Formation of a string and pool topography as expressed by morphology, stratigraphy and current processes on a mire in Kuusamo, Finland

A review is made of earlier work and theories on a formation of string mires, together with a report on detailed investigations carried out over seven years on a small string ( aapa ) mire in eastern Finland, to determine the applicability of earlier hypotheses on the explanation of string and pool patterning. Attention is paid to the topography of the surface and bottom of the mire and to the peat and pollen stratigraphy. Results are presented of year-round temperature measurements and long sequences of snow and frost depth readings from both pools and strings. Snow depth is shown to be a decisive factor in ground frost formation. The strings are shown by a series of repeated Geodimeter measurements to move partly upslope, partly downslope and partly in a sideways direction. The maximum cumulative movement recorded was about 1 m in seven years. Some of the pools remained unfrozen even in midwinter because of groundwater flow. Uneven retention and discharge of the surface water causes the strings to be in a labile state and promotes their movement. The initial formation of the string and pool topography is dated to 2,000–3,000 radiocarbon years B.P. and attributed to a rise in the groundwater table due to climatic change. The resulting fluviodynamics of the mire surface led to the accumulation of loose material into ramparts at the spring flood season and led in time to differential peat formation conditions, progressive peat accumulation on the strings, and regressive peat degradation in the pools. Thus the strings became higher and the pools deeper. The authors believe the importance of frost action, ice expansion and solifluction on the development of string and pool patterns is frequently overestimated.     

URBAN SPACES OF AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE EXILES

Released in 1961, The Exiles is a low‐budget docudrama that chronicles the lives of three American Indians over a period of twelve hours in a downtown Los Angeles neighborhood in the late 1950s. Contemporary neorealist filmmaking appears to have influenced the film, whereas itsg narrative is ethnographic in form. An examination of the film and its dialogue reveals the ways in which American Indians who recently migrated from their reservation to the city have socially constructed the urban spaces within the framework of the physical setting provided to them. The nature of the engagements of the male and female protagonists with the sites and with other American Indians in this small urban sphere provides substantive clues to the nature and level of their respective transitions into the realm of the white‐dominated society of Los Angeles and beyond.     

A TIME-STEPPING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF CONTAMINANT TRANSPORT IN FRACTURED POROUS MEDIA

This paper describes the development of a finite element method for analysing contaminant transport in double-porosity geomaterials using a time-stepping approach. In many cases, double-porosity models may be used to represent fractured rock formations and fissured soils. A distinctive feature of utilizing this kind of model is that it is not necessary to have an intimate knowledge of the nature, distribution and properties of individual fractures and fracture arrangement since the fracture geometry and details are considered only in an averaged or equivalent continuum sense. The flux exchange that occurs between the fluid in the fractures and in the solid matrix is represented by a linear heriditary process. This has the consequence that in order to carry the solution forward from time t to t+Δt, it is necessary to know and to store the complete contaminant history up to time t. This paper shows that all the hereditary information necessary to carry the solution forward is contained in the values of certain hereditary variables at time t so that it is not necessary to store the complete time history and consequently a more efficient numerical process can be developed.     

The BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies (BIMA SONG)

BIMA SONG is a systematic imaging study of the 3 mm CO J = 1 → 0molecular emission within the centres and discs of 44 nearby spiral galaxies on size scales of a few hundred parsecs (6-9"). The overall goal of the survey is to study the role of molecular gas in the evolution of spiral galaxies. To this end, BIMA SONG addresses 1) the distribution and physical conditions of the molecular gas in galactic discs and its relation to star formation, 2) the effects of a stellar bar on the kinematics of molecular gas, including the possible inflow of gas along a bar, and 3) the distribution and role of molecular gas in the central few hundred parsecs of active and quiescent galaxies. The source list includes all (except M33and M31) 44 galaxies of Hubble types Sa–Sd, with declinations δ >−20^°, visual magnitudes B < 11.0, velocities v _hel <2000 km s^-1, and inclinations i < 70^°. Beyond the specific scientific questions we will address, this survey will provide a unique database for astronomers who study galaxies at all wavelengths. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Gas Flows and Star Formation in the Ringed Galaxy NGC 4736

