Pore fluid pressure is a key parameter for subaquatic slope stability and has been put forward to explain the development of many submarine landslides, especially when occurring on very gentle slopes ...or in areas with high sedimentation rate. Due to the sparse availability of in-situ pore pressure data, a profound understanding and quantification of excess pore pressure development and its influence on subaquatic landslide processes is still missing. In this study, we use glacigenic Lake Villarrica (Chile) as a model basin, in which we document in-situ excess pore pressure, focused fluid escape features and subaquatic slope failures at relatively shallow subsurface depth (<10m). A subaquatic slope was characterized in great detail by a dense network of high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles, multibeam bathymetry and sediment cores. In-situ undrained shear strength and formation pore fluid pressures were documented using free-fall piezocone penetrometer (CPTU) and subsequent pore pressure dissipation tests. We show four independent lines of evidence for overpressure of variable magnitude within the sedimentary slopes: i) pockmarks and other fluid escape features on seismic profiles and bathymetric maps, ii) estimation of ambient in-situ pore pressure via CPTU dissipation tests, iii) underconsolidation and downward decrease in in-situ undrained shear strength within units of uniform lithology, and iv) hydrofractured glacio-lacustrine sediments. Locally, overpressure reaches about 80–90% of the hydrostatic vertical effective stress. We hypothesize that glacier-proximal sediments are strongly underconsolidated and overpressured due to rapid deposition and/or subglacial meltwater pumping. Postglacial consolidation of a thick glacier-proximal unit leads to the upward expulsion of excess pore water. A permeability barrier is formed by the overlying glacio-lacustrine clays and fine silts, focusing these migrating fluids to topographic highs. There, very high overpressure ratios facilitate the development of hydro-fractures, repeated fluid escape and pockmarks on the lake bottom. Overpressure may decrease slope stability in Lake Villarrica in different manners: by focused fluid escape weakening sediments, by generating underconsolidated sequences of low undrained shear strength, and by facilitating static failure. Based on high-quality in-situ data, this study confirms that high overpressure ratios in shallow sediments may be a typical feature at formerly-glaciated marine and lacustrine environments and highlights the major role of pore fluid overpressure for preconditioning subaquatic slopes to failure.
•In-situ geotechnical data reveal severe shallow overpressure in a subaquatic slope.•Spatial variation in overpressure ratio determines subaquatic slope failure location.•Deglacation depositional history leads to underconsolidated units and permeability barriers.•Subsequent consolidation and flow focusing determine overpressure distribution.
Land cover transformations have accompanied the rise and fall of civilizations for thousands of years, exerting strong influence on the surrounding environment. Soil erosion and the associated ...outwash of nutrients are a main cause of eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems. Despite the great challenges of water protection in the face of climate change, large uncertainties remain concerning the timescales for recovery of aquatic ecosystems impacted by hypoxia. This study seeks to address this issue by investigating the sedimentary record of Lake Murten (Switzerland), which witnessed several phases of intensive human land-use over the past 2000 years.
Application of geophysical and geochemical methods to a 10 m-long sediment core revealed that soil erosion increased drastically with the rise of the Roman City of Aventicum (30 CE). During this period, the radiocarbon age of the bulk sedimentary organic carbon (OC) increasingly deviated from the modeled deposition age, indicating rapid flushing of old soil OC from the surrounding catchment driven by intensive land-use. Enhanced nutrient delivery resulted in an episode of cultural eutrophication, as shown by the deposition of varved sediments. Human activity drastically decreased towards the end of the Roman period (3rd century CE), resulting in land abandonment and renaturation. Recovery of the lake ecosystem from bottom-water hypoxia after the peak in human activity took around 50 years, while approximately 300 years passed until sediment accumulation reached steady state conditions on the surrounding landscape. These findings suggest that the legacy of anthropogenic perturbation to watersheds may persist for centuries.
•Radiocarbon anomalies as indicator for soil erosion.•A dramatic cultural eutrophication during the Roman period.•Long recovery time from eutrophication during renaturation phase.
In regions with moderate seismicity and large intervals between strong earthquakes, paleoseismological archives that exceed the historical and instrumental timescale are needed to establish reliable ...estimates of earthquake recurrence for long return periods. In several regions, lake sediments have shown to be suitable for paleoseismological studies by causally linking characteristic sedimentological features to historic earthquakes. Studies on single lakes, however, do neither allow determining the paleoepicentre nor the paleomagnitude for the potential paleoearthquakes. Here we compile, using shaking-induced mass movements and micro deformations (summarized as Sedimentary Event Deposits SEDs), the sedimentary paleoseismic record of 11 lakes from Switzerland over the last 10,000 years. The large dating uncertainty attributed to such deposits (up to 250 years) does not allow us to conclusively test for one large earthquake hypothesis when comparing the different lake records and therefore represents one of the major limitations of this approach. Instead, using a new approach of exploring the normalized frequency of occurrence averaged over a larger area, the compiled dataset reveals striking periods of enhanced occurrence of SEDs in the studied lakes during several phases of the past 10,000 years, centered at 9700, 6500 and during the last 4000 cal yr BP. Moreover, we use a calibrated intensity attenuation relation in order to model scenarios of possible epicentral areas and ranges of magnitudes of paleoearthquakes. We differentiate two cases: (i) a ‘single-earthquake’ scenario if SEDs occur simultaneously in various studied lakes, or (ii) a ‘multi-earthquake’ scenario if SEDs in the studied lakes cluster within a time interval. The modelled scenarios allow us to propose maximally possible magnitudes of large paleoearthquakes, constituting an important input for seismic hazard assessment in the Swiss Alps.
