A rural development strategy for the Apuseni Mountains, Romania

The Apuseni Mountains, part of the Western Carpathians, are distinctive in cultural terms because of the highly dispersed settlement patterns that have developed on the high erosion surfaces where the Moti people cleared the forests to allow for an expansion of family farming in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. These small ‘crang’ settlements remain, but the population is declining in the face of limited employment opportunities and poor services. The question arises as to the most appropriate rural development strategy for the region, following the communist period which encouraged centralisation through the provision of housing and industry in key villages and new towns. The emphasis on private farming and the expansion of tourism could protect the inherited cultural landscape but money must be found to improve rural services. There is also a strong conservation movement which supports the establishment of a national park, but this could constrain development through controls on grazing and woodcutting. Hence the dialogue continues to find the best compromise and the concept of a ‘natural park’ is being discussed with such a reconciliation in mind. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer, based on geophysical exploration, southern Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA

 A geophysical survey was conducted to determine the depth of the base of the water-table aquifer in the southern part of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, USA. Audio-magnetotellurics (AMT) measurements at 77 sites in the study area yielded electrical-resistivity logs of the subsurface, and these were used to infer lithologic changes with depth. A 100–600 ohm-m geoelectric layer, designated the Jackson aquifer, was used to represent surficial saturated, unconsolidated deposits of Quaternary age. The median depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is estimated to be 200 ft (61 m), based on 62 sites that had sufficient resistivity data. AMT-measured values were kriged to predict the depth to the base of the aquifer throughout the southern part of Jackson Hole. Contour maps of the kriging predictions indicate that the depth of the base of the Jackson aquifer is shallow in the central part of the study area near the East and West Gros Ventre Buttes, deeper in the west near the Teton fault system, and shallow at the southern edge of Jackson Hole. Predicted, contoured depths range from 100 ft (30 m) in the south, near the confluences of Spring Creek and Flat Creek with the Snake River, to 700 ft (210 m) in the west, near the town of Wilson, Wyoming. Received, May 1997 · Revised, February 1998 · Accepted, April 1998     

The radio properties of radio-quiet quasars

Although radio-quiet quasars (RQQs) constitute ≳ 90 per cent of optically identified quasar samples, their radio properties are only poorly understood. In this paper we present the results of a multi-frequency VLA study of 27 low-redshift RQQs. We detect radio emission from 20 objects, half of which are unresolved (≤ 0.24 arcsec). In cases where significant structure can be resolved, double, triple and linear radio sources on scales of a few kpc are found. The radio emission (typically) has a steep spectrum (α ∼ 0.7, where S  ∝ ν^−α), and high brightness temperatures ( T _B ≥ 10⁵ K) are measured in some of the radio components. The RQQs form a natural extension to the radio luminosity–absolute magnitude distribution of nearby Seyfert 1s. We conclude that a significant fraction of the radio emission in RQQs originates in a compact nuclear source directly associated with the quasar. There are no significant differences between the radio properties of RQQs with elliptical hosts and those in disc galaxies within the current sample.     

The ortho- to para- ratio of H2 in the starburst of NGC 253

We present measurements of several near-infrared emission lines from the nearby galaxy NGC 253. We have been able to measure four H₂ lines across the circumnuclear starburst, from which we estimate the ortho- to para- ratio of excited H₂ to be ∼2. This indicates that the bulk of the H₂ emission arises from photodissociation regions (PDRs), rather than from shocks. This is the case across the entire region of active star formation.
As the H₂ emission arises from PDRs, it is likely that the ratio of H₂ to Brγ (the bright hydrogen recombination line) is a measure of the relative geometry of O and B stars and PDRs. Towards the nucleus of NGC 253 the geometry is deduced to be tightly clustered O and B stars in a few giant H  II regions that are encompassed by PDRs. Away from the nuclear region, the geometry becomes that of PDRs bathed in a relatively diffuse ultraviolet radiation field.
The rotation curves of 1–0 S(1) and Brγ suggest that the ionized gas is tracing a kinetic system different from that of the molecular gas in NGC 253, particularly away from the nucleus.     

Light curves of SN 1998A and comparison with similar unusual SNe

Following the proposal by Damineli that the central object of Eta Carinae may be an early-type binary, we perform numerical simulations of the X-ray emission from colliding stellar winds. A synthetic light curve has been generated which qualitatively agrees with the recent X-ray variability, and provides further support for the binary model. In particular, the model predicts a rise in the observed X-ray emission towards periastron, followed by a sharp drop and subsequent recovery. This is indeed what is seen in the RXTE light curve, although some problems concerning the X-ray spectrum at periastron still need to be explained. The simulations suggest that the width of the periastron dip will provide strong constraints on the binary and stellar wind properties of the components of Eta Car.     

A search for primordial atmospheric-like argon in an iron meteorite

He and Ar were extracted from the Weekeroo Station octahedrite in six heating steps. The Ar isotopic ratios were searched for any indication of an indigenous component with atmospheric-like values. Negative results were obtained.     

Environmental influences on the yield of spring Barley in England and Wales

Using data on crop yields and soil conditions derived from reports of the Soil Survey of England and Wales, and incorporating a variety of climatic and topographic data, relationships were identified between the yield of spring barley and edaphic and climatic conditions. Yields are highest on fine loamy and silty soils and on freely to imperfectly drained soils. Multiple regression analysis indicated that yields are related to sand contents, drainage conditions and available water capacity of the soil, potential summer soil moisture deficit and annual accumulated temperature.     

Aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in benthic invertebrates from two sites in Antarctica

Samples of marine benthic invertebrates collected from two sites in the Antarctic have been analysed for both aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons in order to establish baseline concentrations for some classes of hydrocarbons.Samples from Signy Island, a pristine site, contained low concentrations of the hydrocarbons determined, whereas those from King Edward Cove, South Georgia, contained significantly higher concentrations. King Edward Cove has a known history of pollution from whaling operations.Platt & Mackie (1979) have suggested that the hydrocarbons in sediments from King Edward Cove are a result of the world-wide dissemination of the pyrolysis products of fossil fuels. Our work suggests, in contrast, that the hydrocarbons in the benthos are derived from local sources.