New rurality and the experience of place: the small rural locality of La Niña,Buenos Aires,Argentina

This paper presents a cultural geographic approach for understanding local social processes of territorial re-appropriation taking place in response to non-local forces and interests. This approach is applied to the small rural locality of La Niña, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. The small village of La Niña is currently in a locally-led process of recovering from a recent depopulation trend caused mainly by the irruption of transnational agribusiness. As economic opportunities have dwindled in the last decades, more recently local inhabitants and new settlers have set forth diverse strategies aimed at mitigating the effects of depopulation on the social structure. We focus our attention on the way the living experience of place is involved in all these strategies. We contend that despite economic and cultural homogenization caused by globalization, the experience of place is a permanent though ever-changing aspect of social life. Our research was based on archival and hemerographic surveys and ethnographic field techniques, encompassing participatory observation, semistructured and in-depth interviews with social and government leaders and local producers as well as field landscape appraisals.     

Enhanced double-mechanism creep laws for salt rocks

The double-mechanism creep law (DM model) is an empirical creep constitutive model widely employed in Brazilian salt rock mechanics. This model often presents good performance in steady-state creep prediction. However, transient creep is not accounted for, and whenever early creep estimates are important, the contribution of this phase might be meaningful. This work adds value by presenting two alternatives to account for transient creep in the DM model. The first alternative couples the transient function from Sandia’s multi-mechanism deformation model to the DM model steady-state creep rate (EDMT model). The second alternative couples the DM model response to Norton’s power law when the strain rate given by the latter remains lower than the one from the former (EDMP model). These models can be implemented in numerical simulators at small code extensions of the DM model implementations. Applications from previous works by the authors are revisited to validate the formulations based on experimental data. EDMT and EDMP models differ in the formulation of transient creep and, consequently, in the time of transition between the transient and the steady-state phases. Both methods were successful in treating transient creep and in simulating experimental results.     

Use of radon isotopes,gamma radiation and dye tracers to study water interactions in a small stream in Brazil

In this study, natural (²²²Rn) and fluorescent (uranin) tracers were used to investigate the interactions between surface and subsurface waters in a small hydrographical basin located in the southeast region of Brazil. Levels of ²²²Rn were measured in 117 water samples with the use of an alpha solid-state detector. After the identification of the probable discharge sections along the stream, a measurement of the natural flows, upstream and downstream of these sections, was done with the use of a fluorimeter and fluorescent tracers. Also, scanning was done to verify a correlation between the natural gamma radiation and the ²²²Rn in the areas where its activity was higher. The results showed some sections where the ²²²Rn activity is more significant and contributed to the growth of the flows along the stream. It was possible to confirm a correlation between the discharge sections and the natural gamma radiation, what can be used as a preliminary approach to finding these sections in scenarios similar to the one studied here.     

Scientists' warning on extreme wildfire risks to water supply

2020 is the year of wildfire records. California experienced its three largest fires early in its fire season. The Pantanal, the largest wetland on the planet, burned over 20% of its surface. More than 18 million hectares of forest and bushland burned during the 2019–2020 fire season in Australia, killing 33 people, destroying nearly 2500 homes, and endangering many endemic species. The direct cost of damages is being counted in dozens of billion dollars, but the indirect costs on water-related ecosystem services and benefits could be equally expensive, with impacts lasting for decades. In Australia, the extreme precipitation (“200 mm day −1 in several location”) that interrupted the catastrophic wildfire season triggered a series of watershed effects from headwaters to areas downstream. The increased runoff and erosion from burned areas disrupted water supplies in several locations. These post-fire watershed hazards via source water contamination, flash floods, and mudslides can represent substantial, systemic long-term risks to drinking water production, aquatic life, and socio-economic activity. Scenarios similar to the recent event in Australia are now predicted to unfold in the Western USA. This is a new reality that societies will have to live with as uncharted fire activity, water crises, and widespread human footprint collide all-around of the world. Therefore, we advocate for a more proactive approach to wildfire-watershed risk governance in an effort to advance and protect water security. We also argue that there is no easy solution to reducing this risk and that investments in both green (i.e., natural) and grey (i.e., built) infrastructure will be necessary. Further, we propose strategies to combine modern data analytics with existing tools for use by water and land managers worldwide to leverage several decades worth of data and knowledge on post-fire hydrology.     

Geochemical evidence for melting of carbonated peridotite on Santa Maria Island, Azores

The islands of the Azores archipelago emerge from an oceanic plateau built on lithosphere increasing in age with distance from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge from 10 to 45 Ma. Here, we present the first comprehensive major and trace element and Sr–Nd–Pb isotope data from Santa Maria, the easternmost island of the archipelago, along with published data from the other Azores islands situated much closer to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge axis. We can show that the distinctively more variable and more enriched trace element ratios at Santa Maria combined with a relatively small range in Sr–Nd–Pb isotope ratios are the result of low degrees of partial melting of a common Azores mantle plume source underneath thicker lithosphere. This implies that melt extraction processes and melting dynamics may be able to better preserve the trace element mantle source variability underneath thicker lithosphere. These conclusions may apply widely for oceanic melts erupted on relatively thick lithosphere. In addition, lower Ti/Sm and K/La ratios and SiO₂ contents of Santa Maria lavas imply melting of a carbonated peridotite source. Mixing of variable portions of deep small-degree carbonated peridotite melts and shallow volatile-free garnet peridotite could explain the geochemical variability underneath Santa Maria in agreement with the volatile-rich nature of the Azores mantle source. However, Santa Maria is the Azores island where the CO₂-rich nature of the mantle source is more evident, reflecting a combination of a smaller extent of partial melting and the positioning at the edge of the tilted Azores mantle plume.     

