Do agricultural terraces and forest fires recurrence in Mediterranean afforested micro-catchments alter soil quality and soil nutrient content?

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E Lucas-Borja, Manuel; Calsamiglia, Aleix; Fortesa, Josep; García-Comendador, Julián; Gago, Jorge; Estrany, Joan

2017-04-01

Bioclimatic characteristics and intense human pressure promote Mediterranean ecosystems to be fire-prone. Afforestation processes resulting from the progressive land abandonment during the last decades led to greater biomass availability increasing the risk of large forest fires. Likewise, the abandonment and lack of maintenance in the terraced lands constitute a risk of land degradation in terms of soil quantity and quality. Despite the effects of fire and the abandonment of terraced lands on soil loss and physico-chemical properties are identified, it is not clearly understood how wildfires and abandonment of terraces affect soil quality and nutrients content. Microbiological soil parameters and soil enzymes activities are biomarkers of the soil microbial communitýs functional ability, which potentially enables them as indicators of change, disturbance or stress within the soil community. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of terracing (abandoned and non-abandoned) on the soil enzyme activities, microbiological soil parameters and soil nutrients dynamics in three Mediterranean afforested micro-catchments (i.e., fire recurrence in the last 20 years; i.e., unburned areas, burned once and burned twice. The combination of the presence of terraces and the recurrence of forest fire, thirty-six plots of 25 m2 were sampled along the these three micro-catchments collecting four replicas at the corners of each plot. The results elucidated how non-terraced and unburned plots presented the highest values of soil respiration rate and extracellular soil enzymes. Differences between experimental plots with different forest fire recurrence or comparing terraced and unburned plots with burned plots were weaker in relation to biochemical and microbiological parameters. Soil nutrient content showed an opposite trend with higher values in terraced plots, although differences were weaker. We conclude that terraced landscapes present poorer soil quality

Nature and regulation: Management of vineyards and orchards on terraces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreja Škvarč

2006-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with vineyards and terrace building as the best method of managing agricultural land on the steep slopes of the Primorska region. Data was gathered about the share of terraced vineyards and shares of vineyards according to inclination classes. We explained what the term renewal of permanent plantation implies and especially vineyards, as well as its scope. Reasons for terracing are elaborated, as well as difficulties that are coupled with such land management. We also point out the consequences of abandonment of vineyards on terraces.

Dating of river terraces along Lefthand Creek, western High Plains, Colorado, reveals punctuated incision

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Foster, Melissa A.; Anderson, Robert S.; Gray, Harrison J.; Mahan, Shannon A.

2017-10-01

The response of erosional landscapes to Quaternary climate oscillations is recorded in fluvial terraces whose quantitative interpretation requires numerical ages. We investigate gravel-capped strath terraces along the western edge of Colorado's High Plains to constrain the incision history of this shale-dominated landscape. We use 10Be and 26Al cosmogenic radionuclides (CRNs), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and thermally transferred OSL (TT-OSL) to date three strath terraces, all beveled in shale bedrock and then deposited upon by Lefthand Creek, which drains the crystalline core of the Front Range. Our study reveals: (i) a long history (hundreds of thousands of years) of fluvial occupation of the second highest terrace, T2 (Table Mountain), with fluvial abandonment at 92 ± 3 ka; (ii) a brief occupation of a narrow and spatially confined terrace, T3, at 98 ± 7 ka; and (iii) a 10-25 thousand year period of cutting and fluvial occupation of a lower terrace, T4, marked by the deposition of a lower alluvial unit between 59 and 68 ka, followed by deposition of an upper alluvial package at 40 ± 3 ka. In conjunction with other recent CRN studies of strath terraces along the Colorado Front Range (Riihimaki et al., 2006; Dühnforth et al., 2012), our data reveal that long periods of lateral planation and fluvial occupation of strath terraces, sometimes lasting several glacial-interglacial cycles, are punctuated by brief episodes of rapid vertical bedrock incision. These data call into question what a singular terrace age represents, as the strath may be cut at one time (its cutting-age) and the terrace surface may be abandoned at a much later time (its abandonment age), and challenge models of strath terraces that appeal to simple pacing by the glacial-interglacial cycles.

Time scale for degradation and erosion of archaeological terraces in the Judea Mountains, Israel

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Porat, Naomi; Elinson, Rotem; Ben Dor, Eyal; Avni, Yoav; Gadot, Yuval

2017-04-01

The fate of mountain bench terraces which have been abandoned in ancient times is puzzling. On the one hand recently abandoned terraces undergo rapid degradation by walls crumbling, leading to soil being washed by rain water out of breaches in the walls, suggesting that within a short time all soil would be washed down-slope. On the other hand slopes with degraded terraces appear to still retain much soil even though only faint remains of the terraces exist. Moreover, if soil is rapidly eroded down-slope when terraces are no longer maintained, where do subsequent terrace builders find the soil to fill behind the stone walls? These questions were addressed as part of a larger study on the chronology of terraces in the Judea Mountains, Israel. Previous OSL dating of terrace soils in the region showed that the majority of the maintained terraces were constructed during the past 700 years, and only occasionally older ages were obtained for the soil at the very base of these terraces. Concerns were raised that soil erosion caused earlier events of terrace construction to disappear. To check if terraces and soils indeed erode entirely and how long this might take, we selected a relatively smooth hill slope showing small patches of limestone bedrock as well as remains of highly degraded sets of terraces. Three pits were excavated in soils within three different terrace remains down to bedrock, some to a depth of 2 m, and samples for OSL dating were collected from the exposed soil sections. In all three pits the lowermost samples gave ages of 3000-4500 years before the present, possibly the natural soils before any human intervention. However samples from a depth of 35-45 cm gave ages of 350-200 years, providing the last time the soil at that depth was exposed to sunlight. This suggests that the terraces were abandoned in the past 200 years or so and since then degraded. However the thick soil present on most of the slope suggests that after the first stage of rapid

Worrying about ‘Vertical Landscapes’: Terraced Olive Groves and Ecosystem Services in Marginal Land in Central Italy

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Elena Brunori

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Terraced Mediterranean areas are distinctive man-made landscapes with historical and cultural relevance. Terraced land abandonment driven by physical and economic constraints had important ecological consequences. This study focuses on a marginal agricultural district in southern Latium, central Italy, where terracing dated back to the Roman period and olive groves are the main agricultural use. A diachronic assessment of land-use transformations was carried out to identify landscape dynamics and drivers of change around terraced land. Terraced landscape systems (TLS, derived from spatial aggregation of neighboring terraced patches, have been analyzed for landscape transformations considering slope as the main stratification variable. Structural and functional characteristics of TLS were analyzed using a landscape ecology approach. Soil bio-chemical indicators were finally assessed to study the impact of terraced olive agro-ecosystems on soil-related ecosystems services. The empirical findings outlined that TLS in central Italy are sensitive to urbanization and land abandonment. Cultivated terraces prevailed up to gentle-medium slope land, uncultivated and wooded areas dominated terraces on steep slopes. In this context, poly-cultural olive groves proved to be a cropping system particularly resilient to global change, irrespective of land slope. Terraced systems and extensive poly-cultural olive groves play a role in preserving ecosystem integrity, landscape quality, soil functionality and, therefore, environmental sustainability.

Effectiveness of the GAEC standard of cross compliance retain terraces on soil erosion control

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Paolo Bazzoffi

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The GAEC standard retain terraces of cross compliance prohibits farmers the elimination of existing terraces, with the aim to ensure the protection of soil from erosion. In the Italian literature there are not field studies to quantify the effects of the elimination or degradation of terraces on soil erosion. Therefore, the modeling approach was chosen and applied in a scenario analysis to evaluate increasing levels of degradation of stone wall terraces. The study was conducted on two sample areas: Lamole (700.8 ha, Tuscany and Costaviola (764.73 ha, Calabria with contrasting landscapes. The Universal Soil Loss Equation model (USLE was applied in the comparative assessment of the soil erosion risk (Mg . ha-1 . yr-1, by simulating five increasing intensity of terrace degradation, respectively: conserved partially damaged, very damaged, partially removed, removed, each of which corresponding to different values of the indexes of verification in case of infringement to GAEC standard provided for by the AGEA rules which have come into force since December 2009 (Agency for Agricultural Payments. To growing intensity of degradation, a progressive loss of efficacy of terraces was attributed by increasing the values of the LS factor (length and slope of USLE in relation with the local modification of the length and steepness of the slope between adjacent terraces. Basically, it was simulated the gradual return to the natural morphology of the slope. The results of the analysis showed a significant increase in erosion in relationship with increasing degradation of terraces. Furthermore, it is possible to conclude that the GAEC standard retain terraces is very effective with regard to the primary objective of reducing erosion. A further statistical analysis was performed to test the protective value of terraces against soil erosion in areas where agriculture was abandoned. The analysis was carried out by comparing the specific risk of erosion (Mg . ha-1

Ecosystem services provided by agricultural terraces in semi-arid climates.

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Romero-Díaz, Asunción; Díaz-Pereira, Elvira; Boix-Fayos, Carolina; de Vente, Joris

2016-04-01

Since ancient times, agricultural terraces are common features throughout the world, especially on steep slope gradients. Nowadays many terraces have been abandoned or removed and few new terraces are build due to increased mechanisation and intensification of agriculture. However, terraces are amongst the most effective soil conservation practices, reducing the slope gradient and slope length, as well as runoff rate and soil erosion, and without terraces, it would be impossible to cultivate on many hillslopes. Moreover, their scenic interest is undeniable, as in some cases, terraced slopes have even become part of UNESCO World Heritage. In order to highlight the potential benefits, requirements and limitations of terraces, we reviewed different types of sustainable land management practices related to terraces and characterised their implications for provisioning, regulating, supporting, and cultural ecosystem services. We centred our review on terraces in semi-arid environments worldwide, as were documented in the WOCAT (World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies) database. Our results show that the most important ecosystem services provided by terraces relate to regulation of the on-site and off-site effects of runoff and erosion, and maintenance of soil fertility and vegetation cover. The presence of terraces also favours the provision of food, fiber, and clean water. In short, our results stress the crucial environmental, geomorphological and hydrological functions of terraces that directly relate to improving the quality of life of the people that use them. These results highlight the need for renewed recognition of the value of terraces for society, their preservation and maintenance.

Integrating Geomorphic and Social Dynamics in the Analysis of Anthropogenic Landforms: Examining Landscape Evolution of Terrain Modified by Agricultural Terracing

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Glaubius, J.; Maerker, M.

2016-12-01

Anthropogenic landforms, such as mines and agricultural terraces, are impacted by both geomorphic and social processes at varying intensities through time. In the case of agricultural terraces, decisions regarding terrace maintenance are intertwined with land use, such as when terraced fields are abandoned. Furthermore, terrace maintenance and land use decisions, either jointly or separately, may be in response to geomorphic processes, as well as geomorphic feedbacks. Previous studies of these complex geomorphic systems considered agricultural terraces as static features or analyzed only the geomorphic response to landowner decisions. Such research is appropriate for short-term or binary landscape scenarios (e.g. the impact of maintained vs. abandoned terraces), but the complexities inherent in these socio-natural systems requires an approach that includes both social and geomorphic processes. This project analyzes feedbacks and emergent properties in terraced systems by implementing a coupled landscape evolution model (LEM) and agent-based model (ABM) using the Landlab and Mesa modeling libraries. In the ABM portion of the model, agricultural terraces are conceptualized using a life-cycle stages schema and implemented using Markov Decision Processes to simulate the changing geomorphic impact of terracing based on human decisions. This paper examines the applicability of this approach by comparing results from a LEM-only model against the coupled LEM-ABM model for a terraced region. Model results are compared by quantify and spatial patterning of sediment transport. This approach fully captures long-term landscape evolution of terraced terrain that is otherwise lost when the life-cycle of terraces is not considered. The coupled LEM-ABM approach balances both environmental and social processes so that the socio-natural feedbacks in such anthropogenic systems can be disentangled.

Unsteady Landscapes: Climatic and Tectonic Controls on Fluvial Terrace Formation

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Clubb, F. J.; Mudd, S. M.

2017-12-01

Fluvial terraces are common landforms throughout mountainous regions which represent abandoned remnants of active river systems and their floodplains. The formation of these landforms points to a fundamental unsteadiness in the incision rate of the fluvial network, providing important information on channel response to climatic, tectonic, and base-level forcing, sediment storage and dynamics within mountainous systems, and the relative importance of lateral and vertical incision rates. In his 1877 Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains, G.K. Gilbert suggested that strath terraces may form due to climatically-driven increase in sediment supply, causing armouring of the channel bed and hindering vertical incision. An alternative hypothesis suggests that strath terraces may be preserved through progressive tectonic uplift or base-level fall. These different formation mechanisms should result in varying distribution of terrace elevations along channels: if terraces are formed through climate-driven variations in sediment supply, we might expect that terrace elevations would be random, whereas progressive fluvial incision should result in a series of terraces with a systematic elevation pattern. Here we test alternative hypotheses for strath terrace formation using a new method for objectively and rapidly identifying terrace surfaces from digital elevation models (DEMs) over large spatial scales. Our new method identifies fluvial terraces using their gradient and elevation compared to the modern channel, thresholds of which are statistically calculated from the DEM and do not need to be set manually by the user. We use this method to extract fluvial terraces for every major river along the coast of California, and quantify their distribution and elevation along the fluvial long profile. Our results show that there is no systematic pattern in terrace elevations despite a well-constrained spatial variation in uplift rates, suggesting that terraces in this region do

A revision of mid-late Holocene marine terrace distribution and chronology at the Pakarae River mouth, North Island, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wilson, K.; Berryman, K.R.; Litchfield, N.J.; Little, T.

2006-01-01

A suite of seven marine terraces at the Pakarae River mouth, New Zealand, provide evidence for the highest Holocene coastal uplift rates adjacent to the Hikurangi Subduction Zone. New elevation, coverbed stratigraphy, and age data allow for a timely revision of the distribution, nomenclature, and chronology of these terraces. Terrace correlation primarily is based on the elevation of the wave-cut strath. Terrace preservation either side of the river is more equal than previously proposed. The age of abandonment of each terrace is c. 7 ka (T1), 4.3 ka (T2), 3.5 ka (T3), 2.89 ka (T4), 1.6 ka (T5), 0.91 ka (T6), and <0.91 ka (T7). The average Holocene tectonic uplift rate at Pakarae is 3.2 ± 0.8 mm/yr. The abandonment of each terrace, from T2 to T7, probably took place after a discrete uplift event. The average time interval between these events is 850 ± 450 yr and the average uplift magnitude is 2.7 ± 1.1 m per event. We infer that uplift has been accommodated by slip on an offshore reverse fault. Normal slip on the Pakarae Fault, at right angles to the margin, occurs at a comparatively slower rate and has probably made little contribution to coastal uplift. (author). 35 refs., 9 figs., 2 tabs

Forest gardening on abandoned terraces links local biomass carbon accumulation to international carbon markets, reverses land degradation, improves food diversity, and increases farmer income

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Schmidt, Hans-Peter; Pandit, Bishnu Hari; Kammann, Claudia

2017-04-01

Despite chronic underproduction of food in Nepal, more and more agricultural land is abandoned especially in the remote middle hills and mountains. Male and young workers leave the villages for higher wages in the bigger cities or abroad. By now, most villages are mainly populated by women, children and elderly persons maintaining the gardens and fields close to the houses and leave the centenarian terraces fallow. Erosion, vanishing water resources, losses of soil organic carbon and the weakening of the local agro-economy become increasingly problematic. During the rainy season of 2015/16, 86 farmer families from four villages replanted their abandoned terraces with 25,000 mixed trees, mostly Cinnamon, Moringa, Mulberry, Lemon, Michelia, Paulownia, and various nuts. All trees were planted with a blend of organic biochar-based fertilizer and compost, since it was convincingly demonstrated by more than 20 field trials in this region that this was the most plant-growth promoting method. Mulching of the trees with rice straw or thatch grass was generalized. To let the young tries pass the critical seven months of dry season, water retention ponds with pipe irrigation were installed. Farmers were organized in groups of three families to mutually help and control the tree maintenance which led to an average tree survival rate of more than 80% after the first year compared to less than 50% in many country-wide forestation projects since the 1980s. Between the lower and upper lines of trees on the terraces, ginger, turmeric, black beans, onions, lentils and other secondary crops were cultivated using the same organic biochar based fertilizer and mulching techniques. What may seem a reasonable approach for many places, is in many of the poorest countries simply not possible to realize because village families do often not have the necessary initial investment for saplings and irrigation facilities at their disposal. Therefore, the Ithaka Institute linked the forest garden

The impact of agriculture terraces on soil organic matter, aggregate stability, water repellency and bulk density. A study in abandoned and active farms in the Sierra de Enguera, Eastern Spain.

