Overland flow on converging and diverging surfaces — Assessment of numerical schemes

The similarity solutions of the equations of kinematic flow on a cone-shaped surface, provide a means for checking the numerical models used for converging and diverging flows. These models can be further improved if the initial excess rainfall curve can be described as a power of time. Illustration of this improvement and assessment of numerical models are given for a constant excess rainfall and for excess rainfall proportional to the inverse of the square root of time.     

Frontiers in large igneous province research

Earth history is punctuated by events during which large volumes of mafic magmas were generated and emplaced by processes distinct from “normal” seafloor spreading and subduction-related magmatism. Large Igneous Provinces (LIPs) of Mesozoic and Cenozoic age are the best preserved, and comprise continental flood basalts, volcanic rifted margins, oceanic plateaus, ocean basin flood basalts, submarine ridges, ocean islands and seamount chains. Paleozoic and Proterozoic LIPs are typically more deeply eroded and are recognized by their exposed plumbing system of giant dyke swarms, sill provinces and layered intrusions. The most promising Archean LIP candidates (apart from the Fortescue and Ventersdorp platformal flood basalts) are those greenstone belts containing tholeiites with minor komatiites. Some LIPs have a substantial component of felsic rocks. Many LIPs can be linked to regional-scale uplift, continental rifting and breakup, climatic shifts that may result in extinction events, and Ni–Cu–PGE (platinum group element) ore deposits.

Some current frontiers in LIP research include:

(1) Testing various mantle plume and alternative hypotheses for the origin for LIPs.

(2) Characterizing individual LIPs in terms of (a) original volume and areal extent of their combined extrusive and intrusive components, (b) melt production rates, (c) plumbing system geometry, (d) nature of the mantle source region, and (e) links with ore deposits.

(3) Determining the distribution of LIPs in time (from Archean to Present) and in space (after continental reconstruction). This will allow assessment of proposed links between LIPs and supercontinent breakup, juvenile crust production, climatic excursions, and mass extinctions. It will also allow an evaluation of periodicity in the LIP record, the identification of clusters of LIPs, and postulated links with the reversal frequency of the Earth's magnetic field.

(4) Comparing the characteristics, origin and distribution of LIPs on Earth with planets lacking plate tectonics, such as Venus and Mars. Interplanetary comparison may also provide a better understanding of convective processes in the mantles of the inner planets.

In order to achieve rapid progress in these frontier areas, a global campaign is proposed, which would focus on high-precision geochronology, integrated with paleomagnetism and geochemistry. Most fundamentally, such a campaign could help hasten the determination of continental configurations in the Precambrian back to 2.5 Ga or greater. Such reconstructions are vital for the proper assessment of the LIP record, as well as providing first-order information related to all geodynamic processes.     

Effects of irradiance on benthic and water column processes in a Gulf of Mexico estuary: Pensacola Bay, Florida, USA

We examined the effect of light on water column and benthic fluxes in the Pensacola Bay estuary, a river-dominated system in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Measurements were made during the summers of 2003 and 2004 on 16 dates distributed along depth and salinity gradients. Dissolved oxygen fluxes were measured on replicate sediment and water column samples exposed to a gradient of photosynthetically active radiation. Sediment inorganic nutrient (NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, PO₄³⁻) fluxes were measured. The response of dissolved oxygen fluxes to variation in light was fit to a photosynthesis–irradiance model and the parameter estimates were used to calculate daily integrated production in the water column and the benthos. The results suggest that shoal environments supported substantial benthic productivity, averaging 13.6 ± 4.7 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, whereas channel environments supported low benthic productivity, averaging 0.5 ± 0.3 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹ (±SE). Estimates of baywide microphytobenthic productivity ranged from 8.1 to 16.5 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, comprising about 16–32% of total system productivity. Benthic and water column dark respiration averaged 15.2 ± 3.2 and 33.6 ± 3.7 mmol O₂ m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively Inorganic nutrient fluxes were generally low compared to relevant estuarine literature values, and responded minimally to light exposure. Across all stations, nutrient fluxes from sediments to the water column averaged 1.11 ± 0.98 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for NH₄⁺, 0.58 ± 1.08 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for NO₃⁻, 0.01 ± 0.09 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ for PO₄³⁻. The results of this study illustrate how light reaching the sediments is an important modulator of benthic nutrient and oxygen dynamics in shallow estuarine systems.     

Effects of Tree Size,Shade Tolerance,and Spatial Pattern on the Mortality of Woody Plants in a Seminatural Forest in Central Kentucky

Previous biogeographical research has investigated the mortality of woody plants, emphasizing tree size, shade tolerance, and competition individually as critical factors. Few researchers, though, have empirically evaluated the simultaneous and relative importance of these three factors in a single study. Based on a thirty-five-year study within the University of Kentucky Arboretum, we report that none of the factors exerted an overriding influence on the tree survivorship alone. Rather, they were tightly intertwined in a complex way. Our study indicates that the three factors have contributed perhaps equally or at least simultaneously to the overall demographic processes in the woodland.     

