SADA and DESYRE DSSs descriptive classification criteria (main issues related to DSS's)

Brownfield rehabilitation is an essential step for sustainable land-use planning and management in the European Union. In brownfield regeneration processes, the legacy contamination plays a significant role, firstly because of the persistent contaminants in soil or groundwater which extends the existing hazards and risks well into the future; and secondly, problems from historical contamination are often more difficult to manage than contamination caused by new activities. Due to the complexity associated with the management of brownfield site rehabilitation, Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been developed to support problem holders and stakeholders in the decision-making process encompassing all phases of the rehabilitation. This paper presents a comparative study between two DSSs, namely SADA (Spatial Analysis and Decision Assistance) and DESYRE (Decision Support System for the Requalification of Contaminated Sites), with the main objective of showing the benefits of using DSSs to introduce and process data and then to disseminate results to different stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. For this purpose, a former car manufacturing plant located in the Brasov area, Central Romania, contaminated chiefly by heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbons, has been selected as a case study to apply the two examined DSSs. Major results presented here concern the analysis of the functionalities of the two DSSs in order to identify similarities, differences and complementarities and, thus, to provide an indication of the most suitable integration options.

(Table 2) Age controls used to derive a time scale for DSDP Site 73-522

The stratotype section for the base of the Miocene is at a reversed (below) to normal (above) magnetic transition that is claimed to represent magnetic chron C6Cn.2n (o). Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Site 522 is the only location we are aware of that unambiguously records the three normal events of C6Cn. We have quantitatively determined the range of the short-lived nannofossil Sphenolithus delphix and the lower limit of S. disbelemnos in DSDP Holes 522 and 522A in order to calibrate their precise relationship to the magnetostratigraphy and to confirm the completeness of the record at this site. Astronomical tuning of Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Sites 926, 928, and 929 shows that S. disbelemnos appears at 22.67 Ma and that the entire range of S. delphix is from about 22.98 Ma to 23.24 Ma. Using these ages, linear interpolation in DSDP Site 522 suggests that the age of C6Cn.2n (o) and of the Oligocene-Miocene boundary is 22.92+/-0.04 Ma. Our value, conservatively expressed as 22.9+/-0.1 Ma, is 0.9 m.y. younger than the currently accepted age of the Oligocene-Miocene boundary and of C6Cn.2n (o), which was assigned an age of 23.8 Ma, based on an estimate of 23.8+/-1 Ma for the Oligocene-Miocene boundary. The bulk-sediment carbon isotope data from DSDP Site 522 is correlated to the record from benthic foraminifera at ODP Site 929 to refine the calibration of magnetic reversals from C6Cn.1n (o) to C7n.2n (o) at DSDP Site 522 on the astronomical time scale.

Impact of elevated pCO2 on acid-base regulation of the sea urchin Echinometra mathaei and its relation to resistance to ocean acidification: A study in mesocosms

Due to their low metabolism and apparent poor ion regulation ability, sea urchins could be particularly sensitive to ocean acidification resulting from increased dissolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Therefore, we evaluated the acid-base regulation ability of the coral reef sea urchin Echinometra mathaei and the impact of decreased pH on its growth and respiration activity. The study was conducted in two identical artificial reef mesocosms during seven weeks. Experimental tanks were maintained respectively at mean pHT 7.7 and 8.05 (with field-like night and day variations). The major physico-chemical parameters were identical, only pCO2 and pHT differed. Results indicate that E. mathaei can regulate the pH of its coelomic fluid in the considered range of pH, allowing a sustainable growth and ensuring an unaffected respiratory metabolism, at least at short term.

Experiment: Combined effects of CO2, temperature, irradiance and time on the physiological performance of Chondrus crispus (Rhodophyta)

In natural environments, marine biotas are exposed to a variety of simultaneously acting abiotic factors. Among these, temperature, irradiance and CO2 availability are major factors influencing the physiological performance of marine macroalgae. To test whether elevated levels of CO2 may remediate the otherwise reduced performance of uncalcified seaweeds under the influence of other stressful abiotic factors, we performed multifactorial experiments with the red alga Chondrus crispus from Helgoland (North Sea) with two levels of CO2, temperature and irradiance: low and high pCO2 levels were tested in combination with either (1) optimal and low irradiances or (2) optimal and sub-lethal high temperatures for growth. Performance of C. crispus was evaluated as biomass increase and relative growth rates (RGR), gross photosynthesis and pigment content. Acclimations of growth and photosynthesis were measured after 4 and 8 days. Acclimation time was crucial for elucidating single or combined CO2 effects on growth and photosynthesis. Signifi- cant CO2 effects became evident only in combination with either elevated temperature or reduced irradiance. Growth and photosynthesis had divergent patterns: RGR and biomass significantly increased only under a combination of high pCO2 and elevated temperature; gross photosynthesis was significantly reduced under high pCO2 conditions at low irradiance. Pigment content varied in response to irradiance and temperature, but was independent of pCO2.

Orbitally tuned time scale and astronomical forcing in the middle Eocene to early Oligocene determined on ODP and IODP sediment cores

Deciphering the driving mechanisms of Earth system processes, including the climate dynamics expressed as paleoceanographic events, requires a complete, continuous, and high-resolution stratigraphy that is very accurately dated. In this study, we construct a robust astronomically calibrated age model for the middle Eocene to early Oligocene interval (31-43 Ma) in order to permit more detailed study of the exceptional climatic events that occurred during this time, including the Middle Eocene Climate Optimum and the Eocene/Oligocene transition. A goal of this effort is to accurately date the middle Eocene to early Oligocene composite section cored during the Pacific Equatorial Age Transect (PEAT, IODP Exp. 320/321). The stratigraphic framework for the new time scale is based on the identification of the stable long eccentricity cycle in published and new high-resolution records encompassing bulk and benthic stable isotope, calibrated XRF core scanning, and magnetostratigraphic data from ODP Sites 171B-1052, 189-1172, 199-1218, and 207-1260 as well as IODP Sites 320-U1333, and -U1334 spanning magnetic polarity Chrons C12n to C20n. Subsequently we applied orbital tuning of the records to the La2011 orbital solution. The resulting new time scale revises and refines the existing orbitally tuned age model and the Geomagnetic Polarity Time Scale from 31 to 43 Ma. Our newly defined absolute age for the Eocene/Oligocene boundary validates the astronomical tuned age of 33.89 Ma identified at the Massignano (Italy) global stratotype section and point. Our compilation of geochemical records of climate-controlled variability in sedimentation through the middle-to-late Eocene and early Oligocene demonstrates strong power in the eccentricity band that is readily tuned to the latest astronomical solution. Obliquity driven cyclicity is only apparent during very long eccentricity cycle minima around 35.5 Ma, 38.3 Ma and 40.1 Ma.