Bottom sediments of the oldest reservoir in Moscow region

The methodological features and results of two soil surveys of the Senezh Reservoir carried out in 1992 and 2006 as a part of multidisciplinary limnological studies of this large recreation water body with the aim to monitor its ecological state and prepare recommendations for water protection measures are analyzed     

PML solution of longitudinal wave propagation in heterogeneous media

This paper describes the development of a model for unbounded heterogeneous domains with radiation damping produced by an unphysical wave absorbing layer. The Perfectly Matched Layer (PML) approach is used along with a displacement-based finite element. The heterogeneous model is validated using the closed-form solution of a benchmark problem: a free rod with two-part modulus subjected to a specified time history. Both elastically supported and unsupported semi-infinite rods with different degrees of inhomogeneity and loading are considered. Numerical results illustrate the effects of inhomogeneity on the response and are compared with those for equivalent homogeneous domains. The effects of characteristic features of the inhomogeneous problem, presence of local maxima and cut-off frequency are determined. A degenerate case of a homogeneous semi-infinite rod on elastic foundations is produced by tending the magnitude of the foundation stiffness to zero. The response of the latter is compared with that of a free rod. The importance of proper selection of the PML parameters to highly accurate and efficient results is demonstrated by example problems.     

It all comes out in the wash: Actualistic petrofacies modeling of temper provenance,Tonto Basin,Arizona, USA

Prehistoric potters frequently tempered their pottery with sand, the provenance of which can be established petrographically. In the Tonto Basin of central Arizona, the bedrock geology is highly variable, giving rise to geographically unique sands. Zones of sands with similar compositions can be modeled at an archaeologically relevant scale. Here we use the actualistic petrofacies concept, the Gazzi–Dickinson point‐counting technique, and multivariate statistics to create a petrofacies model, then apply it to sand‐tempered utilitarian pottery recovered from three Tonto Basin project areas. Data analysis reveals strong temporal and spatial ceramic production and consumption patterns. Production of pottery for exchange was established in at least one petrofacies ca. A.D. 600–950, with increasing specialization through time. By ca. A.D. 1150, corrugated wares had been added, and specialized production by ware was established in two petrofacies. Provenance evidence suggests different regional affiliations for groups in different parts of the basin. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The effect of nested grid sampling on the parameter estimation of a spatial Gompertz diffusion

This paper evaluates the effects of using data observed on regular nested grids on the parameter estimates of a two-parameter Gompertz diffusion model. This new spatial diffusion process represents a technically more complex stage of Gompertz modeling. Firstly, the diffusion model is introduced through an appropriate transformation of a two-parameter Gaussian diffusion process. Probabilistic characteristics of this model, such as the transition densities and the trend functions, are obtained. Secondly, statistical estimation is considered using data obtained on a regular or irregular grid; the explicit expression of the likelihood equations and the parameter estimators are given for regular grids. Finally, a simulation experiment illustrates the results of this paper.     

Main problems of water use and transfer of technology

Man and water are closely related in a dualistic manner: on one hand water has great influence on man's welfare and social development, on the other man's activities greatly affect water as such. Comparing the present and future water needs with water availability, the author concludes that some world regions should be considered as truly water scarce at least during the next generation. Man's activities create water problems which tend to change with time and exhibit a regional pattern. Many problems can be avoided if advance impact studies were made more regularly for planned water-related activities and projects. The author ends by stressing that differences in climate, hydrology, culture and dominating water problems tend to complicate the important process of transfer of knowledge between temperate and tropical countries.     

Implications of the colour distribution in the galaxy M82

Photographic measurements of the colour distribution in the irregular galaxy M82 are presented and interpreted in terms of a model of that galaxy. Two alternative models are discussed. In the first the galaxy consists of a disc of highly reddened OB-stars, whose scattered light is also seen in the halo, and a bulge of less reddened A—F stars. The direction of the inclination of the system, as inferred from this model, is opposite to that of LYNDS and SANDAGE (1963). The alternative inclination (second model) may possibly be preserved if one assumes a central dust ellipsoid reemitting scattered light from a central source of OB stars. If the velocities of the line emitting material refer to scattering particles, an inward motion of them is more probable than an outward one, irrespectively of the model, and the (dust) halo of the galaxy is probably contracting.