Elucidation of different forms of organic carbon in marine sediments from the Atlantic coast of Spain using thermal analysis coupled to isotope ratio and quadrupole mass spectrometry

Analysis of river, estuary and marine sediments from the Atlantic coast of Spain using thermogravimetry–differential scanning calorimetry–quadrupole mass spectrometry–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (TG–DSC–QMS–IRMS) was used to (a) distinguish bulk chemical hosts for C within a sediment and humic acid fraction, (b) track C pools with differing natural C isotope ratios and (c) observe variation with distance from the coast. This is the first application of such a novel method to the characterisation of organic matter from marine sediments and their corresponding humic acid fractions. Using thermal analysis, a labile, a recalcitrant and a refractory carbon pool can be distinguished. Extracted humic fractions are mainly of recalcitrant nature. The proportion of refractory carbon is greatest in marine sediments and humic acid fractions. Quadrupole mass spectrometry confirmed that the greatest proportion of m/z 44 (CO₂) and m/z 18 (H₂O) were detected at temperatures associated with recalcitrant carbon (510–540 °C). Isotope analysis detected progressive enrichment in δ¹³C for the sediment samples with an increase in marine influence. Isotopic heterogeneity in the refractory organic matter in marine sediments could be due to products of anthropogenic origin or natural combustion products. Isotope homogeneity of humic acids confirms the presence of terrigenous C in marine sediments, allowing the terrestrial input to be characterised.     

Sliding fragility of block‐type non‐structural components. Part 1: Unrestrained components

Motivated by the development of performance‐based design guidelines with emphasis on both structural and non‐structural systems, this paper focuses on seismic vulnerability assessment of block‐type unrestrained non‐structural components under sliding response on the basis of seismic inputs specified by current seismic codes. Two sliding‐related failure modes are considered: excessive relative displacement and excessive absolute acceleration. It is shown that an upper bound for the absolute acceleration response can be assessed deterministically, for which a simple yet completely general equation is proposed. In contrast, fragility curves are proposed as an appropriate tool to evaluate the excessive relative displacement failure mode. Sample fragility curves developed through Monte‐Carlo simulations show that fragility estimates obtained without taking into account vertical base accelerations can be significantly unconservative, especially for relatively large values of the coefficient of friction. It is also found that reasonable estimates of relative displacement response at stories other than the ground in multistorey buildings cannot in general be obtained by simply scaling the ground acceleration to the peak acceleration at the corresponding storey. Failure modes considered in this study are found to be essentially independent of each other, a property that greatly simplifies assessment of conditional limit states. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Why chromatic imaging matters

During the last two decades, the first generation of beam combiners at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer has proved the importance of optical interferometry for high-angular resolution astrophysical studies in the near- and mid-infrared. With the advent of 4-beam combiners at the VLTI, the u ? v coverage per pointing increases significantly, providing an opportunity to use reconstructed images as powerful scientific tools. Therefore, interferometric imaging is already a key feature of the new generation of VLTI instruments, as well as for other interferometric facilities like CHARA and JWST. It is thus imperative to account for the current image reconstruction capabilities and their expected evolutions in the coming years. Here, we present a general overview of the current situation of optical interferometric image reconstruction with a focus on new wavelength-dependent information, highlighting its main advantages and limitations. As an Appendix we include several cookbooks describing the usage and installation of several state-of-the art image reconstruction packages. To illustrate the current capabilities of the software available to the community, we recovered chromatic images, from simulated MATISSE data, using the MCMC software SQUEEZE. With these images, we aim at showing the importance of selecting good regularization functions and their impact on the reconstruction.     

Absorption and desorption of dichloromethane vapor by water drops in air. An experimental test of scavenging theory

An experimental study of the scavenging of dichloromethane vapor by water drops falling at terminal velocity, has been carried out in the UCLA precipitation shaft, in order to test the predictions of theoretical washout models. Whereas good agreement between theory and experiment was found for drops of radius 0.332 mm, computed gas uptake rates for 1.253 and 2.21 mm radius drops were much slower than those measured, just as reported previously for the washout of both sulfur dioxide and acetaldehyde. An analysis shows that theory can be reconciled with all of the experimental data by replacing the compound specific aqueous phase Fickian molecular diffusion coefficient used in the theory, by an effective diffusivity, having a constant value, (3×10^-4 cm² s^-1), independent of the physical and chemical nature of the absorbed species, for all drops of equivalent radii greater than 0.9 mm.     

