Great Salt Lake (UT) is a hypersaline terminal lake in the US Great Basin, and the remnant of the late glacial Lake Bonneville. Holocene hydroclimate variations cannot be interpreted from the shoreline record, but instead can be investigated by proxies archived in the sediments. GLAD1-GSL00-1B was cored in 2000 and recently dated by radiocarbon for the Holocene section with the top 11 m representing ~7 ka to present. Sediment samples every 30 cm (~220 years) were studied for the full suite of microbial membrane lipids, including those responsive to temperature and salinity. The ACE index detects the increase in lipids of halophilic archaea, relative to generalists, as salinity increases. We find Holocene ACE values ranged from 81-98, which suggests persistent hypersalinity with <50 g/L variability across 7.2 kyr. The temperature proxy, MBTʹ5Me,­ yields values similar to modern mean annual air temperature for months above freezing (MAF = 15.7°C) over the last 5.5 kyr. Several GDGT metrics show a step shift at 5.5 ka before which temperature estimates are unreliable due to the shift in lake ecology and likely shallow depth. The step change in lake conditions at 5.5 ka and additional variations within the late Holocene are compared to regional climate records. We find evidence for a dry mid-Holocene in GSL, corroborating other records.

Completely carbonated peridotites represent a window to study reactions of carbon-rich fluids with mantle rocks. Here we present details on the carbonation history of listvenites close to the basal thrust in the Samail ophiolite. We use samples from Oman Drilling Project Hole BT1B, which provides a continuous record of lithologic transitions, as well as outcrop samples from listvenites, metasediments and metamafics below the basal thrust of the ophiolite. 87Sr/86Sr of listvenites and serpentinites, ranging from 0.7090 to 0.7145, are significantly more radiogenic than mantle values, Cretaceous seawater, and other peridotite hosted carbonates in Oman. δ13C in the listvenites and serpentinites range from -10.6‰ to 1.92‰, including a small organic carbon component with δ13C as low as -27‰ that reaffirms the presence of carbonaceous material in Hole BT1B. The source of the radiogenic Sr was probably similar to Hawasina metasediments that underlie the ophiolite, with values up to 0.7241 in clastic lithologies. These results indicate that decarbonation reactions in such clastic sediments, during subduction at temperatures above 500°C, form carbon rich fluids that could have migrated updip, supplying radiogenic 87Sr/86Sr and fractionated δ13C to BT1B serpentinites and listvenites.

Explosive, ash-producing volcanic eruptions are a significant natural hazard with the potential for loss of life, economy, and infrastructure. Turrialba is an active stratovolcano located in the Central Cordillera of Costa Rica. The edifice is located only 35 km east-northeast of Costa Rica's capital city and poses a threat to its central valley, the social and economic hub where more than half of the population resides. The most recent eruption took place in 2016-2017, consisting of four eruption phases. Preliminary observations using SEM show significant morphological differences between the various eruption phases, including the amount of dust and crystals that are present. The morphology of volcanic ash is fundamental to our understanding of magma fragmentation, and in transport modeling of volcanic plumes and clouds. The chemistry of the ash particles produced by fragmenting magmatic foams may affect their evolving morphology throughout the various stages of eruption. In addition, eruption energetics may play a role in ash morphology. Separating the roles of chemical heterogeneity and evolving energetics requires careful examination of ash morphology and its relation to composition. In this way, we take some initial steps in closing the knowledge gap between eruption mechanisms and how and why these mechanisms are exhibited in the morphology of ash during explosive eruptions.

Deep carbon is terrestrial carbon that is not in the atmosphere or oceans or on the surface. We have a great deal of knowledge about the properties of near surface carbon, but relatively little is known about the deep carbon cycle. The Deep Carbon Observatory, was founded in 2009, to address major questions about deep carbon. Where are the reservoirs of carbon? Is there significant carbon flux between the deep interior and the surface? What is deep microbial life? Did deep organic chemistry have a role in the origin of life? This project is directed toward documenting and describing of the history of deep carbon science. The narrative begins in 1601, when William Gilbert suggested that Earth's interior behaves like a giant bar magnet. We trace across three centuries the slow evolution of thought that led to the establishment of the interdisciplinary field of Earth System Science. The concept and then development of the deep carbon cycle of burial and exhumation dates back at least two hundred years. We identify and document the key discoveries of deep carbon science, and assess the impact of this new knowledge on geochemistry, geodynamics, and geobiology. A History of Deep Carbon Science is in preparation for publication by Cambridge University Press in 2019. Its illuminating narrative highlights the engaging human stories of many remarkable researchers who have discovered the complexity and dynamics of Earth's interior.

