Changes in European precipitation seasonality and in drought frequencies revealed by a four-century-long tree-ring isotopic record from Brittany, western France

A new paleoclimatic reconstruction for western France is obtained from tree-ring cellulose stable isotopes. Living trees from Rennes Forest and beams from two ancient buildings in Rennes city have been combined to cover the past four centuries with a gap from 1730 to 1750. The cellulose ¹³C reflects the progressive changes in atmospheric CO₂ isotopic composition. The combined ¹³C and ¹⁸O measurements are used to propose a reconstruction of interannual fluctuations in local summer temperature and water stress. At the decadal time scale, the reconstructed water stress profile exhibits a significant similarity with the historical wine harvest dates, an indicator of warm and dry growth seasons, as well as with the summer central England and central Alps instrumental temperature records and climate model results. Combined with instrumental precipitation records from Paris, these reconstructions suggest a dramatic and widespread change in the seasonality of the precipitation at the beginning of the nineteenth century, with drier winters and wetter summers, which may have contributed to the Alpine glacier decline at the end of the Little Ice Age. The tree-ring isotope records also show a relationship with large-scale North Atlantic circulation changes and the interannual variability is modified between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (7–8 year periodicities) and the seventeenth century (11–14 year periodicities). By classifying 20-year-long subsets of the reconstructed climatic parameters, we estimate that a decadal mean summer warming of 0.8±0.1°C induced extreme dry years to be 2.2±0.7 times more frequent.     

Magnitude scale structure from filtered broadbandP-wave records

A series of Hokkaido events, recorded by the FBV Broadband Seismograph System at the KHC Seismic Station, is used to study the structure of the earthquake magnitude scale on the basis of maximum velocity amplitudesA _vmax of teleseismicPwaves in different period bands. Amplitude-periodband (APB) diagrams are constructed for each event. According to the shape of the APB diagrams the events investigated can be divided into three types: (a) events with largestA _vmax values in the intermediate period range (periods ofA _vmax from 2.2 to 23 sec), (b) events with largestA _vmax values in the short-period range (periods ofA _vmax from 1 to 2 sec), (c) events exhibiting anomalous APB diagrams. Type (a) events seem to represent the process of wave generation that prevails for shallow earthquakes. Type (b) events approach to explosive-like generation of seismic waves. The nature of the exceptionally occurring type (c) events must be clarified in further investigations. The influence of the type of earthquake on the magnitude values estimated on the basis of standard class A and B (short-period and intermediate-band) seismograms is demonstrated. It appears that for estimating correct values of earthquake magnitudes complementary information on the process of seismic wave generation in the focus is necessary. At teleseismic distances this information can be obtained from either APB diagrams or amplitude spectra ofP waves recorded, e.g., by broadband velocity sensing instruments.     

Structure of the crust in the conterminous United States

On the basis of the newest interpretations of all sufficiently long seismic profiles, a contour map of the Mohorovi?i? discontinuity for the conterminous United States is compiled. Differences from earlier interpretations are discussed.     

Uncertainty analysis of urban sewer system using spatial simulation of radar rainfall fields: New York City case study

The goal of this study is to investigate the uncertainty of an urban sewer system’s response under various rainfall and infrastructure scenarios by applying a recently developed nonparametric copula-based simulation approach to extreme rainfall fields. The approach allows for Monte Carlo simulation of multiple variables with differing marginal distributions and arbitrary dependence structure. The independent and identically distributed daily extreme rainfall events of the corresponding urban area, extracted from nationwide high resolution radar data stage IV, are the inputs of the spatial simulator. The simulated extreme rainfall fields were used to calculate excess runoff using the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s approach. New York City is selected as a case study and the results highlight the importance of preserving the spatial dependence of rainfall fields between the grids, even for simplified hydrologic models. This study estimates the probability of combined sewer overflows under extreme rainfall events and identifies the most effective locations in New York City to install green infrastructure for detaining excess stormwater runoff. The results of this study are beneficial for planners working on stormwater management and the approach is broadly applicable because it does not rely on extensive sewer system information.     

Tropospheric methane in the mid-latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere

Results of more than 800 new measurements of methane (CH₄) concentrations in the Southern Hemisphere troposphere (34–41° S, 130–150° E) are reported. These were obtained between September 1980 and March 1983 from the surface at Cape Grim, Tasmania, through the middle (3.5–5.5 km) to the upper troposphere (7–10 km). The concentration of CH₄ increased throughout the entire troposphere over the measurement period, adding further support to the view that CH₄ concentrations are currently increasing on a global scale. For data averaged vertically through the troposphere the rate of increase found was 20 ppbv/yr or 1.3%/yr at December 1981. In the surface CH₄ data a seasonal cycle with a peak to peak amplitude of approximately 28 ppbv is seen, with the minimum concentration occurring in March and the maximum in September–October. A cycle with the same phase as that seen at the surface, but with a significantly decreased amplitude, is apparent in the mid troposphere but no cycle is detected in the upper tropospheric data. The phase and amplitude of the cycle are qualitatively in agreement with the concept that the major sink for methane is oxidation by hydroxyl radicals. Also presented is evidence of a positive vertical gradient in methane, with a suggestion that the magnitude of this gradient has changed over the period of measurements.     

