Structural softening of the lithosphere

Structural softening is a decrease in the amount of stress needed to deform the lithosphere at a particular rate because of its structural reorganization while all true rheological properties remain constant. Structural softening is fundamentally different than material softening, where the decrease in stress is generated by a change in rheological properties with progressive deformation, such as grain size reduction resulting from large shearing strain. We study structural softening generated by folding of the crust-mantle boundary, which is a structural instability that inevitably develops during compression of the mechanically layered lithosphere. For ductile rheologies, the stress decrease represents a decrease of the effective lithospheric viscosity, which is proportional to the ratio of stress to lithospheric shortening strain rate. We present analytical and numerical results quantifying the decrease in stress and effective viscosity that occur during shortening at a constant rate. The decrease in effective viscosity can be up to 10-fold.     

New Scintillators for Focal Plane Detectors in Gamma-Ray Missions

Recent developments of cerium-doped lanthanum-halide scintillators like LaBr₃:Ce show a remarkable performance in gamma-ray spectroscopy. When high energy resolution in combination with stopping power is required they provide excellent gamma-ray detector candidates for the use in space missions. Moreover, irradiation tests have shown that such detectors are radiation tolerant. In this paper we discuss a possible application of LaBr in nuclear astrophysics missions. We show results on recent proton irradiation tests at KVI in Groningen (NL) and discuss the damage and activation effects after irradiation. A possible implementation for a focal plane detector in a gamma-ray telescope and the expected performance is presented.     

Circulation Variability Reflected in Ice Core and Lake Records of the Southern Tropical Andes

The circulation mechanisms of climate anomalies in the southern tropical Andes are of particular interest for the January–February core of the precipitation season. With this focus, we evaluate in context upper-air and surface analyses, water level measurements of Lake Titicaca, and records of net balance and ¹⁸O from ice cores. Precipitation is more abundant with enhanced and southward expanded easterlies through a deep layer of the troposphere over the southern tropical Andes. Concomitant with this is a southward displaced circulation system over the equatorial Atlantic, entailing reduced interhemispheric gradient of sea surface temperature (SST; cold/warm anomalies in the North/South), more southerly position of the surface wind confluence and Intertropical Convergence Zone, and thus more abundant rainfall in Northeast Brazil. Such ensemble of circulation departures in boreal winter is common to the high phase of the Southern Oscillation.¹⁸O in the ice cores from Peru's Quelccaya Icecap, as wellas the cores from Sajama and Ilimani in Bolivia is more negative with more abundant precipitation, both in the same annual cycle and on interannual timescales. The large-scale circulation departures associated with the more negative ¹⁸O are in the sense as for anomalously abundant precipitation activity over the southern tropical Andes. The variability of ¹⁸O seasonally and interannually appears to be controlled mainly by the fate of the water vapor along its trajectory and over the Andes, rather than by the SST of the South Atlantic source region.     

An inter-comparison of regional climate models for Europe: model performance in present-day climate

The analysis of possible regional climate changes over Europe as simulated by 10 regional climate models within the context of PRUDENCE requires a careful investigation of possible systematic biases in the models. The purpose of this paper is to identify how the main model systematic biases vary across the different models. Two fundamental aspects of model validation are addressed here: the ability to simulate (1) the long-term (30 or 40 years) mean climate and (2) the inter-annual variability. The analysis concentrates on near-surface air temperature and precipitation over land and focuses mainly on winter and summer. In general, there is a warm bias with respect to the CRU data set in these extreme seasons and a tendency to cold biases in the transition seasons. In winter the typical spread (standard deviation) between the models is 1 K. During summer there is generally a better agreement between observed and simulated values of inter-annual variability although there is a relatively clear signal that the modeled temperature variability is larger than suggested by observations, while precipitation variability is closer to observations. The areas with warm (cold) bias in winter generally exhibit wet (dry) biases, whereas the relationship is the reverse during summer (though much less clear, coupling warm (cold) biases with dry (wet) ones). When comparing the RCMs with their driving GCM, they generally reproduce the large-scale circulation of the GCM though in some cases there are substantial differences between regional biases in surface temperature and precipitation.     

The ‘hidden’ geographies of energy poverty in post-socialism: Between institutions and households

One of the consequences of the post-socialist transformation of Eastern and Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union is the emergence of energy poverty, a condition where households are living in inadequately heated homes. This paper examines the institutional and demographic underpinnings of energy poverty in Macedonia and the Czech Republic, two post-socialist states with divergent development paths. It has been established that more than 50% of Macedonian households may be suffering from domestic energy deprivation, while the same figure is less than 10% in the Czech case. The notion of a ‘hidden’ geography of poverty encapsulates the character of domestic energy deprivation among these populations. The problem has been invisible to decision-makers to date, due to its private character and non-conformity to conventional poverty-amelioration methods.     

A Conceptual Framework for Uncertainty Investigation in Map‐based Land Cover Change Modelling

Uncertainty research represents a research stream of high interest within the community of geographical information science. Its elements, terminology and typology are still under strong discussion and adopted methods for analysis are currently under intensive development. This paper presents a conceptual framework for systematic investigation of uncertainty which occurs in applications of land cover change modelling in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) based on historical map data. Historical, in this context, means the map is old enough to allow identification of changes in landscape elements of interest, such as vegetation. To date such analyses are rarely conducted or not satisfactorily carried out, despite the fact that historical map data represent a potentially rich information source. The general validity and practicability of the framework for related applications is demonstrated with reference to one example in which forest cover change in Switzerland is investigated. The conceptual model consists of three domains in which main potential sources of uncertainty are systematically exposed. Existing links between data quality research and uncertainty are investigated to access the complex nature of uncertainty and to characterise the most suitable concepts for analysis. In accordance with these concepts appropriate methods and procedures are suggested to assess uncertainty in each domain. One domain is the production‐oriented amount of uncertainty which is inherent in the historical map. Vagueness and ambiguity represent suitable concepts for analysis. Transformation‐oriented uncertainty as the second domain occurs owing to editing and processing of digital data. Thereby, the suitable concept of uncertainty is error. The third domain is the application‐oriented uncertainty which occurs in comparing semantically different data. This domain relates to multi‐temporal discord which assumes the assessment of ‘equi‐temporal’ ambiguity and is thus connected to the production‐oriented domain. The framework provides an estimation of the overall amount of uncertainty. This can be linked to subsequent assessment of ‘fitness for use’. Thus the model provides a practicable and systematic approach to access the complex nature of uncertainty in the scope of land cover change modelling.