Groundwater occurrence in cold environments: examples from Nunavik,Canada

Water availability and management issues related to the supply of drinking water in northern communities are problematic in Canada. While rivers and lakes are abundant, they are vulnerable to contamination and may become dry in winter due to freezing. Groundwater can often provide a more secure and sustainable water source, however its availability is limited in northern Canada due to the presence of permafrost. Moreover, the exploitation of northern aquifers poses a dual challenge of identifying not only permafrost-free areas, but also permeable areas which will allow groundwater recharge and exploitation. Suitable aquifers are not as common in northern Canada since the shallow subsurface is mostly composed of low-permeability crystalline rocks or unconsolidated sediments of glacial origin that are highly heterogeneous. In order to investigate groundwater occurrence and associated geological contexts in Nunavik (northern Quebec, Canada), along with exploring how these resources will evolve in response to climate change, field and compilation work were conducted in the surroundings of the four villages of Salluit, Kuujjuaq, Umiujaq and Whapmagoostui-Kuujjuarapik. These villages are located in different permafrost zones, ranging from continuous to discontinuous, as well as in different geological environments. It was found that despite the ubiquitous presence of permafrost, unfrozen aquifers could be identified, which suggests that groundwater may be available as a source of drinking water for small communities. Expected climate change, with predicted permafrost thawing and increases in temperature and precipitation, should enhance groundwater availability and may contribute to a more secure source of drinking water for northern communities.     

Reconstruction of seasonal temperature variability in the tropical Pacific Ocean from the shell of the scallop, Comptopallium radula

We investigated the oxygen isotope composition (δ¹⁸O) of shell striae from juvenile Comptopallium radula (Mollusca; Pectinidae) specimens collected live in New Caledonia. Bottom-water temperature and salinity were monitored in-situ throughout the study period. External shell striae form with a 2-day periodicity in this scallop, making it possible to estimate the date of precipitation for each calcite sample collected along a growth transect. The oxygen isotope composition of shell calcite (δ¹⁸O_{shell calcite}) measured at almost weekly resolution on calcite accreted between August 2002 and July 2003 accurately tracks bottom-water temperatures. A new empirical paleotemperature equation for this scallop species relates temperature and δ¹⁸O_{shell calcite}:

t(°C)=20.00(±0.61)-3.66(±0.39)×(δ¹⁸O_{shell calcite VPDB}-δ¹⁸O_{water VSMOW})     

Adoption of flood-related preventive behaviours by people having different risks and histories of flooding

Natural Hazards - The increase in the frequency of floods, which is a projected consequence of climate change, can have wide-ranging health and economic impacts. To cope with these floods and to...     

Multi-level Effects of Severe Storms on an Offshore Temperate Reef System: Benthic Sediments, Macroalgae, and Implications for Fisheries

Abstract. Episodic events have been shown to strongly affect structure and function of marine benthic ecosystems. Severe storms can have profound effects on the distribution of marine sediments which could, in turn, influence the development of benthic communities. The rich and diverse epibenthic communities on the United States mid-Atlantic continental shelf owe their existence to the presence of a complex sequence of rocky outcrops. An unusually strong storm struck this shelf system in March 1993. Two of these carbonate platforms had been characterized by moderate sediment cover for at least the previous two years, but bottom water velocities generated by this storm removed considerable amounts of sediment from these upper flat hardbottom habitats. Macroalgal cover on these platforms dramatically increased between 1992 and 1993 with the increased exposure of hard substrate for attachment. The edges of the outcrops (scarps and rubble ramps), which are usually free of sediment, maintained their dense algal cover. Settlement blocks placed in various sub-habitats showed little variation in algal cover among flat hardbottom and scarp areas during both years, indicating that available hard substrate habitat may be the primary limiting factor for algal growth on the North Carolina continental shelf. Since macroalgal meadows provide food and shelter for juvenile fish, the increase in critical habitat following these storms may have implications for recruitment of economically important fish species. Thus, indirect effects of episodic storms, i.e ., redistribution of sand bodies leading to algal meadow development over large spatial scales, may have important consequences for benthic community development and persistence in temperate reef systems.     

