Optimization of a Picarro L2140-i cavity ring-down spectrometer for routine measurement of triple oxygen isotope ratios in meteoric waters

The demanding precision of triple oxygen isotope (Δ17O) analyses in water has restricted their measurement to dual-inlet mass spectrometry until the recent development of commercially available infrared laser analyzers. Laser-based measurements of triple oxygen isotope ratios are now increasingly performed by laboratories seeking to better constrain the source and history of meteoric waters. However, in practice, these measurements are subject to large analytical errors that remain poorly documented in scientific literature and by instrument manufacturers, which can effectively restrict the confident application of Δ17O to settings where variations are relatively large (∼ 25–60 per meg). We present our operating method of a Picarro L2140-i cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS) during the analysis of low-latitude rainwater where confidently resolving daily variations in Δ17O (differences of ∼ 10–20 per meg) was desired. Our approach was optimized over ∼ 3 years and uses a combination of published best practices plus additional steps to combat spectral contamination of trace amounts of dissolved organics, which, for Δ17O, emerges as a much more substantial problem than previously documented, even in pure rainwater. We resolve the extreme sensitivity of the Δ17O measurement to organics through their removal via Picarro's micro-combustion module, whose performance is evaluated in each sequence using alcohol-spiked standards. While correction for sample-to-sample memory and instrumental drift significantly improves traditional isotope metrics, these corrections have only a marginal impact (0–1 per meg error reduction) on Δ17O. Our post-processing scheme uses the analyzer's high-resolution data, which improves δ2H measurement (0.25 ‰ error reduction) and allows for much more rich troubleshooting and data processing compared to the default user-facing data output. In addition to competitive performance for traditional isotope metrics, we report a long-term, control standard root mean square error for Δ17O of 12 per meg. Overall performance (Δ17O error of 6 per meg, calculated by averaging three replicates spread across distinct, independently calibrated sequences) is comparable to mass spectrometry and requires only ∼ 6.3 h per sample. We demonstrate the impact of our approach using a rainfall dataset from Uganda and offer recommendations for other efforts that aim to measure meteoric Δ17O via CRDS.</p

PaCTS 1.0: a crowdsourced reporting standard for paleoclimate data

The progress of science is tied to the standardization of measurements, instruments, and data. This is especially true in the Big Data age, where analyzing large data volumes critically hinges on the data being standardized. Accordingly, the lack of community-sanctioned data standards in paleoclimatology has largely precluded the benefits of Big Data advances in the field. Building upon recent efforts to standardize the format and terminology of paleoclimate data, this article describes the Paleoclimate Community reporTing Standard (PaCTS), a crowdsourced reporting standard for such data. PaCTS captures which information should be included when reporting paleoclimate data, with the goal of maximizing the reuse value of paleoclimate datasets, particularly for synthesis work and comparison to climate model simulations. Initiated by the LinkedEarth project, the process to elicit a reporting standard involved an international workshop in 2016, various forms of digital community engagement over the next few years, and grassroots working groups. Participants in this process identified important properties across paleoclimate archives, in addition to the reporting of uncertainties and chronologies; they also identified archive-specific properties and distinguished reporting standards for new vs. legacy datasets. This work shows that at least 135 respondents overwhelmingly support a drastic increase in the amount of metadata accompanying paleoclimate datasets. Since such goals are at odds with present practices, we discuss a transparent path towards implementing or revising these recommendations in the near future, using both bottom-up and top-down approaches

ICDP workshop on the Lake Tanganyika Scientific Drilling Project: a late Miocene–present record of climate, rifting, and ecosystem evolution from the world's oldest tropical lake

The Neogene and Quaternary are characterized by enormous changes in global climate and environments, including global cooling and the establishment of northern high-latitude glaciers. These changes reshaped global ecosystems, including the emergence of tropical dry forests and savannahs that are found in Africa today, which in turn may have influenced the evolution of humans and their ancestors. However, despite decades of research we lack long, continuous, well-resolved records of tropical climate, ecosystem changes, and surface processes necessary to understand their interactions and influences on evolutionary processes. Lake Tanganyika, Africa, contains the most continuous, long continental climate record from the mid-Miocene (∼10 Ma) to the present anywhere in the tropics and has long been recognized as a top-priority site for scientific drilling. The lake is surrounded by the Miombo woodlands, part of the largest dry tropical biome on Earth. Lake Tanganyika also harbors incredibly diverse endemic biota and an entirely unexplored deep microbial biosphere, and it provides textbook examples of rift segmentation, fault behavior, and associated surface processes. To evaluate the interdisciplinary scientific opportunities that an ICDP drilling program at Lake Tanganyika could offer, more than 70 scientists representing 12 countries and a variety of scientific disciplines met in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, in June 2019. The team developed key research objectives in basin evolution, source-to-sink sedimentology, organismal evolution, geomicrobiology, paleoclimatology, paleolimnology, terrestrial paleoecology, paleoanthropology, and geochronology to be addressed through scientific drilling on Lake Tanganyika. They also identified drilling targets and strategies, logistical challenges, and education and capacity building programs to be carried out through the project. Participants concluded that a drilling program at Lake Tanganyika would produce the first continuous Miocene–present record from the tropics, transforming our understanding of global environmental change, the environmental context of human origins in Africa, and providing a detailed window into the dynamics, tempo and mode of biological diversification and adaptive radiations.© Author(s) 2020. This open access article is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

