Developing a building policy for the erosion zone: Solutions to some key (Dutch) questions

In those coastal communities where the most seaward strip of mainland consists of dunes, these dunes often serve as a flexible sea defence. In addition, this strip offers large potential for housing and commercial enterprises. Unfortunately, due to severe storm surges part of this strip (the erosion zone) is subject to erosion, and as a result of which any buildings or infrastructure located here, are destroyed. Therefore, as we will illustrate in this paper, a building policy for this zone should reflect a compromise between two opposite interests: exploitation of the existing potential and, prevention of an unacceptable high risk due to erosion. Accordingly, the authors have developed a framework for such a building policy on the basis of which the desirability of various different types of investments and the location within the erosion zone of such investments can be determined. The examples that are used to illustrate this framework in this paper are limited to experiences in The Netherlands as relevant data and experiences are available and relatively easy accessible here. Nevertheless, the approach as is described is generic and applicable worldwide suggesting that the discovered unused potential for exploitation is not just limited to The Netherlands.     

The effect of a topographic high on the morphological stability of a two-inlet bay system

The cross-sectional stability of two tidal inlets connecting the same back-barrier lagoon to the ocean is investigated. The condition for equilibrium is the cross-sectional area tidal prism relationship. In an earlier study [Van de Kreeke, J., 1990. Can multiple inlets be stable? Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 30: 261–273.], using the same equilibrium condition, it was concluded that where two inlets connect the same basin to the ocean ultimately one inlet will close. One of the major assumptions in that study was that the water level in the basin fluctuated uniformly. In hindsight this assumption might be too restrictive. For example, in the Wadden Sea the back barrier lagoon consists of a series of basins, rather than one single basin, separated by topographic highs. These topographic highs limit but do not exclude the exchange of water between the sub-basins. For this reason in the present study, a topographic high in the form of a weir was added, separating the back-barrier lagoon in two sub-basins. The water level in the sub-basins, rather than in the back-barrier as a whole, is assumed to fluctuate uniformly. For this schematization the hydrodynamic equations are solved using a finite difference method. The results, together with the equilibrium condition, yield the equilibrium flow curve for each of the inlets. The intersections of the two equilibrium flow curves represent combinations of cross-sectional areas for which both inlets are in equilibrium. The stability of the equilibriums was investigated using a non-linear stability analysis resulting in a flow diagram. Calculations were carried out for different inlet and weir characteristics. Sinussoidal tides were the same for both inlets. The results show that for relatively large wetted cross-sectional areas over the topographic high, approaching the situation of a single basin, there are no combinations of inlet cross-sectional areas for which both inlets are in a stable equilibrium. This supports the conclusion in the earlier study. For relatively small wetted cross-sectional areas over the topographic high there is one set of stable equilibriums. In that case the two-inlet bay system approaches that of two single-inlet bay systems.     

Lakes of the Jom-Bolok Volcanoes Valley in the East Sayan Mts., Baikal region

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This article describes the lake basins of the Jom-Bolok volcanic region in the East Sayan (the largest manifestation of the Holocene eruptions in Central Asia)....     

Normal fault growth influenced by basement fabrics: The importance of preferential nucleation from pre‐existing structures

Reactivation of pre‐existing intra‐basement structures can influence the evolution of rift basins, yet the detailed kinematic relationship between these structures and overlying rift‐related faults remains poorly understood. Understanding the kinematic as well as geometric relationship between intra‐basement structures and rift‐related fault networks is important, with the extension direction in many rifted provinces typically thought to lie normal to fault strike. We here investigate this problem using a borehole‐constrained, 3D seismic reflection dataset from the Taranaki Basin, offshore New Zealand. Excellent imaging of intra‐basement structures and a relatively weakly deformed, stratigraphically simple sedimentary cover allow us to: (a) identify a range of interaction styles between intra‐basement structures and overlying, Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults; and (b) examine the cover fault kinematics associated with each interaction style. Some of the normal faults parallel and are physically connected to intra‐basement reflections, which are interpreted as mylonitic reverse faults formed during Mesozoic subduction and basement terrane accretion. These geometric relationships indicate pre‐existing intra‐basement structures locally controlled the position and attitude of Plio‐Pleistocene rift‐related normal faults. However, through detailed 3D kinematic analysis of selected normal faults, we show that: (a) normal faults only nucleated above intra‐basement structures that experienced late Miocene compressional reactivation, (b) despite playing an important role during subsequent rifting, intra‐basement structures have not been significantly extensionally reactivated, and (c) preferential nucleation and propagation of normal faults within late Miocene reverse faults and folds appears to be the key genetic relationship between contractionally reactivated intra‐basement structures and rift‐related normal faults. Our analysis shows that km‐scale, intra‐basement structures can control the nucleation and development of newly formed, rift‐related normal faults, most likely due to a local perturbation of the regional stress field. Because of this, simply inverting fault strike for causal extension direction may be incorrect, especially in provinces where pre‐existing, intra‐basement structures occur. We also show that a detailed kinematic analysis is key to deciphering the temporal as well as simply the spatial or geometric relationship between structures developed at multiple structural levels.     

