Identifying and Removing the Silences of Roma Culture in Polish School Texts

The Roma are the largest and, some scholars would argue, the most marginalized group in Europe, an observation evident in an examination of school texts for Polish children. Using the concept of the “geographies of silence,” we discuss the nature of text and graphical silences and the reasons behind the paucity of text, photo, and map coverage. We conclude by presenting photos that could be used in future texts to better inform Polish youth about a much-neglected part of their culture.     

Distribution and geochronology of Oregon Plateau (U.S.A.) flood basalt volcanism: The Steens Basalt revisited

The timing and petrogenesis of mid-Miocene flood basalt volcanism in the northwest United States has been extensively addressed, yet the chemical characteristics and temporal details of the Steens Basalt, exposed on the Oregon Plateau, are poorly defined. Steens Basalt volcanism has generally been accepted to have occurred at ∼ 16.6 Ma, coeval and/or just prior to the onset of Columbia River Basalt Group volcanism to the north. New major and trace element analyses and nine ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages ranging from 15.51 ± 0.28 to 16.58 ± 0.18 Ma were obtained on Oregon Plateau flood basalt lava flows from stratigraphic sections in close proximity to Steens Mountain. Additionally, new ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar ages were obtained on the uppermost and thirty-first lava flow down from the top of the ∼ 1 km section of Steens Basalt exposed at Steens Mountain and yield eruption ages of 16.59 ± 0.10 and 16.55 ±0.10 Ma, respectively. Field relations between these basalt sections suggest that multiple eruptive centers were present in the vicinity of Steens Mountain.     

Practical use of video imagery in nearshore oceanographic fieldstudies

An approach was developed for using video imagery to quantify, in terms of both spatial and temporal dimensions, a number of naturally occurring (nearshore) physical processes. The complete method is presented, including the derivation of the geometrical relationships relating image and ground coordinates, principles to be considered when working with video imagery and the two-step strategy for calibration of the camera model. The techniques are founded on the principles of photogrammetry, account for difficulties inherent in the use of video signals, and have been adapted to allow for flexibility of use in field studies. Examples from field experiments indicate that this approach is both accurate and applicable under the conditions typically experienced when sampling in coastal regions. Several applications of the camera model are discussed, including the measurement of nearshore fluid processes, sand bar length scales, foreshore topography, and drifter motions. Although we have applied this method to the measurement of nearshore processes and morphologic features, these same techniques are transferable to studies in other geophysical settings     

The wind-speed measurement capability of spaceborne radar altimeters

This study represents an attempt to quantitatively assess the capability of a spaceborne radar altimeter to infer ocean surface wind speeds from a measurement of the backscattered power at vertical incidence. The study uses data acquired during 184 near overflights of NOAA data buoys with the GEOS-3 satellite radar altimeter and encompasses a wind-speed range from less than 1 to 18 m/s. An algorithm is derived from the data comparison for converting measurements of the normalized scattering cross section of the ocean surface at 13.9 GHz into estimates of the surface wind speed at the standard anemometer height of 10 m. The algorithm is straightforward and potentially useful for on-board processing of raw altimeter data for the purpose of providing real-time estimates of surface wind speed. For winds in the range of 1 to 18 m/s, the mean difference between the altimeter-inferred winds and the buoy measurements is negligible while the standard deviation of the difference is 1.74 m/s.     

Wetland plant seedlings as indicators of near-coastal sediment quality: interspecific variation.

The toxicities of whole sediments collected from an urbanized Florida bayou-estuary were determined for the epibenthic mysid, Mysidopsis bahia, and the infaunal amphipod, Ampelisca abdita. In addition, the phytotoxicities of the same sediments were evaluated using rooted macrophytes, Scirpus robustus Pursh and Spartina alterniflora Loisel. The results of the 24 bioassays conducted for 7-28 days, were compared for interspecific differences. Toxicity to the benthic invertebrate species was predicted to be likely in all cases, based on comparison to effects-based sediment quality assessment guidelines. However, acute toxicity was uncommon and occurred at only one of the six sampling stations. In contrast, several sediments were either significantly phytostimulatory or phytoinhibitory (P < 0.05) relative to a reference estuarine sediment. The results show the importance of considering interspecific variation and phytoassessment in contaminated sediment evaluations. Phytoassessment, the focus of this research, provided useful information that would have been missing if only the animal test species were used. For this reason, the phytotoxicity data base needs to be increased to better evaluate the relevance of most current contaminated sediment evaluations for coastal areas and also to determine the realism of proposed numerical sediment quality assessment guidelines and criteria.