On the estuarine mixing of dissolved substances in relation to colloid stability and surface properties

The estuarine mixing of dissolved Fe, Cu, Ni, Si and surface-active organic matter has been investigated in the Taieri Estuary, New Zealand, simultaneously with measurements of the electrokinetic charge on colloidal particles. Dissolved Fe showed almost quantitative removal from solution characteristic of the coagulation of iron-containing colloids by seawater electrolytes. Surface active organic matter behaved conservatively, indicating that a relatively constant fraction of estuarine organic matter is surface active, but that organic species associated with iron during removal are a minor fraction. Results for Cu, Ni and Si were scattered but offered no evidence for gross removal during estuarine mixing. The negative charge on suspended colloids was not reversed by adsorption of seawater cations, but remained uniformly negative throughout the salinity range, decreasing sharply in magnitude during the first few %. salinity.     

Managing Bay and Estuarine Ecosystems for Multiple Services

Managers are moving from a model of managing individual sectors, human activities, or ecosystem services to an ecosystem-based management (EBM) approach which attempts to balance the range of services provided by ecosystems. Applying EBM is often difficult due to inherent tradeoffs in managing for different services. This challenge particularly holds for estuarine systems, which have been heavily altered in most regions and are often subject to intense management interventions. Estuarine managers can often choose among a range of management tactics to enhance a particular service; although some management actions will result in strong tradeoffs, others may enhance multiple services simultaneously. Management of estuarine ecosystems could be improved by distinguishing between optimal management actions for enhancing multiple services and those that have severe tradeoffs. This requires a framework that evaluates tradeoff scenarios and identifies management actions likely to benefit multiple services. We created a management action-services matrix as a first step towards assessing tradeoffs and providing managers with a decision support tool. We found that management actions that restored or enhanced natural vegetation (e.g., salt marsh and mangroves) and some shellfish (particularly oysters and oyster reef habitat) benefited multiple services. In contrast, management actions such as desalination, salt pond creation, sand mining, and large container shipping had large net negative effects on several of the other services considered in the matrix. Our framework provides resource managers a simple way to inform EBM decisions and can also be used as a first step in more sophisticated approaches that model service delivery.     

Understanding the Combined Impacts of Aggregation and Spatial Non‐Stationarity: The Case of Migration‐Environment Associations in Rural South Africa

Socio‐demographic data are typically collected at various levels of aggregation, leading to the modifiable areal unit problem. Spatial non‐stationarity of statistical associations between variables further influences the demographic analyses. This study investigates the implications of these two phenomena within the context of migration‐environment associations. Global and local statistical models are fit across increasing levels of aggregation using household level survey data from rural South Africa. We raise the issue of operational scale sensitivity, which describes how the explanatory power of certain variables depends on the aggregation level. We find that as units of analysis (households) are aggregated, some variables become non‐significant in the global models, while others are less sensitive to aggregation. Local model results show that aggregation reduces spatial variation in migration‐related local associations but also affects variables differently. Spatial non‐stationarity appears to be the driving force behind this phenomenon as the results from the global model mask this relationship. Operational scale sensitivity appears related to the underlying spatial autocorrelation of the non‐aggregated variables but also to the way a variable is constructed. Understanding operational scale sensitivity can help to refine the process of selecting variables related to the scale of analysis and better understand the effects of spatial non‐stationarity on statistical relationships.     

The Development of a Biologically Inspired Propulsor for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles

Fish are remarkable in their ability to maneuver and to control their body position. This ability is the result of the coordinated movement of fins which extend from the body and form control surfaces that can create and vector forces in 3-D. We have embarked on a research program designed to develop a maneuvering propulsor for unmanned undersea vehicles (UUVs) that is based on the pectoral fin of the bluegill sunfish. For this, the anatomy, kinematics, and hydrodynamics of the sunfish pectoral fin were investigated experimentally and through the use of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. These studies identified that the kinematics of the sunfish pectoral fin are very complex and are not easily described by traditional ldquorowingrdquo- and ldquoflappingrdquo-type kinematics. A consequence of the complex motion is that the pectoral fin can produce forward thrust during both its outstroke (abduction) and instroke (adduction), and while doing so generates only small lateral and lift forces. The results of the biological studies were used to guide the design of robotic pectoral fins which were built as experimental devices and used to investigate the mechanisms of thrust production and control. Because of a design that was based heavily on the anatomy of the sunfish fin, the robotic pectoral fins had the level of control and degrees of freedom necessary to reproduce many of the complex fin motions used by the sunfish during steady swimming. These robotic fins are excellent experimental tools, and are an important first step towards developing propulsive devices that will give the next generation of UUVs the ability to produce and control thrust like highly maneuverable fish.     

