Geostatistical features of streambed vertical hydraulic conductivities in Frenchman Creek Watershed in Western Nebraska

This study evaluated the spatial variability of streambed vertical hydraulic conductivity (K_v) in different stream morphologies in the Frenchman Creek Watershed, Western Nebraska, using different variogram models. Streambed K_v values were determined in situ using permeameter tests at 10 sites in Frenchman, Stinking Water and Spring Creeks during the dry season at baseflow conditions. Measurements were taken both in straight and meandering stream channels during a 5 day period at similar flow conditions. Each test site comprised of at least three transects and each transect comprised of at least three K_v measurements. Linear, Gaussian, exponential and spherical variogram models were used with Kriging gridding method for the 10 sites. As a goodness-of-fit statistic for the variogram models, cross-validation results showed differences in the median absolute deviation and the standard deviation of the cross-validation residuals. Results show that using the geometric means of the 10 sites for gridding performs better than using either all the K_v values from the 93 permeameter tests or 10 K_v values from the middle transects and centre permeameters. Incorporating both the spatial variability and the uncertainty involved in the measurement at a reach segment can yield more accurate grid results that can be useful in calibrating K_v at watershed or sub-watershed scales in distributed hydrological models.     

Activity and kinematics of members of the TW Hydrae association

We present high-resolution echelle spectroscopy of 20 stars in 16 systems catalogued as members of the TW Hydrae association, and 16 stars identified as possible new members. We have calibrated the range of coronal and chromospheric activity expected for such young stars as a function of spectral type by combining our observations with literature data for field and open cluster stars. We also compute space motions for TWA members and candidate members with proper motion measurements, using two techniques to estimate distances to stars lacking direct trigonometric parallax measurements. The mean space motion of the four TWA members with known parallaxes is  ( U , V , W : −10.0, −17.8, −4.6) km s⁻¹  . 14 of the candidates have properties inconsistent with cluster membership; the remaining two are potential new members, although further observations are required to confirm this possibility.     

Response of zooid size in Cupuladria exfragminis (Bryozoa) to simulated upwelling temperatures

We investigate the effect of the temperature–size rule upon zooids of the tropical American bryozoan Cupuladria exfragminis. Results show that mean zooid length, zooid width and zooid area vary significantly between clonal replicates of C. exfragminis kept under different controlled temperature conditions. Significantly larger zooids are produced during times of lowered water temperature that are comparable with the temperatures that occur during seasonal upwelling along the Pacific coast of Panama where the animal lives in abundance. Interpolation of data suggests that a drop of 1 °C causes a 5% increase in zooid size, and that almost all variation in zooid size in natural populations can be explained by temperature. Results are discussed in context of the potential use of zooid size variation in cupuladriid bryozoans to measure the strength of seasonal upwelling in ancient seas by analysing zooid size changes in fossil colonies. The technique of cloning cupuladriid colonies by fragmentation is also discussed with reference to its benefits in experimental studies where genotypes need to be controlled or replicated.     

The geography of water conflict and cooperation: internal pressures and international manifestations

Studies on transboundary water conflict and cooperation generally consider interstate relations over shared water resources as distinct from intrastate relations. While connections have been made between international water relations and regional relationships in general, it is conceivable that international water conflict and cooperation may also be influenced by domestic water events and vice versa. This paper seeks to investigate the dynamics of water interactions across geographic scale and their relationship to broader international affairs. The research approach involves the creation of an analytical framework for assessing possible linkages between external and internal interactions over freshwater resources. The framework is applied to three case studies – the Middle East, South Asia and Southern Africa – utilizing 'event data'. To validate the findings from the quantitative analyses, the results are compared with conventional qualitative understandings of water and overall relations in the three regions. The comparison demonstrates not only the efficacy of the analytical framework in general, but also highlights, at least in terms of the specific case studies selected, the disparate water dynamics across geographic regions and the importance of considering water events, both national and international, within larger political and historical contexts.     

