Maximized erosion at the last glacial maximum revealed by thermoluminescence thermochronometry

Increased erosion rates during the last 2 Myr of Earth history are commonly associated with widespread glaciation and global cooling. However, whether erosion rates actually increased during that period of time remains debated. This is in part because the respective role of fluvial and glacial erosion is difficult to assess, and because many existing techniques used to estimate erosion rates may be affected by averaging biases that may produce increased erosion rates towards the present. Here, we apply thermoluminescence thermochronometry to granitic bedrock samples of the southern-central Chilean Andes, a region which experienced a full transition from glacial-humid to fluvial-dry conditions during the Quaternary. Inverse modelling of the thermochronological data enables us to extract unbiased time series of erosion rates during the last ∼100 kyr. We find that erosion rates were systematically higher during around the last glacial maximum than at present, with differences exceeding an order of magnitude. Our findings indicate that glacial erosion is probably more efficient than fluvial erosion and imply that erosion has remained transient during the Quaternary.     

Recent trends on glacier area retreat over the group of Nevados Caullaraju-Pastoruri (Cordillera Blanca,Peru) using Landsat imagery

The Cordillera Blanca, located in the central zone of the Andes Mountains in Peru, has shown a retreat in its glaciers. This paper presents a trend analysis of the glacier area over the groups of Nevados Caullaraju-Pastoruri from 1975 to 2010 using Landsat-5 Thematic Mapper (TM) imagery. In the case of the Nevados Pastoruri/Tuco, the study period was extended back to 1957 by using an aerial photograph taken that year. The extent of clean glacier ice was estimated using Normalized Difference Snow Index (NDSI) thresholds. Moreover, the estimation of debris-covered glacier ice was retrieved by means of a decision tree classification method using NDSI, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surface Temperature (LST). Area estimations derived from Landsat imagery were compared to the glacier ground-truth data in 1975 and 2010. Results show a statistically significant (p < 0.05) decreasing trend over the whole study area. Total glacier area decreased at a rate of 4.5 km² per decade from 1975 to 2010, with a total loss of 22.5 km² (58%). Lower decreasing rates were found for the period 1987–2010: 3.5 km² per decade with a total loss of 7.7 km² (32.5%). In the case of the Nevados Pastoruri/Tuco, decreasing rates of clean ice extent were constant for the periods 1957–2010, 1975–2010 and 1987–2010, with values close to 1.4 km² per decade and a total loss between 1957 and 2010 estimated at about 5 km² (54%). This work shows an evident area decrease in the Caullaraju-Pastoruri tropical glaciers, which needs to be included in a future hydrological scenario of local adaptability and water management.     

利用小波阈值消噪改进M-W组合周跳探测性能

受伪距噪声的影响,Turbo Eidt法中M-W组合难以探测所有周跳。分析了M-W组合观测量的误差特性,指出伪距误差导致周跳漏检、探测延迟的原因。采用小波阈值消噪方法对M-W组合观测值进行处理,阈值估计使用Visushrink方法可削弱伪距噪声、增加周跳的辨识度。消噪后,周跳会发生扩散,除当前历元外,前后多个历元均会超出阈值,便于探测。实测数据结果表明:经小波消噪后的M-W组合观测值能够准确定位小至1周的所有周跳,避免漏检现象,增强周跳探测的可靠性。     

Linking pesticides and human health: A geographic information system (GIS) and Landsat remote sensing method to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure

Accurate pesticide exposure estimation is integral to epidemiologic studies elucidating the role of pesticides in human health. Humans can be exposed to pesticides via residential proximity to agricultural pesticide applications (drift). We present an improved geographic information system (GIS) and remote sensing method, the Landsat method, to estimate agricultural pesticide exposure through matching pesticide applications to crops classified from temporally concurrent Landsat satellite remote sensing images in California. The image classification method utilizes Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) values in a combined maximum likelihood classification and per-field (using segments) approach. Pesticide exposure is estimated according to pesticide-treated crop fields intersecting 500 m buffers around geocoded locations (e.g., residences) in a GIS. Study results demonstrate that the Landsat method can improve GIS-based pesticide exposure estimation by matching more pesticide applications to crops (especially temporary crops) classified using temporally concurrent Landsat images compared to the standard method that relies on infrequently updated land use survey (LUS) crop data. The Landsat method can be used in epidemiologic studies to reconstruct past individual-level exposure to specific pesticides according to where individuals are located.     

