Sound in media: audio drama and audio-guided tours as stimuli for the creation of place

Mass media frequently makes use of more than the visual image. With the exception of music, movie scores, and radio news however, media geographers have largely ignored the impact sound in media has on shaping and characterizing our experience of the world. We address this lack by showcasing two types of audio media: audio drama and audio-guided tours. The former will be explored with the help of the world’s most successful audio drama series The Three Investigators to give a historical and theoretical introduction to the realm of sound within mass media. The latter will be illustrated using the example of the Austin Walking Tour as a representative production for city tourism.     

Plant-Arthropod Associations from the Lower Miocene of the Most Basin in Northern Bohemia(Czech Republic):A Preliminary Report

<正>Terrestrial plants and insects currently account for the majority of the Earth's biodiversity,and approximately half of insect species are herbivores.Thus,insects and plants share ancient associations that date back more than 400 Myr.However,investigations of their past interactions are at the preliminary stages in Western Europe.Herein,we present the first results of our study of various feeding damage based on a dataset of nearly 3500 examined plant specimens from the Lower Miocene of the Lagerstatte Bilina Mine in the Most Basin, Czech Republic.This site provides a unique view of the Neogene freshwater ecosystems.It has long been studied by scientists working in different branches of sedimentology,paleobotany,and paleozoology.The fossils are preserved in three characteristic horizons overlaying the coal seam(Clayey Superseam Horizon,Delta Sandy Horizon,and Lake Clayey Horizon),reflecting paleoenvironmental changes in a short time period of development The trace fossils are classified as functional feeding groups or"guilds",without searching for a direct cause or a recent analog host relation.Approximately 23%of specimens of dicotyledonous plant leaves were found to be damaged and associated with some leaf"morphotypes".Deciduous plant-host taxa,and those with a chartaceous texture typical of riparian habitats,were frequently damaged,such as Populus,recorded with two species Populus zaddachii and Populus populina(57.9%and 31%herbivory levels,respectively),followed by Acer,Alnus,and Carya,averaging almost 30%of damaged leaves/leaflets.There has been evidence of 60 damage types(DT) representing all functional feeding groups recorded at the Bilina Mine,including 12 types of leaf mines and 16 gall- type DT.In total,Lower Miocene of the Lagerstatte Bilina Mine exhibits a high level of external foliage feeding types(23.7%),and a low level of more specialized DT,such as galls(43%)and leaf mines(1%).A broader comparison based on DT of the main sedimentary environments shows significance supporting different biomes by frequency of damage levels and DT diversities.     

Multi-isotope (Ba,C, O) partitioning during experimental carbonatization of a hyper-alkaline solution

Carbonates formed from hyperalkaline aqueous solutions at the Earth?s surface are known to bear the most extreme disequilibrium isotope signatures reported so far in nature. We present here the results for stable carbon (C), oxygen (O), and barium (Ba) isotope fractionation during the precipitation of witherite (BaCO₃) induced by the chemical absorption of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) into an aqueous hyper-alkaline solution (at 4° and 21?°C; 1?atm total pressure). Independent from temperature, the barium carbonate formation was associated with a substantial enrichment of the lighter C and O isotopes in the solid compared to the atmosphere (C, O), close to previous results found in experiments and nature. A new approach is introduced to explain oxygen isotope fractionation upon hydroxylation of CO₂. With Ba isotope enrichment factors between ?0.45 and ?0.53‰ (^138/134ε) or ?0.34 and ?0.40‰ (^137/134ε), respectively, the synthesized BaCO₃ displays the highest kinetic enrichment of the light Ba isotope in the carbonate solid reported so far.     

Determination of flow exits in the Soultz borehole GPK2 by using the brine displacement method

The article presents a method to derive synthetic flow logs from low rate injection tests in wells, which are otherwise not accessible for logging. The tests were carried out in the 5 km deep geothermal well GPK2 in the Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS) project of Soultz-sous-Forêts (France) and were aimed at characterizing the status of the well before chemical treatments. The method consists of injecting water at constant flow rates into the well initially filled with brine. The wellhead pressure record of this test is transformed into log of the flow velocity versus depth by a technique described in the paper. Applying this method to borehole GPK2, three outlets could be detected and quantified within the cased and uncased section of this borehole. The outlet in the cased section at 3860 m absorbed 15% of the total flow. This depth corresponds to a known casing restriction, which makes the borehole inaccessible for logging operations. The two other outlets are at the casing shoe at 4420 m (15%) and at 4670 m (70%).     

