Joint Estimation of Gross Recharge,Groundwater Usage,and Hydraulic Properties within HydroSight

Groundwater management decisions are often founded upon estimates of aquifer hydraulic properties, recharge and the rate of groundwater usage. Too often hydraulic properties are unavailable, recharge estimates are very uncertain, and usage is unmetered or infrequently metered over only recent years or estimated using numerical groundwater models decoupled from the drivers of drawdown. This paper extends the HydroSight groundwater time-series package ( http://peterson-tim-j.github.io/HydroSight/ ) to allow the joint estimation of gross recharge, transmissivity, storativity, and daily usage at multiple production bores. A genetic evolutionary scheme was extended from estimating time-series model parameters to also estimating time series of usage that honor metered volumes at each production bore and produces (1) the best fit with the observed hydrograph and (2) plausible estimates of actual evapotranspiration and hence recharge. The reliability of the approach was rigorously tested. Repeated calibration of models for four bores produced estimates of transmissivity, storativity, and mean recharge that varied by a factor of 0.22-0.32, 0.13-0.2, and 0.03-0.48, respectively, when recharge boundary effects were low and the error in monthly, quarterly, and biannual metered usage was generally <10%. Application to the 30 observation bores within the Warrion groundwater management area (Australia), produced a coefficient of efficiency of ≥0.80 at 22 bores and ≥0.90 at 12 bores. The aquifer transmissivity and storativity were reasonably estimated, and were consistent with independent estimates, while mean gross recharge may be slightly overestimated. Overall, the approach allows greater insights from the available data and provides opportunity for the exploration of usage and climatic scenarios.     

Monitoring soil erosion on agricultural land: results and implications for the Rother valley,West Sussex,UK

Monitoring has played a key role in understanding the rates, extent and frequency of erosion on agricultural land and this includes projects in Switzerland, Germany and the UK. In this case we focus on highly erodible soils in the Rother valley, West Sussex, southern England on which grow a range of arable crops throughout the year. Erosion rates and extent are high, particularly in response to exceptionally wet periods in the early winter. In the monitored period, rates on summer crops were relatively low due to an absence of intense summer storms. In the years 2015–2020, erosion was localized to where limited areas of bare ground coincided with heavy winter rainfall. Issues of river pollution, associated with excessive sedimentation, off-site flooding and a high degree of connectivity between arable fields and the river, are of increasing concern. Mitigation measures need to be expanded to protect freshwater systems and properties. This study has implications for similar programmes in intensely farmed regions. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Places of the Holocaust: Towards a model of GIS of place

Progress toward developing a GIS of place can only follow from an understanding of what place is, and this understanding draws on geographical theory. Here—following Agnew, Tuan, and others—we consider place as being made up of three components—location, locale, and sense of place—which are recognizable at multiple scales and vary historically as a product of social and political processes. Using the testimonies of two survivors of the Holocaust, we sketch the components of a model for a GIS of place that allows for this theory of place to be visualized and analyzed. The model is, crucially, both multi‐scalar and sensitive to uncertainty, as a GIS of place needs to be able to zoom in and out of the different scales at which place is experienced, as well as capture both uncertain data and uncertainty as data. We see potential in the representations proposed for scaling up from the anecdotal to the general in the sense that any narrative can be grouped and classified according to places and scales as shown here. The challenge in developing a GIS of place along the lines we propose here is to design a new set of functionalities that can do so.     

A review of the chondrite–achondrite transition,and a metamorphic facies series for equilibrated primitive stony meteorites

Here, the petrological features of numerous primitive achondrites and highly equilibrated chondrites are evaluated to review and expand upon our knowledge of the chondrite–achondrite transition, and primitive achondrites in general. A thermodynamic model for the initial silicate melting temperature and progressive melting for nearly the entire known range of oxidation states is provided, which can be expressed as T_m = 0.035Fa²?3.51Fa + 1109 (in °C, where Fa is the proportion of fayalite in olivine). This model is then used to frame a discussion of textural and mineralogical evolution of stony meteorites with increasing temperature. We suggest that the metamorphic petrology of these meteorites should be based on diffusive equilibration among the silicate minerals, and as such, the chondrite–achondrite transition should be defined by the initial point of silicate melting, not by metal–troilite melting. Evidence of silicate melting is preserved by a distinctive texture of interconnected interstitial plagioclase ± pyroxene networks among rounded olivine and/or pyroxene (depending on ?O₂), which pseudomorph the former silicate melt network. Indirectly, the presence of exsolution lamellae in augite in slowly cooled achondrites also implies that silicate melting occurred because of the high temperatures required, and because silicate melt enhances diffusion. A metamorphic facies series is defined: the Plagioclase Facies is equivalent to petrologic types 5 and 6, the Sub‐calcic Augite Facies is bounded at lower temperatures by the initiation of silicate melting and at higher temperatures by the appearance of pigeonite, which marks the transition to the Pigeonite Facies.     

