Earth System governmentality: Reflections on science in the Anthropocene

This paper examines Earth System Science as a novel approach to global environmental change research. Drawing upon Michel Foucault's governmentality concept, the paper opens up the Earth System metaphor to political analysis and asks what it does to our understanding of nature and society as a governable domain. We trace the scientific practices that have produced the Earth System as a thinkable analytical category back to the International Geophysical Year in 1957. We also identify ‘the Anthropocene’ as a central and yet ambiguous system of thought for Earth System Science that harbours different strategies for sustainability in terms of (1) the persons over whom government is to be exercised; (2) the distribution of tasks and actions between authorities; and (3) contrasting ideals or principles for how government should be directed.     

An assessment of the utility of regional diatom‐based tidal‐level transfer functions

In order to understand natural sea‐level variability, and to enhance future predictions, accurate and precise estimates of Holocene tidal levels are required. Although the application of diatom‐based transfer functions can yield such data, these work best when underpinned by local training sets. Urbanized estuaries offer little prospect of obtaining local training sets and, instead, the reliability of regional transfer functions has to be assessed. The performance of a published regional (UK) diatom‐based tidal‐level transfer function applied to fossil assemblages from two contrasting core sites in the Mersey Estuary, UK, is assessed using modern analogue techniques and sediment isotope data. We find that, although estimated tidal levels coincide with changes in organic matter source, the frequent lack of modern analogues mean that palaeotide estimates are without basis. This is likely a consequence of the site‐specific nature of diatom assemblages in higher intertidal and supratidal areas in particular, where local factors are expected to exert a greater control on their ecology. This situation may be partly resolved by constructing and applying much larger regional training sets from multiple higher intertidal and supratidal sites (where intact). Otherwise the application of alternative techniques, such as regional foraminiferal tidal‐level transfer functions, may be more appropriate. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A simple and general methodology to calibrate seismic instruments for debris flow quantification: application to Cotopaxi and Tungurahua volcanoes (Ecuador)

Debris flows are hazardous phenomena occurring at volcanoes, and monitoring them has proved as challenging as imperative in several cases. The use of seismic instruments to measure and study the physical properties of debris flows has witnessed significant progress in the last years, with the use of improved sensors, innovative methodologies and high-resolution analysis. However, the application of such studies to the practical task of providing early warnings remains limited by the significant amount of infrastructural and technological resources commonly required for their deployment. In Ecuador, debris flows at volcanoes are detected by means of seismic instruments which are usually part of broader monitoring networks, thus requiring calibration to provide quantitative information about the flows and feed early-warning systems. In the present work, a theoretical approach based on the Buckingham Π-theorem is used to determine an expression that linearly correlates the seismic signal produced by a transiting debris flow with its discharge rate, for instruments installed in different substrata and at variable distances from the drainage. The expression is experimentally tested with Acoustic Flow Monitors and Broad-band seismometers installed in the vicinity of drainages at Tungurahua and Cotopaxi volcanoes, where actual debris flows occurred in relation to eruptive activity. The experiments consist in comparing the measured peak amplitude values of the seismic signal envelopes with the estimated peak discharge rates of several events. The results confirm the validity of the theoretical expression with linear correlations observed between the seismic amplitudes and the discharge rates, thus defining calibration expressions that can be generally applied to varied environments and instruments. The seismic instruments calibrated through this methodology can provide instantaneous and reliable predictions of debris flow discharge rates within less than an order of magnitude and only requiring limited data processing and storage. Such level of prediction could help to improve early warning systems based on seismic instruments installed in locations where more developed instrumental arrays are unavailable or unpractical.

     

Behaviour of Instrumented Hollow Auger Pile Groups in Sandy Soil

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - Hollow auger piles are a new solution technique being used more often in recent years as a foundation for buildings of 15 floors or less in the coastal...     

Skin toxins in coral‐associated Gobiodon species (Teleostei: Gobiidae) affect predator preference and prey survival

Predation risk is high for the many small coral reef fishes, requiring successful sheltering or other predator defence mechanisms. Coral‐dwelling gobies of the genus Gobiodon live in close association with scleractinian corals of the genus Acropora. Earlier studies indicated that the low movement frequency of adult fishes and the development of skin toxins (crinotoxicity) are predation avoidance mechanisms. Although past experiments showed that predators refuse food prepared with goby skin mucus, direct predator–prey interactions have not been studied. The present study compares the toxicity levels of two crinotoxic coral gobies – Gobiodon histrio, representative of a conspicuously coloured species, and Gobiodon sp.3 with cryptic coloration – using a standard bioassay method. The results show that toxin levels of both species differ significantly shortly after mucus release but become similar over time. Predator preferences were tested experimentally in an aquarium in which the two gobies and a juvenile damselfish Chromis viridis were exposed to the small grouper Epinephelus fasciatus. Video‐analysis revealed that although coral gobies are potential prey, E. fasciatus clearly preferred the non‐toxic control fish (C. viridis) over Gobiodon. When targeting a goby, the predator did not prefer one species over the other. Contrary to our expectations that toxic gobies are generally avoided, gobies were often captured, but they were expelled quickly, repeatedly and alive. This unusual post‐capture avoidance confirms that these gobies have a very good chance of surviving attacks in the field due to their skin toxins. Nonetheless, some gobies were consumed: the coral shelter may therefore also provide additional protection, with toxins protecting them mainly during movement between corals. In summary, chemical deterrence by crinotoxic fishes seems to be far more efficient in predation avoidance than in physical deterrence involving body squamation and/or strong fin spines.     

