Air-based measurements of permeability in pebbly sands

We considered small-scale measurement of permeability in pebbly sands having coarser grains supported in a finer grained matrix (fine packing). Our central question was whether air-based measurements are representative if made with a permeameter tip seal pressed in the sand matrix. We created pebbly sands and variably sorted sands, with systematic variation in aspects of their fine packing. We made permeability measurements by inserting the tip seal of an air permeameter in the matrix of these samples and compared them to the permeability of the composite sample determined by both water-based methods and theory. The air-permeameter measurements made in this way represent the permeability of the composite mixtures of coarser and finer grains and allow for the discernment of permeability between samples with different matrix compositions, ranging from fine to coarse sand. Furthermore, the collective results show that permeability differences in the pebbly sands and variably sorted sands with fine packing, however measured, are primarily due to differences in matrix permeability and not due to differences in the size or the percentage of the coarser grains.     

A simplified model for lateral response of large diameter caisson foundations—Linear elastic formulation

The transient response of large embedded foundation elements of length-to-diameter aspect ratio D/B=2–6 is characterized by a complex stress distribution at the pier–soil interface that cannot be adequately represented by means of existing models for shallow foundations or flexible piles. On the other hand, while three-dimensional (3D) numerical solutions are feasible, they are infrequently employed in practice due to their associated cost and effort. Prompted by the scarcity of simplified models for design in current practice, we here develop an analytical model that accounts for the multitude of soil resistance mechanisms mobilized at their base and circumference, while retaining the advantages of simplified methodologies for the design of non-critical facilities. The characteristics of soil resistance mechanisms and corresponding complex spring functions are developed on the basis of finite element simulations, by equating the stiffness matrix terms and/or overall numerically computed response to the analytical expressions derived by means of the proposed Winkler model. Sensitivity analyses are performed for the optimization of the truncated numerical domain size, the optimal finite element size and the far-field dynamic boundary conditions to avoid spurious wave reflections. Numerical simulations of the transient system response to vertically propagating shear waves are next successfully compared to the analytically predicted response. Finally, the applicability of the method is assessed for soil profiles with depth-varying properties. The formulation of frequency-dependent complex spring functions including material damping is also described, while extension of the methodology to account for nonlinear soil behavior and soil–foundation interface separation is described in the conclusion and is being currently investigated.     

Relative sea-level history from the Lambert Glacier region, East Antarctica, and its relation to deglaciation and Holocene glacier readvance

We present a relative sea-level (RSL) history, constrained by AMS radiocarbon-dated marine-freshwater transitions in isolation basins from a site adjacent to the Lambert Glacier, East Antarctica. The RSL data suggest an initial ice retreat between c. 15,370 and 12,660 cal yr B.P.. Within this period, meltwater pulse IA (mwp IA, between c. 14,600-14,200 and 14,100-13,700 cal yr B.P.) occurred; an exceptionally large ice melting event, inferred from far-field sea-level records. The RSL curve shows a pronounced highstand of approximately 8 m between c. 7570-7270 and 7250-6950 cal yr B.P. that is consistent with the timing of the RSL highstand in the nearby Vestfold Hills. This is followed by a fall in RSL to the present. In contrast to previous findings, the isolation of the lakes in the Larsemann Hills postdates the isolation of lakes with similar sill heights in the Vestfold Hills. An increase in RSL fall during the late Holocene may record a decline in the rate of isostatic uplift in the Larsemann Hills between c. 7250-6950 and 2847-2509 cal yr B.P., that occurred in response to a documented mid-Holocene glacier readvance followed by a late-Holocene retreat.     

Land restoration in food security programmes: synergies with climate change mitigation

Food-insecure households in many countries depend on international aid to alleviate acute shocks and chronic shortages. Some food security programmes (including Ethiopia’s Productive Safety Net Program–PSNP – which provides a case study for this article) have integrated aid in exchange for labour on public works to reduce long-term dependence by investing in the productive capacity and resilience of communities. Using this approach, Ethiopia has embarked upon an ambitious national programme of land restoration and sustainable land management. Although the intent was to reduce poverty, here we show that an unintended co-benefit is the climate-change mitigation from reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and increased landscape carbon stocks. The article first shows that the total reduction in net GHG emissions from PSNP’s land management at the national scale is estimated at 3.4 million?Mg?CO₂e?y^?1 – approximately 1.5% of the emissions reductions in Ethiopia’s Nationally Determined Contribution for the Paris Agreement. The article then explores some of the opportunities and constraints to scaling up of this impact.

Key policy insights

• Food security programmes (FSPs) can contribute to climate change mitigation by creating a vehicle for investment in land and ecosystem restoration.

• Maximizing mitigation, while enhancing but not compromising food security, requires that climate projections, and mitigation and adaptation responses should be mainstreamed into planning and implementation of FSPs at all levels.

• Cross-cutting oversight is required to integrate land restoration, climate policy, food security and disaster risk management into a coherent policy framework.

• Institutional barriers to optimal implementation should be addressed, such as incentive mechanisms that reward effort rather than results, and lack of centralized monitoring and evaluation of impacts on the physical environment.

• Project implementation can often be improved by adopting best management practices, such as using productive living livestock barriers where possible, and increasing the integration of agroforestry and non-timber forest products into landscape regeneration.

     

Malta's external security

For a small country whose main relevance to the outside world has always been its strategic location and whose known history has been moulded by that fact, security has been remarkably low on the list of priorities on Maltas national agenda since independence. In recent years, security has become an issue of keen political debate, although security per se may not be the real reason why the subject has been brought out into the limelight by both government and opposition. More than just an issue in its own right, security began featuring rather more as a function of the main direction of Maltas foreign policy, which during the past decade has been focused on relations with the European Union.     

