Deconstructing the best case scenario: lessons from water politics in La Paz-El Alto, Bolivia

For nearly a decade the La Paz-El Alto concession in Bolivia was heralded by donor organizations, the state and the commercial water industry alike as an emblematic ‘pro-poor’ water concession under the private sector model. Managed by one of the largest water multinationals in the world (the French company Suez), the network was extended beyond the new connections required by the original ‘pro-poor’ contract, acclaimed as a pioneer of new pro-poor technologies and frequently disseminated internationally as an example of best practice. This paper analyses the La Paz-El Alto concession’s pro-poor image focusing on issues of social exclusion and network extension, contract negotiation, participation and transparency. It documents the rise of social protest about the concession and critiques the failure of neoliberal regulatory systems to promote accountability to the poor. In the context of the continued transnationalisation of the water industry the paper highlights the need for new mechanisms and delivery models to ensure greater national control over private companies and the development of a framework for international water governance.     

Fe-Ni and Mn-Cr isotopic systems in sulfides from unequilibrated enstatite chondrites

In situ measurements of ⁶⁰Fe-⁶⁰Ni and ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr isotopic systems with an ion microprobe have been carried out for sulfide assemblages from unequilibrated enstatite chondrites (UECs). Evidence for the initial presence of ⁶⁰Fe has been observed in nine sulfide inclusions from three UECs: ALHA77295, MAC88136, and Qingzhen. The inferred initial (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe) [(⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀] ratios show a large variation range, from ∼2 × 10⁻⁷ to ∼2 × 10⁻⁶. The sulfide inclusions with high Fe/Ni ratios yield (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ ratios of ∼(2-7) × 10⁻⁷, similar to most of the (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ values of troilite and pyroxene observed in unequilibrated ordinary chondrites (UOCs). Inclusions with high inferred (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ ratios (∼1-2 × 10⁻⁶) have low Fe/Ni ratios and the magnitude of the ⁶⁰Ni excesses is similar in two MAC88136 assemblages in spite of a difference of a factor of two in their Fe/Ni ratios. The inferred high (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ ratios were probably the result of Fe-Ni re-distribution in the sulfides during later alteration processes.The ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr system was measured in five of the sulfide assemblages that were examined for their ⁶⁰Fe-⁶⁰Ni systematics. The ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr isochrons yielded variable initial (⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn) [(⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn)₀] ratios from ∼(2-7) × 10⁻⁷. There is no obvious correlation between the (⁶⁰Fe/⁵⁶Fe)₀ and (⁵³Mn/⁵⁵Mn)₀ ratios. The variable ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr isochrons probably also indicate later disturbance to the isotopic systems in these sulfides. Even though no chronological information can be extracted from the ⁶⁰Fe-⁶⁰Ni and ⁵³Mn-⁵³Cr systems in these UEC sulfides, our results indicate that ⁶⁰Fe was present in the enstatite chondrite formation region of the early Solar System.     

西昆仑山前冲断带晚新生代构造地貌特征

在卫片解译、DEM数据处理、地形图分析与剖面制作的基础上,结合野外构造地貌考察与观测,对西昆仑山前冲断带的构造地貌特征进行了定量、半定量的研究。沿山前发育系统的水系变化、冲积扇变化、不对称背斜、大规模正断裂、不对称河流阶地等典型的构造地貌,表明这条由南向北逆冲的冲断带在扩展过程中存在着由西向东迁移的特征。冲断带的东西分段以桑株河为界,以西发育固满背斜,其构造样式为向北的逆冲伴随向南的反冲;以东发育一系列不对称的背斜,表现出明显的由南向北逆冲的特征,地表无明显的反冲构造出现。利用生长地层和河流阶地估算了西昆仑山的隆升速率:晚上新世—早更新世以来的最低隆升速率为0.21～0.25mm/a,100ka以来的隆升速率为1.5mm/a。     

Emerging coral diseases: a temperature‐driven process?

In the last few decades there has been a surge in research focusing on coral disease. While climate change, specifically rising sea surface temperature, has been proposed as a major and growing driver of the emergence of marine diseases, to date a solid connection between disease epizootics and elevated sea surface temperature has not been established. However, a wealth of data now exists, compiled from many different perspectives, that may support such a connection. In this work we provide a comprehensive review targeting one coral disease, black band disease, that spans the infection process, pathobiology, and epizootiology, and links specific mechanisms of the disease process to increasing temperatures. This temperature‐driven pattern of infection can be expanded to include similar processes associated with other temperature‐related coral diseases. The conclusions presented here are based upon the results of many studies using a diverse suite of approaches that have been synthesized to argue that the emergence and continuing spread of black band disease is linked to warming sea surface temperatures. In summary, as global ocean temperatures increase seasonally and over decades, the environment shifts to become more favorable for the growth of potentially pathogenic microorganisms endemic to the immediate environment of the reef. The increase in the relative number of potential pathogens in the microbial community produces microenvironments conducive to the growth of other potential pathogens, leading to infection by a polymicrobial consortium. This consortium is easily perturbed by a (seasonal) temperature decrease, but remains associated with the coral host and can be reactivated with a subsequent seasonal increase in temperature, resulting in a cycle of temperature‐dependent disease emergence.     