Nagaland is part of the northern extension of the Indo Myanmar range(IMR).This area is representative of several orogenic upheavals in the Cretaceous-Tertiary that form a relativelyyoung and mobile land belt.Nagaland is the most recent crustal reaction to the collision of theIndian and Burmese Plate.Barail formation emerged at the active margin of the Indo-Burmeseplateconvergence.The majority of the available tectonic replica proposes that themalformation and uplift of the Northeastern. We aimed at the highlights of exhumation andsedimentation, and its other host processes like provenance characteristics of the Barail sandstones from Nagaland, India.Systematic geological mapping of approximately 50 square meters has been carried out in the study area.A geological map of the study area was made on a scale of 1:50,000 in the Indian Topsheet No.58M/4 survey in the Kohima district of Nagaland.The region was mapped according to need and accessibility by taking the traverses along the highways, footpaths and across the ranges.In this study,four quarry samples disseminated in various folds in the Barail Group yielded the ages ranging from 37.4±1.5Ma to 49.9±2.4Ma and younger than their predecessor sedimentary deposition ages(86.92-181.81Ma).The binomial distribution clearly stated that from 46.0to32.0Ma,the grain ages fitted peaks are usually dominated by the youngpeak.Combined with an interpretation of the origin,the detrital zircon of the young peak age and rocks indicated that most significant uplifting of the Barail Group occurred during EocenetotheOligocene,almost timed to coincide with the colliding of the Indo-Burmese plate more around ~35-50Ma.Such findings have been consistent with the current geology of Naga Hills in theprovince of Nagaland.

In case of nuclear accidents like Fukushima disaster, the influence of 137Cs depositional forms (soluble and/or solid forms) on mineral soil of forest environment on its availability have not reported yet. Soluble (137Cs tagged ultra-pure water) and solid (137Cs contaminated litter-OL and fragmented litter-OF) input forms were mixed with the mineral soils collected under Fukushima coniferous and broadleaf forests. The mixtures then incubated under controlled laboratory condition to evaluate the extractability of 137Cs in soil over time in the presence of decomposition process through two extracting reagents- water and ammonium acetate. Results show that extracted 137Cs fraction with water was less than 1% for soluble input form and below detection limit for solid input form. On the same way with acetate reagent, the extracted 137Cs fraction ranged from 46 to 56% for soluble input and 2 to 15% for solid input, implying the nature of 137Cs contamination strongly influences the extractability and hence the mobility of 137Cs in soil. Although the degradation rate of the organic materials has been calculated in the range of 0.18 ± 0.1 to 0.24 ± 0.1 y-1, its impact on 137Cs extractability appeared very weak at least within the observation period, probably due to shorter observation period. Concerning the treatments of solid 137Cs input forms through acetate extraction, relatively more 137Cs has been extracted from broadleaf organic materials mixes (BL-OL & BL-OF) than the coniferous counterparts. This probably is due to the fact that the lignified coniferous organic materials (CED-OL & CED-OF) components tend to retain more 137Cs than that of the broadleaf. Generally, by extrapolating these observations in to a field context, one can expect more available 137Cs fraction in forest soil from wet depositional pathways such as throughfall and stemflow than those attached with organic materials like litter (OL) and its eco-processed forms (OF).

