TY - JOUR A1 - Kröner, A. A1 - Alexeiev, D. V. A1 - Kovach, V. P. A1 - Rojas-Agramonte, Y. A1 - Tretyakov, A. A. A1 - Mikolaichuk, A. V. A1 - Xie, H. A1 - Sobel, Edward T1 - Zircon ages, geochemistry and Nd isotopic systematics for the Palaeoproterozoic 2.3-1.8 Ga Kuilyu Complex, East Kyrgyzstan BT - the oldest continental basement fragment in the Tianshan orogenic belt JF - Journal of Asian earth sciences N2 - Precambrian microcontinents represent key tectonic units in the accretionary collages of the western Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB), and their geological history is reasonably well established since the Mesoproterozoic but remains weakly constrained for older epochs due to a scarcity of exposed Palaeoproterozoic and Archaean rocks. Early Precambrian rocks were previously reported from several metamorphic complexes in the Kyrgyz Tianshan orogenic belt, mainly based on multigrain conventional zircon dating, but the present study only confirmed such rocks at one site, namely in the Kuilyu Complex of eastern Kyrgyzstan. New single grain SHRIMP II zircon ages, geochemical data, and whole-rock Nd isotopic compositions for granitoid gneisses of the Kuilyu Complex elucidate the age, origin and tectonic settings of this oldest continental fragment in the Tianshan. The Kuilyu Complex is part of the basement in the Ishim - Middle Tianshan microcontinent. It consist of a strongly deformed and metamorphosed supracrustal assemblage of paragneisses and schists which are tectonically interlayered with amphibolites, migmatites and granitoid gneisses. Our zircon dating indicates that the Kuilyu Complex contains two suites of Palaeoproterozoic granitoid gneisses with magmatic protolith ages of ca. 2.32-2.33 Ga and 1.85 Ga. Granitoid magmatism at 1.85 Ga was almost immediately followed by amphibolite-facies metamorphism at ca 1.83 Ga, evidenced by growth of metamorphic zircon rims. The older, ca 2.3 Ga granitoid gneisses chemically correspond to calc-alkaline, metaluminous, I-type magnesian quartz diorite and granodiorite. The protolith of the younger, ca. 1.85 Ga granite-gneiss is an alkalic-calcic, metaluminous to peraluminous, ferroan medium-grained porphyric granite with chemical features resembling A-type granites. The 2.3 Ga and 1.85 Ga granitoid gneisses have slightly to distinctly negative initial epsilon(Nd) values of -1.2 and -6.6, and similar depleted mantle Nd model ages of 2.7-2.6 Ga, which imply melting of Neoarchaean continental crust. The zircon age patterns of the Kuilyu Complex resemble those of exposed rocks in the Tarim Craton, where episodes of granitoid magmatism at ca. 2.3-2.4 and 1.85 Ga, followed by amphibolite-facies metamorphism at ca 1.85 Ga, are also recorded. Similarities in the early Precambrian magmatic and metamorphic episodes as well as similar histories during the Neoproterozoic and early Palaeozoic suggest that the Ishim-Middle Tianshan microcontinent was rifted off the Tarim Craton. Similar age patterns also suggest possible tectonic links of the Kuilyu and Tarim continental blocks with the Baidrag Block of central Mongolia. In contrast, substantial differences in age and Precambrian evolution between the Anrakhai block of southern Kazakhstan and the Kuilyu Complex argue against a previous connection and suggest the former to represent an independent continental terrane. Current data show that early Precambrian rocks in the western CAOB outside Tarim only occur at two sites, namely in the Anrakhai Complex of southern Kazakhstan and in the Kuilyu Complex of eastern Kyrgyzstan. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. KW - Kuilyu Complex KW - Zircon dating KW - Microcontinent KW - CAOB KW - Middle Tianshan KW - Kyrgyzstan Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jseaes.2016.12.022 SN - 1367-9120 SN - 1878-5786 VL - 135 SP - 122 EP - 135 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Totz, Sonja Juliana A1 - Tziperman, Eli A1 - Coumou, Dim A1 - Pfeiffer, Karl A1 - Cohen, Judah T1 - Winter precipitation forecast in the European and mediterranean regions using cluster analysis JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - The European climate is changing under global warming, and especially the Mediterranean region has been identified as a hot spot for climate change with climate models projecting a reduction in winter rainfall and a very pronounced increase in summertime heat waves. These trends are already detectable over the historic period. Hence, it is beneficial to forecast seasonal droughts well in advance so that water managers and stakeholders can prepare to mitigate deleterious impacts. We developed a new cluster-based empirical forecast method to predict precipitation anomalies in winter. This algorithm considers not only the strength but also the pattern of the precursors. We compare our algorithm with