Eddy covariance imaging of diffuse volcanic CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions at Mammoth Mountain,CA, USA

Use of eddy covariance (EC) techniques to map the spatial distribution of diffuse volcanic CO₂ fluxes and quantify CO₂ emission rate was tested at the Horseshoe Lake tree-kill area on Mammoth Mountain, California, USA. EC measurements of CO₂ flux were made during September–October 2010 and ranged from 85 to 1,766 g m⁻² day⁻¹. Comparative maps of soil CO₂ flux were simulated and CO₂ emission rates estimated from three accumulation chamber (AC) CO₂ flux surveys. Least-squares inversion of measured eddy covariance CO₂ fluxes and corresponding modeled source weight functions recovered 58–77% of the CO₂ emission rates estimated based on simulated AC soil CO₂ fluxes. Spatial distributions of modeled surface CO₂ fluxes based on EC and AC observations showed moderate to good correspondence (R ² = 0.36 to 0.70). Results provide a framework for automated monitoring of volcanic CO₂ emissions over relatively large areas.     

A knowledge-based software for the preliminary design of seismically isolated bridges

Seismic design of isolated bridges involves conceptual, preliminary and detailed structural design. However, despite the variety of commercial software currently available for the analysis and design of such systems, conceptual and preliminary design can prove to be a non-straightforward procedure because of the sensitivity of bridge response on the initial decisions made by the designer of the location, number and characteristics of the bearings placed, as well as on a series of broader criteria such as serviceability, target performance level and cost-effectiveness of the various design alternatives. Given the lack of detailed design guidelines to ensure, at this preliminary stage, compliance with the above requirements, a “trial and error” procedure is typically followed in the design office to decide on the most appropriate design scheme in the number and location of the bearing systems; the latter typically based on engineering judgment to balance performance with cost. To this end, the particular research effort aims to develop a decision-making system for the optimal preliminary design of seismically isolated bridges, assumed to respond as single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems. The proposed decision-making process is based on the current design provisions of Eurocode 8, but is complemented by additional criteria set according to expert judgment, laboratory testing and recent research findings, while using a combined cost/performance criterion to select from a database of bearings available on the international market. Software is also developed for the implementation of the system. The paper concludes with the application, and essentially the validation of the methodology and software developed through more rigorous MDOF numerical analysis for the case of a real bridge.     

Towards multiple hazard resilient bridges: a methodology for modeling frequent and infrequent time-varying loads Part I, Comprehensive reliability and partial failure probabilities

The current AASHTO load and resistance factor design (LRFD) guidelines are formulated based on bridge reliability,which interprets traditional design safety factors into more rigorously deduced factors based on the theory of probability.This is a major advancement in bridge design specifications.However,LRFD is only calibrated for dead and live loads.In cases when extreme loads are significant,they need to be individually assessed.Combining regular loads with extreme loads has been a major challenge,mainly because the extreme loads are time variables and cannot be directly combined with time invariant loads to formulate the probability of structural failure.To overcome these difficulties,this paper suggests a methodology of comprehensive reliability,by introducing the concept of partial failure probability to separate the loads so that each individual load combination under a certain condition can be approximated as time invariant.Based on these conditions,the extreme loads (also referred to as multiple hazard or MH loads) can be broken down into single effects.In Part Ⅱ of this paper,a further breakdown of these conditional occurrence probabilities into pure conditions is discussed by using a live truck and earthquake loads on a bridge as an example.There are three major steps in establishing load factors from MH load distributions:(1) formulate the failure probabilities;(2) normalize various load distributions;and (3) establish design limit state equations.This paper describes the formulation of the failure probabilities of single and combined loads.     

Enhancement of biological productivity by internal waves: observations in the summertime in the northern South China Sea

Streaks of elevated concentrations of surface chlorophyll a (Chl_a) of various spacing were found to be associated with internal waves in their transmission zone and dissipation zone in the summertime in the deep open northern South China Sea. At an anchored station in the dissipation zone north of the Dongsha Atoll with a water depth of ca. 600?m, undulations of the mixed layer depth with an amplitude of ca. 30?m and a periodicity of ca. 12?h were observed, and they were accompanied by similar undulation in the isotherm and isopleth of the nutrients. These observations are consistent with the enhancement of vertical mixing by internal waves and the resulting transfer of cold, nutrient-rich subsurface water to the surface mixed layer to fuel biological productivity. In the transmission zone and dissipation zone, respectively, the summertime (May–October) average sea surface temperature was 0.5 and 0.8?°C lower and Chl_a was 19 and 43?% higher than those in a nearby subregion that was minimally affected by internal waves. The mean net primary productivity was elevated by 15 and 37?%. These results indicate that the enhancement of biological activity by internal waves is not confined to the shallow waters on the shelf. The effect can be detected in all phases of the internal waves although it may be especially prominent in the dissipation zone where mixing between subsurface and surface waters is more effective.     

Metabolic plasticity of nitrogen assimilation by Porphyra umbilicalis (Linnaeus) Kützing

The physical stresses associated with emersion have long been considered major factors determining the vertical zonation of intertidal seaweeds.We examined Porphyra umbilicalis(Linnaeus) Kützing thalli from the vertical extremes in elevation of an intertidal population(i.e.upper and lower intertidal zones) to determine whether Porphyra thalli acclimate to different vertical elevations on the shore with different patterns of nitrate uptake and nitrate reductase(NR) and glutamine synthetase(GS) activities in response to different degrees of emersion stress.We found that the nitrate uptake and NR recovery in the emersed tissues took longer in lower intertidal sub-population than in upper intertidal sub-population;and GS activity was also significantly affected by emersion and,interestingly,such an activity was enhanced by emersion of thalli from both upper and lower intertidal zones.These results suggested that intra-population variability in post-emersion recovery of physiological functions such as nutrient uptake and NR activity enables local adaptation and contributes to the wide vertical distribution of P.umbilicalis.The high GS activity during periodic emersion stress may be a protective mechanism enabling P.umbilicalis to assimilate nitrogen quickly when it again becomes available,and may also be an evidence of photorespiration during emersion.     

