Vertical distribution patterns of macrofauna in a subtropical near‐shore coastal area affected by urban sewage

The vertical distribution of macrobenthic fauna, heavy metals, and other physico‐chemical and biological characteristics of the sediments were studied in three sediment layers (0–7, 8–14, 15–21 cm) at seven stations in the Ubatuba region, north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil at several temporal and spatial scales. Six stations were located in the inner bay near the riverine run‐off, and one was outside the bay, distant from the riverine influence. The samples were collected four times in 1 year, on a seasonal basis. Sediments were basis comprised predominantly of very fine sand and the vertical distribution of grain size was uniform to a depth of 21 cm in all stations. Higher values of total organic matter, organic carbon, sulphur, heavy metals and phaeopigments were recorded at the inner Ubatuba Bay stations, probably due to the riverine influence. C/N ratios indicated a mixed origin of organic matter with a major contribution of terrestrial material in the inner stations. The vertical distribution of heavy metals showed a slight decline with sediment depth in the inner stations, indicating the present contribution. Most of the macrofauna was found at the surface sediment layer. Biological data showed that in the inner stations of Ubatuba Bay, which are under the influence of urban sewage and are moderately polluted, the fauna was distributed more superficially within the substrate than in St. 7, which is located in the external portion of the bay distant from sewage inputs. The environmental quality of the sites studied varied little throughout the year, at least in relation to the variables considered here. Temporal variation in the vertical distribution of benthic fauna was not evident in the four sampling surveys analysed. Only minor changes in the vertical distribution of the total fauna were detected in the seasonal scale, with the organisms located less deep within the sediment column in summer, indicating some influence of the tourism impact and/or rainy season.     

Morphologic and sedimentologic patterns of active aeolian dune‐fields on the east coast of Maranhão,northeast Brazil

The eastern portion of the Maranhão coast is characterized by large active dune‐fields located in a tropical setting. This article combines the analysis of dune‐field morphologic patterns with the classical analysis of grain size and heavy minerals to study the sedimentary dynamics of the active aeolian system in this region. Based on the heavy mineral analysis, the main sedimentary suppliers feeding the system are the westward alongshore drift bringing sand from the coast east of the Parnaíba River mouth and the river itself. The absence of well‐defined variation patterns of the two morphometric parameters studied, dune spacing and crest length, reflects complex sedimentary dynamics and transport pathways, inside the aeolian system, despite the unidirectional wind. During the wet season, the interdune plains are flooded and the system is intensely reworked by intermittent drainages. During the dry season, the deposits formed by the drainages and interdune lakes become temporary internal sedimentary sources for the system. Due to this combined aeolian‐fluvial transport, the sediment source area has a planar geometry, with contributions from the beach and interdune plains, and not linear as expected in a typical case of source only in the beach. The areal limits of the dune‐fields is the main boundary condition controlling the dune‐field patterns, as dune spacing and crest length, by changing the sedimentary inflow–outflow balance and interactions between migration dunes. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluating uncertainties in regional climate simulations over South America at the seasonal scale

This work focuses on the evaluation of different sources of uncertainty affecting regional climate simulations over South America at the seasonal scale, using the MM5 model. The simulations cover a 3-month period for the austral spring season. Several four-member ensembles were performed in order to quantify the uncertainty due to: the internal variability; the definition of the regional model domain; the choice of physical parameterizations and the selection of physical parameters within a particular cumulus scheme. The uncertainty was measured by means of the spread among individual members of each ensemble during the integration period. Results show that the internal variability, triggered by differences in the initial conditions, represents the lowest level of uncertainty for every variable analyzed. The geographic distribution of the spread among ensemble members depends on the variable: for precipitation and temperature the largest spread is found over tropical South America while for the mean sea level pressure the largest spread is located over the southeastern Atlantic Ocean, where large synoptic-scale activity occurs. Using nudging techniques to ingest the boundary conditions reduces dramatically the internal variability. The uncertainty due to the domain choice displays a similar spatial pattern compared with the internal variability, except for the mean sea level pressure field, though its magnitude is larger all over the model domain for every variable. The largest spread among ensemble members is found for the ensemble in which different combinations of physical parameterizations are selected. The perturbed physics ensemble produces a level of uncertainty slightly larger than the internal variability. This study suggests that no matter what the source of uncertainty is, the geographical distribution of the spread among members of the ensembles is invariant, particularly for precipitation and temperature.     

