Effect of spatial variation characteristics on contouring of design storm depth

The ordinary kriging method, a geostatistical interpolation technique, was applied for developing contour maps of design storm depth in northern Taiwan using intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) data. Results of variogram modelling on design storm depths indicate that the design storms can be categorized into two distinct storm types: (i) storms of short duration and high spatial variation and (ii) storms of long duration and less spatial variation. For storms of the first category, the influence range of rainfall depth decreases when the recurrence interval increases, owing to the increasing degree of their spatial independence. However, for storms of the second category, the influence range of rainfall depth does not change significantly and has an average of approximately 72 km. For very extreme events, such as events of short duration and long recurrence interval, we do not recommend usage of the established design storm contours, because most of the interstation distances exceed the influence ranges. Our study concludes that the influence range of the design storm depth is dependent on the design duration and recurrence interval and is a key factor in developing design storm contours. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

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Abstract— Jull et al. propose an alternative interpretation of our depth vs. ¹⁴C data measured on a peat core from the central Tunguska impact site (Rasmussen et al., 1999). We find that the proposed alternative is untenable.     

Offshore granulites from the Bay of Biscay margins: fission tracks constrain a Proterozoic to Tertiary thermal history

Zircon and apatite fission track ages were determined on granulites dredged along the Bay of Biscay margins. A sample from Ortegal Spur (Iberia margin) yielded 725 ± 67 Ma (zircon). A sample from Le Danois Bank (Iberia margin) yielded 284 ± 58 Ma (zircon), indicating post‐Variscan cooling. Apatite from this sample gave 52 ± 2 Ma, interpreted as final cooling after ‘Pyrenean’ thrust imbrication. Two other samples from Le Danois Bank have Early Cretaceous apatite ages (138 ± 7 and 120 ± 8 Ma), interpreted to result from exhumation during rifting. Finally, a granulite from Goban Spur (Armorican margin) gave 212 ± 10 Ma (apatite), coinciding with a precursory rifting phase. Together with published radiometric results, these data indicate a Precambrian high‐grade terrane at the site of the current margins. The distribution of the granulites on the seafloor reflects tectonic and erosional processes related to (a) Mesozoic rifting and (b) Early Tertiary incipient subduction of the Bay of Biscay beneath Iberia.     

Temperature and its control of isotope fractionation by a sulfate-reducing bacterium

A synthesis of previous results, which we dub the “standard model,” provides a prediction as to how isotope fractionation during sulfate reduction should respond to physiological variables such as specific rate of sulfate reduction and environmental variables such as substrate availability and temperature. The standard model suggests that isotope fractionation should decrease with increasing specific rates of sulfate reduction (rate per cell). Furthermore, the standard model predicts that low fractionations should be found at both high and low temperatures whereas the highest fractionations should be found in the intermediate temperature range. These fractionation trends are controlled, as a function of temperature, by the balance between the transfer rates of sulfate into and out of the cell and the exchange between the sulfur pools internal to the organism. We test this standard model by conducting experiments on the growth physiology and isotope fractionation, as a function of temperature, by the sulfate-reducing bacterium Desulfovibrio desulfuricans (DSMZ 642). Our results contrast with the “standard model” by showing a positive correlation between specific rates of sulfate reduction and fractionation. Also by contrast with the standard model, we found the highest fractionations at low and high temperatures and the lowest fractionations in the intermediate temperature range. We develop a fractionation model which can be used to explain both our results as well as the results of the “standard model.” Differences in fractionation with temperature relate to differences in the specific temperature response of internal enzyme kinetics as well as the exchange rates of sulfate in and out of the cell. It is expected that the kinetics of these processes will show strain-specific differences.     

The political ecology of Prunus africana in Cameroon

This paper provides an analysis of some current trends in political ecology and then illustrates the intermingling of politics and ecology using a case study of the exploitation and conservation of Prunus africana in Cameroon. It argues that political ecology is still a lively field, but that some recent attempts to chart a way forward for this perspective risk shifting it away from its liminal position in relation to natural and social science by being disinclined to engage with ecological processes. The case study draws attention to the strengths and shortcomings in existing attempts to weave political and economic analysis into environmental debates over the sustainable management of this tree species, which has been incorporated into phytomedical markets in Europe. The fortunes of the tree reflect its botany and ecology as well as the trajectories of the local economy, intercontinental markets for alternative health products, the policies and practices of the Cameroonian state and the politics of international aid.     

Measurement of natural stresses in a Provence mine (Southern France)

Stress measurements were carried out in the Arc syncline using drifs in a lignite mine. Eleven sites were investigated using the flat jack and hydraulic fracturing (or stimulating) methods. Two stress states were found to coexist, one isotropic, the other highly anisotropic. The orientations of the principal stresses are not homogeneous and an orientation ranging from E-W to NE-SW predominates locally. This does not accord with the regional stress field. The vertical stresses are systematically underestimated.     

A brief comparison of lava flows from the Deccan Volcanic Province and the Columbia-Oregon Plateau Flood Basalts: Implications for models of flood basalt emplacement

The nature and style of emplacement of Continental Flood Basalt (CFB) lava flows has been a matter of great interest as well as considerable controversy in the recent past. However, even a cursory review of published literature reveals that the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) and Hawaiian volcanoes provide most of the data relevant to this topic. It is interesting to note, however, that the CRBG lava flows and their palaeotopographic control is atypical of other CFB provinces in the world. In this paper, we first present a short overview of important studies pertaining to the emplacement of flood basalt flows. We then briefly review the morphology of lava flows from the Deccan Volcanic Province (DVP) and the Columbia-Oregon Plateau flood basalts. The review underscores the existence of significant variations in lava flow morphology between different provinces, and even within the same province. It is quite likely that there were more than one way of emplacing the voluminous and extensive CFB lava flows. We argue that the establishment of general models of emplacement must be based on a comprehensive documentation of lava flow morphology from all CFB provinces.