Modeling and Measuring the Flux Reconnected and Ejected by the Two-Ribbon Flare/CME Event on 7 November 2004

Observations of the large two-ribbon flare on 7 November 2004 made using SOHO and TRACE data are interpreted in terms of a three-dimensional magnetic field model. Photospheric flux evolution indicates that ?1.4×10⁴³ Mx² of magnetic helicity was injected into the active region during the 40-hour buildup prior to the flare. The magnetic model places a lower bound of 8×10³¹ ergs on the energy stored by this motion. It predicts that 5×10²¹ Mx of flux would need to be reconnected during the flare to release the stored energy. This total reconnection compares favorably with the flux swept up by the flare ribbons, which we measure using high-time-cadence TRACE images in 1?600 Å. Reconnection in the model must occur in a specific sequence that would produce a twisted flux rope containing significantly less flux and helicity (10²¹ Mx and ?3×10⁴² Mx², respectively) than the active region as a whole. The predicted flux compares favorably with values inferred from the magnetic cloud observed by Wind. This combined analysis yields the first quantitative picture of the flux processed through a two-ribbon flare and coronal mass ejection.     

Indicators of abundance and spatial distribution of lobsters (Homarus americanus) from standard traps

Indicators of abundance for American lobster (Homarus americanus) based on 8 years of trap catch rates (catch‐per‐unit‐effort, CPUE) were evaluated. Volunteer harvesters recorded count, sex and size of lobsters captured in standard traps on a daily basis during the fishing season in coastal Nova Scotia, Canada. We examined the extent to which standardised CPUEs of prerecruits predict the future catches of legal sizes and explored spatial patterns in the abundance of lobsters of different size and reproductive status. The standardised CPUE of prerecruits was correlated with legal size catches in only one of five areas examined. This area had a strong signal of incoming recruitment. Improving the capacity of prerecruit CPUE for predicting legal size catches several years later most likely lies with model incorporation of variables associated with catchability. The spatial distribution of catch rates showed that the area with the highest historical landings per unit area also had the highest relative abundance of prerecruits. The spatial distribution data point to further areas of research related to recruitment processes in lobster in coastal Nova Scotia.     

Lateral variation in gravelly sediments and processes in an alluvial fan-fan-delta setting,north of Durgapur

Sedimentological study of the digitated lobes of gravel and associated sediments in the north of Durgapur results in identification of five major facies. Facies analysis indicates the sediments were deposited from an alluvial fan that has prograded in to an inferred shallow body of water. The analysis also suggests debris flow deposits dominate proximal part, modified grain flow and turbidity current the middle part and current generated channel and non-channel deposits in the distal part of the alluvial fan — fan-delta sequence.     

Dietary niche separation of three Late Pleistocene bear species from Vancouver Island,on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

Competition between taxa related to climate changes has been proposed as a possible factor in Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions, and here we present isotope evidence of the diets of three co-existing bear species [black bear (Ursus americanus), brown bear (Ursus arctos), and the now extinct short-faced bear (Arctodus simus)] from a locale in western North America dating to the Late (Terminal) Pleistocene (~14.5–11.7 ka). The three bear species were found at several sites on Vancouver Island, on the western coast of Canada. To examine the chronological overlap and niche partitioning between these species of bear, we used direct radiocarbon dating, stable isotope analysis and ZooMS proteomic identification methods. Here we present new radiocarbon evidence from Terminal Pleistocene U. americanus, U. arctos and A. simus from several sites on the island, along with both bulk collagen and compound-specific isotope data for these species. Radiocarbon dates confirm the chronological overlap of Arctodus and both Ursus species in the montane regions of the island at the end of the Pleistocene. Stable isotope data reveal niche differentiation between these species, with U. americanus occupying a distinctly lower trophic position than the other two taxa.