Peculiarities of Dynamic Slip Nucleation in a Thin Granular Layer

Izvestiya, Physics of the Solid Earth - Abstract—Granular media determine the dynamics of many natural systems including faults in the Earth’s crust. The paper addresses the laboratory...     

Arsenic anomalies in shallow Venetian Plain (Northeast Italy) groundwater

A pilot area within the Venetian Plain was selected to assess the arsenic (As) contamination of groundwater. The area represents a typical residential, industrial and agricultural organization representative of most western countries, and is also devoid of lithologies with high or anomalous As content. Hydrogeological and chemical data have been collected, the latter spatialized by a geostatistical approach. The unconfined aquifer reservoir varies from a predominantly gravel composition in the north to a sandy and silt–clay composition further south, including peat layers. The hydrochemical features of the waters are rather homogeneous, featuring low mineral content and a Ca-bicarbonate signature. In contrast, the redox state is highly variable; oxidizing conditions are predominant in the northern and coarse parts of the aquifer, whereas reducing potentials prevail in the southern and silt–clay parts. Several well waters contain arsenic in excess of drinkable limits (=10 ppb), and most of these wells are located in the southern area. A large portion of the studied area has a high probability of containing non-potable water (up to 150 ppb As). Remarkably, As “hot spots” (As > 300 ppb, up to 431 ppb) were identified at the transition from gravel to silt–clay sediments. No industrial or agricultural source of As has been found.     

The evolution of regional development concepts: some new trends

This paper traces the theoretical development of the regional concept and the use of regionalization techniques in Soviet geography and seeks to compare this history with comparable trends in Western geography. It is severely critical of the major and rapid paradigm shifts noticed in post-war Western geographical science and relates these to shifts in the approach to global development issues.     

Manganese concentration in the silts of the Mozhaisk Reservoir

The causes of the high Mn concentration in the solid phase and pore solution of bottom sediments in the Mozhaisk Reservoir are discussed. Regularities are identified in variations the concentrations of Mn forms in reservoir deposits from its upper part to the dam.     

Expansion of the principal functions of Keplerian motion using complex variables

A special system of canonical variables is considered. An algorithm for expanding the principal functions of Keplerian motion in new elements is presented. The advantage of the proposed system is a relatively small number of terms in the classical expansions of the unperturbed two-body problem. A method for expanding the time derivatives of the rectangular coordinates is proposed. Some estimates of the number of terms in the presented expansions have been obtained through numerical experiments.     

Models of travel demand with endogenous preference change and heterogeneous agents

In the literatures of regional science, urban economics, and urban development planning, a working assumption is that individuals respond to incentives and regulations, given their preferences. Models for planning and policy analyses are used to consider what might occur if the incentives or regulations were different. In these models, however, preferences are usually assumed to be given and stable, and agents are usually assumed to be homogeneous. This paper focuses on the implications of making preferences in models of policy implementation endogenously determined and time varying heterogeneous agents. We consider first the recent literature on intertemporal choice and preference change, which cuts across many disciplines, and more briefly the literature on norm-regarding behavior. We then elaborate a simple model of transportation demand—from a static to a dynamic orientation, from fixed and exogenously given preferences of strictly self-regarding agents to endogenously determined and policy-induced preferences of heterogeneous agents—and illustrate its characteristics with simple numerical examples.     

Biosorption of Rare-Earth Elements and Yttrium by Heterotrophic Bacteria in an Aqueous Environment

This paper reports the results of the experimental determination of the coefficient of sorption of rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY) under conditions of acidic pH using several strains of heterotrophic bacteria (Microbacterium sp., Curtobacterium sp., Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas putida, and Bacillus pumilis) that are widespread in natural and technogenic waters of the Far East (Russia). Insignificant fractionation between heavy and light rare-earth elements, negative cerium and dysprosium anomalies, and a positive europium anomaly were revealed. The selectivity of REY biosorption by gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, as well as inertia of the biosorption process under more acidic conditions of the medium, were shown.     

The Role of the Magnetic Field in the Ascension of the 22nd and 23rd Cycles of Activity

The first small active regions of the last two new cycles seem to be formed, in its very first, preparatory stage, close to the equator with uncertain magnetic orientation, and as secondary products at the periphery of equatorial `magnetic bubbles' of the new magnetic flux still belonging to the old cycle. At the real beginning of the new cycle, at the periphery of its higher-latitude `magnetic bubbles', the opposite applies to the secondary regions of the ending cycle. It seems that two modes of magnetic flux supply the visible layers of the photosphere during the cycle transition phase: the emergence of the magnetic flux from the depth of the convective zone, and the mutual interaction of the earlier emerging fluxes, or the action of the `local dynamo', giving rise to the new local magnetic field concentrations.     

Carbon-Oxidizing and Sulfate-Reducing Bacteria in Mozhaisk Reservoir Soils

The population and distribution of carbon-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria in the soils of the Mozhaisk Reservoir are studied.