Relationship between sediments and their igneous source rocks using clay mineral multi-element chemistry: the Cenozoic lacustrine Anloua basin (Adamaoua, Cameroon)

The Cenozoic lacustrine basin of Anloua (Adamaoua, Cameroon), is filled with the weathering products of the surrounding rocks. In order to determine the origin of these sediments, multi-element, especially trace element, analysis of their < 2 μm fraction was undertaken. The chemical compositions of these fractions were compared with those of the rocks surrounding the basin by multivariate statistical analysis and also graphically. A principal component analysis allowed the most discriminant elements to be selected, and a hierarchical ascending classification (HAC) made with these elements divided the samples into groups. Some of these groups contain < 2 μm fractions of both the lake sediments and surrounding rocks. These sediments are determined as deriving by weathering from the surrounding rocks. Some of the other groups contain no samples from the surrounding rocks and their petrographic origin cannot be given. A graphic comparison of the relative amounts of the elements (determined by HAC) from the < 2 μm fractions of the various groups and the rocks surrounding the basin allowed attribution of a petrographic origin for the various sediments analysed by using the fit between the curves.

The clay mineralogy, the amounts of Ti, Zr, and heavy minerals in the < 2 μm fractions and their distribution in the area studied, as well as the presence of angular quartzite pebbles in some sediments gives an indication of the paleogeography of the Anloua basin. There was deltaic input towards the north and a high energy input, possibly torrential, to the west.     

Infrared absorption spectra of atmospheric dust over an interior desert basin

Summary Based on the qualitative microspectrophotometric analysis of 287 atmospheric dust samples taken within the surface boundary layer over south central New Mexico, U.S.A. from May 1966 through October 1967, a representative infrared absorption spectrum from 4000 to 250 cm^–1 (2.5 to 40 m) is presented. The strongest absorption band is centered at 1027 cm^–1 (9,7 m), within the 1250 to 770 cm^–1 (8 to 13 m) atmospheric window, and is silicate induced. Two other strong broad absorption bands are the carbonate band at 1425 cm^–1 (7.0 m) and the silicate band at 468 cm^–1 (21.4 m). Temporal variations in the absorption spectra of the dust are observed primarily in the varying relative intensities of the 1027 and 1425 cm^–1 (9.7 and 7.0 m) absorption bands and in the occasional enhancement of the 1027 cm^–1 (9.7 m) band caused by sulfates in the dust. This study indicates that there is a close similarity between the absorption spectra of the atmospheric dust and the spectra of the small particle fraction of area soils, and between the representative dust spectrum and a spectrum of a synthetic mixture (by weight) of 80% silicates, 16% carbonates, and 4% nitrates.     

State Legitimacy and the Unending Crisis of Petrol Subsidy Reforms in Nigeria

Why would the citizens of an oil-producing state continually resist reform-induced petrol price increases, even when subsidy payments are proved to be a serious threat to the capacity of the state to deliver its core constitutional mandates? In this paper, we tackle this question by contending that the difficulty in petrol subsidy implementation in a country like Nigeria has more to do with the clear lack of state legitimacy and public trust, and the recorded cases of political instability entrenched by forced attempts at reforms. By contextualizing the reform efforts in Nigeria within the framework of the relationship between state legitimacy and reforms, we are able to provide valid insights to a broader understanding of the “whys” of public resistance to the authority of the state to enforce reform. The Nigerian case, as revealed in this article, provides evidence of a shift in paradigm from the conventional and dominant Weberian emphasis of state legitimacy around the nature and sources of state authorities to a more functional context of citizens’ perception of the governance process as a source of legitimacy.     

