Object classification at the Nearby Supernova Factory

We present the results of applying new object classification techniques to the supernova search of the Nearby Supernova Factory. In comparison to simple threshold cuts, more sophisticated methods such as boosted decision trees, random forests, and support vector machines provide dramatically better object discrimination: we reduced the number of nonsupernova candidates by a factor of 10 while increasing our supernova identification efficiency. Methods such as these will be crucial for maintaining a reasonable false positive rate in the automated transient alert pipelines of upcoming large optical surveys. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Depth of closure: New calculation method based on sediment data

Obtaining depth of closure (DoC) in an accurate manner is a fundamental issue for coastal engineering, since good results for coastal structures and beach nourishment depend mainly on DoC. Currently, there are two methods for obtaining the DoC, mathematical formulations and profile surveys. However, these methods can incur important errors if one does not take into account the characteristics and morphology of the area, or if one does not have a sufficiently long time series. In this work the DoC is obtained from the break in the trend of the sediment with the depth, that is, in general with the increase of the depth a decrease in the size of the sediment takes place. However, at one point this tendency changes and the size increases, and then decreases again. When comparing the point where the minimum sediment size occurs before the increase, it is observed that the error incurred is small compared to other methods. If the Standard Deviation of Depth Change (SDDC) method is considered as the most accurate method, the error incurred by the proposed method is less than 7%. In addition, it can be seen that the dispersion of the sediment method always occurs outside the zone of bar movement. Whereas in the methods of profiles survey (using 2 cm precision profiles), sometimes the DoC is obtained within the active zone of bar movement. In addition, where the relative minimum of the median sediment size is found, and the sizes of 0.063 and 0.125 mm predominate in the composition of the sample. Therefore, this new method allows the precise location of the DoC to be obtained in a fast and simple way. Furthermore, this method has the advantage that it is not affected by the modifications that may be experienced by both the study area and the cross-shore beach profile.     

Mössbauer and high field magnetization studies of the solid solution CoFexAl2-xO4

By means of paramagnetic Mössbauer spectra the cation distribution of the solid solution CoFe _x Al_2?x O₄ with 0≦x≦1.5 has been determined. The existence of high field magnetic susceptibility at low temperature for samples with x≧0.4 has been interpreted in terms of non-collinear ferrimagnetic arrangements. Below the Neel temperature the spinel CoAl₂O₄ has a complex antiferromagnetic behavior.     

Mantle derived crystal-poor rhyolitic ignimbrites: Eruptive mechanism from geochemical and geochronological data of the Piedra Parada caldera,Southern Argentina

Trace elements, isotopic modeling and U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon age constraints are used to reconstruct the eruption history and magmatic processes of the Piedra Parada Caldera. In the early Eocene, the crystal-poor Barda Colorada ignimbrite(BCI), having 15% micro-porphyritic crystals with respect to magmatic components, erupted a volume estimated in more than 300 km~3. The Piedra Parada caldera is located in the Patagonian Andes foreland, at the southern end of the calderas field of the Pilcaniyeu Volcanic Belt(PVB). This belt is related to an extensional tectonic setting as a result of the collision of the Farallon-Aluk ridge with South America, which enabled the development of a transform ocean/continental plate margin followed by the detachment of the Aluk plate and the opening of a slab window. The BCI extra-caldera Plateau is a 100 m thick deposit, having a lower unit with high silica(Si O_2 76 wt.%),potassium poor rhyolitic composition(trondhjemitic like magma), and an upper unit with normal to high potassium rhyolitic composition(granitic like magma). A trace elements modeling of the BCI units shows that the BCI lower and upper units did not evolve from fractionation or immiscibility in the shallow magma reservoir. The BCI also have a primitive isotopic signature(initial87 Sr/86 Sr =0.7031-0.7049 and ε_(Nd)= +3.4 to +3.65). Thus, tectonic, compositional and isotopic constraints suggest the fast ascent of high silica magmas to a shallow reservoir, and point to an upper mantle origin for these rhyolitic magmas in a transitional(Orogenic-Anorogenic) tectono-magmatic setting. U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of the Syn-caldera stage BCI units(56 -51.5 Ma) show a protracted life of 5 Ma for this caldera reservoir. The age of 52.9 ± 0.3 Ma is considered the best fit for the possible maximum age for the caldera collapse. The Late-caldera magmatism has trachyandesitic and rhyolitic compositions.The trace element modeling suggests that these rhyolites evolve from the trachyandesites and do not evolve from the BCI residual magma. The trachyandesites have U-Th-Pb SHRIMP zircon crystallization ages of 52 ± 1 Ma, suggesting that the caldera eruption was triggered by the arrival of the trachyandesitic magma.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1674987112001533

