A gender analysis of quality of life in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

While many community initiatives have attempted to assess the nature and determinants of their citizens’ quality of life (QOL), these initiatives have produced little about whether the key determinants of life quality differ by gender. Using both quantitative and qualitative data from a recent QOL research project in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, this study explores whether factors that predict poor QOL are similar for women and men. The study also examines whether the nature of these gender differences varies across low, medium and high socio-economic status locales. Results showed that men and women were very similar in: (1) their QOL ratings, (2) reports of deterioration in neighborhood QOL, and (3) rating particular aspects of their neighborhood. Few gender differences were also found when analyzing data referring to place characteristics and social cohesion. Multivariate analysis revealed further similarities: (1) being divorced/widowed was a significant predictor of poor QOL, and (2) a negative view of community security issues was associated with deterioration in perceived neighborhood quality of life. For women, however, other variables were important predictors of QOL: being middle aged, being single, and having a poor opinion of the overall quality of their neighborhood. Qualitative analysis revealed that while men and women shared concern about general areas such as safety and neighborhood supports, their perceptions of the details around these issues differed. The multi-method results suggest that urban policy actions should include a gendered discussion of common QOL issues.     

Climate, water management, and policy in the San Pedro Basin: results of a survey of Mexican stakeholders near the U.S.–Mexico border

This paper reviews regional climate knowledge and vulnerability in the northern Mexico San Pedro River Basin, with a focus on water quality, quantity, and management issues on the Mexican side of the border. A discussion based on the available literature is supplemented by a survey assessing concerns about water and the quality and usability of climate and hydrologic information available to water managers and communities. The surveys indicate that the central concern for urban residents is the lack of reliable potable water due to frequent service breakdowns–with climate change and variability, specifically drought and high temperatures, as contributing factors. Water managers desire appropriate meteorological and hydrologic information to improve planning strategies, but access to this information remains limited. Considerable disagreement exists about who should pay for previously free or low-cost water and wastewater treatment. Urban users have little incentive to conserve because of the present flat, low rate and frustration with service. In rural areas, while a majority of ranchers recognize that variable climate and water loss could increasingly jeopardize their lifestyle, they seldom use meteorological information in planning or modify their water consumption. Climate vulnerability also includes potential for serious environmental health issues due to the presence of heavy metals and organic contaminants in the San Pedro.     

Weathering effects on the geotechnical properties of argillaceous sediments in tropical environments and their geomorphological implications

Outcrops of young, sedimentary, argillaceous rocks with well developed fabric display rapid changes in their properties when subject to tropical weathering. The change in the materials is often accompanied by mass movement activity and the geomorphological consequence in terms of landforms is usually the development of badlands topography. Detailed field and laboratory studies have been undertaken on the Joe's River Formation, Barbados, and the Lichi Melange, Taiwan. Both are sedimentary mudrocks with well developed, scaly fabrics. Physical and geotechnical laboratory tests have been conducted on samples collected from type site locations to elucidate associations between material properties, earth surface processes and landform development. While the inherent physical properties show little or no difference in the transition from unweathered to highly weathered materials, by applying the critical state model, the mudrock geotechnical properties can be shown to change significantly. As weathering commences, material strength surprisingly increases. Only after a period of more extensive weathering do mechanical properties confirm increasingly incompetent materials. The initial strength increase appears to be due to weathering-induced modification of the fabric. The subsequent strength drop is a product of weathering-induced modification of both the fabric and the in situ, intact sediment. It is suggested that by applying the critical state model, a greater consideration can be gained of the geotechnical response of the sediments to weathering.     

The effects of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita on seabed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dynamics in the Gulf of Mexico

To assess the extent to which Hurricanes Katrina and Rita affected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), sediment cores were analyzed in late 2005 from: a shallow shelf, a deeper shelf, and a marsh station. Sediment geochronology, fabric, and geochemistry show that the 2005 storms deposited ∼10 cm of sediment to the surface of a core at 5-12A. Bulk carbon geochemistry and PAH isomers in this top layer suggest that the source of sediment to the top portion of core 5-12A was from a relatively more marine area. Particulate PAHs in the marsh core (04 M) appeared unaffected by the storms while sediments in the core from Station 5-1B (deeper shelf) were affected minimally (some possible storm-derived deposition). Substantial amounts of PAH-laden particles may have been displaced from the seabed in shallow areas of the water column in the GOM by these 2005 storms.     

