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Inclusions of breyite (previously known as walstromite-structured CaSiO3) in diamond are usually interpreted as retrogressed CaSiO3 perovskite trapped in the transition zone or the lower mantle. However, the thermodynamic stability field of breyite does not preclude its crystallization together with diamond under upper-mantle conditions (6–10 GPa). The possibility of breyite forming in subducted sedimentary material through the reaction CaCO3 + SiO2 = CaSiO3 + C + O2 was experimentally evaluated in the CaO–SiO2–C–O2 ± H2O system at 6–10 GPa, 900–1500 ∘C and oxygen fugacity 0.5–1.0 log units below the Fe–FeO (IW) buffer. One experimental series was conducted in the anhydrous subsystem and aimed at determining the melting temperature of the aragonite–coesite (or stishovite) assemblage. It was found that melting occurs at a lower temperature (∼1500 ∘C) than the decarbonation reaction, which indicates that breyite cannot be formed from aragonite and silica under anhydrous conditions and an oxygen fugacity above IW – 1. In the second experimental series, we investigated partial melting of an aragonite–coesite mixture under hydrous conditions at the same pressures and redox conditions. The melting temperature in the presence of water decreased strongly (to 900–1200 ∘C), and the melt had a hydrous silicate composition. The reduction of melt resulted in graphite crystallization in equilibrium with titanite-structured CaSi2O5 and breyite at ∼1000 ∘C. The maximum pressure of possible breyite formation is limited by the reaction CaSiO3 + SiO2 = CaSi2O5 at ∼8 GPa. Based on the experimental results, it is concluded that breyite inclusions found in natural diamond may be formed from an aragonite–coesite assemblage or carbonate melt at 6–8 GPa via reduction at high water activity.
The design of rainwater harvesting based gardens requires considering current climate but also climate change during the lifespan of the facility. The goal of this study is to present an approach for designing garden variants that can be safely supplied with harvested rainwater, taking into account climate change and adaptation measures. In addition, the study presents a methodology to quantify the effects of climate change on rainwater harvesting based gardening. Results of the study may not be accurate due to the assumptions made for climate projections and may need to be further refined. We used a tank flow model and an irrigation water model. Then we established three simple climate scenarios and analyzed the impact of climate change on harvested rain and horticulture production for a semi-arid region in northern Namibia. In the two climate scenarios with decreased precipitation and medium/high temperature increase; adaptation measures are required to avoid substantial decreases in horticulture production. The study found that the most promising adaptation measures to sustain yields and revenues are a more water efficient garden variant and an enlargement of the roof size. The proposed measures can partly or completely compensate the negative impacts of climate change.
In situ rainwater harvesting has a long history in arid and semi-arid regions of the world buffering water shortages for human consumption and agriculture. In the context of an Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM) in the Cuvelai Basin in northern Namibia, roof top rainwater harvesting is being introduced to a rural community for the irrigation of household scale gardens for the cultivation of horticulture products. This study elaborates how harvested rainwater can be used for garden irrigation in a sustainable manner evaluating ecologic, economic and social implications. Considering local conditions eight cropping scenarios were designed, including different criteria as well as one and two annual planting seasons. These schemes were tested under present climate conditions and under three future climate change scenarios for 2050 with the help of a tank model designed to model monthly tank inflows and outflows. Special attention was laid on risk and uncertainty aspects of varying inter-annual and interseasonal precipitation and future climate change. A framework for the assessment of sustainability was adapted to the purposes of this study and indicators have been developed in order to assess the cropping and irrigation schemes for sustainability.
The study found that with the given tank size of 30 m³, depending on crop scenario, under optimized conditions a garden area of 60 to 90 m³ can be irrigated. The choice of crops highly impacts water use efficiency and economic profitability, compared to the considerably lower impact of amount of annual planting seasons and future climate change. In the case of worsening future climate conditions, adaptation measures need to be taken as especially the economic as well as the environmental situation are expected to exacerbate due to expected decreases in yields and revenues. Already under present conditions however, the economic dimension represents the most limiting factor to sustainability, particularly due to the excessive investment costs of the rainwater harvesting and gardening facility. Nonetheless, rainwater harvesting in combination with gardening can be regarded as successful in securing household nutrition, providing sufficient horticulture products for household consumption or market sale. At the same time with the optimal choice of crops the investment costs can be recovered within the end of the lifespan of the facility.