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Cerdà, Artemi; Burguet, Maria; Keesstra, Saskia; Prosdocimi, Massimo; Di Prima, Simone; Brevik, Erik; Novara, Agata; Jordan, Antonio; Tarolli, Paolo

2016-04-01

Soil erosion, land degradation, lack of organic matter, erodible soils, rock outcrops… are a consequence of the human abuse and misuse of the soil resources. And this is a worldwide environmental issue (Novara et al., 2011; Vanlauwe et al., 2015; Musinguzi et al., 2015; Pereira et al., 2015; Mwagno et al., 2016). Agriculture terraces are a strategy to reduce the soil erosion, improve the soil fertility and allow the ploughing (Cerdà et al., 2010; Li et al., 2014). Although this idea is well accepted there are few scientific evidences that demonstrate that soils in the terraced areas are more stable, fertile and sustainable that the soil in non terraced areas. In fact, the ploughing in comparison to the abandoned or not ploughed land results in the soil degradation (Lieskovský and Kenderessy, 2014; Gao et al., 2015; Parras-Alcántara et al., 2014). This is mainly due to the lack of vegetation that increase the surface runoff (Cerdà et al., 1998; Keesstra et al., 2007). And why is necessary to develop also in terraced landscapes soil erosion control strategies (Mekonnen et al., 2015a; Mekonnen et al., 2015b; Prosdocimi et al., 2016). Our objective was to assess the soil organic matter content (Walkley and Black, 1934), the soil bulk density (ring method), the aggregate stabilility (drop impact) and the water repellency (Water Drop Penetration Time test) in four study sites in the Sierra de Enguera. Two sites were terraced: one abandoned 40 years before the measurements and the other still active with olive crops. And two control sites non-terraced. We used the paired plot strategy to compare the impact of terracing and abandonment. At each site we collected randomly 50 soil samples at 0-2 cm, 4-6 and 8-10 cm depth. At each sampling point 100 WDPT measurements where carried out, and one sample for the bulk density, and one for the organic matter, and one for the soil aggregate stability were collected. The soil surface samples shown the largest differences. The

Topography- and management-mediated resource gradients maintain rare and common plant diversity around paddy terraces.

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Uematsu, Yuta; Ushimaru, Atushi

2013-09-01

Examining the causes of interspecific differences in susceptibility to bidirectional land-use changes (land abandonment and use-intensification) is important for understanding the mechanisms of global biodiversity loss in agricultural landscapes. We tested the hypothesis that rare (endangered) plant species prefer wet and oligotrophic areas within topography- and management-mediated resource (soil water content, nutrient, and aboveground biomass) gradients, making them more susceptible to both abandonment and use-intensification of agricultural lands. We demonstrated that topography and management practices generated resource gradients in seminatural grasslands around traditional paddy terraces. Terraced topography and management practices produced a soil moisture gradient within levees and a nutrient gradient within paddy terraces. Both total and rare species diversity increased with soil water content. Total species diversity increased in more eutrophied areas with low aboveground biomass, whereas rare species diversity was high under oligotrophic conditions. Rare and common species were differentially distributed along the human-induced nutrient gradient, with rare species preferring wet, nutrient-poor environments in the agricultural landscapes studied. We suggest that conservation efforts should concentrate on wet, nutrient-poor areas within such landscapes, which can be located easily using land-use and topography maps. This strategy would reduce the costs of finding and conserving rare grassland species in a given agricultural landscape.

Staking Terraces Online: A Terrace Layout Program

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Terrace construction in Missouri exceeded 3 million feet at a cost of over $8 million in 2008. Up to 50 % of the total construction and design time is spent on the terrace layout itself. A web-based computer program, MOTERR, has been developed to design terrace layouts. The program utilizes digital ...

Environmental assessment for 881 Hillside (High Priority Sites) interim remedial action

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This Environmental Assessment evaluates the impact of an interim remedial action proposed for the High Priority Sites (881 Hillside Area) at the Rocky Flats Plant (RFP). This interim action is to be conducted to minimize the release of hazardous substances from the 881 Hillside Area that pose a potential long-term threat to public health and the environment. This document integrates current site characterization data and environmental analyses required by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) or ''Superfund'' process, into an environmental assessment pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Characterization of the 881 Hillside Area is continuing. Consequently, a final remedial action has not yet been proposed. Environmental impacts associated with the proposed interim remedial action and reasonable alternatives designed to remove organic and inorganic contaminants, including radionuclides, from alluvial groundwater in the 881 Hillside Area are addressed. 24 refs., 5 figs., 23 tabs

Assessment of dry-stone terrace wall degradation with a 3D approach

Science.gov (United States)

Djuma, Hakan; Camera, Corrado; Faka, Marina; Bruggeman, Adriana; Hermon, Sorin

2016-04-01

In the Mediterranean basin, terracing is a common element of agricultural lands. Terraces retained by dry-stone walls are used to conserve arable soil, delay erosion processes and retain rainfall runoff. Currently, agricultural land abandonment is widespread in the Mediterranean region leading to terrace wall failure due to lack of maintenance and consequently an increase in soil erosion. The objective of this study is to test the applicability of digital 3D documentation on mountainous agricultural areas for assessing changes in terrace wall geometry, including terrace wall failures and associated soil erosion. The study area is located at 800-1100 m above sea level, in the Ophiolite complex of the Troodos Mountains in Cyprus. Average annual precipitation is 750 mm. Two sites with dry-stone terraces were selected for this study. The first site had a sequence of three terrace walls that were surveyed. The uppermost terrace wall was collapsed at several locations; the middle at few locations; and the lowest was still intact. Three fieldwork campaigns were conducted at this site: during the dry season (initial conditions), the middle and end of the wet season. The second site had one terrace wall that was almost completely collapsed. This terrace was restored during a communal terrace rehabilitation event. Two fieldwork campaigns were conducted for this terrace: before and after the terrace wall restoration. Terrace walls were documented with a set of digital images, and transformed into a 3D point cloud (using web-based services and commercial software - Autodesk 123D catch and Menci Software uMap, respectively). A set of points, registered with the total station and geo-referenced with a GPS, enabled the scaling of the 3D model and aligning the terrace walls within the same reference system. The density (distance between each point) of the reconstructed point clouds is 0.005 m by Umap and 0.025 m by 123D Catch. On the first site, the model analysis identified wall

Cover Crops in Hillside Agriculture

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

Our study focuses on the wet tropical hillsides of northern Honduras (Figure 1). ..... The eastern extreme of the region (Jutiapa) is a dry spot, with less rainfall (2 000 mm a-1) as a result ...... Paper presented at the International Workshop on Green Manure–Cover Crops for Smallholders in ..... Lamaster, J.P.; Jones, I.R. 1923.

Refining fault slip rates using multiple displaced terrace risers-An example from the Honey Lake fault, NE California, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard W.; Crone, Anthony J.; DuRoss, Christopher B.

2017-11-01

Faulted terrace risers are semi-planar features commonly used to constrain Quaternary slip rates along strike-slip faults. These landforms are difficult to date directly and therefore their ages are commonly bracketed by age estimates of the adjacent upper and lower terrace surfaces. However, substantial differences in the ages of the upper and lower terrace surfaces (a factor of 2.4 difference observed globally) produce large uncertainties in the slip-rate estimate. In this investigation, we explore how the full range of displacements and bounding ages from multiple faulted terrace risers can be combined to yield a more accurate fault slip rate. We use 0.25-m cell size digital terrain models derived from airborne lidar data to analyze three sites where terrace risers are offset right-laterally by the Honey Lake fault in NE California, USA. We use ages for locally extensive subhorizontal surfaces to bracket the time of riser formation: an upper surface is the bed of abandoned Lake Lahontan having an age of 15.8 ± 0.6 ka and a lower surface is a fluvial terrace abandoned at 4.7 ± 0.1 ka. We estimate lateral offsets of the risers ranging between 6.6 and 28.3 m (median values), a greater than fourfold difference in values. The amount of offset corresponds to the riser's position relative to modern stream meanders: the smallest offset is in a meander cutbank position, whereas the larger offsets are in straight channel or meander point-bar positions. Taken in isolation, the individual terrace-riser offsets yield slip rates ranging from 0.3 to 7.1 mm/a. However, when the offset values are collectively assessed in a probabilistic framework, we find that a uniform (linear) slip rate of 1.6 mm/a (1.4-1.9 mm/a at 95% confidence) can satisfy the data, within their respective uncertainties. This investigation demonstrates that integrating observations of multiple offset elements (crest, midpoint, and base) from numerous faulted and dated terrace risers at closely spaced

Refining fault slip rates using multiple displaced terrace risers—An example from the Honey Lake fault, NE California, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, Ryan D.; Briggs, Richard; Crone, Anthony J.; Duross, Christopher

2017-01-01

Faulted terrace risers are semi-planar features commonly used to constrain Quaternary slip rates along strike-slip faults. These landforms are difficult to date directly and therefore their ages are commonly bracketed by age estimates of the adjacent upper and lower terrace surfaces. However, substantial differences in the ages of the upper and lower terrace surfaces (a factor of 2.4 difference observed globally) produce large uncertainties in the slip-rate estimate. In this investigation, we explore how the full range of displacements and bounding ages from multiple faulted terrace risers can be combined to yield a more accurate fault slip rate. We use 0.25-m cell size digital terrain models derived from airborne lidar data to analyze three sites where terrace risers are offset right-laterally by the Honey Lake fault in NE California, USA. We use ages for locally extensive subhorizontal surfaces to bracket the time of riser formation: an upper surface is the bed of abandoned Lake Lahontan having an age of 15.8 ± 0.6 ka and a lower surface is a fluvial terrace abandoned at 4.7 ± 0.1 ka. We estimate lateral offsets of the risers ranging between 6.6 and 28.3 m (median values), a greater than fourfold difference in values. The amount of offset corresponds to the riser's position relative to modern stream meanders: the smallest offset is in a meander cutbank position, whereas the larger offsets are in straight channel or meander point-bar positions. Taken in isolation, the individual terrace-riser offsets yield slip rates ranging from 0.3 to 7.1 mm/a. However, when the offset values are collectively assessed in a probabilistic framework, we find that a uniform (linear) slip rate of 1.6 mm/a (1.4–1.9 mm/a at 95% confidence) can satisfy the data, within their respective uncertainties. This investigation demonstrates that integrating observations of multiple offset elements (crest, midpoint, and base) from numerous faulted and dated terrace risers at closely spaced

Integrated GIS-Based Site Selection of Hillside Development for Future Growth of Urban Areas

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Imtiaz Ahmed Chandio

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Urbanization is a challenging issue for developing countries, like Malaysia. Penang Island is one of the states of Malaysia selected as a study area where limited flat land exists. As a result, this would create urban environmental problems, such as unstable slopes and landslides due to uneven topography. The purpose of this study was to develop land suitability model for hillside development. Hence, this research aims land suitability analysis modelling for hillside development by using integrated GIS (Geographic Information System based MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making approach. The hill land portion of Penang Island was selected for hillside site development using GIS and AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process as a MCDM method for sustainable hillside development. This study found that 15% of land was highly suitable, 27% moderately suitable, 41% less suitable, and 17% not suitable. Therefore, this research can be consistently used by the concerned authorities for sustainable hillside urban planning and development. This approach can be used as a policy tool in decision making of urban planning and development.

Landscape Change in Mediterranean Farmlands: Impacts of Land Abandonment on Cultivation Terraces in Portofino (Italy and Lesvos (Greece

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Sluis Theo Van Der

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The Mediterranean landscape has been rapidly changing over the past decades. Many regions saw a population decline, which resulted in changing land use, abandonment of marginal lands and colonisation by shrubs and tree species. Typical features like farming terraces, olive yards, and upland grasslands have been decreasing over the past 50 years. This results in a declining biodiversity and loss of traditional Mediterranean landscapes. In this paper we assess the landscape changes that took place in two areas, in Portofino, on the Italian Riviera, and Lesvos, a Greek island near the Turkish coast. We compared land use maps and aerial photographs over the past decades to quantify the land use changes in these two areas. Additional information was acquired from farmers’ interviews and literature. We found that changes are related to societal changes in the appraisal of agricultural land uses, and to the urban expansion, tourism and recreation. These diffuse processes are a result of policy measures and autonomous societal transformations. This is confirmed by the results of two interview surveys: between 1999 and 2012 agricultural land use in Portofino regional Park and buffer zone further marginalised, and the associated landscape changes are perceived as a substantial loss of character and identity. This problem is emblematic for large parts of the Mediterranean. Comparing different landscapes reveal similar processes of landscape change, which can be related to similar driving forces. Based on such comparisons, we learn about possible trajectories of change, and ask for a comprehensive approach to land use management.

Desert agricultural terrace systems at EBA Jawa (Jordan) - Layout, water availability and efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Meister, Julia; Krause, Jan; Müller-Neuhof, Bernd; Portillo, Marta; Reimann, Tony; Schütt, Brigitta

2016-04-01

Located in the arid basalt desert of northeastern Jordan, the Early Bronze Age (EBA) settlement of Jawa is by far the largest and best preserved archaeological EBA site in the region. Recent surveys in the close vicinity revealed well-preserved remains of three abandoned agricultural terrace systems. In the presented study these archaeological features are documented by detailed mapping and the analysis of the sediment records in a multi-proxy approach. To study the chronology of the terrace systems optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) is used. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the water management techniques and its impact on harvest yields, a crop simulation model (CropSyst) under today's climatic conditions is applied, simulating crop yields with and without (runoff) irrigation. In order to do so, a runoff time series for each agricultural terrace system and its catchment is generated, applying the SCS runoff curve number method (CN) based on rainfall and soil data. Covering a total area of 38 ha, irrigated terrace agriculture was practiced on slopes, small plateaus, and valleys in the close vicinity of Jawa. Floodwater from nearby wadis or runoff from adjacent slopes was collected and diverted via surface canals. The terraced fields were arranged in cascades, allowing effective water exploitation through a system of risers, canals and spillways. The examined terrace profiles show similar stratigraphic sequences of mixed unstratified fine sediments that are composed of small-scale relocated sediments with local origin. The accumulation of these fines is associated with the construction of agricultural terraces, forcing infiltration and storage of the water within the terraces. Two OSL ages of terrace fills indicate that the construction of these terrace systems started as early as 5300 ± 300 a, which fits well to the beginning of the occupation phase of Jawa at around 3.500 calBC, thus making them to the oldest examples of its kind in the Middle East

Study on the estimation method of uplift during the late quaternary by using river terraces. 1. Strategy of terrace correlation and a case study on stratigraphy of river terraces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hataya, Ryuta

2005-01-01

There are a few uplift data during the late Quaternary obtained by using river terraces than those by using marine terraces, because it is difficult to date a river terrace whose age is older than the marine oxygen isotope stage 6. In this paper, at first, we reviewed the terrace correlation method, and we proposed our viewpoint of terrace correlation which is based on relationship between geomorphologic features of terraces and geology that consist of terraces. Next, we did the case study on terrace stratigraphy in the Kawasaki Basin, Miyagi pref., and showed that our method is practical. (author)

Enhanced Effects of Flood Disasters Due to Hillside Development in Urban Areas

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Wei-Hsien Teng

2013-02-01

Full Text Available In recent years, the Taiwan government has established a number of flood control facilities such as dikes, pumping stations and drainage systems to effectively reduce downstream flooding. However, with continued development and urbanization of catchment areas, the original designs of most flood control facilities have become outdated. Hillside lands in the upper and middle reaches of river basins have undergone urban development through unsound engineering practices, paving the way for heavy downstream flooding. Therefore, proper river basin management should include both upstream and downstream sides. The main purpose of the paper is to simulate non-urban inundation areas with various degrees of development (0%, 10%, 20%, 40% and 60%, over two different return periods of 25 years and 200 years, for intensive rainfall events in the Shi-Chi District, Taiwan. Through hydrological analysis and numerical simulations of inundation, quantitative data on inundation potential have been established based on the land development conditions along the hillsides on the upper and middle reaches of the Keelung River Basin. The simulated results show that the increase in the extent of land development in the upper reaches causes an increase in the area and depth of inundation, resulting in an increased risk of flooding in downstream areas. If the land-use policy makers in the upper reaches of the river basin’s hillsides do not properly manage the land development, the risk of flooding in downstream areas will increase. In such an event, the policy makers should first review the situation to understand the problem with the consideration of this study. Thus, proper development and flood mitigation in hillsides can be established.