Perceptions of Land Tenure Security in Rural China: The Impact of Land Reallocations and Certification

Abstract

Tenure security is commonly recognized as an important factor in stimulating long-term investments in land. Recent studies suggest that a distinction between legal, actual and perceived tenure security needs to be made in analyzing tenure security. This study discusses the relationships between legal, actual and perceived land tenure security in rural China, and empirically examines the impact of actual on perceived land tenure security by applying Probit models to household and village survey data collected in four provinces. Using household expectations about the absence of land reallocations within the next five years as the dependent variable, we find that tenure security is positively affected by the possession of land certificates in villages that periodically reallocated land but not in villages that did not do so. The estimated impact is larger for land certificates issued in the new round of land certification than for land certificates that were issued earlier.     

Oxygen and Al‐Mg isotopic compositions of grossite‐bearing refractory inclusions from CO3 chondrites

The distribution of the short‐lived radionuclide ²⁶Al in the early solar system remains a major topic of investigation in planetary science. Thousands of analyses are now available but grossite‐bearing Ca‐, Al‐rich inclusions (CAIs) are underrepresented in the database. Recently found grossite‐bearing inclusions in CO3 chondrites provide an opportunity to address this matter. We determined the oxygen and magnesium isotopic compositions of individual phases of 10 grossite‐bearing CAIs in the Dominion Range (DOM) 08006 (CO3.0) and DOM 08004 (CO3.1) chondrites. All minerals in DOM 08006 CAIs as well as hibonite, spinel, and pyroxene in DOM 08004 are uniformly ¹⁶O‐rich (Δ¹⁷O = ?25 to ?20‰) but grossite and melilite in DOM 08004 CAIs are not; Δ¹⁷O of grossite and melilite range from ~ ?11 to ~0‰ and from ~ ?23 up to ~0‰, respectively. Even within this small suite, in the two chondrites a bimodal distribution of the inferred initial ²⁶Al/²⁷Al ratios (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ is seen, with four having (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ ≤1.1 × 10^?5 and six having (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ ≥3.7 × 10^?5. Five of the ²⁶Al‐rich CAIs have (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ within error of 4.5 × 10^?5; these values can probably be considered indistinguishable from the “canonical” value of 5.2 × 10^?5 given the uncertainty in the relative sensitivity factor for grossite measured by secondary ion mass spectrometry. We infer that the ²⁶Al‐poor CAIs probably formed before the radionuclide was fully mixed into the solar nebula. All minerals in the DOM 08006 CAIs, as well as spinel, hibonite, and Al‐diopside in the DOM 08004 CAIs retained their initial oxygen isotopic compositions, indicating homogeneity of oxygen isotopic compositions in the nebular region where the CO grossite‐bearing CAIs originated. Oxygen isotopic heterogeneity in CAIs from DOM 08004 resulted from exchange between the initially ¹⁶O‐rich (Δ¹⁷O ~?24‰) melilite and grossite and ¹⁶O‐poor (Δ¹⁷O ~0‰) fluid during hydrothermal alteration on the CO chondrite parent body; hibonite, spinel, and Al‐diopside avoided oxygen isotopic exchange during the alteration. Grossite and melilite that underwent oxygen isotopic exchange avoided redistribution of radiogenic ²⁶Mg and preserved undisturbed internal Al‐Mg isochrons. The Δ¹⁷O of the fluid can be inferred from O‐isotopic compositions of aqueously formed fayalite and magnetite that precipitated from the fluid on the CO parent asteroid. This and previous studies suggest that O‐isotope exchange during fluid–rock interaction affected most CAIs in CO ≥3.1 chondrites.     

