Migration dynamics of Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) and response to spring environmental variability in the southeastern Bering Sea

In the southeastern Bering Sea, Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) migrate from the Pribilof Islands region where they overwinter, to the Alaska coast where they spawn in spring. The migration sustains a nearshore commercial fishery that targets roe-bearing females just prior to spawning. Herring also are taken as bycatch in groundfish trawl fisheries, where time and area closures in these fisheries are triggered by herring bycatch caps. Using herring bycatch data collected since the 1970s by National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) observers aboard groundfish fishing vessels, a retrospective analysis was conducted to describe the seasonal migration pattern of Pacific herring in the southeastern Bering Sea and to study its spatial and temporal variability. Observed changes in herring catch per unit of effort were compared with variability in climate and oceanographic conditions. The seasonal migration is complex, but annual shifts in migration routes and a possible northward shift of the overwintering grounds was identified. Pre-spawning herring aggregated in different areas depending on whether spawning occurred early or late in spring. The thermal structure of the ocean around the ice edge appears to influence herring migration timing and route as well as spawning date. Thus, on the basis of recent changes in sea-ice extent and duration, we suggest that the herring bycatch savings area that was developed from data collected in the 1980s should be revised to reflect prevailing conditions.     

Alkalinity production as an indicator of failure in steel slag leach beds treating acid mine drainage

Acid mine drainage is a serious environmental problem throughout mining regions of the US and around the world. In Appalachia, reuse of steel slag from steel production as a source of alkalinity for treatment of acid mine drainage has become a common practice. In these systems, dubbed steel slag leach beds, relatively clean surface water is percolated through a bed of steel slag to add large amounts of alkalinity to the water before mixing it with acidic, metalliferous mine water. These beds do not operate consistently and their failure mechanisms are poorly understood. Using the experience of Raccoon Creek watershed in southern Ohio, the alkalinity distribution of the discharge of six steel slag leach beds is compared. Two of these beds are still functional, one has been abandoned and three are operating poorly. The difference in alkalinity distribution between these beds suggests that a carbonate-dominated alkalinity system is an indicator of a poorly performing steel slag leach bed, while a more even distribution between hydroxide, carbonate and bicarbonate may point to more ideal operating conditions. In eight laboratory column experiments, this evidence was then expanded upon by testing different mixed media substrates (differing mixes of steel slag, wood chips and river gravel) to see which provided the most ideal alkalinity distributions. The columns that had steel slag mixed either with wood chips or wood chips and river gravel outperformed the column with slag only in terms of alkalinity distribution, perhaps due to microbial processes or increased hydraulic conductivity without significant added calcium or carbon that could drive calcium carbonate precipitation within the beds and causing them to fail.     

Relationship between precipitation and water-table fluctuation in a coastal dune aquifer: northeastern coast of the Buenos Aires province, Argentina

The water-table fluctuation (WTF) method is one of the most widely used means to estimate aquifer recharge. In the northeastern coast of the Buenos Aires province, Argentina, the geomorphological and climatic characteristics, as well as the presence of a shallow, homogeneous unconfined aquifer, make it possible to apply this methodology. The relationship between water-table fluctuations and precipitation in a humid climate, considering its seasonal variations, is assessed. Water tables were measured monthly between February 2008 and September 2010 in a monitoring network; rainfall data were analysed. The water table rises when the accumulated precipitation between measurements is more than 53?mm/month in the dry season and more than 97?mm/month in the rainy season. The index, relating water-table fluctuations and precipitation occurring between measurements, shows that values below 0 suggest no increase in the water reserves, whereas higher values entail an increase. In the study area, where there is a lack of historical data, finding out the relationship between water-table fluctuations and precipitation will constitute a tool for groundwater use and management, and set up an early warning system for dry periods. It could also be extrapolated to other regions with similar hydrological conditions lacking in data.     

Effects of soil structure on soil behaviour: Illustrated with loess, glacially loaded clay and simulated flaser bedding examples

