Public health consequences of the 2008 Hurricane Ike windstorm in Ohio,USA

Hurricane Ike struck Galveston, Texas, on 13 September 2008, and transitioned to an extra-tropical cyclone on 14 September as it moved across Ohio with wind gusts of 28–35 ms⁻¹. This was the second most disruptive statewide windstorm in Ohio since 1913, and it caused the largest electrical failure in Ohio history, with 2 million customers without power. Private insured losses of $1.1 billion were the largest for a natural disaster in Ohio since 1974. There were seven deaths caused by the storm and 603 injuries. The American Red Cross opened 25 shelters and 86 feeding stations. Hospitals and public water supply systems used backup generators to maintain operations. Public health consequences of the storm were minimized by good preplanning and preparedness at the local level, by moderate temperatures during the massive power failure, and the response of governments, the American Red Cross, charitable and service organizations, and private citizens.     

Impact of Hurricane Allen on the morphology of Padre Island,Texas

During the night of August 9, 1980, Hurricane Allen crossed Padre Island, Texas, causing a variety of morphological changes The extent and form of changes appear to have been influenced by man-made structures on the more heavily developed portions of the island Future development and planning activities must recognize the dynamic nature of a barrier island subject to periodic hurricane influence in order to minimize property damage Research activities were partially funded by the Graduate School, Texas Tech University College of Agricultural Sciences Publication T-6-137     

Estimating the vulnerability and loss functions of residential buildings

This paper is concerned with an investigation of the damage to residential buildings in two areas within Gilan and Zanjan provinces, Iran, caused by the Manjil-Rudbar earthquake of 20 June 1990. A statistical correlation between the observed ground motion and the damage to the residential buildings is derived for overall damaged buildings and expressed as the vulnerability function. The loss function is calculated by combining the seismic hazard with the vulnerability function.The study of vulnerability and annual seismic hazard shows that the specific annual risk for the range of motion of 0.18 to 0.5 g is equal to 0.02. This indicates that the specific risk for semi-engineered residential buildings with a lifetime of 20 years is about 33%. This study also shows that in large cities, such as Tehran, located in seismic areas, the extent of damage according to the vulnerability function will be 45 and 70% for expected maximum accelerations of 0.3 and 0.4 g, respectively.     

The six capacities of community resilience: evidence from three small Texas communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey

This article builds upon disaster scholarship that suggests community resilience is driven by six capacities: social, economic, physical, human, institutional, and environmental. Together, these capacities constitute a conceptual framework that can be used to investigate and assess community resilience. While recent scholarship has provided insights into how resilience operates in large communities, there remain questions about whether this conceptual framework is appropriate for the study of resilience in small communities. To narrow this knowledge gap, we conducted interviews with twenty-six subjects from three small Texas communities affected by Hurricane Harvey: City of Dickinson; City of Port Aransas; and Town of Refugio. Analysis of the interview data confirms that the six capacities of resilience provide an appropriate framework for the investigation of resilience in small communities. Given the complex and dynamic nature of community resilience, the findings also suggest that it is unlikely policymakers will be able to develop a unified policy solution for hazard events that is appropriate for all communities. Rather, policymakers need to consider community-based resilience solutions, driven by local strengths and weaknesses, that facilitate the reduction of risks associated with hazard events.

     

Performance of buildings in two Caribbean Territories: Dominica under Hurricane Maria in 2017 and Trinidad under the 2018 earthquake

Natural Hazards - There have been damaging hurricanes and earthquakes throughout the history of the Caribbean. However, the intensity and frequency of these natural events have increased. The...     

Early Cenomanian cephalopods from the Grayson Formation of north-central Texas

Twenty-seven species of cephalopods are identified from an exposure of the Grayson Formation, Washita Group at the Waco Dam Spillway, McLennan County, north-central Texas. Mariella (Mariella) camachoensis (Böse), (?)Stomohamites sp., Engonoceras serpentinum (Cragin), Puzosia cf. crebrisulcata Kossmat, Mantelliceras cf. cantianum Spath, Mantelliceras saxbii (Sharpe), Sharpeiceras mexicanum (Böse), (?)Paracalycoceras sp., and Neohibolites sp. are reported from the Grayson Formation for the first time. The occurrence of Mantelliceras cf. cantianum, Mantelliceras saxbii, Sharpeiceras mexicanum, and (?)Paracalycoceras sp. indicates an early Cenomanian age for the Grayson exposed at the Waco Spillway locality. Previously, these mantellicerid ammonites have been recorded from the Buda Limestone interval which overlies the Grayson in north-central Texas.     

