Hydrogen isotope ratios as a Larix detector in archaeological wood samples

Identifying wood species in archaeological specimens is important for the evaluation of timber structures and the conservation of historic buildings. Microscopic wood anatomy is the most commonly used technique for species identification. However, its application is problematic for the analysis of deteriorated wood. In addition, a particular challenge is the distinction of Picea from Larix due to their similar microscopic features. Recently, an analysis of stable isotopes of cellulose has shown that Larix is characterized by significantly more depleted deuterium values compared to Picea as well as other conifers from the Alpine region. To verify if this fact can be used in archaeological studies, we obtained 36 specimens, most of which were not clearly identified as larch or spruce. The cellulose could be extracted from 20 of them. We identified Larix and non-Larix species (Picea) without ambiguity from the deuterium content, except for one sample with an intermediate value. In conclusion, the evaluation of deuterium content is a valuable tool for the study of archaeologic wood

Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Models in the Grey Zone of Turbulence: Adaptations to FLEXPART-COSMO for Simulations at 1 km Grid Resolution.

Lagrangian particle dispersion models (LPDMs) are frequently used for regional-scale inversions of greenhouse gas emissions. However, the turbulence parameterizations used in these models were developed for coarse resolution grids, hence, when moving to the kilometre-scale the validity of these descriptions should be questioned. Here, we analyze the influence of the turbulence parameterization employed in the LPDM FLEXPART-COSMO model. Comparisons of the turbulence kinetic energy between the turbulence schemes of FLEXPART-COSMO and the underlying Eulerian model COSMO suggest that the dispersion in FLEXPART-COSMO suffers from a double-counting of turbulent elements when run at a high resolution of . Such turbulent elements are represented in both COSMO, by the resolved grid-scale winds, and FLEXPART, by its stochastic parameterizations. Therefore, we developed a new parametrization for the variations of the winds and the Lagrangian time scales in FLEXPART in order to harmonize the amount of turbulence present in both models. In a case study for a power plant plume, the new scheme results in improved plume representation when compared with in situ flight observations and with a tracer transported in COSMO. Further in-depth validation of the LPDM against methane observations at a tall tower site in Switzerland shows that the model's ability to predict the observed tracer variability and concentration at different heights above ground is considerably enhanced using the updated turbulence description. The high-resolution simulations result in a more realistic and pronounced diurnal cycle of the tracer concentration peaks and overall improved correlation with observations when compared to previously used coarser resolution simulations (at 7 km 7 km). Our results indicate that the stochastic turbulence schemes of LPDMs, developed in the past for coarse resolution models, should be revisited to include a resolution dependency and resolve only the part of the turbulence spectrum that is a subgrid process at each different mesh size. Although our new scheme is specific to COSMO simulations at resolution, the methodology for deriving the scheme can easily be applied to different resolutions and other regional models. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10546-022-00728-3

Pollution menacing Lake Victoria: Quantification of point sources around Jinja Town, Uganda

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest tropical freshwater lake, important as a source of drinking water and as a source of food for the population in the surrounding region. Due to increased human activities in agriculture and industry during the past decades a continuously increasing inflow of agricultural runoff has been observed, and lately there have also been increased discharges of municipal effluents and industrial wastewater into Lake Victoria. This paper summarises the results of a one-year (1997 to 1998) environmental and ecological study of industrial wastewater point sources in the Jinja (Uganda) catchment area. Main industries concern food processing, textile, leather and paper production and metallurgy. One fish- filleting factory showed the highest annual nutrient loads with 0.13 t NO3-N, 0.20 t NH4-N and 0.77 t PO4-P, while another disposed of annual loads that amounted to 0.10 t NH4-N and 0.49 t PO4-P. From food-processing industries, the highest annual load of organic matter (COD) discharged to the lake amounted to 36.8 t. A tannery in Jinja released effluent with an extremely high mean concentration of the very toxic chromium+6 of 264 mg·ℓ-1, which results in an estimated annual load of 2.2 t of Cr+6. Concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus from fish-filleting industries and chromium+6 from the tannery were far above the allowed effluent limits in Uganda, leading to enhanced eutrophication and bioaccumulation of Cr+6 in Napoleon Gulf, Lake Victoria. The study provides information on point sources of effluent derived from Jinja’s industrial sector in an effort to force resource users to move towards a more sustainable pattern of environmental management. The most appropriate way to reduce the ongoing eutrophication and pollution of Lake Victoria would be to reduce the releases of nitrogen, phosphorus, organic compounds and chromium into Napoleon Gulf by on-site pretreatment, so that they remain within non-critical levels. Industries must be required to monitor their effluents before these are discharged into Kirinya National Water and Sewerage Corporation oxidation ponds and finally into Kirinya West urban wetlands.Keywords: industrial pollution, point sources, heavy metals, potential loads, hot spots, Lake Victoria, on-site pretreatmen

Larch Cellulose Shows Significantly Depleted Hydrogen Isotope Values With Respect to Evergreen Conifers in Contrast to Oxygen and Carbon Isotopes

