Water Materialities and Citizen Engagement: Testing the Implications of Water Access and Quality for Community Engagement in Ghana and South Africa

We analyze the relationship between perceptions of domestic water access, and quality, in relation community engagement. While others have suggested linkages between material conditions of water access and engagement (e.g., that poor water access might spur engagement), to date there have been no studies those test these relationships using statistical methods. Based on a quantitative analysis of survey data from underserved sites in Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa, our results show that water access and quality are both predictive of community engagement. The analysis also makes a strong case that there are different dimensions when considering the material conditions of water—in this case, water access and quality each condition engagement in opposite directions. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, our study also shows different demographics (notably gender) mediate these relationships in important ways.     

Tracking denudation and sediment production and transport with cosmogenic 10Be in arid,high-altitude Himalayan half-grabens,Zanskar, northern India

Understanding the extent to which local factors, including bedrock and structure, govern catchment denudation in mountainous environments as opposed to broader climate or tectonic patterns provides insight into how landscapes evolve as sediment is generated and transported through them, and whether they have approached steady-state equilibrium. We measured beryllium-10 (¹⁰Be) concentrations in 21 sediment samples from glaciated footwall and hanging wall catchments, including a set of nested catchments, and 12 bedrock samples in the Puga and Tso Morari half-grabens located in the high-elevation, arid Zanskar region of northern India. In the Puga half-graben where catchments are underlain by quartzo-feldspathic gneissic bedrock, bedrock along catchment divides is eroding very slowly, about 5 m/Ma, due to extreme aridity and ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments are the highest (~60–90 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂) as colluvium accumulates on hillslopes, decoupled from their ephemeral streams. At Puga, ¹⁰Be concentrations and the average erosion rates of a set of six nested catchments demonstrate that catchment denudation is transport-limited as sediment stagnates on lower slopes before reaching the catchment outlet. In the Tso Morari half-graben, gneissic bedrock is also eroding very slowly but ¹⁰Be concentrations in sediments in catchments underlain by low grade meta-sedimentary rocks, are significantly lower (~10–35 × 10⁵ atoms/g SiO₂). In these arid, high-elevation environments, ¹⁰Be concentrations in catchment sediments have more to do with bedrock weathering and transport times than steady-state denudation rates. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Relic permafrost structures in the Gobi of Mongolia: age and significance

Relict permafrost structures (ice-wedge casts and cryoturbation structures) are present in the Gobi of southern Mongolia. Luminescence dates of sediments are presented to constrain the age of formation of permafrost structures. These data show that there was a phase of permafrost development during the latter part of the Last Glacial (after about 22 to 15 ka) that resulted in cryoturbated sediments and ice-wedge casts. Furthermore, permafrost degradation occurred during late Pleistocene times (13–10 ka) and was absent during the early Holocene. These permafrost structures mark the southernmost evidence of permafrost in northern Asia during late Quaternary times and indicate that the mean annual air temperature was below approximately −6°C during their formation. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Provenance of temper in a New Kingdom Egyptian pottery sherd: Evidence from the petrology and mineralogy of basalt fragments

A New Kingdom spinning bowl from Karnak (Luxor) Egypt is similar in form to spinning bowls commonly found at other Egyptian sites and has a bulk chemical composition in the range for other Egyptian marl vessels. These data support a domestic origin. The matrix of the bowl contains unaltered, sand-sized, mafic rock fragments with volcanic, subophitic textures. Over 20% of the sand-sized grains consist of angular, unweathered rock fragments, and of these ∼20% are volcanic. Apparently they were added as temper. Electron microprobe analyses show that augite, plagioclase, and, where present, pigeonite, in nine of these have compositions typical of mafic igneous rocks. Geothermometry confirms crystallization at ∼1100°C. Pyroxene discrimination diagrams indicate geological sources ranging from within-plate alkali basalts to within-plate, continental tholeiites. Suitable sources for the temper are rare in Egypt. Both alkaline and tholeiitic, postorogenic (unaltered) late Cenozoic basalts occur in the Cairo area, making this the most likely but not the only possible source for the temper. The pottery may have also originated in Cairo because raw rock materials were moved upstream less commonly than down the Nile. A Cairo provenance for the Karnak artifact is consistent with the everyday movement of people and goods along the Nile between the ancient twin capitals of Memphis and Thebes. These results and the common occurrence of volcanic rocks as temper indicate that microbeam analytical techniques may help narrow the provenance of ancient pottery. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