The air pollutant NO is derived largely from transportation sources, and is known to cause various respiratory diseases. Substantial reduction in transport and industrial processes around the globe stemming from the novel SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and subsequent pandemic resulted in sharp declines in emissions, including for NO. Additionally, the COVID-19 disease that results from the coronavirus may present in its most severe form in those who have been exposed to high levels of air pollution and thus have various co-morbidities. To explore these links, we compared ground-based NOsensor data from 15 US cities from a one month window in 2019 versus the same window during shutdown in 2020. Levels of NO declined roughly 20-60% in 13 of the 15 cities in 2020, linked to similar declines in traffic volume in those cities. To broaden the spatial analysis beyond the individual ground-based monitors, satellite data for tropospheric NO was also analyzed, and was largely consistent with the ground measurements. Many of the cities studied had a substantial percentage of the population with various pre-existing conditions, and a relationship was found between NO levels, respiratory disease, and COVID-19 case counts. This finding indicates that substantial improvements in air pollution and health outcomes can be achieved quickly with local and state policy directives, perhaps leading to more population-level health resilience in the face of future pandemics.

This paper reports on the progresses obtained through the analysis of thermomagnetic features of the region between the southern part of Tocantins state and the northern part of Goias state, in Central Brazil. For that, we made use of data collected through aeromagnetic surveys. Techniques of shading applied to vertical derivative of Anomaly Magnetic Field (AMF) have been used to identify magnetic lineaments. The depth estimates of these structures were obtained by means of spectral Analysis of AMF (Centroid method). The results reveal the existence of a set of near-linear magnetic features in the region between the longitudes of 480W and 510W and between the latitudes of 120S and 140S. This is also an area of moderate microseismic activity and recent studies indicate anomalous geothermal conditions at the upper crust. However, direct evidences of the occurrence of magmatic intrusions at shallow crustal levels are absent. We postulate the hypothesis that the features identied as a result of aeromagnetic survey are indicative of fracture systems, thereby enabling the ow of carbonic uids observed at the region’s thermal springs and transporting geothermal heat.

porousMedia4Foam is a package for solving flow and transport in porous media using OpenFOAM - a popular open-source numerical toolbox. We introduce and highlight the features of a new generation open-source hydro-geochemical module implemented within porousMedia4Foam. It opens up a new dimension to investigate hydro-geochemical processes occurring at multiple scales i.e. at the pore-scale, reservoir-scale and at the hybrid-scale relying on the concepts of micro-continuum. The package is designed such that only the chemistry part of the solver is handled by an external package, the geochemical package, which is coupled to the flow and transport solver of OpenFOAM. The evolution of the porous media and fluid properties, such as porosity, permeability, reactive surface area, or diffusivity of chemical species, are handled by various models that we implemented in the package. For the present work, PHREEQC was chosen as the geochemical solver. We conducted benchmarks across different scales to validate the accuracy of our simulator. We further looked at the evolution of mineral dissolution/ precipitation in a hybrid system comprising of a fracture and reactive porous medium.

Batan Bay and Tinago Lake are shallow embayments connected to each other, located on the north of Panay Island, central Philippines (11.53° – 11.67°N, 122.38° – 122.52°E). Although they had been originally surrounded by dense mangrove forest till the middle of the last century, mangroves have been mostly cleared and converted into fish and shrimp ponds. Recently, shelves and rafts for cultivating oysters and green mussels have become widespread in the shallow areas of the embayments (see Figure as an example). Replantation of mangroves is also ongoing in limited areas of Batan Bay. We are conducting researches there focusing on ecosystem services of mangroves and seagrass meadows, especially in relation to carbon sequestration and aquaculture production. In this presentation, we report preliminary survey results on environmental conditions that may influence growth and survival of cultivated bivalves, such as freshwater inputs and potential food resources. The survey was conducted in both dry season (February 2019) and rainy season (November 2019). Although the salinity gradient across the bay due to freshwater input was evident in both seasons, the oxygen isotope ratio of seawater indicated that evaporation overwhelmed in inner bay sites in the dry season. Concentrations of chlorophyll and suspended particulate organic matter (POM), i.e. potential food source for bivalves, were high in the inner bay area. Carbon stable isotope ratio (δ13C) of dissolved organic carbon (DIC) and POM showed spatial gradient from the bay mouth (high) to inner sites (low), indicating the influence of riverine DIC and POM inputs. However, the δ13C of oysters (adductor muscle) was consistently higher than POM and showed no clear spatial gradient. The δ13C of oysters was relatively higher for individuals collected from inside or edge of seagrass meadows than those collected in open areas. These results suggest that oysters assimilate only a specific fraction of POM relatively enriched in 13C (i.e. marine-origin POM) and that seagrass meadows support growth of oysters by providing additional food source (e.g. attached microalgae that are abundant on seagrass blades).