The collision of a divergent ocean ridge may evolve into two end cases:in the continuity of ocean-floor subduction.or in the detachment of the subducted plate.The northern Patagonia active plate margin has the unique situation that in Cenozoic time it has been subjected to two divergent ridge collisions,each one representing one of the end members.The Neogene Antarctica-Nazca divergent ridge collision evolved as a continuous ocean-floor subduction system,promoting a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,the obduction of part of the ridge ocean-floor in the fore-arc.and basaltic volcanism in the back-arc.In contrast,the Paleogene Farallon-Aluk divergent ridge collision evolved into a transform margin,with the detachment and sinking of the Aluk plate and the development of a large slab window.As in the previous case,this collision promoted a magmatic hiatus at the arc axis,but the tectono-magmatic scenario changed to postorogenic synextensional volcanism that spread to the former fore-arc（basalt,andesite,rhyolite） and former back-arc（bimodal ignimbrite flare-up,basalt）.Geochemistry of this slab window synextensional volcanism shows more MORB-like basalts towards the former fore-arc,and MORB-OIB-like basalts towards the former back-arc.Instead,an isolated undeformable crustal block in the former back-arc,with an "epeirogenic" response to the slab window and extensional regime,was covered by OIB-type basalts after uplift.Major elements show that slab window basalts reach TiCh values up to 3 wt%,as compared with the top value of 1.5 wt%of arc magmas.Besides,the MgO with respect to（FeO^t + Al₂O₃） ratio helps to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and also with respect to the "epeirogenic" block.Higher contents of HFS elements such as Nb and Ta also help to distinguish this slab window from arc magmas and also,to distinguish slab window magma changes from the former fore-arc to the former back-arc and "epeirogenic" block settings.The isotope compositions of slab window magmatism show a disparate coeval array from MORB to crustal sources,interpreted as a consequence of the lack of protracted storage and homogenization due to the extensional setting.     

Exposure to ionising radiations arising from the operation of nuclear installations and cancer mortality

World-wide controversy continues to surround the question of whether exposure to ionising radiations arising from nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel cycle facilities could increase the risk of cancer. The objective was to analyse cancer mortality in towns close to Spanish nuclear power plants and radioactive fuel cycle facilities by reference to their history of exposure to artificial radiation generated by such emissions. An ecological cancer mortality study was conducted to know the effect of artificial radiation, estimated taken into account the magnitude of emissions, in towns ≤30 km of any installation. A model of atmospheric and aquatic dispersion of radionuclides was used. As reference, towns within a 50–100 km radius were matched with exposed by socio-demographic characteristics. For analysis purposes, log-linear Poisson models were fitted. The cumulative effective dose was the measure of exposure. Mortality rates ratios were calculated for each tumour site. Natural radiation and socio-demographic matching variables were included in the models, with ‘installation’ as a random effects term. The estimated cumulative artificial radiation dose was below 350 μSv for all sites. For nuclear power plants overall, analysis showed no positive association with increases in the cumulative dose. In the joint analysis of radioactive fuel cycle facilities, however, mortality was observed to rise with increases in the estimated radiation dose in the case of lung, bone and colorectal cancer, and in breast cancer among women. These results would not appear to be due to exposure arising from the operation of the installations, since were not reproduced around installations of the same type.     

