The role of bioindicators in estuarine management

Estuarine organisms can be considered three ways as bioindicators—first, as indicators of a defined set of environmental conditions, second, as indicators of contaminant loads on the system, and third, as indicators of the overall health of the system. By their very nature, estuarine organisms are eurytolerant and this, along with the various stratagems that have evolved to cope with the problems of life in estuaries results in a confusing picture for the estuarine manager. The recommended bioindicators for estuarine conditions are plankton; for contaminant loads, a range of species with different feeding types; and for system status, a eurytolerant species, such as the musselMytilus edulis for laboratory monitoring or a “target” species such as the clamMacoma balthica for field monitoring. However, it would be unwise to rely on a single indicator, and the recommendation is that the final choice, and preferably choices, be tailored to the desired goal.     

Formic and acetic acids in atmospheric condensate in Wilmington,North Carolina

Formic and acetic acids occurred in atmospheric condensate with concentrations similar to rainwater collected in Wilmington, North Carolina, during the sampling period from June to October of 1990. Atmospheric concentrations of these acids (calculated from the condensate concentrations) were higher in continental versus maritime air masses. Concentrations of formic and acetic acids were correlated with each other in both condensate and air. Traffic was a source of acetic acid and of bisulfite to atmospheric condensate in this study.     

Mapping the Geographical Diffusion of a Finnish Smallpox Epidemic from Historical Population Records

Smallpox mortality from an early 19th century epidemic in Finland is mapped at the parish village level. First, geographically referenced historical materials are used to construct a map showing the spread of smallpox mortality among villages. Next, the diffusion of smallpox morbidity is simulated by computer for the same set of villages. These two maps are then compared. Results indicate that at this scale maps of mortality diffusion can show general trends but have no direct spatial correspondence to the underlying pattern of morbidity diffusion. Mortality maps cannot be used as a surrogate measure of infectious contact behavior at micro scales of analysis.     

Chemistry of alkali extraction of brown coals—I. Kinetics, characterisation and implications to coalification

Three Australian brown coals have been separated into humin and humic acid fractions and studied by high resolution solid state ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The aromatic rings of the humic acids are highly substituted showing that extensive cross linking must have occurred during formation from wood lignin and tannin. However, the humins contain more aliphatic carbon and hydrogen than the corresponding humic acids. This shows that little cross linking has occurred with other components of the brown coal such as resins, waxes cutin and algal detritus, and cross linking has not rendered the aromatics alkali insoluble. The kinetics of extraction are complex and not simple first order. This is reflected in the chemical composition of the humic acid which is extraction temperature dependent. We also observed that there is a conversion of aromatic carbon to aliphatic carbon and gas during extraction, probably by alkaline oxidation, resulting in ring opening. A range of suitable model compounds have been studied to confirm this finding. Such a mechanism may account for the modification of lignin in oxidising environments such as those occurring in the initial stages of coalification (lignite or brown coal formation) and in soils.     

Consequences of explosive eruptions on small Solar System bodies: the case of the missing basalts on the aubrite parent body

Aubrite meteorites are composed of constituents which are almost certainly of igneous origin. If they were generated by the melting and fractionation of enstatite chondrite-like parental material, as seems very likely, then plagioclase-rich, basaltic complements to the aubrites should have formed. However, such materials are not known as individual meteorites, and the compositions of two plagioclase-silica clasts and one albite-silica-(diopside-anorthite) clast (probably an impact melt) in the Norton County aubrite breccia suggest that they are not the putative enstatite-plagioclase basalts. We propose a new mechanism that explains the absence of these materials, showing that the expansion of even very small amounts of volatiles present in a melt approaching the surface of a small, low-gravity body will be enough to disrupt the melt into a spray of droplets moving faster than the local escape velocity. This explosive volcanic process of melt removal requires larger melt volatile contents on larger bodies, and data on the solubility of volatiles in basaltic melts suggest that the process was limited to bodies smaller than about 100 km in radius.     

Considerations on the seismotectonics of the Northern Apennines

The Northern Apennines have been subdivided into homogeneous zones, on the basis of recent structural evolution and crustal structure, in which the earthquake distribution can find a coherent framework. These zones, whose physiography is in strict connection with their structure, are: the Internal Peri-Tyrrhenian Belt; the External or Main Belt; the Buried Belt; and the Pede-Alpine Homocline. Earthquake activity has a tendency to cluster along well-defined bands, particularly in the easternmost border of the Peri-Tyrrhenian Belt, as well as along the zone between the External Belt and the Buried Belt, i.e. along the Padanian margin of the Northern Apennines.A minimum of seismic activity seems to be correlated with some zones of the External Belt, as well as with the Late Tertiary and Quaternary magmatic province of Tyrrhenian Southern Tuscany.The fault-plane solutions are coherent with the structural picture.A tentative seismotectonic model of the Northern Apennines is discussed.     

Use of ritz vectors in wave propagation and foundation response

The accuracy of a numerical method is demonstrated for the dynamic analysis of large complex finite element systems in which the spatial distribution of the loading is constant. The method is based on the use of a special class of Ritz vectors which were previously proposed and can be generated with minimum numerical effort. The purpose of this paper is to extend the use of these vectors to the solution of wave propagation and foundation response problems. The method is applied to one-, twoand three-dimensional problems in order to illustrate the efficiency and accuracy of the technique. Unless it is necessary to evaluate the very high-frequency behaviour of a structural system, it is shown that a small number of Ritz vectors will produce excellent results. Therefore, they can be very effective in the solution of three-dimensional soil-structure systems subjected to earthquake loading.     

Tarawera 1886, New Zealand — A basaltic plinian fissure eruption

New Zealand's biggest and most destructive volcanic eruption of historical times was that of Tarawera in 1886. The resulting scoria fall has a dispersal very similar in extent to that of the Vesuvius A.D. 79 pumice fall and is one of the few known examples of a basaltic deposit of plinian type. A new estimate of the volume (2 km³) is significantly greater than previous estimates. The basalt came mainly from a 7-km length of fissure, and emission and exit velocity were fairly uniform along at least 4 km of it, this is one of the few documented examples of a plinian eruption from a fissure vent. Primary welding of the scoria fall resulted where the accumulation rate exceeded about 250 mm min⁻¹. A model of the eruption dynamics is proposed which leads to an estimate of 28 km for the height of the eruption cloud and implies a magma volatile fraction of 1.5–3%. Violent phreatic explosions occurred in the southwestern extension of the fissure across the Rotomahana geothermal field, and it is thought that some of the water responsible for the power of the plinian eruption came from this source, though its amount was not sufficient to turn the eruption into a phreatoplinian one.