Costing the impact of climate change on tourism in Europe: results of the PESETA project

Climate change might lead to large shifts in tourist flows, with large economic implications. This article simulates the effect of future climate change by the 2080s on outdoor international tourism expenditure within Europe. The assessment is based on the statistical relationship between bed nights and a climate-related index of human comfort, after accounting for other determinants of bed nights such as income and prices. It is concluded that climate change could have significant impacts on the regional distribution of the physical resources supporting tourism in Europe. For example, in summer, Southern Europe could experience climate conditions that are less favourable to tourism than the current climate, while countries in the North could enjoy better conditions. The economic effects of these changes are likely to be sizeable, albeit difficult to assess. Crucially, they are shown to depend on tourists’ temporal flexibility with respect to holiday planning. The greater the prominence of institutional rigidities such as school holidays, the larger the differences between winning and losing regions in terms of economic impact.     

Geology and impact features of Vargeão Dome,southern Brazil

Abstract– Vargeão Dome (southern Brazil) is a circular feature formed in lava flows of the Lower Cretaceous Serra Geral Formation and in sandstones of the Paraná Basin. Even though its impact origin was already proposed in the 1980s, little information about its geological and impact features is available in the literature. The structure has a rim‐rim diameter of approximately 12 km and comprises several ring‐like concentric features with multiple concentric lineaments. The presence of a central uplift is suggested by the occurrence of deformed sandstone strata of the Botucatu and Pirambóia formations. We present the morphological/structural characteristics of Vargeão Dome, characterize the different rock types that occur in its interior, mainly brecciated volcanic rocks (BVR) of the Serra Geral Formation, and discuss the deformation and shock features in the volcanic rocks and in sandstones. These features comprise shatter cones in sandstone and basalt, as well as planar microstructures in quartz. A geochemical comparison of the target rock equivalents from outside the structure with the shocked rocks from its interior shows that both the BVRs and the brecciated sandstone have a composition largely similar to that of the corresponding unshocked lithologies. No traces of meteoritic material have been found so far. The results confirm the impact origin of Vargeão Dome, making it one of the largest among the rare impact craters in basaltic targets known on Earth.     

Interannual variability in glacier contribution to runoff from a high‐elevation Andean catchment: understanding the role of debris cover in glacier hydrology

We present a field‐data rich modelling analysis to reconstruct the climatic forcing, glacier response, and runoff generation from a high‐elevation catchment in central Chile over the period 2000–2015 to provide insights into the differing contributions of debris‐covered and debris‐free glaciers under current and future changing climatic conditions. Model simulations with the physically based glacio‐hydrological model TOPKAPI‐ETH reveal a period of neutral or slightly positive mass balance between 2000 and 2010, followed by a transition to increasingly large annual mass losses, associated with a recent mega drought. Mass losses commence earlier, and are more severe, for a heavily debris‐covered glacier, most likely due to its strong dependence on snow avalanche accumulation, which has declined in recent years. Catchment runoff shows a marked decreasing trend over the study period, but with high interannual variability directly linked to winter snow accumulation, and high contribution from ice melt in dry periods and drought conditions. The study demonstrates the importance of incorporating local‐scale processes such as snow avalanche accumulation and spatially variable debris thickness, in understanding the responses of different glacier types to climate change. We highlight the increased dependency of runoff from high Andean catchments on the diminishing resource of glacier ice during dry years.     

Geological Facies Recovery Based on Weighted $$\ell _1$$ ℓ 1 -Regularization

Mathematical Geosciences - A weighted compressed sensing (WCS) algorithm is proposed for the problem of channelized facies reconstruction from pixel-based measurements. This strategy integrates...     

A two-layer primitive equation model of an idealized Strait of Gibraltar connected to an eastern basin

We describe the solutions of a numerical two-layer primitive equation model of an idealized Strait of Gibraltar and an adjacent eastward basin. The quasi-steady circulation pattern in the basin features an anticyclonic gyre southward of the strait exit and an eastward boundary current attached to the southern boundary of the basin. A variation of the initial upper-layer depth and the target interface height at the eastern boundary causes minor changes of the upper-layer circulation in a basin with rectangular coastline and larger changes when a cape is added to the coastline of the southern boundary.     

