Legal and institutional tools to mitigate marine turtle bycatch: Argentina as a case study

This paper explores conservation policy pertinent to three species of marine turtles affected by fisheries, while crossing jurisdictions in their seasonal migrations through the SW Atlantic, particularly the Argentine waters. This case study reviews local legal and institutional frameworks for Argentina and concludes that tools are in place to monitor and mitigate the negative impact of bycatch on the populations. Argentina is signatory of the most relevant international treaties aimed at protecting transboundary species (e.g. Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals). Legislation also exists at the federal and provincial levels. Yet, accidental captures continue to occur due to weaknesses in enforcement and the low priority that conservation has in fisheries management decisions. Some urgent practical actions supported by policy are suggested: (a) placement of on-board observers in coastal fishing fleets, (b) application of existing mitigation measures to reduce bycatch, (c) design of a national plan of action for marine turtles in Argentina, and (d) development of a regional plan between Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Stakeholder involvement, especially the fishing sector but also the civil society, would be important to energize practical and effective conservation decisions. The example of Argentina is typical for the region and may apply to other countries as well. The conservation community requires investing more in the application of policy, concomitant with perfecting legal tools.     

Environmental factors controlling spatial variation in sediment yield in a central Andean mountain area

A large spatial variability in sediment yield was observed from small streams in the Ecuadorian Andes. The objective of this study was to analyze the environmental factors controlling these variations in sediment yield in the Paute basin, Ecuador. Sediment yield data were calculated based on sediment volumes accumulated behind checkdams for 37 small catchments. Mean annual specific sediment yield (SSY) shows a large spatial variability and ranges between 26 and 15,100 Mg km^− 2 year^− 1. Mean vegetation cover (C, fraction) in the catchment, i.e. the plant cover at or near the surface, exerts a first order control on sediment yield. The fractional vegetation cover alone explains 57% of the observed variance in ln(SSY). The negative exponential relation (SSY = a × e^{−b C}) which was found between vegetation cover and sediment yield at the catchment scale (10³–10⁹ m²), is very similar to the equations derived from splash, interrill and rill erosion experiments at the plot scale (1–10³ m²). This affirms the general character of an exponential decrease of sediment yield with increasing vegetation cover at a wide range of spatial scales, provided the distribution of cover can be considered to be essentially random. Lithology also significantly affects the sediment yield, and explains an additional 23% of the observed variance in ln(SSY). Based on these two catchment parameters, a multiple regression model was built. This empirical regression model already explains more than 75% of the total variance in the mean annual sediment yield. These results highlight the large potential of revegetation programs for controlling sediment yield. They show that a slight increase in the overall fractional vegetation cover of degraded land is likely to have a large effect on sediment production and delivery. Moreover, they point to the importance of detailed surface vegetation data for predicting and modeling sediment production rates.     

An observation made in 1602 of an aurora in North America

The earliest known record of an aurora sighting in North America was made by Jesuit missionaries in New Brunswick, Canada, in the year 1611. Here, we wish to report an earlier record made in 1602 by the Notary Public of the Spanish Manila Galleon “San Antonio de Padua” while sailing near the coast of California. We also include a brief account of the circumstances and peculiar concurrence of events leading to the 1602 sighting.     

A comparison of seismic risk maps for Italy

National seismic risk maps are an important risk mitigation tool as they can be used for the prioritization of regions within a country where retrofitting of the building stock or other risk mitigation measures should take place. The production of a seismic risk map involves the convolution of seismic hazard data, vulnerability predictions for the building stock and exposure data. The seismic risk maps produced in Italy over the past 10 years are compared in this paper with recent proposals for seismic risk maps based on state-of-the-art seismic hazard data and mechanics-based vulnerability assessment procedures. The aim of the paper is to open the discussion for the way in which future seismic risk maps could be produced, making use of the most up-to-date information in the fields of seismic hazard evaluation and vulnerability assessment.     

The genetic relationship between mafic dike swarms and plutonic reservoirs in the mesozoic of central chile (30°–33°45′S): insights from AMS and geochemistry

Five mafic dike swarms between 30° and 33°45′S were studied for their geochemical signature and kinematics of magma flow directions by means of AMS data. In the Coastal Range of central Chile (33°−33°45′S), Middle Jurassic dike swarms (Concón and Cartagena dike swarms, CMDS and CrMDS, respectively) and an Early Cretaceous dike swarm (El Tabo Dike Swarm, ETDS) display the presence of dikes of geochemically enriched (high-Ti) and depleted (low-Ti) basaltic composition. These dikes show geochemical patterns that are different from the composition of mafic enclaves of the Middle Jurassic Papudo-Quintero Complex, and this suggests that the dikes were injected from reservoirs not related to the plutonic complex. The mantle source appears to be a depleted mantle for Jurassic dikes and a heterogeneous-enriched lithospheric mantle for Cretaceous dikes. In the ETDS, vertical and gently plunging magma flow vectors were estimated for enriched and depleted dikes, respectively, which suggest, together with variations in dike thickness, that reservoirs were located at different depths for each dike family. In the Elqui Dike Swarm (EDS) and Limarí Mafic Dike Swarm (LMDS), geochemical patterns are similar to those of the mafic enclaves of the Middle Jurassic plutons. In the LMDS, east to west magma flow vectors are coherent with injection from neighbouring pluton located to the east. In the EDS, some dikes show geochemical and magma flow patterns supporting the same hypothesis. Accordingly, dikes do not necessarily come from deep reservoir; they may propagate in the upper crust from coeval shallow pluton chamber. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Late Pleistocene flank collapse of Zempoala volcano (Central Mexico) and the role of fault reactivation

Zempoala is an extinct Pleistocene (∼ 0.7–0.8 Ma) stratovolcano that together with La Corona volcano (∼ 0.9 Ma) forms the southern end of the Sierra de las Cruces volcanic range, Central Mexico. The volcano consists of andesitic and dacitic lava flows and domes, as well as pyroclastic and epiclastic sequences, and has had a complex history with several flank collapses. One of these collapses occurred during the late Pleistocene on the S–SE flank of the volcano and produced the Zempoala debris avalanche deposit. This collapse could have been triggered by the reactivation of two normal fault systems (E–W and NE–SW), although magmatic activity cannot be absolutely excluded. The debris avalanche traveled 60 km to the south, covers an area of 600 km² and has a total volume of 6 km³, with a calculated Heim coefficient (H/L) of 0.03. Based on the textural characteristics of the deposit we recognized three zones: proximal, axial, and lateral distal zone. The proximal zone consists of debris avalanche blocks that develop a hummocky topography; the axial zone corresponds with the main debris avalanche deposit made of large clasts set in a sandy matrix, which transformed to a debris flow in the lateral distal portion. The deposit is heterolithologic in composition, with dacitic and andesitic fragments from the old edifice that decrease in volume as bulking of exotic clasts from the substratum increase. Several cities (Cuernavaca, Jojutla de Juárez, Alpuyeca) with associated industrial, agricultural, and tourism activities have been built on the deposit, which pose in evidence the possible impact in case of a new event with such characteristics, since the area is still tectonically active.