Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The role of fluids in the formation of High Himalayan leucogranites

Abstract During fractional melting of the crust, the availability of fluids is a critical variable that influences the melt fraction obtained, the capacity of the melt to migrate from its source and the relationship between melting and uplift. For the High Himalayan leucogranites, isotope systematics and metamorphic phase equilibria have identified micaceous metasediments as the most likely source, and the incongruent melting of muscovite as the appropriate melting reaction. High-field strength trace elements are controlled by dissolution kinetics and incomplete crystal/liquid segregation of accessory phases during crustal anatexis. In contrast, Rb and Sr are controlled by major phases contributing to the melting reaction. Hence the Rb/Sr ratios in primary melts can be correlated with the availability of fluids during partial melting. Geochemical modelling of melts resulting from anatexis of a wide range of metasedimentary compositions (plagioclase 5–30%, muscovite 5–30%, biotite 5–20%, quartz 30–85%) indicates that Rb/Sr ratios will vary between 4 and 10 during equilibrium melting and vapour-absent conditions, but are less than 3.5 during vapour-present melting. In either case, Rb/Sr ratios in melts are reduced under disequilibrium conditions. In general Rb/Sr ratios of Himalayan leucogranites vary between 3 and 6. Such high ratios could not have formed under vapour-present conditions unless feldspar fractionation has increased the Rb/Sr ratios of primary melts. Trace-element systematics and petrographic evidence do not support significant fractionation of feldspar. Hence for most, if not all, Himalayan granites, vapour-absent conditions prevailed during fractional melting, irrespective of either source composition or the kinetics of the melting reaction. This is consistent with the observation that the melts have migrated from their source, and allows decompression melting to play a role in their genesis.
River Water Shortage in a Highland–Lowland System

Abstract In the past decade, water shortage on the western and northern slopes of Mount Kenya and particularly in the adjoining lowland areas has reached a severity not experienced before. Rapid population growth and rising demand for irrigation are increasing the pressure on water resources, as can be demonstrated by an inventory of water abstractions from the Naro Moru River. A total of 98 abstraction points were documented within a river section of only 30 km, providing water to about 30,000 people. However, about 97% of the abstracted water is used for irrigation of 9% of the total catchment area. In 2002, about 30% of the annual discharge and 80 to 100% of the low flow discharge of the Naro Moru River was abstracted by furrows, gravity pipes, and pumps. The highland–lowland system of the Upper Ewaso Ng'iro Basin, with Mount Kenya functioning as a crucial water tower, has reached and repeatedly exceeded the limits of water availability in the past decade. In contrast to the heavily decreasing low flow discharge, the mean discharge does not show any decreasing tendency. This is due to higher flood flows, which may be induced by accelerated runoff generation due to land use change. The present study seeks to support Water Users' Associations (WUAs, ie self-help initiatives aiming to mitigate conflicts over the allocation of water) by providing them with up-to-date information about demand, supply and use of river water, as well as tools and methods for improving water management.
The Effects of Long‐term Fertiliser Applications on Soil Organic Carbon and Hydraulic Properties of a Loess Soil in China

Based on a 28‐year in situ experiment, this paper investigated the impacts of organic and inorganic fertiliser applications on soil organic carbon (SOC) content and soil hydraulic properties of the silt loam (Eumorthic Anthrosols) soils derived from loess soil in the Guanzhong Plain of China. There were two crop (winter wheat and summer maize) rotations with conventional tillage. The treatments included control without fertiliser application, organic manure application (M), chemical fertiliser application (NP), and the application of organic manure with chemical fertiliser (MNP). The results showed that the 28‐year organic manure applications (M and MNP) significantly (p < 0·05) increased SOC content at surface layer (0–10 cm), but the effect of chemical fertilisers alone on SOC was not significant. Organic manure treatments (M and MNP) apparently improved soil hydraulic properties. Compared with control, field capacity and total porosity significantly (p < 0·05) increased while soil bulk density significantly (p < 0·05) decreased for organic manure applications. The M and MNP treatments increased soil water retentions by 3·2–10·8%, which was dependent of suction tensions. However, the NP treatment had no significantly impact on soil water retention compared with control. Neither organic nor inorganic fertiliser applications significantly changed saturated hydraulic conductivity. However, a clear difference was observed for unsaturated hydraulic conductivity between the M and the control at 0–5 cm. Overall, long‐term applications of organic manuring increased SOC content and amended soil hydraulic properties. However, the effects of chemical fertilisers on these soil properties were limited. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Crustal and upper mantle structure in the Amazon region (Brazil) determined with broadband mobile stations