Blasting methods for heterogeneous rocks in hillside open-pit mines with high and steep slopes

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Chen, Y. J.; Chang, Z. G.; Chao, X. H.; Zhao, J. F.

2017-06-01

In the arid desert areas in Xinjiang, most limestone quarries are hillside open-pit mines (OPMs) where the limestone is hard, heterogeneous, and fractured, and can be easily broken into large blocks by blasting. This study tried to find effective technical methods for blasting heterogeneous rocks in such quarries based on an investigation into existing problems encountered in actual mining at Hongshun Limestone Quarry in Xinjiang. This study provided blasting schemes for hillside OPMs with different heights and slopes. These schemes involve the use of vertical deep holes, oblique shallow holes, and downslope hole-by-hole sublevel or simultaneous detonation techniques. In each bench, the detonations of holes in a detonation unit occur at intervals of 25-50 milliseconds. The research findings can offer technical guidance on how to blast heterogeneous rocks in hillside limestone quarries.

Deformed Fluvial Terraces of Little Rock Creek Capture Off-Fault Strain Adjacent to the Mojave Section of the San Andreas Fault

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Moulin, A.; Scharer, K. M.; Cowgill, E.

2017-12-01

Examining discrepancies between geodetic and geomorphic slip-rates along major strike-slip faults is essential for understanding both fault behavior and seismic hazard. Recent work on major strike-slip faults has highlighted off-fault deformation and its potential impact on fault slip rates. However, the extent of off-fault deformation along the San Andreas Fault (SAF) remains largely uncharacterized. Along the Mojave section of the SAF, Little Rock Creek drains from south to north across the fault and has cut into alluvial terraces abandoned between 15 and 30 ka1. The surfaces offer a rare opportunity to both characterize how right-lateral slip has accumulated along the SAF over hundreds of seismic cycles, and investigate potential off-fault deformation along secondary structures, where strain accumulates at slower rates. Here we use both field observations and DEM analysis of B4 lidar data to map alluvial and tectonic features, including 9 terrace treads that stand up to 80 m above the modern channel. We interpret the abandonment and preservation of the fluvial terraces to result from episodic capture of Little Rock Creek through gaps in a shutter ridge north of the fault, followed by progressive right deflection of the river course during dextral slip along the SAF. Piercing lines defined by fluvial terrace risers suggest that the amount of right slip since riser formation ranges from 400m for the 15-ka-riser to 1200m for the 30-ka-riser. Where they are best-preserved NE of the SAF, terraces are also cut by NE-facing scarps that trend parallel to the SAF in a zone extending up to 2km from the main fault. Exposures indicate these are fault scarps, with both reverse and normal stratigraphic separation. Geomorphic mapping reveals deflections of both channel and terrace risers (up to 20m) along some of those faults suggesting they could have accommodated a component of right-lateral slip. We estimated the maximum total amount of strike-slip motion recorded by the

Quantification of morphological properties of terrace surface using digital elevation model and its application to stratigraphic correlation of terraces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamamoto, Shinya; Hataya, Ryuta; Hamada, Takaomi

2008-01-01

Uplift estimation during late Quaternary is required for site selection of geological disposal facility of high level radioactive waste (NUMO, 2004). Terrace level and/or difference in elevation of terraces are good indicators of uplift. Therefore, a reliable method of terrace correlation and chronology is a key issues. Air-photograph interpretation is generally carried out in the early stage of a terrace investigation. However, a terrace classification often depends on the observer's qualitative interpretation. In order to improve objectivity of geomorphic investigation with air-photograph interpretation, we examine to quantify the morphological properties of terrace surface by some morphometric variables that are computed from Digital Elevation Model (DEM). In this study, four morphometric variables (average slope, average laplacian, remaining ratio of a terrace surface, and average depth of erosion) were calculated using data sets of terraces of which chronological data are clearly described. The relationship between these variables and terrace ages shows constant tendencies respond to the geomorphological process caused by the erosion. To examine capability of morphometric variables as an index of terrace correlation, regression analyses were carried out. The regression age estimated from morphometric variables allows to classify terraces in correct sequence, and the error with the observed age falls up to 100,000 years. In addition, to discuss appropriate quantities of DEM for terrace correlation, we used three different elevation data to create DEM: 1) aerial photogrammetry data; 2) airborne laser scanner data; 3) 1:25000-scale contour map. By comparing analysis results of each DEMs, we show suitable qualities of elevation data and DEM grid size to represent the degree of erosion correctly. (author)

Implementing automatic LiDAR and supervised mapping methodologies to quantify agricultural terraced landforms at landscape scale: the case of Veneto Region

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Eugenio Pappalardo, Salvatore; Ferrarese, Francesco; Tarolli, Paolo; Varotto, Mauro

2016-04-01

Traditional agricultural terraced landscapes presently embody an important cultural value to be deeply investigated, both for their role in local heritage and cultural economy and for their potential geo-hydrological hazard due to abandonment and degradation. Moreover, traditional terraced landscapes are usually based on non-intensive agro-systems and may enhance some important ecosystems services such as agro-biodiversity conservation and cultural services. Due to their unplanned genesis, mapping, quantifying and classifying agricultural terraces at regional scale is often critical as far as they are usually set up on geomorphologically and historically complex landscapes. Hence, traditional mapping methods are generally based on scientific literature and local documentation, historical and cadastral sources, technical cartography and aerial images visual interpretation or, finally, field surveys. By this, limitations and uncertainty in mapping at regional scale are basically related to forest cover and lack in thematic cartography. The Veneto Region (NE of Italy) presents a wide heterogeneity of agricultural terraced landscapes, mainly distributed within the hilly and Prealps areas. Previous studies performed by traditional mapping method quantified 2,688 ha of terraced areas, showing the higher values within the Prealps of Lessinia (1,013 ha, within the Province of Verona) and in the Brenta Valley (421 ha, within the Province of Vicenza); however, terraced features of these case studies show relevant differences in terms of fragmentation and intensity of terraces, highlighting dissimilar degrees of clusterization: 1.7 ha on one hand (Province of Verona) and 1.2 ha per terraced area (Province of Vicenza) on the other one. The aim of this paper is to implement and to compare automatic methodologies with traditional survey methodologies to map and assess agricultural terraces in two representative areas of the Veneto Region. Testing different Remote Sensing

El espacio de bancales en el tramo inferior de la cuenca del Guiniguada: características ecoantrópicas y estado actual

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Lidia Esther Romero Martín

2013-11-01

Full Text Available El tramo inferior de la cuenca del Guiniguada se caracteriza por la extensión y singularidad de los espacios de cultivo en terrazas. En este trabajo se describen las principales características geoecológicas y antrópicas de estas terrazas, con especial referencia al grado de deterioro de sus muros. El 40% de las unidades de terrazas tiene un grado de deterioro medio y alto. Se concluye que las pendiente, las forma de la ladera y litología, entre los parámetros ecológicos, y los uso y la edad transcurrida desde el abandono, entre los de carácter socio-económico, son los factores que condicionan, en distinta medida, el grado de conservación de las terrazas agrícolas.The low section of the Guiniguada basin is characterized by the extension and singularity of the spaces of culture in terraces. In this paper the principal geologic and anthropic characteristics of the above mentioned terraces are described, with special reference to the degree of deterioration of their walls. 40 % of the units of terraces has a degree of middle and high deterioration. The paper concludes that the slopes, the forms of the hillside and litology, among the ecological parameters, and the use and the age passed from the abandon, among the socio-economic parameters, are the factors that determine, in different degrees, the status of conservation of the agricultural terraces.

Galveston Bay Marsh Terracing 2001-2002

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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Marsh terracing is used to restore coastal wetlands by converting shallow nonvegetated bottom to intertidal marsh. Terraces are constructed from excavated bottom...

Tectonics, climate and mountain building in the forearc of southern Peru recorded in the 10Be chronology of low-relief surface abandonment

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Hall, S. R.; Farber, D.; Audin, L.; Finkel, R. C.

2009-12-01

Regional low-relief surfaces have long been recognized as key features to understanding the response of landscapes to surface uplift. The canonical models of low-relief surface formation involve an extended period of tectonic quiescence during which, the fluvial systems bevel the landscape to a uniform elevation. This quiescent period is punctuated by a period(s) of surface uplift, which causes fluvial incision thereby abandoning the low-relief landscape. Over time, as rivers continue to incise in response to changes in sediment supply, river discharge, and base level fall, pieces of the relict low-relief landscape are left as abandoned remnants stranded above active channels. By determining the age of abandoned surfaces, previous workers have identified the onset of a change in the tectonic or climatic setting. One key assumption of this model is that the low-relief surfaces are truly abandoned with no current processes further acting on the surface. To improve our understanding of the underlying assumptions and problems of low-relief surface formation, we have used detailed mapping and absolute dating with cosmogenic 10Be to investigate surfaces in the hyperarid forearc region of southern Peru between ~14° and 18°S. Within this region, marine terraces and strath terraces reflect Plio-Pleistocene surface uplift, and together with the hyperarid climate, ongoing surface uplift provides a perfect natural laboratory to examine the processes affecting low-relief surface abandonment and preservation. With our new chronology we address: 1) the space and time correlations of surfaces, 2) incision rates of streams in response to base-level fall, and 3) surface erosion rates. Multiple surfaces have yielded 10Be surface abandonment ages that span >2 Ma - ~35 ka. While most of the surfaces we have dated are considerably less than 1 Ma, we have located two surfaces which are likely older than 2 Ma and constrain regional erosion rates to be chronology of Pleistocene surface

CERN gets a new terrace

CERN Multimedia

Laëtitia Pedroso

2010-01-01

For the last few days, people working on the CERN site have been able to take advantage of the new terrace to relax on and make the most of the nice weather. What more could you ask for in your work place?   New terrace between building 39 and 40 As part of the programme of renewal and improvement of CERN's green areas, the GS Department entrusted Genève Espaces Verts, the company responsible for their upkeep and management, with the creation of a new terrace between Buildings 39 and 40. The terrace, which is made of a wood selected for its ability to withstand variations in temperature, is shady in the mornings and in the full sun from midday onwards. It can seat about a hundred people. Users can now unwind or drink their coffee at leisure in a peaceful and harmonious setting surrounded by flowers. Even here, though, physics is never far away: the flower pots made from the protective end-caps of the LHC magnets serve as a reminder of what we are all here for.     &...

POPULATION STRUCTURE AND PRODUCTION OF COPAIBA OLEORESIN BETWEEN VALLEYS AND HILLSIDES OF THE MINING AREA OFTROMBETAS RIVER - PARÁ1

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Jonas Gebara

2016-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT We aimed in this work to study natural populations of copaiba (Copaifera multijuga Hayne on the Monte Branco mountain at Porto Trombetas-PA, in order to support sustainable management and the exploitation of oleoresin from copaiba. We studied the population structure of copaiba on hillsides and valleys of the south face of Monte Branco, within Saracá Taquera National Forest, where bauxite ore was extracted in the biennium 2013-2014 by Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN. We produced a 100% forest inventory of the specie and of oleoresin extraction in order to quantify the potential production of the remaining area. The density of copaiba individuals with DBH > 30 cm was 0.33 individuals per hectare in the hillside and 0.25 individuals per hectare in the valley. Both environments presented a density of 0.28 individuals per hectare. The average copaiba oleoresin yield was 0.661±0.334 liters in the hillside and 0.765±0.280 liters in the valley. The average value of both environments together (hillside and valley was 0.714±0.218 liters. From all individuals with DBH over 30 cm, 38 (58% produced some amount of oleoresin, averaging 1.113±0.562 liters in the hillside, 1.329±0.448 liters in the valley and 1.190±0.355 liters in both environments together. The results show the need for planning the use of the surroundings of the study area in order to reach the required volume of copaiba to make feasible the sustainable management of oleoresin extraction in the region.

An online planning tool for designing terrace layouts

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A web-based conservation planning tool, WebTERLOC (web-based Terrace Location Program), was developed to provide multiple terrace layout options using digital elevation model (DEM) and geographic information systems (GIS). Development of a terrace system is complicated by the time-intensive manual ...

Land Use Alters the Plant-Derived Carbon and Nitrogen Pools in Terraced Rice Paddies in a Mountain Village

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Seiji Shimoda

2017-10-01

Full Text Available In Japan, terraced paddies in mountain villages are symbolic of the traditional landscape, but they are gradually being abandoned. To compare plant-derived C and N among land uses, we compared adjacent forest floor (FF, agricultural paddy (AP, and post-agricultural paddy (PP sites. Long-term litter accumulation could explain the significantly higher litter C and belowground biomass C in FF than in AP and PP. The low-density-fraction (LF soil C was significantly higher in FF than in PP and better reflected land use than the whole-soil C. The AP soil held more N than FF and PP at 20–30 cm, associated with higher LF soil N. Periodic tillage in AP maintains the LF soil N, but N supplied to the surface soil reduced with depth following abandonment. Differences in recycling of organic matter and nutrients among land uses are crucial to plant-derived C and N contents of soil.