Peculiarities of diamonds from the commercial deposits of Russia

Although diamonds from the kimberlite pipes and bodies of various provinces have similar features they differ considerably in a number of characteristics. New generalized data on the morphology, structure peculiarities, and physical properties of diamonds from the Arkhangelsk and Yakutsk diamondiferous provinces obtained by the authors based on the results of original investigations supplemented by information from the other sources are discussed in this paper.     

Estimating the Degree of Earthquake Risk from Fault Characteristics

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Rb-Sr dating of Paleozoic glauconite from the Llano region,central Texas

Glauconite from eight stratigraphic horizons (Cambrian to Pennsylvanian) in the Llano Uplift, central Texas and two Cretaceous glauconites were analyzed by the Rb-Sr method. Only two untreated samples provide ages in agreement with those anticipated from current best estimates of the geologic time scale. With one exception all the other apparent ages fall short of the estimated age of deposition by as much as 22%. Low ages, the pattern customarily observed, are attributed to postdepositional loss of radiogenic ⁸⁷Sr from expandable layers by weathering or during diagenesis.Detailed leaching experiments using a variety of reagents were performed to characterize the behavior of glauconite. The most promising treatment, which we recommend as standard procedure in all future studies, is with ammonium acetate which is able to purge the mineral of loosely-bound Rb and Sr while leaving tightly-bound components intact. After appropriate leach, three other Rb-Sr ages were brought into coincidence with their estimated ages of deposition.In contrast an Upper Cambrian glauconite was found to be extremely resistant to further alteration by chemical attack′, providing an age of 429 ± 17 M yr. Although 17% short of the age of deposition, this age is interpreted as the time of a real event: diagenetic recrystallization induced by burial. Comparison of data from four samples indicates that for Paleozoic glauconite, conditions exist in which the Rb-Sr system is less susceptible to mild disturbance than is the K-Ar system.     

Objects from a cross-identification of the IRAS and low-frequency Texas radio catalogs

A cross-identification of objects in the low-frequency (365 MHz) Texas radio catalog and in IRAS catalogs at four infrared wavelengths has yielded a list of 715 objects for further studies. Objects with steep spectra for which the difference in the centers of gravity of the radio and infrared sources was less than 3″ were selected from this list. Seventeen of the objects have been observed at six wavelengths using the RATAN-600 radio telescope. Spectra of nine objects from the initial list for which there were candidate optical counterparts were obtained using the 2.1-m telescope of the INAOE. The results of these observations are discussed. The presence of steep spectral indices for the radio sources is confirmed. The possible optical counterparts include interacting galaxies, an infrared galaxy, two emission-line galaxies, and a candidate BL Lac object. Optical images of the optical counterparts are presented together with radio and optical spectra.     

