Modelling the effects of land‐use change on water and salt delivery from a catchment affected by dryland salinity in south‐east Australia

A comprehensive framework for the assessment of water and salt balance for large catchments affected by dryland salinity is applied to the Boorowa River catchment (1550 km²), located in south‐eastern Australia. The framework comprised two models, each focusing on a different aspect and operating on a different scale. A quasi‐physical semi‐distributed model CATSALT was used to estimate runoff and salt fluxes from different source areas within the catchment. The effects of land use, climate, topography, soils and geology are included. A groundwater model FLOWTUBE was used to estimate the long‐term effects of land‐use change on groundwater discharge. Unlike conventional salinity studies that focus on groundwater alone, this study makes use of a new approach to explore surface and groundwater interactions with salt stores and the stream. Land‐use change scenarios based on increased perennial pasture and tree‐cover content of the vegetation, aimed at high leakage and saline discharge areas, are investigated. Likely downstream impacts of the reduction in flow and salt export are estimated. The water balance model was able to simulate both the daily observed stream flow and salt load at the catchment outlet for high and low flow conditions satisfactorily. Mean leakage rate of about 23·2 mm year^?1 under current land use for the Boorowa catchment was estimated. The corresponding mean runoff and salt export from the catchment were 89 382 ML year^?1 and 38 938 t year^?1, respectively. Investigation of various land‐use change scenarios indicates that changing annual pastures and cropping areas to perennial pastures is not likely to result in substantial improvement of water quality in the Boorowa River. A land‐use change of about 20% tree‐cover, specifically targeting high recharge and the saline discharge areas, would be needed to decrease stream salinity by 150 µS cm^?1 from its current level. Stream salinity reductions of about 20 µS cm^?1 in the main Lachlan River downstream of the confluence of the Boorowa River is predicted. The FLOWTUBE modelling within the Boorowa River catchment indicated that discharge areas under increased recharge conditions could re‐equilibrate in around 20 years for the catchment, and around 15 years for individual hillslopes. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Getting SMARTS on Novae: Highlights of the Early Evolution of Nova V475 Sct

There is a disconcerting global trend of retiring telescopes of modest aperture, supplanting them instead with fewer expensive telescopes of quite large aperture. As a consequence, the available time and feasibility of following transient objects in astrophysics is diminishing. We show the utility of having a suite of small to moderate aperture telescopes capable of conducting imaging and spectroscopic observations in a service queue mode. The example we provide is the high-cadence early observations of the classical nova V475 Scuti (2003) carried out with the SMARTS suite of telescopes located at CTIO.     

The Oxaya anticline (northern Chile): a buckle enhanced by river incision?

A prominent structure in the Western Escarpment of the Andes of northern Chile is the Oxaya anticline, dissected at the culmination by >1500 m deep valleys. The distribution of fault and fold structures indicates that the anticline could represent a simple buckle. Buckling thus appears to have accommodated crustal shortening in the plate overriding the subducting plate, between the trench and the Western Cordillera. Cross-cutting relationships between structures and dated strata indicated that the time interval of enhanced buckling coincides with the period when rates of valley formation were enhanced. We thus propose that the formation of this anticline was enhanced by fluvial incision, which is consistent with the results of published theoretical models.     

Systematics of calcium partitioning between olivine and silicate melt: implications for melt structure and calcium content of magmatic olivines

A systematic characterization of the chemical factors that control calcium partitioning between olivine and melt in a magmatic environment was undertaken using experiments performed on compositionally simple systems (CaO-MgO-SiO₂, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Cr₂O₃, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-TiO₂, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Na₂O, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-FeO, CaO-MgO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-FeO-Na₂O) over a wide range of temperature (1050–1530 °C) at one bar pressure. The calcium concentration of olivines is shown to be dependent not only on the forsterite content of the olivine but to a large extent on melt composition. For a fixed CaO content of the melt, these results show that the CaO concentration of olivine is strongly sensitive to the amount of alumina, alkali and ferrous iron present in the coexisting melt. Oxygen fugacity and temperature are not found directly to affect Ca partitioning. It is thus proposed that the systematic variations of the calcium content of olivine may be used as an “in-situ chemical potentiometer” of the lime activity of the melt. Based upon these data in synthetic systems, an empirical model describing Ca partitioning between olivine and melt is developed. When applied to natural olivines this model reproduces their Ca content, where melt composition is known, to within ±10% relative. The model may therefore be used to predict changes in melt composition during olivine crystallization and/or to assess whether an olivine is in equilibrium with its host magma. Finally, the wide range of Ca partitioning observed at fixed crystal composition confirms that minor element partitioning between crystal and melt cannot be predicted from the physical characteristics of the crystal alone, and that the non-ideality of the melt has to be taken into account. Received: 12 June 1998 / Accepted: 1 February 1999     

