Significant load and green water on deck of offshore units/vessels

In this paper the probability of green water occurrence is investigated by taking into account the threshold of the vertical relative motion exceeding the freeboard. The number of wetting of the unit/vessel is predicted using probabilistic method. This paper compares the significant load, due to shipping of green water with the works of other researchers, and the loads are found to be close with the results presented in this paper. There is no direct relation between the velocities in the waves and the water velocity over the deck. The water velocities around the bow are heavily distributed by the presence of the bow. This scenario makes the flow very complex for schematic modelling.     

Transparency: aid or obstacle to effective defence of vulnerable environments from reservoir construction? Dam decisions and democracy in North East England

Public participation in transparent decisionmaking has been proposed as a panacea for environmental protection. Bargaining theory suggests drawbacks to transparency such as hardening of attitudes and intransigence. Yet achievement of consensus on environmental values for integrated water resource management demands public involvement. Historical study of attempts to prevent reservoir construction in upland valleys designated for protection of nature suggests that 'closed-door' bargaining proved more effective for environmentalists than open, public debate. Records now open for analysis of disputes over Teesdale and Farndale, 1950–1970, allow comparisons to be made between behind-the-scenes deliberations and 'open-door' public discussion. The ambition of progressing from public participation to devolution of environmental decisionmaking and responsibility to the local scale demands more conceptualization of the process of decisionmaking on water resource development.     

Hydrogeological investigation of Chappice Lake, southeastern Alberta: Groundwater inputs to a saline basin

Sediment cores from Chappice Lake, a hypersaline, groundwater-fed lake in southeastern Alberta, have been used in previous studies to reconstruct Holocene climate using lake levels as a source for proxy climate data. This assumes that the lake is fed by a shallow groundwater system sensitive to changes in climate. In this study we use the dynamics and chemistry of groundwater entering the lake to test this hypothesis.Groundwater inputs calculated from historical records using a simple water budget were highest during periods when the precipitation deficit was high. Over specific time intervals, the expected relationship between lake volumes and climate were not always found. Feedback loops between lake levels and groundwater input, and time lags within the system are the mechanisms proposed to explain these discrepancies.Field measurements suggest discharge of a local surficial groundwater system. Slug tests reveal a high conductivity system (K = 10-5 m/s) surrounding the lake. Hydraulic heads measured in standpipe, multilevel and minipiezometers installed around Chappice Lake show that the lake is situated in a closed hydraulic head contour. Hydraulic heads and water table elevations show strong annual fluctuations corresponding to seasonal changes in recharge. Horizontal hydraulic gradients measured in areas of groundwater springs indicate a strong horizontal component of flow towards the lake. Vertical hydraulic gradients are low and indicate the upward flow of water consistent with the discharge of a shallow, surfical groundwater system.Groundwater sampled from deposits surrounding Chappice Lake and springs feeding the lake have compositions similar to both shallow surficial aquifers and bedrock aquifers suggesting that the lake may be receiving inputs from both sources. However, evaporation simulations using PHRQPITZ, show that the evaporation of water typical of bedrock aquifers result in a mineral assemblage and brine composition different from that found at Chappice Lake. This suggests that discharge of a regional groundwater system can be eliminated as a dominant source over the lake's history. Evaporation simulations suggest that evaporation of groundwater from shallow surficial deposits can best explain the present mineral assemblage and brine chemistry and were likely the dominant source of water to the lake.Bedrock and shallow surficial groundwater sources have different chemistries and isotopic compositions. In hydrogeological settings such as Chappice Lake where more than one source may contribute to the lake, the relative importance of the different sources may change with changes in climate. If the source water composition to the lake changes, identifying changes in climate or hydrology based on changes in the composition of the lake preserved in sediment core will be made more difficult. This may complicate paleoclimate and paleohydrological reconstructions that rely on mineralogical and isotopic data.     

Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region

We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H₃⁺ν₂Q(1,0⁻) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.     

Plant Cover,Herbivory, and Resiliency in a Cape Cod Salt Marsh: Multi-year Responses and Recovery Following Manipulation of Nutrients and Competition

To assess responses and recovery of salt marsh grass species, we manipulated external nutrient supply and removed shoots of Spartina alterniflora or Spartina patens from fertilized and control plots in a Massachusetts marsh. The pulse-and-recovery experiment included treatments for 5 years, and recovery for an additional 7 years. Responses of these potential competitors sensitively depended on local contingencies of elevation and nutrient dose, and, moreover, the differences in outcomes were emphasized at longer time scales. Local contingencies became manifest as differences in responsiveness and resiliency of the different grass species, with differing time courses and longer-term outcomes as to what species were present. These features might explain the diverse results obtained in shorter-term salt marsh experiments, and provide a view of the complex suite of species-specific and external environmental variables that may control competitive interactions in general.     

