Multimolecular data processing and display in organic geochemistry: The evaluation of petroporphyrin GC-MS data

A novel method for handling and presenting multimolecular abundance data, derived from gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analyses (GC-MS), is introduced. The method facilitates carbon number labeling of compounds, specifically in the case of porphyrins, by means of a porphyrin-index, which is part of a novel identification code for porphyrins. Identification code, relative abundance and structure information of each compound recognised are stored in a database, which affords a variety of characteristic displays and tables upon manipulation. The combined facilities allow the direct comparison of samples of different origin, maturity and/or palaeoenvironment. Correlation studies, such as oil/oil or oil/source rock, are also facilitated by comparison of characteristic “fingerprint” histogram patterns. The ability of the method is exemplified through analysis of the porphyrin distributions of Boscan oil, La Luna shale, Gilsonite bitumen and Serpiano shale.     

The wavelength dependence of granulation (0.38–2.4 μm)

Using 2 pinhole photometers the intensity of the undisturbed photosphere was recorded simultaneously in 6 and in 4 wavelength regions. The rms value of the intensity variation in each of the 10 wavelength regions decreases slightly with increasing value of the heliocentric angle; this result confirms recent observations by other authors and supports the critique of the results given by Edmonds (1964).We report the detection of a secondary maximum in the wavelength dependence of the intensity variation at 1.5 m.     

Positioning fisheries in a changing world

Marine capture fisheries face major and complex challenges: habitat degradation, poor economic returns, social hardships from depleted stocks, illegal fishing, and climate change, among others. The key factors that prevent the transition to sustainable fisheries are information failures, transition costs, use and non-use conflicts and capacity constraints. Using the experiences of fisheries successes and failures it is argued only through better governance and institutional change that encompasses the public good of the oceans (biodiversity, ecosystem integrity, sustainability) and societal values (existence, aesthetic and amenity) will fisheries be made sustainable.     

Linking large-parallax Spitzer–CFHT–VLT astrometry of asteroids

We show that the new ephemeris-space multiple-address-comparison (eMAC) method solves asteroid linking problems despite large parallaxes by applying the method to astrometric asteroid observation sets obtained nearly simultaneously with the Spitzer space telescope, the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT), and European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (VLT). For main-belt asteroids, the parallax between Spitzer and the Earth-based telescopes is approximately one degree which is large as compared to a typical parallax for solely Earth-based telescopes in the arcseconds regime. In the eMAC method, we reduce the initially huge amount of possible linkages between observation sets by comparing samples of ephemerides that have been computed separately for all sets at, say, three common dates. If the non-zero ephemeris probability densities overlap at all common dates, we try to find an orbit solution for these so-called trial linkages. If there exists an orbit which reproduces all the astrometric observations assuming predefined observational errors, we call it a linkage. Known asteroids are independently identified among Spitzer, CFHT, and VLT astrometry, and comparing the identified observations to the linkages found shows that the method found all known correct linkages present in the data. In addition, we also found five previously unpublished linkages between Spitzer astrometry and Earth-based astrometry. Based on our simulations, we found virtually all Spitzer-related linkages between two single-night observation sets, and more than 99.4% of linkages between two single-night observation sets obtained by Earth-based observatories. Virtually all correct linkages consisting of at least three single-night sets were also detected. The results show that large-parallax discovery observations made from a spacecraft can be linked to Earth-based follow-up observations to ensure that the objects are not lost. Furthermore, we compute the heliocentric and Spitzer-centric distances as well as the corresponding solar phase angles at the dates of Spitzer observations. Based on comparisons to simulated geocentric observations, we also show that, for typical nearly-simultaneous observations, the parallax reduces the distance uncertainties by several orders of magnitude.     