Study on the estimation method of uplift during the late Quaternary by using river terraces (2). Stratigraphy of fluvial terraces along the Naka Rivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hataya, Ryuta

2006-01-01

To develop the reliable method of terrace correlation and chronology, which is a key technique for uplift characterization in an inland area, verification of terrace correlation and chronology is examined along the Naka and Hoki rivers, Ibaraki and Tochigi Prefectures. The results obtained indicate that the basic concept of terrace correlation and chronology proposed by Hataya (2005). Also, weathering grade of terrace gravels is classified into 4 levels and shows a good agreement with the terrace chronology. It shows that weathering grade of terrace gravels is a good stratigraphic index. Therefore, it is stressed that it is very important to combine the information of geomorphologic stratigraphy, geomorphologic analysis, geologic stratigraphy, tephra chronology and numerical dating data comprehensively, in particular, is of great importance to obtain the detailed geomorphologic information. Furthermore, it is pointed out that it is probable to redefine the general idea of 'higher, middle, lower terraces' by tephra chronology and numerical dating data. For instance, MIS6 fluvial terrace that is important for uplift estimation is probably considered as 'a middle terrace in an inland area'. (author)

Terrace Town

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Sabin, Heather

2010-01-01

The "Terrace Town" program brings architecture and city planning curriculum to elementary schools in Madison, Wisconsin, and surrounding areas. Over eight weeks, classrooms discuss what makes a community livable, sustainable, and kid-friendly. Throughout the process, students gain a better understanding of their own city environments and…

Two millennia of soil dynamics derived from ancient desert terraces using high resolution 3-D data

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Filin, Sagi; Arav, Reuma; Avni, Yoav

2017-04-01

Large areas in the arid southern Levant are dotted with ancient terrace-based agriculture systems which were irrigated by runoff harvesting techniques. They were constructed and maintained between the 3rd - 9th centuries AD and abandoned in the 10th century AD. During their 600 years of cultivation, these terraces documented the gradual aggradation of alluvial soils, erosion processes within the drainage basins, as well as flashflood damage. From their abandonment and onwards, they documented 1000 years and more of land degradation and soil erosion processes. Examination of these installations presents an opportunity to study natural and anthropogenic induced changes over almost two millennia. On a global scale, such an analysis is unique as it is rare to find intact manifestations of anthropogenic influences over such time-scales because of landscape dynamics. It is also rare to find a near millennia documentation of soil erosion processes. We study in this paper the aggradation processes within intact agriculture plots in the region surrounding the world heritage Roman-Byzantine ancient city of Avdat, Negev Highlands. We follow the complete cycle of the historical desert agriculture, from the configuration pre-dating the first anthropogenic intervention, through the centuries of cultivation, and up to the present erosion phase, which spans over more than a millennium. We use high resolution 3-D laser scans to document the erosion and the environmental dynamics during these two millennia. The high-resolution data is then utilized to compute siltation rates as well as erosion rates. The long-term measures of soil erosion and land degradation we present here significantly improve our understanding of the mechanism of long-term environmental change acting in arid environments. For sustainable desert inhabitation, the study offers insights into better planning of modern agriculture in similar zones as well as insights on strategies needed to protect such historical

Do Knickpoints Unzip Watersheds? Longitudinal Observations of Terrace and Hillslope Response to Mainstem Incision along the South Fork Eel River, California

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Wehrs, K.; Crosby, B. T.

2017-12-01

River response to changes in climate and relative base level often leave behind a legacy of transient landforms that enable the interpretation of past events. The dominant paradigm is that base level fall initiates a wave of mainstem incision that progressively transmits change upstream. Mainstem-adjacent hillslopes coupled to the channel subsequently respond as their toe slopes are steepened. To test this paradigm, we first use a longitudinal set of mainstem terrace ages to evaluate whether incision incrementally progresses upstream or is contemporaneous. Second, we explore longitudinal variations in mainstem-adjacent mass movements to evaluate whether they reflect a time and space progression in response. The South Fork Eel River in northern California contains over 600 mainstem-adjacent mass movements and 60 m tall, longitudinally extensive strath terraces that record a landscape response to river incision. We use Optically Stimulated Luminescence, with feldspars and coarse-grained sampling technique, to determine the depositional age of alluvial fill atop the strath terrace. If terrace abandonment progressively young upstream, this suggests that base level fall was not spatially contemporaneous, but rather time progressive. As a consequence, the age, form, and extent of mass wasting events should also vary longitudinally. Because terraces isolate hillslopes from the base level fall signal, we use these surfaces to quantify hillslope form and function independent of that forcing. Preliminary results using mainstem-parallel, 1 m LiDAR, show significant variation in size of mass movements throughout the basin, with planar, linearly moving translational landslides dominating throughout the catchment. In the lower basin, well downstream of the current knickzone, we see an increase in mass movement concentration, reactivation, and overall extent of mass movements. Multiple factors confound our interpretation of hillslope morphology and response, due to changes in

Terraced margins of inflated lava flows on Earth and Mars

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Zimbelman, J. R.; Garry, W. B.; Bleacher, J. E.; Crumpler, L. S.

2011-12-01

When fluid basaltic lava flows are emplaced over a shallow regional slope (typically much less than one degree), the lava flows often display impressive characteristics of inflation. Here we describe a distinctive marginal characteristic that is often developed along the margins of endogenously inflated basaltic lava flows; discreet topographic levels of the emplaced lava that are here termed 'terraced margins'. Terraced margins were first noted at the distal end of the Carrizozo lava flow in central New Mexico, where they are particularly well expressed, but terraces have also been observed along some margins of the McCartys lava flow (NM), the distal end of the 1859 Mauna Loa lava flow (HI), and lava flows at Craters of the Moon (ID). Differential Global Positioning System surveys across several terraced margins reveal consistent topographic characteristics: the upper surface of each terrace level is at roughly one half the height of the sheet lobe from which it emerges; when a terrace becomes the source of an additional outbreak, the upper surface of the second terrace is at roughly one half the height of the source terrace; often a subtle topographic depression is present along the contact between a terrace and its source sheet lobe, suggesting that the terrace outflow starts at a level roughly one-third the height of the source lobe; the upper surfaces of both the source sheet lobe and associated terraces are level to within tens of centimeters across length scales of many tens to hundreds of meters, indicative of inflation of all components. The field observations will be used as the constraints for modeling of the inflation and terracing mechanisms, an effort that has only recently started. The multiple imaging data sets now available for Mars have revealed the presence of terraced margins on some lava flows on Mars. Although detailed topographic data are not currently available for the Martian examples identified so far, the presence of terraced margins for

The prevalence of terraced treescapes in analyses of phylogenetic data sets.

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Dobrin, Barbara H; Zwickl, Derrick J; Sanderson, Michael J

2018-04-04

The pattern of data availability in a phylogenetic data set may lead to the formation of terraces, collections of equally optimal trees. Terraces can arise in tree space if trees are scored with parsimony or with partitioned, edge-unlinked maximum likelihood. Theory predicts that terraces can be large, but their prevalence in contemporary data sets has never been surveyed. We selected 26 data sets and phylogenetic trees reported in recent literature and investigated the terraces to which the trees would belong, under a common set of inference assumptions. We examined terrace size as a function of the sampling properties of the data sets, including taxon coverage density (the proportion of taxon-by-gene positions with any data present) and a measure of gene sampling "sufficiency". We evaluated each data set in relation to the theoretical minimum gene sampling depth needed to reduce terrace size to a single tree, and explored the impact of the terraces found in replicate trees in bootstrap methods. Terraces were identified in nearly all data sets with taxon coverage densities tree. Terraces found during bootstrap resampling reduced overall support. If certain inference assumptions apply, trees estimated from empirical data sets often belong to large terraces of equally optimal trees. Terrace size correlates to data set sampling properties. Data sets seldom include enough genes to reduce terrace size to one tree. When bootstrap replicate trees lie on a terrace, statistical support for phylogenetic hypotheses may be reduced. Although some of the published analyses surveyed were conducted with edge-linked inference models (which do not induce terraces), unlinked models have been used and advocated. The present study describes the potential impact of that inference assumption on phylogenetic inference in the context of the kinds of multigene data sets now widely assembled for large-scale tree construction.

Terrace Layout Using a Computer Assisted System

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Development of a web-based terrace design tool based on the MOTERR program is presented, along with representative layouts for conventional and parallel terrace systems. Using digital elevation maps and geographic information systems (GIS), this tool utilizes personal computers to rapidly construct ...

Artificial terraced field extraction based on high resolution DEMs

Science.gov (United States)

Na, Jiaming; Yang, Xin; Xiong, Liyang; Tang, Guoan

2017-04-01

With the increase of human activities, artificial landforms become one of the main terrain features with special geographical and hydrological value. Terraced field, as the most important artificial landscapes of the loess plateau, plays an important role in conserving soil and water. With the development of digital terrain analysis (DTA), there is a current and future need in developing a robust, repeatable and cost-effective research methodology for terraced fields. In this paper, a novel method using bidirectional DEM shaded relief is proposed for terraced field identification based on high resolution DEM, taking Zhifanggou watershed, Shannxi province as the study area. Firstly, 1m DEM is obtained by low altitude aerial photogrammetry using Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and 0.1m DOM is also obtained as the test data. Then, the positive and negative terrain segmentation is done to acquire the area of terraced field. Finally, a bidirectional DEM shaded relief is simulated to extract the ridges of each terraced field stages. The method in this paper can get not only polygon feature of the terraced field areas but also line feature of terraced field ridges. The accuracy is 89.7% compared with the artificial interpretation result from DOM. And additional experiment shows that this method has a strong robustness as well as high accuracy.

Identifying the source of fluvial terrace deposits using XRF scanning and Canonical Discriminant Analysis: A case study of the Chihshang terraces, eastern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Queenie; Lee, Jian-Cheng; Hunag, Jyh-Jaan; Wei, Kuo-Yen; Chen, Yue-Gau; Byrne, Timothy B.

2018-05-01

The source of fluvial deposits in terraces provides important information about the catchment fluvial processes and landform evolution. In this study, we propose a novel approach that combines high-resolution Itrax-XRF scanning and Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA) to identify the source of fine-grained fluvial terrace deposits. We apply this approach to a group of terraces that are located on the hanging wall of the Chihshang Fault in eastern Taiwan with two possible sources, the Coastal Range on the east and the Central Range on the west. Our results of standard samples from the two potential sources show distinct ranges of canonical variables, which provided a better separation ability than individual chemical elements. We then tested the possibility of using this approach by applying it to several samples with known sediment sources and obtain positive results. Applying this same approach to the fine-grained sediments in Chihshang terraces indicates that they are mostly composed of Coastal Range material but also contain some inputs from the Central Range. In two lowest terraces T1 and T2, the fine-grained deposits show significant Central Range component. For terrace T4, the results show less Central Range input and a trend of decreasing Central Range influences up section. The Coastal Range material becomes dominant in the two highest terraces T7 and T10. Sediments in terrace T5 appear to have been potentially altered by post-deposition chemical alteration processes and are not included in the analysis. Our results show that the change in source material in the terraces deposits was relatively gradual rather than the sharp changes suggested by the composition of the gravels and conglomerates. We suggest that this change in sources is related to the change in dominant fluvial processes that controlled by the tectonic activity.

Study on weathering index for improving the reliability of terrace correlation and chronology. Based on the observation and analysis of terrace deposit distributed in the Mid Niigata region and others

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamada, Takaomi; Hataya, Ryuta

2009-01-01

We carried out field survey and laboratory analysis to investigate various weathering indexes in loam and terrace deposit at outcrops of the terraces distributed in Mid-Niigata area and other two areas, which were correlated and chronologized accurately. We also collect and analyze the data of color and hardness of eolian loam, matrix of terrace deposit, thickness of decolorated and/or browning rim of terrace gravels, color and roughness of gravel surface and effective porosity on each terrace. According to result of the analysis, thickness of weathering rind can be an useful index for terrace correlation. Weathering rind is observed frequently in mafic and fine gravels, as a result of statistical survey of occurrence of the patterns of weathering type. According to the result of our field survey, Middle terrace contains few decayed gravels and Higher terrace group, which is older than MIS8 terrace, contains large amounts of decayed gravels. We can distinguish two different age terraces according to ratio of decayed gravel concentration in terrace deposit. Combination of data of thickness of weathering rind of gravel and concentration of decayed gravel in terrace deposit, adequate terrace correlation can be obtained with increased reliability. Difference of weathering degree can be detected by a combination of several indexes that can be observed in outcrops, it is possible to distinguish between different age terraces. Color and hardness of loam, thickness of weathering rind of terrace gravel can be indexes of weathering, these can explain the facts observed in outcrops. (author)

Soils of Agricultural Terraces with Retaining Walls in the Mountains of Dagestan

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Borisov, A. V.; Korobov, D. S.; Idrisov, I. A.; Kalinin, P. I.

2018-01-01

Soil-archeological studies of agricultural terraces with retaining walls in the area of construction of the Gotsatlinskaya Hydroelectric Power Station in Khunzakh district of the Republic of Dagestan have been performed. The morphogenetic and chemical properties of the anthropogenic soils (Anthrosols) in different parts of the terrace complex are analyzed. It is argued that slope terracing in the mountains ensures the development of thicker soil profiles with pronounced genetic horizons. The soils of agricultural terraces store important information of the paleoenvironmental history and land use. A characteristic feature of the Anthrosols of agricultural terraces is a relatively even distribution of gravelly material of up to 5 cm in diameter in the plow layer. The soils of terraces are characterized by the high variability in their properties within the entire terrace complex and within the particular terraces.

Cost-benefit of bench terraces, a case study in Peru

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Posthumus, H.; Graaff, de J.

2005-01-01

Soil and water conservation measures like bench terraces can reduce erosion in highland crop production. A cost-benefit analysis for 11 cases of bench terraces was undertaken on the basis of both measured data and data obtained from farmers. It showed that the profitability of bench terraces was

Effects of terracing on soil and water conservation in China: A meta-analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Die; Wei, Wei

2017-04-01

Terracing has long been considered a powerful strategy for soil and water conservation. However, the efficiency is limited by many factors, such as climate, soil properties, topography, land use, population and socioeconomic status. The aim of this critical review was to discuss the effects of terracing on soil and water conservation in China, using a systematic approach to select peer-reviewed articles published in English and Chinese. 46 individual studies were analyzed, involving six terracing structures (level terraces, slope-separated terraces, slope terraces, reverse-slope terraces, fanya juu terraces and half-moon terraces), a wide geographical range (Northeastern China, Southeastern hilly areas, Southwestern mountain areas and Northwestern-central China), and six land use types (forest, crop trees, cropland, shrub land, grassland and bare land) as well as a series of slope gradients ranging from 3° to 35°. Statistical meta-analysis with runoff for 593 observations and sediment for 636 observations confirmed that terracing had a significant effect on water erosion control. In terms of different terrace structures, runoff and sediment reduction were uppermost on slope-separated terraces. Land use in terraces also played a crucial role in the efficiency of conservation, and tree crops and forest were detected as the most powerful land covers in soil and water conservation due to large aboveground biomass and strong root systems below the ground, which directly reduces the pressure of terraces on rainwater redistribution. In addition, a significant positive correlation between slope gradients (3° 15° and 16° 35°) and terracing efficiency on soil and water conservation was observed. This study revealed the effectiveness and variation of terracing on water erosion control on the national scale, which can serve as a scientific basis to land managers and decision-makers.

The hillsides would allow to produce electric power from renewable source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laby, F.

2006-09-01

A solar tower is a renewable energy plant, designed to channel the air warmed by the sun, in order to produce electric power by the use of turbines. It is composed of a giant greenhouse with a chimney in its center. The capacity of this system is proportional to the chimney high. That is the reason why french engineers proposed to use the hillsides to build chimneys of many kilometers high. The project and some technical informations are provided in this paper. (A.L.B.)

Multiple paths to straths: A review and reassessment of terrace genesis

Science.gov (United States)

Schanz, Sarah A.; Montgomery, David R.; Collins, Brian D.; Duvall, Alison R.

