Interstitial water chemistry of ODP Leg 103 sites

Interstitial waters were squeezed from strata recovered at Sites 637-641 of ODP Leg 103 on the Galicia margin, along the northwestern Iberian continental margin in the northeast Atlantic. Chemical profiles of Site 638 show the most complexity, which appears to be related to an unconformity in the strata between Cretaceous and Neogene sediments and to rapid deposition of Cretaceous syn-rift sediments upon pre-rift strata. Analyses of waters from all of the Leg 103 sites show generally antithetical trends for calcium and magnesium; calcium increases with depth as magnesium decreases. No calcium-magnesium 'crossover' profiles are observed in these data. Data from Site 637 show an unusual pattern; calcium increases with increasing depth, but magnesium remains relatively constant. Sulfate is either stable or shows an overall decrease with depth, and boron profiles show some structure. At all but one site (Site 638), strontium profiles do not show marked depth structure. The structure of alkalinity and silica profiles is highly site dependent. Bromide profiles are, in general, constant. In nearly every case, observed bromide concentrations are near average seawater values. Relatively low concentrations of iron and manganese are common within the upper 10 m of the sediment sequence and typically are near detection limits at deeper depths

Decision evaluation in complex risk network systems (DecernsSDSS) demo and Black River case study

The selection of metrics for ecosystem restoration programs is critical for improving the quality of monitoring programs and characterizing project success. Moreover it is oftentimes very difficult to balance the importance of multiple ecological, social, and economical metrics. Metric selection process is a complex and must simultaneously take into account monitoring data, environmental models, socio-economic considerations, and stakeholder interests. We propose multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods, broadly defined, for the selection of optimal sets of metrics to enhance evaluation of ecosystem restoration alternatives. Two MCDA methods, a multiattribute utility analysis (MAUT), and a probabilistic multicriteria acceptability analysis (ProMAA), are applied and compared for a hypothetical case study of a river restoration involving multiple stakeholders. Overall, the MCDA results in a systematic, unbiased, and transparent solution, informing restoration alternatives evaluation. The two methods provide comparable results in terms of selected metrics. However, because ProMAA can consider probability distributions for weights and utility values of metrics for each criteria, it is suggested as the best option if data uncertainty is high. Despite the increase in complexity in the metric selection process, MCDA improves upon the current ad-hoc decision practice based on the consultations with stakeholders and experts, and encourages transparent and quantitative aggregation of data and judgement, increasing the transparency of decision making in restoration projects. We believe that MCDA can enhance the overall sustainability of ecosystem by enhancing both ecological and societal needs.