The crystal structure of waylandite from Wheal Remfry, Cornwall, United Kingdom

Sr- and Ca-rich waylandite, $ {\left( {{\hbox{B}}{{\hbox{i}}_{0.{54}}}{\hbox{S}}{{\hbox{r}}_{0.{31}}}{\hbox{C}}{{\hbox{a}}_{0.{25}}}{{\hbox{K}}_{0.0{1}}}{\hbox{B}}{{\hbox{a}}_{0.0{1}}}} \right)_{\Sigma 1.12}}{{\hbox{H}}_{0.{18}}}{\left( {{\hbox{A}}{{\hbox{l}}_{{2}.{96}}}{\hbox{C}}{{\hbox{u}}_{0.0{2}}}} \right)_{\Sigma 2.98}}{\left[ {{{\left( {{{\hbox{P}}_{0.{97}}}{{\hbox{S}}_{0.0{3}}}{\hbox{S}}{{\hbox{i}}_{0.0{1}}}} \right)}_{\Sigma 1.00}}{{\hbox{O}}_4}} \right]_2}{\left( {\hbox{OH}} \right)_6} $ , from Wheal Remfry, Cornwall, United Kingdom has been investigated by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analyses. Waylandite crystallises in space group R $ \overline 3 $ ? m, with the cell parameters: a?=?7.0059(7) Å, c?=?16.3431(12) Å and V?=?694.69(11) ų. The crystal structure has been refined to R ₁?=?3.76%. Waylandite has an alunite-type structure comprised of a rhombohedral stacking of (001) composite layers of corner-shared AlO₆ octahedra and PO₄ tetrahedra, with (Bi,Sr,Ca) atoms occupying icosahedrally coordinated sites between the layers.     

Testing the credibility of historical newspaper reporting of extreme climate and weather events

In recent years, newspaper research has been streamlined by digitisation and online hosting by PapersPast. This paper tests the reliability and credibility of reporting of extreme weather and climatic events through PapersPast to determine if newspaper research of past climate can be further streamlined. Searches were conducted through four early‐20th‐century Auckland newspapers, where counts of articles returned by key‐word searches for particular periods were compared against periods of known extremes. We find that blind searches have only limited potential in identifying extreme weather and climatic events and that they are no substitute for thorough analyses of documentary sources.     

Public perceptions of rainfall change in India

People’s perceptions of changes in local weather patterns are an important precursor to proactive adaptation to climate change. In this paper, we consider public perceptions of changes in average rainfall in India, analyzing the relationship between perceptions and the instrumental record. Using data from a national sample survey, we find that local instrumental records of precipitation are a strong predictor of perceived declines in rainfall. Perceptions of decreasing rainfall were also associated with perceptions of changes in extreme weather events, such as decreasing frequency of floods and severe storms, increasing frequency of droughts, and decreasing predictability of the monsoon. Higher social vulnerability—including low perceived adaptive capacity and greater food and livelihood dependence on local weather—was also associated with perceptions of decreasing rainfall. While both urban and rural respondents were likely to perceive local changes in precipitation, we show that rural respondents in general were more sensitive to actual changes in precipitation. Individual perceptions of changes in local climate may play an important role in shaping vulnerability to global climate change, adaptive behavior, and support for adaptation and mitigation policies. Awareness of local climate change is therefore particularly important in regions where much of the population is highly exposed and sensitive to the impacts of climate change.     

