An asymptotic theory of combined wave refraction and diffraction

A uniformly valid asymptotic theory for water waves is presented, which accounts for the combined effects of refraction due to slowly varying water depth and diffraction by a semi-infinite thin break water. The present theory is more rigorous and generical than the approximate solution developed by Liu and Mei, which becomes invalid near the edge and the tip of the breakwater. The effects of wave breaking are ignored.     

Gold-Related Sulfide Mineralization and Ore Genesis of the Penjom Gold Deposit, Pahang, Malaysia

The Penjom gold deposit lies on the eastern side of the Raub‐Bentong Suture line within the Central Belt of Permo‐Triassic rocks, near Kuala Lipis, Pahang, Malaysia. The geology of the deposit is dominated by a sequence of fine‐ to coarse‐grained rhyolitic to rhyodacitic tuff, tuff‐breccia and a minor rhyolitic–rhyodacitic volcanic series, associated with argillaceous marine sedimentary rocks consisting of shale with subordinate shalely limestone of Padang Tungku Formation and Pahang Volcanic Series. Fine‐ to coarse‐grained tonalite and quartz porphyry intruded this unit. The main structural features of the area are north–south‐trending left‐lateral strike‐slip faults and their subsidiaries, which generally strike north–south and dip moderately to the east (350°–360°/40°–60°). Mineralization at the Penjom gold deposit is structurally controlled and also erratic laterally and vertically. The gold mineralization can be categorized as (i) gold associated with carbonate‐rich zones hosted within dilated quartz veins carrying significant amount of sulfides; (ii) gold disseminated within stockwork of quartz–carbonate veins affiliated with tonalite; and (iii) gold often associated with arsenopyrite and pyrite in quartz–carbonate veins and stringers hosted within shear zones of brittle–ductile nature in all rock types and in brittle fractured rhyodacitic volcanic rocks. Sphalerite, chalcopyrite, tetrahedrite and pyrrhotite are the minerals accompanying the early stage of gold mineralization. These minerals also suffered from local brittle deformation. However, most of the gold mineralization took place after the deposition of these sulfides. Galena appears somewhat towards the end of gold mineralization, whereas tellurium and bismuth accompanied gold contemporaneously. The gold mineralization occurred most probably due to the metamorphogenic deformational origin concentrated mostly in the shear zone. The mineralization is strongly controlled by the wall rock (e.g. graphitic shale), the sulfide minerals and fluid–rock interaction.     

Second homes, community and a hierarchy of dwelling

The word 'dwelling', to dwell, supposes engagement, in the sense that those who dwell are seen to engage with others and, in doing so, contribute to social capital and cohesion expressed in the forming of 'community'. Second home buying may be viewed as a course of action severing the process–product link between dwelling and community, as a brake on the community building process. In this paper, I contrast the view of dwelling as process – and its coupling with the 'traditional' place–community – with alternative notions of dwelling, and argue that the prevailing view is largely concerned with public and collective dwelling (and 'productive interaction'), and underplays the importance of private dwelling, and hence the self-identity and orientation – key aspects of dwelling – that flow from the use of private property, including the use of second homes.     

Hydroclimatology of the Volta River Basin in West Africa: Trends and variability from 1901 to 2002

Long-term historical records of rainfall (P), runoff (Q) and other climatic factors were used to investigate hydrological variability and trends in the Volta River Basin over the period 1901-2002. Potential (E_p) and actual evaporation (E), rainfall variability index (δ), Budyko’s aridity index (I_A), evaporation ratio (C_E) and runoff ratio (C_Q) were estimated from the available hydroclimatological records. Mann-Kendall trend analysis and non-parametric Sen’s slope estimates were performed on the respective time series variables to detect monotonic trend direction and magnitude of change over time.Rainfall variability index showed that 1968 was the wettest year (δ = +1.75) while 1983 was the driest (δ = −3.03), with the last three decades being drier than any other comparable period in the hydrological history of the Volta. An increase of 0.2 mm/yr² (P < 0.05) was observed in E_p for the 1901-1969 sub-series while an increased of 1.8 mm/yr² (P < 0.01) was recorded since 1970. Rainfall increased at the rate of 0.7 mm/yr² or 49 mm/yr between 1901 and 1969, whereas a decrease of 0.2 mm/yr² (6 mm/yr) was estimated for 1970-2002 sub-series. Runoff increased significantly at the rate of 0.8 mm/yr (23 mm/yr) since 1970. Runoff before dam construction was higher (87.5 mm/yr) and more varied (CV = 41.5%) than the post-dam period with value of 73.5 mm/yr (CV = 23.9%). A 10% relative decrease in P resulted in a 16% decrease in Q between 1936 and 1998. Since 1970, all the months showed increasing runoff trends with significant slopes (P < 0.05) in 9 out of the 12 months. Possible causes, such as climate change and land cover change, on the detected changes in hydroclimatology are briefly discussed.     

Trends in commuting in England and Wales–becoming less sustainable?

Summary It is widely accepted that the nature and extent of commuting patterns worldwide represent a large slice of the overall environmental problems associated with transport use. There has been a long-standing concern over the 'congestion peaks' derived from daily travel-to-work patterns, and a preoccupation with the ways in which greener modes of commuting might contribute to a more environmentally benign transport system. This article uses Census data to focus on commuting patterns in England and Wales, concluding that, despite recent moves towards promoting a more integrated and sustainable transport system, worrying trends persist that would seem to undermine this strategy. On a more positive note, the Census data also suggest that many shorter trips might potentially be converted to 'greener modes' walking or cycling–with substantial environmental benefits.     

