The Beach Crowding Index: A Tool for Assessing Social Carrying Capacity of Vulnerable Beaches

The aim of this article is to introduce the Beach Crowding Index (BCI), a procedure to assess the social carrying capacity of vulnerable beaches. The study uses the people at one time (PAOT) approach and data gathered weekly throughout the bathing season regarding the number of beachgoers in 100 m² cells of the beach to assess how many beachgoers it can comfortably hold. The procedure is based on fieldwork, interviews with beachgoers, and geographic information system (GIS) analysis and has been tested on four beaches in protected areas on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. On a scale from 0 to 4, minimum scores throughout the bathing season are 0.7 and maximum 3.7, although results showed wide variation between the beaches, the section of the beach, and the time of day. This study suggests that determining the location of beachgoers and collecting a long-term series of data is fundamental to assessing social carrying capacity and that the BCI procedure can be used for a large number of applications.     

Potential eutrophication assessment in rivers; relationship between produced and exported loads

In contrast with biological processes in lacustrine environments, the physical characteristics of river waters greatly complicate the relationship between nutrient input and primary productivity. In this paper a new approach to quantify this relationship is developed, linking land use within the watershed to the bioavailability of nutrients in the receiving waters. It estimates by two different ways an enrichment index derived from N/P ratios. A load model links land-use within the watershed area to nutrient export, and allows the estimation of the potential enrichment index from the ratio of calculated annual exports of nitrogen and phosphorus. This index value correlates well with the real enrichment index representing the annual mean value of the corresponding measured ratios in running waters. The latter index can then be related to nutrient availability expressed by chl-a and the algal growth potential. This model, established from 7 sampling stations on the Yamaska-North river, allowed assessment of nutrient bioavailability in the river water as a function of hydrological (low or high water flow) as well as of seasonal (summer or winter) events.     

Modeling vp and Q on Explosion Seismology Data in NE Tibet

MODELING v_P AND Q ON EXPLOSION SEISMOLOGY DATA IN NE TIBET     

Temporal variability of the Buenos Aires, Argentina, urban heat island

This paper describes the statistical characteristics and temporal variability of the urban heat island (UHI) intensity in Buenos Aires using 32-year surface meteorological data with 1-h time intervals. Seasonal analyses show that the UHI intensity is strongest during summer months and an “inverse” effect is found frequently during the afternoon hours of the same season. During winter, the UHI effect is in the minimal. The interannual trend and the seasonal variation of the UHI for the main synoptic hours for a longer record of 48?years are studied and associated to changes in meteorological factors as low-level circulation and cloud amount. Despite the population growth, it was found a negative trend in the nocturnal UHI intensity that could be explained by a decline of near clear-sky conditions, a negative trend in the calm frequencies and an increase in wind speed. Urban to rural temperature differences and rural temperatures are negatively correlated for diurnal and nocturnal hours both for annual and seasonal scales. This result is due to the lower interannual variability of urban temperatures in comparison to rural ones.     

中国高尔夫球场时空演变、影响因素和扩散模式

利用空间分析和数理统计等方法探究了1984—2016年中国高尔夫球场数量时空演变、影响因素和扩散模式。结果表明：1）球场数量变化经历了低速增长期、稳定增长期、加速增长期和紧缩期；2）球场空间分布范围经历了扩张期和收缩期，向北、向西扩散较为明显；3）目前球场主要分布在经济发展水平较高且外向型经济突出的长三角、珠三角和环渤海地区；4）人均GDP、人口规模、区域开放程度、交通优势度、气候类型和土地资源稀缺性与球场空间分布均呈显著正相关，其中交通优势度相关系数最大；5）高尔夫球场空间扩散模式兼具接触性扩散和等级性扩散。     

Study of geothermal water intrusion due to groundwater exploitation in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico

Significant intrusion of geothermal water into fresh groundwater takes place in the Puebla Valley aquifer system, Mexico. The decline in the potentiometric surface due to the overexploitation of the groundwater induces this intrusion. This hydrological system comprises three aquifers located in Plio-Quaternary volcanic sediments and Mesozoic calcareous rocks. The hydraulic balance of the aquifer shows that the annual output exceeds the natural inputs by 12 million m³. Between 1973 and 2002, a drop in the potentiometric surface, with an 80 m cone of depression, was identified in a 5-km-wide area located southwest of the city of Puebla. Chemical analyses performed on water samples since 1990 have shown an increase in total dissolved solids (TDS) of more than 500 mg/L, coinciding with the region showing a cone of depression in the potentiometric surface. A three-dimensional flow and transport model, based on the hydrogeological and geophysical studies, was computed by using the MODFLOW and MT3D software. This model reproduces the evolution of the aquifer system during the last 30 years and predicts for 2010 an additional drawdown in the potentiometric surface of 15 m, and an increase in the geothermal water intrusion.     

