Deep-water turbidites as Holocene earthquake proxies: the Cascadia subduction zone and Northern San Andreas Fault systems

New stratigraphic evidence from the Cascadia margin demonstrates that 13 earthquakes ruptured the margin from Vancouver Island to at least the California border following the catastrophic eruption of Mount Mazama. These 13 events have occurred with an average repeat time of ?? 600 years since the first post-Mazama event ?? 7500 years ago. The youngest event ?? 300 years ago probably coincides with widespread evidence of coastal subsidence and tsunami inundation in buried marshes along the Cascadia coast. We can extend the Holocene record to at least 9850 years, during which 18 events correlate along the same region. The pattern of repeat times is consistent with the pattern observed at most (but not all) localities onshore, strengthening the contention that both were produced by plate-wide earthquakes. We also observe that the sequence of Holocene events in Cascadia may contain a repeating pattern, a tantalizing look at what may be the long-term behavior of a major fault system. Over the last ?? 7500 years, the pattern appears to have repeated at least three times, with the most recent A.D. 1700 event being the third of three events following a long interval of 845 years between events T4 and T5. This long interval is one that is also recognized in many of the coastal records, and may serve as an anchor point between the offshore and onshore records. Similar stratigraphic records are found in two piston cores and one box core from Noyo Channel, adjacent to the Northern San Andreas Fault, which show a cyclic record of turbidite beds, with thirty- one turbidite beds above a Holocene/.Pleistocene faunal «datum». Thus far, we have determined ages for 20 events including the uppermost 5 events from these cores. The uppermost event returns a «modern» age, which we interpret is likely the 1906 San Andreas earthquake. The penultimate event returns an intercept age of A.D. 1664 (2 ?? range 1505- 1822). The third event and fourth event are lumped together, as there is no hemipelagic sediment between them. The age of this event is A.D. 1524 (1445-1664), though we are not certain whether this event represents one event or two. The fifth event age is A.D. 1204 (1057-1319), and the sixth event age is A.D. 1049 (981-1188). These results are in relatively good agreement with the onshore work to date, which indicates an age for the penultimate event in the mid-1600 s, the most likely age for the third event of ?? 1500-1600, and a fourth event ?? 1300. We presently do not have the spatial sampling needed to test for synchroneity of events along the Northern San Andreas, and thus cannot determine with confidence that the observed turbidite record is earthquake generated. However, the good agreement in number of events between the onshore and offshore records suggests that, as in Cascadia, turbidite triggers other than earthquakes appear not to have added significantly to the turbidite record along the northernmost San Andreas margin during the last ?? 2000 years

Compositional Characterization of Soil Organic Matter and Hot-Water Extractable Organic Matter in Organic Horizons Using a Molecular Mixing Model

Purpose Microbial decomposition of soil organic matter (SOM) is generally believed to be heterogeneous, resulting in the preferential loss of labile compounds such as carbohydrates and proteins and the accumulation of recalcitrant compounds such as lipids and lignin. However, these fractions are difficult to measure directly in soils. We examined patterns in the biomolecular composition of SOM and hot-water-extractable organic matter (HWEOM) by using a molecular mixing model (MMM) to estimate the content of carbohydrates, protein, lipids, and lignin. Materials and methods Organic-horizon soils from Spodosols at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire, USA were analyzed for this study. The MMM uses data from elemental analysis (C,H,N) and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy with cross-polarization and magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) to estimate the percentage of total C in the various classes of biomolecules. Results and discussion Carbohydrate content decreased from about 50% of the C in recent litter to approximately 35% in the bottom of the humus layer. Lipids accounted for about 18% of C in recent litter and increased to 40% in the lower humus layers. The HWEOM fraction of SOM was dominated by carbohydrates (40-70% of C). Carbohydrates and lipids in HWEOM exhibited depth patterns that were the opposite of the SOM. The results from the MMM confirmed the selective decomposition of carbohydrates and the relative accumulation of lipids during humus formation. The depth patterns in HWEOM suggest that the solubility of carbohydrates increases during decomposition, while the solubility of the lipid fraction decreases. The MMM was able to reproduce the spectral properties of SOM and HWEOM very accurately, although there were some discrepencies between the predicted and measured H:C and O:C ratios. Conclusions The MMM approach is an accurate and cost-effective alternative to wet-chemical methods. Together, carbohydrates and proteins account for up to 85% of the C in HWEOM, indicating that the HWEOM fraction represents a labile source of C for microbes. Humification resulted in a decrease in carbohydrate content and an increase in lipids in SOM, consistent with investigations carried out in diverse soil environments

