Relative risk assessment of cruise ships biosolids disposal alternatives

A relative risk assessment of biosolids disposal alternatives for cruise ships is presented in this paper. The area of study encompasses islands and marine waters of the Caribbean Sea. The objective was to evaluate relative human health and ecological risks of (a) dewatering/incineration, (b) landing the solids for disposal, considering that in some countries land-disposed solids might be discharged in the near-shore environment untreated, and (c) deep ocean disposal. Input to the Bayesian assessment consisted of professional judgment based on available literature and modeling information, data on constituent concentrations in cruise ship biosolids, and simulations of constituent concentrations in Caribbean waters assuming ocean disposal. Results indicate that human health and ecological risks associated with land disposal and shallow ocean disposal are higher than those of the deep ocean disposal and incineration. For incineration, predicted ecological impacts were lower relative to deep ocean disposal before considering potential impacts of carbon emissions.     

Magmatic and metamorphic evolution of the Shotur Kuh metamorphic complex (Central Iran)

Metamorphic basement rocks, that are exposed beneath the very low-grade to unmetamorphosed Upper Jurassic-Eocene formations north of the Torud fault zone within the Great Kavir Block, were investigated to elucidate the origin of their protoliths and the pressure and temperature conditions of metamorphism. The basement, previously assumed as a pre-Cambrian metamorphic complex, is mostly formed by amphibolite-facies orthogneisses (tonalite, granodiorite, and granite) with amphibolites and small amounts of metasediment-micaschists. Major- and trace-element geochemistry in combination with U–Pb age dating of zircon showed that the protoliths formed during Late Neoproterozoic continental arc magmatism that has also been identified in other tectonic blocks of Central Iran. In addition to quartz, feldspar(s), micas in orthogneisses, and amphibole + plagioclase in amphibolite, all rocks may contain garnet that shows prograde zoning. Kyanite was found only in some Al-rich amphibolite together with gedrite. The PT conditions of the rocks, based on conventional geothermobarometry and the pseudosection method, show a medium-pressure amphibolite-facies metamorphism. Ar–Ar age dating of muscovite reveals that this metamorphism occurred in the Middle Jurassic (166 Ma) and related to the closure of the Neotethyan basin.     

Re-testing the JET-X Flight Module No. 2 at the PANTER facility

The Joint European X-ray Telescope (JET-X) was the core instrument of the Russian Spectrum-X- γ space observatory. It consisted of two identical soft X-ray (0.3–10 keV) telescopes with focusing optical modules having a measured angular resolution of nearly 15 arcsec. Soon after the payload completion, the mission was cancelled and the two optical flight modules (FM) were brought to the Brera Astronomical Observatory where they had been manufactured. After 16 years of storage, we have utilized the JET-X FM2 to test at the PANTER X-ray facility a prototype of a novel X-ray polarimetric telescope, using a Gas Pixel Detector (GPD) with polarimetric capabilities in the focal plane of the FM2. The GPD was developed by a collaboration between INFN-Pisa and INAF-IAPS. In the first phase of the test campaign, we have re-tested the FM2 at PANTER to have an up-to-date characterization in terms of angular resolution and effective area, while in the second part of the test the GPD has been placed in the focal plane of the FM2. In this paper we report the results of the tests of the sole FM2, using an unpolarized X-ray source, comparing the results with the calibration done in 1996.     

低纬西太平洋末次冰期以来海洋孢粉记录对海平面变化的不同响应

通过对菲律宾南部MD06-3075和婆罗洲东北部MD98-2178两个深海钻孔的孢粉分析,结合氧同位素记录以及西太平洋地区已有的孢粉记录,得到末次冰期研究区域海洋孢粉中的红树林花粉和蕨类孢子含量比间冰期时要低,特别是在末次冰盛期。这可能体现了冰期时海平面较低,湿度较低等环境和气候条件。同时,西太平洋一系列海洋孢粉记录的对比发现,南海南部陆坡地区冰期时的红树林含量仍然较高,巽他陆架等地区冰期时的蕨类孢子含量则表现为明显高值。这些记录的差异可能说明了由于不同地区的地形分布特征不同,在冰期海平面下降时,导致陆架出露的幅度存在明显的差异。如果陆架较宽,则海平面波动会显著改变植被分布范围和孢粉传播距离等,从而对孢粉数据的气候、环境指示意义产生影响。因此,海洋孢粉数据解释时需要结合多种沉积记录指标以及地球物理调查等,提高海平面变化以及相应的沉积环境演化对孢粉搬运沉积的了解程度,增强海洋孢粉中古气候、古环境信息的有效提取。     

