The 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes: context and cause of injury

The aim of this study was to investigate causes of injury during the 2010/2011 Canterbury earthquakes. Data on patients injured during the Darfield (4 September 2010) and Christchurch (22 February 2011) earthquakes were sourced from the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation. The total injury burden was analyzed for demography, context of injury, causes of injury, and injury type. Injury context was classified as direct (shaking of the primary earthquake or aftershocks causing unavoidable injuries), action (movement of person during the primary earthquake or aftershocks causing potentially avoidable injuries), and secondary (cause of injury after shaking ceased). Nine categories of injury cause were identified. Three times as many people were injured in the Christchurch earthquake as in the Darfield earthquake (7,171 vs. 2,256). The primary shaking caused approximately two-thirds of the injuries from both quakes. Actions during the primary shaking and aftershocks led to many injuries (51.3 % Darfield and 19.4 % Christchurch). Primary direct caused the highest proportion of injuries during the daytime Christchurch quake (43.6 %). Many people were injured after shaking stopped in both events: 499 (22.1 % Darfield) and 1,881 (26.2 % Christchurch). Most of these people were injured during clean-up (320 (14.2 %) Darfield; 622 (8.7 %) Christchurch). In both earthquakes, more females than males (1,453 vs. 803 Darfield; 4,646 vs. 2,525 Christchurch) were injured (except by masonry, damaged ground, and during clean-up); trip/fall (27.9 % Darfield; 26.1 % Christchurch) was the most common cause of injury; and soft tissue injuries (74.1 % Darfield; 70.4 % Christchurch) was the most common type of injury. This study demonstrated that where people were and their actions during and after earthquakes influenced their risk of injury.     

Terrestrial and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Mapping in Fire Island National Seashore Using High Spatial Resolution Remote Sensing Data

The vegetation communities and spatial patterns on the Fire Island National Seashore are dynamic as the result of interactions with driving forces such as sand deposition, storm-driven over wash, salt spray, surface water, as well as with human disturbances. We used high spatial resolution QuickBird-2 satellite remote sensing data to map both terrestrial and submerged aquatic vegetation communities of the National Seashore. We adopted a stratified classification and unsupervised classification approach for mapping terrestrial vegetation types. Our classification scheme included detailed terrestrial vegetation types identified by previous vegetation mapping efforts of the National Park Service and three generalized categories of high-density seagrass, low-density seagrass coverages, and unvegetated bottom to map the submerged aquatic vegetation habitats. We used underwater videography, GPS-guided field reference photography, and bathymetric data to support remote sensing image classification and information extraction. This study achieved approximately 82% and 75% overall classification accuracy for the terrestrial and submnerged aquatic vegetations, respectively, and provided an updated vegetation inventory and change analysis for the Northeast Coastal and Barrier Network of the National Park Service.     

A Robust Surface Matching Technique for Integrated Monitoring of Coastal Geohazards

At the dynamic coastal fringe, numerous processes interact with local morphology. In soft-cliff environments, this can often lead to the occurrence of coastal geohazards. These can pose a major threat to property and cultural heritage, and an effective monitoring strategy is therefore essential. While contemporary monitoring techniques have been applied, these are often unsuitable in isolation. This paper presents an integrated approach, with the development of weighted surface matching software enabling reliable dataset fusion and multi-temporal change detection, even where significant surface differences exist. Evaluation of this approach is presented and discussed.     

The use of bioluminescent dinoflagellates as an environmental risk assessment tool

A novel toxicity method to determine sublethal and lethal effects of manmade contaminants on the bioluminescence output from marine dinoflagellates has been developed and tested over the course of 16 years. The toxicity system, QwikLite™, was developed for the sole purpose of evaluating the potential toxicity of various materials used in bay sediments, storm water discharges, industrial discharges from Naval facilities, and antifoulant paints. Bioluminescence inhibition was observed in the following dinoflagellates: Lingulodinium polyedrum (formerly known as Gonyaulax polyedra), Ceratocorys horrida, Pyrocystis noctiluca, Pyrocystis lunula, Pyrocystis fusiformis, and Pyrophacus steinii. Cultured cells were exposed to various concentrations of contaminants from hours through 10 days. Further application with bioluminescent dinoflagellates in a variety of toxicity testing schemes have shown that these species can be used as a screening assay organism in lieu of the more costly, labor intensive bioassays presently in use.     