A low temperature X-ray single-crystal diffraction and polarised infra-red study of epidote

The effects of low-temperature on the crystal structure of a natural epidote [Ca_1.925Fe_0.745Al_2.265Ti_0.004Si_3.037O₁₂(OH), a = 8.8924(7), b = 5.6214(3), c = 10.1547(6)? and β = 115.396(8)° at room conditions, Sp. Gr. P2₁ /m] have been investigated with a series of structure refinements down to 100 K on the basis of X-ray single-crystal diffraction data. The reflection conditions confirm that the space group is maintained within the T-range investigated. Structural refinements at all temperatures show the presence of Fe³⁺ at the octahedral M(3) site only [%Fe(M3) = 70.6(4)% at 295 K]. Only one independent proton site was located and two possible H-bonds occur, with O(10) as donor and O(4) and O(2) as acceptors. The H-bonding scheme is maintained down to 100 K and is supported by single crystal room-T polarised FTIR data. FTIR Spectra over the region 4,000–2,500 cm⁻¹ are dominated by the presence of a strongly pleochroic absorption feature which can be assigned to protonation of O(10)–O(4). Previously unobserved splitting of this absorption features is consistent with a NNN influence due to the presence of Al and Fe³⁺ on the nearby M(3) site. An additional relatively minor absorption feature in FTIR spectra can be tentatively assigned to protonation of O(10)–O(2). Low-T does not affect significantly the tetrahedral and octahedral bond distances and angles, even when distances are corrected for “rigid body motions”. A more significant effect is observed for the bond distances of the distorted Ca(1)- and Ca(2)-polyhedra, especially when corrected for “non-correlated motion”. The main low-T effect is observed on the vibrational regime of the atomic sites, and in particular for the two Ca-sites. A significant reduction of the magnitude of the thermal displacement ellipsoids, with a variation of U _eq (defined as one-third of the trace of the orthogonalised U _ij tensor) by ~40% is observed for the Ca-sites between 295 and 100 K. Within the same T-range, the U _eq of the octahedral and oxygen sites decrease similarly by ~35%, whereas those of the tetrahedral cations by ~22%.     

Probabilistic risk assessment of common booster biocides in surface waters of the harbours of Gran Canaria (Spain)

The presence of booster biocides in the aquatic environment has been associated with a risk to non-target species due to their proven toxicity. The aim of the present study was to determine the spatial and temporal distribution of common booster biocides in different harbours of the island of Gran Canaria (Spain) and evaluate, by means of a probabilistic risk assessment (PRA), the ecological risk posed by these compounds. With these objectives, a monitoring campaign was conducted between January 2008 and May 2009, collecting a total of 182 seawater samples. Four common booster biocides (TCMTB, diuron, Irgarol 1051 and dichlofluanid) were monitored. Diuron levels ranged between 2.3 and 203 ng/L and Irgarol 1051 between 2.4 and 146.5 ng/L. The ecological risk associated with these levels was always low, however, with probabilities of exceeding the 10th percentile of autotroph toxicity below 3.5%.     

HTP21/c–C2/c phase transition and kinetics of Fe2+–Mg order–disorder of an Fe-poor pigeonite: implications for the cooling history of ureilites

