Palaeoenvironmental significance of Late Permian palaeosols in the South‐Eastern Iberian Ranges,Spain

The Late Permian (Wuchiapingian) Alcotas Formation in the SE Iberian Ranges consists of one red alluvial succession where abundant soil profiles developed. Detailed petrographical and sedimentological studies in seven sections of the Alcotas Formation allow six different types of palaeosols, with distinctive characteristics and different palaeogeographical distribution, to be distinguished throughout the South‐eastern Iberian Basin. These characteristics are, in turn, related to topographic, climatic and tectonic controls. The vertical distribution of the palaeosols is used to differentiate the formation in three parts from bottom to top showing both drastic and gradual vertical upwards palaeoenvironmental changes in the sections. Reconstruction of palaeoenvironmental conditions based on palaeosols provides evidence for understanding the events that occurred during the Late Permian, some few millions of years before the well‐known Permian‐Triassic global crisis.     

A review of paired catchment studies for determining changes in water yield resulting from alterations in vegetation

Paired catchment studies have been widely used as a means of determining the magnitude of water yield changes resulting from changes in vegetation. This review focuses on the use of paired catchment studies for determining the changes in water yield at various time scales resulting from permanent changes in vegetation. The review considers long term annual changes, adjustment time scales, the seasonal pattern of flows and changes in both annual and seasonal flow duration curves. The paired catchment studies reported in the literature have been divided into four broad categories: afforestation experiments, deforestation experiments, regrowth experiments and forest conversion experiments. Comparisons between paired catchment results and a mean annual water balance model are presented and show good agreement between the two methodologies. The results highlight the potential underestimation of water yield changes if regrowth experiments are used to predict the likely impact of permanent alterations to a catchment's vegetation. An analysis of annual water yield changes from afforestation, deforestation and regrowth experiments demonstrates that the time taken to reach a new equilibrium under permanent land use change varies considerably. Deforestation experiments reach a new equilibrium more quickly than afforestation experiments. The review of papers reporting seasonal changes in water yield highlights the proportionally larger impact on low flows. Flow duration curve comparison provides a potential means of gaining a greater understanding of the impact of vegetation on the distribution of daily flows.     

Spatter-rich pyroclastic flow deposits on Santorini,Greece

Pyroclastic deposits exposed in the caldera walls of Santorini Volcano (Greece), contain several prominent horizons of coarse-grained andesitic spatter and cauliform volcanic bombs. These deposits can be traced around most of the caldera wall. They thicken in depressions and are intimately associated with ignimbrite and co-ignimbrite lithic lag breccias. They are interpreted as a proximal facies of pyroclastic flow deposits. Evidence for a flow origin includes the presence of a fine-grained pumiceous matrix, flow deformation of ductile spatter clasts, exceedingly coarse grain sizes several kilometres from any plausible vent, imbrication of flattened spatter clasts, intimate interbedding with normal pyroclastic flow deposits and the presence of inversely graded basal layers. The deposits contain hydrothermally altered, rounded lithic ejecta including gabbro nodules. The andesitic ejecta and the fine matrix are typically moderately to poorly vesicular indicating that magmatic gas had a subordinate role in the eruptive process. The andesitic clasts contain abundant angular lithic inclusions and some clasts are themselves formed of pre-existing agglutinate. We propose that these eruptions occurred when external water gained access to the vents, causing large-scale explosions which formed pyroclastic flows rich in coarse, semifluid but poorly vesicular ejecta. We postulate that large volumes of coarse pyroclastic ejecta and degassed lava accumulated in a deep crater prior to being disrupted by these large explosions to form pyroclastic flows.     

A review of the assessments of the major fisheries resources in South Africa

The waters off South Africa's coastline boast a rich mix of commercially fished species. Quantitative assessments of these marine resources have developed from simple methods first applied in the 1970s, to models that encompass a wide range of methodologies. The more valuable resources have undergone regular assessments in recent decades, with frequencies closely related to the management approach employed for each fishery. Many of these assessments form the operating models used to simulation-test candidate management procedures. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the assessments of 11 of the most important fisheries resources in South Africa. Some assessments use simple biomass dynamics models, whereas others are a hybrid of age- and length-based models, each designed to model the specific characteristics of the resource and fishery concerned. Many of the assessments have been disaggregated by species/stock and/or area as related multispecies/stock/ distribution hypotheses have arisen. This paper explores the similarities and differences in the data available and the methods applied. The review indicates that, whereas the status of three of these resources cannot be estimated reliably at present, the status of six resources is considered to be reasonable to good, whereas that of abalone Haliotis midae and West Coast rock lobster Jasus lalandii remains poor.     

Conservation status of New Zealand marine invertebrates, 2009

A re-evaluation of the threat status of New Zealand's marine invertebrates was undertaken in 2009, following earlier review of New Zealand's Threat Classification System and subsequent refinement of the national criteria for classifying threat of extinction to New Zealand's flora and fauna. Sufficient information was available to enable 295 marine invertebrate taxa to be fully evaluated and assigned to a national threat category. The 10 taxa at most risk of extinction (‘nationally critical’) were the giant seep clam Calyptogena sp., the primitive acorn barnacle Chionelasmus crosnieri, O'Shea's vent barnacle Volcanolepas osheai, the stalked barnacle Ibla idiotica, the four-blotched umbrella octopus Cirroctopus hochbergi, the roughy umbrella octopus Opisthoteuthis chathamensis, the giant squid Idioteuthis cordiformis, the large-egged polychaete Boccardiella magniovata and two gravel maggots, Smeagol climoi and Smeagol manneringi. The key threatening processes identified for marine invertebrates were fishing and land-use associated impacts such as sedimentation. We identified no taxa that had improved in threat status as a result of past or ongoing conservation management action, nor any taxa that had worsened in threat status because of known changes in their distribution, abundance or rate of population decline. We evaluated a small fraction of New Zealand's marine invertebrate fauna for their threat status. Many taxa remain ‘data deficient’ or unlisted. In addition to the most threatened taxa, we recommend these taxa and their habitats as priorities for further survey and monitoring.     

