Supervised Mineral Classification with Semiautomatic Training and Validation Set Generation in Scanning Electron Microscope Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy Images of Thin Sections

This paper addresses the problem of classifying minerals common in siliciclastic and carbonate rocks. Twelve chemical elements are mapped from thin sections by energy dispersive spectroscopy in a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Extensions to traditional multivariate statistical methods are applied to perform the classification. First, training and validation sets are grown from one or a few seed points by a method that ensures spatial and spectral closeness of observations. Spectral closeness is obtained by excluding observations that have high Mahalanobis distances to the training class mean. Spatial closeness is obtained by requesting connectivity. Second, class consistency is controlled by forcing each class into 5–10 subclasses and checking the separability of these subclasses by means of canonical discriminant analysis. Third, class separability is checked by means of the Jeffreys–Matusita distance and the posterior probability of a class mean being classified as another class. Fourth, the actual classification is carried out based on four supervised classifiers all assuming multinormal distributions: simple quadratic, a contextual quadratic, and two hierarchical quadratic classifiers. Overall weighted misclassification rates for all quadratic classifiers are very low for both the training (0.25–0.33%) and validation sets (0.65–1.13%). Finally, the number of rejected observations in routine runs is checked to control the performance of the SEM image acquisition and the classification. Although the contextual classifier performs marginally best on the validation set, the simple quadratic classifier is chosen in routine classifications because of the lower processing time required. The method is presently used as a routine petrographical analysis method at Norsk Hydro Research Centre. The data can be approximated by a Poisson distribution. Accordingly, the square root of the data has constant variance and a linear classifier can be used. Near orthogonal input data, enable the use of a minimum distance classifier. Results from both linear and quadratic minimum distance classifications are described briefly.     

法国阿尔卑斯山(Mt.Alps,France) 溪流型喀斯特瀑布水生苔藓植物群落生态研究

对法国阿尔卑斯山(M t. Alps, France) 6个溪流型喀斯特瀑布水生苔藓植物群落进行了研究。报道典型瀑布水生苔藓群落14个,苔藓植物种类由11科16属20种(含变种亚种) 组成; 生殖系统由雌雄异株( Dio ecious, 95% )和雌雄同株异苞( Auto ecious, 5% )两种类型构成,无性繁殖是繁殖的主要方式; 区系地理成分含北温带分布( 60% ) 、欧洲- 北美分布( 10% )、旧世界温带分布( 5% )和世界广泛分布( 25% ) 等4种成分; 生活型含高丛集型( 20% )、矮丛集型( 10% )、交织型( 60% )和平铺型( 10% ) 4种类型。根据喀斯特沉积环境特征, 划分瀑布水生苔藓群落为峡谷瀑布苔藓群落、温泉瀑布苔藓群落、瀑布水帘洞苔藓群落、悬崖瀑布苔藓群落和悬崖季节性瀑布苔藓群落等5种生态类型。法国阿尔卑斯山溪流型瀑布生物喀斯特沉积物具有分布广泛,但沉积规模较小的特点。      

法国阿尔卑斯— 罗讷(Rhone-Alps)岩溶洞穴弱光带苔藓植物群落研究

报道了法国阿尔卑斯-罗讷( Rhone-Alps )地区3个岩溶洞穴苔藓植物群落研究结果。记载典型洞穴苔藓群落11个,苔藓植物种类8科12属15种(含变种); 区系地理成分含北温带分布(46. 66%)、温带欧洲分布(6. 67% )、欧洲-亚洲分布(6. 67%)、欧洲-北美分布(13. 33%)和世界广泛分布(26. 67%) 5种成分; 生活型含高丛集型(20%)、矮丛集型(33. 33%)、交织型(40%)和平铺型(6. 67%) 4种类型。根据岩溶沉积环境特征,划分洞穴苔藓群落为钟乳石苔藓群落、洞壁钙华苔藓群落、洞底泉华苔藓群落和石灰土苔藓群落等4种生态类型。      

Trends and low-frequency variability of storminess over western Europe, 1878–2007

