Modeling aquifer�Criver interactions under the influence of groundwater abstraction in the Mancha Oriental System (SE Spain)

The Mancha Oriental System (MOS, 7,260?km²) is one of the largest aquifers within Spain, and is encompassed by the Jucar River Basin. Over the past 30?years, socioeconomic development within the region has been largely due to intensive use of groundwater resources for irrigating crops (1,000?km²). Groundwater pumping (406 million m³/year) has provoked a steady drop in the groundwater level and a reduction of MOS discharge to the Jucar River. The study aims to characterize the river?Caquifer relationship, to determine the influence that groundwater abstraction has on the river discharge. This research has advanced a three-dimensional large-scale numerical groundwater-flow model (MODFLOW 2000) in order to spatially and temporally evaluate, quantify and predict the river?Caquifer interactions that are influenced by groundwater abstraction in MOS. It is demonstrated that although groundwater abstraction increased considerably from the early 1980s to 2000, the depletion of water stored in the aquifer was lower than might be expected. This is mainly due to aquifer recharge from the Jucar River, induced by groundwater abstraction. The area of disconnection between the river and the water table (i.e. where groundwater head is lower than the riverbed) is found to have spread 20?km downstream from its position before pumping started.     

Use of riverine through reef habitat systems by dog snapper (Lutjanus jocu) in eastern Brazil

The early life history of Western Atlantic snappers from the Southern hemisphere is largely unknown. Habitat use of different life stages (i.e. size categories) of the dog snapper (Lutjanus jocu) was examined across the largest South Atlantic reef–estuarine complex (Abrolhos Shelf, Brazil, 16–19° S). Visual surveys were conducted in different habitats across the shelf (estuary, inner-shelf reefs and mid-shelf reefs). Lutjanus jocu showed higher densities on inner-shelf habitats, with a clear increase in fish size across the shelf. Individuals <7 cm were associated with both the estuary (mangrove and rocky habitats) and inner-shelf reefs (particularly shallow fore-reefs and tide pools). Individuals ranging 10–30 cm were broadly distributed, but consistently more abundant on inner-shelf reefs. Individuals between 30 and 40 cm were more common on mid-shelf reefs, while individuals >40 cm were recorded only on mid-shelf reefs. Literature data indicate that individuals ranging 70–80 cm are common on deep offshore reefs. This pattern suggests that the dog snapper performs ontogenetic cross-shelf migrations. Protecting portions of the different habitats used by the dog snapper during its post-settlement life cycle is highlighted as an important conservation and management measure.     

Downscaling projections of climate change in Sao Tome and Principe Islands,Africa

Sao Tome and Principe is a small insular African country extremely vulnerable to rising sea levels and impacts such as inundation, shore line change, and salt water intrusion into underground aquifers. Projections of climate change have considered coarse model resolutions. The objective of this work is to dynamically downscale the global model projections to 4-km resolution and to assess the climate change in the Sao Tome and Principe islands. The global climate projections are provided by the Canadian Earth System Model under two Representative Concentration Pathways greenhouse gas scenarios, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The downscaling is produced by the Eta regional climate model. The baseline period is taken between 1971 and 2000, and the future climate period is taken between 2041 and 2070. The 2-m temperature simulations show good agreement with station data. The model simulates temperature more accurately than precipitation. The precipitation simulations systematically show underestimation and delay of the rainy and the dry seasons by about 1 month, a feature inherited from the global climate model. In the middle of the 21st century, projections show the strongest warming in the elevated parts of the Sao Tome Island, especially in February under RCP8.5. Warmer nights and warmer days become more frequent in the islands when compared with those in the present. While under RCP4.5, precipitation increases in the islands; under RCP8.5, it decreases everywhere in both islands. Heavy precipitation rates should increase, especially in the south-southwestern parts of the Sao Tome islands. Detailed spatial variability of the temperature and precipitation changes in the islands can only be revealed at very high spatial model resolution. Implications for the potential energy production from two major river basins are assessed in this work.     

Constraining the LMC cluster age gap: Washington photometry of NGC 2155 and SL 896 (LW 480)

We carried out Washington system photometry of the intermediate-age Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) star clusters NGC 2155 and SL 896 (LW 480). We derive ages and metallicities from the T ₁ versus     colour–magnitude diagrams (CMDs). For the first time an age has been obtained for SL 896,     . For NGC 2155 we derive     . The two clusters basically define the lower age limit of the LMC age gap. In particular, NGC 2155 is confirmed as the oldest intermediate-age LMC cluster so far studied. The derived metallicities are     and     for NGC 2155 and SL 896, respectively. We also studied the CMDs of the surrounding fields, which have a dominant turn-off comparable to that of the clusters themselves, and similar metallicity, showing that one is dealing with an intermediate-age disc where clusters and field stars have the same origin. We inserted the present clusters in the LMC and Small Magellanic Cloud (SMC) age–metallicity relations, using a set of homogeneous determinations with the same method as in our previous studies, now totalling 15 LMC clusters and four SMC clusters, together with some additional values from the literature. The LMC and SMC age–metallicity relations appear to be remarkably complementary, since the SMC was actively star-forming during the LMC quiescent age gap epoch.     

A distant planetary-mass solar companion may have produced distant detached objects

Most known trans-neptunian objects (TNO's) are either on low eccentricity orbits or could have been perturbed to their current trajectories via gravitational interactions with known bodies. However, one or two recently-discovered TNO's are distant detached objects (DDO's) (perihelion, q>40 AU and semimajor axis, a>50 AU) whose origins are not as easily understood. We investigate the parameter space of a hypothetical distant planetary-mass solar companion which could detach the perihelion of a Neptune-dominated TNO into a DDO orbit. Perturbations of the giant planets are also included. The problem is analyzed using two models. In the first model, we start with a distribution of undetached, low-inclination TNO's having a wide range of semimajor axes. The planetary perturbations and the companion perturbation are treated in the adiabatic, secularly averaged tidal approximation. This provides a starting point for a more detailed analysis by providing insights as to the companion parameter space likely to create DDO's. The second model includes the companion and the planets and numerically integrates perturbations on a sampling that is based on the real population of scattered disk objects (SDO's). A single calculation is performed including the mutual interactions and migration of the planets. By comparing these models, we distinguish the distant detached population that can be attributable to the secular interaction from those that require additional planetary perturbations. We find that a DDO can be produced by a hypothetical Neptune-mass companion having semiminor axis, bc?2000 AU or a Jupiter-mass companion with bc?5000 AU. DDO's produced by such a companion are likely to have small inclinations to the ecliptic only if the companion's orbit is significantly inclined. We also discuss the possibility that the tilt of the planets' invariable plane relative to the solar equatorial plane has been produced by such a hypothetical distant planetary-mass companion. Perturbations of a companion on Oort cloud comets are also considered.