Resource-based development in the Russian Far East: Problems and prospects

The paper examines the prospects for resource-based development in the Russian Far East. It adopts a critical perspective on the potential for resource-based development by examining problems with Far East resource industries, specifically by looking at the experience of the other resource economies more generally. In particular, it highlights the new geo-economic context for resource development in the Far East of Russia as the world economy approaches the much touted, and now questioned, ‘Pacific Century’.     

Can marine fisheries and aquaculture meet fish demand from a growing human population in a changing climate?

Expansion in the world's human population and economic development will increase future demand for fish products. As global fisheries yield is constrained by ecosystems productivity and management effectiveness, per capita fish consumption can only be maintained or increased if aquaculture makes an increasing contribution to the volume and stability of global fish supplies. Here, we use predictions of changes in global and regional climate (according to IPCC emissions scenario A1B), marine ecosystem and fisheries production estimates from high resolution regional models, human population size estimates from United Nations prospects, fishmeal and oil price estimations, and projections of the technological development in aquaculture feed technology, to investigate the feasibility of sustaining current and increased per capita fish consumption rates in 2050. We conclude that meeting current and larger consumption rates is feasible, despite a growing population and the impacts of climate change on potential fisheries production, but only if fish resources are managed sustainably and the animal feeds industry reduces its reliance on wild fish. Ineffective fisheries management and rising fishmeal prices driven by greater demand could, however, compromise future aquaculture production and the availability of fish products.     

Upstairs-downstairs: supercontinents and large igneous provinces,are they related?

There is a correlation of global large igneous province (LIP) events with zircon age peaks at 2700, 2500, 2100, 1900, 1750, 1100, and 600 and also probably at 3450, 3000, 2000, and 300 Ma. Power spectral analyses of LIP event distributions suggest important periodicities at 250, 150, 100, 50, and 25 million years with weaker periodicities at 70–80, 45, and 18–20 Ma. The 25 million year periodicity is important only in the last 300 million years. Some LIP events are associated with granite-forming (zircon-producing) events and others are not, and LIP events at 1900 and 600 Ma correlate with peaks in craton collision frequency. LIP age peaks are associated with supercontinent rifting or breakup, but not dispersal, at 2450–2400, 2200, 1380, 1280, 800–750, and ≤200 Ma, and with supercontinent assembly at 1750 and 600 Ma. LIP peaks at 2700 and 2500 Ma and the valley between these peaks span the time of Neoarchaean supercraton assemblies. These observations are consistent with plume generation in the deep mantle operating independently of the supercontinent cycle and being controlled by lower-mantle and core-mantle boundary thermochemical dynamics. Two processes whereby plumes can impact continental assembly and breakup are (1) plumes may rise beneath supercontinents and initiate supercontinent breakup, and (2) plume ascent may increase the frequency of craton collisions and the rate of crustal growth by accelerating subduction.     

Photometric,spectral phase and temperature effects on 4 Vesta and HED meteorites: Implications for the Dawn mission

Phase angle and temperature are two important parameters that affect the photometric and spectral behavior of planetary surfaces in telescopic and spacecraft data. We have derived photometric and spectral phase functions for the Asteroid 4 Vesta, the first target of the Dawn mission, using ground-based telescopes operating at visible and near-infrared wavelengths (0.4–2.5 μm). Photometric lightcurve observations of Vesta were conducted on 15 nights at a phase angle range of 3.8–25.7° using duplicates of the seven narrowband Dawn Framing Camera filters (0.4–1.0 μm). Rotationally resolved visible (0.4–0.7 μm) and near-IR spectral observations (0.7–2.5 μm) were obtained on four nights over a similar phase angle range. Our Vesta photometric observations suggest the phase slope is between 0.019 and 0.029 mag/deg. The G parameter ranges from 0.22 to 0.37 consistent with previous results (e.g., Lagerkvist, C.-I., Magnusson, P., Williams, I.P., Buontempo, M.E., Argyle, R.W., Morrison, L.V. [1992]. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 94, 43–71; Piironen, J., Magnusson, P., Lagerkvist, C.-I., Williams, I.P., Buontempo, M.E., Morrison, L.V. [1997]. Astron. Astrophys. Suppl. Ser. 121, 489–497; Hasegawa, S. et al. [2009]. Lunar Planet. Sci. 40. ID 1503) within the uncertainty. We found that in the phase angle range of 0° < α ? 25° for every 10° increase in phase angle Vesta’s visible slope (0.5–0.7 μm) increases 20%, Band I and Band II depths increase 2.35% and 1.5% respectively, and the BAR value increase 0.30. Phase angle spectral measurements of the eucrite Moama in the lab show a decrease in Band I and Band II depths and BAR from the lowest phase angle 13° to 30°, followed by possible small increases up to 90°, and then a dramatic drop between 90° and 120° phase angle. Temperature-induced spectral effects shift the Band I and II centers of the pyroxene bands to longer wavelengths with increasing temperature. We have derived new correction equations using a temperature series (80–400 K) of HED meteorite spectra that will enable interpretation of telescopic and spacecraft spectral data using laboratory calibrations at room temperature (300 K).     