Artificial neural network modeling of cross-shore profile on sand beaches: The coast of the province of Valencia (Spain)

The paper describes the training, validation, testing, and application of models of artificial neural networks (ANN) for computing the cross-shore beach profile of the sand beaches of the province of Valencia (Spain). Sixty ANN models were generated by modifying both the input variables as the number of neurons in the hidden layer. The input variables consist of wave data and sedimentological data. To select and evaluate the performance of the optimal model, the following parameters were used: R², absolute error, mean absolute percentage error, and percentage relative error. Finally, the results are compared with the numerical model proposed by Aragonés et al. (2016b Aragonés, L., Y. Villacampa, F. J. Navarro-González, and I. López. 2016b. Numerical modelling of the equilibrium profile in Valencia (Spain). Ocean Engineering, 123:164–73. doi:10.1016/j.oceaneng.2016.07.036[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) for the equilibrium profile in the study area. The results show a mean absolute error of 0.21?m compared to 0.33?m Aragones’ model, significantly improving the results of the numerical model in the bar area around de Valencia Port. In addition, when comparing the results with other methods currently used (Dean’s or Vellinga formulation), the errors of these compared to ANN are of the order of 167 and 1538% higher, respectively.     

Low‐Flow Hydraulic Conductivity Tests at Wells that Cross the Water Table

Wells with screens and sand packs that cross the water table represent a challenging problem for determining hydraulic conductivity by slug testing due to sand pack drainage and resaturation. Sand pack drainage results in a multisegmented recovery curve. One must then subjectively pick a portion of the curve to analyze. Sand pack drainage also results in a change in the effective radius of the well which requires a guess at the porosity or specific yield in analyzing the test. In the study of Robbins et al. (2009) , a method was introduced to obtain hydraulic conductivity in monitoring wells using the steady‐state drawdown and flow rate obtained during low‐flow sampling. The method was tested in this study in wells whose screens cross the water table and shown to avoid sand pack drainage problems that complicate analyzing slug tests. In applying the method to low‐flow sampling, only a single pair of steady‐state flow rate and drawdown are needed; hence, to derive meaningful results, an accurate determination of these parameters is required.     

Modelling the cross-shore profiles of sand beaches using artificial neural networks

Abstract

Artificial neural networks (ANN) have been widely used successfully to solve coastal engineering problems. In this article, they are used to model the cross-shore profile of sandy beaches taking into account the possible effect of marine vegetation (Posidonia oceanica). Sixty ANNs were generated by modifying both the inputs and the number of neurons in the hidden layer. The best results were obtained with the following inputs: wave height perpendicular to the coast and the associated period and probability of occurrence, median sediment size, profile slope, and energy reduction factor due to P. oceanica. With these inputs and 10 neurons in the hidden layer, a mean absolute error of 0.22?m during training and 0.21?m during the test was obtained, which represents an improvement of 81.2% and 55.5% compared to models without and with P. oceanica.     

Microscopic analysis of pyrite in the sediments of two Brazilian mangrove ecosystems

This study has used scanning electron microscopy coupled with X-ray micro-analysis to compare the morphology of diagenetic pyrite formed in the sediments of two contrasting Brazilian mangroves. The Sepetiba Bay site is influenced by marine conditions, and pore waters show lower dissolved iron and higher dissolved total sulfide concentrations. The Paraíba do Sul River site, on the other hand, is influenced by fluvial waters, and shows higher dissolved iron and lower dissolved sulfide concentrations in pore waters. At both sites, pore waters were oversaturated for pyrite, and pyrite morphology was similar. The finding that pyrite morphology was similar despite marked differences in pore-water chemistry can be explained by the low solubility product of pyrite and the daily exposure of surficial sediments to air, conditioned by tidal cycles. This implies that oxygen input to the sedimentary environment is a key factor in the pyrite formation mechanism.