Irrigated area determination: a case study in the Province of San Juan,Argentina

Much of the central-western region of Argentina, where San Juan Province is located, experiences arid to semi-arid climatic conditions with low average annual rainfall accompanied by substantial evapotranspiration. Consequently, a viable crop industry depends to a large extent upon irrigation from major river systems. Increasing demand for water in the lower basin of the San Juan River is emphasizing the need for more accurate estimates of water used for irrigation. Since the water demand for a particular crop is very closely related to crop area, monitoring the area of crop under irrigation is considered a proxy for the amount of water used. Landsat 5 imagery for the growing season, field data and aerial photographs were used to evaluate crop area.     

Metals content in sediments of ephemeral streams with small reservoirs(the Negev Desert)

The content of 19 metals(chromium,cobalt,nickel,strontium,arsenic,magnesium,barium,cesium,gallium,rubidium,uranium,vanadium,zinc,lead,copper,cadmium,iron,manganese,and aluminum) in sediment in three ephemeral streams(Nahal Sansana,Nahal Revivim and Nahal Pura) with reservoirs in the Negev Desert is studied herein.The study was done in September 2016.The samples were collected from the surface layer of sediment(up to 10 cm) in the reservoirs and in the channels upstream and downstream of the reservoirs.Silt,which on average,accounted for 72% dominated in the sediment.In the spatial distribution of the particle size,sand and gravel fractions were deposited in the reservoirs.Aluminum,iron,and magnesium accounted for 99% of all analyzed metals.The Principal Component Analysis(PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis(HCA) showed that sediment in the Negev Desert channel upstream of the reservoirs had similar concentrations of metals.Similarities were also found between the analyzed reservoirs.The bottom sediment in reservoirs had higher concentrations of metals than sediment upstream and downstream of the reservoirs.The comparison of concentrations in upstream and downstream locations did not show any unambiguous trends because metal concentrations downstream from the reservoirs were not always lower than upstream of the reservoirs.The analysis of the sediment enrichment factor(EF) showed the highest value in the reservoirs and the lowest downstream of the reservoirs.The concentrations of most analyzed metals did not indicate the possibility of potential ecological risk(SQG).     

硅质岩沉积地球化学研究现状

硅质岩是造山带中分布最为广泛的岩石类型之一,硅质岩沉积环境的确定对深海沉积作用、大陆边缘地质学及大地构造格架的厘定具有重要意义。目前,在硅质岩沉积地球化学研究方面有以下主要进展：①硅质岩沉积地球化学研究;②与蛇绿岩有关的硅质岩沉积地球化学研究;③物质来源研究;④古氧化还原条件研究;⑤硅质岩构造环境判别     

Sediment transport for desert watersheds in erodible materials

Sediment transport for five small watersheds in arid southern Israel, eroded into shales, chalks, anhydrites and alluvium is studied. Analysis includes data from three large watersheds in the southern United States. Results indicate that floodwater heavily laden with suspended load (10-60 per cent, by weight) is characteristic of watersheds cut in erodible materials. No correlation was found between environmental characteristics such as lithology, catchment area, angle of slope or rainfall intensity and suspended-sediment concentration or texture. The carrying capacity for sands, derived both from hillslopes and channel alluvium is greatly increased by high suspended silt concentration, the trend being (where R = ratio, % fines/% sand; C_s = suspended load concentration, per cent by weight). The high concentration of fine sediment effectively causes more sand transport than would normally occur. This is also true for transport of coarser clastics; higher velocities, typical of highly concentrated silt suspensions, increased competence for transporting pebbles and boulders. The action of a large variety of processes (splash, wash, rilling, gullying, sliding, mudflow) combine with low infiltration and high credibility to render every rainstorm erosionally effective, and high concentrations of washload increase both the capacity and competence of coarse clastic transport. Whole basins are thus subjected to high rates of denudation (2-10 mm/yr).     

A review of aridity and groundwater

Surface hydrological studies are seen as inadequate in hyperarid and arid areas to provide reliable estimates of recharge. In most such areas surface discharges are not present so that assessments of groundwater resources are dependent upon ground interpretation and denied the flow control found in assessments elsewhere. Groundwater models show that gradients are sustained by long-term dewatering and very small amounts of modern indirect recharge. Recharge indications are well within the error of a hydrological balance. Discharges appear equally small. The development of groundwater in arid areas frequently faces problems of salination due to recycling of irrigation water and rising groundwater heads. Abstraction is often inadequately managed so that uncontrolled mining of groundwater occurs. The advantage that groundwater has, however, is that it offers staged development and staged appraisal.     

Abodes for life in carbonaceous asteroids?

Thermal evolution models for carbonaceous asteroids that use new data for permeability, pore volume, and water circulation as input parameters provide a window into what are arguably the earliest habitable environments in the Solar System. Plausible models of the Murchison meteorite (CM) parent body show that to first-order, conditions suitable for the stability of liquid water, and thus pre- or post-biotic chemistry, could have persisted within these asteroids for tens of Myr. In particular, our modeling results indicate that a 200-km carbonaceous asteroid with a 40% initial ice content takes almost 60 Myr to cool completely, with habitable temperatures being maintained for ∼24 Myr in the center. Yet, there are a number of indications that even with the requisite liquid water, thermal energy sources to drive chemical gradients, and abundant organic “building blocks” deemed necessary criteria for life, carbonaceous asteroids were intrinsically unfavorable sites for biopoesis. These controls include different degrees of exothermal mineral hydration reactions that boost internal warming but effectively remove liquid water from the system, rapid (1-10 mm yr⁻¹) inward migration of internal habitable volumes in most models, and limitations imposed by low permeabilities and small pore sizes in primitive undifferentiated carbonaceous asteroids. Our results do not preclude the existence of habitable conditions on larger, possibly differentiated objects such as Ceres and the Themis family asteroids due to presumed longer, more intense heating and possible long-lived water reservoirs.     

