An analytical approach to ascertain saturation‐excess versus infiltration‐excess overland flow in urban and reference landscapes

Uncontrolled overland flow drives flooding, erosion, and contaminant transport, with the severity of these outcomes often amplified in urban areas. In pervious media such as urban soils, overland flow is initiated via either infiltration‐excess (where precipitation rate exceeds infiltration capacity) or saturation‐excess (when precipitation volume exceeds soil profile storage) mechanisms. These processes call for different management strategies, making it important for municipalities to discern between them. In this study, we derived a generalized one‐dimensional model that distinguishes between infiltration‐excess overland flow (IEOF) and saturation‐excess overland flow (SEOF) using Green–Ampt infiltration concepts. Next, we applied this model to estimate overland flow generation from pervious areas in 11 U.S. cities. We used rainfall forcing that represented low‐ and high‐intensity events and compared responses among measured urban versus predevelopment reference soil hydraulic properties. The derivation showed that the propensity for IEOF versus SEOF is related to the equivalence between two nondimensional ratios: (a) precipitation rate to depth‐weighted hydraulic conductivity and (b) depth of soil profile restrictive layer to soil capillary potential. Across all cities, reference soil profiles were associated with greater IEOF for the high‐intensity set of storms, and urbanized soil profiles tended towards production of SEOF during the lower intensity set of storms. Urban soils produced more cumulative overland flow as a fraction of cumulative precipitation than did reference soils, particularly under conditions associated with SEOF. These results will assist cities in identifying the type and extent of interventions needed to manage storm water produced from pervious areas.     

Early‐middle Holocene land snail shell stable isotope record from Grotta di Latronico 3 (southern Italy)

This paper compares stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) records of early–middle Holocene land snail shells from the archaeological deposits of Grotta di Latronico 3 (LTR3; southern Italy) with modern shell isotopic data. No substantial interspecific variability was observed in shell δ¹⁸O (δ¹⁸Os) of modern specimens (Pomatias elegans, Cornu aspersum, Eobania vermiculata, Helix ligata and Marmorana fuscolabiata). In contrast, interspecific shell δ¹³C (δ¹³Cs) variability was significant, probably due to different feeding behaviour among species. The δ¹⁸Os values of living land snails suggest that species hibernate for a long period during colder months, so that the signal of ¹⁸O‐depleted winter rainfall in their δ¹⁸Os is lost. This suggests that δ¹⁸Os and δ¹³Cs values of Pomatias elegans from this archaeological succession provide valuable clues for seasonal (spring–autumn) climatic conditions during the early–middle Holocene. The δ¹⁸Os values of fossil specimens are significantly lower than in modern shells and in agreement with other palaeoclimatic records, suggesting a substantial increase of precipitation and/or persistent changes in air mass source trajectories over this region between ca. 8.8 cal ka BP and 6.2–6.7 ka ago. The δ¹³Cs trend suggests a transition from a slightly ¹³C‐enriched to a ¹³C‐depleted diet between early and middle Holocene compared to present conditions. We postulate that this δ¹³Cs trend might reflect changes in the C3 vegetation community, potentially combined with other environmental factors such as regional moisture increase and the progressive decrease of atmospheric CO₂ concentration. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of textural variational pattern and electrical conduction of economic and accessible Quaternary hydrolithofacies via geoelectric and laboratory methods in SE Nigeria: A case study of select locations in Akwa Ibom State

Textural variational pattern of economic and accessible Quaternary aquifer repositories and its conductivity in the south-eastern Nigeria have been assessed through the integration of vertical electrical sounding and laboratory measurements. The results have shown the lithological attributes, pore-water and amount of residual clay minerals in the assumed clean sand; mechanism of charge fixation at the fluid - surface interface; intricate geometry of pores and pore channels; formation’s ability to transmit pore-water and cation exchange capacity.The connections of electrical and hydraulic properties and their distributions have been established. The average interface conductivity contributed by residual clay minerals in assumed clean sands of the aquifer repositories in the study area have been estimated as 30µS/m. Intrinsic average porosity and formation factor have been respectively deduced as 12% and 14.75. Comparing the simulated aquifer formation factor obtained from the observed porosity data with the observed aquifer formation factor, indicates the that study area has 0.5 ≤ a ≤ 0.8 pore geometry factor and 1.5 ≤ m ≤ 2.0 cementation factor as the best fitting values. The interrelations between aquifer parameters have been established through different plots and the aquifer have been empirically proved to be associated with residual clay minerals as the interface conductivity C_q is not equal to zero. The wide ranges of parameters estimated are an indication of variations in grain size. The estimated intrinsic average porosity, formation factor and the average BQ_v are viable in characterizing the aquifer flow dynamics and contaminant modelling in the associated aquifer sands For low pore geometry factors a (0.2) and low cementation factor m (0.5) the formation factor remains fairly constant. However, marked variability is noticed at higher a (1.0) and m (2.5). Despite the observed variability in formation factors at the indicated porosities, the spatial or geometrical spread of the formation factor remains unchanged in the aquifer units. The Tables for geoelectric and petrophysical parameters and the associated mathematical models generated in this study can be used for groundwater contaminant modelling and simulation of pore space parameters with reasonable accuracy.     

