Realizable accessibility: evaluating the reliability of public transit accessibility using high-resolution real-time data

Journal of Geographical Systems - The widespread availability of high spatial and temporal resolution public transit data is improving the measurement and analysis of public transit-based...     

Unveiling the atmospheres of giant exoplanets with an EChO-class mission

More than a thousand exoplanets have been discovered over the last decade. Perhaps more excitingly, probing their atmospheres has become possible. With current data we have glimpsed the diversity of exoplanet atmospheres that will be revealed over the coming decade. However, numerous questions concerning their chemical composition, thermal structure, and atmospheric dynamics remain to be answered. More observations of higher quality are needed. In the next years, the selection of a space-based mission dedicated to the spectroscopic characterization of exoplanets would revolutionize our understanding of the physics of planetary atmospheres. Such a mission was proposed to the ESA cosmic vision program in 2014. Our paper is therefore based on the planned capabilities of the Exoplanet Characterization Observatory (EChO), but it should equally apply to any future mission with similar characteristics. With its large spectral coverage (0.4 ? 16 μm), high spectral resolution (λ/Δλ > 300 below 5 μm and λ/Δλ > 30 above 5 μm) and 1.5m mirror, a future mission such as EChO will provide spectrally resolved transit lightcurves, secondary eclipses lightcurves, and full phase curves of numerous exoplanets with an unprecedented signal-to-noise ratio. In this paper, we review some of today’s main scientific questions about gas giant exoplanets atmospheres, for which a future mission such as EChO will bring a decisive contribution.     

Contact Partial Melting of Granitic Country Rock, Melt Segregation, and Re-injection as Dikes into Ferrar Dolerite Sills, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

Numerous, interconnected, granitic dikes (<30 cm in widthand hundeds of meters in length) cut Ferrar dolerite sills ofthe McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica. The source of the graniticdikes is partial melting of granitic country rock, which tookplace in the crust at a depth of about 2–3 km adjacentto contacts with dolerite sills. Sustained flow of doleriticmagma through the sill generated a partial melting front thatpropagated into the granitic country rock. Granitic partialmelts segregated and collected at the contact in a melt-rich,nearly crystal-free reservoir adjacent to the initial doleritechilled margin. This dolerite chilled margin was subsequentlyfractured open in the fashion of a trapdoor by the graniticmelt, evacuating the reservoir to form an extensive complexof granitic dikes within the dolerite sills. At the time ofdike injection the dolerite was nearly solidified. Unusuallycomplete exposures allow the full physical and chemical processesof partial melting, segregation, and dike formation to be examinedin great detail. The compositions of the granitic dikes andthe textures of partially melted granitic wall rock suggestthat partial melting was characterized by disequilibrium mineraldissolution of dominantly quartz and alkali feldspar ratherthan by equilibrium melting. It is also unlikely that meltingoccurred under water-saturated conditions. The protolith granitecontains only 7 vol.% biotite and estimated contact temperaturesof 900–950°C suggest that melting was possible ina dry system. Granite partial melting, under closed conditions,extended tens of meters away from the dolerite sill, yet meltsegregation occurred only over less than one-half a meter fromthe dolerite chilled margin where the degree of partial meltingwas of the order of 50 vol.%. This segregation distance is consistentwith calculated length scales expected in a compaction-drivenprocess. We suggest that the driving force for compaction wasdifferential stress generated by a combination of volume expansionas a result of granite partial melting, contraction during doleritesolidification, and relaxation of the overpressure driving doleriteemplacement. On a purely chemical basis, the extent of meltsegregation necessary under fractional and batch melting tomatch the Rb concentrations between melt and parent rock isa maximum of 48 and 83 vol.% melt, respectively. KEY WORDS: Antarctica; dike injection; disequilibrium; granite partial melting; silicic melt segregation     

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Effect of hot dry summer tropical climate on forage intake and milk yield in Holstein–Friesian and indigenous zebu cows in Sudan

The effects of dry summer ambient temperature on some physiological and productive responses were studied in an exotic European breed (Holstein–Friesian) and a local zebu breed (Butana ecotype) of cattle in Sudan. Rectal temperature and respiration rate were positively correlated, and dry matter intake and milk yield were negatively correlated with variation in ambient temperature. However, significant adverse effects on high ambient temperature were only observed in the exotic breed.     

