The settling behavior and benthic transport of fish feed pellets under steady flows

Settling and erosion experiments were carried out on a size range of fish feed pellets using an annular flume. A strong positive correlation was observed between settling rate and pellet dimension (pellet length, pellet dimeter, and equivalent sedimentation diameter). Erosion thresholds also showed a strong positive correlation with pellet dimensions. Experiments were also carried out to examine the effect of the number of pellets on erosion threshold of two sizes. The results show an asymptotic increase in erosion threshold with increasing number of pellets present, possibly due to sheltering effects. The chemical composition of the pellets was analyzed in terms of water and organic, carbon, and nitrogen contents as well as stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. The results arising from this study will provide, information regarding potential tracers of waste feed material and help validate model predictions associated with dispersal of waste material.     

Effectiveness of coir-based rolled erosion control systems in reducing sediment transport from hillslopes

Accelerated soil erosion is ubiquitous on human-modified hillslopes. A variety of erosion control products have been developed to reduce on-site soil resource degradation, and off-site transport of sediment and sediment-associated contaminants to receiving water bodies. However, limited quantitative data are available to assess erosion reduction effectiveness, and to establish the salient properties of the erosion control products. A replicated field-based rainfall simulation study was conducted to compare the runoff and erosion effectiveness of three coir (coconut) fiber rolled erosion control systems (RECSs) with a bare (control) treatment. Detailed temporal measurements of runoff and sediment transport were made during two phases of each experiment: (1) a 110-min application of rainfall via a rainfall simulator at 35 mm h⁻¹ after runoff initiation and (2) a 30-min period, at 3 times the flow rate of phase 1, applied via an overland flow generator. All coir treatments enhanced infiltration, delayed time to runoff generation, reduced intensity of rill incision, and reduced sediment output compared to bare treatments. More importantly, statistically significant differences were observed between coir RECSs of different architecture. For the two open weave coir systems tested, the most effective design had a higher mass per area, and less open space between the regularly aligned grid of fibers. The random fiber coir architecture was the most effective, having significantly lower runoff sediment concentrations, lower sediment yields, and a lower frequency of rill initiation. The differences in system architecture are examined in light of fundamental controls on runoff and erosion processes.     

Evidence of Early Metalworking in Arctic Canada

This paper examines new evidence related to an early (pre‐Columbian) European presence in Arctic Canada. Artifacts from archaeological sites that had been assumed to relate to pre‐Inuit indigenous occupations of the region in the centuries around A.D. 1000 have recently been recognized as having been manufactured using European technologies. We report here on the SEM‐EDS analysis of a small stone vessel recovered from a site on Baffin Island. The interior of the vessel contains abundant traces of copper–tin alloy (bronze) as well as glass spherules similar to those associated with high‐temperature processes. These results indicate that it had been used as a crucible. This artifact may represent the earliest evidence of high‐temperature nonferrous metalworking in the New World north of Mesoamerica.     

Predicting the peculiar velocities of nearby PSCz galaxies using the Least Action Principle

We use the Least Action Principle to predict the peculiar velocities of PSC z galaxies inside cz =2000 km s⁻¹. Linear theory is used to account for tidal effects to cz =15 000 km s⁻¹, and we iterate galaxy positions to account for redshift distortions. As the Least Action Principle is valid beyond linear theory, we can predict reliable peculiar velocities even for very nearby galaxies (i.e., cz ≤500 km s⁻¹). These predicted peculiar velocities are then compared with the observed velocities of 12 galaxies with Cepheid distances. The combination of the PSC z galaxy survey (with its large sky coverage and uniform selection) with the accurate Cepheid distances makes this comparison relatively free from systematic effects. We find that galaxies are good tracers of the mass, even at small (≤10  h ⁻¹ Mpc) scales; under the assumption of no biasing, 0.25≤ β ≤0.75 (at 90 per cent confidence). We use the reliable predicted peculiar velocities to estimate the Hubble constant H ₀ from the local volume without 'stepping up' the distance ladder, finding a confidence range of 65–75 km s⁻¹ Mpc⁻¹ (at 90 per cent confidence).     