Predicting sediment discharges and erosion rates in deep time—examples from the late Cretaceous North American continent

Depositional stratigraphy represents the only physical archive of palaeo-sediment routing and this limits analysis of ancient source-to-sink systems in both space and time. Here, we use palaeo-digital elevation models (palaeoDEMs; based on high-resolution palaeogeographic reconstructions), HadCM3L general circulation model climate data and the BQART suspended sediment discharge model to demonstrate a predictive, forward approach to palaeo-sediment routing system analysis. To exemplify our approach, we use palaeoDEMs and HadCM3L data to predict the configurations, geometries and climates of large continental catchments in the Cenomanian and Turonian North American continent. Then, we use BQART to estimate suspended sediment discharges and catchment-averaged erosion rates and we map their spatial distributions. We validate our estimates with published geologic constraints from the Cenomanian Dunvegan Formation, Alberta, Canada, and the Turonian Ferron Sandstone, Utah, USA, and find that estimates are consistent or within a factor of two to three. We then evaluate the univariate and multivariate sensitivity of our estimates to a range of uncertainty margins on palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic boundary conditions; large uncertainty margins (≤50%/±5°C) still recover estimates of suspended sediment discharge within an order of magnitude of published constraints. PalaeoDEMs are therefore suitable as a first-order investigative tool in palaeo-sediment routing system analysis and are particularly useful where stratigraphic records are incomplete. We highlight the potential of this approach to predict the global spatio-temporal response of suspended sediment discharges and catchment-averaged erosion rates to long-period tectonic and climatic forcing in the geologic past.     

An equilibrium profile model for retreating marsh shorelines in southeast Louisiana

Louisiana's coastal marshes are experiencing the highest wetland loss rates in the U.S., in part due to subsidence-driven relative sea-level rise. These marshes are also vulnerable to the erosive power of wave attack: 1) on the marsh edge adjacent to open-water bodies, and 2) after the marsh platform is submerged. Marsh shorelines in Barataria Bay, Breton Sound, and the active Balize delta of southeastern Louisiana were examined in areas where the subaerial marsh platform had disappeared since 1932. Vibracore transects of marsh and adjacent bay surface sediments (to 2 m depth) were analyzed using geotechnical, stratigraphic, and radiochemical (137-Cs and 210-Pb) methods, and the subaerial-to-subaqueous transition of the marsh was mapped for elevation using standard stadia rod transit and fathometer measurements. Results indicate that marsh edge erosion of the platform takes place subaqueously until water depths of 1.5 m are reached. This is observed even in interior pond regions, but the shoreface elevation profiles are a function of fetch: exposed open bay sites display greater incision (depth and rate) of the marsh platform than protected interior bay or pond sites. Core stratigraphy reveals that the outer part of the subaqueous platform switches from erosional to depositional as retreat proceeds, covering the incised marsh deposits unconformably with estuarine shelly muds. 137-Cs and excess 210-Pb activity indicates that these muds are deposited within a few decades of subaerial marsh loss. The consistency of the cross-shore profile results suggests that a single profile of equilibrium can approximate the morphology of eroding marsh edges in southeast Louisiana: platform stratigraphy and resistance to erosion have a limited effect on profile shape. This equilibrium profile and remote sensing images of shoreline change are used to estimate the sediment yield to adjacent estuarine areas by this process. On average, 1.5 m³ of sediment are yielded per m shoreline length annually from both Barataria Bay and Breton Sound. Due to the highly organic nature of the eroded sediment (30%), this supply of organic-rich material could significantly impact estuarine productivity and hypoxia on the Louisiana continental shelf.     

The Effect of Contaminated Prey on Feeding,Activity, and Growth of Young-of-the-Year Bluefish, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pomatomus saltatrix</Emphasis>, in the Laboratory

Young-of-the-year (YOY) bluefish, Pomatomus saltatrix, reside in some contaminated estuaries of the mid-Atlantic bight during their early life history, and as a result of this exposure, they may bioaccumulate high levels of contaminants, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, and methyl mercury. Young-of-the-year bluefish from the Tuckerton, NJ, area of Great Bay (TK) were fed daily in a laboratory with common prey fish, menhaden, and mummichog from two sites: TK (reference) or Hackensack River (HR) (contaminated). Bluefish fed HR prey and the HR prey themselves had significantly elevated concentrations of PCBs, pesticides, and total mercury compared to TK counterparts. The bluefish fed contaminated prey for 4 months displayed significantly reduced feeding, spontaneous activity, and growth compared to the bluefish fed TK prey. Alterations of bluefish behavior and growth from exposure to contaminants may have detrimental effects on migration, overwinter survival, and recruitment success.     

