Coordinate mapping of analytical contaminant transport solutions to non-uniform flow fields

Existing analytical solutions to 2D and 3D contaminant transport problems are limited by the mathematically convenient assumption of uniform flow. An approximate method is developed herein for coordinate mapping of 2D (vertically-averaged) transport solutions to non-uniform steady-state irrotational and divergence-free flow fields in single-layer aquifers. The method enables existing analytical transport solutions to be applied to aquifer systems with wells, non-uniform saturated thickness, surface water features, and (to a limited degree) heterogeneous hydraulic conductivity and recharge. This mass-conservative coordinate mapping approach is inexact in its approximation of the dispersion process but is still sufficiently accurate for many simple flow systems. The degree of model error is directly proportional to the variation of velocity magnitude within the domain. These mapped analytical solutions are compared to numerical simulation results and the coordinate mapping errors are investigated. The methods described herein may be used in the traditional capacity of analytical transport models, i.e., screening and preliminary site assessment, without sacrificing accuracy by assuming locally uniform flow conditions or applying an ad-hoc coordinate transformation. The solutions benefit from the traditional advantages of analytical methods, particularly the removal of artifacts due to spatial and temporal discretization: no time-stepping or numerical discretization is required.     

Triggered earthquakes and deep well activities

Earthquakes can be triggered by any significant perturbation of the hydrologic regime. In areas where potentially active faults are already close to failure, the increased pore pressure resulting from fluid injection, or, alternatively, the massive extraction of fluid or gas, can induce sufficient stress and/or strain changes that, with time, can lead to sudden catastrophic failure in a major earthquake. Injection-induced earthquakes typically result from the reduction in frictional strength along preexisting, nearby faults caused by the increased formation fluid pressure. Earthquakes associated with production appear to respond to more complex mechanisms of subsidence, crustal unloading, and poroelastic changes in response to applied strains induced by the massive withdrawal of subsurface material. As each of these different types of triggered events can occur up to several years after well activities have begun (or even several years after all well activities have stopped), this suggests that the actual triggering process may be a very complex combination of effects, particularly if both fluid extraction and injection have taken place locally. To date, more than thirty cases of earthquakes triggered by well activities can be documented throughout the United States and Canada. Based on these case histories, it is evident that, owing to preexisting stress conditions in the upper crust, certain areas tend to have higher probabilities of exhibiting such induced seismicity.     

Selenium and mercury concentrations in harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from central California: Health implications in an urbanized estuary

We measured total selenium and total mercury concentrations ([TSe] and [THg]) in hair (n = 138) and blood (n = 73) of harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) from California to assess variation by geography and sex, and inferred feeding relationships based on carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur stable isotopes. Harbor seals from Hg-contaminated sites had significantly greater [THg], and lesser [TSe] and TSe:THg molar ratios than seals from a relatively uncontaminated site. Males had significantly greater [THg] than females at all locations. Sulfur stable isotope values explained approximately 25% of the variability in [THg], indicating increased Hg exposure for seals with a greater use of estuarine prey species. Decreased [TSe] in harbor seals from Hg-contaminated regions may indicate a relative Se deficiency to mitigate the toxic effects of Hg. Further investigation into the Se status and the potential negative impact of Hg on harbor seals from Hg-contaminated sites is warranted.     

Biogeochemical and hydrographic controls on chromophoric dissolved organic matter distribution in the Pacific Ocean

Recent in situ observations of chromophoric dissolved organic material (CDOM) in the Pacific Ocean reveal the biogeochemical controls on CDOM and indicate predictive potential for open-ocean CDOM in diagnosing particulate organic matter (POM) remineralization rates within ocean basins. Relationships between CDOM and concentrations of dissolved oxygen, nutrients and inorganic carbon in the subthermocline waters of the Pacific reflect the relative influences of water mass ventilation and water-column oxidative remineralization. Apparent in situ oxygen utilization (AOU) accounts for 86% and 61% of variance in CDOM abundance, respectively, in Antarctic Intermediate Water and North Pacific Intermediate Water. In the deep waters of the Pacific below the zone of remineralization, AOU explains 26% of CDOM variability. The AOU–CDOM relationship results from competing biogeochemical and advective processes within the ocean interior. Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is not statistically linked to the CDOM or AOU distributions, indicating that the majority of CDOM production occurs during the remineralization of sinking POM and thus potentially provides key information about carbon export. Once formed in the ocean interior, CDOM is relatively stable until it reaches the surface ocean where it is destroyed by solar bleaching. Susceptibility to bleaching confers an additional tracer-like quality for CDOM in water masses with active convection, such as mode waters that appear as subsurface CDOM minima. In the surface ocean, atypically low CDOM abundance highlights a region of unusually extreme oligotrophy: the subtropical South Pacific gyre. For these hyper-oligotrophic waters, the present CDOM observations are consistent with analysis of in situ radiometric observations of light attenuation and reflectance, demonstrating the accuracy of the CDOM spectrophotometric observations. Overall, we illustrate how CDOM abundance in the ocean interior can potentially diagnose rates of thermohaline overturning as they affect regional biogeochemistry and export. We further show how relative surface ocean CDOM abundances are driven in large part by processes occurring in the deep layers of the ocean. This is particularly significant for the interpretation of the global surface distribution of CDOM using satellite remote sensing.     

