Small-scale landfills: impacts on groundwater and soil

In Brazil, the large quantities of solid waste produced are out of step with public policies, technological developments, and government budgets for the division. In small municipalities, the common lack of technological knowledge and financial conditions for suitable waste disposal has resulted in a large number of illegal dumps. Therefore, small sanitary landfill facilities are working with simplified operations focusing on cost reduction and meeting the economic and technological standards of the city without endangering the environment or public health. Currently, this activity is regulated at a federal level although there is some uncertainty regarding the risk of soil and aquifer contamination as theses facilities do not employ liners. Thus, this work evaluates a small landfill to identify changes in soil and groundwater using geotechnical parameters, monitoring wells, and geophysical tests performed by electrical profiling. It is verified that based on current conditions, no contaminants have migrated via underground water aquifers, and overall no significant changes have occurred in the soil. It is concluded that, despite its simplicity, the method investigated is a viable alternative for the final disposal of municipal solid waste from small cities, especially in developing countries.     

Multi-model climate projections of the main cyclogenesis hot-spots and associated winds over the eastern coast of South America

Climate Dynamics - In this study, multi-model ensembles are used to understand regional features of future climate trends of cyclones and associated winds in eastern South America. For this, we...     

Development of a fish-based multimetric index to assess the ecological quality of marine habitats: the Marine Fish Community Index

In this paper the Marine Fish Community Index (MFCI) for the assessment of ecological status of marine environment is proposed. The MFCI was divided into 4 typologies: Rocky subtidal; shallow, intermediate and deep soft-bottoms. Based on the typical community associated to each typology and the DPSIR analysis performed, a set of metrics were selected and tested through a multiple correlation matrix (Pearson’s coefficient) and the core ones included in the index. The MFCI was applied in all typologies and the scores obtained with each metric were analyzed. In order to test the robustness of the MFCI the final ecological value of each zone was recalculated by removing successively one metric at a time. The MFCI showed a sensitive and robust response in the ecological status assessment. Since it incorporates both functional and structural community information, the MFCI can be useful in the context of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive as well as in other contexts of conservation and sustainable management of the marine environment.     

Quaternary intraplate deformation in the southeastern Sierras Pampeanas, Argentina

Neogene strain from the subducting Nazca plate is widely distributed in theAndean foreland as a result of flat-lying subduction beneath central westernArgentina (28^°–33^°S latitude). This fact is indicated byuplifted basement blocks bounded by reverse faults as far as 600 kms eastof the Chilean trench axis. Some deformation in the southern Sierras deCórdoba (southeastern Sierras Pampeanas) indicates significantdisplacements during Quaternary and even late Holocene time. Thisregion has low to moderate seismicity characterized by earthquakemagnitudes 6.7 with no associated noticeable surface ruptures.This paper presents information recently gathered on the most conspicuousregional structures of the area (El Molino, Sierra Chica and Las Lagunasfaults). The last movement along the El Molino fault thrust basement rocksover organic-rich (0.8–1.3 ka) sediment and fault relationships suggestprevious Quaternary displacements. Along the Sierra Chica fault,Precambrian basement has been thrust a minimum of 13.5 m overPleistocene conglomerates, and faulting also affects latePleistocene-Holocene fluvial sediments. The Las Lagunas fault has beenregarded as the source of the 1934 Ms 5.5 and 6.0 earthquakes, whichheavily damaged the nearby village of Sampacho. The faulted surface isburied under Holocene loess, but its trace is expressed as a 24-km-longrectilinear scarp, despite continuous modification due to land use.Although we lack detailed information on probable rupture lengths duringlarge Sierras Pampeanas thrust earthquakes, some preliminary considerationsare made for the regional seismic hazard of these structures. The geologicevidence described here identifies these faults as possible sources of strongearthquakes in the future.     

Modelling and migration with orthogonal isochron rays

For increasing time values, isochrons can be regarded as expanding wavefronts and their perpendicular lines as the associated orthogonal isochron rays. The speed of the isochron movement depends on the medium velocity and the source-receiver position. We introduce the term equivalent-velocity to refer to the speed of isochron movement. In the particular case of zero-offset data, the equivalent velocity is half of the medium velocity. We use the concepts of orthogonal isochron-rays and equivalent velocity to extend the application of the exploding reflector model to non-zero offset imaging problems. In particular, we employ these concepts to extend the use of zero-offset wave-equation algorithms for modelling and imaging common-offset sections. In our imaging approach, the common-offset migration is implemented as a trace-by-trace algorithm in three steps: equivalent velocity computation, data conditioning for zero-offset migration and zero-offset wave-equation migration. We apply this methodology for modelling and imaging synthetic common-offset sections using two kinds of algorithms: finite-difference and split-step wavefield extrapolation. We also illustrate the isochron-ray imaging methodology with a field-data example and compare the results with conventional common-offset Kirchhoff migration. This methodology is attractive because it permits depth migration of common-offset sections or just pieces of that by using wave-equation algorithms, it extends the use of robust zero-offset algorithms, it presents favourable features for parallel processing, it permits the creation of hybrid migration algorithms and it is appropriate for migration velocity analysis.     

