Isotropization in bianchi type-I vacuum cosmology

We have found the most general solution for the Bianchi type-I equations in the Brans-Dicke theory (BDT) for the vacuum case. It is shown that forw > 500 the Universe will become isotropic for any amount of initial anisotropy, secondly it is shown that in the extended inflation scenario, the BDT-scalar field can avoid the inflation in one direction,R ₃. In the other scale factorsR ₁ andR ₂ there is inflationary expansion.     

Apport des marqueurs isotopiques et biogéochimiques dans la reconstitution du paléoenvironnement de la grotte du Lazaret (Nice,Alpes-Maritimes) au cours du Pléistocène supérieur (stade isotopique 5)

The isotopic composition of calcite from the stalagmitic floor E of the Lazaret Cave is interpreted as proxy of atmospheric circulation and vegetal cover changes during IOS 5. The ${\delta }^{18}\mathrm{O}$ variations could indicate change in precipitation sources, which could originate from the Mediterranean Sea during warm periods and from the Atlantic Ocean during colder periods. The ${\delta }^{13}\mathrm{C}$ variations could be related to vegetal cover and soil type. Tree cover appears to be dominant according to pollen spectra, and organic molecules trapped into calcite (sterols, terpenoids, humic acids). To cite this article: L. Rousseau et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

Correction to: Modelling effects of an asphalt road at a dike crest on dike cover erosion onset during wave overtopping

Natural Hazards - The article was published Open Access under the Dutch Compact Agreement; however, due to an internal system error, previous HTML rendering of the article did not reflect this.     

Video-monitoring of wood discharge: first inter-basin comparison and recommendations to install video cameras

Wood in rivers plays a major role both ecologically and morphologically. In recent decades, due to human activities in the river channels and along the riparian zone, wood obstruction and jamming has exacerbated flooding hazards and infrastructure damage. Therefore, it is necessary to quantify the wood flux and discharge in rivers to improve wood hazard management. Among the various methods for monitoring the wood flux in a river, the streamside videography technique is effective given its high temporal and spatial resolution. Previous work monitored the wood discharge (m³/s) using this technique in the Ain River (France) during three floods (MacVicar and Piégay, 2012), and the same method is implemented on the Isère River (France) to obtain the statistics of wood discharge for two floods. Comparison between the two sites supports the generalization of both the monitoring technique and the link between wood discharge and flood characteristics. We first show that the maximum wood discharge is observed at bankfull discharge, and we confirm the three stage model proposed by MacVicar and Piégay (2012). Additionally, transverse distributions of the number of wood pieces and corresponding wood length appear to be similar for different flood magnitudes on each site. As a technical contribution, the use of the same technique on two sites allows for recommendations on key decisions related to the location and implementation of the equipment. Both statistical and technical contributions can be used by decision makers to implement this monitoring technique, acquire the wood transport parameters, and evaluate the potential wood hazards at local scale or along a river. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating sand concentrations using ADCP-based acoustic inversion in a large fluvial system characterized by bi-modal suspended-sediment distributions

Quantifying sediment flux within rivers is a challenge for many disciplines due, mainly, to difficulties inherent to traditional sediment sampling methods. These methods are operationally complex, high cost, and high risk. Additionally, the resulting data provide a low spatial and temporal resolution estimate of the total sediment flux, which has impeded advances in the understanding of the hydro-geomorphic characteristics of rivers. Acoustic technologies have been recognized as a leading tool for increasing the resolution of sediment data by relating their echo intensity level measurements to suspended sediment. Further effort is required to robustly test and develop these techniques across a wide range of conditions found in natural river systems. This article aims to evaluate the application of acoustic inversion techniques using commercially available, down-looking acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) in quantifying suspended sediment in a large sand bed river with varying bi-modal particle size distributions, wash load and suspended-sand ratios, and water stages. To achieve this objective, suspended sediment was physically sampled along the Paraná River, Argentina, under various hydro-sedimentological regimes. Two ADCPs emitting different sound frequencies were used to simultaneously profile echo intensity level within the water column. Using the sonar equation, calibrations were determined between suspended-sand concentrations and acoustic backscatter to solve the inverse problem. The study also analyzed the roles played by each term of the sonar equation, such as ADCP frequency, power supply, instrument constants, and particle size distributions typically found in sand bed rivers, on sediment attenuation and backscatter. Calibrations were successfully developed between corrected backscatter and suspended-sand concentrations for all sites and ADCP frequencies, resulting in mean suspended-sand concentration estimates within about 40% of the mean sampled concentrations. Noise values, calculated using the sonar equation and sediment sample characteristics, were fairly constant across evaluations, suggesting that they could be applied to other sand bed rivers. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Schoenoplectus californicus as Potential Remover of Metal Elements from Mine Effluents: A Laboratory Assessment