Geochemistry of Los Humeros Caldera,Puebla, Mexico

Geochemistry of Pliocene to recent volcanic rocks from Los Humeros caldera (19°30′ N – 19°50′ N and 97°15° W – 97°35′ W) in East-Central mexico is described. The volcanic rocks from this area seem to represent both alkali and high-alumina basalt series, or both calcalkaline and high-K calc-alkaline sequences. The available bulk-chemical analyses (23 this study and 18 from unpublished literature) show that the entire sequence of rocks from basalts to rhyolites are present in this area. Different degrees of partial melting of the source region followed by extensive shallow-level crystal differentiation seem to have taken place before most volcanic eruptions. These processes are perhaps the most important mechanisms for magma genesis in Los Humeros caldera. Geophysical studies in this area are not sufficient and more detailed geophysical surveys and a better geological interpretation are needed in order to delimit the underlying magma chamber.     

COOLING RATES, SKY VIEW FACTORS AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF INTRA-URBAN AIR TEMPERATURE DIFFERENCES

Intra‐urban cooling rates were monitored for a year in the centre of Göteborg on the Swedish west coast. Five sites with different building geometry ‐ from dense canyon to open space ‐ within a radius of 300 m were analysed. Results showed two modes of cooling during the night. In the first mode, the cooling was site‐dependent ‐the open space cooled the most and the dense canyon the least. In the second mode, which began about 3–4 hours after sunset, all sites cooled at the same rate. Our hypothesis is that in the early part of the evening both radiative divergence and sensible heat dominate the cooling. However, as the evening progresses, a spatially homogeneous inversion is established which controls the radiative cooling, making the cooling independent of both surface geometry and surface type. From April to November the sites cooled rapidly around sunset and the cooling slowly decreased during the rest of the night. However, between December and March, the cooling was less intense, with an almost constant rate during the entire night. It has been suggested that this might be the result of the draining of stored solar heat during the summer and a continuous flux of anthropogenic heating during the winter.     

Water status in winter wheat grown under salt stress

1 IntroductionSalinization is one of the major problems in arid and semi-arid regions in relation to land use and in particular to agricultural production[1]. Excessive salinity leads to toxicity in crops and reduction of the availability of water to crops, by reducing the osmotic potential of the soil solution[2]. Movement of soil water induces solute transport, and solutes are transferred towards the ground surface by the upward soil-water movement caused by evaporation, resulting in an accu…     

High-resolution stratigraphy of the northernmost concentric raised bog in Europe: Sellevollmyra, Andøya, northern Norway

From the Sellevollmyra bog at Andøya, northern Norway, a 440‐cm long peat core covering the last c. 7000 calendar years was examined for humification, loss‐on‐ignition, microfossils, macrofossils and tephra. The age model was based on a Bayesian wiggle‐match of 35 ¹⁴C dates and two historically anchored tephra layers. Based on changes in lithology and biostratigraphical climate proxies, several climatic changes were identified (periods of the most fundamental changes in italics): 6410–6380, 6230–6050, 5730–5640, 5470–5430, 5340–5310, 5270–5100, 4790–4710, 4890–4820, 4380–4320, 4220–4120, 4000–3810, 3610–3580, 3370–3340 (regionally 2850–2750; in Sellevollmyra a hiatus between 2960–2520), 2330–2220, 1950, 1530–1450, 1150–840, 730? and c. 600? cal. yr BP. Most of these climate changes are known from other investigations of different palaeoclimate proxies in northern and middle Europe. Some volcanic eruptions seemingly coincide with vegetation changes recorded in the peat, e.g. about 5760 cal. yr BP; however, the known climatic deterioration at the time of the Hekla‐4 tephra layer started some decades before the eruption event.     

Age, origin and significance of a new middle MIS 3 tephra horizon identified within a long-core sequence from Les Echets, France

A new tephra has been identified within a long core (EC 3) sequence recovered from Les Echets, near Lyon, France. This visible tephra was discovered as part of a high resolution multiproxy re-investigation of the Les Echets sequence. Independent chronological information suggests that the tephra is c . 2 000–45 000 years old, and geochemical analysis indicates that it is of basanitic composition. The latter suggests a possible origin in the Eifel; however, as yet, no other volcanic events or deposits can be correlated to the Les Echets tephra. New sedimentological and chronological data are presented indicating that the tephra falls within an interval that most likely correlates with Dansgaard–Oeschger events 12-9. Thus, this tephra could potentially be an important middle MIS 3 marker horizon in central Europe if it can be traced in other palaeorecords.