Evolution of the early Antarctic ice ages.

Understanding the stability of the early Antarctic ice cap in the geological past is of societal interest because present-day atmospheric CO2 concentrations have reached values comparable to those estimated for the Oligocene and the Early Miocene epochs. Here we analyze a new high-resolution deep-sea oxygen isotope (δ18O) record from the South Atlantic Ocean spanning an interval between 30.1 My and 17.1 My ago. The record displays major oscillations in deep-sea temperature and Antarctic ice volume in response to the ∼110-ky eccentricity modulation of precession. Conservative minimum ice volume estimates show that waxing and waning of at least ∼85 to 110% of the volume of the present East Antarctic Ice Sheet is required to explain many of the ∼110-ky cycles. Antarctic ice sheets were typically largest during repeated glacial cycles of the mid-Oligocene (∼28.0 My to ∼26.3 My ago) and across the Oligocene-Miocene Transition (∼23.0 My ago). However, the high-amplitude glacial-interglacial cycles of the mid-Oligocene are highly symmetrical, indicating a more direct response to eccentricity modulation of precession than their Early Miocene counterparts, which are distinctly asymmetrical-indicative of prolonged ice buildup and delayed, but rapid, glacial terminations. We hypothesize that the long-term transition to a warmer climate state with sawtooth-shaped glacial cycles in the Early Miocene was brought about by subsidence and glacial erosion in West Antarctica during the Late Oligocene and/or a change in the variability of atmospheric CO2 levels on astronomical time scales that is not yet captured in existing proxy reconstructions.

Birds influence vegetation coverage and structure on sandy biogeomorphic islands in the Dutch Wadden Sea.

Small uninhabited islands form important roosting and breeding habitats for many coastal birds. Previous studies have demonstrated that guano can promote ecosystem productivity and functionality on island ecosystems. Here, we assess the role of external nutrient input by coastal birds on the vegetation structure and coverage on sandy biogeomorphic islands, where island-forming processes depend on vegetation-sedimentation feedbacks. As a first step, we investigated whether breeding birds affect vegetation productivity on sandy back-barrier islands in the Wadden Sea. Using a combination of bird observations and plant stable isotope (δ15N) analyses, we demonstrate that (i) breeding birds transport large quantities of nutrients via their faecal outputs to these islands annually and that (ii) this external nitrogen source influences vegetation development on these sandy, nutrient-limited, islands. Based on these results we discuss how this avian nutrient pump could impact island development and habitat suitability for coastal birds and discuss future directions for research. In general, we conclude that avian subsidies have the potential to affect both the ecological and biogeomorphic functioning of coastal soft-sediment systems. However, the strength and scale of especially these biogeomorphic interactions are not fully understood. For the conservation of both threatened coastal birds and sandy back-barrier islands and the design of appropriate management strategies, we argue that three-way interactions between birds, vegetation and sandy island morphodynamics need to be further elucidated.

Regional versus local wind speed and direction at a narrow beach with a high and steep foredune.

Dune growth and post-storm recovery of foredune systems is predominantly determined by the aeolian sand transport through the beach-dune interface. Potential sand transport rates, estimated with empirical transport equations using regionally representative wind conditions, are generally too high. This positive bias might be, at least partly, due to the effect of the beach and foredune topography on the regional airflow. Here, we investigate the relation between local (on the beach) and regional wind velocities and direction in front of the high (∼22 m) and steep (∼1:2.5) foredune partially vegetated with Marram grass at Egmond aan Zee, The Netherlands based on a dataset with a large variety in wind speeds spanning over all onshore wind directions. We observed that local 10-minute averaged wind speed and direction can differ from the regional wind conditions (here measured 15 km away from the study site) depending on the regional approach angle of the wind. The ratio of local over regional wind speed is smallest (∼0.39) when the wind direction is dune-normal. This ratio increases with increasing obliquity towards almost 1 for alongshore winds. Wind steering only happens at the dune foot and is the largest (∼13°) with oblique approaching winds of 40° from the dune normal. Perpendicular and nearly alongshore winds do not show any steering near the dune foot. The use of local rather than regional wind conditions in a potential transport equation reduces the predicted annual supply from 86 to 32 m3/m/y, substantially closer to the measured deposition of 15 m3/m/y. The drop in velocity was more important to the reduction in predicted supply than the alongshore steering.

Measuring and modeling the effect of surface moisture on the spectral reflectance of coastal beach sand.

Surface moisture is an important supply limiting factor for aeolian sand transport, which is the primary driver of coastal dune development. As such, it is critical to account for the control of surface moisture on available sand for dune building. Optical remote sensing has the potential to measure surface moisture at a high spatio-temporal resolution. It is based on the principle that wet sand appears darker than dry sand: it is less reflective. The goals of this study are (1) to measure and model reflectance under controlled laboratory conditions as function of wavelength (λ) and surface moisture (θ) over the optical domain of 350-2500 nm, and (2) to explore the implications of our laboratory findings for accurately mapping the distribution of surface moisture under natural conditions. A laboratory spectroscopy experiment was conducted to measure spectral reflectance (1 nm interval) under different surface moisture conditions using beach sand. A non-linear increase of reflectance upon drying was observed over the full range of wavelengths. Two models were developed and tested. The first model is grounded in optics and describes the proportional contribution of scattering and absorption of light by pore water in an unsaturated sand matrix. The second model is grounded in soil physics and links the hydraulic behaviour of pore water in an unsaturated sand matrix to its optical properties. The optical model performed well for volumetric moisture content θ < 24% (R2 > 0.97), but underestimated reflectance for θ between 24-30% (R2 > 0.92), most notable around the 1940 nm water absorption peak. The soil-physical model performed very well (R2 > 0.99) but is limited to 4% > θ < 24%. Results from a field experiment show that a short-wave infrared terrestrial laser scanner (λ = 1550 nm) can accurately relate surface moisture to reflectance (standard error 2.6%), demonstrating its potential to derive spatially extensive surface moisture maps of a natural coastal beach.