Coping with disaster: Rehabilitating coastal livelihoods and communities

This paper examines lessons from past approaches to natural disasters, as well as early lessons from the post-2004 Asian tsunami rehabilitation, to draw out general principles for rehabilitating livelihoods in poor coastal communities. We contend that avoiding the mistakes of the past requires: (1) a framework for understanding the diversity of coastal people's livelihood strategies and the sources of their vulnerability, (2) a process for designing interventions that build on this understanding in order to strengthen and revitalize coastal communities, including a means of assessing and selecting the most promising livelihood options, and (3) a focus on the longer-term challenge of building future resilience and sustainability in the communities by addressing the root causes of vulnerability.     

Sources and biogeochemical cycling of particulate selenium in the San Francisco Bay estuary

As part of a study of estuarine selenium cycling, we measured the concentration, chemical form (speciation), and distribution of particulate selenium under various river flow conditions in the North San Francisco Bay (from the Golden Gate to the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers). We also conducted laboratory studies on the accumulation of selenium by phytoplankton, the critical first step in the transformation of dissolved to particulate selenium. Total particulate selenium concentration in the North SF Bay was relatively constant between high and low flow periods, ranging spatially from 0.05 to 0.35 nmol l⁻¹ and comprising between 5 and 12% of the total water column selenium inventory. Mean concentrations were generally highest in the Carquinez Strait–Suisun Bay region (salinity 0–17) and lowest in Central Bay. However, selenium content of suspended particles varied with river flow, with higher content during low flow (9.76 ± 4.17 nmol g⁻¹; mean ± sd; n = 67) compared to high flow (7.10 ± 4.24 nmol g⁻¹; n = 39). Speciation analyses showed that most particulate selenium is organic selenide (45 ± 27%), with a smaller proportion (typically <30%) of adsorbed selenite + selenate and a varying proportion (35 ± 28%) of elemental selenium. Based on the amount of elemental selenium in the seston (total suspended material), we calculate that resuspension of estuarine sediments could contribute 29–100% of particulate selenium in the water column. While selenium content of SF Bay seston (>0.4 μm) is relatively unenriched compared to phytoplankton (13.6–155 nmol g⁻¹ dry weight) on a mass basis, when normalized to carbon or nitrogen, seston contains a similar selenium concentration to SF Bay sediments or phytoplankton cultures. SF Bay seston is thus comprised of selenium-rich phytoplankton and phyto-detritus, but also inorganic clay mineral particles that effectively “dilute” total particulate selenium. Selenium concentrations in algal cultures (11 species) exposed to 90 nmol l⁻¹ selenite show relatively large differences in selenium accumulation, with the diatoms, chlorophytes and cryptophytes generally having lower selenium cell content (3.8 ± 2.7 × 10⁻⁹ nmol selenium cell⁻¹) compared to the dinoflagellates (193 ± 73 × 10⁻⁹ nmol selenium cell⁻¹). Because phytoplankton are such a rich (but variable) source of selenium, their dynamics could have a profound effect on the particulate selenium inventory in the North SF Bay.     

Chlorine-36 in groundwater of the United States: empirical data

Natural production of the radionuclide chlorine-36 (³⁶Cl) has provided a valuable tracer for groundwater studies. The nuclear industry, especially the testing of thermonuclear weapons, has also produced large amounts of ³⁶Cl that can be detected in many samples of groundwater. In order to be most useful in hydrologic studies, the natural production prior to 1952 should be distinguished from more recent artificial sources. The object of this study was to reconstruct the probable preanthropogenic levels of ³⁶Cl in groundwater in the United States. Although significant local variations exist, they are superimposed on a broad regional pattern of ³⁶Cl/Cl ratios in the United States. Owing to the influence of atmospherically transported ocean salt, natural ratios of ³⁶Cl/total Cl are lowest near the coast and increase to a maximum in the central Rocky Mountains of the United States. Electronic Publication     

Mapping the Land Cover of Mexico Using AVHRR Time‐Series Data Sets

Abstract

An important methodological and analytical requirement for analyzing spatial relationships between regional habitats and species distributions in Mexico is the development of standard methods for mapping the country's land cover/land use formations. This necessarily involves the use of global data such as that produced by the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). We created a nine‐band time‐series composite image from AVHRR Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) bi‐weekly data. Each band represented the maximum NDVI for a particular month of either 1992 or 1993. We carried out a supervised classification approach, using the latest comprehensive land cover/vegetation map created by the Mexican National Institute of Geography (INEGI) as reference data. Training areas for 26 land cover/vegetation types were selected and digitized on the computer's screen by overlaying the INEGI vector coverage on the NDVI image. To obtain specific spectral responses for each vegetation type, as determined by its characteristic phenology and geographic location, the statistics of the spectral signatures were subjected to a cluster analysis. A total of 104 classes distributed among the 26 land cover types were used to perform the classification. Elevation data were used to direct classification output for pine‐oak and coastal vegetation types. The overall correspondence value of the classification proposed in this paper was 54%; however, for main vegetation formations correspondence values were higher (60‐80%). In order to obtain refinements in the proposed classification we recommend further analysis of the signature statistics and adding topographic data into the classification algorithm.     

