Torsion in two buildings—1987 whittier narrows earthquake

Study of the data from the extensively instrumented buildings in the 1987 Whittier Narrows earthquake suggests that torsional modes probably were excited in buildings that outwardly appear quite symmetric. Accordingly this study involves: (i) investigation of the observed response of two low-rise buildings in both the elastic and moderately inelastic domains, (ii) comparison of such behaviour with the results obtained from modelling studies, and (iii) examination of the possible effects arising from stronger shaking. The study was directed towards attempting to provide a partial answer to the critical question of whether or not the torsional response was important in the gross total response of these low-rise buildings, and to what extent torsional concepts should be considered in design. Also the numerical results were extrapolated to examine the survivability of the same buildings if subjected to a somewhat stronger earthquake. The ultimate goal was to contribute insight to the practical guidelines for design and analysis of low-rise buildings subjected to strong ground motion.     

The definition and analysis of hallmark tourist events

Hallmark tourist events are major fairs, expositions, cultural and sporting events of international status which are held on either a regular or a one-off basis. A primary function of the hallmark event is to provide the host community with an opportunity to secure high prominence in the tourism market place. However, international or regional prominence may be gained with significant social and environmental costs.Several important features emerge from an examination of the research on hallmark events. First, there is no agreed upon definition of events. Second, major methodological weaknesses emerge in the study of hallmark events. Third, the majority of research is economic in orientation with relatively little attention being paid to the important social and physical impacts of such events.The paper concludes by noting the general neglect of hallmark tourism events by researchers and the urgent need for further theoretical and empirical studies.     

The effects of anthropogenic nutrient enrichment on turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) in Sarasota Bay,Florida

Four meadows of turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum Banks ex Konig) in Sarasota Bay, Florida were sampled on a bimonthly basis from June 1992 to July 1993 to determine spatial and temporal variation in short shoot density, biomass, productivity, and epiphyte loads. Concurrent with the seagrass sampling, quarterly water-quality monitoring was undertaken at ≥3 sites in the vicinity of each studied seagrass meadow. Three months after termination of the seagrass sampling effort, a biweekly water-quality monitoring program was instituted at two of the seagrass sampling sites. In addition, a nitrogen loading model was calibrated for the various watersheds influencing the seagrass meadows. Substantial spatial and temporal differences in turtle grass parameters but smaller spatial variation in water quality parameters are indicated by data from both the concurrent quarterly monitoring program and the biweekly monitoring program instituted after termination of the seagrass study. Turtle grass biomass and productivity were negatively correlated with watershed nitrogen loads, while water quality parameters did not clearly reflect differences in watershed nutrient inputs. We suggest that traditional water-quality monitoring programs can fail to detect the onset or continuance of nutrient-induced declines in seagrass health. Consequently, seagrass meadows should be monitored directly as a part of any effort to determine status and/or trends in the health of estuarine environments. *** DIRECT SUPPORT *** A01BY074 00029

     

Cool,wet conditions late in the Younger Dryas in semi-arid New Mexico

A thick alluvial sequence in central New Mexico contains the Scholle wet meadow deposit that traces upstream to a paleospring. The wet meadow sediments contain an abundant fauna of twenty-one species of freshwater and terrestrial mollusks and ten species of ostracodes. The mollusks and ostracodes are indicative of a local high alluvial water table with spring-supported perennial flow but without standing water. Pollen analysis documents shrub grassland vegetation with sedges, willow, and alder in a riparian community. Stable carbon isotopes from the wet meadow sediments have δ¹³C values ranging from ? 22.8 to ? 23.3‰, indicating that 80% of the organic carbon in the sediment is derived from C₃ species. The wet meadow deposit is AMS dated 10,400 to 9700 ¹⁴C yr BP, corresponding to 12,300 to 11,100 cal yr BP and overlapping in time with the Younger Dryas event (YD). The wet meadow became active about 500 yr after the beginning of the YD and persisted 400 yr after the YD ended. The Scholle wet meadow is the only record of perennial flow and high water table conditions in the Abo Arroyo drainage basin during the past 13 ka.     

