A first estimate of ground water ages for the deep aquifer of the Kathmandu Basin, Nepal, using the radioisotope chlorine-36

The Kathmandu Basin in Nepal contains up to 550 m of Pliocene-Quaternary fluvio-lacustrine sediments which have formed a dual aquifer system. The unconfined sand and gravel aquifer is separated by a clay aquitard, up to 200 m thick, from the deeper, confined aquifer, comprised of Pliocene sand and gravel beds, intercalated with clay, peat, and lignite. The confined aquifer currently provides an important water supply to the central urban area but there are increasing concerns about its sustainability due to overexploitation. A limited number of determinations of the radioisotope 36Cl have been made on bore waters in the basin, allowing us to postulate on the age of ground water in the deeper, confined aquifer. Ground water evolution scenarios based on radioisotope decay, gradual dissolution of formational salts as the ground waters move downgradient, and flow velocity estimations produce comparable ground water ages for the deep waters, ranging from 200,000 to 400,000 years. From these ages, we deduce a mean ground water flow velocity of only 45 mm/year from recharge in the northeast to the main extraction region 15 km to the southwest. We thus estimate current recharge at about 5 to 15 mm/year, contributing 40,000 to 1.2 million m3/year to the ground water system. Current ground water extraction is estimated to be 20 times this amount. The low specific discharge confirms that the resource is being mined, and, based on current projections, reserves will be used up within 100 years.     

辽东半岛南部震旦-寒武系界限剖面古地磁特征

在辽东半岛南部震旦-寒武系界限剖面中采集了32块古地磁岩石标本。古地磁测试结果表明:①辽东半岛南部震旦系兴民村期曾出现一次极性倒转,它发生在650Ma左右,可称之为兴民村反极性期,据此,可与国外上先寒武系对比;②本区震旦-寒武系沉积地层曾经历了中纬度→低纬度→中纬度的古地理纬度区的变化历史;③初步建立了辽东半岛南部震旦-寒武系界限附近地层的视古地磁极迁移轨迹。根据古地磁测试结果,结合本区地层特征,将震旦-寒武系界限定在兴民村组与葛屯组之间,兴民村组的顶为震旦系的上限,葛屯组的底为寒武系的下限。     

Decision makers in migration--Papua New Guinea

The author critically examines the assumption that the decision to migrate is made by the individual. Data from surveys of individuals living in 16 towns and 50 rural villages are used to analyze patterns of population movement in Papua New Guinea in an attempt to determine the roles of institutions and of persons other than the migrant in decision-making.     

Use of chemical tracers in assessing the diet and foraging regions of eastern North Pacific killer whales

Top predators in the marine environment integrate chemical signals acquired from their prey that reflect both the species consumed and the regions from which the prey were taken. These chemical tracers-stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen; persistent organic pollutant (POP) concentrations, patterns and ratios; and fatty acid profiles-were measured in blubber biopsy samples from North Pacific killer whales (Orcinus orca) (n=84) and were used to provide further insight into their diet, particularly for the offshore group, about which little dietary information is available. The offshore killer whales were shown to consume prey species that were distinctly different from those of sympatric resident and transient killer whales. In addition, it was confirmed that the offshores forage as far south as California. Thus, these results provide evidence that the offshores belong to a third killer whale ecotype. Resident killer whale populations showed a gradient in stable isotope profiles from west (central Aleutians) to east (Gulf of Alaska) that, in part, can be attributed to a shift from off-shelf to continental shelf-based prey. Finally, stable isotope ratio results, supported by field observations, showed that the diet in spring and summer of eastern Aleutian Island transient killer whales is apparently not composed exclusively of Steller sea lions.