Financing rapid community reconstruction after catastrophic disaster: lessons from the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China

Catastrophic disasters can change the course of urban development and challenge the long-run sustainability of cities and regions. How to rapidly reconstruct communities impaired by catastrophic disaster is a world-wide challenge. The reconstruction after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake in China was an unusual case of very rapid reconstruction after a catastrophic disaster. Over US$147 billion was invested to rebuild the damaged areas within 3 years. The reconstruction was not simply building back what was destroyed, but was used as an opportunity to advance national goals for urbanization, rural transformation, and poverty reduction. In this article, we review how the reconstruction was planned, budgeted, and financed in the sociopolitical context of 2008 China. Particularly, we discuss two innovative programs, namely pair assistance and land-based financing. Despite the unique circumstances of China, lessons can be learned to speed up post-disaster reconstruction and urban development in other countries. Conversely, this case illustrates that a narrow focus on physical reconstruction may overlook broader economic and social issues.

     

Potential Impact of Production Chemicals on the Toxicity of Produced Water Discharges from North Sea Oil Platforms

Production chemicals are used on offshore oil production platforms to prevent corrosion and scale formation, and to assist oil–water separation. A proportion of these chemicals may enter the marine environment via the produced water discharge. This study investigated the potential impact of 11 oilfield production chemicals on the toxicity of the produced water discharge. The Microtox® system was used for toxicity assessment of the chemicals, both directly in aqueous preparations and following their partitioning between oil (crude and low toxicity mineral base oil) and North Sea brine. For the majority of the chemicals tested, the toxicity of the aqueous phase to the test organism following partitioning against crude oil, was not significantly altered by the presence of process chemicals when used in their normal field dosage concentrations. However, there was evidence that certain chemicals could increase the partitioning of oil components into the aqueous phase by an order of magnitude, when applied at high dosage concentrations.     

Manganese and iron distributions off central California influenced by upwelling and shelf width

In July 2002, a combination of underway mapping and discrete profiles revealed significant along-shore variability in the concentrations of manganese and iron in the vicinity of Monterey Bay, California. Both metals had lower concentrations in surface waters south of Monterey Bay, where the shelf is about 2.5 km wide, than north of Monterey Bay, where the shelf is about 10 km wide. During non-upwelling conditions over the northern broad shelf, dissolvable iron concentrations measured underway in surface waters reached 3.5 nmol L⁻¹ and dissolved manganese reached 25 nmol L⁻¹. In contrast, during non-upwelling conditions over the southern narrow shelf, dissolvable iron concentrations in surface waters were less than 1 nmol L⁻¹ and dissolved manganese concentrations were less than 5 nmol L⁻¹. A pair of vertical profiles at 1000 m water depth collected during an upwelling event showed dissolved manganese concentrations of 10 decreasing to 2 nmol L⁻¹, and dissolvable iron concentrations of 12–20 nmol L⁻¹ in the upper 100 m in the north, compared to 3.5–2 nmol L⁻¹ Mn and 0.6 nmol L⁻¹ Fe in the upper 100 m in the south, suggesting the effect of shelf width influences the chemistry of waters beyond the shelf.These observations are consistent with current understanding of the mechanism of iron supply to coastal upwelling systems: Iron from shelf sediments, predominantly associated with particles greater than 20 μm, is brought to the surface during upwelling conditions. We hypothesize that manganese oxides are brought to the surface with upwelling and are then reduced to dissolved manganese, perhaps by photoreduction, following a lag after upwelling.Greater phytoplankton biomass, primary productivity, and nutrient drawdown were observed over the broad shelf, consistent with the greater supply of iron. Incubation experiments conducted 20 km offshore in both regions, during a period of wind relaxation, confirm the potential of these sites to become limited by iron. There was no additional growth response when copper, manganese or cobalt was added in addition to iron. The growth response of surface water incubated with bottom sediment (4 nmol L⁻¹ dissolvable Fe) was slightly greater than in control incubations, but less than in the presence of 4 nmol L⁻¹ dissolved iron. This may indicate that dissolvable iron is not as bioavailable as dissolved iron, although the influence of additional inhibitory elements in the sediment cannot be ruled out.     