[1] Three broadband stations operated from March 1997 to September 1998 in the Amazon region north of Manaus, Brazil, which, including the IRIS station PTGA (Pitinga), covered an area of roughly 60 × 200 km. Applying the receiver function technique to determine the crustal structure, there is evidence for an increase of the Moho depth from about 38 km below the Amazon Basin to approximately 48 km north of the basin. In addition, we analyzed the polarization of SKS-waves to determine anisotropy. The observed splitting parameters in a majority of the data set can be accounted for by a layer of axial symmetric anisotropy with the fast direction oriented roughly N110E. This direction cannot be associated with the present-day plate motion of the South American plate. However, the anisotropy may be related to a lithospheric fabric that was generated during the early tectonic history of the Amazonian Craton.
Lower Ordovician (Ibexian) trilobites from the Tribes Hill Formation, central Mohawk Valley, New York State

The Early Ordovician Tribes Hill Formation of east-central New York State is a sequence of peritidal to subtidal carbonates and minor shales that rests disconformably on Late Cambrian carbonates and is, in turn, succeeded disconformably by Middle Ordovician strata. More than 800 trilobites from 24 collections are assigned to six species: Bellefontia gyracantha (Raymond), Clelandia parabola (Cleland), Hystricurus ellipticus (Cleland), Hystricurus cf. Hystricurus oculilunatus Ross, Symphysurina convexa (Cleland), and Symphysurina cf. Symphysurina woosteri Ulrich. Two distinct biofacies are present: the Bellefontia Biofacies in subtidal shales with thin, storm-generated bioclastic interbeds, and the Gastropod–rostroconch Biofacies in shallow, carbonate bank lithofacies. The trilobites of the Tribes Hill Formation are assigned to a single, informal biostratigraphic unit, the Clelandia parabola Fauna, which is correlative with trilobite Zone B of the Garden City Formation of Utah and with the Bellefontia frank.
Discrete aurora as the direct result of an inferred high‐altitude generating potential distribution

In a previous paper it was shown that spatial changes in the high-altitude magnetospheric electric field E with ▽ · E <0 can result in the generation of large-scale ‘inverted V’ regions of auroral electron precipitation. In the present paper it is shown that smaller-scale precipitation regions, as are required to account for discrete aurora, result from the basic analysis in the previous paper if appropriate structure is introduced in the high-altitude electric field distribution. Using observations of electric fields and precipitating electrons from a rocket flight over discrete aurora the required structure in the electric field is inferred to exit at high altitudes along magnetic field lines connected to the aurora. By using this inferred high-altitude electric potential distribution the ionospheric current continuity equation is solved for the ionospheric potential. The analysis assumes that the field-aligned current is governed by single-particle motion along field lines. The solution gives ionospheric potentials and precipitating electron energy fluxes in good quantitative agreement with those observed throughout the auroral rocket flight. The results in this and the previous paper imply that the ‘inverted V’ scale size (order of 200 km in width) is a natural result of the current versus electric potential relations along auroral field lines and in the ionosphere. This scale size need not be imposed by structure in the high-altitude electric field distribution. Smaller-scale (tens of kilometers) discrete auroral precipitation regions require the same current versus electric potential relations, but the scale size is imposed by structure in the high-altitude electric potential distribution. The cause of this structure is not considered in the present analysis.
Atmospheric and oceanic climate forcing of the exceptional Greenland ice sheet surface melt in summer 2012