Atomistic computer modeling of the local structure and mixing properties of a grossular-uvarovite solid solution

An original methodology for the atomistic computer modeling of solid solutions was applied for the study of the mixing properties and local structure of the grossular-uvarovite, i.e., Ca₃Al₂[SiO₄]₃ Ca₃Cr₂][SiO₄]₃, garnet series. The parameters of the interatomic potentials for end members of this series were optimized using experimental data on their structural, elastic, and thermodynamic characteristics. The optimized model of the potentials allowed us to describe the elastic, structural, and thermodynamic characteristics of grossular and uvarovite and estimate the energy of point defects in these crystal structures. Calculations of the mixing properties and local structure for seven different compositions of the solid solution were carried out on a “Chebyshev” supercomputer (Moscow State University) in a 2 × 2 × 4 supercell of the garnet-type structure containing 2560 atoms. Mixing properties, such as the enthalpy of mixing, parameters of interaction, excess mixing volume, deviation of bulk modulus from additivity, and the vibrational and configuration contribution to the entropy of mixing, were determined. This allowed us to estimate the stability field for the grossular-uvarovite solid solution. Histograms of the interatomic distances M-O (M = Ca, Al, Cr, Si) and O-O in supercells were plotted and the parameters of relaxation and changes of the CrO₆ and AlO₆ octahedron volumes were estimated. The data of the simulation are quite consistent with the experimental data on this system and supplement it significantly.     

Paleo-environment and reservoir evolution of the Middle Ordovician Kelimoli Formation in the northern Tianhuan area,Ordos Basin,China: implications for high-quality reservoir development

The Middle Ordovician Kelimoli Formation carbonate reservoirs in the northern Tianhuan area, Ordos Basin, China are main exploration targets. Subsurface core samples, logging, drilling and production data from the area were used to characterise the carbonate reservoir and to construct a genetic model for exploration. The sedimentary facies identified include trough–continental rise, upper–lower slope, platform margin reef-shoal, open platform and evaporation-restricted platform. The slope and platform margin facies are potential zones for high-quality reservoirs. Porosity in the study area comprises intergrain, intercrystal, intragrain and intracrystal pores, fractures and vughs. The Sr/Ba (0.40–4.87) and V/(V + Ni) (0.64–0.97) ratios indicate deposition in a brackish water-dominated environment under reducing conditions, associated with sea-level fluctuations during the deposition of the Kelimoli Formation. The Sr/Ba, V/(V + Ni), ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios, δ¹⁸O values and crystal texture of dolomite samples suggest that meteoric water was involved in the diagenetic fluid in the near-surface depositional environment. Isotopes (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) and trace elements (Fe and Mn) allowed the identification of seepage-reflux and mixed-water dolomitisation. The crystal textures of the samples consist of micritic, bioclastic and reefal limestones, and dolomite with gypsum, which were easily dissolved during the early diagenetic stage. The epidiagenetic stage was the key period for the development of high-quality reservoirs because of large-scale bedding-parallel karstification from meteoric water. The reservoir zones, dominated by partially filled and unfilled vughs, and fractures, are favourable exploration targets in the northern Tianhuan area.     

Interactive effect of cadmium and zinc on chromium uptake in spinach grown in Vertisol of Central India

A pot culture experiment was conducted to study impact and interaction of multi-metals on growth, yield and metals uptake by spinach (variety All Green). Three levels of each chromium (0, 50 and 100 mg/kg), cadmium (0, 1 and 2 mg/kg) and zinc (0, 10 and 20 mg/kg) in combinations (total treatments 3 × 3 × 3 = 27) were applied in a Vertisol (5 kg). The results showed that increasing the concentration of chromium, cadmium and zinc in soil enhanced the respective metal concentrations in spinach root and shoot. When cadmium at 2 mg/kg along with chromium at 100 mg/kg soil was applied, chromium concentration and uptake were decreased in root and shoot. Meanwhile, zinc application had no significant effect on chromium uptake and concentration in spinach biomass. From the results, it was concluded that cadmium at higher dose had an antagonistic effect over chromium. On the other hand, in chromium, cadmium and zinc combinations particularly at their higher levels, a competition among each other was found. Therefore, the findings could be used as guidelines for controlling and management of heavy metals pollution in farmland.