Soil structure is considered to be a systematic homogeneously repetitive heterogeneity of properties and conditions of soil. For upscaling and homogenisation of properties and conditions it is necessary to understand the ways in which soil structures occur, and to obtain understanding of the ways in which it influences soil behaviour. Using three case studies, different aspects of the effects of soil structure in soil mechanics are discussed. The very loose grain scale packing of loess deposits, held together by weak structural bonds between particles, results in dramatic propagating failure when the strength of the bonds is exceeded by deformations, as illustrated in the first case. Nonhorizontal stresses induced in the subsurface below moving continental ice sheets result in rotated stress fields within the affected soil. The rotated stress field is stored in the structure of the soil, as is shown in the second case, and influences present day properties and behaviour of these clays. It is shown in the third case that there is a large difference in the behaviour of clayey sand depending on whether the clay occurs in the form of the common clay flasers or whether the clay is homogeneously dispersed in the sand. The deformation and stress propagation in the case of sand with clay flasers results in local failures and shear planes due to the large contrast in the properties of the materials making up the sedimentary structure. The result is that many of the properties of sand with flasers are rather more like the clay of the flasers than the sand. Incorporation in the engineering practice of effects of common types of soil structure is made possible with the widespread availability of techniques such as numerical modelling. These techniques enable the development of appropriate tools for practical application.     

Fluoride variations in groundwater of an area in Buenos Aires Province,Argentina

Spatial variations of fluoride concentration in groundwater in the town of Saldungaray, Argentina affect water quality for human supply and decrease the aquifer reserves. The study region is a piedmont area, located near a hill area (west) and the fluvial valley of the Sauce Grande River (east). Two hydrogeological units can be identified: bedrock and clastic sediments. These sediments consist of sandy silt with a variable amount of calcium carbonate. Its greatest thickness occurs near the river where it is 60 m. Groundwater flow coincides with topography. Fresh water is exploited from this unit and it has low salt contents (dissolved solids 400 to 800 mg/l). Fluoride concentration varies between 0.2 and 5 mg/l. The groundwater flow and hydrogeological characteristics related to spatial variations of fluoride content are analyzed. The quality of water is a critical parameter in determining the overall quality of human lives, and the occurrence of high fluoride concentrations can have a pronounced impact on groundwater quality.     

Spatial dependencies in wind-related housing damage

This article examines the spatial dependence among housing losses due to tornadoes using data from the May 1999 Oklahoma City tornado. In order to examine the existence of spatial dependence and its impacts on the damage analysis, we compare an estimation based on a traditional ordinary least square model with the general spatial model. The results show that housing damage in this disaster area is highly correlated. Monetary losses not only depend on the tornado that struck residences, but are related to the damage magnitudes of neighboring houses. Average losses as well as the loss ratio increase with the Fujita Scale damage rating. We conclude that the general spatial model provides unbiased estimates compared to the ordinary least square model. In order to construct appropriate home insurance policies for tornado disasters or to improve the damage resistance capabilities of houses, it is necessary for insurance underwriters and builders to consider spatial correlation of tornado damage.

Estimating daily net radiation in the FAO Penman–Monteith method

Heatwave intensity and frequency are predicted to increase in the coming years, and this will bear adverse consequences to the environmental well-being and the socio-economic fabric in urbanized areas. The hazardous combination of increased heat storage and reduced water retention capacities of the land surface make the urban areas warmer than the surrounding rural areas in what is commonly known as the urban heat island (UHI) effect. The primary motives of this study are to quantify the interaction of this city-scale UHI with synoptic-scale heatwave episodes and to analyze the factors that mediate this interaction. A modified version of the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) is utilized to simulate two heatwave episodes in New York City. The land surface scheme in the default WRF model is modified to better represent the surface to atmosphere exchanges over urban areas. Our results indicate that during the heatwave episodes, the daily-averaged UHI in NYC increased by 1.5 K. Furthermore, most of this amplification occurs in the mid-afternoon period when the temperatures peak. Wind direction and urban-rural contrasts in available energy and moisture availability are found to have significant and systematic effects on the UHI, but wind speed plays a secondary role.     

The 21Ne production rate in stony meteorites estimated from 10Be and other radionuclides

The ¹⁰Be contents of 28 stony meteorites with known ²¹Ne contents range from 0.97 to 23 dpm/kg and give an average ²¹Ne production rate (P₂₁) of (0.28 ± 0.02) × 10⁸ cm³ STP/g-Myr for shielding conditions corresponding to ${}^{22}\text{Ne}{}^{21}\text{Ne}\text{= 1.114}$ in an H-chondrite. Our $\text{P}{}_{21}\text{(}{}^{10}\text{Be)}$ agrees with others' P₂₁ based on ²²Na, ⁸¹Kr and ⁵³Mn but not on ²⁶A1. Temporal variations in the cosmic ray flux do not explain the disagreement satisfactorily; major errors in the radionuclide half-lives are not indicated. The discrepancy seems rooted in the data selection and the difficulties of making accurate corrections for shielding, chemical composition and other sources of variability.