2018-07-01

Strath terraces, an important tool in tectonic geomorphology, have been attributed to climatic, tectonic, volcanic, and human activity, yet the pathways connecting external forcings to the channel response leading to terrace formation are highly variable and complex. To better understand variability and controls on the pathways between forcing and terrace formation, we created a comprehensive database of 421 strath terraces from peer-reviewed literature and noted the strath age and rock type, the ascribed forcing (climate, tectonics, volcanoes, or humans) or whether the cause was unascribed, and the pathway between forcing and strath incision or planation. Study authors identify climate, tectonics, volcanoes, and humans as the forcing for 232 (55%), 20 (5%), 8 (2%), and 5 (1%) strath terraces in our compilation respectively. A forcing was not identified for the remaining 156 (37%) terraces. Strath terraces were dated using 14 different methods: 71% of terraces in our database are dated using methods, such as radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence, that date planation and give a maximum age of incision; 16% of terraces are dated with methods that give a minimum age of incision; and 14% use a variety of methods for which a generalization about incision age cannot be made. That the majority of terrace studies use planation ages to understand terrace formation highlights the necessity of knowing the relative timescales of incisional and planation phases, which has so far been quantified in only a handful of studies. In general, rivers in arid regions plane straths in interglacial periods when discharge and sediment transport capacity increase, whereas temperate rivers plane in glacial or interglacial periods when sediment supply increases. Heterogeneities in rock strength between watersheds further control how sediment is produced and when straths are planed. Globally, these regional and watershed controls result in strath planation and incision during all

The Meaning of Terrace as Social Interaction Place in Vertical Kampung

Science.gov (United States)

Sihombing, Antony; Gumay Poetri, Nurul

2018-01-01

The pros and cons of vertical housing development in Jakarta make me intend to raise the issue of the vertical kampung. In the kampung, there are social spaces where people interact to create a culture of rukun and gotong-royong. It is the terrace which become a container of social interaction. The purpose of this study is to reveal the meaning of the terrace in social interaction in the vertical kampung and its influence when the terrace room is not presented in the vertical kampung. The lost meaning of kampung when terrace is not presented in vertical kampung can be known through cognitive maps. Cognitive maps are the methodologies used to gain a human perception or view of life experiences in a particular place. This study involved several families in West Jatinegara Rusunawa to find out how people looked at the terrace in their life while in Kampung Pulo. Based on the cognitive maps method that has been done by the respondents, the terrace referred to by the villagers is an open space where people can see and interact with each other. Social space in the form of terraces which is needed by the kampung dweller, in fact is not a terrace house which is used as a place to receive guests and as a barrier between the fence and the body of the house.

Soil chemistry and mineralogy of the Santa Cruz coastal terraces

Science.gov (United States)

Pinney, Colin; Aniku, Jacob; Burke, Raymond; Harden, Jennifer; Singer, Michael; Munster, Jennie

2002-01-01

Marine terraces in the central coast of California provide an opportunity to study a soil chronosequence in which similar materials (beach deposits) have been weathered under similar slope, climatic, and vegetation conditions during the Quaternary. The terraces between Santa Cruz and Año Nuevo, California, have been studied for decades and are thought to be one of the best example of marine terraces in California {Lawson (1893), Wilson (1907); Branner and others (1909), Rode (1930) Page and Holmes (1945), Alexander (1953), Bradley (1956, 1957, 1958, and 1965), Bradley and Addicott (1968), Clark (1966 and 1970), Jahns and Hamilton (1971), Lajoie and others (1972), Bradley and Griggs (1976). Hanks and others (1986), Aniku (1986), Fine and others (1988), Anderson (1990 and 1994), and Rosenbloom and Anderson (1994).} Here we report morphological, chemical, physical, and mineralogical data for the soils that were formed in deposits on the Santa Cruz marine terraces in order to examine soil characteristics as a function of increasing terrace age.

100 kyr fluvial cut-and-fill terrace cycles since the Middle Pleistocene in the southern Central Andes, NW Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Tofelde, Stefanie; Schildgen, Taylor F.; Savi, Sara; Pingel, Heiko; Wickert, Andrew D.; Bookhagen, Bodo; Wittmann, Hella; Alonso, Ricardo N.; Cottle, John; Strecker, Manfred R.

2017-09-01

Fluvial fill terraces in intermontane basins are valuable geomorphic archives that can record tectonically and/or climatically driven changes of the Earth-surface process system. However, often the preservation of fill terrace sequences is incomplete and/or they may form far away from their source areas, complicating the identification of causal links between forcing mechanisms and landscape response, especially over multi-millennial timescales. The intermontane Toro Basin in the southern Central Andes exhibits at least five generations of fluvial terraces that have been sculpted into several-hundred-meter-thick Quaternary valley-fill conglomerates. New surface-exposure dating using nine cosmogenic 10Be depth profiles reveals the successive abandonment of these terraces with a 100 kyr cyclicity between 75 ± 7 and 487 ± 34 ka. Depositional ages of the conglomerates, determined by four 26Al/10Be burial samples and U-Pb zircon ages of three intercalated volcanic ash beds, range from 18 ± 141 to 936 ± 170 ka, indicating that there were multiple cut-and-fill episodes. Although the initial onset of aggradation at ∼1 Ma and the overall net incision since ca. 500 ka can be linked to tectonic processes at the narrow basin outlet, the superimposed 100 kyr cycles of aggradation and incision are best explained by eccentricity-driven climate change. Within these cycles, the onset of river incision can be correlated with global cold periods and enhanced humid phases recorded in paleoclimate archives on the adjacent Bolivian Altiplano, whereas deposition occurred mainly during more arid phases on the Altiplano and global interglacial periods. We suggest that enhanced runoff during global cold phases - due to increased regional precipitation rates, reduced evapotranspiration, or both - resulted in an increased sediment-transport capacity in the Toro Basin, which outweighed any possible increases in upstream sediment supply and thus triggered incision. Compared with two

High-Resolution Geologic Mapping of Martian Terraced Fan Deposits

Science.gov (United States)

Wolak, J. M.; Patterson, A. B.; Smith, S. D.; Robbins, N. N.

2018-06-01

This abstract documents our initial progress (year 1) mapping terraced fan features on Mars. Our objective is to investigate the role of fluids during fan formation and produce the first high-resolution geologic map (1:18k) of a terraced fan.

Unraveling the Quaternary river incision in the Moselle valley (Rhenish Massif, Germany): new insights from cosmogenic nuclide dating (10Be/26Al) of the Main Terrace complex

Science.gov (United States)

Rixhon, Gilles; Cordier, Stéphane; Harmand, Dominique; May, Simon Matthias; Kelterbaum, Daniel; Dunai, Tibor; Binnie, Steven; Brückner, Helmut

2014-05-01

Throughout the whole river network of the Rhenish Massif, the terrace complex of the so-called Main Terrace forms the morphological transition between a wide upper palaeovalley (plateau valley) and a deeply incised lower valley. The youngest level of this Main Terrace complex (YMT), directly located at the edge of the incised valley, represents a dominant geomorphic feature in the terrace flight; it is often used as a reference level to identify the start of the main middle Pleistocene incision episode (Demoulin & Hallot, 2009). The latter probably reflects the major tectonic pulse that affected the whole Massif and was related to an acceleration of the uplift rates (Demoulin & Hallot, 2009). The Main terraces are particularly well preserved in the lower Moselle valley and are characterized by a constant absolute elevation of their base along a 150 km-long reach. Despite that various hypotheses have been proposed to explain this horizontality (updoming, faulting...), all studies assumed an age of ca. 800 ka for the YMT, mainly based on the questionable extrapolation of palaeomagnetic data obtained in the Rhine valley. Therefore, a reliable chronological framework is still required to unravel the spatio-temporal characteristics of the Pleistocene evolution of the Moselle valley. In this study, we apply cosmogenic nuclide dating (10Be/26Al) to fluvial sediments pertaining to the Main Terrace complex or to the upper Middle Terraces. Several sites along the lower Moselle were sampled following two distinct sampling strategies: (i) depth profiles where the original terrace (palaeo-)surface is well preserved and did not experience much postdepositional burial (e.g., loess cover); and (ii) the isochron technique where the sediment thickness exceeds 3 m. Cosmogenic nuclide ages recently obtained for three rivers in the Meuse catchment in the western Rhenish Massif demonstrated that the Main Terraces were younger than expected and their abandonment was diachronic along the

Study on weathering index for improving the reliability of terrace correlation and chronology. Part 2. Understanding weathering condition of terrace gravel and induction of application requirement for correlation index

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hamada, Takaomi

2012-01-01

Geomorphographic survey of fluvial terraces, geological exploration, borehole drilling and investigation, and analysis of weathering condition of terrace gravels were carried out in Chuetsu area, Niigata prefecture, where a great deal of geomorphostratigraphic and tephrostratigraphic data are available. The results of these surveys and investigations indicate that weathering degree of terrace gravels can be considered as an index of the terrace age, and also provide points to remember for sampling and method of sampling and observation. The effective porosity and the thickness of weathering rind of gravels, which are indexes for weathering degree evaluation, in boring core, increase above the depth of about 5m from the top of the hole. Weathering doesn't reach the deep portion, therefore, investigation and evaluation for the weathering degree of terrace gravels must be carried out on the upper portion. Weathering rind thickness and effective porosity of the gravels are dispersive. Dispersion of the weathering rind thickness can be reduced by confining to andesite, and dispersion of the effective porosity can be reduced by limiting range of gravel size. Reducing dispersion, increase trend with age becomes clear in change of the weathering rind thickness and the effective porosity in many of the studied area. It shows that weathering rind thickness and effective porosity are effective for terrace correlation. Dispersion of data in an outcrop isn't small, but data from neighboring terraces with the same age are not different each other. It indicates that weathering rind thickness and effective porosity can be quantitative indexes for terrace age evaluation. In area where weathering rind is effective for terrace correlation, the rate of the weathering rind formation of andesite gravels is about 0.04mm/1000 years. Therefore, MIS6 terraces and MIS8 terraces can be distinguished each other by means of thickness of the weathering rind. This formation rate falls inside the

Rehabilitation of a semiarid ecosystem in Senegal : 1. Experiments at the hillside scale

OpenAIRE

Perez, P.; Albergel, Jean; Diatta, M.; Grouzis, Michel; Sene, B.

1997-01-01

The groundnut cropping basin of Senegal suffers environmental degradation, with a negative impact on local agriculture, shown by intense soil erosion. Despite the existence of many extensive programmes, there are few results concerning actual effects, at the hillside scale, of rehabilitation practices. The objective of the study, carried out from 1983 to 1993, was to give evidence of the actual effects, in terms of hydrology and agronomy, of conservation measures set-up in a small cultivated ...

Soil slips and debris flows on terraced slopes

Science.gov (United States)

Crosta, G. B.; Dal Negro, P.; Frattini, P.

Terraces cover large areas along the flanks of many alpine and prealpine valleys. Soil slips and soil slips-debris flows are recurrent phenomena along terraced slopes. These landslides cause damages to people, settlements and cultivations. This study investigates the processes related to the triggering of soil slip-debris flows in these settings, analysing those occurred in Valtellina (Central Alps, Italy) on November 2000 after heavy prolonged rainfalls. 260 landslides have been recognised, mostly along the northern valley flank. About 200 soil slips and slumps occurred in terraced areas and a third of them evolved into debris flows. Field work allowed to recognise the settings at soil slip-debris flow source areas. Landslides affected up to 2.5 m of glacial, fluvioglacial and anthropically reworked deposits overlying metamorphic basement. Laboratory and in situ tests allowed to characterise the geotechnical and hydraulic properties of the terrains involved in the initial failure. Several stratigraphic and hydrogeologic factors have been individuated as significant in determining instabilities on terraced slopes. They are the vertical changes of physical soil properties, the presence of buried hollows where groundwater convergence occurs, the rising up of perched groundwater tables, the overflow and lateral infiltration from superficial drainage network, the runoff concentration by means of pathways and the insufficient drainage of retaining walls.

Deposition of eroded soil on terraced croplands in Minchet catchment, Ethiopian Highlands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alemtsehay Subhatu

2017-09-01

Full Text Available In the Ethiopian Highlands, soil and water conservation practices are of utmost importance to conserve eroded soil and combat soil loss. This study provides detailed results on on-site sediment deposition and net soil loss in terraced croplands in a catchment in the sub-humid Ethiopian Highlands. Sediment deposition was measured on horse bean and maize fields during the crop growing seasons of 2014 and 2015. Measurements took place on observation plots on terraced cropland with varying spacing between terraces and varying slope gradients. Net soil loss, in this case the amount leaving the terraced cropland, was calculated by modelling the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE for the whole observation field and subtracting the measured sediment deposition. The study result showed about 8–11 t ha−1 sediment was deposited in the deposition zone of the terraced cropland, with greater sediment deposition on terraces with narrow spacing and steeper slope gradients. Sediment deposition was highest in July and August, and relatively low in September. Annual soil loss ranged from 32 to 37 t ha−1 in the terraced cropland of the study area. From the total soil loss in the crop growing season, about 54–74% sediment was deposited on the deposition zone of terraced crop fields. Implementation of soil and water conservation with narrow spacing, especially on the steep slopes of the sub-humid Ethiopian Highlands or other similar area, are thus highly recommended as they enable conservation of the eroded soil in the cropland.

10Be dating of the Main Terrace level in the Amblève valley (Ardennes, Belgium): new age constraint on the archaeological and palaeontological filling of the Belle-Roche palaeokarst

Science.gov (United States)

Rixhon, Gilles; Bourlès, Didier L.; Braucher, Régis; Siame, Lionel; Cordy, Jean-Marie; Demoulin, Alain

2014-05-01

It is still disputed whether very old archaeological and palaeontological remains found in the Belle-Roche palaeocave (eastern Belgium) pertain to the Early (˜1 Ma) or Middle (˜0.5 Ma) Pleistocene. Here, in situ-produced cosmogenic 10Be concentrations from a depth profile in nearby sediments of the Belle-Roche terrace (Amblève Main Terrace level) are used as an indirect solution of this chronological issue. The distribution of 10Be concentrations in the upper 3 m of this profile displays the theoretically expected exponential decrease with depth. Assuming a single exposure episode, we obtain a best fit age of 222.5±31 ka for the time of terrace abandonment. However, below 3 m, the 10Be concentrations show a marked progressive increase with depth. This distinctive cosmogenic signal is interpreted as the result of slow aggradation of the fluvial deposits over a lengthy interval. Modelling of the whole profile thus suggests that the onset of the terrace formation occurred at around 550 ka, with a sediment accumulation rate of ˜20 mm/ka. Based on two slightly different reconstructions of the geomorphic evolution of the area and a discussion of the temporal link between the cave and Main Terrace levels, we conclude that the fossil-bearing layers in the palaeokarst pertain most probably to MIS 14-13 (or possibly MIS 12-11) and the artifact-bearing layer to MIS 13 (or possibly MIS 11). This age estimate for the large mammal association identified in the Belle-Roche palaeokarst and the attribution to MIS 14-13 of a similar fauna found in the lowermost fossiliferous layers of the Caune de l'Arago (Tautavel) are in mutual support. Our results therefore confirm the status of the Belle-Roche site as a reference site for the Cromerian mammal association and the Early Palaeolithic industry in NW Europe.

Research on Remote Sensing recognition features of Yuan Yang Terraces in Yunnan Province (China)

Science.gov (United States)

Xiang, Jie; Chen, Jianping; Lai, ZiLi; Yang, Wei

2016-04-01

Yuan Yang terraces is one of the most famous terraces in China, and it was successfully listed in the world heritage list at the 37th world heritage convention. On the one hand, Yuan Yang terraces retain more soil and water, to reduce both hydrological connectivity and erosion, and to support irrigation. On the other hand, It has the important tourism value, bring the huge revenue to local residents. In order to protect and make use of Yuan Yang terraces better, This study analyzed the spatial distribution and spectral characteristics of terraces:(1) Through visual interpretation, the study recognized the terraces based on the spatial adjusted remote sensing image (2010 Geoeye-1 with resolution of 1m/pix), and extracted topographic feature (elevation, slope, aspect, etc.) based on the digital elevation model with resolution of 20m/pix. The terraces cover a total area of about 11.58Km2, accounted for 24.4% of the whole study area. The terraces appear at range from 1400m to 1800m in elevation, 10°to 20°in slope, northwest to northeast in aspect; (2) Using the method of weight of evidence, this study assessed the importance of different topographic feature. The results show that the sort of importance: elevation>slope>aspect; (3) The study counted the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) changes of terraces throughout the year, based on the landsat-5 image with resolution of 30m/pix. The results show that the changes of terraces' NDVI are bigger than other stuff (e.g. forest, road, house, etc.). Those work made a good preparations for establishing the dynamic remote sensing monitoring system of Yuan Yang terraces.

