TRENDS IN LATIN AMERICANIST GEOGRAPHY IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA

The question of what lies ahead is of particular concern for Latin Americanists. The last decade has witnessed a serious erosion of both the popularity of their specialty, and an equally troublesome reduction in employment opportunities. This paper uses Association of American Geographers (AAG) data bases to document the age-gender structure of contemporary Latin Americanist geographers, and projects likely compositional changes through the end of the century.     

Geocentre motion from the DORIS space system and laser data to the Lageos satellites: comparison with surface loading data

Surface mass redistribution within the Earth system, especially in the atmosphere, oceans, continents and ice sheets, causes the position of the centre of mass to vary in a reference frame attached to the solid Earth. Space techniques are now precise enough to measure the centre of mass motion. Here we present a determination of the centre of mass coordinates at regular monthly intervals using DORIS data on SPOT‐2, SPOT‐3 and Topex–Poseidon (1993–1997) and laser data on Lageos‐1 and Lageos‐2 (1993–1996). The amplitude and phase of the space‐geodesy‐derived annual cycle for each coordinate are further compared to estimates based on surface mass redistribution at the Earth surface derived from various climatic data sources: surface pressure, soil moisture, snow depth and ocean mass variations.     

Toward a Spatial Understanding of Staple Food and Nonstaple Food Production in Brazil

Brazilian agricultural census data at the municipal level are used to develop and map a simple index of staple food versus nonstaple food agriculture for Brazil over time (1996–2006). The results show spatial variation in the direction and degree of the shift toward or away from staple food cropping across Brazil. The index is presented as an important methodological step toward a systematic geographic understanding of crop share changes surrounding food versus fuel and other nonfood crop production.     

A comparison of annual and seasonal carbon dioxide effluxes between sub-Arctic Sweden and High-Arctic Svalbard

Recent climate change predictions suggest altered patterns of winter precipitation across the Arctic. It has been suggested that the presence, timing and quantity of snow all affect microbial activity, thus influencing CO₂ production in soil. In this study annual and seasonal emissions of CO₂ were estimated in High-Arctic Adventdalen, Svalbard, and sub-Arctic Latnjajaure, Sweden, using a new trace gas-based method to track real-time diffusion rates through the snow. Summer measurements from snow-free soils were made using a chamber-based method. Measurements were obtained from different snow regimes in order to evaluate the effect of snow depth on winter CO₂ effluxes. Total annual emissions of CO₂ from the sub-Arctic site (0.662–1.487 kg CO₂ m^–2 yr^–1) were found to be more than double the emissions from the High-Arctic site (0.369–0.591 kg CO₂ m^–2 yr^–1). There were no significant differences in winter effluxes between snow regimes or vegetation types, indicating that spatial variability in winter soil CO₂ effluxes are not directly linked to snow cover thickness or soil temperatures. Total winter emissions (0.004–0.248 kg CO₂ m^–2) were found to be in the lower range of those previously described in the literature. Winter emissions varied in their contribution to total annual production between 1 and 18%. Artificial snow drifts shortened the snow-free period by 2 weeks and decreased the annual CO₂ emission by up to 20%. This study suggests that future shifts in vegetation zones may increase soil respiration from Arctic tundra regions.     

The space-time cube as part of a GeoVisual analytics environment to support the understanding of movement data

This paper reports the results of an empirical usability experiment on the performance of the space-time cube in a GeoVisual analytics environment. It was developed to explore movement data based on the requirements of human geographers. The interactive environment consists of multiple coordinated views incorporating three graphical representations. For the experiment, two groups of the user, domain experts and non-domain experts, had to execute several map-use tasks to answers specific question. The data collected during the experiment were analysis resulting in a set of usability metrics related to the effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction of developed application. The comparison of both groups showed that domain experts were able to operate the visual analytical environment more effectively and efficiently due to their interest to explore their data. The user feedback derived from the analysis of both experiments was further processed for the improvement of the application.     

