Lead Contamination Adjacent to Roadways in Trujillo,Venezuela

This study analyzes the extent and pattern of lead contamination along roadways in Trujillo, Venezuela, using traffic counts and soil samples collected in the field. The normalized mean lead level for frontyard samples along major traffic arteries was 200 μgg ^-1 versus 0 μgg^-1 for backyard samples. Furthermore 55%of the frontyard lead levels were hazardous, versus 7% of the backyard samples. This suggests a strong relationship between traffic and soil lead content. However, a relationship between lead level spatial patterns and traffic volume patterns was not established, suggesting that factors beyond traffic volume, such as slope and erosion, play a significant role in contamination patterns.     

3rd ANtarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network(ANGWIN)Science Workshop

<正>1.Overview The 3~(rd)ANtarctic Gravity Wave Instrument Network(ANGWIN)science workshop was held on 12–14 April 2016in Cambridge,UK.ANGWIN is a highly successful grassroots program that was started in 2011(in the Cornish English dialect ANGWIN means"the white").Although initially focused on the Antarctic,we now aim to develop collaborations in both polar regions.ANGWIN aims to use results from the network of instrumentation at international research     

Investigation of Thulium and Other Rare Earth Element Mass Fractions in NIST SRM 1632a Bituminous Coal Reference Material by Quadrupole ICP‐MS

Inductively coupled plasma‐mass spectrometry after lithium metaborate fusion and digestion was used to measure the rare earth element (REE) mass fractions of several reference materials including NIST SRM 1632a, a historical bituminous Pennsylvania seam coal. While most of the REE mass fractions measured in this study were consistent with the published consensus data, the measured mass fraction of thulium for NIST SRM 1632a was consistently lower compared with the published data. Chondrite normalisation of the published consensus data for NIST SRM 1632a produced a positive thulium anomaly (Tm = 1.78), which is inconsistent with a terrestrial source of sediment. Normalisation of REE mass fractions collected in this study produced no significant Tm anomaly (Tm = 0.93), which agrees with the sedimentary depositional environment of coal. Therefore, a revised mass fraction of 0.16 mg kg^?1 Tm in NIST SRM 1632a is recommended.     

GG Tau: the ringworld and beyond

In binary stellar systems, exoplanet searches have revealed planetary mass companions orbiting both in circumstellar and in circumbinary orbits. Modelling studies suggest increased dynamical complexity around the young stars that form such systems. Circumstellar and circumbinary disks likely exhibit different physical conditions for planet formation, which also depends on the stellar separation. Although binaries and higher order multiple stars are relatively common in nearby star-forming regions, surprisingly few systems with circumbinary distributions of proto-planetary material have been found. With its spectacular ring of dust and gas encircling the central triple star, one such system, GG Tau A, has become a unique laboratory for investigating the physics of circumsystem gas and dust evolution. We review here its physical properties.     

The Haitian housing dilemma: can sustainability and hazard-resilience be achieved?

The present danger in the Haitian rebuilding efforts, outside of the extreme level of need that often encourages temporary solutions at the expense of long-term capacity building, centers on the assumption that sustainability and resilience are mutually exclusive. They cannot be if this rare opportunity to achieve meaningful long-term change within a country that has suffered for far too long is to be fully seized. This change can be realized only with appropriate policies and incentives that do not simply fund the re-implementation of vulnerable construction modes in an effort to meet immediate needs, but that foster the introduction of alternative structural systems with the requirement that they build genuine local capacity to deliver sustainable and resilient homes that meet Haiti’s cultural and economic constraints. This short communication reviews the important housing dilemma Haiti now faces, a dilemma with international extensions since researchers and construction firms from all over the world (including France, Germany, Italy, Greece, Japan, Canada, US) are involved, and presents thoughts for the importance of offering solutions that serve both ends of the economic spectrum, are hazard-resilient and truly sustainable.     

Submarine lineated sheet flows: a unique lava morphology formed on subsiding lava ponds

 Lineated sheet flows are flat-lying, glassy lava flows characterized by a regular surface pattern of parallel grooves or furrows aligned with the flow direction. They are unique to the submarine environment. We propose that the lineations are developed within the collapsed interiors of partially ponded lobate sheet flows that initially inflate and then drain out during emplacement. During lava drainout, the original lobate crust founders and a new crust begins to grow on the subsiding lava surface. Lineated flow texture is created where molten lava emerges laterally from beneath a growing crust. The lineations are formed by raking of the emerging lava surface by irregularities on the bottom edge of the crust and are preserved owing to rapid chilling by seawater. Therefore, lineated sheet flows are the product of a specific sequence of events over a short period of time during the course of a deep submarine eruption. Received: 23 November 1998 / Accepted: 22 February 1999     

Glacial–interglacial changes in Subantarctic sea surface temperature and δO-water using foraminiferal Mg

