A high-velocity ionized outflow and XUV photosphere in the narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143

We report on the analysis of a ∼60-ks XMM–Newton observation of the bright, narrow emission line quasar PG1211+143. Absorption lines are seen in both European Photon Imaging Camera and Reflection Grating Spectrometer spectra corresponding to H- and He-like ions of Fe, S, Mg, Ne, O, N and C. The observed line energies indicate an ionized outflow velocity of ∼24 000 km s⁻¹. The highest energy lines require a column density of   N _H∼ 5 × 10²³ cm⁻²  , at an ionization parameter of  log ξ∼ 3.4  . If the origin of this high-velocity outflow lies in matter being driven from the inner disc, then the flow is likely to be optically thick within a radius of ∼130 Schwarzschild radii, providing a natural explanation for the big blue bump (and strong soft X-ray) emission in PG1211+143.     

Identification of the interstellar cyanomethyl radical (CH2CN) in the molecular clouds TMC-1 and Sagittarius B2

We report the astronomical identification of the cyanomethyl radical, CH2CN, the heaviest nonlinear molecular radical to be identified in interstellar clouds. The complex fine and hyperfine structures of the lowest rotational transitions at about 20.12 and 40.24 GHz are resolved in TMC-1, where the abundance appears to be about 5 x 10(-9) relative to that of H2. This is significantly greater than the observed abundance of CH3CN (methyl cyanide) in TMC-1. In Sgr B2 the hyperfine structure is blended in the higher frequency transitions at 40, 80, and 100 GHz, although the spin-rotation doubling is clearly evident. Preliminary searches in other sources indicate that the distribution of CH2CN is similar to that for such carbon chain species as HC3N or C4H.     

Determining effective wellbore permeability from a field pressure test: a numerical analysis of detection limits

We propose a simple pressure test that can be used in the field to determine the effective permeability of existing wellbores. Such tests are motivated by the need to understand and quantify leakage risks associated with geological storage of CO₂ in mature sedimentary basins. If CO₂ is injected into a deep geological formation, and the resulting CO₂ plume encounters a wellbore, leakage may occur through various pathways in the “disturbed zone” surrounding the well casing. The effective permeability of this composite zone, on the outside of the well casing, is an important parameter for models of leakage. However, the data that exist on this key parameter do not exist in the open literature, and therefore specific field tests need to be done in order to reduce the uncertainty inherent in the leakage estimates. The test designed and analyzed herein is designed to measure effective wellbore permeability within a low-permeability caprock, bounded above and below by permeable reservoirs, by pressurizing the reservoir below and measuring the response in the reservoir above. Alternatively, a modified test can be performed within the caprock without directly contacting the reservoirs above and below. We use numerical simulation to relate pressure response to effective well permeability and then evaluate the range of detection of the effective permeability based on instrument measurement error and limits on fracture pressure. These results can guide field experiments associated with site characterization and leakage analysis.     

Late Palaeozoic hydrocarbon migration through the Clair field, West of Shetland, UK Atlantic margin

Geochemical analysis of bitumen- and hydrocarbon-bearing fluid inclusions from the Devonian-Carboniferous Clair field indicates that the reservoirs contain a mixture of oils from different marine and lacustrine sources. Reconstruction of the Clair field oil-charge history using fluid inclusion petrography show that oil-charging occurred at times of K-feldspar, quartz and calcite cementation. Temperature–composition–time data yielded from the integration of fluid inclusion microthermometry with high-resolution Ar–Ar dating, date hydrocarbon-bearing K-feldspar overgrowths at 247 ± 3.3 Ma. These data show that in order for oil to be trapped within primary fluid inclusions in K-feldspar overgrowths, hydrocarbon migration throughout the UK Atlantic margin must have been taking place during the Late Palaeozoic and as such, current industry oil-play models based solely on oil charging from Jurassic-Cretaceous marine sources are clearly incomplete and need revision. Apatite fission track analysis and vitrinite reflectance data were used to reconstruct thermal burial histories and assess potential oil generation from Middle Devonian lacustrine source rocks. Thermal history data from wells along The Rona Ridge adjacent to the Clair field show that the Palaeozoic section was heated to greater than 100 °C at some time between 270 and 230 Ma, confirming that Devonian source rocks were mature and expelling oil during the Late Palaeozoic at the time that authigenic K-feldspar overgrowths were growing in the Clair field.     

Water and sanitation in the Buenos Aires metropolitan region: Fragmented markets, splintering effects?

This paper discusses the provision of water and sanitation services and the related urban impacts in Buenos Aires circa 2005. The first part of the paper focuses on the metropolitan region (BAMR) which is larger than the area served by the Aguas Argentinas S.A. (AASA) concession (i.e. the capital and its conurbano). It highlights a form of institutional fragmentation that is reflected in the diverse management practices of the numerous service providers and results in differentiated levels of and access to services. The paper discusses the technical, economic and regulatory factors that have historically resulted in this institutional fragmentation. The second part of the article focuses on AASA’s water concession agreement. It demonstrates that, although the agreement had an in-built splintering logic, its implementation led to a more “integrated approach” based on the “reality on the ground”. On the whole, the conclusion regarding the application of the splintering urbanism concept to Buenos Aires is a mixed one and depends on the scale of observation. Although at regional level (BAMR), a form of “institutional fragmentation” would appear to be obvious, it is the result of a long and complex historical process and, while recent neo-liberal reforms in service provisions have “cemented” this fragmentation, they did not actually cause it. If we take the AASA service area in isolation, the trend in the decade following the contracting out of the service has been one of improved service provision and access—although this was not achieved through increased integration of the supply system. Finally, in the case of the Buenos Aires metropolitan region, the splintering urbanism thesis defended by Marvin and Graham needs to be nuanced in several significant ways.     

Water and power in Santiago de Chile: Socio-spatial segregation through network integration

The analysis of the history of the management and distribution of electricity, water and sanitation networks in Santiago de Chile throws light on a problem which is central to thinking on the relationship between urban services management and territorial splintering: what is the impact of urban policy, in particular housing policy and urban planning, on access to services and on the potential levels of social segregation and institutional splintering of metropolises?The Chilean example is eminently anchored in its political and institutional history. We shall see, for example, that the authoritarian urban policy of the military government, associated with early liberal reform, enabled the improvement of access to networks in every municipality of the Greater Santiago area. However, this success, leading to the integration by urban services of a large territory, does not signify that networks remained neutral as regards the process of spatial segregation. Inversely, we can defend the theory that the presence of an integrated service was a necessary condition and a reinforcing factor of the process of urban spread and residential segregation. This paradoxical argument is a result of the ambivalent liberal network and urban policies of the military government. Urban expansion was largely sustained by the development of integrated infrastructures and universal services. The processes of liberalising land and urban services were mutually sustaining and provided the necessary conditions for the birth of an extremely intense movement of urban sprawl and segregation between 1985 and 2000.     

Monitoring Large-Scale Tests for Nuclear Waste Disposal

Two large-scale “in situ” demonstration experiments and their instrumentation are described. The first test (FEBEX Experiment) involves the hydration of a compacted bentonite barrier under the combined effect of an inner source of heat and an outer water flow from the confining saturated granite rock. In the second case, the progressive de-saturation of Opalinus clay induced by maintained ventilation of an unlined tunnel is analyzed. The paper shows the performance of different sensors (capacitive cells, psychrometers, TDR’s) and a comparison of fill behaviour with modelling results. The long term performance of some instruments could also be evaluated specially in the case of FEBEX test. Capacitive sensors provide relative humidity data during long transient periods characterised by very large variations of suction within the bentonite.