Transportation geography: The influence of Walter Isard and regional science

This paper explores the influence of Walter Isard, his work, and the field of regional science generally on transportation geography. It argues that Isards impact was both subtle and significant. Regional science greatly influenced the emergence of modern transportation geography in the 1950s. Transportation themes and methods from Isards own work provided early building blocks for transportation geography. Moreover, Isard and regional science contributed importantly to the development of the intellectual network of persons, places, and institutions that early on defined the subfield. Regional science and transportation geography have diverged in recent decades, but opportunities exist for renewed interaction.The author thanks Doug Fleming and Dick Morrill for comments on an earlier version of this paper.     

The Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation gyres

This paper reports on the strength and structure of the Kuroshio Extension and its recirculation gyres. In the time average, quasi-permanent recirculation gyres are found to the north and south of the Kuroshio Extension jet. The characteristics of these recirculations gyres are determined from the combined observations from the Kuroshio Extension System Study (KESS) field program (June 2004–June 2006) and include current meters, pressure and current recording inverted echo sounders, and subsurface floats. The position and strength of the recirculation gyres simulated by a high-resolution numerical model are found to be consistent with the observations. The circulation pattern that is revealed is of a complex system of multiple recirculation gyres that are embedded in the crests and troughs of the quasi-permanent meanders of the Kuroshio Extension. At the location of the KESS array, the Kuroshio Extension jet and its recirculation gyres transport of about 114 Sv. This represents a 2.7-fold increase in the transport of the current compared to the Kuroshio's transport at Cape Ashizuri before it separates from the coast and flows eastward into the open ocean. This enhancement in the current's transport comes from the development of the flanking recirculation gyres. Estimates from an array of inverted echo sounders and a high-resolution ocean general circulation model are of similar magnitude.     

Identifying characteristics of charge transfer transitions in minerals

Criteria used to identify Fe²⁺-Fe³⁺ and Fe²⁺-Ti⁴⁺ intervalence charge transfer absorption bands in electronic spectra are reviewed and compared to the characteristics of unperturbed Fe²⁺ crystal field bands and those that are intensified by interaction with Fe³⁺. Band energy is the least definitive diagnostic criterion. Changes in band intensity with temperature are also of limited value. Large widths are the most reliable characteristic of charge transfer bands. New optical absorption spectra are presented for euclase, as well as 80 K spectra of rockbridgeite, babingtonite and lazulite. Comparison of optical spectra to magnetic susceptibility measurements for rockbridgeite and babingtonite provides support for recent theories regarding the effect of magnetic coupling on the variation of charge transfer intensity with temperature.     

The Characterization of a Former World War I Battlefield by Integrating Multiple Signals from a Multireceiver EMI Soil Sensor

World War I (WWI) battlefields contain a large diversity of buried features that are situated just below the plough layer. A noninvasive interdisciplinary approach is preferred to characterize the buried heritage embedded within its soil landscape. In this study, the potential of integrating both electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements from a multireceiver electromagnetic induction (EMI) instrument at a heavily shelled WWI battlefield was evaluated. Primarily, both measurements allowed the attribution of approximate depth interval to the buried trench remains. These remains proved dominantly present within the 0.4–0.8 m depth interval. Subsequently, both apparent electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements were separately integrated to improve the contrast between buried features and their surrounding background. Trenches that were ditches filled with topsoil material could be distinguished from trenches that were continuously or partially filled with metal reinforcements or debris. To conclude, integrating multiple signals from a multireceiver EMI system allowed for a more straightforward discrimination of the buried WWI relicts.     

The planet formation imager

The Planet Formation Imager (PFI, www.planetformationimager.org) is a next-generation infrared interferometer array with the primary goal of imaging the active phases of planet formation in nearby star forming regions. PFI will be sensitive to warm dust emission using mid-infrared capabilities made possible by precise fringe tracking in the near-infrared. An L/M band combiner will be especially sensitive to thermal emission from young exoplanets (and their disks) with a high spectral resolution mode to probe the kinematics of CO and H₂O gas. In this paper, we give an overview of the main science goals of PFI, define a baseline PFI architecture that can achieve those goals, point at remaining technical challenges, and suggest activities today that will help make the Planet Formation Imager facility a reality.     

Political ecology and habitat conservation for endangered species planning in Southern California: Region, places, and ecological governance

The county of Riverside California has a long history of land conservation. In this comparative case study between Western Riverside County and the Coachella Valley area in the county we show how governance institutions that encompass regions that have very different ecologies, are governed by rules and regulations that are undifferentiated relative to those differences. The study argues, however, that what may differ are the workings of the local urban regimes and the metabolic appropriation of ecosystems for economic growth. In this close investigation of the sprawling county of Riverside we find very different approaches to habitat preservation and the enrollment of nature for wealth production by the local urban regimes.     

A global landslide catalog for hazard applications: method,results, and limitations

A systematic inventory of landslide events over the globe is valuable for estimating human and economic losses, quantifying the relationship between landslide occurrences and climate variations and for evaluating emerging global landslide prediction efforts based on remote sensing data. This study compiles a landslide catalog for rainfall-triggered events for several years, drawing upon news reports, scholarly articles, and other hazard databases to provide a landslide catalog at the global scale. While this database may only represent a subset of rainfall-triggered landslides globally, due to lack of reports, it presents a lower boundary on the number of events globally and provides initial insight into the spatiotemporal statistical trends in landslide distribution and impact. This article develops a methodology for landslide event compilation that can be used in evaluating global landslide forecasting initiatives and assessing patterns in landslide distribution and frequency worldwide.     