Evolution of the fish sorting and debris handling system at the Swift Hydroelectric Project Floating Surface Collector for juvenile salmonids

The Swift Floating Surface Collector (FSC) began operation in 2012 and was the third of eight large scale surface collectors installed in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States since 2008. Downstream fish collection and sorting at Swift Dam was a key component of the Lewis River reintroduction program that reestablished passage of anadromous salmonids past PacifiCorp’s three large hydropower dams (510 MW Lewis River Hydroelectric Project) that blocked fish passage beginning in 1931. The Swift FSC floats to accommodate reservoir fluctuation of 90 feet and attracts fish with pumped surface flows of 600 cfs. After passing through a large V-screen, fish and debris enter a fish separator system designed to separate fish by girth into fry (≤3” long), smolts (≤10” long), and adult fish (\u3e10”). The separator system was designed as an evolution of similar systems studied on the Snake, Columbia, Yakima, and Cowlitz Rivers, and was optimized on lessons learned and to accommodate space constraints on the floating structure. Swift dam is the most upstream project on the Lewis river, so all flow entering the collector is unregulated and carries a heavy debris load. Operations staff are finding this system collects more debris than any of the other new FSC’s in the region. Several modifications to provide better debris exclusion, handling, and processing have been made and others are currently under design. These modifications also improve fish attraction, sorting, collection, and safety conditions for the operational staff. This presentation will review the original design goals and details, improvements made through 2017, highlight a new system currently under design planned to be operational in late 2018, and describe other ideas under consideration for adaptive management implementation. Lessons learned can be utilized at other downstream fish collectors with high debris loading

Effects of Calcium Treatment on Forest Floor Organic Matter Composition Along an Elevation Gradient

Calcium amendment is a restorative option for nutrient-depleted, acidic soils in the forests of the northeastern United States. We studied the effects of watershed-scale wollastonite (CaSiO3) application on the structural composition of soil organic matter (SOM) and hot-water extractable organic matter (HWEOM) at the Hubbard Brook Experiment Forest in New Hampshire 7-9 years after treatment, along an elevation gradient. Soils in the high-elevation spruce/fir/birch (SFB) zone contained significantly greater amounts of HWEOM compared to lower elevation hardwood soils, likely due to differences in litter quality and slower decomposition rates in colder soils at higher elevation. The only significant difference in hot-water extractable organic carbon (HWEOC) concentration between reference and calcium-treated watersheds was in Oie horizons of the SFB zone, which also exhibited the greatest degree of soil chemical change after treatment. The 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra showed no significant patterns in O-alkyl C abundance for either soil or HWEOM along the elevation gradient, suggesting that there were no elevation-related patterns in carbohydrate concentration. The general absence of long-term effects in this study suggests that effects of Ca amendment at this dosage on the composition of soil organic matter were small or short-lived

Making Collaboration Count: A Tool for Tracking and Building Participation in Community Collaboratives and Coalitions

