Ohkushi, Kenichi; Kennett, James P.; Behl, Richard J.

2014-01-01

we present a history of deoxygenation of upper intermediate waters during the last deglaciation from Santa Barbara Basin (SBB), based on quantitative analyses of benthic foraminiferal assemblages, from a new shallow piston core above basin sill depth (MV0811-15JC, 418 m), and previously described sequences in the deeper basin (MD02-2504, 481 m and MD02-2503, 570 m). We document a 152 m depth transect of benthic foraminiferal assemblages to extract changing community structure (density, diversity, and evenness) and improve paleoenvironmental interpretation of late Quaternary vertical oscillations in the upper boundary of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). Close interaction between changes in open margin OMZ and that of the restricted SBB is documented using these quantitative techniques. MV0811-15JC, while being unlaminated, contains strongly hypoxic foraminiferal assemblages (including species Bolivina tumida and Nonionella stella), coeval with preserved sediment laminations in the deeper cores. Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) assemblages across this transect contained oxic fauna and high diversity. At 14.7 ka, glacial termination IA, hypoxic benthic fauna appeared across the transect, recording hypoxic waters (<0.5 ml L-1) < 300 m from the ocean surface. Bølling/Allerød (B/A) assemblages uniquely stand out in the record, exhibited by low density, diversity, and evenness, and taxonomic composition reflecting extreme and stressful hypoxia and methane-rich environments. Younger Dryas assemblages were diverse and composed of oxic fauna, similar to LGM assemblages. Termination IB initiated another deoxygenation shift, followed by OMZ-associated faunal and density patterns. This analysis strengthens the quantitative assessment of oxygen concentrations involved in deglacial OMZ change and reveals the unexpected, remarkable shallowness of OMZ influence during the B/A.

Revisiting the Ceara Rise, equatorial Atlantic Ocean: isotope stratigraphy of ODP Leg 154 from 0 to 5 Ma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkens, Roy H.; Westerhold, Thomas; Drury, Anna J.; Lyle, Mitchell; Gorgas, Thomas; Tian, Jun

2017-07-01

Isotope stratigraphy has become the method of choice for investigating both past ocean temperatures and global ice volume. Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) published a stacked record of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records versus age (LR04 stack). In this study LR04 is compared to high-resolution records collected at all of the sites drilled during ODP Leg 154 on the Ceara Rise, in the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Newly developed software is used to check data splices of the Ceara Rise sites and better align out-of-splice data with in-splice data. Core images recovered from core table photos are depth and age scaled and greatly assist in the data analysis. The entire splices of ODP sites 925, 926, 927, 928 and 929 were reviewed. Most changes were minor although several were large enough to affect age models based on orbital tuning. A Ceara Rise composite record of benthic δ18O is out of sync with LR04 between 1.80 and 1.90 Ma, where LR04 exhibits two maxima but Ceara Rise data contain only one. The interval between 4.0 and 4.5 Ma in the Ceara Rise compilation is decidedly different from LR04, reflecting both the low amplitude of the signal over this interval and the limited amount of data available for the LR04 stack. A regional difference in benthic δ18O of 0.2 ‰ relative to LR04 was found. Independent tuning of Site 926 images and physical property data to the Laskar et al. (2004) orbital solution and integration of available benthic stable isotope data from the Ceara Rise provides a new regional reference section for the equatorial Atlantic covering the last 5 million years.

210Po/210Pb Activity Ratios as a Possible `Dating Tool' of Ice Cores and Ice-rafted Sediments from the Western Arctic Ocean - Preliminary Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krupp, K.; Baskaran, M. M.

2016-02-01

We have collected and analyzed a suite of surface snow samples, ice cores, ice-rafted sediments (IRS) and aerosol samples from the Western Arctic for Po-210 and Pb-210 to examine the extent of disequilibrium between this pair to possibly use 210Po/210Pb activity ratio to date different layers of ice cores and time of incorporation of ice-rafted sediments into the sea ice. We have earlier reported that the activity concentrations of 210Pb in IRS vary over an order of magnitude and it is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than that of the benthic sediments (1-2 dpm/g in benthic sediments compared to 25 to 300 dpm/g in IRS). In this study, we have measured 210Po/210Pb activity ratios in aerosols from the Arctic Ocean to constrain the initial 210Po/210Pb ratio at the time of deposition during precipitation. The 210Po activity concentration in recent snow is compared to surface ice samples. The `age' of IRS incorporation can be calculated as follows: [210Po]measured = [210Po]initial + [210Pb] (1 - exp(-λt)) (1) where λ is the decay constant of 210Po, 138.4 days, and `t' is the in-growth time period. From this equation, `t' can be calculated as follows: t = (-1/λ) [ln (1- ((210Po/210Pb)measured - (210Po/210Pb)initial)] (2) The assumption involved in this approach are: i) there is no preferential uptake of 210Po (highly biogenic - S group); and iii) both 210Po and 210Pb remain as closed system. The calculated age using equation (2) will be discussed and presented.

Diatoms in sediments of perennially ice-covered Lake Hoare, and implications for interpreting lake history in the McMurdo Dry Valleys of Antarctica

USGS Publications Warehouse

Spaulding, S.A.; McKnight, Diane M.; Stoermer, E.F.; Doran, P.T.

1997-01-01

Diatom assemblages in surficial sediments, sediment cores, sediment traps, and inflowing streams of perennially ice-covered Lake Hore, South Victorialand, Antarctica were examined to determine the distribution of diatom taxa, and to ascertain if diatom species composition has changed over time. Lake Hoare is a closed-basin lake with an area of 1.8 km2, maximum depth of 34 m, and mean depth of 14 m, although lake level has been rising at a rate of 0.09 m yr-1 in recent decades. The lake has an unusual regime of sediment deposition: coarse grained sediments accumulate on the ice surface and are deposited episodically on the lake bottom. Benthic microbial mats are covered in situ by the coarse episodic deposits, and the new surfaces are recolonized. Ice cover prevents wind-induced mixing, creating the unique depositional environment in which sediment cores record the history of a particular site, rather than a lake=wide integration. Shallow-water (<1 m) diatom assemblages (Stauroneis anceps, Navicula molesta, Diadesmis contenta var. parallela, Navicula peraustralis) were distinct from mid-depth (4-16 m) assemblages (Diadesmis contenta, Luticola muticopsis fo. reducta, Stauroneis anceps, Diadesmis contenta var. parallela, Luticola murrayi) and deep-water (2-31 m) assemblages (Luticola murrayi, Luticola muticopsis fo. reducta, Navicula molesta. Analysis of a sediment core (30 cm long, from 11 m water depth) from Lake Hoare revealed two abrupt changes in diatom assemblages. The upper section of the sediment core contained the greatest biomass of benthic microbial mat, as well as the greatest total abundance and diversity of diatoms. Relative abundances of diatoms in this section are similar to the surficial samples from mid-depths. An intermediate zone contained less organic material and lower densities of diatoms. The bottom section of core contained the least amount of microbial mat and organic material, and the lowest density of diatoms. The dominant process influencing species composition and abundance of diatom assemblages in the benthic microbial mats is episodic deposition of coarse sediment from the ice surface.

Palaeoecology of a 3-kyr biosedimentary record of a coral reef-supporting carbonate shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Almeida, Carine M.; Barbosa, Catia Fernandes; Cordeiro, Renato C.; Seoane, José Carlos S.; Fermino, Gerson M.; Silva, Patricia O.; Turcq, Bruno J.

2013-11-01

This study assesses the 3-kyr paleoecology and sedimentary evolution of the Abrolhos carbonate shelf, Bahia, Brazil, using a two-meter-long core collected in a carbonate muddy sediment. The paleoecology was based on the distribution of benthic foraminifer functional groups associated with grain size, total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), C/N and δ13C. The results identified three biosedimentary units showing that symbiont-bearing foraminifers (Peneroplis and Archaias) decrease in abundance. However, other small taxa (Miliolinella and Cornuspira) and stress-tolerant genera (Bolivina, Elphidium and Ammonia) increase in abundance toward the core top. Grain size decreases toward the top of the core, suggesting a weakening of hydrodynamic winnowing toward recent time. The TOC and TN concentrations increase, and the C/N ratios decrease, suggesting an increase of marine productivity from nearby goblet-shaped structures called "chapeirões". Changes in the benthic foraminifer community can be linked to the sedimentological and organic matter input, which are the result of climatic and oceanographic variations at different spatial and time scales, thus illustrating reduced potential to support symbiont-bearing foraminifer communities to the end of the Holocene.

Reconstruction of the PETM onset from single specimen analyses of foraminiferal stable isotopes at Medford, NJ

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makarova, M.; Miller, K. G.; Wright, J. D.

2017-12-01

The Paleocene-Eocene transition ( 56 Ma) is marked by a global temperature increase of 4-8°C and the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) found ubiquitously in marine and terrestrial realms. However, the mechanisms of warming and overall changes in the ocean-atmosphere system during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) are uncertain. The timing of the PETM onset has been debated suggested by various studies between years to thousands of years and therefore is of particular interest to ascertain the trigger mechanism. One way to resolve this is to study thick cores on the continental margins that have higher sedimentation rates and thus resolution. Stratigraphically more complete in regard to the CIE onset marine PETM sections are found along the U.S. mid-Atlantic margin, New Jersey coastal plain (35-40°N paleolatitude). We present new carbon and oxygen isotopic data of planktonic and benthic foraminifera from the Medford 3A core, drilled on the New Jersey coastal plain in Summer 2016. Medford is the most proximal among the New Jersey coastal plain sites. The Medford 3A core has recovered 4 ft (1.2 m) of the Marlboro Formation, unit that contains the CIE "core" with low stable δ13C values and CIE recovery in other New Jersey cores. The top of the Marlboro Formation is truncated at Medford 3A, but the base is conformable with the underlaying Vincentown Formation. The sharp δ13C decrease appears within the Vincentown/Marlboro transitional lithological interval 1.5 ft (0.5 m) thick allowing a detailed study of the PETM onset. The Medford 3A core recovered sufficient well-preserved foraminifera to establish isotopic changes across the PETM onset. We measure δ13C and δ18O in single specimens of surface dwellers (Morozovella, Acarinina), thermocline dwellers (Subbotina), and benthic foraminifera (Anomalinoides, Cibicidoides) at high resolution to understand the nature of the PETM onset. We compliment previously published single specimen isotopic records from the deepest water Bass River core, NJ with newly generated lithologic and single specimen isotopic data at most proximal Medford. This allows high resolution reconstruction of the PETM onset at marginal depositional settings along the New Jersey paleoshelf: from 25 m at Medford to over 100 m at Bass River.

Node Resource Manager: A Distributed Computing Software Framework Used for Solving Geophysical Problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lawry, B. J.; Encarnacao, A.; Hipp, J. R.; Chang, M.; Young, C. J.

2011-12-01

With the rapid growth of multi-core computing hardware, it is now possible for scientific researchers to run complex, computationally intensive software on affordable, in-house commodity hardware. Multi-core CPUs (Central Processing Unit) and GPUs (Graphics Processing Unit) are now commonplace in desktops and servers. Developers today have access to extremely powerful hardware that enables the execution of software that could previously only be run on expensive, massively-parallel systems. It is no longer cost-prohibitive for an institution to build a parallel computing cluster consisting of commodity multi-core servers. In recent years, our research team has developed a distributed, multi-core computing system and used it to construct global 3D earth models using seismic tomography. Traditionally, computational limitations forced certain assumptions and shortcuts in the calculation of tomographic models; however, with the recent rapid growth in computational hardware including faster CPU's, increased RAM, and the development of multi-core computers, we are now able to perform seismic tomography, 3D ray tracing and seismic event location using distributed parallel algorithms running on commodity hardware, thereby eliminating the need for many of these shortcuts. We describe Node Resource Manager (NRM), a system we developed that leverages the capabilities of a parallel computing cluster. NRM is a software-based parallel computing management framework that works in tandem with the Java Parallel Processing Framework (JPPF, http://www.jppf.org/), a third party library that provides a flexible and innovative way to take advantage of modern multi-core hardware. NRM enables multiple applications to use and share a common set of networked computers, regardless of their hardware platform or operating system. Using NRM, algorithms can be parallelized to run on multiple processing cores of a distributed computing cluster of servers and desktops, which results in a dramatic speedup in execution time. NRM is sufficiently generic to support applications in any domain, as long as the application is parallelizable (i.e., can be subdivided into multiple individual processing tasks). At present, NRM has been effective in decreasing the overall runtime of several algorithms: 1) the generation of a global 3D model of the compressional velocity distribution in the Earth using tomographic inversion, 2) the calculation of the model resolution matrix, model covariance matrix, and travel time uncertainty for the aforementioned velocity model, and 3) the correlation of waveforms with archival data on a massive scale for seismic event detection. Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-program laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-AC04-94AL85000.

Variability in mid-depth ventilation of the western Atlantic Ocean during the last deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voigt, I.; Cruz, A. P. S.; Mulitza, S.; Chiessi, C. M.; Mackensen, A.; Lippold, J.; Antz, B.; Zabel, M.; Zhang, Y.; Barbosa, C. F.; Tisserand, A. A.

2017-09-01

Negative stable carbon isotopic excursions have been observed throughout most of the mid-depth ( 1000-3000 m) Atlantic Ocean during Heinrich Stadial 1 (HS1) and the Younger Dryas (YD). Although there is an agreement that these mid-depth excursions were in some way associated with a slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), there is still no consensus on the precise mechanism(s). Here we present benthic stable carbon and oxygen isotopic (δ13C and δ18O) records from five cores from the western equatorial Atlantic (WEA). Together with published benthic isotopic records from nearby cores, we produced a WEA depth transect ( 800-2500 m). We compare HS1 and YD data from this transect with data from previously published North and South Atlantic cores and demonstrate that the largest negative δ13C excursions occurred in the WEA during these times. Moreover, our benthic δ18O records require the presence of two water masses flowing from the Southern Ocean, bisected by a Northern Component Water (NCW). Given that δ18O is a conservative water mass tracer, we suggest that δ13C was decoupled from water mass composition and does not correspond to simple alternations between northern and southern sourced waters. Instead, δ13C behaved non-conservatively during HS1 and the YD. Consistently with our new 231Pa/230Th record from the WEA transect, that allowed the reconstruction of AMOC strength, we hypothesize that the negative δ13C excursions reflect an increase in the residence time of NCW in response to a weakened AMOC, allowing for a marked accumulation of 13C-depleted respired carbon at the mid-depth WEA.

Polytopol computing for multi-core and distributed systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spaanenburg, Henk; Spaanenburg, Lambert; Ranefors, Johan

2009-05-01

Multi-core computing provides new challenges to software engineering. The paper addresses such issues in the general setting of polytopol computing, that takes multi-core problems in such widely differing areas as ambient intelligence sensor networks and cloud computing into account. It argues that the essence lies in a suitable allocation of free moving tasks. Where hardware is ubiquitous and pervasive, the network is virtualized into a connection of software snippets judiciously injected to such hardware that a system function looks as one again. The concept of polytopol computing provides a further formalization in terms of the partitioning of labor between collector and sensor nodes. Collectors provide functions such as a knowledge integrator, awareness collector, situation displayer/reporter, communicator of clues and an inquiry-interface provider. Sensors provide functions such as anomaly detection (only communicating singularities, not continuous observation), they are generally powered or self-powered, amorphous (not on a grid) with generation-and-attrition, field re-programmable, and sensor plug-and-play-able. Together the collector and the sensor are part of the skeleton injector mechanism, added to every node, and give the network the ability to organize itself into some of many topologies. Finally we will discuss a number of applications and indicate how a multi-core architecture supports the security aspects of the skeleton injector.

Postglacial Records of Southern Hemisphere Climate and Oceanographic Change From the New Zealand Subantarctic Auckland Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moy, C. M.; Gilmer, G.; Nichols, J. E.; Browne, I. M.; Curtin, L.; Vandergoes, M.; Aebig, C.; Wilson, G. S.

2017-12-01

The strength and latitudinal position of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHWW) play a fundamental role in influencing mid-latitude climate and CO2 exchange between the Southern Ocean and the atmosphere along seasonal to glaicial-interglacial timescales. Despite their importance, our understanding of past SHWW change is limited by the small number of paleoclimate records from the modern wind maximum, which are often not in agreement. The New Zealand subantarctic Auckland Islands are located within the core of the modern wind belt (50°S), a key latitude where ocean-atmospheric linkages between the Antarctic and mid-latitudes are strong. In contrast to other subantarctic islands on the Campbell Plateau, the Auckland Islands have multiple protected fjord sub-basins, deep lakes, and peatlands that are advantageous for the development of high-resolution paleoclimate records. We will present ongoing work towards the establishment of multi-proxy and multi-site reconstructions of past SHWW variability from the Auckland Islands. Modern process and paleoclimate studies suggest that in lacustrine and fjord settings, the degree of water column mixing, the stable isotopic composition of n-alkanes and benthic foraminifera, and the influx of terrestrial organic matter are good indicators of wind-induced mixing of the water column or precipitation-driven erosion within catchments. During the Late Glacial and early Holocene (15 to 9 ka), elevated long-chain n-alkane δD values from ombrotrophic peatlands and an increase in the concentration of redox-sensitive elements in fjord sediment cores, signal weakening of the SHWW that appears to be coincident with periods of rapid deglacial warming of West Antarctica. Since 5.5 ka, we interpret declining n-alkane δD values to indicate enhanced westerly flow. These interpretations are in broad agreement with terrestrial paleoclimate records developed from southern South America and argue for a symmetrical response of the SHWW during the last 15,000 years along multi-millennial timescales.

Carbon fate in a large temperate human-impacted river system: Focus on benthic dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vilmin, Lauriane; Flipo, Nicolas; Escoffier, Nicolas; Rocher, Vincent; Groleau, Alexis

2016-07-01

Fluvial networks play an important role in regional and global carbon (C) budgets. The Seine River, from the Paris urban area to the entrance of its estuary (220 km), is studied here as an example of a large human-impacted river system subject to temperate climatic conditions. We assess organic C (OC) budgets upstream and downstream from one of the world's largest wastewater treatment plants and for different hydrological conditions using a hydrobiogeochemical model. The fine representation of sediment accumulation on the river bed allows for the quantification of pelagic and benthic effects on OC export toward the estuary and on river metabolism (i.e., net CO2 production). OC export is significantly affected by benthic dynamics during the driest periods, when 25% of the inputs to the system is transformed or stored in the sediment layer. Benthic processes also substantially affect river metabolism under any hydrological condition. On average, benthic respiration accounts for one third of the total river respiration along the studied stretch (0.27 out of 0.86 g C m-2 d-1). Even though the importance of benthic processes was already acknowledged by the scientific community for headwater streams, these results stress the major influence of benthic dynamics, and thus of physical processes such as sedimentation and resuspension, on C cycling in downstream river systems. It opens the door to new developments in the quantification of C emissions by global models, whereby biogeochemical processing and benthic dynamics should be taken into account.

Paleontology and geochronology of the Long Beach core sites and monitoring wells, Long Beach, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

McDougall, Kristin; Hillhouse, John; Powell, Charles; Mahan, Shannon; Wan, Elmira; Sarna-Wojcicki, Andrei M.

2012-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey's Focus on Quaternary Stratigraphy in Los Angeles (FOQUS-LA) project was a cooperative coring program between Federal, State, and local agencies. It was designed to provide a better understanding of earthquake potentials and to develop a stratigraphic model of the western Los Angeles Basin in California. The biostratigraphic, geochronologic, and paleoecologic analyses of eight wells drilled during the FOQUS-LA project are presented. These analyses are based on microfossils (benthic and planktic foraminifers), macrofossils, paleomagnetic stratigraphy, optically stimulated luminescence, thermoluminescence, radiocarbon dating, and tephrochronology. A geochronologic framework (incorporating paleomagnetism, luminescence, and tephrochronology) was used to calibrate the sequence stratigraphic units in the FOQUS-LA wells and also was used to calibrate the ages of the microfossil stage and zonal boundaries. The results of this study show that (1) the offshore California margin zones can be used in a nearshore setting, and (2) the California margin zonal scheme refines the chronostratigraphic resolution of the benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphic framework for the Pacific Coast. Benthic foraminiferal stages are modified by the recognition of an early Hallian substage, which is a faunal change recognized throughout the Los Angeles Basin. Although no detailed macrofossil zonations exist for the Quaternary of southern California, several species, whose distribution is regulated by the climatic conditions, are useful as secondary marker species in the shallower water deposits of the Los Angeles Basin.

All-fiber orbital angular momentum mode generation and transmission system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heng, Xiaobo; Gan, Jiulin; Zhang, Zhishen; Qian, Qi; Xu, Shanhui; Yang, Zhongmin

2017-11-01

We proposed and demonstrated an all-fiber system for generating and transmitting orbital angular momentum (OAM) mode light. A specially designed multi-core fiber (MCF) was used to endow with guide modes different phase change and two tapered transition regions were used for providing low-loss interfaces between different fiber structures. By arranging the refractive index distribution among the multi-cores and controlling the length of MCF, which essentially change the phase difference between the neighboring cores, OAM modes with different topological charge l can be generated selectively. Through two tapered transition regions, the non-OAM mode light can be effectively injected into the MCF and the generated OAM mode light can be easily launched into OAM mode supporting fiber for long distance and high purity transmission. Such an all-fiber OAM mode generation and transmission system owns the merits of flexibility, compactness, portability, and would have practical application value in OAM optical fiber communication systems.

Effects of an oil spill on benthic community production and respiration on subtropical intertidal sandflats.

PubMed

Lee, Li-Hua; Lin, Hsing-Juh

2013-08-15

This study determined effects of an oil spill on subtropical benthic community production and respiration by monitoring CO2 fluxes in benthic chambers on intertidal sandflats during emersion before and after an accidental spill. The oil spill decreased sediment chlorophyll a concentrations, altered benthic macrofaunal community, and affected ecological functioning by suppressing or even stopping microalgal production, increasing bacterial respiration, and causing a shift from an autotrophic system to a heterotrophic system. Effects of the oil spill on the macrofauna were more severe than on benthic microalgae, and affected sedentary infauna more than motile epifauna. Despite the oil spill's impact on the benthic community and carbon metabolism, the affected area appeared to return to normal in about 23 days. Our results suggest that the prompt response of benthic metabolism to exposure to petroleum hydrocarbons can serve as a useful indicator of the impact of an oil spill. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Identifying past petroleum exploration related drill cutting releases and influences on the marine environment and benthic foraminiferal communities, Goliat Field, SW Barents Sea, Norway.

PubMed

Aagaard-Sørensen, Steffen; Junttila, Juho; Dijkstra, Noortje

2018-04-01

The present multiproxy investigation of marine sediment cores aims at: 1) Identifying dispersion of petroleum exploration related drill cutting releases within the Goliat Field, Barents Sea in 2006/07 and 2) Assessing past and present influence of drill cuttings on the marine environment. The cores were recovered 5, 30, 60, 125 and 250m from the drill site in the eastward downstream direction. Downstream dispersion of drill cuttings is evaluated by examining sediment grain size distribution and barium (Ba), heavy metal, total organic carbon and sulphur concentrations. Dispersion of drill cuttings was limited to <125m east from the drill site. Influence of drill cutting releases on the marine environment is assessed via microfaunal analysis of primarily calcareous benthic foraminifera. The findings suggest contemporaneous physical smothering at ≤30m from the drill site, with a natural fauna reestablishing after drilling cessation indicating no long-term effect of drill cutting releases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Burgett, Eric; Al-Sheikhly, Mohamad; Summers, Christopher

An advanced in-pile multi-parameter reactor monitoring system is being proposed in this funding opportunity. The proposed effort brings cutting edge, high-fidelity optical measurement systems into the reactor environment in an unprecedented fashion, including in-core, in-cladding and in-fuel pellet itself. Unlike instrumented leads, the proposed system provides a unique solution to a multi-parameter monitoring need in core while being minimally intrusive in the reactor core. Detector designs proposed herein can monitor fuel compression and expansion in both the radial and axial dimensions as well as monitor linear power profiles and fission rates during the operation of the reactor. In addition tomore » pressure, stress, strain, compression, neutron flux, neutron spectra, and temperature can be observed inside the fuel bundle and fuel rod using the proposed system. The proposed research aims at developing radiation-hard, harsh-environment multi-parameter systems for insertion into the reactor environment. The proposed research holds the potential to drastically increase the fidelity and precision of in-core instrumentation with little or no impact in the neutron economy in the reactor environment while providing a measurement system capable of operation for entire operating cycles. Significant work has been done over the last few years on the use of nanoparticle-based scintillators. Through the use of metamaterials, the PIs aim to develop planar neutron detectors and large-volume neutron detectors. These detectors will have high efficiencies for neutron detection and will have a high gamma discrimination capability.« less

MetAlign 3.0: performance enhancement by efficient use of advances in computer hardware.

PubMed

Lommen, Arjen; Kools, Harrie J

2012-08-01

A new, multi-threaded version of the GC-MS and LC-MS data processing software, metAlign, has been developed which is able to utilize multiple cores on one PC. This new version was tested using three different multi-core PCs with different operating systems. The performance of noise reduction, baseline correction and peak-picking was 8-19 fold faster compared to the previous version on a single core machine from 2008. The alignment was 5-10 fold faster. Factors influencing the performance enhancement are discussed. Our observations show that performance scales with the increase in processor core numbers we currently see in consumer PC hardware development.

Impacts of exotic mangrove forests and mangrove deforestation on carbon remineralization and ecosystem functioning in marine sediments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sweetman, A.K.; Middelburg, J.J.; Berle, A.M.; Bernardino, A.F.; Schander, C.; Demopoulos, A.W.J.; Smith, C.R.

2010-01-01

To evaluate how mangrove invasion and removal can modify benthic carbon cycling processes and ecosystem functioning, we used stable-isotopically labelled algae as a deliberate tracer to quantify benthic respiration and C-flow through macrofauna and bacteria in sediments collected from (1) an invasive mangrove forest, (2) deforested mangrove sites 2 and 6 years after removal of above-sediment mangrove biomass, and (3) two mangrove-free, control sites in the Hawaiian coastal zone. Sediment oxygen consumption (SOC) rates were significantly greater in the mangrove and mangrove removal site experiments than in controls and were significantly correlated with total benthic (macrofauna and bacteria) biomass and sedimentary mangrove biomass (SMB). Bacteria dominated short-term C-processing of added microalgal-C and benthic biomass in sediments from the invasive mangrove forest habitat. In contrast, macrofauna were the most important agents in the short-term processing of microalgal-C in sediments from the mangrove removal and control sites. Mean faunal abundance and short term C-uptake rates in sediments from both removal sites were significantly higher than in control cores, which collectively suggest that community structure and short-term C-cycling dynamics in habitats where mangroves have been cleared can remain fundamentally different from un-invaded mudflat sediments for at least 6-yrs following above-sediment mangrove removal. In summary, invasion by mangroves can lead to large shifts in benthic ecosystem function, with sediment metabolism, benthic community structure and short-term C-remineralization dynamics being affected for years following invader removal. ?? 2010 Author(s).

Source Evaluation and Trace Metal Contamination in Benthic Sediments from Equatorial Ecosystems Using Multivariate Statistical Techniques

PubMed Central

Benson, Nsikak U.; Asuquo, Francis E.; Williams, Akan B.; Essien, Joseph P.; Ekong, Cyril I.; Akpabio, Otobong; Olajire, Abaas A.

2016-01-01

Trace metals (Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni and Pb) concentrations in benthic sediments were analyzed through multi-step fractionation scheme to assess the levels and sources of contamination in estuarine, riverine and freshwater ecosystems in Niger Delta (Nigeria). The degree of contamination was assessed using the individual contamination factors (ICF) and global contamination factor (GCF). Multivariate statistical approaches including principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and correlation test were employed to evaluate the interrelationships and associated sources of contamination. The spatial distribution of metal concentrations followed the pattern Pb>Cu>Cr>Cd>Ni. Ecological risk index by ICF showed significant potential mobility and bioavailability for Cu, Cu and Ni. The ICF contamination trend in the benthic sediments at all studied sites was Cu>Cr>Ni>Cd>Pb. The principal component and agglomerative clustering analyses indicate that trace metals contamination in the ecosystems was influenced by multiple pollution sources. PMID:27257934

Toward GEOS-6, A Global Cloud System Resolving Atmospheric Model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Putman, William M.

2010-01-01

NASA is committed to observing and understanding the weather and climate of our home planet through the use of multi-scale modeling systems and space-based observations. Global climate models have evolved to take advantage of the influx of multi- and many-core computing technologies and the availability of large clusters of multi-core microprocessors. GEOS-6 is a next-generation cloud system resolving atmospheric model that will place NASA at the forefront of scientific exploration of our atmosphere and climate. Model simulations with GEOS-6 will produce a realistic representation of our atmosphere on the scale of typical satellite observations, bringing a visual comprehension of model results to a new level among the climate enthusiasts. In preparation for GEOS-6, the agency's flagship Earth System Modeling Framework [JDl] has been enhanced to support cutting-edge high-resolution global climate and weather simulations. Improvements include a cubed-sphere grid that exposes parallelism; a non-hydrostatic finite volume dynamical core, and algorithm designed for co-processor technologies, among others. GEOS-6 represents a fundamental advancement in the capability of global Earth system models. The ability to directly compare global simulations at the resolution of spaceborne satellite images will lead to algorithm improvements and better utilization of space-based observations within the GOES data assimilation system

Regional variability in food availability for Arctic marine mammals.

PubMed

Bluhm, Bodil A; Gradinger, Rolf

2008-03-01

This review provides an overview of prey preferences of seven core Arctic marine mammal species (AMM) and four non-core species on a pan-Arctic scale with regional examples. Arctic marine mammal species exploit prey resources close to the sea ice, in the water column, and at the sea floor, including lipid-rich pelagic and benthic crustaceans and pelagic and ice-associated schooling fishes such as capelin and Arctic cod. Prey preferred by individual species range from cephalopods and benthic bivalves to Greenland halibut. A few AMM are very prey-, habitat-, and/or depth-specific (e.g., walrus, polar bear), while others are rather opportunistic and, therefore, likely less vulnerable to change (e.g., beluga, bearded seal). In the second section, we review prey distribution patterns and current biomass hotspots in the three major physical realms (sea ice, water column, and seafloor), highlighting relations to environmental parameters such as advection patterns and the sea ice regime. The third part of the contribution presents examples of documented changes in AMM prey distribution and biomass and, subsequently, suggests three potential scenarios of large-scale biotic change, based on published observations and predictions of environmental change. These scenarios discuss (1) increased pelagic primary and, hence, secondary production, particularly in the central Arctic, during open-water conditions in the summer (based on surplus nutrients currently unutilized); (2) reduced benthic and pelagic biomass in coastal/shelf areas (due to increased river runoff and, hence, changed salinity and turbidity conditions); and (3) increased pelagic grazing and recycling in open-water conditions at the expense of the current tight benthic-pelagic coupling in part of the ice-covered shelf regions (due to increased pelagic consumption vs. vertical flux). Should those scenarios hold true, pelagic-feeding and generalist AMM might be advantaged, while the range for benthic shelf-feeding, ice-dependent AMM such as walrus would decrease. New pelagic feeding grounds may open up to AMM and subarctic marine mammal species in the High Arctic basins while nearshore waters might provide less abundant food in the future.

Scalable and Power Efficient Data Analytics for Hybrid Exascale Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Choudhary, Alok; Samatova, Nagiza; Wu, Kesheng

This project developed a generic and optimized set of core data analytics functions. These functions organically consolidate a broad constellation of high performance analytical pipelines. As the architectures of emerging HPC systems become inherently heterogeneous, there is a need to design algorithms for data analysis kernels accelerated on hybrid multi-node, multi-core HPC architectures comprised of a mix of CPUs, GPUs, and SSDs. Furthermore, the power-aware trend drives the advances in our performance-energy tradeoff analysis framework which enables our data analysis kernels algorithms and software to be parameterized so that users can choose the right power-performance optimizations.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Harrison, Cyrus; Larsen, Matt; Brugger, Eric

Strawman is a system designed to explore the in situ visualization and analysis needs of simulation code teams running multi-physics calculations on many-core HPC architectures. It porvides rendering pipelines that can leverage both many-core CPUs and GPUs to render images of simulation meshes.

Sediment type and benthic fauna control the nutrient release in a coastal bay

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voss, Maren; Thoms, Franziska; Dippner, Joachim; Bartl, Ines; Janas, Urzula; Hellemann, Dana; Hietanen, Susanna; Kendzierska, Halina

2017-04-01

Eutrophication of coastal seas is still a major problem that may even increase in the near future according to recent model studies. The catchment of the Baltic Sea with nine highly industrialized riparian countries is intensively used and only few major rivers are responsible for more than half of the riverine nutrient input to the coastal zones. It is hypothesized that these nutrient are the main drivers for large anoxic bottom waters in the central Baltic Sea and an increasing hypoxia problem in coastal waters. The sequestration of nutrients was therefore intensively studied in the Baltic Sea, however either in the water column or in the sediments. The role of the benthic pelagic coupling for the nutrient turnover was much less investigated especially due to technical challenges. We therefore used a lander system to quantify the nutrient release from sediments in a river impacted coastal Bay of Gdansk in the framework of the BONUS-COCOA project. Lander deployments and sediment coring were done simultaneously to measure nutrient fluxes over time and to characterize grain size, permeability, organic matter content, and benthic fauna. The benthic communities were analyzed to identify potential linkages between nutrient release and the species composition. Our study revealed close linkages between types/grain-size of sediment and the nutrient release. The activity of the animals in the sediment seems responsible for significant release of nutrients which is more pronounced than the diffusive nutrient release back to the water column. Rates from nineteen stations were used to draw a conclusive picture of the overall nutrient release from sediments and were set into a framework of a nutrient budget for the Bay of Gdansk considering the role of fauna. Moreover, we are able to identify a depth of roughly 50m as a border that separates the dominance of benthic recycling from deeper stations where mainly deposition or organic material takes place. Changes in properties of sediments are discernible from 50 m downwards to deeper waters. A storm encountered during one cruise was used to evaluate effects of strong wave action on the release and leaching of nutrient from sediments. Overall, the importance of oxygenated coastal waters to allow benthic life is therefore crucial for nutrient turnover and nutrient removal in coastal zones.

Using OpenMP vs. Threading Building Blocks for Medical Imaging on Multi-cores

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kegel, Philipp; Schellmann, Maraike; Gorlatch, Sergei

We compare two parallel programming approaches for multi-core systems: the well-known OpenMP and the recently introduced Threading Building Blocks (TBB) library by Intel®. The comparison is made using the parallelization of a real-world numerical algorithm for medical imaging. We develop several parallel implementations, and compare them w.r.t. programming effort, programming style and abstraction, and runtime performance. We show that TBB requires a considerable program re-design, whereas with OpenMP simple compiler directives are sufficient. While TBB appears to be less appropriate for parallelizing existing implementations, it fosters a good programming style and higher abstraction level for newly developed parallel programs. Our experimental measurements on a dual quad-core system demonstrate that OpenMP slightly outperforms TBB in our implementation.

Contribution of benthic microalgae to the temporal variation in phytoplankton assemblages in a macrotidal system.

PubMed

Hernández Fariñas, Tania; Ribeiro, Lourenço; Soudant, Dominique; Belin, Catherine; Bacher, Cédric; Lampert, Luis; Barillé, Laurent

2017-10-01

Suspended marine benthic microalgae in the water column reflect the close relationship between the benthic and pelagic components of coastal ecosystems. In this study, a 12-year phytoplankton time-series was used to investigate the contribution of benthic microalgae to the pelagic system at a site along the French-Atlantic coast. Furthermore, all taxa identified were allocated into different growth forms in order to study their seasonal patterns. The highest contribution of benthic microalgae was observed during the winter period, reaching up to 60% of the carbon biomass in the water column. The haptobenthic growth form showed the highest contribution in terms of biomass, dominant in the fall-winter period when the turbidity and the river flow were high. The epipelic growth form did not follow any seasonal pattern. The epiphytic diatom Licmophora was most commonly found during summer. As benthic microalgae were found in the water column throughout the year, the temporal variation detected in the structure of pelagic assemblages in a macrotidal ecosystem was partly derived from the differentiated contribution of several benthic growth forms. © 2017 Phycological Society of America.

Occurrence, compositional distribution, and toxicity assessment of pyrethroid insecticides in sediments from the fluvial systems of Chaohu Lake, Eastern China.

PubMed

Wang, Ji-Zhong; Bai, Ya-Shu; Wu, Yakton; Zhang, Shuo; Chen, Tian-Hu; Peng, Shu-Chuan; Xie, Yu-Wei; Zhang, Xiao-Wei

2016-06-01

Surface sediment-associated synthetic pyrethroid insecticides (SPs) are known to pose high risks to the benthic organisms in Chaohu Lake, a shallow lake of Eastern China. However, the pollution status of the lake's tributaries and estuaries is still unknown. The present study was conducted to investigate the occurrence, compositional distribution, and toxicity of 12 currently used SPs in the surface sediments from four important tributaries, as well as in the sediment cores at their estuaries, using GC-MS for quantification. All SPs selected were detectable, with cypermethrin, es/fenvalerate, and permethrin dominant in both surface and core sediments, suggesting that these compounds were extensively applied. Urban samples contained the highest summed concentrations of the 12 SPs analyzed (Σ12SP) in both surface and core sediments compared with rural samples, suggesting that urban areas near aquatic environments posed high risks for SPs. The mean concentration of Σ12SP in surface sediments of each river was generally higher than that found in core sediments from its corresponding estuary, perhaps implying recent increases in SP usage. Surface sediments were significantly dominated by cypermethrin and permethrin, whereas core sediments were dominated by permethrin and es/fenvalerate. The compositional distributions demonstrated a spatial variation for surface sediments because urban sediments generally contained greater percentages of permethrin and cypermethrin, but rural sediments had significant levels of es/fenvalerate and cypermethrin. In all sediment cores, the percentage of permethrin gradually increased, whereas es/fenvalerate tended to decrease, from the bottom sediments to the top, indicating that the former represented fresh input, whereas the latter represented historical residue. Most urban samples would be expected to be highly toxic to benthic organisms due to the residue of SPs based on a calculation of toxic units (TUs) using toxicity data of the amphipod Hyalella azteca. However, low TU values were found for the samples from rural areas. These results indicate that the bottom sediments were exposed to high risk largely by the residual SPs from urban areas. The summed TUs were mostly attributable to cypermethrin, followed by λ-cyhalothrin and es/fenvalerate. Despite permethrin contributing ∼28.7 % of the Σ12SP concentration, it only represented 6.34 % of the summed TUs. Therefore, our results suggest that high levels of urbanization can increase the accumulation of SPs in aquatic environments.

A multiproxy fjord sediment record of Holocene climate change from the subantarctic Auckland Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Browne, I. M.; Moy, C. M.; Wilson, G. S.; Neil, H.; Riesselman, C. R.

2014-12-01

The Southern Hemisphere Westerly Winds (SHWW) and the associated oceanic fronts have a major influence on atmospheric and oceanic circulation in the Southern Hemisphere. Sediment cores recovered from fjords along the eastern margin of the sub-Antarctic Auckland Islands (51°S, 166°E) are ideally located to sensitively record changes in the strength and position of the SHWW throughout the Holocene. A 5.75m core from Hanfield Inlet preserves both marine and terrestrial environmental components, which we use to develop a multiproxy record of past climatic conditions. This core, composed entirely of brown marine mud and silt, was recovered from a depth of 44m. Based on the entrance sill depth of the fjord (10mbsl) and our knowledge of regional sea level rise, we infer that the base of the core will be early Holocene in age, which will be confirmed using radiocarbon age dating. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages (125-500μm fraction) in surface and downcore samples are dominated by three taxa, Nonionellina flemingi, Cassidulina carinata and Quinqueloculina seminula. These species are either shallow infaunal or infaunal. We will use stable carbon (δ¹³C) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope geochemistry of the benthic foraminifera Nonionellina flemingi, Bolivina cf. earlandi, Trifarina angulosa, Bulimina marginata f. marginata and Cibicides species (all identified from Rose Bengal stained box-core samples) to reconstruct water column fluctuations associated with frontal migration. These results will compliment bulk sediment C and N concentration and isotope reconstructions of terrestrial organic matter delivery to fjord sub-basins over the past 12,000 years.

Evolution of the anthropogenic impact in the Augusta Harbor (Eastern Sicily, Italy) in the last decades: benthic foraminifera as indicators of environmental status.

PubMed

Romano, Elena; Bergamin, Luisa; Ausili, Antonella; Celia Magno, Maria; Gabellini, Massimo

2016-06-01

The study of benthic foraminifera in sediment cores provides the opportunity to recognize environmental changes, including those due to the anthropogenic impact. The integration of these data with chemical-physical parameters provides a comprehensive quality assessment. This research was applied to a sediment core collected in the Augusta bay, where a very large commercial and military harbor and one of the largest petrochemical poles in Europe are present. Inside the petrochemical area also operated, from 1958 to 2003, a chlor-alkali plant with mercury cell technology which caused anthropic contamination of surrounding land and marine areas. The sediment core was collected in front of this plant and characterized for grain size and pollutants directly associated to chlor-alkali activity, such as mercury (Hg), barium (Ba), polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Composition of foraminiferal assemblages and faunal parameters such as specific diversity, faunal density, abundance of abnormal specimens, and foraminiferal size were investigated as potential indicators of environmental status. Statistical analysis indicated a main common origin for Hg, Ba, and PCBs and the influence of pollutants on species distribution and faunal diversity and density. Exceptionally high Hg concentrations (63-680 mg/kg d.w.) were recorded in the whole core, where the geochronological study attributed the most contaminated levels to the period of maximum activity of the chlor-alkali plant, while a decrease of contamination was recorded after the stop of the activity. Distinct foraminiferal assemblages identified different ecozones along the core, which suggested decreasing anthropogenic impact from the bottom to the top.

Micro CT characterization of a coastal mine tailings deposit, Portmán Bay, SE Spain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frigola, Jaime; Cerdà-Domènech, Marc; Barriuso, Eduardo; Sanchez-Vidal, Anna; Amblas, David; Canals, Miquel

2017-04-01

Scanning of sediment cores by means of high-resolution non-destructive techniques provides researchers with huge amounts of highly valuable data allowing fast and detailed characterization of the materials. In the last decades several devoted instruments have been developed and applied to the study of sedimentary sequences, mainly multi-sensor core loggers (MSCL) for the physical properties and XRF core scanners for the chemical elemental composition. The geoscientific community started using computed tomography (CT) systems about two decades ago. These were mainly medical systems as dedicated instruments were essentially lacking by that time. The resolution of those medical systems was limited to several hundreds of micrometres voxel size. Micro computed tomography (micro-CT) systems have also spread into geoscientific research, although their limited workspace dimensions prevents their use for large objects, such as long sediment cores. Recently, a new micro-CT system, the MultiTom Core X-ray CT, conceived by University of Barcelona (UB) researchers and developed by X-ray Engineering, became operational. It is able of scanning sediment cores up to 1.5 m long, and allows adjustable resolutions from 300 microns down to 3-4 microns. The system is now installed at UB's CORELAB Laboratory for non-destructive analyses of geological materials. Here we present, as an example, the results of MultiTom scans of a set of sediment cores recovered offshore Portmán Bay, SE Spain, in order to characterize at very high-resolution the metal-enriched deposit generated after 33 years of direct discharge into the sea of mine tailings resulting from the exploitation of Pb and Zn ores. In total 52 short cores and 6 long gravity cores from the mine tailings infilled bay were scanned with the MultiTom system at a mean voxel resolution of 125 microns. The integrated study of micro-CT data allowed differentiating the main tailings units from deposits formed after disposal cessation. Tailings units show higher radio-density values, which correspond to metal enrichments. A lower unit consists of highly laminated interbedded low radio-density and very high radio-density layers, while an upper mine tailings unit is more homogeneous and shows intermediate radio-density values. The limit between the tailings and the post-mining deposits is defined by a sharp surface associated with an abrupt decrease in the radio-densities. Post-mining deposits are also characterized by an increment in bioturbation marks, which are practically absent in the tailings units, and an increase in carbonate particles and organic matter patches. Micro CT scans allow observation of very small structures, which are indicative of the complexity of the sedimentation processes involved in the transport and final deposition of the mine tailings. Integration of micro CT scans together with XRF core scanner and MSCL data allows a better characterization of the metal concentrations and their distribution within the deposit, directly demonstrating the great value of non-destructive techniques for actually high-resolution sedimentological studies.

Pyrosequencing reveals benthic bacteria changes responsing to heavy deposition of Microcystis scum in lab — searching bacteria for bloom control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Yali; Cheng, Dongmei; Guan, Baohua; Zhang, Xiufeng; Liu, Zhengwen; Liu, Zejun

2017-05-01

Bacteria capable of degrading cyanobacteria Microcystis are crucial for determining the ecological consequences of Microcystis blooms in freshwater lakes. Scum derived from Microcystis blooms tends to accumulate in bays of large lakes and then sink to the sediments where it is finally consumed by benthic bacteria. Understanding the response of benthic bacterial communities to massive Microcystis deposition events may help identify the bacteria best suited to Microcystis hydrolyzation and even bloom control. For that purpose, an experimental system was set up in which intact sediment cores were incubated in the laboratory with normal and heavy deposits of Microcystis detritus. Pyrosequencing was performed in order to describe a phylogenetic inventory of bacterial communities in samples taken at 0-1, 1-2 and 2-3 cm depths in incubated sediments and in original untreated sediment. A hierarchical cluster tree was constructed expose differences between sediments. Similarity percentage calculations were also performed to identify the bacterial species contributing to variation. The results of this study suggest that: (1) deposition of Microcystis scums exerts a strong effect on the bacterial community composition in the surface (0-1 cm) and sub-surface (1-2 cm) sediment layers; (2) bacterial community responses to Microcystis detritus deposition vary across vertical gradients. A list of bacteria with potential roles in Microcystis degradation was compiled. These findings may inform the development of future measures for Microcystis bloom control in lakes.

History of benthic research in the English Channel: From general patterns of communities to habitat mosaic description

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dauvin, Jean-Claude

2015-06-01

Benthic studies in the English Channel (EC), a shallow megatidal and epicontinental sea, began in the 1960s and 1970s with the work of teams led by Norman Holme (UK) and Louis Cabioch (F). During this period, benthic sampling was mainly qualitative, i.e. using a device such as the 'Rallier du Baty' dredge in the case of the French team and a modified anchor dredge in the case of the British team. Studies were focused on acquiring knowledge of the main distributions of benthic communities and species. Surveys on the scale of the whole EC led to the recognition of general features and two main patterns were identified: 1) the role of hydrodynamics on the spatial distribution of sediment, benthic species and communities; 2) the presence of a west-east climatic gradient of faunal impoverishment. Benthic studies in the 1980s-1990s were focused on the beginning of the implementation of long-term survey at a limited number of sites to identify seasonal and multi-annual changes. In the first decade of the 2000s, the implementation of the European Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive to define the Ecological Quality Status of marine environments increased the need to acquire better information of the structure and functioning of benthic communities, since benthic species and habitats were recognised as good indicators of human pressure on marine ecosystems. Faced with the increase of human maritime activities, the appearance of invasive species and the need to preserve sensitive marine habitats, benthic studies have been focused on developing a 'toolkit' to help in the decision-making and planning for both sound governance and sustainable management of marine resources and human activities in the English Channel. Multidisciplinary approaches were used to differentiate habitats in a more precise detail. Both indirect (side-scan sonar, ROV) and direct (grab sampling with benthos identification and grain-size analyses) approaches were used and combined to allow the description of benthic habitats using numerous descriptors. These approaches were mainly applied on a local scale, leading to the identification of habitat mosaics mainly in coarse sands, gravels and pebbly areas which cover 80% of the EC seabed. They also allowed the enrichment of the EUNIS habitat classification for infralittoral and circalittoral zones taking into account the scale of observations of benthic habitats. Moreover, several recommendations for future benthic studies are proposed within a HABITAT approach.

A multi-proxy analysis of Late Quaternary ocean and climate variability for the Maldives, Inner Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bunzel, Dorothea; Schmiedl, Gerhard; Lindhorst, Sebastian; Mackensen, Andreas; Reolid, Jesús; Romahn, Sarah; Betzler, Christian

2017-12-01

As a natural sediment trap, the marine sediments of the sheltered central part of the Maldives Inner Sea represent an exceptional archive for paleoenvironmental and climate changes in the equatorial Indian Ocean. To evaluate the complex interplay between high-latitude and monsoonal climate variability, related dust fluxes, and regional oceanographic responses, we focused on Fe / Al, Ti / Al and Si / Ca ratios as proxies for terrigenous sediment delivery and total organic carbon (TOC) and Br XRF counts as proxies for marine productivity. Benthic foraminiferal fauna distributions, grain size and stable δ18O and δ13C data were used for evaluating changes in the benthic ecosystem and changes in the intermediate water circulation, bottom water current velocity and oxygenation. Our multi-proxy data record reveals an enhanced dust supply during the glacial intervals, causing elevated Fe / Al and Si / Ca ratios, an overall coarsening of the sediment and an increasing amount of agglutinated benthic foraminifera. The enhanced dust fluxes can be attributed to higher dust availability in the Asian desert and loess areas and its transport by intensified winter monsoon winds during glacial conditions. These combined effects of wind-induced mixing of surface waters and dust fertilization during the cold phases resulted in an increased surface water productivity and related organic carbon fluxes. Thus, the development of highly diverse benthic foraminiferal faunas with certain detritus and suspension feeders was fostered. The difference in the δ13C signal between epifaunal and deep infaunal benthic foraminifera reveals intermediate water oxygen concentrations between approximately 40 and 100 µmol kg-1 during this time. The precessional fluctuation pattern of oxygen changes resembles that from the deep Arabian Sea, suggesting an expansion of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) from the Arabian Sea into the tropical Indian Ocean with a probable regional signal of strengthened winter-monsoon-induced organic matter fluxes and oxygen consumption further controlled by the varying inflow intensity of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW). In addition, the bottom water oxygenation pattern of the Maldives Inner Sea reveals a long phase of reduced ventilation during the last glacial period. This process is likely linked to the combined effects of generally enhanced oxygen consumption rates during high-productivity phases, reduced AAIW production and the restriction of upper bathyal environments in the Inner Sea during sea-level lowstands. Thus, our multi-proxy record reflects a close linkage between the Indian monsoon oscillation, intermediate water circulation, productivity and sea-level changes on orbital timescale.

Effect of abalone farming on seawater movement and benthic foraminiferal assemblage of Zostera marina in the inner bay of Wando, South Korea.

PubMed

Lee, Yeon Gyu; Choi, Yang Ho; Jeong, Da Un; Lee, Jung Sick; Kim, Yong Wan; Park, Jung Jun; Choi, Jae Ung

2016-08-15

Tidal current survey as well as geochemical and benthic foraminiferal analyses of sediment cores were conducted in an abalone farm and a Zostera bed to understand the degree to which the abalone farm facilities installed along a channel in a shallow sea affect the benthic environment and ecology. In the abalone farm, Ammonia beccarii-Pseudoparrella naraensis-Elphidium somaense-Rosalina globularis-Trochammina hadai and P. naraensis-E. somaense-A. beccarii-T. hadai assemblages appeared owing to an increase in the total nitrogen content from the biodeposits. The Zostera bed consisted of A. beccarii-P. naraensis-Buccella frigida-T. hadai assemblage owing to the gradual expansion of a brackish shallow-water environment by the rapidly decreasing current speed, and it may have flourished. Moreover, the total sulfur, Zn, Cr, and Cu contents in the sediments decreased remarkably more than those of the pre-abalone farming did, caused by the vigorous activity of Zostera marina physiology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benthic foraminifera as indicators of habitat change in anthropogenically impacted coastal wetlands of the Ebro Delta (NE Iberian Peninsula).

PubMed

Benito, Xavier; Trobajo, Rosa; Ibáñez, Carles; Cearreta, Alejandro; Brunet, Manola

2015-12-15

Present-day habitats of the Ebro Delta, NE Iberian Peninsula, have been ecologically altered as a consequence of intensive human impacts in the last two centuries (especially rice farming). Benthic foraminiferal palaeoassemblages and sediment characteristics of five short cores were used to reconstruct past wetland habitats, through application of multivariate DCA and CONISS techniques, and dissimilarity coefficients (SCD). The timing of environmental changes was compared to known natural and anthropogenic events in order to identify their possible relationships. In deltaic wetlands under altered hydrological conditions, we found a decrease in species diversity and calcareous-dominated assemblages, and a significant positive correlation between microfaunal changes and organic matter content. Modern analogues supported palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the recent evolution of the Delta wetlands. This research provides the first recent reconstruction of change in the Ebro Delta wetlands, and also illustrates the importance of benthic foraminifera for biomonitoring present and future conditions in Mediterranean deltas. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of short-term environmental disturbances on living benthic foraminifera during the Pacific oyster summer mortality in the Marennes-Oléron Bay (France).

PubMed

Bouchet, Vincent M P; Debenay, Jean-Pierre; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Radford-Knoery, Joël; Soletchnik, Patrick

2007-09-01

Sediment cores were collected from April to August 2004 on tidal mudflats of the macrotidal Marennes-Oléron Bay (SW France), famous for the cultivation of Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). The response of living (stained) benthic foraminifera to short-term biogeochemical disturbances in the sediment and overlying water, which may be involved in oyster summer mortality, was monitored. Short-term hypoxia occurred in early June, in conjunction with a sudden rise in temperature. In mid-June, the ammonia content of sediment porewater increased, leading to potentially maximal flux towards overlying waters. Foraminiferal assemblages, particularly in the topmost layer, were altered. Ammonia tepida was the most tolerant to temperature increase and hypoxic conditions whereas Brizalina variabilis and Haynesina germanica were sensitive to organic degradation and hypoxia. Cribroelphidium gunteri was the most opportunistic during recolonisation. Benthic foraminifera showed that short-term biochemical changes in the sediment are toxic and may be involved in the summer mortality of Pacific oysters.

Spectral efficiency in crosstalk-impaired multi-core fiber links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luís, Ruben S.; Puttnam, Benjamin J.; Rademacher, Georg; Klaus, Werner; Agrell, Erik; Awaji, Yoshinari; Wada, Naoya

2018-02-01

We review the latest advances on ultra-high throughput transmission using crosstalk-limited single-mode multicore fibers and compare these with the theoretical spectral efficiency of such systems. We relate the crosstalkimposed spectral efficiency limits with fiber parameters, such as core diameter, core pitch, and trench design. Furthermore, we investigate the potential of techniques such as direction interleaving and high-order MIMO to improve the throughput or reach of these systems when using various modulation formats.

New multi-scale perspectives on the stromatolites of Shark Bay, Western Australia.

PubMed

Suosaari, E P; Reid, R P; Playford, P E; Foster, J S; Stolz, J F; Casaburi, G; Hagan, P D; Chirayath, V; Macintyre, I G; Planavsky, N J; Eberli, G P

2016-02-03

A recent field-intensive program in Shark Bay, Western Australia provides new multi-scale perspectives on the world's most extensive modern stromatolite system. Mapping revealed a unique geographic distribution of morphologically distinct stromatolite structures, many of them previously undocumented. These distinctive structures combined with characteristic shelf physiography define eight 'Stromatolite Provinces'. Morphological and molecular studies of microbial mat composition resulted in a revised growth model where coccoid cyanobacteria predominate in mat communities forming lithified discrete stromatolite buildups. This contradicts traditional views that stromatolites with the best lamination in Hamelin Pool are formed by filamentous cyanobacterial mats. Finally, analysis of internal fabrics of stromatolites revealed pervasive precipitation of microcrystalline carbonate (i.e. micrite) in microbial mats forming framework and cement that may be analogous to the micritic microstructures typical of Precambrian stromatolites. These discoveries represent fundamental advances in our knowledge of the Shark Bay microbial system, laying a foundation for detailed studies of stromatolite morphogenesis that will advance our understanding of benthic ecosystems on the early Earth.

Changing climate in a pre-impact world: a multi-proxy paleotemperature reconstruction across the last million years of the Cretaceous

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woelders, L.; Vellekoop, J.; Reichart, G. J.; de Nooijer, L. J.; Sluijs, A.; Peterse, F.; Claeys, P. F.; Speijer, R. P.

2015-12-01

Climate instability during the last million years of the Cretaceous (67-66 Ma) is still poorly documented and not well understood. One of the reasons for this is that in deep time, different proxies are likely to yield different temperatures. This is because the application of calibrations based on present day temperature proxy relationships is affected by source organism evolution, differences in ocean chemistry and non-analogue processes. Only by combining temperature estimates derived from different, independent proxies, the problems with individual proxies can be cancelled out. A quantitative, multi-proxy temperature record from the latest Cretaceous therefore may provide a better insight in climate changes across this time interval. For such a multi-proxy research, sediments are required that yield both well-preserved foraminiferal calcite as well as organic biomarkers. Very few sites are known to provide such sedimentary records, but ODP Leg 174AX Site Bass River (New Jersey Shelf) has proven to be an excellent archive for paleotemperature reconstructions for the Cretaceous and Paleogene. We here present a multi-proxy, quantitative paleotemperature reconstruction of the last million years of the Cretaceous of the Bass River core. Benthic and planktic foraminiferal Mg/Ca and δ18O were determined, as well as the organic geochemical sea surface temperature proxy TEX86. This resulted in a unique coupled surface and bottom water temperature record of the latest Cretaceous. Our data suggest a ~2-6 ˚C bottom water warming and a ~4-6 ˚C surface water warming approximately 300 kyr before the Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary, followed by a cooling trend across the boundary. This warming event appears to coincide with the main phase of the Deccan Traps eruptions and therefore probably represents a global event.

Estimated sediment thickness, quality, and toxicity to benthic organisms in selected impoundments in Massachusetts

USGS Publications Warehouse

Breault, Robert F.; Sorenson, Jason R.; Weiskel, Peter K.

2013-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey and the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game, Division of Ecological Restoration, collaborated to collect baseline information on the quantity and quality of sediment impounded behind selected dams in Massachusetts, including sediment thickness and the occurrence of contaminants potentially toxic to benthic organisms. The thicknesses of impounded sediments were measured, and cores of sediment were collected from 32 impoundments in 2004 and 2005. Cores were chemically analyzed, and concentrations of 32 inorganic elements and 108 organic compounds were quantified. Sediment thicknesses varied considerably among the 32 impoundments, with an average thickness of 3.7 feet. Estimated volumes also varied greatly, ranging from 100,000 cubic feet to 81 million cubic feet. Concentrations of toxic contaminants as well as the number of contaminants detected above analytical quantification levels (also known as laboratory reporting levels) varied greatly among sampling locations. Based on measured contaminant concentrations and comparison to published screening thresholds, bottom sediments were predicted to be toxic to bottom-dwelling (benthic) organisms in slightly under 30 percent of the impoundments sampled. Statistically significant relations were found between several of the contaminants and individual indicators of urban land use and industrial activity in the upstream drainage areas of the impoundments. However, models developed to estimate contaminant concentrations at unsampled sites from upstream landscape characteristics had low predictive power, consistent with the long and complex land-use history that is typical of many drainage areas in Massachusetts.

The Power of Computer-aided Tomography to Investigate Marine Benthic Communities

EPA Science Inventory

Utilization of Computer-aided-Tomography (CT) technology is a powerful tool to investigate benthic communities in aquatic systems. In this presentation, we will attempt to summarize our 15 years of experience in developing specific CT methods and applications to marine benthic co...

Late Glacial-Holocene record of benthic foraminiferal morphogroups from the eastern Arabian Sea OMZ: Paleoenvironmental implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Verma, K.; Bharti, S. K.; Singh, A. D.

2018-03-01

The Arabian Sea is characterized today by a well-developed and perennial oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) at mid-water depths. The Indian margin where the OMZ impinges provides sediment records ideal to study past changes in the OMZ intensity and its vertical extent in response to the changes of monsoon-driven primary productivity and intermediate water ventilation. Benthic foraminifera, depending upon their adaptation capabilities to variation in sea floor environment and microhabitat preferences, develop various functional morphologies that can be potentially used in paleoenvironmental reconstruction. In this study, we analysed benthic foraminiferal morphogroups in assemblage records of the last 30 ka in a sediment core collected from the lower OMZ of the Indian margin (off Goa). In total, nine morphogroups within two broadly classified epifaunal and infaunal microhabitat categories are identified. The abundance of morphogroups varies significantly during the late Glacial, Deglacial and Holocene. It appears that monsoon wind driven organic matter flux, and water column ventilation governing the OMZ intensity and sea-bottom oxygen condition, have profound influence on structuring the benthic foraminiferal morphogroups. We found a few morphogroups showing major changes in their abundances during the periods corresponding to the northern hemisphere climatic events. Benthic foraminifera with planoconvex tests are abundant during the cold Heinrich events, when the sea bottom was oxygenated due to a better ventilated, weak OMZ; whereas, those having tapered/cylindrical tests dominate during the last glacial maximum and the Holocene between 5 and 8 ka BP, when the OMZ was intensified and poorly ventilated, leading to oxygen-depleted benthic environment. Characteristically, increased abundance of taxa with milioline tests during the Heinrich 1 further suggests enhanced ventilation attributed probably to the influence of oxygen-rich Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW).

Focal ratio degradation in lightly fused hexabundles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bryant, J. J.; Bland-Hawthorn, J.; Fogarty, L. M. R.; Lawrence, J. S.; Croom, S. M.

