The “suevite” conundrum,Part 1: The Ries suevite and Sudbury Onaping Formation compared

The term “suevite” has been applied to various impact melt‐bearing breccias found in different stratigraphic settings within terrestrial impact craters. Suevite was coined initially for impact glass‐bearing breccias from the Ries impact structure, Germany, which is the type locality. Various working hypotheses have been proposed to account for the formation of the Ries suevite deposits over the past several decades, with the most recent being molten‐fuel‐coolant interaction (MFCI) between an impact melt pool and water. This mechanism is also the working hypothesis for the origin of the bulk of the Onaping Formation at the Sudbury impact structure, Canada. In this study, the key characteristics of the Ries suevite, the Onaping Formation and MFCI deposits from phreatomagmatic volcanic eruptions are compared. The conclusion is that there are clear and significant lithological, stratigraphic, and petrographic observational differences between the Onaping Formation and the Ries suevite. The Onaping Formation, however, shares many key similarities with MFCI deposits, including the presence of layering, their well‐sorted and fine‐grained nature, and the predominance of vitric particles with similar shapes and lacking included mineral and lithic clasts. These differences argue against the viability of MFCI as a working hypothesis for genesis of the Ries suevite and for a required alternative mechanism for its formation.     

Assess hydrological responses to a warming climate at the Lysina Critical Zone Observatory in Central Europe

Climate warming is having profound effects on the hydrological cycle by increasing atmospheric demand, changing water availability, and snow seasonality. Europe suffered three distinct heat waves in 2019, and 11 of the 12 hottest years ever recorded took place in the past two decades, which will potentially change seasonal streamflow patterns and long-term trends. Central Europe exhibited six dry years in a row since 2014. This study uses data from a well-documented headwater catchment in Central Europe (Lysina) to explore hydrological responses to a warming climate. We applied a lumped parameter hydrologic model Brook90 and a distributed model Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM) to simulate long-term hydrological change under future climate scenarios. Both models performed well on historic streamflow and in agreement with each other according to the catchment water budget. In addition, PIHM was able to simulate lateral groundwater redistribution within the catchment validated by the groundwater table dynamics. The long-term trends in runoff and low flow were captured by PIHM only. We applied different EURO-CORDEX models with two emission scenarios (Representative Concentration Pathways RCP 4.5, 8.5) and found significant impacts on runoff and evapotranspiration (ET) for the period of 2071–2100. Results from both models suggested reduced runoff and increased ET, while the monthly distribution of runoff was different. We used this catchment study to understand the importance of subsurface processes in projection of hydrologic response to a warming climate.     

Cleantech clusters: Transformational assemblages for a just,green economy or just business as usual?

The rhetorical zeal for green enterprise as a global fix for the tripartite challenges of economic recession, environmental degradation and social inequality is increasingly visible in state and non-state pronouncements around the globe under the banner of ‘The Green Economy’. In particular, many policy-facing statements call for transitions leading to a transformation in development practices. Yet there is little detail either in policy or research regarding the types of transitions needed and how they are to be initiated, nor agreement about what a transformed economy might look like. Despite this, there are emergent activities within the cleantech arena which are being heralded as actually existing examples of green economy activities. One means through which these activities are seeking to exert influence over development trajectories is by clustering both at the subnational and transnational level. While diverse in formation, many of these clusters are hybridised, involving actors from public, private and civil society sectors. Critiquing the efficacy of mainstream industrial cluster theory to analyse hybridised cleantech clustering, this paper presents a unique synthesis of current thought on multiscalar environmental governance and socio-spatial formations to explore the practices and potentialities of these hybridised cleantech clusters. Surveying the landscape of cleantech clustering and meta-clustering, before focusing in depth on one case study, the contribution of clustering to transitioning towards a transformed green economy is considered. Despite strong forces, both within and beyond cleantech clusters, for maintaining neoliberalised approaches to cleantech activity, it is concluded that for as long as cleantech clusters remain open and inclusive of actors proposing alternative pathways they do represent potential, albeit provisional, assemblages for transformation.     