•Catalogue of event deposits from the sediment record of 11 lakes over 10,000 years.•Coeval deposits in multi-lake settings as proxy for seismic activity close to lakes.•The earthquake-related deposit frequency curve shows peaks at 9700 and 4000 to 0 BP•Using seismic attenuation relation we reconstruct scenarios of paleoearthquakes.
Pockmarks and mud volcanoes from marine and lacustrine environments are thought to be the surface expression of focused fluid flow (gas and/or water). However, the control fluid flow exerts on the ...sediment dynamics and rates of activity of such features, especially the maintenance and growth of pockmarks, is not well understood. This study suggests that variable fluid flow is the driving process that has maintained two lacustrine pockmarks over thousands of years. In Lake Neuchâtel (western Switzerland), the currently active Chez‐le‐Bart Pockmark (diameter ca 160 m, depth ca 10 m) and the Treytel Pockmark (diameter ca 100 m, depth ca 4 m) indicate ‘quiescent’ fluid flow as well as past, ‘eruptive’, events of subsurface sediment mobilization. This study aims to test the hypothesis that phases of increased fluid flow through the pockmarks have led to the remobilization and spilling of sediment over the pockmark rims, and that different modes of activity phases are responsible for their maintenance and growth. So termed ‘subsurface sediment mobilization deposits’ are visible in seismic profiles and correlate to specific, sedimentary intervals in Kullenberg‐type long piston cores. In a detailed analysis, different modes of transport are recognized, which are attributed to high‐density flows that correspond to multiple pulses of activity. The pockmark morphology, seismic stratigraphy and core correlation with pre‐existing data reveals that the two pockmarks have been maintained throughout the Holocene and underwent several switches between ‘quiescent’ and ‘eruptive’ mode activity.
Subsurface fluid flow in oceans and lakes affects bathymetric morphology, sediment distribution, and water composition. We present newly discovered giant lacustrine pockmarks in Lake Neuchâtel (up to ...160 m diameter and 30 m deep) that rank among the largest known pockmarks in lakes. Our multidisciplinary study reveals ~60 m of suspended sediment inside a pockmark. The sediment suspension is 2.6° warmer and isotopically lighter in δ18OH2O by 1.5‰ than the ambient lake water, documenting currently active fluid flow by karstic groundwater discharge from the Jura Mountain front into the Swiss Plateau hydrological system. Strikingly, the levees of the pockmarks comprise subsurface sediment mobilization deposits representing episodic phases of sediment expulsion during the past. They strongly resemble subsurface fluid flow features in the marine realm. Comparable processes are expected to also be relevant for other carbonate‐dominated mountain front ranges, where karstic groundwater discharges into lacustrine or marine settings.
Key Points
Giant active lacustrine pockmarks are discovered in Lake Neuchatel, Switzerland
Pockmark activity is sustained by sublacustrine groundwater discharge
Sediment record reveals episodic high‐discharge phases
Seagrasses colonized the sea on at least three independent occasions to form the basis of one of the most productive and widespread coastal ecosystems on the planet. Here we report the genome of ...Zostera marina (L.), the first, to our knowledge, marine angiosperm to be fully sequenced. This reveals unique insights into the genomic losses and gains involved in achieving the structural and physiological adaptations required for its marine lifestyle, arguably the most severe habitat shift ever accomplished by flowering plants. Key angiosperm innovations that were lost include the entire repertoire of stomatal genes, genes involved in the synthesis of terpenoids and ethylene signalling, and genes for ultraviolet protection and phytochromes for far-red sensing. Seagrasses have also regained functions enabling them to adjust to full salinity. Their cell walls contain all of the polysaccharides typical of land plants, but also contain polyanionic, low-methylated pectins and sulfated galactans, a feature shared with the cell walls of all macroalgae and that is important for ion homoeostasis, nutrient uptake and O2/CO2 exchange through leaf epidermal cells. The Z. marina genome resource will markedly advance a wide range of functional ecological studies from adaptation of marine ecosystems under climate warming, to unravelling the mechanisms of osmoregulation under high salinities that may further inform our understanding of the evolution of salt tolerance in crop plants.