Water is scarce in semi-arid and arid regions. Using alternative water sources (i.e. non-conventional water sources), such as municipal reuse water and harvested rain, contributes to using existing water resources more efficiently and productively. The aim of this study is to evaluate the two alternative water sources reuse water and harvested rain for the irrigation of small-holder agriculture from a system perspective. This helps decision and policy makers to have proper information about which system and technology to adopt under local conditions. For this, the evaluation included ecologic, societal, economic, institutional and political as well as technical aspects. For the evaluation, the study area in central-northern Namibia was chosen in the frame of the research and development project CuveWaters. The main methods used include a mathematical material flow analysis, the computation and modelling of crop requirements, a multi-criteria decision analysis using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method and a financial cost-benefit analysis. From a systemic perspective, the proposed novel systems were compared to the exciting conventional infrastructure. The results showed that both water reuse and rainwater harvesting systems for the irrigation of small-holder horticulture offer numerous technological, ecologic, economic, societal, institutional and political benefits. Rainwater harvesting based gardens have a positive benefit-cost ratio under favorable conditions. Government programs could fund the infrastructure investment costs, while the micro-entrepreneur can assume a micro-credit to finance operation and maintenance costs. Installing sanitation in informal settlements and reusing municipal water for irrigation reduces the overall water demand of households and agriculture by 39%, compared to improving sanitation facilities in informal settlements without reusing the water for agriculture. Given that water is the limiting factor for crop fertigation, the generated nutrient-rich reuse water is sufficient to annually irrigate about 10 m2 to 13 m2 per sanitation user. Compared to crop nutrient requirements, there are too many nutrients in the reuse water. Thus when using nutrient-rich reuse water, no use of fertilizers and a careful salt management is necessary. When comparing this novel system with improved sanitation, advanced wastewater treatment and nutrient-rich water reuse to the conventional and to two adapted systems, results showed that the novel CuveWaters system is the best option for the given context in a semi-arid developing country. Therefore, the results of this study suggest a further roll-out of the novel CuveWaters system. The methodology developed and the results of this study demonstrated that taking sanitation users into consideration plays a major role for the planning of an integrated water reuse infrastructure because they are the determinant factor for the amount of available nutrient-rich reuse water. In addition, it could be shown that water reuse and rainwater harvesting systems for the irrigation of small-scale gardens provide a wide range of benefits and can be key to using scarce water resources more efficiently and to contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.
The theoretical basis for the link between the leaf exchange of carbonyl sulfide (COS), carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O) and the assumptions that need to be made in order to use COS as a tracer for canopy net photosynthesis, transpiration and stomatal conductance, are reviewed. The ratios of COS to CO2 and H2O deposition velocities used to this end are shown to vary with the ratio of the internal to ambient CO2 and H2O mole fractions and the relative limitations by boundary layer, stomatal and internal conductance for COS. It is suggested that these deposition velocity ratios exhibit considerable variability, a finding that challenges current parameterizations, which treat these as vegetation-specific constants. COS is shown to represent a better tracer for CO2 than H2O. Using COS as a tracer for stomatal conductance is hampered by our present poor understanding of the leaf internal conductance to COS. Estimating canopy level CO2 and H2O fluxes requires disentangling leaf COS exchange from other ecosystem sources/sinks of COS. We conclude that future priorities for COS research should be to improve the quantitative understanding of the variability in the ratios of COS to CO2 and H2O deposition velocities and the controlling factors, and to develop operational methods for disentangling ecosystem COS exchange into contributions by leaves and other sources/sinks. To this end, integrated studies, which concurrently quantify the ecosystem-scale CO2, H2O and COS exchange and the corresponding component fluxes, are urgently needed.
