The New `High Resolution Spectral Atlas of Telluric Lines'

It is suggested that the purposes for which the atlas of telluric lines was recently published in this journal are better served by previous works of higher quality. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Assessment of a field incubation method estimating primary productivity in rockpool communities

An open incubation method has been used in many studies to directly estimate primary productivity and ecosystem functioning by measuring photosynthetic and respiratory rates in intertidal rockpool communities. The method measures changes in dissolved oxygen concentrations recorded in situ during an artificial dark period (respiration) and a natural light period (net primary productivity). Although this method has yielded interesting results, its advantages and limitations have yet to be thoroughly tested. The accuracy of the method was investigated in a controlled laboratory environment and compared with field incubations. Atmospheric oxygen diffusion across the air–water interface did not affect incubation measurements under low wind speed (<2 m s⁻¹). Temperature increases during incubations were not greater than in natural rockpools and did not affect primary productivity. The major problem was the oxygen supersaturation which inhibited photosynthesis, thus leading to an underestimation of primary production. To allow comparable measurements, net primary productivity needs to be recorded during the linear phase of the photosynthetic process (<30 min of light) before water reaches supersaturation (<160%). This method gives rapid and reliable estimates of primary productivity thereby allowing biodiversity and ecosystem functioning relationships to be tested using rockpools as natural mesocosms.     

Tabbita: An L6c chondrite from New South Wales,Australia

Abstract— A crusted stone weighing 3.10 kg was found in 1983 near Tabbita in south central New South Wales (ca. 34°03′S, 145°50′E), Australia. Compositions of the ferro-magnesian silicates (olivine Fa_24.6; orthopyroxene Fs_20.9) show that the meteorite belongs to the L-group of chondrites. Uniformity of silicate compositions and the presence of abundant crystalline plagioclase feldspar (An_10.8Ab_81.7Or_7.5) show that the meteorite belongs to petrologic type 6. Silicates that display undulose extinction, and the absence of any thermal effects induced by shock indicate that Tabbita is shock facies c. Tabbita is distinct from several other L6 chondrites found in the same general area.     

Comparison between Paleozoic and Cenozoic Lithospheric Mantle in Eastern Part of North China Block: With a Discussion of Mantle Evolution

Basedontheconsiderationswhetherornottherearedif-ferencesincompositionsofthemantlematerial,betweenPale-ozoicandCenozoic,andthedifferencesinrocksamp1esfrommantleliewithinandoutsideoftheTancheng-Lujiang(Tanlu)faultzoneinCenozoic,themineralinclusionsindia-mQndandxenolithsfromMengyinandFuxiankimberliteswerechosenforconstrainingthenatureofPaleozoicSCLM,andthexenolithsfromtheShanwangandQixiabasaltswererepresentativelychosenforconstrainingthenatureofCeno-zoicSCLMinsideandoutsideoftheTanlufault…     

The optical performance of the PILOT instrument from ground end-to-end tests

The Polarized Instrument for Long-wavelength Observation of the Tenuous interstellar medium (PILOT) is a balloon-borne astronomy experiment designed to study the linear polarization of thermal dust emission in two photometric bands centred at wavelengths 240 μm (1.2 THz) and 550 μm (545 GHz), with an angular resolution of a few arcminutes. Several end-to-end tests of the instrument were performed on the ground between 2012 and 2014, in order to prepare for the first scientific flight of the experiment that took place in September 2015 from Timmins, Ontario, Canada. This paper presents the results of those tests, focussing on an evaluation of the instrument’s optical performance. We quantify image quality across the extent of the focal plane, and describe the tests that we conducted to determine the focal plane geometry, the optimal focus position, and sources of internal straylight. We present estimates of the detector response, obtained using an internal calibration source, and estimates of the background intensity and background polarization.     

汉诺坝橄榄岩捕虏体的单斜辉石LAM-ICPMS分析及其岩石圈地幔演化意义

橄榄岩成分及其中矿物(如单斜辉石)微量元素组成可以很好地揭示岩石圈地幔性质．在对汉诺坝新生代玄武岩中橄榄岩捕虏体做详细岩相学和岩石化学研究基础上,重点分析了单斜辉石的激光原位微量元素,并探讨了新生代华北克拉通北缘岩石圈地幔特征及地幔演化．汉诺坝地区岩石圈地幔是相当于原始地幔经过不同程度的部分熔融抽取形成的,除个别样品的部分熔融程度为15％-20％外,多数样品<5％．全岩主元素、单斜辉石成分体现出新生代汉诺坝地区的岩石圈地幔是很不均一的:在主体饱满型中有亏损型地幔的残留．这种共存现象可能是软流圈物质对古老地幔进行侵蚀、混合和改造置换的结果．单斜辉石微量元素组成所体现的碳酸岩岩浆交代作用和硅酸盐熔／流体的交代作用也支持这一认识．     

Effect of wave-induced mixing on Antarctic sea ice in a high-resolution ocean model

Ocean Dynamics - In this study, we investigate how sea ice extent and thickness are affected by additional turbulent mixing from unbroken surface waves. This ‘surface wave mixing’ (SWM)...     

A LiDAR–optical data fusion approach for identifying and measuring small stream impoundments and dams

This article outlines a semi‐autonomous approach for using a fusion of light detection and ranging (LiDAR) and optical remote sensing data to identify and measure small impoundments (SIs) and their dams. Quantifying such water bodies as hydrologic network features is critical for ecosystem and species conservation, emergency management, and water resource planning; however, such features are incompletely mapped at national and state levels. By merging an airborne LiDAR‐derived point cloud with a normalized water index using airborne optical imagery we demonstrate an improvement upon single‐source methods for identifying these water bodies; classification accuracies increased over 10% by using this multi‐source fusion method. Furthermore, the method presented here illustrates a cost‐effective pathway to improve the National Inventory of Dams (NID) and includes a framework for estimating dam heights, with results showing strong correlations between derived dam heights and those recorded in the NID (r=.78). With the steady increase in available LiDAR coverage, the 87,000+ dams in the NID could be updated using this technique, a method which could also be expanded for global inventories of SIs and dams.     

‘Prosperity beyond belief’: The interaction between a potato crop boom,vulnerability and volcanic hazard in Central Java,Indonesia

This article examines the interaction between conditions of vulnerability and a potato crop boom in Central Java's highlands. While partaking in agricultural endeavours on volcanic slopes can bring substantial economic rewards, the local benefits associated with these livelihood activities are often overlooked by disaster scholarship. Drawing on a period of fieldwork conducted in the Dieng Plateau, a region characterized by a series of craters that periodically erupt mud and poisonous gas, this article demonstrates how a potato crop boom has evolved despite, and in part because of, the underlying volcanic hazard. By integrating the sustainable livelihood and agrarian change literatures, the article concludes that the potato boom has provided significant economic opportunity, and through this, a means to reduce vulnerability. Yet, despite these economic gains, the agrarian shift described herein has also introduced new vulnerabilities as farmers have become dependent on a resource intensive crop. These findings demonstrate how theories of agrarian transformation can complement livelihood perspectives in disaster research, and provide greater detail into the local and regional processes that encourage people to often-profitably farm hazardous land.