Detection of quarry and mine blast contamination in European regional catalogues

The presence of quarry and mine blasts in seismic catalogues is detected using the Wiemer and Baer (Bull Seism Soc Am 90(2):525–530, 2000) algorithm. The procedure is based on the observation that quarry blasts generally take place during daytime hours: the areas with a high ratio of daytime and night-time events are likely to be regions with quarry activity. In the first part of this work we have tested the method, using both a synthetic and a regional catalogue; in the second part the procedure has been applied to some of the European regional catalogues available on line. The comparison between the results obtained and the location of known quarries and mines for the analysed catalogues confirms the reliability of the methodology in identifying mining areas.     

‘How do the American people know…?’: embodying post-9/11 conspiracy discourse

Conspiratorial thought has been highly visible in post-September 11th America, manifest through the continued growth of a public ‘9/11 Truth Movement’ as well as at the state-level, through the Bush administration’s conspiracy rhetoric of Islamic terrorists intent on infiltrating the US homeland. In this paper, I demonstrate how conspiracy can be understood as a ‘knowledge-producing discourse’; dialectically engaged across multiple subject positions and through which geopolitical narratives are performatively produced and contested at interconnected scales of bodies, homes, city streets and national ‘homelands’. Through drawing on, and challenging, the conceptual and methodological approaches of a burgeoning feminist geopolitics, I ground my analysis in the embodied performances of ‘patriotic dissent’ by members of the 9/11 Truth Movement in New York City, as well as through my own situated and ethical engagement with positions of political difference.     

Oxygen isotope composition of annually banded modern and mid-Holocene travertine and evidence of paleomonsoon floods, Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Holocene and modern travertine formed in spring-fed Havasu Creek of the Grand Canyon, Arizona, was studied to determine the factors governing its oxygen-isotope composition. Analysis of substrate-grown travertine indicates that calculated calcite-formation temperatures compare favorably with measured water temperatures, and include silt-rich laminae deposited by monsoon-driven floods. Ancient spring-pool travertine is dated by U-series at 7380 ± 110 yr and consists of 14 travertine-silt couplets of probable annual deposition. One hundred eighty high-resolution δ¹⁸O analyses of this mid-Holocene sample average −11.0‰ PDB. The average value for modern travertine is 0.5‰ lower, perhaps because mid-Holocene temperature was higher or there was proportionally greater summer recharge. δ¹⁸O cyclicity in the mid-Holocene travertine has average amplitude of 1.9 ± 0.5‰ PDB, slightly less than the inferred modern-day annual temperature range of Havasu Creek. The annual temperature range might have been reduced during the 14-yr interval compared to present, although other non-temperature factors could account for the muted annual variation. Silt-rich laminae within isotopically lower calcite in the modern and mid-Holocene travertine verifies the seasonal resolution of both samples, and suggests that similar temperature-precipitation conditions, as well as monsoon-generated summer floods, prevailed in the mid-Holocene as they do throughout the Grand Canyon region today.     

Localized zones of denitrification in a floodplain aquifer in southern Wisconsin, USA

A floodplain aquifer within an agricultural watershed near Madison, Wisconsin (USA), was studied to determine whether denitrification was occurring below the surface organic layer. Groundwater levels and concentrations of O₂, Cl^?, NO ₃ ^? , SO ₄ ^2? , dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and major cations were monitored over a 1-year period along a 230-m transect between an agricultural field and a stream discharge point. Seventeen groundwater samples were analyzed for δ¹⁵N_NO3 and δ¹⁸O_NO3 composition. Samples in which NO ₃ ^? was too low for stable isotope analysis were analyzed for excess dissolved N₂. Groundwater NO ₃ ^? concentrations declined between the agricultural field and the discharge point. Chloride and δ¹⁵N_NO3/δ¹⁸O_NO3 data indicated that the drop in NO ₃ ^? was caused primarily by dilution of shallow NO ₃ ^? -rich water with deeper, NO ₃ ^? -depleted groundwater. Two localized zones of denitrification were identified in the upland-wetland transition by their δ¹⁵N_NO3 and δ¹⁸O_NO3 signatures, and two in the stream hyporheic zone by the presence of excess dissolved N₂. The combined stratigraphic, hydrologic, and geochemical data in these locations correspond to groundwater mixing zones where NO ₃ ^? is delivered to subsurface layers that support denitrification fueled by dissolved (e.g. DOC or dissolved Fe(II)) and/or solid-phase (e.g. particulate organic carbon, solid-associated Fe(II), or pyrite) electron donors.     

