Conservation tillage and input use

 There continues to be a question as to the overall effectiveness of conservation tillage practices in reducing the impact of agricultural production on the environment. While it is generally recognized that water runoff and soil erosion will decline further, as tillage and mulch tillage systems are not used more extensively on cropland, what will happen to pesticide and fertilizer use remains uncertain. To gain some insight into this, the conservation tillage adoption decision is modelled. On the assumption that the decision to adopt conservation tillage is a two-step procedure, the first decision is whether or not to adopt a conservation tillage production system and the second concerns the extent to which conservation tillage should be used – appropriate models of the Cragg and Heckman (dominance) type are estimated. Based on farm-level data on corn production in the United States for 1987, the profile of a farm on which conservation tillage was adopted is that the cropland had above-average slope and experienced above-average rainfall, the farm was a cash grain enterprise, and it had an above-average expenditure on pesticides and a below-average expenditure on fuel and custom pesticide applications. Additionally, for a farm adopting a no-tillage production practice, an above-average expenditure was made on fertilizer. Received: 18 September 1995 · Accepted: 6 December 1995     

Seismic Ground Motion Expected for the Eastern District of Naples

The seismic ground motion of a test area in the eastern district of Naples is computed with a hybrid technique based on the mode summation and the finite difference methods. This technique allows us the realistic modelling of source and propagation effects, including local soil conditions. In the modelling, we consider the 1980 Irpinia earthquake, a good example of strong shaking for the area of Naples, which is located about 90 km from the epicenter.The detailed geological setting is reconstructed from a large number of drillings. The sub-soil is mainly formed by alluvial (ash, stratified sand and peat) and pyroclastic materials overlying a pyroclastic rock (yellow neapolitan tuff), representing the neapolitan bedrock. The detailed information available on mechanical properties of the sub-soil and its geometry warrants the application of the sophisticated hybrid technique.As expected, the sedimentary cover causes an increase of the signal's amplitudes and duration. If thin peat layers are present, the amplification effects are reduced, and the peak ground accelerations are similar to those observed for the bedrock model. This can be explained by the backscattering of wave energy at such layers, that tend to seismically decouple the upper from the lower part of the structure.For SH-waves, the influence of the variations of the S-wave velocities on the spectral amplification is studied, by considering locally measured velocities and values determined from near-by down-hole measurements. The comparison between the computed spectral amplifications confirms the key role of an accurate determination of the seismic velocities of the different layers.The comparison performed between a realistic 2-D seismic response and a standard 1-D response, based on the vertical propagation of waves in a plane layered structure, shows considerable difference, from which it is evident that serious caution must be taken in the modelling of expected ground motion at a specific site.     

Secondary siderite-oxide-sulphide and carbonate-andalusite assemblages in cordierite granulites from Sri Lanka: post-granulite facies fluid evolution during uplift

We report here that some of the pelitic rocks from the Wanni and Highland Complexes of Sri Lanka reacted with CO₂-rich fluids to produce a wide range of unusual secondary carbonate-silicate-oxide-sulphide assemblages. These enable the depth, temperature and fluid compositions of CO₂ reactions to be calculated more rigorously than is generally possible for the patches of arrested charnockite that have been described from Sri Lanka. Magnesite-andalusite-quartz has partially replaced primary cordierite, and siderite-rutile replaced ilmenite. Paragenetic sequences involving primary pyrrhotite, ilmenite and magnetite and secondary pyrite-siderite-rutile-magnetite-(hematite) demonstrate the control which carbonate equilibria have upon evolving fluid compositions during cooling. Direct evidence for the role of graphite as a source of CO₂ is found in the Highland Complex where primary graphite partially reacted with silicates to form secondary siderite assemblages. It is proposed that following peak metamorphism, continued uplift along a clockwise P-T-t path was accompanied by a series of devolatilization reactions involving breakdown of graphite and the continuous production of secondary CO₂-rich fluids. The limited extent of disseminated secondary carbonate reflects the small amount of graphite inferred to have been present in the source rocks. These rocks demonstrate that CO₂-rich fluids, as found in disseminated fluid inclusions, need not form during peak granulite metamorphism but may be an inevitable consequence of continued uplift along a clockwise P-T-t path. The arrested charnockite which overprinted some of the hornblende-bearing felsic-intermediate composition rocks in Sri Lanka most likely formed by the same process. Received: 4 May 1994 / Accepted: 25 October 1996     

Study of the liquefaction resistance of a saturated sand reinforced with Geosynthetics

This article presents various tests using a cyclic triaxial instrument, on samples of saturated Hostun RF sand, reinforced with circular sheets of geosynthetic material. Tests performed with different types of geosynthetics of different compressibility, rigidity and roughness characteristics indicate a significant increase in liquefaction resistance for samples reinforced with compressible, non-woven geotextiles. The undrained behaviour of saturated Hostun RF sand reinforced with non-woven geotextiles is analysed on the basis of different test series. This analysis highlights the influence of reinforcement compressibility on interstitial pressure distribution in the sample, thus showing the role of this type of inclusion in the increase in liquefaction resistance.     

