PCDD/F and PCB in harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) from British Columbia: response to exposure to pulp mill effluents

Blubber of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) sampled from the Strait of Georgia, BC, in 1991 and 1992 contained higher concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and furans (PCDD/F) than did samples from Quatsino Sound on western Vancouver Island. The higher proportions of 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexachlorodibenzodioxin and 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzofuran in the Strait of Georgia samples probably reflect contamination arising from the discharge of effluents from bleached kraft mills. Higher concentrations of non-ortho- and mono-ortho substituted polychlorinated biphenyls were also found in the Strait of Georgia samples, probably as a result of general industrial activity in the region. Principal components analysis showed that residues were distributed differently between males and females. Within males, concentrations of PCDD, PCDF and PCBs appeared to increase with age. Toxic equivalents (TEQ) to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzodioxin in the Quatsino Sd. samples were close to the working guidelines for edible fish used by Health Canada; TEQ calculated for the Strait of Georgia samples exceeded these guidelines by up to a factor of five.     

Wave group statistics from numerical simulations of a random sea

Two commonly used methods of simulating random time series, given a target power spectrum, are discussed. Wave group statistics, such as the mean length of runs of high waves, produced by the different simulation schemes are compared. The target spectra used are obtained from ocean measurements, and cover a wide range of ocean conditions. For a sufficiently large number of spectral components, no significant differences are found in the wave group statistics produced by the two simulation techniques.     

Neashore auto-suspending turbidity flows

A class of turbidity flows is investigated in which sediment is entrained sufficient to balance losses and an equilibrium flow is sustained. The analytical models for predicting equilibrium flow configurations are surveyed. These are found to differ by two orders of magnitude in the required flow speeds. Five field observations of self-sustaining turbidity flows are investigated as a test for the analytical models. The model of Bagnold (1962) is found to have skill in predicting all of the field observations. The significance of these flows to the reliability of pipelines, cables and other engineering structures on continental shelves is considered. Circumstantial evidence is presented that suggests that these flows may be a mechanism for offshore flows of sand from beaches during major storms.     

Is the ‘superhot’ hard x-ray component in solar flares consistent with a thermal source?

It has been shown by Brown and Emslie (1988) that any optically thin thermal bremsstrahlung source must emit an energy spectrumL () (keV s^–1 keV^–1) which has the property that higher derivatives alternate in sign, i.e., (–) ^j L(^j)() > 0 for allj. In this short note, we apply this test to the superhot component discussed by Linet al. (1981) in order to determine whether a strictly thermal interpretation of this component is valid. We find that all statistically significant higher derivatives do indeed have the correct sign; this strengthens the identification of this component as due to a thermal source.Presidential Young Investigator.     

Radiometry of near-earth asteroids

We report 10 micrometers infrared photometry for 22 Aten, Apollo, and Amor asteroids. Thermal models are used to derive the corresponding radiometric albedos and diameters. Several of these asteroids appear to have surfaces of relatively high thermal inertia due to the exposure of bare rock or a coarse regolith. The Apollo asteroid 3103, 1982 BB, is recognized as class E. The Jupiter-crossing Amor asteroid 3552, 1983 SA, is confirmed as class D, but low albedos remain rare for near-Earth asteroids.     

External radiation field in Rayleigh-Cabannes atmospheres with constant and linear sources

The external field of radiation in Rayleigh-Cabannes atmospheres with constant and linear sources is found using the resolvent matrix approach. If the internal sources are constant the external field may be described by theX-, Y-, andH-matrices. For the case with linear sources we need the derivatives of these matrices with respect to angular variable. The respective scheme for their determination is given.A set of integro-differential equations for theX- andY-matrices is derived and solved numerically. Some relations between the moments of theH-matrix are given and a sample of results for external fields are provided.     

The center-to-limb variations of four Ca i lines in the photospheric spectrum at λ6500

We study the center-limb (CL) variation of the average profiles of four Ca i lines near 6500 and compare these observations with synthetic data obtained from several line formation models having different thermal structures, line parameters, LTE and non-LTE conditions, and micro and macroturbulence values, to assess the formation characteristics of our Ca i lines in the solar photosphere.Comparison of numerical results with observations indicates that non-LTE is indispensable to fit the CL variation of the central residual intensity for the line 6493, and anisotropic microturbulence is indispensable to improve the CL behavior of the equivalent widths for all lines. The Ca i line analysis favors a cool photospheric model, but this cannot be disentangled clearly from the effects of non-LTE and small-scale velocity fields on the grounds of the present line formation models.     

Bianchi type-II,VIII, and IX in certain new theories of gravitation

Bianchi type-II, VIII, and IX models have been investigated in scalar-tensor theories developed by Saez (1985), Saez and Ballester (1985), and Lau and Prokhovnik (1986) (under the assumption of a certain relationship between the cosmological term and the scalar field ). The dynamical behaviour of these models has been studied.