Modelling the impact of regional uplift and local tectonics on fluvial terrace preservation.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Viveen, W.; Schoorl, J.M.; Veldkamp, A.; Balen, van R.T.

2014-01-01

A terrace formation model (TERRACE) combined with a longitudinal river profile model (FLUVER) was used to simulate fluvial terrace formation and preservation in the northwest Iberian lower Miño River basin under the influence of three tectonic conditions; namely regional vertical uplift, local basin

Effects of marsh pond terracing on coastal wintering waterbirds before and after Hurricane Rita.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connell, Jessica L; Nyman, John A

2011-11-01

From February to March 2005-2006, we surveyed wintering waterbirds to test effects of terracing on coastal pond use before and after Hurricane Rita. Marsh terracing is intended to slow coastal marsh loss in the Chenier Plain by slowing marsh erosion and encouraging vegetation expansion. Terraces also increase marsh edge in ponds, possibly benefiting waterbirds. We monitored paired terraced and unterraced ponds in three sites within southwestern Louisiana's Chenier Plain. Waterbirds were 75% more numerous in terraced than unterraced ponds. Waterbird richness was similar among ponds when corrected for number of individuals, suggesting terracing increased bird density but did not provide habitat unique from unterraced ponds. Birds were 93% more numerous following Hurricane Rita, mostly due to an influx of migrating waterfowl. Year round residents were similar in number before and after Hurricane Rita. Resident richness did not differ among years after correcting for number of observed individuals. Wading and dabbling foragers were more abundant in terraced ponds and these two guilds represented 74% of birds observed. We detected no difference among ponds for other guilds, i.e., probing, aerial, and diving foragers. Increasing proportion of mash edge increased bird density disproportionately: On average ponds with 10% edge had 6 birds observed and ponds with 30% edge had 16 birds observed. Terraces increased habitat interspersion and were an effective tool for increasing numbers of wintering waterfowl and wading birds. The extent to which terraces were sustainable following hurricane forces is unknown.

Effects of Marsh Pond Terracing on Coastal Wintering Waterbirds Before and After Hurricane Rita

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connell, Jessica L.; Nyman, John A.

2011-11-01

From February to March 2005-2006, we surveyed wintering waterbirds to test effects of terracing on coastal pond use before and after Hurricane Rita. Marsh terracing is intended to slow coastal marsh loss in the Chenier Plain by slowing marsh erosion and encouraging vegetation expansion. Terraces also increase marsh edge in ponds, possibly benefiting waterbirds. We monitored paired terraced and unterraced ponds in three sites within southwestern Louisiana's Chenier Plain. Waterbirds were 75% more numerous in terraced than unterraced ponds. Waterbird richness was similar among ponds when corrected for number of individuals, suggesting terracing increased bird density but did not provide habitat unique from unterraced ponds. Birds were 93% more numerous following Hurricane Rita, mostly due to an influx of migrating waterfowl. Year round residents were similar in number before and after Hurricane Rita. Resident richness did not differ among years after correcting for number of observed individuals. Wading and dabbling foragers were more abundant in terraced ponds and these two guilds represented 74% of birds observed. We detected no difference among ponds for other guilds, i.e., probing, aerial, and diving foragers. Increasing proportion of mash edge increased bird density disproportionately: On average ponds with 10% edge had 6 birds observed and ponds with 30% edge had 16 birds observed. Terraces increased habitat interspersion and were an effective tool for increasing numbers of wintering waterfowl and wading birds. The extent to which terraces were sustainable following hurricane forces is unknown.

The physical model of a terraced plot: first results

Science.gov (United States)

Perlotto, Chiara; D'Agostino, Vincenzo; Buzzanca, Giacomo

2017-04-01

Terrace building have been expanded in the 19th century because of the increased demographic pressure and the need to crop additional areas at steeper slopes. Terraces are also important to regulate the hydrological behavior of the hillslope. Few studies are available in literature on rainfall-runoff processes and flood risk mitigation in terraced areas. Bench terraces, reducing the terrain slope and the length of the overland flow, quantitatively control the runoff flow velocity, facilitating the drainage and thus leading to a reduction of soil erosion. The study of the hydrologic-hydraulic function of terraced slopes is essential in order to evaluate their possible use to cooperate for flood-risk mitigation also preserving the landscape value. This research aims to better focus the times of the hydrological response, which are determined by a hillslope plot bounded by a dry-stone wall, considering both the overland flow and the groundwater. A physical model, characterized by a quasi-real scale, has been built to reproduce the behavior of a 3% outward sloped terrace at bare soil condition. The model consists of a steel metal box (1 m large, 3.3 m long, 2 m high) containing the hillslope terrain. The terrain is equipped with two piezometers, 9 TDR sensors measuring the volumetric water content, a surface spillway at the head releasing the steady discharge under test, a scale at the wall base to measure the outflowing discharge. The experiments deal with different initial moisture condition (non-saturated and saturated), and discharges of 19.5, 12.0 and 5.0 l/min. Each experiment has been replicated, conducting a total number of 12 tests. The volumetric water content analysis produced by the 9 TDR sensors was able to provide a quite satisfactory representation of the soil moisture during the runs. Then, different lag times at the outlet since the inflow initiation were measured both for runoff and groundwater. Moreover, the time of depletion and the piezometer

On the polychroism of river terraces in mountain areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pshenin, G.N.; Serebryanyj, L.R.

1981-01-01

Using the method of 14 C isotope dating the age of alluvial deposits of river terraces in mountain areas in Fergana is studied. It is shown that the age of the deposits varies from 16 to 10 thousand years. Their formation as dynamically independent, self-developing systems is pointed out. The role of endo- and exogenous factors in the process of terrace-formation evidently comes to the trigger effect [ru

Influence of Terraced area DEM Resolution on RUSLE LS Factor

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Hongming; Baartman, Jantiene E. M.; Yang, Xiaomei; Gai, Lingtong; Geissen, Viollette

2017-04-01

Topography has a large impact on the erosion of soil by water. Slope steepness and slope length are combined (the LS factor) in the universal soil-loss equation (USLE) and its revised version (RUSLE) for predicting soil erosion. The LS factor is usually extracted from a digital elevation model (DEM). The grid size of the DEM will thus influence the LS factor and the subsequent calculation of soil loss. Terracing is considered as a support practice factor (P) in the USLE/RUSLE equations, which is multiplied with the other USLE/RUSLE factors. However, as terraces change the slope length and steepness, they also affect the LS factor. The effect of DEM grid size on the LS factor has not been investigated for a terraced area. We obtained a high-resolution DEM by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) photogrammetry, from which the slope steepness, slope length, and LS factor were extracted. The changes in these parameters at various DEM resolutions were then analysed. The DEM produced detailed LS-factor maps, particularly for low LS factors. High (small valleys, gullies, and terrace ridges) and low (flats and terrace fields) spatial frequencies were both sensitive to changes in resolution, so the areas of higher and lower slope steepness both decreased with increasing grid size. Average slope steepness decreased and average slope length increased with grid size. Slope length, however, had a larger effect than slope steepness on the LS factor as the grid size varied. The LS factor increased when the grid size increased from 0.5 to 30-m and increased significantly at grid sizes >5-m. The LS factor was increasingly overestimated as grid size decreased. The LS factor decreased from grid sizes of 30 to 100-m, because the details of the terraced terrain were gradually lost, but the factor was still overestimated.

Abandoned works program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arnott, A.

2007-01-01

Thousands of improperly abandoned or decommissioned oil and gas wells are threatening the purity of Ontario's source water. This presentation discussed an abandoned works program developed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. The abandoned works program was established in 2005 in order to plug old oil and gas wells. The program was designed to create a list of abandoned wells, develop a coherent policy, and formulate procurement and contracting protocols. Abandoned wells are defined as wells drilled prior to 1963 with no operator other than the current landowner. There are currently over 200 prioritized wells on the list. Twenty-six contracts have been issued for a total of 33 wells, and 19 wells have been plugged since the program's field operations began in 2006. However, the program is often challenged by the difficulties associated with determining where the wells are located. Many of the wells have been cut off and buried, and access is often dependent on weather conditions and road restrictions. There is also a shortage of contractors who have experience working with older wells. It was concluded that the program will expand by obtaining further funding and modifying its qualification criteria. tabs., figs

THE INFLUENCE OF PRIVACY REGULATION ON URBAN MALAY FAMILIES LIVING IN TERRACE HOUSING

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmad Ahmad Hashim

2008-07-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on behavioral norms and territoriality as part of behavioral and environmental mechanisms used to regulate privacy among urban Malay families living in terrace housing. In-depth interview was employed involving 11 case studies of Malay families living in three-bedroom two-storey terrace housings in the urban areas. Findings indicate that while most of the behavioral norms employed to regulate privacy are consistent with Malay cultural norms and religious belief, there are a few which are not consistent due to the constraint of terrace housing. Defined territory and the need to respect the neighbors’ privacy are found to indirectly affect community intimacy among Malay families living in terrace housings.

Soil, vegetation and total organic carbon stock development in self-restoring abandoned vineyards

Science.gov (United States)

József Novák, Tibor; Incze, József; Spohn, Marie; Giani, Luise

2016-04-01

the S-sequence (18.1±10.4%) than in the SW-sequence (6.7±2.7%); consequently. The pH of the topsoil was higher in the S-sequence, and correlated significantly negatively with the age of abandonment in both sequences (r=-0.893; p=0.01 in S, and r=-0.739; p=0.05 in SW). TOC stocks of the top 6 cm soil layers were higher in the S-sequence (1.82±0.71 kg m-2) than in the SW-sequence (0.95 ± 0.49 kg m-2), and correlated significantly positively with the duration of self-restoration. When calculated for the whole profile, TOC stocks were similar in both S- and SW-sequences (S: 8.21±3.31 kg m-2; SW: 8.24±6.01 kg m-2). The TOC accumulation rates of the top 6 cm soil layers exhibited 18.9±10.0 g C m-2y-1 in the S and 7.0±4.2 g C m-2y-1 in the SW-sequence. Sites with the same age of abandonment developed to different vegetation and had different soil features in both chronosequences, indicating that duration of self-restoration is only one of the directive factors in soil development and carbon sequestration processes after abandonment of viticulture on Tokaj Nagy-Hill, which was significantly affected by lithology, slope steepness and exposition as well. Keywords: soil organic carbon stocks; soil organic carbon accumulation rates; vineyard abandonment; terraced soils; Tokaj,

Study on thermoluminescence dating for Nideping terrace of Dongchuan, Yunnan province

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Bin; Wei Mingjian; Liu Chao; Zhang Yongdong; Zhou Rui; Liu Junxin; Liu Tiantian; Zhao Qiuyue; Song Bo

2013-01-01

The sequence of geological age on Nideping terrace in Dongchuan, Yunnan Province was established by thermoluminescence. The result shows that the age of the terrace is 9.3-57.1 ka. The vertical age of ancient debris flow terraces was established, and the time structure of Nideping mud was received. The age data was provided for the restoration ancient environment of the debris flow. It is shown that the debris flow deposits have discontinuities through age data and exist age inversion. The radioactive elements such as uranium, thorium, potassium may be leaching deposition affected by the presence of local rainfall and the annual dose rate increases with depth. (authors)

How to model the stability of terraced slopes? The case study of Tresenda (northern Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Camera, Corrado; Apuani, Tiziana; Masetti, Marco

2015-04-01

Terraces are very common morphological features all around the Mediterranean Basin. They have been built to adapt the natural morphology of the territory to the development of anthropogenic activities, particularly agriculture. However, the increasing land abandonment during the last century is leading to soil degradation and stability issues, mainly due to lack of maintenance of these peculiar environments. The objective of this study was to develop a coupled hydrologic-stability model to identify possible triggering areas of superficial landslides during intense rainfall events. The model was tested on a slope uphill of the village of Tresenda, in Northern Italy, which experienced several superficial landslides in the last 35 years. Distributed stability analyses are usually carried out using an infinite slope approach, but in the case of terraces some basic assumptions of this method fail: the parallelism between topographical surface and potential sliding surface and the high ratio between slope length and failure surface depth are the most important examples. In addition, the interest is more on the stability of the terrace system (dry stone retaining wall and backfill soil) and not on soil alone. For these reasons, a stability analysis based on the global method of equilibrium is applied and soft coupled to a well know hydrological model (STARWARS). Sections of terrace, one cell wide, are recognized from the base of a wall to the top of the closest downstream one, and each cell (1 x 1 m2) is considered as a slice. The method of Sarma for circular and non-circular failure is applied. The very fine horizontal resolution (1 m) is crucial to take into consideration the hydrogeological and mechanical properties of dry stone walls (0.6-1.0 m wide). A sensitivity analysis was conducted for saturated water content, initial volumetric water content, the cohesion and friction angle of soil and walls and soil depth. The results of the sensitivity analysis showed that

Designing terraces for the rainfed farming region in Iraq using the RUSLE and hydraulic principles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad H. Hussein

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The rainfed region in Iraq comprises an area of more than 5 million ha of forest, grazing and farmland areas. Except the plains, the region suffers from moderate to severe water erosion due mainly to overgrazing and land mismanagement. Due to population growth and the shortage in water resources, an expansion in land used for agriculture in the region is expected. Terracing is an option when utilizing sloping land for agricultural production. A terrace design criterion was developed for the region in which terrace spacing was determined using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE; terrace channel specifications were determined using conventional hydraulic computations. Analyses showed that terracing is feasible on rolling and hilly sloping land in the high rainfall zone (seasonal rainfall >600 mm where economic crops are grown to offset the high cost of terrace construction and maintenance. In the medium and low rainfall zones (seasonal rainfall 400–600 mm and 300–400 mm, terracing for water erosion control is generally not needed on cultivated land less than 10% in slope where wheat and barley crops are normally grown; however, pioneer research projects are needed to assess the feasibility of terraces of the level (detention type to conserve rain water in these two zones for a more successful rainfed farming venture.

Radiocarbon dating of floodplain and young terraces alluvial sediments of Latvia rivers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eberhards, G.; Saltupe, B.