We investigate the potential of carbonyl sulfide (COS) for being used as a tracer for canopy net photosynthesis, transpiration and stomatal conductance by examining the theoretical basis of the link between leaf COS, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapour (H2O) exchange. Our analysis identifies several limitations that need to be overcome to this end, however at present we lack appropriate ecosystem-scale field measurements for assessing their practical significance. It however appears that COS represents a better tracer for CO2 than H2O. Concurrent measurements of ecosystem scale COS, CO2 and H2O exchange are advocated.
Unter dem Namen #climonomics – EU-Klimakonferenz für Schüler*innen: A Friday for Future veranstaltete das PolECulE-Projekt, ein Kooperationsprojekt der Englisch- und Politikdidaktik, am 25. Oktober eine Veranstaltung für Schüler*innen. Hier wurde die aktuelle EU-Klimapolitik im Rahmen eines Rollenspiels erörtert und debattiert. Nachdem die Hessenschau, FAZ, der Deutschlandfunk und die Frankfurter Rundschau ausgiebig über das Projekt berichteten, schreibt auch Charlotte Wittich (17), angehende Abiturientin am Heinrich-von-Gagern-Gymnasium, von ihren Erfahrungen.
The Arctic Svalbard Archipelago hosts the world’s northernmost cold-water ‘carbonate factories’ thriving here despite of presumably unfavourable environmental conditions and extreme seasonality. Two contrasting sites of intense biogenic carbonate production, the rhodolith beds in Mosselbukta in the north of the archipelago and the barnacle-mollusc dominated carbonate sediments accumulating in the strong hydrodynamic regime of the Bjørnøy-Banken south of Spitsbergen, were the targets of the RV Maria S. Merian cruise 55 in June 2016. By integrating data from physical oceanography, marine biology, and marine geology, the present contribution characterises the environmental setting and biosedimentary dynamics of these two polar carbonate factories. Repetitive CTD profiling in concert with autonomous temperature/salinity loggers on a long-term settlement platform identified spatiotemporal patterns in the involved Atlantic and Polar water masses, whereas short-term deployments of a lander revealed fluctuations of environmental variables in the rhodolith beds in Mosselbukta and at same depth (46 m) at Bjørnøy-Banken. At both sites, dissolved inorganic nutrients in the water column were found depleted (except for elevated ammonium concentrations) and show an overall increase in concentration and N:P ratios toward deeper waters. This indicates that a recycling system was fuelling primary production after the phytoplankton spring bloom at the time of sampling in June 2016. Accordingly, oxygen levels were found elevated and carbon dioxide concentrations (pCO2) markedly reduced, on average only half the expected equilibrium values. Backed up by seawater stable carbon and oxygen isotope signatures, this is interpreted as an effect of limited air-sea gas exchange during seasonal ice cover in combination with a boost in community photosynthesis during the spring phytoplankton bloom. The observed trends are enhanced by the onset of rhodophyte photosynthesis in the rhodolith beds during the polar day upon retreat of sea-ice. Potential adverse effects of ocean acidification on the local calcifier community are thus predicted to be seasonally buffered by the marked drop in pCO2 during the phase of sea-ice cover and spring phyto-plankton bloom, but this effect will diminish should the seasonal sea-ice formation continue to decline. Among the 25 macrobenthos taxa identified from images captured by the lander’s camera system, all but three species were calcifiers contributing to the carbonate production. Biodiversity was found to be much higher in Mosselbukta (21 taxa) compared to Bjørnøy-Banken (8 taxa), which is considered as a result of enhanced habitat diversity provided in the rhodolith beds by the bioengineering crustose alga Lithothamnion glaciale. Filter-feeding activity of selected key species did reveal group-specific but no common activity patterns. Biotic disturbance of the filtering activity was common, in contrast to abiotic factors, with hermit crabs representing the primary trigger. Motion tracking of rhodoliths revealed a high frequency of dislocation, triggered not by abiotic factors but by the activity of benthic invertebrates, in particular echinoids ploughing below or moving over the rhodoliths. The echinoid Strongylocentrotus sp. is the most abundant component of the associated fauna, thereby considerably contributing both to carbonate production and to grazing bioerosion. Together, these results portray a high degree of seasonal as well as short-term dynamics in environmental conditions that despite many similarities support distinctly different communities and biodiversity patterns in the calcifying macrobenthos at the two studied polar carbonate factories.
