MORALITY,SPACE, AND THE POWER OF WIND‐ENERGY LANDSCAPES

ABSTRACT. Most of us have not known—or cared—where our electricity comes from. Our attitude is changing, however, as we turn toward wind energy, now the fastest‐growing renewable energy resource in the world. Because we cannot extract and transport the raw energy of the wind, reaping its many environmental benefits requires that we cope with the landscape presence of its development wherever it occurs. Sometimes this interferes with the value of open space, and sometimes it may be close to subdivisions. It is the immobility and very visibility of wind power that makes its presence unavoidable. In that regard it cannot be hidden underground, stored in tanks, or moved by trains. It is an energy resource that reminds us that our electricity comes from somewhere. The more we wish to tap the power of the wind, the less we will be able to avoid the responsibilities that our demand for energy brings. This necessary bargain, first evident near Palm Springs, California, is now being experienced wherever wind power is being developed.     

Palaeomagnetic study of the (Lower Cambrian) Longmyndian sediments and tuffs, Welsh Borderlands

Summary. This study covers detailed thermal, chemical and alternating field demagnetization from 50 sites distributed through all units of the Longmyndian sedimentary succession (with the exception of the Stretton Shales), and eight sites in the tuff bands comprising the Batch Volcanics. The resultant effect of treatment is to remove a low blocking temperature steep component and isolate a coherent remanence direction D = 116°, I = 76° the total NRM is composite and not an adequate indicator of the palaeofield. Chemical demagnetization indicates that both hematite and magnetite grains contribute to this component and these two phases are magnetized in the same direction. A negative fold test shows that this remanence was acquired during or after the Longmyndian folding. Formation of the major magnetic constituent, authigenic magnetite, is linked to dewatering during rapid uplift following the folding which is dated by both the Rb–Sr and fission track methods at c . 525 Ma. The study defines a palaeopole of this age remote from the later APW path for Britain and links the Late Precambrian–Lower Cambrian path defmed from basement rocks of England and Wales with the Ordovician and younger results. Palaeomagnetic results from tuff bands within the sediments and Lower Silurian age intrusions cutting the outcrop are also reported.     

Paleolimnological reconstruction of recent changes in assemblages of Cladocera from acidified lakes in the Adirondack Mountains (New York)

Remains of Cladocera were examined in short sediment cores from three Adirondack lakes with mean pHs below 5 and a fourth with a mean pH of 6.5. These cores were collected as part of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA I) project. Historical and paleolimnological evidence suggests that pH has decreased in each of the acid lakes in recent decades. In all of the study cores, the greatest changes in net accumulation rates, assemblage composition, and species richness occurred in recently deposited sediments. The similar timing of events in all lakes suggests that a regional disturbance was responsible. In the three acid lakes, there was a strong association of changes in cladoceran assemblages and diatom, chrysophyte, and geochemical evidence of acidification. The occurrence of recent changes in non-acid Windfall Pond indicates that other factors may also have affected Cladocera in the study lakes.This is the fifteenth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D. F. Charles and D. R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.     

Gravity measurements in Kenya

summary . A new catalogue of gravity data from Kenya has been prepared and is briefly described here. New Bouguer anomaly maps have also been compiled and a copy is included.     

Seismic reflection measurements behind the Hikurangi convergent margin, southern North Island, New Zealand.

Summary. The active Australian-Pacific plate boundary passes through New Zealand. In the north, the Pacific plate subducts beneath the Australian plate with an accretionary wedge forming the eastern continental (Hikurangi) margin of the North Island. The structure of the region behind the Hikurangi margin changes from the extensional back-arc basin under central North Island to a postulated crustal downwarp under the southern North Island. A 100 km long multichannel seismic reflection profile was recorded across the region of crustal downwarp. The data show discontinuous coherent reflectors dipping westwards at the east end of the profile, and east dipping reflectors at the west end, from depths of 9 to 15 s two way time. Simple hand migration of these events indicate that the east dipping reflectors, interpreted as the base of the Australian plate crust, abut against the west dipping reflectors which are interpreted as marking the top of the subducted Pacific plate. Detailed earthquake hypocentre locations in the area show a dipping zone of high seismicity, the top of which coincides closely with the west dipping events, thus supporting this interpretation.     

Crustal structure beneath exposed accreted terranes of Southern Alaska

Summary. The crustal structure beneath the exposed terranes of southern Alaska has been explored using coincident seismic refraction and reflection profiling. A wide-angle reflector at 8–9 km depth, at the base of an inferred low-velocity zone, underlies the Peninsular and Chugach terranes, appears to truncate their boundary, and may represent a horizontal decollement beneath the terranes. The crust beneath the Chugach terrane is characterized by a series of north-dipping paired layers having low and high velocities that may represent subducted slices of oceanic crust and mantle. This layered series may continue northward under the Peninsular terrane. Earthquake locations in the Wrangell Benioff zone indicate that at least the upper two low-high velocity layer pairs are tectonically inactive and that they appear to have been accreted to the base of the continental crust. The refraction data suggest that the Contact fault between two similar terranes, the Chugach and Prince William terranes, is a deeply penetrating feature that separates lower crust (deeper than 10 km) with paired dipping reflectors, from crust without such reflectors.     

Radiation from an impulsive line source in an unbounded homogeneous anisotropic medium

Summary. The space-time elastic wave motion generated by an impulsive line source in a homogeneous anisotropic medium is calculated with the aid of the Cagniard-de Hoop method. Two types of sources are considered in detail, viz. a line source of expansion (model for an explosive source) and a line force (model for a mechanical vibrator). Numerical results are presented for the radiated particle velocity in the medium including those regions of space where shear-wave triplication occurs. There is a marked difference in the time response observed for the two types of sources and for the different positions of the receiver with respect to the source position. These waveform differences are important when the radiated wave is used to determine experimentally the elastic properties of the medium. As compared with the traditional Fourier-integral transform method to handle this problem, the computation time with the present method is considerably less.     

The Myth of Location Privacy in the United States: Surveyed Attitude Versus Current Practices

In the United States, legal steps have been taken to protect personal privacy, which is viewed as an individual's fundamental right. Location privacy (i.e., protection of personal and location information), however, has not received equal attention in the legal system. Given the recent popularity of location-based services (e.g., cell phones), it is possible to obtain an individual's location information easily and precisely. An investigation of public perception of privacy in the United States indicated that survey responders (1) were unaware of legal implications of location privacy violation and (2) believed that there should be location privacy protection similar to that provided by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.