Deep-sea hydrothermal vents are patchily distributed ecosystems inhabited by specialized animal populations that are textbook meta-populations. Many vent-associated species have free-swimming, ...dispersive larvae that can establish connections between remote populations. However, connectivity patterns among hydrothermal vents are still poorly understood because the deep sea is undersampled, the molecular tools used to date are of limited resolution, and larval dispersal is difficult to measure directly. A better knowledge of connectivity is urgently needed to develop sound environmental management plans for deep-sea mining. Here, we investigated larval dispersal and contemporary connectivity of ecologically important vent mussels (Bathymodiolus spp.) from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge by using high-resolution ocean modeling and population genetic methods. Even when assuming a long pelagic larval duration, our physical model of larval drift suggested that arrival at localities more than 150 km from the source site is unlikely and that dispersal between populations requires intermediate habitats (“phantom” stepping stones). Dispersal patterns showed strong spatiotemporal variability, making predictions of population connectivity challenging. The assumption that mussel populations are only connected via additional stepping stones was supported by contemporary migration rates based on neutral genetic markers. Analyses of population structure confirmed the presence of two southern and two hybridizing northern mussel lineages that exhibited a substantial, though incomplete, genetic differentiation. Our study provides insights into how vent animals can disperse between widely separated vent habitats and shows that recolonization of perturbed vent sites will be subject to chance events, unless connectivity is explicitly considered in the selection of conservation areas.
•Mid-Atlantic vent mussel populations are contemporarily isolated•Population connectivity can only be maintained in a stepwise manner•Four mussel lineages exist on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge•Recolonization of perturbed vent localities is uncertain
Assessment of contemporary connectivity in hydrothermal vents is critical for a thorough understanding of vent biology and the mitigation of environmental impacts from deep-sea mining. In contrast to previous assumptions, Breusing et al. show that connections between mid-Atlantic vent mussel populations can only be achieved via stepping-stone habitats.
Seagrass beds are the foundation species of functionally important coastal ecosystems worldwide. The world's largest losses of the widespread seagrass Zostera marina (eelgrass) have been reported as ...a consequence of wasting disease, an infection with the endophytic protist Labyrinthula zosterae. During one of the most extended epidemics in the marine realm, ∼90% of East and Western Atlantic eelgrass beds died-off between 1932 and 1934. Today, small outbreaks continue to be reported, but the current extent of L. zosterae in European meadows is completely unknown. In this study we quantify the abundance and prevalence of the wasting disease pathogen among 19 Z. marina populations in northern European coastal waters, using quantitative PCR (QPCR) with primers targeting a species specific portion of the internally transcribed spacer (ITS1) of L. zosterae. Spatially, we found marked variation among sites with abundances varying between 0 and 126 cells mg(-1) Z. marina dry weight (mean: 5.7 L. zosterae cells mg(-1) Z. marina dry weight ±1.9 SE) and prevalences ranged from 0-88.9%. Temporarily, abundances varied between 0 and 271 cells mg(-1) Z. marina dry weight (mean: 8.5±2.6 SE), while prevalences ranged from zero in winter and early spring to 96% in summer. Field concentrations accessed via bulk DNA extraction and subsequent QPCR correlated well with prevalence data estimated via isolation and cultivation from live plant tissue. L. zosterae was not only detectable in black lesions, a sign of Labyrinthula-induced necrosis, but also occurred in green, apparently healthy tissue. We conclude that L. zosterae infection is common (84% infected populations) in (northern) European eelgrass populations with highest abundances during the summer months. In the light of global climate change and increasing rate of marine diseases our data provide a baseline for further studies on the causes of pathogenic outbreaks of L. zosterae.
Pro- and eukaryotic microbes associated with multi-cellular organisms are receiving increasing attention as a driving factor in ecosystems. Endophytes in plants can change host performance by ...altering nutrient uptake, secondary metabolite production or defense mechanisms. Recent studies detected widespread prevalence of Labyrinthula zosterae in European Zostera marina meadows, a protist that allegedly caused a massive amphi-Atlantic seagrass die-off event in the 1930's, while showing only limited virulence today. As a limiting factor for pathogenicity, we investigated genotype × genotype interactions of host and pathogen from different regions (10-100 km-scale) through reciprocal infection. Although the endophyte rapidly infected Z. marina, we found little evidence that Z. marina was negatively impacted by L. zosterae. Instead Z. marina showed enhanced leaf growth and kept endophyte abundance low. Moreover, we found almost no interaction of protist × eelgrass-origin on different parameters of L. zosterae virulence/Z. marina performance, and also no increase in mortality after experimental infection. In a target gene approach, we identified a significant down-regulation in the expression of 6/11 genes from the defense cascade of Z. marina after real-time quantitative PCR, revealing strong immune modulation of the host's defense by a potential parasite for the first time in a marine plant. Nevertheless, one gene involved in phenol synthesis was strongly up-regulated, indicating that Z. marina plants were probably able to control the level of infection. There was no change in expression in a general stress indicator gene (HSP70). Mean L. zosterae abundances decreased below 10% after 16 days of experimental runtime. We conclude that under non-stress conditions L. zosterae infection in the study region is not associated with substantial virulence.
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