Levee effects upon flood levels: an empirical assessment

This study used stream gauge records to assess the impact of levees on flood levels, providing an empirical test of theoretical and model predictions of the effects on local flood response. Focusing upon a study area in Illinois and Iowa for which levee records were available, we identified 203 gauges with ≥ 50 years hydrological record, including 15 gauges where a levee was constructed during the period of record. At these sites, step‐change analysis utilizing regression residuals tested levee‐related stage changes and levels of significance and quantified the magnitudes of stage changes. Despite large differences in stream sizes, levee alignments, and degree of floodplain constriction, the post‐levee rating‐curve adjustments showed consistent signatures. For all the study sites, stages for below bankfull (non‐flood) conditions were unaffected by levee construction. For above bankfull (flood) conditions, stages at sites downstream of their associated levees also were statistically indistinguishable before versus after levee construction. However, at all sites upstream of levees or within leveed reaches, stages increased for above bankfull conditions. These increases were abrupt, statistically significant, and generally large in magnitude – ranging up to 2.3 m (Wabash River at Mt. Carmel, IL). Stage increases began when discharge increased above bankfull flow and generally increased in magnitude with discharge until the associated levee(s) were overtopped. Detailed site assessments and supplementary data available from some sites helped document the dominant mechanisms by which levees can increase flood levels. Levee construction reduces the area of the floodplain open to storage of flood waters and reduces the width of the floodplain open to conveyance of flood flow. Floodplain conveyance often is underestimated or ignored, but Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) measurements analysed here confirm previous studies that up to 70% or more of the total discharge during large floods (~3% chance flood) can move over the floodplain. Upstream of levees and levee‐related floodplain constriction, backwater effects reduce flow velocities relative to pre‐levee conditions and, thus, increase stages for a given discharge. The empirical results here confirm a variety of theoretical predictions of levee effects but suggest that many one‐dimensional model‐based predictions of levee‐related stage changes may underestimate actual levee impacts. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental field assessment of suspended sediment pathways for characterizing hydraulic habitat

The distribution of particulate matter within river channels, including sediments, nutrients and pollutants, is fundamental to the survival of aquatic organisms. However, the interactions between flow and sediment transport at the patch scale of river systems represents an under‐researched component of physical habitat studies, particularly those concerning the characterization of ‘physical biotopes’ (riffles, runs, pools, glides). This paper describes a field methodology for exploring the transfer of particulate matter at small scales within river channels, which may be used to aid hydraulic habitat characterization. The field protocol combines field measurement of high frequency flow properties, to characterize hydraulic habitat units, and deployment of spatial arrays of turbidity probes, to detect the passage of artificially‐induced sediment plumes through different biotope units. Sediment plumes recorded by the probes are analysed quantitatively in the manner of the flood hydrograph, and qualitative inferences are made on the dominant mixing processes operating within different parts of the channel. Relationships between the nature of spatio‐temporal hydraulic variations within glide, riffle and pool biotopes, and the character and mixing behaviour of sediment plumes within these habitat units are identified. Results from these preliminary experiments suggest that investigating and characterizing the transfer and storage of sediments, nutrients and pollutants within and between different biotopes is a viable avenue for further research, with potential to contribute to improved physical habitat characterization for river management and habitat restoration. The experiments are also an illustration of the value of neglected synergies between process geomorphology, ecology and river hydraulics. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in active eolian sand at northern Coachella Valley, California

Climate variability and rapid urbanization have influenced the sand environments in the northern Coachella Valley throughout the late 20th century. This paper addresses changes in the spatial relationships among different sand deposits at northern Coachella Valley between two recent time periods by using satellite data acquired from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The approach employed here, involving multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) data and spectral mixture analysis, has shown that the major sand deposits can be spatially modeled at northern Coachella Valley. The “coarse-grained (quartz-rich) sand” deposit is associated with active eolian sand, and the “mixed sandy soil” and “fine-grained (quartz-rich) sand” deposits are associated with inactive eolian sand. The fractional abundance images showed a significant decrease between 2000 and 2006 in the percentage of active sand in the major depositional area for fluvial sediment, the Whitewater River, but also in two downwind areas: the Whitewater and Willow Hole Reserves. The pattern of the active sand appears to be related to variations in annual precipitation (wet and dry years) and river discharge in the northern Coachella Valley. We suggest here that recent human modifications to the major watercourses that supply sand affect the capability of fluvial deposition areas to restore sediments over time and consequently the responses of the sand transport system to climate change, becoming more sensitive to dry years where areas of active sand may shrink, degrade, and/or stabilize faster. The approach utilized in this study can be advantageous for future monitoring of sand in the northern Coachella Valley for management of these and similar environments.     

Delay coordinates: a sensitive indicator of nonlinear dynamics in single charged particle motion in magnetic reversals

The delay coordinate technique is examined as an indicator of the regime of particle dynamics for the system of single charged particle motion in magnetic reversals. Examples of numerically integrated trajectories in both static (zero electric field) and time dependent (corresponding nonzero induction electric field) simple models for magnetic reversals are considered. In the static case, the dynamics can in principle be directly classified by constructing Poincaré surfaces of section; here we demonstrate that whilst the Poincaré surface contains the relevant information to classify the dynamics, the corresponding delay coordinate plot can provide a far more sensitive indication of the onset of nonregular behaviour. In the case of nonperiodic time dependence considered here Poincaré plots cannot in general be constructed directly. Nevertheless, delay coordinate plots can still reveal details of the phase space portrait of the system, and here are shown to indicate whether segments of stochastic motion exist in a given trajectory. It is anticipated that the delay coordinate plot technique as realized here will be a valuable tool in characterizing the behaviour in large numbers of trajectories that are evolved in time-dependent systems, thereby giving us insight into the evolution of the distribution function as a whole, either in prescribed fields or in self-consistent numerical simulations.