The role of anomalous soil moisture on the inland reintensification of Tropical Storm Erin (2007)

Prior research on tropical storm systems that have made landfall and undergone a period of sustainability or reintensification has been linked to the synoptic environment at the time the storm restrengthened. Tropical Storm (TS) Erin is an interesting case study in that it did not take on hurricane-like structure nor reach hurricane intensity until it moved through west-central Oklahoma on August 19, 2007. This study seeks to examine the possible impact of anomalously wet soils across much of Oklahoma on the reintensification of TS Erin during the early morning hours of August 19, 2007. To determine the degree to which the antecedent soil state impacted TS Erin??s inland evolution and reintensification, analyses of the synoptic environment and the mesoscale environment/boundary layer environment are undertaken using operational and research datasets such as upper air soundings, surface soil moisture and temperature data, and multiple products from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC) mesoanalysis archive. This observational assessment is complemented with numerical experiments using the Weather Research and Forecast Model, Advanced Research Version 3.2 (WRF-ARW) to further study the role of soil moisture availability and surface fluxes that may have led to the boundary layer feedback and inland reintensification. Observational analysis and model results indicate that anomalously wet conditions over the central Oklahoma region may have helped develop a regional boundary layer feedback that appears to have contributed to the inland reintensification of TS Erin. Thus, the anomalously wet land surface had a positive role in TS Erin reintensifying over Oklahoma during the early morning hours of August 19, 2007.     

Feasibility of co-culture of the Australasian sea cucumber (Australostichopus mollis) with the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea gigas) in northern New Zealand

The Australasian sea cucumber (Australostichopus mollis) has attracted commercial attention for aquaculture development, partly due to its potential for co-culture with shellfish and finfish species. However, minimal attention has been given to the possibility of co-culturing this species with oysters. In this study we evaluated the growth of juvenile sea cucumbers (36.7 ± 0.9 g, wet weight) caged underneath Pacific oyster farms in northern New Zealand. Co-culture started at the end of the summer, and after 304 days the juveniles had doubled in size (79.8 ± 3.3 g, wet weight), but their subsequent growth appeared to be constrained by overstocking of the cages and summer water temperatures, reaching a carrying capacity of 720 g m^?2. Overall, the results of this study indicate that the co-culture of juvenile sea cucumbers with Pacific oysters is feasible, if sea cucumber losses are reduced (between 33% and 52% lost in this study) and careful attention is given to stocking rates and the water temperature regimes of oyster farms in order to maintain adequate growth rates.     

Impact of Pleistocene–Holocene climate shifts on vegetation and fire dynamics and its implications for Prearchaic humans in the central Great Basin,USA

The effects of climate change during the Terminal Pleistocene–Early Holocene transition on ecosystems and early Prearchaic hunter-gatherers in the central Great Basin of North America are not well understood. We present a palynological reconstruction of regional vegetation and fire history in Grass Valley, central Nevada, from ~14 to ~7.5k cal a BP showing that Pinus-dominated woodlands were replaced by dry-adapted steppe and desert vegetation accompanied by an increase in regional fire activity at the beginning of the Holocene, in response to summer warming and a drying climate. Following a severe drought period peaking ~10.2–9.3k cal a BP, Pinus woodlands partially recovered contemporaneously with the 8.2k cal a BP climate anomaly. Local wetlands provided important resource patches for human foraging societies, and periodic declines of wetlands in response to changing local hydrological conditions may have necessitated adjustments in subsistence and settlement practices and technology.     

From cave geomorphology to Palaeolithic human behaviour: speleogenesis,palaeoenvironmental changes and archaeological insight in the Atxurra-Armiña cave (northern Iberian Peninsula)

A detailed geomorphological study was performed in the Atxurra-Armiña cave system (northern Iberian Peninsula) to decode landscape evolution, palaeoenvironmental changes and human use of a cave within an Inner Archaeological Context. The results show an average incision rate of the river of <0.083 mm a^–1 for at least the last 419 ka, with interruptions due to sedimentary inputs. Moreover, allostratigraphic units comprising fluviokarstic deposits at the base and flowstone formation at the top have been shown to be climatically controlled, formed either during glacial–interglacial cycles or during interstadial cycles. Finally, when the cave was used by humans in the Late Magdalenian, the lower entrance was closed, and they must therefore have entered the cave through the upper entrance. To reach the sectors selected to decorate the panels, they probably travelled from the upper cave level, as the current crawlway was wider than today, according to our U/Th dating. Once these visitors reached the panels, the floor in the main gallery would have been around 15 cm lower than at present. However, the morphology of the conduit was similar; this has significant implications for understanding and interpreting the human use of the cave during the Palaeolithic.     