We present high-resolution (∼5″) BIMA CO observations of the ringed galaxy NGC 4736, along with previously published VLA HI data (Braun, 1995). Strong CO emission is detected from the star-forming ring at r=45″ and in the central region, where a molecular bar is apparent. The azimuthally averaged gas surface density is still much less than the Toomre critical density within r=60″, despite the starburst conditions in the ring (gas depletion time ≲1Gyr). Both CO and HI velocity fields show strong departures from a circular rotating disc model. The velocity residuals are consistent with inflowing gas near the ends of the central bar, outflowing gas between the bar and the ring, and inflowing gas outside the ring. We propose that the high star formation efficiency in the ring results from gas being driven out towards the OLR of the bar and in towards the ILR of the larger oval distortion. However, the strong signature of inflow outside the ring is probably due in part to gas motion in elliptical orbits. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Molecular Cloud Formation in Disk Galaxies: The Case of M33

We present results from the BIMA survey of ¹²CO(1→0)emission from M33. The survey resolves this emission into individualobjects making this study the first unbiased, complete census of giantmolecular clouds (GMCs) in a spiral galaxy. The GMCs are clearlyassociated with dense atomic gas, suggesting formation from the HI. Moreover, high resolution observations of these clouds show thatthey appear the same as Milky Way GMCs when viewed through the sameobservational filters. The GMCs show significantly less angularmomentum than predicted by simple formation theories, suggesting theimportance of magnetohydrodynamic effects in their formation.     

Twenty-one years of string movements on the Liippasuo aapa mire, Finland

The movements of four 80-100 m long strings crossing a 750 m long aapa mire were measured, and two pools were drained and local snow depth and ground frost conditions were observed in order to test the role of water pressure and ground frost in string motions. Located close to the Arctic Circle, Liippasuo is characterized by a maximal snow depth of about 1 m, a mean annual temperature of -1°C and a maximal variation in temperature of over 75°C. The strings moved at the rate of 50-150 cm in the course of 21 years. The most active parts were those located in the area of steepest gradient. Periods with normal annual shifts in the range 2-5 cm were interrupted from time to time by moves of abnormally high magnitude. This resulted in swelling of the nearby pools and increased curving of the strings, giving rise to a small-scale zigzag course in the strings. The principal factors responsible for the motion were ice/frozen peat push, solifluction and water pressure. Movements occurred not only during the thawing period but also in summer-time. They were as common in the direction of the contours as when following the slope. The unexpected uphill direction of movements is explained by winter-time freezing and expansion of the whole mire, in the same way as the ice cover on a lake will expand as a result of temperature changes.     

Comparing the CO and HI Distributions in Nearby Spiral Galaxies at High Resolution

With wide-field CO maps of spiral galaxies at ～6′′resolution provided by the BIMA Survey of Nearby Galaxies (BIMA SONG),it is now feasible to compare the CO and HI distributions in disks onscales of ～1 kpc or less. The results of such a comparisonsuggest that, when azimuthally averaged, the ratio of CO to HIemission, and by implication the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio, isdetermined by the midplane interstellar pressure, with the ISMmetallicity as a secondary factor. A variety of observed phenomena,including the inhibition of molecular cloud and star formation in theouter disks of galaxies, can be understood in terms of thisdependence. We present recent data on the edge-on galaxy NGC 891 thatallow a comparison of the vertical distribution of CO and HI, and willtherefore provide an independent test of these ideas.     

Displacement characteristics and prediction of Baishuihe landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir

In order to reach the designated final water level of 175 m, there were three impoundment stages in the Three Gorges Reservoir, with water levels of 135 m, 156 m and 175 m. Baishuihe landslide in the Reservoir was chosen to analyze its displacement characteristics and displacement variability at the different stages. Based on monitoring data, the landslide displacement was mainly influenced by rainfall and drawdown of the reservoir water level. However, the magnitude of the rise and drawdown of the water level after the reservoir water level reached 175 m did not accelerate landslide displacement. The prediction of landslide displacement for active landslides is very important for landslide risk management. The time series of cumulative displacement was divided into a trend term and a periodic term using the Hodrick-Prescott(HP) filter method. The polynomial model was used to predict the trend term. The extreme learning machine(ELM) and least squares support vector machine(LS-SVM) were chosen to predict theperiodic term. In the prediction model for the periodic term, input variables based on the effects of rainfall and reservoir water level in landslide displacement were selected using grey relational analysis. Based on the results, the prediction precision of ELM is better than that of LS-SVM for predicting landslide displacement. The method for predicting landslide displacement could be applied by relevant authorities in making landslide emergency plans in the future.