The Caulerpa racemosa invasion: a critical review

Caulerpa racemosa var. cylindracea is a marine Chlorophyta introduced into the Mediterranean Sea from south-western Australia. Since 1990, it has been invading the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands, raising ecological problems. Although this invasion event can be considered as one of the most serious in the history of species introduced into the Mediterranean Sea, C. racemosa has not triggered as much attention as the famous "killer alga"Caulerpa taxifolia. The aim of the present study was: (i) to summarize the current state of knowledge with regard to the distribution, the various biological and ecological characteristics of the introduced C. racemosa and its impact on the Mediterranean coastal environment; (ii) to discuss the various hypotheses regarding the explanation for its rapid and successful spread; (iii) to investigate the disparity in the treatment of C. racemosa and Caulerpa taxifolia invasions; and (iv) to outline future research needs.     

A critical review of sedimentation trap technique

The published literature on the use of sediment traps has been reviewed and used to validate the conclusions of a theoretical analysis of the physical factors affecting the trapping of particles. Both practical and theoretical considerations lead us to recommed that the ‘best’ sediment trap for use in limnology is a simple cylinder with a diameter of from 5 to 20 cm and aspect ratio (ratio of length to diameter) of greater than 5 for small lakes and greater than 10 for more turbulent water bodies. We also demonstrate the need to know the approximate particle Reynolds number of particles being collected by sediment traps. A number of considerations lead us to advise against the use of collars, lattices, baffles, lids or refeence chambers. Recommendations are made on minimizing the unresolved problem of mineralization of organic material and on optimum length of exposure times, mooring systems, trap holding frames and sample handling.     

On the determination of the Hermaean magnetic moment: A critical review

The determination of Mercury's magnetic moment from the spatially and temporally limited observations obtained by the Mariner 10 mission is dependent upon the assumed nature of both the intrinsic planetary magnetic field and that of the magnetospheric current systems. In this paper the methods that have been used for this purpose are reviewed. The results that have been obtained are then considered in comparison with the constraints placed on the planetary field by the solar wind dynamic pressures and stand-off distances inferred from the Mariner 10 magnetic field data by Slavin and Holzer (1979) which are consistent with an effective dipole moment of 6 ± 2 × 10²² G cm³. It is found that the models which fit the observations with substantial quadrupole and octupole moments are not consistent with the magnetospheric boundary conditions, presumably owing to incorrect assumptions regarding the magnetopause position, incorrect assumptions regarding solar wind dynamic pressure, and/or averaging over temporal variations in the Mariner 10 data.     

Inverse methods for subsurface flow: A critical review of stochastic techniques

The development of stochastic methods for groundwater flow representation has undergone enormous expansion in recent years. The calibration of groundwater models, the inverse problem, has lately received comparable attention especially and almost exclusively from the stochastic perspective. In this review we trace the evolution of the methods to date with a specific view toward identifying the most important issues involved in the usefulness of the approaches. The methods are critiqued regarding practical usefulness, and future directions for requisite study are discussed.     

The typology of Polish lakes after a decade of its use: A critical review and verification

The abiotic typology of Polish lakes, compliant with the requirements of the EU Directive 2000/60/EC (Water Framework Directive), was developed in 2004 under the commission of the Ministry of the Environment. Based on the combination of the obligatory typological criteria from Annex II of the WFD and one additional factor, all Polish lakes larger than 0.5 km² were assigned to 13 abiotic types. This typology reflected the diversity of abiotic conditions and was assumed to be tested and validated for its ecological relevance on the basis of biological data obtained thereafter. The first ten years of its application proved the high usability of this typology for lake classification of ecological status on the one hand, while on the other hand, it allowed to gather experiences and to detect deficiencies and errors considered in the verification process. In 2015, the abiotic typology of Polish lakes was verified. Above all, verification involved an analysis of the justification of lake eco-regional division and refinement of water stratification criteria, as these two issues have been questioned in the current typology. Data on physicochemical properties, phytoplankton, macrophytes and benthic diatoms obtained from the state lake monitoring conducted in the years 2007–2013 were used to verify the ecological relevance of the typological criteria. Typological criteria used in the verified lake typological scheme were essentially the same as those used in 2004. However, the number of lake types has been reduced from the previous 13 to seven, mainly due to the withdrawal from the lake division based on eco-regions. Moreover, the more specific criteria for determining the water mixing type were established. The new lake typology is expected to be implemented in routine monitoring and water management in Poland in the forthcoming River Basin Management Plan 2021–2027.     

