Compromise not consensus: designing a participatory process for landslide risk mitigation

With the escalating costs of landslides, the challenge for local authorities is to develop institutional arrangements for landslide risk management that are viewed as efficient, feasible and fair by those affected. For this purpose, the participation of stakeholders in the decision-making process is mandated by the European Union as a way of improving its perceived legitimacy and transparency. This paper reports on an analytical-deliberative process for selecting landslide risk mitigation measures in the town of Nocera Inferiore in southern Italy. The process was structured as a series of meetings with a group of selected residents and several parallel activities open to the public. The preparatory work included a literature/media review, semi-structured interviews carried out with key local stakeholders and a survey eliciting residents’ views on landslide risk management. The main point of departure in the design of this process was the explicit elicitation and structuring of multiple worldviews (or perspectives) among the participants with respect to the nature of the problem and its solution. Rather than eliciting preferences using decision analytical methods (e.g. utility theory or multi-criteria evaluation), this process built on a body of research—based on the theory of plural rationality—that has teased out the limited number of contending and socially constructed definitions of problem-and-solution that are able to achieve viability. This framing proved effective in structuring participants’ views and arriving at a compromise recommendation (not, as is often aimed for, a consensus) on measures for reducing landslide risk. Experts played a unique role in this process by providing a range of policy options that corresponded to the different perspectives held by the participants.     

Econometric analysis of the ship demolition market

The topic of ship recycling has obtained considerable attention during the last two decades for a variety of reasons with the likelihood of the adoption of a new international convention under the auspices of the International Maritime Organization (IMO). This study applies econometric modeling to a unique data set to provide insight into the dynamics of the ship recycling market. The data set contains information on 51,112 ships over 100 gt and includes 748,621 events over a period of 29 years. The analysis confirms a negative relationship of earnings and a positive relationship of scrap prices for all locations while Bangladesh seems to be more sensitive to changes in earnings than the other locations and more likely demolishes larger and older vessels. The results for flag and ownership vary across scrapping locations with Malta and Cyprus indicating potential importance from a registry perspective. The overall safety profile of a vessel seems to be less important towards the probability of a ship being scrapped. Possible implementation of the convention at EU level will mostly likely affect Turkey while non-ratification of one of the major flags will most likely affect China or Bangladesh.     

Solar Microflares Observed by SphinX and RHESSI

In 2009, the Russian Complex Orbital Observations Near-Earth of Activity of the Sun (CORONAS-Photon) spacecraft was launched, carrying the Polish Solar PHotometer In X-rays (SphinX). The SphinX was most sensitive in the spectral range 1.2?–?15 keV, thus an excellent opportunity appeared for comparison with the low-energy end of Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI) spectra. Common spectral measurements with these instruments cover the range where most of the flare energy is accumulated. We have chosen four consecutive small solar events observed on 4 July 2009 at 13:43 UT, 13:48 UT, 13:52 UT, and 13:55 UT (RHESSI flare peak times) and used them to compare the data and results from the two instruments. Moreover, we included Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) records in our analysis. In practice, the range of comparison performed for SphinX and RHESSI is limited roughly to 3?–?6 keV. RHESSI fluxes measured with a use of one, four, and nine detectors in the 3?–?4 keV energy band agree with SphinX measurements. However, we observed that SphinX spectral irradiances are three times higher than those of RHESSI in the 4?–?6 keV energy band. This effect contributes to the difference in obtained emission measures, but the derived temperatures of plasma components are similar. RHESSI spectra were fitted using a model with two thermal components. We have found that the RHESSI hot component is in agreement with GOES, and the RHESSI hotter component fits the SphinX flaring component well. Moreover, we calculated the so-called thermodynamic measure and the total thermal energy content in the four microflares that we studied. The results obtained show that SphinX is a very sensitive complementary observatory for RHESSI and GOES.     

Comparison of fluid geochemistry and microbiology of multiple organic-rich reservoirs in the Illinois Basin, USA: Evidence for controls on methanogenesis and microbial transport