Samples of freshly fallen snow were collected at the high alpine research station Jungfraujoch (Switzerland) in February and March 2006 and 2007, during the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiments (CLACE) 5 and 6. In this study a new technique has been developed and demonstrated for the measurement of organic acids in fresh snow. The melted snow samples were subjected to solid phase extraction and resulting solutions analysed for organic acids by HPLC-MS-TOF using negative electrospray ionization. A series of linear dicarboxylic acids from C5 to C13 and phthalic acid, were identified and quantified. In several samples the biogenic acid pinonic acid was also observed. In fresh snow the median concentration of the most abundant acid, adipic acid, was 0.69 micro g L -1 in 2006 and 0.70 micro g L -1 in 2007. Glutaric acid was the second most abundant dicarboxylic acid found with median values of 0.46 micro g L -1 in 2006 and 0.61 micro g L -1 in 2007, while the aromatic acid phthalic acid showed a median concentration of 0.34 micro g L -1 in 2006 and 0.45 micro g L -1 in 2007. The concentrations in the samples from various snowfall events varied significantly, and were found to be dependent on the back trajectory of the air mass arriving at Jungfraujoch. Air masses of marine origin showed the lowest concentrations of acids whereas the highest concentrations were measured when the air mass was strongly influenced by boundary layer air.
Samples of freshly fallen snow were collected at the high alpine research station Jungfraujoch (Switzerland) in February and March 2006 and 2007, during the Cloud and Aerosol Characterization Experiments (CLACE) 5 and 6. In this study a new technique has been developed and demonstrated for the measurement of organic acids in fresh snow. The melted snow samples were subjected to solid phase extraction and resulting solution analysed for organic acids by HPLC-MS-TOF using negative electrospray ionization. A series of linear dicarboxylic acids from C5 to C13 and phthalic acid, were identified and quantified. In several samples the biogenic acid pinonic acid was also observed. In fresh snow the median concentration of the most abundant acid, adipic acid, was 0.69 µg L−1 in 2006 and 0.70 µg L−1 in 2007. Glutaric acid was the second most abundant dicarboxylic acid found with median values of 0.46 µg L−1 in 2006 and 0.61 µg L−1 in 2007, while the aromatic acid phthalic acid showed a median concentration of 0.34 µg L−1 in 2006 and 0.45 µg L−1 in 2007. The concentrations in the samples from various snowfall events varied significantly, and were found to be dependent on the back trajectory of the air mass arriving at Jungfraujoch. Air masses of marine origin showed the lowest concentrations of acids whereas the highest concentrations were measured when the air mass was strongly influenced by boundary layer air.