2014-02-01

We are now moving into an era where multi-object wide-field surveys, which traditionally use single fibres to observe many targets simultaneously, can exploit compact integral field units (IFUs) in place of single fibres. Current multi-object integral field instruments such as Sydney-AAO Multi-object Integral field spectrograph have driven the development of new imaging fibre bundles (hexabundles) for multi-object spectrographs. We have characterized the performance of hexabundles with different cladding thicknesses and compared them to that of the same type of bare fibre, across the range of fill fractions and input f-ratios likely in an IFU instrument. Hexabundles with 7-cores and 61-cores were tested for focal ratio degradation (FRD), throughput and cross-talk when fed with inputs from F/3.4 to >F/8. The five 7-core bundles have cladding thickness ranging from 1 to 8 μm, and the 61-core bundles have 5 μm cladding. As expected, the FRD improves as the input focal ratio decreases. We find that the FRD and throughput of the cores in the hexabundles match the performance of single fibres of the same material at low input f-ratios. The performance results presented can be used to set a limit on the f-ratio of a system based on the maximum loss allowable for a planned instrument. Our results confirm that hexabundles are a successful alternative for fibre imaging devices for multi-object spectroscopy on wide-field telescopes and have prompted further development of hexabundle designs with hexagonal packing and square cores.

Paleoecology of benthic foraminifera from the Miocene of the San Jacinto Basin, Colombia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poveda, John Sebastian; Fiorini, Flavia; Andres Trejos, Raul; Vallejo, Diego Felipe; Pardo, Andres

2015-04-01

Quantitative benthic foraminifera analysis was conducted on 34 samples collected from a borehole core (393.72m deep) drilled by Colombian Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) on 2009 in the San Jacinto basin (Northern Colombia). The aims of the research were to define a taxonomical data-bank of Miocene benthic foraminifera for this region, to use the benthic foraminifera assemblages to interpret the paleoenvironment and to identify paleoenvironmental changes. The bottom of the section was dated between lowest Burdigalian to middle Langhian (20.393-17.721 Ma) based on calcareous nannofossils bioevents: LO Helicosphaera ampliaperta, HCO Sphenolithus belemnos and LCO Sphenolithus heteromorphus. The benthic foraminifera fauna identified in the studied samples is composed for the majority of calcareous hyaline tests and is dominated by infaunal taxas. Species belonging to the genera Uvigerina and Lenticulina are commonly occurring in the studied section together with other species typical of outer-shelf upper-bathyal environment. Cibicidoides spp., abundant in the lower part of the section, abruptly decreases in abundance in the upper part. Species belonging to the opportunistic genera Bulimina and Bolivina are more abundant in the upper part of the section. Variability in the abundance of opportunistic species can be associated with tectonic disturbance on the Sinu-San Jacinto fold belt (NW of Colombia) as a result of collision of the Caribbean plate against NW of South America. The tectonics could lead a perturbation on deep ocean sedimentation and circulation.

Foraminifer- and diatom-based paleoceanographic study of Holocene sediments from the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vadman, K. J.; Shevenell, A.; Leventer, A.; Domack, E. W.; Huber, B. A.; Orsi, A. H.; Gulick, S. P. S.

2015-12-01

Cruise NBP14-02 conducted the first interdisciplinary oceanographic survey of the continental shelf adjacent to the Totten Glacier-Moscow University Ice Shelf system on the Sabrina Coast, East Antarctica. Hydrographic data indicate that this system is presently influenced by subsurface (>350 m) intrusion of relatively warm (>0°C) modified Circumpolar Deep Water (mCDW) via a cross-shelf trough. To assess the late Quaternary influence of mCDW, we collected marine sediment cores at two locations, each of which recovered a complete 10-13 m sequence of glacial diamict and Holocene laminated diatom ooze/mud. Chronology is constrained by 210Pb and species-specific foraminifer-based AMS 14C dates. Foraminifer CaCO3 is most abundant in surface sediments (0-0.2 mcd) and from 1.5 to 5 mcd. Planktic foraminifer, Neogloboquadrina pachyderma(s), dominates surface sediments and diatom muds downcore, but is less abundant in diatom oozes. Benthic foraminifer species, Bulimina aculeata, which prefers hemipelagic environments and bottom waters >0°C, dominates the living benthic assemblage. The fossil benthic assemblage is characterized by Trifarina angulosa, associated with oxygenated bottom waters and strong bottom currents, suggesting that this assemblage may record past changes in the shoreward flow of ocean currents and the location of oceanic frontal zones. T. angulosa presence in oozes of mat-forming diatom species associated with oceanic fronts, supports this interpretation. Modern benthic and planktic δ18O suggest a well-mixed water column. Below 1.5 mcd, foraminifer isotopes and diatom assemblages indicate surface stratification and increased biogenic productivity, suggesting that modern environmental conditions, including mCDW inflow, existed episodically during the Holocene. Paired T. angulosa δ18O and Mg/Ca analyses will provide additional information on past mCDW influence on this climatically sensitive region at the outlet of the extensive (287,000 km2) Aurora Subglacial Basin, which holds a 2-4.5 km thick volume of ice equivalent to >5 m of eustatic sea level rise.

The structure of soft-bottom benthic communities in the vicinity of the Texas Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yingst, Josephine Y.; Rhoads, Donald C.

1985-05-01

Biological and sedimentological samples were obtained in June 1980 from box cores taken in 100-200 m of water on sandy-mud sediments near the East and West Flower Garden Bank reefs, on the Texas-Louisiana Continental Shelf. The objective was to obtain baseline information about sedimentary parameters and organisms adjacent to the FGB environments in order to allow inferences to be made about potential effects of physical disturbance of the seafloor on the resident benthos. Most infaunal organisms are found in the upper 3-5 cm of the bottom. Permanent meiofauna dominate in both numbers and biomass. X-radiographs of sediment fabrics show all stations to be reworked by head-down deposit-feeders or errant bioturbators. Taxa responsible for this bioturbation were not quantitatively sampled. Macrofaunal densities range from 3000 to 25000 m -2 and total meiofauna from 221 to 892 × (10 cm) -2. Nematodes dominate followed in equal abundance by foraminiferans, polychaetes, and copepods. Seventy-five percent of the total sediment ATP in the top 3 cm is contributed by meiofauna. These benthic assemblages are hypothesized to represent a mixture of pioneering and high-order successional stages. Bacterial abundances are positively correlated with organic content and inversely correlated with macro- and meiofaunal densities. This inverse relationship may reflect consumer cropping intensities. Both microbial ATP and bacterial biomass are lower than reported for the Georgia Bight Shelf, Cape Blanc, West African Shelf, western coast of Norway, and Long Island Sound. Bacterial counts are lower than those recorded for the East China Sea and the Amazon River shelf. Moderate to low standing stocks of benthos, dominated by meiofaunal-sized taxa, further suggest that this area of the Gulf of Mexico is a relatively oligotrophic system for infaunal benthic consumers. Higher order successional stages are, in general, adversely affected to a greater extent than pioneering stages by physical disturbance. In the Texas-Louisiana shelf region, dilution of an already food limited system by inert barium sulphate would be expected to result in even lower standing stocks of benthic infaunal invertebrates.

Heavy metal concentrations and the variations of foraminifers in the Silivri-Kumbagi area (NW Marmara Sea, Turkey)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ünal Yümün, Zeki; Murat Kılıç, Ali; Önce, Melike

2016-04-01

In the area between Silivri (İstanbul) and Kumbagi (Tekirdag), NW of Marmara Sea, there is a considerable extent in marine pollution from industrial and settlements wastes, sea transports, and agricultural activities. The most important one of these pollutions is the spread of heavy metals. Our research investigated sediments in order to determine whether heavy minerals affected biota such as recent foraminifers, or not. Our investigation area starts from Marmara Ereglisi, in the east, continues to Tekirdag and Kumbagi, in the west. 10 sea-water samples, 10 sediment-core samples and one 10 m core-drilling sample, taken 250 m off-shore from coast line. As a result of this sampling geochemical analysis of the bottom-mud and water samples were done and the ratio of heavy metals and other contaminants determined. For heavy metal analyses, concentration analysis of 12 heavy metals (Cd, Fe, Cu, Pb, Zn, Al, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni, As, and Hg) has been conducted, as ppm, in sediment samples taken from the levels in which foraminifers are collected. Perpendicular (spatial) heavy metal concentration changes have been determined with off-shore drilling samples and horizontal changes (geochronological) have been determined with the help of core samples. Especially, it has been understood that heavy metal concentrations in recent sediments are higher compared to the past. In this research the samples have been taken from each 10 cm. of core and drilling samples to collect the benthic foraminifers. In this context, 15 grams of dry sediment sample taken from each level, have been washed in 125 μm sieves in order to determine its benthic foraminifer content. Benthic foraminifera from these samples have been identified taxonomically and their morphological differentiation has been determined after taking SEM photos. As a result of this study, the foraminifera types of "Adelosinacliarensis, Adelosinamediteranensis, Adelosinapulchella, Ammonia compacta, Ammonia parkinsonia, Ammonia tepida, Cribroelphidiumpoeyonum, Cycloforinacontorta, Elphidiumaculeatum, Elphidiumcomplanatum, Elphidiumcrispum, Elphidiumgalvestonense, Lobatulalobatula, Massilinasecans, Miliolinellasubrotunda, Pseudotriloculinaoblanga, Quinqueloculina seminula, Quinqueloculina polygona, Spiroloculinaangulosa, Spiroloculinaexcavata, Triloculina marioni" have been determined. Especially in the Elphidiumcrispumand Ammonia compacta, collected from the core samples taken from Marmara Ereglisi (Tekirdag) and Silivri (Istanbul) offshore, some morphological variations, colour changes, abnormality and multiple-individuals, were observed. Increasing of the heavy metal concentration in the levels of these morphological variations is noticeable.

Polychaete Tubes, Turbulence, and Erosion of Fine-Grained Sediment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kincke-Tootle, A.; Frank, D. P.; Briggs, K. B.; Calantoni, J.

2016-02-01

The role of polychaete tubes protruding through the benthic boundary layer in promoting or hindering erosion of fine-grained sediment was examined in laboratory experiments. Diver core samples of the top 10cm of sediment were collected west of Trinity Shoal off the Louisiana coast in 10-m depth. Diver cores were used in laboratory experiments conducted in a unidirectional flume. Tubes that were constructed by polychaetes, which comprised 70% of the species from the study area, were inserted into the core sediment surface. The sediment cores were then placed in the 2-m long test section of a small oscillatory flow tunnel and high-speed, stereo particle image velocimetry was used to determine the 2-dimensional, 3-component fluid velocity at high temporal (100 Hz) and spatial (< 1mm vector spacing) resolution. The tubes that protruded above the boundary layer allowed vortices to be initiated. Tubes are made up of shell fragments and fine-grained sediment, allowing for some rigidity and resistance to the flow. Rigidity determines the resistance causing small-scale eddies to form. The small-scale turbulence incited scour erosion, allowing fine-grained particles to be suspended into the water and in some cases coarser particles to be mobilized. Less-rigid tubes succumb to the shear stress, inhibit the formation of small-scale eddies, limit sediment erodibility, and increase the critical shear stress of the sediment. Discussion will focus on a modification to the critical Shields parameter to account for the effects of benthic biological activity.

A 22,000 year record of changing redox conditions from the Peruvian Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ): benthic foraminifera approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Erdem, Z.; Schönfeld, J.; Glock, N.

2015-12-01

Benthic foraminifera have been used as proxies for the prevailing conditions at the sediment-water interface. Their distribution patterns are thought to facilitate reconstruction of past environmental conditions. Variations of bottom water oxygenation can be traced by the downcore distribution of benthic foraminifera and some of their morphological characters. Being one of the strongest and most pronounced OMZs in today's world oceans, the Peruvian OMZ is a key area to study such variations in relation with changing climate. Spatial changes or an extension of the OMZ through time and space are investigated using sediment cores from the lower OMZ boundary. We focus on time intervals Late Holocene, Early Holocene, Bølling Allerød, Heinrich-Stadial 1 and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to investigate changes in bottom-water oxygen and redox conditions. The recent distributions of benthic foraminiferal assemblages provide background data for an interpretation of the past conditions. Living benthic foraminiferal faunas from the Peruvian margin are structured with the prevailing bottom-water oxygen concentrations today (Mallon et al., 2012). Downcore distribution of benthic foraminiferal assemblages showed fluctuations in the abundance of the indicator species depicting variations and a decreasing trend in bottom water oxygen conditions since the LGM. In addition, changes in bottom-water oxygen and nitrate concentrations are reconstructed for the same time intervals by the pore density in tests of Planulina limbata and Bolivina spissa (Glock et al., 2011), respectively. The pore densities also indicate a trend of higher oxygen and nitrate concentrations in the LGM compared to the Holocene. Combination of both proxies provide information on past bottom-water conditions and changes of oxygen concentrations for the Peruvian margin. Glock et al., 2011: Environmental influences on the pore density of Bolivina spissa (Cushman), Journal of Foraminiferal Research, v. 41, no. 1, p. 22-32. Mallon et al., 2012: The response of benthic foraminifera to low-oxygen conditions of the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone, in ANOXIA, pp.305-322.

A multi-gene phylogeny of Cephalopoda supports convergent morphological evolution in association with multiple habitat shifts in the marine environment

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The marine environment is comprised of numerous divergent organisms living under similar selective pressures, often resulting in the evolution of convergent structures such as the fusiform body shape of pelagic squids, fishes, and some marine mammals. However, little is known about the frequency of, and circumstances leading to, convergent evolution in the open ocean. Here, we present a comparative study of the molluscan class Cephalopoda, a marine group known to occupy habitats from the intertidal to the deep sea. Several lineages bear features that may coincide with a benthic or pelagic existence, making this a valuable group for testing hypotheses of correlated evolution. To test for convergence and correlation, we generate the most taxonomically comprehensive multi-gene phylogeny of cephalopods to date. We then create a character matrix of habitat type and morphological characters, which we use to infer ancestral character states and test for correlation between habitat and morphology. Results Our study utilizes a taxonomically well-sampled phylogeny to show convergent evolution in all six morphological characters we analyzed. Three of these characters also correlate with habitat. The presence of an autogenic photophore (those relying upon autonomous enzymatic light reactions) is correlated with a pelagic habitat, while the cornea and accessory nidamental gland correlate with a benthic lifestyle. Here, we present the first statistical tests for correlation between convergent traits and habitat in cephalopods to better understand the evolutionary history of characters that are adaptive in benthic or pelagic environments, respectively. Discussion Our study supports the hypothesis that habitat has influenced convergent evolution in the marine environment: benthic organisms tend to exhibit similar characteristics that confer protection from invasion by other benthic taxa, while pelagic organisms possess features that facilitate crypsis and communication in an environment lacking physical refuges. Features that have originated multiple times in distantly related lineages are likely adaptive for the organisms inhabiting a particular environment: studying the frequency and evolutionary history of such convergent characters can increase understanding of the underlying forces driving ecological and evolutionary transitions in the marine environment. PMID:22839506

Uptake of phytodetritus by benthic foraminifera under oxygen depletion at the Indian margin (Arabian Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enge, A. J.; Witte, U.; Kucera, M.; Heinz, P.

2014-04-01

Benthic foraminifera in sediments on the Indian margin of the Arabian Sea, where the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) impinges on the continental slope, are exposed to particularly severe levels of oxygen depletion. Food supply for the benthic community is high but delivered in distinct pulses during upwelling and water mixing events associated with summer and winter monsoon periods. In order to investigate the response by benthic foraminifera to such pulsed food delivery under oxygen concentrations of less than 0.1 mL L-1 (4.5 μmol L-1), an in situ isotope labeling experiment (13C, 15N) was performed on the western continental slope of India at 540 m water depth (OMZ core region). The assemblage of living foraminifera (>125 μm) in the uppermost centimeter at this depth is characterized by an unexpectedly high population density of 3982 individuals 10 cm-2 and a strong dominance by few calcareous species. For the experiment, we concentrated on the nine most abundant taxa, which constitute 93% of the entire foraminiferal population at 0-1 cm sediment depth. Increased concentrations of 13C and 15N in the cytoplasm indicate that all investigated taxa took up labeled phytodetritus during the 4 day experimental phase. In total, these nine species had assimilated 113.8 mg C m-2 (17.5% of the total added carbon). Uptake of nitrogen by the three most abundant taxa (Bolivina aff. B. dilatata, Cassidulina sp., Bulimina gibba) was 2.7 mg N m-2 (2% of the total added nitrogen). The response to the offered phytodetritus varied largely among foraminiferal species with Uvigerina schwageri being by far the most important species in short-term processing, whereas the most abundant taxa Bolivina aff. B. dilatata and Cassidulina sp. showed comparably low uptake of the offered food. We suggest the observed species-specific differences are related to species biomass and specific feeding preferences. In summary, the experiment in the OMZ core region shows rapid processing of fresh phytodetritus by foraminifera under almost anoxic conditions. The uptake of large amounts of organic matter by few species within four days suggests that foraminifera may play an important role in short-term carbon cycling in the OMZ core region on the Indian margin.

Does detection range matter for inferring social networks in a benthic shark using acoustic telemetry?

PubMed Central

Bass, Nathan Charles; Guttridge, Tristan L.; Day, Joanna; Brown, Culum

2017-01-01

Accurately estimating contacts between animals can be critical in ecological studies such as examining social structure, predator–prey interactions or transmission of information and disease. While biotelemetry has been used successfully for such studies in terrestrial systems, it is still under development in the aquatic environment. Acoustic telemetry represents an attractive tool to investigate spatio-temporal behaviour of marine fish and has recently been suggested for monitoring underwater animal interactions. To evaluate the effectiveness of acoustic telemetry in recording interindividual contacts, we compared co-occurrence matrices deduced from three types of acoustic receivers varying in detection range in a benthic shark species. Our results demonstrate that (i) associations produced by acoustic receivers with a large detection range (i.e. Vemco VR2W) were significantly different from those produced by receivers with smaller ranges (i.e. Sonotronics miniSUR receivers and proximity loggers) and (ii) the position of individuals within their network, or centrality, also differed. These findings suggest that acoustic receivers with a large detection range may not be the best option to represent true social networks in the case of a benthic marine animal. While acoustic receivers are increasingly used by marine ecologists, we recommend users first evaluate the influence of detection range to depict accurate individual interactions before using these receivers for social or predator–prey studies. We also advocate for combining multiple receiver types depending on the ecological question being asked and the development of multi-sensor tags or testing of new automated proximity loggers, such as the Encounternet system, to improve the precision and accuracy of social and predator–prey interaction studies. PMID:28989756

Systems, methods and apparatus for developing and maintaining evolving systems with software product lines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinchey, Michael G. (Inventor); Rash, James L. (Inventor); Pena, Joaquin (Inventor)

2011-01-01

Systems, methods and apparatus are provided through which an evolutionary system is managed and viewed as a software product line. In some embodiments, the core architecture is a relatively unchanging part of the system, and each version of the system is viewed as a product from the product line. Each software product is generated from the core architecture with some agent-based additions. The result may be a multi-agent system software product line.

Sediment-water interactions affecting dissolved-mercury distributions in Camp Far West Reservoir, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuwabara, James S.; Alpers, Charles N.; Marvin-DiPasquale, Mark; Topping, Brent R.; Carter, James L.; Stewart, A. Robin; Fend, Steven V.; Parcheso, Francis; Moon, Gerald E.; Krabbenhoft, David P.

2003-01-01

Field and laboratory studies were conducted in April and November 2002 to provide the first direct measurements of the benthic flux of dissolved (0.2-micrometer filtered) mercury species (total and methylated forms) between the bottom sediment and water column at three sampling locations within Camp Far West Reservoir, California: one near the Bear River inlet to the reservoir, a second at a mid-reservoir site of comparable depth to the inlet site, and the third at the deepest position in the reservoir near the dam (herein referred to as the inlet, midreservoir and near-dam sites, respectively; Background, Fig. 1). Because of interest in the effects of historic hydraulic mining and ore processing in the Sierra Nevada foothills just upstream of the reservoir, dissolved-mercury species and predominant ligands that often control the mercury speciation (represented by dissolved organic carbon, and sulfides) were the solutes of primary interest. Benthic flux, sometimes referred to as internal recycling, represents the transport of dissolved chemical species between the water column and the underlying sediment. Because of the affinity of mercury to adsorb onto particle surfaces and to form insoluble precipitates (particularly with sulfides), the mass transport of mercury in mining-affected watersheds is typically particle dominated. As these enriched particles accumulate at depositional sites such as reservoirs, benthic processes facilitate the repartitioning, transformation, and transport of mercury in dissolved, biologically reactive forms (dissolved methylmercury being the most bioavailable for trophic transfer). These are the forms of mercury examined in this study. In contrast to typical scientific manuscripts, this report is formatted in a pyramid-like structure to serve the needs of diverse groups who may be interested in reviewing or acquiring information at various levels of technical detail (Appendix 1). The report enables quick transitions between the initial summary information (figuratively at the top of the pyramid) and the later details of methods or results (figuratively towards the base of the pyramid) using hyperlinks to supporting figures and tables, and an electronically linked Table of Contents. During two sampling events, two replicate sediment cores (Coring methods; Fig. 2) from each of three reservoir locations (Fig. 1) were used in incubation experiments to provide flux estimates and benthic biological characterizations. Incubation of these cores provided ?snapshots? of solute flux across the sediment-water interface in the reservoir, under benthic, environmental conditions representative of the time and place of collection. Ancillary data, including nutrient and ligand fluxes, were gathered to provide a water-quality framework from which to compare the results for mercury. The following major observations from interdependent physical, biological, and chemical data were made:

Environmental impacts on the southern Florida coastal waters: a history of change in Florida Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Brewster-Wingard, G. L.; Ishman, S. E.; Holmes, C. W.

1998-01-01

Analyses of four cores located in the northern transitional, eastern, and central portions of Florida Bay reveal historical patterns of change in salinity and seagrass distribution. Salinity and the distribution of seagrass beds are two critical issues for the restoration of Florida Bay. The distribution of benthic fauna in Bob Allen 6A and Russell Bank 19B cores illustrates changes in environmental parameters prior to 1900. Natural fluctuations occur in salinity, but the amplitude of those fluctuations was limited to a 15–20% shift about the mean. Subtle changes occur in the benthic fauna around 1910, but beginning around 1940, the pattern of salinity fluctuation departs substantially from the pre-1900 pattern. Post-1940, the salinity oscillates 40–60% about the mean. This pattern is seen in all indicators measured. Around 1970, a significant but short term decline occurred in salinity. The Taylor Creek T24 core from the northern transitional zone reflects changes in freshwater flow that have occurred during this century. The upper portion of the core records a significant increase in salinity, with a slight decrease occurring in recent years. The Pass Key 37 core represents an area of very high sedimentation rates; an increase in salinity occurs in the upper portion of the core. Natural fluctuations in seagrass distribution are inferred from the shifts in relative abundance of epiphytal species preserved in the cores. All four cores show an increase in epiphytes and therefore in seagrass coverage during this century. An increase also occurs in epiphytal species that can dwell on either Thalassia or macro-algal mats associated with Thalassia beds. These data suggest an increase in algal-mats has occurred during this century. The Bob Allen 6A core records an extensive period during the 1800's of little to no vegetative cover of the substrate based on the near absence of epiphytic species in that segment of the core. Following this period, the epiphytal species increase rapidly in abundance, implying that vegetation may have the ability to disseminate rapidly.

Habitat structure mediates biodiversity effects on ecosystem properties

PubMed Central

Godbold, J. A.; Bulling, M. T.; Solan, M.

2011-01-01

Much of what we know about the role of biodiversity in mediating ecosystem processes and function stems from manipulative experiments, which have largely been performed in isolated, homogeneous environments that do not incorporate habitat structure or allow natural community dynamics to develop. Here, we use a range of habitat configurations in a model marine benthic system to investigate the effects of species composition, resource heterogeneity and patch connectivity on ecosystem properties at both the patch (bioturbation intensity) and multi-patch (nutrient concentration) scale. We show that allowing fauna to move and preferentially select patches alters local species composition and density distributions, which has negative effects on ecosystem processes (bioturbation intensity) at the patch scale, but overall positive effects on ecosystem functioning (nutrient concentration) at the multi-patch scale. Our findings provide important evidence that community dynamics alter in response to localized resource heterogeneity and that these small-scale variations in habitat structure influence species contributions to ecosystem properties at larger scales. We conclude that habitat complexity forms an important buffer against disturbance and that contemporary estimates of the level of biodiversity required for maintaining future multi-functional systems may need to be revised. PMID:21227969

Habitat structure mediates biodiversity effects on ecosystem properties.

PubMed

Godbold, J A; Bulling, M T; Solan, M

2011-08-22

Much of what we know about the role of biodiversity in mediating ecosystem processes and function stems from manipulative experiments, which have largely been performed in isolated, homogeneous environments that do not incorporate habitat structure or allow natural community dynamics to develop. Here, we use a range of habitat configurations in a model marine benthic system to investigate the effects of species composition, resource heterogeneity and patch connectivity on ecosystem properties at both the patch (bioturbation intensity) and multi-patch (nutrient concentration) scale. We show that allowing fauna to move and preferentially select patches alters local species composition and density distributions, which has negative effects on ecosystem processes (bioturbation intensity) at the patch scale, but overall positive effects on ecosystem functioning (nutrient concentration) at the multi-patch scale. Our findings provide important evidence that community dynamics alter in response to localized resource heterogeneity and that these small-scale variations in habitat structure influence species contributions to ecosystem properties at larger scales. We conclude that habitat complexity forms an important buffer against disturbance and that contemporary estimates of the level of biodiversity required for maintaining future multi-functional systems may need to be revised.

Lake Malawi cichlid evolution along a benthic/limnetic axis.

PubMed

Hulsey, C D; Roberts, R J; Loh, Y-H E; Rupp, M F; Streelman, J T

2013-07-01

Divergence along a benthic to limnetic habitat axis is ubiquitous in aquatic systems. However, this type of habitat divergence has largely been examined in low diversity, high latitude lake systems. In this study, we examined the importance of benthic and limnetic divergence within the incredibly species-rich radiation of Lake Malawi cichlid fishes. Using novel phylogenetic reconstructions, we provided a series of hypotheses regarding the evolutionary relationships among 24 benthic and limnetic species that suggests divergence along this axis has occurred multiple times within Lake Malawi cichlids. Because pectoral fin morphology is often associated with divergence along this habitat axis in other fish groups, we investigated divergence in pectoral fin muscles in these benthic and limnetic cichlid species. We showed that the eight pectoral fin muscles and fin area generally tended to evolve in a tightly correlated manner in the Lake Malawi cichlids. Additionally, we found that larger pectoral fin muscles are strongly associated with the independent evolution of the benthic feeding habit across this group of fish. Evolutionary specialization along a benthic/limnetic axis has occurred multiple times within this tropical lake radiation and has produced repeated convergent matching between exploitation of water column habitats and locomotory morphology.

Deglacial hydrography and IRD inputs: A comparison of Terminations I and II in the N.E. Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hibbert, Fiona; Chapman, Mark; Austin, William; Rohling, Eelco

2015-04-01

We present a high resolution marine record (MD04-2822) from the N.E. Atlantic. This record captures the demise of the penultimate glaciation (Termination II) in high resolution. The record of co-registered proxies offers the opportunity to investigate the evolution of the last two deglacial events in the North Atlantic. The deglacial evolution of Termination II is much less well documented than the last deglaciation (Termination I). A striking feature of Termination II in the MD04-2822 record, are several large (~1 ‰) oscillations in benthic δ18O, reflecting oscillations in sea level (e.g. Grant et al., 2012, Thomas et al., 2009) and/or deep sea temperatures (cf. Skinner and Shackleton, 2006). Also notable is the markedly different pattern of surface and deep water evolution for the two deglaciations. Termination I is characterised by a short offset between benthic δ18O decrease and δ13C increase (and northwards migration of the polar front) whereas during Termination II, benthic δ13C 'improvement' (and inferred resumption in overturning) occurs only during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e plateau, giving the marine record it's characteristic 'drawn-out' appearance. The most conspicuous feature of the penultimate deglacial in most marine cores is Heinrich event 11 (H11), an extensive episode of ice rafted debris (IRD) discharge that spread across the North Atlantic to the margin of what is now the subtropical gyre (Chapman et al., 2000). H11 generally manifests in marine records as one large and long (~ 2.5 ka) event throughout the Termination. In MD04-2822 however, there are multiple IRD events within the Termination. The continued influence of the disintegrating N. hemisphere ice sheets is also evident within the benthic δ13C and surface conditions (the polar front migrates north of the core site early within MIS 5e following a brief SST reversal).

Multicore Architectures for Multiple Independent Levels of Security Applications

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-01

to bolster the MILS effort. However, current MILS operating systems are not designed for multi-core platforms. They do not have the hardware support...current MILS operating systems are not designed for multi‐core platforms. They do not have the hardware support to ensure that the separation...the availability of information at different security classification levels while increasing the overall security of the computing system . Due to the

Application of the Benthic Ecosystem Quality Index 2 to benthos in Dutch transitional and coastal waters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Loon, W. M. G. M.; Boon, A. R.; Gittenberger, A.; Walvoort, D. J. J.; Lavaleye, M.; Duineveld, G. C. A.; Verschoor, A. J.

2015-09-01

The Benthic Ecosystem Quality Index 2 (BEQI2) is the Dutch multi-metric index (MMI) for assessing the status and trend of benthic invertebrates in transitional and coastal waters for the Water Framework Directive (WFD). It contains the same indicators, i.e. species richness, Shannon index and AMBI, as in the multivariate m-AMBI. The latter MMI has been adopted by several European countries in the context of WFD implementation. In contrast to m-AMBI, the BEQI2 calculation procedure has been strongly simplified and consists of two steps, i.e. the separate indicator values are normalized using their long-term reference values resulting in three Ecological Quality Ratios (EQRs), which are subsequently averaged to give one BEQI2 value. Using this method only small numbers of samples need to be analysed by Dutch benthos laboratories annually, without the necessity to co-analyse a larger historical dataset. BEQI2 EQR values appeared to correlate quantitatively very well with m-AMBI EQR values. In addition, a data pooling procedure has been added to the BEQI2 tool which enables the pooling of small core samples (0.01-0.025 m2) into larger standardized data pools of 0.1 m2 in order to meet the data requirements of the AMBI indicator and to obtain comparable reference values. Furthermore, the BEQI2 tool automatically and efficiently converts species synonym names into standardized species names. The BEQI2 tool has been applied to all Dutch benthos data monitored by Rijkswaterstaat in the period of 1991-2010 in the transitional and coastal waters and salt lakes and these results are reported here for the first time. Reference values for species richness and Shannon index (99 percentile values) and AMBI reference values (1 percentile values) were estimated for all water body-ecotopes and are discussed. BEQI2 results for all these water bodies are discussed in view of natural and human pressures. The pressure sensitivity of the BEQI2 for sewage and dredging/dumping, via the state variables oxygen and suspended matter respectively, was demonstrated.

Environmental Effects of Hydraulic Dredging for Clam Shells in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana,

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-06-01

promotes the release of nutrients. Zicker et al. (1956) buried labelled phosphorus at various depths in sediment cores and measured the release of...433. Zicker , E., K. Berger, and A. Hasler. 1956. Phosphate release from Bog Lake muds. Limnol. Oceanogr. 1:296-303. 1 113 -t7- APPENDIX A BENTHIC

Use of Computed Tomography Imaging for Qualifying Coarse Roots, Rhizomes, Peat, and Particle Densities in Marsh Soils

EPA Science Inventory

Computed tomography (CT) imaging has been used to describe and quantify subtidal, benthic animals such as polychaetes, amphipods, and shrimp. Here, for the first time, CT imaging is used to successfully quantify wet mass of coarse roots, rhizomes, and peat in cores collected from...

Evaluation of the ecological effects of heavy metals on the assemblages of benthic foraminifera of the canals of Aveiro (Portugal)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martins, V.; da Silva, E. Ferreira; Sequeira, C.; Rocha, F.; Duarte, A. C.

2010-04-01

Aveiro is a town with 80,000 inhabitants situated in the central west coast of Portugal. It is located at the centre of the Ria de Aveiro, a coastal lagoon that functions as a multi-estuarine area. This town is crossed by several canals which are connected with lagoon channels through canal locks. The operation of the canal locks influences the hydro dynamism in Aveiro's canal and this and other human activities have left a sedimentary record. The study of these records was based on the sediments grain size and composition, mineralogy (by XRD techniques), geochemical (by ICP-MS), total organic carbon (TOC), and microfaunal (benthic foraminifera) content in 15 grab-samples collected in 2006 in Aveiro's canal. The total elemental concentrations evaluated by total digestion of the sediment fraction <2000 μm revealed the presence of "hot spots" of pollution caused by heavy metal contaminants in some Aveiro canals, related to legacies of past industrial activities. These "hot spots" have, for instance, higher available concentrations of Al, Cd, Co, Cu, Fe, Pb, Mn and Zn (evaluated by sequential chemical extractions) and are located in Paraíso, Alboi, Botirões and Cojo Canals, at sites where the sediments are finer and richer in TOC. Abiotic and biotic variables submitted to principal component analysis and cluster analysis highlights the hydrodynamics and human effects on the system and the negative influence of pollutants on the benthic organisms (foraminifera).

Printed freeform lens arrays on multi-core fibers for highly efficient coupling in astrophotonic systems.

PubMed

Dietrich, Philipp-Immanuel; Harris, Robert J; Blaicher, Matthias; Corrigan, Mark K; Morris, Tim M; Freude, Wolfgang; Quirrenbach, Andreas; Koos, Christian

2017-07-24

Coupling of light into multi-core fibers (MCF) for spatially resolved spectroscopy is of great importance to astronomical instrumentation. To achieve high coupling efficiencies along with fill-fractions close to unity, micro-optical elements are required to concentrate the incoming light to the individual cores of the MCF. In this paper we demonstrate facet-attached lens arrays (LA) fabricated by two-photon polymerization. The LA provide close to 100% fill-fraction along with efficiencies of up to 73% (down to 1.4 dB loss) for coupling of light from free space into an MCF core. We show the viability of the concept for astrophotonic applications by integrating an MCF-LA assembly in an adaptive-optics test bed and by assessing its performance as a tip/tilt sensor.

Optical Delineation of Benthic Habitat Using an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Moline, Mark A.; Woodruff, Dana L.; Evans, Nathan R.

To improve understanding and characterization of coastal regions, there has been an increasing emphasis on autonomous systems that can sample the ocean on relevant scales. Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with active propulsion are especially well suited for studies of the coastal ocean because they are able to provide systematic and near-synoptic spatial observations. With this capability, science users are beginning to integrate sensor suits for a broad range of specific and often novel applications. Here, the relatively mature Remote Environmental Monitoring Units (REMUS) AUV system is configured with multi-spectral radiometers to delineate benthic habitat in Sequim Bay, WA. The vehiclemore » was deployed in a grid pattern along 5 km of coastline in depths from 30 to less than 2 meters. Similar to satellite and/or aerial remote sensing, the bandwidth ratios from the downward looking radiance sensor and upward looking irradiance sensor were used to identify beds of eelgrass on sub-meter scales. Strong correlations were found between the optical reflectance signals and the geo-referenced in situ data collected with underwater video within the grid. Results demonstrate the ability of AUVs to map littoral habitats at high resolution and highlight the overall utility of the REMUS vehicle for nearshore oceanography.« less

Abrupt Changes in Bottom Water Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages during Heinrich Events 1-4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazar, K.; Rashid, H.; Vermooten, M.; Mingqiu, D.

2017-12-01

The extent to which Heinrich iceberg-rafting events modify bottom water ecology resulting in changes in benthic foraminifera is poorly known. Here, we report centennial to millennial scale changes in the benthic foraminiferal assemblages from sediment core Pa96018-06 (47.75oN; 46.21oW). It was collected on the northern slope of the Flemish Pass of southern Labrador Sea and is bathed by Labrador Sea Water, one of the major components of the meridional overturning circulation of the Atlantic. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages were determined and numerous species identified. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) on the bulk sediments and iceberg-rafted detritus (IRD) in addition to oxygen isotopes on polar planktonic foraminiferal Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (sinistral) were used to identify the detrital carbonate-rich Heinrich iceberg-rafting events 1 to 4. Changes in the total numbers of Elphidium excavatum subsp. clavatum typically mirror changes in the total benthic population, yet the percentage of E. e. clavatum as part of the total sample increases through time. E. e. clavatum comprises approximately 60% of the benthic assemblage in H4, and steadily increases to 80% of the assemblage in H1 and H2. Total benthic foraminiferal numbers increase at the onset of each Heinrich event, with the two largest peaks in the entire record characterizing H2 and H3. In addition, the fine-scale feature in H1 suggests an initial decrease in the % E. e. clavatum (and total benthics) which then increased to 85% of the assemblage during the latter part of H1. Our data suggest that harsh living conditions prevailed during the initial phases of Heinrich events when the availability of meltwater and the deposition of fine-grained carbonate sediments were dominant. However, it appears that the ecology was favorable for E. e. clavatum during the latter phase of Heinrich events when the deposition of fine-grained sediments dissipated and the supply of meltwater was limited. These latter stages, especially of H2 and H3, suggest a unique and extreme environment in which E. e. clavatum flourished while many other foraminifers were unable to recover. Typical of extreme cold-water, low-salinity environments, E. e. clavatum is likely a useful benthic foraminifer for tracking extreme iceberg-rafting events as preserved in the sedimentary record.

Optical interconnection network for parallel access to multi-rank memory in future computing systems.

PubMed

Wang, Kang; Gu, Huaxi; Yang, Yintang; Wang, Kun

2015-08-10

With the number of cores increasing, there is an emerging need for a high-bandwidth low-latency interconnection network, serving core-to-memory communication. In this paper, aiming at the goal of simultaneous access to multi-rank memory, we propose an optical interconnection network for core-to-memory communication. In the proposed network, the wavelength usage is delicately arranged so that cores can communicate with different ranks at the same time and broadcast for flow control can be achieved. A distributed memory controller architecture that works in a pipeline mode is also designed for efficient optical communication and transaction address processes. The scaling method and wavelength assignment for the proposed network are investigated. Compared with traditional electronic bus-based core-to-memory communication, the simulation results based on the PARSEC benchmark show that the bandwidth enhancement and latency reduction are apparent.

Faunal and stable isotopic analyses of benthic foraminifera from the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

McGann, Mary; Conrad, James E.

2018-01-01

We investigated the benthic foraminiferal faunal and stable carbon and oxygen isotopic composition of a 15-cm push core (NA075-092b) obtained on a Telepresence-Enabled cruise to the Southeast Seep on Kimki Ridge offshore southern California. The seep core was taken at a depth of 973 m in the vicinity of a Beggiatoa bacterial mat and vesicomyid clams (Calyptogena) and compared to previously published data of living assemblages from ~ 714 m, four reference cores obtained at ~ 1030 m, and another one at 739 m. All of the reference sites are also from the Inner Continental Borderland but with no evidence of methane seepage.No endemic species were found at the seep site and most of the taxa recovered there have been reported previously from other seep or low oxygen environments. Q- and R-mode cluster analyses clearly illustrated differences in the faunal assemblages of the seep and non-seep sites. The living assemblage at Southeast Seep was characterized by abundant Takayanagia delicata, Cassidulina translucens, and Spiroplectammina biformis, whereas the non-seep San Pedro Basin reference assemblage was comprised primarily of Chilostomella oolina and Globobulimina pacifica. Density and species richness were lower at the seep site compared to the non-seep site, reflecting the harsher living conditions there. The dead assemblage at the seep site was dominated by Gyroidina turgida compared to Cassidulina translucens at the ~ 1030 m non-seep site and Cassidulina translucens, Pseudoparrella pacifica, and Takayanagia delicata at the 739 m non-seep site. Density was three times lower at Southeast Seep than at the non-seep sites of comparable water depth but species richness was ~ 30% higher. Stable carbon isotopic values were considerably depleted in the seep samples compared to the non-seep samples, with a progression from lightest to heaviest average δ13C values evident at the seep site reflecting microhabitat preference and vital effect: the deep infaunal species of Globobulimina, the shallow infaunal species Uvigerina peregrina, the epifaunal species Cibicidoides wuellerstorfi, and the shallow infaunal but aragonite-shelled species Hoeglundina elegans. The δ13C values downcore among each benthic species indicates ongoing fluid seepage through at least the last 3800 cal yr B.P. at Southeast Seep. Besides the continual local seepage, evidence from δ13C values of planktic foraminifera in the seep core suggest two pulses of methane (at 3000 and 3700 cal yr B.P.) were released that were large enough to influence much of the water column. Paired benthic and planktic foraminiferal stable oxygen isotope records provide evidence that there were no paleoenvironmental changes such as increased bottom-water temperature or changes in oxygen isotopic composition of bottom and pore waters during this 3800-year record to induce the methane releases. Instead, Southeast Seep appears to be the result of local faulting providing pathways for fluid to flow to the seafloor at a fault stepover or transpressional bend in the regional strike-slip system.

Effects of radionuclides on the recent foraminifera from the clastic sediments of the Çanakkale Strait-Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yümün, Zeki Ünal; Kam, Erol

2017-07-01

The radionuclides that cause radioactivity accumulate in the sediments as they descend to the seabed, similar to heavy metals. As radionuclides are present on the surface of the sediment or within the sediment, marine benthic foraminifera can be affected by the radioactive pollution. In this study, the habitat of benthic foraminifera was evaluated for radioactive pollution in the Çanakkale Strait, which constitutes the passage of the Marmara Sea and the Aegean Sea. In 2015, seven core samples and one drilling sample were taken from the shallow marine environment, which is the habitat of benthic foraminifera, in the Çanakkale Strait. Locations of the core samples were specifically selected to be pollution indicators in port areas. Gamma spectrometric analysis was used to determine the radioactivity properties of sediments. The radionuclide concentration activity values in the sediment samples obtained from the locations were Cs-137: <2-20 (Bq/kg), Th-232: 17.5-58.3 (Bq/kg), Ra-226: 16.9-48.6 (Bq/kg) and K-40: 443.7-725.6 (Bq/kg). These values were compared with the Turkish Atomic Energy Agency (TAEK) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) data and environmental analysis was carried out. The Ra-226 series, the Th-232 series and the K-40 radionuclides accumulate naturally and increase continuously due to anthropogenic pollution. Although the Ra-226 values obtained in the study areas remained within normal limits according to UNSCEAR values, the K-40 and Th-232 series values were observed to be high in almost all locations. The values of Cs-137 were found to be maximum 20 in Çanakkale Dere Port and they were parallel to the values in the other places. In the study, 13 genera and 20 species were identified from core and drilling samples. The number of foraminifera species and individuals obtained at locations with high pollution was very low compared to those in non-polluted zones.

Benthic foraminifera as indicators of hydrologic and environmental conditions in the Ross Sea (Antarctica)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bertoni, E.; Bertello, L.; Capotondi, L.; Bergami, C.; Giglio, F.; Ravaioli, M.; Rossi, C.; Ferretti, A.

2012-04-01

This study, present data on benthic foraminiferal assemblages from four box cores collected in different areas of the Ross Sea during the 2005 oceanographic cruise in the framework of the Italian Antarctic Research National Programme (PNRA). Based on magnetic susceptibility, biosiliceous content, and micropaleontological analysis, the sediment cores provide a record of glacial retreat and Holocene environmental changes in the Ross Sea during the last 11 kyr BP. Sediment lithologies range between diamicton to surficial diatomaceous mud, the intermediate levels being glacial-marine sediment. The sedimentary sections include diatomaceous glacial-marine deposit over transitional (proximal grounding zone) glacial-marine sediment. The study revealed that the Ross Sea contains typical Antarctic foraminifera fauna with the dominance of agglutinated taxa. Relatively elevated abundances, richness and diversity were common in the northernmost site, where the water column was characterized by relatively warmer intermediate waters and by the presence of the colder High Salinity Shelf Water (HSSW) occupying the deepest part of the basin. Here, the assemblage was dominated by Miliammina arenacea and the more abundant species were Trochammina quadricamerata and Lagenammina difflugiformis. In the southernmost site and in the eastern Ross Sea, richness and diversity were low and the most significant species were Trochammina sp., and Reophax sp. M. arenacea was ubiquitous in all the samples and sites, confirming its tolerance to cold corrosive bottom waters and salinity fluctuations as well as its uniquely high preservation potential. Moreover, elevated abundances, richness and diversity were common in the upper portion of the core which represents the youngest climatic phase characterized by the presence of some calcareous specimens too. This may indicate a deeper Carbonate Compensation Depth, probably due to relatively stable and warmer environmental conditions. Results document that diversity of benthic foraminifera, number of specimens and variations in test morphology are related to regional differences in water properties (temperature, salinity, carbonate chemistry).

Holocene-Pleistocene Environmental Changes in Eastern Mediterranean Sediments: Foraminiferal and Geochemical Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sinoussy Mohamed, K. S., Jr.; Ibrahim, M. I. A.; Moustafa, A. R.; Abd Elkarim, M. R.; Shreadah, M. M. A.

2014-12-01

The present study is based on gravity core sediment samples from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea located in 32° 20' 55" N and 31° 47' 79" E, in front of the Nile Delta Fan taken during METEOR cruise M70b (October 2006). The core is gravity one (St#822), 4.5 m long, and in 1089 m water depth. The study of benthic and planktic foraminifera is used to determine the microhabitat of the bottom sediments during warm and cold periods. Sapropels S1, S3 and S4 are encountered in the studied gravity core sample from the eastern Mediterranean. The sapropel layers S1, S3 and S4 were deposited during interglacial periods, characterized by a low foraminiferal numbers, reflecting eutrophic conditions. Glacial periods are characterized by high foraminiferal numbers due probably to an enhanced glacial productivity. Sapropel layers are distinguished by increase of Fe, TOC% (TOC%≥ 1.2%) and decrease of Ca concentrations as a result of the Blue Nile suspended particulate matter discharge during summer monsoon. Clay content increases at the sapropel depths that indicate an increase in the terrigenous input derived from the weathering of Ethiopian basalts. Temporal distribution of planktic and benthic foraminifera in the Nile deep sea fan sediments besides geochemical charcterization, palaeohydrological fluctuations, palaeoenvironment and microhabitat of foraminifera were reconstructed for the last 100000 years including glacial and interglacial periods. Formation of the Sapropel layers are synchronized with the decreasing of δ18O which means that the Mediterranean Sea received high amount of fresh water from the Nile river discharge. Clay content, TOC%, Ca-Fe cycles, oxygen and carbon isotopes and planktic foraminifera document the pluvial and arid periods throughout the 100000 years and define clearly the contributions of terrigenous and TOC% in the sapropel layers. Infauna/epifauna ratio and benthic foraminifera assemblages were used to reconstruct the microhabitat of the sea bottom during sapropel and cold periods.

Benthic Food Webs of the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas: Relative Importance of Ultimate Carbon Sources in a Changing Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunton, K. H.; Schonberg, S. V.; Mctigue, N.; Bucolo, P. A.; Connelly, T. L.; McClelland, J. W.

2014-12-01

Changes in sea-ice cover, coastal erosion, and freshwater run-off have the potential to greatly influence carbon assimilation pathways and affect trophic structure in benthic communities across the western Arctic. In the Chukchi Sea, variations in the duration and timing of ice cover affect the delivery of ice algae to a relatively shallow (40-50 m) shelf benthos. Although ice algae are known as an important spring carbon subsidy for marine benthic fauna, ice algal contributions may also help initiate productivity of an active microphytobenthos. Recent studies provide clear evidence that the microphytobenthos are photosynthetically active, and have sufficient light and nutrients for in situ growth. The assimilation of benthic diatoms from both sources may explain the 13C enrichment observed in benthic primary consumers throughout the northern Chukchi. On the eastern Beaufort Sea coast, shallow (2-4 m) estuarine lagoon systems receive massive subsidies of terrestrial carbon that is assimilated by a benthic fauna of significant importance to upper trophic level species, but again, distinct 13C enrichment in benthic primary consumers suggests the existence of an uncharacterized food source. Since ice algae are absent, we believe the 13C enrichment in benthic fauna is caused by the assimilation of benthic microalgae, as reflected in seasonally high benthic chlorophyll in spring under replete light and nutrient conditions. Our observations suggest that changes in ice cover, on both temporal and spatial scales, are likely to have significant effects on the magnitude and timing of organic matter delivery to both shelf and nearshore systems, and that locally produced organic matter may become an increasingly important carbon subsidy that affects trophic assimilation and secondary ecosystem productivity.

Interactive high-resolution isosurface ray casting on multicore processors.

PubMed

Wang, Qin; JaJa, Joseph

2008-01-01

We present a new method for the interactive rendering of isosurfaces using ray casting on multi-core processors. This method consists of a combination of an object-order traversal that coarsely identifies possible candidate 3D data blocks for each small set of contiguous pixels, and an isosurface ray casting strategy tailored for the resulting limited-size lists of candidate 3D data blocks. While static screen partitioning is widely used in the literature, our scheme performs dynamic allocation of groups of ray casting tasks to ensure almost equal loads among the different threads running on multi-cores while maintaining spatial locality. We also make careful use of memory management environment commonly present in multi-core processors. We test our system on a two-processor Clovertown platform, each consisting of a Quad-Core 1.86-GHz Intel Xeon Processor, for a number of widely different benchmarks. The detailed experimental results show that our system is efficient and scalable, and achieves high cache performance and excellent load balancing, resulting in an overall performance that is superior to any of the previous algorithms. In fact, we achieve an interactive isosurface rendering on a 1024(2) screen for all the datasets tested up to the maximum size of the main memory of our platform.

Evaluation of dredged material proposed for ocean disposal from Hackensack River Project Area, New York

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gruendell, B.D.; Barrows, E.S.; Borde, A.B.

1997-01-01

The objective of the bioassay reevaluation of the Hackensack River Federal Project was to reperform toxicity testing on proposed dredged material with current ammonia reduction protocols. Hackensack River was one of four waterways sampled and evaluated for dredging and disposal in April 1993. Sediment samples were re-collected from the Hackensack River Project area in August 1995. Tests and analyses were conducted according to the manual developed by the USACE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Disposal (Testing Manual), commonly referred to as the {open_quotes}Green Book,{close_quotes} and the regional manual developed by themore » USACE-NYD and EPA Region II, Guidance for Performing Tests on Dredged Material to be Disposed of in Ocean Waters. The reevaluation of proposed dredged material from the Hackensack River project area consisted of benthic acute toxicity tests. Thirty-three individual sediment core samples were collected from the Hackensack River project area. Three composite sediments, representing each reach of the area proposed for dredging, were used in benthic acute toxicity testing. Benthic acute toxicity tests were performed with the amphipod Ampelisca abdita and the mysid Mysidopsis bahia. The amphipod and mysid benthic toxicity test procedures followed EPA guidance for reduction of total ammonia concentrations in test systems prior to test initiation. Statistically significant acute toxicity was found in all three Hackensack River composites in the static renewal tests with A. abdita, but not in the static tests with M. bahia. Statistically significant acute toxicity and a greater than 20% increase in mortality over the reference sediment was found in the static renewal tests with A. abdita. Statistically significant mortality 10% over reference sediment was observed in the M. bahia static tests. 5 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Evaluation of dredged material proposed for ocean disposal from Arthur Kill Project Area, New York

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gruendell, B.D.; Barrows, E.S.; Borde, A.B.

1997-01-01

The objective of the bioassay reevaluation of Arthur Kill Federal Project was to reperform toxicity testing on proposed dredged material following current ammonia reduction protocols. Arthur Kill was one of four waterways sampled and evaluated for dredging and disposal in April 1993. Sediment samples were recollected from the Arthur Kill Project areas in August 1995. Tests and analyses were conducted according to the manual developed by the USACE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Evaluation of Dredged Material Proposed for Ocean Disposal (Testing Manual), commonly referred to as the {open_quotes}Green Book,{close_quotes} and the regional manual developed by the USACE-NYDmore » and EPA Region II, Guidance for Performing Tests on Dredged Material to be Disposed of in Ocean Waters. The reevaluation of proposed dredged material from the Arthur Kill project areas consisted of benthic acute toxicity tests. Thirty-three individual sediment core samples were collected from the Arthur Kill project area. Three composite sediments, representing each reach of the area proposed for dredging, was used in benthic acute toxicity testing. Benthic acute toxicity tests were performed with the amphipod Ampelisca abdita and the mysid Mysidopsis bahia. The amphipod and mysid benthic toxicity test procedures followed EPA guidance for reduction of total ammonia concentrations in test systems prior to test initiation. Statistically significant acute toxicity was found in all Arthur Kill composites in the static renewal tests with A. abdita, but not in the static tests with M. bahia. Statistically significant acute toxicity and a greater than 20% increase in mortality over the reference sediment was found in the static renewal tests with A. abdita. M. bahia did not show statistically significant acute toxicity or a greater than 10% increase in mortality over reference sediment in static tests. 5 refs., 2 figs., 2 tabs.« less

Benthic habitat characterisation of soft-bottom continental shelves: Integration of acoustic surveys, benthic samples and trawling disturbance intensity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Juan, S.; Lo Iacono, C.; Demestre, M.

2013-01-01

Eleven sites were located on Mediterranean continental shelves to explore the link between the physical characteristics and epibenthic fauna from soft-sediment habitats. These sites, at 32-82 m in depth, were associated with fishing grounds and the trawling intensity was estimated at the site scale to assess the effects of trawling on benthic communities. Each site was surveyed with Multi-Beam (bathymetry and backscatter), side-scan sonar, benthic grabs and a surface dredge. The sites were clustered in three habitat types. Habitat 1, with moderate trawling disturbance, was characterised by homogeneous mud and associated epifauna that was also highly homogeneous across sites. Habitat 2, with sandy mud and scattered gravel and rocks, had a high abundance of sessile suspension feeders that probably attach to the coarser substratum and benefit from the low fishing disturbance in these sites. Habitat 3 included sites with heterogeneous sediments with maërl as the prevailing biocenosis and having the highest species richness, despite being subjected to variable trawling intensity. Statistical models were used to relate environmental parameters and the species abundance. More than 3 physical variables were necessary to explain the epifaunal patterns across sites, including the percentage of mud, sediment heterogeneity and fishing effort. These analyses are an essential step for extrapolating information from benthic samples to the larger scale of habitats, mapped through acoustic surveys. Despite this, a good integration is required between the mapping of physical habitat distribution and the ecological knowledge of communities.

Climatic records of the last and penultimate deglaciations in the South Atlantic and South Indian Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michel, Elisabeth; Waelbroeck, Claire; Govin, Aline; Skinner, Luke; Vàzquez Riveiros, Natalia; Dewilde, Fabien; Isguder, Gulay; Rebaubier, Hélène

2013-04-01

Surface and deep-water records of Termination I and II in two twin South Atlantic deep-sea cores (44°09' S, 14°14' W, 3770 m depth) and one South Indian core (46°29' S, 88°01' E, 3420 m depth) are presented. Sea surface temperature has been reconstructed based on planktonic foraminifera census counts in all cases, as well as Mg/Ca of G. bulloides and N. pachyderma s. over the last deglaciation. The uncertainty on reconstructed SST using different statistical methods and different faunal databases is assessed. Over the last deglaciation, combined 14C dating and correlation of the SST record with the air temperature signal recorded in Antarctic ice cores allowed us to correct for variable surface reservoir ages in the South Atlantic core (Skinner et al., 2010). Preliminary dating of the South Indian core over the last termination has been done by correlation of its magnetic signal with those of a neighboring 14C dated core (Smart et al., 2010). We have refined the later age scale using the Atlantic core age scale as reference. Benthic isotopic signals in the South Atlantic and South Indian cores over the last deglaciation exhibit the same amplitude and timing. Our results thus indicate that bottom waters at the South Indian site remained isolated from better ventilated deep waters of northern origin until ~15 ka (Waelbroeck et al., 2011). Over Termination II, the two cores have been dated by correlation of their SST records with the air temperature signal recorded in EDC versus the EDC3 age scale (Govin et al., 2009; 2012). A careful examination of the various sources of uncertainty on the derived dating has been performed. Benthic and planktonic isotopic signals reveal analogies but also differences with respect to the last termination. SST was significantly warmer during the Last Interglacial than during the Holocene in both sites. South Atlantic deep waters were also significantly better ventilated during the Last Interglacial than during the Holocene, whereas bottom water ventilation was similar during these two interglacials at the South Indian site.

K1-95-HW, cruise report 1995: preliminary results. Phase III: sediment chemistry and biological sampling survey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Torresan, M.E.; Hampton, M.A.; Barber, J.H.; Wong, F.L.

1995-01-01

Mamala Bay, off the south shore of the island of Oahu, has been used as a repository of dredged material primarily from Pearl and Honolulu Harbors for over a century. The U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are conducting an integrated study on the distribution and character of dredged materials as well as the effects of dredged material on the marine environment. A three phase study is providing information to evaluate the effects on seafloor substrate and the benthic fauna. The studies include geophysical profiling and imaging, bottom photography, sampling, chemical and physical analyses of sediment, and evaluations of the benthic population, population density, and adverse impacts to the benthic fauna. Phase 1, conducted in 1993, inventoried the seafloor via remote sensing. Sidescan sonar and subbottom profilers characterized the seafloor in and around the disposal sites, and the resulting products reveal the character and extent of the dredged material. These data were used to plan Phase 2 in 1994, a sampling program that employed subbottom profilers, video and still photography, and seafloor sampling to ground truth the sonar mosaic and identify the seafloor substrates responsible for the various acoustic signatures on the sonar images and subbottom profiles. Box coring provided the samples necessary to distinguish dredged material from native sediment, and for the chemical analyses used to determine contaminant concentrations. Phase 3 studies conducted in June of 1995 consisted of box core sampling for chemical and biological analyses. Specific studies include: infaunal taxonomy and population density, bioassay/bioaccumulation, sediment chemistry, and post-disposal resuspension and transport. The 1995 survey, conducted June 14 through 17, resulted in the collection of 39 box cores from 20 different stations. Multiple box cores were composited at 7 different locations occupied in 1994, to provide the material required for the 7 bioassay and bioaccumulation analyses currently underway (Figure 1). Seventeen of the 20 stations occupied provided the biological samples for the benthic infaunal identification and population density study conducted by Dr. Julie Brock of the University of Hawaii, and the sediment chemistry analyses conducted (and completed) by Quanterra Environmental Laboratories (Figure 1). Seven of the 20 stations occupied in 1995 were occupied in 1994, and provide the data for direct comparison of sediment chemistry at the same sites from two consecutive years. The sum total of the data collected from all three phases of the monitoring program will provide the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with the information required to make informed decisions as to the management of the South Oahu disposal site in Mamala Bay.

Phototoxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles to a freshwater benthic amphipod: are benthic systems at risk?

EPA Science Inventory

This study investigated phototoxicity of TiO2 nanoparticles (nano-TiO2) to a freshwater benthic amphipod (Hyalella azteca) using 48-h and 96-h bioassays. Thorough monitoring of particle interactions with exposure media (Lake Superior water, LSW) and the surface of organisms was p...

Slope and basinal deposits adjacent to isolated carbonate platforms in the Indian Ocean: Sedimentology, geomorphology, and a new 1.2 Ma record of highstand shedding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Counts, J. W.; Jorry, S.; Jouet, G.

2017-12-01

Newly analyzed bathymetric, seismic, and core data from carbonate-topped seamounts in the Mozambique Channel reveals a variety of depositional processes and products operating on platform slopes and adjacent basins. Mass transport complexes (including turbidites and debrites), leveed channel systems with basin-floor fans, and contourites are imaged in high resolution in both seafloor maps and cross-section, and show both differences and similarities compared with platform slopes in the Bahamas and elsewhere. In some, though not all, platforms, increased sedimentation can be observed on the leeward margins, and slope rugosity may be asymmetric with respect to prevailing wind direction. Deposition is also controlled by glacial-interglacial cycles; cores taken from the lower slopes (3000+ m water depth) of carbonate platforms reveal a causative relationship between sea level and aragonite export to the deep ocean. δ18O isotopes from planktonic and benthic foraminifera of two 27-meter cores, reveal a high-resolution, continuous depositional record of carbonate sediment dating back to 1.2 Ma. Sea level rise, as determined by correlation with the LR04 benthic stack, is coincident with increased aragonite flux from platform tops. Gravity flow deposits are also affected by platform flooding—the frequency of turbidite/debrite deposits on pinnacle slopes increases during highstand, although such deposits are also present during glacial episodes. The results reported here are the first record of highstand shedding in the southern Indian Ocean, and provide the longest Quaternary sediment record to date in the region, including the Mid-Brunhes transition (MIS 11) that serves as an analog for the current climate conditions. In addition, this is the first study to describe sedimentation on the slopes of these platforms, providing an important point of comparison that has the potential to influence source-to-sink carbonate facies models.

A hybrid algorithm for parallel molecular dynamics simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mangiardi, Chris M.; Meyer, R.

2017-10-01

This article describes algorithms for the hybrid parallelization and SIMD vectorization of molecular dynamics simulations with short-range forces. The parallelization method combines domain decomposition with a thread-based parallelization approach. The goal of the work is to enable efficient simulations of very large (tens of millions of atoms) and inhomogeneous systems on many-core processors with hundreds or thousands of cores and SIMD units with large vector sizes. In order to test the efficiency of the method, simulations of a variety of configurations with up to 74 million atoms have been performed. Results are shown that were obtained on multi-core systems with Sandy Bridge and Haswell processors as well as systems with Xeon Phi many-core processors.

