RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION AND ALCOHOL CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED STATES*

ABSTRACT. Levels of alcohol consumption are a major public health issue. This study aims to gain a better understanding of how geographical patterns of religious affiliation in the United States relate to geographical patterns of alcohol consumption. We explored state‐level correlations between alcohol consumption and religious adherence. Although we found no statistically significant correlation between overall religious adherence rates and current or binge drinking rates, states with higher adherence rates were significantly more likely to have high proportions of binge drinking among current drinkers. Yet, regionally, we found a strong inverse correlation in the Southeast and a strong positive correlation in the Midwest and Northeast between adherence rates and current and binge drinking rates. These geographical differences were largely explained after stratifying by major religious denominational groupings. States with high Catholic adherence rates tended to have higher drinking rates, whereas states with high Evangelical Protestant adherence rates tended to have lower drinking rates. These findings suggest that the relationship between religion and alcohol may be denomination‐specific and challenge the lay perception that religious adherence per se is associated with less alcohol consumption and less excessive drinking among those who drink.     

The role of sediments in the phosphorus cycle in Lake Lugano. II. Seasonal and spatial variability of microbiological processes at the sediment-water interface

P, Fe, Mn, and S species were analyzed in water samples from the sediment-water interface collected at four seasonally different times during the course of a year at two sampling sites in the southern basin of Lake Lugano (Lago di Lugano). The results reveal the strong influence of the biogeochemical processes in the sediment on the chemical composition of the lake water above. Consumption of oxygen and nitrate under oxic to microoxic conditions in the water column as well as sequential release of reduced manganese and iron under anoxic conditions was observed as a direct or indirect consequence of microbially mediated degradation of organic matter. The seasonal pattern observed for the release and the retainment of dissolved reduced iron and manganese correlates well with the one for dissolved phosphate. Iron, manganese and phosphorus cycling are coupled tightly in these sediments. Both sediment types act as sinks for hydrogen sulfide and sulfate. An inner-sedimentary sulfur cycle is proposed to couple iron, manganese and phosphorus cycling with the degradation of organic matter. Nutrient cycling at the sediment-water interface might thus be driven by a microbially regulated electron pumping mechanism. The results contribute to a better understanding of the role of sediment processes in the lake's internal phosphorus cycle and its seasonal dynamics.     

Origin and Extent of Fresh Paleowaters on the Atlantic Continental Shelf, USA

While the existence of relatively fresh groundwater sequestered within permeable, porous sediments beneath the Atlantic continental shelf of North and South America has been known for some time, these waters have never been assessed as a potential resource. This fresh water was likely emplaced during Pleistocene sea-level low stands when the shelf was exposed to meteoric recharge and by elevated recharge in areas overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet at high latitudes. To test this hypothesis, we present results from a high-resolution paleohydrologic model of groundwater flow, heat and solute transport, ice sheet loading, and sea level fluctuations for the continental shelf from New Jersey to Maine over the last 2 million years. Our analysis suggests that the presence of fresh to brackish water within shallow Miocene sands more than 100 km offshore of New Jersey was facilitated by discharge of submarine springs along Baltimore and Hudson Canyons where these shallow aquifers crop out. Recharge rates four times modern levels were computed for portions of New England's continental shelf that were overrun by the Laurentide ice sheet during the last glacial maximum. We estimate the volume of emplaced Pleistocene continental shelf fresh water (less than 1 ppt) to be 1300 km³ in New England. We also present estimates of continental shelf fresh water resources for the U.S. Atlantic eastern seaboard (10⁴ km³) and passive margins globally (3 × 10⁵ km³). The simulation results support the hypothesis that offshore fresh water is a potentially valuable, albeit nonrenewable resource for coastal megacities faced with growing water shortages.     

Development and application of a physically based landscape water balance in the SWAT model

Watershed scale hydrological and biogeochemical models rely on the correct spatial‐temporal prediction of processes governing water and contaminant movement. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model, one of the most commonly used watershed scale models, uses the popular curve number (CN) method to determine the respective amounts of infiltration and surface runoff. Although appropriate for flood forecasting in temperate climates, the CN method has been shown to be less than ideal in many situations (e.g. monsoonal climates and areas dominated by variable source area hydrology). The CN model is based on the assumption that there is a unique relationship between the average moisture content and the CN for all hydrologic response units (HRUs), and that the moisture content distribution is similar for each runoff event, which is not the case in many regions. Presented here is a physically based water balance that was coded in the SWAT model to replace the CN method of runoff generation. To compare this new water balance SWAT (SWAT‐WB) to the original CN‐based SWAT (SWAT‐CN), two watersheds were initialized; one in the headwaters of the Blue Nile in Ethiopia and one in the Catskill Mountains of New York. In the Ethiopian watershed, streamflow predictions were better using SWAT‐WB than SWAT‐CN [Nash–Sutcliffe efficiencies (NSE) of 0·79 and 0·67, respectively]. In the temperate Catskills, SWAT‐WB and SWAT‐CN predictions were approximately equivalent (NSE > 0·70). The spatial distribution of runoff‐generating areas differed greatly between the two models, with SWAT‐WB reflecting the topographical controls imposed on the model. Results show that a water balance provides results equal to or better than the CN, but with a more physically based approach. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Le Carbonifère du Maroc central : les formations de Migoumess,de Tirhela et d'Idmarrach. Lithologie,biostratigraphie et conséquences géodynamiquesThe Carboniferous formations of Migoumess,Tirhela and Idmarrach (central Morocco): lithology,biostratigraphy and geodynamic consequences