Evaluation is necessary not only for assessing the impact of programs and interventions, but also for gathering actionable feedback on the ways in which organizations work together. Continuous evaluation of collaboratives themselves can help to address common issues, such as getting the right people at the table, balancing multiple stakeholder priorities, avoiding tokenism, and perhaps most importantly, encouraging participation and maintaining it over time. With the growing interest in collaborative processes over the past several years—and with collaboration and coalition development as a key practice competency identified by the Society for Community Research and Action (2012)—it is necessary to identify new tools that can be used to evaluate coalition processes, promote participation, and to ensure that these groups function in a way that promotes working toward collective goals. This article presents a tool and supporting strategies for tracking and encouraging participation in  collaborative processes, as well as a case example illustrating how this tool has been utilized within the North Jersey Health Collaborative

Making Collaboration Count: A Tool for Tracking and Building Participation in Community Collaboratives and Coalitions

Evaluation is necessary not only for assessing the impact of programs and interventions, but also for gathering actionable feedback on the ways in which organizations work together. Continuous evaluation of collaboratives themselves can help to address common issues, such as getting the right people at the table, balancing multiple stakeholder priorities, avoiding tokenism, and perhaps most importantly, encouraging participation and maintaining it over time. With the growing interest in collaborative processes over the past several years—and with collaboration and coalition development as a key practice competency identified by the Society for Community Research and Action (2012)—it is necessary to identify new tools that can be used to evaluate coalition processes, promote participation, and to ensure that these groups function in a way that promotes working toward collective goals. This article presents a tool and supporting strategies for tracking and encouraging participation in  collaborative processes, as well as a case example illustrating how this tool has been utilized within the North Jersey Health Collaborative

A 13C NMR study of Decomposing Logging Residues in an Australian Hoop Pine Plantation

Purpose Residue retention is important for nutrient and water economy in sub-tropical plantation forests. We examined decomposing hoop pine (Araucaria cunninghamii Ait. Ex D. Don) residues – foliage, branches and stem wood – to determine the changes in structural chemistry that occur during decomposition. Materials and methods Residues were incubated in situ using 0.05-m2 microplots. We used solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to determine the structural composition of harvest residues in the first 24 months of decomposition. Results and discussion The spectral data for branch and stem residues were generally similar to one another and showed few changes during decomposition. The lignin content of branch and foliage residues decreased during decomposition. When residues were mixed together during decomposition the O-alkyl fraction of foliage decreased initially then increased up to 24 months, while the alkyl carbon (C) fraction exhibited the opposite pattern. The decomposition of woody hoop pine residues (branch and stem wood) is surprisingly uniform across the major C forms elucidated with 13C NMR, with little evidence of preferential decomposition. When mixed with branch and stem materials, foliage residues showed significant short- and long-term compositional changes. This synergistic effect may be due to the C:N ratio of the treatments and the structure of the microbial decomposer community. Conclusions Twenty-four months of decomposition of hoop pine residues did not result in substantial accumulation of recalcitrant C forms, suggesting that they may not contribute to long-term C sequestration

InSight Aerothermal Environment Assessment

The Mars Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport (InSight) spacecraft, which successfully touched down on the planet surface on November 26, 2018, was proposed as a near build-to-print copy of the Mars Phoenix vehicle to reduce the overall cost and risk of the mission. Since the lander payload and the atmospheric entry trajectory were similar enough to those of the Phoenix mission, it was expected that the Phoenix thermal protection material thickness would be sufficient to withstand the entry heat load. However, allowances were made for increasing the heatshield thickness because the planned spacecraft arrival date coincided with the Mars dust storm season. The aftbody Thermal Protection System (TPS) components were not expected to change. In a first for a US Mars mission, the aerothermal environments for InSight included estimates of radiative heat flux to the aftbody from the wake. The combined convective and radiative heat fluxes were used to determine if the as-flown Phoenix thermal protection system (TPS) design would be sufficient for InSight. Although the radiative heat fluxes on the aftbody were predicted to be comparable to, or even higher than the local convective heat fluxes, all analyses of the aftbody TPS showed that the design would still be adequate. Aerothermal environments were computed for the vehicle from post-flight reconstruction of the atmosphere and trajectory and compared with the design environments. These comparisons showed that the predicted as-flown conditions were less severe than the design conditions