Nichtmethan-Kohlenwasserstoffe sind in Gegenwart von Stickstoffoxiden (NO, NO2) wichtige Vorläufersubstanzen von troposphärischen Photooxidantien (z. B. Ozon), die beim photochemischen Metabolismus gasförmiger organischer Verbindungen durch Hydroxylradikale (OH) unter Einwirkung von Sonnenlicht gebildet werden. Experimenteller Beitrag dieser Arbeit ist die Charakterisierung, Modifizierung, Optimierung und Qualitätssicherung des zur Messung von leichtflüchtigen atmosphärischen C2-C10 Kohlenwasserstoffen verwendeten mobilen Gaschromatographen (GC) mit Flammenionisationsdetektor (AirmoVOC HC2010). Im Rahmen des vom BIvIBF geförderten Berlin Ozonexperiments BERLIOZ, das im Sommer 1998 im Großraum Berlin/Brandenburg stattfand, wurden an einer ländlichen Bodenstation in Blossin, 40 km südöstlich Berlins, in situ Messungen von 69 Nichtmethan-Kohlenwasserstoffen durchgeführt. im Vorfeld der Feldkampagne wurde der GC einer umfangreichen Qualitätssicherung unterzogen. Bei einer Immissionsvergleichsmessung, die unter Beteiligung aller Arbeitsgruppen stattfand, ergab sich eine mittlere konzentrationsabhängige Abweichung des HC-2010 von ± 16% und ein konstanter Offset (Bias) von 0,71 nmol/m3 (16 pptv) vom Referenzmeßverfahren des Forschungszentrums Jülich. Die Geräteblindwerte waren für die meisten Analyten kleiner 0,3 nmol/m3 (6 pptv). Aus der dreifachen Standardabweichung der Blindwerte ergaben sich die für Außenluftuntersuchungen geforderten Nachweisgrenzen um 0,4 nmol/m3 (10 pptv). Im zweiten Teil dieser Arbeit wurde der BERLIOZ-Datensatz hinsichtlich einer Bestandsaufnahme ausgewertet. Die beobachteten Konzentrationen der einzelnen Kohlenwasserstoffe wiesen jeweils eine logarithmische Normalverteilung auf, die Charakterisierung des Datensatzes erfolgte deshalb nicht anhand von arithmetischem Mittelwert und Standardabweichung, sondern mit geometrischem Mittelwert und multiplikativer Standardabweichung. Anhand der OH-Verlustrate wurde der Einfluß der verschiedenen Kohlenwasserstoffe auf die lokale Bildung von Photooxidantien untersucht. Der natürliche Kohlenwasserstoff Isopren lieferte mit 70% den weitaus größten mittleren Beitrag zur Photooxidantienproduktion am Boden. In der Grenzschicht verlor isopren allerdings seine dominante Rolle. Sein Beitrag schrumpfte mit zunehmender Höhe auf 20-40%. in der in 200 m Höhe beobachteten Abluftfahne Berlins verursachten anthropogene Kohlenwasserstoffe rund 2/3 der OH-Verlustrate, wobei die reaktiven C3/C4-Alkene alleine bereits 50% beitrugen.
When studying new particle formation, the uncertainty in determining the "true" nucleation rate is considerably reduced when using condensation particle counters (CPCs) capable of measuring concentrations of aerosol particles at sizes close to or even at the critical cluster size (1–2 nm). Recently, CPCs able to reliably detect particles below 2 nm in size and even close to 1 nm became available. Using these instruments, the corrections needed for calculating nucleation rates are substantially reduced compared to scaling the observed formation rate to the nucleation rate at the critical cluster size. However, this improved instrumentation requires a careful characterization of their cut-off size and the shape of the detection efficiency curve because relatively small shifts in the cut-off size can translate into larger relative errors when measuring particles close to the cut-off size.
Here we describe the development of two continuous-flow CPCs using diethylene glycol (DEG) as the working fluid. The design is based on two TSI 3776 counters. Several sets of measurements to characterize their performance at different temperature settings were carried out. Furthermore, two mixing-type particle size magnifiers (PSM) A09 from Airmodus were characterized in parallel. One PSM was operated at the highest mixing ratio (1 L min−1 saturator flow), and the other was operated in a scanning mode, where the mixing ratios are changed periodically, resulting in a range of cut-off sizes. The mixing ratios are determined by varying the saturator flow, where the aerosol flow stays constant at 2.5 L min−1. Different test aerosols were generated using a nano-differential mobility analyser (nano-DMA) or a high-resolution DMA, to obtain detection efficiency curves for all four CPCs. One calibration setup included a high-resolution mass spectrometer (APi-TOF) for the determination of the chemical composition of the generated clusters. The lowest cut-off sizes were achieved with negatively charged ammonium sulfate clusters, resulting in cut-offs of 1.4 nm for the laminar flow CPCs and 1.2 and 1.1 nm for the PSMs. A comparison of one of the laminar-flow CPCs and one of the PSMs measuring ambient and laboratory air showed good agreement between the instruments.