Laboratory culturing experiments with living Globigerina bulloides indicate that Mg/Ca is primarily a function of seawater temperature and suggest that Mg/Ca of fossil specimens is an effective paleotemperature proxy. Using culturing results and a core-top Neogloboquadrina pachyderma calibration, we have estimated glacial–interglacial changes in sea surface temperature (SST) using planktonic Mg/Ca records from core RC11-120 in the Subantarctic Indian Ocean (43°S, 80°E) and core E11-2 in the Subantarctic Pacific Ocean (56°S, 115°W). Our results suggest that glacial SST was about 4°C cooler in the Subantarctic Indian Ocean and 2.5°C cooler in the Subantarctic Pacific. Comparison of SST and planktonic δ¹⁸O records indicates that changes in SST lead changes in δ¹⁸O by on average 1–3 kyr. The glacial–interglacial temperature change indicated by the Subantarctic Mg/Ca records suggests that temperature accounts for 40–60% of the foraminiferal δ¹⁸O change. We have used the Mg/Ca-based SST estimates and δ¹⁸O determinations to generate site-specific seawater δ¹⁸O records, which suggest that seawater δ¹⁸O was on average 1‰ more positive during glacial episodes compared with interglacial episodes.     

On board short-time high temperature heat treatment of ballast water: a field trial under operational conditions

A ballast water short-time high temperature heat treatment technique was applied on board a car-carrier during a voyage from Egypt to Belgium. Ballast water from three tanks was subjected for a few seconds to temperatures ranging from 55 degrees C to 80 degrees C. The water was heated using the vessel's heat exchanger steam and a second heat exchanger was used to pre-heat and cool down the water. The treatment was effective at causing mortality of bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) standard was not agreed before this study was carried out, but comparing our results gives a broad indication that the IMO standard would have been met in some of the tests for the zooplankton, in all the tests for the phytoplankton; and probably on most occasions for the bacteria. Passing the water through the pump increased the kill rate but increasing the temperature above 55 degrees C did not improve the heat treatment's efficacy.     

Isotopic signature of burial diagenesis and primary lithological contrasts in periplatform carbonates (Miocene, Great Bahama Bank)

The stable isotope geochemistry of Miocene sediments from the leeward margin of the Great Bahama Bank was examined to investigate burial diagenetic processes in periplatform carbonates. Data indicate that, in addition to differences in bulk proportions of neritic and pelagic carbonate along the slope, rhythmic variation in primary carbonate content has controlled patterns of burial diagenesis and associated geochemical signatures throughout much of the succession examined. The present study focuses on Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1006 and 1007, the most distal of five sites drilled from marginal to deep basin environments during Leg 166. These Miocene sections are characterized by their cyclic appearance, manifest as decimetre‐ to metre‐scale alternations between light‐coloured ooze/chalk/limestone and dark‐coloured marl/marlstone. The section at Site 1006 contains a high proportion of pelagic carbonate and is unlithified to a subbottom depth of ～675 m. Fluctuations in δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values at this site are independent of lithological variation and reflect primary conditions. At Site 1007, located at the toe‐of‐slope and composed of a mixture of bank‐derived and pelagic carbonate, limestones are densely cemented, show little evidence of compaction and have δ¹⁸O values up to 2‰ higher than coeval sediments at Site 1006. Marlstones at Site 1007 are poorly cemented, exhibit an increase in compaction‐related features with depth and have lower and more variable δ¹⁸O values that are similar to those of coeval sediments at Site 1006. Isotopic and petrographic characteristics of limestone interbeds result from cement precipitation from cold sea water during the first ～100 m of burial. Higher proportions of insoluble materials and pelagic carbonate seem to have inhibited diagenetic alteration in adjacent marlstones; in spite of significant compaction and pressure solution during burial, original isotopic compositions appear to be best preserved in these intervals at Site 1007. The documented contrasts in petrographic and isotopic patterns illustrate the role of primary sediment composition in controlling lithification processes in periplatform carbonates and stress the importance of considering such factors when interpreting geochemical data from ancient shelf and slope limestones.     

A Regional Scale Investigation of Climatological Tropical Convection and Precipitation in the Amazon Basin

This study constructs a regional scale climatology of tropical convection and precipitation from more than 15 years of monthly outgoing longwave radiation (OLR) and precipitation data on 2.5°× 2.5° latitude‐longitude grid to examine the spatial and temporal patterns and variability of convection and precipitation in the Amazon Basin. A linear regression analysis also detects if any trends exist in the two datasets. The region of study extends from 15°N to 25°S and 30° to 80°W that encompass the Amazon Basin and surrounding fringe areas for the period from January 1979 through December 1995 for the OLR data and up to 1996 for the precipitation dataset. The basin‐average mean monthly and seasonal climatology serve as a ‘baseline’ reference for comparison with the full time series of basin‐average monthly OLR and precipitation to illustrate the interannual variability and identify anomalous periods of wet and dry conditions. A linear trend analysis of OLR data found small negative values across the Amazon Basin indicating a slight increase in convective activity over the period of study. The analysis of the precipitation time series, however, shows no coincidental increase in precipitation as would be expected with an increase in convective activity. Portions of Rondônia and Mato Grosso, areas that have undergone extensive deforestation, illustrate no trend in precipitation as suggested by GCM simulation results. The only area featuring any large change in precipitation occurs in a small area in the northwestern region of South America where a large positive trend in precipitation exists.