The NASA announcement of record surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet in July 2012 led us to examine the atmospheric and oceanic climatic anomalies that are likely to have contributed to these exceptional conditions and also to ask the question of how unusual these anomalies were compared to available records. Our analysis allows us to assess the relative contributions of these two key influences to both the extreme melt event and ongoing climate change. In 2012, as in recent warm summers since 2007, a blocking high pressure feature, associated with negative NAO conditions, was present in the mid‐troposphere over Greenland for much of the summer. This circulation pattern advected relatively warm southerly winds over the western flank of the ice sheet, forming a ‘heat dome’ over Greenland that led to the widespread surface melting. Both sea‐surface temperature and sea‐ice cover anomalies seem to have played a minimal role in this record melt, relative to atmospheric circulation. Two representative coastal climatological station averages and several individual stations in south, west and north‐west Greenland set new surface air temperature records for May, June, July and the whole (JJA) summer. The unusually warm summer 2012 conditions extended to the top of the ice sheet at Summit, where our reanalysed (1994–2012) DMI Summit weather station summer (JJA) temperature series set new record high mean and extreme temperatures in 2012; 3‐hourly instantaneous 2‐m temperatures reached an exceptional value of 2.2°C at Summit on 11 July 2012. These conditions translated into the record observed ice‐sheet wide melt during summer 2012. However, 2012 seems not to be climatically representative of future ‘average’ summers projected this century.
ARCTIC AIR POLLUTION

I n the face of rapid climate change in the Arctic (increasing temperatures, earlier onset of spring snowmelt, sea ice loss, etc.), it is important to improve our knowledge about processes driving these changes. In general, climate models are able to reproduce enhanced warming in the Arctic, the so-called Arctic amplification. However, discrepancies are apparent between observations and global climate model predictions of, for example, Arctic summer sea ice, resulting in significant differences between model-based and extrapolated estimates for the complete disappearance of the summer ice (Overland and Wang 2013). While increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) and associated atmosphere–ice–ocean feedbacks are major contributing factors, short-lived (with respect to chemical lifetime) climate forcers, such as absorbing (heating) aerosols like black carbon (BC), and trace gases ozone (O3) and methane, are also likely to be playing an important role (Quinn et al. 2008). Short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs; e.g., BC, O3) can impact Arctic warming as a result of 
Seismic profiling with a pneumatic sound source

Introduction. In recent years the seismic profiler has become the principal tool of geophysicists for studying the sediment layers on the sea floor. Although equipment of many types has been used by various research groups, all instruments are essentially echo sounders utilizing pulses of low-frequency sonic energy and a graphic recording system that displays the data in the form of cross sections. The major difference in the various systems has been in the method of producing the sonic energy.
Seismic wavespeed images across the Iapetus and Tornquist suture zones

Closures of the Iapetus Ocean and the Tornquist Sea lead to the collision of the paleocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica and Eastern Avalonia during the Caledonian orogeny. It has been speculated that relicts of these two closures may be preserved within the crust or upper mantle. Over the past decades, numerous wide‐angle seismic profiles were gathered in northwestern Europe to search for related subsurface features. Although active source studies revealed detailed crustal structures across the Iapetus and Tornquist suture zones, there are relatively few clear three‐dimensional upper mantle images beneath this region. We use a new European crust and upper mantle model, EU30, determined based on continental scale, nonlinear adjoint tomography, to explore upper mantle structures across these two suture zones. Model EU30 reveals two fast anomalies within the upper mantle: one dips in a northwesterly direction down to approximately 400 km beneath the North Sea, and the other dips in a southwesterly direction down to nearly 250 km across the Tornquist Suture Zone. In addition, we observe a “gap” between the lithospheres of Laurentia and Eastern Avalonia across the Iapetus Suture Zone beneath the central British Isles. These seismic images suggest that heterogeneity related to the closures of the Iapetus Ocean and the Tornquist Sea have been preserved within the upper mantle over hundreds of millions of years.
Parrots (Aves, Psittaciformes) in the Pleistocene of Uruguay

