In‐Situ Sonication for Enhanced Recovery of Aquifer Microbial Communities

Sampling methods for characterization of microbial communities in aquifers should target both suspended and attached microorganisms (biofilms). We investigated the effectiveness and reproducibility of low‐frequency (200 Hz) sonication pulses on improving extraction efficiency and quality of microorganisms from a petroleum‐contaminated aquifer in Studen (Switzerland). Sonication pulses at different power levels (0.65, 0.9, and 1.1 kW) were applied to three different groundwater monitoring wells. Groundwater samples extracted after each pulse were compared with background groundwater samples for cell and adenosine tri‐phosphate concentration. Turbidity values were obtained to assess the release of sediment fines and associated microorganisms. The bacterial community in extracted groundwater samples was analyzed by terminal‐restriction‐fragment‐length polymorphism and compared with communities obtained from background groundwater samples and from sediment cores. Sonication enhanced the extraction efficiency up to 13‐fold, with most of the biomass being associated with the sediment fines extracted with groundwater. Consecutive pulses at constant power were decreasingly effective, while pulses with higher power yielded the best results both in terms of extraction efficiency and quality. Our results indicate that low‐frequency sonication may be a viable and cost‐effective tool to improve the extraction of microorganisms from aquifers, taking advantage of existing groundwater monitoring wells.     

Spatial structure characteristics detecting of landform based on improved 3D Lacunarity model

The spatial structure characteristics of landform are the foundation of geomorphologic classification and recognition.This paper proposed a new method on quantifying spatial structure characteristics of terrain surface based on improved 3D Lacunarity model.Lacunarity curve and its numerical integration are used in this model to improve traditional classification result that different morphological types may share the close value of indexes based on global statistical analysis.Experiments at four test areas with different landform types show that improved 3D Lacunarity model can effectively distinguish different morphological types per texture analysis.Higher sensitivity in distinguishing the tiny differences of texture characteristics of terrain surface shows that the quantification method by 3D Lacu-narity model and its numerical integration presented in this paper could contribute to improving the accuracy of land-form classifications and relative studies.     

中国极化区发展及功能评估研究

通过中国极化区发展及功能模式分析方法探讨,构建识别极化区功能的指标体系,采用极化区发展分析及功能评估方法,对中国已经批准建设的、具有极化区发展潜力的16个规划发展区进行了发展状况分析及功能定量评估,并提出发挥重要竞争力和影响力、承担重要引领带动功能、具有重要门户和枢纽地位、支撑落后地区快速发展等4类适合中国区域发展现状的极化区发展功能模式。     

Heat transfer coefficients of natural volcanic clasts

Heat transfer coefficients used in numerical simulations of volcanic eruptions are typically borrowed from industrial settings where the coefficients are well determined for non-permeable, machined (spherical) materials. Volcanic clasts, in contrast, are permeable and have irregular shapes. We performed a series of laboratory experiments to determine heat transfer coefficients for natural volcanic particles. We measured the surface and interior temperatures during cooling at wind speeds ranging from 0 to 10 m/s. We also measured the permeability and density of the particles. We find that the permeability of the particles has little effect on clast cooling. In the absence of any wind, heat loss occurs by free convection, and we find no relationship between the heat transfer coefficient and particle density. However, for non-zero Reynolds numbers (finite wind speed), the heat transfer coefficient decreases with increasing porosity. We obtain a correlation for the dimensionless heat loss, or Nusselt number, of the form Nu = 2 + aRe^1/2Pr^1/3 where a is a density dependent coefficient given by a = 0.00022ρ + 0.31, with ρ in kg/m³, and Re and Pr are the Reynolds number and Prandtl number, respectively. Compared with non-porous particles, heat transfer coefficients for natural pumice clasts are reduced by a factor of 2–3 for particles with similar Re. Numerical simulations show that this leads to an increase in depositional temperature by 50–90 °C.     

The Niassa Gold Belt,northern Mozambique – A segment of a continental-scale Pan-African gold-bearing structure?

The Niassa Gold Belt, in northernmost Mozambique, is hosted in the Txitonga Group, a Neoproterozoic rift sequence overlying Paleoproterozoic crust of the Congo–Tanzania Craton and deformed during the Pan-African Orogeny. The Txitonga Group is made up of greenschist-facies greywacke and schist and is characterized by bimodal, mainly mafic, magmatism. A zircon U–Pb age for a felsic volcanite dates deposition of the sequence at 714 ± 17 Ma. Gold is mined artisanally from alluvial deposits and primary chalcopyrite-pyrite-bearing quartz veins containing up to 19 ppm Au have been analyzed. In the Cagurué and M’Papa gold fields, dominantly N–S trending quartz veins, hosted in metagabbro and schist, are regarded as tension gashes related to regional strike-slip NE–SW-trending Pan-African shear zones. These gold deposits have been classified as mesozonal and metamorphic in origin. Re–Os isotopic data on sulfides suggest two periods of gold deposition for the Cagurué Gold Field. A coarse-crystalline pyrite–chalcopyrite assemblage yields an imprecise Pan-African age of 483 ± 72 Ma, dating deposition of the quartz veins. Remobilization of early-formed sulfides, particularly chalcopyrite, took place at 112 ± 14 Ma, during Lower Cretaceous Gondwana dispersal. The ～483 Ma assemblage yields a chondritic initial ¹⁸⁷Os/¹⁸⁸Os ratio of 0.123 ± 0.058. This implies a juvenile source for the ore fluids, possibly involving the hosting Neoproterozoic metagabbro. The Niassa Gold Belt is situated at the eastern end of a SW–NE trending continental-scale lineament defined by the Mwembeshi Shear Zone and the southern end of a NW–SE trending lineament defined by the Rukwa Shear Zone. We offer a review of gold deposits in Zambia and Tanzania associated with these polyphase lineaments and speculate on their interrelation.     