Retrieving volume FeO and TiO_2 abundances of lunar regolith with CE-2 CELMS data using BPNN method

The volume FeO and TiO_2 abundances(FTAs) of lunar regolith can be more important for understanding the geological evolution of the Moon compared to the optical and gamma-ray results. In this paper, the volume FTAs are retrieved with microwave sounder(CELMS) data from the Chang'E-2 satellite using the back propagation neural network(BPNN) method. Firstly, a three-layered BPNN network with five-dimensional input is constructed by taking nonlinearity into account. Then, the brightness temperature(TB) and surface slope are set as the inputs and the volume FTAs are set as the outputs of the BPNN network.Thereafter, the BPNN network is trained with the corresponding parameters collected from Apollo, Luna,and Surveyor missions. Finally, the volume FTAs are retrieved with the trained BPNN network using the four-channel TBderived from the CELMS data and the surface slope estimated from Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter(LOLA) data. The rationality of the retrieved FTAs is verified by comparing with the Clementine UV-VIS results and Lunar Prospector(LP) GRS results. The retrieved volume FTAs enable us to re-evaluate the geological features of the lunar surface. Several important results are as follows. Firstly, very-low-Ti(<1.5 wt.%) basalts are the most spatially abundant, and the surfaces with TiO_2> 5 wt.% constitute less than 10% of the maria. Also, two linear relationships occur between the FeO abundance(FA) and the TiO_2 abundance before and after the threshold, 16 wt.% for FA. Secondly, a new perspective on mare volcanism is derived with the volume FTAs in several important mare basins, although this conclusion should be verified with more sources of data. Thirdly, FTAs in the lunar regolith change with depth to the uppermost surface,and the change is complex over the lunar surface. Finally, the distribution of volume FTAs hints that the highlands crust is probably homogeneous, at least in terms of the microwave thermophysical parameters.     

Cartographic Design and the Space–Time Cube

This paper reports on the results of an empirical evaluation that aimed to define the effectiveness and efficiency of different visual variables in depicting the Space–Time Cube’s (STC) content. Existing STC applications demonstrate that the most used visual variables are size and colour hue. Less is known, however, about their usability metrics. The research sets design criteria for STC contents, such as space–time paths, based on the cartographic design theory. The visual variables colour hue, colour value, colour saturation, size and orientation have been applied in two different use case studies. Besides, to support the three-dimensional visual environment, depth cues such as shading and transparency were considered too. User tests have been executed based on real-world problems with particular attention for the visualization strategy and data complexity. The outcomes revealed the most efficient and effective visual variables to represent data of various complexities in the STC.     

A refractory inclusion with solar oxygen isotopes and the rarity of such objects in the meteorite record

NASA's Genesis mission revealed that the Sun is enriched in ¹⁶O compared to the Earth and Mars (the Sun's Δ¹⁷O, defined as δ¹⁷O–0.52×δ¹⁸O, is –28.4 ± 3.6‰; McKeegan et al. 2011). Materials as ¹⁶O‐rich as the Sun are extremely rare in the meteorite record. Here, we describe a Ca‐Al‐rich inclusion (CAI) from a CM chondrite that is as ¹⁶O‐enriched as the Sun (Δ¹⁷O = –29.1 ± 0.7‰). This CAI also has large nucleosynthetic anomalies in ⁴⁸Ca and ⁵⁰Ti (δ‐values are –8.1 ± 3.3 and –11.7 ± 2.4‰, respectively) and shows no clear evidence for incorporation of live ²⁶Al; (²⁶Al/²⁷Al)₀ = (0.03 ± 0.11) × 10^–5. Due to their anomalous isotopic characteristics, the rare CAIs consistent with the Genesis value could be among the first materials that formed in the solar system. In contrast to the CAI studied here, the majority of CAIs formed in or interacted with a reservoir characterized by a Δ¹⁷O value near –23.5‰. Combined with ²⁶Al‐²⁶Mg systematics, the oxygen isotopic compositions of FUN (fractionation and unidentified nuclear effects), UN, and normal CAIs suggest that nebular conditions were favorable for solids to inherit this value for an extended period of time. Many later‐formed materials, such as chondrules, planetesimals, and terrestrial planets, formed in reservoirs with Δ¹⁷O near 0‰. The distribution could be easier to explain if the common CAI value of –23.5‰, which is consistent with the Genesis value within 3σ, represented the average composition of the protoplanetary disk.