Comparing proxy and model estimates of hydroclimate variability and change over the Common Era

Water availability is fundamental to societies and ecosystems, but our understanding of variations in hydroclimate (including extreme events, flooding, and decadal periods of drought) is limited because of a paucity of modern instrumental observations that are distributed unevenly across the globe and only span parts of the 20th and 21st centuries. Such data coverage is insufficient for characterizing hydroclimate and its associated dynamics because of its multidecadal to centennial variability and highly regionalized spatial signature. High-resolution (seasonal to decadal) hydroclimatic proxies that span all or parts of the Common Era (CE) and paleoclimate simulations from climate models are therefore important tools for augmenting our understanding of hydroclimate variability. In particular, the comparison of the two sources of information is critical for addressing the uncertainties and limitations of both while enriching each of their interpretations. We review the principal proxy data available for hydroclimatic reconstructions over the CE and highlight the contemporary understanding of how these proxies are interpreted as hydroclimate indicators. We also review the available last-millennium simulations from fully coupled climate models and discuss several outstanding challenges associated with simulating hydroclimate variability and change over the CE. A specific review of simulated hydroclimatic changes forced by volcanic events is provided, as is a discussion of expected improvements in estimated radiative forcings, models, and their implementation in the future. Our review of hydroclimatic proxies and last-millennium model simulations is used as the basis for articulating a variety of considerations and best practices for how to perform proxy–model comparisons of CE hydroclimate. This discussion provides a framework for how best to evaluate hydroclimate variability and its associated dynamics using these comparisons and how they can better inform interpretations of both proxy data and model simulations. We subsequently explore means of using proxy–model comparisons to better constrain and characterize future hydroclimate risks. This is explored specifically in the context of several examples that demonstrate how proxy–model comparisons can be used to quantitatively constrain future hydroclimatic risks as estimated from climate model projections

Towards increased interoperability of paleoenvironmental observation data

Data is an important foundation of scientific progress. It allows us to contrast hypotheses with observational evidence. Sharing and providing data openly have a long tradition in paleoenvironmental research, supported by repositories such as WDS-Paleo, PANGAEA,and Neotoma

Determination of the effect of source intensity profile on speckle contrast using coherent spatial frequency domain imaging

Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI) is fast, noninvasive technique to image particle dynamics in scattering media such as biological tissue. While LSI measurements are independent of the overall intensity of the laser source, we find that spatial variations in the laser source profile can impact measured flow rates. This occurs due to differences in average photon path length across the profile, and is of significant concern because all lasers have some degree of natural Gaussian profile in addition to artifacts potentially caused by projecting optics. Two in vivo measurement are performed to show that flow rates differ based on location with respect to the beam profile. A quantitative analysis is then done through a speckle contrast forward model generated within a coherent Spatial Frequency Domain Imaging (cSFDI) formalism. The model predicts remitted speckle contrast as a function of spatial frequency, optical properties, and scattering dynamics. Comparison with experimental speckle contrast images were done using liquid phantoms with known optical properties for three common beam shapes. cSFDI is found to accurately predict speckle contrast for all beam shapes to within 5% root mean square error. Suggestions for improving beam homogeneity are given, including a widening of the natural beam Gaussian, proper diffusing glass spreading, and flat top shaping using microlens arrays

Towards spatial frequency domain optical imaging of neurovascular coupling in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease

Early neurovascular coupling (NVC) changes in Alzheimer's disease can potentially provide imaging biomarkers to assist with diagnosis and treatment. Previous efforts to quantify NVC with intrinsic signal imaging have required assumptions of baseline optical pathlength to calculate changes in oxy- and deoxy-hemoglobin concentrations during evoked stimuli. In this work, we present an economical spatial frequency domain imaging (SFDI) platform utilizing a commercially available LED projector, camera, and off-the-shelf optical components suitable for imaging dynamic optical properties. The fast acquisition platform described in this work is validated on silicone phantoms and demonstrated in neuroimaging of a mouse model. © 2012 SPIE