Evaluating infiltration losses in a Mediterranean wetland: Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park,Spain

Las Tablas de Daimiel National Park is a series of wetlands which naturally originated from groundwater discharges from the Mancha Occidental aquifer, Spain. Despite the relatively large size of this aquifer, 30 years of intensive groundwater pumping have significantly depleted the water table. As a result, wetlands only remain functional due to artificial inflows. Infiltration loss is therefore a key parameter to evaluate how much water is needed to maintain ecosystem functionality. Although yearly infiltration estimates existed prior to this work, these did not take into account key parameters such as the temporal evolution of the flooded area. This paper presents a more concrete estimate of the average infiltration losses. Infiltration is calculated as the closure term of daily water balances during a period of time where all other elements were known to an acceptable accuracy. A validation mechanism is provided to check the potential utility of the calculated infiltration in wetland management practices. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical modelling of the potential effects of a dam on a coastal aquifer in S. Spain

This study presents the results of a three‐dimensional variable‐density numerical modelling of the Motril‐Salobreña coastal aquifer and the possible effects of the entry into service in May 2005 of the Rules Dam, located just 17 km from the coast. Present parameters of the Motril‐Salobreña aquifer show that the system's conditions are very similar to a natural regime. The dam will substantially alter aquifer recharge, as the entry flow through the alluvial sediments of the Guadalfeo River will be entirely cut off or drastically reduced. Different scenarios reproducing the possible evolution of the aquifer under operation of the Rules Dam have been modelled. In most cases, results indicate that the conditions of the aquifer would worsen, with a general advance of the freshwater–saltwater interface. The area with most risk of saltwater intrusion is the old mouth of the Guadalfeo River, where the mixing zone could advance 1200 m inland. It is proposed that maintaining a 5–6 Mm³ year^?1 ‘ecological flow’ in the Guadalfeo River could prevent this saline advance. This application demonstrates that variable‐density models are potentially useful tools for estimating the effects of dams on the hydrodynamic and hydrochemical conditions of a coastal aquifer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multifractal analysis as a tool for validating a rainfall model

A multifractal analysis was carried out in order to validate the simulation of hourly rainfall records of a local climate model for the Iberian Peninsula. Observed and simulated hourly rainfall data from four locations in Andalusia (southern Spain) were used to carry out the study. In order to detect the influence of the length of the data series on the results, two different sizes were used for the real data: 4 years, and 20 years. The results show that algebraic tails are required to fit the probability distribution of extreme rain event sizes, and rain and dry event durations for both kinds of rainfall data. Similar results are found for the extreme rain event sizes and dry event durations fits when the real and synthetic data are considered. Nevertheless, some differences appear in the cases of rain event durations. The detection of the presence of a first‐order multifractal phase transition associated with a critical moment in the empirical moment scaling exponent function and the results of the extreme rain event sizes fits, reveal that real rainfall is a self‐organized criticality (SOC) process. That behaviour is less evident in the simulated rainfall series. The same ‘synoptic maximum’ value was found for each place with both types of rainfall data. A time clustering analysis was carried out applying the count‐based periodogram and the Fano factor methods. Some periodicities have been detected in the periodograms, especially for the longest real rainfall data series. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Geochemical study of products associated with spontaneous oxidation of coal in the Cerro Pelado Formation,Venezuela

