Pb0.4Bi1.6Sr2Ca1Cu2O8+xPb_{0.4}Bi_{1.6}Sr_{2}Ca_{1}Cu_{2}O_{8+x} and Oxygen Stoichiometry: Structure, Resistivity, Fermi Surface Topology and Normal State Properties

$Pb_{0.4}Bi_{1.6}Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+x}$ ($Bi(Pb)-$2212) single crystal samples were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), $ab-$plane ($\rho_{ab}$) and $c-$axis ($\rho_c$) resistivity, and high resolution angle-resolved ultraviolet photoemission spectroscopy (ARUPS). TEM reveals that the modulation in the $b-$axis for $Pb(0.4)-$doped $Bi(Pb)-$2212 is dominantly of $Pb-$type that is not sensitive to the oxygen content of the system, and the system clearly shows a structure of orthorhombic symmetry. Oxygen annealed samples exhibit a much lower $c-$axis resistivity and a resistivity minimum at $80-130$K. He-annealed samples exhibit a much higher $c-$axis resistivity and $d\rho_c/dT<0$ behavior below 300K. The Fermi surface (FS) of oxygen annealed $Bi(Pb)-$2212 mapped out by ARUPS has a pocket in the FS around the $\bar{M}$ point and exhibits orthorhombic symmetry. There are flat, parallel sections of the FS, about 60\% of the maximum possible along $k_x = k_y$, and about 30\% along $k_x = - k_y$. The wavevectors connecting the flat sections are about $0.72(\pi, \pi)$ along $k_x = k_y$, and about $0.80(\pi, \pi)$ along $k_x = - k_y$, rather than $(\pi,\pi)$. The symmetry of the near-Fermi-energy dispersing states in the normal state changes between oxygen-annealed and He-annealed samples.Comment: APS_REVTEX 3.0, 49 pages, including 11 figures, available upon request. Submitted to Phys. Rev. B

Anthropogenic environmental drivers of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife

The isolation of antimicrobial resistant bacteria (ARB) from wildlife living adjacent to humans has led to the suggestion that such antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is anthropogenically driven by exposure to antimicrobials and ARB. However, ARB have also been detected in wildlife living in areas without interaction with humans. Here, we investigated patterns of resistance in Escherichia coli isolated from 408 wild bird and mammal faecal samples. AMR and multi-drug resistance (MDR) prevalence in wildlife samples differed significantly between a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP; wastes of antibiotic-treated humans) and a Farm site (antibiotic-treated livestock wastes) and Central site (no sources of wastes containing anthropogenic AMR or antimicrobials), but patterns of resistance also varied significantly over time and between mammals and birds. Over 30% of AMR isolates were resistant to colistin, a last-resort antibiotic, but resistance was not due to the mcr-1 gene. ESBL and AmpC activity were common in isolates from mammals. Wildlife were, therefore, harbouring resistance of clinical relevance. AMR E. coli, including MDR, were found in diverse wildlife species, and the patterns and prevalence of resistance were not consistently associated with site and therefore different exposure risks. We conclude that AMR in commensal bacteria of wildlife is not driven simply by anthropogenic factors, and, in practical terms, this may limit the utility of wildlife as sentinels of spatial variation in the transmission of environmental AMR

Permafrost landscape history shapes fluvial chemistry, ecosystem carbon balance, and potential trajectories of future change

Intensifying permafrost thaw alters carbon cycling by mobilizing large amounts of terrestrial substrate into aquatic ecosystems. Yet, few studies have measured aquatic carbon fluxes and constrained drivers of ecosystem carbon balance across heterogeneous Arctic landscapes. Here, we characterized hydrochemical and landscape controls on fluvial carbon cycling, quantified fluvial carbon fluxes, and estimated fluvial contributions to ecosystem carbon balance across 33 watersheds in four ecoregions in the continuous permafrost zone of the western Canadian Arctic: unglaciated uplands, ice-rich moraine, and organic-rich lowlands and till plains. Major ions, stable isotopes, and carbon speciation and fluxes revealed patterns in carbon cycling across ecoregions defined by terrain relief and accumulation of organics. In previously unglaciated mountainous watersheds, bicarbonate dominated carbon export (70% of total) due to chemical weathering of bedrock. In lowland watersheds, where soil organic carbon stores were largest, lateral transport of dissolved organic carbon (50%) and efflux of biotic CO2 (25%) dominated. In watersheds affected by thaw-induced mass wasting, erosion of ice-rich tills enhanced chemical weathering and increased particulate carbon fluxes by two orders of magnitude. From an ecosystem carbon balance perspective, fluvial carbon export in watersheds not affected by thaw-induced wasting was, on average, equivalent to 6%–16% of estimated net ecosystem exchange (NEE). In watersheds affected by thaw-induced wasting, fluvial carbon export approached 60% of NEE. Because future intensification of thermokarst activity will amplify fluvial carbon export, determining the fate of carbon across diverse northern landscapes is a priority for constraining trajectories of permafrost region ecosystem carbon balance