The most extensive Holocene advance in the Stauning Alper, East Greenland, occurred in the Little Ice Age

We present glacial geologic and chronologic data concerning the Holocene ice extent in the Stauning Alper of East Greenland. The retreat of ice from the late-glacial position back into the mountains was accomplished by at least 11 000 cal years B.P. The only recorded advance after this time occurred during the past few centuries (the Little Ice Age). Therefore, we postulate that the Little Ice Age event represents the maximum Holocene ice extent in this part of East Greenland.     

Erratum to: Assessment of coastal communities’ vulnerability to floods using indicator-based approach: a case study of Greater Accra Metropolitan Area,Ghana

In this paper, the extent to which the potentially transit-dependent portion of the population is vulnerable to the effects of a hurricane is estimated. The vulnerability of an area is defined as a composite measure of the proportion of disadvantaged persons, distance to transit, and flooding potential of people within an area. Unlike past studies which have focused on the vulnerability of the population in relatively large geographic areas, this study estimates the vulnerability of the population in 30 m × 30 m areas as defined in the National Land Cover Database. Population estimates from the national census at block level are disaggregated to the 30 m × 30 m units using a modified dasymetric mapping method in ArcGIS. The modified mapping method assigns population to each small areal unit using weights estimated by regressing the area of each land use in a census block against the population in that block. The coefficients in the regression analysis are “weights” associating population with each land use, and are used to distribute the population in each census block to the small geographic units based on their land use. In a case study of New Orleans, the results show that some areas are not well served by the existing transit pickup locations, as evidenced by their high vulnerability scores. Reassignment of pickup point locations to cover higher vulnerability score areas was investigated using integer linear programming. The results show that the optimally located pickup points serve areas with a larger average vulnerability score than the current pickup points in the study area. The method appears to be helpful in identifying vulnerable areas that, subsequently, could receive improved hurricane evacuation service in the future.     

Characterization of the crust of the Coast Mountains Batholith,British Columbia,from P to S converted seismic waves and petrologic modeling

The late Triassic to early Tertiary Coast Mountains Batholith (CMB) of British Columbia provides an ideal locale to study the processes whereby accreted terranes and subduction-related melts interact to form stable continental crust of intermediate to felsic composition and complementary ultramafic residuals. Seismic measurements, combined with calculated elastic properties of various CMB rock compositions, provide a window into the deep-crustal lithologies that are key to understanding the processes of continental growth and evolution. We use a combination of seismic observations and petrologic modeling to construct hypothetical crustal sections at representative locations across the CMB, then test the viability of these sections via forward modeling with synthetic seismic data. The compositions that make up our petrologic forward models are based on calculations using the free energy minimization program Perple_X to predict mineral assemblages at depth for the bulk compositions of exposed plutonic rocks collected in the study area. Seismic data were collected along two transects in west-central British Columbia: a southern line that crossed the CMB near the town of Bella Coola (near 52° N), and a northern line centered on the towns of Terrace and Kitimat (near 54° N). Along both transects, seismic receiver functions reveal high V_p/V_s ratios near the Insular/Intermontane terrane boundary and crustal thickness increasing from 26 ± 3 km to 34 ± 3 km (at the 1 sigma certainty level) from west to east across the Coast Shear Zone (CSZ). On the southern line, we observe an anomalous region of complex receiver functions and diminished Moho signals beneath the central portion of the CMB. Our petrologic and seismic profiles show that observed seismic data from much of the CMB can be well-matched in terms of crustal thickness and structure, average V_p/V_s, and amplitude of the Moho converted phase, without including ultramafic residual material in the lower crust.     

Biogenic origin of coastal honeycomb weathering

Honeycomb weathering occurs in two environments in Late Cretaceous and Eocene sandstone outcrops along the coastlines of south‐west Oregon and north‐west Washington, USA, and south‐west British Columbia, Canada. At these sites honeycomb weathering is found on subhorizontal rock surfaces in the intertidal zone, and on steep faces in the salt spray zone above the mean high tide level. In both environments, cavity development is initiated by salt weathering. In the intertidal zone, cavity shapes and sizes are primarily controlled by wetting/drying cycles, and the rate of development greatly diminishes when cavities reach a critical size where the amount of seawater left by receding tides is so great that evaporation no longer produces saturated solutions. Encrustations of algae or barnacles may also inhibit cavity enlargement. In the supratidal spray zone, honeycomb weathering results from a dynamic balance between the corrosive action of salt and the protective effects of endolithic microbes. Subtle environmental shifts may cause honeycomb cavity patterns to continue to develop, to become stable, or to coalesce to produce a barren surface. Cavity patterns produced by complex interactions between inorganic processes and biologic activity provide a geological model of ‘self‐organization’. Surface hardening is not a factor in honeycomb formation at these study sites. Salt weathering in coastal environments is an intermittently active process that requires particular wind and tidal conditions to provide a supply of salt water, and temperature and humidity conditions that cause evaporation. Under these conditions, salt residues may be detectable in honeycomb‐weathered rock, but absent at other times. Honeycomb weathering can form in only a few decades, but erosion rates are retarded in areas of the rock that contain cavity patterns relative to adjacent non‐honeycombed surfaces. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.