Ostracode carbonate δ18O- and δ13C-signature of hydrological and climatic changes affecting Lake Neuchâtel,Switzerland, since the latest Pleistocene

Floating and grounded peat plateaus were studied in fens in the Yukon Territory (Canada). The peat deposit may be over 4 m thick and consists of a lower bed of aquatic peat overlain by humic fen peat, mesic fen peat and woody peat. Permafrost in the grounded peat plateaus is older than the 1200 year old White River Ash, whereas permafrost in the floating peat plateau is younger.Peat accumulation rates since 1200 years B.P. were greater in the fens (85–100 cm) than on the surface of the peat plateaus (25–55 cm). Where the peat plateau is free-floating, it will persist until the climate changes, causing the icy core to thaw. Where the peat plateau is frozen to the mineral substrate, it slowly drowns since the fen peat accumulates faster than the woody peat. This drowning results in degradation of the landform independently of the climate. Only degradation of floating peat plateaus can be used to identify climatic changes.This publication is the first paper in a series of papers presented at the session on Past Climatic Change and the Development of Peatlands at the ASLO and SWS Meetings in Edmonton, Canada, May 30–June 3, 1993. Dr. P. Kuhry and Dr S. C. Zoltai are serving as Guest Editors.     

Australian ‘gayborhoods’ and ‘lesborhoods’: a new method for estimating the number and prevalence of adult gay men and lesbian women living in each Australian postcode

ABSTRACT

Gay men and lesbian women often demonstrate unique settlement patterns, forming what have been referred to as ‘gayborhoods’. This study sought to provide the first postcode-level estimates of population size and prevalence of gay and lesbian people in Australia. Data on same-gender-partnered households from the Australian Census were combined with information from six different surveys conducted from 2011 to 2017. We estimated that in 2016 there were 132,203 gay men (1.5% of adult males; 95% CI: 1.4–1.6) and 79,931 lesbian women (0.9% of adult females; 95% CI: 0.8–1.0) in Australia. While many postcodes were sparsely populated by gay and lesbian people (40.1% had prevalences of <0.1%), 24.6% were moderately populated (prevalences in the 50-95th percentile) and 2.7% were highly populated (95th percentile). By jurisdiction, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest prevalences of gay men (2.1%; 95% CI: 2.0–2.2) and lesbian women (1.5%; 95% CI: 1.4–1.6). Although the majority of highly populated postcodes were found in major cities (83.7%), some were also found in regional and remote area (16.3%). This method can be applied in other countries to enhance populate estimates. The accompanying dataset can be used to guide service delivery, conduct geographically contextualised research and develop policies relevant to gay men and lesbian women in Australia.     

The influence of floodplain geohydrology on the distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii in the Olifants Estuary on the West Coast, South Africa

The distribution of Sarcocornia pillansii (Moss) A.J. Scott was determined by water-table depth and electrical conductivity (EC) of the groundwater. Where the groundwater was accessible (<1.5 m) and had a low EC (<80 mS cm⁻¹), S. pillansii extended its roots down to the water-table where a suitable water potential gradient was shown to exist between the soil and roots. In areas where the groundwater was too deep and/or hypersaline, the plants grew on hummocks. The unconfined aquifer below the floodplain is linked to the estuary and although diurnal tidal waves were dampened, water-table level fluctuations were recorded between tidal events. The complex geomorphology of the floodplain influences groundwater flow, in turn affecting the distribution of the salt marsh vegetation.