How do people perceive the disclosure risk of maps? Examining the perceived disclosure risk of maps and its implications for geoprivacy protection

ABSTRACT

This research examines how people subjectively perceive the disclosure risk of a map using original data collected in an online survey with 856 participants. The results indicate that perceived disclosure risk increases as the amount of locational information displayed on a map increases. Compared to point-based maps, perceived disclosure risk is significantly lower for kernel density maps, convex hull maps, and standard deviational ellipse maps. The results also revealed that perceived disclosure risk is affected by map scale and the presence of information of other people on a map. For geomasking methods, perceived disclosure risk decreases as aggregation level increases and as relocation distance increases. However, aggregation methods (point to polygon) are more effective in preventing the re-identification of individuals when compared to relocation methods (point to point). Lastly, the perceived disclosure risk of a map that displays socially-vulnerable people is significantly higher than that of a map that displays non-vulnerable groups. Specifically, a map displaying the private locations of elementary school students has the highest perceived disclosure risk. Based on the results, a set of geoprivacy protection guidelines for mapping people’s private locations to minimize people’s perceived disclosure risk is proposed. Implications for mapping infectious diseases like the COVID-19 are also discussed.     

Impact of a rock avalanche on a moraine‐dammed proglacial lake: Laguna Safuna Alta,Cordillera Blanca,Peru

Moraines that dam proglacial lakes pose an increasing hazard to communities in the Andes and other mountain ranges. The moraines are prone to failure through collapse, overtopping by lake waters or the effect of displacement waves resulting from ice and rock avalanches. Resulting floods have led to the loss of thousands of lives in the Cordillera Blanca mountains of Peru alone in the last 100 years. On 22 April 2002 a rock avalanche occurred immediately to the south‐west of Laguna Safuna Alta, in the Cordillera Blanca. The geomorphic evidence for the nature, magnitude and consequences of this event was investigated in August 2002. Field mapping indicated that the avalanche deposited 8–20 × 10⁶ m³ of rock into the lake and onto the surface of the frontal region of Glaciar Pucajirca, which flows into the lake. Repeated bathymetric surveying indicated that ～5 × 10⁶ m³ of this material was deposited directly into the lake. The immediate effect of this event was to create a displacement wave that gained in height as it travelled along the lake basin, overtopping the impounding moraine at the lake's northern end. To achieve overtopping, the maximum wave height must have been greater than 100 m. This, and subsequent seiche waves, caused extensive erosion of both the proximal and distal faces of the impounding terminal moraine. Further deep gullying of the distal face of this moraine resulted from the supply of pressurized water to the face via a relief overflow tunnel constructed in 1978. Two‐dimensional, steady‐state analysis of the stability of the post‐avalanche moraine rampart indicates that its proximal face remains susceptible to major large‐scale rotational failure. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biological monitoring of the marine ocean outfall at black rock, Victoria, Australia

The Barwon Region Water Authority in Victoria, Australia, commissioned a new subtidal ocean sewage outfall in February 1989. This outfall replaced an old intertidal outfall, and presently discharges via a diffuser in an average depth of 15m some 1.2km offshore in Bass Strait. Examination of biological communities around the old outfall prior to the change revealed distinct differences in biotic assemblages close to the outfall. An ongoing monitoring programme, implemented in 1986, has assessed not only the recovery in this intertidal area, but also the major changes to macroalgal communities on surrounding reefs, subtidal infauna populations in sandy sediments, and rocky shore communities.     

Metal-depleted root zones of the Troodos ore-forming hydrothermal systems, Cyprus

The cupriferous pyrite deposits of Cyprus were precipitated from hydrothermal solutions derived by interaction of contemporaneous seawater with hot mafic rock at the ancient Troodos spreading centre. Here we identify the zones in which this interaction took place. The zones occur in the lower part of the sheeted dyke complex, and within them 30–50% of the rock is made up of epidosite, an epidote-quartz rock, replacing the dykes as sheets and pipes. The epidosites contain abundant fluid inclusions, which give trapping temperatures of 350–400°C or even higher, and contain water normally near seawater in salinity. Zones of epidosite are elongate parallel to the strike of the sheeted dykes, and are up to 1 km wide. The rocks throughout these zones are strongly depleted in Cu and Zn, and the metals removed are sufficient to supply the ore deposits. In fact several large ore deposits lie along strike from zones of epidosite. All of these features support the identification of the epidosites as the hydrothermal reaction zones.The location of the epidosite zones immediately above the gabbros of the plutonic complex supports the hypothesis that the heat to drive the ore-forming systems came from the underlying magma, as is also likely for modern black smoker springs.     

