Improved stove programs need robust methods to estimate carbon offsets

Current standard methods result in significant discrepancies in carbon offset accounting compared to approaches based on representative community based subsamples, which provide more realistic assessments at reasonable cost. Perhaps more critically, neither of the currently approved methods incorporates uncertainties inherent in estimates of emission factors or non-renewable fuel usage (fNRB). Since emission factors and fNRB contribute 25% and 47%, respectively, to the overall uncertainty in offset estimates for Purépecha communities in Mexico, exclusion of this uncertainty is a critical omission. When the recommended uncertainty for default emission factors and the uncertainty associated with regional estimates of fNRB are included the lower 95% confidence intervals of both Clean Development Mechanism and Gold Standard methods exceed the total amount of carbon saved, which would result in zero marketable carbon savings if approaches recommended by the IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, or Land use, Land-Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF) are to be followed. In contrast, for the same communities, methods using representative subsamples of emission factors and fuel consumption, combined with community-level fNRB estimates, result in significant carbon offsets with a lower 95% confidence interval of 2.3 tCO₂e home^???1 year^???1. Given the misleading estimates, revision of the currently approved methodologies to provide robust estimates of carbon offsets is strongly recommended.     

Stellar contributors to the hard X-ray background?

We use simple energetic arguments to estimate the contribution of massive X-ray binaries and supernova remnants to the cosmic X-ray background (XRB) at energies in excess of 2 keV. Recent surveys have shown that active galactic nuclei (AGN) probably account for most of the hard XRB ( E >2 keV), but there have been many suggestions that star-forming galaxies could emerge at fainter fluxes and perhaps account for a significant fraction of the soft and hard X-ray energy density. Assuming that the formation rate of massive X-ray binaries (MXRBs) traces the global star-formation rate, we find that their integrated contribution to the hard XRB can be estimated and is shown to be small (at less than the 1 per cent level). Similarly, the integrated flux of supernovae (SN) is also shown to be insignificant, or at most comparable to MXRBs. AGN therefore remain the most viable candidates for producing the hard XRB, unless additional processes can be shown to dominate the global hard X-ray emission in distant starburst galaxies.     

Envelope instability in giant planet formation

We compute the growth of isolated gaseous giant planets for several values of the density of the protoplanetary disk, several distances from the central star and two values for the (fixed) radii of accreted planetesimals. Calculations were performed in the frame of the core instability mechanism and the solids accretion rate adopted is that corresponding to the oligarchic growth regime. We find that for massive disks and/or for protoplanets far from the star and/or for large planetesimals, the planetary growth occurs smoothly. However, notably, there are some cases for which we find an envelope instability in which the planet exchanges gas with the surrounding protoplanetary nebula. The timescale of this instability shows that it is associated with the process of planetesimals accretion. The presence of this instability makes it more difficult the formation of gaseous giant planets.     

TheHI content of the Eridanus group of galaxies

The HI content of galaxies in the Eridanus group is studied using the GMRT observations and the HIPASS data. A significant HI deficiency up to a factor of 2–3 is observed in galaxies in the high galaxy density regions. The HI deficiency in galaxies is observed to be directly correlated to the local projected galaxy density, and inversely correlated to the line-of-sight radial velocity. Furthermore, galaxies with larger optical diameters are predominantly in the lower galaxy density regions. It is suggested that the HI deficiency in Eridanus is due to tidal interactions. In some galaxies, evidences of tidal interactions are seen. An important implication is that significant evolution of galaxies can take place in the group environment. In the hierarchical way of formation of clusters via mergers of groups, a fraction of the observed HI deficiency in clusters could have originated in groups. The co-existence of S0s and severely HI deficient galaxies in the Eridanus group suggests that tidal interaction is likely to be an effective mechanism for transforming spirals to S0s.     

The effects of ablation on the cross section of planetary envelopes at capturing planetesimals

We explore the cross section of giant planet envelopes at capturing planetesimals of different sizes. For this purpose we employ two sets of realistic planetary envelope models (computed assuming for the protoplanetary nebula masses of 10 and 5 times the mass of the minimum mass solar nebula), account for drag and ablation effects and study the trajectories along which planetesimals move. The core accretion of these models has been computed in the oligarchic growth regime [Fortier, A., Benvenuto, O.G., Brunini, A., 2007. Astron. Astrophys. 473, 311-322], which has also been considered for the velocities of the incoming planetesimals. This regime predicts velocities larger that those used in previous studies of this problem. As the rate of ablation is dependent on the third power of velocity, ablation is more important in the oligarchic growth regime. We compute energy and mass deposition, fractional ablated masses and the total cross section of planets for a wide range of values of the critical parameter of ablation. In computing the total cross section of the planet we have included the contributions due to mass deposited by planetesimals moving along unbound orbits. Our results indicate that, for the case of small planetary cores and low velocities for the incoming planetesimals, ablation has a negligible impact on the capture cross section in agreement with the results presented in Inaba and Ikoma [Inaba, S., Ikoma, M., 2003. Astron. Astrophys. 410, 711-723]. However for the case of larger cores and high velocities of the incoming planetesimals as predicted by the oligarchic growth regime, we find that ablation is important in determining the planetary cross section, being several times larger than the value corresponding ignoring ablation. This is so regardless of the size of the incoming planetesimals.     

