The hazard potential of the western segment of the Makran subduction zone, northern Arabian Sea

Evaluating the hazard potential of the Makran subduction zone requires understanding the previous records of the large earthquakes and tsunamis. We address this problem by searching for earthquake and tectonic proxies along the Makran Coast and linking those observations with the available constraints on historical seismicity and the tell-tale characteristics of sea floor morphology. The earthquake of Mw 8.1 of 1945 and the consequent tsunami that originated on the eastern part of the Makran are the only historically known hazardous events in this region. The seismic status of the western part of the subduction zone outside the rupture area of the 1945 earthquake remains an enigma. The near-shore shallow stratigraphy of the central part of Makran near Chabahar shows evidence of seismically induced liquefaction that we attribute to the distant effects of the 1945 earthquake. The coastal sites further westward around Jask are remarkable for the absence of liquefaction features, at least at the shallow level. Although a negative evidence, this possibly implies that the western part of Makran Coast region may not have been impacted by near-field large earthquakes in the recent past??a fact also supported by the analysis of historical data. On the other hand, the elevated marine terraces on the western Makran and their uplift rates are indicative of comparable degree of long-term tectonic activity, at least around Chabahar. The offshore data suggest occurrences of recently active submarine slumps on the eastern part of the Makran, reflective of shaking events, owing to the great 1945 earthquake. The ocean floor morphologic features on the western segment, on the contrary, are much subdued and the prograding delta lobes on the shelf edge also remain intact. The coast on the western Makran, in general, shows indications of progradation and uplift. The various lines of evidence thus suggest that although the western segment is potentially seismogenic, large earthquakes have not occurred there in the recent past, at least during the last 600?years. The recurrence period of earthquakes may range up to 1,000?years or more, an assessment based on the age of the youngest dated coastal ridge. The long elapsed time points to the fact that the western segment may have accumulated sufficient slip to produce a major earthquake.     

The impact of political transformation on employment in the Transkei bureaucracy and civil service in Umtata,South Africa since 1994

The demise of South African Apartheid Planning in 1994 and subsequent lost of Umtata’s capital status when the Transkei was subsumed into the new Eastern Cape Province resulted in the major political transformation of the Transkei state. Central to the post-apartheid transformation was restructuring of Transkei bureaucracy which at the time of South Africa’s independence in 1994 displayed abnormalities. This paper documents the restructuring of the Transkei bureaucracy focusing on Umtata since 1994. The study has brought to the forefront the following facts: Firstly, that at the time of the Transkei merger into South Africa, employment in the government was ‘booming’ and to greater extent it was affected by Umtata’s role—being the capital city of the pseudo-Transkei state. Secondly, the post 1994-political transformation of the Transkei Bantustan impacted negatively on Umtata’s employment notably the civil service sector by ‘squeezing’ it during the early years of democracy (1994–2000). Thirdly, since 2001, with Umtata serving as the major urban centre of both King Sabata Local Municipality and OR Tambo District Municipality, employment in the civil service and municipality has been revitalized.     

Transparent Exopolymer Particles (TEP) in a River-Dominated Estuary: Spatial–Temporal Distributions and an Assessment of Controls upon TEP Formation

Transparent exopolymer particle (TEP) distributions were examined in North Carolina’s Neuse River Estuary (NRE) over a 1-year period, and experiments were conducted to examine controls upon TEP formation. TEP-carbon averaged 16% of the total organic carbon pool in the NRE. From May to early August 2007, TEP ranged from 805 to 1,801 μg xanthan gum (XG) L⁻¹. A large phytoplankton bloom peaked in early August and then subsequently declined. Within 2 weeks of the bloom’s peak, TEP concentrations increased to >3,500 μg XG L⁻¹ and remained elevated through mid-December. Decreasing water temperatures and enhanced retention due to drought conditions in Fall 2007 likely aided in the persistence of TEP concentrations during this timeframe. Thereafter, TEP decreased coincident with increased river flow and flushing of the estuary that began in January 2008, and TEP remained low (ranging from 991 to 1,712 μg XG L⁻¹) until the end of April 2008. TEP was positively correlated with salinity, suggesting that cation availability (which co-varies with salinity and stabilizes the structural integrity of TEP) may play a role in estuarine TEP formation. In two cation addition experiments using water from the mesohaline region, TEP concentrations tended to be higher in treatments with vs. without cations added. Statistically significant relationships were also found between in situ TEP concentrations and pH, mixing, and temperature, suggesting that a complex suite of environmental parameters affect TEP formation and its distribution in estuaries.     

