In Situ Measurement of Pinna nobilis Shells for Age and Growth Studies: A New Device

Abstract. Pinna nobilis Linnaeus 1758 is an endemic bivalve mollusc in the Mediterranean Sea, where it inhabits seagrass meadows, especially Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile. It is the largest bivalve in the Mediterranean, reaching lengths up to 120 cm. In its natural habitat, P. nobilis lives with the anterior part of the valve buried in the seabed, attached to Posidonia rhizomes by byssus threads.
This habit makes it impossible to measure its total length directly in situ. As the only way to determine the individual age is the relationship between age and total length, several equations have been proposed to estimate total length by relating it to the unburied parts of the shell. Such measurements are essential to ecological studies that consider age, growth, and population dynamics, and that evaluate the environmental factors that affect this species.
Accurately estimating total length depends on the accuracy and precision of the method employed to measure the unburied shell parts. In this paper, we point out the lack of precision of the instruments and methods used until now; we also demonstrate the reason for this imprecision. A new device to measure unburied parts of Pinna nobilis with a precision comparable to that obtained when measuring extracted valves is described. This device is unaffected by substratum type and reduces measurement time. The latter is a very important feature, because these procedures are usually performed whilst SCUBA diving. Finally, a growth equation has been fitted to the measurements obtained with the new device from a population located in Moraira (Alicante, western Mediterranean).     

Source(s) and cycling of the nonhydrolyzable organic fraction of oceanic particles

A major fraction of particulate organic carbon (POC) in the deep ocean remains molecularly uncharacterized. In an effort to determine the chemical characteristics and source(s) of sinking POC, we studied a nonhydrolyzable fraction of sinking POC using ¹³C NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) spectroscopy and analytical pyrolysis. ¹³C NMR spectra and products from analytical pyrolysis of the nonhydrolyzable fraction exhibit a strongly aliphatic character that is distinct from that of bulk POC. The aliphatic nature of this fraction is consistent with its low stable carbon isotope values. We hypothesize that the nonhydrolyzable fraction derives to a significant extent from a refractory component of organisms that selectively accumulates, resulting in its manifestation as a major part of POC sinking to the deep ocean and in underlying sediments.     

Yeosu dinosaur track sites of Korea: The youngest dinosaur track records in Asia

Eighty two dinosaur trackways were newly discovered in Upper Cretaceous lacustrine deposits on islands in the vicinity of Yeosu, Korea. Most dinosaur tracks occur in marginal lake deposits with polygonal desiccation cracks. The dinosaur tracks at the Yeosu site include 65 ornithopod trackways, 16 theropod trackways and one sauropod trackway. The prevalence of ornithopod tracks and the limited occurrence of sauropod tracks at the Yeosu site evidently reflect decreased sauropod diversity in the Upper Cretaceous. All ornithopod trackways represent bipeds, and most of the ornithopod tracks are similar to Caririchnium from other sites of the Korean peninsula. All fossil wood specimens collected in the study area represent conifers (three species of cupressaceous and two species of taxodiaceous conifers, and a new species) except for one, which is a discotyledon. It is thus inferred that the southwestern part of the Korean Peninsula was primarily covered with mesic forests with taxodiaceous trees during the Late Cretaceous. The K–Ar age of the Yeosu tracksite is determined as 81–65 Ma (Camapnian to Maastrichtian). It indicates that the Yeosu track site contains the last records of dinosaurs living in Asia. Consequently, semi-arid palaeoclimatic conditions, together with a large lake as a persistent water source and rich vegetation of gymnosperm trees as food, resulted in the preservation of abundant dinosaur tracks in the Upper Cretaceous on the Korean Peninsula.     

Structural similarity and variety at the tips in a wide range of strike–slip faults: a review

Strike–slip faults are often accompanied by a variety of structures, particularly at their tips. The zones of additional fracturing are classified as tip‐damage zones. These zones can be subdivided into several different damage patterns based on the nature and orientation of faults and fractures developed. Damage zones at the ends of small strike–slip faults (mode II tips) develop wing cracks, horsetail splays, antithetic faults, synthetic branch faults and solution surfaces. Similar tip‐damage patterns are also commonly observed at larger (regional) scales, but with a dominance of faulting over tensile cracks and solution surfaces. Wing cracks and horsetail splays developed at small‐scale faults are replaced by normal faults in large‐scale faults. Antithetic faults and synthetic branch faults are observed at small and large scales. Thrust faults are developed at large scales, in a similar pattern to solution surfaces at a small scale. All these structures may show slightly different angular relationships to the master fault at small and large scale, but develop in response similar stress distribution and mechanics around the fault. Thus, mode II tip‐damage zones show similar patterns over a wide range of fault scales.     