Microbiological composition of native and exotic clams from Tagus estuary: Effect of season and environmental parameters

The influence of seasonal and environmental parameters on the occurrence of bacteria was investigated in two clam species (Venerupis pullastra and Ruditapes philippinarum), water and sediment from the Tagus estuary. Total viable counts (TVC), Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp. and Vibrio spp. were evaluated during one-year. Overall, significant seasonal variations were found in both sampling sites, especially for E. coli and Vibrio spp. levels. In summer, significantly higher Vibrio spp. levels were found in R. philippinarum and sediment samples, but not in V. pullastra clams and water samples. In contrast, significantly higher TVC and E. coli levels were observed in winter months in water and sediment samples. Salmonella spp. was generally isolated when higher levels of E. coli were detected, particularly in R. philippinarum. This study is useful for authorities to develop monitoring strategies for coastal contamination and to estimate human health risks associated with the consumption of bivalves.     

Epidemiological analysis of malaria and its relationships with hydrological variables in four municipalities of the State of Amazonas,Brazil

Abstract

This work comprises a spatial, temporal and statistical analysis of the epidemiology of malaria occurrence in four municipalities of the State of Amazonas, Brazil: Coari, Codajás, Manacapuru and Manaus, for the period 2003–2009. The number of malaria cases, precipitation, water level and temperature data were analysed in this study. The strength of the relationship between these hydrological/meteorological variables and the occurrence of malaria was determined by employing the Spearman rank correlation coefficient. Seasonal peaks of malaria were registered, on average, about 1–2 months before the annual maximum temperature and after the river’s seasonal high-water level. The phenomenon called repiquete (notable variations in the water level) was observed during periods of between 9 and 56 days. The results showed a statistically significant correlation between malaria, temperature, precipitation and water level. Temperature influenced malaria occurrence the least, while rainfall was the most important factor, especially in the municipality of Coari. Water level had an important influence on the records of malarial occurrence in the municipality of Manacapuru.

Editor Z.W. Kundzewicz

Citation Wolfarth, B.R., Filizola, N., Tadei, W.P., and Durieux, L., 2013. Epidemiological analysis of malaria and its relationships with hydrological variables in four municipalities of the State of Amazonas, Brazil. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 58 (7), 1495–1504.     

Influence of Environmental Variables and Fishing Pressure on Bivalve Fisheries in an Inshore Lagoon and Adjacent Nearshore Coastal Area

Climate changes affect marine ecosystems and the survival, growth, reproduction and distribution of species, including those targeted by commercial fisheries. The impact of climate change has been reported for many fish species, but studies focusing on the effects of climate on bivalve resources are lacking. In Portugal, the harvesting of bivalves is an old and artisanal activity, of special importance along the Algarve coast (South of Portugal). This study aims to evaluate the influence of climatic, environmental and fisheries factors on the landings of intertidal coastal lagoon and coastal bivalve species (subtidal nearshore species). The environmental and fisheries parameters considered to affect the landings of bivalves in the eastern Algarve were: fishing effort (number of fishing events), sea surface temperature, North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) index, upwelling index, wind magnitude and direction and river discharges. Analysis of time series data using min/max autocorrelation factor analysis and dynamic factor analysis showed that, for most species, fishing effort was positively related with landings per unit effort trends in the following year. Lagoon bivalve species (Cerastoderma edule and Ruditapes decussatus) responded to different environmental variables than the coastal bivalve species (Chamelea gallina, Pharus legumen, Donax spp. and Spisula solida). Upwelling index had a significant effect on the lagoon bivalves while the NAO index, wind magnitude and direction, and river discharges only affected the coastal species. This study highlighted the need to adapt fishing effort regimes, while considering the background effects of environmental variability, in order to improve fisheries management.     

Observational Investigation of the Statistical Properties of Surface-Layer Turbulence in a Suburban Area of São Paulo,Brazil: Objective Analysis of Scaling-Parameter Accuracy and Uncertainties

Boundary-Layer Meteorology - Statistical properties of turbulence, specifically variances of velocity components, temperature, water vapor, and carbon dioxide densities, are observationally...     

Soil discrimination using diffuse reflectance Vis–NIR spectroscopy in a local toposequence

Vis–NIR spectroscopy is nowadays presented as a possible routine method for soil sample analysis. However, there is still no consensus on which is the best multivariate statistical method to use. We propose to use principal component analysis to complete the spectral data treatment. The soil samples came from a pedological cover made up of red–yellow Latosols: 88 samples of 11 soil profiles on four toposequences were collected; clay, organic matter, silica, iron, aluminum and titanium total contents were determined; the contents of goethite, hematite, gibbsite, and kaolinite were calculated. Diffuse reflectance Vis–NIR spectroscopy at wavelengths from 400 to 2400 nm combined with principal component analysis (PCA) was sufficiently sensitive to discriminate different Latosols. Wavelengths of 700 nm and 2200 to 2300 nm were influenced by content ratios of organic matter and iron oxides (700 nm), and kaolinite and gibbsite absorption (2200 and 2300 nm). The spectral responses were affected not only by the content of these constituents, but also by the composition of the minerals, so that the same class of Latosol may have different or similar spectral responses. The role of microaggregation is discussed.