2000-01-01

This paper include new information about alluvial sediments structure and radiocarbon data of some Latvia free-meandering rivers (Gauja, Ogre, Liela and Maza Jugla, Daugava) floodplains and first terraces. In this present study we examined Gauja river floodplains in the different geomorphological and geological areas. Radiocarbon dating add the fact that the high level floodplain (4-5 m) formation and sediment accumulation take place 3000-5000 years before present (BP) middle level floodplains formed 1500-2100 years BP. Investigations show that one river terraces and floodplains with same relative height have a several absolute age. The rivers crossed same hypsometrical regions (highlands, lowlands) downstream in lowlands alluvial terraces performed as floodplains or from from floodplains to terraces with same height. On the highest, middle and in the lower parts of the rivers with free - meandering channel to - day the dynamic balance of the channel processes exits 4000-5000 years. (author)

Terrace Geochemistry at the Shiprock, New Mexico, Disposal Site - WM2017-17232 Initial Phase

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kautsky, Mark [USDOE Office of Legacy Management, Washington, DC (United States); Ranalli, Tony [Navarro Research and Engineering, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Dander, David [Navarro Research and Engineering, Oak Ridge, TN (United States); Miller, David [Navarro Research and Engineering, Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

2017-03-08

The objective of this investigation was to identify and differentiate potential non- mill-related water inputs to a shallow terrace groundwater system through the use of aqueous chemical and isotopic tracers at a former uranium- and vanadium-ore processing facility. Terrace groundwater in the vicinity of the Shiprock, New Mexico, site is hypothesized to be largely anthropogenic because natural rates of recharge in the terrace are likely insufficient to sustain a continuous water table in the terrace alluvial system, as observed in several analogue terrace locations east of the site and in response to post-mill dewatering efforts across the site. The terrace is composed of alluvial sand and gravel and weathered and unweathered Mancos Shale. Terrace groundwater exists and flows in the alluvium and to a much less extent in the Mancos Shale. Historical data established that in both the terrace and floodplain below the terrace, mill-derived uranium and sulfate is found primarily in the alluvium and the upper portion of the weathered Mancos Shale. Groundwater extraction is being conducted in the vicinity of former mill operations and in washes and seeps to dewater the formation and remove contamination, thus eliminating these exposure pathways and minimizing movement to the floodplain. However, past and present contribution of non-mill anthropogenic water sources may be hindering the dewatering effort, resulting in reduced remedy effectiveness. Groundwater source signatures can be determined based on chemical and isotopic ratios and are used to help identify and delineate both mill and non-mill water contributions. Aqueous chemical and isotopic tracers, such as 234U/238U activity ratios and uranium concentrations, δ34S sulfate and sulfate concentrations, tritium concentrations, and δ2Hwater and δ18O water are being used in this Phase I study. The aqueous chemical and isotopic analysis has identified areas on the terrace where groundwater is derived from mill

Modelling and simulation of Holocene marine terrace development in Boso Peninsula, central Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Noda, Akemi; Miyauchi, Takahiro; Sato, Toshinori; Matsu'ura, Mitsuhiro

2018-04-01

In the southern part of Boso Peninsula, central Japan, we can observe a series of well-developed Holocene marine terraces. We modeled the development of these marine terraces by considering sea-level fluctuation and steady land uplift. The evolution of coastal landform is generally described as follows: altitude change = - erosion + deposition - sea-level rise + land uplift. In this study, the erosion rate is supposed to be proportional to the dissipation rate of wave energy, and the deposition rate of eroded materials to decay exponentially as they are transported seaward. The rate of sea-level rise is given by the time derivative of a sea-level curve obtained from the sediment core records of oxygen isotope ratios. Steady plate subduction generally brings about steady crustal uplift/subsidence independently of earthquake occurrence, and so the land-uplift rate is regarded as time independent on a long-term average. Our simulation results show that a pair of sea cliff and abrasion platform is efficiently formed about a stationary point of the sea-level curve. The Holocene sea-level curve has four peaks and three troughs, and so basically seven terraces are formed one by one during the past 10,000 yr. However, when the land-uplift rate is low, most of the terraces formed at older times sink in the sea. When the land-uplift rate is high, the overlap and/or reverse of older and younger terraces occur frequently, and so the correspondence between the age and present altitude of terraces is not necessarily one-to-one. Taking the land-uplift rate to be 3-4 mm/yr, we can reproduce a series of well-developed Holocene marine terraces in Boso Peninsula independently of coseismic uplifts. From these simulation results, we may conclude that the Holocene marine terraces in Boso Peninsula were developed as a result of the composite process of sea-level fluctuation and steady coastal uplift.

The River Mondego terraces at the Figueira da Foz coastal area (western central Portugal): Geomorphological and sedimentological characterization of a terrace staircase affected by differential uplift and glacio-eustasy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ramos, Anabela M.; Cunha, Pedro P.; Cunha, Lúcio. S.

2012-01-01

A geomorphological and sedimentological characterization of the River Mondego terraces in the Figueira da Foz coastal area, Portugal, is presented. The relief is dominated by a Pliocene a marine sandy unit ~ 10–15 m thick, reaching ~ 250 m a.s.l., that covers a shore platform surface. The River...... of terrace genesis in this coastal area should be dominated by glacio-eustasy whereby episodic valley incision would have been determined by periods of very low sea-level, probably at ~ 460–410 ka (T3/T4; MIS12), ~ 200–125 ka (T4/T5; MIS6) and 100–14 ka (T5/Recent alluvial infill; late MIS5, MIS4, MIS3......-gravels and silts, but also some colluvium at the top of each terrace. The younger terraces (T3, T4 and T5) show better developed sedimentary structures and less sedimentary matrix; the sedimentary features are indicative of both fluvial and coastal environments (estuary and beach, as nowadays). Under conditions...

Nutrient Losses by Runoff and Sediment from the Taluses of Orchard Terraces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Duran Zuazo, V.H.; Martinez Ray, A.; Aguilar Ruiz, J.

2004-01-01

The nutrient fluxes of nitrate, ammonium, phosphorus and potassium in runoff and sediments were evaluated over a two-year period (1999¿2000) on the taluses of terraces, in a zone of intense subtropical orchard cultivation (SE Spain). The erosion plots were located on a terrace of 214% (65°) slope,

Development of vegetation and solar radiation on hillside grounds of the Sierra de Bejar, Salamanca (Spain)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santa Regina Rodríguez, I.

2000-01-01

A detailed study was carried out about the vegetation and solar radiation on hillside grounds of the Sierra de Béjar according to its characteristic orientation and slope for a better exploitation of its ecological resources. Chorologically the area is located in carpetano-ibéico-leonesa province, bejarano-gredense ection, bejarano-tormantino subsector. Its topography presents great contrasts, alternating great ondulations with high slopes. For as, in this area there was a three bioclimatic gronds: supramediterranean, oromediterranean and crioromediterranean [es

Terrace erosion and sediment transport model: a new tool for soil conservation planning in bench-terraced steeplands.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dijk, A.I.J.M.; Bruijnzeel, L.A.

2003-01-01

Despite widespread bench-terracing soil erosion remains a major problem in Java's uplands. To elucidate the causes for this lack of impact, runoff and erosion processes were studied at a variety of spatial scales within a volcanic catchment in West Java. Research indicated that soil loss occurs via

Uplift characterization in an inland area based on information of terrace distribution. Case study in the Mid Niigata region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hataya, Ryuta; Hamada, Takaomi

2009-01-01

We have investigated the correlation and chronology of fluvial terraces, and characteristics of terrace distribution around active structures, in the Mid Niigata region. Making much of geomorphologic and geologic information, such as morphology and continuity of terrace plains, weathering of terrace gravels, gives to appropriately interpretation of tephra data. Then, at both sides of the active structure, characteristics of terrace distribution are quite different. It indicates that terrace distribution is useful information to evaluate fault activity. Furthermore, uplift estimation for the last 100,000 years is given by terrace distribution information and relative heights of fluvial terraces, and can be applied to evaluation the fault activity. For example, using the uplift index of the values of relative height between terraces, we estimated that the uplift difference on the both side of the Muikamachi fault during late Quaternary was more than 40m. It suggests that the slip rate of the Muikamachi fault is more than 0.4m/10 3 year. The viewpoint and method shown in this paper reflected to the upgrade of the air-photo interpretation for active fault survey. (author)

Electronic-Reconstruction-Enhanced Tunneling Conductance at Terrace Edges of Ultrathin Oxide Films.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Lingfei; Kim, Rokyeon; Kim, Yoonkoo; Kim, Choong H; Hwang, Sangwoon; Cho, Myung Rae; Shin, Yeong Jae; Das, Saikat; Kim, Jeong Rae; Kalinin, Sergei V; Kim, Miyoung; Yang, Sang Mo; Noh, Tae Won

2017-11-01

Quantum mechanical tunneling of electrons across ultrathin insulating oxide barriers has been studied extensively for decades due to its great potential in electronic-device applications. In the few-nanometers-thick epitaxial oxide films, atomic-scale structural imperfections, such as the ubiquitously existed one-unit-cell-high terrace edges, can dramatically affect the tunneling probability and device performance. However, the underlying physics has not been investigated adequately. Here, taking ultrathin BaTiO 3 films as a model system, an intrinsic tunneling-conductance enhancement is reported near the terrace edges. Scanning-probe-microscopy results demonstrate the existence of highly conductive regions (tens of nanometers wide) near the terrace edges. First-principles calculations suggest that the terrace-edge geometry can trigger an electronic reconstruction, which reduces the effective tunneling barrier width locally. Furthermore, such tunneling-conductance enhancement can be discovered in other transition metal oxides and controlled by surface-termination engineering. The controllable electronic reconstruction can facilitate the implementation of oxide electronic devices and discovery of exotic low-dimensional quantum phases. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Terrace Agriculture of the Hani People – Cultural Heritage of the South-West China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kladovshchikova Mariya Evgenyevna

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The article presents the features of terrace agriculture of Hani and Yi indigenous minorities, living in the Yunnan province in the South-West China, just a step away from the Laos and Vietnam boundaries. The cultural landscape of the Hani rice terraces, included into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2013 (Cultural Landscape of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces, expresses the conservation of the minorities’ course of life during the last 1 300 years. The geological framework, climate patterns and conform type of vegetation predefine the specific character of natural conditions necessary for terrace agriculture and red rice growth – the most important crop within the region. At that, the landscape picture which fully reflects the season fluctuations of regional subtropical climate, also facilitates to aesthetic and romantic perception forming, symbolizing man-made environment integral and interlaced into natural landscape. The special focus is made on the description of terraced slopes unique morphology and ancient land cultivation technologies for the essential regional culture – red rice. Preservation of centuries-old traditions of efficient agriculture makes it possible to achieve integration of cultural and natural landscapes, that seamlessly comprises the ethnic minorities’ life, as well as to prevent development of erosion and landslide slope processes. The elements of the traditional Hani people way of life, including ritual customs associated with terrace agriculture, are particularly described.

Abandonment (field decommissioning): The legal requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roberts, M.

1994-01-01

The main areas to be considered in relation to the abandonment of offshore installations are: (1) the legal requirements to be imposed in relation to abandonment, this will include consideration of English, Norwegian and Dutch law as well as international law; (2) how licensees may protect themselves against joint and several liability for performance of their legal obligations in relation to abandonment by the provision of security; and (3) consideration of practical examples of abandonment such as the abandonment of the Piper Alpha platform on the UK continental shelf and the K13-D platform on the Dutch continental shelf. This paper considers only abandonment of offshore installations as very different considerations apply onshore and applies only to Europe, though the international treaties will also apply elsewhere

Quantification of the effect of terrace maintenance on soil erosion: two seasons of monitoring experiments in Cyprus

Science.gov (United States)

Camera, Corrado; Djuma, Hakan; Zoumides, Christos; Eliades, Marinos; Charalambous, Katerina; Bruggeman, Adriana

2017-04-01

In the Mediterranean region, rural communities in topographically challenging sites have converted large areas into dry-stone terraces, as the only way to develop sustainable agriculture. Terraces allow softening the steep mountainous slopes, favoring water infiltration and reducing water runoff and soil erosion. However, population decrease over the past 30 years has led to a lack of maintenance of the terraces and the onset of a process of land degradation. The objective of this study is the quantification of the effect of terrace maintenance on soil erosion. We selected two terraces - A and B, 11 and 14 m long, respectively - for monitoring purposes. They are located in a small catchment (10,000 m2) in the Troodos Mountains of Cyprus, at an elevation of 1,300 m a.s.l., and cultivated with vineyards, which is the main agricultural land use of the region. We monitored soil erosion by means of sediment traps, which are installed along 1-m long sections of terrace. We monitored four sections on terrace A and seven on terrace B. During the first monitoring season (winter 2015/16), on terrace A the traps caught sediment of two collapsed and two standing sections of dry-stone wall. The catchment areas of one set of traps (degraded and non-degraded) were closed by a 1x4-m2 plot, to relate erosion rates to a known draining area. On terrace B the traps were all open and caught four collapsed and three standing sections. Also, we installed a weather station (5-minute rainfall, temperature, and relative humidity) and 15 soil moisture sensors, to relate soil erosion processes with climate and (sub)surface hydrology. From the open traps, we observed that soil loss is on average 8 times higher from degraded terrace sections than from standing, well maintained sections, which in our case study corresponds to an 87% reduction of soil loss due to terrace maintenance. If we compare data from the two closed plots, we obtain a much higher soil loss ratio (degraded/standing) of 56

Geological characterization of agricultural terraces as a tool for the territorial safeguard and for the valorization of "Terroir"

Science.gov (United States)

Brancucci, Gerardo; Brancucci, Michele; Marescotti, Pietro; Poggi, Eugenio; Solimano, Monica; Vegnuti, Roberto; Giostrella, Paola; Tarolli, Paolo

2017-04-01

The progressive abandonment of the terraced areas of Liguria (NW Italy) is determining an inexorable land degradation, which causes, among other things, the erosive processes and the slope failure. Several studies highlighted the need of strategies for the recovery of abandoned agricultural lands by encouraging the productive reuse. Nevertheless, it is well known that agricultural activities in rural areas with steep slopes are strongly penalized by the high production costs determined by the adverse geomorphological conditions. For these reasons, one of the possible solutions is to encourage the production of high-quality agricultural crops, and to promote the uniqueness of the products. The uniqueness of the local products can be promoted not only by means of marketing strategy, mostly based on historical and traditional aspects of the productions, but also by correlating the product with the geological features (e.g., lithology, mineralogy and geochemistry) of the agricultural soils and parental rocks. These features are typically peculiar of a geographic area and thus strictly correlated with the site of production. This approach, together with the biological characterization of the crop, can link the cultivar to the geographical area of production thus evidencing peculiarities that are inimitable elsewhere. With this work we present the experimental results of investigations performed on several types of agricultural products (grapes and wines, olives and olive oils, apples) as well as on wild mushroom of the Boletus family. The analyses have been carried out either in laboratory and by means of field portable instruments (FP-EDXRF and FP-FTIR) which permitted a large number of in situ analyses, in a cost efficient and timely manner, thus allowing the realization of high spatial resolution compositional maps. This analytical approach also resulted particularly effective to improve the information obtained by traditional pedological and agronomical

Opportunities and Benefits of Green Balconies and Terraces in Urban Conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mladenović Emina

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This study tested the hypothesis that a third dimension of urban gardening, in the form of green terraces and balconies, is of immense importance to the public well-being, mitigating climate changes and contributing to a more pleasant life in highly urbanized zones. By means of a concise questionnaire, a total of 82 respondents of different age groups (20-70 years of age were surveyed about their opinion on green terraces, balconies, and roofs, i.e. the plants and flowers they incorporate. The fieldwork and survey responses facilitated the design of ten different spaces in various conditions. The results obtained enabled the selection of plants which could be used in given conditions, depending on wind, insolation, shade, ground levels, precipitation, etc. A total of three different terraces (out of ten and three different balconies (out of ten were enrolled in the study. The research results indicate that ten minutes of gardening could reduce stress levels and restore the positive energy of residents. An increase in the overall plant diversity exerts positive aesthetic and ecological effects. Inner-city areas are often sparsely vegetated, devoid of plants, and densely built-up, thus terraces and balconies have the potential to be retrofitted with suitable greenery.

Physical data of soil profiles formed on late Quaternary marine terraces near Santa Cruz, California

Science.gov (United States)

Munster, Jennie; Harden, Jennifer W.

