Stable oxygen and carbon isotope ratios of Globigerinoides obliquus of quantitative range chart of the ostracodes in the Pliocene-Pleistocene interval of ODP Hole 107-654A

Deep-water benthic ostracodes from the Pliocene-Pleistocene interval of ODP Leg 107, Hole 654A (Tyrrhenian Sea) were studied. From a total of 106 samples, 40 species considered autochthonous were identified. Detailed investigations have established the biostratigraphic distribution of the most frequent ostracode taxa. The extinction levels of Agrenocythere pliocenica (a psychrospheric ostracode) in Hole 654A and in some Italian land sections lead to the conclusion that the removal of psychrospheric conditions took place in the Mediterranean Sea during or after the time interval corresponding to the Small Gephyrocapsa Zone (upper part of early Pleistocene), and not at the beginning of the Quaternary, as previously stated. Based on a reduced matrix of quantitative data of 63 samples and 20 variables of ostracodes, four varimax assemblages were extracted by a Q-mode factor analysis. Six factors and eight varimax assemblages were recognized from the Q-mode factor analysis of the quantitative data of 162 samples and 47 variables of the benthic foraminifers. The stratigraphic distributions of the varimax assemblages of the two faunistic groups were plotted against the calcareous plankton biostratigraphic scheme and compared in order to trace the relationship between the benthic foraminifers and ostracodes varimax assemblages. General results show that the two populations, belonging to quite different taxa, display almost coeval changes along the Pliocene-Pleistocene sequence of Hole 654A, essentially induced by paleoenvironmental modifications. Mainly on the base of the benthic foraminifer assemblages (which are quantitatively better represented than the ostracode assemblages), it is possible to identify such modifications as variations in sedimentation depth and in bottom oxygen content.

Circumarctic wetland dataset based on ENVISAT ASAR Global Monitoring Mode with links to geotiff image and NetCDF files (2005-01 to 2011-12)

A circumpolar representative and consistent wetland map is required for a range of applications ranging from upscaling of carbon fluxes and pools to climate modelling and wildlife habitat assessment. Currently available data sets lack sufficient accuracy and/or thematic detail in many regions of the Arctic. Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from satellites have already been shown to be suitable for wetland mapping. Envisat Advanced SAR (ASAR) provides global medium-resolution data which are examined with particular focus on spatial wetness patterns in this study. It was found that winter minimum backscatter values as well as their differences to summer minimum values reflect vegetation physiognomy units of certain wetness regimes. Low winter backscatter values are mostly found in areas vegetated by plant communities typically for wet regions in the tundra biome, due to low roughness and low volume scattering caused by the predominant vegetation. Summer to winter difference backscatter values, which in contrast to the winter values depend almost solely on soil moisture content, show expected higher values for wet regions. While the approach using difference values would seem more reasonable in order to delineate wetness patterns considering its direct link to soil moisture, it was found that a classification of winter minimum backscatter values is more applicable in tundra regions due to its better separability into wetness classes. Previous approaches for wetland detection have investigated the impact of liquid water in the soil on backscatter conditions. In this study the absence of liquid water is utilized. Owing to a lack of comparable regional to circumpolar data with respect to thematic detail, a potential wetland map cannot directly be validated; however, one might claim the validity of such a product by comparison with vegetation maps, which hold some information on the wetness status of certain classes. It was shown that the Envisat ASAR-derived classes are related to wetland classes of conventional vegetation maps, indicating its applicability; 30% of the land area north of the treeline was identified as wetland while conventional maps recorded 1-7%.