Software Defined Radio with Parallelized Software Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heckler, Greg

2013-01-01

This software implements software-defined radio procession over multicore, multi-CPU systems in a way that maximizes the use of CPU resources in the system. The software treats each processing step in either a communications or navigation modulator or demodulator system as an independent, threaded block. Each threaded block is defined with a programmable number of input or output buffers; these buffers are implemented using POSIX pipes. In addition, each threaded block is assigned a unique thread upon block installation. A modulator or demodulator system is built by assembly of the threaded blocks into a flow graph, which assembles the processing blocks to accomplish the desired signal processing. This software architecture allows the software to scale effortlessly between single CPU/single-core computers or multi-CPU/multi-core computers without recompilation. NASA spaceflight and ground communications systems currently rely exclusively on ASICs or FPGAs. This software allows low- and medium-bandwidth (100 bps to approx.50 Mbps) software defined radios to be designed and implemented solely in C/C++ software, while lowering development costs and facilitating reuse and extensibility.

Self-Aware Computing

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-06-01

to floating point , to multi-level logic. 2 Overview Self-aware computation can be distinguished from existing computational models which are...systems have advanced to the point that the time is ripe to realize such a system. To illustrate, let us examine each of the key aspects of self...servers for each service, there are no single points of failure in the system. If an OS or user core has a failure, one of several introspection cores

Hydrocarbon Degradation in Caspian Sea Sediment Cores Subjected to Simulated Petroleum Seepage in a Newly Designed Sediment-Oil-Flow-Through System.

PubMed

Mishra, Sonakshi; Wefers, Peggy; Schmidt, Mark; Knittel, Katrin; Krüger, Martin; Stagars, Marion H; Treude, Tina

2017-01-01

The microbial community response to petroleum seepage was investigated in a whole round sediment core (16 cm length) collected nearby natural hydrocarbon seepage structures in the Caspian Sea, using a newly developed Sediment-Oil-Flow-Through (SOFT) system. Distinct redox zones established and migrated vertically in the core during the 190 days-long simulated petroleum seepage. Methanogenic petroleum degradation was indicated by an increase in methane concentration from 8 μM in an untreated core compared to 2300 μM in the lower sulfate-free zone of the SOFT core at the end of the experiment, accompanied by a respective decrease in the δ 13 C signal of methane from -33.7 to -49.5‰. The involvement of methanogens in petroleum degradation was further confirmed by methane production in enrichment cultures from SOFT sediment after the addition of hexadecane, methylnapthalene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. Petroleum degradation coupled to sulfate reduction was indicated by the increase of integrated sulfate reduction rates from 2.8 SO 4 2- m -2 day -1 in untreated cores to 5.7 mmol SO 4 2- m -2 day -1 in the SOFT core at the end of the experiment, accompanied by a respective accumulation of sulfide from 30 to 447 μM. Volatile hydrocarbons (C2-C6 n -alkanes) passed through the methanogenic zone mostly unchanged and were depleted within the sulfate-reducing zone. The amount of heavier n -alkanes (C10-C38) decreased step-wise toward the top of the sediment core and a preferential degradation of shorter (C30) was seen during the seepage. This study illustrates, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time the development of methanogenic petroleum degradation and the succession of benthic microbial processes during petroleum passage in a whole round sediment core.

Hydrocarbon Degradation in Caspian Sea Sediment Cores Subjected to Simulated Petroleum Seepage in a Newly Designed Sediment-Oil-Flow-Through System

PubMed Central

Mishra, Sonakshi; Wefers, Peggy; Schmidt, Mark; Knittel, Katrin; Krüger, Martin; Stagars, Marion H.; Treude, Tina

2017-01-01

The microbial community response to petroleum seepage was investigated in a whole round sediment core (16 cm length) collected nearby natural hydrocarbon seepage structures in the Caspian Sea, using a newly developed Sediment-Oil-Flow-Through (SOFT) system. Distinct redox zones established and migrated vertically in the core during the 190 days-long simulated petroleum seepage. Methanogenic petroleum degradation was indicated by an increase in methane concentration from 8 μM in an untreated core compared to 2300 μM in the lower sulfate-free zone of the SOFT core at the end of the experiment, accompanied by a respective decrease in the δ13C signal of methane from -33.7 to -49.5‰. The involvement of methanogens in petroleum degradation was further confirmed by methane production in enrichment cultures from SOFT sediment after the addition of hexadecane, methylnapthalene, toluene, and ethylbenzene. Petroleum degradation coupled to sulfate reduction was indicated by the increase of integrated sulfate reduction rates from 2.8 SO42-m-2 day-1 in untreated cores to 5.7 mmol SO42-m-2 day-1 in the SOFT core at the end of the experiment, accompanied by a respective accumulation of sulfide from 30 to 447 μM. Volatile hydrocarbons (C2–C6 n-alkanes) passed through the methanogenic zone mostly unchanged and were depleted within the sulfate-reducing zone. The amount of heavier n-alkanes (C10–C38) decreased step-wise toward the top of the sediment core and a preferential degradation of shorter (C30) was seen during the seepage. This study illustrates, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time the development of methanogenic petroleum degradation and the succession of benthic microbial processes during petroleum passage in a whole round sediment core. PMID:28503172

Benthic Community Composition and Seabed Characteristics of a Chukchi Sea Pockmark

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDonald, I. R.; Bluhm, B.; Iken, K.; Gagaev, S.; Robinson, S.

2005-12-01

Several dozen seafloor features were mapped by Larry Mayer and his colleagues using swath bathymetry during a 2003 cruise with the USCGC HEALY near the eastern edge of the Chukchi Plateau (Chukchi Sea 76.6N, 163.9W). These were sub-circular depressions ranging from approximately 250 to over 1000m in width, with depths of up to 50m below the surrounding seabed, and situated in water depths from 500 to 950m. The origin of these features was undetermined, but one possibility was that they were pockmarks formed as a result of gas or fluid expulsion processes. We report here on benthic sampling undertaken at one of these pockmarks on 18 July 2005, also from USCGC HEALY. This elongated feature had maximum water depth of approximately 940m, was 1200m in maximum width, and was depressed approximately 40m below the surrounding seabed. The ocean in the vicinity of the pockmark was heavily ice-covered, which tightly restricted the ship's mobility during sampling operations. We used an ROV to collect and photograph the benthic epifauna during a 6h transit that crossed from the outside of the pockmark to near the center over a distance of 900m. We used a down-looking digital camera to collect over 800 pictures of the benthos at altitudes of 2 to 3m above the seabed. We also collected three cores with a 25x25cm box corer. Our investigations did not provide any direct evidence for gas or fluid flux through the seabed of this feature. Neither did we see any secondary indications of methane flux such as authigenic carbonates or bacterial mats. The abundance and diversity of benthic epifauna at this station was the highest among 8 stations sampled using similar methods during a 30 day cruise. The ROV observed brittle stars, various types of anemones, shrimps, eel pouts, stalked crinoids, benthic ctenophore (likely new species), burrows and mounts, gooseneck barnacles, mysids. Holothurians (c.f. Peneagone sp.) were the single most abundant group and were often photographed in densities of over 50 individuals per square meter. Preliminary analysis of the box core samples: Polychaetes (e.g. Chaetozone setose, Aricidea sp., Ophelina sp., Progoniada sp., Proclea graffi, Protula globifera), Foraminifera, Nemertini, Coronata (Cnidaria tubes), Sipunculida (Golfingia), Bivalvia, Anthozoa.

Distribution of benthic foraminifers (>125 um) in the surface sediments of the Arctic Ocean

USGS Publications Warehouse

Osterman, Lisa E.; Poore, Richard Z.; Foley, Kevin M.

1999-01-01

Census data on benthic foraminifers (>125 ?m) in surface sediment samples from 49 box cores are used to define four depth-controlled biofacies, which will aid in the paleoceanographic reconstruction of the Arctic Ocean. The shelf biofacies contains a mix of shallow-water calcareous and agglutinated species from the continental shelves of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas and reflects the variable sedimentologic and oceanic conditions of the Arctic shelves. The intermediate-depth calcareous biofacies, found between 500 and 1,100 meters water depth (mwd), contains abundant Cassidulina teretis , presumably indicating the influence of Atlantic-derived water at this depth. In water depths between 1,100 and 3,500 m, a deepwater calcareous biofacies contains abundant Oridorsalis umbonatus . Below 3,500 mwd, the deepwater mixed calcareous/agglutinated biofacies of the Canada, Makarov, and Eurasian Basins reflects a combination of low productivity, dissolution, and sediment transport. Two other benthic foraminiferal species show specific environmental preferences. Fontbotia wuellerstorfi has a depth distribution between 900 and 3,500 mwd, but maximum abundance occurs in the region of the Mendeleyev Ridge. The elevated abundance of F. wuellerstorfi may be related to increased food supply carried by a branch of Atlantic water that crosses the Lomonosov Ridge near the Russian Continental Shelf. Triloculina frigida is recognized to be a species preferring lower slope sediments commonly disturbed by turbidites and bottom currents. INTRODUCTION At present, our understanding of the Arctic Ocean lags behind our understanding of other oceans, and fundamental questions still exist about its role in and response to global climate change. The Arctic Ocean is particularly sensitive to climatic fluctuations because small changes in the amounts of sea-ice cover can alter global albedo and thermohaline circulation (Aagaard and Carmack, 1994). Numerous questions still exist regarding the nature and timing of paleoclimatic events in the Arctic Ocean. In order to attempt to answer some of these questions, baseline studies are imperative. This report discusses the distribution of benthic foraminifers in surface sediment samples from 49 box cores (figs. 1 and 2, table 1) collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). A modern data set of benthic foraminiferal distribution is necessary for interpreting the paleoclimatic and oceanographic history of the Arctic Ocean.

An embedded multi-core parallel model for real-time stereo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Wenjing; Hu, Jian; Niu, Jingyu; Li, Chuanrong; Liu, Guangyu

2018-04-01

The real-time processing based on embedded system will enhance the application capability of stereo imaging for LiDAR and hyperspectral sensor. The task partitioning and scheduling strategies for embedded multiprocessor system starts relatively late, compared with that for PC computer. In this paper, aimed at embedded multi-core processing platform, a parallel model for stereo imaging is studied and verified. After analyzing the computing amount, throughout capacity and buffering requirements, a two-stage pipeline parallel model based on message transmission is established. This model can be applied to fast stereo imaging for airborne sensors with various characteristics. To demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the parallel model, a parallel software was designed using test flight data, based on the 8-core DSP processor TMS320C6678. The results indicate that the design performed well in workload distribution and had a speed-up ratio up to 6.4.

The Search for Eight Glacial Cycles of Deep-Water Temperatures and Global ice Volume From the Southern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ferretti, P.; Elderfield, H.; Greaves, M.; McCave, N.

2007-12-01

It has been recently suggested "a substantial portion of the marine 100-ky cycle that has been object of so much attention over the past quarter of a century is, in reality, a deep-water temperature signal and not an ice volume signal" (Shackleton, 2000). There are currently few records available of deep-water temperature variations during the Pleistocene and most of our understanding is inferred from the oxygen isotopic composition (δ18O) of benthic foraminifera from deep-sea sediments. However, variations in benthic δ18O reflect some combination of local to regional changes in water mass properties (largely deep- water temperature) as well as global changes in seawater δ18O (δ18Osw) resulting from the growth and decay of continental ice. Recent studies suggest that benthic foraminiferal Mg/Ca may be useful in reconstructing deep-water temperature changes, but the application of this method to benthic species has been hampered by a number of unresolved issues, such as uncertainties related to the calibration for benthic Mg at the coldest temperatures. Here we present deep-sea Mg/Ca and δ18O records for the past eight glacial cycles in benthic foraminiferal ( Uvigerina spp.) calcite from a marine sediment core recovered in the mid Southern latitudes. Ocean Drilling Program Site 1123 was retrieved from Chatham Rise, east of New Zealand in the Southwest Pacific Ocean (3290 m water depth). This site lies under the Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) that flows into the Pacific Ocean, and is responsible for most of the deep water in that ocean; DWBC strength is directly related to processes occurring around Antarctica. Temperatures derived via pore fluid modeling of the last glacial maximum are available from Site 1123 and represent an important tool to constrain deep-water temperatures estimates using Mg/Ca. In selected time slices, we measured B/Ca ratios in Uvigerina in order to gain information on the deep-water carbonate saturation state and have data of Mg/Ca and B/Ca on planktonic species, which also provides evidence on carbonate saturation state. These results permit preliminary discussion of the magnitude of the deep-water temperature changes during glacial/interglacial transitions and the interglacials themselves. In particular, our deep-water temperature estimates confirm that interglacial stages before 430 ka were characterized by less pronounced warmth - at least in the deeper southern Pacific - than those of the past four climatic cycles, a pattern previously observed in the deuterium record from EPICA Dome C. We examine the relative contributions of deep-water temperature and ice volume to the benthic δ18O signal. The phase relationship between the two signals is tentatively assessed for the middle/late Pleistocene, when different patterns of climate variability have been inferred from marine and ice cores records.

Changes in bottom water conditions on the New Jersey paleoshelf during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (56 million years ago)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, J.; Makarova, M.; Miller, K. G.; Browning, J. V.; Wright, J. D.

2016-12-01

The goal of my study is to reconstruct bottom water conditions on the New Jersey paleoshelf during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) using stable isotopes on the Millville, NJ core. We analyzed tests (shells) of three benthic foraminiferal genera (Cibicidoides, Anomalinoides, and Gavelinella) for carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes using mass spectrometry. Benthic foraminifera are unicellular organisms that live on the ocean floor and use calcium (Ca2+) and carbonate (CO32- ) ions to construct their tests. By doing this, they record the isotopic composition of carbon and oxygen in the seawater. The δ13C records show a sharp decrease of 3.5‰ across the PETM onset, marking the globally recognized carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Coupled benthic and planktonic (surface dwellers) carbon isotopic records indicate a 3‰ vertical gradient in the water column on the shelf. This is much higher than δ13C vertical gradients in the modern ocean (<2‰) and can be explained as evidence for more efficient cycling of organic carbon during the PETM. δ18O records of benthic foraminifera show a 2‰ decrease across the CIE onset, suggesting seafloor warming of 7-10°C (assuming all due to temperature). The change in δ18O of benthic foraminifera is much greater than in the sea surface recorded by surface dwellers (1‰ or 4°C assuming all due to temperature), implying reorganization of the water column on the shelf during the PETM.

The microstructure and magnetic properties of Cu/CuO/Ni core/multi-shell nanowire arrays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Feng; Shi, Jie; Zhang, Xiaofeng; Hao, Shijie; Liu, Yinong; Feng, Chun; Cui, Lishan

2018-04-01

Multifunctional metal/oxide/metal core/multi-shell nanowire arrays were prepared mostly by physical or chemical vapor deposition. In our study, the Cu/CuO/Ni core/multi-shell nanowire arrays were prepared by AAO template-electrodeposition and oxidation processes. The Cu/Ni core/shell nanowire arrays were prepared by AAO template-electrodeposition method. The microstructure and chemical compositions of the core/multi-shell nanowires and core/shell nanowires have been characterized using transmission electron microscopy with HADDF-STEM and X-ray diffraction. Magnetization measurements revealed that the Cu/CuO/Ni and Cu/Ni nanowire arrays have high coercivity and remanence ratio.

Surface Ocean Radiocarbon Reservoir Ages From Land-Sea Tephra Correlation Constrains Deglacial Chronology and Ocean Circulation in the Southeast Bering Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cook, M. S.; Miller, R.; White-Nockleby, C.; Chapman, A.; Mix, A. C.

2017-12-01

Radiocarbon estimates of the past ocean are valuable because unlike passive tracers, radiocarbon has the potential to trace both the distribution and rate of transport of water masses. Most studies using paired radiocarbon measurements on planktonic and benthic foraminifera assume that the surface reservoir age was constant at the preindustrial value, which if incorrect, can strongly bias radiocarbon reconstructions. The subarctic Pacific is ringed by volcanic arcs, and there is great potential to use tephrochronology as a stratigraphic tool in sediments from the last glacial and deglaciation, and assign calendar ages to the marine sediment without relying on calibrated planktonic radiocarbon ages. In this study, we use major and trace element analysis of volcanic glass to match tephras between radiocarbon-dated lake cores from Sanak Island in the eastern Aleutians to marine cores from Umnak Plateau in the southeast Bering Sea. There are numerous thin tephras preserved in laminated sediments from the Bolling-Allerod and early Holocene in marine cores from depths (1000-1500 m) within the modern oxygen minimum zone. We find that trace elements are crucial in distinguishing tephras from individual eruptions. Our preliminary radiocarbon measurements suggest that the benthic-atmosphere radiocarbon differences and marine surface reservoir ages in the Bolling-Allerod are similar to pre-industrial values, supporting previously published radiocarbon reconstructions from the region.

Sedimentary organic matter sources, benthic consumption and burial in west Spitsbergen fjords - Signs of maturing of Arctic fjordic systems?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaborska, Agata; Włodarska-Kowalczuk, Maria; Legeżyńska, Joanna; Jankowska, Emilia; Winogradow, Aleksandra; Deja, Kajetan

2018-04-01

Mature ecosystems sequester little organic carbon (Corg) in sediments, as the complex and effective food webs consume most available organic matter within the water column and sediment, in contrast to young systems, where a large proportion of Corg is buried in deeper sediment layers. In this paper we hypothesize that "warmer" Atlantic water influenced fjord exhibits the 'mature' system features as compared to "cooler" Arctic water influenced fjord. Corg concentrations, sources and burial rates, as well as macrobenthic community standing stocks, taxonomic and functional composition and carbon demand, were compared in two west Spitsbergen fjords that are to different extents influenced by Atlantic water and can be treated as representing a cold one (Hornsund) and a warm one (Kongsfjorden). Water, sediments and macrofauna were collected at three stations in the central basin of each fjord. Corg, Ntot, δ13Corg and δ15N were measured in suspended matter, sediment cores and possible organic matter sources. The composition of sources of sedimentary organic matter was modeled by Mix-SIAR Bayesian stable isotope mixing models. The 210Pb method was used to calculate sediment accumulation rates, Corg accumulation and burial rates. The sedimentary Corg concentration and accumulation rate were larger in Hornsund than in Kongsfjorden. The contributions of pelagic sources to the Corg in sediments were similar in both fjords, macroalgal detritus had a higher importance in Kongsfjorden, while terrestrial sources were more important in Hornsund. Similar density and species richness were noted in both fjords, but higher biomass, individual biomass, production and carbon demand of benthic communities were noted in Kongsfjorden despite the lower amounts of Corg in sediments, indicating that macrobenthos responds to quality rather than quantity of available food. Subsurface tube-building conveyer belt detritus feeders (maldanids and oweniids) were responsible for higher standing stocks and carbon consumption in Kongsfjorden. As a result of the lower Corg pool and higher benthic mineralization, the burial rates in Kongsfjorden were much lower (15 g of Corg m- 2 yr- 1) than in Hornsund (38 g of Corg m- 2 yr- 1). Our study indicates that warming of the high latitude fjordic environments may reshape the relative proportions of organic carbon sources and induce maturing of the sea bottom systems, in terms of development of stable, biologically accommodated benthic communities which more efficiently mineralize organic matter and consequently lower sequestration of organic matter in deeper sediments.

New cores-top Mg/Ca calibration of multiple benthic foraminiferal species: Thermometry of the thermocline water in Tropical western Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tisserand, A.; Dokken, T.; Scao, V.; Jorissen, F.; Fontanier, C.

2009-04-01

A cruise with the research vessel G.O. SARS was carried out from 07 to 20 December 2007 within the framework of the European Science Foundation (EuroMARC) project RETRO, which aims to reconstruct changes within the thermocline in the tropics during periods of reduced Meridional Overturning Circulation (MOC). As part of this strategy we need a best possible calibration of methods to reproduce water mass properties, and part of the goal of this cruise was to get a good representation of the thermocline area present at the Brazilian Atlantic margin. The method used to map the thermocline gradient in the western tropical Atlantic is to use the concept of Magnesium/Calcium (Mg/Ca) on bottom water living foraminifera as a representation of temperature at site. The Mg/Ca thermometry on deep-dwelling foraminifera calibrated vs. δ18O measurements provides an estimate of depth of thermocline penetration in modern climate. Knowing the function of modern representation of the thermocline defined by Mg/Ca, we can use this concept to map thermocline deepening/shallowing in the past. The Mg/Ca ratios in benthic foraminiferal calcite are considered as the most commonly used and a reliable paleo-proxy for reconstructing bottom-water temperatures. Mg/Ca ratios of thermocline and deep-dwelling benthic foraminiferal species were determined on cores-top samples from a depth transect from the western tropical Atlantic, spanning a depth range of 600 to 1000 m representing a temperature range of 6 to 4

APPLICATION OF COMPUTER-AIDED TOMOGRAPHY (CAT) AS A POTENTIAL INDICATOR OF MARINE MARCO BENTHIC ACTIVITY ALONG POLLUTION GRADIENTS

EPA Science Inventory

Sediment cores were imaged using a local hospital CAT scanner. These image data were transferred to a personal computer at our laboratory using specially developed software. Previously, we reported an inverse correlation (r2 = 0.98, P<0.01) between the average sediment x-ray atte...

Architecture of optical sensor for recognition of multiple toxic metal ions from water.

PubMed

Shenashen, M A; El-Safty, S A; Elshehy, E A

2013-09-15

Here, we designed novel optical sensor based on the wormhole hexagonal mesoporous core/multi-shell silica nanoparticles that enabled the selective recognition and removal of these extremely toxic metals from drinking water. The surface-coating process of a mesoporous core/double-shell silica platforms by several consequence decorations using a cationic surfactant with double alkyl tails (CS-DAT) and then a synthesized dicarboxylate 1,5-diphenyl-3-thiocarbazone (III) signaling probe enabled us to create a unique hierarchical multi-shell sensor. In this design, the high loading capacity and wrapping of the CS-DAT and III organic moieties could be achieved, leading to the formation of silica core with multi-shells that formed from double-silica, CS-DAT, and III dressing layers. In this sensing system, notable changes in color and reflectance intensity of the multi-shelled sensor for Cu(2+), Co(2+), Cd(2+), and Hg(2+) ions, were observed at pH 2, 8, 9.5 and 11.5, respectively. The multi-shelled sensor is added to enable accessibility for continuous monitoring of several different toxic metal ions and efficient multi-ion sensing and removal capabilities with respect to reversibility, selectivity, and signal stability. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

LU Factorization with Partial Pivoting for a Multi-CPU, Multi-GPU Shared Memory System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kurzak, Jakub; Luszczek, Pitior; Faverge, Mathieu

2012-03-01

LU factorization with partial pivoting is a canonical numerical procedure and the main component of the High Performance LINPACK benchmark. This article presents an implementation of the algorithm for a hybrid, shared memory, system with standard CPU cores and GPU accelerators. Performance in excess of one TeraFLOPS is achieved using four AMD Magny Cours CPUs and four NVIDIA Fermi GPUs.

A Servicewide Benthic Mapping Program for National Parks

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moses, Christopher S.; Nayegandhi, Amar; Beavers, Rebecca; Brock, John

2010-01-01

In 2007, the National Park Service (NPS) Inventory and Monitoring Program directed the initiation of a benthic habitat mapping program in ocean and coastal parks in alignment with the NPS Ocean Park Stewardship 2007-2008 Action Plan. With 74 ocean and Great Lakes parks stretching over more than 5,000 miles of coastline across 26 States and territories, this Servicewide Benthic Mapping Program (SBMP) is essential. This program will deliver benthic habitat maps and their associated inventory reports to NPS managers in a consistent, servicewide format to support informed management and protection of 3 million acres of submerged National Park System natural and cultural resources. The NPS and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) convened a workshop June 3-5, 2008, in Lakewood, Colo., to discuss the goals and develop the design of the NPS SBMP with an assembly of experts (Moses and others, 2010) who identified park needs and suggested best practices for inventory and mapping of bathymetry, benthic cover, geology, geomorphology, and some water-column properties. The recommended SBMP protocols include servicewide standards (such as gap analysis, minimum accuracy, final products) as well as standards that can be adapted to fit network and park unit needs (for example, minimum mapping unit, mapping priorities). SBMP Mapping Process. The SBMP calls for a multi-step mapping process for each park, beginning with a gap assessment and data mining to determine data resources and needs. An interagency announcement of intent to acquire new data will provide opportunities to leverage partnerships. Prior to new data acquisition, all involved parties should be included in a scoping meeting held at network scale. Data collection will be followed by processing and interpretation, and finally expert review and publication. After publication, all digital materials will be archived in a common format. SBMP Classification Scheme. The SBMP will map using the Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) that is being modified to include all NPS needs, such as lacustrine ecosystems and submerged cultural resources. CMECS Version III (Madden and others, 2010) includes components for water column, biotic cover, surface geology, sub-benthic, and geoform. SBMP Data Archiving. The SBMP calls for the storage of all raw data and final products in common-use data formats. The concept of 'collect once, use often' is essential to efficient use of mapping resources. Data should also be shared with other agencies and the public through various digital clearing houses, such as Geospatial One-Stop (http://gos2.geodata.gov/wps/portal/gos). To be most useful for managing submerged resources, the SBMP advocates the inventory and mapping of the five components of marine ecosystems: surface geology, biotic cover, geoform, sub-benthic, and water column. A complete benthic inventory of a park would include maps of bathymetry and the five components of CMECS. The completion of mapping for any set of components, such as bathymetry and surface geology, or a particular theme (for example, submerged aquatic vegetation) should also include a printed report.

A Survey of Recent MARTe Based Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neto, André C.; Alves, Diogo; Boncagni, Luca; Carvalho, Pedro J.; Valcarcel, Daniel F.; Barbalace, Antonio; De Tommasi, Gianmaria; Fernandes, Horácio; Sartori, Filippo; Vitale, Enzo; Vitelli, Riccardo; Zabeo, Luca

2011-08-01

The Multithreaded Application Real-Time executor (MARTe) is a data driven framework environment for the development and deployment of real-time control algorithms. The main ideas which led to the present version of the framework were to standardize the development of real-time control systems, while providing a set of strictly bounded standard interfaces to the outside world and also accommodating a collection of facilities which promote the speed and ease of development, commissioning and deployment of such systems. At the core of every MARTe based application, is a set of independent inter-communicating software blocks, named Generic Application Modules (GAM), orchestrated by a real-time scheduler. The platform independence of its core library provides MARTe the necessary robustness and flexibility for conveniently testing applications in different environments including non-real-time operating systems. MARTe is already being used in several machines, each with its own peculiarities regarding hardware interfacing, supervisory control configuration, operating system and target control application. This paper presents and compares the most recent results of systems using MARTe: the JET Vertical Stabilization system, which uses the Real Time Application Interface (RTAI) operating system on Intel multi-core processors; the COMPASS plasma control system, driven by Linux RT also on Intel multi-core processors; ISTTOK real-time tomography equilibrium reconstruction which shares the same support configuration of COMPASS; JET error field correction coils based on VME, PowerPC and VxWorks; FTU LH reflected power system running on VME, Intel with RTAI.

Millennial-Scale Variability in the Indian Monsoon and Links to Ocean Circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLong, K. A.; Came, R. E.; Johnson, J. E.; Giosan, L.

2014-12-01

Millennial-scale variability in the Indian monsoon was temporally linked to changes in global ocean circulation during the last glacial period, as evidenced by planktic-benthic foraminiferal stable isotope and trace element results from an intermediate depth sediment core from the northwestern Bay of Bengal. Paired planktic foraminiferal Mg/Ca and δ18Oc constrain sea surface temperatures and isolate millennial-scale variations in the δ18O of surface waters (δ18Osw), which resulted from changes in river runoff in the northwestern Bay. Concurrently with low δ18Osw events, benthic foraminiferal δ13C decreased, suggesting an increased influence of an aged water mass at this intermediate depth site during the low salinity events. Benthic foraminiferal Cd/Ca results support the identification of this water mass as aged Glacial Antarctic Intermediate Water (GAAIW). Lagged correlation analysis (r= 0.41) indicates that changes in subsurface properties led changes in surface properties by an average of 380 years. The implication is that Southern Hemisphere climate exerted a controlling influence on the Indian monsoon during the last glacial period.

Preface and brief synthesis for the FOODBANCS volume

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, Craig R.; DeMaster, David J.

2008-11-01

In this volume we present results from the FOODBANCS Project, which examined the fate and benthic community impact of summer bloom material on the West Antarctic Peninsula shelf floor. The project involved a 5-cruise, 15-month time-series program in which sediment-trap moorings, core sampling, radiochemical profiling, sediment respirometry, bottom photography, and bottom trawling were used to evaluate: (1) seafloor deposition and lability of POC, (2) patterns of labile POC consumption and sediment mixing by benthos, and (3) seasonal and inter-annual variations in biotic abundance, biomass, reproductive condition, recruitment, and sediment community respiration. We find that the seafloor flux and accumulation of particulate organic carbon on the West Antarctic Peninsula shelf exhibit intense seasonal and interannual variability. Nonetheless, many key benthic processes, including organic-matter degradation, bioturbation, deposit feeding, and faunal abundance, reproduction and recruitment, show relatively muted response to this intense seasonal and inter-annual variability in export flux. We thus hypothesize that benthic ecosystems on the Antarctic shelf act as "low-pass" filters, and may be extremely useful in resolving the impacts of climatic change over periods of years to decades in Antarctic Peninsula region.

An innovative piston corer for large‐volume sediment samples

PubMed Central

Haselmair, Alexandra; Stachowitsch, Michael; Zuschin, Martin

2016-01-01

Abstract Coring is one of several standard procedures to extract sediments and their faunas from open marine, estuarine, and limnic environments. Achieving sufficiently deep penetration, obtaining large sediment volumes in single deployments, and avoiding sediment loss upon retrieval remain problematic. We developed a piston corer with a diameter of 16 cm that enables penetration down to 1.5 m in a broad range of soft bottom types, yields sufficient material for multiple analyses, and prevents sediment loss due to a specially designed hydraulic core catcher. A novel extrusion system enables very precise slicing and preserves the original sediment stratification by keeping the liners upright. The corer has moderate purchase costs and a robust and simple design that allows for a deployment from relatively small vessels as available at most marine science institutions. It can easily be operated by two to three researchers rather than by specially trained technicians. In the northern Adriatic Sea, the corer successfully extracted more than 50 cores from a range of fine mud to coarse sand, at water depths from three to 45 m. The initial evaluation of the cores demonstrated their usefulness for fauna sequences along with heavy metal, nutrient and pollutant analyses. Their length is particularly suited for historical ecological work requiring sedimentary and faunal sequences to reconstruct benthic communities over the last millennia. PMID:28111529

Ten Years of Observatory Science from Saanich Inlet on the VENUS Cabled Ocean Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dewey, R. K.; Tunnicliffe, V.; Macoun, P.; Round, A.

2016-02-01

The Saanich Inlet array of the VENUS cabled ocean observatory, maintained and operated by Ocean Networks Canada, was installed in February 2006, and in 2016 will have supported ten years of comprehensive interactive science. Representing the first in the present generation of cabled observing technologies, this coastal array has provided continuous high power and broadband communications to a variety of instrument platforms, hundreds of sensors, and enabled dozens of short, medium, and long-term studies. Saanich Inlet is a protected fjord with limited tidal action, resulting in an extremely productive environment, with strong seasonal chemical variations driven by episodic deep water renewal events and oxygen reduction processes. The breadth of the research has included microbial and benthic community dynamics, biogeochemical cycles, forensics, quantifying inter-annual variations, benthic-pelagic coupling, sensor testing, plankton dynamics, and bio-turbulence. Observatory measurements include core water properties (CTD & O2) and water-column echo-sounder records, as well as experiment-oriented deployments utilizing cameras, Gliders, Dopplers, hydrophones, and a variety of biogeochemical sensors. With a recently installed Buoy Profiler System for monitoring the entire water column, community plans continue with a dedicated Redox experiment through the 2016-17 seasons. Highlights from the dozens of research papers and theses will be presented to demonstrate the achievements enabled by a comprehensive coastal cabled observing system.

Pair Formation of Hard Core Bosons in Flat Band Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mielke, Andreas

2018-05-01

Hard core bosons in a large class of one or two dimensional flat band systems have an upper critical density, below which the ground states can be described completely. At the critical density, the ground states are Wigner crystals. If one adds a particle to the system at the critical density, the ground state and the low lying multi particle states of the system can be described as a Wigner crystal with an additional pair of particles. The energy band for the pair is separated from the rest of the multi-particle spectrum. The proofs use a Gerschgorin type of argument for block diagonally dominant matrices. In certain one-dimensional or tree-like structures one can show that the pair is localised, for example in the chequerboard chain. For this one-dimensional system with periodic boundary condition the energy band for the pair is flat, the pair is localised.

A multi-core fiber based interferometer for high temperature sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Song; Huang, Bo; Shu, Xuewen

2017-04-01

In this paper, we have verified and implemented a Mach-Zehnder interferometer based on seven-core fiber for high temperature sensing application. This proposed structure is based on a multi-mode-multi-core-multi-mode fiber structure sandwiched by a single mode fiber. Between the single-mode and multi-core fiber, a 3 mm long multi-mode fiber is formed for lead-in and lead-out light. The basic operation principle of this device is the use of multi-core modes, single-mode and multi-mode interference coupling is also utilized. Experimental results indicate that this interferometer sensor is capable of accurate measurements of temperatures up to 800 °C, and the temperature sensitivity of the proposed sensor is as high as 170.2 pm/°C, which is much higher than the current existing MZI based temperature sensors (109 pm/°C). This type of sensor is promising for practical high temperature applications due to its advantages including high sensitivity, simple fabrication process, low cost and compactness.

The Late Pleistocene Contourites on Ceara Rise: Stratigraphy, Sedimentology and Paleoceanography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ivanova, E. V.; Murdmaa, I.; Borisov, D.; Seitkalieva, E.; Ovsepyan, E.

2016-12-01

The study of sediment cores obtained during the cruises 35 (2012) and 50 (2015) of RV Akademic Ioffe from the Ceara Rise in the western tropical Atlantic strongly supports a significant influence of bottom (contour) currents on the Late Quaternary sedimentation. Seismic evidence of contourites in the study area (migrating contourite sediment waves, furrows) was previously described by Kumar and Embley (1977) and Curry et al. (1995). Widespread distribution of seismic waves on the rise and adjacent areas was suggested by Murdmaa et al (2014) based on the results of high-resolution seismic profiling with SES-2000 deep (4-5 kHz) in 2012. Our sediment cores recovered intercalation of bioturbated clays and silty clays with thin linear or wavy sand and silt layers and lenses implying strong bottom current control on sedimentation. The stratigraphic frame of the reference core AI-3426 retrieved near the summit of the Ceara Rise, at the water depth of 3046 m is based on the foraminiferal (Globorotalia menardii zones), oxygen isotope and AMS-14C data. The core recovered sediments of the last 140 ka with very rich and well-preserved tropical planktic foraminiferal assemblages. G. menardii is common within MIS 1 and 5 and is almost absent in MIS 2-4 and upper MIS 6. The abundance of benthic foraminifers is rather low. However, dominance of Globocassidulina subglobosa in benthic assemblages likely indicates a moderate bottom-current activity on the Ceara Rise during the last glacial. The other 4-5m long sediment cores collected along the seismic profile from the northern and southern slopes demonstrate the similar contourite sedimentological features and insignificant reworking of the Neogene foraminiferal species as inferred from the core AI-3426 along with the significant variations in foraminiferal preservation during the Pleistocene. The study is supported by the projects RSF 14-50-00095, RFBR 14-05-00744 and RFBR 16-35-60111, and Program I3P by RAS.

Historical ecology of the northern Adriatic Sea: Down-core changes in molluscan death assemblages as indicators of ecological shifts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallmetzer, Ivo; Haselmair, Alexandra; Tomasovych, Adam; Stachowitsch, Michael; Zuschin, Martin

2014-05-01

Modern marine ecological studies investigating ecosystem responses to environmental changes are normally restricted to annual or decadal time scales. The historical ecology approach used in the present study aims to shed light on the younger ecological history of the northern Adriatic Sea, targeting the period of the last 500 to 2000 years that have experienced major anthropogenic ecosystem impacts. Our investigations focus on down-core changes in death assemblages of benthic hard-part producers (molluscs, foraminifera, ostracods), where the degree of variation between different community structures serves as a proxy for ecological shifts. The northern Adriatic Sea, with its densely populated shoreline, lists among the most degraded marine ecosystems worldwide and is therefore particularly suited to study ecosystem modification under human pressure. Another advantage of this study area is the availability of historical data from marine surveys dating back to the 1930s.We incorporate these data in our analyses of more recent ecological shifts. More than 50 cores of 1.5 m length and diameters of 90 and 160 mm were taken at seven sampling stations throughout the northern Adriatic Sea, covering different sediment types, nutrient conditions and degrees of exposure to bottom trawling. The cores were sliced into smaller subsamples and analysed for species composition, abundance, taxonomic similarity, evidence for ecological interactions (i.e., frequencies of drilling predation) and taphonomic condition of shells. First results concerning down-core changes in species composition and abundance point to significant differences within single cores as well as between sites. The radiometric dating of the sediments revealed substantial differences in sedimentation rates and in the ratio between sediment depth and age. This information, together with carbon-calibrated amino acid- racemisation (AAR) of shells from selected species, will help to specify the timing of major ecological changes. Our approach should also deliver an image of "pristine" benthic communities that can serve as a reference for future conservation and management efforts in the northern Adriatic Sea.

Benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators of biological condition below hydropower dams on west slope Sierra Nevada streams, California, USA

EPA Science Inventory

Over 50 hydropower dams in California will undergo relicensing by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in the next 15 years. An interpretive framework for biological data collected by relicensing studies is lacking. This study developed a multi-metric index of biotic...

Food supply and size class depending variations in phytodetritus intake in the benthic foraminifer Ammonia tepida.

PubMed

Wukovits, Julia; Bukenberger, Patrick; Enge, Annekatrin Julie; Gerg, Maximillian; Wanek, Wolfgang; Watzka, Margarete; Heinz, Petra

2018-04-13

Ammonia tepida is a common and abundant benthic foraminifer in intertidal mudflats. Benthic foraminifera are primary consumers and detritivores and act as key players in sediment nutrient fluxes. In this study, laboratory feeding experiments using isotope-labeled phytodetritus were carried out with A. tepida collected at the German Wadden Sea, to investigate the response of A. tepida to varying food supply. Feeding mode (single pulse, constant feeding; different incubation temperatures) caused strong variations in cytoplasmic carbon and nitrogen cycling, suggesting generalistic adaptations to variations in food availability. To study the influence of intraspecific size to foraminiferal carbon and nitrogen cycling, three size fractions (125-250 µm, 250-355 µm, >355 µm) of A. tepida specimens were separated. Small individuals showed higher weight specific intake for phytodetritus, especially for phytodetrital nitrogen, highlighting that size distribution within foraminiferal populations is relevant to interpret foraminiferal carbon and nitrogen cycling. These results were used to extrapolate the data to natural populations of living A. tepida in sediment cores, demonstrating the impact of high abundances of small individuals on phytodetritus processing and nutrient cycling. It is estimated that at high abundances of individuals in the 125-250 µm size fraction, Ammonia populations can account for more than 11% of phytodetritus processing in intertidal benthic communities. © 2018. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Foraminiferal signatures of mass transport from the North-West Continental Shelf off Western Australia, IODP Expedition 356

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamo, B. L.; McHugh, C.; Renema, W.; Gallagher, S. J.; Fulthorpe, C.; Bogus, K.

2017-12-01

In 2015, International Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 356 cored a transect along the margin off Western Australian to investigate the history of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and its integral role in the development of global thermohaline circulation and climate. Throughout the expedition, a suite of foraminiferal analyses were employed wherein an incredibly diverse benthic fauna ( 260 species) was used to reveal palaeo-water depth, palaeobathymetric setting and variable conditions at the sediment-water interface. Benthic foraminiferal biofacies are particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions, have a rapid turnover and are ideal proxies for monitoring physical and chemical changes in marine environments. When this information is combined with lithostratigraphic and other microfossil data, a robust understanding of past environments and past geological events can be reconstructed. Shipboard data were used to isolate horizons of interest for more intense sampling at Site U1461, situated on the Northwest Shelf (127 m water depth). The shipboard data revealed a large ( 150 m-thick) turbidite horizon hosting benthic foraminifera from a substantially shallower water depth than the horizon immediately preceding. We present preliminary foraminiferal results combined with shipboard sedimentological descriptions to better constrain the deposit's occurrence in the biostratigraphic record, use benthic foraminifera to elucidate the deposit's sedimentary origins and link this event with others in the region to investigate potential catalysts for its deposition.

Dissolved organic carbon concentration controls benthic primary production: results from in situ chambers in north-temperate lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Godwin, Sean C.; Jones, Stuart E.; Weidel, Brian C.; Solomon, Christopher T.

2014-01-01

We evaluated several potential drivers of primary production by benthic algae (periphyton) in north-temperate lakes. We used continuous dissolved oxygen measurements from in situ benthic chambers to quantify primary production by periphyton at multiple depths across 11 lakes encompassing a broad range of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total phosphorous (TP) concentrations. Light-use efficiency (primary production per unit incident light) was inversely related to average light availability (% of surface light) in 7 of the 11 study lakes, indicating that benthic algal assemblages exhibit photoadaptation, likely through physiological or compositional changes. DOC alone explained 86% of the variability in log-transformed whole-lake benthic production rates. TP was not an important driver of benthic production via its effects on nutrient and light availability. This result is contrary to studies in other systems, but may be common in relatively pristine north-temperate lakes. Our simple empirical model may allow for the prediction of whole-lake benthic primary production from easily obtained measurements of DOC concentration.

Implications of Multi-Core Architectures on the Development of Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) Compliant Systems

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-01

REPORT 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) MAR 2010 – APR 2012 4 . TITLE AND SUBTITLE IMPLICATIONS OF MULT-CORE ARCHITECTURES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF...Framework for Multicore Information Flow Analysis ...................................... 23 4 4.1 A Hypothetical Reference Architecture... 4 Figure 2: Pentium II Block Diagram

Core Principles for Transforming Remediation within a Comprehensive Student Success Strategy: A Joint Statement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Education Commission of the States, 2015

2015-01-01

Colleges and postsecondary systems across the nation have demonstrated remarkable progress since "Core Principles for Transforming Remediation" was published in 2012. States and institutions are phasing out stand alone or multi-course remediation sequences, resulting in tens of thousands of students more quickly enrolling in and…

The timing of termination I in benthic δ18O of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Mediterranean basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Konijnendijk, T.

2014-12-01

Terminations used to be regarded as effectively globally synchronous events. As such they were used (amongst other features) in aligning cores by Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) in their widely accepted global benthic stack. Skinner and Shackleton (2005) showed, however, that this assumption of synchronicity may not hold. In a detailed study of the last glacial-interglacial transition, an Atlantic record from the Iberian Margin and a record from the deep eastern equatorial Pacific - both dated by 14C for a solid, independent age estimate - show a significant discrepancy in timing: ~4,000 years. Indeed, in 2009 Lisiecki and Raymo published a separate reconstruction for the Atlantic and Pacific records in their stack, and found indications for diachronous termination signals for the last five terminations. We compared the Atlantic and Pacific records of Skinner and Shackleton (2005) to the benthic isotope record of ODP site 968 in the eastern Mediterranean published by Ziegler et al. (2010), to see how the Mediterranean record feeds into this discussion. The age model for this record is constrained by the carbon dated boundaries of saproprel 1 as well as correlation to the radiometrically dated cave record of Sanbao-Hulu (Wang et al., 2008). The benthic δ18O record of ODP site 968 resembles the Pacific record much more than the geographically closer Iberian Margin record. This raises questions: whether the Late Glacial/Early Holocene benthic record of MD99-2334K on the Iberian Margin is representative of Atlantic benthic δ18O; what oceanographic factors could have influenced the benthic δ18O of the sites involved; whether there is, after all, a globally synchronous, two-step deglaciation in the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific basins. Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005. DOI: 10.1029/2004PA001071 Lisiecki and Raymo, 2005. DOI: 10.1029/2009PA001732 Skinner and Shackleton, 2005: DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2004.11.008 Wang et al. 2008: doi:10.1038/nature06692. Ziegler et al., 2010: DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2010.03.011

A Bandwidth-Optimized Multi-Core Architecture for Irregular Applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Secchi, Simone; Tumeo, Antonino; Villa, Oreste

This paper presents an architecture template for next-generation high performance computing systems specifically targeted to irregular applications. We start our work by considering that future generation interconnection and memory bandwidth full-system numbers are expected to grow by a factor of 10. In order to keep up with such a communication capacity, while still resorting to fine-grained multithreading as the main way to tolerate unpredictable memory access latencies of irregular applications, we show how overall performance scaling can benefit from the multi-core paradigm. At the same time, we also show how such an architecture template must be coupled with specific techniquesmore » in order to optimize bandwidth utilization and achieve the maximum scalability. We propose a technique based on memory references aggregation, together with the related hardware implementation, as one of such optimization techniques. We explore the proposed architecture template by focusing on the Cray XMT architecture and, using a dedicated simulation infrastructure, validate the performance of our template with two typical irregular applications. Our experimental results prove the benefits provided by both the multi-core approach and the bandwidth optimization reference aggregation technique.« less

Compact Hybrid Laser Rod and Laser System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pierrottet, Diego F. (Inventor); Busch, George E. (Inventor); Amzajerdian, Farzin (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A hybrid fiber rod includes a fiber core and inner and outer cladding layers. The core is doped with an active element. The inner cladding layer surrounds the core, and has a refractive index substantially equal to that of the core. The outer cladding layer surrounds the inner cladding layer, and has a refractive index less than that of the core and inner cladding layer. The core length is about 30 to 2000 times the core diameter. A hybrid fiber rod laser system includes an oscillator laser, modulating device, the rod, and pump laser diode(s) energizing the rod from opposite ends. The rod acts as a waveguide for pump radiation but allows for free-space propagation of laser radiation. The rod may be used in a laser resonator. The core length is less than about twice the Rayleigh range. Degradation from single-mode to multi-mode beam propagation is thus avoided.

The Northern Bering Sea: An Arctic Ecosystem in Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebmeier, J. M.; Cooper, L. W.

2004-12-01

Arctic systems can be rich and diverse habitats for marine life in spite of the extreme cold environment. Benthic faunal populations and associated biogeochemical cycling processes are influenced by sea-ice extent, seawater hydrography (nutrients, salinity, temperature, currents), and water column production. Benthic organisms on the Arctic shelves and margins are long-term integrators of overlying water column processes. Because these organisms have adapted to living at cold extremes, it is reasonable to expect that these communities will be among the most susceptible to climate warming. Recent observations show that Arctic sea ice in the North American Arctic is melting and retreating northward earlier in the season and the timing of these events can have dramatic impacts on the biological system. Changes in overlying primary production, pelagic-benthic coupling, and benthic production and community structure can have cascading effects to higher trophic levels, particularly benthic feeders such as walruses, gray whales, and diving seaducks. Recent indicators of contemporary Arctic change in the northern Bering Sea include seawater warming and reduction in ice extent that coincide with our time-series studies of benthic clam population declines in the shallow northern Bering shelf in the 1990's. In addition, declines in benthic amphipod populations have also likely influenced the movement of feeding gray whales to areas north of Bering Strait during this same time period. Finally a potential consequence of seawater warming and reduced ice extent in the northern Bering Sea could be the northward movement of bottom feeding fish currently in the southern Bering Sea that prey on benthic fauna. This would increase the feeding pressure on the benthic prey base and enhance competition for this food source for benthic-feeding marine mammals and seabirds. This presentation will outline recent biological changes observed in the northern Bering Sea ecosystem as documented in a 20-yr environmental time-series in the Bering Strait region.

Multi-Kepler GPU vs. multi-Intel MIC for spin systems simulations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernaschi, M.; Bisson, M.; Salvadore, F.

2014-10-01

We present and compare the performances of two many-core architectures: the Nvidia Kepler and the Intel MIC both in a single system and in cluster configuration for the simulation of spin systems. As a benchmark we consider the time required to update a single spin of the 3D Heisenberg spin glass model by using the Over-relaxation algorithm. We present data also for a traditional high-end multi-core architecture: the Intel Sandy Bridge. The results show that although on the two Intel architectures it is possible to use basically the same code, the performances of a Intel MIC change dramatically depending on (apparently) minor details. Another issue is that to obtain a reasonable scalability with the Intel Phi coprocessor (Phi is the coprocessor that implements the MIC architecture) in a cluster configuration it is necessary to use the so-called offload mode which reduces the performances of the single system. As to the GPU, the Kepler architecture offers a clear advantage with respect to the previous Fermi architecture maintaining exactly the same source code. Scalability of the multi-GPU implementation remains very good by using the CPU as a communication co-processor of the GPU. All source codes are provided for inspection and for double-checking the results.

Time scales of change in chemical and biological parameters after engineered levee breaches adjacent to Upper Klamath and Agency Lakes, Oregon

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kuwabara, James S.; Topping, Brent R.; Carter, James L.; Wood, Tamara M.; Parcheso, Francis; Cameron, Jason M.; Asbill, Jessica R.; Carlson, Rick A.; Fend, Steven V.

2012-01-01

Eight sampling trips were coordinated after engineered levee breaches hydrologically reconnected both Upper Klamath Lake and Agency Lake, Oregon, to adjacent wetlands. The reconnection, by a series of explosive blasts, was coordinated by The Nature Conservancy to reclaim wetlands that had for approximately seven decades been leveed for crop production. Sets of nonmetallic porewater profilers (U.S. Patent 8,051,727 B1; November 8, 2011; http://www.uspto.gov/web/patents/patog/ week45/OG/html/1372-2/US08051727-20111108.html.) were deployed during these trips in November 2007, June 2008, May 2009, July 2009, May 2010, August 2010, June 2011, and July 2011 (table 1). Deployments temporally spanned the annual cyanophyte bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae and spatially involved three lake and four wetland sites. Spatial and temporal variation in solute benthic flux was determined by the field team, using the profilers, over an approximately 4-year period beginning 3 days after the levee breaches. The highest flux to the water column of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was detected in the newly flooded wetland, contrasting negative or insignificant DOC fluxes at adjacent lake sites. Over the multiyear study, DOC benthic fluxes dissipated in the reconnected wetlands, converging to values similar to those for established wetlands and to the adjacent lake (table 2). In contrast to DOC, benthic sources of soluble reactive phosphorus, ammonium, dissolved iron and manganese from within the reconnected wetlands were consistently elevated (that is, significant in magnitude relative to riverine and established-wetland sources) indicating a multi-year time scale for certain chemical changes after the levee breaches (table 2). Colonization of the reconnected wetlands by aquatic benthic invertebrates during the study trended toward the assemblages in established wetlands, providing further evidence of a multiyear transition of this area to permanent aquatic habitat (table 3). Both the lake and wetland benthic environments substantively contribute to macro- and micronutrients in the water column. Wetland areas undergoing restoration, and those being used for water storage, function very differently relatively to the established wetland within the Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge, adjacent Upper Klamath Lake. Developing long-term management strategies for water quality in the Upper Klamath Basin requires recognition of the multi-year time scales associated with restoring wetlands that provide natural, seasonal ecosystem function and services.

Exact diagonalization of quantum lattice models on coprocessors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siro, T.; Harju, A.

2016-10-01

We implement the Lanczos algorithm on an Intel Xeon Phi coprocessor and compare its performance to a multi-core Intel Xeon CPU and an NVIDIA graphics processor. The Xeon and the Xeon Phi are parallelized with OpenMP and the graphics processor is programmed with CUDA. The performance is evaluated by measuring the execution time of a single step in the Lanczos algorithm. We study two quantum lattice models with different particle numbers, and conclude that for small systems, the multi-core CPU is the fastest platform, while for large systems, the graphics processor is the clear winner, reaching speedups of up to 7.6 compared to the CPU. The Xeon Phi outperforms the CPU with sufficiently large particle number, reaching a speedup of 2.5.

Evaluation of dredged material proposed for ocean disposal from Hudson River, New York

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gardiner, W.W.; Barrows, E.S.; Antrim, L.D.

1996-09-01

The Hudson River (Federal Project No. 41) was one of seven waterways that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-New York District (USACE-NYD) requested the Battelle Marine Sciences Laboratory (MSL) to sample and evaluate for dredging and disposal in March 1994. Sediment samples were collected from the Hudson River. Tests and analyses were conducted on Hudson River sediment core samples. The evaluation of proposed dredged material from the Hudson River included bulk sediment chemical analyses, chemical analyses of site water and elutriate, water-column and benthic acute toxicity tests, and bioaccumulation studies. Individual sediment core samples collected from Hudson River were analyzedmore » for grain size, moisture content, and total organic carbon (TOC). A composite sediment sample, representing the entire area proposed for dredging, was analyzed for bulk density, specific gravity, metals, chlorinated pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), and 1,4-dichlorobenzene. Site water and elutriate water, prepared from the suspended-particulate phase (SPP) of Hudson River sediment, were analyzed for metals, pesticides, and PCBS. Water-column or SPP toxicity tests were performed with three species. Benthic acute toxicity tests were performed. Bioaccumulation tests were also conducted.« less

Massively parallel algorithm and implementation of RI-MP2 energy calculation for peta-scale many-core supercomputers.

PubMed

Katouda, Michio; Naruse, Akira; Hirano, Yukihiko; Nakajima, Takahito

2016-11-15

A new parallel algorithm and its implementation for the RI-MP2 energy calculation utilizing peta-flop-class many-core supercomputers are presented. Some improvements from the previous algorithm (J. Chem. Theory Comput. 2013, 9, 5373) have been performed: (1) a dual-level hierarchical parallelization scheme that enables the use of more than 10,000 Message Passing Interface (MPI) processes and (2) a new data communication scheme that reduces network communication overhead. A multi-node and multi-GPU implementation of the present algorithm is presented for calculations on a central processing unit (CPU)/graphics processing unit (GPU) hybrid supercomputer. Benchmark results of the new algorithm and its implementation using the K computer (CPU clustering system) and TSUBAME 2.5 (CPU/GPU hybrid system) demonstrate high efficiency. The peak performance of 3.1 PFLOPS is attained using 80,199 nodes of the K computer. The peak performance of the multi-node and multi-GPU implementation is 514 TFLOPS using 1349 nodes and 4047 GPUs of TSUBAME 2.5. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Multi-scale measurements and modeling of denitrification in streams with varying flow and nitrate concentration in the upper Mississippi River basin, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Böhlke, John Karl; Antweiler, Ronald C.; Harvey, Judson W.; Laursen, Andrew E.; Smith, Lesley K.; Smith, Richard L.; Voytek, Mary A.

2009-01-01

Denitrification is an important net sink for NO3− in streams, but direct measurements are limited and in situ controlling factors are not well known. We measured denitrification at multiple scales over a range of flow conditions and NO3− concentrations in streams draining agricultural land in the upper Mississippi River basin. Comparisons of reach-scale measurements (in-stream mass transport and tracer tests) with local-scale in situ measurements (pore-water profiles, benthic chambers) and laboratory data (sediment core microcosms) gave evidence for heterogeneity in factors affecting benthic denitrification both temporally (e.g., seasonal variation in NO3− concentrations and loads, flood-related disruption and re-growth of benthic communities and organic deposits) and spatially (e.g., local stream morphology and sediment characteristics). When expressed as vertical denitrification flux per unit area of streambed (Udenit, in μmol N m−2 h−1), results of different methods for a given set of conditions commonly were in agreement within a factor of 2–3. At approximately constant temperature (~20 ± 4°C) and with minimal benthic disturbance, our aggregated data indicated an overall positive relation between Udenit (~0–4,000 μmol N m−2 h−1) and stream NO3−concentration (~20–1,100 μmol L−1) representing seasonal variation from spring high flow (high NO3−) to late summer low flow (low NO3−). The temporal dependence of Udenit on NO3−was less than first-order and could be described about equally well with power-law or saturation equations (e.g., for the unweighted dataset, Udenit ≈26 * [NO3−]0.44 or Udenit≈640 * [NO3−]/[180 + NO3−]; for a partially weighted dataset, Udenit ≈14 * [NO3−]0.54 or Udenit ≈700 * [NO3−]/[320 + NO3−]). Similar parameters were derived from a recent spatial comparison of stream denitrification extending to lower NO3− concentrations (LINX2), and from the combined dataset from both studies over 3 orders of magnitude in NO3−concentration. Hypothetical models based on our results illustrate: (1) Udenit was inversely related to denitrification rate constant (k1denit, in day−1) and vertical transfer velocity (vf,denit, in m day−1) at seasonal and possibly event time scales; (2) although k1denit was relatively large at low flow (low NO3−), its impact on annual loads was relatively small because higher concentrations and loads at high flow were not fully compensated by increases in Udenit; and (3) although NO3− assimilation and denitrification were linked through production of organic reactants, rates of NO3− loss by these processes may have been partially decoupled by changes in flow and sediment transport. Whereas k1denit and vf,denit are linked implicitly with stream depth, NO3− concentration, and(or) NO3− load, estimates of Udenit may be related more directly to field factors (including NO3− concentration) affecting denitrification rates in benthic sediments. Regional regressions and simulations of benthic denitrification in stream networks might be improved by including a non-linear relation between Udenit and stream NO3−concentration and accounting for temporal variation.

Information Orientation, Information Technology Governance, and Information Technology Service Management: A Multi-Level Approach for Teaching the MBA Core Information Systems Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beachboard, John; Aytes, Kregg

2011-01-01

Core MBA IT courses have tended to be survey courses that cover important topics but often do not sufficiently engage students. The result is that many top-ranked MBA programs have not found such courses useful enough to include in their core MBA requirements. In this paper, we present a design of an MBA course emphasizing information technology…

The design of multi temperature and humidity monitoring system for incubator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Junyu; Xu, Peng; Peng, Zitao; Qiang, Haonan; Shen, Xiaoyan

2017-01-01

Currently, there is only one monitor of the temperature and humidity in an incubator, which may cause inaccurate or unreliable data, and even endanger the life safety of the baby. In order to solve this problem,we designed a multi-point temperature and humidity monitoring system for incubators. The system uses the STC12C5A60S2 microcontrollers as the sender core chip which is connected to four AM2321 temperature and humidity sensors. We select STM32F103ZET6 core development board as the receiving end,cooperating with Zigbee wireless transmitting and receiving module to realize data acquisition and transmission. This design can realize remote real-time observation data on the computer by communicating with PC via Ethernet. Prototype tests show that the system can effectively collect and display the information of temperature and humidity of multiple incubators at the same time and there are four monitors in each incubator.

Application of Advanced Multi-Core Processor Technologies to Oceanographic Research

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-09-30

STM32 NXP LPC series No Proprietary Microchip PIC32/DSPIC No > 500 mW; < 5 W ARM Cortex TI OMAP TI Sitara Broadcom BCM2835 Varies FPGA...1 DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. Application of Advanced Multi-Core Processor Technologies...state-of-the-art information processing architectures. OBJECTIVES Next-generation processor architectures (multi-core, multi-threaded) hold the

The truth is out there: measured, calculated and modelled benthic fluxes.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pakhomova, Svetlana; Protsenko, Elizaveta

2016-04-01

In a modern Earth science there is a great importance of understanding the processes, forming the benthic fluxes as one of element sources or sinks to or from the water body, which affects the elements balance in the water system. There are several ways to assess benthic fluxes and here we try to compare the results obtained by chamber experiments, calculated from porewater distributions and simulated with model. Benthic fluxes of dissolved elements (oxygen, nitrogen species, phosphate, silicate, alkalinity, iron and manganese species) were studied in the Baltic and Black Seas from 2000 to 2005. Fluxes were measured in situ using chamber incubations (Jch) and at the same time sediment cores were collected to assess the porewater distribution at different depths to calculate diffusive fluxes (Jpw). Model study was carried out with benthic-pelagic biogeochemical model BROM (O-N-P-Si-C-S-Mn-Fe redox model). It was applied to simulate biogeochemical structure of the water column and upper sediment and to assess the vertical fluxes (Jmd). By the behaviour at the water-sediment interface all studied elements can be divided into three groups: (1) elements which benthic fluxes are determined by the concentrations gradient only (Si, Mn), (2) elements which fluxes depend on redox conditions in the bottom water (Fe, PO4, NH4), and (3) elements which fluxes are strongly connected with organic matter fate (O2, Alk, NH4). For the first group it was found that measured fluxes are always higher than calculated diffusive fluxes (1.5

An Energy-Aware Runtime Management of Multi-Core Sensory Swarms.

PubMed

Kim, Sungchan; Yang, Hoeseok

2017-08-24

In sensory swarms, minimizing energy consumption under performance constraint is one of the key objectives. One possible approach to this problem is to monitor application workload that is subject to change at runtime, and to adjust system configuration adaptively to satisfy the performance goal. As today's sensory swarms are usually implemented using multi-core processors with adjustable clock frequency, we propose to monitor the CPU workload periodically and adjust the task-to-core allocation or clock frequency in an energy-efficient way in response to the workload variations. In doing so, we present an online heuristic that determines the most energy-efficient adjustment that satisfies the performance requirement. The proposed method is based on a simple yet effective energy model that is built upon performance prediction using IPC (instructions per cycle) measured online and power equation derived empirically. The use of IPC accounts for memory intensities of a given workload, enabling the accurate prediction of execution time. Hence, the model allows us to rapidly and accurately estimate the effect of the two control knobs, clock frequency adjustment and core allocation. The experiments show that the proposed technique delivers considerable energy saving of up to 45%compared to the state-of-the-art multi-core energy management technique.

