Tensiti: a social and physical development in Lae,Papua New Guinea

The implementation of an ‘appropriate’ housing subdivision in Lae, Papua New Guinea represents a new approach in creating an acceptable environment for the urban poor. The unique hexagonal design of the Tensiti development and its aims and policy implications are discussed. It appears that at least some of the urban poor of Lae now live in a settlement which satisfies the demands of town planners, urban administrators and the realities of the settlers' basic needs and resources.     

The termination of the solar wind

It has previously been suggested that the solar wind might terminate at distances of 5 AU to 20 AU from the Sun, and that the solar wind might be drastically slowed down by charge exchange and photoionization of interstellar hydrogen atoms which approach the Sun. However, recent satellite measurements of resonantly scattered Lyman alpha radiation, together with pulsar dispersion and Faraday rotation measures, imply very small values for the interstellar hydrogen density (0.05 cm⁻³) and magnetic field strength (3 μG). As a result, the solar wind is not expected to be slowed down by more than about 30% inside the termination distance, which is expected to be about 100 AU.     

Invariant expressions for elastic radiation from a fault with prescribed slip

Summary New formulae are obtained for the displacement potentials and displacements due to a point source with moment tensor, and for a fault with prescribed slip. These formulae, unlike previous formulae, are invariant, i.e. they are valid in any coordinate system, not just Cartesian coordinates or orthogonal curvilinear coordinates.
Apart from their invariance, these formulae have other advantages: they are exceedingly simple; the expressions for P -motion are nearly the same as those for S -motion; and the separation of far field motion from final static displacement is automatic.     

A least-squares method for determining the best-fit point maximum, great circle, and small circle to nondirectional orientation data

Given a set of nondirectional orientation data (fold axes, lineations, dip and dip direction of bedding, universal stage readings of crystallographic axes, etc.),the best-fit line (point maximum),plane (great circle),or cone (small circle)can be determined by minimizing the sum of the squares of the angular residuals using a simplex convergence technique. Stereoplots of the angular deviation over the complete lower hemisphere for these distributions may also be generated when consideration of the constraint on the best-fit position is important; for example in comparing different data sets of the same structural element. The routines are available as a FORTRAN coded computer program.     

Entanglement of New Zealand fur seals in man-made debris at Kaikoura, New Zealand

New Zealand fur seals in the Kaikoura region breed near a town with expanding tourist and fishing industries and commonly come ashore entangled in nets and plastic debris. However, the rate at which entanglement occurs was previously unknown. A decade of Department of Conservation seal callout data was analysed to determine the level of entanglement in the region and the most common debris type. Monitoring of adult female fur seals released from entanglement provided information on the potential for serious wounds to heal and survivorship of released individuals. Entanglement rates of pinnipeds in Kaikoura are some of the highest reported world-wide (average range: 0.6-2.8%) with green trawl net (42%), and plastic strapping tape (31%) together contributing the most to debris types. Nearly half of the reported entangled seals are successfully released (43%) and post-release monitoring shows that with appropriate intervention the chance of an individual surviving even with a significant entanglement wound is high. Our study demonstrates that while entanglement in the region is high, a successful intervention protocol may help reduce the potential for entanglement-related mortality in the region.     

Trends in flood seasonality of the River Ouse (Northern England) from archive and instrumental sources since AD 1600

The last decade has witnessed an increase in the application of historical records (historical and documentary) in developing a more complete understanding of high-magnitude flood frequency; but little consideration has been given to the additional information that documentary accounts contain, particularly relating to flood seasonality. This paper examines the methods and approaches available in long-term flood seasonality analysis and applies them to the River Ouse (Yorkshire) in Northern England since AD 1600. A detailed historical flood record is available for the City of York consisting of annual maxima flood levels since AD 1877, with documentary accounts prior to this. A detailed analysis of long-term flood seasonality requires confidence in the accuracy and completeness of flood records; as a result the augmented flood series are analysed using three strategies: firstly, considering all recorded floods since AD 1600; secondly, through detailed analysis of the more complete record since AD 1800; and finally, applying a threshold to focus on high-magnitude flood events since AD 1800. The results identify later winter flooding, particularly in the second half of the twentieth century, with a notable reduction in summer flood events at York during the twentieth century compared to previous centuries. Flood generating mechanisms vary little between the periods considered, with a general pattern of stability in the ratio of floods incorporating a snowmelt component.     

A proposal for a new scenario framework to support research and assessment in different climate research communities

In this paper, we propose a scenario framework that could provide a scenario “thread” through the different climate research communities (climate change – vulnerability, impact, and adaptation - and mitigation) in order to support assessment of mitigation and adaptation strategies and climate impacts. The scenario framework is organized around a matrix with two main axes: radiative forcing levels and socio-economic conditions. The radiative forcing levels (and the associated climate signal) are described by the new Representative Concentration Pathways. The second axis, socio-economic developments comprises elements that affect the capacity for mitigation and adaptation, as well as the exposure to climate impacts. The proposed scenarios derived from this framework are limited in number, allow for comparison across various mitigation and adaptation levels, address a range of vulnerability characteristics, provide information across climate forcing and vulnerability states and span a full century time scale. Assessments based on the proposed scenario framework would strengthen cooperation between integrated-assessment modelers, climate modelers and vulnerability, impact and adaptation researchers, and most importantly, facilitate the development of more consistent and comparable research within and across these research communities.