The Effect of the Screen on the Mass, Momentum, and Energy Exchange Rates of a Uniform Crop Situated in an Extensive Screenhouse

The area of crops cultivated in extensive screenhouses is rapidly growing, especially in semi-arid and arid regions. Water vapour, carbon dioxide, and sensible heat released or taken up by crops within such protected environments can substantially alter the immediate micro-environment, which in turn, affects these fluxes. This amplified interaction between plants and their microclimate challenges simple assessments on how partially covering the crop by a screen modifies plant water uptake and photosynthesis. Via a newly proposed higher-order closure model, the effects of a screen on the mean flow field, turbulent stresses, radiative and energy fluxes, as well as scalar sources, sinks, fluxes, and mean scalar concentration within screenhouses are explored. As a starting point, an extensive screenhouse is assumed thereby reducing the sensitivity of the model results to the precise geometric configuration of the screenhouse. The model findings for the screenhouse are presented and referenced against their open field counterpart. The radiation modulation and changes to turbulent transport due to the presence of the screen are investigated. In general, the presence of a screen results in a warmer and more humid environment inside the screenhouse, promoting reductions in both canopy photosynthesis and transpiration. However, the overall effect of the screen is to enhance water-use efficiency thereby resulting in water savings for the same amount of gross primary production.     

Cadmium uptake and accumulation by the decapod crustacean Penaeus indicus

Juveniles of the dendrobranchiate decapod Penaeus indicus take up radiolabelled cadmium from solution over the exposure concentration range of 1.8-31.5 microg L(-1), with an uptake rate constant of 0.090 L g(-1)d(-1) at 15 salinity and 25 degrees C. New cadmium taken up is added to the existing cadmium content of the prawn with no significant excretion, and the rate of accumulation of radiolabelled cadmium is a measure of the absolute cadmium uptake rate from solution. Moulting had no significant effect on the accumulation of cadmium. Newly accumulated cadmium is distributed to all organs with the highest proportions of body content being found in the hepatopancreas, exoskeleton, gills and remaining soft tissues, the hepatopancreas and gills containing the highest labelled cadmium concentrations. Like other crustaceans, penaeid prawns inhabiting anthropogenically contaminated coastal waters with raised cadmium bioavailabilities can be expected to contain raised body concentrations of cadmium. Cadmium concentrations of most field-collected adult penaeids are relatively low, as a probable consequence of the growth dilution of their cadmium contents as a result of the rapid growth rates of penaeid prawns.     

Changes in Climate and Crop Production During the 20th Century in Argentina

This work was focused on the assessment of changes occurring in crop production and climate during the 20th century in Argentina. The study was carried out for nine sites located in the Pampas region that are representative of contrasting environments. We have considered the four main crops cultivated in this area (wheat, maize, sunflower and soybean). Historical climatic data and crop production related variables (yield, planted area, harvested area) were analyzed and, by means of crop simulation models, we quantified the impact of climate on crop yields. Changes occurring in climate during the three last decades of the 20th century were characterized by important increases in precipitation especially between October and March, decreases in maximum temperature and solar radiation in particular during spring and summer and increases in minimum temperature during almost all of the year. These changes contributed to increases in yields, especially in summer crops and in the semiarid zone, mostly due to increases in precipitation, although changes in temperature and radiation also affected crop yields but to a lesser extent. Comparing the period 1950–1970 with 1971–1999, yields increases attributable to changes in climate were 38% in soybean, 18% in maize, 13% in wheat, and 12% in sunflower while mean observed yield increases were 110% for maize, 56% for wheat and 102% for sunflower.     

Uncertainty in Shear-Wave Velocity Profiles

Journal of Seismology - This paper considers the uncertainty in the shear wave velocity (Vs) of soil and rock profiles for use in earthquake site response calculations. This uncertainty is an...     