Multi-frequency synthetic-aperture imaging with a lightweight ground penetrating radar system

The detection of buried objects, particularly hazardous waste containers and unexploded ordnance (UXO), has gained significant interest in the Unites States in the late 1990s. The desire to remediate the thousands of sites worldwide has become an increasing concern and the application of radar to this problem has received renewed attention. The US Department of Energy's Special Technologies Laboratory (STL), operated by Bechtel Nevada, has developed several frequency-modulated, continuous-wave (FM-CW) ground penetrating radar (GPR) units. To meet technical requirements for higher-resolution data, STL and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is investigating advanced GPR hardware, signal processing, and synthetic-aperture imaging with the development of an innovative system. The goal is to design and fabricate a lightweight, battery-operated unit that does not require surface contact, can be operated by a novice user, and can achieve improved resolution. The latter is accomplished by using synthetic-aperture imaging, which forms the subsurface images by fully utilizing the data sequences collectively along a scan path. We also present the backward propagation algorithm as the basic structure of the multiple-frequency tomographic imaging technique, and the conventional fast Fourier transform (FFT) method which can be described as a degenerated case of the model where the computation procedure is approximated under the narrow-beam assumption.     

Holocene environmental history in high‐Arctic North Greenland revealed by a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach

In this study, we use a combined biomarker and macrofossil approach to reconstruct the Holocene climate history recorded in Trifna Sø, Skallingen area, eastern North Greenland. Chronological information is derived from comparison of lithological, biogeochemical and macrofossil characteristics with a well‐dated record from nearby Lille Sneha Sø. Following local deglaciation around c. 8 cal. ka BP, the local peak warmth occurred between c. 7.4 and 6.2 cal. ka BP as indicated by maximum macrofossil abundances of warmth‐demanding plants (Salix arctica and Dryas integrifolia) and invertebrates (Daphnia pulex and Chironomidae). Warm conditions were dominated by terrestrial organic matter (OM) sedimentation as implied by the alkane‐based P_aq ratio, but increased aquatic productivity is indicated when temperature was highest around 6.5 cal. ka BP. The n‐C₂₉/n‐C₃₁ alkane ratio shows that vegetation in the catchment was dominated by shrubs after deglaciation, but shifted towards relatively more grassy/herbaceous vegetation during peak warmth. After 5.4 cal. ka BP, the disappearance of warmth‐demanding plant and invertebrate macrofossils indicates cooling in the Skallingen area. This cooling was characterized by a significant shift towards dominance of aquatic OM sedimentation in Trifna Sø as implied by high P_aq ratios. Cooling was also associated with a shift in vegetation type from dwarf‐shrub heaths towards relatively more herbaceous vegetation in the catchment, stronger erosion and more oligotrophic conditions in the lake. Our data show that mean air temperatures inferred using branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (brGDGTs) do not seem to accurately reflect the local climatic history. Irrespective of calibration, methylation of branched tetraethers (MBT) palaeothermometry cannot be reconciled with the macrofossil evidence and seems to be biased by either changing brGDGT sources (in situ vs. soil‐derived) or changing species assemblages and/or an unknown physiological response to changing environmental conditions at high latitude.     

Decoding a protracted zircon geochronological record in ultrahigh temperature granulite,and persistence of partial melting in the crust,Rogaland, Norway

This contribution evaluates the relation between protracted zircon geochronological signal and protracted crustal melting in the course of polyphase high to ultrahigh temperature (UHT; T?>?900 °C) granulite facies metamorphism. New U–Pb, oxygen isotope, trace element, ion imaging and cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging data in zircon are reported from five samples from Rogaland, South Norway. The data reveal that the spread of apparent age captured by zircon, between 1040 and 930 Ma, results both from open-system growth and closed-system post-crystallization disturbance. Post-crystallization disturbance is evidenced by inverse age zoning induced by solid-state recrystallization of metamict cores that received an alpha dose above 35 × 10¹⁷ α  g^?1. Zircon neocrystallization is documented by CL-dark domains displaying O isotope open-system behaviour. In UHT samples, O isotopic ratios are homogenous (δ¹⁸O = 8.91?±?0.08‰), pointing to high-temperature diffusion. Scanning ion imaging of these CL-dark domains did not reveal unsupported radiogenic Pb. The continuous geochronological signal retrieved from the CL-dark zircon in UHT samples is similar to that of monazite for the two recognized metamorphic phases (M1: 1040–990 Ma; M2: 940–930 Ma). A specific zircon-forming event is identified in the orthopyroxene and UHT zone with a probability peak at ca. 975 Ma, lasting until ca. 955 Ma. Coupling U–Pb geochronology and Ti-in-zircon thermometry provides firm evidence of protracted melting lasting up to 110 My (1040–930 Ma) in the UHT zone, 85 My (ca. 1040–955 Ma) in the orthopyroxene zone and some 40 My (ca. 1040–1000 Ma) in the regional basement. These results demonstrate the persistence of melt over long timescales in the crust, punctuated by two UHT incursions.