Climate change transformation: A definition and typology to guide decision making in urban environments

Climate change presents a threat to the sustainability of cities and their societies, and must be adequately addressed. Urban environments (cities) are responsible for the creation of a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions which are the source of climate change. Cities have been increasingly the focus of action to address climate change, yet emissions are not significantly reducing. Additionally, there a lack of integration between adaptation and mitigation. This prevents responses adequate to limit global warming to 1.5^OC, and to be well adapted to anticipated changes. This paper critically analyses existing definitions and typologies of climate change actions. A definition of ‘climate change transformation’ is proposed which includes the integration of adaptation and mitigation goals to enable a new regime in which global warming is limited to 1.5^OC. A new three-part typology: ‘coping, malaction and transformation,’ is presented for categorising climate change actions by the extent to which they integrate adaptation and mitigation, and define a new regime. The typology is accompanied by illustrations to demonstrate the relationship between adaptation and mitigation. The definition, typology and illustration serve to guide effective climate change decision making, and provides principles to guide application in urban environments.     

Middle and late Cenomanian oceanic anoxic events in shallow and deeper shelf environments of western Morocco

The response of shallow‐water sequences to oceanic anoxic event 2 and mid‐Cenomanian events 1a and 1b was investigated along the west African margin of Morocco north of Agadir (Azazoul) and correlated with the deep‐water sequence of the Tarfaya Basin (Mohammed Beach) based on biostratigraphy, mineralogy, phosphorus and stable isotopes. In the deeper Mohammed Beach section results show double peaks in δ¹³C_org for mid‐Cenomanian events 1a and 1b (Rotalipora reicheli biozone, lower CC10a biozone), the characteristic oceanic anoxic event 2 δ¹³C excursion (Rotalipora cushmani extinction, top of CC10a biozone) and laminated (anoxic) black shale. In the shallow environment north of Agadir, a fluctuating sea‐level associated with dysoxic, brackish and mesotrophic conditions prevailed during the middle to late Cenomanian, as indicated by oyster biostromes, nannofossils, planktonic and benthonic foraminiferal assemblages. Anoxic conditions characteristic of oceanic anoxic event 2 (for example, laminated black shales) did not reach into shallow‐water environments until the maximum transgression of the early Turonian. Climate conditions decoupled along the western margin of Morocco between mid‐Cenomanian event 1b and the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary, as also observed in eastern Tethys. North of Agadir alternating humid and dry seasonal conditions prevailed, whereas in the Tarfaya Basin the climate was dry and seasonal. This climatic decoupling can be attributed to variations in the Intertropical Convergence Zone and in the intensity of the north‐east trade winds in tropical areas.     

The ebb and flow of capital in Indonesian coastal production systems

The global fisheries sector has undergone both rapid industrialization and considerable resource depletion. Unlike fisheries in the Northern Hemisphere, the Indonesian (and indeed Southeast Asian) sector is still largely dominated by small-scale producers, who are partially embedded within a subsistence economy. Changes in the nature of production and livelihoods in the fisheries sector appear similar to those in land-based agriculture but have received far less attention in the literature and demand further analysis given the distinct characteristics of the natural resource base. Using national datasets complemented by insights from a two-month period of fieldwork in South Sulawesi, this paper presents the process of capital intensification underpinning national fisheries growth and how it is transforming small-scale production systems. Despite increasing market integration, we found that smallholders have persisted across coastal production systems to an even stronger degree than land-based agriculture. We suggest some reasons why this is so. However, we also observed evidence of internal class differentiation within coastal communities. Such differentiation, combined with resource degradation and depletion, exposes the poorest in the community to enhanced livelihood vulnerability.     

壳幔岩浆混合作用与陆内环境高Sr/Y斑岩的形成及成矿：实例与探讨

产于陆内环境的含矿斑岩往往具有高Sr/Y特征,多数学者认为与岩浆起源于加厚或拆沉的下地壳有关。然而,目前这一模式仍存在较大争议。本文以敖仑花斑岩矿床为例,新报道了矿区内不成矿岩体的岩石学和地球化学特征,与同期成矿岩体进行对比,探讨含矿斑岩高Sr/Y原因及控制是否成矿的可能因素。相对于含矿斑岩,敖仑花贫矿黑云母花岗岩具有高SiO2(74%~78%)、低MgO(0.2%)和CaO(0.2%~1.1%)、贫Sr(30×10-6~251×10-6)和Cr(1×10-6~6×10-6)的特征,显示准铝质到过铝质性质(A/CNK=0.9~1.2),Mg#值(2~30)与玄武岩实验熔体成份相似,说明岩浆可能主要来自基性下地壳源区的部分熔融。而已有的研究表明含矿斑岩为壳幔岩浆混合成因,富集地幔起源的偏基性岩浆的加入提升了寄主长英质岩浆的Mg#值、大离子亲石元素(Sr、La等)含量及其氧逸度(fO2)。我们认为幔源岩浆的混合可能是导致陆内环境含矿斑岩高Sr/Y及有利成矿的根本原因;相反,来自纯壳源的花岗质熔体因缺乏富水、高fO2幔源岩浆的参与而不利于形成斑岩Cu±Au±Mo矿床。