Land Use Change in New Spain: A Three-Dimensional Historical GIS Analysis

The introduction of European livestock into the New World resulted in extensive land use changes. Studying the spatiality of these changes as they actually transpired in a three-dimensional landscape can enhance our knowledge of the environmental transformations that accompanied colonization. This article focuses on a case study area in New Spain, roughly equivalent to present-day Mexico, wherein forty-seven sheep ranches were established through viceregal land grants between 1535 and 1610. An integration of fieldwork, textual analysis of land grants, and imagery analysis enables these ranches to be mapped in a three-dimensional geographic information system (GIS) environment. Once mapped in a GIS, the spatial statistics of each ranch's elevation, slope, and aspect (slope orientation) can be calculated to identify spatio-temporal patterns of land use change. These spatio-temporal patterns can be interpreted within the highly localized contexts of land granting to amplify our understanding of human–environment interaction in New Spain. This article's key findings are that grantees harbored a persistent preference for south-facing land; ranches clustered most heavily on isolated elevations; viceregal ordinances were effective at keeping livestock away from low-lying, agriculturally productive zones; and, as a consequence of native population decline and forced native resettlements, the midelevations experienced a land use change from semiterraced agriculture to ranching. These results offer a fresh perspective on the local-scale processes of land use change that resulted from the European colonization of the New World.     

Monitoring Colima Volcano,Mexico, using satellite data

The Colima Volcanic Complex at the western end of the Mexican Volcanic Belt is the most active andesitic volcano in Mexico. Short-wavelength infrared data from the Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite were used to determine the temperature and fractional area of radiant picture elements for two January data acquisitions in 1985 and 1986. The 1986 data showed four 28.5 m by 28.5 m pixels (picture elements) whose hot subpixel components had temperatures ranging from 511–774° C and areas of 1.8–13 m². The 1985 data had no radiating areas above background temperatures. Ground observations and measurements in November 1985 and February 1986 reported the presence of hot fumaroles at the summit with temperatures of 135–895° C. This study demonstrates the utility of satellite data for monitoring volcanic activity.     

The description of the primary textures of “Cordilleran” granitic rocks

Variation in the primary textures of “Cordilleran” granitic rocks is described relative to three identifiable stages of the crystallisation interval; namely: (1) crystallisation in suspension; (2) growth of a touching crystal framework; (3) interstitial crystallisation. Crystals that initially grow in isolation will start to impinge and form small clusters as crystallisation proceeds and the volume of solid material increases, eventually forming a continuous interconnected crystal framework. Subsequent crystallisation involves solidification of the melt occupying the interstices of the framework, and therefore shows similarities to the way in which the porosity occludes in sedimentary systems. A case study of textural development in Cordilleran granitic rocks from the zoned Linga superunit of the Peruvian Coastal Batholith, reveals that compositional zonation from granodiorite through to syenogranite is accompanied by a systematic variation in the textures, specifically those of the three felsic phases (plagioclase, quartz and alkali feldspar). Plagioclase was the first phase to appear on the liquidus, and was joined by the other two phases as crystallisation proceeded and the melt evolved. The melt fraction at which quartz and alkali feldspar started to crystallise influenced the early growth of plagioclase, and the way in which the texture developed through each stage of the crystallisation interval. The geometry of plagioclase progressively changes from a touching framework of crystals in the granodiorite, to small aggregates or isolated crystals suspended in an equant mosaic of the other felsic phases in the syenogranite. This variation can be explained by an earlier evolution of the melt to the cotectic (i.e. at higher melt fractions) as the rocks become more acidic, and hence a greater contribution of alkali feldspar and quartz to the growth of the framework at the expense of plagioclase and the mafic phases. Textural observations are comparable to the crystallisation pathways of the felsic phases modelled in the quaternary An-Ab-Or-Qz system from the bulk compositions. All compositions lie in the plagioclase volume, and evolved to three-phase saturation on the cotectic via either the quartz/plagioclase divariant surface (granodiorites) or the alkali feldspar/plagioclase divariant surface (monzogranite and syenogranite).