Experiments on steady buoyancy transfer through turbulent fluid layers separated by density interfaces

A laboratory experiment was performed to investigate mixing across a density interface which separates two turbulent fluid layers and coexists with a stabilizing buoyancy flux. It was found that the buoyancy flux (q₀) across the interface and through the turbulent layers (of depth D) becomes steady and constant in magnitude in the vertical direction, only when , where u is the horizontal r.m.s. velocity at the base of the mixed layers. The results suggest that mixing across the density interface is controlled by a dynamically important buoyancy gradient induced in the turbulent layers and that parameters such as the bulk Richardson number, , where Δb is the interfacial buoyancy jump, are of secondary importance. Measurements are used to infer the mixing mechanism at the interface, the mixing efficiency of stratified fluids and the entrainment law. Some geophysical applications of the results are also discussed.     

The transport of heat and matter by fluids during metamorphism

Non-dimensional solutions to the equations for the combined advective and diffusive one-dimensional transport of heat and solute in a layer are derived for fixed temperature/concentration on the boundaries and initial conditions of a linear gradient across the layer or a step function at the lower boundary. The solutions allow distinction of regimes in which advective or diffusive transport of either heat or solute predominate as a function of fluid flux, time and a length scale. The much lower diffusive coefficients for solute than heat results in a significant range of length scales and fluid flux rates characterised by advection of matter and diffusion of heat. The advective velocity of a component is a function of its fluid:rock partition coefficient. The most rapidly transported tracers which partition largely into the fluid phase, such as He, will travel orders of magnitude faster than heat or compatible solutes such as oxygen. Geochemical profiles in boundary layer regions where both advective and diffusive transport are significant are shown to be particularly informative as to properties of the rocks related to fluid flow such as porosity, permeability, time scales and fluid flux rates. The importance of advection can be directly estimated from the asymmetry of the geochemical profiles across individual layers.     

Object-oriented data modelling for spatial databases

Data modelling is a critical stage of database design. Recent research has focused upon object-oriented data models, which appear more appropriate for certain applications than either the traditional relational model or the entity-relationship approach. The object-oriented approach has proved to be especially fruitful in application areas, such as the design of geographical information systems which have a richly structured knowledge domain and are associated with multimedia databases. This article discusses the key concepts in object-oriented modelling and demonstrates the applicability of an object-oriented design methodology to the design of geographical information systems. In order to show more clearly how this methodology may be applied, the paper considers the specific object-oriented data model IFO. Standard cartographic primitives are represented using IFO, which are then used in the modelling of some standard administrative units in the United Kingdom. The paper concludes by discussing current research issues and directions in this area.     

Evolution of the symbiotic star AS 338 after its strong outburst in 1983

The photometric UBV observations of AS 338 that we began after its outburst in 1983 are presented. They were accompanied by yearly spectroscopic observations and by occasional estimations of the star’s infrared JHKL magnitudes. In June 1993, the star’s optical spectrum was extended to the ultraviolet via IUE observations of AS 338. Collectively, the above observations make it possible to trace the evolution of stellar activity over a period of 15 years in various spectral ranges. In particular, a short-time return of the hot component of AS 338 to the state when He II lines reappeared in the star’s spectrum was noted in 1993. At this time, a blend of the C IV λλ5802 and 5812 lines, which is typical of Wolf-Rayet spectra, was detected in it. In June 1993, the temperature of the hot component was T _h ≈ 8.8 × 10⁴ K, and the ratio of its bolometric flux to that of the red giant was F _{h, bol}/F _{g, bol} ≈ 1.0. In August, its temperature increased to ～1.0×10⁵ K, while the bolometric flux dropped by a factor of ～1.5(F _{h, bol}/F _{g, bol} ≈ 0.7). In the B-V, U diagram, the points referring to this so-called quiescent state form a separate group shifted in B-V from all the remaining ones located in a horizontal strip with $\Delta U \approx 3\mathop .\limits^m 5$ and $\Delta (B - V) \approx 0\mathop .\limits^m 4$ . This allows us to diagnose the state of the hot component without spectroscopic observations of the star. In October 1993, the hot component flared up again. The main brightness rise took no more than 19 days. The outburst occurred shortly before eclipse egress of the hot component, whose duration was ～0.01P _orb. In December 1993, F _{h, bol}/F _{g, bol}≤1.5 at maximum light. During the recurrent, even stronger outburst in April 1995, F _{h, bol}/F _{g, bol}≤3.4. The Hαline during outbursts has a P Cyg profile and broad wings stretching to velocities of ±1500 km s^?1. The color temperature of the active hot component at short optical wavelengths and in the ultraviolet lies in the range of effective temperatures for hot supergiants. Nevertheless, it always produces an H II region in the circumstellar envelope that is larger in size than this binary system.