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Mangrove ecosystems provide important ecological benefits and ecosystem services, including carbon storage and coastline stabilization, but they also suffer great anthropogenic pressures. Microorganisms associated with mangrove sediments and the rhizosphere play key roles in this ecosystem and make essential contributions to its productivity and carbon budget. Understanding this nexus and moving from descriptive studies of microbial taxonomy to hypothesis-driven field and lab studies will facilitate a mechanistic understanding of mangrove ecosystem interaction webs and open opportunities for microorganism-mediated approaches to mangrove protection and rehabilitation. Such an effort calls for a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach, involving chemists, ecologists, evolutionary biologists, microbiologists, oceanographers, plant scientists, conservation biologists, and stakeholders, and it requires standardized methods to support reproducible experiments. Here, we outline the Mangrove Microbiome Initiative, which is focused around three urgent priorities and three approaches for advancing mangrove microbiome research.

This work gives an overview on different technological solutions for polysilicon removal in industrial tunnel oxide passivated contact (i-TOPCon) n-type silicon solar cell fabrication. The removal of parasitically deposited poly-Si layers on the front and the edges is a mandatory requirement for a low reverse bias junction leakage current (Irev). A polysilicon removal study on wafer level shows (i) that the efficient removal of the surface oxide layer before poly-Si etching is crucial to achieve short etching times and (ii) that an additive in the KOH solution enhances etching selectivity between poly-Si and silicon oxide surfaces. To evaluate the impact on device level, TOPCon cells have been fabricated in parallel using in-situ n-doped PECVD and LPCVD layers, as well as ex-situ LPCVD poly-Si layers, with another variation of poly-Si removal processes, namely wet chemical inline, wet chemical batch cluster and atmospheric dry etching (ADE). Our results show that a two-minute inline polysilicon removal in hot KOH meets the Irev qualification in case of as deposited in-situ doped layers, whereas for ex-situ doped layers a batch process with a five-minute KOH etching time is needed. LPCVD poly-Si cells show efficiencies above 23%, PECVD poly-Si cells with a batch cluster poly-Si removal process up to 23.4%.

Temperature and fluid pressure conditions control rock deformation and mineralization on geological faults, and hence the distribution of earthquakes. Typical intraplate continental crust has hydrostatic fluid pressure and a near-surface thermal gradient of 31 ± 15 degrees Celsius per kilometre. At temperatures above 300-450 degrees Celsius, usually found at depths greater than 10-15 kilometres, the intra-crystalline plasticity of quartz and feldspar relieves stress by aseismic creep and earthquakes are infrequent. Hydrothermal conditions control the stability of mineral phases and hence frictional-mechanical processes associated with earthquake rupture cycles, but there are few temperature and fluid pressure data from active plate-bounding faults. Here we report results from a borehole drilled into the upper part of the Alpine Fault, which is late in its cycle of stress accumulation and expected to rupture in a magnitude 8 earthquake in the coming decades. The borehole (depth 893 metres) revealed a pore fluid pressure gradient exceeding 9 ± 1 per cent above hydrostatic levels and an average geothermal gradient of 125 ± 55 degrees Celsius per kilometre within the hanging wall of the fault. These extreme hydrothermal conditions result from rapid fault movement, which transports rock and heat from depth, and topographically driven fluid movement that concentrates heat into valleys. Shear heating may occur within the fault but is not required to explain our observations. Our data and models show that highly anomalous fluid pressure and temperature gradients in the upper part of the seismogenic zone can be created by positive feedbacks between processes of fault slip, rock fracturing and alteration, and landscape development at plate-bounding faults.

Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization processes can affect the physical and chemical properties of volcanic rocks. Aggressive acidic degassing and fluid flow often also lead to changes in the appearance of a rock, such as changes in surface coloration or intense bleaching. Although hydrothermal alteration can have far-reaching consequences for rock stability and permeability, limited knowledge exists on the detailed structures, extent, and dynamic changes that take place near the surface of hydrothermal venting systems. By integrating drone-based photogrammetry with mineralogical and chemical analyses of rock samples and surface gas flux, we investigate the structure of the evolving volcanic degassing and alteration system at the La Fossa cone on the island of Vulcano, Italy. Our image analysis combines principal component analysis (PCA) with image classification and thermal analysis through which we identify an area of approximately 70 000 m2 that outlines the maximum extent of hydrothermal alteration effects at the surface, represented by a shift in rock color from reddish to gray. Within this area, we identify distinct gradients of surface coloration and temperature that indicate a local variability in the degassing and alteration intensity and define several structural units within the fumarole field. At least seven such larger units of increased activity could be constrained. Through mineralogical and geochemical analysis of samples from the different alteration units, we define a relationship between surface appearance in drone imagery and the mineralogical and chemical composition. Gradients in surface color from reddish to gray correlate with a reduction in Fe2O3 from up to 3.2 % in the unaltered regime to 0.3 % in the altered regime, and the latter coincides with the area of increased diffuse acid gas flux. As the pixel brightness increases towards higher alteration gradients, we note a loss of the initial (igneous) mineral fraction and a change in the bulk chemical composition with a concomitant increase in sulfur content from close to 0 % in the unaltered samples to up to 60 % in samples from the altered domains. Using this approach of combined remote-sensing and in situ analyses, we define and spatially constrain several alteration units and compare them to the present-day thermally active surface and degassing pattern over the main crater area. The combined results permit us to present a detailed anatomy of the La Fossa fumarole field, including high-temperature fumaroles and seven larger units of increased alteration intensity, surface temperature, and variably intense surface degassing. Importantly, we also identify apparently sealed surface domains that prevent degassing, likely as a consequence of mineral precipitation from degassing and alteration processes. By assessing the thermal energy release of the identified spatial units quantitatively, we show that thermal radiation of high-temperature fumaroles accounts for < 50 % of the total thermal energy release only and that the larger part is emitted by diffuse degassing units. The integrated use of methods presented here has proven to be a useful combination for a detailed characterization of alteration and activity patterns of volcanic degassing sites and has the potential for application in alteration research and for the monitoring of volcanic degassing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]