Porites corals as recorders of mining and environmental impacts: Misima Island, Papua New Guinea

In 1989 open-cut gold mining commenced on Misima Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Open-cut mining by its nature causes a significant increase in sedimentation via the exposure of soils to the erosive forces of rain and runoff. This increased sedimentation affected the nearby fringing coral reef to varying degrees, ranging from coral mortality (smothering) to relatively minor short-term impacts. The sediment associated with the mining operation consists of weathered quartz feldspar, greenstone, and schist. These rocks have distinct chemical characteristics (rare earth element patterns and high abundances of manganese, zinc, and lead) and are entering the near-shore environment in considerably higher than normal concentrations. Using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), we analyzed eight colonies (two from high sedimentation, two transitional, two minor, and two unaffected control sites) for Y, La, Ce, Mn, Zn, and Pb. All sites show low steady background levels prior to the commencement of mining in 1988. Subsequently, all sites apart from the control show dramatic increases of Y, La, and Ce associated with the increased sedimentation as well as rapid decreases following the cessation of mining. The elements Zn and Pb exhibit a different behavior, increasing in concentration after 1989 when ore processing began and one year after initial mining operations. Elevated levels of Zn and Pb in corals has continued well after the cessation of mining, indicating ongoing transport into the reef of these metals via sulfate-rich waters. Rare earth element (REE) abundance patterns measured in two corals show significant differences compared to Coral Sea seawater. The corals display enrichments in the light and middle REEs while the heavy REEs are depleted relative to the seawater pattern. This suggests that the nearshore seawater REE pattern is dominated by island sedimentation. Trace element abundances of Misima Island corals clearly record the dramatic changes in the environmental conditions at this site and provide a basis for identifying anthropogenic influences on corals reefs.     

Changes in biocenoses of Kondopoga Bay, Lake Onego, under the effect of effluents from a pulp and paper mill

Long-term changes in the quantitative and structural characteristics of bacterio-, phyto-, zooplankton, and macrozoobenthos are studied in a water body subject to pollution by effluents of pulp and paper production. The key effect on the state of biocenoses is shown to be due to anthropogenic load and the qualitative changes in the composition of industrial wastes after nature protection measures taken at the plant. Differences are revealed in the character, stages, and direction of transformations in planktonic and benthic communities. The most significant changes in biota have taken place after the commissioning of biological treatment facilities and diffusing wastewater discharge, resulting in accelerated eutrophication of the basin and redistribution of transformed biocenoses over areas within the water body. A decrease in the load during production decline demonstrated the possible deeutrophication of the ecosystem.     

Comparison of Canadian daily ice charts with surface observations off Newfoundland,winter 1992

Abstract

Forecast ice drift rates and thicknesses displayed on daily ice charts and forecast winds for the Canadian east coast are compared to on‐ice observations made during the second Canadian Atlantic Storm Program (CASP II) of March 1992. Observed and 24‐hour forecasts of daily ice drift rates were weakly correlated even though long‐term means closely matched observations. Daily drift rates have an RMS error of 13 cm s^‐1 relative to a 15 cm s^‐1 mean in addition to an RMS direction error of 50 degrees. Contributions towards daily drift uncertainties were: the estimation of winds, unmodelled physics of ocean and ice cover processes; and the inconsistency in the methods used by the ice forecaster. Correlation coefficients between forecast winds and on‐ice observed winds decreased from 0.8 at 0‐hour to 0.7 for the 30‐hour forecast. Similar results were found between ice drift rates from forecast winds. Histograms of ice thicknesses observed along narrow swaths using a helicopter‐towed electromagnetic sensor compared well with undeformed ice thicknesses representing large areas on ice charts, with differences mainly caused by difference in ice type representation and by co‐registering the two data sets.     

Land use contribution to the anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases in Russia in 2000–2011

Presented is the assessment of the contribution that such major types of the land use in Russia as arable lands, forage lands, settlements, and peatery make to anthropogenic fluxes of carbon dioxide CO₂, methane CH₄, and nitrogen oxide N₂O, The assessment is based on the methods of computation monitoring carried out in the period from 2000 to 2011. The results of the study demonstrated that every year arable lands cause the emission of CO₂ and N₂O of about 117.0 and 74.9 million t CO₂ equiv, and peatery, 0.54 and 105.4 thousand t CO₂ equiv, respectively. The balance of soil carbon in hayfields and pastures is close to zero. The average emissions of CH₄ and N₂O from the manure of pasture animals amount to 0.2 and 5.0 million t CO₂ equiv/year, and those from grass fires, 276.1 and 372.5 thousand t CO₂ equiv/year, respectively. The carbon balance in permanent soils of settlements is also almost close to zero, and newly built-up lands are the source of CO₂ (9.5 million t/year). The natural overgrowing of fallow lands leads to the accumulation of the soil carbon (about 92.4 million t CO₂/year). It was revealed that the intensity of CO₂ emission is defined by the soil carbon balance and that of other gases, by the amount of nitrogen fertilizers, plant residues, and manure coming to the soil. The total emission from the land use is 106.9 million t CO₂ equiv/year that makes up 4.9% of the total anthropogenic emission of greenhouse gases in the Russian Federation.     