Previous studies have shown that Mt. Sharp has stratigraphic variation in mineralogy that may record a global transition from a climate more conducive to clay mineral formation to one marked by increased sulfate production. To better understand how small-scale observations along the traverse path of NASA’s Curiosity rover might be linked to such large-scale processes, it is necessary to understand the extent to which mineral signatures observed from orbit vary laterally and vertically. This study uses newly processed visible-near infrared CRISM data and corresponding visible images to re-examine the mineralogy of lower Mt. Sharp, map mineral distribution, and evaluate stratigraphic relationships. We demonstrate the presence of darker-toned strata that appears to be throughgoing with spectral signatures of monohydrated sulfate. Strata above and below this zone are lighter-toned and contain polyhydrated sulfate and variable distribution of Fe/Mg clay minerals. Clay minerals are observed at multiple stratigraphic positions; unlike the kieserite zone these units cannot be traced laterally across Mt. Sharp. The kieserite zone appears to be stratigraphically confined, but in most locations the orbital data do not provide sufficient detail to determine whether mineral signatures conform to or cut across stratigraphic boundaries, leaving open the question as to whether the clays and sulfates occur as detrital, primary chemical precipitates, and/or diagenetic phases. Future observations along Curiosity’s traverse will help distinguish between these possibilities. Rover observations of clay-bearing strata in northwest Mt. Sharp may be more reflective of local conditions that could be distinct from those associated with other clay-bearing strata.

In this paper, we explore the use of unsteady transit time distribution (TTD) theory to model pollutant removal in biofilters, a popular form of nature-based or “green” stormwater infrastructure (GSI). TTD theory elegantly addresses many unresolved challenges associated with predicting pollutant fate and transport in these systems, including unsteadiness in the water balance (time-varying inflows, outflows, and storage), unsteadiness in pollutant loading, time-dependent reactions and scale-up to GSI networks and urban catchments. From a solution to the unsteady age conservation equation under uniform sampling, we derive an explicit expression for solute breakthrough with or without first-order decay. The solution is calibrated and validated with breakthrough data from 17 simulated storm events (+/- bromide as a conservative tracer) at a field-scale biofilter test facility in Southern California. TTD theory closely reproduces bromide breakthrough concentrations, provided that lateral exchange with the surrounding soil is accounted for. At any given time, according to theory, more than half of water in storage is from the most recent storm, while the rest is a mixture of penultimate and earlier storms. Thus, key management endpoints, such as the treatment credit attributable to GSI, are inexorably linked to the age distribution of water stored and released by these systems.

Madagascar hosts several Paleoproterozoic sedimentary sequences that are key to unravelling the geodynamic evolution of past supercontinents on Earth. New detrital zircon U–Pb and Hf data, and a substantial new database of ~15,000 analyses are used here to compare and contrast sedimentary sequences in Madagascar, Africa and India. The Itremo Group in central Madagascar, the Sahantaha Group in northern Madagascar, the Maha Group in eastern Madagascar, and the Ambatolampy Group in central Madagascar have indistinguishable age and isotopic characteristics. These samples have maximum depositional ages > 1700 Ma, with major zircon age peaks at c. 2500 Ma, c. 2000 Ma and c. 1850 Ma. We name this the Greater Itremo Basin, which covered a vast area of Madagascar in the late Paleoproterozoic. These samples are also compared with those from the Tanzania and the Congo cratons of Africa, and the Dharwar Craton and Southern Granulite Terrane of India. We show that the Greater Itremo Basin and sedimentary sequences in the Tanzania Craton of Africa are correlatives. These also tentatively correlate with sedimentary protoliths in the Southern Granulite Terrane of India, which together formed a major intra-Nuna/Columbia sedimentary basin that we name the Itremo-Muva-Pandyan Basin. A new Paleoproterozoic plate tectonic configuration is proposed where central Madagascar is contiguous with the Tanzania Craton to the west and the Southern Granulite Terrane to the east. This model strongly supports an ancient Proterozoic origin for central Madagascar against the Tanzania Craton of East Africa.