Monument-antenna effects on GPS coordinate time series with application to vertical rates in Antarctica

We examine the electromagnetic coupling of a GPS antenna–monument pair in terms of its simulated affect on long GPS coordinate time series. We focus on the Earth and Polar Observing System (POLENET) monument design widely deployed in Antarctica and Greenland in projects interested particularly in vertical velocities. We base our tests on an absolute robot calibration that included the top ~0.15 m of the monument and use simulations to assess its effect on site coordinate time series at eight representative POLENET sites in Antarctica over the period 2000.0–2011.0. We show that the neglect of this calibration would introduce mean coordinate bias, and most importantly for velocity estimation, coordinate noise which is highly sensitive to observation geometry and hence site location and observation period. Considering only sub-periods longer than 2.5 years, we show vertical site velocities may be biased by up to ±0.4 mm/year, and biases up to 0.2 mm/year may persist for observation spans of 8 years. Changing between uniform and elevation-dependent observation weighting alters the time series but does not remove the velocity biases, nor does ambiguity fixing. The effect on the horizontal coordinates is negligible. The ambiguities fixed series spectra show noise between flicker and random walk with near-white noise at the highest frequencies, with mean spectral indices (frequencies <20 cycles per year) of approximately −1.3 (uniform weighting) and −1.4 (elevation-dependent weighting). While the results are likely highly monument specific, they highlight the importance of accounting for monument effects when analysing vertical coordinate time series and velocities for the highest precision and accuracy geophysical studies.     

The linkage between fault throw and footwall scarp erosion patterns: an example from the Bremstein Fault Complex,offshore Mid‐Norway

Studies of normal fault systems in modern extensional regimes (e.g. Basin and Range), and in exhumed, ancient rift basins (e.g. Gulf of Suez Rift) have shown a link between the evolution of fault‐related footwall topography and associated erosional drainage systems. In this study, we use 3D seismic reflection data to image the footwall crest of a gravity‐driven fault system developed during late Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous rifting on the Halten Terrace, offshore Mid‐Norway. This 22‐km‐long fault system lacks significant footwall uplift, with hangingwall subsidence accommodating throw accumulation on the fault system. Significant erosion has occurred along the length of the footwall crest and is defined by 96 catchments characterized by erosional channels. These erosional channels consist of small, linear systems up to 750 m long located along the front of the fault footwall. Larger, dendritic channel systems extend further back (up to 3 km normal to fault strike) into the footwall. These channels are up to 7 km long, up to 50 m deep and up to 1 km wide. Fault throw varies along strike, with greatest throw in the centre of the fault decreasing towards the fault tips; localized throw minima are interpreted to represent segment linkage points, which were breached as the fault grew. Comparison of the catchment location to the throw distribution shows that the largest catchments are in the centre of the fault and decrease in size to the fault tips. There is no link between the location of the breached segment linkage points and the location and size of the footwall catchments, suggesting that the first‐order control on footwall erosion patterns is the overall fault‐throw distribution.     

Analysis of thermal emission from the nightside of Venus at 1.51 and 1.55 μm

We present radiative transfer modelling of thermal emission from the nightside of Venus in two ‘spectral window’ regions at 1.51 and 1.55 μm. The first discovery of these windows, reported by Erard et al. [Erard, S., Drossart, P., Piccioni, G., 2009. J. Geophys. Res. Planets 114, doi:10.1029/2008JE003116. E00B27], was achieved using a principal component analysis of data from the VIRTIS instrument on Venus Express. These windows are spectrally narrow, with a full-width at half-maximum of ∼20 nm, and less bright than the well-known 1.7 and 2.3 μm spectral windows by two orders of magnitude.In this note we present the first radiative transfer analysis of these windows. We conclude that the radiation in these windows originates at an altitude of 20-35 km. As is the case for the other infrared window regions, the brightness of the windows is affected primarily by the optical depth of the overlying clouds; in addition, the 1.51 μm radiance shows a very weak sensitivity to water vapour abundance.