Noise-Storm Continua: Power Estimates for Electron Acceleration

We use a generic stochastic acceleration formalism to examine the power L_in (erg s^-1) input to non-thermal electrons that cause noise-storm continuum emission. The analytical approach includes the derivation of the Greens function for a general second-order Fermi process, and its application to obtain the particular solution for the non-thermal electron distribution resulting from the acceleration of a Maxwellian source in the corona. We compare L_in with the power L_out observed in noise-storm radiation. Using typical values for the various parameters, we find that L_in 10²³–10²⁶ erg s^-1, yielding an efficiency estimate L_out/L_in in the range 10^-10 10^-6 for this non-thermal acceleration/radiation process. These results reflect the efficiency of the overall process, starting from electron acceleration and culminating in the observed noise-storm emission.     

Résultats préliminaires sur la sédimentation pélagique de l'Atlantique tropical au Crétacé et au Tertiaire (plateau de Demerara,Leg ODP 207)

Five sites located on a bathymetric transect of the distal Demerara Rise were studied by ODP Leg 207. Albian sediments of essentially terrigenous nature (clay, siltstone, sandstone) are the oldest drilled stratigraphic levels and form apparently the top of the synrift sequence. They are overlain by Cenomanian to Santonian finely laminated black shales, rich in organic matter of marine origin, which accumulated on a thermally subsiding ramp. Early Campanian hiatuses are thought to be the result of final disjunction of Demerara Rise (South America) from Africa and the onset of deep water communication between the two Atlantic basins (south and central). The overlying Uppermost Cretaceous–Oligocene chalk includes rich and diversified calcareous plankton assemblages, as well as two radiolarian-rich intervals (Late Campanian and Middle Eocene). A complex erosional surface developed during the Late Oligocene–Early Miocene. Sedimentation was impeded since then on the intermediate and deep sites of Demerara Rise, possibly due to the action of deep submarine currents. To cite this article: T. Danelian et al., C. R. Geoscience 337 (2005).     

The record of historic earthquakes in lake sediments of Central Switzerland

Deformation structures in lake sediments in Central Switzerland can be attributed to strong historic earthquakes. The type and spatial distribution of the deformation structures reflect the historically documented macroseismic intensities thus providing a useful calibration tool for paleoseismic investigations in prehistoric lake sediments.The Swiss historical earthquake catalogue shows four moderate to strong earthquakes with moment magnitudes of M_w=5.7 to M_w=6.9 and epicentral intensities of I₀=VII to I₀=IX that affected the area of Central Switzerland during the last 1000 years. These are the 1964 Alpnach, 1774 Altdorf, 1601 Unterwalden, and 1356 Basel earthquakes. In order to understand the effect of these earthquakes on lacustrine sediments, four lakes in Central Switzerland (Sarner See, Lungerer See, Baldegger See, and Seelisberg Seeli) were investigated using high-resolution seismic data and sediment cores. The sediments consist of organic- and carbonate-rich clayey to sandy silts that display fine bedding on the centimeter to millimeter scale. The sediments are dated by historic climate and environmental records, ¹³⁷Cs activity, and radiocarbon ages. Deformation structures occur within distinct zones and include large-scale slumps and rockfalls, as well as small-scale features like disturbed and contorted lamination and liquefaction structures. These deformations are attributed to three of the abovementioned earthquakes. The spatial distribution of deformation structures in the different lakes clearly reflects the historical macroseismic dataset: Lake sediments are only affected if they are situated within an area that underwent groundshaking not smaller than intensity VI to VII. We estimate earthquake size by relating the epicentral distance of the farthest liquefaction structure to earthquake magnitude. This relationship is in agreement with earthquake size estimations based on the historical dataset.     