The stratigraphic record of minibasin subsidence,Precaspian Basin,Kazakhstan

Minibasins are fundamental components of many salt-bearing sedimentary basins, where they may host large volumes of hydrocarbons. Although we understand the basic mechanics governing their subsidence, we know surprisingly little of how minibasins subside in three-dimensions over geological timescales, or what controls such variability. Such knowledge would improve our ability to constrain initial salt volumes in sedimentary basins, the timing of salt welding and the distribution and likely charging histories of suprasalt hydrocarbon reservoirs. We use 3D seismic reflection data from the Precaspian Basin, onshore Kazakhstan to reveal the subsidence histories of 16, Upper Permian-to-Triassic, suprasalt minibasins. These minibasins subsided into a Lower-to-Middle Permian salt layer that contained numerous relatively strong, clastic-dominated minibasins encased during an earlier, latest Permian phase of diapirism; because of this, the salt varied in thickness. Suprasalt minibasins contain a stratigraphic record of symmetric (bowl-shaped units) and then asymmetric (wedge-shaped units) subsidence, with this change in style seemingly occurring at different times in different minibasins, and most likely prior to welding. We complement our observations from natural minibasins in the Precaspian Basin with results arising from new physical sandbox models; this allows us to explore the potential controls on minibasin subsidence patterns, before assessing which of these might be applicable to our natural example. We conclude that due to uncertainties in the original spatial relationships between encased and suprasalt minibasins, and the timing of changes in style of subsidence between individual minibasins, it is unclear why such complex temporal and spatial variations in subsidence occur in the Precaspian Basin. Regardless of what controls the observed variability, we argue that vertical changes in minibasin stratigraphic architecture may not record the initial (depositional) thickness of underlying salt or the timing of salt welding; this latter point is critical when attempting to constrain the timing of potential hydraulic communication between sub-salt source rocks and suprasalt reservoirs. Furthermore, temporal changes in minibasin subsidence style will likely control suprasalt reservoir distribution and trapping style.     

Liberal Intergovernmentalism,Historical Institutionalism,and British and German perceptions of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy

The aim of this paper is to determine whether British and German sea fisheries policies have been shaped by domestic factors or by European Union (EU) institutions. To achieve this aim, British and German perceptions of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) were compared using two alternative theories of EU integration: Moravscik's Liberal Intergovernmentalism and Pierson's Historical Institutionalism. The perceptions of three sets of respondents—fisheries scientists, fishers, and politicians—were investigated in each country to determine whether they saw the CFP as a means of attaining their own nation's domestic fisheries agenda (as Liberal Intergovernmentalism would argue), or as an institutional champion of European fisheries as a whole (as might be predicted by Historical Institutionalism). The article concludes that although there were elements of both theories evident in each country's perceptions, British perceptions were more strongly indicative of Historical Institutionalism than Liberal Intergovernmentalism, and German perceptions were more strongly indicative of Liberal Intergovernmentalism than Historical Institutionalism. This difference is exemplified in Britain's euroscepticism (which sees EU institutions as obstacles to British fisheries’ interests), and Germany's environmentalism (which sees EU institutions as synchronising with Germany's national priorities).     

Quota discarding and distributive justice: The case of the under-10 m fishing fleet in Sussex,England

Marine fish discarding has become a contentious environmental issue, but little attention has been paid to the moral grievances that sometimes underlie discarding practices. This article explores such a moral grievance through a case study of the under-10 m fishery in Sussex, England, where discarding of cod (Gadus morhua) has become a highly charged issue, skippers blaming it on unjust quota allocations. The moral claim to a greater quota allocation is analysed using two conceptions of distributive justice, entitlement and desert. The conclusion reached is that the under-10 m fleet’s entitlement arguments for a higher quota are weaker than their desert arguments, but that entitlement arguments weigh more heavily than desert arguments with government when it allocates quota.     

热力和动力环境因子对与台风“海燕”路径相似的两类台风强度的相对贡献

本文分析了热力、动力环境因子对与百年一遇超强台风“海燕”有相似路径的热带气旋的强度的影响。为了定量分析环境因子的相对重要性,将相似路径下的台风分为超强台风和一般台风两类。结果表明,相较于动力因子,热力因子对生成超强台风更为重要。根据BDI(Box Difference Index)指数的排序,选择925 hPa湿静力能MSE(Moist Static Energy)、950 hPa比湿、900 hPa温度作为重要预测因子来判断是否生成超强台风。此外,海洋热容量和台风移动速度在两类台风中有着明显差异,也可以作为辅助预测因子。最后,用WRF模式(Weather Research and Forecasting)设计理想数值试验,揭示环境温度和水汽垂直剖面对台风强度影响的相对重要性。敏感性试验结果表明,环境水汽和温度的相对贡献比约为1∶4,它们的共同作用使得相似路径下的一般台风可以发展成为超强台风。     

A review of human and natural changes in Maya Lowland wetlands over the Holocene

In the Maya Lowlands of Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala two main types of wetlands have played important roles in human history: bajos or intermittently wet environments of the upland, interior Yucatán and perennial wetlands of the coastal plains. Many of the most important Maya sites encircle the bajos, though our growing evidence for human–wetland interactions is still sparse. The deposits of these wetlands record two main eras of slope instability and wetland aggradation: the Pleistocene–Holocene transition as rainfall increased and forests eclipsed savannas and the Maya Preclassic to Classic as deforestation, land-use intensity, and drying increased. The ancient Maya adapted with terraces around these bajo margins but retracted in the Late Preclassic in some areas. The perennial wetlands of the coastal plains have different histories, and the first conceptual model of human–wetland interaction described intensive wetland agriculture in the Preclassic through Classic based on raised fields and canals. But a second model arose that interpreted the wetland stratigraphy and canals as more indicative of natural aggradation by accelerated erosion and gypsum precipitation that buried Archaic and Preclassic fields and there was little Classic era use. We present new data on a third and fourth model in this study. The third is a hybrid of the models one and two, including the Archaic to Preclassic aggradation of the second model, and the first model's Classic period fields and canals as piecemeal attempts by the Maya to adapt to these and other environmental changes. The fourth conceptual model describes a very Late/Terminal Classic, preplanned project on a floodplain. These wetland fields were short-lived, aggraded rapidly but with some reoccupation in the Postclassic. All of these new models display the burgeoning evidence for intricate Maya interactions with wetlands, and the diversity of evidence from the relatively few studies underscores the infancy of our understanding of Maya interaction with tropical wetlands.