Deriving Optimal Exploration Target Zones on Mineral Prospectivity Maps

This paper describes a quantitative methodology for deriving optimal exploration target zones based on a probabilistic mineral prospectivity map. The methodology is demonstrated in the Rodalquilar mineral district in Spain. A subset of known occurrences of mineral deposits of the type sought was considered discovered and then used as training data, and a map of distances to faults/fractures and three band ratio images of hyperspectral data were used as layers of spatial evidence in weights-of-evidence (WofE) modeling of mineral prospectivity in the study area. A derived posterior probability map of mineral deposit occurrence showing non-violation of the conditional independence assumption and having the highest prediction rate was then put into an objective function in simulated annealing in order to derive a set of optimal exploration focal points. Each optimal exploration focal point represents a pixel or location within a circular neighborhood of pixels with high posterior probability of mineral deposit occurrence. Buffering of each optimal exploration focal point, based on proximity analysis, resulted in optimal exploration target zones. Many of these target zones coincided spatially with at least one occurrence of mineral deposit of the type sought in the subset of cross-validation (i.e., presumed undiscovered) mineral deposits of the type sought. The results of the study showed the usefulness of the proposed methodology for objective delineation of optimal exploration target zones based on a probabilistic mineral prospectivity map.     

Magmatic history and geophysical signature of a post-collisional intrusive center emplaced near a crustal-scale shear zone: the Plechý granite pluton (Moldanubian batholith,Bohemian Massif)

The Plechy pluton, southwestern Bohemian Massif, represents a late-Variscan, complexly zoned intrusive center emplaced near the crustal-scale Pfahl shear zone; the pluton thus provides an opportunity to examine the interplay among successive emplacement of large magma batches, magmatic fabric acquisition, and the late-Variscan stress field associated with strike-slip shearing. The magmatic history of the pluton started with the emplacement of the porphyritic Plechy and Haidmühler granites. Based on gravity and structural data, we interpret that the Plechy and Haidmühler granites were emplaced as a deeply rooted, ∼NE–SW elongated body; its gross shape and internal fabric (steep ∼NE–SW magmatic foliation) may have been controlled by the late-Variscan stress field. The steep magmatic foliation changes into flat-lying foliation (particularly recorded by AMS) presumably as a result of divergent flow. Magnetic lineations correspond to a sub-horizontal ∼NE–SW finite stretch associated with the divergent flow. Subsequently, the Třístoličník granite, characterized by steep margin-parallel magmatic foliation, was emplaced as a crescent-shaped body in the central part of the pluton. The otherwise inward-younging intrusive sequence was completed by the emplacement of the outermost and the most evolved garnet-bearing granite (the Marginal granite) along the southeastern margin of the pluton. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

A multi‐dimensional analysis of the impacts of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: A tale from Tamil Nadu

This paper provides a multi‐dimensional analysis of the impacts of the Indian Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme using a case study from rural Tamil Nadu. Drawing on structured interviews in households and semi‐structured interviews with local employers and officials, we analyse the effects of the workfare scheme when it is widely and properly implemented. We distinguish between different conceptualizations of the work scheme as a means of welfare provision, labour market policy and intervention directed towards other objectives. We found that the goals of the scheme were fulfilled unevenly in the given context. Among other findings, we show that positive effects on the welfare of participating and non‐participating households were accompanied by adverse effects on the local economy and negligible impact on out‐migration for work.     

Wavelets applied to simplification of digital terrain models

Wavelet thresholding is used to generate simplified terrain models. This non-linear filtering technique is adaptive in the sense that the large wavelet coefficients in areas of high relief are kept, whereas all coefficients smaller than a threshold value, representing smooth areas, are thrown away. The degree of detail in the simplified model is controlled by the number of wavelet coefficients retained. Two different areas are analysed using this method. The experiments show the smoothing effect of the thresholding, and how the main terrain features survive as the threshold value increases. At large threshold values the method introduces blocking artifacts in the model.     

Statistics-based outlier detection for wireless sensor networks

Wireless sensor network (WSN) applications require efficient, accurate and timely data analysis in order to facilitate (near) real-time critical decision-making and situation awareness. Accurate analysis and decision-making relies on the quality of WSN data as well as on the additional information and context. Raw observations collected from sensor nodes, however, may have low data quality and reliability due to limited WSN resources and harsh deployment environments. This article addresses the quality of WSN data focusing on outlier detection. These are defined as observations that do not conform to the expected behaviour of the data. The developed methodology is based on time-series analysis and geostatistics. Experiments with a real data set from the Swiss Alps showed that the developed methodology accurately detected outliers in WSN data taking advantage of their spatial and temporal correlations. It is concluded that the incorporation of tools for outlier detection in WSNs can be based on current statistical methodology. This provides a usable and important tool in a novel scientific field.