The aim of this research work is a geochemical, mineralogical, and textural characterization of spontaneously smouldered coal-derived products in northwestern Venezuela (Cerro Pelado Formation, some 10 km from Pedregal city). Several solid samples were collected from this formation, six of unweathering coal, an other six of resulting unmelted rocks forming on a surface coal bed, and the last four of mineralizations found accumulating around gas vents. The fresh coal and the unmelted material were analysed by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and proximate techniques. Products such as magnetite and chabazite-K were identified in the alteration rocks. Likewise, both materials were also studied in order to determine the mobilization of 17 elements into the environment; such elements were analysed through inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy on extracts obtained by a sequential extraction method: each sample was firstly extracted with MilliQ water and then the resultant residue was washed. This and the subsequently resulting residues are extracted according to the mentioned procedure by using, respectively, ammonium acetate, chlorhydric acid, peroxide and chlorhydric acid, nitric acid and fluorhydric acid, and nitric acid. The studied elements are classified as highly mobile (Na, Ni, ...), nearly immobile (Ti, P) and partially mobile (Mg, Fe, K, ...). In regards to mineralizations around fumaroles associated with smoldering coal seams, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analyses have revealed the presence of salammoniac, mascagnite and other solid combustion compounds formed by reaction of gas emitted from coal oxidation, in addition to previously non-reported sulfur-rich by-products associated with gas fissures, particularly ammonium thiosulfate, a phase first obtained only synthetically in the laboratory. Another objective of the research was to collect and analyse gases escaping from surficial vents. Relatively high concentrations of several aromatic compounds were detected in the gas collected at the studied coal outcrop, as well as aliphatic hydrocarbons including ethane, propane, butanes, among others. High contents of carbon monoxide, methane and carbon dioxide were also measured for gas samples.     

Mortality by cause of death in Colombia: a local analysis using spatial econometrics

Journal of Geographical Systems - Colombia is undergoing major changes in mortality patterns. National- and department-level cause-specific analyses have previously been carried out, but very...     

Meteorites at Meridiani Planum provide evidence for significant amounts of surface and near‐surface water on early Mars

Abstract– Six large iron meteorites have been discovered in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in a nearly 25 km‐long traverse. Herein, we review and synthesize the available data to propose that the discovery and characteristics of the six meteorites could be explained as the result of their impact into a soft and wet surface, sometime during the Noachian or the Hesperian, subsequently to be exposed at the Martian surface through differential erosion. As recorded by its sediments and chemical deposits, Meridiani has been interpreted to have undergone a watery past, including a shallow sea, a playa, an environment of fluctuating ground water, and/or an icy landscape. Meteorites could have been encased upon impact and/or subsequently buried, and kept underground for a long time, shielded from the atmosphere. The meteorites apparently underwent significant chemical weathering due to aqueous alteration, as indicated by cavernous features that suggest differential acidic corrosion removing less resistant material and softer inclusions. During the Amazonian, the almost complete disappearance of surface water and desiccation of the landscape, followed by induration of the sediments and subsequent differential erosion and degradation of Meridiani sediments, including at least 10–80 m of deflation in the last 3–3.5 Gy, would have exposed the buried meteorites. We conclude that the iron meteorites support the hypothesis that Mars once had a denser atmosphere and considerable amounts of water and/or water ice at and/or near the surface.     

A systematic cross-search for radio/infrared counterparts of XMM-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Newton</Emphasis> sources

We present a catalog of cross-correlated radio, infrared and X-ray sources using a very restrictive selection criteria with an IDL-based code developed by us. The significance of the observed coincidences was evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations of synthetic sources following a well-tested protocol. We found 3320 coincident radio/X-ray sources with a high statistical significance characterized by the sum of error-weighted coordinate differences. For 997 of them, 2MASS counterparts were found. The percentage of chance coincidences is less than 1%. X-ray hardness ratios of well-known populations of objects were used to provide a crude representation of their X-ray spectrum and to make a preliminary diagnosis of the possible nature of unidentified X-ray sources. The results support the fact that the X-ray sky is largely dominated by Active Galactic Nuclei at high galactic latitudes (|b|≥10°). At low galactic latitudes (|b|≤10°) most of unidentified X-ray sources (∼94%) lie at |b|≤2°. This result suggests that most of the unidentified sources found toward the Milky Way plane are galactic objects. Well-known and unidentified sources were classified in different tables with their corresponding radio/infrared and X-ray properties. These tables are intended as a useful tool for researchers interested in particular identifications.