Intertidal macroalgae and macroinvertebrates: Seasonal and spatial abundance patterns along an estuarine gradient

Quantitative sampling of the dominant intertidal epibiota was conducted seasonally along an estuarine gradient within the Great Bay Estuary System, New Hampshire, U.S.A. The abundance and zonation of the dominant macroorganisms varied with distance into the estuary. Replacement of marine by estuarine species occurred, and overall abundance and species richness decreased along the estuarine gradient. Zonation patterns within the inner estuary were primarily allied with substrata. Maximum abundance of invertebrates occurred in the mid-intertidal zone where a dense fucoid canopy provided habitat heterogeneity. Densities of epibiotic organisms decreased toward low water, especially in the inner estuary where hard substratum was limiting. Settlement blocks, introduced into the low intertidal zone, were dominated by barnacles and fucoid algae; after 16 months, the species composition on the settlement blocks resembled the adjacent community. Semibalanus balanoides settled in the spring, while Fucus vesiculosus var. spiralis exhibited low but constant settlement. Despite the physical rigors of the estuarine environment, only Semibalanus balanoides, Ilyanassa obsoleta and Spartina alterniflora showed significant seasonal changes in density. Thus, there are predictable and persistent epibiotic species assemblages within the intertidal zone of the Great Bay Estuary System.     

The flux of meteorites on the Earth's surface

Abstract— We derive values for the number and size distributions of meteorites landing on Earth from a study of photographic observations of bright fireballs with the Canadian camera network. The observations cover 11 years from 1974 to 1985. This analysis is an extension of a previous study and represents a 30% increase in the data base. The cumulative plot of numbers vs estimated mass of the largest fragment for each event shows a change in slope near 0.6 kg due to a deficiency of small meteorites surviving from the group of slow fireballs. The change can be explained by a mass dependence of the fraction of the incoming object that survives as the largest fragment. For larger falls, the main mass appears to represent a decreasing fraction of the total mass of the surviving meteorites and estimates of these effects are used to derive the final distribution of both main masses and total masses of meteoritic events. For total masses greater than 1 kg the population index is 1.82, close to previous estimates. About 9 events per year drop at least 1 kg of meteorites in an area of a million square km and the same area receives an annual influx of 54 kg from meteorite events with total masses between 0.01 and 100 kg. There is sufficient confidence in these results that they may be used for comparison of the present flux of meteorites with values inferred for other times, in particular the long accumulation times of the Antarctic meteorite collections.     

Long-term growth of the oil industry in the United States

A number of growth models have been developed and used in an attempt to project the historical pattern of oil activities to some estimate of their upper limit. Techniques are outlined for the estimation of parameters of the logistic and Gompertz curves. Factor analysis indicated a close relationship between production and demand, whereas annual discoveries and discoveries classified by year of discovery tended to comprise unique factors which were indifferent to changes in time. The growth models projected relatively high values for ultimate demand and production in comparison to the figures for ultimate reserves. Inasmuch as these trends seemed to be occurring independently, some reconciliation of the results was necessary. Using the highest projections of estimates for reserves suggests that over 420 billion barrels of oil in place will eventually be discovered in the United States, with perhaps 200 billion barrels of this eventually to be proved in the form of reserves. Projections for production were higher, corresponding to a trend indicating high levels in demand for crude oil. The only credible long-term estimate of demand was given by a bounded exponential growth model, in which ultimate cumulative demand for crude oil would reach about 416 billion barrels. These figures imply that over 150 billion barrels of oil would be imported into the United States from 1970 to 2070. Provided the time pattern for one of the variables has been determined, then estimates of the other variables probably would be facilitated because of the high interrelationship between variables. Models are suggested in which accurate pivotal forecasting in the short term might be possible—assuming the particular future trend in some of the independent variables has been predetermined.Research Council of Alberta Contribution No. 596.     

Dark Matter in Wide Triple Systems of Galaxies

Numerical models for wide triplets of galaxies are developed, and a statistical estimate of the dark matter content in these systems is derived. In a typical system, the mass of dark matter proves to be (1.5 - 3) × 1012h-1 M.     

Exploring seven hundred years of transhumance,climate dynamic,fire and human activity through a historical mountain pass in central Spain

A high-altitude peat sequence from the heart of the Spanish Central System (Gredos range) was analysed through a multi-proxy approach to determine the sensitivity of high-mountain habitats to climate, fire and land use changes during the last seven hundred years, providing valuable insight into our understanding of the vegetation history and environmental changes in a mountain pass close to a traditional route of transhumance. The pollen data indicate that the vegetation was dominated by shrublands and grasslands with scattered pines in high-mountain areas, while in the valleys cereals, chestnut and olive trees were cultivated. Strong declines of high-mountain pines percentages are recorded at 1540, 1675, 1765, 1835 and 1925 cal AD, which may be related to increasing grazing activities and/or the occurrence of anthropogenic fires. The practice of mountain summer farming and transhumance deeply changed and redesigned the landscape of the high altitudes in central Spain (Gredos range) since the Middle Ages, although its dynamics was influenced in some way by climate variability of the past seven centuries.     

New 1982 — 1990 photometry of λ Andromedae and its 11-year cycle

We present photoelectric photometry of λ And never before published, obtained between February 1982 and December 1990 at 29 different observatories. Then we combine it with all other photometry available to us (previously published, contained in the I.A.U. Commission 27 Archives, and obtained with the Vanderbilt 16-inch automatic telescope but not yet published), to yield a 14.8-year data base. Analysis reveals a long-term cycle in mean brightness, with a full range of 0^m.15 and a period of 11.4 ± 0.4 years. Because most of our new photometry was concentrated in the 1983-84 observing season, we analyze that one well-defined light curve with a two-spot model. Spot A keeps a 0^m.04 amplitude throughout four rotation cycles whereas the amplitude of spot B diminishes from 0^m.09 down almost to 0^m.03. The spot rotation periods were 55^d.9 ± 0^d.6 and 520^d.8 ± 1^d.0, respectively.