This study analyzes extremes of geostrophic wind speeds derived from sub-daily surface pressure observations at 13 sites in the European region from the Iberian peninsula to Scandinavia for the period from 1878 or later to 2007. It extends previous studies on storminess conditions in the Northeast (NE) Atlantic-European region. It also briefly discusses the relationship between storminess and the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The results show that storminess conditions in the region from the Northeast Atlantic to western Europe have undergone substantial decadal or longer time scale fluctuations, with considerable seasonal and regional differences (especially between winter and summer, and between the British Isles-North Sea area and other parts of the region). In the North Sea and the Alps areas, there has been a notable increase in the occurrence frequency of strong geostrophic winds from the mid to the late twentieth century. The results also show that, in the cold season (December–March), the NAO-storminess relationship is significantly positive in the north-central part of this region, but negative in the south-southeastern part.     

Groundwater dynamics in a till hillslope: flow directions,gradients and delay

Knowledge of groundwater dynamics is important for the understanding of hydrological controls on chemical processes along the water flow pathways. To increase our knowledge of groundwater dynamics in areas with shallow groundwater, the groundwater dynamics along a hillslope were studied in a boreal catchment in Southern Sweden. The forested hillslope had a 1‐ to 2‐m deep layer of sandy till above bedrock. The groundwater flow direction and slope were calculated under the assumption that the flow followed the slope of the groundwater table, which was computed for different triangles, each defined by three groundwater wells. The flow direction showed considerable variations over time, with a maximum variation of 75°. During periods of high groundwater levels the flow was almost perpendicular to the stream, but as the groundwater level fell, the flow direction became gradually more parallel to the stream, directed in the downstream direction. These findings are of importance for the interpretation of results from hillslope transects, where the flow direction usually is assumed to be invariable and always in the direction of the hillslope. The variations in the groundwater flow direction may also cause an apparent dispersion for groundwater‐based transport. In contrast to findings in several other studies, the groundwater level was most responsive to rainfall and snowmelt in the upper part of the hillslope, while the lower parts of the slope reached their highest groundwater level up to 40 h after the upper parts. This can be explained by the topography with a wetter hollow area in the upper part. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of carbon in woody plants and soil across a vineyard-woodland landscape

Background

Quantification of ecosystem services, such as carbon (C) storage, can demonstrate the benefits of managing for both production and habitat conservation in agricultural landscapes. In this study, we evaluated C stocks and woody plant diversity across vineyard blocks and adjoining woodland ecosystems (wildlands) for an organic vineyard in northern California. Carbon was measured in soil from 44 one m deep pits, and in aboveground woody biomass from 93 vegetation plots. These data were combined with physical landscape variables to model C stocks using a geographic information system and multivariate linear regression.

Results

Field data showed wildlands to be heterogeneous in both C stocks and woody tree diversity, reflecting the mosaic of several different vegetation types, and storing on average 36.8 Mg C/ha in aboveground woody biomass and 89.3 Mg C/ha in soil. Not surprisingly, vineyard blocks showed less variation in above- and belowground C, with an average of 3.0 and 84.1 Mg C/ha, respectively.

Conclusions

This research demonstrates that vineyards managed with practices that conserve some fraction of adjoining wildlands yield benefits for increasing overall C stocks and species and habitat diversity in integrated agricultural landscapes. For such complex landscapes, high resolution spatial modeling is challenging and requires accurate characterization of the landscape by vegetation type, physical structure, sufficient sampling, and allometric equations that relate tree species to each landscape. Geographic information systems and remote sensing techniques are useful for integrating the above variables into an analysis platform to estimate C stocks in these working landscapes, thereby helping land managers qualify for greenhouse gas mitigation credits. Carbon policy in California, however, shows a lack of focus on C stocks compared to emissions, and on agriculture compared to other sectors. Correcting these policy shortcomings could create incentives for ecosystem service provision, including C storage, as well as encourage better farm stewardship and habitat conservation.

     

Migrant destinations in an era of environmental change

Which destinations will be most impacted by environmental migration? Most research on environmental migration examines the drivers of mobility, identifying the locations that are most affected by environmental change. By contrast, little attention is paid to where migrants might move to in response to these changes. The paper argues that much can be learned from applying established knowledge from the migration research literature to the specifics of environmental mobility. Migration destinations of environmental movers are examined in two different contexts. First, research is reported relating to the migration destinations of populations affected by drought and food insecurity. Second, Europe is studied as a destination region for migration flows. The paper concludes that, in place of estimates of the number of environmental migrants, a more productive focus of research would be to achieve deeper understanding of the destinations selected by current environmental migrants, and to appreciate why immobility is as great a problem as movement to new locations for those concerned with climate adaptation planning.     