The XMM-Newton Bright Serendipitous Survey: First Extragalactic Results

We present here some initial results from the ongoing XMM-Newton bright serendipitous survey. The survey is aimed at selecting and spectroscopically identifying a large and statistically representative sample of bright (f _x ≳ 7× 10⁻¹⁴ c.g.s) serendipitous X-ray sources in the 0.5–4.5 keV energy band (BSS) and a complementary (smaller) sample in the 4.5–7.5 keV energy band (HBSS). The work is partly based on observations obtained with XMM-Newton, an ESA science mission with instruments and contributors directly founded by ESA member states and the USA(NASA) and on observations collected at TNG. The TNG telescope is operated on the island of La Palma by the Centro Galileo Galilei of the INAF in the Spanish Observatorio del Roque de Los Muchachos of the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias. On behalf of the XMM-Newton Survey Science Center.     

Stochastic models in the DORIS position time series: estimates for IDS contribution to ITRF2014

This paper focuses on the investigation of the deterministic and stochastic parts of the Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS) weekly time series aligned to the newest release of ITRF2014. A set of 90 stations was divided into three groups depending on when the data were collected at an individual station. To reliably describe the DORIS time series, we employed a mathematical model that included the long-term nonlinear signal, linear trend, seasonal oscillations and a stochastic part, all being estimated with maximum likelihood estimation. We proved that the values of the parameters delivered for DORIS data are strictly correlated with the time span of the observations. The quality of the most recent data has significantly improved. Not only did the seasonal amplitudes decrease over the years, but also, and most importantly, the noise level and its type changed significantly. Among several tested models, the power-law process may be chosen as the preferred one for most of the DORIS data. Moreover, the preferred noise model has changed through the years from an autoregressive process to pure power-law noise with few stations characterised by a positive spectral index. For the latest observations, the medians of the velocity errors were equal to 0.3, 0.3 and 0.4 mm/year, respectively, for the North, East and Up components. In the best cases, a velocity uncertainty of DORIS sites of 0.1 mm/year is achievable when the appropriate coloured noise model is taken into consideration.     

Revised marine reservoir offset (ΔR) values for molluscs and marine mammals from Arctic North America

Appropriate marine–terrestrial reservoir offset (ΔR) values are essential for accurate calibration of marine radiocarbon dates. However, ΔR values are only valid for the specific calibration curve that their calculation is based on. Here, we present revised ΔR values for the Marine20 calibration curve from Arctic North America, based on previously published ¹⁴C dates on pre-bomb live-collected marine molluscs (n = 124) and cetaceans (beluga whales; tooth dentine; n = 12), and bowhead whale–driftwood age comparisons from the same glacio-isostatically uplifted shorelines (n = 18). Molluscan-based ΔR are: Chukchi/Beaufort sea coasts, 265±116 ¹⁴C years; NW Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 188±91 ¹⁴C years; NE Baffin Island, 81±18 ¹⁴C years; SE Baffin Island, 14±58 ¹⁴C years; Hudson Strait, −73±64 ¹⁴C years; Ungava Bay, 0±86 ¹⁴C years; Foxe Basin, 175±89 ¹⁴C years; Hudson Bay, −21±72 ¹⁴C years; James Bay, 209±114 ¹⁴C years; West Greenland, −93±111 ¹⁴C years. Species-specific marine mammal ΔR terms are 107±59 ¹⁴C years for beluga and 24±58 ¹⁴C years for bowheads. Our revised ΔR values are applicable for as long as the same broad oceanographic conditions (circulation, ventilation) have persisted, i.e. through the Holocene. While molluscan values are applicable to other marine carbonate (e.g. foraminifera), cetacean ΔR are valid only for the species they were calculated for and should not be applied to other marine mammals. Importantly, the ΔR terms calculated here are only valid for Marine20 and should not be used with earlier or later calibration curves.     