Growth of bultfonteinite and hydrogarnet in metasomatized basalt xenoliths in the B/K9 kimberlite, Damtshaa, Botswana: insights into hydrothermal metamorphism in kimberlite pipes

Metamorphic assemblages within Karoo basalt xenoliths, found within volcaniclastic kimberlite of the B/K9 pipe, Damtshaa, Botswana, constrain conditions of kimberlite alteration. Bultfonteinite and chlorite partially replace the original augite-plagioclase assemblage, driven by the serpentinisation of the kimberlite creating strong chemical potential gradients for Si and Mg. Hydrogarnet and serpentine replace these earlier metamorphic assemblages as the deposits cool. The bultfonteinite (ideally Ca₂SiO₂[OH,F]₄) and hydrogarnet assemblages require a water-rich fluid containing F⁻, and imply hydrothermal alteration dominated by external fluids rather than autometamorphism from deuteric fluids. Bultfonteinite and hydrogarnet are estimated to form at temperatures of ca. 350–250°C, which are similar to those for serpentinisation. Alteration within the B/K9 kimberlite predominantly occurs between 250 and 400°C. We attribute these conditions to increased efficiency of mass transfer and chemical reactions below the critical point of water and a consequence of volume-increasing serpentinisation and metasomatic reactions that take place over this temperature range. A comparison of the B/K9 kimberlite with kimberlites from Venetia, South Africa suggests that the composition and mineralogy of included xenoliths affects the alteration assemblages within kimberlite deposits.     

Graded-Density Reservoirs for Accessing High Stress Low Temperature Material States

In recently developed laser-driven shockless compression experiments an ablatively driven shock in a primary target is transformed into a ramp compression wave in a secondary target via unloading followed by stagnation across an intermediate vacuum gap. Current limitations on the achievable peak longitudinal stresses are limited by the ability of shaping the temporal profile of the ramp compression pulse. We report on new techniques using graded density reservoirs for shaping the loading profile and extending these techniques to high peak pressures.     

The age,origin, and volcanological significance of the Y-5 ash layer in the Mediterranean

The Y-5 ash is the most widespread layer in deep-sea sediments from the eastern Mediterranean. This ash layer was previously correlated with the Citara-Serrara tuff on Ischia Island and dated at approximately 25,000 yr B.P. New data on the glass chemistry of the Y-5 ash and pyroclastic deposits from the Neopolitan volcanic province suggest that the layer is correlative with the large-volume Campanian ignimbrite and not with the deposit from Ischia Island. The volume of the Y-5 ash is approximately 65 km³ which is comparable in magnitude to the volume of the Campanian ignimbrite. An interpolated age of approximately 38,000 yr B.P. is estimated based on sedimentation rates derived from δ¹⁸O stratigraphy. There is a discrepancy between this estimate and previously reported radiocarbon ages which range from 24,000 to 35,000 yr B.P. We propose that the “Campanian tuff ash layer” should be adopted as the full stratigraphic name for the Y-5 ash. The deep-sea ash layer is divisible into two units in proximal localities, probably correlating with two major phases of the eruption: plinian and ignimbrite.     

Improving marine environmental health through marine citizenship: A call for debate

This paper presents an evaluation of the role of marine citizenship in improving marine environmental health and marine governance. Marine citizenship describes the rights and responsibilities of an individual towards the marine environment, which support the achievement of marine policy objectives at the national level. It is argued that marine citizenship requires an enhanced awareness of marine environmental issues, an understanding of the role of personal behaviour in creating and resolving marine environmental issues, and a shift in values to promote marine pro-environmental behavioural choices. It is concluded that the value shift is likely to be produced by the development of an altered relationship between the state and the individual, in which the expectations placed on citizens by the state are extended to include marine pro-environmental behaviour. The paper is intended to stimulate debate and the authors invite and encourage replies to the ideas contained within the paper.