Observation of spatial and temporal variations in X-ray bright point emergence patterns

Observations of X-ray bright points (XBP) over a six-month interval in 1973 show significant variations in both the number density of XBP as a function of heliographic longitude and in the full Sun average number of XBP from one rotation to the next. The observed increases in XBP emergence are estimated to be quivalent to several large active regions emerging per day for several months. The number of XBP emerging at high latitudes also varies, in phase with the low latitude variation and reaches a maximum approximately simultaneous with a major outbreak of active regions. The quantity of magnetic flux emerging in the form of XBP at high latitudes alone is estimated to be as large as the contribution from all active regions.Harvard College Observatory/Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.     

10th annual report on the international status of engineering geology—year 2004-2005; encompassing hydrogeology, environmental geology and the applied geosciences

The year was particularly eventful in terms of the recognition of improved technologies impinging on the duties of the Engineering Geologist. National economies were strained to the limit under the pressure of the new world terrorist attacks and burgeoning populations. much of which stemmed from escapes from oppressive national regimes to the free world. The impacts of terrorism range from increased danger and costs of field work, to special design considerations and postponed and delayed project work.On the positive side, continued progress has been made in the means of recognition and professional development of our practitioners and in the general call for their work. Competent engineering geologists are in consistent demand, but the working conditions are not improved. A general deterioration of university funding, aggravated by bureaucratic excesses among administrators, have tended to make life miserable for dedicated faculty and a general move is afoot to cut back on the number of funded geology departments in North America and Europe. This situation has also been worsened by the general withdrawal of the mineral industries and by retraction of the petroleum companies from all but their most favored campuses.     

High resolution mapping and classification of oyster habitats in nearshore Louisiana using sidescan sonar

Sidescan sonar holds great promise as a tool to quantitatively depict the distribution and extent of benthic habitats in Louisiana’s turbid estuaries. In this study, we describe an effective protocol for acoustic sampling in this environment. We also compared three methods of classification in detail: mean-based thresholding, supervised, and unsupervised techniques to classify sidescan imagery into categories of mud and shell. Classification results were compared to ground truth results using quadrat and dredge sampling. Supervised classification gave the best overall result (kappa=75%) when compared to quadrat results. Classification accuracy was less robust when compared to all dredge samples (kappa=21–56%), but increased greatly (90–100%) when only dredge samples taken from acoustically homogeneous areas were considered. Sidescan sonar when combined with ground truth sampling at an appropriate scale can be effectively used to establish an accurate substrate base map for both research applications and shellfish management. The sidescan imagery presented here also provides, for the first time, a detailed presentation of oyster habitat patchiness and scale in a productive oyster growing area.     

Groundwater vulnerability assessment of the Cork Harbour area,SW Ireland

In the Cork Harbour area of SW Ireland, high yield karst and intergranular gravel aquifers are extremely vulnerable to pollution from a variety of sources, mainly due to the limited protection afforded by the thin cover of low permeability glacial and alluvial overburden. The main potential sources of pollution are due to rapid urbanisation of the Cork city area and its attendant infrastructure, and increased industrialisation in the area, with numerous new industries, particularly pharmaceutical and chemical industries, located around Cork Harbour. Other potential sources of pollution are a number of landfills in the area and an oil refinery near the mouth of Cork Harbour. Traditional agricultural sources of pollution also exist, due to increased use of chemical fertilisers. Finally, the susceptibility to saline intrusion of the karst and gravel aquifers around Cork Harbour is high due to the long coastline of the harbour and the low-lying nature of the karst synclines with their superimposed buried valleys.