Field investigation of deformation characteristics and stress mobilisation of a soil slope

Stress mobilisation and deformation of a slope are important for engineers to carry out reliable design of retaining systems. However, most case histories reported mainly on the response of pore water pressure (PWP), whereas knowledge about the stress deformation characteristics of slope is limited. In this study, a saprolitic soil slope was instrumented to monitor not only the responses of PWP but also horizontal stress and horizontal displacement. To assist in the interpretation of field data, a series of laboratory tests was conducted to characterise volume change behaviour of the soil taken from the site, under the effects of both net stress and suction. During a rainstorm event when positive PWP built up, a remarkably large displacement of 20 mm was recorded between 5.5- and 6-m depths, and the top 5 m of the slope exhibited translational downslope movement. This caused an increase in Bishop’s effective horizontal stress by 350 %, which reached a peak value close to 40 % of a Bishop’s effective passive stress. During the subsequent dry season when suction was recovered, an upslope rebound of 10 mm was recorded. Comparison of field and laboratory data reveals that the rebound was attributed to suction-induced soil shrinkage. This rebound led to a decrease in the Bishop’s effective horizontal stress previously built up during the storm event.     

Decoding the Development Strategy of a Major Retailer: Wal-Mart's Expansion in the United States

This research aims to provide insight regarding Wal-Mart's retail development strategy in its expansion across the continental United States. The study examines store location patterns and relationships between Wal-Mart's store and distribution center locations and markets. The study shows that, although radial expansion is broadly characteristic of the dense store patterns that have been well established for Wal-Mart at the national level, expansion patterns at the regional level are consistent with a selective process based on factors other than store density. These results provide a new perspective on Wal-Mart's expansion, providing insights of value to retail practitioners and local government.     

Assessment of spatial distribution of contaminants and their levels in soil and water resources of Calabar,Nigeria using geophysical and geological data

The contamination levels of soils and water resources in Calabar, Nigeria have been investigated using resistivity (vertical electrical sounding and electrical resistivity tomography), geochemical analyses of soil and water resources and textural analysis. Sixty randomly sited VES sites were investigated in two seasons while ERT investigations were performed along four profiles. The geochemical investigations were spread across seasons in order to track seasonal changes in physico-chemical parameters: hydrogen ion concentration (pH), electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, chloride ion (Cl^?), nitrate ion (\( {\text{NO}}_{ 3}^{ - } \)), bicarbonate (\( {\text{HCO}}_{ 3}^{ - } \)), sulphate ion (\( {\text{SO}}_{ 4}^{2 - } \)), calcium ion (Ca²⁺), sodium ion (Na⁺), potassium ion (K⁺) and magnesium ion (Mg²⁺). Additionally, concentrations of ammonium, aluminium and nitrite ions in soils were determined. Results show that ionic concentrations in the sand-dominated soils and water are within permissible limits and baseline standards. The resistivities follow known trends in the area. However, at the central waste disposal site, a localised thin (< 5 m), low resistivity (< 15 Ωm) anomaly suspected to be due to contamination by leachates was observed. Comparatively, the contaminated area is also characterised by marginal increase in ionic concentrations. Strong attenuation capacities of overlying and adjoining clay/lateritic sediments and optimal design of the waste dump site probably reduced the spread of contaminants. The contaminated zone need to be closely monitored so that it does not extend to the aquifers. Hence, all strategies presently being used in managing wastes in Calabar should be sustained.     

On the accuracy of the GPS L2 observable for ionospheric monitoring

The introduction of the unencrypted global positioning system (GPS) L2 civil (L2C) signal has the potential to improve measurements made with the L2 frequency, an important observable in GPS-based ionospheric research and monitoring. Recent work has shown significant differences between the legacy L2P(Y) and L2C-derived total electron content rate of change index (ROTI). This difference is observed between L2P(Y) and L2C-derived ROTI with certain receiver models and between zero-baseline receiver pairs. We discuss the likely cause for these differences: L1-aided tracking used to track both the L2P(Y) and L2C signals. We also present L2C data that are confirmed to be from tracking independent of L1. Using the ionospheric-free linear combination, we show that the independently tracked carrier phase dynamics are significantly more accurate than the L1-aided observables. This result is confirmed by comparing the behavior of the L2C and L2P(Y) carrier phase observables upon a sudden antenna rotation.     

Development of groundwater favourability map using GIS-based driven data mining models: an approach for effective groundwater resource management

The development of groundwater favourability map is an effective tool for the sustainability management of groundwater resources in typical agricultural regions, such as southern Perak Province, Malaysia. Assessing the potentiality and pollution vulnerability of groundwater is a fundamental phase of favourability mapping. A geographic information system (GIS)-based Boolean operator of a spatial analyst module was applied to combine a groundwater potentiality map (GPM) model and a groundwater vulnerability to pollution index (GVPI) map, thereby establishing the favourable zones for drinking water exploration in the investigated area. The area GPM model was evaluated by applying a GIS-based Dempster–Shafer–evidential belief function model. In the evaluation, six geoelectrically determined groundwater potential conditioning factors (i.e. overburden resistivity, overburden thickness, aquifer resistivity, aquifer thickness, aquifer transmissivity and hydraulic conductivity) were synthesized by employing the probability-based algorithms of the model. The generated thematic maps of the seven hydrogeological parameters of the DRASTIC model were considered as pollution potential conditioning factors and were analysed with the developed ordered weighted average–DRASTIC index model algorithms to construct the GVPI map. Approximately 88.8 and 85.71% prediction accuracies for the Groundwater Potentiality and GVPI maps were established using the reacting operating characteristic curve method and water quality status–vulnerability zone relationship scheme, respectively. Finally, the area groundwater favourability map (GFM) model was produced by applying a GIS-based Boolean operator on the Groundwater Potentiality and GVPI maps. The GFM model reveals three distinct zones: ‘not suitable’, ‘less suitable’ and ‘very suitable’ zones. The area analysis of the GFM model indicates that more than 50% of the study area is covered by the ‘very suitable’ zones. Results produce a suitability map that can be used by local authorities for the exploitation and management of drinking water in the area. The study findings can also be applied as a tool to help increase public awareness of groundwater issues in developing countries.