dynamic forecast models and a canonical correlation analysis-based prediction method demonstrating that our prediction method performs better in terms of time and pattern correlation in the Mediterranean and European regions. KW - precipitation anomaly KW - seasonal forecast KW - cluster analysis Y1 - 2018 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL075674 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 44 SP - 12418 EP - 12426 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Fohlmeister, Jens Bernd A1 - Plessen, Birgit A1 - Dudashvili, Alexey Sergeevich A1 - Tjallingii, Rik A1 - Wolff, Christian Michael A1 - Gafurov, Abror A1 - Cheng, Hai T1 - Winter precipitation changes during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age in arid Central Asia JF - Quaternary science reviews : the international multidisciplinary research and review journal N2 - The strength of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is considered to be the main driver of climate changes over the European and western Asian continents throughout the last millennium. For example, the predominantly warm Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the following cold period of the Little Ice Age (LIA) over Europe have been associated with long-lasting phases with a positive and negative NAO index. Its climatic imprint is especially pronounced in European winter seasons. However, little is known about the influence of NAO with respect to its eastern extent over the Eurasian continent. Here we present speleothem records (PC, 8180 and Sr/Ca) from the southern rim of Fergana Basin (Central Asia) revealing annually resolved past climate variations during the last millennium. The age control of the stalagmite relies on radiocarbon dating as large amounts of detrital material inhibit accurate 230Th dating. Present-day calcification of the stalagmite is most effective during spring when the cave atmosphere and elevated water supply by snow melting and high amount of spring precipitation provide optimal conditions. Seasonal precipitation variations cause changes of the stable isotope and Sr/ Ca compositions. The simultaneous changes in these geochemical proxies, however, give also evidence for fractionation processes in the cave. By disentangling both processes, we demonstrate that the amount of winter precipitation during the MCA was generally higher than during the LIA, which is in line with climatic changes linked to the NAO index but opposite to the higher mountain records of Central Asia. Several events of strongly reduced winter precipitation are observed during the LIA in Central Asia. These dry winter events can be related to phases of a strong negative NAO index and all results reveal that winter precipitation over the central Eurasian continent is tightly linked to atmospheric NAO modes by the westerly wind systems. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.10.026 SN - 0277-3791 VL - 178 SP - 24 EP - 36 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Carus, Jana A1 - Heuner, Maike A1 - Paul, Maike A1 - Schröder, Boris T1 - Which factors and processes drive the spatio-temporal dynamics of brackish marshes?-Insights from development and parameterisation of a mechanistic vegetation model JF - Ecological modelling : international journal on ecological modelling and engineering and systems ecolog N2 - Tidal marsh vegetation offers important ecosystem services. However, in many estuaries, extensive embankments, artificial bank protection, river dredging and agriculture threaten tidal marshes. In this study we analysed the processes underlying the spatio-temporal patterns of tidal marsh vegetation in the Elbe estuary and quantified the influence of specific habitat factors by developing and applying the process-based dynamic habitat-macrophyte model HaMac in a pattern-oriented way. In order to develop and parameterise the model, we measured a wide range of biotic and abiotic parameters in two study sites in the Elbe estuary and compared observed and simulated patterns. The final model is able to reproduce the general patterns of vegetation zonation, development and growth and thus helps to understand the underlying processes. By considering the vegetative reproduction of marsh plants as well as abiotic influence factors and intraspecific competition, HaMac allowed to systematically analyse the significance of factors and processes for the dynamic of tidal marsh vegetation. Our results show that rhizome growth is the most important process and that flow velocity, inundation height and duration as well as intraspecific competition are the most important habitat factors for explaining spatio-temporal dynamics of brackish marshes. Future applications of HaMac could support the sustainable development and stabilisation of shore zones and thus contribute to the promotion and planning of ecosystem -based shoreline protection measures. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. KW - Bolboschoenus maritimus KW - Emergent macrophytes KW - Pattern-oriented modelling KW - Phragmites australis KW - Tidal marsh vegetation KW - Vegetative reproduction Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2017.08.023 SN - 0304-3800 SN - 1872-7026 VL - 363 SP - 122 EP - 136 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Vormoor, Klaus Josef A1 - Rossler, Ole A1 - Bürger, Gerd A1 - Bronstert, Axel A1 - Weingartner, Rolf T1 - When timing matters-considering changing temporal structures in runoff response surfaces JF - Climatic change : an interdisciplinary, intern. journal devoted to the description, causes and implications of climatic change N2 - Scenario-neutral response surfaces illustrate the sensitivity of a simulated natural system, represented by a specific impact variable, to systematic perturbations of climatic parameters. This type of approach has recently been developed as an alternative to top-down approaches for the assessment of climate change impacts. A major limitation of this approach is the underrepresentation of changes in the temporal structure of the climate input data (i.e., the seasonal and day-to-day variability) since this is not altered by the perturbation. This paper presents a framework that aims to examine this limitation by perturbing both observed and projected climate data time series for a future period, which both serve as input into a hydrological model (the HBV model). The resulting multiple response surfaces are compared at a common domain, the standardized runoff response surface (SRRS). We apply this approach in a case study catchment in Norway to (i) analyze possible changes in mean and extreme runoff and (ii) quantify the influence of changes in the temporal structure represented by 17 different climate input sets using linear mixed-effect models. Results suggest that climate change induced increases in mean and peak flow runoff and only small changes in low flow. They further suggest that the effect of the different temporal structures of the climate input data considerably affects low flows and floods (at least 21% influence), while it is negligible for mean runoff. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-017-1940-1 SN - 0165-0009 SN - 1573-1480 VL - 142 SP - 213 EP - 226 PB - Springer CY - Dordrecht ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Nied, Manuela A1 - Schröter, Kai A1 - Lüdtke, Stefan A1 - Nguyen, Viet Dung A1 - Merz, Bruno T1 - What are the hydro-meteorological controls on flood characteristics? JF - Journal of hydrology N2 - Flood events can be expressed by a variety of characteristics such as flood magnitude and extent, event duration or incurred loss. Flood estimation and management may benefit from understanding how the different flood characteristics relate to the hydrological catchment conditions preceding the event and to the meteorological conditions throughout the event. In this study, we therefore propose a methodology to investigate the hydro-meteorological controls on different flood characteristics, based on the simulation of the complete flood risk chain from the flood triggering precipitation event, through runoff generation in the catchment, flood routing and possible inundation in the river system and floodplains to flood loss. Conditional cumulative distribution functions and regression tree analysis delineate the seasonal varying flood processes and indicate that the effect of the hydrological pre-conditions, i.e. soil moisture patterns, and of the meteorological conditions, i.e. weather patterns, depends on the considered flood characteristic. The methodology is exemplified for the Elbe catchment. In this catchment, the length of the build-up period, the event duration and the number of gauges undergoing at least a 10-year flood are governed by weather patterns. The affected length and the number of gauges undergoing at least a 2-year flood are however governed by soil moisture patterns. In case of flood severity and loss, the controlling factor is less pronounced. Severity is slightly governed by soil moisture patterns whereas loss is slightly governed by weather patterns. The study highlights that flood magnitude and extent arise from different flood generation processes and concludes that soil moisture patterns as well as weather patterns are not only beneficial to inform on possible flood occurrence but also on the involved flood processes and resulting flood characteristics. KW - Flood KW - Flood duration KW - Flood magnitude KW - Flood loss KW - Soil moisture patterns KW - Antecedent conditions KW - Weather patterns KW - Large basins Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2016.12.003 SN - 0022-1694 SN - 1879-2707 VL - 545 SP - 310 EP - 326 