Magmatic-dominated fluid evolution in the Jurassic Nambija gold skarn deposits (southeastern Ecuador)

The Jurassic (approximately 145 Ma) Nambija oxidized gold skarns are hosted by the Triassic volcanosedimentary Piuntza unit in the sub-Andean zone of southeastern Ecuador. The skarns consist dominantly of granditic garnet (Ad_20–98) with subordinate pyroxene (Di_46–92Hd_17–42Jo_0–19) and epidote and are spatially associated with porphyritic quartz-diorite to granodiorite intrusions. Endoskarn is developed at the intrusion margins and grades inwards into a potassic alteration zone. Exoskarn has an outer K- and Na-enriched zone in the volcanosedimentary unit. Gold mineralization is associated with the weakly developed retrograde alteration of the exoskarn and occurs mainly in sulfide-poor vugs and milky quartz veins and veinlets in association with hematite. Fluid inclusion data for the main part of the prograde stage indicate the coexistence of high-temperature (500°C to >600°C), high-salinity (up to 65 wt.% eq. NaCl), and moderate- to low-salinity aqueous-carbonic fluids interpreted to have been trapped at pressures around 100–120 MPa, corresponding to about 4-km depth. Lower-temperature (510–300°C) and moderate- to low-salinity (23–2 wt.% eq. NaCl) aqueous fluids are recorded in garnet and epidote of the end of the prograde stage. The microthermometric data (Th from 513°C to 318°C and salinity from 1.0 to 23 wt.% eq. NaCl) and δ¹⁸O values between 6.2‰ and 11.5‰ for gold-bearing milky quartz from the retrograde stage suggest that the ore-forming fluid was dominantly magmatic. Pressures during the early retrograde stage were in the range of 50–100 MPa, in line with the evidence for CO₂ effervescence and probable local boiling. The dominance of magmatic low-saline to moderately saline oxidizing fluids during the retrograde stage is consistent with the depth of the skarn system, which could have delayed the ingression of external fluids until relatively low temperatures were reached. The resulting low water-to-rock ratios explain the weak retrograde alteration and the compositional variability of chlorite, essentially controlled by host rock compositions. Gold was precipitated at this stage as a result of cooling and pH increase related to CO₂ effervescence, which both result in destabilization of gold-bearing chloride complexes. Significant ingression of external fluids took place after gold deposition only, as recorded by δ¹⁸O values of 0.4‰ to 6.2‰ for fluids depositing quartz (below 350°C) in sulfide-rich barren veins. Low-temperature (<300°C) meteoric fluids (δ¹⁸O_water between −10.0‰ and −2.0‰) are responsible for the precipitation of late comb quartz and calcite in cavities and veins and indicate mixing with cooler fluids of higher salinities (about 100°C and 25 wt.% eq. NaCl). The latter are similar to low-temperature fluids (202–74.5°C) with δ¹⁸O values of −0.5‰ to 3.1‰ and salinities in the range of 21.1 to 17.3 wt.% eq. CaCl₂, trapped in calcite of late veins and interpreted as basinal brines. Nambija represents a deep equivalent of the oxidized gold skarn class, the presence of CO₂ in the fluids being partly a consequence of the relatively deep setting at about 4-km depth. As in other Au-bearing skarn deposits, not only the prograde stage but also the gold-precipitating retrograde stage is dominated by fluids of magmatic origin.     

Camouflaged Galactic cosmic microwave background polarization foregrounds: total and polarized contributions of the kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich effect

We consider the role of the Galactic kinetic Sunyaev–Zeldovich (SZ) effect as a cosmic microwave background (CMB) polarization foreground. While the Galactic thermal SZ effect has previously been studied and discarded as a potential CMB foreground, we find that the kinetic SZ effect is dominant in the Galactic case. We analyse the detectability of the kinetic SZ effect by means of an optimally matched filter technique applied to a simulation of an ideal observation. We obtain no detection, getting a signal-to-noise ratio of 0.1, thereby demonstrating that the kinetic SZ effect can also safely be ignored as a CMB foreground. However, we provide maps of the expected signal for inclusion in future high-precision data processing. Furthermore, we rule out the significant contamination of the polarized CMB signal by second scattering of Galactic kinetic SZ photons, since we show that the scattering of the CMB quadrupole photons by Galactic electrons is a stronger effect than the SZ second scattering, and has already been shown to produce no significant polarized contamination.     