New biostratigraphical data based on foraminifers, algae and pseudo-algae indicate that the limestone pebbles of the channelized polygenic conglomerates of the Migoumess formation contain Late Visean (V3bγ–V3c) assemblages. That confirms the Westphalian age attributed to this formation by Hollard [Zdt. Geol. Ges. 129 (1978) 495–512]. The Tournaisian age assigned to it by palynology [C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, série II 310 (1990) 1573–1576] cannot be retained. The Tirhela formation, Late Visean and Serpukhovian (E1) in age, is coeval with the Akerchi formation [Berkhli, thèse d'État, 1999; Berkhli et al., J. Afr. Earth Sci. (accepté)]. The Idmarrach formation, mapped as a thrust sheet [C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, série II 310 (1990) 1573–1576], is dated as Serpukhovian (E1) and its thrusting is consequently post-Serpukhovian. Palaeogeographic and geodynamic consequences are listed. To cite this article: M. Berkhli, D. Vachard, C. R. Geoscience 334 (2002) 67–72     

Stratospheric Photolysis Frequencies: Impact of an Improved Numerical Solution of the Radiative Transfer Equation

Numerical schemes for the calculation of photolysis rates are usually employed in simulations of stratospheric chemistry. Here, we present an improvement of the treatment of the diffuse actinic flux in a widely used stratospheric photolysis scheme (Lary and Pyle, 1991). We discuss both the consequences of this improvement and the correction of an error present in earlier applications of this scheme on the calculation of stratospheric photolysis frequencies. The strongest impact of both changes to the scheme is for small solar zenith angles. The effect of the improved treatment of the diffuse flux is most pronounced in the lower stratosphere and in the troposphere. Overall, the change in the calculated photolysis frequencies in the region of interest in the stratosphere is below about 20%, although larger deviations are found for H₂O, O₂, NO, N₂O, and HCl.     

Black Sea chemocline oscillations during the Holocene: molecular and isotopic studies of marginal sediments

We measured δ¹³C values of free and sulfur-bound lipids and framboidal pyrite-size distributions in three sediment cores from the southern margins of the Black Sea. The margin cores show a marked difference in the occurrence of biomarkers from green sulfur bacteria compared with the deep-basin cores, as a result of deepening of the chemocline resulting from enhanced mixing and/or decreased light-penetration as a consequence of high turbidity and productivity in shelf waters. Quantitation of biomarkers suggests that photic-zone anoxia along the shelf margin was generally absent during the deposition of unit I, although occurred during the deposition of Unit IIb at two sites.     

Geochemistry of lead contaminated wetland soils amended with phosphorus

To remediate Pb contaminated soils it is proposed that phosphorus can be amended to the soils to transform the Pb into poorly soluble Pb-phosphate mineral phases. However, remediation strategies must account for variable Pb speciation and site-specific factors. In this study soil mineralogy and Pb speciation in soils from P-amended field trials at sites within the Coeur d’Alene River Basin in Idaho, USA were investigated. The soils are contaminated from mining activities and are enriched with Fe and Mn. Selective extraction of the soils indicated that the Fe oxides are poorly crystalline. XRD of the soil clay size fractions identified quartz, muscovite, kaolinite, siderite, lepidocrocite, and chlorite minerals. Amendment with P fertilizer dissolved the siderite. No Pb–phosphate minerals were detected by XRD. Electron microprobe analysis showed direct correlations between Pb, Fe, and Mn in the unamended soils, and negative correlations between Pb and Si. Lead and Mn were strongly correlated. In the amended soils Fe and P were strongly correlated. Results indicate that the Pb is associated with poorly crystalline Fe and Mn oxides, and that added P is primarily associated with Fe oxide phases. Comparisons of pore water Pb concentrations with chloropyromorphite and plumbogummite solubility suggest that in the phosphate-amended soils the pore waters are undersaturated in these phases, whereas several of the control soil pore waters were oversaturated, indicating the added phosphate suppressed the Pb solubility. Results from this research provide insight into the geochemistry occurring in the P-remediated soils that will help in making management and remediation decisions.     

Close interval sampling of interstitial silicate and porosity in marine sediments

A method was developed to measure porosity and dissolved interstitial silicate at millimeter intervals or less in a sediment core. In cores from Emerald Basin (Scotian Shelf), interstitial concentrations near the sediment surface did not drop rapidly to bottom-water concentrations as measured in bottle casts (28 μM) but remained as high as 166 μM in the upper 0.5 mm of sediment High rates of benthic silicate release were measured which could not be accounted for by interstitial concentration gradients or by ventilation of macro-invertebrate burrows. The silicate discontinuity observed between the sediments and water column suggests that a diffusive sublayer exists in a zone of viscous flow above the sediment surface. This is possible only if a surface reaction is primarily responsible for silicate release. By assuming a linear concentration gradient across this diffusive sublayer, the silicate release rates were used to estimate the thickness of the sublayer to be about 2 mm.