Mercury levels in feathers of Magellanic penguins

Feathers are useful to determine mercury (Hg) contamination. We evaluated the mercury concentration in feathers of Magellanic penguins (Spheniscus magellanicus) age 1.5 years to 25 years at Punta Tombo, Argentina before and during their molt. Mercury ranged between <1.4 and 367 ng/g dry weight, with three extreme high values (8996 ng/g, 3011 ng/g and 1340 ng/g) all in young adults. The median concentration was lowest for juveniles and significantly higher for adults but with high variation among older adults. Males and females had similar mercury loads. Compared with other penguin species, concentrations in Magellanic penguins were low. Mercury levels for Magellanic penguins in the Southwest Atlantic for older adults averaged 206±98 ng/g, and serve as a baseline for biomonitoring and/or ecotoxicological studies.     

Chemical changes in spring waters at Tacaná volcano, Chiapas, Mexico: A possible precursor of the May 1986 seismic crisis and phreatic explosion

Local seismic activity consisting of sharp earthquakes accompanied by thunderous noise was reported starting in late December 1985 around Tacaná volcano (15.13°N, 92.10°W). Portable seismic stations were established in the area by late January 1986 and sampling of the only known thermal spring on the volcano flanks started at the same time. A marked increase in SO₄²⁻ concentration in the spring water preceded by two months the occurrence of a seismic swarm crisis and a small phreatic explosion. A model involving a crystalline basement fractured by tectonic stresses is proposed to explain the chemical and seismic anomalies, and the consequences on risk of volcanic activity are briefly discussed in terms of the observed behaviour.     

Petroleum systems modeling in tectonically complex areas — A 2D migration study from the Neuquen Basin, Argentina

A roughly 30 km 2D section across the Faja Plegada y Corrida del Agrio in the Neuquen Basin, Argentina, is the basis for a petroleum systems study, including structural restoration through time, deposition and erosion, pressure, temperature and migration modeling. Integrating tectonic and petroleum systems modeling proved critical to properly evaluate sub-thrust plays. Multi-dimensional modeling of dynamic processes allows accurate assessment and prediction of the potential of petroleum systems in tectonically complex areas such as the Neuquen Basin.     

Textural and compositional controls on modern beach and dune sands,New Zealand

Textural, compositional, physical and geophysical determinations were carried out on 111 beach and dune sand samples from two areas in New Zealand: the Kapiti–Foxton coast sourced by terranes of andesite and greywackes and the Farewell Spit–Wharariki coast sourced by a wide variety of Paleozoic terranes. Our aim is to understand how long‐shore drift, beach width and source rock control the sedimentological and petrographic characteristics of beach and dune sands. Furthermore, this study shows the usefulness of specific minerals (quartz, plagioclase with magnetite inclusions, monomineralic opaque grains) to interpret the physical processes (fluvial discharges, long‐shore currents, winds) that distribute beach and dune sands in narrow and wide coastal plains. This was done by means of direct (grain size and modal analyses) and indirect (specific gravity, magnetic/non‐magnetic separations M/NM, magnetic susceptibility measurements, hysteresis loops) methods. Results are compared with beach sands from Hawaii, Oregon, the Spanish Mediterranean, Elba Island and Southern California. Compositionally, the Kapiti–Foxton sands are similar to first‐order immature sands, which retain their fluvial signature. This results from the high discharge of rivers and the narrow beaches that control the composition of the Kapiti–Foxton sands. The abundance of feldspar with magnetite inclusions controls the specific gravity of the Kapiti–Foxton sands due to their low content of opaque minerals and coarse grain size. Magnetic susceptibility of the sands is related mainly to the abundance of feldspars with Fe oxides, volcanic lithics and free‐opaque minerals. The Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands are slightly more mature than the Kapiti–Foxton sands. The composition of the Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands does not reflect accurately their provenance due to the prevalence of long‐shore drift, waves, little river input and a wide beach. Low abundance of feldspar with magnetite inclusions and free opaque grains produces poor correlations between specific gravity (Sg) and Fe oxide bearing minerals. The small correlation between opaque grains and M/NM may be related to grain size. The magnetic susceptibility of Farewell Spit–Wharariki sands is low due to the low content of grains with magnetite inclusions. Hysteresis and isothermal remnant magnetization (IRM) agree with the magnetic susceptibility values. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sociotechnical imaginaries of urban development: social movements around “traditional” water infrastructure in the Kathmandu Valley

This article examines the role of so-called traditional stone waterspout technologies in struggles over urban modernization in Lalitpur, Nepal. In doing so, this article questions the status of tradition in urban theorizing and mobilizes the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries as a framework for understanding the contested spatial visions of urban development. In advancing this approach, this article analyses infrastructure as a visual discourse of materials, practices, and texts, including the label “tradition.” Findings indicate that stone spouts represent material and symbolic sites for residents to express discontent with hegemonic visions of modernization, legitimize certain cultural practices, and make claims on urban space. We argue that an alternate imaginary of urban development has emerged through the prism of traditional infrastructure. This article forwards sociotechnical imaginaries as a framework for situating the multiple and contested trajectories of urban modernization, particularly the ways in which past technologies come to shape desired urban futures.