The unsaturated zone serves as reservoir for geogenic and anthropogenic contaminants to local groundwater. Biogeochemical processes in this zone can be affected by nitrogen and water infiltration mobilizing contaminants, ultimately affecting groundwater quality. In this large-scale study, we evaluated the effects of estimated water and nitrogen inputs to the unsaturated zone of a public water supply wellhead protection (WHP) area with respect to subsurface occurrence and transport of nitrate, ammonium, arsenic, and uranium. Thirty-two coring sites were sampled and grouped by water application volume, irrigated – sprinkler (n=20), gravity (n=4) and non-irrigated land use. Unsaturated zone sediments were evaluated for the potential to mobilize arsenic and uranium in relation to nitrogen and water use. Sediment nitrate and ammonium had strong significant (p<0.05) correlation under all water application. Nitrate concentrations were lower beneath sprinkler-irrigated sites but had statistically higher ammonium concentrations than gravity-irrigated. Sediment nitrate concentrations were significantly (p<0.05) different among water application types, suggesting a strong effect of water volume on the changing nitrate concentration. Sediment arsenic presumably attenuated by iron (r=0.32 p<0.05). Uranium in sediments of unsaturated zone was negatively correlated to increase in sediment nitrate (r=-0.23 p<0.05) and ammonium (r=-0.19 p<0.05). Water application types were found to significantly influence sediment arsenic and uranium. While the groundwater arsenic and uranium concentration were below maximum contaminant levels, the highest uranium concentrations were observed in samples from WHP area. The study suggests that irrigation has an impact on unsaturated zone geochemistry with the potential to ultimately affect groundwater quality.

We developed a numerical thermodynamics laboratory called “Thermolab” to study the effects of the thermodynamic behavior of non-ideal solution models on reactive transport processes in open systems. The equations of state of internally consistent thermodynamic datasets are implemented in MATLAB functions and form the basis for calculating Gibbs energy. A linear algebraic approach is used in Thermolab to compute Gibbs energy of mixing for multi-component phases to study the impact of the non-ideality of solution models on transport processes. The Gibbs energies are benchmarked with experimental data, phase diagrams and other thermodynamic software. Constrained Gibbs minimization is exemplified with MATLAB codes and iterative refinement of composition of mixtures may be used to increase precision and accuracy. All needed transport variables such as densities, phase compositions, and chemical potentials are obtained from Gibbs energy of the stable phases after the minimization in Thermolab. We demonstrate the use of precomputed local equilibrium data obtained with Thermolab in reactive transport models. In reactive fluid flow the shape and the velocity of the reaction front vary depending on the non-linearity of the partitioning of a component in fluid and solid. We argue that non-ideality of solution models has to be taken into account and further explored in reactive transport models. Thermolab Gibbs energies can be used in Cahn-Hilliard models for non-linear diffusion and phase growth. This presents a transient process towards equilibrium and avoids computational problems arising during precomputing of equilibrium data.

In this work we employ a reduced-order basis of conservative chemical components to model reactive transport using a Lagrangian (particle tracking) method. While this practice is well-understood in the Eulerian (grid-based) context, its adaptation to a Lagrangian context requires a novel reformulation of particle transport properties. Because the number of conservative-species particles need not change during simulation, spatial resolution stays constant in time, and there is no increase in computational expense due to increasing numbers of product particles. Additionally, this treatment simplifies the interaction between equilibrium and kinetic reactions and allows the use of species-dependent transport operators at the same time. We apply this method to model a suite of simple test problems that include equilibrium and kinetic reactions, and results exhibit excellent match with base-case Eulerian results. Finally, we apply the new method to model a 2D problem concerning the mobilisation of cadmium by a CO$_2$ leak, showing the potential applicability of the proposed methodology.