Adaptive variability to low‐pH river discharges in Acartia tonsa and stress responses to high PCO2 conditions

Environmental transitions leading to spatial physical–chemical gradients are of ecological and evolutionary interest because they are able to induce variations in phenotypic plasticity. Thus, the adaptive variability to low‐pH river discharges may drive divergent stress responses [ingestion rates (IR) and expression of stress‐related genes such as Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) and Ferritin] in the neritic copepod Acartia tonsa facing changes in the marine chemistry associated to ocean acidification (OA). These responses were tested in copepod populations inhabiting two environments with contrasting carbonate system parameters (an estuarine versus coastal area) in the Southern Pacific Ocean, and assessing an in situ and 96‐h experimental incubation under conditions of high pressure of CO₂ (_PCO₂ 1200 ppm). Adaptive variability was a determining factor in driving variability of copepods' responses. Thus, the food‐rich but colder and corrosive estuary induced a traits trade‐off expressed as depressed IR under in situ conditions. However, this experience allowed these copepods to tolerate further exposure to high _PCO₂ levels better, as their IRs were on average 43% higher than those of the coastal individuals. Indeed, expression of both the Hsp70 and Ferritin genes in coastal copepods was significantly higher after acclimation to high _PCO₂ conditions. Along with other recent evidence, our findings confirm that adaptation to local fluctuations in seawater pH seems to play a significant role in the response of planktonic populations to OA‐associated conditions. Facing the environmental threat represented by the inter‐play between multiple drivers of climate change, this biological feature should be examined in detail as a potential tool for risk mitigation policies in coastal management arrangements.     

Effects of the southern oscillation on the probability for climatic categories of monthly rainfall, in a semi-arid region in the southern mid-latitudes

In many regions of the world, planning agricultural and water management activities is usually done based on probabilities for monthly rainfall, taking on values on specified intervals of values. These intervals of monthly rainfall amounts are commonly grouped into three categories: drought, normal rainfall, and abundant rainfall. Changes in the probabilities for occurrence of monthly rainfall amounts within these climatic rainfall categories will influence the decisions farmers and water managers will take (for example, crops to cultivate, flood preparedness, and operations of water reservoirs). This research explores the changes produced by the SO (Southern Oscillation) on the probability that the areal average of monthly rainfall (AAvMR) takes on values belonging to specified climatic rainfall categories. The semi-arid region under study is a major agricultural region in central Argentina; weather effects on agriculture in this region influence the world market of several crops. The evolution of the Southern Oscillation was divided into three phases: LSOI (low Southern Oscillation index phase, that includes ENSO events), NSOI (neutral SOI phase), and HSOI (high SOI phase that includes La Niña–SO events). The following are the criteria defining the three phases of the SO: (1) low SOI (ENSO), where the five-month moving average of the SO index, SOI, is less than −0.5 standard deviation during at least five consecutive months, and is equal to or less than −1 standard deviation during at least one month; (2) high SOI (La Niña–SO), where the SOI is greater than 0.5 standard deviation during at least five consecutive months, and is equal to or greater than 1 standard deviation during at least one month; and (3) neutral SOI (transition between extremes), where the SOI does not correspond to low SOI nor to high SOI. It was found that the Southern Oscillation influences the probability distribution of monthly rainfall only in four months of the year. Findings show that monthly rainfall has a complex response to the evolution of the SO. The response is not restricted to higher probability for occurrence of abundant rainfall or drought categories during low SOI (ENSO) or high SOI (La Niña–SO) episodes, respectively. The LSOI (ENSO) phase influences the AAvMR in several ways: depending on the month, it increases or decreases the probability of the abundant rainfall category. LSOI (ENSO) also increases or decreases, depending on the month, the probability of the normal rainfall category. It also decreases the probability that AAvMR takes on values in the drought category. A similar kind of complex response of monthly rainfall amounts occurs when the active phase is the HSOI (La Niña–SO). The responses are: (1) the probability of the category `drought' increases only in three months of the year, (2) increase or decrease of the probability of the normal rainfall category, depending on the month, and (3) decrease of the probability of the abundant rainfall category. Finally, the effects of NSOI (neutral phase of the SO) are not negligible. Depending on the month, NSOI episodes increase or decrease the probability of drought, or abundant rainfall, or normal rainfall categories.     