Predicting the optical properties of the West Florida Shelf: resolving the potential impacts of a terrestrial boundary condition on the distribution of colored dissolved and particulate matter

Predicting the distribution of Inherent Optical Properties (IOPs) in the water column requires predicting the physical, chemical, biological, and optical interactions in a common framework that facilitates feedback responses. This work focuses on the development of ecological and optical interaction equations embedded in a 2D hindcast model of the shallow water optical properties on the West Florida Shelf (WFS) during late summer/fall of 1998. This 2D simulation of the WFS includes one case with a Loop Current intrusion above the 40-m isobath and one with the Loop Current intrusion in addition to a periodic terrestrial nutrient supply below the 10-m isobath. The ecological and optical interaction equations are an expansion of a previously developed model for open ocean conditions (Bissett, W.P., Carder, K.L., Walsh, J.J., Dieterle, D.A., 1999a. Carbon cycling in the upper waters of the Sargasso Sea: II. Numerical simulation of apparent and inherent optical properties. Deep-Sea Research, Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 46 (2), 271–317; Bissett, W.P., Walsh, J.J., Dieterle, D.A., Carder, K.L., 1999b. Carbon cycling in the upperwaters of the Sargasso Sea: I. Numerical simulation of differential carbon and nitrogen fluxes. Deep-Sea Research, Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers, 46 (2), 205–269). The expansion includes an increase in the number of elemental pools to include silica, phosphorus, and iron, an increase in the number of phytoplankton functional groups, and a redevelopment of the Dissolved Organic Matter (DOM) and Colored Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM) interaction equations. It was determined from this simulation that while the Loop Current alone was able to predict the water column conditions present during the summer, the Loop Current alone was not enough to simulate the magnitude of optical constituents present in the fall of 1998 when compared to satellite imagery. Simulating terrestrial inorganic and organic nutrients and CDOM pulses coinciding with significant meteorological events and high freshwater pulses released from the major rivers feeding the WFS were required to accurately predict the distribution and scale of the inherent optical properties at the surface during the fall months. Modeling the in situ light field for phytoplankton growth and community competition requires addressing the CDOM optical constituent explicitly. The majority of the annually modeled CDOM on WFS was created via in situ production; however, it was also rapidly removed via advection and photochemical destruction. A pulse of terrestrial nutrient and organic color was required to simulate the dramatic changes in surface color seen in satellite imagery on the WFS. The dynamics of the biogeochemical portion of the simulation demonstrate the importance of nonstoichiometric supplies of terrestrial nutrients on the WFS to the prediction of nutrient and CDOM fluxes.     

Spectrometric gamma radiation of shale cores applied to sweet spot discrimination in Eastern Pomerania,Poland

This paper describes the application and calculation of hydrocarbon anomalies in two different boreholes located in Eastern Pomerania (northern Poland). Spectrometric data from borehole geophysical probe (borehole 1) and portable gamma logger (borehole 2) were used to analyze shale formations. The results from borehole 1 presented a statistically significant, moderate correlation between calculated hydrocarbon anomalies and hydrocarbon saturation data obtained from well log interpretation. Borehole 2 has been analyzed focusing on the gamma radiation of the core samples, and the positive results of borehole 1. Hydrocarbon anomalies calculated from spectral gamma radiation are reliable indicators of sweet spots, based solely on a cursory evaluation of core measurements. These preliminary information acquired from gamma-ray measurements could help increase sampling precision of further geochemical analysis.     

Turbulent Pressure and Velocity Perturbations Induced by Gentle Hills Covered with Sparse and Dense Canopies