GMRT detection of HI 21 cm-line absorption from the peculiar galaxy in Abell 2125

Using the recently completed Giant Meterwave Radio Telescope, we have detected the HI 21 cm-line absorption from the peculiar galaxy C153 in the galaxy cluster Abell 2125. The HI absorption is at a redshift of 0.2533, with a peak optical depth of 0.36. The full width at half minimum of the absorption line is 100 km s⁻¹. The estimated column density of atomic Hydrogen is 0.7×10²²(T _s /100) cm⁻². The HI absorption is redshifted by ∼400km s⁻¹ compared to the [OIII] emission line from this system. We attribute this to an infalling cold gas or to an out-flowing ionised gas, or to a combination of both as a consequence of tidal interactions of C153 with either a cluster galaxy or the cluster potential.     

Geostatistical Simulation of Acoustic Log Data for Seismic Depth Conversion

Seismic reflection methods measure the time a seismic wave takes to travel through the ground, from the user defined source to a series of signal monitoring sensors known as geophones. The measured times need to be depth converted to allow for integration with other geological data. In order to convert from time to depth, an estimate of the rock volume velocity field must be made. The velocity field estimate can be made by assignment of velocity estimates to a geological model independent of the seismic processing. This article presents the results of using the acoustic geophysical log data extrapolated via sequential Gaussian simulation to derive the velocity field. The uncertainties associated with the velocity estimates were significant and provided the means to assess confidence limits for the actual depth determination. The technique is assessed by application to a major coal deposit, approximately 2.1 m thick and 210 m deep. Considering only the uncertainty associated with estimating the velocity field, half of the confidence interval values showed approximately 1 m of uncertainty in depth. The application of sequential Gaussian simulation to model the 3D distribution of acoustic velocity can be extended to other geophysical log parameters or derived estimates.     

Mechanisms controlling soil carbon turnover and their potential application for enhancing carbon sequestration

In addition to increasing plant C inputs, strategies for enhancing soil C sequestration include reducing C turnover and increasing its residence time in soils. Two major mechanisms, (bio)chemical alteration and physicochemical protection, stabilize soil organic C (SOC) and thereby control its turnover. With (bio)chemical alteration, SOC is transformed by biotic and abiotic processes to chemical forms that are more resistant to decomposition and, in some cases, more easily retained by sorption to soil solids. With physicochemical protection, biochemical attack of SOC is inhibited by organomineral interactions at molecular to millimeter scales. Stabilization of otherwise decomposable SOC can occur via sorption to mineral and organic soil surfaces, occlusion within aggregates, and deposition in pores or other locations inaccessible to decomposers and extracellular enzymes. Soil structure is a master integrating variable that both controls and indicates the SOC stabilization status of a soil. One potential option for reducing SOC turnover and enhancing sequestration, is to modify the soil physicochemical environment to favor the activities of fungi. Specific practices that could accomplish this include manipulating the quality of plant C inputs, planting perennial species, minimizing tillage and other disturbances, maintaining a near-neutral soil pH and adequate amounts of exchangeable base cations (particularly calcium), ensuring adequate drainage, and minimizing erosion. In some soils, amendment with micro- and mesoporous sorbents that have a high specific surface – such as fly ash or charcoal – can be beneficial. All authors contributed equally to this article.     

Clionid sponge surveys on the Florida Reef Tract suggest land-based nutrient inputs

Bioerosion by Cliona delitrix and Cliona lampa was assessed at 43 sites along the Florida Reef Tract, USA, in the summer of 2001. Sponge abundances were estimated using rapid visual assessment. Tissue samples of sponges were taken for analysis of delta15N. Comparison samples were taken from Belize. Annual trends in sponge abundance were estimated from archived videos covering the period from 1996 to 2001. Sites with the greatest boring sponge size and cover were in the Backcountry and Lower Keys, where total nitrogen, ammonium, and delta15N levels were highest. The sites with the largest relative increase of C. delitrix and C. lampa over the 5 year period were in the Upper Keys, where the greatest relative decline in stony coral cover has occurred. Florida sponge delta15N values were 5.2(+/-0.1)%, suggesting the influence of human waste; in comparison, offshore Belize samples were 2.1(+/-0.1)%. These results suggest sewage contamination of the Florida Reef Tract, shifting the carbonate balance from construction to destruction.