SKB and several other waste management organizations have established the international SKB Task Force on Modeling of Groundwater Flow and Transport of Solutes (TF GWFTS) to support and interpret field experiments. Objectives of the task force are to develop, test and improve tools for conceptual understanding and simulating groundwater flow and transport of solutes in fractured rocks. Work is organized in collaborative modeling tasks. Task 9 focuses on realistic modeling of coupled matrix diffusion and sorption in heterogeneous crystalline rock matrix at depth, e.g. by inverse and predictive modeling of in-situ transport experiments. Posiva’s REPRO (rock matrix REtention PROperties) experimental campaign has been performed at the ONKALO rock characterization facility in Finland. The two REPRO experiments considered were the Water Phase Diffusion Experiment (WPDE), addressing matrix diffusion in gneiss around a single borehole interval (modeled in Task 9A), and the Through Diffusion Experiment, which is performed between sections of three boreholes and addressed by modeling in Task 9C. The Long-Term Diffusion and Sorption Experiment (LTDE-SD) was an in-situ radionuclide tracer test performed at the Swedish Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory at a depth of about 410 m below sea level. The experimental results indicated a possible deeper penetration of sorbing tracers into the rock matrix than expected. The shape of these tracer penetration profiles was difficult to reproduce. This experiment was modeled and interpreted in Task 9B. Task 9D is addressing the possible benefits of detailed models of the in-situ experiments in safety assessment calculations. The task is performed by upscaling of the WPDE models to conditions applicable for nuclear waste repositories. As Task 9 is now in a finalization process, a number of lessons learned from the 4 sub-tasks have been identified. These include: • field tracer experiments can provide surprises even when well designed and executed, • interaction between the experimentalists and modelers is important and mutually beneficial when investigating anomalous results, • differences in conceptual models have the greatest impact on model outcomes, • it is not trivial to go from modeling of field experiments to safety assessment modeling without making substantial simplifications.

Geological Carbon Sequestration mitigates climate change by capturing and storing carbon emissions in deep geologic formations. Dissolution trapping is one mechanism by which CO2 can be trapped in a deep formation. However, heterogeneity can significantly influenced dissolution efficiency. This work addresses the injection of CO2 in perfectly stratified saline formations under uncertainty. Monte Carlo two-phase flow compositional simulations involving the dissolution of CO2 into brine and evaporation of water into the CO2-rich phase are presented. We systematically analyzed the interplay between heterogeneity and buoyant forces, which is shown to control the migration of the CO2 plume as well as the temporal evolution of dissolution efficiency. Results show that when buoyant forces are important, vertical segregation controls the overall behavior of CO2, diminishing the influence of small-scale heterogeneity on dissolution. However, when buoyant forces are relatively small compared to the degree of heterogeneity, CO2 migrates preferentially through high permeability layers and dissolution efficiency increases with heterogeneity due to the stretching of the CO2 plume that enhances mixing. As a result, in this situation, the upscaling of permeability leads to an underestimation of the dissolution efficiency. A review of field sites shows that dissolution is heterogeneity-controlled in most real systems. Knowing that most numerical models cannot afford to represent heterogeneity at an adequate scale, results indicate that dissolution efficiency can be typically underestimated by a factor close to 1.5.

Pialassa Baiona is a shallow temperate coastal lagoon influenced by a variety of factors, including regional climate change and local anthropogenic disturbances. To better understand how these factors influenced modern organic carbon (OC) sources and accumulation, we measured OC as well as stable carbon isotopes (d13C) in 210Pb-dated sediments within a vegetated saltmarsh habitat and a human impacted habitat. Relative Sea Level (RSL) at the nearby tide gauge station data and four different Sea Surface Temperature (SST) data sets were analyzed starting from 1900 to assess the potential effect of sea ingression and warming on the coastal lagoon sedimentary process. The source contribution calculated from the MixSIAR Bayesian model revealed a mixed sedimentary organic matter (OM) composition dominated by increasing marine-derived OM after the 1950s, parallel with decreasing autochthonous saltmarsh vegetation (Juncus spp.) in the saltmarsh habitat and riverine-estuarine-derived OM in the impacted habitat. RSL rise in the area (8.7±0.5 mm yr−1 in the period 1900-2014) has been mainly driven by the land subsidence, especially during the central decades of the last century, enhancing the sea ingression in the lagoon. Annual SST anomalies present, starting from the eighties, a continuous warming tendency from 0.034±0.01 to 0.044±0.009°C yr-1. No direct effect on sedimentary properties was detected; however, RSL influenced OM sediment properties, although this effect was different between the two habitats.

