Development of water management strategies in southern Mesopotamia during the fourth and third millennium B.C.E.

The last two decades witnessed increasing scholarly interest in the history of water management in southern Mesopotamia. Thanks to many geoarchaeological research projects conducted throughout the central and southern Iraqi floodplains, a general understanding of the macrophases of anthropogenic manipulation of this vast hydraulic landscape has been achieved. However, current narratives mostly rely on studies at a regional scale and are based on excessively long chronological phases (often spanning a whole millennium). A finer-tuned analysis at a submillennial scale is needed to better appreciate the dynamics that led to the development of artificial canals and irrigation systems and the creation of harbours in cities and other navigation-related facilities. The Iraqi-Italian QADIS project is addressing this issue through a systematic geoarchaeological investigation in the south-eastern area of the Qadisiyah province. We aim to update the current narrative by analysing case studies involving specific periods of occupation. We performed 17 boreholes to propose a date on the functioning period of the hydraulic works in five selected archaeological sites of this region. This approach allowed us to understand changes in water management strategies in both the short and the medium term (i.e., on a scale of centuries). In this paper, we present the results for the fourth and third millennia B.C.E. This period witnessed a crucial passage from the basic exploitation of natural watercourses for irrigation and occasional navigation to the emergence of the first system of artificial canals and intraurban harbours.     

An analysis of the spectrophotometric and photometric observations of comets 1967II, 1968I, 1968V,and 1968VI

Emission fluxes of CN, C₂ and C₃ carbon-bearing molecular species observed in the coma of comets Rudnicki (1967II), Ikeya-Seki (1968I), Whitaker-Thomas (1968V), and Honda (1968VI) are analysed in the framework of Haser model. CN, C₃ and C₃ production rates are determined using recently derived fluorescence efficiencies. The dependence of CN, C₂ and C₃ production rates on the heliocentric distance and the possible correlations among these radicals is studied. It is shown that comets Ikeya-Seki (1968I) and Honda (1968VI) have the same mean color indices (B-V) and (U-B).     

Modulation of ionospheric conductivities during high-power wave propagation

Enhancement of conductivity tensor modification within the ionospheric plasma by electron density modulation through the temperature dependence of the recombination rates of different ionspecies caused due to electron temperature modulation during high-power wave propagation is studied. Variation of Hall and Pedersen conductivities of the ionosphere has been investigated in the height range between 85 km to 250 km. The generation of waves at the modulation frequency and its harmonics in the ELF, VLF bands in the process is discussed.     

A model for pore‐fluid‐sensitive rock behavior using a weathering state parameter

Chalk and other porous rocks are known to behave differently when saturated with different pore fluids. The behavior of these rocks varies with different pore fluids and additional deformation occurs when the pore fluid composition changes. In this article, we review the evidence that behavior in porous rocks is pore‐fluid‐dependent, present a constitutive model for pore‐fluid‐dependent porous rocks, and present a compilation of previously published data to develop quantitative relationships between various pore fluids and mechanical behavior. The model proposed here is based on a state parameter approach for weathering and has similarities to models previously proposed for weathering‐sensitive rocks in that the values for parameters that characterize material behavior vary as a function of weathering. Comparisons with published experimental data indicate that the model is capable of reproducing observed behavior of chalk under a variety of loading conditions and changes in pore fluid composition. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Haser model CN,C2 and C3 production rates in some comets

Emission fluxes of CN, C₂ and C₃ species observed in the coma of some comets are analysed in the framework of Haser model. CN, C₂ and C₃ production rates are determined using recently derived fluorescence efficiencies and dependence of CN, C₂ and C₃ production rates on the heliocentric distance is studied. Evidence for a burst type activity around January 15, 1974 in the post-perihelion period of comet Kohoutek (1973f) is observed.