An Energy-Aware Runtime Management of Multi-Core Sensory Swarms

PubMed Central

Kim, Sungchan

2017-01-01

In sensory swarms, minimizing energy consumption under performance constraint is one of the key objectives. One possible approach to this problem is to monitor application workload that is subject to change at runtime, and to adjust system configuration adaptively to satisfy the performance goal. As today’s sensory swarms are usually implemented using multi-core processors with adjustable clock frequency, we propose to monitor the CPU workload periodically and adjust the task-to-core allocation or clock frequency in an energy-efficient way in response to the workload variations. In doing so, we present an online heuristic that determines the most energy-efficient adjustment that satisfies the performance requirement. The proposed method is based on a simple yet effective energy model that is built upon performance prediction using IPC (instructions per cycle) measured online and power equation derived empirically. The use of IPC accounts for memory intensities of a given workload, enabling the accurate prediction of execution time. Hence, the model allows us to rapidly and accurately estimate the effect of the two control knobs, clock frequency adjustment and core allocation. The experiments show that the proposed technique delivers considerable energy saving of up to 45%compared to the state-of-the-art multi-core energy management technique. PMID:28837094

Benthic flux of dissolved nickel into the water column of south San Francisco Bay

USGS Publications Warehouse

Topping, B.R.; Kuwabara, J.S.; Parcheso, Francis; Hager, S.W.; Arnsberg, A.J.; Murphy, Fred

2001-01-01

Field and laboratory studies were conducted between April, 1998 and May, 1999 to provide the first direct measurements of the benthic flux of dissolved (0.2-micron filtered) nickel between the bottom sediment and water column at three sites in the southern component of San Francisco Bay (South Bay), California. Dissolved nickel and predominant ligands (represented by dissolved organic carbon, and sulfides) were the solutes of primary interest, although a variety of ancillary measurements were also performed to provide a framework for interpretation. Results described herein integrate information needs identified by the State Water Resources Control Board and local stakeholders with fundamental research associated with the U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. Dissolved-Ni concentrations in the bottom water over the three sampling dates ranged from 34 to 43 nanomoles per liter. Dissolved-macronutrient concentrations in the bottom water were consistently higher (frequently by orders of magnitude) than surface-water determinations reported for similar times and locations (Regional Monitoring Program, 2001). This is consistent with measured positive benthic fluxes for the macronutrients. Benthic-flux estimates for dissolved nickel from core-incubations, when areally averaged over the South Bay, were significant (that is, of equivalent or greater order of magnitude) relative to previously reported freshwater point and non-point sources. This observation is consistent with previous determinations for other metals, and with the potential remobilization of sediment-associated metals that have been ubiquitously distributed in the South Bay. Similar to dissolved-nickel results, benthic flux of macronutrients was also consistently significant relative to surface-water inputs. These results add to a growing body of knowledge that strongly suggests a need to consider contaminant transport across the sediment-water interface when establishing future management strategies for the watershed.

Uptake of algal carbon and the likely synthesis of an "essential" fatty acid by Uvigerina ex. gr. semiornata (Foraminifera) within the Pakistan margin oxygen minimum zone: evidence from fatty acid biomarker and 13C tracer experiments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Larkin, K. E.; Gooday, A. J.; Woulds, C.; Jeffreys, R. M.; Schwartz, M.; Cowie, G.; Whitcraft, C.; Levin, L.; Dick, J. R.; Pond, D. W.

2014-07-01

Foraminifera are an important component of benthic communities in oxygen-depleted settings, where they potentially play a significant role in the processing of organic matter. We tracked the uptake of a 13C-labelled algal food source into individual fatty acids in the benthic foraminiferal species Uvigerina ex. gr. semiornata from the Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone (OMZ). The tracer experiments were conducted on the Pakistan margin during the late/post monsoon period (August-October 2003). A monoculture of the diatom Thalassiosira weisflogii was 13C-labelled and used to simulate a pulse of phytoplankton in two complementary experiments. A lander system was used for in situ incubations at 140 m water depth and for 2.5 days in duration. Shipboard laboratory incubations of cores collected at 140 m incorporated an oxystat system to maintain ambient dissolved oxygen concentrations and were terminated after 5 days. Uptake of diatoms was rapid, with a high incorporation of diatom fatty acids into foraminifera after ~ 2 days in both experiments. Ingestion of the diatom food source was indicated by the increase over time in the quantity of diatom biomarker fatty acids in the foraminifera and by the high percentage of 13C in many of the fatty acids present at the endpoint of both in situ and laboratory-based experiments. These results indicate that

Postglacial Records of Southern Hemisphere Westerly Wind Variability From the New Zealand Subantarctic Auckland Islands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moy, C. M.; Vandergoes, M.; Gilmer, G. J.; Nichols, J. E.; Dagg, B. J.; Wilson, G. S.; Browne, I. M.; Curtin, L. G.; Aebig, C.; McGlone, M.

2015-12-01

The strength and latitudinal position of the Southern Hemisphere westerly winds (SHWW) play a fundamental role in influencing mid latitude climate and carbon dioxide exchange between the Southern Ocean and the atmosphere. Despite their importance, our understanding of past changes in the SHWW is limited by few paleoclimate records from the modern wind maximum that are often not in agreement. The New Zealand subantarctic Auckland Islands are located within the core of the modern wind belt (50°S) where the ocean-atmospheric linkages between the Antarctic and middle latitudes are strong. In contrast to other subantarctic islands on the Campbell Plateau, the Auckland Islands have protected fjord sub-basins, deep lakes, and peatlands that are advantageous for the development of high-resolution paleoclimate records. We will present ongoing work towards the establishment of multi-proxy and multi-site reconstructions of past SHWW variability from the Auckland Islands. Modern process and paleoclimate results from two research cruises in 2014 and 2015 suggest that in lacustrine and fjord settings, the degree of water column mixing, the stable isotopic composition of n-alkanes and benthic foraminifera, the influx of terrestrial organic matter are good indicators of wind-induced mixing of the water column or precipitation-driven erosion within catchments. In ombrotrophic peatlands, hydrogen isotope ratios of specific organic molecules allow reconstructions of the hydrogen isotope ratios of precipitation, which is related to precipitation source area and the latitudinal position of the SHWW. Using macrofossil counts paired with abundances of leaf wax biomarkers, we are able to estimate the moisture balance at peatland coring sites. Early results indicate an overall strengthening of the SHWW at the Auckland Islands through the Holocene. We will discuss these results within the context of complimentary records developed from New Zealand and southern South America to ultimately obtain a Pacific basin view of Holocene SHWW.

Preliminary results from a shallow water benthic grazing study

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, N.L.; Monismith, Stephen G.; Thompson, Janet K.

2005-01-01

Despite great improvements in our knowledge on the effects of benthic grazers on seston concentrations in water columns, the effects of different hydrodynamic conditions on grazing rates has not been formulated. This makes it difficult to assess the system-wide effect of the benthic ecosystem on phytoplankton concentrations. Furthermore, it affects our ability to predict the potential success of a benthic species, such as the invasive clams Corbicula fluminea and Potamocorbula amurensis. This paper presents the preliminary results of a control volume approach to elucidate the effect of different hydrodynamic conditions on the grazing rates of Corbicula fluminea.

A new benthic foraminiferal proxy for near-bottom current velocities in the Gulf of Cadiz, northeastern Atlantic Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schönfeld, Joachim

2002-10-01

Recent benthic foraminiferal assemblages were analyzed in the Gulf of Cadiz, northeastern Atlantic, to study the impact of the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) undercurrent on the benthic environment. Foraminiferal counts and the analysis of specimens attached to hard substrates from 26 surface samples reveal a relationship of epibenthic assemblages with sedimentary and hydrodynamic environment. Epibenthic species make up as much as 60% of the living assemblage at proximal sites with high current velocities and 3-18% in distal areas or near the margins of the MOW flow paths at low velocities. These foraminifers inhabit elevated substrates only within the MOW, which evidently provides an ecological niche for opportunistic suspension feeders. They adapt their settling elevation dynamically and occur at greater heights above the ambient sediment surface under stronger currents. Mobility, fixation strength, suspension feeding, and reproduction efficiency emerge as individual capabilities promoting the occupation of elevated substrates by certain epibenthic species. The active microhabitat selection is pursued as basic strategy of these foraminifers to optimize their food acquisition. A better access to food sources stimulates reproduction and leads to a greater contribution of foraminiferal tests to the surface sediments. Elevated epibenthos percentages from the dead assemblage and current velocities prevailing at the sampling sites are closely correlated. A compilation including other data from southern Portugal, Florida Straits, and the English Channel infers an exponential relationship between epibenthic abundances and flow strength implying that endobenthic species prevail even under high current velocities. A linear model provides a significantly better fit for the Gulf of Cadiz data however. This relation is used for a case study in order to estimate near-bottom current strengths for the late Holocene Peak III contourite in core M39008-3. Trends and absolute values of current velocities, inferred from the benthic foraminiferal proxy, are the same scale as estimates obtained from sediment grain-size distribution and hydrodynamic models. Epibenthic foraminifera thus bear a high potential as proxy for palaeocurrent studies that even may overcome objections by predetermined grain-size distributions in deep-sea cores.

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.; Vernon, E.; Pinelli, D.; Dooryhee, E.; Ghose, S.; Caswell, T.; Siddons, D. P.; Miceli, A.; Baldwin, J.; Almer, J.; Okasinski, J.; Quaranta, O.; Woods, R.; Krings, T.; Stock, S.

2018-04-01

We have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. We will discuss the technical details of the systems, and present some of the results from them.

Deep-sea ostracode species diversity: Response to late Quaternary climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cronin, T. M.; DeMartino, D.M.; Dwyer, Gary S.; Rodriguez-Lazaro, J.

1999-01-01

Late Quaternary ostracode assemblages from the North Atlantic Ocean were studied to establish the effect of climatic changes of the past 210,000 yr (marine oxygen isotope stages 7–1) on deep-sea benthic biodiversity and faunal composition. Two-hundred and twenty five samples from the Chain 82-24 Core 4PC (41°43′N, 32°51′W, 3427 m water depth) on the western Mid-Atlantic Ridge revealed high amplitude fluctuations in ostracode abundance and diversity coincident with orbital and suborbital scale climate oscillations measured by several paleoceanographic proxy records. During the past 210,000 yr, ostracode biodiversity as measured by species number (S) and the Shannon–Weaver index, H(S), oscillated from H(S)=0.4 during glacial periods (marine isotope stages 6, 5d, 5b, 4, and 2) to H(S)=1.1 during interglacial and interstadial periods (stages 7, 5e, 5c, 5a, 3 and 1). A total of 23 diversity peaks could be recognized. Eleven of these signify major periods of high diversity [H(S)>0.8, S = 10–21] occurring every 15–20 ka. Twelve were minor peaks which may represent millennial-scale diversity oscillations. The composition of ostracode assemblages varies with Krithe-dominated assemblages characterizing glacial intervals, and Argilloecia–Cytheropteron characterizing deglacials, and trachyleberid genera (Poseidonamicus, Echinocythereis, Henryhowella, Oxycythereis) abundant during interglacials. Diversity and faunal composition changes can be matched to independent deep-sea paleoceanographic tracers such as benthic foraminiferal carbon isotopes, Krithe trace elements (Mg/Ca ratios), and to North Atlantic region climate records such as Greenland ice cores. When interpreted in light of ostracode species' ecology, these faunal and diversity patterns provide evidence that deep-sea benthic ecosystems experience significant reorganization in response to climate changes over orbital to millennial timescales.

Multiscale patterns in the diversity and organization of benthic intertidal fauna among French Atlantic estuaries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blanchet, Hugues; Gouillieux, Benoît; Alizier, Sandrine; Amouroux, Jean-Michel; Bachelet, Guy; Barillé, Anne-Laure; Dauvin, Jean-Claude; de Montaudouin, Xavier; Derolez, Valérie; Desroy, Nicolas; Grall, Jacques; Grémare, Antoine; Hacquebart, Pascal; Jourde, Jérôme; Labrune, Céline; Lavesque, Nicolas; Meirland, Alain; Nebout, Thiebaut; Olivier, Frédéric; Pelaprat, Corine; Ruellet, Thierry; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Thorin, Sébastien

2014-07-01

Based on a parallel sampling conducted during autumn 2008, a comparative study of the intertidal benthic macrofauna among 10 estuarine systems located along the Channel and Atlantic coasts of France was performed in order to assess the level of fauna similarity among these sites and to identify possible environmental factors involved in the observed pattern at both large (among sites) and smaller (benthic assemblages) scales. More precisely this study focused on unraveling the observed pattern of intertidal benthic fauna composition and diversity observed at among-site scale by exploring both biotic and abiotic factors acting at the among- and within-site scales. Results showed a limited level of similarity at the among-site level in terms of intertidal benthic fauna composition and diversity. The observed pattern did not fit with existing transitional water classification methods based on fish or benthic assemblages developed in the frame of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD). More particularly, the coastal plain estuaries displayed higher among-site similarity compared to ria systems. These coastal plain estuaries were characterized by higher influence of river discharge, lower communication with the ocean and high suspended particulate matter levels. On the other hand, the ria-type systems were more dissimilar and different from the coastal plain estuaries. The level of similarity among estuaries was mainly linked to the relative extent of the intertidal "Scrobicularia plana-Cerastoderma edule" and "Tellina tenuis" or "Venus" communities as a possible consequence of salinity regime, suspended matter concentrations and fine particles supply with consequences on the trophic functioning, structure and organization of benthic fauna. Despite biogeographical patterns, the results also suggest that, in the context of the WFD, these estuaries should only be compared on the basis of the most common intertidal habitat occurring throughout all estuarine systems and that the EUNIS biotope classification might be used for this purpose. In addition, an original inverse relation between γ-diversity and area was shown; however, its relevance might be questioned.

Marine historical ecology at the Brijuni Islands, Croatia: preliminary results from down-core changes of foraminiferal assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vidovic, Jelena; Cosovic, Vlasta; Gallmetzer, Ivo; Haselmair, Alexandra; Zuschin, Martin

2015-04-01

The Late Holocene in the northern Adriatic is characterized by the eustatic peak of the sea-level rise, followed by the equilibrium between the regional tectonic subsidence and hydro-isostatic emergence and relatively stable sea level for a few thousand years. During this period the area experienced changes in sedimentation rate, food/oxygen availability in the benthic ecosystem and eutrophication with seasonal hypoxic and anoxic events. In order to reconstruct the marine paleoecology in the Brijuni Islands area during this period, a multidisciplinary study was carried out, including geochemical (TOC, trace metals, carbonate content), micropaleontological analyses (benthic foraminifera) and dating of sediments and mollusc shells. The principal aim of this study is to observe the effects of ecological shifts on foraminiferal assemblages during the Late Holocene. One core of 1.5 m length was taken at a sampling station south of Veli Brijuni Island, located within a marine protected area with no fishing/dredging pressure (Croatian national park). The core was sliced into smaller subsamples, and four sediment fractions of each subsample (63, 125, 250 and 500 µm) were analyzed for standard properties of the foraminiferal community (species richness, faunal composition, biodiversity indices), in comparison with relevant physical and geochemical properties of the sediment. The results concerning changes in foraminiferal species composition and abundance point to differences within the core: surface sediments are dominated by suspension feeders (Planorbulina mediterranensis, Lobatula lobatula, Cibicides variabilis, Cibicides refulgens), whereas deposit feeders (genera Textularia, Siphonaperta, Adelosina, Trioculina) appear in higher abundances at approximately 30 cm of the sediment depth and dominate down-core. Species richness in the first 30 cm is lower (10 to 34 species per sample) in comparison to the middle part of the core (39 to 53 species), and decreases again at 100 cm to 25 to 42 species per sample. Diversity indices follow the pattern of species richness and point to normal marine conditions. Similarity indices rise with core depth. The radiometric dating of the sediments together with carbon-calibrated amino acid- racemisation of mollusc shells from selected species will help to determine the timing of major ecological changes.

Annual changes in Arctic fjord environment and modern benthic foraminiferal fauna: Evidence from Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jernas, Patrycja; Klitgaard-Kristensen, Dorthe; Husum, Katrine; Koç, Nalan; Tverberg, Vigdis; Loubere, Paul; Prins, Maarten; Dijkstra, Noortje; Gluchowska, Marta

2018-04-01

The relationships between modern Arctic benthic foraminifera and their ecological controls, along with their sensitivity to rapid environmental changes, is still poorly understood. This study examines how modern benthic foraminifera respond to annual environmental changes in the glaciated Arctic fjord Kongsfjorden, western Svalbard. Large environmental gradients due to the inflow of warm and saline Atlantic Water and the influence of tidewater glaciers characterise the fjord hydrography. A transect of six multi-corer stations, from the inner to the outer fjord, was sampled in the late summers of 2005 to 2008 to study the distribution of living (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera. Physical properties of the water masses were measured concurrently. In general, nearly the entire Kongsfjorden region was dominated by ubiquitous N. labradorica foraminiferal assemblage that successfully exploited the local food resources and thrived particularly well in the presence of Atlantic-derived Transformed Atlantic Water (TAW). Further, the annual investigation revealed that Kongsfjorden underwent large interannual hydrological changes during the studied years related to variable inflow of warm and saline Atlantic Water. This led to a strong fauna variability particularly at the two marginal sites: the glacially influenced inner fjord and marine influenced shelf region. We also observed significant species shift from the 'cold' to 'warm' years and an expansion of widespread and sub-arctic to boreal species into the fjord.

Dynamics of particulate organic matter composition in coastal systems: Forcing of spatio-temporal variability at multi-systems scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liénart, Camilla; Savoye, Nicolas; David, Valérie; Ramond, Pierre; Rodriguez Tress, Paco; Hanquiez, Vincent; Marieu, Vincent; Aubert, Fabien; Aubin, Sébastien; Bichon, Sabrina; Boinet, Christophe; Bourasseau, Line; Bozec, Yann; Bréret, Martine; Breton, Elsa; Caparros, Jocelyne; Cariou, Thierry; Claquin, Pascal; Conan, Pascal; Corre, Anne-Marie; Costes, Laurence; Crouvoisier, Muriel; Del Amo, Yolanda; Derriennic, Hervé; Dindinaud, François; Duran, Robert; Durozier, Maïa; Devesa, Jérémy; Ferreira, Sophie; Feunteun, Eric; Garcia, Nicole; Geslin, Sandrine; Grossteffan, Emilie; Gueux, Aurore; Guillaudeau, Julien; Guillou, Gaël; Jolly, Orianne; Lachaussée, Nicolas; Lafont, Michel; Lagadec, Véronique; Lamoureux, Jézabel; Lauga, Béatrice; Lebreton, Benoît; Lecuyer, Eric; Lehodey, Jean-Paul; Leroux, Cédric; L'Helguen, Stéphane; Macé, Eric; Maria, Eric; Mousseau, Laure; Nowaczyk, Antoine; Pineau, Philippe; Petit, Franck; Pujo-Pay, Mireille; Raimbault, Patrick; Rimmelin-Maury, Peggy; Rouaud, Vanessa; Sauriau, Pierre-Guy; Sultan, Emmanuelle; Susperregui, Nicolas

2018-03-01

In costal systems, particulate organic matter (POM) results from a multiplicity of sources having their respective dynamics in terms of production, decomposition, transport and burial. The POM pool experiences thus considerable spatial and temporal variability. In order to better understand this variability, the present study employs statistical multivariate analyses to investigate links between POM composition and environmental forcings for a panel of twelve coastal systems distributed along the three maritime regions of France and monitored weekly to monthly for 1 to 8 years. At multi-system scale, two main gradients of POC composition have been identified: a 'Continent-Ocean' gradient associated with hydrodynamics, sedimentary dynamics and depth of the water column, and a gradient of trophic status related to nutrient availability. At local scale, seasonality of POC composition appears to be station-specific but still related to part of the above-mentioned forcings. A typology of systems was established by coupling spatial and temporal variability of POC composition. Four groups were highlighted: (1) the estuarine stations where POC composition is dominated by terrestrial POM and driven by hydrodynamics and sedimentary processes, (2) the oligotrophic systems, characterized by the contribution of diazotrophs due to low nutrient availability, and the marine meso/eutroph systems whose POC composition is (3) either deeply dominated by phytoplankton or (4) dominated by phytoplankton but where the contribution of continental and benthic POC is not negligible and is driven by hydrodynamics, sedimentary processes and the height of the water column. Finally, the present study provides several insights into the different forcings to POM composition and dynamics in temperate coastal systems at local and multi-system scales. This work also presents a methodological approach that establishes statistical links between forcings and POM composition, helping to gain more objectively insight of forcings.

Microbial community structure and methane-cycling activity of subsurface sediments at Mississippi Canyon 118 before the Deepwater Horizon disaster

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Underwood, Sarah; Lapham, Laura; Teske, Andreas; Lloyd, Karen G.

2016-07-01

The Deepwater Horizon disaster caused a shift in microbial communities in Gulf of Mexico seawater, but less is known about the baseline for microbial communities in the underlying sediments. We compared 16S rRNA and functional gene sequences deriving from DNA and RNA with geochemical profiles (sulfate and methane concentrations, δ13C of methane and carbon dioxide, and chloride concentrations) of a sediment gravity core from the upper continental slope of the northwestern Gulf of Mexico (MC118) in 2008, 15 km from the spill site. The highest number of archaeal sequences were ANME-1 and ANME-2 archaea in the sulfate-reducing upper core segments (12 and 42 cmbsf), ANME-1 and Methanomicrobiales in the middle methanogenic depths (200 and 235 cmbsf), and ANME-1 at the deepest depths (309, 400, and 424 cmbsf). The presence of mcrA gene transcripts showed that members of the ANME-1 group are active throughout the core and transcribe the mcrA gene, a key gene of methanogenesis and anaerobic methane oxidation. The bacterial community consists mostly of members of the Deltaproteobacteria, Chloroflexi, Cytophaga, Epsilonproteobacteria, and the Japan Sea Group 1 throughout the core. The commonly detected genera of gammaproteobacterial hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria in the water column are not found in this sediment survey, indicating that the benthic sediment is an unlikely reservoir for these aerobes. However, the sediments contain members of the sulfate-reducing families Desulfobulbaceae and Desulfobacteraceae, some members of which degrade and completely oxidize aromatic hydrocarbons and alkanes, and the Desulfobacterium anilini lineage of obligately aromatics-degrading sulfate reducers. Thus, the benthic sediments are the most likely reservoir for the active deltaproteobacterial populations that were observed repeatedly after the Deepwater Horizon spill in the fall of 2010.

Data Parallel Bin-Based Indexing for Answering Queries on Multi-Core Architectures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gosink, Luke; Wu, Kesheng; Bethel, E. Wes

2009-06-02

The multi-core trend in CPUs and general purpose graphics processing units (GPUs) offers new opportunities for the database community. The increase of cores at exponential rates is likely to affect virtually every server and client in the coming decade, and presents database management systems with a huge, compelling disruption that will radically change how processing is done. This paper presents a new parallel indexing data structure for answering queries that takes full advantage of the increasing thread-level parallelism emerging in multi-core architectures. In our approach, our Data Parallel Bin-based Index Strategy (DP-BIS) first bins the base data, and then partitionsmore » and stores the values in each bin as a separate, bin-based data cluster. In answering a query, the procedures for examining the bin numbers and the bin-based data clusters offer the maximum possible level of concurrency; each record is evaluated by a single thread and all threads are processed simultaneously in parallel. We implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of DP-BIS on two multi-core architectures: a multi-core CPU and a GPU. The concurrency afforded by DP-BIS allows us to fully utilize the thread-level parallelism provided by each architecture--for example, our GPU-based DP-BIS implementation simultaneously evaluates over 12,000 records with an equivalent number of concurrently executing threads. In comparing DP-BIS's performance across these architectures, we show that the GPU-based DP-BIS implementation requires significantly less computation time to answer a query than the CPU-based implementation. We also demonstrate in our analysis that DP-BIS provides better overall performance than the commonly utilized CPU and GPU-based projection index. Finally, due to data encoding, we show that DP-BIS accesses significantly smaller amounts of data than index strategies that operate solely on a column's base data; this smaller data footprint is critical for parallel processors that possess limited memory resources (e.g., GPUs).« less

Holocene Ostracoda from the Herald Canyon, Eastern Siberian Sea from the SWERUS-C3 Expedition 2014

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gemery, L.; Cronin, T. M.; Jakobsson, M.; Barrientos, N.; O'Regan, M.; Muschitiello, F.; Koshurnikov, A.; Gukov, A.

2015-12-01

We analyzed Arctic benthic ostracode assemblages from two piston cores (PC) and their complementary multicores from Herald Canyon in the Eastern Siberian Sea. The cores (SWERUS-L2-2-PC1 [8.1 m], 2-MUC4, 71.7 m water depth, and SWERUS-L2-4-PC1 [6.2 m], 4-MUC4, 119.7 m water depth) were collected during Leg 2 of the 2014 SWERUS-C3 Expedition. Radiocarbon dates on mollusks indicate that sediments from 2-PC1 and 4-PC1 were deposited over the last 5,000 and 10,000 years respectively. The dominant ostracode species include: Acanthocythereis dunelmensis, Cytheropteron elaeni, Elofsonella concinna, Kotoracythere janae, Normanicythere leioderma, Semicytherura complanata. Based on species' distributions obtained from a 1,200-sample modern ostracode database, these species are known to be typical of shallow mid- to outer-continental shelf environments in the modern Arctic Ocean. The abundant and diverse benthic ostracode assemblages found in these cores suggest the influence of nutrient-rich Pacific water flowing in through the Bering Strait. The faunal assemblages are fairly uniform throughout 2-PC1, suggesting minimal variability in Pacific water inflow since at least 5 ka. In the lower section of 4-PC1, there is a major change to ostracode assemblages containing typical inner shelf, often brackish-water species, such as Cytheromorpha macchesneyi, and associated shallow Arctic shelf species (Sarsicytheridea punctillata and several Cytheropteron species), reflecting a period of lower, deglacial sea level.

Tiled architecture of a CNN-mostly IP system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Spaanenburg, Lambert; Malki, Suleyman

2009-05-01

Multi-core architectures have been popularized with the advent of the IBM CELL. On a finer grain the problems in scheduling multi-cores have already existed in the tiled architectures, such as the EPIC and Da Vinci. It is not easy to evaluate the performance of a schedule on such architecture as historical data are not available. One solution is to compile algorithms for which an optimal schedule is known by analysis. A typical example is an algorithm that is already defined in terms of many collaborating simple nodes, such as a Cellular Neural Network (CNN). A simple node with a local register stack together with a 'rotating wheel' internal communication mechanism has been proposed. Though the basic CNN allows for a tiled implementation of a tiled algorithm on a tiled structure, a practical CNN system will have to disturb this regularity by the additional need for arithmetical and logical operations. Arithmetic operations are needed for instance to accommodate for low-level image processing, while logical operations are needed to fork and merge different data streams without use of the external memory. It is found that the 'rotating wheel' internal communication mechanism still handles such mechanisms without the need for global control. Overall the CNN system provides for a practical network size as implemented on a FPGA, can be easily used as embedded IP and provides a clear benchmark for a multi-core compiler.

Investigation of cutaneous penetration properties of stearic acid loaded to dendritic core-multi-shell (CMS) nanocarriers.

PubMed

Lohan, S B; Icken, N; Teutloff, C; Saeidpour, S; Bittl, R; Lademann, J; Fleige, E; Haag, R; Haag, S F; Meinke, M C

2016-03-30

Dendritic core-multi shell (CMS) particles are polymer based systems consisting of a dendritic polar polyglycerol polymer core surrounded by a two-layer shell of nonpolar C18 alkyl chains and hydrophilic polyethylene glycol. Belonging to nanotransport systems (NTS) they allow the transport and storage of molecules with different chemical characters. Their amphipihilic character CMS-NTS permits good solubility in aqueous and organic solutions. We showed by multifrequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy that spin-labeled 5-doxyl stearic acid (5DSA) can be loaded into the CMS-NTS. Furthermore, the release of 5DSA from the carrier into the stratum corneum of porcine skin was monitored ex vivo by EPR spectroscopy. Additionally, the penetration of the CMS-NTS into the skin was analyzed by fluorescence microscopy using indocarbocyanine (ICC) covalently bound to the nanocarrier. Thereby, no transport into the viable skin was observed, whereas the CMS-NTS had penetrated into the hair follicles down to a depth of 340 μm ± 82 μm. Thus, it could be shown that the combined application of fluorescence microscopy and multi-frequency EPR spectroscopy can be an efficient tool for investigating the loading of spin labeled drugs to nanocarrier systems, drug release and penetration into the skin as well as the localization of the NTS in the skin. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

pyPaSWAS: Python-based multi-core CPU and GPU sequence alignment.

PubMed

Warris, Sven; Timal, N Roshan N; Kempenaar, Marcel; Poortinga, Arne M; van de Geest, Henri; Varbanescu, Ana L; Nap, Jan-Peter

2018-01-01

Our previously published CUDA-only application PaSWAS for Smith-Waterman (SW) sequence alignment of any type of sequence on NVIDIA-based GPUs is platform-specific and therefore adopted less than could be. The OpenCL language is supported more widely and allows use on a variety of hardware platforms. Moreover, there is a need to promote the adoption of parallel computing in bioinformatics by making its use and extension more simple through more and better application of high-level languages commonly used in bioinformatics, such as Python. The novel application pyPaSWAS presents the parallel SW sequence alignment code fully packed in Python. It is a generic SW implementation running on several hardware platforms with multi-core systems and/or GPUs that provides accurate sequence alignments that also can be inspected for alignment details. Additionally, pyPaSWAS support the affine gap penalty. Python libraries are used for automated system configuration, I/O and logging. This way, the Python environment will stimulate further extension and use of pyPaSWAS. pyPaSWAS presents an easy Python-based environment for accurate and retrievable parallel SW sequence alignments on GPUs and multi-core systems. The strategy of integrating Python with high-performance parallel compute languages to create a developer- and user-friendly environment should be considered for other computationally intensive bioinformatics algorithms.

Multi-Threaded DNA Tag/Anti-Tag Library Generator for Multi-Core Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-05-01

base pair)  Watson ‐ Crick  strand pairs that bind perfectly within pairs, but poorly across pairs. A variety  of  DNA  strand hybridization metrics...AFRL-RI-RS-TR-2009-131 Final Technical Report May 2009 MULTI-THREADED DNA TAG/ANTI-TAG LIBRARY GENERATOR FOR MULTI-CORE PLATFORMS...TYPE Final 3. DATES COVERED (From - To) Jun 08 – Feb 09 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE MULTI-THREADED DNA TAG/ANTI-TAG LIBRARY GENERATOR FOR MULTI-CORE

Temporal changes of environmental impact in the coastal marine area in front of a former mining zone, detected by means of benthic foraminifera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Romano, Elena; Bergamin, Luisa; Maggi, Chiara; Ausili, Antonella

2016-04-01

Benthic foraminifera are increasingly used to assess environmental quality of present and past marine environments. They are suitable for the study of ancient environments because their hard and small shells are preserved and abundant in sediment and an adequate number of them can be collected by small samples of sediment cores, supplying reliable data for a statistical approach. The study of foraminiferal assemblages, associated to sediment abiotic parameters, allows to define the anthropogenic impact along the time; reference conditions may be recognized in deep uncontaminated levels. The Sulcis Iglesiente Guspinese area (SW Sardinia, Italy) was affected in past times by intensive mining, which started in mid 19th century and ceased in 1990s. The marine area of Cala Domestica is located few kilometers from the mining district, where mainly galena and sphalerite were exploited. The area houses buildings for storage of minerals receives drainage material from mineral dumps determining a strong enrichment for several metals in the coastal sediments. Sediment core SI/69 was collected by means of vibrocorer in front of Cala Domestica beach, during a vast sampling survey aimed to environmental characterization of marine sediments. The core was subsampled in the laboratory, and a total of 28 levels were collected. Microfaunal, grain size and chemical (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn) analyses were carried out on different aliquots of the same level. The quantitative analysis on benthic foraminifera was based on the count of at least 300 specimens per sample. Faunal parameters such as Foraminiferal Number (FN i.e. number of specimens / 1 g dry sediment) and species diversity (- index and H-index) were considered as potential indicators of environmental status. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) showed a group of strongly correlated metals (Ba, Cd, Cu, Hg, Mn, Pb and Zn), associated to the superficial samples. These elements displayed a typical profile along core depth, characterized by low steady concentration in the lower part of the core, and increased values in the upper 20 cm. This pattern, which displays for most elements the highest concentrations in the top level, may be considered as influenced by anthropogenic enrichment. Quantitative faunal data were compared with concentrations by means of Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA) to highlight the effects of contamination on biota. It highlighted the pollution-tolerant character of some foraminiferal species, which are nearly exclusively present in the upper 20 cm core interval. Moreover, CCA demonstrated that FN was negatively affected by the anthropogenically enriched metals. Foraminiferal assemblages do not show major changes along core depth and high species diversity would suggest, in general, a good environmental status through time. Nevertheless, the comparison of assemblages from the contaminated upper core interval with reference conditions of the pre impacted interval, reveals that heavy metal pollution determined the increase of the pollution-tolerant taxa and a great decrease of foraminiferal abundance. Consequently, a comprehensive degradation of the ecological status referable to mining activity and dumping was recognized in this study.

Time scales of change in the San Francisco Bay benthos

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nichols, F.H.; Thompson, J.K.

1985-01-01

Results from multi-year investigations in the San Francisco Bay estuary show that large abundance fluctuations within benthic macroinvertebrate populations reflect both (1) within-year periodicity of reproduction, recruitment, and mortality that is not necessarily coincident with seasonal changes of the environment (e.g., the annual temperature cycle), and (2) aperiodic density changes (often larger than within-year fluctuations) following random perturbations of the environment. Density peaks of the small, short-lived estuarine invertebrates that comprise the vast majority of individuals in the bay's relatively homogeneous benthic community normally occur between spring and autumn depending on the species, in large part a reflection of reproductive periodicity. However, because mild winters permit reproductive activity in some of the common species throughout much of the year, other factors are important to within-year density fluctuations in the community. Seasonally predictable changes in freshwater inflow, wind and tidal mixing, microalgal biomass, and sediment erosion/deposition patterns all contribute to observed seasonal changes in abundance. For example, the commonly observed decline in abundance during winter reflects both short-lived species that die after reproducing and the stress of winter conditions (e.g., inundation by less saline, sediment-laden water and the decline in both planktonic and benthic algal biomass - a direct source of food for the shallow-water benthos). On the other hand, data from several studies suggest that observed 'recruitment' and 'mortality' may in fact be the migration of juveniles and adults to and from study sites. For example, the common amphipod Ampelisca abdita apparently moves from shallow to deep water, or from up-estuary to down-estuary locations, coincident with periods of high river runoff in winter. Growth of individuals within the few studied species populations is also highly seasonal, and appears to be coincident with seasonal increases in the abundance of planktonic and/or benthic microalgae. Two multi-year studies have shown that, in addition to within-year periodicity, major restructuring of the benthic community can occur as a result of anomalous (usually climate-related) perturbations of the benthic habitat. For example, during wet years freshwater-intolerant species disappear from the upper part of the estuary and from shallow areas of the bay. During a two-year drought these same species colonized the extreme upper end of the estuary in large numbers. Other aperiodic perturbations include localized instances of sediment erosion or deposition and algal mat accumulations that greatly depress abundance. Additionally, there is evidence (observations that the clam Macoma balthica establishes large populations only when the amphipod A. abdita is not abundant) that species interactions can contribute greatly to interannual variations. Thus, while community composition may change little over the long term, year-to-year predictability of species abundances is low. ?? 1985 Dr W. Junk Publishers.

System Framework for a Multi-Band, Multi-Mode Software Defined Radio

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-06-01

detection, while the VITA Radio Transport ( VRT ) protocol over Gigabit Ethernet (GIGE) is implemented for the data interface. In addition to the SoC...CTRL VGA CTRL C2 GPP C2 CORE SW ARM0 RX SYN CTRL PL MEMORY MAP DR CTRL GENERIC INTERRUPT CONTROLLER DR GPP VITERBI ALGORITHM & VRT INTERFACE ARM1

Luminescence emission from nonpolar Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN core-shell and core-multi-shell nanowires

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Namvari, E.; Shojaei, S.; Asgari, A.

2017-12-01

In the present work, we theoretically study the possibility of luminescence emission from two systems of nonpolar Al0.3Ga0.7N/GaN Core-shell and core-multi-shell c-axis oriented nanowires with hexagonal cross section. To obtain energy levels and wave functions through the solution of Schrodinger-Poisson equations, numerical Self-consistent procedure has been employed. N-type doping has been considered to investigate the two-dimensional electron gas formation and its effect on luminescence. The detailed analysis of the results as a function of the various structural parameters has been carried out. The results presents an examination of the band to band luminescence feature and its changes with involved parameters. We found that the size of the system determines the feature of luminescence emission. As main finding, our calculations show that the intensity of luminescence spectrum in facet to facet route of NW cross section is significant than that of corner to corner route. In addition, no shift of the peak position is observed with changing the amount of doping. Our numerical calculations give more insights into the luminescence emission of nonpolar GaN/AlGaN core/shell nanowire and have many implications in experiment.

Network Coding on Heterogeneous Multi-Core Processors for Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Kim, Deokho; Park, Karam; Ro, Won W.

2011-01-01

While network coding is well known for its efficiency and usefulness in wireless sensor networks, the excessive costs associated with decoding computation and complexity still hinder its adoption into practical use. On the other hand, high-performance microprocessors with heterogeneous multi-cores would be used as processing nodes of the wireless sensor networks in the near future. To this end, this paper introduces an efficient network coding algorithm developed for the heterogenous multi-core processors. The proposed idea is fully tested on one of the currently available heterogeneous multi-core processors referred to as the Cell Broadband Engine. PMID:22164053

Mesomorphic properties of multi-arm chenodeoxycholic acid-derived liquid crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dong, Liang; Yao, Miao; Wu, Shuang-jie; Yao, Dan-Shu; Hu, Jian-She; He, Xiao-zhi; Tian, Mei

2017-12-01

Four multi-arm liquid crystals (LCs) based on chenodeoxycholic acid, termed as 2G-PD, 2G-IB, 2G-BD and 5G-GC, respectively, have been synthesised by convergent method, which nematic LC, 6-(4-((4-ethoxybenzoyl)oxy)phenoxy)-6-oxohexanoic acid, was used as side arm, and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) was used as the first core, 1,2-propanediol (PD), isosorbide (IB), 4,4‧-biphenyldiol (BD) and glucose (GC) were used as the second core, respectively. The first generation product, CDCA2EA, displayed cholesteric phase. The second generation products 2G-BD and 5G-GC displayed cholesteric phase, while 2G-PD and 2G-IB exhibited nematic phase. The multi-arm LC, 2G-IB, did not display cholesteric phase although the two cores were all chiral ones. The result indicated that chirality of the second core sometimes made the multi-arm LCs display nematic phase when cholesteric CDCA-derivative were introduced into the second core. Some attention should be paid on molecular conformation besides the introduction of chiral cores for multi-chiral-core LCs to obtain cholesteric phase.

Benthic faunal assemblages from the Holocene middle shelf of the South Evoikos Gulf, central Greece, and their palaeoenvironmental implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asimina Louvari, Markella; Tsourou, Theodora; Drinia, Hara; Anastasakis, George

2013-04-01

South Evoikos Gulf is an elongate, WNW - ESE trending basin, 60 km long and 15 km wide. Its floor slopes towards the south-east where the basin connects with the Aegean Sea across a 55 m deep sill. The hydrographic network of the area is characterized by Asopos river the small Lilas River and some other ephemeral streams. A sedimentary record spanning the last 13000 calyr BP was recovered at N 38°12'23.1228" E 24°8'14.2404", water depth 70 m, in this gulf. A total of 52 samples from the lower half of the core were quantitatively analyzed for micropalaeontological (benthic foraminifera and ostracods) study in order to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental conditions. This work contributes to the evaluation of the modern environmental problems in South Evoikos Gulf (hypoxia, ecosystem changes, subaquatic vegetation die-off, metal pollution) within the context of the palaeoenvironmental record. In the investigated core, the benthic microfaunal assemblages indicate a marine coastal environment with a gradual transition from a circalittoral to an infralittoral restricted environment. The basal part of the record is characterized by Haynesina depressula Assemblage, which is composed of Haynesina depressula, Textularia agglutinans and Bulimina aculeata.The abundance of Haynesina depressula could be associated with normal marine conditions, but always with periodic brackish water influence. The species composed this assemblage, which are almost all typically infaunal, characterize sediments with a high or medium-high muddy fraction, rich in organic matter available for the organisms that live within the sediment, and low salinity bottom water. Samples from the upper unit of the core indicate a nearshore, inner-shelf facies less than 50 m deep. Common inner-shelf species in these samples include Ammonia beccarii together with Bulimina marginata (Sgarrella & Moncharmont Zei, 1993). The highest abundance of A. beccarii is found between 15 and 20 m water-depth in samples with intermediate percentages of organic matter in which at least some sand fraction is present. A strict interpretation based on the known modern distribution of A. beccarii would confine the species to upper shoreface environments (Hayward et al. 2004). The relatively high frequency values of B. marginata indicate a correlation with organic matter enrichment, with seasonal low oxygen content. This hypothesis is testified also by the increase of the opportunistic species V. bradyana. The temporal presence of V. bradyana assemblage indicates a strong influence of Asopos River run-off, with interplay of increasing food availability and low oxygen concentration Three main ostracod assemblages were distinguished from the bottom to the top of the sediment core: At the lower part of the core ostracod assemblage consists mainly of Costa edwardsii, Cytheridea neapolitana, Callistocythere spp., Pterygocythereis jonesii and Leptocythere spp. At the middle part, Costa edwardsii is the dominant species with relative abundances up to 80% of the total ostracod fauna. At the upper part Costa edwardsii is the most abundant species (20-40% of the total fauna) accompanied mainly by Loxoconcha spp., Xestoleberis spp. and Cyprideis torosa. Ostracod abundance and diversity decrease towards the upper unit of the studied core. These data, and AMS radiocarbon ages determined for foraminifera and ostracods, provide evidence of a change from oceanic influence to estuarine influence. This event is also contemporaneous with the period which is generally characterized by increased evaporation rate (initially at the tropic seas), retreat of glaciers and increased rainfalls (Fairbanks, 1989). Fairbanks, R.G., 1989. A 17,000 year glacio-eustatic sea level record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas event and deep ocean circulation. Nature, 342, 637-642. Hayward, B.W., Sabaa, A.T., Grenfell, H.R., 2004. Benthic foraminifera and the Late Quaternary (last 150 ka) palaeoceanographic and sedimentary history of the Bounty Trough, east of New Zealand. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 211(1-2), 59-93, doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2004.04.007 Sgarrella, F. & Moncharmon-Zei, M. 1993. Benthic foraminifera in the Gulf of Naples (Italy): systematic and autoecology, Boll. Soc. Palaeont. Ital. 32, 145-264. This research has been co-financed by the European Union (European Social Fund - ESF) and Greek national funds through the Operational Program "Education and Lifelong Learning" of the National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) - Research Funding Program: THALIS -UOA-70/3/11669.

The functional significance of the spinose keel structure of benthic foraminifera: inferences from Miliolina cristata Millett, 1898 (Miliolida) from northeast Romania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dumitriţa Dumitriu, Simina; Dubicka, Zofia; Ionesi, Viorel

2018-01-01

The paper presents Miocene (lower Sarmatian) benthic foraminifera from the FH3P1 Rădăuţi Core section from the northwestern part of the Moldavian Platform, Romania. Based on foraminiferal assemblages we infer sediments were deposited in shallow-water, including marine-marginal environments, of varying salinities from brackish to normal marine with some short and rather small sea-level changes. Moreover, we describe for the first time in the Moldavian Platform a very rare species, Miliolina cristata Millett, which presents a characteristic spinose keel. Based on a detailed study of the test morphology and its variability, observed in picked material as well as in thin sections, we discuss some palaeoecological aspects of these foraminifera. M. cristata probably does not constitute a distinctive species, but it is more probable that some miliolid taxa developed such an exoskeletal feature in response to new environmental conditions, such as more turbulent water. Accordingly, our study would support the thesis that one of the functions of the benthic foraminiferal spines is to stabilize foraminiferal tests found in sandy substrates from high-energy environments.

Benthic macrofauna assemblages and biochemical properties of sediments in two Antarctic regions differently affected by climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sañé, E.; Isla, E.; Gerdes, D.; Montiel, A.; Gili, J.-M.

2012-03-01

Lipid, protein and carbohydrate concentrations have been determined in sediment cores from the continental shelf in the South Eastern Weddell Sea (SEWS), where no ice shelves have been present at least for thousands of years, and the continental shelf off the Eastern Antarctic Peninsula (EAP), in the area where two ice shelf collapses occurred in 1995 and 2002. On one hand, SEWS presents an important flux of fresh organic matter to the seabed during summer, whereas on the other hand, the presence of ice shelves in EAP hampered photosynthesis restricting the input of organic matter to advected refractory material. In the present study, biochemical variables and benthic macrofauna abundance, biomass and diversity confirmed differences between the two regions. Lipid concentrations were higher in SEWS than in EAP, whereas carbohydrate concentrations were higher in the latter region. These differences were attributed to the higher concentration of labile and refractory material, respectively. Biomass, abundance and diversity of the macrofauna were higher in SEWS than in EAP, where benthic communities started receiving a fresh organic matter input only after the recent ice shelf collapses. As regards macrofauna composition, both regions presented macrobenthic communities associated to early stages of recolonization.

Zebra mussel effects on benthic invertebrates: physical or biotic?

USGS Publications Warehouse

Botts, P. Silver; Patterson, Benjamin A.; Schloesser, Don W.

1996-01-01

In soft sediments, Dreissena spp. create firm substrate in the form of aggregates of living mussels (druses) that roll free on the sediments. Druses provide physical structure which increases habitat heterogeneity, and the mussels increase benthic organic matter through the production of pseudofeces and feces. Descriptive and experimental studies were used to determine: 1) whether the density of benthic invertebrates in soft sediments increased in the presence of druses, and 2) whether the invertebrate assemblage responded to the physical structure provided by a druse or to some biotic effect associated with the presence of living mussels. In core samples collected biweekly during summer in Presque Isle Bay, Erie, Pennsylvania, amphipods, chironomids, oligochaetes, turbellarians, and hydrozoans were significantly more abundant in sand with druses than in bare sand. When mesh bags containing either a living druse, non-living druse, or no druse were incubated in the bay for 33 d, we found that chironomids were significantly more abundant in treatments with living druses than with non-living druses, and in treatments with non-living druses than with no druse; turbellarians, amphipods, and hydrozoans were significantly more abundant in treatments with living or non-living druses than with no druse; oligochaetes showed no significant differences among treatments. This study demonstrates that most taxa of benthic invertebrates in soft substrate respond specifically to the physical structure associated with aggregates of mussel shells, but further study is needed to examine chironomid responses to some biotic effect dependent on the presence of living mussels.

Electrosprayed Multi-Core Alginate Microcapsules as Novel Self-Healing Containers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hia, Iee Lee; Pasbakhsh, Pooria; Chan, Eng-Seng; Chai, Siang-Piao

2016-10-01

Alginate microcapsules containing epoxy resin were developed through electrospraying method and embedded into epoxy matrix to produce a capsule-based self-healing composite system. These formaldehyde free alginate/epoxy microcapsules were characterized via light microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that epoxy resin was successfully encapsulated within alginate matrix to form porous (multi-core) microcapsules with pore size ranged from 5-100 μm. The microcapsules had an average size of 320 ± 20 μm with decomposition temperature at 220 °C. The loading capacity of these capsules was estimated to be 79%. Under in situ healing test, impact specimens showed healing efficiency as high as 86% and the ability to heal up to 3 times due to the multi-core capsule structure and the high impact energy test that triggered the released of epoxy especially in the second and third healings. TDCB specimens showed one-time healing only with the highest healing efficiency of 76%. The single healing event was attributed by the constant crack propagation rate of TDCB fracture test. For the first time, a cost effective, environmentally benign and sustainable capsule-based self-healing system with multiple healing capabilities and high healing performance was developed.

Electrosprayed Multi-Core Alginate Microcapsules as Novel Self-Healing Containers.

PubMed

Hia, Iee Lee; Pasbakhsh, Pooria; Chan, Eng-Seng; Chai, Siang-Piao

2016-10-03

Alginate microcapsules containing epoxy resin were developed through electrospraying method and embedded into epoxy matrix to produce a capsule-based self-healing composite system. These formaldehyde free alginate/epoxy microcapsules were characterized via light microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that epoxy resin was successfully encapsulated within alginate matrix to form porous (multi-core) microcapsules with pore size ranged from 5-100 μm. The microcapsules had an average size of 320 ± 20 μm with decomposition temperature at 220 °C. The loading capacity of these capsules was estimated to be 79%. Under in situ healing test, impact specimens showed healing efficiency as high as 86% and the ability to heal up to 3 times due to the multi-core capsule structure and the high impact energy test that triggered the released of epoxy especially in the second and third healings. TDCB specimens showed one-time healing only with the highest healing efficiency of 76%. The single healing event was attributed by the constant crack propagation rate of TDCB fracture test. For the first time, a cost effective, environmentally benign and sustainable capsule-based self-healing system with multiple healing capabilities and high healing performance was developed.

Electrosprayed Multi-Core Alginate Microcapsules as Novel Self-Healing Containers

PubMed Central

Hia, Iee Lee; Pasbakhsh, Pooria; Chan, Eng-Seng; Chai, Siang-Piao

2016-01-01

Alginate microcapsules containing epoxy resin were developed through electrospraying method and embedded into epoxy matrix to produce a capsule-based self-healing composite system. These formaldehyde free alginate/epoxy microcapsules were characterized via light microscope, field emission scanning electron microscope, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Results showed that epoxy resin was successfully encapsulated within alginate matrix to form porous (multi-core) microcapsules with pore size ranged from 5–100 μm. The microcapsules had an average size of 320 ± 20 μm with decomposition temperature at 220 °C. The loading capacity of these capsules was estimated to be 79%. Under in situ healing test, impact specimens showed healing efficiency as high as 86% and the ability to heal up to 3 times due to the multi-core capsule structure and the high impact energy test that triggered the released of epoxy especially in the second and third healings. TDCB specimens showed one-time healing only with the highest healing efficiency of 76%. The single healing event was attributed by the constant crack propagation rate of TDCB fracture test. For the first time, a cost effective, environmentally benign and sustainable capsule-based self-healing system with multiple healing capabilities and high healing performance was developed. PMID:27694922

Sediment Grain Size Measurements: Is There a Differenc Between Digested and Un-digested Samples? And Does the Organic Carbon of the Sample Play a Role

EPA Science Inventory

Grain size is a physical measurement commonly made in the analysis of many benthic systems. Grain size influences benthic community composition, can influence contaminant loading and can indicate the energy regime of a system. We have recently investigated the relationship betw...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gardiner, W.W.; Barrows, E.S.; Antrim, L.D

Buttermilk Channel was one of seven waterways that was sampled and evaluated for dredging and sediment disposal. Sediment samples were collected and analyses were conducted on sediment core samples. The evaluation of proposed dredged material from the channel included bulk sediment chemical analyses, chemical analyses of site water and elutriate, water column and benthic acute toxicity tests, and bioaccumulation studies. Individual sediment core samples were analyzed for grain size, moisture content, and total organic carbon. A composite sediment samples, representing the entire area proposed for dredging, was analyzed for bulk density, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene. Site water and elutriatemore » were analyzed for metals, pesticides, and PCBs.« less

Towards a first implementation of the WLIMES approach in living system studies advancing the diagnostics and therapy in augmented personalized medicine.

PubMed

Simeonov, Plamen L

2017-12-01

The goal of this paper is to advance an extensible theory of living systems using an approach to biomathematics and biocomputation that suitably addresses self-organized, self-referential and anticipatory systems with multi-temporal multi-agents. Our first step is to provide foundations for modelling of emergent and evolving dynamic multi-level organic complexes and their sustentative processes in artificial and natural life systems. Main applications are in life sciences, medicine, ecology and astrobiology, as well as robotics, industrial automation, man-machine interface and creative design. Since 2011 over 100 scientists from a number of disciplines have been exploring a substantial set of theoretical frameworks for a comprehensive theory of life known as Integral Biomathics. That effort identified the need for a robust core model of organisms as dynamic wholes, using advanced and adequately computable mathematics. The work described here for that core combines the advantages of a situation and context aware multivalent computational logic for active self-organizing networks, Wandering Logic Intelligence (WLI), and a multi-scale dynamic category theory, Memory Evolutive Systems (MES), hence WLIMES. This is presented to the modeller via a formal augmented reality language as a first step towards practical modelling and simulation of multi-level living systems. Initial work focuses on the design and implementation of this visual language and calculus (VLC) and its graphical user interface. The results will be integrated within the current methodology and practices of theoretical biology and (personalized) medicine to deepen and to enhance the holistic understanding of life. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Remote sensing of deep hermatypic coral reefs in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands using the Seabed autonomous underwater vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, Roy A.; Singh, Hanumant

2006-09-01

Optical imaging of coral reefs and other benthic communities present below one attenuation depth, the limit of effective airborne and satellite remote sensing, requires the use of in situ platforms such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). The Seabed AUV, which was designed for high-resolution underwater optical and acoustic imaging, was used to characterize several deep insular shelf reefs of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands using digital imagery. The digital photo transects obtained by the Seabed AUV provided quantitative data on living coral, sponge, gorgonian, and macroalgal cover as well as coral species richness and diversity. Rugosity, an index of structural complexity, was derived from the pencil-beam acoustic data. The AUV benthic assessments could provide the required information for selecting unique areas of high coral cover, biodiversity and structural complexity for habitat protection and ecosystem-based management. Data from Seabed sensors and related imaging technologies are being used to conduct multi-beam sonar surveys, 3-D image reconstruction from a single camera, photo mosaicking, image based navigation, and multi-sensor fusion of acoustic and optical data.

Modelling submerged coastal environments: Remote sensing technologies, techniques, and comparative analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dillon, Chris

Built upon remote sensing and GIS littoral zone characterization methodologies of the past decade, a series of loosely coupled models aimed to test, compare and synthesize multi-beam SONAR (MBES), Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry (ALB), and satellite based optical data sets in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, Canada, eco-region. Bathymetry and relative intensity metrics for the MBES and ALB data sets were run through a quantitative and qualitative comparison, which included outputs from the Benthic Terrain Modeller (BTM) tool. Substrate classification based on relative intensities of respective data sets and textural indices generated using grey level co-occurrence matrices (GLCM) were investigated. A spatial modelling framework built in ArcGIS(TM) for the derivation of bathymetric data sets from optical satellite imagery was also tested for proof of concept and validation. Where possible, efficiencies and semi-automation for repeatable testing was achieved using ArcGIS(TM) ModelBuilder. The findings from this study could assist future decision makers in the field of coastal management and hydrographic studies. Keywords: Seafloor terrain characterization, Benthic Terrain Modeller (BTM), Multi-beam SONAR, Airborne LiDAR Bathymetry, Satellite Derived Bathymetry, ArcGISTM ModelBuilder, Textural analysis, Substrate classification.

A Multi-Proxy Approach to Reconstruct Climate Variability in the Western Mediterranean across the Penultimate and Last Glacial Period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixit, Y.; Toucanne, S.; Bonnin, L.; Fontanier, C.; Jouet, G.; Tripati, A. K.

2016-12-01

The Mediterranean as a model miniature ocean is an ideal study area for the links between climate change and anoxia. Organic rich-sapropelic deposits punctuate Quaternary sediments series in the basin. These deposits reveal the occurrence of anoxic conditions during times when the circulation of the Mediterranean ocean was deeply perturbed. The `'Nilotic paradigm' proposes anoxia was a direct result of massive inputs of fresh water from the Nile. It is also possible that these sapropels could occur in response to periods of intense rainfall and riverine discharge on the northern Mediterranean coast. To resolve the sequence of events linked to sapropel deposition in the western Mediterranean, we use a multi-proxy (oxygen and carbon isotopes, benthic foraminifera assemblage and trace element geochemistry of foraminifera calcite) approach to examine sediments from the Tyrhennian Sea off the eastern Corsica margin in order to reconstruct climate variability during the penultimate glacial termination, and we compare results to those for the last glacial period. Our preliminary results show increased abundance of epifaunal and deep infaunal benthic species during MIS 5e ( 122-125 kyr BP), accompanied by a rise in Mg/Ca-based sea surface temperature (SST) using G. bulloides. A sharp decline in SST at 135 kyr BP coincides with Heinrich Stadial 5 in the North Atlantic. We will compare the timing of Mg/Ca-based SST minima and reconstructed water d18O variations to Heinrich Stadials in the North Atlantic in order to infer the mechanisms responsible for cooling in the Tyrrhenian Sea. This analysis should shed light on the proposed atmospheric teleconnection causing cooling of western Mediterranean waters via intensification of the Northern Hemisphere high-latitude wind systems.

Multi-Source, Multi-Level Articulation in the Era of Health Reform: Articulating the Health Sciences to Health Services Administration Baccalaureate Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Prager, Carolyn; And Others

The education and reeducation of health care professionals remain essential, if somewhat neglected, elements in reforming the nation's health care system. The Pew Health Professions Commission (PHPC) has made the reform of health care contingent upon the reform of education, urging educational institutions to design core curricula with…

Application of an eddy correlation system for the estimation of oxygen benthic fluxes in coastal permeable sediments impacted by submarine groundwater discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donis, D.; Janssen, F.; Böttcher, M.; McGinnis, D.; Holtappels, M.; Wenzhöfer, F.

2012-04-01

Measurements of solute exchange across the sediment-water interface are crucial for marine environment monitoring. This interface has fundamental filter functions for the mass exchange between the seafloor and the water column. Being a non-invasive technique, the eddy correlation method, is probably the most accurate measurement for benthic fluxes. It does not interfere with local hydrodynamics and integrates over large areas, showing considerable advantages compared to traditional methods, i.e., microprofiles and benthic chambers. One of the most important exchange processes across the sediment-water interface is flux of oxygen, which is a predominant control factor for the biogeochemical activity in the sediment, carbon processing and the composition of benthic communities. The eddy correlation method performs simultaneous recordings of vertical velocities and oxygen concentrations at a specific distance to the seafloor and is becoming a standard method for resolving dissolved oxygen fluxes in aquatic systems. However, data treatment and interpretation, especially in shallow environments, is still challenging. One major concern in eddy correlation studies of coastal environments is how to consider surface wave motions that can dominate the turbulence range and that may bias flux calculations. A critical part of the data treatment thus is the removal of wave biases from the vertical velocity component, by separating the wave frequency oscillations (due to a tilted or miss-aligned sensor) from those containing meaningful flux contributions. Here we present in situ benthic oxygen exchange rates as determined by an eddy correlation system (ECS) and simultaneously deployed stirred benthic chambers. The study was carried out in a coastal ecosystem of the southern Baltic Sea that was impacted by low salinity groundwater discharge (Hel peninsula, Poland). Oxygen fluxes determined with ECS compared well with results from benthic chambers. Flux data and seepage rates are discussed in the context of groundwater and their importance for benthic biogeochemical processes in shallow sandy sediments. This work was supported by 7th framework EU ITN-project SENSEnet and BONUS+ project AMBER.

Benthic algae compensate for phytoplankton losses in large aquatic ecosystems.

PubMed

Brothers, Soren; Vadeboncoeur, Yvonne; Sibley, Paul

2016-12-01

Anthropogenic activities can induce major trophic shifts in aquatic systems, yet we have an incomplete understanding of the implication of such shifts on ecosystem function and on primary production (PP) in particular. In recent decades, phytoplankton biomass and production in the Laurentian Great Lakes have declined in response to reduced nutrient concentrations and invasive mussels. However, the increases in water clarity associated with declines in phytoplankton may have positive effects on benthic PP at the ecosystem scale. Have these lakes experienced oligotrophication (a reduction of algal production), or simply a shift in autotrophic structure with no net decline in PP? Benthic contributions to ecosystem PP are rarely measured in large aquatic systems, but our calculations based on productivity rates from the Great Lakes indicate that a significant proportion (up to one half, in Lake Huron) of their whole-lake production may be benthic. The large declines (5-45%) in phytoplankton production in the Great Lakes from the 1970s to 2000s may be substantially compensated by benthic PP, which increased by up to 190%. Thus, the autotrophic productive capacity of large aquatic ecosystems may be relatively resilient to shifts in trophic status, due to a redirection of production to the near-shore benthic zone, and large lakes may exhibit shifts in autotrophic structure analogous to the regime shifts seen in shallow lakes. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Analytical characterization of selective benthic flux components in estuarine and coastal waters

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, Jeffrey N.

2011-01-01

Benthic flux is the rate of flow across the bed of a water body, per unit area of bed. It is forced by component mechanisms, which interact. For example, pressure gradients across the bed, forced by tide, surface gravity waves, density gradients, bed–current interaction, turbulence, and terrestrial hydraulic gradients, drive an advective benthic flux of water and constituents between estuarine and coastal waters, and surficial aquifers. Other mechanisms also force benthic flux, such as chemical gradients, bioturbation, and dispersion. A suite of component mechanisms force a total benthic flux at any given location, where each member of the suite contributes a component benthic flux. Currently, the types and characteristics of component interactions are not fully understood. For example, components may interact linearly or nonlinearly, and the interaction may be constructive or destructive. Benthic flux is a surface water–groundwater interaction process. Its discharge component to a marine water body is referred to, in some literature, as submarine groundwater discharge. Benthic flux is important in characterizing water and constituent budgets of estuarine and coastal systems. Analytical models to characterize selective benthic flux components are reviewed. Specifically, these mechanisms are for the component associated with the groundwater tidal prism, and forced by surface gravity wave setup, surface gravity waves on a plane bed, and the terrestrial hydraulic gradient. Analytical models are applied to the Indian River Lagoon, Florida; Great South Bay, New York; and the South Atlantic Bight in South Carolina and portions of North Carolina.

Phase Equilibrium Experiments on Potential Lunar Core Compositions: Extension of Current Knowledge to Multi-Component (Fe-Ni-Si-S-C) Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Righter, K.; Pando, K.; Danielson, L.