A critical review of approaches to aquatic environmental assessment

As demands on aquatic resources increase, there is a growing need to monitor and assess their condition. This paper reviews a variety of aquatic environmental assessments, at local, national, international and global scales and finds confusion in the terminology used to describe assessments. In particular the terms 'ecosystem' and 'integrated' are often misused resulting in lack of clarity. Therefore, definitions of some assessment terminology are suggested, consolidating existing proposals and simplifying future applications. A conclusion from the review is that a new classification system is required. The categorisation system proposed builds on preliminary work of the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). Assessment classification is based on the environmental components considered, methodologies and nature of the linkages between components, and the inclusion or exclusion of socio-economic factors. The assessment terminology and categorisation system provided could in future simplify the way that assessments are defined and used to inform development of management strategies.     

Climate change and global cycling of persistent organic pollutants: A critical review

Climate warming, one of the main features of global change, has exerted indelible impacts on the environment, among which the impact on the transport and fate of pollutants has aroused widespread concern. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a class of pollutants that are transported worldwide. Determining the impact of climate warming on the global cycling of POPs is important for understanding POP cycling processes and formulating relevant environmental policies. In this review, the main research findings in this field over the past ten years are summarized and the effects of climate warming on emissions, transport, storage, degradation and toxicity of POPs are reviewed. This review also summarizes the primary POP fate models and their application. Additionally, research gaps and future research directions are identified and suggested. Under the influence of climate change, global cycling of POPs mainly shows the following responses. (1) Global warming directly promotes the secondary emission of POPs; for example, temperature rise will cause POPs to be re-released from soils and oceans, and melting glaciers and permafrost can re-release POPs into freshwater ecosystems. (2) Global extreme weather events, such as droughts and floods, result in the redistribution of POPs through intense soil erosion. (3) The changes in atmospheric circulation and ocean currents have significantly influenced the global transport of POPs. (4) Climate warming has altered marine biological productivity, which has changed the POP storage capacity of the ocean. (5) Aquatic and terrestrial food-chain structures have undergone significant changes, which could lead to amplification of POP toxicity in ecosystems. (6) Overall, warming accelerates the POP volatilization process and increases the amount of POPs in the environment, although global warming facilitates their degradation at the same time. (7) Various models have predicted the future environmental behaviors of POPs. These models are used to assist governments in comprehensively considering the impact of global warming on the environmental fate of POPs and therefore controlling POPs effectively. Future studies should focus on the synergistic effects of global changes on the cycling of POPs. Additionally, the interactions among global carbon cycling, water cycling and POP cycling will be a new research direction for better understanding the adaptation of ecosystems to climate change.     

Stormwater management network effectiveness and implications for urban watershed function: A critical review