The U.S. Geological Survey and Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA) are engaged in a cooperative project to characterize the hydrogeology of southern Sonoma Valley, a groundwater basin in the northern California Coast Ranges where groundwater represents about 60% of the valley’s water supply. The basin lies near the Sonoma volcanic field and major transverse faults of the San Francisco Bay region, resulting in a complex aquifer system comprising volcanic and sedimentary rocks and unconsolidated sediments that are cut by faults and overlain to the south by recent Bay Muds of San Francisco Bay. Geologic sections were constructed using geologic maps and lithologic data from over 1,500 water wells compiled by SCWA to describe the subsurface geologic configuration relative to groundwater pumping wells. This work suggests an aquifer system extending to about 900 feet below land surface (ft bls), consisting of upper and lower aquifer units separated by an intermediate unit with lower hydraulic conductivity, overlying and partly interfingering with a complex suite of volcanic rocks. SCWA constructed a four-layer hydrostratigraphic model of the basin using spatial trends in the lithologic data. The hydrostratigraphic layers defined by SCWA include multiple mapped geologic formations because of heterogeneity and complex interfingering between stratigraphic units. Water from selected wells was analyzed for specific conductance, major and minor ions, nutrients, stable isotopes, carbon isotopes, and tritium. Well data were categorized by completed perforation interval into shallow wells (< 200 ft bls), mid-depth wells (200–500 ft bls), and deep wells (> 500 ft bls). Shallow wells typically have water types related to recent mountain-front recharge, and, near the tidal marshlands north of San Pablo Bay, have high chloride and total dissolved solid concentrations associated with modern saline-water intrusion. Mid-depth and deep wells have water with poor water-quality, likely influenced by connate water from consolidated marine sediments, or a mixture of water from consolidated sediments and thermal water. This cooperative basin characterization of subsurface geology, hydrostratigraphy, and water chemistry will enable SCWA to make strategic water management decisions in Sonoma Valley.

The Astromaterials Data System (AstroMat) is a NASA-funded project, working in close collaboration with the Johnson Space Center (JSC) to provide access to and preserve analytical data from JSC’s astromaterials collections. Meteorite data from close to 1000 peer-reviewed publications, primarily from the JSC Antarctic collections, and data from over 800 lunar publications have been ingested into AstroMat. Data can be explored at the level of reference and sample, or queried interactively through the AstroDB Search (AstroSearch). AstroSearch v 1.0 incorporated lunar and meteorite JSC collections, lunar missions, geofeatures, taxons, analyzed materials, and analysis methods searches. Working closely with domain scientists we have developed AstroSearch v 2.0. This version of the interface enhances the functionality of the original by adding search by chemistry (with comprehensive variable and unit selection), more granular analysis type refinement, and a streamlined customizable data output. The AstroDB Search is paired with the AstroDesk application, where users can login via their ORCiD and save an unlimited number of customized search queries. For researchers who need to submit, archive, and share their data with citable unique identifiers (DOIs) to comply with publisher and funding agency requirements, AstroMat offers a companion service to the AstroDB - the Astromaterials Data Repository (AstroRepo). Through its commitment to long-term data access and preservation, the Astromaterials Data Systems aims to help align cosmochemistry data with the Big-Data Era and reduce time to science for Planetary Sciences researchers by providing FAIR data for next generation scientific applications.

