Tectonic influences on ground water quality: insight from complementary methods

A study using multiple techniques provided insight into tectonic influences on ground water systems; the results can help to understand ground water systems in the tectonically active western United States and other parts of the world. Ground water in the San Bernardino Valley (Arizona, United States and Sonora, Mexico) is the main source of water for domestic use, cattle ranching (the primary industry), and the preservation of threatened and endangered species. To improve the understanding of ground water occurrence, movement, and sustainability, an investigation was conducted using a number of complementary methods, including major ion geochemistry, isotope hydrology, analysis of gases dissolved in ground water, aquifer testing, geophysics, and an examination of surface and subsurface geology. By combining information from multiple lines of investigation, a more complete picture of the basin hydrogeology was assembled than would have been possible using fewer methods. The results show that the hydrogeology of the San Bernardino Valley is markedly different than that of its four neighboring basins in the United States. The differences include water quality, chemical evolution, storage, and residence time. The differences result from the locally unique geology of the San Bernardino Valley, which is due to the presence of a magmatically active accommodation zone (a zone separating two regions of normal faults with opposite dips). The geological differences and the resultant hydrological differences between the San Bernardino Valley and its neighboring basins may serve as a model for the distinctive nature of chemical evolution of ground water in other basins with locally distinct tectonic histories.     

Coastal erosion vs riverine sediment discharge in the Arctic Shelf seas

This article presents a comparison of sediment input by rivers and by coastal erosion into both the Laptev Sea and the Canadian Beaufort Sea (CBS). New data on coastal erosion in the Laptev Sea, which are based on field measurements and remote sensing information, and existing data on coastal erosion in the CBS as well as riverine sediment discharge into both the Laptev Sea and the CBS are included. Strong regional differences in the percentages of coastal erosion and riverine sediment supply are observed. The CBS is dominated by the riverine sediment discharge (64.45᎒⁶ t a^-1) mainly of the Mackenzie River, which is the largest single source of sediments in the Arctic. Riverine sediment discharge into the Laptev Sea amounts to 24.10᎒⁶ t a^-1, more than 70% of which are related to the Lena River. In comparison with the CBS, the Laptev Sea coast on average delivers approximately twice as much sediment mass per kilometer, a result of higher erosion rates due to higher cliffs and seasonal ice melting. In the Laptev Sea sediment input by coastal erosion (58.4᎒⁶ t a^-1) is therefore more important than in the CBS and the ratio between riverine and coastal sediment input amounts to 0.4. Coastal erosion supplying 5.6᎒⁶ t a^-1 is less significant for the sediment budget of the CBS where riverine sediment discharge exceeds coastal sediment input by a factor of ca. 10.     

Symphurus civitatium (Pleuronectiformes: Cynoglossidae), a second estuarine-occurring tonguefish off the Southeastern United States and Northern Gulf of Mexico

Two species of tonguefishes,Symphurus plagiusa (Linnaeus 1766) andSymphurus civitatium Ginsburg 1951, occur sympatrically and sometimes syntopically in shallow water habitats in North Carolina and Louisiana estuaries. In North Carolina, approximately 2% of 430 small (<75 mm SL) tonguefishes collected wereS. civitatium, while in Barataria Bay, Louisiana, this species was more abundant and cosmopolitan in distribution than wasS. plagiusa, comprising over 82% of 3,564 tonguefishes collected with a small beam trawl over a 2-yr period. Historical literature has regardedS. plagiusa as the only tonguefish species inhabiting inshore waters in both regions. Presence of a secondSymphurus species in shallow estuaries has been overlooked, most probably due to difficulties in identifying early post-settlement juveniles because both species have similar morphologies and overlapping dorsal-fin and anal-fin ray counts. Juveniles can be readily recognized by differences in number of caudal-fin rays (10 inS. plagiusa versus 12 inS. civitatium), especially when used in combination with pigmentation patterns and posterior extent of the jaws relative to the posterior margin of the lower eye. The most distinctive pigmentation difference between juveniles of these two species (allowing for accurate identifications of over 98% of juveniles) is the absence inS. civitatium (12–61 mm SL) of a series of melanophores overlying pterygiophore regions of the dorsal and anal fins on the blind side. This feature contrasts markedly with that of juvenileS. plagiusa (12–65 mm SL), which are characterized by two interrupted, diagonal series of dark chromatophores converging, but not merging, with posterior tapering of the body. Occurrence of two sympatric species of tonguefishes in estuarine environments in the northcentral Gulf of Mexico and southeastern U.S. potentially compromises results of earlier ecological and distributional studies that assumed presence of only a single tonguefish species in these regions.     

Climate Change and the Disappearance of Malaria from England

As the world's climate continues to change there is concern that this may cause malaria to spread to new areas. Here we examine whether past changes in temperature, in addition to social changes, may have affected malaria in England. Our analysis indicates that cold summers experienced during the 1800s may have contributed to the disappearance of this disease from the country. As our summers become progressively warner it is unlikely that malaria will become firmly re-established on these shores, although the possibility of future outbreaks should not be ignored.     

Is there the will to manage fisheries at a local level in the European Union? A case study from Shetland

The failure of the command and control approach to fisheries management has encouraged governments to look for new ways of balancing the requirement to conserve fish stocks and yet maintain a flow of benefits that will meet economic and social targets. In the quest to establish a system for sustaining production in the Common Pond, the European Union (EU) has begun to investigate alternatives to the current management system. This research paper examines the problems associated with the current management regime operating in the EU in the light of alternatives for managing the fisheries. The research seeks to establish whether, given the serious problems confronting the EU's fishing industries, fishermen would be prepared to accept change and offer their ideas and support to develop an alternative management system. The research draws on the opinions of fishermen from Shetland and discusses the findings gained from interviewing key informants in conjunction with the results of an opinion survey of skippers and boat owners.     

The local environment of H ii galaxies

We have carried out an investigation of the environments of low redshift H  ii galaxies by cross-correlating their positions on the sky with those of faint field galaxies in the Automatic Plate Measuring Machine (APM) catalogues. We address the question of whether violent star formation in H  ii galaxies is induced by low-mass companions by statistically estimating the mean space density of galaxies around them. We argue that even if low-mass companions were mainly intergalactic H  i clouds, their optical counterparts should be detectable at faint limits of the APM scans.
A significantly positive signal is detected for the H  ii galaxy–APM galaxy angular cross-correlation function, but the amplitude is poorly determined. The projected cross-correlation function has a higher signal-to-noise ratio, and suggests that the amplitude is slightly lower than for normal field galaxies. This implies that these bursting dwarf galaxies inhabit slightly lower density environments than those of normal field galaxies, consistent with other studies of emission-line galaxies. This suggests that in these dwarf starburst galaxies, star formation is not always triggered by tidal interactions, and a significant fraction must have a different origin.     

Infrared photometry of z ∼ 1 3C quasars

We present JHKL ' photometry of a complete sample of steep-spectrum radio-loud quasars from the revised 3CR catalogue in the redshift range 0.65 z <1.20. After correcting for contributions from emission lines and the host galaxies, we investigate their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) around 1 μm. About 75 per cent of the quasars are tightly grouped in the plane of optical spectral index, α _opt, versus near-infrared spectral index, α _IR, with the median value of α _opt close to the canonical value, and the median α _IR slightly flatter. We conclude that the fraction of moderately obscured, red quasars decreases with increasing radio power, in accordance with the 'receding torus' model which can also explain the relatively flat median near-infrared spectra of the 3CR quasars. Two of the red quasars have inverted infrared spectral indices, and we suggest that their unusual SEDs might result from a combination of dust-scattered and transmitted quasar light.