Application of Groundwater Vulnerability Overlay and Index Methods to the Jijel Plain Area (Algeria)

Today, scientists are deeply concerned by the vulnerability of groundwater reservoirs to pollution. Relatively simple overlay and index methods can be used to produce groundwater vulnerability maps in geographic information system. In addition, this study deals with contamination from nonpoint sources. In this study, two such models, DRASTIC and GOD, were applied in the Jijel Plain area of northeast Algeria and compared with measured groundwater nitrate concentrations. This showed that results from DRASTIC were better than GOD, 69% correlation with nitrate compared to 56%. DRASTIC was better able to identify vulnerable zones along the river valleys. The DRASTIC model was then modified using the nitrate concentrations to optimize the rating score given within each parameter range and sensitivity analysis to change the weighting given for each parameter. These combined changes gave a final Pearson's correlation of 83% with nitrate. This showed that recharge, aquifer type, and topography were the key factors in controlling vulnerability to nitrate pollution.     

Authigenic carbonates from active methane seeps offshore southwest Africa

The southwest African continental margin is well known for occurrences of active methane-rich fluid seeps associated with seafloor pockmarks at water depths ranging broadly from the shelf to the deep basins, as well as with high gas flares in the water column, gas hydrate accumulations, diagenetic carbonate crusts and highly diverse benthic faunal communities. During the M76/3a expedition of R/V METEOR in 2008, gravity cores recovered abundant authigenic carbonate concretions from three known pockmark sites—Hydrate Hole, Worm Hole, the Regab pockmark—and two sites newly discovered during that cruise, the so-called Deep Hole and Baboon Cluster. The carbonate concretions were commonly associated with seep-benthic macrofauna and occurred within sediments bearing shallow gas hydrates. This study presents selected results from a comprehensive analysis of the mineralogy and isotope geochemistry of diagenetic carbonates sampled at these five pockmark sites. The oxygen isotope stratigraphy obtained from three cores of 2–5?m length indicates a maximum age of about 60,000–80,000?years for these sediments. The authigenic carbonates comprise mostly magnesian calcite and aragonite, associated occasionally with dolomite. Their very low carbon isotopic compositions (–61.0?<?δ¹³C ‰ V-PDB?<?–40.1) suggest anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) as the main process controlling carbonate precipitation. The oxygen isotopic signatures (+2.4?<?δ¹⁸O ‰ V-PDB?<?+6.2) lie within the range in equilibrium under present-day/interglacial to glacial conditions of bottom seawater; alternatively, the most positive δ¹⁸O values might reflect the contribution of ¹⁸O-rich water from gas hydrate decomposition. The frequent occurrence of diagenetic gypsum crystals suggests that reduced sulphur (hydrogen sulphide, pyrite) from sub-seafloor sediments has been oxidized by oxygenated bottom water. The acidity released during this process can potentially induce the dissolution of carbonate, thereby providing enough Ca²⁺ ions for pore solutions to reach gypsum saturation; this is thought to be promoted by the bio-irrigation and burrowing activity of benthic fauna. The δ¹⁸O–δ¹³C patterns identified in the authigenic carbonates are interpreted to reflect variations in the rate of AOM during the last glacial–interglacial cycle, in turn controlled by variably strong methane fluxes through the pockmarks. These results complement the conclusions of Kasten et al. in this special issue, based on authigenic barite trends at the Hydrate Hole and Worm Hole pockmarks which were interpreted to reflect spatiotemporal variations in AOM related to subsurface gas hydrate formation–decomposition.     

Seasonal and interannual variability of the air–sea CO2 flux in the Atlantic sector of the Barents Sea

The seasonal and interannual variability of the air–sea CO₂ flux (F) in the Atlantic sector of the Barents Sea have been investigated. Data for seawater fugacity of CO₂ (fCO₂^sw) acquired during five cruises in the region were used to identify and validate an empirical procedure to compute fCO₂^sw from phosphate (PO₄), seawater temperature (T), and salinity (S). This procedure was then applied to time series data of T, S, and PO₄ collected in the Barents Sea Opening during the period 1990–1999, and the resulting fCO₂^sw estimates were combined with data for the atmospheric mole fraction of CO₂, sea level pressure, and wind speed to evaluate F.The results show that the Atlantic sector of the Barents Sea is an annual sink of atmospheric CO₂. The monthly mean uptake increases nearly monotonically from 0.101 mol C m^− 2 in midwinter to 0.656 mol C m^− 2 in midfall before it gradually decreases to the winter value. Interannual variability in the monthly mean flux was evaluated for the winter, summer, and fall seasons and was found to be ± 0.071 mol C m^− 2 month^− 1. The variability is controlled mainly through combined variation of fCO₂^sw and wind speed. The annual mean uptake of atmospheric CO₂ in the region was estimated to 4.27 ± 0.68 mol C m^− 2.