Deleterious effects of urban stormwater are widely recognized. In several countries, regulations have been put into place to improve the conditions of receiving water bodies, but planning and engineering of stormwater control is typically carried out at smaller scales. Quantifying cumulative effectiveness of many stormwater control measures on a watershed scale is critical to understanding how small‐scale practices translate to urban river health. We review 100 empirical and modelling studies of stormwater management effectiveness at the watershed scale in diverse physiographic settings. Effects of networks with stormwater control measures (SCMs) that promote infiltration and harvest have been more intensively studied than have detention‐based SCM networks. Studies of peak flows and flow volumes are common, whereas baseflow, groundwater recharge, and evapotranspiration have received comparatively little attention. Export of nutrients and suspended sediments have been the primary water quality focus in the United States, whereas metals, particularly those associated with sediments, have received greater attention in Europe and Australia. Often, quantifying cumulative effects of stormwater management is complicated by needing to separate its signal from the signal of urbanization itself, innate watershed characteristics that lead to a range of hydrologic and water quality responses, and the varying functions of multiple types of SCMs. Biases in geographic distribution of study areas, and size and impervious surface cover of watersheds studied also limit our understanding of responses. We propose hysteretic trajectories for how watershed function responds to increasing imperviousness and stormwater management. Even where impervious area is treated with SCMs, watershed function may not be restored to its predevelopment condition because of the lack of treatment of all stormwater generated from impervious surfaces; non‐additive effects of individual SCMs; and persistence of urban effects beyond impervious surfaces. In most cases, pollutant load decreases largely result from run‐off reductions rather than lowered solute or particulate concentrations. Understanding interactions between natural and built landscapes, including stormwater management strategies, is critical for successfully managing detrimental impacts of stormwater at the watershed scale.     

Inverse problem for the current loop model: Possibilities and restrictions

The possibilities of determining arbitrary current loop parameters based on the spatial structures of the magnetic field components generated by this loop on a sphere with a specified radius have been considered with the use of models. The model parameters were selected such that anomalies created by current loops on a sphere with a radius of 6378 km would be comparable in value with the different-scale anomalies of the observed main geomagnetic field (MGF). The least squares method was used to solve the inverse problem. Estimates close to the specified values were obtained for all current loop parameters except the current strength and radius. The radius determination error can reach ±120 km; at the same time, the magnetic moment value is determined with an accuracy of ±1%. The resolvability of the current force and radius can to a certain degree be improved by decreasing the observation sphere radius such that the ratio of the source distance to the current loop radius would be at least smaller than eight, which can be difficult to reach when modeling MGF.     

A critical review of groundwater budget myth, safe yield and sustainability

The principle of water balance is well known, but its application often causes controversy. One recent debate is the use of the water balance equation to determine the safe yield and sustainable yield. Two extreme opinions exist on natural groundwater recharge. One misconception is that the development of groundwater is considered to be safe if the pumping rate does not exceed the rate of natural recharge. Another is that the sustainable pumping rate has nothing to do with natural recharge, but depends on the increased recharge and decreased discharge (called capture) induced by pumping. The truth is that both the natural recharge and dynamic development of the capture determine the safe yield or sustainable yield of a groundwater basin. This paper clarifies the water budget controversy and uses the water balance equation to critically analyse the concepts of safe yield and sustainable yield. Numerical simulation of a hypothetical case was used to demonstrate the natural groundwater balance, effects of pumping and the dynamic development of the capture.     

A critical review of methods for pile design in seismically liquefiable soils

Collapse and/or severe damage to pile-supported structures are still observed in liquefiable soils after most major earthquakes. Poor performance of pile foundations remains a great concern to the earthquake engineering community. This review paper compares and contrasts the two plausible theories on pile failure in liquefiable soils. The well established theory of pile failure is based on a flexural mechanism; where the lateral loads on the pile (due to inertia and/or lateral spreading) induce bending failure. This theory is well researched in the recent past and assumes that piles are laterally loaded beams. A more recent theory based on buckling instability treats the piles as laterally unsupported slender columns in liquefiable soils and investigates the buckling instability (bifurcation). The objective of this paper is to investigate the implications to practical pile foundation design that flow from both these theories. Provisions for design made by major international codes of practice for pile design including the Japanese Highway Code (JRA) will be considered. The necessity for such codes to consider alternative forms of failure mechanisms such as the buckling instability of piles in liquefied ground will be discussed. S. Bhattacharya–Previously Departmental Lecturer in Engineering Science, University of Oxford, UK and Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford. S. P. G. Madabhushi–Fellow of Girton College, Cambridge.     