苏格兰阿伯丁城市土壤的微生物特性研究

在重金属的胁迫下,阿伯丁城市土壤中微生物特征发生了显著的变化,与农村土相比,微生物基底呼吸作用明显增强,但微生物生物量却显著降低,微生物生理参数Ｃｍｉｎ／Ｃｏｒｇ、ｑＣＯ２值明显升高,Ｂｉｏｌｏｇ数据显示城市土壤对能源碳的消耗量和速度显著升高,而且对能源碳的利用方式发生了改变,但利用效率却明显降低,反映出微生物特性可作为城市土壤环境质量变异的有效指标。     

The effects of space and scale on unconditional beta convergence: test results from the United States, 1970–2004

Beta convergence theorizes that regions with low levels of income will grow faster than regions with higher incomes as investment is moved to regions where returns can be maximized. The formal test for beta convergence is an OLS regression with income change as the dependent variable and initial income as the predictor. Beta convergence is present when the coefficient on initial income is negative. Empirical evidence of convergence is mixed, however. We contend that omission of spatial effects, and the confounding problem of geographic scale, help explain inconsistent empirical findings. We, therefore, examine the role of spatial effects on the standard convergence model at three spatial scales—states, Economic Areas, and counties—in the United States from 1970 to 2004. Our results indicate failure to account for spatial and scalar effects can lead to conflicting results. Convergence evidence is strongest at smaller levels of spatial aggregation, yet model fit is better at larger levels. In addition, accounting for spatial effects improves model diagnostic performance but weakens convergence evidence.     

Seismic hazard model for loss estimation and risk management in Taiwan

We developed a seismic hazard model for Taiwan that integrates all available tectonic, seismicity, and seismic hazard information in the region to provide risk managers and engineers with a model they can use to estimate earthquake losses and manage seismic risk in Taiwan. The seismic hazard model is composed of two major components: a seismotectonic model and a ground-shaking model. The seismotectonic model incorporates earthquakes that are expected to occur on the Ryukyu and Manila subduction zones, on the intermediate-depth Wadati-Benioff seismicity zones, on the active crustal faults, and within seismotectonic provinces. The active crustal faults include the Chelungpu fault zone, the source of the damaging M_W 7.6 Chi-Chi earthquake, and the Huangchi-Hsiaoyukeng fault zone that forms the western boundary of the Taipei Basin. The ground-shaking model uses both US, worldwide, and Taiwanese attenuation relations to provide robust estimates of peak ground acceleration and response spectral acceleration on a reference site condition for shallow crustal and subduction zone earthquakes. The ground shaking for other site conditions is obtained by applying a nonlinear soil-amplification factor defined in terms of the average shear-wave velocity in the top 30 m of the soil profile, consistent with the methodology used in the current US and proposed Taiwan building codes.     

Robust multivariate procedures applied to the interpretation of atypical individuals of a Cretaceous foraminifer

Robust multivariate statistical methods are applied to samples of the Cretaceous bolivinid foraminifer Afrobolivina afra, in which individuals from microspheric and megalospheric generations dominate, but which also contain some pseudo-megalospheric specimens. Pseudo-megalospheric tests may cause values which are atypical in the statistical sense but which are fully normal biologically. Other atypical values derive from crushed specimens, microspheric individuals and unusual normal megalospheres with exceptionally wide shells and pointed last chambers. A wrongly punched specimen was also found by the procedure. The method employed here consists of plotting the generalized statistical distances calculated from robust estimates of means and of covariances against the quantiles of a Gaussian distribution; the presence of an atypical observation(s) is readily exposed by its departure from the main trend of the plot.     

Radar observations of asteroid 1999 JM8

Abstract— We report results of delay‐Doppler observations of 1999 JM8 with the Goldstone 8560 MHz (3.5 cm) and Arecibo 2380 MHz (13 cm) radars over 18 days in July‐August 1999. The images place thousands of pixels on the asteroid and achieve range resolutions as fine as 15 m/pixel. The images reveal an asymmetric, irregularly shaped object with a typical overall dimension within 20% of 7 km. If we assume that 1999 JM8's effective diameter is 7 km, then the absolute magnitude, 15.15, and the average Goldstone radar cross section, 2.49 km², correspond to optical and radar albedos of 0.02 and 0.06, establishing that 1999 JM8 is a dark object at optical and radar wavelengths. The asteroid is in a non‐principal axis spin state that, although not yet well determined, has a dominant periodicity of ?7 days. However, images obtained between July 31 and August 9 show apparent regular rotation of features from day to day, suggesting that the rotation state is not far from principal axis rotation. 1999 JM8 has regions of pronounced topographic relief, prominent facets several kilometers in extent, numerous crater‐like features between ?100 m and 1.5 km in diameter, and features whose structural nature is peculiar. Arecibo images provide the strongest evidence to date for a circular polarization ratio feature on any asteroid. Combined optical and radar observations from April 1990 to December 2000 permit computation of planetary close approach times to within ± 10 days over the interval from 293 to at least 2907, one of the longest spans for any potentially hazardous asteroid. Integration of the orbit into the past and future shows close approaches to Earth, Mars, Ceres, and Vesta, but the probability of the object impacting Earth is zero for at least the next nine centuries.