Attenuation differences in layer 2A in intermediate- and slow-spreading oceanic crust

In situ seismic attenuationQ⁻¹logs are derived from borehole velocity profiles and reveal sharp boundaries between morphologies of the extrusive volcanic layers in intermediate- and slow-spreading oceanic crust.Q⁻¹logs are calculated from the scattering attenuation associated with vertical velocity heterogeneity in Ocean Drilling Program Holes 504B and 896A and in Hole 395A, located in 5.9–7.3 Ma crust on the Pacific and Atlantic plates, respectively. Our results strongly tie crustal properties to seismic measurables and observed geological structures: we find that the scattering attenuation can be used to identify the extrusive volcanic sequence because it is closely related to changes in the degree of vertical heterogeneity. We interpret a distinct decrease in the Q⁻¹log at the transition below the extrusive volcanic layer to correspond with the seismic layer 2A/2B boundary. The boundary is located at 465 m depth below the sea floor in both Hole 395A and 504B, although this is likely to be a coincidence of the sediment thickness at these sites. Layer 2A is estimated to be approximately 150 m thick in Hole 504B and > 300 m thick in Hole 395A. Cyclic sequences of high-porosity pillows and low-porosity massive units in the uppermost 100 m of volcanics in Hole 395A result in large velocity heterogeneities which cause > 5 times more attenuation in this layer than in Hole 504B. In Hole 896A, by contrast, fewer pillows, more massive flows, and a greater volume of carbonate veins decrease the velocity heterogeneity and attenuation significantly over only 1 km distance from Hole 504B. We conclude that the attenuation in the extrusive volcanics of the ocean crust is largely controlled by variation in local heterogeneity and morphology as well as by subsequent hydrothermal alteration. The observed differences inQ⁻¹profiles and layer 2A thickness at these sites may be attributed to variations in the volume and duration of volcanic activity at mid-ocean spreading centers for these Pacific and Atlantic ridge segments.     

Extreme value theory based on the r largest annual events: a robust approach

In Smith (1986, J. Hydrol. 86, 27–43), a family of statistical distributions and estimators for extreme values based on a fixed number r > = 1 of the largest annual events are presented. The method of estimation was numerical maximum likelihood. In this paper, we consider the robust estimation of parameters in such families of distributions. The estimation technique, which is based on optimal B-robust estimates, will assign weights to each observation and give estimates of the parameters based on the data which are well modeled by the distribution. Thus, observations which are not consistent with the proposed distribution can be identified and the validity of the model can be assessed. The method is illustrated on Venice sea level data.     

SMLTM simulations of the diurnal tide: comparison with UARS observations

Wind and temperature observations in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) reveal strong seasonal variations of tides, a dominant component of the MLT dynamics. Simulations with the Spectral mesosphere/lower thermosphere model (SMLTM) for equinox and solstice conditions are presented and compared with the observations. The diurnal tide is generated by forcing specified at the model lower boundary and by in situ absorption of solar radiation. The model incorporates realistic parameter-izations of physical processes including various dissipation processes important for propagation of tidal waves in the MLT. A discrete multi-component gravity-wave parameterization has been modified to account for seasonal variations of the background temperature. Eddy diffusion is calculated depending on the gravitywave energy deposition rate and stability of the background flow. It is shown that seasonal variations of the diurnal-tide amplitudes are consistent with observed variations of gravity-wave sources in the lower atmosphere.     

High spatial and temporal resolution observations of an impulse-driven field line resonance in radar backscatter artificially generated with the Tromsø heater

The CUTLASS Finland HF radar has been operated in conjunction with the EISCAT Tromsø RF ionospheric heater facility to examine a ULF wave characteristic of the development of a field line resonance (FLR) driven by a cavity mode caused by a magnetospheric impulse. When the heater is on, striating the ionosphere with field-aligned ionospheric electron density irregularities, a large enough radar target is generated to allow post-integration over only 1 second. When combined with 15 km range gates, this gives radar measurements of a naturally occurring ULF wave at a far better temporal and spatial resolution than has been achieved previously. The time-dependent signature of the ULF wave has been examined as it evolves from a large-scale cavity resonance, through a transient where the wave period was latitude-dependent and the oscillation had the characteristics of freely ringing field lines, and finally to a very narrow, small-scale local field line resonance. The resonance width of the FLR is only 60 km and this is compared with previous observations and theory. The FLR wave signature is strongly attenuated in the ground magnetometer data. The characterisation of the impulse driven FLR was only achieved very crudely with the ground magnetometer data and, in fact, an accurate determination of the properties of the cavity and field line resonant systems challenges the currently available limitations of ionospheric radar techniques. The combination of the latest ionospheric radars and facilities such as the Tromsø ionospheric heater can result in a powerful new tool for geophysical research.