Resuspension measured with sediment traps in a high-energy environment

The near-bottom sedimentation rates were measured by placing cylindrical sediment traps 10 m above the sea floor on each of six moorings deployed between 4100 and 5100 m along a transect across an energetic deep-sea current in the HEBBLE area centered at 40°N, 63°W on the Nova Scotian Rise. Sedimentation rates above the sea floor were monitored with additional traps at 23, 54, 100, 200 and 500 m above the bottom (mab) on the mooring at 4950 m. The total flux at 500 mab for the two-week period, consisting mostly of primary particles from surface water, was 166 mg/m² day and increased exponentially towards the bottom. The total flux at 10 mab increased down slope from 1160 mg/m² day at 4158 m where the mean current speed was 8 cm/s to a maximum of 77,300 mg/m² day at 5022 m where the mean current speed was 32 cm/s, then decreased to 59,400 mg/m² day at the mooring at 5076 m. The size frequency distributions of large, discrete particles such as foraminifera, diatoms, radiolarians and fecal pellets were quantified in all trap samples to examine whether the large variation in fluxes was due to artifacts such as current velocity or trap tilt. Based on the source, persistence and distribution of these particles, we conclude that the large variations in fluxes across the rise and with distance from the sea floor are due primarily to resuspension and resettling of bottom sediments, with tilt and current effects on trapping having only a secondary effect. The vertical gradients of large-particle fluxes suggest effective vertical eddy diffusivities of 10²–10⁴ cm²/s using a two-dimensional model. Horizontal advection and secondary circulation probably play a large role in moving large, rapidly falling (up to 1 cm/s) particles to a height of 50–100 m above the sea floor.     

Environmental and biological controls on elemental (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and Mn/Ca) ratios in shells of the king scallop Pecten maximus

The relationship between potential elemental proxies (Mg/Ca, Sr/Ca and Mn/Ca ratios) and environmental factors was investigated for the bivalve Pecten maximus in a detailed field study undertaken in the Menai Strait, Wales, U.K. An age model constructed for each shell by comparison of measured and predicted oxygen-isotope ratios allowed comparison on a calendar time scale of shell elemental data with environmental variables, as well as estimation of shell growth rates. The seasonal variation of shell Mn/Ca ratios followed a similar pattern to one previously described for dissolved Mn²⁺ in the Menai Strait, although further calibration work is needed to validate such a relationship. Shell Sr/Ca ratios unexpectedly were found to co-vary most significantly with calcification temperature, whilst shell Mg/Ca ratios were the next most significant control. The temporal variation in the factors that control shell Sr/Ca ratios strongly suggest the former observation most likely to be the result of a secondary influence on shell Sr/Ca ratios by kinetic effects, the latter driven by seasonal variation in shell growth rate that is in turn influenced in part by seawater temperature. P. maximus shell Mg/Ca ratio to calcification temperature relationships exhibit an inverse correlation during autumn to early spring (October to March-April) and a positive correlation from late spring through summer (May-June to September). No clear explanation is evident for the former trend, but the similarity of the records from the three shells analysed indicate that it is a real signal and not a spurious observation. These observations confirm that application of the Mg/Ca proxy in P. maximus shells remains problematic, even for seasonal or absolute temperature reconstructions. For the range of calcification temperatures of 5-19 °C, our shell Mg/Ca ratios in P. maximus are approximately one-fourth those in inorganic calcite, half those in the bivalve Pinna nobilis, twice those in the bivalve Mytilus trossulus, and four to five times higher than Mg/Ca ratios in planktonic and benthonic foraminifera. Our findings further support observations that Mg/Ca ratios in bivalve shell calcite are an unreliable temperature proxy, as well as substantial taxon- and species-specific variation in Mg incorporation into bivalves and other calcifying organisms, with profound implications for the application of this geochemical proxy to the bivalve fossil record.     

Quantifying aluminosilicate manganese release and dissolution rates across organic ligand treatments for rocks,minerals, and soils

Acta Geochimica - Manganese is ubiquitous in terrestrial environments and most studies have focused on dissolution of Mn oxides, but aluminosilicates also release Mn. Here, we evaluated oxic Mn...     

In situ and laboratory geoacoustic measurements in soft mud and hard-packed sand sediments: Implications for high-frequency acoustic propagation and scattering

Near-surface sediment geoacoustic and physical properties were measured in gas-rich, muddy sediments of Eckernförde Bay, Baltic Sea, and in hard-packed, sandy sediments of the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Values of compressional and shear wave velocity are much lower in muddy compared to sandy sediments. The spatial and temporal variability of sediment physical and geoacoustic properties and, as a consequence, the scattering and propagation of high-frequency acoustic waves are primarily related to the presence and absence of free methane gas bubbles at the muddy site and to the abundance and distribution of shell material on sandy sediments.     

Heterogeneous water storage and thermal regime of supraglacial ponds on debris‐covered glaciers

The water storage and energy transfer roles of supraglacial ponds are poorly constrained, yet they are thought to be important components of debris‐covered glacier ablation budgets. We used an unmanned surface vessel (USV) to collect sonar depth measurements for 24 ponds to derive the first empirical relationship between their area and volume applicable to the size distribution of ponds commonly encountered on debris‐covered glaciers. Additionally, we instrumented nine ponds with thermistors and three with pressure transducers, characterizing their thermal regime and capturing three pond drainage events. The deepest and most irregularly‐shaped ponds were those associated with ice cliffs, which were connected to the surface or englacial hydrology network (maximum depth = 45.6 m), whereas hydrologically‐isolated ponds without ice cliffs were both more circular and shallower (maximum depth = 9.9 m). The englacial drainage of three ponds had the potential to melt ~100 ± 20 × 10³ kg to ~470 ± 90 × 10³ kg of glacier ice owing to the large volumes of stored water. Our observations of seasonal pond growth and drainage with their associated calculations of stored thermal energy have implications for glacier ice flow, the progressive enlargement and sudden collapse of englacial conduits, and the location of glacier ablation hot‐spots where ponds and ice cliffs interact. Additionally, the evolutionary trajectory of these ponds controls large proglacial lake formation in deglaciating environments. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.