A hydrogeochemical survey of Kilimanjaro (Tanzania): implications for water sources and ages

Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, the highest mountain in Africa, has undergone extensive hydrologic changes over the past century in an area where water resources are critical. A hydrochemical and isotopic synoptic sampling program in January 2006 is used to characterize hydrogeology, hydrology, and water quality of the area. Samples were collected from the summit and southern side of Kilimanjaro and the Moshi region (Tanzania). Sample sources included four glaciers, seven groundwater wells, 12 rivers, 10 springs, precipitation, and a lake. Analyses included major ion chemistry, stable isotopes of water (¹⁸O and D); in addition, seven samples were analyzed for tritium. The samples generally have good water quality with the exception of three samples with elevated fluoride concentrations (>3 mg/L) and elevated nitrate concentrations (>2.5 mg/L NO₃ as N). There is a strong elevation control on stable isotopes, with an apparent elevation effect of – 0.1 ‰ δ¹⁸O per 100 m rise in elevation (R ² = 0.79). The results, including the tritium values, show that the hydrogeologic system is comprised of both local and regional flow systems, and that regional rivers are receiving significant inflow from shallow groundwater, and at very high elevations the hydrologic system is derived from groundwater, precipitation, and glacial melt water.     

Soil erodibility and processes of water erosion on hillslope

The importance of the inherent resistance of soil to erosional processes, or soil erodibility, is generally recognized in hillslope and fluvial geomorphology, but the full implications of the dynamic soil properties that affect erodibility are seldom considered. In Canada, a wide spectrum of soils and erosional processes has stimulated much research related to soil erodibility. This paper aims to place this work in an international framework of research on water erosion processes, and to identify critical emerging research questions. It focuses particularly on experimental research on rill and interrill erosion using simulated rainfall and recently developed techniques that provide data at appropriate temporal and spatial scales, essential for event-based soil erosion prediction. Results show that many components of erosional response, such as partitioning between rill and interrill or surface and subsurface processes, threshold hydraulic conditions for rill incision, rill network configuration and hillslope sediment delivery, are strongly affected by spatially variable and temporally dynamic soil properties. This agrees with other recent studies, but contrasts markedly with long-held concepts of soil credibility as an essentially constant property for any soil type. Properties that determine erodibility, such as soil aggregation and shear strength, are strongly affected by climatic factors such as rainfall distribution and frost action, and show systematic seasonal variation. They can also change significantly over much shorter time scales with subtle variations in soil water conditions, organic composition, microbiological activity, age-hardening and the structural effect of applied stresses. Property changes between and during rainstorms can dramatically affect the incidence and intensity of rill and interrill erosion and, therefore, both short and long-term hillslope erosional response. Similar property changes, linked to climatic conditions, may also significantly influence the stability and resilience of plant species and vegetation systems. Full understanding of such changes is essential if current event-based soil erosion models such as WEPP and EUROSEM are to attain their full potential predictive precision. The complexity of the interacting processes involved may, however, ultimately make stochastic modelling more effective than physically based modelling in predicting hillslope response to erodibility dynamics.     

A Clovis well at the type site 11,500 B.C.: The oldest prehistoric well in America

An enigmatic circular pit uncovered during archaeological excavations at the Clovis type site, Blackwater Draw, New Mexico, in 1964 has been reexposed and posited as a water well excavated by Clovis people around 11,500 B.C. The prehistoric well, the oldest in the New World, was probably a dry hole. Other Clovis wells may exist in the area. The excavation of wells near where there had been surface water shortly before adds to the evidence for drought during the Pleistocene-Holocene transition. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.