A natural Ca-poor pigeonite (Wo₆En₇₆Fs₁₈) from the ureilite meteorite sample PCA82506-3, free of exsolved augite, was studied by in situ high-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The sample, monoclinic P2₁/c, was annealed up to 1,093°C to induce a phase transition from P2₁/c to C2/c symmetry. The variation with increasing temperature of the lattice parameters and of the intensity of the b-type reflections (h + k = 2n + 1, present only in the P2₁/c phase) showed a displacive phase transition P2₁/c to C2/c at a transition temperature T _Tr = 944°C, first order in character. The Fe–Mg exchange kinetics was studied by ex situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction in a range of temperatures between the closure temperature of the Fe–Mg exchange reaction and the transition temperature. Isothermal disordering annealing experiments, using the IW buffer, were performed on three crystals at 790, 840 and 865°C. Linear regression of ln k _D versus 1/T yielded the following equation: ln k_\textD = - 3717( ±416)/T(K) + 1.290( ±0.378);    (R² = 0.988) \ln \,k_{\text{D}} = - 3717( \pm 416)/T(K) + 1.290( \pm 0.378);\quad (R^{2} = 0.988) . The closure temperature (T _c) calculated using this equation was ∼740(±30)°C. Analysis of the kinetic data carried out taking into account the e.s.d.'s of the atomic fractions used to define the Fe–Mg degree of order, performed according to Mueller’s model, allowed us to retrieve the disordering rate constants C ₀ K _dis⁺ for all three temperatures yielding the following Arrhenius relation: ln( C₀ K_\textdis ⁺ ) = ln K₀ - Q/(RT) = 20.99( ±3.74) - 26406( ±4165)/T(K);    (R² = 0.988) \ln \left( {C_{0} K_{\text{dis}}^{ + } } \right) = \ln \,K_{0} - Q/(RT) = 20.99( \pm 3.74) - 26406( \pm 4165)/T(K);\quad (R^{2} = 0.988) . An activation energy of 52.5(±4) kcal/mol for the Fe–Mg exchange process was obtained. The above relation was used to calculate the following Arrhenius relation modified as a function of X _Fe (in the range of X _Fe = 0.20–0.50): ln( C₀ K_\textdis ⁺ ) = (21.185 - 1.47X_\textFe ) - \frac(27267 - 4170X_\textFe )T(K) \ln \left( {C_{0} K_{\text{dis}}^{ + } } \right) = (21.185 - 1.47X_{\text{Fe}} ) - {\frac{{(27267 - 4170X_{\text{Fe}} )}}{T(K)}} . The cooling time constant, η = 6 × 10⁻¹ K⁻¹ year⁻¹ calculated on the PCA82506-3 sample, provided a cooling rate of the order of 1°C/min consistent with the extremely fast late cooling history of the ureilite parent body after impact excavation.     

Geology and geochemistry of Iberian roofing slates

This article analyzes the geochemical and mineralogical composition of the roofing slate deposits of the Iberian Peninsula. Most roofing slate deposits are found on Middle and Upper Ordovician terrains, although there are also deposits in the Ediacaran, Cambrian and Devonian terrains. Samples of slate were taken in most of the active quarries of the Iberian Peninsula, and being analyzed by X-ray Diffraction and Fluorescence. Each lithotect or slate productive formation has its own specific proportions of major and trace elements, being able to differentiate between them by using these relationships. This fact is particularly interesting in geological exploration and prospecting, as it allows knowing exactly the slate lithotect, and also for restoration work in the architectural heritage, due to the ability of identifying the source of the original slate tiles.     

Volcanoes in the pre-Columbian life,legend, and archaeology of Costa Rica (Central America)

Costa Rica is located geographically in the southern part of the Central American Volcanic Front, a zone where interaction between the Mesoamerican and South American cultures occurred in pre-Columbian times. Several volcanoes violently erupted during the Holocene, when the first nomadic human hunters and later settlers were present. Volcanic rocks were the most important geo-resource in making artifacts and as construction materials for pre-Columbian inhabitants. Some pottery products are believed to resemble smoking volcanoes, and the settlements around volcanoes would seem to indicate their influence on daily life. Undoubtedly, volcanic eruptions disrupted the life of early settlers, particularly in the vicinity of Arenal and Irazú volcanoes, where archaeological remains show transient effects and displacement caused by periodical eruptions, but later resilient occupations around the volcanoes. Most native languages are extinct, with the exception of those presently spoken in areas far away from active volcanoes, where no words are related to volcanic phenomena or structures. The preserved legends are ambiguous, suggesting that they were either produced during the early Spanish conquest or were altered following the pre-Columbian period.