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Markovic, Danijela A1 - Carrizo, Savrina F. A1 - Kaercher, Oskar A1 - Walz, Ariane A1 - David, Jonathan N. W. T1 - Vulnerability of European freshwater catchments to climate change JF - Global change biology N2 - Climate change is expected to exacerbate the current threats to freshwater ecosystems, yet multifaceted studies on the potential impacts of climate change on freshwater biodiversity at scales that inform management planning are lacking. The aim of this study was to fill this void through the development of a novel framework for assessing climate change vulnerability tailored to freshwater ecosystems. The three dimensions of climate change vulnerability are as follows: (i) exposure to climate change, (ii) sensitivity to altered environmental conditions and (iii) resilience potential. Our vulnerability framework includes 1685 freshwater species of plants, fishes, molluscs, odonates, amphibians, crayfish and turtles alongside key features within and between catchments, such as topography and connectivity. Several methodologies were used to combine these dimensions across a variety of future climate change models and scenarios. The resulting indices were overlaid to assess the vulnerability of European freshwater ecosystems at the catchment scale (18 783 catchments). The Balkan Lakes Ohrid and Prespa and Mediterranean islands emerge as most vulnerable to climate change. For the 2030s, we showed a consensus among the applied methods whereby up to 573 lake and river catchments are highly vulnerable to climate change. The anthropogenic disruption of hydrological habitat connectivity by dams is the major factor reducing climate change resilience. A gap analysis demonstrated that the current European protected area network covers <25% of the most vulnerable catchments. Practical steps need to be taken to ensure the persistence of freshwater biodiversity under climate change. Priority should be placed on enhancing stakeholder cooperation at the major basin scale towards preventing further degradation of freshwater ecosystems and maintaining connectivity among catchments. The catchments identified as most vulnerable to climate change provide preliminary targets for development of climate change conservation management and mitigation strategies. KW - catchment connectivity KW - climate change KW - exposure KW - freshwater biodiversity KW - gap analysis KW - resilience KW - sensitivity KW - vulnerability Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13657 SN - 1354-1013 SN - 1365-2486 VL - 23 SP - 3567 EP - 3580 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Martínez-Garzón, Patricia A1 - Kwiatek, Grzegorz A1 - Bohnhoff, Marco A1 - Dresen, Georg T1 - Volumetric components in the earthquake source related to fluid injection and stress state JF - Geophysical research letters N2 - We investigate source processes of fluid-induced seismicity from The Geysers geothermal reservoir in California to determine their relation with hydraulic operations and improve the corresponding seismic hazard estimates. Analysis of 869 well-constrained full moment tensors (M-w 0.8-3.5) reveals significant non-double-couple components (>25%) for about 65% of the events. Volumetric deformation is governed by cumulative injection rates with larger non-double-couple components observed near the wells and during high injection periods. Source mechanisms are magnitude dependent and vary significantly between faulting regimes. Normal faulting events (M-w<2) reveal substantial volumetric components indicating dilatancy in contrast to strike-slip events that have a dominant double-couple source. Volumetric components indicating closure of cracks in the source region are mostly found for reverse faulting events with M-w>2.5. Our results imply that source processes and magnitudes of fluid-induced seismic events are strongly affected by the hydraulic operations, the reservoir stress state, and the faulting regime. KW - non-double-couple components KW - induced seismicity KW - geothermal KW - stress state KW - tensile opening KW - pore pressure Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL071963 SN - 0094-8276 SN - 1944-8007 VL - 44 IS - 2 SP - 800 EP - 809 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bufe, Aaron A1 - Burbank, Douglas W. A1 - Liu, Langtao A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo A1 - Qin, Jintang A1 - Chen, Jie A1 - Li, Tao A1 - Jobe, Jessica Ann Thompson A1 - Yang, Huili T1 - Variations of Lateral Bedrock Erosion Rates Control Planation of Uplifting Folds in the Foreland of the Tian Shan, NW China JF - Journal of geophysical research : Earth surface N2 - Fluvial planation surfaces, such as straths, commonly serve as recorders of climatic and tectonic changes and are formed by the lateral erosion of rivers, a process that remains poorly