Comparison of the Salinity Structure of the Chesapeake Bay,the Delaware Bay and Long Island Sound Using a Linearly Tapered Advection-Dispersion Model

Long records of monthly salinity observations along the axis of Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and Long Island Sound are used to test a simple advection–dispersion model of the salt distribution in linearly tapered estuaries developed in a previous paper. We subdivide each estuary into three to five segments, each with linear taper allowing a distributed input of fresh water, and evaluate the dispersion in each segment. While Delaware Bay has weak dispersion and a classical sigmoidal salinity structure, Long Island Sound and Chesapeake Bay are more dispersive and have relatively small gradients in the central stretches. Long Island Sound is distinguished by having a net volume and salt flux out of its low-salinity end resulting in a smaller range of salinity and increasing axial gradients at its head rather than the usual asymptotic approach to zero salinity. Estimates of residence times based on model transport coefficients show that Long Island Sound has the most rapid response to fresh-water flux variations. It also has the largest amplitude cycle in river discharge fluctuation. In combination, these cause the large seasonal variation in the salinity structure relative to interannual variability in Long Island Sound as compared with Chesapeake Bay and Delaware Bay.     

Short-Term Effects of an Oil Spill on Marsh-Edge Fishes and Decapod Crustaceans

On 19 April 2005, an oil spill occurred in southeastern Louisiana’s Barataria Bay estuary. We used a drop sampler to characterize the marsh-edge nekton community. Thirty-six locations were sampled in pre- and post-spill time frames from March through May 2005. Before–after control–impact (BACI) analyses of the total number of individuals (fishes + decapod crustaceans), total fishes, and sensitive species found significant interactions between the temporal (before/after) and spatial (control/impact) treatments and indicated an effect of the oil spill. Nonparametric analyses detected varied faunal assemblages across temporal treatments, but were similar in species composition among spatial treatments. While the BACI analyses showed event effects, differences were not strongly detected in nonparametric analyses of community structure. Fish are mobile and left the spill area after the disturbance, whereas the less mobile but more numerous benthic decapod crustaceans remained. The overall community structure appears to be robust and quickly recovered from the localized spill event.     

Physiological acclimation strategies of riparian plants to environment change in the delta of the Tarim River,China

The occurrence and development of riparian forests, which were mainly dominated by mesophytes species related closely with surface water. Since there was no water discharged to the lower reaches of Tarim River in the past three decade years, the riparian forests degrade severely. The groundwater table, the saline content of the groundwater, as well as the content of free proline, soluble sugars, plant endogenous hormones (abscisic acid (ABA), and cytokinins (CTK)) of the leaves and relative rates of sap flow of the Populus euphratica Oliv. (arbor species), Tamarix ramosissima Ldb. (bush species), and Apocynum venetum L. (herb species) were monitored and analyzed at the lower reaches of the Tarim River in the study area where five positions on a transect were fixed at 100 m intervals along a sampling direction from riverbank to the sand dunes before and after water release. The physiological responses and acclimation strategies of three species to variations in water and salinity stress were discussed. It was found that A. venetum population recovered to groundwater table ranging from −1.73 to −3.56 m, and when exposed to saline content of the groundwater ranging from 36.59 to 93.48 m mol/L; P. euphratica appeared to be more sensitive to the elevation of groundwater table than the A. venetum and T. ramosissima at groundwater table ranging from −5.08 to −5.80 m, and when exposed to saline content of the groundwater ranging from 42.17 to 49.55 m mol/L. T. ramosissima tended to be the best candidate species for reclamation in this hyper-arid area because it responded to groundwater table ranging from −1.73 to −7.05 m, and when exposed to saline content of the groundwater ranging from 36.59 to 93.48 m mol/L. These results explained the distribution patterns of desert vegetation in the lower reaches of the Tarim River. Understanding the relationships among ecological factors variables, physiological response and acclimation strategies of plant individuals could provide guidance to sustainable management, reclamation and development of this and similar regions.     