A Geochronologie Study of the Lone Grove Pluton from the Llano Uplift, Texas

A field and petrologic study of the Lone Grove granitic plutonand surrounding rocks from the Llano Uplift, Texas, suggeststhat this area has been involved in a single orogenic cyclewith no later general metamorphism. Samples of granite, aplite,pegmatite, rhyolite, and metamorphic rocks were investigatedin order to determine the precision in Rb-Sr and K-Ar ages betweenvarious minerals and different localities. Refined chemicaland mass spectro-metric methods are capable of yielding ageson most highly radiogenic minerals to an analytical precisionof ? 1 ? per cent or better. Most of the ages from these rocksshow a spread commensurate with the experimental error. The average Rb-Sr age on microclines, muscovites, and biotitesis 1020 million years and the average K-Ar age on muscovites,biotites, and hornblendes is 1045 million years (Rb⁸⁷, _ß= 1?47? 10^–11 yr^–1; K⁴⁰, _ß = 4.72 ? 10^–10yr^–1, and = 0–585 ? 10^–10 yr^–1). Atotal rock Rb-Sr age on one of the granites gives no indicationof being older than those of the constituent minerals. The only rock to show a real age difference is a rhyolite porphyry,which gives an average Rb-Sr microcline age of 920 million years.A metasedimentary gneiss having a total rock Rb-Sr age of 1110million years may contain some radiogenic strontium from anearlier history. K-Ar determinations on several microcline andplagioclases give ages which are 5–20 per cent low relativeto the other minerals, presumably due to argon diffusion fromthe feldspar. Anomalously low Rb-Sr ages occur on several freshbiotites from pegmatites and granite. Evidence is presentedfor strontium or rubidium migration in these rocks althoughthe exact nature of the process is not known. Also somewhatlow K-Ar ages are obtained on the pegmatitic biotites. A study of the effects of weathering on the geochronologic systemsis made on two obviously altered granites. The only mineralto suffer any decrease in apparent age from such surface alterationis biotite, by the Rb-Sr method. The Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁸ ratio of the original strontium incorporated intothe minerals of the granite is determined on several mineralshaving low Rb/Sr ratios and is found to be 0.0843?0–002(normalized to Sr⁸⁶/Sr⁸⁸ = 0.1194). A discussion of the distributionof rubidium, potassium, and normal strontium throughout thepluton is given and partitioning factors for the rubidium topotassium concentrations between different mineral species arecalculated. ²Present address: U.S. Geological Survey, Washington 25, D.C., U.S.A.     

Rubidium-Strontium Age of some Metamorphic Rocks from the Llano Uplift, Texas1

Four total-rock samples of the Valley Spring Gneiss give a Rb-Srisochron age of 1120?25 million years and an initial Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ratio of 0.706?0.002. This age is significantly older than the1,000–1,050 and 920?20 million year dates previously determinedfor the igneous rocks of the Llano Uplift. Mineral isochrons for the individual gneiss samples yield anage of metamorphism of 1,000?15 million years, in good agreementwith the time of major plutonism. The strontium in each of theolder metamorphic rocks was isotopically homogenized at thistime, resulting in Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratios ranging from 0?716 to 0?775.From these data it is concluded that the plutons, which appearto have formed contemporaneously with a Sr⁸⁷/Sr⁸⁶ ratio of 0?706,could not have obtained their strontium from the surroundingmetamorphic rocks unless some special mechanism operated toremove excess radiogenic strontium. Only if the granite remainedan open system, unable to retain radiogenic strontium duringits early history, could it be as old as the total-rock ageof the gneiss.     

Estimating depth of the source of hydrothermal solutions from thermobarometric data

Possible interpretations of data on the thermal evolution of hydrothermal systems are discussed. A modal of a hydrothermal system with gradually diminishing source of solutions is presented and the problem of heat exchange between the flow of solutions and the wall rocks is formulated and solved. A method of estimating the depth to the source of hydrothermal solutions from mineralogical thermobarometry data and information on the geometry of ancient hydrothermal system and thermal properties of rocks is proposed and analysed. —Authors.     

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Coastal Vegetation of the Weeks Bay Reserve,Alabama from NDVI Data

Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data were used to investigate vegetation changes after Hurricane Katrina (2005) for the Weeks Bay Reserve and surrounding area of coastal AL. Landsat 5 satellite images were acquired before landfall (March 24, 2005), after landfall (September 16, 2005), and 8 months after landfall (April 28, 2006). The March 2005 to September 2005 image comparison showed that average NDVI values decreased by 49% after landfall. Continuing into the next year, average NDVI values were −44% lower in April 2006 than they were in March 2005. Among habitat types, the estuarine emergent wetland experienced the largest average NDVI value decrease (−64%). The estuarine emergent wetland NDVI values continued to decrease by −27% from September 2005 to April 2006, whereas other habitats increased in NDVI. This continued suppression of NDVI values was attributed to increased salinity from the storm surge and to regional drought conditions that occurred after landfall. These results provide insight into the sensitivity of coastal vegetation from the interactions of both tropical cyclones and long-term environmental conditions.     