When studying new particle formation, the uncertainty in determining the "true" nucleation rate is considerably reduced when using Condensation Particle Counters (CPCs) capable of measuring concentrations of aerosol particles at sizes close to or even at the critical cluster size (1–2 nm). Recently CPCs, able to reliably detect particles below 2 nm in size and even close to 1 nm became available. The corrections needed to calculate nucleation rates are substantially reduced compared to scaling the observed formation rate to the nucleation rate at the critical cluster size. However, this improved instrumentation requires a careful characterization of their cut-off size and the shape of the detection efficiency curve because relatively small shifts in the cut-off size can translate into larger relative errors when measuring particles close to the cut-off size.
Here we describe the development of two continuous flow CPCs using diethylene glycol (DEG) as the working fluid. The design is based on two TSI 3776 counters. Several sets of measurements to characterize their performance at different temperature settings were carried out. Furthermore two mixing-type Particle Size Magnifiers (PSM) A09 from Airmodus were characterized in parallel. One PSM was operated at the highest mixing ratio (1 L min−1 saturator flow), and the other was operated in a scanning mode, where the mixing ratios are changed periodically, resulting in a range of cut-off sizes. Different test aerosols were generated using a nano-Differential Mobility Analyzer (nano-DMA) or a high resolution DMA, to obtain detection efficiency curves for all four CPCs. One calibration setup included a high resolution mass spectrometer (APi-TOF) for the determination of the chemical composition of the generated clusters. The lowest cut-off sizes were achieved with negatively charged ammonium sulphate clusters, resulting in cut-offs of 1.4 nm for the laminar flow CPCs and 1.2 and 1.1 nm for the PSMs. A comparison of one of the laminar-flow CPCs and one of the PSMs measuring ambient and laboratory air showed good agreement between the instruments.
Aus einem 815 cm langen Bohrprofil, das AVERDIECK (1.c.) aus den "Grundlosen" bei Höxter (Westfalen) geborgen hatte, wurden aus den oberen 7 m 20 Proben mit Hilfe der Radiokohlenstoff-Methode absolut datiert. Ein Teil der Ablagerungen ergab ein im Vergleich zu den darunterliegenden Schichten zu hohes Alter, was auf die Beimengung allochthonen Materials zurückzuführen ist. Die übrigen 14C-Daten dienen zur zeitlichen Einordnung des von AVERDIECK erstellten Pollendiagramms und zeigen, dass einige Grenzen von Pollenzonen im Wesertal mehrere Jahrhunderte früher liegen als in der Norddeutschen Tiefebene.
We developed a coupled regional climate system model based on the CCLM regional climate model. Within this model system, using OASIS3-MCT as a coupler, CCLM can be coupled to two land surface models (the Community Land Model (CLM) and VEG3D), the NEMO-MED12 regional ocean model for the Mediterranean Sea, two ocean models for the North and Baltic seas (NEMO-NORDIC and TRIMNP+CICE) and the MPI-ESM Earth system model.
We first present the different model components and the unified OASIS3-MCT interface which handles all couplings in a consistent way, minimising the model source code modifications and defining the physical and numerical aspects of the couplings. We also address specific coupling issues like the handling of different domains, multiple usage of the MCT library and exchange of 3-D fields.
We analyse and compare the computational performance of the different couplings based on real-case simulations over Europe. The usage of the LUCIA tool implemented in OASIS3-MCT enables the quantification of the contributions of the coupled components to the overall coupling cost. These individual contributions are (1) cost of the model(s) coupled, (2) direct cost of coupling including horizontal interpolation and communication between the components, (3) load imbalance, (4) cost of different usage of processors by CCLM in coupled and stand-alone mode and (5) residual cost including i.a. CCLM additional computations.