Thick sections of layered ultramafic cumulates in the Oman ophiolite revealed by an airborne hyperspectral survey: Petrogenesis and relationship to mantle diapirism

Using the HyMap instrument, we have acquired visible and near infrared hyperspectral data over the Maqsad area of the Oman ophiolite (~ 15 × 60 km). This survey allowed us to identify and map the distribution of clinopyroxene-rich cumulates (inter-layered clinopyroxenites and wehrlites) whose occurrence was previously undocumented in this area. The cumulates reach several hundred meters in thickness and crop out at distances exceeding 15 km on both sides of the Maqsad former spreading centre. They occur either in mantle harzburgites, as km-sized layered intrusions surrounded by fields of pegmatitic dykes consisting of orthopyroxene-rich pyroxenite and gabbronorites, or at the base of the crustal section where they are conformably overlain by cumulate gabbros. These ultramafic cumulates crystallized from silica- and Mg-rich melts derived from a refractory mantle source (e.g. high Cr#, low [Al₂O₃], low [TiO₂]). These melts are close to high-Ca boninites, although, strictly speaking, not perfect equivalents of present-day, supra-subduction zone, boninites. Chemical stratigraphy reveals cycles of replenishment, mixing and fractional crystallization from primitive (high Mg#) melts, typical of open magma chambers and migration of inter-cumulus melts. The TiO₂ content of clinopyroxene is always low (≤ 0.2 wt.%) but quite variable compared to the associated pegmatites that are all derived from a source ultra-depleted in high field strength elements (HFSE). This variability is not caused by fractional crystallization alone, and is best explained by hybridization between the ultra-depleted melts (parent melts of the pegmatites) and the less depleted mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) parent of the dunitic–troctolitic–gabbroic cumulates making up the crustal section above the Maqsad diapir.We propose that, following a period of magma-starved spreading, the Maqsad mantle diapir, impregnated with tholeiitic melts of MORB affinity, reached shallow depths beneath the ocean ridge. This diapir induced melting of the formerly accreted and hydrothermally altered lithosphere. At this stage, these boninitic-like lithospheric melts crystallized as pegmatitic dykes. As the diapir continued to rise, the amount of MORB reaching shallow depths increased, together with the surrounding temperature, leading to the formation of magma chambers where the crystallization of layered cumulates became possible. These cumulates remained rich in pyroxene and devoid of plagioclase as long as the contribution of MORB-derived melts was moderate relative to the lithospheric-derived melts. As the contribution of MORB to the refilling of the magma chamber increased, gabbroic cumulates started to crystallize.     

Inverse problem in hydrogeology

The state of the groundwater inverse problem is synthesized. Emphasis is placed on aquifer characterization, where modelers have to deal with conceptual model uncertainty (notably spatial and temporal variability), scale dependence, many types of unknown parameters (transmissivity, recharge, boundary conditions, etc.), nonlinearity, and often low sensitivity of state variables (typically heads and concentrations) to aquifer properties. Because of these difficulties, calibration cannot be separated from the modeling process, as it is sometimes done in other fields. Instead, it should be viewed as one step in the process of understanding aquifer behavior. In fact, it is shown that actual parameter estimation methods do not differ from each other in the essence, though they may differ in the computational details. It is argued that there is ample room for improvement in groundwater inversion: development of user-friendly codes, accommodation of variability through geostatistics, incorporation of geological information and different types of data (temperature, occurrence and concentration of isotopes, age, etc.), proper accounting of uncertainty, etc. Despite this, even with existing codes, automatic calibration facilitates enormously the task of modeling. Therefore, it is contended that its use should become standard practice.