The terminal bulk Lorentz factor of relativistic electron–positron jets

We present a numerical simulation of the bulk Lorentz factor of a relativistic electron–positron jet driven by the Compton rocket effect from accretion disc radiation. The plasma is assumed to have a power-law distribution n _e(γ) ∝ γ^{− s} with 1 < γ < γ_max and is continuously reheated to compensate for radiation losses. We include the full Klein–Nishina (hereafter KN) cross-section, and study the role of the energy upper cut-off γ_max, spectral index s and source compactness. We determine the terminal bulk Lorentz factor in the cases of supermassive black holes, relevant to AGN, and stellar black holes, relevant to galactic microquasars. In the latter case, Klein–Nishina cross-section effects are more important and induce a terminal bulk Lorentz factor smaller than in the former case. Our result are in good agreement with bulk Lorentz factors observed in Galactic (GRS 1915+105, GRO J1655−40) and extragalactic sources. Differences in scattered radiation and acceleration mechanism efficiency in the AGN environment can be responsible for the variety of relativistic motion in those objects. We also take into account the influence of the size of the accretion disc; if the external radius is small enough, the bulk Lorentz factor can be as high as 60.     

Geostatistics of near-surface moisture in bare cultivated organic soils

The aim of this study was to characterise fine scale patterns of organic soil moisture content in the top 5 cm by means of semi-variogram modelling. Soil moisture content was observed along a transect on 2 occasions, early in the 1999 growing season to avoid any influences originating from vegetation and cultural practices. Soil moisture values were found to be normally distributed and were not significantly correlated with the soil organic matter content. Many similarities were depicted between the exponential semi-variograms characteristics of this study and another one in mineral soils, reported in the literature, except for the much higher sills associated with organic soils. Of particular interest were similar correlation lengths, indicating that a correlation range of the order of 100 m should be expected for mineral soils and for the level of moisture and organic matter contents found in this study.     

Bioconcentration of the anionic surfactant linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) in the marine shrimp Palaemonetes varians: A radiotracer study

Uptake and depuration kinetics of dissolved [¹⁴C]C₁₂-6-linear alkylbenzene sulfonate (LAS) were determined in the shrimp Palaemonetes varians using environmentally relevant exposure concentration. The shrimp concentrated LAS from seawater with a mean BCF value of 120 L kg⁻¹ after a 7-day exposure. Uptake biokinetics were best described by a saturation model, with an estimated BCF_ss, of 159 ± 34 L kg⁻¹, reached after 11.5 days. Shrimp weight influenced significantly BCF value with smaller individuals presenting higher affinity to LAS. To the light of a whole body autoradiography, major accumulation of LAS occurred in the cephalothorax circulatory system (gills, heart, hepatopancreas) and ocular peduncle, but not in the flesh, limiting potential transfer to human consumers. LAS depuration rate constant value of the shrimp was 1.18 ± 0.08 d⁻¹ leading to less than 1% of remaining LAS in its tissues after 8 days of depuration.     

Topological and geometric characterization of fault networks using 3-dimensional Generalized maps

The consistent geometric and topological representation of a fault network is possible through a method based on the implementation of 3-dimensional Generalized maps (3-G-map) enabling all subdivisions of space to be represented. The fault network is modeled as an assemblage of polygonal faces from a set of geometric data on the faults and a knowledge of the relationships between the faults. The resultant model is expressed in terms of a 3-G-map in which volume, surface, and topological information is constructed taking into account computed intersections between faults and known interception relations. The fault network can be edited through an interactive 3-D viewer which provides several tools for navigating within the 3-G-map. Information relevant to a fault network, such as block geometry, connectivity, adjacencies, and connectivity relationships, can be obtained by exploring the data structure of the 3-G-map. The fault network architecture is made comprehensive through interactive modeling and visualization.