Spatiotemporal changes in CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> emissions during the second ZERT injection,August–September 2008

This study reports the first field test of a multi-channel, auto-dilution, steady-state, soil–CO₂ flux monitoring system being developed to help understand the pathways by which fugitive CO₂ from a geologic sequestration site migrates to the surface. The test was conducted from late August through mid-October 2008 at the Zero Emissions Research and Technology project site located in Bozeman, MT. Twenty steady-state and five non-steady-state flux chambers were installed in a 10 × 15 m area, one boundary of which was directly above a shallow (2-m depth) horizontal injection well located 0.5 m below the water table. A total flux of 52 kg CO₂ day⁻¹ was injected into the well for 13 days and the efflux from the soil was monitored by the chambers before, during, and for 33 days after the injection. The results showed a rapid increase in soil efflux once injection started, with maximal values reached within 3–7 days in most chambers. Efflux returned to background levels within a similar time period after injection ceased. A radial efflux pattern was observed to at least 2 m from the injection well, and evidence for movement of the CO₂ plume during the injection, presumably due to groundwater flow, was seen. The steady-state chambers yielded very stable data, but threefold to fivefold higher fluxes than the non-steady-state chambers. The higher fluxes were attributed to vacuum induced in the steady-state chambers by narrow vent tubes. High winds resulted in significant decreases in measured soil CO₂ efflux, presumably by enhancing efflux from soil outside the chambers.     

Kinematics and stellar populations of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies

We present kinematics and stellar population properties of 17 dwarf early-type galaxies in the luminosity range -14 ≥ M _B ≥ -19. Our sample fills the gap between the intensively studied giant elliptical and Local Group dwarf spheroidal galaxies. The dwarf ellipticals of the present sample have constant velocity dispersion profiles within their effective radii and do not show significant rotation, hence are clearly anisotropic. The dwarf lenticulars, instead, rotate faster and are, at least partially, supported by rotation. From optical Lick absorption indices, we derive metallicities and element abundances. Combining our sample with literature data of the Local Group dwarf spheroidals and giant ellipticals, we find a surprisingly tight linear correlation between metallicity and luminosity over a wide range: -8 ≥ M _B ≥ -22. The α/Fe ratios of our dwarf ellipticals are significantly lower than the ones of giant elliptical galaxies, which is in agreement with spectroscopy of individual stars in Local Group dwarf spheroidals. Our results suggest the existence of a clear kinematic and stellar population dichotomy between dwarf and giant elliptical galaxies. This result is important for theories of galaxy formation, because it implies that present-day dwarf ellipticals are not the fossiled building blocks of giant ellipticals. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

MIDI observations of 1459 Magnya: First attempt of interferometric observations of asteroids with the VLTI

The Very Large Telescope Interferometer (VLTI) of the European Southern Observatory (ESO) can be used to obtain direct determination of the sizes and the albedos of asteroids. We present results of the first attempt to carry out interferometric observations of asteroids with the Mid Infrared Interferometric Instrument (MIDI) at the VLTI. Our target was 1459 Magnya. This is the only V-type asteroid known to exist in the outer main-belt, and its IRAS-albedo turns out to be rather low for an object of this taxonomic class. Interferometric fringes were not detected, very likely due to the fact that the flux emitted by the asteroid was lower than expected and below the MIDI threshold for fringe detection. However, by fitting the Standard Thermal Model to the N-band infrared flux measured by MIDI in photometric mode and to the visible absolute magnitude, obtained from quasi-simultaneous B- and V-band photometric observations, we have derived a geometric visible albedo of 0.37±0.06 and an effective diameter of 17±1 km. This new estimate of the albedo differs from that previously obtained by IRAS and is more consistent with the V-type taxonomic classification of 1459 Magnya.     

Constraining and enabling factors to using long-term climate information in decision-making

We carry out a structured review of the peer-reviewed literature to assess the factors that constrain and enable the uptake of long-term climate information in a wide range of sectoral investment and planning decisions. Common applications of long-term climate information are shown to relate to urban planning and infrastructure, as well as flood and coastal management. Analysis of the identified literature highlights five categories of constraints: disconnection between users and producers of climate information, limitations of climate information, financial and technical constraints, political economy and institutional constraints and finally psycho-social constraints. Five categories of enablers to the uptake of long-term climate information in decision-making are also identified: collaboration and bridge work, increased accessibility of climate information, improvement in the underlying science, institutional reform and windows of opportunity for building trust.

Policy relevance

Our review suggests that stand-alone interventions aimed at promoting the uptake of climate information into decision-making are unlikely to succeed without genuine and sustained relationships between producers and users. We also highlight that not every decision requires consideration of long-term climate information for successful outcomes to be achieved. This is particularly the case in the context of developing countries, where the immediacy of development challenges means that decision makers often prioritize short-term interventions. Care should therefore be taken to ensure that information is targeted towards investments and planning decisions that are relevant to longer-term timescales.