A decade of change in the Skidaway River estuary I. Hydrography and nutrients

The Skidaway River estuary is a tidally-dominated subtropical estuary in the southeastern USA surrounded by extensiveSpartina salt marshes. Weekly smapling at high and low tide began in 1986 for hydrography, nutrients, chlorophylla, particulate matter, and microbial and plankton biomass and composition; hydrographic and nutrient data during 1986–1996 are reported here. Salinity varied inversely with river discharge and exhibited variability at all time scales but with no long-term trend. Water temperature typically ranged over 25°C and was without apparent long-term frend. Seasonal cycles in concentrations of NO₃, NH₄, PO₄, Si(OH)₄, and DON were observed, with annual maxima generally occurring in late summer. Superimposed on seasonal cycles, all five nutrients exhibited steady increases in minimum, mean, and maximum concentrations; mean concentrations increased c. 50–150% during the decade. Nutrient concentrations were highly correlated with water temperature over the ten-year period, but weakly related to salinity and discharge. Nutrients were strongly correlated with one another, and the relative ratios among inorganic nutrients showed little long-term trend. Correlations among temperature and nutrient concentrations exhibited considerable inter-annual variability. Major spikes in organic and inorganic nutrient concentrations coincided with significant rainfall events; concentrations increased hyperbolically with rainfall. Although pristine compared to more heavily impacted waterways primarily outside the region, residential development and population density have been increasing rapidly during the past 15–20 years. Land use is apparently altering nutrient loading over the long-term (months-years), and superimposed on this are stochastic meteorological events that accelerate these changes over the short term (days-weeks).     

Probing mid-mantle heterogeneity using PKP coda waves

We investigate the utility of PKP coda waves for studying weak scattering from small-scale heterogeneity in the mid-mantle. Coda waves are potentially a useful probe of heterogeneity in the mid-mantle because they are not preferentially scattered near the CMB, as PKP precursors are, but are sensitive to scattering at all depths. PKP coda waves have not been used for this purpose historically because of interference with other late-arriving energy due to near-surface resonance and scattering. Any study of deep mantle scattering using coda waves requires the removal of near-surface effects from the data. We have analyzed 3624 recordings of PKP precursors and coda made by stations in the Incorporated Research Institutions for Seismology (IRIS) Global Seismographic Network (GSN). To study the range and time dependence of the scattered waves, we binned and stacked envelopes of the recordings. We have considered precursors that arrive within a 20 s window before PKP and coda waves in a 60 s window after PKP. The PKP scattered waves increase in amplitude rapidly with range as predicted by scattering theory. At ranges below 125°, we predict and observe essentially no scattered energy preceding PKP. Coda amplitudes at these ranges are independent of range and provide an estimate of energy due to near-surface effects that we can expect at all ranges. We use the average coda amplitude at ranges from 120 to 125° to correct coda amplitudes at other ranges. PKP coda waves show a strong dependence on time and range and are clearly influenced by scattering in the lower mantle. PKP coda waves, however, do not provide a tighter constraint on the vertical distribution of mantle heterogeneity than is provided by precursors. This is due, in part, to relatively large scatter in coda amplitudes as revealed by a resampling analysis. Modeling using Rayleigh–Born scattering theory and an exponential autocorrelation function shows that PKP coda amplitudes are not highly sensitive to the vertical distribution of heterogeneity in the mantle. To illustrate this we consider single-scattering in two extreme models of mantle heterogeneity. One allows heterogeneity just at the CMB; the other includes heterogeneity throughout the mantle. The amplitudes of precursors are tightly constrained by our stack and support our earlier conclusion that small-scale heterogeneity is uniformly distributed throughout the lower mantle. The best-fit model includes 8 km scale length heterogeneity with an rms velocity contrast throughout the mantle of 1%.     

The CTBT and advances in earth science

David Booth and Peter Maguire report on a two-day meeting organized by the Royal Astronomical Society and the British Geophysical Association, that showed how scientific challenges generated by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty have been addressed, and how they continue to stimulate advances in earth science.     

New frontiers and old puzzles

Peter Bond reports on new programmes for planetary exploration and successes in observation and research.     

The RGS, exploration and Empire and the contested nature of surveying

In 1879, the RGS started courses in practical surveying based on the methods used by navigators. Subsequently, RGS courses, increasingly under the influence of former members of the Survey of India, changed in character. At the same time as the nature of appropriate surveying was being negotiated within the RGS, the debate over the academic nature of geography also took shape. The development of the 'new' geography reflected the conflicts within the RGS Council over the meaning of scientific geography.     

Changing Rural Spaces: Deregulation and the decline of tobacco farming in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area,Far North Queensland

The growing of tobacco was one of the most tightly regulated industries in Australia, until deregulation in 1995. Commonwealth regulations controlled the area cultivated with tobacco, the number of growers (i.e. quota holders) and marketing arrangements for tobacco leaf. This paper begins by outlining the nature and historical development of controls in the tobacco-growing industry, and discusses how the Commonwealth government removed the industry's regulatory and protective framework in 1995. The third part of the paper examines how deregulation has impacted upon the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area, Far North Queensland, where small farmers produced 60 per cent of Australia's tobacco in 1995. The discussion will show that the agricultural landscape once dominated by tobacco has been transformed, as local farmers abandoned growing tobacco in favour of sugar cane, avocadoes, mangoes, macadamia nuts and other small vegetable crops (e.g. navy beans, pumpkins). Tobacco, once promoted by the Queensland government as a crop to facilitate closer settlement in the Mareeba-Dimbulah Irrigation Area, will have almost vanished from the landscape by 2002.