Book Review

Electronic Surveying and Navigation by Simon H. Laurila (New York: John Wiley &; Sons, 1976), 545 pages, hardcover, $25.00.     

Characterization of marine aggregates off Waikiki,O'ahu,Hawai'i

Researchers at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa have been working for the past several years to develop the necessary techniques for finding and quantitatively characterizing offshore unconsolidated carbonate deposits with potential for beach nourishment and use in construction aggregates for tropical island communities. This article examines particular results of this research, with special attention given to the area offshore from Waikiki Beach. Acoustic surveying, water‐jet probing to measure the thickness of unconsolidated material and three different sampling methods were used in this study. Two separate seismic systems were used for the subbottom profiling survey, a Datasonics Bubble‐Pulser® system and a broad‐band, frequency‐modulated ("chirp") prototype system.

The following conclusions were reached. (1) Many different types of sediment underlie tropical island carbonate sand deposits and serve as refusing horizons to jet probing. Examples include consolidated or unconsolidated reef debris, beach rock, cemented sand, and various types of conglomerates formed from rhodoliths (coralline algae) or reef detritus. (2) Massive coral growth over clastic deposits is not a common offshore feature in this area, though it does occur in some areas off the Reef Runway. (3) Matrices of the coral Porites compressa, in‐filled with sand, may have acoustic properties similar to those of the sand bodies. Such deposits may be difficult to distinguish from unconsolidated deposits from seismic records alone. (4) Significant new prospects for offshore aggregates were found in the insular shelf offshore from Southern O'ahu. A total of 5,100,000 m³ were mapped off Waikiki. The Makua Shelf deposits in this area presently appear to be the best prospects for commercial development.     

Improving vertical GPS precision with a GPS-over-fiber architecture and real-time relative delay calibration

A limitation of GPS positioning is that the vertical component is generally two to three times less precise than the horizontal components. In a previous work by R. Santerre of Laval University and G. Beutler of University of Bern, it was shown in simulations that it is possible to improve the GPS vertical positioning precision by using a multi-antenna GPS receiver and a precise calibration technique of the relative hardware delay between the antennas and the receiver. However, no actual implementation of the system was done to prove the concept until now. A new multi-antenna, GPS-over-fiber architecture with real-time delay monitoring, designed and implemented to improve the vertical precision is presented. The improvement in vertical precision arises from the elimination of the relative receiver clock error in single difference, between antennas, and the precision real-time calibration of the relative hardware delay. Experiments were conducted with a zero baseline and a short baseline configuration. The results show, as expected by the theory and the simulations, a two to three times improvement in the precision of the vertical component such that it reached the same level of performance as the horizontal components. These promising results will enable the use of this type of configuration in several applications where the same precision in all 3D components is essential and could not be achieved before with standard GPS positioning techniques.     

Origins and antiquity of the island fox (Urocyon littoralis) on California's Channel Islands

The island fox (Urocyon littoralis) is one of few reportedly endemic terrestrial mammals on California's Channel Islands. Questions remain about how and when foxes first colonized the islands, with researchers speculating on a natural, human-assisted, or combined dispersal during the late Pleistocene and/or Holocene. A natural dispersal of foxes to the northern Channel Islands has been supported by reports of a few fox bones from late Pleistocene paleontological localities. Direct AMS ¹⁴C dating of these “fossil” fox bones produced dates ranging from ∼ 6400 to 200 cal yr BP, however, postdating human colonization of the islands by several millennia. Although one of these specimens is the earliest securely dated fox from the islands, these new data support the hypothesis that Native Americans introduced foxes to all the Channel Islands in the early to middle Holocene. However, a natural dispersal for the original island colonization cannot be ruled out until further paleontological, archaeological, and genetic studies (especially aDNA [ancient DNA]) are conducted.     

Ion exchange and trace element surface complexation reactions associated with applied recharge of low-TDS water in the San Joaquin Valley,California

Stable isotope data, a dissolved gas tracer study, groundwater age dating, and geochemical modeling were used to identify and characterize the effects of introducing low-TDS recharge water in a shallow aerobic aquifer affected by a managed aquifer recharge project in California’s San Joaquin Valley. The data all consistently point to a substantial degree of mixing of recharge water from surface ponds with ambient groundwater in a number of nearby wells screened at depths above 60 m below ground surface. Groundwater age data indicate that the wells near the recharge ponds sample recently recharged water, as delineated by stable O and C isotope data as well as total dissolved solids, in addition to much older groundwater in various mixing proportions. Where the recharge water signature is present, the specific geochemical interactions between the recharge water and the aquifer material appear to include ion exchange reactions (comparative enrichment of affected groundwater with Na and K at the expense of Ca and Mg) and the desorption of oxyanion-forming trace elements (As, V, and Mo), possibly in response to the elevated pH of the recharge water.     