Speleoseismology: A critical perspective

Speleoseismology is the investigation of earthquake records in caves. Traces can be seen in broken speleothems, growth anomalies in speleothems, cave sediment deformation structures, displacements along fractures and bedding plane slip, incasion (rock fall) and co-seismic fault displacements. Where earthquake origins can be proven, these traces constitute important archives of local and even regional earthquake activity. However, other processes that can generate the same or very similar deformation features have to be excluded before cave damage can be interpreted as earthquake induced. Most sensitive and therefore most valuable for the tracing of strong earthquake shocks in caves are long and slender speleothems, such as soda straws, and deposits of well-bedded, water-saturated silty sand infillings, particularly in caves close to the earth's surface. Less easily proven is a co-seismic origin of an incasion and other forms of cave damage. The loads and creep movements of sediment and ice fillings in caves can cause severe damage to speleothems which have been frequently misinterpreted as evidence of earthquakes. For the dating of events in geological archives, it is important to demonstrate that such events happened at approximately the same time, i.e. within the error bars of the dating methods. A robust earthquake explanation for cave damage can only be achieved by the adoption of appropriate methods of direct dating of deformation events in cave archives combined with correlation of events in other geological archives outside caves, such as the deformation of lake and flood-plain deposits, locations of rock falls and active fault displacements.     

A review of POPs in the fragile critical zone of the Tibetan Plateau: transport and transformation

The near-surface environment of the Tibetan Plateau is a fragile critical zone. Our understanding of the transport and transformation of persistent organic pollutants(POPs) in the ecosystem has significantly improved with research conducted in recent decades. In the current study,POP concentrations in soils logarithmically decreased and fractionated with increasing distance from the source area,patterns attributed to air–soil exchange. Transport from soils resulted in the enrichment of POP concentrations in plants and sediments. The enantiomeric fraction indicated that transformation of POPs in soils was significantly correlated with altitude. At the same time, the chiral signature of POPs in soils was maintained from soils to sediments, while the chiral transformation from soils to plants was found to be complex.     

Contaminant transport in heterogeneous aquifers: A critical review of mechanisms and numerical methods of non-Fickian dispersion

Natural aquifers usually exhibit complex physical and chemical heterogeneities, which are key factors complicating kinetic processes, such as contaminant transport and transformation, posing a great challenge in the remediation of contaminated groundwater. Aquifer heterogeneity usually leads to a distinct feature, the so-called “anomalous transport” in groundwater,which deviates from the phenomenon described by the classical advection-dispersion equation(ADE) based on Fick's Law.Anomalous transport, also known as non-Fickian dispersion or “anomalous dispersion” in a broad sense, can explain the hydrogeological mechanism that leads to the temporally continuous deterioration of water quality and rapid spatial expansion of pollutant plumes. Contaminants enter and then are retained in the low-permeability matrix from the high-permeability zone via molecular diffusion, chemical adsorption, and other mass exchange effects. This process can be reversed when the concentration of pollutants in high-permeability zones is relatively low. The contaminants slowly return to the high-permeability zones through reverse molecular diffusion, resulting in sub-dispersive anomalous transport leading to the chronic gradual deterioration of water quality. Meanwhile, some contaminants are rapidly transported along the interconnected preferential flow paths, resulting in super-dispersive anomalous transport, which leads to the rapid spread of contaminants. Aquifer heterogeneity is also an important factor that constrains the efficacy of groundwater remediation, while the development, application, and evaluation of groundwater remediation technologies are usually based on the Fickian dispersion process predicted by the ADE equation.Comprehensive studies of the impacts of non-Fickian dispersion on contaminant transport and remediation are still needed. This article reviews the non-Fickian dispersion phenomenon caused by the heterogeneity of geological media, summarizes the processes and current understanding of contaminant migration and transformation in highly heterogeneous aquifers, and evaluates mathematical methods describing the main non-Fickian dispersion features. This critical review also discusses the limitations of existing research and outlines potential future research areas to advance the understanding of mechanisms and modeling of non-Fickian dispersion in heterogeneous media.     