Coupled ‘storm‐flood’ depositional model: Application to the Miocene–Modern Baram Delta Province,north‐west Borneo

The Miocene to Modern Baram Delta Province is a highly efficient source to sink system that has accumulated 9 to 12 km of coastal–deltaic to shelf sediments over the past 15 Myr. Facies analysis based on ca 1 km of total vertical outcrop stratigraphy, combined with subsurface geology and sedimentary processes in the present‐day Baram Delta Province, suggests a ‘storm‐flood’ depositional model comprising two distinct periods: (i) fair‐weather periods are dominated by alongshore sediment reworking and coastal sand accumulation; and (ii) monsoon‐driven storm periods are characterized by increased wave‐energy and offshore‐directed downwelling storm flow that occur simultaneously with peak fluvial discharge caused by storm precipitation (‘storm‐floods’). The modern equivalent environment has the following characteristics: (i) humid‐tropical monsoonal climate; (ii) narrow (ca <100 km) and steep (ca 1°), densely vegetated, coastal plain; (iii) deep tropical weathering of a mudstone‐dominated hinterland; (iv) multiple independent, small to moderate‐sized (10² to 10⁵ km²) drainage basins; (v) predominance of river‐mouth bypassing; and (vi) supply‐dominated shelf. The ancient, proximal part of this system (the onshore Belait Formation) is dominated by strongly cyclical sandier‐upward successions (metre to decametre‐scale) comprising (from bottom to top): (i) finely laminated mudstone with millimetre‐scale silty laminae; (ii) heterolithic sandstone–mudstone alternations (centimetre to metre‐scale); and (iii) sharp‐based, swaley cross‐stratified sandstone beds and bedsets (metre to decimetre‐scale). Gutter casts (decimetre to metre‐scale) are widespread, they are filled with swaley cross‐stratified sandstone and their long axes are oriented perpendicular to the palaeo‐shoreline. The gutter casts and other associated waning‐flow event beds suggest that erosion and deposition was controlled by high‐energy, offshore‐directed, oscillatory‐dominated, sediment‐laden combined flows within a shoreface to delta front setting. The presence of multiple river mouths and exceptionally high rates of accommodation creation (characteristic of the Neogene to Recent Baram Delta Province; up to 3000 m Ma⁻¹), in a ‘storm‐flood’‐dominated environment, resulted in a highly efficient and effective offshore‐directed sediment transport system.     

Fossil midge associations and the historical status of fish in acidified lakes

Chaoborid and chironomid (Diptera) fossils were examined in sediment cores form nine Ontario Precambrian Shield lakes that were fishless in 1979. An abundance of Chaoborus americamus (intolerant of predation by fish) throughout cores from four lakes indicated that they were fishless historically. Occurrence of Chaoborus punctipennis and C. flavicans and absence of C. americanus in cores, except near the surface in two cases, indicated that four other lakes were inhabited by fish historically. One of these was probably periodically fishless as suggested by fluctuations among these Chaoborus species. The ninth lake was not suitable for Chaoborus; only one specimen of C. trivittatus was found in this core. Chironomid fossil associations were substantially different in historically fishless and inhabited lakes. Fishless lakes had chironomids typical of eutrophic conditions indicating that seasonal oxygen depletion likely was inimical to fish. Chironomid associations of oligotrophic waters occurred in lakes historically inhabited by fish. Both good water quality and accessibility were required for long-term habitation by fish. Partial recovery of alkalinity and rise in pH were accompanied by substantial re-invasion by fish in two lakes which had been inhabited historically by fish. Diptera associations provide valuable information on the historical suitability of lakes for fish and the presence/absence of fish in regions where acidification of surface waters has occurred.     

Initial interpretation of Titan plasma interaction as observed by the Cassini plasma spectrometer: Comparisons with Voyager 1