High resolution simulation of the South Asian monsoon using a variable resolution global climate model

This study examines the feasibility of using a variable resolution global general circulation model (GCM), with telescopic zooming and enhanced resolution (~35 km) over South Asia, to better understand regional aspects of the South Asian monsoon rainfall distribution and the interactions between monsoon circulation and precipitation. For this purpose, two sets of ten member realizations are produced with and without zooming using the LMDZ (Laboratoire Meteorologie Dynamique and Z stands for zoom) GCM. The simulations without zoom correspond to a uniform 1° × 1° grid with the same total number of grid points as in the zoom version. So the grid of the zoomed simulations is finer inside the region of interest but coarser outside. The use of these finer and coarser resolution ensemble members allows us to examine the impact of resolution on the overall quality of the simulated regional monsoon fields. It is found that the monsoon simulation with high-resolution zooming greatly improves the representation of the southwesterly monsoon flow and the heavy precipitation along the narrow orography of the Western Ghats, the northeastern mountain slopes and northern Bay of Bengal (BOB). A realistic Monsoon Trough (MT) is also noticed in the zoomed simulation, together with remarkable improvements in representing the associated precipitation and circulation features, as well as the large-scale organization of meso-scale convective systems over the MT region. Additionally, a more reasonable simulation of the monsoon synoptic disturbances (lows and disturbances) along the MT is noted in the high-resolution zoomed simulation. On the other hand, the no-zoom version has limitations in capturing the depressions and their movement, so that the MT zone is relatively dry in this case. Overall, the results from this work demonstrate the usefulness of the high-resolution variable resolution LMDZ model in realistically capturing the interactions among the monsoon large-scale dynamics, the synoptic systems and the meso-scale convective systems, which are essential elements of the South Asian monsoon system.     

GIS‐assisted modelling for debris flow hazard assessment based on the events of May 1998 in the area of Sarno,Southern Italy: Part I. Maximum run‐out

Based on the debris flow events that occurred in May 1998 in the area of Sarno, Southern Italy, this paper presents an approach to simulate debris flow maximum run‐out. On the basis of the flow source areas and an average thickness of 1·2 m of the scarps, we estimated debris flow volumes of the order of 10⁴ and 10⁵ m³. Flow mobility ratios (ΔH/L) derived from the x, y, z coordinates of the lower‐most limit of the source areas (i.e. apex of the alluvial fan) and the distal limit of the flows ranged between 0·27 and 0·09. We performed regression analyses that showed a good correlation between the estimated flow volumes and mobility ratios. This paper presents a methodology for predicting maximum run‐out of future debris flow events, based on the developed empirical relationship. We implemented the equation that resulted from the calibration as a set of GIS macros written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and running within ArcGIS. We carried out sensitivity analyses and observed that hazard mapping with this methodology should attempt to delineate hazard zones with a minimum horizontal resolution of 0·4 km. The developed procedure enables the rapid delineation of debris flow maximum extent within reasonable levels of uncertainty, it incorporates sensitivities and it facilitates hazard assessments via graphic user interfaces and with modest computing resources. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

ON ERRORS OF FIT AND ACCURACY IN MATCHING SYNTHETIC SEISMOGRAMS AND SEISMIC TRACES*

A synthetic seismogram that closely resembles a seismic trace recorded at a well may not be at all reliable for, say, stratigraphic interpretation around the well. The most accurate synthetic seismogram is, in general, not the one that displays the smallest errors of fit to the trace but the one that best estimates the noise on the trace. If the match is confined to a short interval of interest or if the seismic reflection wavelet is allowed to be unduly long, there is considerable danger of forcing a spurious fit that treats the noise on the trace as part of the seismic reflection signal instead of making a genuine match with the signal itself. This paper outlines tests that allow an objective and quantitative evaluation of the accuracy of any match and illustrates their application with practical examples. The accuracy of estimation is summarized by the normalized mean square error (NMSE) in the estimated reflection signal, which is shown to be (/n)(P_N/P_S) where P_S/P_N is the signal-to-noise power ratio and n is the spectral smoothing factor. That is, the accuracy varies directly with the ratio of the power in the signal (taken to be the synthetic) to that in the noise on the seismic trace, and the smoothing acts to improve the accuracy of the predicted signal. The construction of confidence intervals for the NMSE is discussed. Guidelines for the choice of the spectral smoothing factor n are given. The variation of wavelet shape due to different realizations of the noise component is illustrated, and the use of confidence intervals on wavelet phase is recommended. Tests are described for examining the normality and stationarity of the errors of fit and their independence of the estimated reflection signal.     

Environmental magnetic studies on surface sediments: a proxy for metal and hydrocarbon contamination

Visakhapatnam is one of the major port cities, and it is developed into a hub of many large- and medium-scale industries. Due to growing industrialization and urbanization, coast is vulnerable to both organic and inorganic micro-pollutants. Twenty-five surface sediments were collected along the Visakhapatnam coast for the measurement of texture size, petroleum hydrocarbons, trace metals and environmental magnetic parameters. The percentage of coarser particles was more in the northern region, whereas the percentage of fine particles was increased toward south. Elevated levels of petroleum hydrocarbons and trace metals were attributed due to marine and land-based sources, in particular, those were due to shipping activities, treated and partially treated sewage and industrial wastes. The concentrations of trace metals, petroleum hydrocarbons and magnetic minerals were decreased from nearshore to seaward. Our results revealed that the magnetic mineralogy is dominated by magnetite with a small proportion of hematite, and the grain size of magnetic minerals was in the range of pseudo-single domain to multidomain nature with detrital origin. From the principal component analysis, the magnetic concentration and mineralogy-dependent parameters co-vary with the heavy metal and PHC concentrations, suggesting that the inputs of magnetic minerals, petroleum hydrocarbons and heavy metals in the Visakhapatnam shelf sediments were derived from the same anthropogenic sources. Thus, the large magnetic dataset can be used to reduce the number of chemical analysis; hence, environmental magnetic parameters were used as a proxy for both organic and inorganic micro-pollutants.