Eutrophication and salinization of urban and rural kettle lakes in Kalamazoo and Barry Counties,Michigan, USA

Salinization and eutrophication caused by runoff of road salt and nutrients was assessed in three kettle lakes, two (Woods and Asylum Lakes) located in urban Kalamazoo, MI, and one (Brewster Lake) in rural Hastings, MI. Profiles of dissolved O₂, conductivity, pH, and temperature were measured in situ, at half meter intervals. Water samples were collected at discrete depth intervals of 1 m and analyzed for Fe(II), Mn(II), ammonium, alkalinity, Cl^?, Na, Mg, K and Ca. Results of this study indicate that all three lakes are eutrophic with anoxic bottom waters. Conductivity was much greater, and Cl^? levels were more than 100 times greater, in the two urban lakes compared to the rural lake, demonstrating the significant impact of road salt deicers on urban lake water chemistry.     

Surface complexation modeling of Cu(II) adsorption on mixtures of hydrous ferric oxide and kaolinite

Background  

The application of surface complexation models (SCMs) to natural sediments and soils is hindered by a lack of consistent models and data for large suites of metals and minerals of interest. Furthermore, the surface complexation approach has mostly been developed and tested for single solid systems. Few studies have extended the SCM approach to systems containing multiple solids.     

The logistics of household hurricane evacuation

Although there is a substantial amount of research on households’ hurricane evacuation decision making, there is much less research on the logistical issues involved in implementing those evacuations. The limited research on household evacuation logistics has consistently shown that most evacuees stay in the homes of friends and relatives or in commercial facilities rather than in public shelters. However, evacuation logistics—which can be defined as the activities and associated resources needed to reach a safe location and remain there until it is safe to return—encompasses a much broader range of behaviors than this. The present study extends previous research by reporting data on other aspects of evacuation logistics such as departure timing, vehicle use, evacuation routes, travel distance, shelter type, evacuation duration, and evacuation cost. Hurricane Lili evacuation data at the county level are generally consistent with the data from previous hurricanes, but there is notable variation across counties studied here. There were only modest correlations of demographic and geographic variables with the evacuation logistics variables, a result that indicates further research is needed to better understand what happens between the time an evacuation decision is made and the time re-entry is begun. Moreover, research is needed to understand the logistics of evacuation by special populations such as transients and households with disabled members.     

A local landscape in transition between production and consumption goals: can new management arrangements preserve the local landscape character?

Around towns in the Alentejo region, the landscape is dominated by a characteristic agricultural small-scale mosaic. These areas are central in the region landscape character – even if the large-scale latifundia landscape of the extensive silvo-pastoral systems is most commonly associated with the region. In the last two decades, these parcels became extremely attractive for new comers, who settle in the rural context as residents, week-end visitors, being often also lifestyle farmers. The paper presents a case study landscape, in Montemor-o-Novo, a small town 100 km from Lisbon, highly subject to the pressure for consumption uses, by urban users. The study shows that the new owners, even if they have settled in the area due to the tranquility and social bindings of the rural, end up doing farming, with new or reshaped production objectives, markets and models, but at the same time maintaining the traditional farm systems. Thus, the landscape character is maintained, so far. Nevertheless, the role of these neo-rurals and lifestyle farmers is still an unseen role, both by the agriculture and the planning sectors. And thus the question is, whether the combination of actors and land management drivers will continue maintaining the landscape in the future.     

Size matters more than method: Visual quadrats vs photography in measuring human impact on Mediterranean rocky reef communities

The performances of two commonly used non-destructive sampling procedures for rocky benthic assemblages (i.e. photography and visually assessed quadrats) were compared. A damaging human activity, date mussel (Lithophaga lithophaga) harvesting (DMH), was chosen. Directly impacted sites were compared with reference conditions (controls). Both visual quadrats and photography were equally able to detect differences between impacted situations and controls. However, visual quadrats showed high variability among replicates and estimated higher species richness for controls, while photography did so for impacts. Pooling photos in a ‘sum photo quadrat’ showed that differences between the two methods are due to sampling unit size rather than sampling procedure itself. As a small sampling unit is unavoidable with photography, visual quadrats should be preferred in investigating shallow rocky reefs for their larger size; however, longer working time underwater with quadrats does not allow for numerous replicates. Pooling many photos to reach sampling sizes comparable with those of quadrats may be a valid alternative to reconcile image resolution and areal coverage.     

Macroseismic Parameters of Seismogenic Zones of Calabria and Sicily for Seismic Hazard Evaluation

For the seismic hazard evaluation of the region including the southern Calabro-Peloritanian Arc and southeastern Sicily, the determination of the macroseismic virtual intensity distributions has been carried out, characteristic of the seismogenic zones that fall within the area in study, starting with the structural framework of the region and from the analysis of the observed intensity effected through suitable filters. The macroseismic parameters, derived from such virtual distributions and used for seismic hazard evaluation, are not only a reference for eventual subsequently deeper knowledge referable to the need for a better characterization of the reference modelling, but distinguish themselves as an essential instrument for the definition of seismic hazard scenarios correlated to seismic events that take place in single seismogenic zones.     

Vertical-axis rotations and deformation along the active strike-slip El Tigre Fault (Precordillera of San Juan,Argentina) assessed through palaeomagnetism and anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility

International Journal of Earth Sciences - Palaeomagnetic data from poorly consolidated to non-consolidated late Cenozoic sediments along the central segment of the active El Tigre Fault...