Pesticides Removal by Filtration over Cactus Pear Leaves: A Cheap and Natural Method for Small‐Scale Water Purification in Semi‐Arid Regions

This study aims to examine the efficiency of Opuntia ficus‐indica for removing organochlorine pesticides from surface waters. Adsorption properties such as size, dose, and time of O. ficus‐indica for aldrin, dieldrin, and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) were studied through stirring and column methods. Because of their high affinity and swelling characteristics, dried O. ficus‐indica was studied in stirring while fresh unpeeled O. ficus‐indica was applied in both stirring and column experiments and proved to be well‐suited to column application. Before removing pesticides, the column was flashed with distilled water eliminate the turbidity and smell from fresh unpeeled cactus. The removal of pesticides increased with an increasing adsorbent dose and decreased with adsorbent particle sizes. The optimum adsorbent dose is 10 g for dried and 15 g for fresh unpeeled O. ficus‐indica. The experimental results show that O. ficus‐indica possesses strong adsorption ability for aldrin, dieldrin, and DDT, and the adsorption isotherm data obeyed the Freundlich model. The results of our small‐scale experiments suggest a strong potential to develop local small‐scale water treatment units that can be used at the level of individual households or local communities, using a widely available adsorbent.     

First record of Branchinella spinosa (Milne-Edwards) (Crustacea: Branchiopodacolon; Anostraca) from Greece

As the result of a first screening of temporary inland water habitats,Branchinella spinosa is here recorded for the first time in Greece. This finding extends the circum-Mediterranean part of its vast distribution. The species was collected from a shallow astatic coastal salt-marsh that is mainly fed by rainwater, where it coexists but rarely co-occurs withArtemia parthenogenetica. Branchinella spinosa is only the fourth anostracan species currently known from Greece. The poor knowledge of anostracan richness and abundance is mainly due to limited sampling efforts in this area. As temporary aquatic habitats are threatened by several anthropogenic activities, especially agriculture and land clearing for urbanisation and tourism, there is an urgent necessity for further monitoring and protection of these precious habitats.     

Correction of inertial oscillations by assimilation of HF radar data in a model of the Ligurian Sea

This article aims at analyzing if high-frequency radar observations of surface currents allow to improve model forecasts in the Ligurian Sea, where inertial oscillations are a dominant feature. An ensemble of ROMS models covering the Ligurian Sea, and nested in the Mediterranean Forecasting System, is coupled with two WERA high-frequency radars. A sensitivity study allows to determine optimal parameters for the ensemble filter. By assimilating observations in a single point, the obtained correction shows that the forecast error covariance matrix represents the inertial oscillations, as well as large- and meso-scale processes. Furthermore, it is shown that the velocity observations can correct the phase and amplitude of the inertial oscillations. Observations are shown to have a strong effect during approximately half a day, which confirms the importance of using a high temporal observation frequency. In general, data assimilation of HF radar observations leads to a skill score of about 30% for the forecasts of surface velocity.     

Building Temporal Topology in a GIS Database to Study the Land‐Use Changes in a Rural‐Urban Environment

This article addresses the issue of linking temporal and spatial information into a GIS database structure to investigate the land‐use changes in a rural‐urban region over a thirty‐five‐year period. More specifically, it describes the application of a programming package developed to build temporal topology in an historical land‐use GIS database to efficiently perform spatiotemporal queries. The program was created within the MapInfo environment using MapBasic language. Different types of information, such as the rate of change, the relationship between the change of land use and zoning regulations, and land‐use succession were extracted from the database. A user‐friendly interface was also developed to easily address spatiotemporal queries to the database. This approach represents a flexible and performing tool for scientists and planners who need to efficiently capture essential spatiotemporal information required for geographical inquiry and decision‐making.     

Radar observations of Itokawa in 2004 and improved shape estimation

Abstract— We present June 2004 radar images of asteroid 25143 Itokawa (1998 SF36) that improve upon the longitude‐latitude coverage of images obtained in 2001 by Ostro et al. (2004) and use the 2001–2004 data to refine that paper's constraints on Itokawa's shape. The 2004 images, the first of the asteroid's southern side, look distinctly different from the 2001 images, revealing leading edges that are much more curved and rugged than the nearly convex leading edges seen at northern latitudes in 2001. Itokawa is shaped like a slightly asymmetrical, bent, lumpy ellipsoid with dimensions along the principal axes within 10% of 594 times 320 times 288 m. To illustrate the uncertainty space associated with shape reconstruction from images with suboptimal orientational coverage, we present two alternative three‐dimensional models of the object.     

Measuring Tourist’s Water Footprint in a Mountain Destination of Northwest Yunnan, China

Monitoring and minimizing tourist’s water consumption is essential for the sustainable development of mountain destinations in the world. However, available data and a generally accepted protocol on such measurement are still limited. This study uses water footprint accounting to quantify tourist’s water demand in the Liming valley, a World Heritage site and a rapidly growing tourism destination in Northwest Yunnan, China. Both the water for direct and indirect use is taken into account based on the consump...     

‘Paleoenvironmental study of modern charcoal making activity on forest soils in the Northern Vosges Mountains (Bitche,France): A multidisciplinary study of two remaining charcoal platforms and associated soils sequences’

This multidisciplinary study aims to decipher the impact of ancient charcoal production on past and present-day soils in the northern Vosges Mountains. Soil observations in the field and laboratory were complemented by charcoal and phytolith studies on large thin sections, molecular analyses of organic pollutants, and phytolith analysis on bulk samples. The complex technosol platform records an ancient natural soil sequence buried by a human-made platform on which charcoal accumulated. The current upslope soil is an entic Podzol. Palaeoecological data collected in the buried soil are reliable owing to low bioactivity due to soil acidity. Podzolisation predated the platform construction. The presence of ashes induced low soil alkalisation developed in the charcoal hearth remains and appears to have generated the migration of subsequent iron/clay/organic bands throughout the platform sediment and the buried soil. Charcoal studied in thin sections revealed mainly Quercus and Fagus taxa. Phytolith studies suggest that a less dense or degraded forest preceded platform construction, probably due to former woodland coppicing or earlier disorganised wood gathering. The specific distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons sorbed on charcoal has persisted in soils throughout centuries, but we have no evidence that charcoal-making activities contributed to diffuse global pollution.     

南海西北部沉积物捕获器中颗石藻通量和属种组成变化记录

本文利用沉积物捕获器回收的连续时间序列沉降颗粒物样品,研究了南海西北部海南岸外陆坡外缘海域颗石藻的通量和属种组成变化及其环境意义。研究发现,东亚夏季风引起的海南岸外上升流以及冬季风导致的混合层深度增加都会刺激该区域颗石藻的生长,其中夏季上升流的影响尤为显著。从颗石粒属种组成来看,Florisphaera profunda是南海西北部中深层(1 000m)水体中主要的颗石粒优势种,此外Emiliania huxleyi,Gephyrocapsa oceanica和Gephyrocaps ericsonii等属种含量也颇高。然而在将颗石粒折算成颗石球数量后,Emiliania huxleyi则成为主要优势种。沉积物捕获器中F.profunda的相对百分含量与颗石粒总通量呈显著的负相关,表明F.profunda的相对含量与总的颗石藻生产力有着密切联系。本结果对于利用沉积物中的颗石藻记录,尤其是F.profunda相对含量变化,恢复和重建古海洋环境尤其是古海洋生产力的研究提供了直接的理论证据。