Influence of atmospheric circulation on precipitation in Altai Mountains

We analyzed the changes in precipitation regime in the Altai Mountains for 1959-2014 and estimate the influence of atmospheric circulations on these changes. Our study showed that during last 56 years the changes in the precipitation regime had a positive trend for the warm seasons(April-October),but weakly positive or negative trends for the cold seasons(November-March). It was found that these changes correspond to the decreasing contribution of “Northern meridional and Stationary anticyclone(Nm-Sa)” and “Northern meridional and East zonal(Nm-Ez)” circulation groups and to the increasing contribution of “West zonal and Southern meridional(Wz-Sm)” circulation groups,accordingly to the Dzerdzeevskii classification. In addition,it was found that the variation of precipitation has a step change point in 1980. For the warm seasons,the precipitation change at this point is associated with the reduced influence of “West zonal(Wz)”,“Northern meridional and Stationary anticyclone(Nm-Sa)” and “Northern meridional and Southern meridional(Nm-Sm)” circulation groups. For the cold seasons,a substantialincrease of “Wz-Sm” and a decrease of “Nm-Sa”,“Nm-Ez” circulation groups are responsible for the precipitation change in the two time periods(1959-1980 and 1981-2014).     

地磁数据分析的一些思考

通过若干实例,本文讨论了地磁数据分析中的一些方法.这些方法包括时间序列的多项式拟合,相关性分析,频谱分析和小波分析等.在Matlab和AutoSignal软件下实现了以上方法,并基于这些方法研究了地磁场形态和地磁现象的频谱特征.我们分析了Surlari观测台（余纬45.3°,经度26.3°）的地磁时间序列,并与Ottawa（余纬44.6°,〖JP2〗经度284.5°）,Canberra（余纬125.3°,经度149.3°）, Kakioka（余纬53.8°,经度140.2°）,Vernadsky〖JP〗（余纬155.3°,经度295.7°）等台站的结果进行了对比分析,讨论了Fourier变换时间窗和小波基函数选取的影响,有限长时间序列引起的边缘效应,以及小波尺度和Fourier频率的关系等问题.我们采用谱分析和小波分析处理了2007年两个台站的地磁数据,研究了地磁场形态和地磁现象的频谱特征,并讨论了Fourier变换和小波变换的优缺点.     

The ∼ 1245 yr BP Asososca maar: New advances on recent volcanic stratigraphy of Managua (Nicaragua) and hazard implications

Asososca maar is located at the western outskirts of Managua, Nicaragua, in the central part of the active, N–S trending and right-lateral Nejapa–Miraflores fault that marks an offset of the Middle America Volcanic Arc. It constitutes one of the ∼ 21 vents aligned along the fault, between the Chiltepe Volcanic Complex to the North and Ticomo vents to the South.     

A hybrid deterministic and stochastic approach for tsunami hazard assessment in Iquique,Chile

Natural Hazards - This paper presents an investigation of the collapse of a 325-year-old multi-tiered heritage temple during the 2015 Gorkha earthquake in Kathmandu, Nepal. The research comprises a...     

Scaling features of ambient noise at different levels of local seismic activity: A case study for the Oni seismic station

Investigation of dynamical features of ambient seismic noise is one of the important scientific and practical research challenges. We investigated scaling features of the ambient noises at the Oni seismic station, Georgia, using detrended fluctuation analysis method. Data from this seismic station, located in the epicentral zone of Oni M6.0, 2009, earthquake, were selected to include time periods with different levels of local seismic activity.     

Biogenic silica in wetlands and their relationship with soil and groundwater biogeochemistry in the Southeastern of Buenos Aires Province,Argentina

Although phytoliths constitute part of the wetland suspended load, there are few studies focused on the quantification of them in the biogenic silica (BSi) pool. So, the aim of this paper is both to determine BSi content (diatoms and phytoliths) and its relationship with dissolved silica in surface waters, and the influence of soil and groundwater Si biogeochemistry in Los Padres wetland (Buenos Aires Province, Argentina). In the basin of the Los Padres wetland, dissolved silica (DSi) concentration is near 840 ± 232 μmol/L and 211.83 ± 275.92 μmol/L in groundwaters and surface waters, respectively. BSi represents an 5.6–22.1% of the total suspension material, and 8–34% of the total mineralogical components of the wetland bottom sediments. DSi and BSi vary seasonally, with highest BSi content (diatoms specifically) during the spring–summer in correlation to the lowest DSi concentration. DSi (660–917.5 μmol/L) and phytolith (3.35–5.84%) concentrations in the inflow stream are higher than in the wetland and its outflow stream (19.1–113 μmol/L; 0.45–3.2%, respectively), probably due to the high phytolith content in soils, the high silica concentration in the soil solution, and the groundwater inflow. Diatom content (5–16.8%) in the wetland and its outflow stream is higher than in the inflow stream (0.45–1.97%), controlling DSi in this system. The understanding of the groundwater–surface water interaction in an area is a significant element for determining the different components and the role that they play on the local biogeochemical cycle of Si.