2014-01-01

Numerous geophysical and geochemical studies have suggested the existence of a small metallic lunar core, but the composition of that core is not known. Knowledge of the composition can have a large impact on the thermal evolution of the core, its possible early dynamo creation, and its overall size and fraction of solid and liquid. Thermal models predict that the current temperature at the core-mantle boundary of the Moon is near 1650 K. Re-evaluation of Apollo seismic data has highlighted the need for new data in a broader range of bulk core compositions in the PT range of the lunar core. Geochemical measurements have suggested a more volatile-rich Moon than previously thought. And GRAIL mission data may allow much better constraints on the physical nature of the lunar core. All of these factors have led us to determine new phase equilibria experimental studies in the Fe-Ni-S-C-Si system in the relevant PT range of the lunar core that will help constrain the composition of Moon's core.

Fabrication of core-shell micro/nanoparticles for programmable dual drug release by emulsion electrospraying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Yazhou; Zhang, Yiqiong; Wang, Bochu; Cao, Yang; Yu, Qingsong; Yin, Tieying

2013-06-01

The study aimed at constructing a novel drug delivery system for programmable multiple drug release controlled with core-shell structure. The core-shell structure consisted of chitosan nanoparticles as core and polyvinylpyrrolidone micro/nanocoating as shell to form core-shell micro/nanoparticles, which was fabricated by ionic gelation and emulsion electrospray methods. As model drug agents, Naproxen and rhodamine B were encapsulated in the core and shell regions, respectively. The core-shell micro/nanoparticles thus fabricated were characterized and confirmed by scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, and fluorescence optical microscope. The core-shell micro/nanoparticles showed good release controllability through drug release experiment in vitro. It was noted that a programmable release pattern for dual drug agents was also achieved by adjusting their loading regions in the core-shell structures. The results indicate that emulsion electrospraying technology is a promising approach in fabrication of core-shell micro/nanoparticles for programmable dual drug release. Such a novel multi-drug delivery system has a potential application for the clinical treatment of cancer, tuberculosis, and tissue engineering.

Application Performance Analysis and Efficient Execution on Systems with multi-core CPUs, GPUs and MICs: A Case Study with Microscopy Image Analysis

PubMed Central

Teodoro, George; Kurc, Tahsin; Andrade, Guilherme; Kong, Jun; Ferreira, Renato; Saltz, Joel

2015-01-01

We carry out a comparative performance study of multi-core CPUs, GPUs and Intel Xeon Phi (Many Integrated Core-MIC) with a microscopy image analysis application. We experimentally evaluate the performance of computing devices on core operations of the application. We correlate the observed performance with the characteristics of computing devices and data access patterns, computation complexities, and parallelization forms of the operations. The results show a significant variability in the performance of operations with respect to the device used. The performances of operations with regular data access are comparable or sometimes better on a MIC than that on a GPU. GPUs are more efficient than MICs for operations that access data irregularly, because of the lower bandwidth of the MIC for random data accesses. We propose new performance-aware scheduling strategies that consider variabilities in operation speedups. Our scheduling strategies significantly improve application performance compared to classic strategies in hybrid configurations. PMID:28239253

Adaptive multi-GPU Exchange Monte Carlo for the 3D Random Field Ising Model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Navarro, Cristóbal A.; Huang, Wei; Deng, Youjin

2016-08-01

This work presents an adaptive multi-GPU Exchange Monte Carlo approach for the simulation of the 3D Random Field Ising Model (RFIM). The design is based on a two-level parallelization. The first level, spin-level parallelism, maps the parallel computation as optimal 3D thread-blocks that simulate blocks of spins in shared memory with minimal halo surface, assuming a constant block volume. The second level, replica-level parallelism, uses multi-GPU computation to handle the simulation of an ensemble of replicas. CUDA's concurrent kernel execution feature is used in order to fill the occupancy of each GPU with many replicas, providing a performance boost that is more notorious at the smallest values of L. In addition to the two-level parallel design, the work proposes an adaptive multi-GPU approach that dynamically builds a proper temperature set free of exchange bottlenecks. The strategy is based on mid-point insertions at the temperature gaps where the exchange rate is most compromised. The extra work generated by the insertions is balanced across the GPUs independently of where the mid-point insertions were performed. Performance results show that spin-level performance is approximately two orders of magnitude faster than a single-core CPU version and one order of magnitude faster than a parallel multi-core CPU version running on 16-cores. Multi-GPU performance is highly convenient under a weak scaling setting, reaching up to 99 % efficiency as long as the number of GPUs and L increase together. The combination of the adaptive approach with the parallel multi-GPU design has extended our possibilities of simulation to sizes of L = 32 , 64 for a workstation with two GPUs. Sizes beyond L = 64 can eventually be studied using larger multi-GPU systems.

Holocene Millennial-scale Surface and Bottom Water Variability, Feni Drift, NE Atlantic Ocean: Foraminiferal Assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lassen, S. J.; Richter, T. O.; de Stigter, H. C.; van Weering, T. C. E.; de Haas, H.

A high-resolution sediment core from Feni Drift (ENAM9606, 56N 14W, 2543 m wa- ter depth) was investigated for planktonic and benthic foraminiferal assemblages dur- ing the last 12,000 years. During the Preboreal, peak abundances of T.quinqueloba indicate the passage of the Arctic front over the core site. Holocene planktonic foraminiferal assemblages indicate a gradual warming trend of surface water masses punctuated by a major cooling (8,200ky event s.l.), and possibly a slight cooling dur- ing the last 3,000 years. The interval from 10 to 5kyrs shows higher and fluctuating abundances of T.quinqueloba and G.bulloides, which suggest proximity of the subarc- tic front and enhanced spring blooms compared to the upper Holocene. Abundance peaks of N.pachyderma(s) and/or T.quinqueloba indicate a series of millennial-scale cooling events during the entire Holocene, which can be correlated to similar episodes previously described from other locations in the North Atlantic and Norwegian- Greenland Sea. Benthic foraminiferal assemblages indicate a gradual transition from seasonal, spring-bloom related food supply in the Lower Holocene (dominance of the phytodetritus species E.exigua) to possibly lower, but more sustained food supply in the Upper Holocene (dominance of C.obtusa and C.laevigata).

Lasting Impact of a Tsunami Event on Sediment-Organism Interactions in the Ocean

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seike, Koji; Sassa, Shinji; Shirai, Kotaro; Kubota, Kaoru

2018-02-01

Although tsunami sedimentation is a short-term phenomenon, it may control the long-term benthic environment by altering seafloor surface characteristics such as topography and grain-size composition. By analyzing sediment cores, we investigated the long-term effect of the 2011 tsunami generated by the Tohoku Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan on sediment mixing (bioturbation) by an important ecosystem engineer, the heart urchin Echinocardium cordatum. Recent tsunami deposits allow accurate estimation of the depth of current bioturbation by E. cordatum, because there are no preexisting burrows in the sediments. The in situ hardness of the substrate decreased significantly with increasing abundance of E. cordatum, suggesting that echinoid bioturbation softens the seafloor sediment. Sediment-core analysis revealed that this echinoid rarely burrows into the coarser-grained (medium-grained to coarse-grained) sandy layer deposited by the 2011 tsunami; thus, the vertical grain-size distribution resulting from tsunami sedimentation controls the depth of E. cordatum bioturbation. As sandy tsunami layers are preserved in the seafloor substrate, their restriction on bioturbation continues for an extended period. The results demonstrate that understanding the effects on seafloor processes of extreme natural events that occur on geological timescales, including tsunami events, is important in revealing continuing interactions between seafloor sediments and marine benthic invertebrates.

Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction of the North Atlantic Current Variations from MIS 3 to Holocene Based on Multiproxy Record from the North-East Scotland Continental Margin.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ovsepyan, Y.; Tikhonova, A.; Novichkova, E.; Gupta, R. M.; Korsun, S.; Matul, A.

2017-12-01

In order to reconstruct the history of water mass interaction between the North Atlantic and the Nordic Seas since MIS 3 to the present, the sediment core from the North-East Scotland continental slope was investigated. The site of core AI-3521 (59°30.009 N, 7°20.062 E) from the 1051 m water depth is located beneath the pathway of the North Atlantic current which transports warm and saline Atlantic surface water to the Norwegian Sea. The age model of the sequence is based on stable isotope record of benthic Cassidulina neoteretis and planktic Neogloboquadrina pachyderma sin. and Globigerina bulloides. The Holocene interval of the upper 1.5 m is characterized by high sedimentation rates and the high biodiversity of microfauna. The distribution of ice rafted debris and CaCO3 content; benthic and planktic foraminiferal assemblages; oxygen, carbon and boron isotopes, Mg/Ca ratio were used to reconstruct the regional paleoceanographic conditions (bioproductivity, temperature, salinity) and to compare with the paleoclimatic events in the subpolar North Atlantic in the frame of the global environmental changes during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The research was supported by Russian Science Foundation projects 16-47-02009 and 14-50-00095.

Foraminiferal repopulation of the late Eocene Chesapeake Bay impact crater

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poag, C. Wylie

2012-01-01

The Chickahominy Formation is the initial postimpact deposit in the 85km-diameter Chesapeake Bay impact crater, which is centered under the town of Cape Charles, Virginia, USA. The formation comprises dominantly microfossil-rich, silty, marine clay, which accumulated during the final ~1.6myr of late Eocene time. At cored sites, the Chickahominy Formation is 16.8-93.7m thick, and fills a series of small troughs and subbasins, which subdivide the larger Chickahominy basin. Nine coreholes drilled through the Chickahominy Formation (five inside the crater, two near the crater margin, and two ~3km outside the crater) record the stratigraphic and paleoecologic succession of 301 indigenous species of benthic foraminifera, as well as associated planktonic foraminifera and bolboformids. Two hundred twenty of these benthic species are described herein, and illustrated with scanning electron photomicrographs. Absence of key planktonic foraminiferal and Bolboforma species in early Chickahominy sediments indicates that detrimental effects of the impact also disturbed the upper oceanic water column for at least 80-100kyr postimpact. After an average of ~73kyr of stressed, rapidly fluctuating paleoenvironments, which were destabilized by after-effects of the impact, most of the cored Chickahominy subbasins maintained stable, nutrient-rich, low-oxygen bottom waters and interstitial microhabitats for the remaining ~1.3myr of late Eocene time.

NW Pacific mid-depth ventilation changes during the Holocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rella, S.; Uchida, M.

2010-12-01

During the last 50 years the oxygen content of North Pacific Intermediate Water primarily originating in the Okhotsk Sea has declined suggesting decreased mid-depth water circulation, likely leading to changes in biological productivity in the NW Pacific realm and a decrease in CO2 drawdown. It is therefore of high interest to elucidate the climate-oceanic interconnections of the present interglacial period (Holocene) in the NW Pacific, in order to predict possible future climate and surface productivity changes associated with a decrease in mid-depth ventilation in this ecologically sensitive region. However, such efforts have been hampered so far by the lack of appropriate sediment cores with fast sedimentation rates during the Holocene. Core CK05-04 that was recovered in 2005 from off Shimokita peninsula, Japan, at ~1000 m depth shows sedimentation rates of ~80 cm/kyr during the Holocene and therefore presents an ideal opportunity to reconstruct for the first time the Holocene ventilation history of the NW Pacific Ocean. We employ Accelerator Mass Spectroscopy (NIES-TERRA, Tsukuba) radiocarbon analysis of co-existing benthic and planktonic foraminifera to conclude on the ventilation age of the mid-depth water using benthic-planktonic radiocarbon age differences. At the conference we would like to present the results.

Spatial Variation in the Invertebrate Macrobenthos of Three Large Missouri River Reservoirs

EPA Science Inventory

Benthic macroinvertebrates assemblages are useful indicators of ecological condition for aquatic systems. This study was conducted to characterize benthic communities of three large reservoirs on the Missouri River. The information collected on abundance, distribution and varia...

Central Administrations of Public Multi-Campus College and University Systems. Core Functions and Cost Pressures with Reference to the Central Administration of the State University of New York. Studies in Public Higher Education. Number 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnstone, D. Bruce

This essay examines the administration of public multi-campus universities, focusing in particular on central administration and the State University of New York (SUNY) system and on responses to the need for fiscal austerity. Before treatment of the main topic begins, the essay offers a look at five reasons for the suspicion and resentment that…

Can single classifiers be as useful as model ensembles to produce benthic seabed substratum maps?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Joseph A.; Babcock, Russell C.; Hovey, Renae; Kendrick, Gary A.

2018-05-01

Numerous machine-learning classifiers are available for benthic habitat map production, which can lead to different results. This study highlights the performance of the Random Forest (RF) classifier, which was significantly better than Classification Trees (CT), Naïve Bayes (NB), and a multi-model ensemble in terms of overall accuracy, Balanced Error Rate (BER), Kappa, and area under the curve (AUC) values. RF accuracy was often higher than 90% for each substratum class, even at the most detailed level of the substratum classification and AUC values also indicated excellent performance (0.8-1). Total agreement between classifiers was high at the broadest level of classification (75-80%) when differentiating between hard and soft substratum. However, this sharply declined as the number of substratum categories increased (19-45%) including a mix of rock, gravel, pebbles, and sand. The model ensemble, produced from the results of all three classifiers by majority voting, did not show any increase in predictive performance when compared to the single RF classifier. This study shows how a single classifier may be sufficient to produce benthic seabed maps and model ensembles of multiple classifiers.

75 FR 16843 - Core Manufacturing, Multi-Plastics, Inc., Division, Sipco, Inc., Division, Including Leased...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-02

... Manufacturing, Multi-Plastics, Inc., Division, Sipco, Inc., Division, Including Leased Workers of M-Ploy... Manufacturing, Multi-Plastics, Inc., Division and Sipco, Inc., Division, including leased workers of M-Ploy... applicable to TA-W-70,457 is hereby issued as follows: ``All workers of Core Manufacturing, Multi-Plastics...

Evaluation of dredged material proposed for ocean disposal from Shark River Project area

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Antrim, L.D.; Gardiner, W.W.; Barrows, E.S.

1996-09-01

The objective of the Shark River Project was to evaluate proposed dredged material to determine its suitability for unconfined ocean disposal at the Mud Dump Site. Tests and analyses were conducted on the Shark River sediments. The evaluation of proposed dredged material consisted of bulk sediment chemical and physical analysis, chemical analyses of dredging site water and elutriate, water-column and benthic acute toxicity tests, and bioaccumulation tests. Individual sediment core samples collected from the Shark River were analyzed for grain size, moisture content, and total organic carbon (TOC). One sediment composite was analyzed for bulk density, specific gravity, metals, chlorinatedmore » pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 1,4- dichlorobenzene. Dredging site water and elutriate, prepared from suspended-particulate phase (SPP) of the Shark River sediment composite, were analyzed for metals, pesticides, and PCBs. Benthic acute toxicity tests and bioaccumulation tests were performed.« less

The effect of long-term spatiotemporal variations in urbanization-induced eutrophication on a benthic ecosystem, Osaka Bay, Japan

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yasuhara, Moriaki; Yamazaki, Hideo; Tsujimoto, Akira; Hirose, K.

2007-01-01

Detailed spatiotemporal patterns of the influence of urbanization-induced eutrophication on a metazoan benthic community in Osaka Bay were determined using sediment cores and fossil ostracode assemblages from the last 200 yr. Results suggest that total abundance of ostracodes increased in the middle part of the bay as a result of the increase of food supply by eutrophication. Conversely, abundance decreased in the inner bay, likely because of bottom-water hypoxia by eutrophication. The variation in species composition among sites within the bay may have decreased because of the effect of eutrophication, i.e., the dominance of species that prefer food-rich environments throughout all sites. These eutrophication-induced changes occurred around 1900 as a result of Japan's industrial revolution and around 1960 as a result of rapid urbanization, depending upon location. ?? 2007, by the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, Inc.

Changes in North Atlantic deep-sea temperature during climatic fluctuations of the last 25,000 years based on ostracode Mg/Ca ratios

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dwyer, Gary S.; Cronin, Thomas M.; Baker, Paul A.; Rodriguez-Lazaro, Julio

2000-01-01

We reconstructed three time series of last glacial-to-present deep-sea temperature from deep and intermediate water sediment cores from the western North Atlantic using Mg/Ca ratios of benthic ostracode shells. Although the Mg/Ca data show considerable variability (“scatter”) that is common to single-shell chemical analyses, comparisons between cores, between core top shells and modern bottom water temperatures (BWT), and comparison to other paleo-BWT proxies, among other factors, suggest that multiple-shell average Mg/Ca ratios provide reliable estimates of BWT history at these sites. The BWT records show not only glacial-to-interglacial variations but also indicate BWT changes during the deglacial and within the Holocene interglacial stage. At the deeper sites (4500- and 3400-m water depth), BWT decreased during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the late Holocene, and possibly during the Younger Dryas. Maximum deep-sea warming occurred during the latest deglacial and early Holocene, when BWT exceeded modern values by as much as 2.5°C. This warming was apparently most intense around 3000 m, the depth of the modern-day core of North Atlantic deep water (NADW). The BWT variations at the deeper water sites are consistent with changes in thermohaline circulation: warmer BWT signifies enhanced NADW influence relative to Antarctic bottom water (AABW). Thus maximum NADW production and associated heat flux likely occurred during the early Holocene and decreased abruptly around 6500 years B.P., a finding that is largely consistent with paleonutrient studies in the deep North Atlantic. BWT changes in intermediate waters (1000-m water depth) of the subtropical gyre roughly parallel the deep BWT variations including dramatic mid-Holocene cooling of around 4°C. Joint consideration of the Mg/Ca-based BWT estimates and benthic oxygen isotopes suggests that the cooling was accompanied by a decrease in salinity at this site. Subsequently, intermediate waters warmed to modern values that match those of the early Holocene maximum of ∼7°C. Intermediate water BWT changes must also be driven by changes in ocean circulation. These results thus provide independent evidence that supports the hypothesis that deep-ocean circulation is closely linked to climate change over a range of timescales regardless of the mean climate state. More generally, the results further demonstrate the potential of benthic Mg/Ca ratios as a tool for reconstructing past ocean and climate conditions.

A new Arctic seepage site? Preliminary evidence from benthic community

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caridi, Francesca; Sabbatini, Anna; Morigi, Caterina; Giulia Lucchi, Renata

2017-04-01

The Kveithola Trough is an abrupt and narrow sedimentary system located in the NW Barents Sea. The hydrographic, bio-geochemical conditions and the possible existence of gas seepage activity of the area have been investigated during the Eurofleets 2- BURSTER cruise, conducted on board the German icebreaker RV Polarstern. The aim of our work is to characterize the benthic biota and more specifically the macrofaunal community structure coupled to the study of benthic foraminiferal meiofauna. Preliminary qualitative results revealed that in the inner Kveithola Trough, the macrofaunal community is composed by abundant black worm tubes (Chaetopteridae worms and Siboglinidae-like taxa) with presence of Thyasiridae bivalve species. The occurrence of these macrofaunal taxa is usually associated to oxygen-reduced environments, hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The living benthic foraminiferal assemblage in the same stations is characterized by the presence of typically oxygen-depleted environmental taxa including the calcareous species Nonionellina labradorica and Globobulimina spp.. Conversely, in the outer Kveithola trough, both benthic macrofauna and foraminiferal meiofauna assemblages are characterized by less opportunistic taxa with a higher biodiversity suggesting very distinct oceanographic sea bottom conditions. The organic matter richness plays a large role in the Kveithola Trough environmental setting and may bring anoxic conditions that could affect the biota of the area. In fact, the benthic community structure of this area inhabits suboxic, anoxic and organic-enriched sediments and disturbed environments, forming assemblages with low diversity and high abundances of a few tolerant and/or specialized species. This preliminary finding could be consistent with other studies examining benthic community structure around Svalbard and in particular cold seep and vents habitats where faunal characteristics are patchy, suggesting small-scale heterogeneity in the environment surrounding cold seeps. For said reasons we envisage the presence of a new Arctic seepage site having a strong local impact on the benthic system.

Communication: An efficient approach to compute state-specific nuclear gradients for a generic state-averaged multi-configuration self consistent field wavefunction.

PubMed

Granovsky, Alexander A

2015-12-21

We present a new, very efficient semi-numerical approach for the computation of state-specific nuclear gradients of a generic state-averaged multi-configuration self consistent field wavefunction. Our approach eliminates the costly coupled-perturbed multi-configuration Hartree-Fock step as well as the associated integral transformation stage. The details of the implementation within the Firefly quantum chemistry package are discussed and several sample applications are given. The new approach is routinely applicable to geometry optimization of molecular systems with 1000+ basis functions using a standalone multi-core workstation.

Communication: An efficient approach to compute state-specific nuclear gradients for a generic state-averaged multi-configuration self consistent field wavefunction

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Granovsky, Alexander A., E-mail: alex.granovsky@gmail.com

We present a new, very efficient semi-numerical approach for the computation of state-specific nuclear gradients of a generic state-averaged multi-configuration self consistent field wavefunction. Our approach eliminates the costly coupled-perturbed multi-configuration Hartree-Fock step as well as the associated integral transformation stage. The details of the implementation within the Firefly quantum chemistry package are discussed and several sample applications are given. The new approach is routinely applicable to geometry optimization of molecular systems with 1000+ basis functions using a standalone multi-core workstation.

Documenting the location of systematic transrectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsies: correlation with multi-parametric MRI.

PubMed

Turkbey, Baris; Xu, Sheng; Kruecker, Jochen; Locklin, Julia; Pang, Yuxi; Shah, Vijay; Bernardo, Marcelino; Baccala, Angelo; Rastinehad, Ardeshir; Benjamin, Compton; Merino, Maria J; Wood, Bradford J; Choyke, Peter L; Pinto, Peter A

2011-03-29

During transrectal ultrasound (TRUS)-guided prostate biopsies, the actual location of the biopsy site is rarely documented. Here, we demonstrate the capability of TRUS-magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) image fusion to document the biopsy site and correlate biopsy results with multi-parametric MRI findings. Fifty consecutive patients (median age 61 years) with a median prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level of 5.8 ng/ml underwent 12-core TRUS-guided biopsy of the prostate. Pre-procedural T2-weighted magnetic resonance images were fused to TRUS. A disposable needle guide with miniature tracking sensors was attached to the TRUS probe to enable fusion with MRI. Real-time TRUS images during biopsy and the corresponding tracking information were recorded. Each biopsy site was superimposed onto the MRI. Each biopsy site was classified as positive or negative for cancer based on the results of each MRI sequence. Sensitivity, specificity, and receiver operating curve (ROC) area under the curve (AUC) values were calculated for multi-parametric MRI. Gleason scores for each multi-parametric MRI pattern were also evaluated. Six hundred and 5 systemic biopsy cores were analyzed in 50 patients, of whom 20 patients had 56 positive cores. MRI identified 34 of 56 positive cores. Overall, sensitivity, specificity, and ROC area values for multi-parametric MRI were 0.607, 0.727, 0.667, respectively. TRUS-MRI fusion after biopsy can be used to document the location of each biopsy site, which can then be correlated with MRI findings. Based on correlation with tracked biopsies, T2-weighted MRI and apparent diffusion coefficient maps derived from diffusion-weighted MRI are the most sensitive sequences, whereas the addition of delayed contrast enhancement MRI and three-dimensional magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated higher specificity consistent with results obtained using radical prostatectomy specimens.

In-Situ Three-Dimensional Shape Rendering from Strain Values Obtained Through Optical Fiber Sensors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chan, Hon Man (Inventor); Parker, Jr., Allen R. (Inventor)

2015-01-01

A method and system for rendering the shape of a multi-core optical fiber or multi-fiber bundle in three-dimensional space in real time based on measured fiber strain data. Three optical fiber cores arc arranged in parallel at 120.degree. intervals about a central axis. A series of longitudinally co-located strain sensor triplets, typically fiber Bragg gratings, are positioned along the length of each fiber at known intervals. A tunable laser interrogates the sensors to detect strain on the fiber cores. Software determines the strain magnitude (.DELTA.L/L) for each fiber at a given triplet, but then applies beam theory to calculate curvature, beading angle and torsion of the fiber bundle, and from there it determines the shape of the fiber in s Cartesian coordinate system by solving a series of ordinary differential equations expanded from the Frenet-Serrat equations. This approach eliminates the need for computationally time-intensive curve-tilting and allows the three-dimensional shape of the optical fiber assembly to be displayed in real-time.

Multi-scale streambed topographic and discharge effects on hyporheic at the stream network scale in confined streams

Treesearch

Alessandra Marzadri; Daniele Tonina; James A. McKean; Matthew G. Tiedemann; Rohan M. Benjankar

2014-01-01

The hyporheic zone is the volume of the streambed sediment mostly saturated with stream water. It is the transitional zone between stream and shallow-ground waters and an important ecotone for benthic species, including macro-invertebrates, microorganisms, and some fish species that dwell in the hyporheic zone for parts of their lives. Most hyporheic analyses are...

Classification of Magnetic Nanoparticle Systems—Synthesis, Standardization and Analysis Methods in the NanoMag Project

PubMed Central

Bogren, Sara; Fornara, Andrea; Ludwig, Frank; del Puerto Morales, Maria; Steinhoff, Uwe; Fougt Hansen, Mikkel; Kazakova, Olga; Johansson, Christer

2015-01-01

This study presents classification of different magnetic single- and multi-core particle systems using their measured dynamic magnetic properties together with their nanocrystal and particle sizes. The dynamic magnetic properties are measured with AC (dynamical) susceptometry and magnetorelaxometry and the size parameters are determined from electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering. Using these methods, we also show that the nanocrystal size and particle morphology determines the dynamic magnetic properties for both single- and multi-core particles. The presented results are obtained from the four year EU NMP FP7 project, NanoMag, which is focused on standardization of analysis methods for magnetic nanoparticles. PMID:26343639

Real time display Fourier-domain OCT using multi-thread parallel computing with data vectorization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eom, Tae Joong; Kim, Hoon Seop; Kim, Chul Min; Lee, Yeung Lak; Choi, Eun-Seo

2011-03-01

We demonstrate a real-time display of processed OCT images using multi-thread parallel computing with a quad-core CPU of a personal computer. The data of each A-line are treated as one vector to maximize the data translation rate between the cores of the CPU and RAM stored image data. A display rate of 29.9 frames/sec for processed OCT data (4096 FFT-size x 500 A-scans) is achieved in our system using a wavelength swept source with 52-kHz swept frequency. The data processing times of the OCT image and a Doppler OCT image with a 4-time average are 23.8 msec and 91.4 msec.

Onboard autonomous mission re-planning for multi-satellite system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Zixuan; Guo, Jian; Gill, Eberhard

2018-04-01

This paper presents an onboard autonomous mission re-planning system for Multi-Satellites System (MSS) to perform onboard re-planing in disruptive situations. The proposed re-planning system can deal with different potential emergency situations. This paper uses Multi-Objective Hybrid Dynamic Mutation Genetic Algorithm (MO-HDM GA) combined with re-planning techniques as the core algorithm. The Cyclically Re-planning Method (CRM) and the Near Real-time Re-planning Method (NRRM) are developed to meet different mission requirements. Simulations results show that both methods can provide feasible re-planning sequences under unforeseen situations. The comparisons illustrate that using the CRM is average 20% faster than the NRRM on computation time. However, by using the NRRM more raw data can be observed and transmitted than using the CRM within the same period. The usability of this onboard re-planning system is not limited to multi-satellite system. Other mission planning and re-planning problems related to autonomous multiple vehicles with similar demands are also applicable.

Benthic Foraminifera As A Novel Bio-monitoring Tool In The Assessment Of Environmental Impacts Linked To Marine Aquaculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alammar, Montaha; Austin, William

2017-04-01

The present study represents an attempt to evaluate the impacts of marine aquaculture on benthic foraminiferal communities in order to develop an improved, quantitative understanding of their response to the variation in benthic environmental gradients associated with fish farms in Scotland. Furthermore, their performance as a bio-monitoring tool will be discussed and outlined in ongoing research to evaluate their performance alongside traditional bioecological indicators. Foraminiferal faunas offer the potential to assess ecological quality status through their response to stress gradients (e.g. organic matter enrichment), such as that caused by intensive fish farming in coastal sediments. In this study, we followed the Foraminiferal Bio-Monitoring (FOBIMO) protocol (Schönfeld. et al., 2012), which proposed a standardised methodology of using foraminifera as a bio-monitoring tool to evaluate the quality of the marine ecosystem and applied these protocols to the rapidly expanding marine aquaculture sector in Scotland, UK. Eight stations were sampled along a transect in Loch Creran, west coast of Scotland, to describe the spatial and down-core (temporal) distribution pattern of benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Triplicate, Rose-Bengal stained samples from an interval of (0-1cm) below the sediment surface were studied at each station from below the fish cages (impacted stations) to a distance from the farming sites (control stations). Morphospecies counts were conducted, and the organic carbon and the grain size distributions determined. Species richness beneath these fish farming cages were analysed and showed a reduction of foraminifera density and diversity at the impacted stations.

Hybrid Parallelism for Volume Rendering on Large-, Multi-, and Many-Core Systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Howison, Mark; Bethel, E. Wes; Childs, Hank

2012-01-01

With the computing industry trending towards multi- and many-core processors, we study how a standard visualization algorithm, ray-casting volume rendering, can benefit from a hybrid parallelism approach. Hybrid parallelism provides the best of both worlds: using distributed-memory parallelism across a large numbers of nodes increases available FLOPs and memory, while exploiting shared-memory parallelism among the cores within each node ensures that each node performs its portion of the larger calculation as efficiently as possible. We demonstrate results from weak and strong scaling studies, at levels of concurrency ranging up to 216,000, and with datasets as large as 12.2 trillion cells.more » The greatest benefit from hybrid parallelism lies in the communication portion of the algorithm, the dominant cost at higher levels of concurrency. We show that reducing the number of participants with a hybrid approach significantly improves performance.« less

Ecological periodic tables for nekton and benthic macrofaunal community usage of estuarine habitats Slides

EPA Science Inventory

Ecological periodic tables for nekton and benthic macrofaunal community usage of estuarine habitats Steven P. Ferraro, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Newport, OR Background/Questions/Methods The chemical periodic table, the Linnaean system of classification, and the Her...

Detection and identification of benthic communities and shoreline features in Biscayne Bay

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kolipinski, M. C.; Higer, A. L.

1970-01-01

Progress made in the development of a technique for identifying and delinating benthic and shoreline communities using multispectral imagery is described. Images were collected with a multispectral scanner system mounted in a C-47 aircraft. Concurrent with the overflight, ecological ground- and sea-truth information was collected at 19 sites in the bay and on the shore. Preliminary processing of the scanner imagery with a CDC 1604 digital computer provided the optimum channels for discernment among different underwater and coastal objects. Automatic mapping of the benthic plants by multiband imagery and the mapping of isotherms and hydrodynamic parameters by digital model can become an effective predictive ecological tool when coupled together. Using the two systems, it appears possible to predict conditions that could adversely affect the benthic communities. With the advent of the ERTS satellites and space platforms, imagery data could be obtained which, when used in conjunction with water-level and meteorological data, would provide for continuous ecological monitoring.

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

DOE PAGES

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.; ...

2018-04-27

In this paper, we have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. Finally, we will discuss the technical details of the systems,more » and present some of the results from them.« less

Multi-element germanium detectors for synchrotron applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rumaiz, A. K.; Kuczewski, A. J.; Mead, J.

In this paper, we have developed a series of monolithic multi-element germanium detectors, based on sensor arrays produced by the Forschungzentrum Julich, and on Application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) developed at Brookhaven. Devices have been made with element counts ranging from 64 to 384. These detectors are being used at NSLS-II and APS for a range of diffraction experiments, both monochromatic and energy-dispersive. Compact and powerful readout systems have been developed, based on the new generation of FPGA system-on-chip devices, which provide closely coupled multi-core processors embedded in large gate arrays. Finally, we will discuss the technical details of the systems,more » and present some of the results from them.« less

Outcomes of Grazing Impacts between Sub-Neptunes in Kepler  Multis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwang, Jason; Chatterjee, Sourav; Lombardi, James, Jr.; Steffen, Jason H.; Rasio, Frederic

2018-01-01

Studies of high-multiplicity, tightly packed planetary systems suggest that dynamical instabilities are common and affect both the orbits and planet structures, where the compact orbits and typically low densities make physical collisions likely outcomes. Since the structure of many of these planets is such that the mass is dominated by a rocky core, but the volume is dominated by a tenuous gas envelope, the sticky-sphere approximation, used in dynamical integrators, may be a poor model for these collisions. We perform five sets of collision calculations, including detailed hydrodynamics, sampling mass ratios, and core mass fractions typical in Kepler Multis. In our primary set of calculations, we use Kepler-36 as a nominal remnant system, as the two planets have a small dynamical separation and an extreme density ratio. We use an N-body code, Mercury 6.2, to integrate initially unstable systems and study the resultant collisions in detail. We use these collisions, focusing on grazing collisions, in combination with realistic planet models created using gas profiles from Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics and core profiles using equations of state from Seager et al. to perform hydrodynamic calculations, finding scatterings, mergers, and even a potential planet–planet binary. We dynamically integrate the remnant systems, examine the stability, and estimate the final densities, finding that the remnant densities are sensitive to the core masses, and collisions result in generally more stable systems. We provide prescriptions for predicting the outcomes and modeling the changes in mass and orbits following collisions for general use in dynamical integrators.

Benthic Oxygen Demand in Three Former Salt Ponds Adjacent to South San Francisco Bay, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Topping, Brent R.; Kuwabara, James S.; Athearn, Nicole D.; Takekawa, John Y.; Parcheso, Francis; Henderson, Kathleen D.; Piotter, Sara

2009-01-01

Sampling trips were coordinated in the second half of 2008 to examine the interstitial water in the sediment and the overlying bottom waters of three shallow (average depth 2 meters). The water column at all deployment sites was monitored with dataloggers for ancillary water-quality parameters (including dissolved oxygen, salinity, specific conductance, temperature, and pH) to facilitate the interpretation of benthic-flux results. Calculated diffusive benthic flux of dissolved (0.2-micron filtered) oxygen was consistently negative (that is, drawn from the water column into the sediment) and ranged between -0.5 x 10-6 and -37 x 10-6 micromoles per square centimeter per second (site averages depicted in table 2). Assuming pond areas of 1.0, 1.4, and 2.3 square kilometers for ponds A16, A14, and A3W, respectively, this converts to an oxygen mass flux into the ponds' sediment ranging from -1 to -72 kilograms per day. Diffusive oxygen flux into the benthos (listed as negative) was lowest in pond A14 (-0.5 x 10-6 to -1.8 x 10-6 micromoles per square centimeter per second) compared with diffusive flux estimates for ponds A16 and A3W (site averages -26 x 10-6 to -35 x 10-6 and -34 x 10-6 to -37 x 10-6 micromoles per square centimeter per second, respectively). These initial diffusive-flux estimates are of the order of magnitude of those measured in the South Bay using core-incubation experiments (Topping and others, 2004), which include bioturbation and bioirrigation effects. Estimates of benthic oxygen demand reported herein, based on molecular diffusion, serve as conservative estimates of benthic flux because solute transport across the sediment-water interface can be enhanced by multidisciplinary processes including bioturbation, bioirrigation, ground-water advection, and wind resuspension (Kuwabara and others, 2009).

"Live" (stained) benthic foraminiferal living depths, stable isotopes, and taxonomy offshore South Georgia, Southern Ocean: implications for calcification depths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dejardin, Rowan; Kender, Sev; Allen, Claire S.; Leng, Melanie J.; Swann, George E. A.; Peck, Victoria L.

2018-01-01

It is widely held that benthic foraminifera exhibit species-specific calcification depth preferences, with their tests recording sediment pore water chemistry at that depth (i.e. stable isotope and trace metal compositions). This assumed depth-habitat-specific pore water chemistry relationship has been used to reconstruct various palaeoenvironmental parameters, such as bottom water oxygenation. However, many deep-water foraminiferal studies show wide intra-species variation in sediment living depth but relatively narrow intra-species variation in stable isotope composition. To investigate this depth-habitat-stable-isotope relationship on the shelf, we analysed depth distribution and stable isotopes of living (Rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera from two box cores collected on the South Georgia shelf (ranging from 250 to 300 m water depth). We provide a comprehensive taxonomic analysis of the benthic fauna, comprising 79 taxonomic groupings. The fauna shows close affinities with shelf assemblages from around Antarctica. We find live specimens of a number of calcareous species from a range of depths in the sediment column. Stable isotope ratios (δ13C and δ18O) were measured on stained specimens of three species, Astrononion echolsi, Cassidulinoides porrectus, and Buccella sp. 1, at 1 cm depth intervals within the downcore sediment sequences. In agreement with studies in deep-water settings, we find no significant intra-species variability in either δ13Cforam or δ18Oforam with sediment living depth on the South Georgia shelf. Our findings add to the growing evidence that infaunal benthic foraminiferal species calcify at a fixed depth. Given the wide range of depths at which we find living, infaunal species, we speculate that they may actually calcify predominantly at the sediment-seawater interface, where carbonate ion concentration and organic carbon availability is at a maximum.

Synthesis and optical properties of core-multi-shell CdSe/CdS/ZnS quantum dots: Surface modifications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ratnesh, R. K.; Mehata, Mohan Singh

2017-02-01

We report two port synthesis of CdSe/CdS/ZnS core-multi-shell quantum dots (Q-dots) and their structural properties. The multi-shell structures of Q-dots were developed by using successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) technique. The obtained Q-dots show high crystallinity with the step-wise adjustment of lattice parameters in the radial direction. The size of the core and core-shell Q-dots estimated by transmission electron microscopy images and absorption spectra is about 3.4 and 5.3 nm, respectively. The water soluble Q-dots (scheme-1) were prepared by using ligand exchange method, and the effect of pH was discussed regarding the variation of quantum yield (QY). The decrease of a lifetime of core-multi-shell Q-dots with respect to core CdSe indicates that the shell growth may be tuned by the lifetimes. Thus, the study clearly demonstrates that the core-shell approach can be used to substantially improve the optical properties of Q-dots desired for various applications.

Runtime Performance and Virtual Network Control Alternatives in VM-Based High-Fidelity Network Simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yoginath, Srikanth B; Perumalla, Kalyan S; Henz, Brian J

2012-01-01

In prior work (Yoginath and Perumalla, 2011; Yoginath, Perumalla and Henz, 2012), the motivation, challenges and issues were articulated in favor of virtual time ordering of Virtual Machines (VMs) in network simulations hosted on multi-core machines. Two major components in the overall virtualization challenge are (1) virtual timeline establishment and scheduling of VMs, and (2) virtualization of inter-VM communication. Here, we extend prior work by presenting scaling results for the first component, with experiment results on up to 128 VMs scheduled in virtual time order on a single 12-core host. We also explore the solution space of design alternatives formore » the second component, and present performance results from a multi-threaded, multi-queue implementation of inter-VM network control for synchronized execution with VM scheduling, incorporated in our NetWarp simulation system.« less

Simulation of rapid ecological change in Lake Ontario

USGS Publications Warehouse

McKenna, James E.; Chalupnicki, Marc; Dittman, Dawn E.; Watkins, James M.

2017-01-01

Lower trophic level processes are integral to proper functioning of large aquatic ecosystems and have been disturbed in Lake Ontario by various stressors including exotic species. The invasion of benthic habitats by dreissenid mussels has led to systemic changes and native faunal declines. Size-dependent physiological rates, spatial differences and connectivity, competition, and differential population dynamics among invertebrate groups contributed to the change and system complexity. We developed a spatially explicit, individual-based mechanistic model of the benthic ecosystem in Lake Ontario, with coupling to the pelagic system, to examine ecosystem dynamics and effects of dreissenid mussel invasion and native fauna losses. Benthic organisms were represented by functional groups; filter-feeders (i.e., dreissenid mussels), surface deposit-feeders (e.g., native amphipod Diporeia spp.), and deposit-feeders (e.g., oligochaetes and other burrowers). The model was stable, represented ecological structure and function effectively, and reproduced observed effects of the mussel invasion. Two hypotheses for causes of Diporeia loss, competition or disease-like mortality, were tested. Simple competition for food did not explain observed declines in native surface deposit-feeders during the filter-feeder invasion. However, the elevated mortality scenario supports a disease-like cause for loss of the native amphipod, with population changes in various lake areas and altered benthic biomass transfers. Stabilization of mussel populations and possible recovery of the native, surface-deposit feeding amphipod were predicted. Although further research is required on forcing functions, model parameters, and natural conditions, the model provides a valuable tool to help managers understand the benthic system and plan for response to future disruptions.

Benthic foraminifera at the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum in the western Tethys (Forada section): variability in climate and productivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giusberti, L.; Boscolo Galazzo, F.; Thomas, E.

2015-09-01

The Forada section (northeastern Italy) provides a continuous, expanded deep-sea record of the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) in the central-western Tethys. We combine a new, high resolution, benthic foraminiferal assemblage record with published calcareous plankton, mineralogical and biomarker data to document climatic and environmental changes across the PETM, highlighting the benthic foraminiferal extinction event (BEE). The onset of the PETM, occurring ~ 30 kyr after a precursor event, is marked by a thin, black, barren clay layer, possibly representing a brief pulse of anoxia and carbonate dissolution. The BEE occurred within the 10 cm interval including this layer. During the first 3.5 kyr of the PETM several agglutinated recolonizing taxa show rapid species turnover, indicating a highly unstable, CaCO3-corrosive environment. Calcareous taxa reappeared after this interval, and the next ~ 9 kyr were characterized by rapid alternation of peaks in abundance of various calcareous and agglutinant recolonizers. These observations suggest that synergistic stressors including deep water CaCO3-corrosiveness, low oxygenation, and high environmental instability caused the extinction. Combined faunal and biomarker data (BIT index, higher plant n-alkane average chain length) and the high abundance of the mineral chlorite suggest that erosion and weathering increased strongly at the onset of the PETM, due to an overall wet climate with invigorated hydrological cycle, which led to storm flood-events carrying massive sediment discharge into the Belluno Basin. This interval was followed by the core of the PETM, characterized by four precessionally paced cycles in CaCO3%, hematite%, δ13C, abundant occurrence of opportunistic benthic foraminiferal taxa, as well as calcareous nannofossil and planktonic foraminiferal taxa typical of high productivity environments, radiolarians, and lower δDn-alkanes. We interpret these cycles as reflecting alternation between an overall arid climate, characterized by strong winds and intense upwelling, with an overall humid climate, with abundant rains and high sediment delivery (including refractory organic carbon) from land. Precessionally paced marl-limestone couplets occur throughout the recovery interval of the CIE and up to ten meters above it, suggesting that these wet-dry cycles persisted, though at declining intensity, after the peak PETM. Enhanced climate extremes at mid-latitudes might have been a direct response to the massive CO2 input in the ocean atmosphere system at the Paleocene-Eocene transition, and may have had a primary role in restoring the Earth system to steady state.

Demonstration of In Situ Treatment with Reactive Amendments for Contaminated Sediments in Active DoD Harbors

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-02-10

sedimentary deposits. The objective of the remedy was to reduce sediment-bound PCB exposure to benthic infauna to protect tribal consumption of fish and...Ecology, and USEPA 2000). Subsequent reviews identified mercury was also a contaminant of concern for tribal consumption of fish and shellfish...integrated into cores at select stations to log basic parameters including temperature , dissolved oxygen , salinity/conductivity, both inside and outside of

Temperature and Productivity Variability Along the Southwestern Portuguese Margin During the Onset of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salgueiro, E.; Voelker, A. H. L.; Abrantes, F. F. G.; Rodrigues, T.; Sierro, F. J.; Hodell, D. A.; Alberto, A.; Freitas, P. S.

2014-12-01

The Southwest Portuguese Margin sedimentary record is influenced by the Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW), with a strong thermohaline signature occurring between 500 and 1500m water depth. Variations of MOW intensity during the Late Quaternary (±750ky) are related to changes in the global climate and in the North Atlantic thermohaline circulation. To validate the sedimentary climate records on the Southwestern Portuguese Margin we performed a regional core-top multi-proxy study (Corg, CaCO3, grain size, foraminifera abundances, stable isotopes) to distinguish the MOW effects in recent sediments. The influence of this high velocity bottom current is marked in sediments by a strong increase of the sand content at both, the upper and lower, MOW boundaries. An increase of fine sediments is due to winnowing by the current, resulting in a drastic change in the accumulation rates of any sand-sized biogenic particle. For this reason, some of the traditional productivity proxies used such as Corg, planktonic and benthic foraminifera total abundances, should not be used at sites under the influence of contour currents. However, we demonstrate that the planktonic foraminifera relative abundances can be used with confidence because they are independent of the action of the MOW. Based on the planktonic foraminifera assemblages in two IODP Sites, U1387 recovered from the MOW influenced Faro Drift, and U1385 recovered at 2578m, we reconstruct the sea surface temperature (SST) and export productivity (Pexp) during the beginning of the Mid-Pleistocene Transition, Marine Isotope Stages 36 and 35. At Site U1387: i) foraminifera-derived SST was compared with biomarkers SST and foraminiferal δ18O data; ii) foraminifera-derived Pexp was compared with the Corg; and iii) the influence of the MOW on the sediments was deducted from the weight percent of the sand fraction, indicating contourite layers, and the benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C data.

The Labrador Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum: Calcite dissolution or low biogenic carbonate fluxes?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marshall, Nicole; de Vernal, Anne; Mucci, Alfonso; Filippova, Alexandra; Kienast, Markus

2017-04-01

Low concentrations of biogenic carbonate characterize the sediments deposited in the Labrador Sea during the last glaciation. This may reflect poor calcite preservation and/or low biogenic carbonate productivity and fluxes. Regional bottom water ventilation was reduced during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), so the calcite lysocline might have been shallower than at present in the deep Labrador Sea making dissolution of calcite shells in the deep Labrador Sea possible. To address the issue, a multi-proxy approach based on micropaleontological counts (coccoliths, foraminifers, palynomorphs) and biogeochemical analyses (alkenones) was applied in the investigation of core HU2008-029-004-PC recovered in the northwestern Labrador Sea. Calcite dissolution indices based on the relative abundance benthic foraminifera shells to their organic linings as well as on fragmentation of planktonic foraminifera shells were used to evaluate changes in calcite dissolution/ preservation since the LGM. In addition, the ratio of the concentrations of coccoliths, specifically of the alkenone-producer Emiliania huxleyi, and alkenones (Emiliania huxleyi: alkenones) was explored as a potential new proxy of calcite dissolution. A sharp increase in coccoliths, foraminifers and organic linings from nearly none to substantial concentrations at 12 ka, reflect a jump to significantly greater biogenic fluxes at the glacial-interglacial transition. Furthermore, conventional dissolution indices (shells/linings of benthic foraminifera and fragmentation of planktic foraminifers) reveal that dissolution is not likely responsible for the lower glacial abundances of coccoliths and foraminifers. Only the low Emiliania huxleyi: alkenones ratios in glacial sediments could be interpreted as evidence of increased dissolution during the LGM. Given the evidence of allochthonous alkenone input into the glacial Labrador Sea, the latter observations must be treated with caution. Overall, the records indicate that low biogenic fluxes during the LGM were the most likely cause of the decreased biogenic carbonate concentrations.

Multi- and hyperspectral remote sensing of tropical marine benthic habitats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mishra, Deepak R.

Tropical marine benthic habitats such as coral reef and associated environments are severely endangered because of the environmental degradation coupled with hurricanes, El Nino events, coastal pollution and runoff, tourism, and economic development. To monitor and protect this diverse environment it is important to not only develop baseline maps depicting their spatial distribution but also to document their changing conditions over time. Remote sensing offers an important means of delineating and monitoring coral reef ecosystems. Over the last twenty years the scientific community has been investigating the use and potential of remote sensing techniques to determine the conditions of the coral reefs by analyzing their spectral characteristics from space. One of the problems in monitoring coral reefs from space is the effect of the water column on the remotely sensed signal. When light penetrates water its intensity decreases exponentially with increasing depth. This process, known as water column attenuation, exerts a profound effect on remotely sensed data collected over water bodies. The approach presented in this research focuses on the development of semi-analytical models that resolves the confounding influence water column attenuation on substrate reflectance to characterize benthic habitats from high resolution remotely sensed imagery on a per-pixel basis. High spatial resolution satellite and airborne imagery were used as inputs in the models to derive water depth and water column optical properties (e.g., absorption and backscattering coefficients). These parameters were subsequently used in various bio-optical algorithms to deduce bottom albedo and then to classify the benthos, generating a detailed map of benthic habitats. IKONOS and QuickBird multispectral satellite data and AISA Eagle hyperspectral airborne data were used in this research for benthic habitat mapping along the north shore of Roatan Island, Honduras. The AISA Eagle classification was consistently more accurate (84%) including finer definition of geomorphological features than the satellite sensors. IKONOS (81%) and QuickBird (81%) sensors showed similar accuracy to AISA, however, such similarity was only reached at the coarse classification levels of 5 and 6 habitats. These results confirm the potential of an effective combination of high spectral and spatial resolution sensor, for accurate benthic habitat mapping.

Energy Efficient Real-Time Scheduling Using DPM on Mobile Sensors with a Uniform Multi-Cores

PubMed Central

Kim, Youngmin; Lee, Chan-Gun

2017-01-01

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), sensor nodes are deployed for collecting and analyzing data. These nodes use limited energy batteries for easy deployment and low cost. The use of limited energy batteries is closely related to the lifetime of the sensor nodes when using wireless sensor networks. Efficient-energy management is important to extending the lifetime of the sensor nodes. Most effort for improving power efficiency in tiny sensor nodes has focused mainly on reducing the power consumed during data transmission. However, recent emergence of sensor nodes equipped with multi-cores strongly requires attention to be given to the problem of reducing power consumption in multi-cores. In this paper, we propose an energy efficient scheduling method for sensor nodes supporting a uniform multi-cores. We extend the proposed T-Ler plane based scheduling for global optimal scheduling of a uniform multi-cores and multi-processors to enable power management using dynamic power management. In the proposed approach, processor selection for a scheduling and mapping method between the tasks and processors is proposed to efficiently utilize dynamic power management. Experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed approach compared to other existing methods. PMID:29240695

Multi-emitter laser multiplexer using a two-mirror beam shaper

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cobb, Joshua M.; Brennan, John; Bhatia, Vikram

2014-12-01

A system was designed and built to spatially multiplex four broad area laser diodes (BALD) and condense the light into a multi-mode fiber with a core diameter of 105 um and an NA of 0.15. The lasers were efficiently combined with an étendue aspect ratio scaler (EARS) optic. The EARS works under the principle of a two mirror beam shaper. We were able to successfully couple more than 87% of the optical energy into the fiber. The design of the optical system and the results of several built systems are discussed.

BENTHIC PRODUCTION AS THE BASE FOR FOOD WEBS IN ALASKAN ARCTIC LAKES

EPA Science Inventory

Plankton are traditionally viewed as the basis for limnetic food webs, with zooplankton acting as an energy gateway between phytoplanktonic primary producers and fish. Often, benthic production is considered to be important primarily to the benthos and in shallow systems, such as...

A cross-continental comparison of the effects of flow intermittence on benthic invertebrate assemblages

EPA Science Inventory

Although temporary rivers are widespread freshwater systems, they have been poorly studied by ecologists and are largely ignored in water management plans, practices and policies. If the effects of dry events on benthic invertebrates have been reported individually from different...

Magnetic signatures of Heinrich-like detrital layers in the Quaternary of the North Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Channell, J. E. T.; Hodell, D. A.

2013-05-01

Magnetic parameters are useful for distinguishing North Atlantic Heinrich-like detrital layers from background sediments. Here we compare magnetic properties with XRF scanning data back to 700 ka and 1.3 Ma at IODP Sites U1302-U1303 and U1308, respectively. Multi-domain magnetite, with grain sizes >20 µm, is characteristic of both Ca- and Si-rich detrital layers, as defined by XRF core scanning, confirming the contribution of ice rafting. Reflectance spectra and magnetic parameters distinguish Ca- and Si-rich IRD layers due the presence of high coercivity hematite in Si-rich layers. Heinrich layer 6 (H6) at Site U1302-U1303 is unlike other detrital layers, being marked by a 45-cm thick homogeneous cream-colored clay layer underlain by a thin (5-cm) graded coarse-sand. Comparison of Site U1302/03 and Site U1308 detrital layers implies a dominant Laurentide source for both Ca- and Si-rich detrital layers. At Site U1308, low benthic δ13C values during stadials are in-step with magnetic grain-size coarsening associated with Si-rich detrital layers back to 1.3 Ma, indicating a link between deep-sea ventilation and ice rafting. The surface-sediment tan-colored oxic layer (~2 m thick at Site U1308) yields magnetic hysteresis ratios that are offset from the single-domain to multi-domain (SD-MD) magnetite mixing-line in hysteresis-ratio diagrams. This offset is attributed to maghemite grain-coatings, that form on magnetite in surface sediment, and undergo dissolution as they pass through the oxic/anoxic boundary.

Introduction: Special issue on advances in topobathymetric mapping, models, and applications

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gesch, Dean B.; Brock, John C.; Parrish, Christopher E.; Rogers, Jeffrey N.; Wright, C. Wayne

2016-01-01

Detailed knowledge of near-shore topography and bathymetry is required for many geospatial data applications in the coastal environment. New data sources and processing methods are facilitating development of seamless, regional-scale topobathymetric digital elevation models. These elevation models integrate disparate multi-sensor, multi-temporal topographic and bathymetric datasets to provide a coherent base layer for coastal science applications such as wetlands mapping and monitoring, sea-level rise assessment, benthic habitat mapping, erosion monitoring, and storm impact assessment. The focus of this special issue is on recent advances in the source data, data processing and integration methods, and applications of topobathymetric datasets.

Industry Application ECCS / LOCA Integrated Cladding/Emergency Core Cooling System Performance: Demonstration of LOTUS-Baseline Coupled Analysis of the South Texas Plant Model

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhang, Hongbin; Szilard, Ronaldo; Epiney, Aaron

Under the auspices of the DOE LWRS Program RISMC Industry Application ECCS/LOCA, INL has engaged staff from both South Texas Project (STP) and the Texas A&M University (TAMU) to produce a generic pressurized water reactor (PWR) model including reactor core, clad/fuel design and systems thermal hydraulics based on the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear power plant, a 4-Loop Westinghouse PWR. A RISMC toolkit, named LOCA Toolkit for the U.S. (LOTUS), has been developed for use in this generic PWR plant model to assess safety margins for the proposed NRC 10 CFR 50.46c rule, Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) performance duringmore » LOCA. This demonstration includes coupled analysis of core design, fuel design, thermalhydraulics and systems analysis, using advanced risk analysis tools and methods to investigate a wide range of results. Within this context, a multi-physics best estimate plus uncertainty (MPBEPU) methodology framework is proposed.« less

Climate fluctuations during the Holocene in NW Iberia: high and low latitude linkages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pena, L. D.; Francés, G.; Diz, P.; Nombela, M. A.; Alejo, I.

2007-12-01

High resolution benthic foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotopes (δ18O, δ13C) from core EUGC-3B are used here to infer rapid climatic changes for the last 8500 yr in the Ría de Muros (NW Iberian Margin). Benthic foraminiferal δ18O and δ13C potentially register migrations in the position of the hydrographic front formed between two different intermediate water masses: Eastern North Atlantic Central Water of subpolar origin (ENACWsp), and subtropical origin (ENACWsp). The isotopic records have been compared with two well established North Atlantic marine Holocene paleoceanographic records from low (Sea Surface Temperatures anomalies off Cape Blanc, NW Africa) and high latitudes (Hematite Stained Grains percentage, subpolar North Atlantic). This comparison clearly demonstrates that there is a strong link between high- and low-latitude climatic perturbations at centennial-millennial time scales during the Holocene. Spectral analyses also points at a pole-to-equator propagation of the so-called 1500 yr cycles. Our results demonstrate that during the Holocene, the NW Iberian Margin has undergone a series of cold episodes which are likely triggered at high latitudes in the North Atlantic and are rapidly propagated towards lower latitudes. Conceivably, the propagation of these rapid climatic changes involves a shift of atmospheric and oceanic circulatory systems and so a migration of the hydrographical fronts and water masses all along the North Atlantic area.

Carbonaceous aerosol tracers in ice-cores record multi-decadal climate oscillations

PubMed Central

Seki, Osamu; Kawamura, Kimitaka; Bendle, James A. P.; Izawa, Yusuke; Suzuki, Ikuko; Shiraiwa, Takayuki; Fujii, Yoshiyuki

2015-01-01

Carbonaceous aerosols influence the climate via direct and indirect effects on radiative balance. However, the factors controlling the emissions, transport and role of carbonaceous aerosols in the climate system are highly uncertain. Here we investigate organic tracers in ice cores from Greenland and Kamchatka and find that, throughout the period covered by the records (1550 to 2000 CE), the concentrations and composition of biomass burning-, soil bacterial- and plant wax- tracers correspond to Arctic and regional temperatures as well as the warm season Arctic Oscillation (AO) over multi-decadal time-scales. Specifically, order of magnitude decreases (increases) in abundances of ice-core organic tracers, likely representing significant decreases (increases) in the atmospheric loading of carbonaceous aerosols, occur during colder (warmer) phases in the high latitudinal Northern Hemisphere. This raises questions about causality and possible carbonaceous aerosol feedback mechanisms. Our work opens new avenues for ice core research. Translating concentrations of organic tracers (μg/kg-ice or TOC) from ice-cores, into estimates of the atmospheric loading of carbonaceous aerosols (μg/m3) combined with new model constraints on the strength and sign of climate forcing by carbonaceous aerosols should be a priority for future research. PMID:26411576

Living (Rose-Bengal-Stained) benthic foraminifera along the Kveithola Trough (NW Barents Sea), environmental implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sabbatini, Anna; Morigi, Caterina; Lucchi, Renata G.; de Vittor, Cinzia; Bazzano, Matteo

2017-04-01

The distribution and composition of benthic foraminiferal fauna in the Kveithola Trough (NW Barents Sea) were studied in three depositional settings identified on the basis of surface depositional structures, sediment types and present ecosystem characteristics. Sediment samples were collected during the CORIBAR cruise (Hanebuth et al., 2013) aimed at drilling glacigenic sediments in a palaeo-ice stream depositional system in the western Barents Sea. In particular, we report the quantitative data of the living benthic foraminiferal density, biodiversity and vertical distribution in three box-core sediment samples (0-10 cm) collected in two inner trough sites, the drift area and the channel/fault area and one outer shelf site. Rose-Bengal-stained foraminiferal assemblages were investigated from two different size fractions (63-150 and >150 micrometres). In the drift area, the living benthic foraminiferal assemblage is characterized by the presence of oxygen-depleted environmental taxa with low foraminiferal density and biodiversity. This area appears a stagnant environment, strongly affected by low-oxygen, stressed environmental conditions in which foraminifera developed a life strategy aimed to increase the efficiency of food utilization and maximum resistance to ecological stress. As a further support to this interpretation, all the sediments recovered in the drift area are rich in organic matter and in Siboglinid-like tubes together with pockmark evidences on the surface of the box-corer. The sedimentation in the channel/fault area is very similar to that described for the drift area, evidencing stressed environmental conditions. Opportunistic species dominate the benthic foraminiferal fauna. The species distribution of the internal trough sites is consistent with the lithology and with data of quantity and biochemical composition (in terms of phytopigment, protein, lipid, carbohydrate and biopolymeric carbon) of the organic matter. Values of biopolymeric carbon are typical of eutrophic setting and the presence of tolerant low oxygen condition species as Nonionellina labradorica, Nonionella iridea and Fursenkoina fusiformis suggests that the sediment is dysoxic. In the inner part of the trough, the presence of Leptohalysis scottii and the decreasing of N. labradorica could indicate the presence of organic carbon input with higher nutritional quality, probably due to the shallower depth of the station (151 m water depth). The site corresponding to the outer shelf is characterized by the presence of diverse and abundant benthic foraminiferal assemblage suggesting a high oxygenated and mesotrophic environment. The sedimentological evidences characterized by clean sand with large-scale ripple-like features suggest the presence of moderately strong, and persistent bottom currents. We notice in all sites the presence of delicate monothalamous taxa (organic-walled allogromiids, agglutinated saccamminids, psammosphaerids and tubular forms). Therefore, preliminary faunal and sedimentological data allow to describe sediments of the Kveithola Drift, deposited under persistent dense bottom currents, appears today as a stagnant environment strongly affected by low-oxygen concentration, possibly chemosynthetic conditions with likely ongoing gas seep activity from pockmarks.

Progress Towards a Rad-Hydro Code for Modern Computing Architectures LA-UR-10-02825

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wohlbier, J. G.; Lowrie, R. B.; Bergen, B.; Calef, M.

2010-11-01

We are entering an era of high performance computing where data movement is the overwhelming bottleneck to scalable performance, as opposed to the speed of floating-point operations per processor. All multi-core hardware paradigms, whether heterogeneous or homogeneous, be it the Cell processor, GPGPU, or multi-core x86, share this common trait. In multi-physics applications such as inertial confinement fusion or astrophysics, one may be solving multi-material hydrodynamics with tabular equation of state data lookups, radiation transport, nuclear reactions, and charged particle transport in a single time cycle. The algorithms are intensely data dependent, e.g., EOS, opacity, nuclear data, and multi-core hardware memory restrictions are forcing code developers to rethink code and algorithm design. For the past two years LANL has been funding a small effort referred to as Multi-Physics on Multi-Core to explore ideas for code design as pertaining to inertial confinement fusion and astrophysics applications. The near term goals of this project are to have a multi-material radiation hydrodynamics capability, with tabular equation of state lookups, on cartesian and curvilinear block structured meshes. In the longer term we plan to add fully implicit multi-group radiation diffusion and material heat conduction, and block structured AMR. We will report on our progress to date.