Temperature dependence of δLi, δCa and Li/Ca during growth of calcium carbonate

Lithium and calcium isotope ratios, together with the Li/Ca element ratio, have been measured in calcites precipitated inorganically at temperatures ranging from 5 to 30 °C, and on seasonal growth bands from a coral. These measurements indicate the potential uses of these three environmental proxies. Carbonate Li isotopes are lighter than the solution from which they grow, probably due to equilibrium fractionation. This fractionation is not significantly influenced by temperature and, because Li is not involved in any known biological process, this suggests that carbonates will provide a recorder for the past Li-isotope composition of natural waters and hence for past weathering conditions. As has been observed previously for inorganic aragonite, the Ca-isotopes in inorganic calcite are lighter than the growth solution, and are only weakly dependent on temperature. This confirms that the temperature dependence observed in some species of foraminifera [Geochem. Geophys. Geosyst. 1 (2001)] reflects additional isotope fractionation due to biological processes during mineralization. Ca isotopes may therefore provide a powerful tool with which to investigate the processes of biomineralization. Finally, Li/Ca ratios in inorganic and biogenic carbonates increase as temperatures decrease with a sensitivity of ≈4% per °C. This temperature dependence of Li/Ca may prove useful to assess past temperatures in cold environments such as the deep ocean.     

Structural origin of large gas cavities in the Big Obsidian Flow, Newberry Volcano

Mesoscopic structures in four large cavities on the Big Obsidian Flow, OR, USA, provide evidence of links between large-scale surface folding, cavity formation, and hazardous explosive activity originating from within the flow. Stereographic analysis of flow banding, stretched bubble lineation, striations, and mesoscopic fold axes indicates that three of the cavities are near-cylindrical folds. Cavity fold axes are oriented parallel to large-scale compressional flow ridge axes, suggesting that cavities form in response to shortening during flow advance. Large surface folds develop as the upper 10 m of the cooler flow surface buckles when the flow front cools, slows, and stalls against topographic barriers. Void space is created in fold hinges as obsidian layers shear past each other and pull apart. The resultant cavities may serve as reservoirs for exsolved volatiles or surface water which may later vent explosively to form explosion craters on the flow surface.     

Evaluation of climate reanalysis and space-borne precipitation products over Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

This study aims to quantify the spatial distribution of errors in two climate reanalysis (ERA5 and CFSR) and two satellite (TMPA-RT and TMPA-V7) precipitation products over Bangladesh. The datasets are assessed against ground-based rain gauge observations to capture the extreme rainfall accumulations at daily temporal scale over a 5-year period (January 2010–December 2014). The bias ratio scores indicate that CFSR and TMPA-RT seriously overestimate the rainfall values over much of the study area. Whilst TMPA-V7 performs better than the other precipitation products, all datasets lose their detection skills substantially for higher quantile thresholds (i.e. above 50th and 75th percentiles). With respect to rainfall detection metrics – probability of detection (POD) and volumetric hit index (VHI) – both ERA5 and CFSR show superior performance (in the range 0.9–1.0 for all the analysis grid boxes). All rainfall datasets are equally good in terms of false alarm ratio (FAR) and volumetric FAR (VFAR), even though the lowest values are associated with ERA5 for higher quantiles. All products demonstrate a decrease in skill to capture the amount of rainfall but show satisfactory results to detect the rainfall events when using higher quantile thresholds (i.e. rainfall above the 50th and 75th percentiles) to sample the data before computing product skill.     

Comparison of methodological uncertainties within permeability measurements

Permeability measurements are critical to the calculation of water‐flow within hillslopes. Despite this, errors in permeability measurements are often ignored, and can be very large particularly in disturbance‐sensitive gley soils. This work compares the uncertainties associated with six field methods of permeametry applied to a gleyed soil in upland Britain. Slug tests, constant‐head borehole permeametry, and falling‐head borehole permeametry were undertaken on established piezometers. Additionally, ring permeametry and two types of trench tests were evaluated. Method‐related uncertainty due to proximity of impeding layers of high sorptivity soils produces under‐ and over‐estimates of permeability by a factor of up to 0·2 and 5, respectively. This uncertainty band is smaller than the observed effects of anisotropy and temporal variability. Had smearing and soil‐ring leakage errors not been minimized, the methodological uncertainties would have been so large that they would have distorted the true spatial field of permeability and its estimated impact on the balance of vertical and lateral flow. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using Sealed Wells to Measure Water Levels Beneath Streams and Floodplains

The design of wells beneath streams and floodplains has often employed with tall standpipes to prevent incursion of surface water into the well during flood events. Here, an approach has been presented to minimise the infrastructure demands in these environments by sealing the well top (e.g., prevent water entering the well) and monitor the total pressure in the water column using an absolute (non‐vented) pressure transducer. The sealed well design was tested using a laboratory experiment where the total pressure responses were monitored in both an unsealed and sealed well, while the water level was varied. It is observed that, whether the well is sealed or not, the total pressure at a given depth in the aquifer will be equal to that within the well. This indicates that the sealed well design is a viable alternative to tall standpipes and also facilitates installation of wells beneath streams and floodplains.