沿阿穆尔板块西边界的活动断层(蒙古领土)

阿穆尔板块西部边界在蒙古境内的空间位置尚不清楚,并且活动断层构造及其沿线地壳的应力状态研究较少。本文在沿此边界的三个区域——杭爱—肯特构造鞍部、布尔古特地块(鄂尔浑—土拉交汇处)和色楞格地块(包括色楞格凹陷和布伦—努鲁隆起),利用空间图像解译、地形起伏度分析、地质构造资料以及构造压裂和沿裂缝位移资料重建构造古应力,对活动断层进行研究。研究表明,活动断裂继承了古生代和中生代古构造的非均质性。这些断层沿着板块边界并不是单一的带,而是成簇的。它们的运动取决于走向:亚纬向断层是具有一定逆分量的左旋走滑断层,北西向断层是逆断层或逆冲断层,通常具有右旋走滑分量,海底断层是右旋走滑断层,北东向断层是正断层。位于色楞格凹陷和杭爱东部的断裂构造的活动始于上新世。逆断层和走滑断层与上新世情况不符,但多与更新世地貌相符,表明其活动年代较晚,为更新世时期。利用构造断裂和沿断裂的位移,重建活动断裂带变形末阶段的应力应变状态,结果表明断裂在最大挤压轴的北北东和北东方向上以压缩和走滑为主。只有在色楞格凹陷内,以扩张和走滑类型的应力张量为主,且在最小挤压轴的北西走向尤为显著。在南部,杭爱东部(鄂尔浑地堑)内有1个以扩张机制为主的局部区域,说明蒙古中部断裂在更新世—全新世阶段的活动以及现代地震活动主要受与印度斯坦和欧亚大陆汇聚过程相关的东北方向的附加水平挤压的控制。使研究区地壳产生走滑变形、贝加尔湖裂谷发散活动以及阿穆尔板块东南运动的另一个因素是东南方向软流圈流动对岩石圈底部的影响。阿穆尔板块和蒙古地块之间的边界在构造结构上是零碎的,代表了覆盖整个蒙古西部变形带的边缘部分。     

Melt Pockets in Garnet Megacrysts from Cenozoic Alkali Basalts of the Shavaryn Tsaram Vicinity, Mongolia

Garnet megacryst with a multiphase inclusion from intraplate alkali basalts of the Shavaryn Tsaram(Tariat,Mongolia)was the object of the study.This unusual aggregate consists of porous glass,Ti-rich biotite,orthopyroxene,spinel,clinopyroxene,olivine,and ilmenite.Win TWQ 2.32 thermodynamic simulation of this system revealed a few intervals of equilibrium.Pressure and temperature adjustment reflected in the paragenetic minerals of the melt pocket.The capture of already crystallised garnet megacryst was at P=0.8-1 GPa and T=1120-1160℃.Mineral crystallisation inside the melt pocket,accompanied by external inputs,occurred at P=0.75-0.95 GPa;T=790-1120℃.Symplectite assemblage formed in the garnet megacryst due to decomposition at(P=0.55-0.7 GPa;T=850-930℃).The study of the oxygen isotope content in primary garnet and biotite of the melt pocket showed that the δ¹⁸O_VSMOW values are the same and correspond to that of typical mantle xenoliths.However,the chemical and microcomponent composition of the melt pocket minerals reveals a material that differs from basalts and peridotites.Thus,it has been revealed that the multiphase inclusion in the garnet megacryst formed not only on account of the garnet’s substance,but also due to the entrapped material of the Earth’s interior.     

Compromise not consensus: designing a participatory process for landslide risk mitigation

With the escalating costs of landslides, the challenge for local authorities is to develop institutional arrangements for landslide risk management that are viewed as efficient, feasible and fair by those affected. For this purpose, the participation of stakeholders in the decision-making process is mandated by the European Union as a way of improving its perceived legitimacy and transparency. This paper reports on an analytical-deliberative process for selecting landslide risk mitigation measures in the town of Nocera Inferiore in southern Italy. The process was structured as a series of meetings with a group of selected residents and several parallel activities open to the public. The preparatory work included a literature/media review, semi-structured interviews carried out with key local stakeholders and a survey eliciting residents’ views on landslide risk management. The main point of departure in the design of this process was the explicit elicitation and structuring of multiple worldviews (or perspectives) among the participants with respect to the nature of the problem and its solution. Rather than eliciting preferences using decision analytical methods (e.g. utility theory or multi-criteria evaluation), this process built on a body of research—based on the theory of plural rationality—that has teased out the limited number of contending and socially constructed definitions of problem-and-solution that are able to achieve viability. This framing proved effective in structuring participants’ views and arriving at a compromise recommendation (not, as is often aimed for, a consensus) on measures for reducing landslide risk. Experts played a unique role in this process by providing a range of policy options that corresponded to the different perspectives held by the participants.