No evidence for a deglacial intermediate water Δ14C anomaly in the SW Atlantic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sortor, R. N.; Lund, D. C.

2010-12-01

Reconstructions of Δ14C from the eastern tropical Pacific show that severe depletions in 14C occurred at intermediate depths during the last deglaciation (Marchitto et al. 2007; Stott et al. 2009). Marchitto et al. (2007) suggested that old radiocarbon from an isolated abyssal reservoir was injected via the Southern Ocean, and that this anomaly was then carried by Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) to the tropical Pacific. However, a core from the southeastern Pacific Ocean near Chile, which is in the direct path of modern-day AAIW, does not exhibit the excursion and therefore casts doubts upon the AAIW mechanism (De Pol-Holz et al. 2010). Here we evaluate whether or not a deglacial 14C anomaly similar to that in the eastern tropical Pacific occurred at intermediate depths in the South Atlantic. We reconstructed Δ14C using planktonic and benthic foraminifera from core KNR159-5-36GGC on the Brazil Margin (27○31’S and 46○28’W, 1268 m depth). In the modern ocean, the hydrography near this core site is heavily influenced by AAIW (Oppo & Horowitz, 2000). Benthic Δ14C values were determined using raw benthic 14C ages and calendar-calibrated planktonic ages. The deglacial benthic Δ14C trend at this site is similar to the atmospheric Δ14C trend, and is consistent with U/Th-dated corals from intermediate depths on the Brazil Margin (Mangini et al. 2010). The amplitude and timing of Δ14C changes in the foraminiferal and coral records are especially congruous during the Mystery Interval. We find no evidence in the southwestern Atlantic of a ~300‰ decrease in intermediate water Δ14C beginning at 18 kyr BP. Changes in reservoir age of ~1000 years are required to create a Baja-like Δ14C anomaly off Brazil, an implausible increase for a subtropical gyre location. Furthermore, the resulting sedimentation rates would be up to ~145 cm/kyr during the deglaciation, an order of magnitude higher than the average sedimentation rate for 36GGC. When our results are paired with those from the South Pacific, it appears AAIW was not the vehicle that carried the 14C anomaly to lower latitudes, and therefore other hypotheses to explain the eastern tropical Pacific data are required. References Marchitto, T., Lehman, S., Ortiz, J., Fluckiger, J. & van Geen, A. Marine radiocarbon evidence for the mechanism of deglacial atmospheric CO2 rise. Science 316, 1456-1459 (2007). Stott, L., Southon, J., Timmermann, A. & Koutavas, A. Radiocarbon age anomaly at intermediate depth in the Pacific Ocean during the last deglaciation. Paleoceanography 24, PA2223 (2009). Pol-Holz, R.D., Keigwin, L., Southon, J., Hebbeln, D. & Mohtadi, M. No signature of abyssal carbon in intermediate waters off Chile during deglaciation. Nature Geosci. 3, 192-195 (2010). Oppo, D.W. & Horowitz, M. Glacial deep water geometry: South Atlantic benthic foraminiferal Cd/Ca and delta C-13 evidence. Paleoceanography 15, 147-160 (2000). Mangini, A., Godoy, J.M., Godoy, M.L., Kowsmann, R., Santos, G.M., Ruckelshausen, M., Schroeder-Ritzrau, A. & Wacker, L. Deep Sea corals off Brazil verify a poorly ventilated Southern Pacific Ocean during H2, H1 and the Younger Dryas. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 293, 269-276 (2010).

Visible CWDM system design for Multi-Gbit/s transmission over SI-POF

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vázquez, Carmen; Pinzón, Plinio Jesús; Pérez, Isabel

2015-01-01

In order to increase the data rates of Multi-Gbit/s links based on large core step index (SI) plastic optical fibers (POF), different modulation scenes have been proposed. Another option is to use multiple optical carriers for parallel transmission of communication channels over the same fiber. Some designs to reach data rates of 14.77 Gb/s in 50 m, with 4 channels have been developed by off line processing. In this work, designs to test the potential of real Multi- Gbit/s transmission systems using commercial products are reported. Special care in designing low insertion loss multiplexers and demultiplexers is carried out to allow for greener solutions in terms of power consumption.

Benthic foraminifera record and geochemical studies to reconstruct the recent (~400 ya) paleoenvironment of Tomales Bay, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Flores, S. C.; Hill, T. M.; Russell, A. D.; Brooks, G.

2010-12-01

We are conducting investigations of calcareous benthic foraminifera acquired from Tomales Bay, California to reconstruct geochemical conditions of the bay for the past ~400 years, a time period of both natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Tomales Bay, located ~50km northwest of San Francisco, is a long (20.4 km), narrow (0.7 - 1.7 km) and shallow (2.0 - 6.0 m) bay that exhibits long-residence times and is stratified in the summer due to seasonal hypersalinity. Tomales Bay is a unique environment for climate and environmental change research because of the wide documented variability in carbonate parameters (pH, alkalinity, DIC) due to freshwater input from terrestrial sources that decreases aragonite and calcite saturation states. The historical record provided by benthic foraminiferal species and geochemistry, sedimentary carbon (TOC and TIC) analyses, and investigations of recent (Rose-Bengal stained) foraminifera are being utilized to constrain 3 major processes: 1) the range of temperature and salinity shifts over the past 400 years, 2) the relative dominance of marine- vs. fresh-water sources to the bay, and 3) the extent to which freshwater input and runoff may influence water chemistry (saturation state, Ω) with impacts on foraminiferal calcification. Four sediment cores were acquired in 2009 and 2010, and subsequently age-dated utilizing radiocarbon analyses (seven samples). Results indicate an increase in preservation of agglutinated versus calcareous foraminiferal tests (shells) since the mid-1900’s, and greater abundances of agglutinated tests found near freshwater sources. The major calcareous foraminifera present in the record include Elphidium hannai, Elphidium excavatum, Ammonia tepida, and Buccella frigida. Results from oxygen and carbon stable isotope analyses as well as total organic carbon (by weight) for all the cores will also be presented. These results will be compared to modern observations and instrumental records of temperature, salinity and pH variability to understand the context of historical changes compared to modern shifts due to human influence.

Biozone Characterization of Foraminifera in Upper Pleistocene through Recent Shelf and Slope Sediments, Northern Gulf of Alaska: Integration of SHE-diversity and Polytopic Vector Analyses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zellers, S.; Cowan, E. A.; Davies, M. H.

2014-12-01

Gulf of Alaska sediments contain distinct, low-diversity assemblages of benthic and planktic foraminifera, whose distribution is a function of food availability, water mass properties, ice proximity, transport/deposition, predation, and taphonomic processes. Spatial and temporal changes in diversity reflect these processes and provide insight into this margin's history. Two quantitative techniques are integrated to define and characterize benthic foraminferal biozones in Gulf of Alaska sediment core samples collected by the R/V Maurice Ewing in 2004 at shelf site EW0408-79JC (59.53° N, 141.76° W, 158 m depth), and slope site EW0408-85JC (59.56° N, 144.15° W, 682 m depth). Sediments date from the end of the most recent glaciation (diamict in 85JC) to the present (bioturbated, silty clay at both sites). We apply SHE analysis, a graphical, iterative technique, based on diversity trends in a plot of ln E vs. ln N, where E is species evenness and N is cumulative number of specimens. In each step, the plot is examined for the first change in slope between successive samples, representing a change in diversity. At this point a boundary is defined, samples before the break are removed, and the analysis is repeated until all samples are analyzed. Data are further analyzed using an unmixing algorithm known as polytopic vector analyses. This technique defines a small number of orthogonal end members that explain a majority of the variance, thus reducing data complexity and aiding interpretation. SHE-analysis of benthic foraminiferal data defines eighteen informal abundance biozones. Polytopic vector analyses indicate that the faunal assemblages reflect mixtures of up to seven distinct biofacies: outer neritic (2), upper bathyal (2), reduced oxygen (2), and inner neritic. Rapid changes in faunal diversity correspond with increased sedimentation rates, especially during the end of the most recent glaciation (17 to 16 ka). The same relationship occurs over the last 1000 years at the shelf site. Where the cores overlap in age, many more assemblage boundaries occur in the shelf core, suggesting a comparatively dynamic environment relative to the slope. The least amount of diversity change corresponds with the laminated intervals in 85JC, coincident with high productivity and development of anoxia during regional deglaciation.

Geological Characteristics of Active Methane Expulsion In Accretionary Prism Kaoping Slope Off SW Taiwan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, C.; Chien, C.; Yang, T. F.; Lin, S.

2005-12-01

The Kaoping Slope off SW Taiwan represents the syn-collision accretionary prism characterized by active NW-trending folding - thrusting structures and high sedimentation rate favoring the formation of gas hydrate. For an assessment of gas hydrate potential in the Kaoping Slope off SW Taiwan, sedimentology, paleontology and geochemistry in box cores and piston cores were studied. BSRs are commonly found in seismic profiles in 400-600 m below seafloor of water depth 2500-1000 m. Active expulsions of methane were found along active thrust faults where sulfate/methane interface could be as shallow as 30 cm and the methane concentration of dissolved gases in bottom water and in pore-space of drilled core samples could be three-four order higher than the normal marine environments. Occurrences of authigenic carbonate and elongated pyrite tubes are correlated with shallow SMI depth and high methane content in bottom water and pore-space of sediment cores. Authigenic carbonates were found in seafloor surface and in 20-25 meters below seafloor. The authigenic carbonate nodules are characterized by irregular shape, whitish color, no visible microfossil, containing native sulfur, pyrites, gypsum, small open spaces, and very depleted carbon isotope (-54 ~ -43 per mil PDB). Tiny native sulfur and gypsum crystals were commonly found either on surface of foraminiferal tests and elongated pyrite tubes or in the authigenic carbonate nodules. Morphological measurements of elongated pyrite tubes show that they could represent pseudomorphs after three types of Pogonophora tube worm. Foraminifers are commonly filled by rhomboidal pyrites or cemented by pyrite crystals. Normal marine benthic foraminifers predominated by calcareous tests of slope fauna are associated with authigenic carbonate nodules in the study area, suggesting no major geochemistry effect on distribution of benthic foraminifers. Integrating sedimentology, paleontology and geochemistry characters, there could be high potential to have gas hydrate in the accretionary prism off SW Taiwan.

Living (Rose-Bengal-stained) benthic foraminiferal faunas along a strong bottom-water oxygen gradient on the Indian margin (Arabian Sea)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caulle, C.; Mojtahid, M.; Gooday, A. J.; Jorissen, F. J.; Kitazato, H.

2015-08-01

Rose-Bengal-stained foraminiferal assemblages (> 150 μm) were analysed along a five-station bathymetric transect across the core and the lower part of the oxygen minimum zone (OMZ) on the Indian margin of the Arabian Sea. Sediment cores were collected using the manned submersible Shinkai 6500 during the RV Yokosuka cruise YK08-11 in the post-monsoon season (October 2008) at water depths ranging from 535 to 2000 m, along a gradient from almost anoxic to well-oxygenated (0.3 to 108 μM) bottom waters. Stained benthic foraminifera were investigated from two different size fractions (150-300 μm and > 300 μm). Stained foraminiferal densities were very high in the core of the OMZ (at 535 and 649 m) and decreased at deeper sites. The faunas (> 150 μm) were dominated (40-80 %) by non-calcareous taxa at all stations. These were mainly species of Reophax and Lagenammina but also included delicate monothalamous taxa (organic-walled "allogromiids", agglutinated saccamminids, psammosphaerids and tubular forms). These new data from the Indian margin are compared to previous studies from the Murray Ridge, the Pakistan margin and the Oman margin. The fact that similar species were found at sites with comparable bottom-water oxygen concentrations but with very different surface water productivity suggests that, within the strongly developed Arabian Sea OMZ, bottom-water oxygen concentration, and not the organic flux to the sea floor, is the main factor controlling the species composition of the foraminiferal communities. Several foraminiferal species (e.g. Praeglobobulimina sp. 1, Ammodiscus sp. 1, Bolivina aff. dilatata) were confined to the core of the OMZ. These species are presently known only from the Arabian Sea. Because of their association with extremely low oxygen concentrations, these species may be good markers for very low oxygen concentrations, and could be used to reconstruct past OMZ variability in the Arabian Sea.

Palaeobathymetric Interpretations using Foraminiferal Data from the North-west Continental Shelf off Western Australia, IODP Expedition 356

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mamo, B. L.; Renema, W.; Auer, G.; Groeneveld, J.; Gallagher, S. J.; Fulthorpe, C.; Bogus, K.; Expedition 356 Scientists, I.

2016-12-01

In 2015, Integrated Ocean Discovery Program Expedition 356 drilled along the passive margin off the West Australian coast to investigate the history of the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF) and its integral role in the development of global thermohaline circulation and climate. Throughout the expedition, a suite of foraminiferal analyses were employed to assess stratigraphy and benthic environments. Planktic foraminifera were primarily used for biostratigraphy and an incredibly diverse benthic fauna ( 260 species) yielded information regarding palaeobathymetric settings and variable conditions at the sediment-water interface. Benthic foraminiferal biofacies are particularly sensitive to changes in environmental conditions and have rapid turnover making them ideal proxies for monitoring physical and chemical changes in marine environments. When these data are combined with a multi-proxy approach incorporating lithostratigraphic and other microfossil data, a robust understanding of past environments can be realised. Stretching from the Northern Carnarvon Basin north to the Roebuck Basin, several distinct biofacies were isolated at sites U1461-U1464 that reveal an array of marine settings and events that span from the Miocene through to the Pleistocene. These features include water depths ranging from Miocene shallows (including larger benthic foraminifera) to Pliocene bathyal depths ( 1000 m), the occurrence of key indicator species for both the Leeuwin Current and the West Pacific Warm Pool (Asterorotalia and Pseudorotalia), and episodes of downslope sediment transport. Here we present the main isolated biofacies, their associated lithofacies and their implications for reconstructing fluctuating sea-level, thermohaline circulation and sediment transport in a changing marine landscape.

2 × 2 MIMO OFDM/OQAM radio signals over an elliptical core few-mode fiber.

PubMed

Mo, Qi; He, Jiale; Yu, Dawei; Deng, Lei; Fu, Songnian; Tang, Ming; Liu, Deming

2016-10-01

We experimentally demonstrate a 4.46  Gb/s2×2 multi-input multi-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)/OQAM radio signal over a 2 km elliptical core 3-mode fiber, together with 0.4 m wireless transmission. Meanwhile, to cope with differential channel delay (DCD) among involved MIMO channels, we propose a time-offset crosstalk cancellation algorithm to extend the DCD tolerance from 10 to 60 ns without using a circle prefix (CP), leading to an 18.7% improvement of spectral efficiency. For the purpose of comparison, we also examine the transmission performance of CP-OFDM signals with different lengths of CPs, under the same system configuration. The proposed algorithm is also effective for the DCD compensation of a radio signal over a 2 km 7-core fiber. These results not only demonstrate the feasibility of space division multiplexing for RoF application but also validate that the elliptical core few-mode fiber can provide the same independent channels as the multicore fiber.

Developing Age Models to Utilize High Arctic Coastal Sediments for Paleoclimate Research: Results from the Colville Delta and Simpson Lagoon, Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, A. J.; Allison, M. A.; Bianchi, T. S.; Marcantonio, F.

2012-12-01

Sediment cores collected from Simpson Lagoon on the inner Beaufort Sea shelf adjacent to the Colville River delta, AK are being utilized to develop new, high-resolution (sub-decadal scale) archives of the 0-3,000 year Arctic paleoclimate record necessary to assess natural and anthropogenic climate variability. An imperative first step for developing a new paleoclimate archive is to establish methodologies for constraining the age-depth relationship. Naturally occurring and bomb-produced radioisotopes have been utilized in sediments to constrain downcore variability of accumulation rates on 100-103 y timescales, but this methodology is complicated by low activities of many of these tracers at high latitudes. The present study utilizes the combination of a (1) multi-tracer approach and a (2) tailored measurement strategy to overcome this limitation. 210Pb and 137Cs analyses were conducted on the fine (<32μm) sediment fraction to maximize measurable activity and to minimize radioisotope activity variability resulting from changes in grain size: 137Cs geochronologies proved more reliable in this setting and revealed mm/y sediment accumulation in the lagoon. To corroborate the 137Cs results, 239,240Pu activities were analyzed for selected sites using ICP-MS which has ultra-low detection limits, and yielded accumulation rates that matched the Cs geochronology. Age model development for the remainder of the core lengths (>~100 y in age) were completed using radiocarbon dating of benthic foraminifera tests, which proved the only datable in situ carbon available in this sediment archive. These dates have been used to constrain the ages of acoustic reflectors in CHIRP subbottom seismic records collected from the lagoon. Using this age control, spatial patterns of lagoonal sediment accumulation over the last ~3 ky were derived from the CHIRP data. Two depocenters are identified and validate combining age-dated coring with high-resolution seismic profiling to identify areas of the highest temporal resolution for Arctic paleoclimate research in coastal sediments.

Matrix theory for baryons: an overview of holographic QCD for nuclear physics.

PubMed

Aoki, Sinya; Hashimoto, Koji; Iizuka, Norihiro

2013-10-01

We provide, for non-experts, a brief overview of holographic QCD (quantum chromodynamics) and a review of the recent proposal (Hashimoto et al 2010 (arXiv:1003.4988[hep-th])) of a matrix-like description of multi-baryon systems in holographic QCD. Based on the matrix model, we derive the baryon interaction at short distances in multi-flavor holographic QCD. We show that there is a very universal repulsive core of inter-baryon forces for a generic number of flavors. This is consistent with a recent lattice QCD analysis for Nf = 2, 3 where the repulsive core looks universal. We also provide a comparison of our results with the lattice QCD and the operator product expansion analysis.

Eastern South Pacific water mass geometry during the last glacial-interglacial transition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

De Pol-Holz, R.; Reyes, D.; Mohtadi, M.

2012-12-01

The eastern South Pacific is characterized today by a complex thermocline structure where large salinity and oxygen changes as a function of depth coexist. Surface waters from tropical origin float on top of subantarctic fresher water (the so-called 'shallow salinity minimum of the eastern south Pacific'), which in turn, flow above aged equatorial and deeper recently ventilated Antarctic Intermediate waters. Little is known however about the water mass geometry changes that could have occurred during the last glacial maximum boundary conditions (about 20,000 years before the present), despite this information being critical for the assessment of potential mechanisms that have been proposed as explanations for the deglacial onset of low oxygen conditions in the area and the atmospheric CO2 increase during the same time. Here we present benthic and planktonic foraminifera stable isotope and radiocarbon data from a set of sediment cores from the Chilean continental margin covering a large -yet still limited- geographical area and depth range. Sedimentations rates were relatively high (>10 cm/kyr) precluding major caveats from bioturbation in all of our archives. The distribution of δ13C of ΣCO2 shows the presence of a very depleted (δ13C < -1‰ V-PDB) water mass overlaying more recently ventilated waters at intermediate depths as indicated by thermocline foraminifer dwellers being more depleted in 13C than the benthic species. The origin of this depleted end-member is probably upwelling from the Southern Ocean as expressed by the radiocarbon content and the large reservoir effect associated with the last glacial maximum and the beginning of the deglaciation along the margin. Our data suggest that the Tropical waters that today bath the lower latitude cores was displaced by surface waters of southern origin and therefore in line with the evidence of a latitudinal shift of the frontal systems.

Associations between degraded benthic communities and contaminated sediments: Sabine Lake, Lake Pontchartrain, and Choctawhatchee Bay

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Engle, V.D.; Summers, J.K.; Macauley, J.M.

1994-12-31

The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program for Estuaries (EMAP-E) in the Gulf of Mexico supplements its base sampling effort each year with localized, intensive spatial sampling in selected large estuarine systems. By selecting random locations within 70 km{sup 2} hexagonal areas, individual estuaries were sampled using EMAP methods but at four times the density as base sampling. In 1992, 19 sites were sampled in Lake Pontchartrain, Louisiana. In 1 993, 18 sites were sampled in Sabine Lake, Texas and 12 sites were sampled in Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida. At all sites, sediment grabs were taken and analyzed for benthic species compositionmore » and abundance, for toxicity to Ampelisca, and for organic and inorganic sediment contaminants. An indicator of biotic integrity, the benthic index, was calculated to represent the status of benthic communities. A series of statistical techniques, such as stepwise regression analysis, were employed to determine whether the variation in the benthic index could be associated with variation in sediment contaminants, sediment toxicity, or levels of dissolved oxygen. Spatial distributions of these parameters were examined to determine the geographical co-occurrence of degraded benthic communities and environmental stressors. In Lake Pontchartrain, for example, 85% of the variation in the benthic index was associated with decreased levels of dissolved oxygen, and increased concentrations of PCBs, alkanes, copper, tin, and zinc in the sediments.« less

Ocean acidification in the coastal zone from an organism's perspective: multiple system parameters, frequency domains, and habitats.

PubMed

Waldbusser, George G; Salisbury, Joseph E

2014-01-01

Multiple natural and anthropogenic processes alter the carbonate chemistry of the coastal zone in ways that either exacerbate or mitigate ocean acidification effects. Freshwater inputs and multiple acid-base reactions change carbonate chemistry conditions, sometimes synergistically. The shallow nature of these systems results in strong benthic-pelagic coupling, and marine invertebrates at different life history stages rely on both benthic and pelagic habitats. Carbonate chemistry in coastal systems can be highly variable, responding to processes with temporal modes ranging from seconds to centuries. Identifying scales of variability relevant to levels of biological organization requires a fuller characterization of both the frequency and magnitude domains of processes contributing to or reducing acidification in pelagic and benthic habitats. We review the processes that contribute to coastal acidification with attention to timescales of variability and habitats relevant to marine bivalves.

A database of paleoceanographic sediment cores from the North Pacific, 1951-2016

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Borreggine, Marisa; Myhre, Sarah E.; Mislan, K. Allison S.; Deutsch, Curtis; Davis, Catherine V.

2017-09-01

We assessed sediment coring, data acquisition, and publications from the North Pacific (north of 30° N) from 1951 to 2016. There are 2134 sediment cores collected by American, French, Japanese, Russian, and international research vessels across the North Pacific (including the Pacific subarctic gyre, Alaskan gyre, Japan margin, and California margin; 1391 cores), the Sea of Okhotsk (271 cores), the Bering Sea (123 cores), and the Sea of Japan (349 cores) reported here. All existing metadata associated with these sediment cores are documented here, including coring date, location, core number, cruise number, water depth, vessel metadata, and coring technology. North Pacific sediment core age models are built with isotope stratigraphy, radiocarbon dating, magnetostratigraphy, biostratigraphy, tephrochronology, % opal, color, and lithological proxies. Here, we evaluate the iterative generation of each published age model and provide comprehensive documentation of the dating techniques used, along with sedimentation rates and age ranges. We categorized cores according to the availability of a variety of proxy evidence, including biological (e.g., benthic and planktonic foraminifera assemblages), geochemical (e.g., major trace element concentrations), isotopic (e.g., bulk sediment nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon isotopes), and stratigraphic (e.g., preserved laminations) proxies. This database is a unique resource to the paleoceanographic and paleoclimate communities and provides cohesive accessibility to sedimentary sequences, age model development, and proxies. The data set is publicly available through PANGAEA at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.875998.

Benthic foraminifera response to Holocene environmental changes in the ria de Muros (NW Spain)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diz, P.; Francés, G.; Pena, L. D.; Nombela, M. A.; Alejo, I.

2003-04-01

Benthic foraminifera assemblages from the outer sector of the ría de Muros have been analyzed in order to obtain a detailed reconstruction of Holocene environmental evolution. The studied core (EUGC-3B: 42' 45.10'N; 9' 02.23'W, at 38 m.b.s.l. and 410 cm length) consists of muddy sand from the core bottom (8200 cal yr BP) to 200 cm (2700 cal yr BP) and mainly mud from 200 cm to the core top. Measurements of geochemical properties carried out by a XRF core scanner revealed different signatures in the two aforementioned intervals and an enhancing terrigenous influence during the last 2000 yr. The prevalence of Bulimina spp., Nonion fabum, Ammonia beccarii and Cibicides ungerianus along the whole core indicates high organic carbon concentration and/or low oxygenation levels into the sediment. Nevertheless, the percentage of these species shows noticeable changes, indicating the existence of five periods with different environmental conditions. The basal assemblage (8200-7500 cal yr BP) is dominated by epifaunal taxa and it can be interpreted as a low sea level assemblage. An increase of fresh water influence during the Holocene Climate Optimum (7500-5000 cal yr BP) is revealed by maxima percentages of A. beccarii. The oceanic influence increased during the Subboreal period (5000-2750 cal yr BP) leading to an active water interchange between the ría and the open ocean and a higher marine productivity. The oceanic influence is recorded by the increase of typical marine species as Elphidium advenum, Bulimina spp., N. fabum, and Nonionella turgida. The appearance of Rectuvigerina phlegeri at 4000 cal yr BP denotes full marine conditions. Environmental conditions similar to the current ones were achieved during the Subatlantic period (2750-Rec). In a first step an assemblage dominated by Bulimina spp. N. fabum, and C. ungerianus permit us to interpret a relatively stable period with episodic pulses of fluvial influence. Afterwards the appearance and the rapid increase of E. scabrus show the onset of the present seasonal upwelling regime governing the region. Acknowledgements to EU HOLSMEER Project (EVK2-CT-2000-00060) and Paleostudies Program. Contribution 270 of EX-1.

"Photonic lantern" spectral filters in multi-core Fiber.

PubMed

Birks, T A; Mangan, B J; Díez, A; Cruz, J L; Murphy, D F

2012-06-18

Fiber Bragg gratings are written across all 120 single-mode cores of a multi-core optical Fiber. The Fiber is interfaced to multimode ports by tapering it within a depressed-index glass jacket. The result is a compact multimode "photonic lantern" filter with astrophotonic applications. The tapered structure is also an effective mode scrambler.

Deep circulation changes in the South Atlantic since the Last Glacial Maximum from Nd isotope and multi-proxy records

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, R.; Abouchami, W.; Zahn, R.; Masque, P.

2016-01-01

We report down-core sedimentary Nd isotope (εNd) records from two South Atlantic sediment cores, MD02-2594 and GeoB3603-2, located on the western South African continental margin. The core sites are positioned downstream of the present-day flow path of North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) and close to the Southern Ocean, which makes them suitable for reconstructing past variability in NADW circulation over the last glacial cycle. The Fe-Mn leachates εNd records show a coherent decreasing trend from glacial radiogenic values towards less radiogenic values during the Holocene. This trend is confirmed by εNd in fish debris and mixed planktonic foraminifera, albeit with an offset during the Holocene to lower values relative to the leachates, matching the present-day composition of NADW in the Cape Basin. We interpret the εNd changes as reflecting the glacial shoaling of Southern Ocean waters to shallower depths combined with the admixing of southward flowing Northern Component Water (NCW). A compilation of Atlantic εNd records reveals increasing radiogenic isotope signatures towards the south and with increasing depth. This signal is most prominent during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) and of similar amplitude across the Atlantic basin, suggesting continuous deep water production in the North Atlantic and export to the South Atlantic and the Southern Ocean. The amplitude of the εNd change from the LGM to Holocene is largest in the southernmost cores, implying a greater sensitivity to the deglacial strengthening of NADW at these sites. This signal impacted most prominently the South Atlantic deep and bottom water layers that were particularly deprived of NCW during the LGM. The εNd variations correlate with changes in 231Pa/230Th ratios and benthic δ13C across the deglacial transition. Together with the contrasting 231Pa/230Th: εNd pattern of the North and South Atlantic, this indicates a progressive reorganization of the AMOC to full strength during the Holocene.

Late Quaternary Paleoclimatic History of Tropical South America From Drilling Lake Titicaca and the Salar de Uyuni

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, P. A.; Fritz, S. C.; Seltzer, G. O.; Rigsby, C. A.; Lowenstein, T. K.; Ku, R.

2003-12-01

Seven drill cores were recovered from Lake Titicaca during the NSF/ICDP/DOSECC drilling expedition of 2001. Sub-lake floor drilling depths ranged from 53 to 139 m; water depths ranged from 40 to 232 m; recoveries ranged from 75 to 112 percent. Our most detailed multi-proxy analyses to date have been done on Core 2B raised from the central basin of the lake from 232 m water depth, drilled to 139.26 m sub-lakefloor with 140.61 m of total sediment recovered (101 percent). A basal age of 200 Ka is estimated by linear extrapolation from radiocarbon measurements in the upper 25 m of core; Ar-Ar dating of interbedded ashes and U/Th dating of abiogenic aragonites are underway. The volume and lake level of Lake Titicaca have undergone large changes several times during the late Quaternary. Proxies for these water level changes (each of different fidelity) include the ratio of planktonic-to-benthic diatoms, sedimentary carbonate content, and stable isotopic content of organic carbon. The most recent of these changes, has been described previously from earlier piston cores. In the early and middle Holocene the lake fell below its outlet to 85 m below modern level, lake salinity increased several-fold, and the Salar de Uyuni, which receives overflow from Titicaca, dessicated. In contrast, Lake Titicaca was deep, fresh, and overflowing (southward to the Salar de Uyuni) throughout the last glacial maximum from prior to 25,000 BP to at least 15,000 BP. According to extrapolated ages, the penultimate major lowstand of Lake Titicaca occurred prior to 60,000 BP, when seismic evidence indicates that lake level was about 200 m lower than present. Near the end of this lowstand, the lake also became quite saline. There are at least three, and possibly more, older lowstands, each separated temporally by periods in which the lake freshened dramatically and overflowed. These results will be compared with results from previous drilling in the Salar de Uyuni.

The last Deglaciation in the Mediterranean region: a multi-archives synthesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazin, Lucie; Siani, Giuseppe; Landais, Amaelle; Bassinot, Frank; Genty, Dominique; Govin, Aline; Michel, Elisabeth; Nomade, Sebastien; Waelbroeck, Claire

2016-04-01

Multiple proxies record past climatic changes in different climate archives. These proxies are influenced by different component of the climate system and bring complementary information on past climate variability. The major limitation when combining proxies from different archives comes from the coherency of their chronologies. Indeed, each climate archives possess their own dating methods, not necessarily coherent with each other's. Consequently, when we want to assess the latitudinal changes and mechanisms behind a climate event, we often have to rely on assumptions of synchronisation between the different archives, such as synchronous temperature changes during warming events (Austin and Hibbert 2010). Recently, a dating method originally developed to produce coherent chronologies for ice cores (Datice,Lemieux-Dudon et al., 2010) has been adapted in order to integrate different climate archives (ice cores, sediment cores and speleothems (Lemieux-Dudon et al., 2015, Bazin et al., in prep)). In this presentation we present the validation of this multi-archives dating tool with a first application covering the last Deglaciation in the Mediterranean region. For this experiment, we consider the records from Monticchio, the MD90-917, Tenaghi Philippon and Lake Orhid sediment cores as well as continuous speleothems from Sofular, Soreq and La Mine caves. Using the Datice dating tool, and with the identification of common tephra layers between the cores considered, we are able to produce a multi-archives coherent chronology for this region, independently of any climatic assumption. Using this common chronological framework, we show that the usual climatic synchronisation assumptions are not valid over this region for the last glacial-interglacial transition. Finally, we compare our coherent Mediterranean chronology with Greenland ice core records in order to discuss the sequence of events of the last Deglaciation between these two regions.

Bottom Currents and Abyssal Sedimentation Processes South of Iceland.

DTIC Science & Technology

1980-06-01

infaunal burrowing activity are observed in various portions of the region. Discrete benthic organisms appear to -158- have adapted to various...cores (9 BC, 11 BC, and 12 BG; Figures 4.11, 4.12, 4.13). These may be due to gastropods whose shells are observed both in x-ray (Figure 4.12) and as...that the organisms present in the channel sediments are specifically adapted to live in regions in which episodic deposition and erosion may occur

Assessment User Guide for Colleges and Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO), 2015

2015-01-01

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is one of two multi-state consortia that have built new assessment systems aligned to the Common Core State Standards. The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium is composed of 18 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands that have worked together to develop a comprehensive assessment system aligned to the…

Millennial-scale changes of surface and bottom water conditions in the northwestern Pacific during the last deglaciation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Sunghan; Khim, Boo-Keun; Ikehara, Ken; Itaki, Takuya; Shibahara, Akihiko; Yamamoto, Masanobu

2017-07-01

Changes in water column conditions in the northwestern Pacific during the last 23 ka were reconstructed using geochemical and isotope proxies and redox elemental compositions along with published data (alkenone sea surface temperature (SST) and benthic foraminiferal fauna) at core GH02-1030. Surface water primary productivity in terms of biogenic opal and TOC contents, which mainly represented export production of diatom, was closely related to alkenone (spring-summer) SST and the development of spring-summer mixed layer depth. The different variation patterns of nitrate and silicic acid utilization, estimated by bulk δ15N and δ30Sidiatom values, respectively, are most likely due to the water column denitrification influence on bulk δ15N. Dysoxic bottom water conditions occurred during the Bølling-Allerød (BA) and the Pre-Boreal (PB), which was evident by laminated sediments, abundant dysoxic benthic foraminifers, and increased redox elemental compositions. Although surface water productivity increased during the BA and PB, dysoxic bottom water conditions were caused by a combination of enhanced surface water productivity and reduced ventilation of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) in response to meltwater input from the high latitude areas. Based on records of core GH02-1030 and other cores in the northwestern Pacific, the Okhotsk Sea, and the Bering Sea, which are all proximal to the modern NPIW source region, dissolved oxygen concentrations of bottom water were more depleted during the BA than PB. Such difference was attributed to more sluggish NPIW ventilation due to more meltwater input during the BA than the PB. The opening or closure of the Bering Strait is critical to the direction of meltwater transport to the northwestern Pacific.

Deep-sea ostracode shell chemistry (Mg:Ca ratios) and late Quaternary Arctic Ocean history

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cronin, T. M.; Dwyer, Gary S.; Baker, P.A.; Rodriguez-Lazaro, J.; Briggs, W.M.; ,

1996-01-01

The magnesium:calcium (Mg:Ca) and strontium:calcium (Sr:Ca) ratios were investigated in shells of the benthic ostracode genus Krithe obtained from 64 core-tops from water depths of 73 to 4411 m in the Arctic Ocean and Nordic seas to determine the potential of ostracode shell chemistry for palaeoceanographic study. Shells from the Polar Surface Water (−1 to −1.5°C) had Mg:Ca molar ratios of about 0.006–0.008; shells from Arctic Intermediate Water (+0.3 to +2.0°C) ranged from 0.09 to 0.013. Shells from the abyssal plain and ridges of the Nansen, Amundsen and Makarov basins and the Norwegian and Greenland seas had a wide scatter of Mg:Ca ratios ranging from 0.007 to 0.012 that may signify post-mortem chemical alteration of the shells from Arctic deep-sea environments below about 1000 m water depth. There is a positive correlation (r2 = 0.59) between Mg:Ca ratios and bottom-water temperature in Krithe shells from Arctic and Nordic seas from water depths <900 m. Late Quaternary Krithe Mg:Ca ratios were analysed downcore using material from the Gakkel Ridge (water depths 3047 and 3899 m), the Lomonosov Ridge (water depth 1051 m) and the Amundsen Basin (water depth 4226 m) to test the core-top Mg:Ca temperature calibration. Cores from the Gakkel and Lomonosov ridges display a decrease in Mg:Ca ratios during the interval spanning the last glacial/deglacial transition and the Holocene, perhaps related to a decrease in bottom water temperatures or other changes in benthic environments.

Uranium in foraminiferal calcite as a recorder of seawater uranium concentrations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Russell, A.D.; Emerson, S.; Nelson, B.K.

The authors present results of an investigation of uranium/calcium ratios in cleaned foraminiferal calcite as a recorder of seawater uranium concentrations. For accurate reconstruction of past seawater uranium content, shell calcite must incorporate uranium in proportion to seawater concentration and must preserve its original uranium composition over time. Laboratory culture experiments with live benthic (Amphistegina lobifera) and live planktonic (Globigerinell calida) foraminifera show that the U/Ca ratio of cleaned calcite tests is proportional to the concentration of uranium in solution. After correcting results for the presence of initial calcite, the apparent distribution coefficient D = (U/Ca[sub calcite])/(U/Ca)[sub solution] = 10.6more » [+-] 0.3 (x10[sup [minus]3]) for A. lobifera and D = 7.9 [+-] 0.1 (x10[sup [minus]3]) for G. calida. U/Ca ratios in planktonic foraminifera from core tops collected above 3900 m in the equatorial Atlantic and above 2100 m in the Pacific Ocean show no significant difference among the species analyzed. D estimated form core top samples ranges from 7.6 [+-] 0.4 (x10[sup [minus]3]) for O. universa to 8.4 [+-] 0.5 (x10[sup [minus]3]) for G. ruber. In benthic species C. wuellerstorfi, D = 7.0 [+-] 0.8 (x10[sup [minus]3]). U/Ca and Mg/Ca in G. tumida and G. sacculifer from core tops taken near and below the regional lysocline decrease with water depth. Smaller decreases in U/Ca and Mg/Ca with depth were observed in C. wuellerstorfi. In the planktonic species, the authors believe that U/CA and Mg/Ca are lower in the more dissolution-resistant fraction of calcite, leading to lower U/Ca in more highly dissolved samples.« less

Chemical Convention in the Lunar Core from Melting Experiments on the Ironsulfur System

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Li, J.; Liu, J.; Chen, B.

2012-03-26

By reanalyzing Apollo lunar seismograms using array-processing methods, a recent study suggests that the Moon has a solid inner core and a fluid outer core, much like the Earth. The volume fraction of the lunar inner core is 38%, compared with 4% for the Earth. The pressure at the Moon's core-mantle boundary is 4.8 GPa, and that at the ICB is 5.2 GPa. The partially molten state of the lunar core provides constraints on the thermal and chemical states of the Moon: The temperature at the inner core boundary (ICB) corresponds to the liquidus of the outer core composition, andmore » the mass fraction of the solid core allows us to infer the bulk composition of the core from an estimated thermal profile. Moreover, knowledge on the extent of core solidification can be used to evaluate the role of chemical convection in the origin of early lunar core dynamo. Sulfur is considered an antifreeze component in the lunar core. Here we investigate the melting behavior of the Fe-S system at the pressure conditions of the lunar core, using the multi-anvil apparatus and synchrotron and laboratory-based analytical methods. Our goal is to understand compositionally driven convection in the lunar core and assess its role in generating an internal magnetic field in the early history of the Moon.« less

Final Report for Project DE-FC02-06ER25755 [Pmodels2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Panda, Dhabaleswar; Sadayappan, P.

2014-03-12

In this report, we describe the research accomplished by the OSU team under the Pmodels2 project. The team has worked on various angles: designing high performance MPI implementations on modern networking technologies (Mellanox InfiniBand (including the new ConnectX2 architecture and Quad Data Rate), QLogic InfiniPath, the emerging 10GigE/iWARP and RDMA over Converged Enhanced Ethernet (RoCE) and Obsidian IB-WAN), studying MPI scalability issues for multi-thousand node clusters using XRC transport, scalable job start-up, dynamic process management support, efficient one-sided communication, protocol offloading and designing scalable collective communication libraries for emerging multi-core architectures. New designs conforming to the Argonne’s Nemesis interface havemore » also been carried out. All of these above solutions have been integrated into the open-source MVAPICH/MVAPICH2 software. This software is currently being used by more than 2,100 organizations worldwide (in 71 countries). As of January ’14, more than 200,000 downloads have taken place from the OSU Web site. In addition, many InfiniBand vendors, server vendors, system integrators and Linux distributors have been incorporating MVAPICH/MVAPICH2 into their software stacks and distributing it. Several InfiniBand systems using MVAPICH/MVAPICH2 have obtained positions in the TOP500 ranking of supercomputers in the world. The latest November ’13 ranking include the following systems: 7th ranked Stampede system at TACC with 462,462 cores; 11th ranked Tsubame 2.5 system at Tokyo Institute of Technology with 74,358 cores; 16th ranked Pleiades system at NASA with 81,920 cores; Work on PGAS models has proceeded on multiple directions. The Scioto framework, which supports task-parallelism in one-sided and global-view parallel programming, has been extended to allow multi-processor tasks that are executed by processor groups. A quantum Monte Carlo application is being ported onto the extended Scioto framework. A public release of Global Trees (GT) has been made, along with the Global Chunks (GC) framework on which GT is built. The Global Chunks (GC) layer is also being used as the basis for the development of a higher level Global Graphs (GG) layer. The Global Graphs (GG) system will provide a global address space view of distributed graph data structures on distributed memory systems.« less

Diatoms as Proxies for Abrupt Events in the Hudson River Estuary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Skorski, W.; Abbott, D. H.; Recasens, C.; Breger, D. L.

2014-12-01

The Hudson River estuary has been subject to many abrupt events throughout its history including hurricanes, droughts and pluvials. Hurricanes in particular are rare, discrete events that if fingerprinted can be used to develop better age models for Hudson River sediments. Proxies use observed physical characteristics or biological assemblages (e.g. diatom and foraminiferal assemblages) as tools to reconstruct past conditions prior to the modern instrumental record. Using a sediment core taken from the Hudson River (CDO2-29A), in New York City, drought and pluvial layers were selected based on Cs-137 dating while hurricane layers were determined from occurrences of tropical to subtropical foraminifera. Contrary to previous studies (Weaver, 1970, Weiss et al, 1978), more than sixty different diatom species have been identified using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Cosmopolitan, hurricane and drought assemblages have begun to be identified after observing multiple layers (Table 1). Tropical foraminifera dominated by Globigerinoides ruber pink were also found in a hurricane layer that we infer was deposited during Hurricane Belle in 1976. More diatom abundance analyses and cataloged SEM pictures will provide further insight into these proxies. Table 1 Diatom Genera and Species Environment Clarification Cyclotella caspia Planktonic, marine-brackish Cosmopolitan Karayevia clevei Freshwater Cosmopolitan Melosira sp Planktonic, marine Cosmopolitan Thalassiosira sp Marine, brackish Cosmopolitan Staurosirella leptostauron Benthic, freshwater Cosmopolitan Actinoptychus senarius Planktonic or benthic, freshwater to brackish Hurricane and pluvial layers Amphora aff. sp Benthic, marine or freshwater Hurricane layers only Nitzschia sp Benthic, marine or freshwater Hurricane layers only Gomphonema sp Freshwater Hurricane layers only Surirella sp Marine-brackish Drought layer only Triceratium sp Marine Drought layer only Other Genera and species Environment Clarification Globigerinoides ruber pink Tropical Hurricane layers only Silicoflagellate sp Planktonic, marine Hurricane layers only

The Bering Strait Region: A Window into Changing Benthic Populations in Response to Varying Subarctic-Arctic Connectivity and Ecosystem Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grebmeier, J. M.; Cooper, L. W.; Moore, S. E.

2016-02-01

A key ecological organizing principle for the northern Bering Sea and the adjoining southern Chukchi Sea just north of Bering Strait is that the shallow, seasonally productive waters lead to strong pelagic-benthic coupling to the sea floor, with deposition of fresh chlorophyll coinciding with the spring bloom as sea ice retreats. Both in situ production and advection of upstream phytodetritus to these regions support persistent biological hotspots that connect benthic prey to upper trophic benthivores. This northern marine ecosystem is dominated by marine macroinvertebrates (e.g. clams, polychaetes, sipunculids, and amphipods) that feed on the high production deposited rapidly to the seafloor, which in turn serve as food resources for diving mammals and seabirds, such as gray whales, bearded seals, eiders, and walruses. Between St. Lawrence Island and Bering Strait and northwards into the Chukchi Sea, the persistence of seasonal sea ice has significantly declined over the past two decades, and along with warming seawater temperatures, these changes have potential ramifications to ecosystem structure. Times-series data over the last 25 years indicate that these regions have experienced a northward shift in macrofaunal composition and a decline in core benthic biomass that matches patterns of reduced sea ice, warming seawater, and changing sediment grain size that relates to varying current patterns. This presentation will discuss these data in the context of both process studies from the region and results from the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO), an international network of time series transects that is providing a framework to evaluate status and trends on a latitudinal bases in the Pacific Arctic region.

Changes in carbon sources fueling benthic secondary production over depth and time: coupling Chironomidae stable carbon isotopes to larval abundance.

PubMed

Frossard, Victor; Verneaux, Valérie; Millet, Laurent; Magny, Michel; Perga, Marie-Elodie

2015-06-01

Stable C isotope ratio (δ(13)C) values of chironomid remains (head capsules; HC) were used to infer changes in benthic C sources over the last 150 years for two French sub-Alpine lakes. The HCs were retrieved from a series of sediment cores from different depths. The HC δ(13)C values started to decrease with the onset of eutrophication. The HC δ(13)C temporal patterns varied among depths, which revealed spatial differences in the contribution of methanotrophic bacteria to the benthic secondary production. The estimates of the methane (CH4)-derived C contribution to chironomid biomass ranged from a few percent prior to the 1930s to up to 30 % in recent times. The chironomid fluxes increased concomitantly with changes in HC δ(13)C values before a drastic decrease due to the development of hypoxic conditions. The hypoxia reinforced the implication for CH4-derived C transfer to chironomid production. In Lake Annecy, the HC δ(13)C values were negatively correlated to total organic C (TOC) content in the sediment (Corg), whereas no relationship was found in Lake Bourget. In Lake Bourget, chironomid abundances reached their maximum with TOC contents between 1 and 1.5 % Corg, which could constitute a threshold for change in chironomid abundance and consequently for the integration of CH4-derived C into the lake food webs. Our results indicated that the CH4-derived C contribution to the benthic food webs occurred at different depths in these two large, deep lakes (deep waters and sublittoral zone), and that the trophic transfer of this C was promoted in sublittoral zones where O2 gradients were dynamic.

Metagenomic analysis of sediments under seaports influence in the Equatorial Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Tavares, Tallita Cruz Lopes; Normando, Leonardo Ribeiro Oliveira; de Vasconcelos, Ana Tereza Ribeiro; Gerber, Alexandra Lehmkuhl; Agnez-Lima, Lucymara Fassarella; Melo, Vânia Maria Maciel

2016-07-01

Maritime ports are anthropogenic interventions capable of causing serious alterations in coastal ecosystems. In this study, we examined the benthic microbial diversity and community structure under the influence of two maritime ports, Mucuripe (MUC) and Pecém (PEC), at Equatorial Atlantic Ocean in Northeast Brazil. Those seaports differ in architecture, time of functioning, cargo handling and contamination. The microbiomes from MUC and PEC were also compared in silico to 11 other globally distributed marine microbiomes. The comparative analysis of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) retrieved by PCR-DGGE showed that MUC presents greater richness and β diversity of Bacteria and Archaea than PEC. In line with these results, metagenomic analysis showed that MUC and PEC benthic microbial communities share the main common bacterial phyla found in coastal environments, although can be distinguish by greater abundance of Cyanobacteria in MUC and Deltaproteobacteria in PEC. Both ports differed in Archaea composition, being PEC port sediments dominated by Thaumarchaeota. The microbiomes showed little divergence in their potential metabolic pathways, although shifts on the microbial taxonomic signatures involved in nitrogen and sulphur metabolic pathways were observed. The comparative analysis of different benthic marine metagenomes from Brazil, Australia and Mexico grouped them by the geographic location rather than by the type of ecosystem, although at phylum level seaport sediments share a core microbiome constituted by Proteobacteria, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria, Tenericuteres, Firmicutes, Bacteriodetes and Euryarchaeota. Our results suggest that multiple physical and chemical factors acting on sediments as a result of at least 60years of port operation play a role in shaping the benthic microbial communities at taxonomic level, but not at functional level. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Dynamics of nutrient cycling and related benthic nutrient and oxygen fluxes during a spring phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Grenz, C.; Cloern, J.E.; Hager, S.W.; Cole, B.E.

2000-01-01

Benthic oxygen uptake and nutrient releases of N, P and Si were measured weekly at 2 sites in South San Francisco Bay around the 1996 spring bloom. Exchanges across the sediment-water interface were estimated from whole core incubations performed in the laboratory at in situ temperature and in dark. Fluxes changed significantly on a weekly time scale. Over a period of 15 wk the fluxes of dissolved inorganic N, P and Si ranged from -40 to +200, 0 to 13 and from 30 to 400 ??mol m-2 h-1 respectively. Sediment oxygen demand increased from 10 before to 64 mg O2 m-2 h-1 just after the bloom period. During the bloom, nutrient fluxes represented about 20, 16 and 9% of the Si, P and N requirements for primary production. Before and after the bloom period, Si fluxes contributed up to 30 and > 100% of this requirement and P and N fluxes up to 15 and 50% respectively. Simple empirical models explain most of the spatial-temporal variability of benthic fluxes of Si, P and NH4 (but not NO3) from 3 predictor variables: sediment porosity, nutrient concentration in bottom waters and chlorophyll content of surficial sediments. These models show that algal blooms influence benthic-pelagic nutrient exchange through 2 processes: (1) depletion of nutrients from the water column (which enhances gradient-driven transports across the sediment-water interface) and (2) sedimentation of labile phytodetritus (which promotes remineralization in or on the surficial sediments). Rates and patterns of nutrient cycling were very different at the shallow and deep study sites, illustrating the challenge of extrapolating measurements of coupled algae-nutrient dynamics to whole ecosystems.

Benthic foraminifera baseline assemblages from a coastal nearshore reef complex on the central Great Barrier Reef

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Johnson, Jamie; Perry, Chris; Smithers, Scott; Morgan, Kyle

2016-04-01

Declining water quality due to river catchment modification since European settlement (c. 1850 A.D.) represents a major threat to the health of coral reefs on Australia's Great Barrier Reef (GBR), particularly for those located in the coastal waters of the GBR's inner-shelf. These nearshore reefs are widely perceived to be most susceptible to declining water quality owing to their close proximity to river point sources. Despite this, nearshore reefs have been relatively poorly studied with the impacts and magnitudes of environmental degradation still remaining unclear. This is largely due to ongoing debates concerning the significance of increased sediment yields against naturally high background sedimentary regimes. Benthic foraminifera are increasingly used as tools for monitoring environmental and ecological change on coral reefs. On the GBR, the majority of studies have focussed on the spatial distributions of contemporary benthic foraminiferal assemblages. While baseline assemblages from other environments (e.g. inshore reefs and mangroves) have been described, very few records exist for nearshore reefs. Here, we present preliminary results from the first palaeoecological study of foraminiferal assemblages of nearshore reefs on the central GBR. Cores were recovered from the nearshore reef complex at Paluma Shoals using percussion techniques. Recovery was 100%, capturing the entire Holocene reef sequence of the selected reef structures. Radiocarbon dating and subsequent age-depth modelling techniques were used to identify reef sequences pre-dating European settlement. Benthic foraminifera assemblages were reconstructed from the identified sequences to establish pre-European ecological baselines with the aim of providing a record of foraminiferal distribution during vertical reef accretion and against which contemporary ecological change may be assessed.

Co Modeling and Co Synthesis of Safety Critical Multi threaded Embedded Software for Multi Core Embedded Platforms

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-03-20

computation, Prime Implicates, Boolean Abstraction, real- time embedded software, software synthesis, correct by construction software design , model...types for time -dependent data-flow networks". J.-P. Talpin, P. Jouvelot, S. Shukla. ACM-IEEE Conference on Methods and Models for System Design ...information is estimated to average 1 hour per response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing   data sources, gathering and

Testing of the Multi-Fluid Evaporator Engineering Development Unit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quinn, Gregory; O'Connor, Ed; Riga, Ken; Anderson, Molly; Westheimer, David

2007-01-01

Hamilton Sundstrand is under contract with the NASA Johnson Space Center to develop a scalable, evaporative heat rejection system called the Multi-Fluid Evaporator (MFE). It is being designed to support the Orion Crew Module and to support future Constellation missions. The MFE would be used from Earth sea level conditions to the vacuum of space. The current Shuttle configuration utilizes an ammonia boiler and flash evaporator system to achieve cooling at all altitudes. The MFE system combines both functions into a single compact package with significant weight reduction and improved freeze-up protection. The heat exchanger core is designed so that radial flow of the evaporant provides increasing surface area to keep the back pressure low. The multiple layer construction of the core allows for efficient scale up to the desired heat rejection rate. The full scale MFE prototype will be constructed with four core sections that, combined with a novel control scheme, manage the risk of freezing the heat exchanger cores. A sub-scale MFE engineering development unit (EDU) has been built, and is identical to one of the four sections of a full scale prototype. The EDU has completed testing at Hamilton Sundstrand. The overall test objective was to determine the thermal performance of the EDU. The first set of tests simulated how each of the four sections of the prototype would perform by varying the chamber pressure, evaporant flow rate, coolant flow rate and coolant temperature. A second set of tests was conducted with an outlet steam header in place to verify that the outlet steam orifices prevent freeze-up in the core while also allowing the desired thermal turn-down ratio. This paper discusses the EDU tests and results.

Long-term historical analysis of benthic communities and physical habitat in an agricultural stream in California's San Joaquin River watershed.

PubMed

Hall, Lenwood W; Killen, William D; Alden, Raymond

2009-05-01

This study was designed to characterize long-term annual temporal and spatial trends (2001 to 2007) in physical habitat and benthic communities and to determine relationships of habitat and benthic communities during this 7-year period in an agricultural stream in the San Joaquin River watershed in California (Del Puerto Creek). The canonical discriminant analysis indicated that there were no overall significant temporal patterns for the habitat metrics although spatial patterns were prominent for nearly all the habitat metrics. Channel alteration, riparian vegetative zone, bank stability, vegetative protection and frequency of riffles/bends were the primary habitat metrics associated with these site effects. Approximately 3,700 to 4,500 individual macroinvertebrates were picked and identified from five Del Puerto Creek sites sampled annually from 2001 to 2007. The total number of taxa by year ranged from 81 in 2003 to 106 in 2007. These benthic assemblages were generally comprised of tolerant to moderately tolerant taxa such as blackflies, oligochaetes, snails and chironomids. The metrics % predators, % EPT index, % collectors/filterers and % shredders were the benthic metrics that were most associated with the temporal effects. Ephemeroptera taxa, trichoptera taxa, and % sensitive EPT index were the benthic metrics that were most associated with the site effects. The most upstream site in Del Puerto Creek had the most robust and healthy benthic communites. Strong statistical relationships were reported between certain benthic metrics and habitat metrics. Overall, samples taken from site-year combinations with sediments that were qualitatively less muddy (less fines) and that had higher habitat metric scores for embeddedness, riparian vegetative zone, and channel alteration tended to have benthic communities characterized by higher values of the benthic metrics such as EPT taxa, Ephemeroptera taxa, EPT index, abundance, and taxonomic richness, among others. Conversely, tolerance value and % tolerant taxa, the indicators of stressed benthic communities, were found to be inversely related to Bank Stability and Riparian vegetative zone (respectively), both indicators of habitat quality. Relationships between the quality of the physical habitat and the health of the benthic communities in aquatic systems, such as agricultural streams, needs to be considered before the impact of anthropogenic agents (e.g., pesticides, metals, and other potential toxicants) or other man-made perturbations may be understood. Otherwise, the interpretation of patterns of environmental conditions or causalities may be confounded.

Multi-kW single fiber laser based on an extra large mode area fiber design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langner, Andreas; Such, Mario; Schötz, Gerhard; Just, Florian; Leich, Martin; Schwuchow, Anka; Grimm, Stephan; Zimer, Hagen; Kozak, Marcin; Wedel, Björn; Rehmann, Georg; Bachert, Charley; Krause, Volker

2012-02-01

The quality of Yb-doped fused bulk silica produced by sintering of Yb-doped fused silica granulates has improved greatly in the past five years [1 - 4]. In particular, the refractive index and doping level homogeneity of such materials are excellent and we achieved excellent background fiber attenuation of the active core material down to about 20 dB/km at 1200 nm. The improvement of the Yb-doped fused bulk silica has enabled the development of multi-kW fiber laser systems based on a single extra large multimode laser fiber (XLMA fiber). When a single active fiber is used in combination with the XLMA multimode fiber of 1200 μm diameter simple and robust high power fiber laser setups without complex fiber coupling and fiber combiner systems become possible. In this papper, we will discuss in detail the development of the core material based on Yb-doped bulk silica and the characterization of Yb-doped fibers with different core compositions. We will also report on the excellent performance of a 4 kW fiber laser based on a single XLMA-fiber and show the first experimental welding results of steel sheets achieved with such a laser.

Effects of management legacies on stream fish and aquatic benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages

USGS Publications Warehouse

Quist, Michael C.; Schultz, Randall D.

2014-01-01

Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages often provide insight on ecological conditions for guiding management actions. Unfortunately, land use and management legacies can constrain the structure of biotic communities such that they fail to reflect habitat quality. The purpose of this study was to describe patterns in fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure, and evaluate relationships between biota and habitat characteristics in the Chariton River system of south-central Iowa, a system likely influenced by various potential management legacies (e.g., dams, chemical removal of fishes). We sampled fishes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat from a total of 38 stream reaches in the Chariton River watershed during 2002–2005. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were dominated by generalist species tolerant of poor habitat quality; assemblages failed to show any apparent patterns with regard to stream size or longitudinal location within the watershed. Metrics used to summarize fish assemblages and populations [e.g., presence–absence, relative abundance, Index of Biotic Integrity for fish (IBIF)] were not related to habitat characteristics, except that catch rates of piscivores were positively related to the depth and the amount of large wood. In contrast, family richness of benthic macroinvertebrates, richness of Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera taxa, and IBI values for benthic macroinvertebrates (IBIBM) were positively correlated with the amount of overhanging vegetation and inversely related to the percentage of fine substrate. A long history of habitat alteration by row-crop agriculture and management legacies associated with reservoir construction has likely resulted in a fish assemblage dominated by tolerant species. Intolerant and sensitive fish species have not recolonized streams due to downstream movement barriers (i.e., dams). In contrast, aquatic insect assemblages reflected aquatic habitat, particularly the amount of overhanging vegetation and fine sediment. This research illustrates the importance of using multiple taxa for biological assessments and the need to consider management legacies when investigating responses to management and conservation actions.

Effects of Management Legacies on Stream Fish and Aquatic Benthic Macroinvertebrate Assemblages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quist, Michael C.; Schultz, Randall D.

2014-09-01

Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages often provide insight on ecological conditions for guiding management actions. Unfortunately, land use and management legacies can constrain the structure of biotic communities such that they fail to reflect habitat quality. The purpose of this study was to describe patterns in fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure, and evaluate relationships between biota and habitat characteristics in the Chariton River system of south-central Iowa, a system likely influenced by various potential management legacies (e.g., dams, chemical removal of fishes). We sampled fishes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat from a total of 38 stream reaches in the Chariton River watershed during 2002-2005. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were dominated by generalist species tolerant of poor habitat quality; assemblages failed to show any apparent patterns with regard to stream size or longitudinal location within the watershed. Metrics used to summarize fish assemblages and populations [e.g., presence-absence, relative abundance, Index of Biotic Integrity for fish (IBIF)] were not related to habitat characteristics, except that catch rates of piscivores were positively related to the depth and the amount of large wood. In contrast, family richness of benthic macroinvertebrates, richness of Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera taxa, and IBI values for benthic macroinvertebrates (IBIBM) were positively correlated with the amount of overhanging vegetation and inversely related to the percentage of fine substrate. A long history of habitat alteration by row-crop agriculture and management legacies associated with reservoir construction has likely resulted in a fish assemblage dominated by tolerant species. Intolerant and sensitive fish species have not recolonized streams due to downstream movement barriers (i.e., dams). In contrast, aquatic insect assemblages reflected aquatic habitat, particularly the amount of overhanging vegetation and fine sediment. This research illustrates the importance of using multiple taxa for biological assessments and the need to consider management legacies when investigating responses to management and conservation actions.

Effects of management legacies on stream fish and aquatic benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages.

PubMed

Quist, Michael C; Schultz, Randall D

2014-09-01

Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages often provide insight on ecological conditions for guiding management actions. Unfortunately, land use and management legacies can constrain the structure of biotic communities such that they fail to reflect habitat quality. The purpose of this study was to describe patterns in fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblage structure, and evaluate relationships between biota and habitat characteristics in the Chariton River system of south-central Iowa, a system likely influenced by various potential management legacies (e.g., dams, chemical removal of fishes). We sampled fishes, benthic macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat from a total of 38 stream reaches in the Chariton River watershed during 2002-2005. Fish and benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages were dominated by generalist species tolerant of poor habitat quality; assemblages failed to show any apparent patterns with regard to stream size or longitudinal location within the watershed. Metrics used to summarize fish assemblages and populations [e.g., presence-absence, relative abundance, Index of Biotic Integrity for fish (IBIF)] were not related to habitat characteristics, except that catch rates of piscivores were positively related to the depth and the amount of large wood. In contrast, family richness of benthic macroinvertebrates, richness of Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera, and Plecoptera taxa, and IBI values for benthic macroinvertebrates (IBIBM) were positively correlated with the amount of overhanging vegetation and inversely related to the percentage of fine substrate. A long history of habitat alteration by row-crop agriculture and management legacies associated with reservoir construction has likely resulted in a fish assemblage dominated by tolerant species. Intolerant and sensitive fish species have not recolonized streams due to downstream movement barriers (i.e., dams). In contrast, aquatic insect assemblages reflected aquatic habitat, particularly the amount of overhanging vegetation and fine sediment. This research illustrates the importance of using multiple taxa for biological assessments and the need to consider management legacies when investigating responses to management and conservation actions.