Microbial methane in sedimentary basins comprises approximately 20% of global natural gas resources, yet little is known about the environmental requirements and metabolic rates of these subsurface microbial communities. The Illinois Basin, located in the midcontinent of the United States, is an ideal location to investigate hydrogeochemical factors controlling methanogenesis as microbial methane accumulations occur: (1) in three organic-rich reservoirs of different geologic ages and organic matter types - Upper Devonian New Albany Shale (up to 900 m depth), Pennsylvanian coals (up to 600 m depth), and Quaternary glacial sediments (shallow aquifers); (2) across steep salinity gradients; and (3) with variable concentrations of . For all three organic-rich reservoirs aqueous geochemical conditions are favorable for microbial methanogenesis, with near neutral pH, concentrations <2 mM, and Cl⁻ concentrations <3 M. Also, carbon isotopic fractionation of CH₄, CO₂, and DIC is consistent with microbial methanogenesis, and increased carbon isotopic fractionation with average reservoir depth corresponds to a decrease of groundwater flushing rates with average depth of reservoir. Plots of stable isotopes of water and Cl⁻ show mixing between a brine endmember and freshwater, suggesting that meteoric groundwater recharge has affected all microbial methanogenic systems. Additionally, similar methanogenic communities are present in all three reservoirs with comparable cell counts (8.69E3-2.58E6 cells/mL). TRFLP results show low numbers of archaea species with only two dominant groups of base pairs in coals, shale, and limestone aquifers. These results compare favorably with other methanogen-containing deep subsurface environments. Individual hydrogeochemical parameters that have a Spearman correlation coefficient greater than 0.3 to variations in methanogenic species include stable isotopes of water (δ¹⁸O and δD), type of substrate (i.e. coals versus shale), pH, and Cl⁻ concentration. The matching of variations between methanogenic TRFLP data and conservative tracers suggests that deep circulation of meteoric waters influenced archaeal communities in the Illinois Basin. In addition, coalification and burial estimates suggest that in the study area, coals and shale reservoirs were previously sterilized (>80 °C in nutrient poor environments), necessitating the re-introduction of microbes into the subsurface via groundwater transport.     

Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene lake‐level fluctuations in the Lahontan Basin,Nevada: Implications for the distribution of archaeological sites

The Great Basin of the western U.S. contains a rich record of Late Pleistocene and Holocene lake‐level fluctuations as well as an extensive record of human occupation during the same time frame. We compare spatial‐temporal relationships between these records in the Lahontan basin to consider whether lake‐level fluctuations across the Pleistocene‐Holocene transition controlled distribution of archaeological sites. We use the reasonably well‐dated archaeological record from caves and rockshelters as well as results from new pedestrian surveys to investigate this problem. Although lake levels probably reached maximum elevations of about 1230–1235 m in the different subbasins of Lahontan during the Younger Dryas (YD) period, the duration that the lakes occupied the highest levels was brief. Paleoindian and Early Archaic archaeological sites are concentrated on somewhat lower and slightly younger shorelines (_1220–1225 m) that also date from the Younger Dryas period. This study suggests that Paleoindians often concentrated their activities adjacent to large lakes and wetland resources soon after they first entered the Great Basin. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Salt kinematics and regional tectonics across a Permian gas field: a case study from East Frisia, NW Germany

This study presents a reconstruction of the tectonic history of an Upper Rotliegend tight gas field in Northern Germany. Tectonism of the greater study area was influenced by multiple phases of salt movement, which produced a variety of salt-related structural features such as salt walls, salt diapirs as well as salt glaciers (namakiers). A sequential 2D retro-deformation and stratal backstripping methodology was used to differentiate mechanisms inducing salt movement and to discuss their relation to regional tectonics. The quantitative geometric restoration included sedimentary balancing, decompaction, fault-related deformation, salt movement, thermal subsidence, and isostasy to unravel the post-depositional tectonic overprint of the Rotliegend reservoir rock. The results of this study indicate that reactive salt diapirism started during an Early Triassic interval of thin-skinned extensional tectonics, followed by an active diapirism stage with an overburden salt piercement in the Late Triassic, and finally a period of intensive salt surface extrusion and the formation of salt glaciers (namakiers) in Late Triassic and Jurassic times. Since the Early Cretaceous, salt in the study area has been rising by passive diapirism.     

Spectral data source effect on crop state estimation by vegetation indices

Spectral vegetation indices (VIs) are a well-known and widely used method for crop state estimation. The ability to monitor crop state by such indices is an important tool for agricultural management. Even though differences in imagery and point-based spectroscopy are obvious, their impact on crop state estimation by VIs is not well-studied. The aim of this study was to assess the performance level of the selected VIs calculated from spaceborne multispectral imagery and point-based field spectroscopy in application to crop state estimation. For this purpose, irrigated chickpea field was monitored by RapidEye satellite mission and additional measurements by field spectrometer were obtained. Estimated VIs average and coefficient of variation from each observation were compared with physical crop measurements: leaf water content, LAI and chlorophyll level. The results indicate that indices calculated from spaceborne spectral images regardless of the claimed response commonly react on phenology of the irrigated chickpea. This feature makes spaceborne spectral imagery an appropriate data source for monitoring crop development, crop water needs and yield prediction. VIs calculated from field spectrometer were sensitive for estimating pigment concentration and photosynthesis rate. Yet, a hypersensitivity of field spectral measures might lead to a very high variability (up to 69%) of the calculated values. Consequently, the high spatial variability of field spectral measurements depreciates the estimation agricultural field state by average mean only. Nevertheless, the spatial variability might have certain behavior trend, e.g., a significant increase in the active growth or stress and can be an independent feature for field state assessment.