Concepts and science for coastal erosion management - An introduction to the Conscience framework

The main objective of the Conscience project was to develop and test concepts, guidelines and tools for the sustainable management of erosion along the European coastline, based on the best available scientific knowledge and on existing practical experience. Four concepts are potentially capable of providing the nexus between scientific knowledge and management: coastal resilience, coastal sediment cell, favourable sediment status and strategic sediment reservoir. The project has tested the use of these concepts and found that they are useful, provided that they are positioned and linked within a logical structure that we shall call the Conscience “Frame of Reference”, defined in time and space and supported through data and monitoring. Practical experience in six coastal sites in Europe has shown that the use of this Frame of Reference together with these concepts can make management objectives explicit and transparent. It can therefore support the design of an appropriate, resilience based coastal erosion management practice.     

U–Pb age and origin of gem zircon from the New England sapphire fields,New South Wales,Australia

Chemical compositions and geochronological data utilising the laser ablation ICP-MS technique are presented for zircon megacrysts found in alluvial gem corundum deposits associated with Upper Cretaceous–Cenozoic alkali basalts in the Inverell district-New England field, New South Wales, eastern Australia. Three localities, Kings Plains, Swan Brook and Mary Anne Gully, produce gem-quality transparent dark brown and yellow zircon megacrysts, mostly under 10 mm in size. Although brown zircon shows relative enrichment in Hf and REE, there are no differences in relative transition metal concentrations between the colours. Chemical homogeneity within a single crystal indicates stable crystallisation conditions. The ²⁰⁶Pb/²³⁸U age of zircon megacrysts from these three localities define older and younger groups of 216–174 Ma and 45–37.7 Ma, respectively. The ?_Hf values of zircon megacrysts from Kings Plains show +7.51±0.34 in the older group and +10.72±0.31 in the younger group. Swan Brook zircons give +11.54±0.47 and +8.32±0.58, and Mary Anne Gully zircons are +13.67±0.63 and +8.50±0.48, respectively. These zircons from New England alluvial gem deposits have two main formational events around Upper Triassic–Lower Jurassic and Eocene episodes. Most originated from lithospheric mantle and all were brought-up by later host basaltic magmas.     

Age and composition of dykes emplaced before and during the opening of the Tasman Sea—source implications

Abstract

Dykes are common in the wave-cut platforms along the coast from Newcastle to Sydney. According to some authors, they may be related to the opening of the Tasman Sea that commenced ca 84?Ma ago. However, there are few detailed radiogenic dating and geochemical studies to evaluate this. We attempt to resolve this by K–Ar dating of plagioclase in and geochemical studies of, basaltic dykes intruding Permo-Triassic sequences on the wave-cut platforms and Carboniferous and Permo-Triassic sequences inland. The plagioclase separated from the dykes give K–Ar ages ranging from 266 to 53?Ma with the majority older than 84?Ma indicating that most dykes were emplaced before the Tasman Seafloor formation. The dykes are generally mildly alkaline, high-Ti basalts; fewer are tholeiitic and calc-alkaline, low-Ti basalts. Strongly light rare earth element (LREE)-enriched patterns typify the former and flat, LREE-depleted or slightly to moderately enriched LREE patterns, the latter. High-Ti basalts have ocean-island-basalt-like and low-Ti basalts, calc-alkaline or mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB)-like patterns. Most high-Ti and some low-Ti basalts show plume-like characteristics, others N-type MORB and arc-like characteristics. Dykes intruding the Carboniferous sequences show a distinct contamination signature that could be crustal or due to subduction-related metasomatism of the subcontinental lithospheric mantle. The sources of the basaltic magmas vary substantially and in places changes with time. All alkali basalts are derived from enriched asthenospheric sources at varying depths (90–147?km) and most tholeiitic, low-Ti basalts have been extracted from asthenospheric and depleted asthenospheric–lithospheric sources indicating substantial compositional heterogeneity of the mantle. Further, Nd model ages varying from Neoproterozoic (940–580?Ma) to Paleozoic (460–370?Ma) suggest variation in the age of mantle sources for the basalts.     

A quantitative method for estimating Pasquill stability class from windspeed and sensible heat flux density

A simple exponential expression, based upon a form of the Kazanski-Monin stability parameter, modified to account explicitly for effects of surface roughness, and semi-empirically derived from both qualitative and quantitative observations, is presented that relates windspeed and sensible heat flux density to Pasquill stability class. The method, though simple in mathematical form, gives results consistent with physical intuition and reproduces, quantitatively, the essential features of previously published nomograms with an added capability for treating all stability classes and any surface roughness from 0.10 to 100 cm. For the stable classes, a new expression for the wind profile stability factor, predicted by similarity theory, is introduced that produces results more consistent than the more common linear form.