Analysing telemetry data with a GIS-based vector structure

Abstract

This paper proposes a unique method for plotting field bearing locations, of the kind typically taken by wildlife biologists on free ranging species, directly on a computer-compatible habitat map. We show how to use a GIS data base to identify differential habitat use directly from the polygon formed by each set of bearings. A geometric algorithm is developed to interpret the bearings accurately. The technique avoids the most difficult errors associated with using point locations, namely those due to animal movement, and distance from receiver to transmitter, and is especially useful for habitat preference studies.     

Book Review

In this paper, we examine the applicability of spatial optimization as a generative modelling technique for sustainable land‐use allocation. Specifically, we test whether spatial optimization can be used to generate a number of compromise spatial alternatives that are both feasible and different from each other. We present a new spatial multiobjective optimization model, which encourages efficient utilization of urban space through infill development, compatibility of adjacent land uses, and defensible redevelopment. The model uses a density‐based design constraint developed by the authors. The constraint imposes a predefined level of consistent neighbourhood development to promote contiguity and compactness of urban areas. First, the model is tested on a hypothetical example. Further, we demonstrate a real‐world application of the model to land‐use planning in Chelan, a small environmental amenity town in the north‐central region of the State of Washington, USA. The results indicate that spatial optimization is a promising method for generating land‐use alternatives for further consideration in spatial decision‐making.     

Tsunami damage to coastal defences and buildings in the March 11th 2011 M w 9.0 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami

On March 11th 2011 a M _w 9.0 mega-thrust interface subduction earthquake, the Great East Japan Earthquake, occurred 130 km off the northeast coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean at the Japan Trench, triggering tsunami which caused damage along 600 km of coastline. Observations of damage to buildings (including vertical evacuation facilities) and coastal defences in Tōhoku are presented following investigation by the Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team (EEFIT) at 10 locations in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures. Observations are presented in the context of the coastal setting and tsunami characteristics experienced at each location. Damage surveys were carried out in Kamaishi City and Kesennuma City using a damage scale for reinforced concrete (RC), timber and steel frame buildings adapted from an earlier EEFIT tsunami damage scale. Observations show that many sea walls and breakwaters were overtopped, overturned, or broken up, but provided some degree of protection. We show the extreme variability of damage in a local area due to inundation depth, flow direction, velocity variations and sheltering. Survival of many RC shear wall structures shows their high potential to withstand local earthquake and significant tsunami inundation but further research is required into mitigation of scour, liquefaction, debris impact, and the prevention of overturning failure. Damage to steel and timber buildings are also discussed. These observations are intended to contribute to mitigation of future earthquake and tsunami damage by highlighting the key features which influence damage level and local variability of damage sustained by urban coastal infrastructure when subjected to extreme tsunami inundation depths.     

A large landslide event in a post‐glacial landscape: rethinking glacial legacy

Threlkeld Knotts (c. 500 m above sea level) in the English Lake District has hitherto been considered to be a glacially‐modified intrusion of microgranite. However, its surface features are incompatible with glacial modification; neither can these nor the subsurface structures revealed by ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) be explained by post‐glacial subaerial processes acting on a glacially‐modified microgranite intrusion. Here we re‐interpret Threlkeld Knotts as a very large post‐glacial landslide involving the microgranite, with an estimated volume of about 4 × 10⁷ m³. This interpretation is tested against published and recent information on the geology of the site, the glacial geomorphic history of the area and newly‐acquired GPR data. More than 60 large post‐Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) rock–slope failures have significantly modified the glaciated landscape of the Lake District; this is one of the largest. Recognition of this major landslide deposit in such a well‐studied environment highlights the need to continuously re‐examine landscapes in the light of increasing knowledge of geomorphic processes and with available technology in currently active or de‐glaciating environments. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Magnetically Separable Water Treatment Technologies and their Role in Future Advanced Water Treatment: A Patent Review

Magnetic separation has been recognized as an important property for the simple deployment of micro and sub‐microparticles into solution in the field of water treatment. Many materials with desirable properties for water decontamination are hindered due to the difficulty inherent in removing them from solution post‐treatment. By securing these materials to magnetic compounds, this important issue can be solved as removing active materials from wastewater requires only the application of a magnetic field. This review article presents and discusses many recent technologies, in the form of patents, which exploit the property of magnetic separation for advanced water treatment, including methods of adsorbing pollutants from wastewater and magnetically separating them, as well as methods of deploying active materials for the degradation of contaminants, then magnetically retrieving these catalysts. The requirement for advanced wastewater treatment methods becomes more essential as new, persistent contaminants arise as a result of pharmaceuticals, pesticides and industrial processes which cannot be addressed by traditional water treatment procedures. Magnetic separation promises to be a critical factor in these advanced methods, allowing the safe deployment of active materials which would otherwise be unusable, opening the gate to more efficient, economic and environmentally friendly water purification.     