Biodegradation of toxic chemicals in Guayanilla Bay,Puerto Rico

Studies were conducted to assess the factors that may influence the rate and extent of biodegradation of biphenyl, naphthalene, phenanthrene, pentachlorophenol (PCP) and p-nitrophenol in water samples collected from the Guayanilla Bay (18 degrees N; 67.45 degrees W), southwest of Puerto Rico. In vitro studies mediated slow degradation of biphenyl, naphthalene and phenanthrene substrates by natural microbial flora present in the Bay. Addition of KNO(3) as a source of inorganic N greatly enhanced the degradation of phenanthrene but not of naphthalene, suggesting that effects on degradation due to nutrient limitation were compound specific. The rate and extent of degradation of naphthalene and PCP were higher in water samples collected closer to the source of contamination, i.e. the petrochemical complex. The identity of a phenanthrene degrading bacterium, previously identified by conventional phenotypic method (Zaidi et al., Utilizing Nature's Advanced Materials, Oxford Unviersity Press, 1999) as Alteromonas sp., was confirmed by partial DNA sequencing of the small subunit rRNA gene.     

Ensemble properties of comets in the Sloan Digital Sky Survey

We present the ensemble properties of 31 comets (27 resolved and 4 unresolved) observed by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS). This sample of comets represents about 1 comet per 10 million SDSS photometric objects. Five-band (u, g, r, i, z) photometry is used to determine the comets’ colors, sizes, surface brightness profiles, and rates of dust production in terms of the Afρ formalism. We find that the cumulative luminosity function for the Jupiter Family Comets in our sample is well fit by a power law of the form N(<H) ∝ 10^{(0.49±0.05)H} for H < 18, with evidence of a much shallower fit N(<H) ∝ 10^{(0.19±0.03)H} for the faint (14.5 < H < 18) comets. The resolved comets show an extremely narrow distribution of colors (0.57 ± 0.05 in g ? r for example), which are statistically indistinguishable from that of the Jupiter Trojans. Further, there is no evidence of correlation between color and physical, dynamical, or observational parameters for the observed comets.     

Stratigraphy and fluvial sedimentary facies of the Neocomian lower Strzelecki Group,Gippsland Basin,Victoria

The Strzelecki Group incorporates Berriasian to Albian, fluvial sediments deposited in the Gippsland Basin during initial rifting between Australia and Antarctica. Neocomian strata of the lowermost Strzelecki Group are assigned to the Tyers River Subgroup (exposed in the Tyers area) and the Rhyll Arkose (exposed on Phillip Island and the Mornington Peninsula). The Tyers River Subgroup incorporates two formations: Tyers Conglomerate and Rintoul Creek Formation. The latter is subdivided into the Locmany and Exalt Members. Ten fluvial sedimentary facies are identified in the lowermost Strzelecki Group: two gravelly facies; four sandy facies; and four mudrock facies. Associations of these facies indicate: (i) prevalence of gravelly braided‐river and alluvial‐fan settings during deposition of the Tyers Conglomerate; (ii) more sluggish, sandy braided to meandering fluvial systems during Locmany Member sedimentation; and (iii) a return to active, sandy, braided‐river settings for deposition of the Exalt Member. The Tyers Conglomerate and Rhyll Arkose rest on an irregular erosional surface incised into Palaeozoic rocks of the Lachlan Fold Belt. The overlying Rintoul Creek Formation incorporates more mature sediments where lithofacies associations varied according to base‐level change, variations in subsidence rates, and/or tectonic uplift of the principal sedimentsource terranes to the northwest.     

The nature of publishing and assessment in Geography and Environmental Studies: evidence from the Research Assessment Exercise 2008

We present a summary of the kinds of outputs submitted to the Geography and Environmental Studies sub-panel (H-32) for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), and examine the relationships between the peer assessment of research quality that the RAE process has typified, and alternative modes of assessment based on bibliometrics. This comparison is effected using (in aggregate form) some of the results from the RAE, together with citation data gathered after completion of the RAE assessment, specifically for the purpose of this paper. We conclude that, if it continues to be necessary and desirable to assess, in some measure and however imprecisely, research quality, then peer assessment cannot be replaced by bibliometrics. Bibliometrics permit measurement of something that may be linked to quality but is essentially a different phenomenon – a measure of 'impact', for example.