An investigation of the multi-scale temporal variability of beach profiles at Duck using wavelet packet transforms

In an earlier paper a particular discrete wavelet transform (DWT) was used to study the complex variation of beach profile changes. However, use of the DWT requires that the sequence of spatial and temporal resolution is fixed as a dyadic sequence, which means that the variability over longer intervals is not characterised well. Here we introduce the discrete wavelet packet transform (DWPT) that uses an adaptive scaling to partition the data variance, according to an entropy cost function. The advantages of this approach are demonstrated by its application to the study of temporal variability of a 22 year record of beach profile data from the Field Research Facility (FRF) at Duck, North Carolina, USA. Time series of beach elevations at three locations across a particular profile are investigated in detail. We conclude that the DWPT provides a superior analysis of non-stationary time series to that of the DWT, with improved resolution of the scale intervals of the variability. The beach elevation around the shoreline is shown to respond at both sub-annual and interannual scales, but variability at an annual scale is weak. Moving seaward into deeper water, the variance is partitioned into fewer and longer scales. It is confirmed that elevation changes around the inner bar at Duck exhibit a strong interannual variation consistent with Plant et al. (Plant, N.G., Holman, R.A. and Freilich, M.H., 1999. A simple model for interannual sandbar behaviour. Journal of Geophysical Research 104(C7), 15755–15776). Around 23% of the variance around the inner bar is explained at the temporal scale of 64–128 months, which is consistent with the bar behaviour of 6 years found by Ruessink et al. (Ruessink, B. G., Wijnberg, K. M., Holman, R. A., Kuriyama, Y. and Van Enckevort, I. M. J., 2003. Intersite comparison of interannual nearshore bar behaviour. Journal of Geophysical Research, 108 (C8): 1–12). A significant new finding is, however, that about 26% of the variance is attributable to temporal scales of 16–21.3 months. Reconstruction of the wavelet packet components for individual temporal scales is shown to provide a means for identifying the impact and scale of non-stationary events, such as storms, on the beach response. This provides further information that can be used to interpret the morphological changes in terms of the forcing processes and also serves to inform morphodynamic modelling.     

Cypermethrin induces glutathione S-transferase activity in the shore crab,Carcinus maenas

Cypermethrin is a synthetic pyrethroid that is particularly toxic to crustacea. It is therefore applied as a chemotherapeutant in the salmonid aquaculture industry for the treatment of sea lice infestations. After use, cypermethrin is released directly into the marine environment, to be diluted by fresh seawater. The shore crab, Carcinus maenas is found in the vicinity of fish farms, and may come into contact with released cypermethrin. The detoxification enzyme, glutathione S-transferase (GST) has been implicated in cypermethrin metabolism in terrestrial arthropods, but this has not yet been demonstrated in crustacea. In this paper we investigate the response of GST activity in Carcinus to cypermethrin exposure, and also the time course of the induction process. GST activity is significantly increased in Carcinus exposed to nominal concentrations of 50 and 500 ng/l of water-borne cypermethrin. Carcinus demonstrate a significant elevation in GST activity following intra-cephalothoracic injection with 10 ng of cypermethrin. GST activity returns to basal levels after 36 h. The potential application of GST activity in Carcinus as a biomarker of cypermethrin exposure is discussed.     

Limnology of Two Antarctic Epishelf Lakes and their Potential to Record Periods of Ice Shelf Loss

George VI Ice Shelf is the largest ice shelf on the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula and its northern margin marks the southern most latitudinal limit of recent ice shelf retreat. As part of a project to reconstruct the long-term (Holocene) history of George VI Ice Shelf we studied two epishelf lakes impounded by the ice shelf at Ablation Point, on the east coast of Alexander Island. These lakes, Moutonnée and Ablation, are stratified water bodies with a lower marine layer and an upper freshwater layer. To determine if their sediment records could be used to detect past changes in the presence or absence of the ice shelf it was necessary to describe their present-day limnology and sedimentology. We measured water column chemistry and sampled the water column and sediments of the lakes along vertical and horizontal transects. We analysed these samples for diatoms, stable isotopes (δ¹⁸O, δ²H, δ¹³C_DIC, δ¹³C_org), geochemistry (TOC, TN, C/N ratios) and physical sedimentology (grain-size). This was supplemented by chemical and biological reference data from the catchments. Results showed that the water columns of both lakes are nutrient limited and deficient in phytoplankton. Benthic productivity is low and decreases with depth. Comparison of water column chemistry with an earlier survey shows a net increase in the thickness of the freshwater layer in Moutonnée Lake between 1973 and 2001, which could indicate that George VI Ice Shelf has thinned during this period. However, a similar trend was not observed in Ablation Lake (5 km to the north) and an alternative explanation is that the changes are a seasonal phenomena. Data from the surface sediment transects identified a number of proxies that respond to the present day stratification of the water column including diatom species composition, stable isotopes and geochemistry, particularly in Moutonnée Lake. Collectively these data have been used to develop a conceptual model for determining past ice shelf configuration in epishelf lakes. Specifically, periods of past ice shelf loss, and the removal of the ice dam, would see the present stratified epishelf lake replaced by a marine embayment. It is suggested that this change would leave a clear signature in the lake sediment record, notably the deposition of an exclusively marine biological assemblage, increased ice rafted debris and δ¹³C_org values that are indicative of marine derived organic matter. These authors contributed equally to this work