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Resumen Se sintetiza el estado del problema inverso en aguas subterráneas. El énfasis se ubica en la caracterización de acuíferos, donde los modeladores tienen que enfrentar la incertidumbre del modelo conceptual (principalmente variabilidad temporal y espacial), dependencia de escala, muchos tipos de parámetros desconocidos (transmisividad, recarga, condiciones limitantes, etc), no linealidad, y frecuentemente baja sensibilidad de variables de estado (típicamente presiones y concentraciones) a las propiedades del acuífero. Debido a estas dificultades, no puede separarse la calibración de los procesos de modelado, como frecuentemente se hace en otros campos. En su lugar, debe de visualizarse como un paso en el proceso de entendimiento del comportamiento del acuífero. En realidad, se muestra que los métodos reales de estimación de parámetros no difieren uno del otro en lo esencial, aunque sí pueden diferir en los detalles computacionales. Se discute que existe amplio espacio para la mejora del problema inverso en aguas subterráneas: desarrollo de códigos amigables al usuario, acomodamiento de variabilidad a través de geoestadística, incorporación de información geológica y diferentes tipos de datos (temperatura, presencia y concentración de isótopos, edad, etc), explicación apropiada de incertidumbre, etc. A pesar de esto, aún con los códigos existentes, la calibración automática facilita enormemente la tarea de modelado. Por lo tanto, se sostiene que su uso debería de convertirse en práctica standard.

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Résumé Létat du problème inverse des eaux souterraines est synthétisé. Laccent est placé sur la caractérisation de laquifère, où les modélisateurs doivent jouer avec lincertitude des modèles conceptuels (notamment la variabilité spatiale et temporelle), les facteurs déchelle, plusieurs inconnues sur différents paramètres (transmissivité, recharge, conditions aux limites, etc.), la non linéarité, et souvent la sensibilité de plusieurs variables détat (charges hydrauliques, concentrations) des propriétés de laquifère. A cause de ces difficultés, le calibrage ne peut être séparé du processus de modélisation, comme cest le cas dans dautres cas de figure. Par ailleurs, il peut être vu comme une des étapes dans le processus de détermination du comportement de laquifère. Il est montré que les méthodes dévaluation des paramètres actuels ne diffèrent pas si ce nest dans les détails des calculs informatiques. Il est montré quil existe une large panoplie de techniques d ‹inversion : codes de calcul utilisables par tout-un-chacun, accommodation de la variabilité via la géostatistique, incorporation dinformations géologiques et de différents types de données (température, occurrence, concentration en isotopes, âge, etc.), détermination de lincertitude. Vu ces développements, la calibration automatique facilite énormément la modélisation. Par ailleurs, il est souhaitable que son utilisation devienne une pratique standardisée.

     

Cassini SAR, radiometry, scatterometry and altimetry observations of Titan’s dune fields

Large expanses of linear dunes cover Titan’s equatorial regions. As the Cassini mission continues, more dune fields are becoming unveiled and examined by the microwave radar in all its modes of operation (SAR, radiometry, scatterometry, altimetry) and with an increasing variety of observational geometries. In this paper, we report on Cassini’s radar instrument observations of the dune fields mapped through May 2009 and present our key findings in terms of Titan’s geology and climate. We estimate that dune fields cover ∼12.5% of Titan’s surface, which corresponds to an area of ∼10 million km², roughly the area of the United States. If dune sand-sized particles are mainly composed of solid organics as suggested by VIMS observations (Cassini Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer) and atmospheric modeling and supported by radiometry data, dune fields are the largest known organic reservoir on Titan. Dune regions are, with the exception of the polar lakes and seas, the least reflective and most emissive features on this moon. Interestingly, we also find a latitudinal dependence in the dune field microwave properties: up to a latitude of ∼11°, dune fields tend to become less emissive and brighter as one moves northward. Above ∼11° this trend is reversed. The microwave signatures of the dune regions are thought to be primarily controlled by the interdune proportion (relative to that of the dune), roughness and degree of sand cover. In agreement with radiometry and scatterometry observations, SAR images suggest that the fraction of interdunes increases northward up to a latitude of ∼14°. In general, scattering from the subsurface (volume scattering and surface scattering from buried interfaces) makes interdunal regions brighter than the dunes. The observed latitudinal trend may therefore also be partially caused by a gradual thinning of the interdunal sand cover or surrounding sand sheets to the north, thus allowing wave penetration in the underlying substrate. Altimetry measurements over dunes have highlighted a region located in the Fensal dune field (∼5° latitude) where the icy bedrock of Titan is likely exposed within smooth interdune areas. The hemispherical assymetry of dune field properties may point to a general reduction in the availability of sediments and/or an increase in the ground humidity toward the north, which could be related to Titan’s asymmetric seasonal polar insolation. Alternatively, it may indicate that either the wind pattern or the topography is less favorable for dune formation in Titan’s northern tropics.