500 hPa Vorticity Analyses over Argentina: Their Climatologyand Capacity to Distinguish Synoptic-Scale Precipitation

Summary The Southern South America climatological 500 hPa relative vorticity mean state was examined using regional objective analyses of 500 hPa geopotential heights provided by the Servicio Meteorológico Nacional of Argentina. The dataset, covering the period June 1983 to July 1987, was stratified into two samples: the cold and warm seasons. Mean cyclonic vorticity south of 40° S results in a climatological trough over Patagonia with a northwest-southeast tilt. North of this latitude, mean anticyclonic circulation dominates with the exception of a centre of cyclonic vorticity over the Río de la Plata (35° S, 56° W). Seasonal changes appear to be small. Relative vorticity frequency distributions were also analysed. The association between precipitation and synoptic-scale features of the mid-troposphere circulation was investigated through vorticity fields. A particular distribution of vorticity anomalies associated with daily precipitation in Buenos Aires is revealed by biserial correlation coefficient fields. In winter, the strongest relationships are found between 35° S and 40° S over the Andes Mountains (minimum significant correlation coefficients indicating a cyclonic vorticity anomaly), and in the south of Brazil and east of Buenos Aires over the Atlantic Ocean down to a latitude of 40° S (maximum correlation coefficients related to anomalously anticyclonic circulation). This shows the preferential position of troughs and ridges that produce precipitation in Buenos Aires on the time scale of a day. In summer, centres of anomalously cyclonic and anticyclonic vorticity associated with precipitation shift slightly southward. For moderate or intense precipitation in Buenos Aires, advection of warm and wet air southwards appears to be more important in winter, while in summer the strong anomalous vorticity gradient north of the negative centre over the Andes Cordillera favours rainfall in Buenos Aires. Received April 17, 1997     

Land use change increases flood hazard: a multi-modelling approach to assess change in flood characteristics driven by socio-economic land use change scenarios

Natural Hazards - We analysed in the work how change in land use/land cover influences on flood characteristics (frequency and magnitude) using a model inter-comparison approach, statistical...     

Parametrizing surface wave tomographic models with harmonic spherical splines

We present a mathematical framework and a new methodology for the parametrization of surface wave phase-speed models, based on traveltime data. Our method is neither purely local, like block-based approaches, nor is it purely global, like those based on spherical harmonic basis functions. Rather, it combines the well-known theory and practical utility of the spherical harmonics with the spatial localization properties of spline basis functions. We derive the theoretical foundations for the application of harmonic spherical splines to surface wave tomography and summarize the results of numerous numerical tests illustrating the performance of a practical inversion scheme based upon them. Our presentation is based on the notion of reproducing-kernel Hilbert spaces, which lends itself to the parametrization of fully 3-D tomographic earth models that include body waves as well.     

Late slowdown of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation during the Last Glacial Inception: New constraints from sedimentary (231Pa/230Th)

Our study gives new constraints on the response of Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) export to various forcings during the Last Glacial Inception. The decay corrected excess sedimentary (²³¹Pa/²³⁰Th) activity ratio (hereafter referred to as (Pa/Th)) has been measured over that period in two deep cores from the Western (SU90-11, 44°04′N, 40°01′W, 3645 m) and Eastern (MD01-2446, 39°03′N, 12°37′W, 3547 m) basins of the North Atlantic. Both records display significant changes despite the relatively short half-life of ²³¹Pa (～ 32 kyr) compared to the period we investigate. The (Pa/Th) variability does not correlate to changes in local opal flux normalized to ²³⁰Th. Moreover, the (Pa/Th) profiles display a high degree of coherency with indirect proxies of AMOC activity such as the benthic foraminifera δ¹³C and the mid-latitude summer Sea Surface Temperature in nearby reference cores. These additional pieces of evidence support our interpretation of the (Pa/Th) as reflecting AMOC export. The (Pa/Th) repeatedly underwent rapid changes during the Last Glacial Inception associated with the extension of ice rafted detritus in the North Atlantic, highlighting the control of ice-sheet dynamics through freshwater forcing on AMOC export. AMOC export remains large during periods of ice-sheet growth and its decreases lag the Northern Hemisphere summer insolation forcing. AMOC modulation appears driven by ice-sheet dynamics, itself driven by the seasonal insolation gradient between low and high Northern Hemisphere latitudes and the associated intensity of the meridional oceanic and atmospheric circulation.