Power law relating 10.7 cm flux to sunspot number

To investigate the relation between observations of the 10.7 cm flux and the international sunspot number so that a physical unit may be ascribed to historical records, both polynomial and power law models are developed giving the radio flux as a function of sunspot number and vice versa. Bayesian data analysis is used to estimate the model parameters and to discriminate between the models. The effect on the parameter uncertainty and on the relative evidence of normalizing the measure of fit is investigated. The power law giving flux as a function of sunspot number is found to be the most plausible model and may be used to estimate the radio flux from historical sunspot observations.     

Estimation of the Mode by the Dominant Cluster Method

A method is presented fop estimation of the mode of analytical data reported by cooperating analysts in the preparation of reference materials. The method is referred to as the dominant cluster method, and the nodal value obtained is the value that shows most agreement between analysts.
Several examples demonstrate that this mode (for which approximate confidence intervals have been estimated), is not inconsistent with the recommended values that have been assigned to well-known geochemical reference samples. Features in its favour are that the calculation is simple, it is independent of the type of distribution, and outliers are automatically excluded.     

Comparison of two creep degradation modeling approaches for soft structured soils

The creep degradation is a common phenomenon for soft structured clays. In this paper, the creep degradation behavior for soft structured clays is first studied by combining intrinsic creep behavior and the structure indicator. A creep-implicit model and a creep-explicit model corresponding to a stress-based and a creep-based structure indicators are developed, respectively, under one-dimensional condition. Parameters determination for both models is straightforward from oedometer tests. Coupled with consolidation theory, both models are used to simulate oedometer tests with different structural levels and load durations on three clays. The predictive ability of the two models on creep behavior, creep degradation behavior and evolution of structure indicator is analyzed. The relationship between the two structure indicators is discussed based on experimental results. The comparison between experimental and numerical results demonstrates that both models can accurately describe the creep degradation behavior of soft structured clay under one-dimensional loading.     

Cadmium absorption and accumulation in different parts of kidney beans, radishes and pumpkins

This study is done to measure the absorption and distribution of cadmium in different parts of kidney beans, radishes and pumpkins. Three parts of a field was chosen. In one part 65 ppm of cadmium nitrate was added to water and in the other part 130 ppm, the last part was irrigated with normal water. Samples were digested by EPA 3050 method. Cadmium concentration was measured by Unicam 919 absorption unit. Beans accumulate cadmium mostly in root (70 ppm) and a little amount is mobilized through upper parts (12–16ppm), but kidneys did not accumulate a significant amount. In radishes the roots did not accumulate a significant amount of cadmium but stems had 4 ppm and leaves had 25 ppm. Cadmium concentration in soil does not affect its concentration in different parts of pumpkins and beside the stems and leaves (4 ppm) the other parts' concentrations were insignificant. In regard to the results of this study the cadmium concentrations in edible parts of the samples (kidney beans, radish roots and pumpkin fruit) were less than the U.S. EPA standards for agriculture and human beings.     

Leveraging modern climatology to increase adaptive capacity across protected area networks

Human-driven changes in the global environment pose an increasingly urgent challenge for the management of ecosystems that is made all the more difficult by the uncertain future of both environmental conditions and ecological responses. Land managers need strategies to increase regional adaptive capacity, but relevant and rapid assessment approaches are lacking. To address this need, we developed a method to assess regional protected area networks across biophysically important climatic gradients often linked to biodiversity and ecosystem function. We plot the land of the southwestern United States across axes of historical climate space, and identify landscapes that may serve as strategic additions to current protected area portfolios. Considering climate space is straightforward, and it can be applied using a variety of relevant climate parameters across differing levels of land protection status. The resulting maps identify lands that are climatically distinct from existing protected areas, and may be utilized in combination with other ecological and socio-economic information essential to collaborative landscape-scale decision-making. Alongside other strategies intended to protect species of special concern, natural resources, and other ecosystem services, the methods presented herein provide another important hedging strategy intended to increase the adaptive capacity of protected area networks.     

A procedure for identifying significant environmental aspects in sea ports

A new methodology has been designed to identify and rank the significant environmental aspects in sea ports. The main objective of the Strategic Overview of Significant Environmental Aspects (SOSEA) is to help port managers to identify significant environmental aspects and to reinforce the awareness about them in order to prioritise work in environmental management. Developed in close collaboration with port environmental managers and tested in a set of ports, it is a user-friendly tool that can be applied in approximately half a working day. It is based on ISO 14001 vocabulary and requirements and it can be considered as the base for the implementation of any Environmental Management System for port communities.     