Container ports,local benefits and transportation worker earnings

Over the past 50 years, containerization has both enabled and reflected the articulation of increasingly concentrated and complex global trade flows. Once close infrastructural, economic and institutional ties between seaports and port cities have been loosened, since major ports now serve producers and consumers in widely dispersed hinterlands. This process has been especially intense in North America, where west coast ports serve markets across the continent. At the same time, many of the external costs of increased port activity are incurred in port cities. Hence, questions about the changing nature of employment in port and related goods-handling sectors have become increasingly important for understanding the share of economic benefits received by port cities. This paper focuses on the effects of containerization, and related changes in transportation regulation, on port-logistics worker earnings in major United States port cities since 1975. A difference-in-differences framework is used to examine the relative annual earnings of dock, trucking and warehouse workers in major container port cities. The analysis shows that, with notable exceptions, port-logistics worker earnings in major container ports are not necessarily higher than those of comparable workers. The findings provide further insights into the strained relationship between seaports and port cities in the era of containerization and economic globalization.

Influence Diagrams for Representing Uncertainty in Climate-Related Propositions

In order to respond to policy questions about the potential impacts of climate change it is usually necessary to assemble large quantities of evidence from a variety of sources. Influence diagrams provide a formal mechanism for structuring this evidence and representing its relationship with the climate-related question of interest. When populated with probabilistic measures of belief an influence diagram provides a graphical representation of uncertainty, which can help to synthesize complex and contentious arguments into a relatively simple, yet evidence-based, graphical output.Following unusually damaging floods in October–November 2000 the UK government commissioned research with a view to establishing the extent to which the floods were a manifestation of hydrological climate change. By way of example application, influence diagrams have been used to represent the evidential reasoning and uncertainties in responding to this question. Three alternative approaches to the mathematization of uncertainty in influence diagrams are demonstrated and compared. In situations of information scarcity and imprecise expert judgements, methods based on interval probabilities have proved to be attractive. Interval probabilities can, it is argued, represent ambiguity and ignorance in a more satisfactory manner than the conventional Bayesian alternative. The analysis provides a quantified commentary on the uncertainties in the conclusion that the events of October–November 2000 were extreme, but cannot in themselves be attributed to climate change.     

The geochemistry of El Misti volcano,Peru fumaroles

El Misti is a 5822 m strato volcano in southern Peru. The mineralogy of the fumaroles is essentially sulfur, anhydrite, gypsum and ralstonite which are precipitated by acid vapors at 100°C–125°C. There are 2 to 6 parts per thousand chloride concentrations and several parts per million sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and zinc concentrations in the condensed vapors. Elemental ratios indicate near complete leaching of the wall rock by the vapors. Arsenic and selenium are contaminants of the sulfur but are absent from the other minerals. Both the gypsum and anhydrite contain strontium and lead and show no tendency to fractionate these metals. The anhydrite alone contains significant thallium and bismuth. Bromine, strontium, thallium and lead are present in the ralstonite. The average δ D and δ O¹⁸ ratios from the fumarolic condensates are ?31.4 ‰ and +4.8 ‰ respectively. A marine contaminated heavy water source at depth is indicated as the parent water for the vapors.     

Knowledge makes the money go round: Conflicts of interest and corporate finance in London’s financial district

This paper argues that the conflicts of interest cases brought against Wall Street investment banks in the early 2000s were neither geographically nor institutionally isolated events. Rather, by combining recent work on financial knowledges in both economic geography and the social studies of finance with the growing interest in topological spatial imaginaries, I explore how London’s corporate finance industry was unable to distance itself from both the conflicts of interest allegations and the ensuing regulatory changes of the ‘Global Settlement’ in the US. Analysis of 36 semi-structured interviews conducted in London in the early 2000s is used to explore how a range of individual interests, institutional demands and structural changes within London’s financial district affected analysts’ ability to produce ‘objective’ research. As well as pointing to the problematic nature of certain aspects of knowledge rich ‘communities of practice’ [Wenger, E., 1998. Communities of practice: learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge], I explore how the resulting contingent and situated nature of research practice is at odds with a weakly defined notion of ‘objective’ research that underpins the Financial Services Authority’s regulatory response.