What underlies the Philippine island arc? Clues from the Calaton Hill, Tablas island, Romblon (Central Philippines)

We report here for the first time the occurrence of a high-temperature metamorphic/plutonic complex (amphibolites, metagabbros, hornblende pyroxenites and hornblendites) in Calaton Hill, Tablas island, Romblon, Central Philippines. The mineral assemblages and relic magmatic textures in these rocks imply apparent derivation from arc-related protoliths. Major element and trace element data are also comparable to those of gabbroic rocks in arc-related setting. Subsolidus re-equilibration under granulite to amphibolite facies is documented by the triple junctions between mineral phases in the different lithologies, the recrystallization of plagioclase and the presence of coronas around olivine with mineral assemblage of orthopyroxene + amphibole ± green spinel. The formation of hornblendite and the pervasive occurrence of amphiboles in the different lithologies are being attributed to the infiltration of a younger hydrous arc magma which also caused metamorphism and hybridization on the surrounding rocks. The characteristics of the Calaton Hill samples are comparable with those of the well-studied xenoliths from Ichinomegata, NE Honshu arc, Japan. We therefore interpret the Calaton Hill metamorphic/plutonic complex as representative of the lower crust underlying the Philippine island arc.     

Protocol for Quantitative Detection of Elemental Sulfur and Polysulfide Zero-Valent Sulfur Distribution in Natural Aquatic Samples

A HPLC-based protocol has been developed for the determination of zero-valent sulfur (ZVS) speciation, including solid, colloidal elemental sulfur and individual inorganic polysulfides in natural aquatic samples. The protocol includes four experimental procedures: (1) determination of polysulfide speciation by rapid single-phase derivatisation with methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate; (2) determination of the sum of polysulfide and colloidal sulfur by reaction with hydrogen cyanide (cyanolysis); (3) determination of total zero-valent sulfur by treatment with zinc chloride followed by extraction with chloroform; and (4) chromatographic determination of polythionates without sample pre-treatment. With proper sampling and preservation techniques in the field or on board ship, this combination of methods allowed the quantitative determination of: (a) individual polysulfide species; (b) dispersed colloidal sulfur; (c) dispersed solid elemental sulfur; and (d) tetra-, penta- and hexathionates. With minor modification, the method could be expanded to include other polythionates. Sixteen various wet chemical and liquid chromatographic methods were tested on nine synthetic reference samples (including solid elemental sulfur, colloidal elemental sulfur, inorganic polysulfides and polythionates) to establish the optimal protocol. The protocol was further evaluated by analysing the zero-valent sulfur content in microbially-produced sulfur and in sulfur from two natural samples of sulfide-rich seawater from tidal flats pools of the Wadden Sea (Germany).     

Embankments on Soft Soil Reinforced with Stone Columns: Numerical Analysis and Proposal of a New Design Method

A parametric study of an embankment on soft soils reinforced with stone columns is performed using a computer program based on the finite element method. The cylindrical unit cell formulation is used by modeling one column and its surrounding soft soil with confined axisymmetric behaviour. The computer program incorporates the Biot consolidation theory (coupled formulation of the flow and equilibrium equations) with constitutive relations simulated by the p–q–θ critical state model. The following parameters are analysed: the replacement area ratio, the deformability of the column material, the thickness of the soft soil, the deformability of the fill and the friction angle of the column material. Based on the results of this study, a new design method is proposed, relating the settlement improvement factor to the two factors that revealed major influence: the replacement area ratio and the ratio between the deformability of the soft soil and the deformability of the column material.     

Land cover change detection in West Jilin using ETM+ images

In order to assess the information content and accuracy ofLandsat ETM+ digital images in land cover change detection,change-detection techniques of image differencing,normalized difference vegetation index,principal components analysis and tasseled-cap transformation were applied to yield 13 images. These images were thresholded into change and no change areas. The thresholded images were then checked in terms of various accuracies. The experiment results show that kappa coefficients of the 13 images range from 48.05 ～78.09. Different images do detect different types of changes. Images associated with changes in the near-infrared-reflectance or greenness detects crop-type changes and changes between vegetative and non-vegetative features. A unique means of using only Landsat imagery without reference data for the assessment of change in arid land are presented. Images of 12th June, 2000 and 2nd June, 2002 are used to validate the means. Analyses of standard accuracy and spatial agreement are performed to compare the new images (hereafter called "change images" ) representing the change between the two dates. Spatial agreement evaluates the conformity in the classified "change pixels" and "no-change pixels" at the same location on different change images and comprehensively examines the different techniques. This method would enable authorities to monitor land degradation efficiently and accurately.