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is one of the most significant environmental challenges facing the mining industry worldwide. For this reason, many methods for AMD treatment are developed, being wetlands a good option for metal elements removal from these mining effluents. The efficiency of Peruvian native plants such as Schoenoplectus californicus (S. californicus) to remove metal elements in effluents through artificial wetlands is studied. Batch removal tests are carried out with different effluents containing copper, zinc, lead, and iron. For iron-metal binary effluents, copper, zinc, and lead are removed by 82%, 75%, and 88%; while in the effluent containing all metals, the removal rate is 90% and 92% for copper and lead, respectively. According to the preliminary results, it is concluded that iron interferes more in the removal of zinc and lead than in copper from binary effluents. The use of S. californicus turns out to be an efficient, attractive, and economical alternative for the treatment of effluents contaminated with copper, zinc, lead, and iron.     

ESR/U-series chronology of the Lower Palaeolithic palaeoanthropological site of Visogliano, Trieste, Italy

The Visogliano shelter, in north-eastern Italy, is an important Middle Pleistocene occupation site where human remains were found together with an archaic lithic industry, including choppers, chopping tools and a few protobifaces. It is of utmost importance to try to document this period, when a second wave of settlement colonised Western Europe, carrying new flaking techniques and tools.Combined ESR/U-series analyses, integrated with biostratigraphical and environmental data, define a chronological frame for the layers from which the artefacts were unearthed. The lower levels, including human remains, can be dated to the 350–500 kyr time span, in agreement with micromammal and stratigraphical studies.These data make Visogliano one of the oldest palaeoanthropological sites in Italy, where human remains are directly associated with protobifaces, choppers and chopping tools. In Western Europe, Visogliano is contemporaneous to the G soil of the Arago Cave, France, with which it shares several similarities in faunal assemblages and radiometric data, and which contains human remains also. These data make Visogliano as one of the oldest sites in Europe where the Acheulian culture is observed.     

Assessment of the coastal dynamics in a nested zoom and feedback on the boundary current: the North-Western Mediterranean Sea case

The Northern Current (hereafter NC), the major current in the North-Western Mediterranean (hereafter NWM) basin, has been largely investigated in the litterature for its mesoscale features. Its behaviour in the Var region can strongly condition the downstream flow along the Gulf of Lions shelf and Spain coast, making this zone a key area. However, the sub-mesoscale dynamics of the area and its potential impacts on the rest of the flow are not well known. This work reveals the potential interest of better simulating high-resolution dynamics in a restricted area and how this could improve the circulation representation in a larger area. To address this question, a very high resolution configuration (1/192^°) nested in an already existing high-resolution configuration (1/64^°) has been developed, using the NEMO model. Comparisons with observations show that the very high-resolution changes only weakly the mean NC characteristics but can significantly modify individual mesoscale events such as eddies and meanders occurring in the zoomed area. Furthermore, the coastal dynamics and episodic intrusions of a NC secondary branch inside a semi-enclosed bay appear to be significantly enhanced. In a second stage, the assessment of the feedback of this improved dynamics on the regional mesoscale dynamics is shown, this being allowed by the two-way coupling option of the embedded configuration using AGRIF.