To the market and back: Housing policy and state housing in New Zealand

Housing policy in New Zealand has traditionally been characterised by significant market intervention in support of home ownership and a residual state housing rental sector. Within the context of dramatic social welfare reforms in the 1990s, a set of radical housing reforms was introduced that profoundly transformed the role of the state in the housing system. Key elements of the reforms included the creation of a profit-oriented company to manage state rentals, a move to market rents in the state sector and the introduction of an accommodation supplement. This paper examines the underlying rationale and impacts of the reforms focusing on issues of privatisation, tenant turnover, affordability and tenant protest. Having examined the ongoing problems engendered by these reforms the paper reviews more recent political and legislative reforms that were sought to reassert the state's traditional position within the New Zealand housing market. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Privatization of rural industry and de facto urbanization from below in southern Jiangsu, China

At the heart of China’s economic transformation from plan to market is the institutional rearrangement of the ownership of property rights. Privatization of collectively owned township and village enterprises (TVEs) in recent years has significantly changed the rural economy and affected small town development in China. Located mainly in villages and small towns and producing 62% of the total industrial output in Jiangsu in 1994, TVEs played a crucial role in southern Jiangsu (Sunan)’s economic development and urbanization, giving rise to the well-known “Sunan model” of regional development during the 1980s. Since the mid-1990s, ownership transition (zhuanzhi) of the TVEs from collective to private in Sunan has altered the nature of the regional economy and the pattern of small town development. The privatization of TVEs in Sunan has been so pervasive that it can be seen as the “second industrial divide” in the region’s economy. This paper traces the evolution of ownership reform in Sunan’s rural industries leading to the current phase of privatization and analyzes the effects of privatization on de facto urbanization from below in Sunan. Given the importance of privatization, continuous scholarly monitoring of its relationship to regional economic development and urbanization from below is necessary.     

Flood Management Strategy for the Upper and Middle Odra River Basin: Feasibility Study of Raciborz Reservoir

The river Odra, which rises in the Czech Republic and disgorges into the Baltic, suffered an extreme flood in July 1997 which was responsible for the loss of 55 lives and over a billion dollars worth of damage in southern Poland. The return period of the flood is variously estimated between 250 and 1000 years. The paper describes the hydrological and hydraulic studies undertaken for a flood reservoir (storage capacity is approximately 180,000,000 m³) to be constructed on the River Odra just upstream the ancient town of Raciborz, on the border between Poland and Czech Republic. These studies included the hydrodynamic modelling of a 220 km stretch of the river down to the city of Wroclaw where most of the damage occurred, flood damage analysis with and without the proposed reservoir, sensitivity analysis of operating rules for Nysa reservoirs and improvement of flood control capacity of existing channels and polders. Cost-benefits analysis, environmental impact assessments and resettlement plans, in addition to the engineering studies of the dam itself, were also carried out during the project stage but have not been included in the present paper.     

Absolute calibration of GPS antennas: laboratory results and comparison with field and robot techniques

A critical assessment of the accuracy of GPS antenna calibration is most effectively done by comparison between different calibration methods. We present new chamber calibrations of five different GPS receiver antenna types in an anechoic chamber and a comparison of an individual antenna calibrated by the absolute field calibration technique with robot mount of IfE/GEO++. The accuracy is described using standard error parameters which allow the characterization of the quality of different antennas. The results validate the absolute calibration methods at the 1-mm level and confirm the presence of significant variations in quality between antennas of different design. For the antenna pattern we directly use the measured phase variations and do not have to fit any functions for the chamber calibrations. We include the results of an earlier test made with a set of identical antennas calibrated at five different institutions: two using the absolute field technique with robot mount and three others applying the standard field calibration with reference antenna.     

Beach Comfort Index – a new approach to evaluate the thermal conditions of beach holiday resorts using a South African example

The climatic conditions of seven beach holiday resorts in South Africa (Alexander Bay, Cape Town, George, Port Elizabeth, East London, Durban and Richard's Bay) have been examined with regard to the thermal perception of beach holiday makers. The evaluation of the thermal conditions is based on the human energy balance calculations which have been adapted to the requirements of beach goers. A model has been developed to calculate the missing radiation input data and parameters such as ‘beach day’ and ‘beach hour’ are introduced and defined. The average monthly number of beach days is calculated for every location showing the highest amounts in Durban and Richard's Bay and the highest annual variations in Cape Town. The Beach Comfort Index Map of South Africa shows the maximum, minimum and average number of beach days per month and the probability of beach days and thus providing understandable and interpretable information on the thermal conditions of the sites from the point of view of beach holiday makers. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.