The Little Ice Age climate of New Zealand reconstructed from Southern Alps cirque glaciers: a synoptic type approach

Little Ice Age (LIA) austral summer temperature anomalies were derived from palaeoequilibrium line altitudes at 22 cirque glacier sites across the Southern Alps of New Zealand. Modern analog seasons with temperature anomalies akin to the LIA reconstructions were selected, and then applied in a sampling of high-resolution gridded New Zealand climate data and global reanalysis data to generate LIA climate composites at local, regional and hemispheric scales. The composite anomaly patterns assist in improving our understanding of atmospheric circulation contributions to the LIA climate state, allow an interrogation of synoptic type frequency changes for the LIA relative to present, and provide a hemispheric context of the past conditions in New Zealand. An LIA summer temperature anomaly of ?0.56 °C (±0.29 °C) for the Southern Alps based on palaeo-equilibrium lines compares well with local tree-ring reconstructions of austral summer temperature. Reconstructed geopotential height at 1,000 hPa (z1000) suggests enhanced southwesterly flow across New Zealand occurred during the LIA to generate the terrestrial temperature anomalies. The mean atmospheric circulation pattern for summer resulted from a crucial reduction of the ‘HSE’-blocking synoptic type (highs over and to the west of NZ; largely settled conditions) and increases in both the ‘T’- and ‘SW’-trough synoptic types (lows passing over NZ; enhanced southerly and southwesterly flow) relative to normal. Associated land-based temperature and precipitation anomalies suggest both colder- and wetter-than-normal conditions were a pervasive component of the base climate state across New Zealand during the LIA, as were colder-than-normal Tasman Sea surface temperatures. Proxy temperature and circulation evidence were used to corroborate the spatially heterogeneous Southern Hemisphere composite z1000 and sea surface temperature patterns generated in this study. A comparison of the composites to climate mode archetypes suggests LIA summer climate and atmospheric circulation over New Zealand was driven by increased frequency of weak El Niño-Modoki in the tropical Pacific and negative Southern Annular Mode activity.     

Groundwater flux as a determinant of coastal-zone upland loss: a case study from the Pennsylvania coast of Lake Erie,USA

Climate change in the Great Lakes Basin of North America over the next several decades is projected to lead to significant changes to coastal environments. Groundwater-driven coastal bluff recession should increase in areas where groundwater forcing is important and lead to increased loss of coastal uplands. The latter is an issue in NW Pennsylvania because of coastal development pressures, and because the state ranks within the top five US states in grape production, most of which occurs within 5 km of the Lake Erie coastline. In 2007, viticulture contributed almost $2.4 billion to the state economy. An analysis of a 20-km stretch of coast shows that bluff retreat is pervasive and variable under current climatic conditions. Over a 9-year time frame, bluff change rates ranged from ?4.2 to +0.98 m/year. In general, higher retreat rates (?0.2 to ?0.65 m/year) occurred along the sandy central beach–ridge sector which lacks significant surface drainage. Lower retreat rates (?0.10 to ?0.25 m/year) occurred along coastal sectors where surface drainage networks are well developed. Conservative estimates of groundwater discharge at the bluff correlate strongly (r = 0.74, p < 0.001) with bluff retreat rate. Groundwater is inferred to be the principal driving mechanism for both bluff retreat and spatial variability in retreat rates on this coast. Other common factors that may spatially influence bluff retreat elsewhere (bluff height, land use, beach width) do not correlate strongly with retreat rate.     

Streamflow response to regional climate model output in the mountainous watershed: a case study from the Swiss Alps

Regional climate model (RCM) outputs are often used in hydrological modeling, in particular for streamflow forecasting. The heterogeneity of the meteorological variables such as precipitation, temperature, wind speed and solar radiation often limits the ability of the hydrological model performance. This paper assessed the sensitivity of RCM outputs from the PRUDENCE project and their performance in reproducing the streamflow. The soil and water assessment tool was used to simulate the streamflow of the Rhone River watershed located in the southwestern part of Switzerland, with the climate variables obtained from four RCMs. We analyzed the difference in magnitude of precipitation, maximum and minimum air temperature, and wind speed with respect to the observed values from the meteorological stations. In addition, we also focused on the impact of the grid resolution on model performance, by analyzing grids with resolutions of 50 × 50 and 25 × 25 km². The variability of the meteorological inputs from various RCMs is quite severe in the studied watershed. Among the four different RCMs, the Danish Meteorological Institute provided the best performance when simulating runoff. We found that temperature lapse rate is significantly important in the mountainous snow and glacier dominated watershed as compared to other variables like precipitation, and wind speed for hydrological performance. Therefore, emphasis should be given to minimum and maximum temperature in the bias correction studies for downscaling climatic data for impact modeling in the mountainous snow and glacier dominated complex watersheds.     