Application of the CN Intermediate-term Earthquake Prediction Algorithm to the Area of the Southern External Dinarides

—The paper presents the results of application of the CN algorithm to the area of the Southern External Dinarides. Two cases are considered—one for the knowledge gained throughout the considered period of time (1936–1996), and the other when learning ceased in 1986. In the first case 8 out of 9 strong earthquakes could have been predicted, three false alarms are declared (covering 7% of the total time considered) and TIPs occupy 32% of the total time. There is no clear relation between the TIPs duration and the size of the related earthquake. The second case (when the CN functions are defined on the basis of a shorter learning period) produces even slightly better results: only two false alarms are declared. In both cases current alarm exists in the region. All attempts to reduce the area of the regional polygon resulted in poorer prediction results.     

新一代天气雷达产品在阿克苏大降水预报中的应用

利用新疆阿克苏CINRAD／CC多普勒天气雷达的探测资料，在新疆气象局新一代天气雷达网络应用软件和CINRAD PUP软件产品的基础上，分析研究了2003年11月5～7日发生在阿克苏地区的大降水天气，得出：此次天气的强度场、速度场、垂直剖面结构具有积层混合性降水回波与层状云降水回波的特征，低空偏东急流、暖平流中尺度系统和速度场分布对强降水的定时、定量、定点预报具有明确的指示意义。     

Methods applied in studies of benthic marine debris

The ocean floor is one of the main accumulation sites of marine debris. The study of this kind of debris still lags behind that of shorelines. It is necessary to identify the methods used to evaluate this debris and how the results are presented and interpreted. From the available literature on benthic marine debris (26 studies), six sampling methods were registered: bottom trawl net, sonar, submersible, snorkeling, scuba diving and manta tow. The most frequent method used was bottom trawl net, followed by the three methods of diving. The majority of the debris was classified according to their former use and the results usually expressed as items per unity of area. To facilitate comparisons of the contamination levels among sites and regions some standardization requirements are suggested.     

An analog period method for gap-filling of latent heat flux measurements

Practically all records of eddy-covariance flux measurements are affected by gaps, caused by several reasons. In this work, we propose analog period (AP) methods for gap-filling, and test them for filling gaps of latent heat flux at five AmeriFlux sites. The essence of the methods is to look for periods in the record that bear a strong resemblance, in the variable to be filled, to the periods immediately before and after the gap. Similarity between periods is gauged by the coefficient of determination, and the search for similar periods and their ranking is straightforward. The methods are developed in a univariate version (that uses only the latent heat flux data series itself) and several multivariate ones, that incorporate sensible heat flux, ground heat flux and net radiation data. For each set of independent variables used for gap-filling, the methods are tested against an existing gap-filling procedure with similar data requirements. Thus, the univariate version is tested against the mean diurnal variation method, and the multivariate versions are tested against corresponding simple and multiple linear regression techniques that use energy-budget data, and in one case the evaporative fraction as well. In our tests, the proposed univariate version performs better than the mean diurnal variation method, and the multivariate versions perform better than simple/multiple linear regression methods. An often used available computer package, REddyProc, was also tested as a basis of comparison. In general, the proposed methods (in univariate and multivariate versions) and simple/multiple linear regressions performed better than REddyProc. For the datasets analysed, gap filling via the evaporative fraction method performed poorly.     

Entropy theory for analysing water resources in northeastern region of Brazil

Using the Shannon entropy, the space–time variability of rainfall and streamflow was assessed for daily rainfall and streamflow data for a 10-year period from 189 stations in the northeastern region of Brazil. Mean values of marginal entropy were computed for all observation stations and entropy maps were then constructed for delineating annual and seasonal characteristics of rainfall and streamflow. The Mann-Kendall test was used to evaluate the long-term trend in marginal entropy as well as relative entropy for two sample stations. The marginal entropy values of rainfall and streamflow were higher for locations and periods with the highest amounts of rainfall. The entropy values were higher where rainfall was higher. This was because the probability distributions of rainfall and the resulting streamflow were more uniform and less skewed. The Shannon entropy produced spatial patterns which led to a better understanding of rainfall and streamflow characteristics throughout the northeastern region of Brazil. The total relative entropy indicated that rainfall and streamflow carried the same information content at annual and rainy season time scales.