Glacial advances constrained by Be exposure dating of bedrock landslides, Kyrgyz Tien Shan

Numerous large landslide deposits occur in the Tien Shan, a tectonically active intraplate orogen in Central Asia. Yet their significance in Quaternary landscape evolution and natural hazard assessment remains unresolved due to the lack of "absolute" age constraints. Here we present the first ¹⁰Be exposure ages for three prominent (> 10⁷ m³) bedrock landslides that blocked major rivers and formed lakes, two of which subsequently breached, in the northern Kyrgyz Tien Shan. Three ¹⁰Be ages reveal that one landslide in the Alamyedin River occurred at 11–15 ka, which is consistent with two ¹⁴C ages of gastropod shells from reworked loess capping the landslide. One large landslide in Aksu River is among the oldest documented in semi-arid continental interiors, with a ¹⁰Be age of 63–67 ka. The Ukok River landslide deposit(s) yielded variable ¹⁰Be ages, which may result from multiple landslides, and inheritance of ¹⁰Be. Two ¹⁰Be ages of 8.2 and 5.9 ka suggest that one major landslide occurred in the early to mid-Holocene, followed by at least one other event between 1.5 and 0.4 ka. Judging from the regional glacial chronology, all three landslides have occurred between major regional glacial advances. Whereas Alamyedin and Ukok can be considered as postglacial in this context, Aksu is of interglacial age. None of the landslide deposits show traces of glacial erosion, hence their locations and ¹⁰Be ages mark maximum extents and minimum ages of glacial advances, respectively. Using toe-to-headwall altitude ratios of 0.4–0.5, we reconstruct minimum equilibrium-line altitudes that exceed previous estimates by as much as 400 m along the moister northern fringe of the Tien Shan. Our data show that deposits from large landslides can provide valuable spatio-temporal constraints for glacial advances in landscapes where moraines and glacial deposits have low preservation potential.     

New constraints on the provenance of hopanoids in the marine geologic record: Bacteriohopanepolyols in marine suboxic and anoxic environments

The abundance and structural diversity of bacteriohopanepolyols (BHPs) was examined in three marine pelagic environments that are characterized by strong vertical redox gradients and water column suboxia or anoxia. The abundance and, in most instances, structural diversity of BHPs was highest at depths where conditions were suboxic or anoxic. However, the majority of the BHP structures that were identified are environmentally cosmopolitan and their biological sources are presently not well constrained. An isomer of bacteriohopanetetrol (denoted BHT II) was observed at all three study sites in association with anoxic and suboxic conditions within the water column. Based on the absence of BHT II from terrigenous and oxic marine environments studied to date, and its strong association with suboxic and anoxic marine pelagic environments, we propose that BHT II is a promising candidate biomarker for water column suboxia and anoxia in the marine geologic record. The molecular fingerprint of BHPs in suspended and sinking particles and core-top sediments indicates that hopanoids produced within the water column are exported to marine sediments and that their biological source is most likely associated with settling particles and not the free-water phase. Based on our observations, BHPs likely represent an important input to the sedimentary hopanoid inventory, particularly in upwelling environments characterized by pelagic oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) and anoxic marine basins.     

Carbonate cements in Miller field of the UK North Sea: a natural analog for mineral trapping in CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> geological storage

Miller field of the North Sea has had high concentrations of natural CO₂ for ~70 Ma. It is an ideal analog for the long-term fate of CO₂ during engineered storage, particularly for formation of carbonate minerals that permanently lock up CO₂ in solid form. The Brae Formation reservoir sandstone contains an unusually high quantity of calcite concretions; however, C and O stable isotopic signatures suggest that these are not related to the present-day CO₂ charge. Margins of the concretions are corroded, probably because of reduced pH due to CO₂ influx. Dispersed calcite cements are also present, some of which postdate the CO₂ charge and, therefore, are the products of mineral trapping. It is calculated that only a minority of the reservoired CO₂ in Miller (6–24%) has been sequestrated in carbonates, even after 70 Ma of CO₂ emplacement. Most of the CO₂ accumulation is dissolved in pore fluids. Therefore, in a reservoir similar to the Brae Formation, engineered CO₂ storage must rely on physical retention mechanisms because mineral trapping is both incomplete and slow.     

Upper mantle anisotropy of southeast Arabia passive margin [Gulf of Aden northern conjugate margin], Oman

In this study, we used data recorded by two consecutive passive broadband deployments on the Gulf of Aden northern margin, Dhofar region, Sultanate of Oman. The objective of these deployments is to map the young eastern Gulf of Aden passive continental margin crust and upper mantle structure and rheology. In this study, we use shear-wave splitting analysis to map lateral variations of upper mantle anisotropy beneath the study area. In this study, we found splitting magnitudes to vary between 0.33 and 1.0 s delay times, averaging about 0.6 s for a total of 17 stations from both deployment periods. Results show distinct abrupt lateral anisotropy variation along the study area. Three anisotropy zones are identified: a western zone dominated by NW–SE anisotropy orientations, an eastern zone dominated with NE–SW anisotropy orientations, and central zone with mixed anisotropy orientations similar to the east and west zones. We interpret these shorter wavelength anisotropy zones to possibly represent fossil lithospheric mantle anisotropy. We postulate that the central anisotropy zone may be representing a Proterozoic suture zone that separates two terranes to the east and west of it. The anisotropy zones west and east were being used indicative of different terranes with different upper mantle anisotropy signatures.