Grassroots scalar politics: Insights from peasant water struggles in the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Andes

Based on insights from peasant and indigenous communities’ struggles for water in Andean Peru and Ecuador, in this article we argue that the defense of grassroots interests -and with it the advancement of more equitable governance- greatly hinges on the capacity of these groups to engage in grassroots scalar politics. With increasing pressure on water resources in the Andes, the access to water of many rural peasant and indigenous communities is being threatened. The growing realization that their access to water and related interests are embedded in broader regional and national politics, legal frameworks and water policies, has led many communities and peasant water user associations to engage in networks and create alliances with other water users, governmental institutions and non-governmental actors. To better understand these (and other) grassroots struggles and strategies, in this contribution we develop the concept of grassroots scalar politics, which we use as a lens to analyze two case studies. In Ecuador we present how water users of the province of Chimborazo have defended their interests through the consolidation of the Provincial Water Users Associations’ Federation Interjuntas-Chimborazo and its networks. Then we focus on how with the support of Interjuntas-Chimborazo the Water Users Association of the Chambo irrigation system defended their historical water allocation. In Peru we analyze the conformation and achievements of the federative Water Users Association of Ayacucho (JUDRA) and present how the community of Ccharhuancho in the region of Huancavelica, managed to defend its waters and territory against the coastal irrigation sector of Ica.     

The Reliability of Assigned Values from the GeoPT Proficiency Testing Programme from an Evaluation of Data for Six Test Materials that have been Characterised as Certified Reference Materials

Assigned values derived from the GeoPT proficiency testing programme were compared with certified values for six certified reference materials that have been used as test materials in the GeoPT programme. Statistical analysis showed that there were few significant differences between these sets of data and that these differences had no significant impact on the GeoPT assessment when fitness‐for‐purpose criteria were taken into account.     

Mass Fractions of S,Cu, Se,Mo, Ag,Cd, In,Te, Ba,Sm, W,Tl and Bi in Geological Reference Materials and Selected Carbonaceous Chondrites Determined by Isotope Dilution ICP‐MS

Mass fractions of S, Cu, Se, Mo, Ag, Cd, In, Te, Ba, Sm, W and Tl were determined by isotope dilution sector field ICP‐MS in the same sample aliquot of reference materials using HF‐HNO₃ digestion in PFA beakers in pressure bombs and glassy carbon vessels in a high‐pressure asher (HPA‐S) for comparison. Additionally, Bi was determined by internal standardisation relative to Tl. Because isobaric and oxide interferences pose problems for many of these elements, efficient chromatographic separation methods in combination with an Aridus desolvator were employed to minimise interference effects. Repeated digestion and measurement of geological reference materials (BHVO‐1, BHVO‐2, SCo‐1, MAG‐1, MRG‐1 and UB‐N) gave results with < 5% relative intermediate precision (1s) for most elements, except Bi. Replicates of NIST SRM 612 glass digested on a hot plate were analysed by the same methods, and the results agree with reference values mostly within 2% relative deviation. Data for the carbonaceous chondrites Allende, Murchison, Orgueil and Ivuna are also reported. Digestion in a HPA‐S was as efficient as in pressure bombs, but some elements displayed higher blank levels following HPA‐S treatment. Pressure bomb digestion yielded precise data for volatile S, Se and Te, but may result in high blanks for W.     

Seasonal inundation patterns in two large savanna floodplains of South America: the Llanos de Moxos (Bolivia) and the Llanos del Orinoco (Venezuela and Colombia)

Inundation patterns in two of the largest savanna floodplains of South America were studied by analysis of the 37‐GHz polarization difference observed by the Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer (Nimbus‐7 satellite). Flooded area was estimated at monthly intervals for January 1979 through to August 1987 using mixing models that account for the major landscape units with distinctive microwave emission characteristics. Results are presented separately for five subregions in each of the two floodplain regions to show the spatial as well as temporal variability in inundation patterns. The total area inundated during the 9 years varied between 2069 and 78 460 km² in the Llanos de Moxos (also spelled as Mojos; median area, 23 383 km²) and 1278 and 105 454 km² in the Llanos del Orinoco (median, 25 374 km²), not including the open‐water area of permanent lakes and river channels. The correlation between flooded area and river stage was used to extend the inundation records over a 30‐year period in the Moxos (1967–97) and a 58‐year period (1927–85) in the Orinoco. Interannual variability in inundation is greater in the Moxos than the Orinoco. Comparison of these data, however, with a previously published analysis of the Pantanal wetland shows that inundation patterns in these two floodplain regions are not as variable across years as they are in the Pantanal. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low correlation between redshift and intrinsic brightness for quasars and galaxies in a de sitter universe

Since the discovery of quasars, it has been recognized that these objects must have either an extraordinary intrinsic brightness or a nonlinear redshift. The most widely accepted current belief incorporates a linear (Hubble) redshift- distance relation and time evolution within a Big Bang model. We reconsider the possibility of a nonlinear (de Sitter) redshift-distance relation and find quasar intrinsic brightness to be not at all extraordinary. Given a de Sitter law, intrinsic brightness is found to be independent of redshift over five orders of magnitude.