Estimating secondary production and benthic consumption in monitoring studies: A case study of the impacts of dredged material disposal in Galveston Bay, Texas

We examined the effects of dredged material disposal on benthic macroinvertebrates in Galveston Bay, Texas, USA, while investigating the utility of estimating secondary production with estimation methods that have less rigorous data requirements than most classical techniques. Production estimates were compared to estimates of benthic consumption by blue crabs, shrimp, and epibenthic fish. There was no evidence that dredged material disposal had a detrimental impact on benthic production; however, production was low throughout the entire bay the year following dredged material disposal, which may have obscured an assessment of the impact of disposal. In fact, disposal sites yielded both the highest production estimates and species richness in both the upper and lower bay areas 2 yr after disposal. Of the five estimation methods used, two that incorporated environmental parameters (temperature and depth) yielded similar and moderate results, ranging from 1.1 g ash-free dry weight m² yr¹ to 26.9 g ash-free dry weight (AFDW) m^?2 yr^?1 over the 4 yr studied. Daily food ration estimates applied to fishery-independent trawl-survey data yielded overall benthic consumption estimates ranging from 1.1 g AFDW m^?2 to 1.7 g AFDW m^?2. A second method of estimating consumption, which used transfer efficiency estimates and annual fisheries statistics produced slightly lower benthic consumption estimates (0.72–1.13 g AFDW m^?2). The average consumption estimate exceeded benthic production in the upper bay in one of the 4 yr for which benthic production was estimated. In years with high benthic production, the estimated benthic food requirement of epibenthic predators was roughly 10–15% of benthic production. Variation in annual benthic production estimates was two to three times greater than the variation in consumption estimates.     

Estimating the size of the source population from a matched sample of parts

This paper discusses the problem of estimating the size of a source population from a sample of matched, disaritculated body parts. Maximum likelihood estimation and the construction of a confidence interval are described. This problem is connected to the ecological problem of estimating the number of spectes in a sampled community.     

Genesis and diagenesis of hiatus- and breccia-concretions from the mid-Cretaceous of Texas and northern Mexico

A study of septarian concretions from late Cretaceous shale sequences of Texas and northern Mexico reveals complex burial-exhumation histories. First generation concretions and pre-fossilized moulds formed in silty clays before significant compaction occurred. Syneresis cracks developed and were filled by length slow fibrous calcite with a decrease in iron content toward the centre of each vein; in some cases this was succeeded by growth of equant or bladed calcite. Subsequent erosion of enclosing sediment caused collapse and break up of concretions, leaving fragments and some unbroken concretions exposed to encrustation and boring on the sea floor. These were subsequently buried and enclosed in a second generation of concretions, which also developed syneresis cracks. The calcite that filled these latter cracks was generally bladed (sometimes followed by equant calcite) and contains more iron toward the centre of the vein. Differences between the calcite filling first and second generation septarian veins indicates changing diagenetic regimes during burial in the marine environment, without a major shift in diagenetic conditions, such as the introduction of meteoric waters. These conclusions have significant implications to cementation in ancient limestones, which show textural and chemical sequences similar to those present in the septarian concretions described.     

Estimating the hydraulic properties of an aquitard from in situ pore pressure measurements

A workflow is described to estimate specific storage (S _s) and hydraulic conductivity (K) from a profile of vibrating wire piezometers embedded into a regional aquitard in Australia. The loading efficiency, compressibility and S _s were estimated from pore pressure response to atmospheric pressure changes, and K was estimated from the earliest part of the measurement record following grouting. Results indicate that S _s and K were, respectively, 8.8?×?10^?6 to 1.2?×?10^?5 m^?1 and 2?×?10^?12 m s^?1 for a claystone/siltstone, and 4.3?×?10^?6 to 9.6?×?10^?6 m^?1 and 1?×?10^?12 to 5?×?10^?12 m s^?1 for a thick mudstone. K estimates from the pore pressure response are within one order of magnitude when compared to direct measurement in a laboratory and inverse modelled flux rates determined from natural tracer profiles. Further analysis of the evolution and longevity of the properties of borehole grout (e.g. thermal and chemical effects) may help refine the estimation of formation hydraulic properties using this workflow. However, the convergence of K values illustrates the benefit of multiple lines of evidence to support aquitard characterization. An additional benefit of in situ pore pressure measurement is the generation of long-term data to constrain groundwater flow models, which provides a link between laboratory scale data and the formation scale.