The isotopic composition and elemental abundance of lutetium in meteorites and terrestrial samples and the 176Lu cosmochronometer

The isotopic composition of lutetium has been measured in a range of terrestrial and meteoritic materials using solid-source mass spectrometric techniques. The meteoritic and terrestrial isotopic abundances are identical within experimental errors. The absolute ¹⁷⁵Lu/¹⁷⁶Lu ratio as determined in this work is 37.36 ± 0.07 at the 95% confidence level. On the basis of this measurement the atomic weight of lutetium has been calculated to be 174.967 ± 0.002, which is in good agreement with the currently accepted figure of 174.97 ± 0.01.Using the stable isotope dilution technique the abundance of lutetium has been determined in 25 stone, 1 stony-iron and 8 iron meteorites, and in 12 standard rocks, with an accuracy of ±5% at the 95% confidence level. In general, there is good agreement between this work and other published data.The ¹⁷⁶Lu-¹⁷⁶Hf pair has been proposed as an s process nucleocosmochronometer, because of the long half-life of ¹⁷⁶Lu and the unique fact that both are s process isobars. The isotopic and elemental abundances of lutetium as measured in this work have been used with published nuclear data to estimate the mean age of s process nucleosynthesis for this isobaric pair, using the Schramm-Wasserburg formalism. The mean age cannot be accurately determined at the present time because of the lack of 30 keV neutron capture cross-section data for s only process nuclides and an accurate measurement of the branching ratio of ¹⁷⁵Lu + n. However, it is possible to place constraints on the nuclear parameters in this mass region using a reasonable s process chronology based on the decay of ¹⁷⁶Lu.     

Correlation of trace elements with hydrocarbon microseepage

Direct correlation have been observed between certain trace element and hydrocarbon anomalies in the near subsurface soils of Vindhyan basin, India. This relationship with hydrocarbon is very useful in hydrocarbon exploration. 52 soil samples from Vindhyan basin were collected from a depth of 2.5m. All the soil samples were analyzed for light hydrocarbon, isotope and trace element concentrations. The adsorbed light gaseous hydrocarbon analyses show the presence of methane (8–328 ppb), ethane (0–27 ppb) and propane (0–11 ppb) respectively and these values indicate the presence of hydrocarbon micro-seepage in the study area. The carbon isotopic values determined for methane and ethane for these soil samples are (?26.41 to ?47.70 ‰ PDB) and (?20.07 to ?35.30 ‰ PDB) respectively and they are thermogenic in nature. The trace element concentrations of nickel (33–220 ppm), vanadium (72–226 ppm), copper (20–131 ppm), chromium (94–205 ppm), zinc (66–561 ppm) and cobalt (9–39 ppm) have higher than the normal concentrations in soils. Trace element concentrations are used to plot with the data obtained from light gaseous hydrocarbon concentrations and carbon isotopic values of soil samples of the Vindhyan basin. Trace element anomalies have been observed around the hydrocarbon anomalies in the study area.     

Refinement of the modified time-to-failure method for intermediate-term earthquake prediction

The modified time-to-failure method for intermediate-term earthquake prediction utilizes empirical relationships to reduce the number of unknown parameters providing a stable and unique solution set. The only unknown parameters in the modified time-to-failure method are the time and size of the impending main shock. The modified time-to-failure equation is used to model the precursory events and a prediction contour diagram is constructed with the magnitude and time-of-failure as the axes of the diagram. The root-mean-square (rms) is calculated for each set of time and magnitude on the prediction diagram representing the difference between the model (calculated) acceleration and the actual accelerated energy release of the precursory events. A small region, corresponding to the low rms region on the diagram, defines the prediction. The prediction has been shown to consistently under-estimate the magnitude and over-estimate the time-of-failure. These shortcomings are caused by an underestimation in energy release of the modified time-to-failure equation at the very end of the sequence. An empirical correction can be applied to the predicted results to minimize this problem. A main shock location search technique has been developed for use with the modified time-to-failure method. The location technique is used to systematically search an earthquake catalog and identify locations corresponding to precursory sequences that display accelerated energy releases. It has shown good results when applied in retrospective predictions, and is essential for the practical application of the modified time-to-failure method. In addition, an observed linear characteristic in long-term energy release can be used to minimize false predictions. The refined empirical relationships that eliminate or constrain unknown constants used in the modified time-to-failure method and the main shock location search technique are used in a practical application in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The NMSZ, which is over due for a magnitude 6 event according to recurrence rates (Johnston and Nava, 1985), makes this region ideal for testing the method. One location was identified in the NMSZ as a high risk area for an event in the magnitude 4.5 range. The prediction, if accurate, is of scientific interest only because of the relatively small size of the main shock.