Geochemical aspects of accumulation of macroelements in the subcolloidal fraction of bottom sediments at the Razdol’naya River-Amur Bay cross-section (the Sea of Japan)

The concentration of Si, Al, Mg, K, Ca, Na, Sr, and Ba in the subcolloidal fraction of sediments at the Razdol’naya River-Amur Bay cross-section is determined using the atomic emission spectroscopy method. Computed is the mean content of studied elements in the soil and river bottom sediments (to the mixing zone). Revealed are river bottom sediments with the high concentration of macroelements corresponding to the zone of mixing of fresh river water and salt sea water. It is demonstrated that the additional accumulation of macroelements (Ca, Na, and Sr) in these sediments is associated with the formation of hydroxides of Fe and Mn and processes of sorption (Mg, Ca, Na, K, Sr, and Ba) on clay minerals (hydromica and smectites).     

Technical, financial and location criteria for the design of land application system treatment

Conventional water treatments when downsized to cover the demands of small and scattered populations are costly and ineffective. In fact, many small towns cannot afford the high average treatment costs nor provide the skill and complex management requirements. Even when these facilities are available, waste water might not be properly treated. Land application system treatments (LAST) have been shown to be preferable on the basis of their technical effectiveness and financial viability. The recently approved Spanish regulations (RDL 1620/2007, pp 50369–50661) represent an opportunity for the implementation of well-designed LASTs. This paper presents an assessment methodology for the design of LASTs by combining technical, financial and location criteria. The method is applied to the design of LASTs to cover the water disposal demand of twelve municipalities located within the protected natural landscape, and surrounding areas of ‘El Rebollar’, Salamanca, Spain.     

Significance of ancient sulfide PGE and Re–Os signatures in the mantle beneath Calatrava,Central Spain

Spinel lherzolite and wehrlite xenoliths from the Cenozoic Calatrava volcanic field carry the geochemical imprint of metasomatic agents that have affected the subcontinental lithospheric mantle beneath Central Iberia. Some xenoliths (mainly wehrlites) were enriched in REE, Sr, P, and CO₂ by silicic-carbonate-rich metasomatic melts/fluids, while others record the effects of subduction-related hydrous silicate fluids that have precipitated amphibole and induced high Ti/Eu in primary clinopyroxene. The petrographic observations and geochemical data suggest that interstitial glass in the xenoliths represent the quenched products of Si-rich melts that infiltrated the mantle peridotite shortly before the entrainment of the xenoliths in the host magmas that erupted ca 2 million years ago. During their infiltration, the metasomatic melts reacted with peridotite, resulting in silica enrichment, while remobilizing grains of iron-rich monosulfide solid solution (Fe-rich Mss) initially enclosed in, or intergranular to, primary olivine and pyroxenes. In situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analysis of single sulfide grains reveals that the Fe-rich Mss in glass shows platinum-group element (PGE) patterns and ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os compositions identical to the Fe-rich Mss occurring as inclusions in, or at grain boundaries of primary silicates. Moreover, independent of its microstructural position, Fe-rich Mss exhibits PGE and ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os signatures typical of Mss either residual after partial melting or crystallized directly from sulfide melts. Our findings reveal that young metasomatic melt(s)/fluid(s) may carry remobilized sulfides with PGE and Os-isotopic signatures identical to those of texturally older sulfides in the peridotite xenolith. These sulfides thus still provide useful information about the timing and nature of older magmatic events in the subcontinental mantle.     

A Combined Biophysical and Economic GIS Framework to Assess Sugarcane Cropping Potential in Brazil

Recently, the increasing demand for biofuels triggered a new phase for the sugar‐alcohol sector. In Brazil, as well as in other tropical countries, this process raised worries regarding the possible direct and indirect effects of the crop's expansion on the conversion of native vegetation coverings. Therefore, the modeling of spatial‐economic surfaces, representing the potential rent variation in its spatial component, for economic activities, may be a useful tool in the decision‐making process. Hence, here we propose and present the results of a combined framework composed of two modules using the modeling platform Dinamica EGO. The first module simulates sugarcane's growth, calculating the daily response of the crop to environmental conditions during the stages of the plant's development. The second module estimates rents for sugarcane cultivation in Brazil, identifying areas where this activity would bring higher economic return, looking at simulated productivity, production costs and selling prices in a way that is spatially explicit for Brazil. Two different scenarios for production costs were tested, and results ranged from negative values to maxima of R$/ha 929 and R$/ha 1176 for standard and efficient costs of production, respectively. The model successfully indicated non‐profitable and profitable areas, and regions where high expected economic return overlaps endangered ecosystems.     

Apparent and actual galaxy cluster temperatures

The redshift evolution of the galaxy cluster temperature function is a powerful probe of cosmology. However, its determination requires the measurement of redshifts for all clusters in a catalogue, which is likely to prove challenging for large catalogues expected from XMM-Newton , which may contain of the order of 2000 clusters with measurable temperatures, distributed around the sky. In this paper we study the apparent cluster temperature, which can be obtained without cluster redshifts. We show that the apparent temperature function itself is of limited use in constraining cosmology, and so concentrate our focus on studying how apparent temperatures can be combined with other X-ray information to constrain the cluster redshift. We also briefly study the circumstances under which the non-thermal spectral features can provide redshift information.     

Clues to Substellar Formation: Rotation and the Low-Mass End of the Initial Mass Function

We have monitored S Ori 45, a young, low-mass (20 M _j up) brown dwarf of the σ Orionis cluster (～3 Myr, 352 pc), using optical and near-infrared filters. S Ori 45 (spectral type M8.5) is found to be multi-periodic with a dominant modulation at 2.5–3.5 h, and a short modulation at about 46 min. We ascribe the longer of these modulations to a rotation period. After comparing these results with observations of more massive cluster brown dwarfs and field brown dwarfs, we conclude that substellar objects present rotational and angular momentum evolution. We have also obtained intermediate-resolution near-infrared spectroscopy of S Ori 70, which is a T-class, free-floating planetary candidate member in the σ Orionis cluster. Its observed spectrum has been compared to data of field brown dwarfs of similar types and to theoretical spectra computed for different surface temperatures and gravities. We conclude that S Ori 70 has a significantly cool, low-gravity atmosphere. This supports the young age of this object and its membership in the cluster. From state-of-the-art evolutionary models, the mass of S Ori 70 is estimated at 3 times the Jovian mass (⁺⁵ _?2 M _j up), challenging current stellar/substellar formation models. S Ori 70 remains the lowest mass object so far identified in any open cluster.     

Improving a Two-Equation Turbulence Model for Canopy Flows Using Large-Eddy Simulation

Large-eddy simulations of the neutrally-stratified flow over an extended homogeneous forest were used to calibrate a canopy model for the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RaNS) method with the $k-\varepsilon $ k - ε turbulence model. It was found that, when modelling the forest as a porous medium, the canopy drag dissipates the turbulent kinetic energy (acts as a sink term). The proposed model was then tested in more complex flows: a finite length forest and a forested hill. In the finite length forest, the destruction of the turbulent kinetic energy by the canopy was overestimated near the edge, for a length approximately twice the tree height. In the forested hill, the model was less accurate inside the recirculation zone and overestimated the turbulent kinetic energy, due to an incorrect prediction of the production term. Nevertheless, the canopy model presented here provided consistent results in both a priori and a posteriori tests and improved the accuracy of RaNS simulations with the $k-\varepsilon $ k - ε model.