Finally a procedure for finding an optimum processor configuration for each of the couplings was developed considering the time to solution, computing cost and parallel efficiency of the simulation. The optimum configurations are presented for sequential, concurrent and mixed (sequential+concurrent) coupling layouts. The procedure applied can be regarded as independent of the specific coupling layout and coupling details.
We found that the direct cost of coupling, i.e. communications and horizontal interpolation, in OASIS3-MCT remains below 7 % of the CCLM stand-alone cost for all couplings investigated. This is in particular true for the exchange of 450 2-D fields between CCLM and MPI-ESM. We identified remaining limitations in the coupling strategies and discuss possible future improvements of the computational efficiency.
Plant community biomass production is co-dependent on climatic and edaphic factors that are often covarying and non-independent. Disentangling how these factors act in isolation is challenging, especially along large climatic gradients that can mask soil effects. As anthropogenic pressure increasingly alters local climate and soil resource supply unevenly across landscapes, our ability to predict concurrent changes in plant community processes requires clearer understandings of independent and interactive effects of climate and soil. To address this, we developed a multispecies phytometer (i.e., standardized plant community) for separating key drivers underlying plant productivity across gradients. Phytometers were composed of three globally cosmopolitan herbaceous perennials, Dactylis glomerata, Plantago lanceolata, and Trifolium pratense. In 2017, we grew phytometer communities in 18 sites across a pan-European aridity gradient in local site soils and a standardized substrate and compared biomass production. Standard substrate phytometers succeeded in providing a standardized climate biomass response independent of local soil effects. This allowed us to factor out climate effects in local soil phytometers, establishing that nitrogen availability did not predict biomass production, while phosphorus availability exerted a strong, positive effect independent of climate. Additionally, we identified a negative relationship between biomass production and potassium and magnesium availability. Species-specific biomass responses to the environment in the climate-corrected biomass were asynchronous, demonstrating the importance of species interactions in vegetation responses to global change. Biomass production was co-limited by climatic and soil drivers, with each species experiencing its own unique set of co-limitations. Our study demonstrates the potential of phytometers for disentangling effects of climate and soil on plant biomass production and suggests an increasing role of P limitation in the temperate regions of Europe.
The purpose of this study was to reconstruct the depositional environment, the genesis and the composition of Miocene coals in the Kutai Basin, East Kalimantan, Indonesia and to improve our understanding of the factors controlling the organic and inorganic composition, variation of biomarkers, and the peat forming vegetation of the coals. To achieve the aim methods belonging to three different disciplines were applied: 1. Coal petrology (chapter 3) 2. Inorganic geochemistry: sulfur, pyrite and mineral matter distributions (chapter 4) 3. Organic geochemistry of saturated, aromatic hydrocarbon fractions and stable carbon isotopic composition (chapter 5 and 6) Coal petrology Coal developes from peat deposited in mires, mainly in swamps and raised bogs. It is therefore necessary to consider how peat was formed in the past. Coal contains a variety of plant tissues in different degrees of preservation. Tissues of distinct origin are microscopically identifiable and can frequently be related to certain parts of the plant, such as cuticles, woody structures, spores, algal, resin, etc. Together with the particles of less certain origin they are termed macerals which are the petrographic components of coal. During and after deposition of plant remains in sedimentary basins, the organic matter will undergo a sequence of physical, biochemical and chemical changes, which finally results in the formation of coals of increasing rank depending mainly on the temperature influence. The process of coalification begins with practically unaltered plant material and peat, and continues with increasing rank through brown coal, bituminous coal, and finally to anthracite as well as graphite. Coal petrography provides valuable of data of maceral and mineral percentages with reflectance values, which can be used to reconstruct the depositional environment and the coalification processes. In lower rank coals, the material is represented by a group of macerals called huminite, and in bituminous and anthracite coals by a group of macerals called vitrinite. Coal petrography analyses have been carried out on samples from some Miocene coal seams from Kutai Basin. The study has shown that huminite reflectance values of coal samples from ...