Chemical composition of magnetite in Martian meteorite ALH 84001: Revised appraisal from thermochemistry of phases in Fe-Mg-C-O

Martian meteorite Allan Hills (ALH) 84001 contains sub-micron magnetite grains, suggested to be of biogenic origin, in its globules of Fe-Mg carbonate mineral. There is disagreement on whether the low Mg content of the magnetite could only arise from biological metabolism ( [Treiman, 2003] and [Thomas-Keprta et al., 2009]). However, constraints on the magnetite’s biogenicity are far less certain than had been inferred. The thermochemical bases for the equilibrium calculations are reviewed in detail; there are inconsistencies and gaps in fundamental data for siderite, macromolecular carbons, and magnesioferrite. The calculations of Treiman (2003), assuming formation of magnetite via “siderite = magnetite + CO₂ + CO”, are incorrect because of a flaw in the computer code used. The corrected location of this equilibrium (Thomas-Keprta et al., 2009) is no longer crucial, because of recent finds that the magnetite grains are associated with macromolecular carbon; this implies that the dominant magnetite-forming reaction was “siderite = magnetite + CO₂ + C”. From the location of this equilibrium, using the corrected computer code and best available thermochemical data, the Mg-poor magnetite grains (and macromolecular carbon) in carbonates in ALH 84001 could have formed by decomposition of the carbonates at geologically reasonable pressures and temperatures. The low-Mg compositions of the magnetite grains remain consistent with an abiotic origin within the known geological history of ALH 84001.     

Stereological Method for Reducing Probability of Earthquake-Induced Damage in a Nuclear Waste Repository

In Sweden, spent nuclear fuel is planned to be placed in copper/iron canisters and deposited at a depth of approximately 500 m in granitic rock. Earthquakes may induce secondary shear movements in fractures intersecting canister deposition holes, thereby threatening the integrity of the canisters. The extent of a secondary movement is related to earthquake distance and magnitude and to the size of the intersecting fracture. A probability of a canister being intersected by a critically large fracture can be calculated for given fracture size and orientation distributions, assuming that no measures are taken to identify and avoid such fractures. This paper analyses a stereological method of reducing this probability through observations of fractures fully intersecting the drift tunnels overlying the deposition holes. Deposition positions located in the planar extension of such full intersections are rejected. Both exact, numerical solutions and approximate solutions to this stereological problem are derived and the correctness of the solutions is verified by simulations. Also, the cost in terms of unutilised deposition positions is calculated. The probability of critical canister/fracture intersections is a few percent for typical fracture populations determined from field observations at a candidate site for a spent nuclear fuel repository in Sweden. By applying the suggested method, it is demonstrated that this probability can be reduced by a factor of about 35 in a typical case. The expense in terms of unutilised tunnel length is around 10 percent, which is seen as reasonable.     

Investigating the impact of climate change on New York City’s primary water supply

Future climate scenarios projected by three different General Circulation Models and a delta-change methodology are used as input to the Generalized Watershed Loading Functions – Variable Source Area (GWLF-VSA) watershed model to simulate future inflows to reservoirs that are part of the New York City water supply system (NYCWSS). These inflows are in turn used as part of the NYC OASIS model designed to simulate operations for the NYCWSS. In this study future demands and operation rules are assumed stationary and future climate variability is based on historical data to which change factors were applied in order to develop the future scenarios. Our results for the West of Hudson portion of the NYCWSS suggest that future climate change will impact regional hydrology on a seasonal basis. The combined effect of projected increases in winter air temperatures, increased winter rain, and earlier snowmelt results in more runoff occurring during winter and slightly less runoff in early spring, increased spring and summer evapotranspiration, and reduction in number of days the system is under drought conditions. At subsystem level reservoir storages, water releases and spills appear to be higher and less variable during the winter months and are slightly reduced during summer. Under the projected future climate and assumptions in this study the NYC reservoir system continues to show high resilience, high annual reliability and relatively low vulnerability.