Field characterization and data integration to define the hydraulic heterogeneity of a shallow granular aquifer at a sub-watershed scale

Providing a sound basis for aquifer management or remediation requires that hydrogeological investigations carried out to understand groundwater flow and contaminant transport be based on representative data that capture the heterogeneous spatial distribution of aquifer hydraulic properties. This paper describes a general workflow allowing the characterization of the heterogeneity of the hydraulic properties of granular aquifers at an intermediate scale of a few km². The workflow involves characterization and data integration steps that were applied on a 12-km² study area encompassing a decommissioned landfill emitting a leachate plume and its main surface water receptors. The sediments composing the aquifer were deposited in a littoral–sublittoral environment and show evidence of small-scale transitional heterogeneities. Cone penetrometer tests (CPT) combined with soil moisture and electrical resistivity (SMR) measurements were thus used to identify and characterize spatial heterogeneities in hydraulic properties over the study area. Site-specific statistical relationships were needed to infer hydrofacies units and to estimate hydraulic properties from high-resolution CPT/SMR soundings distributed all over the study area. A learning machine approach was used due to the complex statistical relationships between colocated hydraulic and CPT/SMR data covering the full range of aquifer materials. Application of this workflow allowed the identification of hydrofacies units and the estimation of horizontal hydraulic conductivity, vertical hydraulic conductivity and porosity over the study area. The paper describes and discusses data acquisition and integration methodologies that can be adapted to different field situations, while making the aquifer characterization process more time-efficient and less labor-intensive.     

Petrogenesis of the new lherzolitic shergottite Grove Mountains 99027: Constraints of petrography,mineral chemistry,and rare earth elements

Abstract— We report petrography, mineral chemistry, and microdistribution of rare earth elements (REE) in a new lherzolitic shergottite, Grove Mountains (GRV) 99027. The textural relationship and REE patterns of minerals suggest precipitation of cumulus olivine and chromite, followed by equilibrium crystallization of a closed system with a bulk composition of the inferred intercumulus melt. Subsolidus equilibrium temperatures of pyroxenes and olivine range from 1100 to 1210 °C, based on a two‐pyroxene thermometry and Ca partitioning between augite and olivine. Oxygen fugacity of the parent magma is 1.5–2.5 (av. 2.0 ± 0.4) log units below the quartz‐fayalite‐magnetite (QFM) buffer at 960–1360 °C, according to the olivine‐orthopyroxene‐chromite barometer. The ilmenite‐chromite barometer and thermometer show much wider ranges of oxygen fugacity (1.0–7.0 log unit below QFM) and temperature (1130–480 °C), suggesting subsolidus equilibration of the oxides at low temperatures, probably due to deep burial of GRV 99027 on Mars. The low oxygen fugacity and LREE depletion of the parent magma of GRV 99027 suggest low contamination by martian crust. Characteristics of GRV 99027 demonstrate similarity of lherzolitic shergottites, suggesting a high possibility of launch pairing or a homogeneous upper mantle of Mars if they were ejected by individual impact events. However, GRV 99027 probably experienced severe post‐shock thermal metamorphism in comparison with other lherzolitic shergottites, based on the re‐crystallization of maskelynite, the homogeneity of minerals, and the low subsolidus equilibrium temperatures between chromite and ilmenite.     

Global debris flow susceptibility based on a comparative analysis of a single global model versus a continent-by-continent approach

Natural Hazards - Debris flows, and landslides in general, are worldwide catastrophic phenomena. As world population and urbanization grow in magnitude and geographic coverage, the need exists to...     

Public engagement on solar radiation management and why it needs to happen now

There have been a number of calls for public engagement in geoengineering in recent years. However, there has been limited discussion of why the public should have a say or what the public can be expected to contribute to geoengineering discussions. We explore how public engagement can contribute to the research, development, and governance of one branch of geoengineering, solar radiation management (SRM), in three key ways: 1. by fulfilling ethical requirements for the inclusion of affected parties in democratic decision making processes; 2. by contributing to improved dialogue and trust between scientists and the public; and 3. by ensuring that decisions about SRM research and possible deployment are informed by a broad set of societal interests, values, and framings. Finally, we argue that, despite the nascent state of many SRM technologies, the time is right for the public to participate in engagement processes.     

Financing rapid community reconstruction after catastrophic disaster: lessons from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

Catastrophic disasters can change the course of urban development and challenge the long-run sustainability of cities and regions. How to rapidly reconstruct communities impaired by catastrophic disaster is a world-wide challenge. The reconstruction after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China was an unusual case of very rapid reconstruction after a catastrophic disaster. Over US$147 billion was invested to rebuild the damaged areas within 3 years. The reconstruction was not simply building back what was destroyed, but was used as an opportunity to advance national goals for urbanization, rural transformation, and poverty reduction. In this article, we review how the reconstruction was planned, budgeted, and financed in the sociopolitical context of 2008 China. Particularly, we discuss two innovative programs, namely pair assistance and land-based financing. Despite the unique circumstances of China, lessons can be learned to speed up post-disaster reconstruction and urban development in other countries. Conversely, this case illustrates that a narrow focus on physical reconstruction may overlook broader economic and social issues.