Fil: Tambussi, Claudia Patricia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Cientificas y Tecnicas. Centro Cientifico Tecnologico Conicet - Cordoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra. Universidad Nacional de Cordoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicas y Naturales. Centro de Investigaciones en Ciencias de la Tierra; Argentina
Rising and falling river flows: contrasting signals of climate change and glacier mass balance from the eastern and western Karakoram

Abstract Field observations and geodetic measurements suggest that in the Karakoram Mountains, glaciers are either stable or have expanded since 1990, in sharp contrast to glacier retreats that are prevalently observed in the Himalayas and adjoining high-altitude terrains of central Asia. Decreased discharge in the rivers originating from this region is cited as a supporting evidence for this somewhat anomalous phenomenon. Here, we show that river discharge during the melting season of the glaciers in the eastern and western Karakoram, respectively, exhibits rising and falling trends. We have implemented a statistical procedure involving non-parametric tests combined with a benchmark smoothing technique that has proven to be a powerful method for separating the stochastic component from the trend component in a time series. Precipitation patterns determined from ERA-40 and GPCP data indicate that summer-monsoonal precipitation has increased over the Karakoram Mountains in recent decades. Increasing flows in June and July in the eastern Karakoram are due to an increase in summer-monsoonal precipitation. The rising trend of August discharge is due to an increase in the loss of glacier storage at an approximate average rate of 0.186–0.217 mm d-1 year-1 during the period 1973–2010. Moreover, this rate is higher than the rate of increase in monsoonal snowfall during the months of August and September. Therefore, most plausibly, glacier mass balance in the eastern Karakoram is negative. In the western Karakoram, river flows show declining trends for all summer months for the period 1966–2010, corresponding to a rate of increase of glacier storage by approximately 0.552–0.644 mm d-1 year-1, which is also higher than the rate of increase in summer-monsoonal precipitation. The gain of the cryospheric mass in the western Karakoram is in the form of increased thickness of the glaciers and perennial snowpacks instead of areal expansion. This investigation shows two contrasting patterns of trends of river flows that signify both negative and positive mass balance of the Karakoram glaciers. Trends of river flows are spatially and temporally integrated responses of a watershed to changing climate and thereby are important signals of the conditions of the cryospheric component of a watershed where it is highly significant. However, they cannot unequivocally provide indications of the state and fate of the glaciers in the complex hydrometeorological setting of the Karakoram. Extreme caution and care must be exercised in interpreting trends of river discharge in conjunction with climatic data.
Greenhouse Emissions and Climate Change: Implications for Developing Countries and Public Policy

There is no longer any serious debate about whether greenhouse gas emissions from human activity are altering the earth's climate. There is also a broad consensus that efficient mitigation of emissions will require carbon pricing via market based instruments (charges or auctioned tradable permits). The remaining controversies stem mostly from economic and technological forecasting uncertainties, disputes about global and intergenerational equity, and political divisions over collective measures to combat climate change. Near term closure seems unlikely on any of these fronts, but the science is now sufficiently compelling that a global consensus supports concerted action. Developing countries must be full participants, because they will be most heavily impacted by global warming, and because the scale of their emissions is rapidly approaching parity with developed countries.
Factors controlling the last interglacial climate as simulated by LOVECLIM1.3