Tree-ring dated landslide movements and their relationship to seismic events in southwestern Montana, USA

To determine periods of incremental landslide movement and their possible relationship to regional seismic events, the tree-ring records of 32 tilted and damaged conifers at three sites on landslides in the Gravelly Range of southwestern Montana were examined. Several signs of disturbance in the tree-ring record indicating landslide movement were observed. Commonly, the tree-ring record displayed a marked reduction in annual ring width and/or the reaction wood formation. The tree-ring records from the three landslide sites indicate multiple periods of movement during the 20th century. Many of the periods of movement indicated by the strongest signals (most trees) at the sites occurred the year following significant earthquakes in the region. Those seismic events for which evidence in the tree-ring record was found at one or more of the three sites are the 1983 Borah Peak, 1959 Hebgen Lake, 1935 Helena, 1925 Clarkson, and 1908 Virginia City earthquakes. This study suggests that many of the landslide movements were triggered by, or are coincident with, earthquakes as much as 200 km from the study area.     

Observations and simulations of an unsteady island wake in the Firth of Forth, Scotland

Beamer Rock, a 50-m-wide island in the Firth of Forth, produces a distinctive von Kármán vortex street wake, the characteristics of which depend on the speed and direction of the tidal flow. ADCP (acoustic Doppler current profiler), CTD (conductivity–temperature–depth) and aerial photograph data were collected from the region during flood and ebb tidal flow under neap and spring conditions. Good agreement was found between the observations and the results from a fixed-grid depth-averaged numerical tidal model. The island wake parameter correctly predicted the unsteady nature of the wake, and the Strouhal number (defined in terms of flow past a circular cylinder) was found to give excellent predictions of the wake wavelength when scaled on the island width. Contrary to published results, the study shows that it is possible to accurately simulate an unsteady island wake using a relatively coarse fixed-grid numerical model.Responsible Editor: Jens Kappenberg     

A subsidiary fast-diffusing substitution mechanism of Al in forsterite investigated using diffusion experiments under controlled thermodynamic conditions

Diffusion of Al in synthetic forsterite was studied at atmospheric pressure from 1100 to 1500 °C in air along [100] with activities of SiO₂, MgO and Al₂O₃ (a_SiO2, a_MgO and a_Al2O3) buffered. At low a_SiO2, the buffer was forsterite + spinel + periclase (fo + sp + per) at all temperatures, while at high a_SiO2 and subsolidus conditions a variety of three-phase assemblages containing forsterite and two other phases from spinel, cordierite, protoenstatite or sapphirine were used at 1100–1350 °C. Experiments at high a_SiO2 and 1400 °C used forsterite + protoenstatite + melt (fo + en + melt), and at 1500 °C, fo + melt. The resulting diffusion profiles were analysed by LA–ICP–MS in scanning mode. Diffusion profiles in the high a_SiO2 experiments were generally several hundred microns in length, but diffusion at low a_SiO2 was three orders of magnitude slower than in high a_SiO2 experiments carried out at the same temperature, producing short profiles only a few microns in length and close to the spatial resolution of the analytical method. Interface concentrations of Al in the forsterite, obtained by extrapolating the diffusion profiles to the crystal/buffer interface, were only a fraction of those expected at equilibrium, and varied among the differing buffer assemblages according to (a_Al2O3)^1/2 and (a_SiO2)^3/4, pointing to the substitution of Al in forsterite by an octahedral-site, vacancy-coupled (OSVC) component with the stoichiometry Al _4/3 ³⁺ vac_2/3SiO₄, whereas the main substitution expected from previous equilibrium studies would be the coupled substitution of 2 Al for Mg + Si, giving the stoichiometry MgAl₂O₄. It is proposed that this latter substitution is not seen on the length scales of the present experiments because it requires replacement of Si by Al on tetrahedral sites, and is accordingly rate-limited by the slow diffusivity of Si. Instead, diffusion of Al by the OSVC mechanism is relatively fast, and at high a_SiO2, even faster than Fe–Mg interdiffusion.