Multi-risk governance for natural hazards in Naples and Guadeloupe

Technical and institutional capacities are strongly related and must be jointly developed to guarantee effective natural risk governance. Indeed, the available technical solutions and decision support tools influence the development of institutional frameworks and disaster policies. This paper analyses technical and institutional capacities, by providing a comparative evaluation of governance systems in Italy and France. The focus is on two case studies: Naples and Guadeloupe. Both areas are exposed to multiple hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, tsunamis, fires, cyclones, and marine inundations Cascade and conjoint effects such as seismic swarms triggered by volcanic activity have also been taken into account. The research design is based on a documentary analysis of laws and policy documents informed by semi-structured interviews and focus groups with stakeholders at the local level. This leads to the identification of three sets of governance characteristics that cover the key issues of: (1) stakeholders and governance level; (2) decision support tools and mitigation measures; and (3) stakeholder cooperation and communication. The results provide an overview of the similarities and differences as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the governance systems across risks. Both case studies have developed adequate decision support tools for most of the hazards of concern. Warning systems, and the assessment of hazards and exposure are the main strengths. While technical/scientific capacities are very well developed, the main weaknesses involve the interagency communication and cooperation, and the use and dissemination of scientific knowledge when developing policies and practices. The consequences for multi-risk governance are outlined in the discussion.     

Petroleum geoscience in Norden - exploration, production and organization

Offshore exploration in Norway and Denmark-in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea-has involved drilling about 850 wildcat wells, resulting in about 300 oil and gas finds, of which 84 are fields with production. The recoverable resources of all these finds total about 65 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Almost all these hydrocarbons come from a Jurassic source and the main reservoirs and traps are Jurassic sandstones in fault blocks and Paleocene sandstones or Cretaceous chalks in gentle domes. The article describes four major fields-Ekofisk, Gullfaks, Ormen Lange and SnФhvitto illustrate some of the many challenges in developing and producing the hydrocarbons.
Elsewhere in Norden, there has been much less exploration. Drilling results have mostly been negative in mainland Sweden, onshore Denmark, onshore Svalbard and on- and offshore West Greenland. Minor oil finds have been made in Palaeozoic rocks in the Baltic Sea. The first wells have recently been drilled off the Faroe Islands, resulting in one discovery. No drilling has taken place on- or offshore East Greenland.
As a result of the hydrocarbon activities in Norway and Denmark, petroleum geoscience there has flourished, with 2000 geoscientists currently employed in the industry, many technical innovations made, a wealth of publically available information and a great increase in the understanding of the geology.     

Laboratory Research into Permeable Reactive Barriers for Groundwater Remediation

Permeable Reactive Barriers (PRB) is a new technology for groundwater pollution remediation. Contaminants are converted into harmless by products in situ as the polluted water passes through a reactive wall. Experimental results demonstrate how reactive media can be used to remove contaminants from polluted water by laying the reactive wall across the flow direction of the water. The most comprehensively studied and applied reactive barrier type uses granulated Zero Valent Iron (ZVI) particles. In this process elemental iron provides a reducing environment which makes reductive dechlorination of chlorinated organic compounds feasible or changes redox sensitive metals, so that they are immobilized by a precipitation reaction. A reactive wall column which is made up of ZVI, sand and zeolite has shown the highest contaminant removal capacity compared to the other two which have different components. The potentials of ZVI, zeolite and Powdered Activated Carbon (PAC) to remove contaminants are due to their different physico-chemical proper-ties which make them to "sorb"metal contaminants. The results of this experiment show that PRB technology is an efficient method for the treatment of leachate-contaminated groundwater.