How the spatial perturbations of the first and second moments of the velocity and pressure fields differ for flow over a train of gentle hills covered by either sparse or dense vegetation is explored using large-eddy simulation (LES). Two simulations are investigated where the canopy is composed of uniformly arrayed rods each with a height that is comparable to the hill height. In the first simulation, the rod density is chosen so that much of the momentum is absorbed within the canopy volume yet the canopy is not dense enough to induce separation on the lee side of the hill. In the second simulation, the rod density is large enough to induce recirculation inside the canopy on the lee side of the hill. For this separating flow case, zones of intense shear stress originating near the canopy-atmosphere interface persist all the way up to the middle layer, ‘contaminating’ much of the middle and outer layers with shear stress gradients. The implications of these persistent shear-stress gradients on rapid distortion theory and phase relationships between higher order velocity statistics and hill-induced mean velocity perturbations (Δu) are discussed. Within the inner layer, these intense shear zones improve predictions of the spatial perturbation by K-theory, especially for the phase relationships between the shear stress (~ ?Δu/?z) and the velocity variances, where z is the height. For the upper canopy layers, wake production increases with increasing leaf area density resulting in a vertical velocity variance more in phase with Δu than with ?Δu/?z. However, background turbulence and inactive eddies may have dampened this effect for the longitudinal velocity variance. The increase in leaf area density does not significantly affect the phase relationship between mean surface pressure and topography for the two simulations, though the LES results here confirm earlier findings that the minimum mean pressure shifts downstream from the hill crest. The increase in leaf area density and associated flow separation simply stretches this difference further downstream. This shift increases the pressure drag, the dominant term in the overall drag on the hill surface, by some 15%. With regards to the normalized pressure variance, increasing leaf area density increases ${\sigma_p/u_{*}^{2}}$ near the canopy top, where u _* is the longitudinally averaged friction velocity at the canopy top and σ _p is the standard deviation of the pressure fluctuations. This increase is shown to be consistent with a primitive scaling argument on the leading term describing the mean-flow turbulent interaction. This scaling argument also predicts the spatial variations in σ _p above the canopy reasonably well for both simulations, but not inside the canopy.     

Laboratory study and predictive modeling for thaw subsidence in deep permafrost

Oil wells on the North Slope of Alaska pass through deep deposits of permafrost. The heat transferred during their operation causes localized thawing, resulting in ground subsidence adjacent to the well casings. This subsidence has a damaging effect, causing the casings to compress, deform, and potentially fail. This paper presents the results of a laboratory study of the thaw consolidation strain of deep permafrost and its predictive modeling. Tests were performed to determine strains due to thaw and post-thaw loading, as well as soil index properties. Results, together with data from an earlier testing program, were used to produce empirical models for predicting strains and ground subsidence. Four distinct strain cases were analyzed with three models by multiple regression analyses, and the best-fitting model was selected for each case. Models were further compared in a ground subsidence prediction using a shared subsurface profile. Laboratory results indicate that strains due to thaw and post-thaw testing in deep core permafrost are insensitive to depth and are more strongly influenced by stress redistributions and the presence of ice lenses and inclusions. Modeling results show that the most statistically valid and useful models were those constructed using moisture content, porosity, and degree of saturation. The applicability of these models was validated by comparison with results from Finite Element modeling.     

A possible 5 km wide impact structure with associated 22 km wide exterior collapse terrain in the Alhabia–Tabernas Basin,southeastern Spain

The Tabernas–Alhabia Basin is a structural depression situated in the province of Almería, southeastern Spain. The basin is filled with Neogene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene sediments resting discordantly on a Paleozoic metamorphic basement. During the marine Tortonian sedimentation, a bed of breccia (Gordo megabed) was formed. It consists of rotated sedimentary megablocks commonly capped and/or surrounded by a polymict breccia composed mainly of up to dm-sized clasts of the crystalline (schist) basement. Previous work has suggested the bed to be a seismite corresponding to events induced by earthquakes. Here, we link the formation of the Gordo megabed with an ∼5 km wide, rimmed depression with exposed breccias on the northern flank of the Sierra de Gádor mountain. This semicircular structure, developed in mainly schists and dolostone of the basement, is delimited to the W, S, and E by an up to 350 m high escarpment with overturned stratigraphy. Toward the north, this crater-like structure opens toward the Gordo megabed of the Tabernas Basin. In the southern sector, the overturned strata transform outward for into a blocky allochthonous breccia with decreasing thickness and clast size. In the interior of the structure, there are occurrences of graded breccia and arenite superposed on a blocky, autochthonous breccia. Based on the presence of mineralogical shock metamorphic evidence, potential shatter cones, and a high Ir anomaly (∼500 ppb) as well as the position of the structure near the town of Alhama de Almería, we propose to call it the Alhama de Almería impact structure.