Biogeochemical Stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley Ecosystems

Among aquatic and terrestrial landscapes of the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica, ecosystem stoichiometry ranges from values near the Redfield ratios for C:N:P to nutrient concentrations in proportions far above or below ratios necessary to support balanced microbial growth. This polar desert provides an opportunity to evaluate stoichiometric approaches to understand nutrient cycling in an ecosystem where biological diversity and activity are low, and controls over the movement and mass balances of nutrients operate over 10–10⁶ years. The simple organisms (microbial and metazoan) comprising dry valley foodwebs adhere to strict biochemical requirements in the composition of their biomass, and when activated by availability of liquid water, they influence the chemical composition of their environment according to these ratios. Nitrogen and phosphorus varied significantly in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems occurring on landscape surfaces across a wide range of exposure ages, indicating strong influences of landscape development and geochemistry on nutrient availability. Biota control the elemental ratio of stream waters, while geochemical stoichiometry (e.g., weathering, atmospheric deposition) evidently limits the distribution of soil invertebrates. We present a conceptual model describing transformations across dry valley landscapes facilitated by exchanges of liquid water and biotic processing of dissolved nutrients. We conclude that contemporary ecosystem stoichiometry of Antarctic Dry Valley soils, glaciers, streams, and lakes results from a combination of extant biological processes superimposed on a legacy of landscape processes and previous climates

State of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Climate System

This paper reviews developments in our understanding of the state of the Antarctic and Southern Ocean climate and its relation to the global climate system over the last few millennia. Climate over this and earlier periods has not been stable, as evidenced by the occurrence of abrupt changes in atmospheric circulation and temperature recorded in Antarctic ice core proxies for past climate. Two of the most prominent abrupt climate change events are characterized by intensification of the circumpolar westerlies (also known as the Southern Annular Mode) between ∼6000 and 5000 years ago and since 1200–1000 years ago. Following the last of these is a period of major trans-Antarctic reorganization of atmospheric circulation and temperature between A.D. 1700 and 1850. The two earlier Antarctic abrupt climate change events appear linked to but predate by several centuries even more abrupt climate change in the North Atlantic, and the end of the more recent event is coincident with reorganization of atmospheric circulation in the North Pacific. Improved understanding of such events and of the associations between abrupt climate change events recorded in both hemispheres is critical to predicting the impact and timing of future abrupt climate change events potentially forced by anthropogenic changes in greenhouse gases and aerosols. Special attention is given to the climate of the past 200 years, which was recorded by a network of recently available shallow firn cores, and to that of the past 50 years, which was monitored by the continuous instrumental record. Significant regional climate changes have taken place in the Antarctic during the past 50 years. Atmospheric temperatures have increased markedly over the Antarctic Peninsula, linked to nearby ocean warming and intensification of the circumpolar westerlies. Glaciers are retreating on the peninsula, in Patagonia, on the sub-Antarctic islands, and in West Antarctica adjacent to the peninsula. The penetration of marine air masses has become more pronounced over parts of West Antarctica. Above the surface, the Antarctic troposphere has warmed during winter while the stratosphere has cooled year-round. The upper kilometer of the circumpolar Southern Ocean has warmed, Antarctic Bottom Water across a wide sector off East Antarctica has freshened, and the densest bottom water in the Weddell Sea has warmed. In contrast to these regional climate changes, over most of Antarctica, near-surface temperature and snowfall have not increased significantly during at least the past 50 years, and proxy data suggest that the atmospheric circulation over the interior has remained in a similar state for at least the past 200 years. Furthermore, the total sea ice cover around Antarctica has exhibited no significant overall change since reliable satellite monitoring began in the late 1970s, despite large but compensating regional changes. The inhomogeneity of Antarctic climate in space and time implies that recent Antarctic climate changes are due on the one hand to a combination of strong multidecadal variability and anthropogenic effects and, as demonstrated by the paleoclimate record, on the other hand to multidecadal to millennial scale and longer natural variability forced through changes in orbital insolation, greenhouse gases, solar variability, ice dynamics, and aerosols. Model projections suggest that over the 21st century the Antarctic interior will warm by 3.4° ± 1°C, and sea ice extent will decrease by ∼30%. Ice sheet models are not yet adequate enough to answer pressing questions about the effect of projected warming on mass balance and sea level. Considering the potentially major impacts of a warming climate on Antarctica, vigorous efforts are needed to better understand all aspects of the highly coupled Antarctic climate system as well as its influence on the Earth\u27s climate and oceans

On the geometrical properties of local diffeomorphisms in Banach spaces

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Generalized differential equations for maps of Banach spaces

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On the univalent subordination chains of holomorphic mappings in Banach spaces

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Noble gases in deformed xenoliths from an ocean island: characterization of a metasomatic fluid

New noble gas measurements have been made on Samoan ultramafic xenoliths in order to characterize the composition and nature of entrapment of a postulated mantle metasomatic agent. The new measurements were performed on gases extracted from severely tectonized harzburgites and dunites by both bulk crushing and laser microprobe. The tectonized specimens have the highest noble gas concentrations yet reported from mantle materials and attest to deformation in a highly gas-charged environment. The noble gas isotopic systematics are similar to those observed in undeformed specimens from the same locality, and are consistent with mixing between a mantle component (e.g. ^3He/^4He = 12 R_A, ^(40)Ar/^(36) Ar > 10,000) and an atmospheric contaminant. Within the xenoliths, the mantle component is spatially associated with features previously attributed to metasomatism (e.g. HAURI et al., 1993). Although this metasomatic component has many characteristics suggesting derivation from material returned to the mantle by subduction, its relatively high ^3He/^4He ratio is enigmatic. Whatever its source, this fluid appears to have existed within the Samoan mantle over fairy large temporal and spatial scales, and plays an important role in the geochemistry of Samoan basalts. Just as with the mantle component, the deformed xenoliths are also enriched in the atmospheric contaminant. This enrichment suggests pervasive penetration of air into the ubiquitous micro fractures and decrepitated fluid inclusions of the deformed specimens. In addition to source and contamination effects, the noble gases within these xenoliths record variable degrees of elemental fractionation. While the gas-rich (deformed) xenoliths have ^4He-^(21)Ne*-^(40)Ar* systematics close to long-term closed-system behavior, the comparatively gas-poor samples have lost up to 90% of their helium without concomitant loss of neon and argon. This likely represents diffusive loss of helium after fluid inclusion entrapment

Immersive rehabilitation monitoring system supported with Augmented Reality

Medical rehabilitation treatment is of vital importance to all those who have experienced limb impairments due to unexpected accidents or geriatric dysfunctions. However, due to extensive government savings, the access to regular rehabilitation services is becoming increasingly difficult. This paper presents a low-cost, immersive augmented reality passive medical rehabilitation system exploiting depth-based limb joint tracking, supported with the Microsoft Kinect controller. Depth-based augmented reality solutions, though hardware affordable, suffer from miscellaneous problems. Duality of reference coordinate systems for RGB and depth sensors entails imprecision of limb joint positions measurement, whereas reliable limbs rehabilitation and their motility supervision require precise joints positioning and reliable visual feedback from the system. The present solution proposes the use of visual markers overlaid on the patient's image as an interface layer and two complementary sensors for depth-based spatial limbs tracking. It organizes the visual aspect of the rehabilitation stand, helps to immerse the patients into the rehabilitation process by providing them with a way to follow their achievements, while also monitoring the correctness of exercise performance