Release of Methane from Bering Sea Sediments During the Last Glacial Period

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mea Cook; Lloyd Keigwin

2007-11-30

Several lines of evidence suggest that during times of elevated methane flux the sulfate-methane transition zone (SMTZ) was positioned near the sediment-water interface. We studied two cores (from 700 m and 1457 m water depth) from the Umnak Plateau region. Anomalously low d13C and high d18O in benthic and planktonic foraminifera in these cores are the consequence of diagenetic overgrowths of authigenic carbonates. There are multiple layers of authigenic-carbonate-rich sediment in these cores, and the stable isotope compositions of the carbonates are consistent with those formed during anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). The carbonate-rich layers are associated with biomarkers producedmore » by methane-oxidizing archaea, archaeol and glyceryl dibiphytanyl glyceryl tetraether (GDGT). The d13C of the archaeol and certain GDGTs are isotopically depleted. These carbonate- and AOM-biomarker-rich layers were emplaced in the SMTZ during episodes when there was a high flux of methane or methane-rich fluids upward in the sediment column. The sediment methane in the Umnak Plateau region appears to have been very dynamic during the glacial period, and interacted with the ocean-atmosphere system at millennial time scales. The upper-most carbonate-rich layers are in radiocarbon-dated sediment deposited during interstitials 2 and 3, 28-20 ka, and may be associated with the climate warming during this time.« less

The End of the Penultimate Interglacial Recorded in Santa Barbara Basin, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cannariato, K. G.; Kennett, J. P.

2005-12-01

The marine sediments accumulating in the Santa Barbara Basin, located on the southern California margin, represent a remarkable climate archive. The high sediment accumulation rate, location at the intersection of the cool California Current and warm Countercurrent, and other factors affecting the basin have combined to make the paleoclimate records generated from these sediments highly resolved and very sensitive to global climate change. Because of the effort by Dr. James Kennett over a decade ago to persuade the Ocean Drilling Program to core the basin, the paleoceanographic community has been able to produce some of the most detailed records of Northern Hemisphere climate change over most of the last two glacial-interglacial cycles rivaling those of the Greenland ice cores. Here we present high-resolution planktic and benthic oxygen isotope records from that Santa Barbara Basin core, ODP Site 893, covering the penultimate interglacial and the beginning of the last glacial (MIS 5e to 5d transition). The results indicate that the California Current system exhibited millennial and centennial variability during the penultimate interglacial similar to the early-middle Holocene. The magnitude of this millennial variability increased dramatically and quickly during the transition from MIS 5e to 5d. These millennial-scale oscillations appear to be correlated to those recognized in the North Atlantic region. The implications of this variability will be discussed.

Exploring Manycore Multinode Systems for Irregular Applications with FPGA Prototyping

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ceriani, Marco; Palermo, Gianluca; Secchi, Simone

We present a prototype of a multi-core architecture implemented on FPGA, designed to enable efficient execution of irregular applications on distributed shared memory machines, while maintaining high performance on regular workloads. The architecture is composed of off-the-shelf soft-core cores, local interconnection and memory interface, integrated with custom components that optimize it for irregular applications. It relies on three key elements: a global address space, multithreading, and fine-grained synchronization. Global addresses are scrambled to reduce the formation of network hot-spots, while the latency of the transactions is covered by integrating an hardware scheduler within the custom load/store buffers to take advantagemore » from the availability of multiple executions threads, increasing the efficiency in a transparent way to the application. We evaluated a dual node system irregular kernels showing scalability in the number of cores and threads.« less

Optimizing the Performance of Reactive Molecular Dynamics Simulations for Multi-core Architectures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aktulga, Hasan Metin; Coffman, Paul; Shan, Tzu-Ray

2015-12-01

Hybrid parallelism allows high performance computing applications to better leverage the increasing on-node parallelism of modern supercomputers. In this paper, we present a hybrid parallel implementation of the widely used LAMMPS/ReaxC package, where the construction of bonded and nonbonded lists and evaluation of complex ReaxFF interactions are implemented efficiently using OpenMP parallelism. Additionally, the performance of the QEq charge equilibration scheme is examined and a dual-solver is implemented. We present the performance of the resulting ReaxC-OMP package on a state-of-the-art multi-core architecture Mira, an IBM BlueGene/Q supercomputer. For system sizes ranging from 32 thousand to 16.6 million particles, speedups inmore » the range of 1.5-4.5x are observed using the new ReaxC-OMP software. Sustained performance improvements have been observed for up to 262,144 cores (1,048,576 processes) of Mira with a weak scaling efficiency of 91.5% in larger simulations containing 16.6 million particles.« less

Selective responses of benthic foraminifera to thermal pollution.

PubMed

Titelboim, Danna; Almogi-Labin, Ahuva; Herut, Barak; Kucera, Michal; Schmidt, Christiane; Hyams-Kaphzan, Orit; Ovadia, Ofer; Abramovich, Sigal

2016-04-15

Persistent thermohaline pollution at a site along the northern coast of Israel, due to power and desalination plants, is used as a natural laboratory to evaluate the effects of rising temperature and salinity levels on benthic foraminifera living in shallow hard-bottom habitats. Biomonitoring of the disturbed area and a control station shows that elevated temperature is a more significant stressor compared to salinity, thus causing a decrease in abundance and richness. Critical temperature thresholds were observed at 30 and 35°C, the latter representing the most thermally tolerant species in the studied area Pararotalia calcariformata, which is the only symbiont-bearing species observed within the core of the heated area. Common species of the shallow hard-bottom habitats including several Lessepsian invaders are almost absent in the most exposed site indicating that excess warming will likely impede the survival of these species that currently benefit from the ongoing warming of the Eastern Mediterranean. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Abrupt climate change and collapse of deep-sea ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yasuhara, Moriaki; Cronin, T. M.; Demenocal, P.B.; Okahashi, H.; Linsley, B.K.

2008-01-01

We investigated the deep-sea fossil record of benthic ostracodes during periods of rapid climate and oceanographic change over the past 20,000 years in a core from intermediate depth in the northwestern Atlantic. Results show that deep-sea benthic community "collapses" occur with faunal turnover of up to 50% during major climatically driven oceanographic changes. Species diversity as measured by the Shannon-Wiener index falls from 3 to as low as 1.6 during these events. Major disruptions in the benthic communities commenced with Heinrich Event 1, the Inter-Aller??d Cold Period (IACP: 13.1 ka), the Younger Dryas (YD: 12.9-11.5 ka), and several Holocene Bond events when changes in deep-water circulation occurred. The largest collapse is associated with the YD/IACP and is characterized by an abrupt two-step decrease in both the upper North Atlantic Deep Water assemblage and species diversity at 13.1 ka and at 12.2 ka. The ostracode fauna at this site did not fully recover until ???8 ka, with the establishment of Labrador Sea Water ventilation. Ecologically opportunistic slope species prospered during this community collapse. Other abrupt community collapses during the past 20 ka generally correspond to millennial climate events. These results indicate that deep-sea ecosystems are not immune to the effects of rapid climate changes occurring over centuries or less. ?? 2008 by The National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

Estimating the effect of burrowing shrimp on deep-sea sediment community oxygen consumption.

PubMed

Leduc, Daniel; Pilditch, Conrad A

2017-01-01

Sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC) is a proxy for organic matter processing and thus provides a useful proxy of benthic ecosystem function. Oxygen uptake in deep-sea sediments is mainly driven by bacteria, and the direct contribution of benthic macro- and mega-infauna respiration is thought to be relatively modest. However, the main contribution of infaunal organisms to benthic respiration, particularly large burrowing organisms, is likely to be indirect and mainly driven by processes such as feeding and bioturbation that stimulate bacterial metabolism and promote the chemical oxidation of reduced solutes. Here, we estimate the direct and indirect contributions of burrowing shrimp ( Eucalastacus cf. torbeni ) to sediment community oxygen consumption based on incubations of sediment cores from 490 m depth on the continental slope of New Zealand. Results indicate that the presence of one shrimp in the sediment is responsible for an oxygen uptake rate of about 40 µmol d -1 , only 1% of which is estimated to be due to shrimp respiration. We estimate that the presence of ten burrowing shrimp m -2 of seabed would lead to an oxygen uptake comparable to current estimates of macro-infaunal community respiration on Chatham Rise based on allometric equations, and would increase total sediment community oxygen uptake by 14% compared to sediment without shrimp. Our findings suggest that oxygen consumption mediated by burrowing shrimp may be substantial in continental slope ecosystems.

Benthic foraminiferal trace metal uptake: a field calibration from the Arabia Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koho, K. A.; Reichart, G.-J.

2012-04-01

The Arabian Sea Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) is sustained by high surface water productivity and relatively weak mid-depth water column ventilation. High primary productivity drives high respiration rates in the water column, causing severe oxygen depletion between ±150-1400 m water depths, with the oxygen concentrations falling below 2 μM in the core of the OMZ. Living (rose Bengal stained) benthic foraminifera were collected at 10-stations, covering a large bottom water oxygen concentration gradient from the Murray Ridge. This sub-marine ridge is located in the open marine environment of the Arabian Sea and thus not affected by large gradients in surface water productivity such as encountered at the continental margins. Since these sites thus receive similar organic fluxes, but are bathed in bottom waters with contrasting oxygen concentrations, pore water profiles mainly reflect bottom water oxygenation. The study sites represent a natural laboratory to investigate the impact of bottom water chemistry on trace metal incorporation in benthic foraminifera. Trace metal analyses by laser ablation ICP-MS allows detailed single chamber measurements of trace metal content, which can be related to in situ pore water geochemistry. Focus of this study is on redox sensitive trace metal (e.g. Mn, U) incorporation into foraminiferal test calcite in relation to pore water oxygen and carbonate chemistry.

Multi Modal Anticipation in Fuzzy Space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Asproth, Viveca; Holmberg, Stig C.; Hâkansson, Anita

2006-06-01

We are all stakeholders in the geographical space, which makes up our common living and activity space. This means that a careful, creative, and anticipatory planning, design, and management of that space will be of paramount importance for our sustained life on earth. Here it is shown that the quality of such planning could be significantly increased with help of a computer based modelling and simulation tool. Further, the design and implementation of such a tool ought to be guided by the conceptual integration of some core concepts like anticipation and retardation, multi modal system modelling, fuzzy space modelling, and multi actor interaction.

HABITAT-SPECIFIC FORAGING AND SEX DETERMINE MERCURY CONCENTRATIONS IN SYMPATRIC BENTHIC AND LIMNETIC ECOTYPES OF THE THREESPINE STICKLEBACK

PubMed Central

Willacker, James J.; Von Hippel, Frank A.; Ackerly, Kerri L.; O’Hara, Todd M.

2013-01-01

Mercury (Hg) is a widespread environmental contaminant known for the neurotoxicity of its methylated forms, especially monomethylmercury, which bioaccumulates and biomagnifies in aquatic food webs. Mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification rates are known to vary among species utilizing different food webs (benthic vs limnetic) within and between systems. The authors assessed whether carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values and total Hg (THg) concentrations differed between sympatric benthic and limnetic ecotypes and sexes of threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from Benka Lake, Alaska, USA. The mean THg concentration in the limnetic ecotype was significantly higher (26 mg/kg dry wt, 16.1%) than that of the benthic ecotype. Trophic position and benthic carbon percentage utilized were both important determinants of THg concentration; however, the 2 variables were of approximately equal importance in females, whereas trophic position clearly explained more of the variance than benthic carbon percentage in males. Additionally, strong sex effects (45 mg/kg dry wt, 29.4%) were observed in both ecotypes, with female fish having lower THg concentrations than males. These results indicate that trophic ecology and sex are both important determinants of Hg contamination even within a single species and lake and likely play a role in governing Hg concentrations in higher trophic levels. PMID:23456641

Patch based predation in a southern Appalachian stream

Treesearch

C.A. Gibson; R.E. Ratajezak; G.D. Grossman

2004-01-01

Streams are characterized by high degrees of patchiness that could influence the role of predators in these systems. Here we assess the impact of predatory benthic fishes on benthic macroinvertebrate density, biomass, and community structure at the patch scale in a fourth order stream in the southern Appalachians. We tested the role of predation in two different patch...

Effects of Irradiance on Benthic and Water Column Processes in a Gulf of Mexico Estuary: Pensacola Bay, Florida, USA

EPA Science Inventory

We examined the effect of light on water column and benthic fluxes in the Pensacola Bay estuary, a river-dominated system in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Measurements were made during summer 2003 and 2004 on 16 dates at along depth and salinity gradients. Dissolved oxygen flu...

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sale, D.M.; Gibeaut, J.C.; Short, J.W.

Following the Exxon Valdez oil spill, sediment traps were deployed in nearshore subtidal areas of Prince William Sound, Alaska (PWS) to monitor particulate chemistry and mineralogy. Complemented by benthic sediment chemistry and core sample stratigraphy at the study sites, results were compared to historical trends and data from other Exxon Valdez studies. These results clearly indicate the transport of oil-laden sediments from oiled shorelines to adjacent subtidal sediments. The composition of hydrocarbons adsorbed to settling particulates at sites adjacent to oiled shorelines matched the PAH pattern of weathered Exxon Valdez crude oil.

T-L Plane Abstraction-Based Energy-Efficient Real-Time Scheduling for Multi-Core Wireless Sensors.

PubMed

Kim, Youngmin; Lee, Ki-Seong; Pham, Ngoc-Son; Lee, Sun-Ro; Lee, Chan-Gun

2016-07-08

Energy efficiency is considered as a critical requirement for wireless sensor networks. As more wireless sensor nodes are equipped with multi-cores, there are emerging needs for energy-efficient real-time scheduling algorithms. The T-L plane-based scheme is known to be an optimal global scheduling technique for periodic real-time tasks on multi-cores. Unfortunately, there has been a scarcity of studies on extending T-L plane-based scheduling algorithms to exploit energy-saving techniques. In this paper, we propose a new T-L plane-based algorithm enabling energy-efficient real-time scheduling on multi-core sensor nodes with dynamic power management (DPM). Our approach addresses the overhead of processor mode transitions and reduces fragmentations of the idle time, which are inherent in T-L plane-based algorithms. Our experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to other energy-aware scheduling methods on T-L plane abstraction.

An Evaluation of Deep-Sea Benthic Megafaunal Communities in the Northern Gulf of Mexico Using Industrial ROVS and Video Imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sharuga, S. M.; Benfield, M. C.

2016-02-01

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 created a need for more thorough studies of deep-sea benthic biota, especially in soft-sediment areas of the Northern Gulf of Mexico (GoM). These benthic environments are increasingly vulnerable as demand and exploitation of resources in these areas grow. A 15°, 250 m long radial transect survey design was developed for use with industrial remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to quantify benthic megafaunal communities in the vicinity of the MC252 well. Further, a customized database system was developed to explore natural and anthropogenic factors potentially responsible for influencing benthic megafaunal characteristics in this area. Biotic and abiotic characteristics were extracted from ROV videos collected one year after the Deepwater Horizon spill at seven study sites ranging from 2-39 km away from MC252, and located at depths from 850-1500 m. Seafloor environments differed amongst the sites, with differences found to be related to location and depth. Benthic megafauna in ten taxonomic categories were evaluated in order to compare benthic community characteristics, including density and diversity. Overall, community composition was found to be primarily related to depth and, to a lesser degree, site location. Results from this study suggest that depth, location, and the abiotic environment (ex. seafloor features, including anthropogenic disturbance) play important roles in the abundances and diversity of deep-sea benthic megafauna in the Northern GoM and should be considered when conducting environmental studies. This study demonstrates the utility of industrial-based deep-sea imaging platforms as a readily accessible option for collecting valuable information on deep-sea environments. These platforms exhibit excellent potential for use in determining baseline data and evaluating ecosystem changes and/or recovery.

Relationship between sedimentation rates and benthic impact on Maërl beds derived from fish farming in the Mediterranean.

PubMed

Sanz-Lázaro, Carlos; Belando, María Dolores; Marín-Guirao, Lázaro; Navarrete-Mier, Francisco; Marín, Arnaldo

2011-02-01

The aim of this work was to study the dispersion of particulate wastes derived from marine fish farming and correlate the data with the impact on the seabed. Carbon and nutrients were correlated with the physico-chemical parameters of the sediment and the benthic community structure. The sedimentation rates in the benthic system were 1.09, 0.09 and 0.13 g m⁻² day⁻¹ for particulate organic carbon (POC), particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and total phosphorus (TP), respectively. TP was a reliable parameter for establishing the spatial extent of the fish farm particulate wastes. Fish farming was seen to influence not only physico-chemical and biological parameters but also the functioning of the ecosystem from a trophic point of view, particularly affecting the grazers and the balance among the trophic groups. POC, PON and TP sedimentation dynamics reflected the physico-chemical status of the sediment along the distance gradient studied, while their impact on the benthic community extended further. Therefore, the level of fish farm impact on the benthic community might be underestimated if it is assessed by merely taking into account data obtained from waste dispersion rates. The benthic habitat beneath the fish farm, Maërl bed, was seen to be very sensitive to aquaculture impact compared with other unvegetated benthic habitats, with an estimated POC-carrying capacity to maintain current diversity of 0.087 g C m⁻² day⁻¹ (only 36% greater than the basal POC input). Environmental protection agencies should define different aquaculture waste load thresholds for different benthic communities affected by finfish farming, according to their particular degree of sensitivity, in order to maintain natural ecosystem functions. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An Efficient VLSI Architecture for Multi-Channel Spike Sorting Using a Generalized Hebbian Algorithm

PubMed Central

Chen, Ying-Lun; Hwang, Wen-Jyi; Ke, Chi-En

2015-01-01

A novel VLSI architecture for multi-channel online spike sorting is presented in this paper. In the architecture, the spike detection is based on nonlinear energy operator (NEO), and the feature extraction is carried out by the generalized Hebbian algorithm (GHA). To lower the power consumption and area costs of the circuits, all of the channels share the same core for spike detection and feature extraction operations. Each channel has dedicated buffers for storing the detected spikes and the principal components of that channel. The proposed circuit also contains a clock gating system supplying the clock to only the buffers of channels currently using the computation core to further reduce the power consumption. The architecture has been implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with 90-nm technology. Comparisons to the existing works show that the proposed architecture has lower power consumption and hardware area costs for real-time multi-channel spike detection and feature extraction. PMID:26287193

An Efficient VLSI Architecture for Multi-Channel Spike Sorting Using a Generalized Hebbian Algorithm.

PubMed

Chen, Ying-Lun; Hwang, Wen-Jyi; Ke, Chi-En

2015-08-13

A novel VLSI architecture for multi-channel online spike sorting is presented in this paper. In the architecture, the spike detection is based on nonlinear energy operator (NEO), and the feature extraction is carried out by the generalized Hebbian algorithm (GHA). To lower the power consumption and area costs of the circuits, all of the channels share the same core for spike detection and feature extraction operations. Each channel has dedicated buffers for storing the detected spikes and the principal components of that channel. The proposed circuit also contains a clock gating system supplying the clock to only the buffers of channels currently using the computation core to further reduce the power consumption. The architecture has been implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with 90-nm technology. Comparisons to the existing works show that the proposed architecture has lower power consumption and hardware area costs for real-time multi-channel spike detection and feature extraction.

The research and application of multi-biometric acquisition embedded system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Deng, Shichao; Liu, Tiegen; Guo, Jingjing; Li, Xiuyan

2009-11-01

The identification technology based on multi-biometric can greatly improve the applicability, reliability and antifalsification. This paper presents a multi-biometric system bases on embedded system, which includes: three capture daughter boards are applied to obtain different biometric: one each for fingerprint, iris and vein of the back of hand; FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) is designed as coprocessor, which uses to configure three daughter boards on request and provides data path between DSP (digital signal processor) and daughter boards; DSP is the master processor and its functions include: control the biometric information acquisition, extracts feature as required and responsible for compare the results with the local database or data server through network communication. The advantages of this system were it can acquire three different biometric in real time, extracts complexity feature flexibly in different biometrics' raw data according to different purposes and arithmetic and network interface on the core-board will be the solution of big data scale. Because this embedded system has high stability, reliability, flexibility and fit for different data scale, it can satisfy the demand of multi-biometric recognition.

Accelerating 3D Elastic Wave Equations on Knights Landing based Intel Xeon Phi processors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sourouri, Mohammed; Birger Raknes, Espen

2017-04-01

In advanced imaging methods like reverse-time migration (RTM) and full waveform inversion (FWI) the elastic wave equation (EWE) is numerically solved many times to create the seismic image or the elastic parameter model update. Thus, it is essential to optimize the solution time for solving the EWE as this will have a major impact on the total computational cost in running RTM or FWI. From a computational point of view applications implementing EWEs are associated with two major challenges. The first challenge is the amount of memory-bound computations involved, while the second challenge is the execution of such computations over very large datasets. So far, multi-core processors have not been able to tackle these two challenges, which eventually led to the adoption of accelerators such as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs). Compared to conventional CPUs, GPUs are densely populated with many floating-point units and fast memory, a type of architecture that has proven to map well to many scientific computations. Despite its architectural advantages, full-scale adoption of accelerators has yet to materialize. First, accelerators require a significant programming effort imposed by programming models such as CUDA or OpenCL. Second, accelerators come with a limited amount of memory, which also require explicit data transfers between the CPU and the accelerator over the slow PCI bus. The second generation of the Xeon Phi processor based on the Knights Landing (KNL) architecture, promises the computational capabilities of an accelerator but require the same programming effort as traditional multi-core processors. The high computational performance is realized through many integrated cores (number of cores and tiles and memory varies with the model) organized in tiles that are connected via a 2D mesh based interconnect. In contrary to accelerators, KNL is a self-hosted system, meaning explicit data transfers over the PCI bus are no longer required. However, like most accelerators, KNL sports a memory subsystem consisting of low-level caches and 16GB of high-bandwidth MCDRAM memory. For capacity computing, up to 400GB of conventional DDR4 memory is provided. Such a strict hierarchical memory layout means that data locality is imperative if the true potential of this product is to be harnessed. In this work, we study a series of optimizations specifically targeting KNL for our EWE based application to reduce the time-to-solution time for the following 3D model sizes in grid points: 1283, 2563 and 5123. We compare the results with an optimized version for multi-core CPUs running on a dual-socket Xeon E5 2680v3 system using OpenMP. Our initial naive implementation on the KNL is roughly 20% faster than the multi-core version, but by using only one thread per core and careful memory placement using the memkind library, we could achieve higher speedups. Additionally, by using the MCDRAM as cache for problem sizes that are smaller than 16 GB further performance improvements were unlocked. Depending on the problem size, our overall results indicate that the KNL based system is approximately 2.2x faster than the 24-core Xeon E5 2680v3 system, with only modest changes to the code.

Scalable Triadic Analysis of Large-Scale Graphs: Multi-Core vs. Multi-Processor vs. Multi-Threaded Shared Memory Architectures

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Chin, George; Marquez, Andres; Choudhury, Sutanay

2012-09-01

Triadic analysis encompasses a useful set of graph mining methods that is centered on the concept of a triad, which is a subgraph of three nodes and the configuration of directed edges across the nodes. Such methods are often applied in the social sciences as well as many other diverse fields. Triadic methods commonly operate on a triad census that counts the number of triads of every possible edge configuration in a graph. Like other graph algorithms, triadic census algorithms do not scale well when graphs reach tens of millions to billions of nodes. To enable the triadic analysis ofmore » large-scale graphs, we developed and optimized a triad census algorithm to efficiently execute on shared memory architectures. We will retrace the development and evolution of a parallel triad census algorithm. Over the course of several versions, we continually adapted the code’s data structures and program logic to expose more opportunities to exploit parallelism on shared memory that would translate into improved computational performance. We will recall the critical steps and modifications that occurred during code development and optimization. Furthermore, we will compare the performances of triad census algorithm versions on three specific systems: Cray XMT, HP Superdome, and AMD multi-core NUMA machine. These three systems have shared memory architectures but with markedly different hardware capabilities to manage parallelism.« less

Outlook for grid service technologies within the @neurIST eHealth environment.

PubMed

Arbona, A; Benkner, S; Fingberg, J; Frangi, A F; Hofmann, M; Hose, D R; Lonsdale, G; Ruefenacht, D; Viceconti, M

2006-01-01

The aim of the @neurIST project is to create an IT infrastructure for the management of all processes linked to research, diagnosis and treatment development for complex and multi-factorial diseases. The IT infrastructure will be developed for one such disease, cerebral aneurysm and subarachnoid haemorrhage, but its core technologies will be transferable to meet the needs of other medical areas. Since the IT infrastructure for @neurIST will need to encompass data repositories, computational analysis services and information systems handling multi-scale, multi-modal information at distributed sites, the natural basis for the IT infrastructure is a Grid Service middleware. The project will adopt a service-oriented architecture because it aims to provide a system addressing the needs of medical researchers, clinicians and health care specialists (and their IT providers/systems) and medical supplier/consulting industries.

Melting phase relations in the Fe-S and Fe-S-O systems at core conditions in small terrestrial bodies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pommier, Anne; Laurenz, Vera; Davies, Christopher J.; Frost, Daniel J.

2018-05-01

We report an experimental investigation of phase equilibria in the Fe-S and Fe-S-O systems. Experiments were performed at high temperatures (1400-1850 °C) and high pressures (14 and 20 GPa) using a multi-anvil apparatus. The results of this study are used to understand the effect of sulfur and oxygen on core dynamics in small terrestrial bodies. We observe that the formation of solid FeO grains occurs at the Fe-S liquid - Fe solid interface at high temperature ( > 1400 °C at 20 GPa). Oxygen fugacities calculated for each O-bearing sample show that redox conditions vary from ΔIW = -0.65 to 0. Considering the relative density of each phase and existing evolutionary models of terrestrial cores, we apply our experimental results to the cores of Mars and Ganymede. We suggest that the presence of FeO in small terrestrial bodies tends to contribute to outer-core compositional stratification. Depending on the redox and thermal history of the planet, FeO may also help form a transitional redox zone at the core-mantle boundary.

High-capacity mixed fiber-wireless backhaul networks using MMW radio-over-MCF and MIMO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pham, Thu A.; Pham, Hien T. T.; Le, Hai-Chau; Dang, Ngoc T.

2017-10-01

In this paper, we have proposed a high-capacity backhaul network, which is based on mixed fiber-wireless systems using millimeter-wave radio-over-multi-core fiber (MMW RoMCF) and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) transmission, for next generation mobile access networks. In addition, we also investigate the use of avalanche photodiode (APD) to improve capacity of the proposed backhaul downlink. We then theoretically analyze the system capacity comprehensively while considering various physical impairments including noise, MCF crosstalk, and fading modeled by Rician MIMO channel. The feasibility of the proposed backhaul architecture is verified via the numerical simulation experiments. The research results demonstrate that our developed backhaul solution can significantly enhance the backhaul capacity; the system capacity of 24 bps/Hz can be achieved with 20-km 8-core MCF and 8 × 8 MIMO transmitted over 100-m Rician fading link. It is also shown that the system performance, in term of channel capacity, strongly depend on the MCF inter-core crosstalk, which is governed by the mode coupling coefficient, the core pitch, and the bending radius.

Optical properties of core-shell and multi-shell nanorods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mokkath, Junais Habeeb; Shehata, Nader

2018-05-01

We report a first-principles time dependent density functional theory study of the optical response modulations in bimetallic core-shell (Na@Al and Al@Na) and multi-shell (Al@Na@Al@Na and Na@Al@Na@Al: concentric shells of Al and Na alternate) nanorods. All of the core-shell and multi-shell configurations display highly enhanced absorption intensity with respect to the pure Al and Na nanorods, showing sensitivity to both composition and chemical ordering. Remarkably large spectral intensity enhancements were found in a couple of core-shell configurations, indicative that optical response averaging based on the individual components can not be considered as true as always in the case of bimetallic core-shell nanorods. We believe that our theoretical results would be useful in promising applications depending on Aluminum-based plasmonic materials such as solar cells and sensors.

Spatial Variability of Benthic-Pelagic Coupling in an Estuary Ecosystem: Consequences for Microphytobenthos Resuspension Phenomenon

PubMed Central

Ubertini, Martin; Lefebvre, Sébastien; Gangnery, Aline; Grangeré, Karine; Le Gendre, Romain; Orvain, Francis

2012-01-01

The high degree of physical factors in intertidal estuarine ecosystem increases material processing between benthic and pelagic compartments. In these ecosystems, microphytobenthos resuspension is a major phenomenon since its contribution to higher trophic levels can be highly significant. Understanding the sediment and associated microphytobenthos resuspension and its fate in the water column is indispensable for measuring the food available to benthic and pelagic food webs. To identify and hierarchize the physical/biological factors potentially involved in MPB resuspension, the entire intertidal area and surrounding water column of an estuarine ecosystem, the Bay des Veys, was sampled during ebb tide. A wide range of physical parameters (hydrodynamic regime, grain size of the sediment, and suspended matter) and biological parameters (flora and fauna assemblages, chlorophyll) were analyzed to characterize benthic-pelagic coupling at the bay scale. Samples were collected in two contrasted periods, spring and late summer, to assess the impact of forcing variables on benthic-pelagic coupling. A mapping approach using kriging interpolation enabled us to overlay benthic and pelagic maps of physical and biological variables, for both hydrological conditions and trophic indicators. Pelagic Chl a concentration was the best predictor explaining the suspension-feeders spatial distribution. Our results also suggest a perennial spatio-temporal structure of both benthic and pelagic compartments in the ecosystem, at least when the system is not imposed to intense wind, with MPB distribution controlled by both grain size and bathymetry. The benthic component appeared to control the pelagic one via resuspension phenomena at the scale of the bay. Co-inertia analysis showed closer benthic-pelagic coupling between the variables in spring. The higher MPB biomass observed in summer suggests a higher contribution to filter-feeders diets, indicating a higher resuspension effect in summer than in spring, in turn suggesting an important role of macrofauna bioturbation and filter feeding (Cerastoderma edule). PMID:22952910

Development of a Model to Correct Multi-View Angle above Water Measurements for the Analysis of the Bidirectional Reflectance of Coral and Other Reef Substrates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, I.; Forster, B. C.; Laffan, S. W.

2012-07-01

Spectral reflectance characteristics of substrates in a coral reef environment are often measured in the field by viewing a substrate at nadir. However, viewing a substrate from multiple angles would likely result in different spectral characteristics for most coral reef substrates and provide valuable information on structural properties. To understand the relationship between the morphology of a substrate and its spectral response it is necessary to correct the observed above-water radiance for the effects of atmosphere and water attenuation, at a number of view and azimuth angles. In this way the actual surface reflectance can be determined. This research examines the air-water surface interaction for two hypothetical atmospheric conditions (clear Rayleigh scattering and totally cloudcovered) and the global irradiance reaching the benthic surface. It accounts for both water scattering and absorption, with simplifications for shallow water conditions, as well as the additive effect of background reflectance being reflected at the water-air surface at angles greater than the critical refraction angle (~48°). A model was developed to correct measured above-water radiance along the refracted view angle for its decrease due to path attenuation and the "n squared law of radiance" and the additive surface reflectance. This allows bidirectional benthic surface reflectance and nadir-normalised reflectance to be determined. These theoretical models were adapted to incorporate above-water measures relative to a standard, diffuse, white reference panel. The derived spectral signatures of a number of coral and non-coral benthic surfaces compared well with other published results, and the signatures and nadir normalised reflectance of the corals and other benthic surface classes indicate good class separation.

Foam core shield (FCS) systems : a new dual - purpose technology for shielding against meteoroid strike damage and for thermal control of spacecrafts/satellite components

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Adams, Marc A.; Zwissler, James G.; Hayes, Charles; Fabensky, Beth; Cornelison, Charles; Alexander, Lesley; Bishop, Karen

2005-01-01

A new technology is being developed that can protect spacecraft and satellite components against damage from meteoroid strikes and control the thermal environment of the protected components. This technology, called Foam Core Shield (FCS) systems, has the potential to replace the multi-layer insulation blankets (MLI) that have been used on spacecraft for decades. In order to be an attractive candidate for replacing MLI, FCS systems should not only provide superior protection against meteoroid strikes but also provide an equal or superior ability to control the temperature of the protected component. Properly designed FCS systems can provide these principal functions, meteoroid strike protection and thermal control, with lower system mass and a smaller system envelope than ML.

A Multi-Proxy Investigation into the Biomineralization Pathways of Benthic Invertebrate Taxa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeCorte, I. A.; Liu, Y. W.; Doss, W. C.; Ries, J. B.; Eagle, R.

2016-12-01

Ocean acidification is the result of surface ocean absorption of anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions and endangers many marine organisms. Decreases in pH and a coupled reduction in CaCO3 saturation state have been shown to disrupt the process of biomineralization within many species of marine calcifiers. Recent studies, however, demonstrate that calcifying organisms respond in diverse ways to changes in pH and CaCO3 saturation state. We examine element ratios (including Sr/Ca, Mg/Ca, Li/Ca, and B/Ca) and boron isotope ratios (δ11B) in 7 macro-invertebrate species (blue crab, shrimp, coralline red algae, pencil urchin, purple urchin, temperate coral, and serpulid worm) and compare results to net calcification rates and experimental seawater carbonate system parameters. Correlations between seawater carbonate chemistry and the elemental compositions of biogenic calcite and aragonite vary widely and are highly taxon-specific, ranging from strongly correlated to no significant response—a finding that is consistent with mounting evidence that many marine calcifying organisms regulate the chemistry of the fluid at their site of calcification. A Rayleigh framework is used to interpret the elemental data. We then analyze δ11B of the same samples as a proxy for pH at their site of calcification. Preliminary results suggest that coralline red algae, shrimp, urchin, serpulid worm and temperate coral taxa elevate pH at the site of calcification relative to the organism's ambient seawater. We plan to utilize a multi-proxy approach to examine the biomineralization pathways that influence elemental and boron isotope fractionation during calcification and precipitation of biogenic aragonite and calcite. A better understanding of these biomineralization pathways will help us to predict the responses of benthic invertebrate taxa to ocean acidification, as well as provide insights into drivers of so-called vital effects on elemental and stable boron isotope fractionation within biogenic carbonates—thereby assessing the fidelity of these proxies for reconstructing paleo-environmental change within a diverse range of marine calcifiers.

Empirical correspondence between trophic transfer efficiency in freshwater food webs and the slope of their size spectra.

PubMed

Mehner, Thomas; Lischke, Betty; Scharnweber, Kristin; Attermeyer, Katrin; Brothers, Soren; Gaedke, Ursula; Hilt, Sabine; Brucet, Sandra

2018-06-01

The density of organisms declines with size, because larger organisms need more energy than smaller ones and energetic losses occur when larger organisms feed on smaller ones. A potential expression of density-size distributions are Normalized Biomass Size Spectra (NBSS), which plot the logarithm of biomass independent of taxonomy within bins of logarithmic organismal size, divided by the bin width. Theoretically, the NBSS slope of multi-trophic communities is exactly -1.0 if the trophic transfer efficiency (TTE, ratio of production rates between adjacent trophic levels) is 10% and the predator-prey mass ratio (PPMR) is fixed at 10 4 . Here we provide evidence from four multi-trophic lake food webs that empirically estimated TTEs correspond to empirically estimated slopes of the respective community NBSS. Each of the NBSS considered pelagic and benthic organisms spanning size ranges from bacteria to fish, all sampled over three seasons in 1 yr. The four NBSS slopes were significantly steeper than -1.0 (range -1.14 to -1.19, with 95% CIs excluding -1). The corresponding average TTEs were substantially lower than 10% in each of the four food webs (range 1.0% to 3.6%, mean 1.85%). The overall slope merging all biomass-size data pairs from the four systems (-1.17) was almost identical to the slope predicted from the arithmetic mean TTE of the four food webs (-1.18) assuming a constant PPMR of 10 4 . Accordingly, our empirical data confirm the theoretically predicted quantitative relationship between TTE and the slope of the biomass-size distribution. Furthermore, we show that benthic and pelagic organisms can be merged into a community NBSS, but future studies have yet to explore potential differences in habitat-specific TTEs and PPMRs. We suggest that community NBSS may provide valuable information on the structure of food webs and their energetic pathways, and can result in improved accuracy of TTE-estimates. © 2018 by the Ecological Society of America.

Sediment DIN fluxes and preferential recycling of benthic microalgal nitrogen in a shallow macrotidal estuary

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tobias, C.; Giblin, A.; McClelland, J.; Tucker, J.; Peterson, B.

2003-01-01

Sediment-water fluxes of NH4+, NO3-, dissolved inorganic carbon, and O2 were measured in cores collected from the upper Rowley River estuary, Massachusetts, and used to calculate rates of organic nitrogen (N) mineralization, nitrification, and coupled and direct denitrification (DNF). The cores contained 15N label in benthic microalgae (BMA) and in NO3- in the overlying water as a result of an ongoing whole-estuary 15NO 3- enrichment study (NISOTREX II). The tracer allowed for estimation of gross NO3- regeneration in sediments and the contribution of BMA derived N to total mineralization. The mean mineralization rate between sites was 16.0 ?? 2.0 mmol N m-2 d-1. Approximately 13 to 56% of the mineralized N was nitrified at rates ranging from 1.8 to 10.1 mmol N m-2 d-1. Total denitrification was dominated by direct DNF (3.6 mmol N m-2 d -1) furthest upstream, where NO3- concentrations were highest. Coupled DNF was most important (8.0 mmol N m -2 d-1) in the sediments with high nitrification and low water column NO3-. A gross NO3- flux from sediments to water of 0.9 to 2.1 mmol N m-2 d-1 was estimated from the isotope dilution of ??15NO 3- in the overlying water of the cores. The isotope dilution seen in the cores was also detected as a deviation from conservative ??15NO3- mixing along estuarine transects. Incorporation of this NO3- regeneration into the DNF calculations effectively increased the estimate of direct DNF by up to 50% and decreased the coupled DNF estimate by up to 220%. Increasing ?? 15NH4+ in the water of the cores indicated that the 15N-labelled BMA were preferentially mineralized over bulk sediment organic N. Additional 15N enrichments in the sediment bacterial biomarker diaminopimelic acid showed a link among 15N-labeled BMA, active bacteria, and 15NH 4+released to the overlying water. Based on ?? 15NH4+ enrichments in the cores, BMA accounted for approximately 50 to 100% of the N mineralized. An isotopic enrichment of ??15NH4+ above background in the estuary was observed at a magnitude consistent with the core-based rates of BMA mineralization. These results provide further evidence that BMA are not unidirectional sinks for water column-dissolved organic nitrogen, but instead act to turn over N between sediments and estuarine water on the scale of days.

Design and Development of a Run-Time Monitor for Multi-Core Architectures in Cloud Computing

PubMed Central

Kang, Mikyung; Kang, Dong-In; Crago, Stephen P.; Park, Gyung-Leen; Lee, Junghoon

2011-01-01

Cloud computing is a new information technology trend that moves computing and data away from desktops and portable PCs into large data centers. The basic principle of cloud computing is to deliver applications as services over the Internet as well as infrastructure. A cloud is a type of parallel and distributed system consisting of a collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers that are dynamically provisioned and presented as one or more unified computing resources. The large-scale distributed applications on a cloud require adaptive service-based software, which has the capability of monitoring system status changes, analyzing the monitored information, and adapting its service configuration while considering tradeoffs among multiple QoS features simultaneously. In this paper, we design and develop a Run-Time Monitor (RTM) which is a system software to monitor the application behavior at run-time, analyze the collected information, and optimize cloud computing resources for multi-core architectures. RTM monitors application software through library instrumentation as well as underlying hardware through a performance counter optimizing its computing configuration based on the analyzed data. PMID:22163811

Design and development of a run-time monitor for multi-core architectures in cloud computing.

PubMed

Kang, Mikyung; Kang, Dong-In; Crago, Stephen P; Park, Gyung-Leen; Lee, Junghoon

2011-01-01

Cloud computing is a new information technology trend that moves computing and data away from desktops and portable PCs into large data centers. The basic principle of cloud computing is to deliver applications as services over the Internet as well as infrastructure. A cloud is a type of parallel and distributed system consisting of a collection of inter-connected and virtualized computers that are dynamically provisioned and presented as one or more unified computing resources. The large-scale distributed applications on a cloud require adaptive service-based software, which has the capability of monitoring system status changes, analyzing the monitored information, and adapting its service configuration while considering tradeoffs among multiple QoS features simultaneously. In this paper, we design and develop a Run-Time Monitor (RTM) which is a system software to monitor the application behavior at run-time, analyze the collected information, and optimize cloud computing resources for multi-core architectures. RTM monitors application software through library instrumentation as well as underlying hardware through a performance counter optimizing its computing configuration based on the analyzed data.

A mathematical model of algae growth in a pelagic-benthic coupled shallow aquatic ecosystem.

PubMed

Zhang, Jimin; Shi, Junping; Chang, Xiaoyuan

2018-04-01

A coupled system of ordinary differential equations and partial differential equations is proposed to describe the interaction of pelagic algae, benthic algae and one essential nutrient in an oligotrophic shallow aquatic ecosystem with ample supply of light. The existence and uniqueness of non-negative steady states are completely determined for all possible parameter range, and these results characterize sharp threshold conditions for the regime shift from extinction to coexistence of pelagic and benthic algae. The influence of environmental parameters on algal biomass density is also considered, which is an important indicator of algal blooms. Our studies suggest that the nutrient recycling from loss of algal biomass may be an important factor in the algal blooms process; and the presence of benthic algae may limit the pelagic algal biomass density as they consume common resources even if the sediment nutrient level is high.

Evidence for an evolving oxygen minimum zone in the Eastern Mediterranean during sapropel S1 controlled partly by the increased outflow from the Nile flood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zirks, Eleen; Goodman-Tchernov, Beverly; Krom, Michael D.

2017-04-01

Understanding the nature and evolution of past Oxygen Minimum Zones (OMZ) are of great interest since they shed light on expanding OMZ's in the modern ocean. Furthermore, as we alter the nutrient fluxes emitted from modern major rivers there are known to major, often undesirable, consequence to the oxygen status in the marine basin both proximal and distal to the river discharge (e.g. Mississippi). Recent Global Climate Model (GCM) of the nature and development of S-1 sapropel in the Eastern Mediterranean (EMS) have suggested a four layer system with a well-ventilated surface water (0-200 m) and intermediate water (200-500 m), a partially ventilated sapropel intermediate water (SIW, 500-1800 m) and long-term stagnant deep water below 1800 m. Our conceptual model is of the partially ventilated SIW flowing from Adriatic/Aegean towards the east and becoming depleted in oxygen as it is increasingly influenced by descending labile organic matter derived directly or indirectly from the Nile flood. Most studies of sapropels in the EMS concentrate on the deep water below 1800 m water depths with only a limited number of samples having been taken from the SIW layer. In this review, we focus on the several stations sampled between 500-1800 m and particularly on stations in the Eastern Aegean and Levantine basins. Data has been obtained from sediment cores (9509, 9501, SL112, PS009PC, SL123, 562MC) in which either benthic foraminifera fauna or redox sensitive trace metals (RSTM) data have been measured. The Shannon-Weaver diversity index and the Oxygen Index have been calculated on the benthic foraminifera fauna. These cores reveal a distinct pattern in onset and offset of sapropel S1 and in the interruption of the sapropel at 8.2 ka BP. The onset of S1 was earlier in the shallower water depths consistent with greater respiration rates from progressively less labile organic matter dropping from the photic zone. There was a clear spatial trend in intensity of the OMZ with benthic foraminifera surviving in SIW throughout S1 offshore Libya (562MC) and close to Crete (SL123) nearer the source of SIW. By contrast the diversity is reduced and in case of 562MC the Oxygen Index reached zero close to the Israeli coast and under the direct influence of the Nile. There was an observed correlation between the V/Al ratio (PS009PC), a redox sensitive trace metal used as an indicator for sub-oxic conditions in the water column and the calculated Oxygen Index as well as diversity on benthic foraminifera (SL112). Our study also shows that the intensity of S1 sapropel was greater in this region between its onset and the 8.2 interruption, than in the period from 8.2 to the end of S1. Indeed, close to Cyprus (9501) sapropel S1 ends at 8.2 ka BP and doesn't have a second sapropelic part.

Radiocarbon-based carbon source quantification of anomalous isotopic foraminifera in last glacial sediments in the western North Pacific

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uchida, Masao; Ohkushi, Ken'ichi; Kimoto, Katsunori; Inagaki, Fumio; Ishimura, Toyoho; Tsunogai, Urumu; Tuzino, Taqumi; Shibata, Yasuyuki

2008-04-01

A previous study interpreted extremely 13C-depleted excursions of planktonic and benthic foraminifera in last glacial sediments (17,500 to 25,400 cal years B.P.) of the core retrieved from off Shimokita Peninsula and off Hokkaido, Japan, as evidence for periodic releases of methane, arising from the dissociation of methane hydrate. To better understand the formation process of the 13C-depleted excursions, we conducted high-resolution natural radiocarbon measurements and biogeochemical analyses. We found highly depleted 13C excursions ranging from -10.2‰ to -1.6‰ and -6.8‰ to -1.6‰ in planktonic and benthic foraminifera, respectively. Most of the foraminiferal tests in these horizons were brown, most likely as a result of postdepositional alteration, reflecting the formation of authigenic carbonate on the surface of tests. These alterations were also supported by high levels of Mg-calcite and the acid-leaching test for anomalous foraminifera. To evaluate the carbon sources in the altered foraminifera tests, we quantified the relative contributions of 14C-free methane-derived carbon sources to the formation of authigenic carbonates in foraminifera with depleted 13C excursions using a coupled mass balance isotopic model (14C/C and 13C/12C). The radiocarbon ages of both planktonic and benthic 13C-depleted foraminifera were approximately 600 to 2000 years older than those of normal tests from nearby horizons. The relative contributions of authigenic carbonates derived from the methane oxidizing process reached to ˜22 wt% for planktonic foraminifera and ˜15 wt% for benthic foraminifera. The δ13C values of methane calculated from the mass balance model were between -29‰ and -68‰ for planktonic foraminifera and between -40‰ and -108‰ for benthic foraminifera, consistent with δ13C values reported for thermogenic and abiogenic methane in global methane hydrate reservoirs. These data consistently suggest that methane-related drastic environmental change occurred in the horizons that included δ13C anomalies. This study provides important information for interpreting geological records of the methane hydrate instability associated with climate.

Few-mode fiber, splice and SDM component characterization by spatially-diverse optical vector network analysis.

PubMed

Rommel, Simon; Mendinueta, José Manuel Delgado; Klaus, Werner; Sakaguchi, Jun; Olmos, Juan José Vegas; Awaji, Yoshinari; Monroy, Idelfonso Tafur; Wada, Naoya

2017-09-18

This paper discusses spatially diverse optical vector network analysis for space division multiplexing (SDM) component and system characterization, which is becoming essential as SDM is widely considered to increase the capacity of optical communication systems. Characterization of a 108-channel photonic lantern spatial multiplexer, coupled to a 36-core 3-mode fiber, is experimentally demonstrated, extracting the full impulse response and complex transfer function matrices as well as insertion loss (IL) and mode-dependent loss (MDL) data. Moreover, the mode-mixing behavior of fiber splices in the few-mode multi-core fiber and their impact on system IL and MDL are analyzed, finding splices to cause significant mode-mixing and to be non-negligible in system capacity analysis.

Deep time ocean hypoxia: The impact on Jurassic marine ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caswell, B. A.; Frid, C. L. J.

2016-02-01

In order to understand how the environment will change over the next 100-1000 years and how this will impact the biosphere we need long-term data from a range of scenarios. This long-term perspective can be achieved by looking at periods of comparable environmental change in Earth history. Two past periods of ocean deoxygenation, 150 and 183 million years ago, are compared: (1) a period of global climate change, analogous to that occurring today, and (2) a period of regional hypoxia associated with changing circulation and nutrient supply. Palaeoecological changes in populations, communities, and seafloor functioning were investigated using data spanning millions of years at high resolution (100s-1000s years). Large shifts in biodiversity, body-size and the population-size of the dominant benthic taxa occurred in response to ocean anoxia. Ecological change spanned multiple trophic levels and suggest that changes in primary productivity impacted macrobenthos and their pelagic predators resulting in biogeographic range shifts. Quantitative analyses of changes in biological traits and core ecosystem functions show changes in nutrient regeneration, food web dynamics, and benthic-pelagic coupling. During ocean deoxygenation Jurassic ecosystems showed functional resilience and redundancy, but ultimately functioning collapsed. Quantification of the relationships between ecological change and various proxies for palaeoenvironmental change show that both hypoxia and primary productivity were important drivers. Environmental thresholds for local ecosystem change are identified. The patterns of Jurassic ecosystem change share many similarities with present-day hypoxic systems. Critically, the recovery from global anoxia was very slow and connectivity, with potential sources of new recruits, was an important contributor to ecosystem recovery. This emphasises the risks of relying on patterns of short-term and small-scale resilience when managing modern marine systems.

Large-scale automated image analysis for computational profiling of brain tissue surrounding implanted neuroprosthetic devices using Python.

PubMed

Rey-Villamizar, Nicolas; Somasundar, Vinay; Megjhani, Murad; Xu, Yan; Lu, Yanbin; Padmanabhan, Raghav; Trett, Kristen; Shain, William; Roysam, Badri

2014-01-01

In this article, we describe the use of Python for large-scale automated server-based bio-image analysis in FARSIGHT, a free and open-source toolkit of image analysis methods for quantitative studies of complex and dynamic tissue microenvironments imaged by modern optical microscopes, including confocal, multi-spectral, multi-photon, and time-lapse systems. The core FARSIGHT modules for image segmentation, feature extraction, tracking, and machine learning are written in C++, leveraging widely used libraries including ITK, VTK, Boost, and Qt. For solving complex image analysis tasks, these modules must be combined into scripts using Python. As a concrete example, we consider the problem of analyzing 3-D multi-spectral images of brain tissue surrounding implanted neuroprosthetic devices, acquired using high-throughput multi-spectral spinning disk step-and-repeat confocal microscopy. The resulting images typically contain 5 fluorescent channels. Each channel consists of 6000 × 10,000 × 500 voxels with 16 bits/voxel, implying image sizes exceeding 250 GB. These images must be mosaicked, pre-processed to overcome imaging artifacts, and segmented to enable cellular-scale feature extraction. The features are used to identify cell types, and perform large-scale analysis for identifying spatial distributions of specific cell types relative to the device. Python was used to build a server-based script (Dell 910 PowerEdge servers with 4 sockets/server with 10 cores each, 2 threads per core and 1TB of RAM running on Red Hat Enterprise Linux linked to a RAID 5 SAN) capable of routinely handling image datasets at this scale and performing all these processing steps in a collaborative multi-user multi-platform environment. Our Python script enables efficient data storage and movement between computers and storage servers, logs all the processing steps, and performs full multi-threaded execution of all codes, including open and closed-source third party libraries.

Plate & tube bridge deck evaluation in the deck test bed of the Troutville, Virginia, weigh station.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-01-01

This report addresses the laboratory and field performance of multi-cellular fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite bridge deck systems. We focus specifically on FRP decks produced from adhesively bonded pultrusions where the core of the deck posse...

Scaling Fiber Lasers to Large Mode Area: An Investigation of Passive Mode-Locking Using a Multi-Mode Fiber

PubMed Central

Ding, Edwin; Lefrancois, Simon; Kutz, Jose Nathan; Wise, Frank W.

2011-01-01

The mode-locking of dissipative soliton fiber lasers using large mode area fiber supporting multiple transverse modes is studied experimentally and theoretically. The averaged mode-locking dynamics in a multi-mode fiber are studied using a distributed model. The co-propagation of multiple transverse modes is governed by a system of coupled Ginzburg–Landau equations. Simulations show that stable and robust mode-locked pulses can be produced. However, the mode-locking can be destabilized by excessive higher-order mode content. Experiments using large core step-index fiber, photonic crystal fiber, and chirally-coupled core fiber show that mode-locking can be significantly disturbed in the presence of higher-order modes, resulting in lower maximum single-pulse energies. In practice, spatial mode content must be carefully controlled to achieve full pulse energy scaling. This paper demonstrates that mode-locking performance is very sensitive to the presence of multiple waveguide modes when compared to systems such as amplifiers and continuous-wave lasers. PMID:21731106

Scaling Fiber Lasers to Large Mode Area: An Investigation of Passive Mode-Locking Using a Multi-Mode Fiber.

PubMed

Ding, Edwin; Lefrancois, Simon; Kutz, Jose Nathan; Wise, Frank W

2011-01-01

The mode-locking of dissipative soliton fiber lasers using large mode area fiber supporting multiple transverse modes is studied experimentally and theoretically. The averaged mode-locking dynamics in a multi-mode fiber are studied using a distributed model. The co-propagation of multiple transverse modes is governed by a system of coupled Ginzburg-Landau equations. Simulations show that stable and robust mode-locked pulses can be produced. However, the mode-locking can be destabilized by excessive higher-order mode content. Experiments using large core step-index fiber, photonic crystal fiber, and chirally-coupled core fiber show that mode-locking can be significantly disturbed in the presence of higher-order modes, resulting in lower maximum single-pulse energies. In practice, spatial mode content must be carefully controlled to achieve full pulse energy scaling. This paper demonstrates that mode-locking performance is very sensitive to the presence of multiple waveguide modes when compared to systems such as amplifiers and continuous-wave lasers.

Food and disturbance effects on Arctic benthic biomass and production size spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Górska, Barbara; Włodarska-Kowalczuk, Maria

2017-03-01

Body size is a fundamental biological unit that is closely coupled to key ecological properties and processes. At the community level, changes in size distributions may influence energy transfer pathways in benthic food webs and ecosystem carbon cycling; nevertheless they remain poorly explored in benthic systems, particularly in the polar regions. Here, we present the first assessment of the patterns of benthic biomass size spectra in Arctic coastal sediments and explore the effects of glacial disturbance and food availability on the partitioning of biomass and secondary productivity among size-defined components of benthic communities. The samples were collected in two Arctic fjords off west Spitsbergen (76 and 79°N), at 6 stations that represent three regimes of varying food availability (indicated by chlorophyll a concentration in the sediments) and glacial sedimentation disturbance intensity (indicated by sediment accumulation rates). The organisms were measured using image analysis to assess the biovolume, biomass and the annual production of each individual. The shape of benthic biomass size spectra at most stations was bimodal, with the location of a trough and peaks similar to those previously reported in lower latitudes. In undisturbed sediments macrofauna comprised 89% of the total benthic biomass and 56% of the total production. The lower availability of food resources seemed to suppress the biomass and secondary production across the whole size spectra (a 6-fold decrease in biomass and a 4-fold decrease in production in total) rather than reshape the spectrum. At locations where poor nutritional conditions were coupled with disturbance, the biomass was strongly reduced in selected macrofaunal size classes (class 10 and 11), while meiofaunal biomass and production were much higher, most likely due to a release from macrofaunal predation and competition pressure. As a result, the partitioning of benthic biomass and production shifted towards meiofauna (39% of biomass and 83% of production), which took over the benthic metazoan key-player role in terms of processing organic matter in sediments. Macrofaunal nematodes composed a considerable portion of the benthic community in terms of biomass (up to 9%) and production (up to 12%), but only in undisturbed sediments with high organic matter content. Our study indicates that food availability and disturbance controls the total bulk and partitioning of biomass and production among the size classes in Arctic benthic communities.

A Multimetric Benthic Macroinvertebrate Index for the Assessment of Stream Biotic Integrity in Korea

PubMed Central

Jun, Yung-Chul; Won, Doo-Hee; Lee, Soo-Hyung; Kong, Dong-Soo; Hwang, Soon-Jin

2012-01-01

At a time when anthropogenic activities are increasingly disturbing the overall ecological integrity of freshwater ecosystems, monitoring of biological communities is central to assessing the health and function of streams. This study aimed to use a large nation-wide database to develop a multimetric index (the Korean Benthic macroinvertebrate Index of Biological Integrity—KB-IBI) applicable to the biological assessment of Korean streams. Reference and impaired conditions were determined based on watershed, chemical and physical criteria. Eight of an initial 34 candidate metrics were selected using a stepwise procedure that evaluated metric variability, redundancy, sensitivity and responsiveness to environmental gradients. The selected metrics were number of taxa, percent Ephemeroptera-Plecoptera-Trichoptera (EPT) individuals, percent of a dominant taxon, percent taxa abundance without Chironomidae, Shannon’s diversity index, percent gatherer individuals, ratio of filterers and scrapers, and the Korean saprobic index. Our multimetric index successfully distinguished reference from impaired conditions. A scoring system was established for each core metric using its quartile range and response to anthropogenic disturbances. The multimetric index was classified by aggregating the individual metric ..scores and the value range was quadrisected to provide a narrative criterion (Poor, Fair, Good and Excellent) to describe the biological integrity of the streams in the study. A validation procedure showed that the index is an effective method for evaluating stream conditions, and thus is appropriate for use in future studies measuring the long-term status of streams, and the effectiveness of restoration methods. PMID:23202765

Parallel Agent-Based Simulations on Clusters of GPUs and Multi-Core Processors

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Aaby, Brandon G; Perumalla, Kalyan S; Seal, Sudip K

2010-01-01

An effective latency-hiding mechanism is presented in the parallelization of agent-based model simulations (ABMS) with millions of agents. The mechanism is designed to accommodate the hierarchical organization as well as heterogeneity of current state-of-the-art parallel computing platforms. We use it to explore the computation vs. communication trade-off continuum available with the deep computational and memory hierarchies of extant platforms and present a novel analytical model of the tradeoff. We describe our implementation and report preliminary performance results on two distinct parallel platforms suitable for ABMS: CUDA threads on multiple, networked graphical processing units (GPUs), and pthreads on multi-core processors. Messagemore » Passing Interface (MPI) is used for inter-GPU as well as inter-socket communication on a cluster of multiple GPUs and multi-core processors. Results indicate the benefits of our latency-hiding scheme, delivering as much as over 100-fold improvement in runtime for certain benchmark ABMS application scenarios with several million agents. This speed improvement is obtained on our system that is already two to three orders of magnitude faster on one GPU than an equivalent CPU-based execution in a popular simulator in Java. Thus, the overall execution of our current work is over four orders of magnitude faster when executed on multiple GPUs.« less

Neural simulations on multi-core architectures.

PubMed

Eichner, Hubert; Klug, Tobias; Borst, Alexander

2009-01-01

Neuroscience is witnessing increasing knowledge about the anatomy and electrophysiological properties of neurons and their connectivity, leading to an ever increasing computational complexity of neural simulations. At the same time, a rather radical change in personal computer technology emerges with the establishment of multi-cores: high-density, explicitly parallel processor architectures for both high performance as well as standard desktop computers. This work introduces strategies for the parallelization of biophysically realistic neural simulations based on the compartmental modeling technique and results of such an implementation, with a strong focus on multi-core architectures and automation, i.e. user-transparent load balancing.

Neural Simulations on Multi-Core Architectures

PubMed Central

Eichner, Hubert; Klug, Tobias; Borst, Alexander

2009-01-01

Neuroscience is witnessing increasing knowledge about the anatomy and electrophysiological properties of neurons and their connectivity, leading to an ever increasing computational complexity of neural simulations. At the same time, a rather radical change in personal computer technology emerges with the establishment of multi-cores: high-density, explicitly parallel processor architectures for both high performance as well as standard desktop computers. This work introduces strategies for the parallelization of biophysically realistic neural simulations based on the compartmental modeling technique and results of such an implementation, with a strong focus on multi-core architectures and automation, i.e. user-transparent load balancing. PMID:19636393

Fault-Tolerant, Real-Time, Multi-Core Computer System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gostelow, Kim P.

2012-01-01

A document discusses a fault-tolerant, self-aware, low-power, multi-core computer for space missions with thousands of simple cores, achieving speed through concurrency. The proposed machine decides how to achieve concurrency in real time, rather than depending on programmers. The driving features of the system are simple hardware that is modular in the extreme, with no shared memory, and software with significant runtime reorganizing capability. The document describes a mechanism for moving ongoing computations and data that is based on a functional model of execution. Because there is no shared memory, the processor connects to its neighbors through a high-speed data link. Messages are sent to a neighbor switch, which in turn forwards that message on to its neighbor until reaching the intended destination. Except for the neighbor connections, processors are isolated and independent of each other. The processors on the periphery also connect chip-to-chip, thus building up a large processor net. There is no particular topology to the larger net, as a function at each processor allows it to forward a message in the correct direction. Some chip-to-chip connections are not necessarily nearest neighbors, providing short cuts for some of the longer physical distances. The peripheral processors also provide the connections to sensors, actuators, radios, science instruments, and other devices with which the computer system interacts.

Neural networks within multi-core optic fibers

PubMed Central

Cohen, Eyal; Malka, Dror; Shemer, Amir; Shahmoon, Asaf; Zalevsky, Zeev; London, Michael

2016-01-01

Hardware implementation of artificial neural networks facilitates real-time parallel processing of massive data sets. Optical neural networks offer low-volume 3D connectivity together with large bandwidth and minimal heat production in contrast to electronic implementation. Here, we present a conceptual design for in-fiber optical neural networks. Neurons and synapses are realized as individual silica cores in a multi-core fiber. Optical signals are transferred transversely between cores by means of optical coupling. Pump driven amplification in erbium-doped cores mimics synaptic interactions. We simulated three-layered feed-forward neural networks and explored their capabilities. Simulations suggest that networks can differentiate between given inputs depending on specific configurations of amplification; this implies classification and learning capabilities. Finally, we tested experimentally our basic neuronal elements using fibers, couplers, and amplifiers, and demonstrated that this configuration implements a neuron-like function. Therefore, devices similar to our proposed multi-core fiber could potentially serve as building blocks for future large-scale small-volume optical artificial neural networks. PMID:27383911

Neural networks within multi-core optic fibers.