Assessment of channel dynamics,in-stream structures and post-project channel adjustments in North Carolina and its implications to effective stream restoration

Site assessment and monitoring data were analyzed for 26 stream restoration projects in North Carolina where the channel was reconfigured. Post-project changes in channel capacity were highly variable from site to site, but more than 60% of the projects underwent, on average at a given site, at least a 20% change in channel capacity. An analysis of site and basin geomorphology revealed that large post-construction adjustments were associated with highly dynamic stream channels characterized by a combination of high sediment transport capacity, large sediment supply, and/or easily eroded bank materials. In-stream structures along dynamic, reconfigured channels also exhibited high incidences of damage. Thus, the design and construction of channels in a state of equilibrium, which do not exhibit excessive erosion or deposition along highly dynamic rivers is currently problematic. In light of these findings, a conceptual framework based on geomorphic parameters is put forth to assess the likelihood of project success early in the design process to (1) eliminate high risk sites from consideration of channel reconfiguration and (2) improve upon the implemented management strategies that are ultimately used. It is also argued that where space permits an enhanced natural channel, adjustment approach is likely to be more effective than projects based on natural channel design.     

The High-Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C)

The High-Resolution Coronal Imager (Hi-C) was flown on a NASA sounding rocket on 11 July 2012. The goal of the Hi-C mission was to obtain high-resolution (≈?0.3?–?0.4′′), high-cadence (≈?5 seconds) images of a solar active region to investigate the dynamics of solar coronal structures at small spatial scales. The instrument consists of a normal-incidence telescope with the optics coated with multilayers to reflect a narrow wavelength range around 19.3 nm (including the Fe xii 19.5-nm spectral line) and a 4096×4096 camera with a plate scale of 0.1′′?pixel^?1. The target of the Hi-C rocket flight was Active Region 11520. Hi-C obtained 37 full-frame images and 86 partial-frame images during the rocket flight. Analysis of the Hi-C data indicates the corona is structured on scales smaller than currently resolved by existing satellite missions.     

The thermal nature of soft X-ray flares

Soft X-ray flare data in the wavelength range 2.6–10 Å are used to examine the time variation of emission measure and electron temperature. The thermal plasma parameters were derived according to a two-temperature model proposed by Herring and Craig (1973). Estimates of electron density and source volume are made by assuming conductive and radiative cooling mechanisms. It is suggested that the present observations imply a multi-thermal interpretation of the soft X-ray flare.     

Cognitive and Affective Predictors of Illinois Residents’ Perceived Risks from Gray Wolves

Abstract

Increasing wolf populations are a concern for wildlife managers in the Midwestern U.S. Understanding the psychological mechanisms that contribute to public perceptions of risk will enable development of strategies that seek to mitigate these risks, and suggest where outreach efforts may facilitate acceptance of wolves. We examined the psychological factors that influence Illinois residents’ perceived risks from wolves. We hypothesized that individuals’ perceived risks from wolves were a function of their attitudes toward wolves, negative affect toward wolves, and basic beliefs about wildlife. Data were obtained from a survey of the Illinois public (n?=?784). Negative affect and attitudes toward wolves were direct predictors of perceived risks. Basic beliefs predicted attitudes and negative affect toward wolves. Negative affect predicted attitudes. Basic beliefs had direct and indirect effects on perceived risks.     

Miocene shelf‐edge deltas and their impact on deepwater slope progradation and morphology,Northwest Shelf of Australia

Late‐middle Miocene to Pliocene siliciclastics in the Northern Carnarvon Basin, Northwest Shelf of Australia, are interpreted as having been deposited by deltas. Some delta lobes deposited sediments near and at the shelf break (shelf‐edge deltas), whereas other lobes did not reach the coeval shelf break before retreating landward or being abandoned. Shelf‐margin mapview morphology changes from linear to convex‐outward in the northern part of the study area where shelf‐edge deltas were focused. Location and character of shelf‐edge deltas also had significant impact on along‐strike variability of margin progradation and shelf‐edge trajectory. Total late‐middle and late Miocene margin progradation is ca. 13 km in the south, where there were no shelf‐edge deltas, vs. ca. 34 km in the north where shelf‐edge deltas were concentrated. In the central area, the deltas were arrested and accumulated a few kilometres landward of the shelf break, resulting in an aggradational shelf‐edge trajectory, in contrast to the more progradational trajectory farther north. This illustrates a potential limitation of shelf‐edge trajectory analysis: only where shelf‐edge deltas occur, there is sufficient sediment available for the shelf‐edge trajectory to record relative sea‐level fluctuations reliably. Small‐scale (ca. 400 m wide) incisions were already conspicuous on the coeval slope even before deltas reached the shelf break. However, slope gullies immediately downdip from active shelf‐edge deltas display greater erosion of underlying strata and are wider and deeper (>1 km wide, ca. 100 m deep) than coeval incisions that are laterally offset from the deltaic depocenter (ca. 0.7 km wide, ca. 25 m deep). We interpret this change in slope‐gully dimensions as the result of greater erosion by sediment gravity flows sourced from the immediately adjacent shelf‐edge deltas. Similarly, gullies also incised further (up to 6 km) into the outer shelf in the region of active shelf‐edge deltas.