Nutrient pollution is considered one of America’s most widespread, costly, and challenging environmental problems. Artificial Floating Islands (AFIs), a phytoremediation technology, has been proven as an efficient, environmental-friendly, and cost-effective strategy to address this issue. However, most previous studies of AFIs were done in controlled conditions at mesocosm experiments. In addition, limited information exists on the use of AFIs as a nutrient remediation/prevention strategy in Ohio. This study aims to fill these gaps. We are currently undertaking a combination of mesocosm and natural experiment to assess the nutrient-removal efficiency of AFI systems in the Milliron Research Wetlands (at the Ohio State University Mansfield campus), and establish a performance baseline for two native aquatic plant species, Carex comosa and Eleocharis palustris. In this study, 18 AFIs, 6 planted with Carex comosa, 6 with Eleocharis palustris, and 6 have no plants, were deployed in a section of the Milliron Research Wetlands. Physical and chemical parameters are being monitored bi-weekly. The AFI systems are constructed using PVC pipes to provide buoyance, EVA foam mats as platforms, and nylon nets to cover the system. Each AFI unit has nine luffa sponges, inserted in the foam mat, to hold aquatic plant seedlings, keep the moisture of roots, and enlarge the surface area for bacterial biofilm development. Since nutrient removal from the wetland is affected by numerous natural processes, a mesocosm experiment was set up to assist the quantification of nutrient removal due specifically to the presence of AFIs. The mesocosm experiment mimics the natural experiment at the wetland and contain 12 equal-size tanks containing water pumped directly from the wetland, 3 of which have AFIs with Carex comosa, 3 have Eleocharis palustris, 3 have no plants, and 3 contain just water from the wetland. Physical and chemical measurements (as well as sample collections) are performed weekly in the tanks. Water in the tanks are exchanged bi-weekly. Preliminary results show that the AFI systems quickly developed large root systems and extensive bacterial biofilms. The effects of the associations between plant biomass, biofilm development, and changing chemical and physical conditions will be investigated as the experiment progresses.

Quantitative knowledge about the burial of sedimentary components at the seafloor has wide-ranging implications in ocean science, from global climate to continental weathering. The use of 230 Th-normalized fluxes reduces uncertainties that many prior studies faced by accounting for the effects of sediment redistribution by bottom currents and minimizing the impact of age model uncertainty. Here we employ a recently compiled global dataset of 230 Th-normalized fluxes with an updated database of seafloor surface sediment composition to derive global maps of the burial flux of calcium carbonate, biogenic opal, total organic carbon (TOC), non-biogenic material, iron, mercury, and excess barium (Baxs). The spatial patterns of burial of the major components are mainly consistent with prior work, but the new quantitative estimates allow evaluations of global deep-sea burial. Our integrated deep-sea burial fluxes are 136 Tg C/yr CaCO3, 153 Tg Si/yr opal, 20Tg C/yr TOC, 220 Mg Hg/yr, and 2.6 Tg Baxs/yr. Sedimentary Fe fluxes reflect a mixture of sources including lithogenic material, hydrothermal inputs and authigenic phases. The fluxes of some commonly used paleo-productivity proxies (TOC, biogenic opal, and Baxs) are not well-correlated geographically with satellite-based productivity estimates. Our new compilation of sedimentary fluxes provides more detailed information on burial fluxes, which should lead to improvements in the understanding of how preservation affects these paleoproxies.

Over the last century, runoff from farms and cities, along with land cover and land use changes, have drastically altered the mass balance of nutrients in aquatic systems, affecting both their ecological functioning and the living communities they support. Here we present the results of a multi-year, long-term study designed to assess the control of land-use and hydrology on nutrient fate and transport within a mixed land-use watershed in north-central Ohio. A total of 64 streams (with a mix of urban, cropland, pasture, and forest catchments) have been sampled periodically since the summer of 2008. Hydrological conditions during the study period exhibited marked seasonality, with usually dry winter seasons (average ppt: 23.5±7.4 cm) and wet spring seasons (average ppt: 34.5±8.1 cm). Runoff generation in response to precipitation events is faster in streams draining developed catchments and slowest in forested streams, where runoff is generated only by events > 10 mm/day. Hydrologic connectivity in the watershed appear to be limited, since only about 25% of precipitation inputs were translated into quick flow. There is a significant, positive correlation between runoff and nutrient concentrations (R2 values are: 0.40 for streams draining urban landscapes, 0.34 for forested streams, 0.30 for cropland, and 0.28 for pastureland). We also observed significant inter-annual and seasonal variations on both DIN (p = 0.02) and PO4 concentrations (p < 0.01). Compared to dry years, nutrient fluxes during wetter years are, on average, 16% higher in urban catchments and 47% higher in forested catchments, but 32% lower in pasture-dominated catchments. Baseflow is responsible for only between 20-30% of the annual nutrient export from the watershed.