understood. Here we present a study of kilometer-wide, fluvially eroded, low-relief surfaces on rapidly uplifting folds in the foreland of the southwestern Tian Shan. A combination of field work, digital elevation model analysis, and dating of fluvial deposits reveals that despite an arid climate and rapid average rock-uplift rates of 1-3mm/yr, rivers cut extensive (>1-2km wide) surfaces with typical height variations of <6m over periods of >2-6kyr. The extent of this beveling varies in space and time, such that different beveling episodes affect individual structures. Between times of planation, beveled surfaces are abandoned, incised, and deformed across the folds. In a challenge to models that link strath cutting and abandonment primarily to changes in river incision rates, we demonstrate that lateral erosion rates of antecedent streams crossing the folds have to vary by more than 1 order of magnitude to explain the creation of beveled platforms in the past and their incision at the present day. These variations do not appear to covary with climate variability and might be caused by relatively small (much less than an order of magnitude) changes in sediment or water fluxes. It remains uncertain in which settings variations in lateral bedrock erosion rates predominate over changes in vertical erosion rates. Therefore, when studying fluvial planation and strath terraces, variability of both lateral and vertical erosion rates should be considered. KW - strath terraces KW - lateral erosion KW - detachment folds KW - Quaternary geochronology Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF004099 SN - 2169-9003 SN - 2169-9011 VL - 122 SP - 2431 EP - 2467 PB - American Geophysical Union CY - Washington ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Purinton, Benjamin A1 - Bookhagen, Bodo T1 - Validation of digital elevation models (DEMs) and comparison of geomorphic metrics on the southern Central Andean Plateau JF - Earth surface dynamics N2 - In this study, we validate and compare elevation accuracy and geomorphic metrics of satellite-derived digital elevation models (DEMs) on the southern Central Andean Plateau. The plateau has an average elevation of 3.7 km and is characterized by diverse topography and relief, lack of vegetation, and clear skies that create ideal conditions for remote sensing. At 30m resolution, SRTM-C, ASTER GDEM2, stacked ASTER L1A stereopair DEM, ALOS World 3D, and TanDEM-X have been analyzed. The higher-resolution datasets include 12m TanDEM-X, 10m single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X DEMs, and 5m ALOS World 3D. These DEMs are state of the art for optical (ASTER and ALOS) and radar (SRTM-C and TanDEM-X) spaceborne sensors. We assessed vertical accuracy by comparing standard deviations of the DEM elevation versus 307 509 differential GPS measurements across 4000m of elevation. For the 30m DEMs, the ASTER datasets had the highest vertical standard deviation at > 6.5 m, whereas the SRTM-C, ALOS World 3D, and TanDEM-X were all < 3.5 m. Higher-resolution DEMs generally had lower uncertainty, with both the 12m TanDEM-X and 5m ALOSWorld 3D having < 2m vertical standard deviation. Analysis of vertical uncertainty with respect to terrain elevation, slope, and aspect revealed the low uncertainty across these attributes for SRTM-C (30 m), TanDEM-X (12–30 m), and ALOS World 3D (5–30 m). Single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X 10m DEMs and the 30m ASTER GDEM2 displayed slight aspect biases, which were removed in their stacked counterparts (TanDEM-X and ASTER Stack). Based on low vertical standard deviations and visual inspection alongside optical satellite data, we selected the 30m SRTM-C, 12–30m TanDEM-X, 10m single-CoSSC TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X, and 5m ALOS World 3D for geomorphic metric comparison in a 66 km2 catchment with a distinct river knickpoint. Consistent m=n values were found using chi plot channel profile analysis, regardless of DEM type and spatial resolution. Slope, curvature, and drainage area were calculated and plotting schemes were used to assess basin-wide differences in the hillslope-to-valley transition related to the knickpoint. While slope and hillslope length measurements vary little between datasets, curvature displays higher magnitude measurements with fining resolution. This is especially true for the optical 5m ALOS World 3D DEM, which demonstrated high-frequency noise in 2–8 pixel steps through a Fourier frequency analysis. The improvements in accurate space-radar DEMs (e.g., TanDEM-X) for geomorphometry are promising, but airborne or terrestrial data are still necessary for meter-scale analysis. Y1 - 2017 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-5-211-2017 SN - 2196-632X SN - 2196-6311 VL - 5 IS - 2 SP - 211 EP - 237 PB - Copernicus Publ. CY - Göttingen ER -