Earlier snowmelt may lead to late season declines in plant productivity and carbon sequestration in Arctic tundra ecosystems

Arctic warming is affecting snow cover and soil hydrology, with consequences for carbon sequestration in tundra ecosystems. The scarcity of observations in the Arctic has limited our understanding of the impact of covarying environmental drivers on the carbon balance of tundra ecosystems. In this study, we address some of these uncertainties through a novel record of 119 site-years of summer data from eddy covariance towers representing dominant tundra vegetation types located on continuous permafrost in the Arctic. Here we found that earlier snowmelt was associated with more tundra net CO2 sequestration and higher gross primary productivity (GPP) only in June and July, but with lower net carbon sequestration and lower GPP in August. Although higher evapotranspiration (ET) can result in soil drying with the progression of the summer, we did not find significantly lower soil moisture with earlier snowmelt, nor evidence that water stress affected GPP in the late growing season. Our results suggest that the expected increased CO2 sequestration arising from Arctic warming and the associated increase in growing season length may not materialize if tundra ecosystems are not able to continue sequestering CO2 later in the season

A trace element perspective on the source of ocean island basalts (OIB) and fate of subducted ocean crust (SOC) and mantle lithosphere (SML)

We analyze the first-order observations, basic concepts and explicit/implicit assumptions built into the three major hypotheses for the enriched component(s) in the source of ocean island basalts (OIB) in terms of incompatible trace elements: (1) subducted ocean crust (SOC), (2) subducted continental sediments, and (3) mantle metasomatism. SOC is compositionally too depleted (i.e., [La/Sm]N <1) to be the major source material for OIB that are highly incompatible element enriched (e.g., [La/Sm]N »1). We cannot rule out the contribution of continental sediments as an enriched OIB source component; however, except for two known cases that are yet to be further investigated, there is no convincing evidence for any significant sediment contribution to the petrogenesis of global OIB. Continental materials through subduction erosion can certainly contribute to mantle compositional heterogeneity and may contribute towards some enriched component in OIB source regions. Overall, OIB are not only enriched in incompatible elements, but also enriched in the progressively more incompatible elements, with their inferred source material being variably more enriched than the primitive mantle. These observations require that the OIB sources are pre-enriched by lowdegree (Low-F) melt metasomatism. The interface between the growing oceanic lithosphere and the top of the seismic low velocity zone (LVZ) represents a natural peridotite solidus and is the ideal site for major low-F melt induced metasomatism. The ∼ 70 Myr history of oceanic lithosphere growth to its full thickness of ∼ 90 km records the history of mantle metasomatism, resulting in the deep portion of the oceanic lithosphere being an important enriched geochemical reservoir. We argue that ancient subducted metasomatized mantle lithosphere (SML) provides the major source component for OIB. The metasomatic agent is an H2O-CO2-rich silicate melt derived from within the LVZ. Upward migration and concentration of the melt at the lithosphere-LVZ interface (i.e., the lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary or LAB) results in chemical stratification in the LVZ with the deeper portion being more depleted (i.e., DMM), providing the source for MORB. The widespread metasomatized peridotites, pyroxenites and hornblendites from xenolith suites exhumed from the deep lithosphere (both oceanic and continental) and in orogenic peridotite massifs confirm the role of a low-F silicate melt phase as the metasomatic agent. The SOC, if subducted into the lower mantle, will be too dense to return in bulk to the upper mantle source regions of oceanic basalts, and may have contributed to the two large low shear wave velocity provinces (LLSVPs) at the base of the mantle beneath the Pacific and Africa over Earth's history

Terry Fox Ice Resistance Tests - Phase 2 ITTC Experimental Uncertainty Analysis Initiative

This is a part of the Experimental Uncertainty Analysis (EUA) research program to develop an ITTC procedure for ice tank testing. The test program and test results for phase ll are presented in this report. All tests were performed using a model for a Canadian icebreaker "Terry Fox" (Standard IMD Icebreaker model, Scale 1:21.8). The test matrix included two (2) different types of experiments: These are: 1. Resistance experiments in ice (tests in unbroken level ice, tests in presawn ice sheets, and tests in broken ice sheets. 2. Resistance experiments in open water. The experimental program is described in this report.NRC publication: Ye