Abstract. The last interglacial (LIG), also identified to the Eemian in Europe, began at approximately 130 kyr BP and ended at about 115 kyr BP (before present). More and more proxy-based reconstructions of the LIG climate are becoming more available even though they remain sparse. The major climate forcings during the LIG are rather well known and therefore models can be tested against paleoclimatic data sets and then used to better understand the climate of the LIG. However, models are displaying a large range of responses, being sometimes contradictory between them or with the reconstructed data. Here we would like to investigate causes of these differences. We focus on a single climate model, LOVECLIM, and we perform transient simulations over the LIG, starting at 135 kyr BP and run until 115 kyr BP. With these simulations, we test the role of the surface boundary conditions (the time-evolution of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) ice sheets) on the simulated LIG climate and the importance of the parameter sets (internal to the model, such as the albedos of the ocean and sea ice), which affect the sensitivity of the model. The magnitude of the simulated climate variations through the LIG remains too low compared to reconstructions for climate variables such as surface air temperature. Moreover, in the North Atlantic, the large increase in summer sea surface temperature towards the peak of the interglacial occurs too early (at ∼128 kyr BP) compared to the reconstructions. This feature as well as the climate simulated during the optimum of the LIG, between 131 and 121 kyr BP, does not depend on changes in surface boundary conditions and parameter sets. The additional freshwater flux (FWF) from the melting NH ice sheets is responsible for a temporary abrupt weakening of the North Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, which causes a strong global cooling in annual mean. However, the changes in the configuration (extent and albedo) of the NH ice sheets during the LIG only slightly impact the simulated climate. Together, configuration of and FWF from the NH ice sheets greatly increase the magnitude of the temperature variations over continents as well as over the ocean at the beginning of the simulation and reduce the difference between the simulated climate and the reconstructions. Lastly, we show that the contribution from the parameter sets to the climate response is actually very modest.
Sedimentary evolution of an Aptian syn-rift carbonate system (Maestrat Basin, E Spain): effects of accommodation and environmental change

We report an integrated study of an expanded and relatively complete syn-rift continental to epeiric marine succession of Aptian age, cropping out in the western Maestrat Basin (eastern Iberian Chain). Four transgressiveregressive sequences are recognized throughout this mixed carbonate-siliciclastic succession, with excellent age control provided by ammonite biostratigraphic data. The transgressive systems tracts consist mainly of alternations of marls and limestones rich in orbitolinids. The regressive systems tracts are essentially characterized by wave- and tidally influenced siliciclastic and carbonate deposits, and by the development of carbonate platforms with rudists, corals, orbitolinids and green algae. Carbon and oxygen isotope curves were established in order to identify the global d13C perturbations related to the Early Aptian Oceanic Anoxic Event (OAE1a). These perturbations commence with a horizon of coral rubble encrusted by Lithocodium aggregatum and Bacinella irregularis with widespread large-sized discoidal Palorbitolina lenticularis. Associated d18O values indicate high-frequency cooling-warming climatic cycles. The fault-controlled rapid syn-rift subsidence recorded during this stage was the most important factor in producing accommodation. However, the major transgressions, sea level falls and biotic changes recorded in the eastern Iberian Chain are in agreement with those registered in other contemporaneous basins of the Tethys. Thus, the resulting sedimentary succession faithfully reflects the major oceanographic and climatically-driven global changes that characterized this stage albeit within a context established by regional tectonics. Hence, this well-documented record of the evolution of an Aptian epicontinental sea provides a useful comparative case study for the analysis of other Aptian epeiric sedimentary successions.
Beyond Computation: Information Technology, Organizational Transformation and Business Performance

To understand the economic value of computers, one must broaden the traditional definition of both the technology and its effects. Case studies and firm-level econometric evidence suggest that: 1) organizational "investments" have a large influence on the value of IT investments; and 2) the benefits of IT investment are often intangible and disproportionately difficult to measure. Our analysis suggests that the link between IT and increased productivity emerged well before the recent surge in the aggregate productivity statistics and that the current macroeconomic productivity revival may in part reflect the contributions of intangible capital accumulated in the past.