Land use intensity dynamics in the Andhikhola watershed,middle hill of Nepal

Land use intensity is a valuable concept to understand integrated land use system, which is unlike the traditional approach of analysis that often examines one or a few aspects of land use disregarding multidimensionality of the intensification process in the complex land system. Land use intensity is based on an integrative conceptual framework focusing on both inputs to and outputs from the land. Geographers' non-stationary data-analysis technique is very suitable for most of the spatial data analysis. Our study was carried out in the northeast part of the Andhikhola watershed lying in the Middle Hills of Nepal, where over the last two decades, heavy loss of labor due to outmigration of rural farmers and increasing urbanization in the relatively easy accessible lowland areas has caused agricultural land abandonment. Our intention in this study was to ascertain factors of spatial pattern of intensity dynamism between human and nature relationships in the integrated traditional agricultural system. High resolution aerial photo and multispectral satellite image were used to derive data on land use and land cover. In addition, field verification, information collected from the field and census report were other data sources. Explanatory variables were derived from those digital and analogue data. Ordinary Least Square(OLS) technique was used for filtering of the variables. Geographically Weighted Regression(GWR) model was used to identify major determining factors of land use intensity dynamics. Moran's I technique was used for model validation. GWR model was executed to identify the strength of explanatory variables explaining change of land use intensity. Accordingly, 10 variables were identified having the greatest strength to explain land use intensity change in the study area, of which physical variables such as slope gradient, temperature and solar radiation revealed the highest strength followed by variables of accessibility and natural resource. Depopulation in recent decades has been a major driver of land use intensity change but spatial variability of land use intensity was highly controlled by physical suitability, accessibility and availability of natural resources.     

Susceptibility of lakeside phragmites reeds to environmental stresses: Examples from Lake Constance-Untersee (SW-Germany)

The lakeside border of Phragmites reeds is under the control of many environmental factors, among which the flooding height and the degree of mechanical load by waves and washes are the most prominent. Examples from Lake Constance-Untersee show that the reed front retreats under enhanced stresses. Models are presented that describe the susceptibility of lakeside reeds to mechanical damage and to flooding events. A monitoring programme which ran from 1984/85 to 1992/93 showed a slow lakeward progression of the reeds in a decade of abnormally low water conditions.     

FIRST RESULTS FROM VIRGO,THE EXPERIMENT FOR HELIOSEISMOLOGY AND SOLAR IRRADIANCE MONITORING ON SOHO

First results from the VIRGO experiment (Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations) on the ESA/NASA Mission SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) are reported. The observations started mid-January 1996 for the radiometers and sunphotometers and near the end of March for the luminosity oscillation imager. The performance of all the instruments is very good, and the time series of the first 4–6 months are evaluated in terms of solar irradiance variability, solar background noise characteristics and p-mode oscillations. The solar irradiance is modulated by the passage of active regions across the disk, but not all of the modulation is straightforwardly explained in terms of sunspot flux blocking and facular enhancement. Helioseismic inversions of the observed p-mode frequencies are more-or-less in agreement with the latest standard solar models. The comparison of VIRGO results with earlier ones shows evidence that magnetic activity plays a significant role in the dynamics of the oscillations beyond its modulation of the resonant frequencies. Moreover, by comparing the amplitudes of different components ofp -mode multiplets, each of which are influenced differently by spatial inhomogeneity, we have found that activity enhances excitation.     

The 22-year cycle of the sun

The 22-yr solar cycle is being explained as due to a spin-aligned magnetic quadrupole frozen into the (radiative) core. Differential rotation of the poorly conducting convection zone gives rise to flux winding and to an alternating dominance, near the surface, of one of the two constituent dipoles. Equatorial superrotation and polar subrotation are stabilized by the same magnetic flux that transfers angular momentum from the (radiative) core to the (escaping) solar wind. The time- and radius-dependent magnetic torque is also responsible for the rigid and twisting oscillations of a thin surface layer, and for the relative velocities of different tracers.