Food Deserts in the Prairies? Supermarket Accessibility and Neighborhood Need in Edmonton,Canada*

The U.S. and U.K. literatures have discussed “food deserts,” reflecting populated, typically urban, low‐income areas with limited access to full‐service supermarkets. Less is known about supermarket accessibility within Canadian cities. This article uses the minimum distance and coverage methods to determine supermarket accessibility within the city of Edmonton, Canada, with a focus on high‐need and inner‐city neighborhoods. The results show that for 1999 both of these areas generally had higher accessibility than the remainder of the city, but six high‐need neighborhoods had poor supermarket accessibility. We conclude by examining potential reasons for differences in supermarket accessibility between Canadian, U.S., and U.K. cities.     

Structural damage detection using the optimal weights of the approximating artificial neural networks

This work presents a novel neural network‐based approach to detect structural damage. The proposed approach comprises two steps. The first step, system identification, involves using neural system identification networks (NSINs) to identify the undamaged and damaged states of a structural system. The partial derivatives of the outputs with respect to the inputs of the NSIN, which identifies the system in a certain undamaged or damaged state, have a negligible variation with different system errors. This loosely defined unique property enables these partial derivatives to quantitatively indicate system damage from the model parameters. The second step, structural damage detection, involves using the neural damage detection network (NDDN) to detect the location and extent of the structural damage. The input to the NDDN is taken as the aforementioned partial derivatives of NSIN, and the output of the NDDN identifies the damage level for each member in the structure. Moreover, SDOF and MDOF examples are presented to demonstrate the feasibility of using the proposed method for damage detection of linear structures. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A mathematical hysteretic model for elastomeric isolation bearings

An analytical model for high damping elastomeric isolation bearings is presented in this paper. The model is used to describe mathematically the damping force and restoring force of the rubber material and bearing. Ten parameters to be identified from cyclic loading tests are included in the model. The sensitivity of the ten parameters in affecting the model is examined. These ten parameters are functions of a number of influence factors on the elastomer such as the rubber compound, Mullins effect, scragging effect, frequency, temperature and axial load. In this study, however, only the Mullins effect, scragging effect, frequency and temperature are investigated. Both material tests and shaking table tests were performed to validate the proposed model. Based on the comparison between the experimental and the analytical results, it is found that the proposed analytical model is capable of predicting the shear force–displacement hysteresis very accurately for both rubber material and bearing under cyclic loading reversals. The seismic response time histories of the bearing can also be captured, using the proposed analytical model, with a practically acceptable precision. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tests on low‐ductility RC frames under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations

The response of low‐ductility reinforced concrete (RC) frames, designed typically for a non‐seismic region, subjected to two frequencies of base excitations is studied. Five half‐scaled, two‐bay, two‐storey, RC frames, each approximately 5 m wide by 3.3 m high, were subjected to both horizontal and/or vertical base excitations with a frequency of 40 Hz as well as a lower frequency of about 4 Hz (close to the fundamental frequency) using a shake table. The imposed acceleration amplitude ranged from 0.2 to 1.2g. The test results showed that the response characteristics of the structures differed under high‐ and low‐frequency excitations. The frames were able to sustain high‐frequency excitations without damage but were inadequate for low‐frequency excitations, even though the frames exhibited some ductility. Linear‐elastic time‐history analysis can predict reasonably well the structural response under high‐frequency excitations. As the frames were not designed for seismic loads, the reinforcement detailing may not have been adequate, based on the crack pattern observed. The effect of vertical excitation can cause significant additional forces in the columns and moment reversals in the beams. The ‘strong‐column, weak‐beam’ approach for lateral load RC frame design is supported by experimental observations. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.