The problem of current channelling: A critical review

The notion that currents induced ‘elsewhere’, by external source fields, could wend their way in a frequency-independent ohmic-like manner through a region of interest has been the cause of many recent disputes within the geomagnetic induction community. In particular, two-dimensional (2D) models of the Rhinegraben, and of the region known as the ‘Eskdalemuir anomaly’ in southern Scotland, have been dismissed as erroneous by those who believe that the observations are more correctly interpreted as due to the effects of ‘channelled’ currents rather than ‘induced’ currents. In this review, attention is paid primarily to consider under what circumstances any perturbation of current flow, which may manifest itself as a ‘DC-like’ channelled current, could cause a ‘problem’ for those wishing to interpret their observations. Various concepts are introduced, particularly the ratio of 3D/2D current channelling numbers for the induction problem, which is shown to be the ratio of the length of the 3D body to the skin depth in the host medium. It is stressed that the worker must analyse his data by adequate statistical techniques, and that the simplest physical models possible, that describes the observations, must be sought. Finally, suggestions are made for further work to be undertaken.     

A new technique for determining the surface level of salt marshes and other uncompacted sedimentary environments

The method described involves the use of an electro-optical distance measurer mounted on a theodolite. Observations are taken onto a series of acrylic reflectors, aligned at right angles to the line of sight, and slope distances and vertical and horizontal angles are recorded. From these data it is possible to obtain surface heights to an accuracy of ±0·5 cm at 200 m and to avoid any direct disturbance of the site under investigation.     

The development of warehousing in England

Over the past decade there has been a growing recognition by the business community, central government and local planners of the economic importance of warehousing. This importance can be measured in terms of the value of stock held in warehouses, their very rapid growth relative to other types of commercial property and the employment they create. This article reviews changes in business and planning attitudes to warehousing, accounts for the recent growth of warehouse floorspace in England and examines the spatial distribution of this growth.     

The impact of geographical indication on the revitalisation of a regional economy: a case study of 'Boseong' green tea

Geographical indications are legal signs which identify a good as originating in a specific country or region, where the reputation of the product is attributable to its geographical roots. South Korea has operated with a geographical indication system since 1999. This research analyses the regional impacts of geographical indications using the case study of 'Boseong' green tea. The results show that geographical indication has enhanced the image of the product, leading to increased production and the stimulation of tea-related industries. We argue that geographical indication can be used as an effective policy to cope with trade liberalisation.     

On the importance of non-hydrostatic processes in determining tidally induced mixing in sill regions

The importance of using a non-hydrostatic model to compute tidally induced mixing and flow in the region of a sill is examined using idealized topography representing the sill at the entrance to Loch Etive. This site is chosen since detailed measurements were recently made there. Calculations are performed with and without the inclusion of non-hydrostatic dynamics using a vertical slice model for a range of sill widths corresponding to typical sill regions. Initial non-hydrostatic calculations showed that the model could reproduce the observed flow characteristics in the region. However, when calculations were performed using the model in hydrostatic form, the significant artificial convective mixing that occurred in order to remove density inversions led to excessively high vertical mixing. This influenced the computed temperature field and the intensity of the current jet that separated from the sill on its lee side. In addition it affected the magnitude and spatial characteristics of the lee waves generated on the lee side of the sill. Calculations with a range of sill widths, showed that as the sill width decreased the difference between the solution computed with the non-hydrostatic and hydrostatic model increased.     

Import of coastally-derived chlorophylla to South Slough, Oregon

Material transfer between estuaries and the nearshore zone has long been of interest, but information on the processes affecting Pacific Northwest estuaries has lagged behind other areas. The west coast of the U.S. is a region of seasonally variable upwelling that results in enhanced phytoplankton production in the nearshore zone. We examined estuarine-nearshore links over time by measuring physical oceanographic variables and chlorophylla concentration from an anchor station in South Slough, Oregon. Data was collected during 24-h cruises conducted at approximately weekly intervals during summer 1996 and spring 1997. The results demonstrate that the physical oceanography of this estuarine site was strongly influenced by the coastal ocean. Marine water reached the estuarine site on every sampled tide, and chlorophylla was clearly advected into the estuary with this ocean water. In contrast, phytoplankton concentrations were comparatively reduced in the estuarine water. There were, however, large fluctuations in the import of chlorophyll over the course of the summer. These variations likely reflect upwelling-generated phytoplankton production in the coastal ocean and subsequent cross-shelf transport to the estuary. Suspension feeding organisms in South Slough likely depend on the advection of this coastally-derived phytoplankton. The large allochthonous chlorophyll input measured for this system appears dissimilar from most estuaries studied to date. Previous investigations have focused on the outwelling and inwelling of materials in estuaries. We must now consider the influence of coastal upwelling and downwelling processes on estuarine material exchange.     

Aseismio fault slip and block deformation in North China

In North China, the tectonic fault-block system enables us to use the Discontinuous Deformation Analysis (DDA) method to simulate the long-term cross-fault survey and other geodetic data related to aseismic tectonic deformation. By the simulation we have found that: (1) Slips on faults with different orientation are generally in agreement with the ENE-WSW tectonic stress field, but the slip pattern of faulting can vary from nearly orthogonal, to pure shear along the strike of the faults, this pattern cannot be explained by simple geometric relation between the strike of the fault and the direction of the tectonic shortening. This phenomenon has been observed at many sites of cross-fault geodetic surveys, and might be caused by the interactions between different blocks and faults. (2) According to the DDA model, if the average aseismic slip rate along major active faults is at the order of several tenths of millimeter per year as observed by the cross-fault geodetic surveys, the typical strain rate inside a block is at the order of 10^–8 year^–1 or less, so that the rate of 10^–6 year^–1, as reported by observations in smaller areas, cannot be the representative deformation rate in this region. (3) Between the slips caused by regional compression and block rotation, there is a possibility that the sense of slip caused by rigid body rotation in two adjacent blocks is opposite to the slip caused by the tectonic compression. But the magnitude of slip resulting from the tectonic compression is much larger than that due to the block rotation. Thus, in general, the slip pattern on faults as a whole agrees with the sense of tectonic compression in this region. That is to say, the slip caused by regional compression dominates the entire slip budget. (4) Based on (3), some observed slips in contradiction to ENE tectonic stress field may be caused by more localized sources, and have no tectonic significance.     

Tropical soils could dominate the short-term carbon cycle feedbacks to increased global temperatures

Results of a simple model of the effects of temperature on net ecosystem production call into question the argument that the large stocks of soil carbon and greater projected warming in the boreal and tu ndra regions of the world willlead to rapid efflux of carbon from these biomes to the atmosphere. We show that low rates of carbon turnover in these regions and a relatively greater response of net primary production to changes in temperature may lead to carbon storage over some limited range of warming. In contrast, the high rates of soil respiration found in tropical ecosystems are highly sensitive to small changes in temperature, so that despite the less pronounced warming expected in equatorial regions, tropical soils are likely to release relatively large amounts of carbon to the atmosphere. Results for high-latitude biomes are highly sensitive to parameter values used, while the net efflux of carbon from the tropics appears robust.