Exhumation rates and age of metamorphism in the Sanbagawa belt: new constraints from zircon fission track analysis

Zircon fission track dating and track length analysis in the high‐grade part of the Asemigawa region of the Sanbagawa belt demonstrates a simple cooling history passing through the partial annealing zone at 63.2 ± 5.8 (2 σ) Ma. Combining this age with previous results of phengite and amphibole K–Ar and ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating gives a cooling rate of between 6 and 13 °C Myr^?1, which can be converted to a maximum exhumation rate of 0.7 mm year^?1 using the known shape of the P–T path. This is an order of magnitude lower than the early part of the exhumation history. In contrast, zircon fission track analyses in the low‐grade Oboke region show that this area has undergone a complex thermal history probably related to post‐orogenic secondary reheating younger than c. 30 Ma. This event may correlate with the widespread igneous activity in south‐west Japan around 15 Ma. The age of subduction‐related metamorphism in the Oboke area is probably considerably older than the generally accepted range of 77–70 Ma.     

Mixed layer depth front and subduction of low potential vorticity water under seasonal forcings in an idealized OGCM

The mixed layer depth (MLD) front and subduction under seasonal variability are investigated using an idealized ocean general circulation model (OGCM) with simple seasonal forcings. A sharp MLD front develops and subduction occurs at the front from late winter to early spring. The position of the MLD front agrees with the curve where \({\rm D}T_{\rm s}/{\rm D}t = \partial T_{\rm s} /\partial t + {\user2{u}}_{\rm g} \cdot \nabla T_{\rm s} = 0\) is satisfied (t is time, \({\user2{u}}_{\rm g}\) is the upper-ocean geostrophic velocity, \(T_{\rm s}\) is the sea surface temperature (SST), and \(\nabla\) is the horizontal gradient operator), indicating that thick mixed-layer water is subducted there parallel to the SST contour. This is a generalization of the past result that the MLD front coincides with the curve \({\user2{u}}_{\rm g} \cdot \nabla T_{\rm s} = 0\) when the forcing is steady. Irreversible subduction at the MLD front is limited to about 1 month, where the beginning of the irreversible subduction period agrees with the first coincidence of the MLD front and \({\rm D}T_{\rm s}/{\rm D}t =0\) in late winter, and the end of the period roughly corresponds to the disappearance of the MLD front in early spring. Subduction volume at the MLD front during this period is similar to that during 1 year in the steady-forcing model. Since the cooling of the deep mixed-layer water occurs only in winter and SST can not fully catch up with the seasonally varying reference temperature of restoring, the cooling rate of SST is reduced and the zonal gradient of the SST in the northwestern subtropical gyre is a little altered in the seasonal-forcing case. These effects result in slightly lower densities of subducted water and the eastward shift of the MLD front.     

Modelling the sustainability and productivity of pastoral systems in the communal areas of Namaqualand

We investigated the effects of rainfall and the number of animals on changes in vegetation and on the output of milk and meat from the communal areas of Namaqualand. Previously published short- and long-term models link processes that range from the levels of tissue (in, for example, the mammary gland), to the milk yields of individual animals, to the growth and survival of their young and to long-term changes in plant species populations at the ecosystem level. These models have been used to study how different factors and management strategies affect livestock productivity and vegetation composition on a 20,000 ha rangeland in Namaqualand. First, the inter-relations between rainfall, stocking rate and productivity were studied using the short-term model. This model shows that in addition to total rainfall and stocking rate, the timing of rainfall within a year also influences doe live weight and survival to the end of the year. When the long-term model is run, using recorded rainfall, predictions of small stock numbers agree closely with livestock data recorded over the same 30-year period. One thousand replicates of 100-year runs of the long-term model were then used to study the probable impact of different upper limits to stock numbers on animal performance. Off take (sales and slaughterings) are maximal when stock numbers are limited to 2000 adults. Animal numbers increase marginally as the limit is increased above this level, but the variability between years in numbers increases. Secondly, the long-term model was used to study the long-term effects of the stocking rate strategies on rangeland condition. The model predicts that although these effects are variable, when moderately degraded range is stocked with an upper limit at the recommended level it is unable to recover to less degraded states over 100 years. Thirdly, the model was used to examine the effects of reduction in stock numbers and slaughtering of kids in a drought year on goat numbers during the subsequent 5 years. Finally, the model predicts that a 10% reduction in mean annual rainfall will lead to a 35% reduction in animal numbers over 200 years.