The analysis of the stable isotope of the tree-ring cellulose is an important tool for paleo climatic investigations. Long tree-ring chronologies consist predominantly of oaks and conifers in Europe, including larch trees (Larix decidua) and cembran pines (Pinus cembra) that form very long tree ring chronologies in the Alps and grow at the treeline, where tree growth is mainly determined by temperature variations. We analyzed δ13C, δ18O and δ2H isotopes in the cellulose extracted from tree-rings of wood samples collected at high altitude in the Swiss and Tyrol Alps, covering the whole Holocene period. We found that larch cellulose was remarkably more depleted in deuterium than that of cembran pine, with mean δ2H values of −113.4 ± 9.7‰ for larch and of −65.4 ± 11.3‰ for cembran pine. To verify if these depleted values were specific to larch or a property of the deciduous conifers, we extended the analysis to samples from various living conifer species collected at the Bern Botanical Garden. The results showed that not only the larch, but also all the samples of the deciduous larch family had a cellulose composition that was highly depleted in δ2H with regard to the other evergreen conifers including cembran pine, a difference that we attribute to a faster metabolism of the deciduous conifers. The δ18O values were not statistically different among the species, in agreement with the hypothesis that they are primary signals of the source water. While the δ13C values were slightly more depleted for larch than for cembran pine, likely due to metabolic differences of the two species. We conclude that the deciduous larch conifers have specific metabolic hydrogen fractionations and that the larch unique signature of δ2H is useful to recognize it from other conifers in subfossil wood samples collected for paleoclimatic studies. For climate information the absolute δ2H values of larch should be considered carefully and separate from other species

Central Europe temperature constrained by speleothem fluid inclusion water isotopes over the past 14,000 years

The reasons for the early Holocene temperature discrepancy between northern hemispheric model simulations and paleoclimate reconstructions—known as the Holocene temperature conundrum—remain unclear. Using hydrogen isotopes of fluid inclusion water extracted from stalagmites from the Milandre Cave in Switzerland, we established a mid-latitude European mean annual temperature reconstruction for the past 14,000 years. Our Milandre Cave fluid inclusion temperature record (MC-FIT) resembles Greenland and Mediterranean sea surface temperature trends but differs from recent reconstructions obtained from biogenic proxies and climate models. The water isotopes are further synchronized with tropical precipitation records, stressing the Northern Hemisphere signature. Our results support the existence of a European Holocene Thermal Maximum and data-model temperature discrepancies. Moreover, datadata comparison reveals a significant latitudinal temperature gradient within Europe. Last, the MC-FIT record suggests that seasonal biases in the proxies are not the primary cause of the Holocene temperature conundrum

Cellulose in Foliage and Changes during Seasonal Leaf Development of Broadleaf and Conifer Species.

Stable isotope approaches are widely applied in plant science and many improvements made in the field focus on the analysis of specific components of plant tissues. Although technical developments have been very beneficial, sample collection and preparation are still very time and labor-consuming. The main objective of this study was to create a qualitative dataset of alpha-cellulose content of leaf tissues of arboreal species. We extracted alpha-cellulose from twelve species: Abies alba Mill., Acer pseudoplatanus L., Fagus sylvatica L., Larix decidua Mill., Picea abies (L.) Karst., Pinus sylvestris L., Quercus cerris L., Quercus petrea (Matt.) Liebl., Quercus pubescens Wild., Quercus robur L., Tilia platyphyllos Scop. and Ulmus glabra Huds. While these species show an increase in cellulose yield from bud break to full leaf development, the rates of increase in cellulose content and the duration of the juvenile phase vary greatly. Moreover, the veins display significantly higher alpha-cellulose content (4 to 11%) compared to blade tissues, which reflects their different structural and biochemical functions. A guide for the mass of sample material required to yield sufficient alpha-cellulose for a standard stable isotope analysis is presented. The additional benefits of the assessment of the mass of required sample material are reduced sample preparation time and its usefulness in preparing samples of limited availability (e.g., herbarium material, fossil samples)

Living with endometriosis: Comorbid pain disorders, characteristics of pain and relevance for daily life

BACKGROUND: Pain plays a central role in endometriosis. The complex relationship among pain characteristics, comorbid pain disorders and daily life represents a challenge for medical support. This multicentre cross‐sectional case–control study analysed the association between endometriosis‐related chronic pain and functions of daily life in 510 women with endometriosis, 265 (52%) who experienced chronic pain, either from endometriosis alone (N = 134, 26.3%) or in association with additional pain disorders (N = 131, 25.7%). METHODS: Self‐administered questionnaires from the Brief Pain Inventory and the Pain Disability Index were used to investigate associations between pain characteristics (frequency, duration, intensity) and daily life. Also, associations between different endometriosis characteristics (rASRM stage, presence of adhesions, localisation of lesions) and pain were evaluated. RESULTS: Chronic pain is negatively associated with almost all (12/14) aspects of daily life investigated, including standing, walking, sitting, defaecation, sleep, sports activities, family and domestic responsibilities, sexuality, social functioning, professional life, mood, and joy of life. Altogether, 33.7% of women with chronic pain reported moderate and 27.5% severe limitations. Comorbid pain disorders resulted in significantly more limitations. The length of pain episodes showed a particularly important influence, especially for family/domestic responsibilities (OR 22.94, p < 0.001), professional life (OR 16.56, p < 0.001) and social functioning (OR 41.03, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that despite treatment, about 50% of women experience pain. Pain was associated with at least moderate negative effects on almost all areas of daily life; additional pain comorbidities increased limitations. Improving pain management is essential for improving quality of life in women with endometriosis. SIGNIFICANCE: The study provides an accurate overview of the impact of endometriosis‐associated pain on daily life. This is important because pain plays a central role in women living with endometriosis, and despite modern therapies, many women continue to suffer from chronic pain. The detailed analysis of its impact with a comprehensive survey of all aspects of daily life in a very large study population is unique. We expect an improved understanding of consequences of pain to significantly advance medical support in these patients