An assessment model for the fate and environmental effects of offshore drilling mud discharges

The benthic boundary layer transport (bblt) model was developed to assess potential impact zones from drilling mud discharges from offshore oil and gas drilling. The model focuses on the drift, dispersion and concentration levels of the suspended fraction of the drilling mud fines in the benthic boundary layer with the assumption of a spatially homogeneous environment. The current version of the model includes a wave boundary layer, a breakup module for drilling mud flocs, a dose–response module for scallops, and a graphical user interface (GUI). The GUI was written in Java which makes the code largely platform independent. Simulations of suspended barite concentration near Sable Island on the Scotian Shelf during drilling in the fall of 1999 reproduce the very low concentrations (generally less than 1 μg L⁻¹) observed during the Environmental Effects Monitoring program. However, the simulations also exhibited concentrations in excess of the no-effects concentration for scallops (100 μg L⁻¹) prior to the sampling program. The model estimates that the potential impact on scallops in the vicinity of the drilling is a few days of lost growth over scales of a few kilometers.     

Storm Surges from Extra-Tropical Cyclones

The possible influence of climate change on the tracks of the extra-tropical cyclones as well as storm surges is studied. Two differentdata bases have been used: one for the Great Lakes of North America and the otherfor the German Bight in the North Sea of Europe. For the Great Lakes region,significant east-west and north-south shifts in the tracks of ETC'S with decadal periodicities have been observed. However, there was no trend in the amplitudes of storm surges. The most important result for the Great Lakes is that, depending upon its position relative to the constantly shifting storm tracks, a given location could eitherexperience a major storm surge or could miss out completely.The storm surges in the German Bight in general, and at Cuxhaven in particular, appear to show a slightly increasing trend in the latterpart of the 20th century. However, the most significant result for the German Bightis that the number of storm tides (i.e., multiple peaks in a given storm surge event)definitely has shown an increase in the second half of the 20th century. This increase isinterpreted as due to the influence of meso-scale weather systems embedded in the synoptic scale ETCs.     

Burial of organic carbon in Holocene sediments of the Zhujiang (Pearl River) and Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuaries

The East Asian marginal seas are important sinks of terrigenous materials transported by large rivers. In this study two cores from the Changjiang (Yangtze River) and Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuaries and one core from the inner shelf off of Hong Kong were investigated to examine the burial of organic matter during the postglacial period and its possible links with paleoenvironmental changes. Based on a simple two end-member mixing model, the terrestrial organic matter supplied primarily from the Zhujiang and Changjiang dominates the estuarine areas while marine organic matter contributes more to the inner-mid shelf. The competing contributions of terrestrial and marine organic matter are responsible for the downcore variations of organic elemental compositions. The overall decreasing shifts of total organic carbon concentrations and total organic carbon to total nitrogen ratios in the Zhujiang estuarine sediments since 6.5 kaBP seems to support the notion that depth profiles of organic matter compositions deposited in the Zhujiang Estuary can aid in the reconstruction of monsoon history in the Holocene. Nevertheless, organic matter compositions in the Changjiang Estuary and inner shelf off of southeastern Hong Kong respond in a different and more complex way to freshwater discharges or precipitation changes (monsoon variability) in the catchments, owing to complex controls of deposition and preservation of organic matter in these estuarine and shelf environments. Caution is therefore needed in using organic elemental and isotopic compositions to decipher paleoenvironmental changes in East Asian continental shelves where intense river–sea interactions occur and sedimentary environments change drastically.