A sedimentary record of the rise and fall of the metal industry in Bergslagen,south central Sweden

Detailed stratigraphic analyses of sediments deposited in Lake Botjärnen, a small boreal forest lake in the shield terrain of central Sweden, clearly reflect progressively increasing human impact on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems following settlement and establishment of an iron industry in the 17th century. Rising frequencies of pollen and spores from light-demanding plants provide evidence of extensive forest clearance for charcoal and timber production, which peaked in the early 20th century. An associated increase in catchment erosion is reflected by changing carbon and nitrogen elemental content and carbon–isotope composition of sediment organic matter and by increased magnetic susceptibility of the sediments. Records of air-borne pollutants (lead, zinc and sulphur) can be correlated to the development of local and regional mining and metal industry as inferred from historical accounts. Rapid recession of the iron industry led to re-forestation and recovery of the aquatic nutrient status to pre-industrial conditions over the past 100 years. The chronology of the sediment succession, which is based on ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs radionuclide data in combination with radiocarbon dating, is confirmed by historical lead pollution trends established for the region.     

Testing the reliability of pollen-based diversity estimates

Rarefaction analysis is a common tool for estimating pollen richness. Using modern and fossil pollen data from the Canadian Arctic and Greenland, we examine the effects of pollen concentration (grains/cc) and evenness (the distribution of species abundances) on palynological richness. Our results show that pollen richness and concentration have a strong negative correlation at low pollen concentrations. There is a positive correlation between pollen evenness and richness, although the strength of this relationship is difficult to determine. Rarefaction analysis on samples of low concentration or high evenness is likely to lead to pollen richness being less underestimated than on samples of high concentration or low evenness. These findings corroborate theoretical research on these issues.     

Condensation Induced by Rarefaction Waves and Reflected Rarefaction Waves

ＣｏｎｄｅｎｓａｔｉｏｎＩｎｄｕｃｅｄｂｙＲａｒｅｆａｃｔｉｏｎＷａｖｅｓａｎｄＲｅｆｌｅｃｔｅｄＲａｒｅｆａｃｔｉｏｎＷａｖｅｓ￥ＦｕＹｕｎｆｅｉ（傅云飞）ＨａｎＺｈａｏｙｕａｎ（韩肇元）ａｎｄＧｏｎｇＭｉｎｗｅｉ（龚闽卫）（Ｄｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏ...     

The mechanics of spall fracture in rock and concrete

Spalling is a wave-induced dynamic fracture phenomenon. The waves can be either one: elastic, elasto-plastic, or shock waves. From a continuum mechanics point of view, fracture mechanics and wave propagation form the main ingredients in the formation of spalls. Recently, however, micro-structural effects have become important in the initial stages of spall formation in a variety of engineering materials ranging from metals to rock and concrete. From a structural geology point of view, the rock mass cannot be modelled as a continuum. In this case, a discontinuum approach has to be taken where the individual features of the rock mass such as joints and faults need to be taken into account. From an application point of view, spallation is important where rapid loading by explosives, impact, or energy deposition, occurs. The range of applications stretches from blasting in mining engineering to damage prevention to structures under explosive excitation.

This contribution offers a multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary approach to the study of spalling with special attention to analytical and experimental work. The reader is assumed to be somewhat familiar with the basics of continuum mechanics, fracture mechanics, and propagation of elastic, plastic and shock waves. The application to rock and concrete will show the effects of structural geological discontinuities such as open and closed joints - and to some degree also faulting - in rock, as well as the micro-structure of concrete on the (shock) wave field.

Extensive use will be made of time-space diagrams which proved very useful in practical applications to blasting problems [Rossmanith, H.P., 2002, The use of Lagrange diagrams in precise initiation blasting. Part I: two interacting blastholes, Fragblast 6, 104-136].     

Is the analysis of plant community structure better than common species-diversity indices for assessing the effects of livestock grazing on a Mediterranean arid ecosystem?

Grazing in arid Mediterranean ecosystems brings about changes in species diversity, but the best way to measure such changes is unclear. In this study we compared various methods in order to identify indicators that might be useful for the management and conservation of grazed arid Mediterranean ecosystems.Changes in community structure and composition were compared along a previously studied grazing gradient in Cabo de Gata-Nijar Natural Park. Plant diversity was measured by calculating diversity (Shannon information index), evenness (Pielou index) and richness (species number). Rarefaction curves were used to measure plant species richness and the results were compared with traditional richness values. Community structure was measured as the percentage of bare ground and the coverage of overall perennial grasses, Stipa tenacissima L., perennial shrubs and annual plants. Our results showed that the proportion of bare ground, the cover of perennial shrubs and the relative abundance of S. tenacissima are good indicators of grazing effects on vegetation. Overall plant community structure was more sensitive to the grazing gradient than were the diversity indices. Finally, the adequacy of standardized methods for comparing species richness (i.e. rarefaction curves) along a grazing gradient are discussed.