粉煤灰——漂珠复合低密度水泥浆固井试验与应用

针对吴起地区固井中一些低压地层由于破裂压力低,不能承受常规水泥浆液柱压力,出现固井水泥浆漏失、水泥返高达不到设计要求的问题,开展了低密度水泥浆体系研究。通过室内试验,对减轻材料粉煤灰、漂珠及二者复合体系进行了较系统的研究,确定了适合的配方。研究选用增稳剂ZW 加入低密度体系,提高了低密度水泥的强度。实验结果及现场实践表明: 用减轻材料配制低密度水泥浆及降低水泥浆液柱压力,是确保低压易漏地层固井水泥浆返高的有效途径,对提高固井质量和延长油井寿命都将起到积极作用。     

Transpiration of plantation pinus radiata estimated by the heat pulse method and the bowen ratio

The heat pulse method was used to estimate stand transpiration from a radiata pine (Pinus radiata) plantation in southeastern Australia over a period of four days. The diurnal pattern of sapflow was related to net radiation with a time lag of about 1.5 hours. Despite high soil moisture levels, sapflow did not keep up with evaporative demand in the afternoon. Sapflow estimates of transpiration exceeded estimates for evaporation based on Bowen ratio measurements for all four days of the study.     

Runoff and sediment generation on bench‐terraced hillsides: measurements and up‐scaling of a field‐based model

Despite widespread bench‐terracing, stream sediment yields from agricultural hillsides in upland West Java remain high. We studied the causes of this lack of effect by combining measurements at different spatial scales using an erosion process model. Event runoff and sediment yield from two 4‐ha terraced hillside subcatchments were measured and field surveys of land use, bench‐terrace geometry and storage of sediment in the drainage network were conducted for two consecutive years. Runoff was 3·0–3·9% of rainfall and sediment yield was 11–30 t ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹ for different years, subcatchments and calculation techniques. Sediment storage changes in the subcatchment drainage network were less than 2 t ha⁻¹, whereas an additional 0·3–1·5 t ha⁻¹ was stored in the gully between the subcatchment flumes and the main stream. This suggests mean annual sediment delivery ratios of 86–125%, or 80–104% if this additional storage is included. The Terrace Erosion and Sediment Transport (TEST) model developed and validated for the studied environment was parameterized using erosion plot studies, land use surveys and digital terrain analysis to simulate runoff and sediment generation on the terraced hillsides. This resulted in over‐estimates of runoff and under‐estimates of runoff sediment concentration. Relatively poor model performance was attributed to sample bias in the six erosion plots used for model calibration and unaccounted covariance between important terrain attributes such as slope, infiltration capacity, soil conservation works and vegetation cover. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Siphonostomatoid copepods infecting Squalus acutipinnis Regan, 1908 off South Africa

Squalus acutipinnis (previously included in S. megalops) individuals caught off the east, south and west coasts of South Africa were examined for siphonostomatoid copepod infection. Collected siphonostomatoids were fixed and preserved in 70% ethanol and studied under microscopes using both transmitted and incidental light. The copepods were identified and the host-parasite associations estimated by calculating their prevalence, mean intensity and mean abundance. The siphonostomatoids represented four families and six species, and included new host records for Nemesis sp., Lernaeopoda sp. and Eudactylina acanthii, and a new geographical record for E. acanthii. Squalus acutipinnis individuals were infected by relatively low loads of siphonostomatoids. The most commonly found species was Achtheinus pinguis, the only species found off all three coasts. There was no difference in the prevalence of A. pinguis in sharks sampled off the three coasts but the highest mean intensity was found on the East Coast followed by the West Coast. The overall prevalence of A. pinguis was 33.6%, and was an order of magnitude higher than that of the other siphonostomatoids recorded. At such low levels of infection it will thus be necessary to examine a large number of hosts to determine the biodiversity of siphonostomatoids and geographical differences in prevalence in South African waters.     

Stormflow generation and flowpath characteristics in an Amazonian rainforest catchment

The Amazon basin covers an area of roughly 7 × 10⁶ km² and encompasses diverse soil – landscape types with potentially differing hydrological behaviour. This study was conducted in the Ultisol landscape of the western Amazon basin in Peru. Processes of stormflow generation were investigated on an event basis in a first‐order rainforest catchment to establish a causal link between soil physical and precipitation characteristics, hillslope flowpaths and stormflow hydrograph attributes. A sharp decrease in soil hydraulic conductivity with depth and high rainfall intensity and frequency favour rapid near‐surface flowpaths, mainly in the form of saturation‐excess overland flow and return flow. The latter results in an almost random occurrence of overland flow, with no obvious topographic control. Hillslope flowpaths do not vary much with respect to the hydrograph attributes time of rise, response time, lag time and centroid lag time. They have the same response time as streamflow, but a somewhat lower time of rise and significantly shorter lag times. The recession constant for hillslope hydrographs is about 10 min, in contrast to the streamflow recession constants of 28, 75 and 149 min. Stormflow generation in this Ultisol rainforest catchment differs strongly from that reported for Oxisol rainforest catchments. These two soilscapes may define a spectrum of possible catchment hydrological behaviour in the Amazon basin. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.