Europium sorption to sediments in the presence of natural organic matter: A laboratory and modeling study

Cellulosic materials, such as wood, paper products and cardboard that have been co-disposed with low-level nuclear waste have been shown to produce leachate with natural organic matter (NOM) concentrations of hundreds of mg/L C and, as such, have the potential to influence the fate and transport of radionuclides in the subsurface environment. The objective of this study was to examine the influence of NOM on the sorption of Eu (an analogue for trivalent radionuclides) to two coastal plain sediments from the US Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Particular attention was directed at quantifying Eu interactions with NOM sorbed to sediments (NOM_sed) in laboratory experiments and developing conditional stability constants for that interaction using the thermodynamic equilibrium speciation model MINTEQA2. Europium sorption to the two sediments systematically increased as pH increased from 3.9 to 6.7. With increasing additions of NOM to the aqueous phase from 0 to 222 mg/L C, Eu sorption initially increased to a maximum at 10 mg/L C NOM_aq and then decreased with increasing NOM_aq concentrations. Increases in Eu sorption at low NOM additions was attributed to the sorption of NOM to the sediment surface increasing the number of sorption sites on the low cation-exchange capacity sediments and/or increasing the association constant (log K) for the Eu-sediment surface reaction. Decreases in Eu sorption at higher NOM levels was attributed to Eu_aq complexation to NOM_aq being more favored than Eu sorption to the solid phase. A component additivity model was developed to describe the Eu–NOM-sediment system by the additive effects of the three binary system models: Eu–NOM, Eu-sediment and NOM-sediment. The model generally captured the data trends in the ternary system. Conditional stability constants developed from the experimental data for the complexation of Eu to NOM_sed were as much as four orders of magnitude greater than Eu complexation with NOM_aq, presumably due to the NOM_sed deriving additional negative (attractive) charge from the sediment surface. At high initial NOM_aq levels, >99 mg/L C, the model captured the trend of reduced Eu sorption but tended to over-estimate Eu sorption. The additivity approach of combining binary models to form a ternary model was only successful when the unique complexation properties of the NOM_sed were properly calculated.     

Titan's diverse landscapes as evidenced by Cassini RADAR's third and fourth looks at Titan

Cassini's third and fourth radar flybys, T7 and T8, covered diverse terrains in the high southern and equatorial latitudes, respectively. The T7 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) swath is somewhat more straightforward to understand in terms of a progressive poleward descent from a high, dissected, and partly hilly terrain down to a low flat plain with embayments and deposits suggestive of the past or even current presence of hydrocarbon liquids. The T8 swath is dominated by dunes likely made of organic solids, but also contain somewhat enigmatic, probably tectonic, features that may be partly buried or degraded by erosion or relaxation in a thin crust. The dark areas in T7 show no dune morphology, unlike the dark areas in T8, but are radiometrically warm like the dunes. The Huygens landing site lies on the edge of the T8 swath; correlation of the radar and Huygens DISR images allows accurate determination of its coordinates, and indicates that to the north of the landing site sit two large longitudinal dunes. Indeed, had the Huygens probe trajectory been just 10 km north of where it actually was, images of large sand dunes would have been returned in place of the fluvially dissected terrain actually seen—illustrating the strong diversity of Titan's landscapes even at local scales.     

Compression behaviour of minerogenic low energy intertidal sediments

Existing geotechnical approaches that describe volumetric changes in intertidal sediments in response to applied vertical effective stresses are limited by a lack of empirical research into their one-dimensional compression behaviour. In this paper we address this deficiency by presenting the results of an investigation into the compression behaviour of minerogenic low marsh and tidal flat sediments. We have tested samples of these sediment types obtained from Greatham Creek (Cowpen Marsh, Tees Estuary, UK). Analysis of physical properties and oedometer compression tests demonstrates that, contrary to the implicit assumptions of existing models, the surface sediments studied are overconsolidated. Structural variability between samples arises due to sedimentological factors, notably variations in organic content. We attribute overconsolidation to tidal exposure and falls in groundwater level that permit desiccation and cause capillary suction stresses. Greater rates of compression with respect to effective stress occur in sediments with higher initial voids ratios and more open, unstable initial structures. Variability in structure decreases with application of higher effective stresses due to the destructuration of the sediments, which also creates increased homogeneity of compression behaviour under higher effective stresses. We subsequently develop a new conceptual framework to describe compression behaviour in minerogenic intertidal sediments that incorporates overconsolidation. We advocate a statistical approach that accounts for structural variability and variations in compression behaviour at effective stresses less than and greater than the yield stress. We argue that our conceptual framework is broadly applicable to minerogenic intertidal sediments at different locations and burial depths within Holocene stratigraphic sequences providing site-specific compression data are collected. Inter-site transfer and application of measured material properties should not be undertaken due to local variations in compression behaviour resulting from varying ecological, sedimentological, geochemical, climatic, geomorphic and hydrographic conditions. The individual characteristics of different field locations should be carefully considered before the suggested framework is routinely applied.