PubMed

Cohen, Eyal; Malka, Dror; Shemer, Amir; Shahmoon, Asaf; Zalevsky, Zeev; London, Michael

2016-07-07

Hardware implementation of artificial neural networks facilitates real-time parallel processing of massive data sets. Optical neural networks offer low-volume 3D connectivity together with large bandwidth and minimal heat production in contrast to electronic implementation. Here, we present a conceptual design for in-fiber optical neural networks. Neurons and synapses are realized as individual silica cores in a multi-core fiber. Optical signals are transferred transversely between cores by means of optical coupling. Pump driven amplification in erbium-doped cores mimics synaptic interactions. We simulated three-layered feed-forward neural networks and explored their capabilities. Simulations suggest that networks can differentiate between given inputs depending on specific configurations of amplification; this implies classification and learning capabilities. Finally, we tested experimentally our basic neuronal elements using fibers, couplers, and amplifiers, and demonstrated that this configuration implements a neuron-like function. Therefore, devices similar to our proposed multi-core fiber could potentially serve as building blocks for future large-scale small-volume optical artificial neural networks.

Phototoxicity of TiO₂ nanoparticles to a freshwater benthic amphipod: are benthic systems at risk?

PubMed

Li, Shibin; Wallis, Lindsay K; Ma, Hongbo; Diamond, Stephen A

2014-01-01

This study investigated phototoxicity of TiO₂ nanoparticles (nano-TiO₂) to a freshwater benthic amphipod (Hyalella azteca) using 48-h and 96-h bioassays. Thorough monitoring of particle interactions with exposure media (Lake Superior water, LSW) and the surface of organisms was performed using dynamic light scattering, UV/Vis spectroscopy, and Scanning Electron Microscopy. Large agglomeration and sedimentation (>77%) in LSW was observed after 0.5h. A simulated solar radiation (SSR)-favored surface attachment of nanoparticles was observed, indicating enhanced phototoxicity with the increased attachment. A 96-h median lethal concentration (LC50) of 29.9 mg/L in H. azteca was calculated, with a daily 4-h UV exposure of 2.2 W/m(2). Phototoxicity of nano-TiO₂ under SSR had a 21-fold increase as compared to that under ambient laboratory light. This phototoxicity was also dependent on UV dose, with calculated LC50s around 22.9 (95% CI, 20.5-23.3)Wh/m(2) when exposed to 20 mg/L nano-TiO₂. Also, H. azteca exhibited negative phototaxis in the presence of shelters, indicating that other factors might play a role in environmental systems. Finally, the environmental implications of nano-TiO₂ to benthic organisms were illustrated, emphasizing the importance of various environmental factors in the ultimate phototoxicity. This increased phototoxicity and its complex interactions with various environmental factors suggest further investigations are needed for future risk assessment of photoactive nanomaterials to benthic organisms. © 2013.

Reinforcing the North Atlantic backbone: revision and extension of the composite splice at ODP Site 982

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drury, Anna Joy; Westerhold, Thomas; Hodell, David; Röhl, Ursula

2018-03-01

Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 982 represents a key location for understanding the evolution of climate in the North Atlantic over the past 12 Ma. However, concerns exist about the validity and robustness of the underlying stratigraphy and astrochronology, which currently limits the adequacy of this site for high-resolution climate studies. To resolve this uncertainty, we verify and extend the early Pliocene to late Miocene shipboard composite splice at Site 982 using high-resolution XRF core scanning data and establish a robust high-resolution benthic foraminiferal stable isotope stratigraphy and astrochronology between 8.0 and 4.5 Ma. Splice revisions and verifications resulted in ˜ 11 m of gaps in the original Site 982 isotope stratigraphy, which were filled with 263 new isotope analyses. This new stratigraphy reveals previously unseen benthic δ18O excursions, particularly prior to 6.65 Ma. The benthic δ18O record displays distinct, asymmetric cycles between 7.7 and 6.65 Ma, confirming that high-latitude climate is a prevalent forcing during this interval. An intensification of the 41 kyr beat in both the benthic δ13C and δ18O is also observed ˜ 6.4 Ma, marking a strengthening in the cryosphere-carbon cycle coupling. A large ˜ 0.7 ‰ double excursion is revealed ˜ 6.4-6.3 Ma, which also marks the onset of an interval of average higher δ18O and large precession and obliquity-dominated δ18O excursions between 6.4 and 5.4 Ma, coincident with the culmination of the late Miocene cooling. The two largest benthic δ18O excursions ˜ 6.4-6.3 Ma and TG20/22 coincide with the coolest alkenone-derived sea surface temperature (SST) estimates from Site 982, suggesting a strong connection between the late Miocene global cooling, and deep-sea cooling and dynamic ice sheet expansion. The splice revisions and revised astrochronology resolve key stratigraphic issues that have hampered correlation between Site 982, the equatorial Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Comparisons of the revised Site 982 stratigraphy to high-resolution astronomically tuned benthic δ18O stratigraphies from ODP Site 926 (equatorial Atlantic) and Ain el Beida (north-western Morocco) show that prior inconsistencies in short-term excursions are now resolved. The identification of key new cycles at Site 982 further highlights the requirement for the current scheme for late Miocene marine isotope stages to be redefined. Our new integrated deep-sea benthic stable isotope stratigraphy and astrochronology from Site 982 will facilitate future high-resolution late Miocene to early Pliocene climate research.

A Comparison Study of Stochastic- and Guaranteed- Service Approaches on Safety Stock Optimization for Multi Serial Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Peng; Wu, Di

2018-01-01

Two competing approaches have been developed over the years for multi-echelon inventory system optimization, stochastic-service approach (SSA) and guaranteed-service approach (GSA). Although they solve the same inventory policy optimization problem in their core, they make different assumptions with regard to the role of safety stock. This paper provides a detailed comparison of the two approaches by considering operating flexibility costs in the optimization of (R, Q) policies for a continuous review serial inventory system. The results indicate the GSA model is more efficiency in solving the complicated inventory problem in terms of the computation time, and the cost difference of the two approaches is quite small.

Recent Developments in Smart Adaptive Structures for Solar Sailcraft

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Whorton, M. S.; Kim, Y. K.; Oakley, J.; Adetona, O.; Keel, L. H.

2007-01-01

The "Smart Adaptive Structures for Solar Sailcraft" development activity at MSFC has investigated issues associated with understanding how to model and scale the subsystem and multi-body system dynamics of a gossamer solar sailcraft with the objective of designing sailcraft attitude control systems. This research and development activity addressed three key tasks that leveraged existing facilities and core competencies of MSFC to investigate dynamics and control issues of solar sails. Key aspects of this effort included modeling and testing of a 30 m deployable boom; modeling of the multi-body system dynamics of a gossamer sailcraft; investigation of control-structures interaction for gossamer sailcraft; and development and experimental demonstration of adaptive control technologies to mitigate control-structures interaction.

Electronic Structure Calculations and Adaptation Scheme in Multi-core Computing Environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Seshagiri, Lakshminarasimhan; Sosonkina, Masha; Zhang, Zhao

2009-05-20

Multi-core processing environments have become the norm in the generic computing environment and are being considered for adding an extra dimension to the execution of any application. The T2 Niagara processor is a very unique environment where it consists of eight cores having a capability of running eight threads simultaneously in each of the cores. Applications like General Atomic and Molecular Electronic Structure (GAMESS), used for ab-initio molecular quantum chemistry calculations, can be good indicators of the performance of such machines and would be a guideline for both hardware designers and application programmers. In this paper we try to benchmarkmore » the GAMESS performance on a T2 Niagara processor for a couple of molecules. We also show the suitability of using a middleware based adaptation algorithm on GAMESS on such a multi-core environment.« less

Multiproxy record of the last interglacial (MIS 5e) off central and northern California, U.S.A., from Ocean Drilling Program sites 1018 and 1020

USGS Publications Warehouse

Poore, Richard Z.; Dowsett, H.J.; Barron, J.A.; Heusser, L.; Ravelo, A.C.; Mix, A.

2000-01-01

Environmental and climatic conditions during the last interglacial (about 125,000 years ago) along the Central and Northern California coastal region are interpreted from study of marine cores recovered by the Ocean Drilling Program at sites 1018 and 1020. Marine microfossil and pollen assemblages, oxygen isotopes in benthic foraminifers, physical properties, and calcium carbonate contents of cored sediments are proxies indicating strong links between the marine and terrestrial environments during marine isotope stage 5 (MIS 5). At the beginning of the last interglacial (MIS 5e), reduction in global ice volume, increase in surface temperature, and warming of air temperature along the Central and Northern California coast were synchronous within the resolution of our sampling record.

The Evolvable Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS): Making Systems Interoperable

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ko, Adans Y.; Maldague, Pierre F.; Bui, Tung; Lam, Doris T.; McKinney, John C.

2010-01-01

The Advanced Multi-Mission Operations System (AMMOS) provides a common Mission Operation System (MOS) infrastructure to NASA deep space missions. The evolution of AMMOS has been driven by two factors: increasingly challenging requirements from space missions, and the emergence of new IT technology. The work described in this paper focuses on three key tasks related to IT technology requirements: first, to eliminate duplicate functionality; second, to promote the use of loosely coupled application programming interfaces, text based file interfaces, web-based frameworks and integrated Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) to connect users, data, and core functionality; and third, to build, develop, and deploy AMMOS services that are reusable, agile, adaptive to project MOS configurations, and responsive to industrially endorsed information technology standards.

Rates of total oxygen uptake of sediments and benthic nutrient fluxes measured using an in situ autonomous benthic chamber in the sediment of the slope off the southwestern part of Ulleung Basin, East Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Jae Seong; An, Sung-Uk; Park, Young-Gyu; Kim, Eunsoo; Kim, Dongseon; Kwon, Jung No; Kang, Dong-Jin; Noh, Jae-Hoon

2015-09-01

We have developed a new autonomous benthic lander for deep-sea research, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) Belc II and Belp II. The benthic lander was successfully tested at 950 and 1450 m water depths on the slope off the southwestern part of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea of Korea. The ex situ measurements of the total oxygen uptake (TOU) rates at all the stations exceeded the in situ measurement values, and may indicate artificial effects from onboard incubation. The TOU rates were estimated to be 5.80 mmol m-2 d-1 and 3.77 mmol m-2 d-1 at water depths of 950 m and 1450 m, respectively. The benthic nutrient fluxes were also higher at water depths of 950 m, which indicates a partitioning of organic degradation with water depth. In addition, the negative phosphate and nitrogen benthic flux ratios and the higher nitrate removal flux via the sediment-water interface at the slope imply that the nitrogen in the bottom water may be preferentially removed via microbial respiration processes in the sediments, and may be coupled with the low nitrogen-to-phosphate ratio found in the deep water. Although our measurements comprised just two experiments in the slope sediment, the robust in situ measurement of the benthic fluxes in the slope sediment is a forerunner for new research into the biogeochemical cycles across the shelf edge-slope-basin system in the East Sea.

Rates of total oxygen uptake of sediments and benthic nutrient fluxes measured by an in situ autonomous benthic chamber in the sediment of the slope off the southwestern part of Ulleung Basin, East Sea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, J. S.; An, S. U.; Park, Y. G.; Kim, E.; Kim, D.; Kwon, J. N.; Kang, D. J.; Noh, J. H.

2016-02-01

We have developed a new autonomous benthic lander for deep-sea research, the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST) BelcII and BelpII. The benthic lander was successfully tested at 950 and 1450 m water depths on the slope off the southwestern part of the Ulleung Basin in the East Sea of Korea. The ex situ measurements of the total oxygen uptake (TOU) rates at all the stations exceeded the in situ measurement values, and may indicate artificial effects from onboard incubation. The TOU rates were estimated to be 5.80 mmol m-2 d-1 and 3.77 mmol m-2 d-1 at water depths of 950 m and 1450 m, respectively. The benthic nutrient fluxes were also higher at water depths of 950 m, which indicates a partitioning of organic degradation with water depth. In addition, the negative phosphate and nitrogen benthic flux ratios and the higher nitrate removal flux via the sediment-water interface at the slope imply that the nitrogen in the bottom water may be preferentially removed via microbial respiration processes in the sediments, and may be coupled with the low nitrogen-to-phosphate ratio found in the deep water. Although our measurements comprised just two experiments in the slope sediment, the robust in situ measurement of the benthic fluxes in the slope sediment is a forerunner for new research into the biogeochemical cycles across the shelf edge- slope-basin system in the East Sea.

Equation of state and critical point behavior of hard-core double-Yukawa fluids.

PubMed

Montes, J; Robles, M; López de Haro, M

2016-02-28

A theoretical study on the equation of state and the critical point behavior of hard-core double-Yukawa fluids is presented. Thermodynamic perturbation theory, restricted to first order in the inverse temperature and having the hard-sphere fluid as the reference system, is used to derive a relatively simple analytical equation of state of hard-core multi-Yukawa fluids. Using such an equation of state, the compressibility factor and phase behavior of six representative hard-core double-Yukawa fluids are examined and compared with available simulation results. The effect of varying the parameters of the hard-core double-Yukawa intermolecular potential on the location of the critical point is also analyzed using different perspectives. The relevance of this analysis for fluids whose molecules interact with realistic potentials is also pointed out.

Nonlinear dynamic simulation of single- and multi-spool core engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schobeiri, T.; Lippke, C.; Abouelkheir, M.

1993-01-01

In this paper a new computational method for accurate simulation of the nonlinear dynamic behavior of single- and multi-spool core engines, turbofan engines, and power generation gas turbine engines is presented. In order to perform the simulation, a modularly structured computer code has been developed which includes individual mathematical modules representing various engine components. The generic structure of the code enables the dynamic simulation of arbitrary engine configurations ranging from single-spool thrust generation to multi-spool thrust/power generation engines under adverse dynamic operating conditions. For precise simulation of turbine and compressor components, row-by-row calculation procedures were implemented that account for the specific turbine and compressor cascade and blade geometry and characteristics. The dynamic behavior of the subject engine is calculated by solving a number of systems of partial differential equations, which describe the unsteady behavior of the individual components. In order to ensure the capability, accuracy, robustness, and reliability of the code, comprehensive critical performance assessment and validation tests were performed. As representatives, three different transient cases with single- and multi-spool thrust and power generation engines were simulated. The transient cases range from operating with a prescribed fuel schedule, to extreme load changes, to generator and turbine shut down.

Microfossils, a Key to Unravel Cold-Water Carbonate Mound Evolution through Time: Evidence from the Eastern Alboran Sea

PubMed Central

Stalder, Claudio; Vertino, Agostina; Rosso, Antonietta; Rüggeberg, Andres; Pirkenseer, Claudius; Spangenberg, Jorge E.; Spezzaferri, Silvia; Camozzi, Osvaldo; Rappo, Sacha; Hajdas, Irka

2015-01-01

Cold-water coral (CWC) ecosystems occur worldwide and play a major role in the ocean's carbonate budget and atmospheric CO2 balance since the Danian (~65 m.y. ago). However their temporal and spatial evolution against climatic and oceanographic variability is still unclear. For the first time, we combine the main macrofaunal components of a sediment core from a CWC mound of the Melilla Mounds Field in the Eastern Alboran Sea with the associated microfauna and we highlight the importance of foraminifera and ostracods as indicators of CWC mound evolution in the paleorecord. Abundances of macrofauna along the core reveal alternating periods dominated by distinct CWC taxa (mostly Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata) that correspond to major shifts in foraminiferal and ostracod assemblages. The period dominated by M. oculata coincides with a period characterized by increased export of refractory organic matter to the seafloor and rather unstable oceanographic conditions at the benthic boundary layer with periodically decreased water energy and oxygenation, variable bottom water temperature/density and increased sediment flow. The microfaunal and geochemical data strongly suggest that M. oculata and in particular Dendrophylliidae show a higher tolerance to environmental changes than L. pertusa. Finally, we show evidence for sustained CWC growth during the Alleröd-Younger-Dryas in the Eastern Alboran Sea and that this period corresponds to stable benthic conditions with cold/dense and well oxygenated bottom waters, high fluxes of labile organic matter and relatively strong bottom currents PMID:26447699

Mg/Ca temperature calibration for the benthic foraminifers Bulimina inflata and Bulimina mexicana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grunert, Patrick; Rosenthal, Yair; Jorissen, Frans; Holbourn, Ann

2016-04-01

Bulimina inflata Seguenza 1862 and Bulimina mexicana Cushman 1922 are cosmopolitan, shallow infaunal benthic foraminifers which are common in the fossil record throughout the Neogene and Quaternary. The closely related species share a similar costate shell morphology that differs in the presence or absence of an apical spine. In the present study, we evaluate the temperature dependency of Mg/Ca ratios of these species from an extensive set of core-top samples from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. The results show no significant offset in Mg/Ca values between B. inflata, B. mexicana, and two other costate morphospecies when present in the same sample. The apparent lack of significant inter-specific/inter-morphotype differences amongst the analysed costate buliminds allows for the combined use of their data-sets for our core-top calibration. Over a bottom-water temperature range of 3-14°C, the Bulimina inflata/mexicana group shows a sensitivity of ˜0.12 mmol/mol/°C which is comparable to the epifaunal Cibicidoides pachyderma and higher than for the shallow infaunal Uvigerina spp., the most commonly used taxa in Mg/Ca-based palaeotemperature reconstruction. B. inflata and B. mexicana might thus be a valuable alternative in mesotrophic settings where many of the commonly used species are diminished or absent, and particularly useful in hypoxic settings where costate buliminds may dominate foraminiferal assemblages. This study was financially supported by the Max-Kade-Foundation and contributes to project P25831-N29 of the Austrian Science Fund (FWF).

The use of satellite tags to redefine movement patterns of spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) along the U.S. east coast: implications for fisheries management.

PubMed

Carlson, Amy E; Hoffmayer, Eric R; Tribuzio, Cindy A; Sulikowski, James A

2014-01-01

Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) are assumed to be a highly migratory species, making habitual north-south migrations throughout their northwestern Atlantic United States (U.S.) range. Also assumed to be a benthic species, spiny dogfish stock structure is estimated through Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) bottom-trawl surveys. Recent anomalies in population trends, including a recent four-fold increase in estimated spawning stock biomass, suggest alternative movement patterns could exist for this shark species. To obtain a better understanding of the horizontal and vertical movement dynamics of this species, Microwave Telemetry pop-up satellite archival X-Tags were attached to forty adult spiny dogfish at the northern (Gulf of Maine) and southern (North Carolina) extents of their core U.S. geographic range. Reconstructed geolocation tracks ranging in lengths from two to 12 months suggest that the seasonal migration patterns appear to be local in nature to each respective northern and southern deployment site, differing from previously published migration paradigms. Differences in distance and direction traveled between seasonal geolocations possibly indicate separate migratory patterns between groups. Kernel utilization distribution models also suggest strong separate core home ranges. Significant differences in seasonal temperature and depths between the two regions further substantiate the possibility of separate regional movement patterns between the two groups. Vertical utilization also suggests distinct diel patterns and that this species may not utilize the benthos as previously thought, potentially decreasing availability to benthic gear.

The Use of Satellite Tags to Redefine Movement Patterns of Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias) along the U.S. East Coast: Implications for Fisheries Management

PubMed Central

Carlson, Amy E.; Hoffmayer, Eric R.; Tribuzio, Cindy A.; Sulikowski, James A.

2014-01-01

Spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) are assumed to be a highly migratory species, making habitual north-south migrations throughout their northwestern Atlantic United States (U.S.) range. Also assumed to be a benthic species, spiny dogfish stock structure is estimated through Northeast Fisheries Science Center (NEFSC) bottom-trawl surveys. Recent anomalies in population trends, including a recent four-fold increase in estimated spawning stock biomass, suggest alternative movement patterns could exist for this shark species. To obtain a better understanding of the horizontal and vertical movement dynamics of this species, Microwave Telemetry pop-up satellite archival X-Tags were attached to forty adult spiny dogfish at the northern (Gulf of Maine) and southern (North Carolina) extents of their core U.S. geographic range. Reconstructed geolocation tracks ranging in lengths from two to 12 months suggest that the seasonal migration patterns appear to be local in nature to each respective northern and southern deployment site, differing from previously published migration paradigms. Differences in distance and direction traveled between seasonal geolocations possibly indicate separate migratory patterns between groups. Kernel utilization distribution models also suggest strong separate core home ranges. Significant differences in seasonal temperature and depths between the two regions further substantiate the possibility of separate regional movement patterns between the two groups. Vertical utilization also suggests distinct diel patterns and that this species may not utilize the benthos as previously thought, potentially decreasing availability to benthic gear. PMID:25068584

Naturally Ocurring Polyphosphate-accumulating Bacteria in Benthic Biofilms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Locke, N. A.; Saia, S. M.; Walter, M. T.; Carrick, H. J.; Buda, A. R.; Regan, J. M.

2014-12-01

Polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs), known to store excess phosphorus (P) as polyphosphate (poly-P), influence P transport in the environment. Enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) from wastewater has long served as a basis to study bacterial PAOs, yet little research has genetically identified similar organisms in natural settings. Aerobic/anaerobic cycles, used to select for PAOs in EBPR, can result from changing environmental conditions such as night/day cycles for benthic biofilms. Benthic biofilms from eight Pennsylvanian streams were studied for naturally-occurring bacterial PAOs similar to those typically found in EBPR systems. PAOs were confirmed in the benthic biofilms by a characteristic yellow fluorescent emission from DAPI staining. Cells containing yellow fluorescence were separated from the rest of the sample using a flow cytometer, resulting in a physically enriched culture of PAOs from the benthic biofilms. Amplicon-based metagenomic sequencing will reveal the phylogeny of bacteria responsible for poly-P accumulation in these benthic biofilms. Sequencing data will be used to develop fluorescent in-situ hybridization (FISH) probes, and hybridizations will be performed on DAPI-stained cells to confirm poly-P accumulation by targeted phylotypes. Identifying PAOs in natural settings is a critical step towards studying environments that support high concentrations of PAOs, serving as significant factors in the P cycle. PAOs can then be connected to P transport models to help understand and mitigate P pollution in agricultural watersheds.

Evaluating ecosystem-based management options: Effects of trawling in Torres Strait, Australia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ellis, Nick; Pantus, Francis; Welna, Andrzej; Butler, Alan

2008-09-01

A suite of management options for a prawn trawl fishery in Torres Strait, Australia was assessed for impacts on the benthic fauna using a dynamic management strategy evaluation approach. The specification of the management options was gained through consultation with stakeholders. Data for the model was drawn from several sources: the fleet data from fishery logbooks and satellite vessel monitoring systems, benthic depletion rates from trawl-down experiments, benthic recovery rates from post-experiment recovery monitoring studies, and benthic distribution from large-scale benthic surveys. Although there were large uncertainties in the resulting indicators, robust measures relevant to management were obtained by taking ratios relative to the status quo. The management control with the biggest effect was total effort; reducing trawl effort always led to increases in benthic faunal density of up to 10%. Spatial closures had a smaller benefit of up to 2%. The effect of closing a set of buffer zones around reefs to trawling was indistinguishable from the status quo option. Closing a larger area, however, was largely beneficial especially for sea cucumbers. When the spatial distributions of fauna prior to fishing were accounted for, fauna with distributions positively correlated with effort improved relative to those negatively correlated. The reduction in prawn catch under effort reduction scenarios could be ameliorated by introducing temporal closures over the full-moon period.

Formation of Antarctic Intermediate Water during the Plio-Pleistocene

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karas, C.; Goldstein, S. L.; deMenocal, P. B.

2017-12-01

Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) plays a fundamental role in modern climate change. It is an important sink for anthropogenic CO2, it represents an important source water in several (sub)tropical upwelling regions and it is the coldwater route from the Southern Hemisphere to the North Atlantic Ocean replacing North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). During the last 4 million years, which marks the transition from the warm Pliocene climate towards icehouse conditions, the formation of this watermass is still largely unknown. We here present a multi-proxy approach using neodymium isotopes (ɛNd) on Fe-Mn encrusted foraminifera and coupled benthic Mg/Ca and stable isotopes from South Atlantic Site 516, within AAIW, to reconstruct its variability. Our data show that the modern formation of AAIW started about 3 million years ago, indicated by a distinct drop of ɛNd by 1.5, a cooling and freshening of benthic TMg/Ca by 8°C and a drop in benthic d13C values towards modern times. We interpret these changes as a reduced inflow of Pacific waters into the South Atlantic and the onset of modern deep vertical mixing at the source regions of AAIW near the polar front. These processes had significant effects on the CO2 storage of the ocean that supported global cooling and the intensification of the Northern Hemisphere Glaciation.

Organic matter degradation drives benthic cyanobacterial mat abundance on Caribbean coral reefs.

PubMed

Brocke, Hannah J; Polerecky, Lubos; de Beer, Dirk; Weber, Miriam; Claudet, Joachim; Nugues, Maggy M

2015-01-01

Benthic cyanobacterial mats (BCMs) are impacting coral reefs worldwide. However, the factors and mechanisms driving their proliferation are unclear. We conducted a multi-year survey around the Caribbean island of Curaçao, which revealed highest BCM abundance on sheltered reefs close to urbanised areas. Reefs with high BCM abundance were also characterised by high benthic cover of macroalgae and low cover of corals. Nutrient concentrations in the water-column were consistently low, but markedly increased just above substrata (both sandy and hard) covered with BCMs. This was true for sites with both high and low BCM coverage, suggesting that BCM growth is stimulated by a localised, substrate-linked release of nutrients from the microbial degradation of organic matter. This hypothesis was supported by a higher organic content in sediments on reefs with high BCM coverage, and by an in situ experiment which showed that BCMs grew within days on sediments enriched with organic matter (Spirulina). We propose that nutrient runoff from urbanised areas stimulates phototrophic blooms and enhances organic matter concentrations on the reef. This organic matter is transported by currents and settles on the seabed at sites with low hydrodynamics. Subsequently, nutrients released from the organic matter degradation fuel the growth of BCMs. Improved management of nutrients generated on land should lower organic loading of sediments and other benthos (e.g. turf and macroalgae) to reduce BCM proliferation on coral reefs.

Benthic macroinvertebrate field sampling effort required to ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This multi-year pilot study evaluated a proposed field method for its effectiveness in the collection of a benthic macroinvertebrate sample adequate for use in the condition assessment of streams and rivers in the Neuquén Province, Argentina. A total of 13 sites, distributed across three rivers, were sampled. At each site, benthic macroinvertebrates were collected at 11 transects. Each sample was processed independently in the field and laboratory. Based on a literature review and resource considerations, the collection of 300 organisms (minimum) at each site was determined to be necessary to support a robust condition assessment, and therefore, selected as the criterion for judging the adequacy of the method. This targeted number of organisms was collected at all sites, at a minimum, when collections from all 11 transects were combined. Subsequent bootstrapping analysis of data was used to estimate whether collecting at fewer transects would reach the minimum target number of organisms for all sites. In a subset of sites, the total number of organisms frequently fell below the target when fewer than 11 transects collections were combined.Site conditions where <300 organisms might be collected are discussed. These preliminary results suggest that the proposed field method results in a sample that is adequate for robust condition assessment of the rivers and streams of interest. When data become available from a broader range of sites, the adequacy of the field

Multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system using Micro Air Vehicle for dangerous environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Yanan; Wang, Xiaoxun; He, Chengcheng; Lai, Chenlong; Liu, Yuanchao

2015-11-01

For overcoming the problems such as remote operation and dangerous tasks, multi-terminal remote monitoring and warning system based on STC89C52 Micro Control Unit and wireless communication technique was proposed. The system with MCU as its core adopted multiple sets of sensor device to monitor environment parameters of different locations, such as temperature, humidity, smoke other harmful gas concentration. Data information collected was transmitted remotely by wireless transceiver module, and then multi-channel data parameter was processed and displayed through serial communication protocol between the module and PC. The results of system could be checked in the form of web pages within a local network which plays a wireless monitoring and warning role. In a remote operation, four-rotor micro air vehicle which fixed airborne data acquisition device was utilized as a middleware between collecting terminal and PC to increase monitoring scope. Whole test system has characteristics of simple construction, convenience, real time ability and high reliability, which could meet the requirements of actual use.

Simulation of DKIST solar adaptive optics system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marino, Jose; Carlisle, Elizabeth; Schmidt, Dirk

2016-07-01

Solar adaptive optics (AO) simulations are a valuable tool to guide the design and optimization process of current and future solar AO and multi-conjugate AO (MCAO) systems. Solar AO and MCAO systems rely on extended object cross-correlating Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensors to measure the wavefront. Accurate solar AO simulations require computationally intensive operations, which have until recently presented a prohibitive computational cost. We present an update on the status of a solar AO and MCAO simulation tool being developed at the National Solar Observatory. The simulation tool is a multi-threaded application written in the C++ language that takes advantage of current large multi-core CPU computer systems and fast ethernet connections to provide accurate full simulation of solar AO and MCAO systems. It interfaces with KAOS, a state of the art solar AO control software developed by the Kiepenheuer-Institut fuer Sonnenphysik, that provides reliable AO control. We report on the latest results produced by the solar AO simulation tool.

Distribution and trajectories of floating and benthic marine macrolitter in the south-eastern North Sea.

PubMed

Gutow, Lars; Ricker, Marcel; Holstein, Jan M; Dannheim, Jennifer; Stanev, Emil V; Wolff, Jörg-Olaf

2018-06-01

In coastal waters the identification of sources, trajectories and deposition sites of marine litter is often hampered by the complex oceanography of shallow shelf seas. We conducted a multi-annual survey on litter at the sea surface and on the seafloor in the south-eastern North Sea. Bottom trawling was identified as a major source of marine litter. Oceanographic modelling revealed that the distribution of floating litter in the North Sea is largely determined by the site of origin of floating objects whereas the trajectories are strongly influenced by wind drag. Methods adopted from species distribution modelling indicated that resuspension of benthic litter and near-bottom transport processes strongly influence the distribution of litter on the seafloor. Major sink regions for floating marine litter were identified at the west coast of Denmark and in the Skagerrak. Our results may support the development of strategies to reduce the pollution of the North Sea. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A multimodal image sensor system for identifying water stress in grapevines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Yong; Zhang, Qin; Li, Minzan; Shao, Yongni; Zhou, Jianfeng; Sun, Hong

2012-11-01

Water stress is one of the most common limitations of fruit growth. Water is the most limiting resource for crop growth. In grapevines, as well as in other fruit crops, fruit quality benefits from a certain level of water deficit which facilitates to balance vegetative and reproductive growth and the flow of carbohydrates to reproductive structures. A multi-modal sensor system was designed to measure the reflectance signature of grape plant surfaces and identify different water stress levels in this paper. The multi-modal sensor system was equipped with one 3CCD camera (three channels in R, G, and IR). The multi-modal sensor can capture and analyze grape canopy from its reflectance features, and identify the different water stress levels. This research aims at solving the aforementioned problems. The core technology of this multi-modal sensor system could further be used as a decision support system that combines multi-modal sensory data to improve plant stress detection and identify the causes of stress. The images were taken by multi-modal sensor which could output images in spectral bands of near-infrared, green and red channel. Based on the analysis of the acquired images, color features based on color space and reflectance features based on image process method were calculated. The results showed that these parameters had the potential as water stress indicators. More experiments and analysis are needed to validate the conclusion.

Design of graded refractive index profile for silica multimode optical fibers with improved effective modal bandwidth for short-distance laser-based multi-Gigabit data transmission over "O"-band

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bourdine, Anton V.; Zhukov, Alexander E.

2017-04-01

High bit rate laser-based data transmission over silica optical fibers with enlarged core diameter in comparison with standard singlemode fibers is found variety infocommunication applications. Since IEEE 802.3z standard was ratified on 1998 this technique started to be widely used for short-range in-premises distributed multi-Gigabit networks based on new generation laser optimized multimode fibers 50/125 of Cat. OM2…OM4. Nowadays it becomes to be in demand for on-board cable systems and industrial network applications requiring 1Gps and more bit rates over fibers with extremely enlarged core diameter up to 100 μm. This work presents an alternative method for design the special refractive index profiles of silica few-mode fibers with extremely enlarged core diameter, that provides modal bandwidth enhancing under a few-mode regime of laser-based data optical transmission. Here some results are presented concerning with refractive index profile synthesis for few-mode fibers with reduced differential mode delay for "O"-band central region, as well as computed differential mode delay spectral curves corresponding to profiles for fibers 50/125 and 100/125 for in-premises and on-board/industrial cable systems.

A reference time scale for Site U1385 (Shackleton Site) on the SW Iberian Margin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hodell, D.; Lourens, L.; Crowhurst, S.; Konijnendijk, T.; Tjallingii, R.; Jiménez-Espejo, F.; Skinner, L.; Tzedakis, P. C.; Abrantes, Fatima; Acton, Gary D.; Alvarez Zarikian, Carlos A.; Bahr, André; Balestra, Barbara; Barranco, Estefanìa Llave; Carrara, Gabriela; Ducassou, Emmanuelle; Flood, Roger D.; Flores, José-Abel; Furota, Satoshi; Grimalt, Joan; Grunert, Patrick; Hernández-Molina, Javier; Kim, Jin Kyoung; Krissek, Lawrence A.; Kuroda, Junichiro; Li, Baohua; Lofi, Johanna; Margari, Vasiliki; Martrat, Belen; Miller, Madeline D.; Nanayama, Futoshi; Nishida, Naohisa; Richter, Carl; Rodrigues, Teresa; Rodríguez-Tovar, Francisco J.; Roque, Ana Cristina Freixo; Sanchez Goñi, Maria F.; Sierro Sánchez, Francisco J.; Singh, Arun D.; Sloss, Craig R.; Stow, Dorrik A. V.; Takashimizu, Yasuhiro; Tzanova, Alexandrina; Voelker, Antje; Xuan, Chuang; Williams, Trevor

2015-10-01

We produced a composite depth scale and chronology for Site U1385 on the SW Iberian Margin. Using log(Ca/Ti) measured by core scanning XRF at 1-cm resolution in all holes, a composite section was constructed to 166.5 meter composite depth (mcd) that corrects for stretching and squeezing in each core. Oxygen isotopes of benthic foraminifera were correlated to a stacked δ18O reference signal (LR04) to produce an oxygen isotope stratigraphy and age model. Variations in sediment color contain very strong precession signals at Site U1385, and the amplitude modulation of these cycles provides a powerful tool for developing an orbitally-tuned age model. We tuned the U1385 record by correlating peaks in L* to the local summer insolation maxima at 37°N. The benthic δ18O record of Site U1385, when placed on the tuned age model, generally agrees with other time scales within their respective chronologic uncertainties. The age model is transferred to down-core data to produce a continuous time series of log(Ca/Ti) that reflect relative changes of biogenic carbonate and detrital sediment. Biogenic carbonate increases during interglacial and interstadial climate states and decreases during glacial and stadial periods. Much of the variance in the log(Ca/Ti) is explained by a linear combination of orbital frequencies (precession, tilt and eccentricity), whereas the residual signal reflects suborbital climate variability. The strong correlation between suborbital log(Ca/Ti) variability and Greenland temperature over the last glacial cycle at Site U1385 suggests that this signal can be used as a proxy for millennial-scale climate variability over the past 1.5 Ma. Millennial climate variability, as expressed by log(Ca/Ti) at Site U1385, was a persistent feature of glacial climates over the past 1.5 Ma, including glacial periods of the early Pleistocene ('41-kyr world') when boundary conditions differed significantly from those of the late Pleistocene ('100-kyr world'). Suborbital variability was suppressed during interglacial stages and enhanced during glacial periods, especially when benthic δ18O surpassed 3.3-3.5‰. Each glacial inception was marked by appearance of strong millennial variability and each deglaciation was preceded by a terminal stadial event. Suborbital variability may be a symptomatic feature of glacial climate or, alternatively, may play a more active role in the inception and/or termination of glacial cycles.

Enhancing Image Processing Performance for PCID in a Heterogeneous Network of Multi-core Processors

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-09-01

TFLOPS of Playstation 3 (PS3) nodes with IBM Cell Broadband Engine multi-cores and 15 dual-quad Xeon head nodes. The interconnect fabric includes... 4   3. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT FOR PARALLELIZATION AND...STREAMING............................................................. 7  4 . RESULTS

T-L Plane Abstraction-Based Energy-Efficient Real-Time Scheduling for Multi-Core Wireless Sensors

PubMed Central

Kim, Youngmin; Lee, Ki-Seong; Pham, Ngoc-Son; Lee, Sun-Ro; Lee, Chan-Gun

2016-01-01

Energy efficiency is considered as a critical requirement for wireless sensor networks. As more wireless sensor nodes are equipped with multi-cores, there are emerging needs for energy-efficient real-time scheduling algorithms. The T-L plane-based scheme is known to be an optimal global scheduling technique for periodic real-time tasks on multi-cores. Unfortunately, there has been a scarcity of studies on extending T-L plane-based scheduling algorithms to exploit energy-saving techniques. In this paper, we propose a new T-L plane-based algorithm enabling energy-efficient real-time scheduling on multi-core sensor nodes with dynamic power management (DPM). Our approach addresses the overhead of processor mode transitions and reduces fragmentations of the idle time, which are inherent in T-L plane-based algorithms. Our experimental results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm compared to other energy-aware scheduling methods on T-L plane abstraction. PMID:27399722

A pluggable framework for parallel pairwise sequence search.

PubMed

Archuleta, Jeremy; Feng, Wu-chun; Tilevich, Eli

2007-01-01

The current and near future of the computing industry is one of multi-core and multi-processor technology. Most existing sequence-search tools have been designed with a focus on single-core, single-processor systems. This discrepancy between software design and hardware architecture substantially hinders sequence-search performance by not allowing full utilization of the hardware. This paper presents a novel framework that will aid the conversion of serial sequence-search tools into a parallel version that can take full advantage of the available hardware. The framework, which is based on a software architecture called mixin layers with refined roles, enables modules to be plugged into the framework with minimal effort. The inherent modular design improves maintenance and extensibility, thus opening up a plethora of opportunities for advanced algorithmic features to be developed and incorporated while routine maintenance of the codebase persists.

Improvement of Speckle Contrast Image Processing by an Efficient Algorithm.

PubMed

Steimers, A; Farnung, W; Kohl-Bareis, M

2016-01-01

We demonstrate an efficient algorithm for the temporal and spatial based calculation of speckle contrast for the imaging of blood flow by laser speckle contrast analysis (LASCA). It reduces the numerical complexity of necessary calculations, facilitates a multi-core and many-core implementation of the speckle analysis and enables an independence of temporal or spatial resolution and SNR. The new algorithm was evaluated for both spatial and temporal based analysis of speckle patterns with different image sizes and amounts of recruited pixels as sequential, multi-core and many-core code.

Potential impact of global climate change on benthic deep-sea microbes.

PubMed

Danovaro, Roberto; Corinaldesi, Cinzia; Dell'Anno, Antonio; Rastelli, Eugenio

2017-12-15

Benthic deep-sea environments are the largest ecosystem on Earth, covering ∼65% of the Earth surface. Microbes inhabiting this huge biome at all water depths represent the most abundant biological components and a relevant portion of the biomass of the biosphere, and play a crucial role in global biogeochemical cycles. Increasing evidence suggests that global climate changes are affecting also deep-sea ecosystems, both directly (causing shifts in bottom-water temperature, oxygen concentration and pH) and indirectly (through changes in surface oceans' productivity and in the consequent export of organic matter to the seafloor). However, the responses of the benthic deep-sea biota to such shifts remain largely unknown. This applies particularly to deep-sea microbes, which include bacteria, archaea, microeukaryotes and their viruses. Understanding the potential impacts of global change on the benthic deep-sea microbial assemblages and the consequences on the functioning of the ocean interior is a priority to better forecast the potential consequences at global scale. Here we explore the potential changes in the benthic deep-sea microbiology expected in the coming decades using case studies on specific systems used as test models. © FEMS 2017. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Marine benthic habitat mapping of the West Arm, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hodson, Timothy O.; Cochrane, Guy R.; Powell, Ross D.

2013-01-01

Seafloor geology and potential benthic habitats were mapped in West Arm, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, using multibeam sonar, groundtruthed observations, and geological interpretations. The West Arm of Glacier Bay is a recently deglaciated fjord system under the influence of glacial and paraglacial marine processes. High glacially derived sediment and meltwater fluxes, slope instabilities, and variable bathymetry result in a highly dynamic estuarine environment and benthic ecosystem. We characterize the fjord seafloor and potential benthic habitats using the recently developed Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard (CMECS) by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and NatureServe. Due to the high flux of glacially sourced fines, mud is the dominant substrate within the West Arm. Water-column characteristics are addressed using a combination of CTD and circulation model results. We also present sediment accumulation data derived from differential bathymetry. These data show the West Arm is divided into two contrasting environments: a dynamic upper fjord and a relatively static lower fjord. The results of these analyses serve as a test of the CMECS classification scheme and as a baseline for ongoing and future mapping efforts and correlations between seafloor substrate, benthic habitats, and glacimarine processes.

Evaluation of Marsh/Estuarine Water Quality and Ecological Models: An Interim Guide

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-01-01

benthic oxygen demand, benthic scour and deposition, photosynthesis and respiration of aquatic plants, and nitrification (Dobbins 1964; O’Connor 1967... photosynthesis , algal respiration, decom- position, and mixing processes play dominant roles, the understanding and characterization of significant pro...Adams, S. M. 1979. "A Mathematical Model of Trophic Dynamics in Estuarine Seagrass Communities," Marsh-Estuarine Systems Simulation, Dame, R. F., ed

Dynamic Camouflage in Benthic and Pelagic Cephalopods: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Crypsis Based on Color, Reflection, and Bioluminescence

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-01-01

benthic octopus with base-layer iridophores, chromatophores and two rings of intense blue iridescence. Figure 2: The proposed Spatial...species. Left: Pterygioteuthis microlampas a) animal in white light b) counterillumination. Middle: Loligo opalescens. Right: Octopus bimaculoides...chromatophores that is our molecular team’s current model system for understanding reflectin self-assembly. 3. Octopus bimaculoides: a small, hardy

Large-scale Instability during Gravitational Collapse with Neutrino Transport and a Core-Collapse Supernova

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aksenov, A. G.; Chechetkin, V. M.

2018-04-01

Most of the energy released in the gravitational collapse of the cores of massive stars is carried away by neutrinos. Neutrinos play a pivotal role in explaining core-collape supernovae. Currently, mathematical models of the gravitational collapse are based on multi-dimensional gas dynamics and thermonuclear reactions, while neutrino transport is considered in a simplified way. Multidimensional gas dynamics is used with neutrino transport in the flux-limited diffusion approximation to study the role of multi-dimensional effects. The possibility of large-scale convection is discussed, which is interesting both for explaining SN II and for setting up observations to register possible high-energy (≳10MeV) neutrinos from the supernova. A new multi-dimensional, multi-temperature gas dynamics method with neutrino transport is presented.

Diatoms and stratigraphically significant silicoflagellates from the Atlantic Margin Coring Project and other Atlantic margin sites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Abbott, W.H.

1980-01-01

In 1976, 19 sites were cored along the U.S. Atlantic Continental Shelf and Slope by the Oceanographic Branch of the U.S. Geological Survey aboard the Glomar Conception. Only 6 sites contained siliceous microfossil assemblages of sufficient quantity and quality for biostratigraphic study. Two of the sites, AMCOR (Atlantic Margin Coring Project) 6002 and AMCOR 6011, contained good Miocene assemblages: a small Pleistocene assemblage occurred at the top of AMCOR 6002. A Late Miocene to Early Pliocene assemblage was encountered in AMCOR 6007B. AMCOR 6013, 6019, and 6021 contained Pleistocene assemblages. In addition to the AMCOR cores, 3 additional Atlantic Margin cores were studied. These were the JOIDES 1 (Caldrill) core, and Atlantic Slope Project (ASP) cores 10 and 22. JOIDES 1 contains a Middle Miocene assemblage similar to AMCOR 6002. ASP 10 contains a Lower Pliocene assemblage and ASP 22 contains a Middle to Late Oligocene and a Pleistocene assemblage. Siliceous assemblages at all sites consisted mainly of shallow shelf species, including brackish and marine benthics and occasionally freshwater forms. Although planktonic forms were present, they were few and most were extant cosmopolitan species. This makes it difficult to correlate the biostratigraphy of the sediments with siliceous microfossil zonations from other oceans. The only biostratigraphic zonations for Atlantic Shelf diatom assemblages are for the Miocene.

Biological, Physical and Chemical Data From Gulf of Mexico Gravity and Box Core MRD05-04

USGS Publications Warehouse

Osterman, Lisa E.; Campbell, Pamela L.; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Ricardo, John P.

2010-01-01

This paper presents the benthic foraminiferal census data, magnetic susceptibility measurements, vanadium and organic geochemistry (carbon isotope, sterols, and total organic carbon) data from the MRD05-04 gravity and box cores. The MRD05-04 cores were obtained from the Louisiana continental shelf in an on-going initiative to examine the geographic and temporal extent of hypoxia, low-oxygen bottom-water content, and geochemical transport. The development of low-oxygen bottom water conditions in coastal waters is dependent upon a new source of bio-available nutrients introduced into a well-stratified water column. A number of studies have concluded that the development of the current seasonal hypoxia (dissolved oxygen < 2 mg L-1) in subsurface waters of the northern Gulf of Mexico is related to increased transport of nutrients (primarily nitrogen, but possibly also phosphorous) by the Mississippi River. However, the development of earlier episodes of seasonal low-oxygen subsurface water on the Louisiana shelf may be related to Mississippi River discharge.

Electrogenic sulfur oxidation in a northern saltmarsh (St. Lawrence Estuary, Canada).

PubMed

Rao, Alexandra; Risgaard-Petersen, Nils; Neumeier, Urs

2016-06-01

Measurements of porewater O2, pH, and H2S microprofiles in intact sediment cores collected in a northern saltmarsh in the St. Lawrence Estuary (Quebec, Canada) revealed the occurrence of electrogenic sulfur oxidation (e-SOx) by filamentous "cable" bacteria in submerged marsh pond sediments in the high marsh. In summer, the geochemical fingerprint of e-SOx was apparent in intact cores, while in fall, cable bacteria were detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization and the characteristic geochemical signature of e-SOx was observed only upon prolonged incubation. In exposed, unvegetated creek bank sediments sampled in the low marsh in summer, cable bacteria developed only in repacked cores of sieved (500 μm), homogenized sediments. These results suggest that e-SOx is suppressed by the activity of macrofauna in exposed, unvegetated marsh sediments. A reduced abundance of benthic invertebrates may promote e-SOx development in marsh ponds, which are dominant features of subarctic saltmarshes as in the St. Lawrence Estuary.

Reconstructing Deep Ocean Circulation in the North Atlantic from Bermuda Rise, and Beyond

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McManus, J. F.

2016-12-01

The large-scale subsurface circulation of the ocean is an important component of the Earth's climate system, and contributes to the global and regional transport of heat and mass. Assessing how this system has changed in the past is thus a priority for understanding natural climate variability. A long-coring campaign on Bermuda Rise has provided additional abundant high-quality sediments from this site of rapid accumulation in the deep western basin, situated beneath the subtropical gyre of the North Atlantic Ocean. These sediments allow the high-resolution reconstruction of deepwater chemistry and export from this key location throughout the last 150,000 years, covering the entire last glacial cycle in a continuous section of 35 meters in core KNR191-CDH19. The suite of proxy indicators analyzed includes uranium-series disequilibria, neodymium isotopes, and benthic stable isotopes. Combined with multiple previous studies of nearby cores on Bermuda Rise, the published and new proxy data from CDH19 confirm the variability of the deep circulation in the Atlantic Ocean in association with past climate changes. The multiple indicators, along with complementary data from other locations, display coherent evidence for contrasts between deep circulation during glacial and interglacial intervals, with persistent strong, deep ventilation only within the peak interglacial of marine isotope stage 5e (MIS 5e) and the Holocene. In contrast, repeated, dramatic variability in deep ocean circulation accompanied the millennial climate changes of the last glaciation and deglaciation. The largest magnitude circulation shifts occurred at the transitions into stadials associated with the Hudson strait iceberg discharges and between them and the ensuing northern interstadial warmings, significantly exceeding that of the overall glacial-interglacial difference, highlighting the potential oceanographic and climatic importance of short-term perturbations to the deep ocean circulation.

Design of tangential multi-energy SXR cameras for tokamak plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yamazaki, H.; Delgado-Aparicio, L. F.; Pablant, N.; Hill, K.; Bitter, M.; Takase, Y.; Ono, M.; Stratton, B.

2017-10-01

A new synthetic diagnostic capability has been built to study the response of tangential multi-energy soft x-ray pin-hole cameras for arbitrary plasma densities (ne , D), temperature (Te) and ion concentrations (nZ). For tokamaks and future facilities to operate safely in a high-pressure long-pulse discharge, it is imperative to address key issues associated with impurity sources, core transport and high-Z impurity accumulation. Multi-energy soft xray imaging provides a unique opportunity for measuring, simultaneously, a variety of important plasma properties (e.g. Te, nZ and ΔZeff). These systems are designed to sample the continuum- and line-emission from low- to high-Z impurities (e.g. C, O, Al, Si, Ar, Ca, Fe, Ni and Mo) in multiple energy-ranges. These x-ray cameras will be installed in the MST-RFP, as well as NSTX-U and DIII-D tokamaks, measuring the radial structure of the photon emissivity with a radial resolution below 1 cm at a 500 Hz frame rate and a photon-energy resolution of 500 eV. The layout and response expected for the new systems will be shown for different plasma conditions and impurity concentrations. The effect of toroidal rotation driving poloidal asymmetries in the core radiation is also addressed for the case of NSTX-U.

A FPGA-Based, Granularity-Variable Neuromorphic Processor and Its Application in a MIMO Real-Time Control System.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhen; Ma, Cheng; Zhu, Rong

2017-08-23

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), including Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), have become the state-of-the-art methods in machine learning and achieved amazing success in speech recognition, visual object recognition, and many other domains. There are several hardware platforms for developing accelerated implementation of ANN models. Since Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) architectures are flexible and can provide high performance per watt of power consumption, they have drawn a number of applications from scientists. In this paper, we propose a FPGA-based, granularity-variable neuromorphic processor (FBGVNP). The traits of FBGVNP can be summarized as granularity variability, scalability, integrated computing, and addressing ability: first, the number of neurons is variable rather than constant in one core; second, the multi-core network scale can be extended in various forms; third, the neuron addressing and computing processes are executed simultaneously. These make the processor more flexible and better suited for different applications. Moreover, a neural network-based controller is mapped to FBGVNP and applied in a multi-input, multi-output, (MIMO) real-time, temperature-sensing and control system. Experiments validate the effectiveness of the neuromorphic processor. The FBGVNP provides a new scheme for building ANNs, which is flexible, highly energy-efficient, and can be applied in many areas.

A FPGA-Based, Granularity-Variable Neuromorphic Processor and Its Application in a MIMO Real-Time Control System

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhen; Zhu, Rong

2017-01-01

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), including Deep Neural Networks (DNNs), have become the state-of-the-art methods in machine learning and achieved amazing success in speech recognition, visual object recognition, and many other domains. There are several hardware platforms for developing accelerated implementation of ANN models. Since Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) architectures are flexible and can provide high performance per watt of power consumption, they have drawn a number of applications from scientists. In this paper, we propose a FPGA-based, granularity-variable neuromorphic processor (FBGVNP). The traits of FBGVNP can be summarized as granularity variability, scalability, integrated computing, and addressing ability: first, the number of neurons is variable rather than constant in one core; second, the multi-core network scale can be extended in various forms; third, the neuron addressing and computing processes are executed simultaneously. These make the processor more flexible and better suited for different applications. Moreover, a neural network-based controller is mapped to FBGVNP and applied in a multi-input, multi-output, (MIMO) real-time, temperature-sensing and control system. Experiments validate the effectiveness of the neuromorphic processor. The FBGVNP provides a new scheme for building ANNs, which is flexible, highly energy-efficient, and can be applied in many areas. PMID:28832522

Predator crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) outbreak, mass mortality of corals, and cascading effects on reef fish and benthic communities.

PubMed

Kayal, Mohsen; Vercelloni, Julie; Lison de Loma, Thierry; Bosserelle, Pauline; Chancerelle, Yannick; Geoffroy, Sylvie; Stievenart, Céline; Michonneau, François; Penin, Lucie; Planes, Serge; Adjeroud, Mehdi

2012-01-01

Outbreaks of the coral-killing seastar Acanthaster planci are intense disturbances that can decimate coral reefs. These events consist of the emergence of large swarms of the predatory seastar that feed on reef-building corals, often leading to widespread devastation of coral populations. While cyclic occurrences of such outbreaks are reported from many tropical reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific, their causes are hotly debated, and the spatio-temporal dynamics of the outbreaks and impacts to reef communities remain unclear. Based on observations of a recent event around the island of Moorea, French Polynesia, we show that Acanthaster outbreaks are methodic, slow-paced, and diffusive biological disturbances. Acanthaster outbreaks on insular reef systems like Moorea's appear to originate from restricted areas confined to the ocean-exposed base of reefs. Elevated Acanthaster densities then progressively spread to adjacent and shallower locations by migrations of seastars in aggregative waves that eventually affect the entire reef system. The directional migration across reefs appears to be a search for prey as reef portions affected by dense seastar aggregations are rapidly depleted of living corals and subsequently left behind. Coral decline on impacted reefs occurs by the sequential consumption of species in the order of Acanthaster feeding preferences. Acanthaster outbreaks thus result in predictable alteration of the coral community structure. The outbreak we report here is among the most intense and devastating ever reported. Using a hierarchical, multi-scale approach, we also show how sessile benthic communities and resident coral-feeding fish assemblages were subsequently affected by the decline of corals. By elucidating the processes involved in an Acanthaster outbreak, our study contributes to comprehending this widespread disturbance and should thus benefit targeted management actions for coral reef ecosystems.

Core Principles for Transforming Remediation within a Comprehensive: Student Success Strategy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Achieving the Dream, 2015

2015-01-01

Colleges and postsecondary systems across the nation are demonstrating remarkable progress in phasing out standalone or multi-course remediation sequences, resulting in tens of thousands of students more quickly enrolling in and completing college-level courses. These organizations have collaborated to describe the principles they see in common…

Towards multi-decadal to multi-millennial ice core records from coastal west Greenland ice caps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Das, Sarah B.; Osman, Matthew B.; Trusel, Luke D.; McConnell, Joseph R.; Smith, Ben E.; Evans, Matthew J.; Frey, Karen E.; Arienzo, Monica; Chellman, Nathan

2017-04-01

The Arctic region, and Greenland in particular, is undergoing dramatic change as characterized by atmospheric warming, decreasing sea ice, shifting ocean circulation patterns, and rapid ice sheet mass loss, but longer records are needed to put these changes into context. Ice core records from the Greenland ice sheet have yielded invaluable insight into past climate change both regionally and globally, and provided important constraints on past surface mass balance more directly, but these ice cores are most often from the interior ice sheet accumulation zone, at high altitude and hundreds of kilometers from the coast. Coastal ice caps, situated around the margins of Greenland, have the potential to provide novel high-resolution records of local and regional maritime climate and sea surface conditions, as well as contemporaneous glaciological changes (such as accumulation and surface melt history). But obtaining these records is extremely challenging. Most of these ice caps are unexplored, and thus their thickness, age, stratigraphy, and utility as sites of new and unique paleoclimate records is largely unknown. Access is severely limited due to their high altitude, steep relief, small surface area, and inclement weather. Furthermore, their relatively low elevation and marine moderated climate can contribute to significant surface melting and degradation of the ice stratigraphy. We recently targeted areas near the Disko Bay region of central west Greenland where maritime ice caps are prevalent but unsampled, as potential sites for new multi-decadal to multi-millennial ice core records. In 2014 & 2015 we identified two promising ice caps, one on Disko Island (1250 m. asl) and one on Nuussuaq Peninsula (1980 m. asl) based on airborne and ground-based geophysical observations and physical and glaciochemical stratigraphy from shallow firn cores. In spring 2015 we collected ice cores at both sites using the Badger-Eclipse electromechanical drill, transported by a medley of small fixed wing and helicopter aircraft, and working out of small tent camps. On Disko Island, despite high accumulation rates and ice thickness of 250 meters, drilling was halted twice due to the encounter of liquid water at depths ranging from 18-20 meters, limiting the depth of the final core to 21 m, providing a multi-decadal record (1980-2015.) On Nuussuaq Peninsula, we collected a 138 m ice core, almost to bedrock, representing a 2500 year record. The ice cores were subsequently analyzed using a continuous flow analysis system (CFA). Age-depth profiles and accumulation histories were determined by combining annual layer counting and an ice flow thinning model, both constrained by glaciochemical tie points to other well-dated Greenland ice core records (e.g. volcanic horizons and continuous heavy metal records). Here we will briefly provide an overview of the project and the new sites, and the novel dating methodology, and describe the latest stratigraphic, isotopic and glaciochemical results. We will also provide a particular focus on new regional climatological insight gained from our records during three climatically sensitive time periods: the late 20th & early 21st centuries; the Little Ice Age; and the Medieval Climate Anomaly.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nugent, John

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been contracted through the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Grant County Public Utility District (GCPUD) to perform an evaluation of juvenile fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stranding on the Hanford Reach. The evaluation, in the third year of a multi-year study, has been developed to assess the impacts of water fluctuations from Priest Rapids Dam on rearing juvenile fall chinook salmon, other fishes, and benthic macroinvertebrates of the Hanford Reach. This document provides the results of the 1999 field season.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nugent, John; Nugent, Michael; Brock, Wendy

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been contracted through the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Grant County Public Utility District (GCPUD) to perform an evaluation of juvenile fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stranding on the Hanford Reach. The evaluation, in the fourth year of a multi-year study, has been developed to assess the impacts of water fluctuations from Priest Rapids Dam on rearing juvenile fall chinook salmon, other fishes, and benthic macroinvertebrates of the Hanford Reach. This document provides the results of the 2000 field season.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nugent, John; Newsome, Todd; Nugent, Michael

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has been contracted through the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) and the Grant County Public Utility District (GCPUD) to perform an evaluation of juvenile fall chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) stranding on the Hanford Reach. The evaluation, in the second year of a multi-year study, has been developed to assess the impacts of water fluctuations from Priest Rapids Dam on rearing juvenile fall chinook salmon, other fish species, and benthic macroinvertebrates of the Hanford Reach. This document provides the results of the 1998 field season.

Multi-scale remote sensing of coral reefs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andréfouët, Serge; Hochberg, E.J.; Chevillon, Christophe; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; Brock, John C.; Hu, Chuanmin

2005-01-01

In this chapter we present how both direct and indirect remote sensing can be integrated to address two major coral reef applications - coral bleaching and assessment of biodiversity. This approach reflects the current non-linear integration of remote sensing for environmental assessment of coral reefs, resulting from a rapid increase in available sensors, processing methods and interdisciplinary collaborations (Andréfouët and Riegl, 2004). Moreover, this approach has greatly benefited from recent collaborations of once independent investigations (e.g., benthic ecology, remote sensing, and numerical modeling).

Multi-core and GPU accelerated simulation of a radial star target imaged with equivalent t-number circular and Gaussian pupils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greynolds, Alan W.

2013-09-01

Results from the GelOE optical engineering software are presented for the through-focus, monochromatic coherent and polychromatic incoherent imaging of a radial "star" target for equivalent t-number circular and Gaussian pupils. The FFT-based simulations are carried out using OpenMP threading on a multi-core desktop computer, with and without the aid of a many-core NVIDIA GPU accessing its cuFFT library. It is found that a custom FFT optimized for the 12-core host has similar performance to a simply implemented 256-core GPU FFT. A more sophisticated version of the latter but tuned to reduce overhead on a 448-core GPU is 20 to 28 times faster than a basic FFT implementation running on one CPU core.

Revisiting the Ceara Rise, equatorial Atlantic Ocean: isotope stratigraphy of ODP Leg 154

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilkens, Roy; Drury, Anna Joy; Westerhold, Thomas; Lyle, Mitchell; Gorgas, Thomas; Tian, Jun

2017-04-01

Isotope stratigraphy has become the method of choice for investigating both past ocean temperatures and global ice volume. Lisiecki and Raymo (2005) published a stacked record of 57 globally distributed benthic δ18O records versus age (LR04 stack). In this study LR04 is compared to high resolution records collected at all of the sites drilled during Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Leg 154 on the Ceara Rise, in the western equatorial Atlantic Ocean. Newly developed software - the Code for Ocean Drilling Data (CODD) - is used to check data splices of the Ceara sites and better align out-of-splice data with in-splice data. CODD allows to depth and age scaled core images recovered from core table photos enormously facilitating data analysis. The entire splices of ODP Sites 925, 926, 927, 928 and 929 were reviewed. Most changes were minor although several large enough to affect age models based on orbital tuning. We revised the astronomically tuned age model for the Ceara Rise by tuning darker, more clay rich layers to Northern Hemisphere insolation minima. Then we assembled a regional composite benthic stable isotope record from published data. This new Ceara Rise stack provides a new regional reference section for the equatorial Atlantic covering the last 5 million years with an independent age model compared to the non-linear ice volume models of the LR04 stack. Comparison shows that the benthic δ18O composite is consistent with the LR04 stack from 0 - 4 Ma despite a short interval between 1.80 and 1.90 Ma, where LR04 exhibits 2 maxima but where Ceara Rise contains only 1. The interval between 4.0 and 4.5 Ma in the Ceara Rise compilation is decidedly different from LR04, reflecting both the low amplitude of the signal over this interval and the limited amount of data available for the LR04 stack. Our results also point out that precession cycles have been misinterpreted as obliquity in the LR04 stack as suggested by the Ceara Rise composite at 4.2 Ma.