Spatiotemporal variability in channel deformations on rivers of Russia

We assess the spatiotemporal changes in channel processes on rivers of Russia, determine the causes for vertical (incision or directional sediment accumulation) and horizontal (displacement of channel forms) deformations and show the distribution of stream channel of different morphodynamical types and with a different reconfiguration rate. The conditions are revealed, under which the channel types change over time. Particular emphasis is placed on the analysis of spatiotemporal changes in channels caused by anthropogenic disturbances and by direct technogenic interferences in the life of rivers (hydroelectric schemes, quarries in the river channels, and waterway dredging).     

The Evolution and Research Trends of Port Geography

Despite the long existence of port geography research, there has been no systematic investigation on its evolution and research trends. Hence, through investigating 155 port geography articles featured in geography journals between 1956 and 2011, this article studied the evolution and research trends of port geography. The article argues that port geography had gradually evolved from a secondary and encyclopedic subdiscipline within transport and human geographies to a primary and specialized one. Such a trend had blurred its “geographicalness,” however, with port geography moving toward the more applied and interdisciplinary transportation. The article also indicates that further research would be required to understand the communication between port geography and other disciplines, as well as philosophical and epistemological issues.     

Paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the northern Great Lakes states

Paleoecological analyses of sediments from nine northern Great Lakes states (NGLS) lakes reveal small pH changes in seven of these lakes since 1860, four of these being declines. The largest diatom-inferred (DI) pH declines of 0.5 pH units were found in Brown L. and Denton L., Wisconsin. Two other lakes with suspected total alkalinity declines (based on an acidification model and on historical water chemistry, respectively), McNearney L., Michigan, and Camp 12 L., Wisconsin, have not acidified recently according to diatom-inference techniques. Many of the observed trends of increasing pH are coincident with logging; floristic composition of diatom assemblages also changed coincident with fisheries manipulations in some lakes, but these floristic trends did not affect DI pH. Sediment core profiles of Pb, S, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons provide a record of atmospheric deposition of fossil fuel combustion products beginning around the turn of the century; onset is later and accumulation rates are smaller than for other northeastern study regions of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) Project. The response of diatom species to lakewater pH in the NGLS region is very strong and similar to response in other regions. Overall, there is little paleoecological evidence that acidic deposition has caused significant acidification of lakes in the NGLS region.This is the twelfth 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.     

PATTERNS AND PROBLEMS OF COMMUTING TO PERIPHERAL URBAN WORKPLACES IN SINGAPORE: CASE STUDY OF SINGAPORE AIRLINES' EMPLOYEES

This paper addresses the issue of commuting patterns and problems to workplaces in the urban periphery of Singapore. It is based on a case study of journey-to-work patterns of employees of Singapore Airlines Limited (SIA). The company's headquarters is in Airline House which is situated in the eastern comer of Singapore, a location which suffers from accessibility problems. The paper focuses on mode choice in the journey-to-work and, by means of a questionnaire survey, examines commuting patterns of a sample of Airline House workers in terms of first, the characteristics of the different modes of transportation used; and second, the socio-economic characteristics of workers including factors such as income, gender, occupational status and age. This is followed by a discussion of the problems faced in the daily commutes of workers. Many of these problems such as inconvenient public transport services, traffic congestion and long transit times are representative of those of other peripheral workplaces in Singapore. Based on the findings of the case study, the paper discusses some policy implications of the government's planning efforts to decentralise office activities from the CBD to suburban regions.     

Wave propagation in fluid-saturated media: waveform and spectral analysis

A new numerical approach to the solution of waves propagating in a fluid-saturated medium, using Biot's theory as a foundation, has important implications for oil reservoir management and earthquake prediction. A numerical scheme is developed using an exponential transformation that explicitly treats the petrophysical and fluid properties of the medium within the framework of a generalized model. The scheme accounts for wave dissipation and velocity modifications. The numerical solution is used to perform numerical experiments to study the dynamic behaviour of waves in a fluid-saturated medium at well-logging frequencies (15 kHz). The results from the numerical experiments indicate that the degree of saturation by a high-viscosity fluid (HVF) such as oil, the temperature and the porosity of a medium strongly influence the spectral power distribution, frequency content and the velocity of waves propagating through the medium. An increase in HVF saturation causes enhanced attenuation of the low-frequency components, and increases the seismic velocity. An increase in porosity, however, enriches the low-frequency components and decreases the seismic velocity. A spectral quantification procedure is suggested and used to obtain information about the petrophysical and fluid properties of the medium from the spectral characteristics of the transmitted waveform. The procedure involves segmentation of the energy or power distribution of the transmitted waveforms into specified energy bands. The energy or power in these bands is then estimated. The extracted quantification variables are found to have strong correlations with the degree of HVF saturation, and the temperature and the porosity of the medium.     

Effect of supplemental feeding on spatial distribution and browse utilization by white-tailed deer in semi-arid rangeland

We investigate the risk that supplemental feeding of white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) to improve trophy quality may degrade rangeland through overutilization of forage plants near the feeders. We divided a South Texas ranch into 6 areas (each 1100 ha). Supplemental feed was provided year-round in a centrally placed feeder in 3 areas, no supplement was provided in the 3 control areas. Radio-telemetry collars were fitted on 2 bucks and 2 does in each area. Spatial distribution of these deer was assessed using the CALHOME program. Feed supplementation did not alter home range size of does but did reduce their 50% core area. Bucks without supplemental feed showed 2 spatial strategies; sedentary bucks had home range distributions similar to supplemented bucks, while commuter bucks moved to supplemented areas during the breeding season. Browsing pressure near feeders and control sites was assessed by measuring consumption of seedlings set in arrays radiating from feeders and control points. Deer browsing was heavier near feeders than at the control sites, and the probability of a seedling being browsed increased with proximity to the feeder. We caution against long-term supplemental feeding in fixed locations because of the potential for localized range degradation around the feeders.     

A high resolution proxy-climate record from an arctic lake with annually-laminated sediments on Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada

Sediments from a 3 ha lake (75 °34.34N, 89 °18.55W) from the coastal region of northern Devon Island, Nunavut, Canada, contain discrete laminations in the deepest part of the basin. The laminations are varves as indicated by the correspondence between counts and thickness measurements of the couplets and ²¹⁰Pb dating. A 14 cm core representing 150 years of sedimentation contained laminated couplets consisting of a lighter inorganic layer with a higher percentage of calcium and magnesium, alternating with fine darker bands, typically more cohesive, and comprising higher proportions of silica and carbon. A reddish oxidation zone with higher iron and aluminum frequently separates the laminations. The dark layer represents a biogenic component deposited in summer and is made cohesive by bacterial filaments among the other particles. The light inorganic layer represents clastic deposition from allochthonous sources. Deposition rates were relatively consistent through the core with an increase in varve thickness in the 1950s. Diatom concentrations in the sediments increased by two orders of magnitude in this century, with major increases in the 1920s and 1950s. The increase in varve thickness and diatom abundance coincides with an increase in summer melt percentage in an ice core from the Devon Island Ice Cap (Koerner, 1977). The relatively high sedimentation rate (0.15 cm yr^-1) coupled with the consistency of deposition makes this lake a significant indicator for recent climate changes of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.