Fate of the Evros River suspended particulate matter in the northern Aegean Sea

Evros River is the most important river flowing into the North Aegean Sea (eastern Mediterranean) in terms of freshwater discharge, and the second largest one of Eastern Europe after the Danube River. Salinity and temperature measurements, together with suspended particulate matter concentrations were obtained in various depths at 14 stations in the adjacent Alexandroupolis Gulf during four seasons (June 1998, September 1998, February 1999 and March 2000) in order to investigate the particle dynamics and distributions in the northern Aegean Sea. Analysis of the collected data, together with particle observations under the scanning electron microscope and study of satellite images showed that, under certain circumstances driven by the hydrological and wind regime of the area, the Evros River particulate matter, with the associated pollutants, can be transferred far away from the estuary and implicitly comprise a hazardous factor for the environmental status of the northern Aegean Sea. This fact, combined with the future construction of the Burgas-Alexandroupolis pipeline, may cause a negative impact on the studied natural ecosystem.     

Evaluation of effective management plan for an agricultural watershed using AVSWAT model,remote sensing and GIS

In the present investigation, an effort has been made to identify the critical sub-watersheds for the development of best management plan for a small watershed of Eastern India using a hydrological model, namely, AVSWAT2000. A total of 180 combinations of various management treatments including crops (rice, maize ground nut and soybean), tillage (zero, conservation, field cultivator, mould board plough and conventional practices) and fertilizer levels (existing half of recommended and recommended) have been evaluated. The investigation reveled that rice cannot be replaced by other crops such as groundnut, maize, mungbean, sorghum and soybean since comparatively these crops resulted in higher sediment yield. The tillage practices with disk plough have been found to have more impact on sediment yield and nutrient losses than conventional tillage practices for the existing level of fertilizer. Sediment yield decreased in the case of zero tillage, conservation tillage, field cultivator, moldboard plough, and conservation tillage as compare to conventional tillage. Lowest NO₃–N loss was observed in zero tillage in all the fertilizer treatments, whereas field cultivator, moldboard plough and disk plough resulted in increase of NO³–N loss. As compared to conventional tillage, the losses of soluble phosphorus were increased in moldboard plough. The losses of organic nitrogen were also increased as fertilizer dose increased. After zero tillage the conservation tillage preformed better in all the fertilizer treatments as per loss of organic nitrogen and organic phosphorus is concerned. It can be concluded that the sediment yield was found to be the highest in the case of disk plough followed by moldboard plough, field cultivator, conventional tillage, field cultivator and least in zero tillage practices. The nutrient losses were found to be in different order with tillage practices, resulted highest in disk plough tillage practices. In view of sediment yield and nutrient losses, the conservation tillage practice was found to be the best as the sediment yield is less than the average soil loss whereas nutrient loss is within the permissible limit.     

Geochemical constraints on the origin of the late Jurassic proto-Caribbean oceanic crust in Hispaniola

The nature of the oceanic crust produced through rifting and oceanic spreading between North and South America during the Late Jurassic is a key element for the Caribbean plate tectonic model reconstruction. Located in the Cordillera Central of Hispaniola, the Loma La Monja volcano-plutonic assemblage (LMA) is composed of gabbros, dolerites, basalts, and oceanic sediments, as well as metamorphic equivalents, which represent a dismembered fragment of this proto-Caribbean oceanic crust. Petrologic and geochemical data show that the LMA have a relatively broad diversity in composition, which represent the crystallization products of a typical low-pressure tholeiitic fractionation of mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB)-type parental magmas, ranging from N- to E-MORB. Three geochemical groups have been distinguished in the volcanic sequence: LREE-flat to slightly LREE-enriched basalts of groups II and III occur interlayered in the lower stratigraphic levels; and LREE-depleted basalts of group I in the upper levels. Mantle melt modeling suggests that group III magmas are consistent by mixing within a mantle melt column of low-degree (<1%) melts of a deep garnet lherzolite source and high-degree (>15%) melts of a shallow spinel source, and groups II and I magmas are explained with moderate to high (14–18%) and very high (>20%) fractional melting degrees of a shallower spinel mantle source, respectively. Thus, upward in the volcanic sequence of the LMA, the magmas represent progressively more extensive melting of shallower sources, in a plume-influenced spreading ridge of the proto-Caribbean oceanic crust. Nb/Y versus Zr/Y systematics combined with recent plate tectonic model reconstructions reveal that Caribbean Colombian oceanic plateau fragments in Hispaniola formed through melting of heterogeneous mantle source regions related with distinct plumes during at least from Aptian–Albian (>96 Ma) to Late Campanian.