Self-similar seismogenic structure of the crust: A review of the problem and a mathematical model

The paper presents a brief review of studies of the structural organization of a seismogenic medium showing that the crust of seismically active regions possesses a fractal structure. A new mathematical model of the self-similar seismogenic structure (SSS) of the crust generalizing the reviewed publications is proposed on the basis of the scaling correspondence between the fault, seismic, and seismic energy multifractal fields of the crust. Multifractal fields of other physical origin can also be incorporated in the SSS model.     

The radius of the core-mantle boundary inferred from travel time and free oscillation data; A critical review

A review is given of the present status of the information on the core radius, indicating its most likely value, but with the understanding that it must be made compatible with the remaining features of the Standard Earth Model, which are not known to us at the present time.     

The type three ordinary chondrities: A review

The ordinary chondrites are the largest group of meteorites, and the type 3 ordinary chondrites are those which experienced only very mild parent metamorphism; their study provides a unique means of studying the first solid material to from in the early solar system which is either free from the effects of mild metamorphism, or in which the effects of mild metamorphism can be distinguished from primary, nebular effects. In this paper we list all known type 3 ordinary chondrites and references to their study, their compositional data and data relating to the metamorphic history. We review current theories on their formation and the effects of metamorphism, with emphasis on quantitative considerations. Studies on the thermoluminescence properties of these meteorites, which have provided many new insights into their metamorphic history, are reviewed. Some of the least metamorphosed meteorites show evidence for aqueous alteration, which provides a link between the type 3 ordinary chondrites and objects containing water in various forms the carbonaceous chondrites, comets and planets with wet mantles.     

How can we solve the problem of substorms? (A review)

The works in the alternative direction of magnetospheric studies are reviewed. In contrast to the traditional approach, where the basis process is magnetic field line reconnection, transformation of kinetic energy into electromagnetic one at the bow shock front is the basis process in the proposed approach. It has been indicated that this new paradigm makes it possible to overcome the main difficulties that remained within the scope of the previous paradigm. It has been briefly demonstrated how several following processes and phenomena are explained within the scope of the new approach: (1) transformation of the solar wind kinetic energy into the electromagnetic energy; (2) electromagnetic energy transfer into the magnetosphere; (3) organization of the system of bulk currents, formation of field-aligned currents from the magnetosphere, and compatibility of these currents with the ionospheric current systems; (4) shape, value, and dynamics of the particle precipitation auroral regions; and (5) substorm expansion (auroral breakup). Other possibilities of the new approach and paradigm replacement consequences are briefly considered.     

Dynamic equations for steady spatially varied open channel flow: a critical review

A review of the dynamic equations governing steady spatially varied flow in open channels is presented. These equations are derived by employing either the momentum or the energy principle: the choice of the method employed is based on convenience. Nevertheless, the two approaches yield different results when applied to a particular flow situation. Recent researches have established that this anamoly is due to the omission of the influence of the lateral flow. The inconsistencies existing among the different forms of these equations and the rather incomplete nature of their derivation are discussed. It is believed that with the present state of knowledge, it is possible to obtain identical spatially varied flow profiles when the influencing parameters are properly evaluated whether one uses the momentum or the energy approach. The need for further study to provide a better understanding of this practically important phenomenen is established and potential research directions are defined. Recent contributions to the analysis of the hydraulic characteristics of the spatially varied flow phenomenon and the delineation of the spatially varied flow profiles into eight possible patterns are also presented.     

Rationale of geomagnetic reversals versus remanence recording processes in rocks: a critical review

Various evidences for a standing non-dipole field, stable with respect to reversals and thus leading to non-antidopal normal and reverse stable directions, suggest to reconsider the effect in the paleofield-remanence relationship of filtering due to lock-in time of natural remanence. Time averaging of non-antipodal stable directions leads to records that mimic the prediction of the low-order zonal harmonic model. A number of published sedimentary and intrusive records may be interpreted as such a by-product of the field behavior outside the transition itself, thus accounting for their discrepancies with volcanic records.