The Cassini plasma spectrometer (CAPS) instrument made measurements of Titan's plasma environment when the Cassini Orbiter flew through the moon's plasma wake October 26, 2004 (flyby TA). Initial CAPS ion and electron measurements from this encounter will be compared with measurements made by the Voyager 1 plasma science instrument (PLS). The comparisons will be used to evaluate previous interpretations and predictions of the Titan plasma environment that have been made using PLS measurements. The plasma wake trajectories of flyby TA and Voyager 1 are similar because they occurred when Titan was near Saturn's local noon. These similarities make possible direct, meaningful comparisons between the various plasma wake measurements. They lead to the following: (A) The light and heavy ions, H⁺and N⁺/O⁺, were observed by PLS in Saturn's magnetosphere in the vicinity of Titan while the higher mass resolution of CAPS yielded H⁺ and H₂⁺as the light constituents and O⁺/CH₄⁺ as the heavy ions. (B) Finite gyroradius effects were apparent in PLS and CAPS measurements of ambient O⁺ ions as a result of their absorption by Titan's extended atmosphere. (C) The principal pickup ions inferred from both PLS and CAPS measurements are H⁺, H₂⁺, N⁺, CH₄⁺ and N₂⁺. (D) The inference that heavy pickup ions, observed by PLS, were in narrow beam distributions was empirically established by the CAPS measurements. (E) Slowing down of the ambient plasma due to pickup ion mass loading was observed by both instruments on the anti-Saturn side of Titan. (F) Strong mass loading just outside the ionotail by a heavy ion such as N₂⁺ is apparent in PLS and CAPS measurements. (G) Except for the expected differences due to the differing trajectories, the magnitudes and structures of the electron densities and temperatures observed by both instruments are similar. The high-energy electron bite-out observed by PLS in the magnetotail is consistent with that observed by CAPS.     

Distinguishing lower and upper crustal processes in magmas erupted during the buildup to the 7.7 ka climactic eruption of Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon, using 238U–230Th disequilibria

Uranium-series isotope ratios determined for 35 volcanic rocks and 4 glass separates erupted from ~36 to 4.8 ka at Mt. Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon, identify both ²³⁰Th-excess and ²³⁸U-excess components. U–Th isotope compositions cover a wide range, exceeding those previously measured for the Cascade arc. Age-corrected (²³⁰Th/²³²Th) and (²³⁸U/²³²Th) activity ratios range from 1.113 to 1.464 and from 0.878 to 1.572 (44.4 % ²³⁰Th-excess to 8.8 % ²³⁸U-excess), respectively. The most distinctive aspect of the data set is the contrast in U–Th isotope ratios between low and high Sr (LSr, HSr) components that have been previously identified in products of the 7.7 ka caldera-forming climactic eruption and preclimactic rhyodacite lavas. The LSr component exclusively contains ²³⁸U-excess, but the HSr component, as well as more primitive lavas, are marked by ²³⁰Th-excess. ²³⁰Th-excesses such as those recorded at Mt. Mazama are commonly observed in the Cascades. Melting models suggest that high ²³⁰Th-excesses observed in the more primitive lavas evolved through mixing of a mantle melt with a partial melt of a mafic lower crustal composition that contained garnet in the residuum that was produced through dehydration melting of amphibolite that was initially garnet free. Dehydration melting in the lower crust offers a solution to the “hot-slab paradox” of the Cascades, where low volatile contents are predicted due to high slab temperatures, yet higher water contents than expected have been documented in erupted lavas. The ²³⁸U-excess observed at Mt. Mazama is rare in Cascade lavas, but occurs in more than half of the samples analyzed in this study. Traditionally, ²³⁸U-excess in arc magmas is interpreted to reflect slab fluid fluxing. Indeed, ²³⁸U-excess in arcs is common and likely masks ²³⁰Th-excess resulting from lower crustal interaction. Isotopic and trace element data, however, suggest a relatively minor role for slab fluid fluxing in the Cascades. We propose that ²³⁸U-excess reflects melting and assimilation of young, hydrothermally altered upper crust. The processes related to generating ²³⁸U-excess are likely important features at Mt. Mazama that accompanied development of a large-scale silicic magma chamber that led to the caldera-forming eruption.     

Distinguishing breeding populations of mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) using trace elements

The knowledge of connectivity among breeding and overwintering populations of migratory bird species is critical for the conservation of their habitats. Conventional field work for the tracking of migratory birds involving bird banding often yields poor results due to low recovery rates, or is expensive when satellite tracking methods are used. Intrinsic tools such as genetic markers, stable isotopes, strontium isotopes and trace elements have been successfully used for tracing origins and/or migratory pathways of bird populations. We studied elemental signatures in the tail feathers to group breeding populations and an overwintering population of Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos). Tail feathers from five locations in Canada and the U.S. were analyzed using Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). We used 18 elements to discriminate between Mallard populations. Linear discriminant analysis on a selected set of elements demonstrated that 93% of the Mallards could be accurately located back to their predicted locations. Mallard feathers from Arkansas (an important overwintering area), grouped together with any combination of elements as predictors. We predicted the breeding locations of overwintering Mallards from Arkansas. Our results confirm that the LA-ICP-MS technique shows high potential to estimate the origin of migratory animals.