Cooperative interaction of rich and poor can be catalyzed by intermediate climate targets

International climate negotiations that aim at reducing global greenhouse gas emissions are strongly influenced by a conflict between rich and poor countries and by a lack of consensus about the urgency of emission reduction measures. We have previously in an experimental game characterised the implied challenge of avoiding dangerous climate change as the “collective-risk social dilemma”. Here we introduce heterogeneous wealth and two time horizons into the collective-risk social dilemma game. We show that rich players are willing to substitute for missing contributions by the poor, provided the players collectively face intermediate climate targets that, if not reached, are potentially followed by simulated intermediate costly climate risks. However, despite some increase in the contributions of the rich against the final collective target, the final target is reached less often than the intermediate target. Our results provide experimental evidence that similar, intermediate time horizons between climate risks and climate change mitigation planning are a necessary, though not sufficient, component of successful climate negotiations.     

Imaging a shallow salt diapir using ambient seismic vibrations beneath the densely built-up city area of Hamburg,Northern Germany

Salt diapirs are common features of sedimentary basins. If close to the surface, they can bear a significant hazard due to possible dissolution sinkholes, karst formation and collapse dolines or their influence on ground water chemistry. We investigate the potential of ambient vibration techniques to map the 3-D roof morphology of shallow salt diapirs. Horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) spectral peaks are derived at more than 900 positions above a shallow diapir beneath the city area of Hamburg, Germany, and are used to infer the depth of the first strong impedance contrast. In addition, 15 small-scale array measurements are conducted at different positions in order to compute frequency-dependent phase velocities of Rayleigh waves between 0.5 and 25 Hz. The dispersion curves are inverted together with the H/V peak frequency to obtain shear-wave velocity profiles. Additionally, we compare the morphology derived from H/V and array measurements to borehole lithology and a gravity-based 3-D model of the salt diapir. Both methods give consistent results in agreement with major features indicated by the independent data. An important result is that H/V and array measurements are better suited to identify weathered gypsum caprocks or gypsum floaters, while gravity-derived models better sample the interface between sediments and homogeneous salt. We further investigate qualitatively the influence of the 3-D subsurface topography of the salt diapir on the validity of local 1-D inversion results from ambient vibration dispersion curve inversion.     

Improved estimates of mean sea level changes in the German Bight over the last 166 years

In this paper, mean sea level changes in the German Bight, the south-eastern part of the North Sea, are analysed. Records from 13 tide gauges covering the entire German North Sea coastline and the period from 1843 to 2008 have been used to derive high quality relative mean sea level time series. Changes in mean sea level are assessed using non-linear smoothing techniques and linear trend estimations for different time spans. Time series from individual tide gauges are analysed and then ‘virtual station’ time series are constructed (by combining the individual records) which are representative of the German Bight and the southern and eastern regions of the Bight. An accelerated sea level rise is detected for a period at the end of the nineteenth century and for another one covering the last decades. The results show that there are regional differences in sea level changes along the coastline. Higher rates of relative sea level rise are detected for the eastern part of the German Bight in comparison to the southern part. This is most likely due to different rates of vertical land movement. In addition, different temporal behaviour of sea level change is found in the German Bight compared to wider regional and global changes, highlighting the urgent need to derive reliable regional sea level projections for coastal planning strategies.     

Least-squares harmonic estimation of the tropopause parameters using GPS radio occultation measurements

In order to investigate temporal variations of the tropopause parameters, Least-Squares Harmonic Estimation (LS-HE) is applied to the time series of the tropopause temperatures and heights derived from Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS RO) atmospheric profiles of CHAMP, GRACE and COSMIC missions from January 2006 until May 2010 in different regions of Iran. By applying the univariate LS-HE to the completely unevenly spaced time series of the tropopause temperatures and heights, annual and diurnal components are detected together with their higher harmonics. The multivariate LS-HE estimates the main periodic signals, particularly diurnal and semidiurnal cycles, more clearly than the univariate LS-HE. Mixing in the values of the tropopause height and temperature is seen to occur in winter at lower latitudes (around 30°) as a result of subtropical jet, and in summer at higher latitudes (36°–42°) as an effect of subtropical high. A bimodal pattern is observed in the frequency histograms of the tropopause heights, in which the primary modes for the southern and northern parts of Iran correspond to subtropical and extratropical heights, respectively.