2002-01-01

The marine terraces in and around Santa Cruz, California, represent a set of well-preserved terraces formed as a product of geology, sea level, and climate. A marine terrace begins as a wave cut platform. Eustatic sea level changes, seacliff erosion, and tectonic uplift work together to generate marine terraces. "When a wave-cut platform is raised (due to tectonic activity) above sea level and cliffed by wave action it becomes a marine terrace" (Bradley, 1957, p. 424). During glacial periods, eustatic sea level is estimated to have dropped by 150 meters (Fairbanks, 1989). Cliff retreat measured from aerial photographs between 1930 and 1980 vary from 0.0 to 0.2 m yr–1 (Best and Griggs, 1991). Estimates of uplift rates along the Santa Cruz coastline vary from 0.10 to 0.48 m kyr–1 (Bradley and Griggs, 1976; Weber and others, 1999). Uplift mechanisms include coseismic uplift associated both with a reverse component of slip on the steeply SW dipping Loma Prieta fault in the restraining bend of the San Andreas Fault and a small component of reverse slip on the steeply SE dipping San Gregorio fault (Anderson and Menking 1994). Previous work studying physical properties on these terraces include Pinney and others (in press) and Aniku (1986) and Bowman and Estrada (1980). Sedimentary deposits of the marine terraces are a mixture of terrestrial and marine sediments but generally consist of a sheet of marine deposits overlying the old platform and a wedge of nonmarine deposits banked against the old sea cliff (Bradley, 1957). Bedrock underlying the terraces in the Santa Cruz area is generally either Santa Margarita Sandstone or Santa Cruz Mudstone. The Santa Margarita Sandstone represents an upper Miocene, transgressive, tidally dominated marine-shelf deposit with crossbedded sets of sand and gravel and horizontally stratified and bioturbated invertebrate-fossils beds (Phillips, 1990). The siliceous Santa Cruz Mudstone, of late Miocene age, conformably overlies the Santa

Prevention of Child Abandonment

OpenAIRE

Gaia, A.

2011-01-01

The aim of this work is to analyze the determinants of child abandonment in the city of Bra ov. The research is based on a new dataset collected on the field on mothers and pregnant women at risk of abandoning their child.

A geomorphic and tectonic model for the formation of the flight of Holocene marine terraces at Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Berryman, Kelvin; Clark, Kate; Cochran, Ursula; Beu, Alan; Irwin, Sarah

2018-04-01

At Table Cape, Mahia Peninsula, North Island, New Zealand, four marine terraces have been uplifted coseismically during the past 3500 years. Detailed facies assessment of the terrace coverbed sequence coupled with identification of modern analogues on the active shore platform were used to infer the process of marine terrace formation and to estimate the timing and amount of past uplift events (earthquakes). The modern platform can be subdivided into seven depositional zones: subtidal, outer platform, intertidal sand pockets, inner platform, high-tide, mid-storm, and storm beach. Terrace coverbeds were characterised from two trenches excavated across the full width of the uplifted terrace sequence. Off-lapping packages of high tidal, mid-storm, and storm beach sediments were most common. Outer platform sediments occurred only rarely near the base of some uplifted shore platforms. Overlying the marine sediments were near-horizontal terrestrial deposits of airfall tephra (on the two highest terraces), subsoil, topsoil, rare wedges of colluvial sediment (slopewash) shed from terrace risers, and an anomalous deposit possibly emplaced by a tsunami. Fifty-one radiocarbon ages, obtained from molluscs in the marine coverbeds, showed a general pattern of seaward-younging across the coastal plain and across each terrace and a less pronounced pattern of decreasing age upward in each coverbed sequence. The distinctive stepped geomorphology of the terraces, the facies and age structure of the terrace deposits and historical earthquake causation of similar terraces elsewhere in New Zealand provided the data to invoke an earthquake-driven model for terrace formation. Marine terrace development following an uplift event involved rapid cutting of a new intertidal shore platform and generally regressive deposition of high-tide to storm beach deposits. Following further uplift, the platform became a geomorphic terrace (above marine influence) and was then mantled by terrestrial

Vertical slip rates of active faults of southern Albania inferred from river terraces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oswaldo Guzmán

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Fluvial terraces of Shkumbin, Devoll, Osum and Vjosa rivers (southern Albania and northwestern Greece are studied in order to quantify the vertical slip rates of the large active faults of the Dinaric-Albanic-Hellenic Alpine fold belt. The spatial and temporal variations of the incision rates along these rivers were estimated from the geomorphological mapping of the Quaternary sediments, the geometry and the dating of the terraces. Eleven terraces levels were identified in Albania from 68 geochronological ages already published or acquired for this work. The five lower terraces of the four studied rivers are well dated (10 new and 23 already published ages. These terraces are younger than 30 ka and their remnants are numerous. Their restoration allows estimating the regional trend of incision rate and the identification of local shifts. We argue that these shifts are linked to the active tectonics when they coincide with the faults already mapped by previous authors. Vertical slip rates for eight active faults in southern Albania are thus estimated for the last 19 ka and vary from ~0.1 to ~2 mm/a. The Lushnje Tepelene Thrust, that extends more than 120 kilometers, has a throw rate that varies from 0.2 to 0.8 mm/a, whereas the active faults of the extensional domain are segmented but are very active, with throw rates reaching locally 2 mm/a.

Sea-level standstill and dominant hermatypic coral from the holocene raised reef terraces at the Kikai Island, Ryukyu Islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hongo, Chuki

2010-01-01

Coral reef terraces are one of the best recorders of biological response to environmental change events (e.g., sea-level changes). Kikai Island provides a rare opportunity to show biological and ecological frameworks (e.g., competition, coexistence, and succession) during a recent geological period. The island is fringed by raised Holocene raised reef terraces, which formed as a result of periodic tectonic uplifts. This study aims to characterize the spatial and temporal changes of corals at this island during the Holocene. The analysis is based on topographical and biological data obtained for the three sites (Shidooke, Kadon, and Nakugama reefs). Three raised reef terraces (Terrace II, III, and IV) grew from 7300 to 4500 years ago (during 2800 years), from 4500 to 2900 years ago (during 1600 years), and from 2900 to 1800 years ago (during 1100 years), respectively. Terrace II and III were uplifted 1-2 m around 4500 years ago and around 2900 years ago. Terrace IV was uplifted 1-2 m around 1800 years ago. The modern reef has been composed of corals for 1800 years. Sixteen coral genera and 53 species were recorded from the reef terraces. Terrace III and IV were dominated by four coral species (A. digitifera, A. robusta, G. retiformis, and F. stelligera), but Terrace II was predominantly composed of A. digitifera and A. robusta. These biological and ecological variations between the terraces represent a growth strategy responding to differences of reef growth time and/or insolation. (author)

Fluvial terrace dating using in situ cosmogenic {sup 21}Ne

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sexton, E. [Univ. of Illinois, Chicago, IL (United States); Caffee, M. [Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)

1994-12-01

Through the analysis of cosmic-ray produced radio-genic and stable nuclide concentrations, specifically {sup 21}Ne, we hope to date certain geomorphic features located along the tributaries of the Colorado River in the Eastern Grand Canyon and the Rainbow Plateau located in Utah. During the Quaternary, the Colorado River system was fed by glacial melting and run-off from the Wind River and Colorado Mountain Ranges. Past periods of aggradation allowed the emplacement of terrace features from debris flow activity. By dating such features we can further constrain the timing of key events such as river down cutting, terrace genesis/exposure age, and rates of surface erosion. Knowing the age and elevation of each terrace we can determine an average rate of down cutting of this river system. This, in turn, will offer information regarding alpine glaciation which is a sensitive indicator of global climate change. Studying the relative concentrations of these isotopic species in surface rocks can be useful in researching glacial periodicity and the relationship between solar activity and climate.

A landscape character assessment of three terraced areas in Campania region, Italy

Science.gov (United States)

Gravagnuolo, Antonia; Ronza, Maria; Di Martino, Ferdinando; De Rosa, Fortuna

2017-04-01

Agricultural terraces represent the territorial structure of many cultural landscapes in the Campania region, Italy. Historic urban/rural settlements and hydraulic-agrarian systems have been developed on mountains and hills, producing diverse cultural landscapes depending on the specific geological, pedological and geomorphological characteristics, which influenced the character and functions of terraces. These unique landscapes are multi-functional and provide many ecosystem services: provisioning (food, water retention, building materials); regulating and maintenance (hydrogeological stability, soil fertility, protection from soil erosion, maintenance of genetic diversity, habitat); cultural services (heritage and traditional knowledge conservation, tourism and recreation, spiritual experience, education, aesthetic quality). Three terraced landscapes in Campania are analysed, which present a rich diversity in the geological structure and formal/functional characteristics: the Roccamonfina vulcanic area, a highly fertile and lapillous soil; the Monte di Bulgheria, a clay-rich area; and finally the well-known UNESCO World Heritage site of the Amalfi Coast, a calcareous, steep rock faced area. A landscape character assessment of the three sites is processed, identifying the biophysical structure of the sites, natural systems and land use, and cultural and anthropic elements. Terraced landscapes in Campania can be regenerated, taking again an active social and economic role for the society, enhancing their multifunctionality as a key source of wellbeing. Ecosystem services are mapped and evaluated to assess benefits and costs in a multidimensional framework. Spatial analysis in GIS environment supports this process, providing a decision-support tool for mapping and assessment of terraced landscapes, to convert their actual and potential value into a resource of economic sustainable development.

Spatial patterns of 137Cs inventories and soil erosion from earth-banked terraces in the Yimeng Mountains, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Yunqi; Long, Yi; An, Juan; Yu, Xingxiu; Wang, Xiaoli

2014-01-01

The Yimeng Mountains is one of China's most susceptible regions to soil erosion. In this region, slopes are composed of granite- or gneiss-derived soils that are commonly cultivated using earth-banked terraces. Based on the 137 Cs measurement for nine reference cores, the present study analysed the spatial patterns of 137 Cs inventory and soil erosion using 105 sampling points in a seven-level earth-banked terrace system. The mean 137 Cs inventory, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and allowable error for the nine reference cores were 987 Bq m −2 , 71 Bq m −2 , 7%, and 6%, respectively, values that may reflect the heterogeneity of the initial 137 Cs fallout deposit. Within each terrace, the 137 Cs inventory generally increases from the rear edge to the front edge, accompanied by a decrease in the erosion rate. This results from planation by tillage and rainfall runoff during the development of the earth-banked terraces. Across the entire seven-level terrace system, 137 Cs inventories decrease from the highest terrace downwards, but increase in the lower terraces, whereas erosion rate displays the opposite trend. These trends are the result of the combined effects of the earth-bank segmented hillslope, the limited protection of the earth banks, and rainfall runoff in combination with tillage. The high coefficients of variation of 137 Cs inventories for the 21 sampling rows, with a mean value of 44%, demonstrate the combined effects of variations in original microtopography, anthropogenic disturbance, the incohesive soils weathered from underlying granite, and the warm climate. Although earth-banked terraces can reduce soil erosion to some extent, the estimated erosion rates for the study area are still very high. - Highlights: • Earth-banked terraces are widely distributed in the Chinese Yimeng Mountains. • Spatial patterns of 137 Cs and erosion reflect terrace development processes. • Earth-banked terraces may limit soil erosion but rates

Phenotype diversity analysis of red-grained rice landraces from Yuanyang Hani's terraced fields, China

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Lianjie; Cheng, Long

2017-10-01

There are many areas in the world have terraced fields, Yuanyang Rani's terraced fields are examples in the world, and their unique ecological diversity is beyond other terraced fields, rice landraces are very rich. In order to provide useful information for protection and utilization of red-grained rice landraces from Rani's terraced fields, 61 red-grained rice landraces were assessed based 20 quantitative traits. Principal component analysis (PCA) suggested that 20 quantitative characters could be simplified to seven principal components, and their accumulative contribution ration amounted to 78.699%. The first principal component (PC1) explained 18.375% of the total variance, which was contributed by filled grain number, 1000-grain weight, spikelets per panicle, secondary branch number, grain length, and grain thickness. PC2 accounted for 16.548% of the variance and featured flag leaf width, flag leaf area, panicle neck length and primary branch number. These traits were the most effective parameters to discriminate individuals. At the request of the proceedings editor and with the approval of all authors, article 040111 titled, "Phenotype diversity analysis of red-grained rice landraces from Yuanyang Hani's terraced fields, China," is being retracted from the public record due to the fact that it is a duplication of article 040110 published in the same volume.

Clay Mineralogy of Basaltic Hillsides Soils in the Western State of Santa Catarina

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Antonio de Almeida

2018-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT A commonly accepted concept holds that highly fertile, shallow soils are predominant in the Basaltic Hillsides of Santa Catarina State, in southern Brazil, but their agricultural use is restricted, either by excessive stoniness, low effective depth or steep slopes. Information about soil properties and distribution along the slopes in this region is, however, scarce, especially regarding genesis and clay fraction mineralogy. The objective of this study was to evaluate soil properties of 12 profiles distributed in three toposequences (T of the Basaltic Hillsides in the State of Santa Catarina, two located in the valley of the Peixe River (Luzerna - T1 and Ipira - T2 and one in Descanso, in the far West of the state (T3. The main focus was the mineralogical composition of the clay fraction, identified by X-ray diffractometry (XRD, and its relations with the soil chemical properties. The morphological, chemical, and mineralogical properties of the soils of the toposequences differed from each other. In most soils, the position of the most intense XRD reflections indicated predominance of kaolinite (K however, for being broad and asymmetric, a participation of interstratified kaolinite-smectite (K-S was assumed. Soils of T2 and T3, located in regions with higher temperatures, lower water surplus, and lower altitude than those of T1, were more fertile, mostly redder, and contained higher proportions of smectites (S and interstratified K-S mineral, accounting for a higher activity of the clay fraction of most soils. The T1 soils were generally less fertile, with lower clay activity and, aside from kaolinite, contained smectites with interlayered hydroxy-Al polymers (HIS. The low estimated smectite contents of the most fertile soils of all toposequences disagree with the high values of cation exchange capacity (CEC and clay activity related to pure kaolinite soils. The broad and asymmetric reflections of most of the supposed kaolinites

[Anti-erosion effect of hedgerows in hillside croplands of Danjiangkou based on the evaluation with water erosion prediction project (WEPP) model].

Science.gov (United States)

Xiong, Qin-xue; Liu, Zhang-yong; Yao, Gui-zhi; Li, Ben-zhou

2010-09-01

Based on the data of field experiments on the hillside croplands of Danjiangkou, Hubei Province of China, the input files of crop characters, management measures, slope gradient and length, and soil properties for running WEPP model (Hillslope version) were established. Combining with the local weather data, a simulation study with the model was made on the runoff and soil loss of the croplands protected by four kinds of hedgerows (Amorpha fruticosa, Lonicera japonica, Hemerocallis fulva, and Poa sphondylodes) in Danjiangkou area. The resulted showed that WEPP model could accurately simulate the anti-erosion effect of hedgerows in hillside farmlands in the study area. Using this model not only reduced test number, but also saved time and effort, being able to provide scientific basis for the popularization and application of hedgerows. Among the four hedgerows, Amorpha fruticosa had the best anti-erosion effect. According to the simulation, the optimal planting density of A. fruticosa hedgerows in the farmlands was 1 m x 15 m at slope gradient 5 degrees, 1 m x 10 m at slope gradient 15 degrees, and 1 m x 3 m at slope gradient 25 degrees.

Care of the abandoned child.

Science.gov (United States)

Raghunath, M

1991-01-01

Care of abandoned children in India is discussed in terms of reasons for abandonment, the physical condition of the children, and legal categories. The options available currently are the cottage system, sponsorship programs, foster care, or adoption. Child-care and rehabilitation that may be necessary is specified as is the importance of maintaining records. The gaps in child-care are exposed. The role of nongovernmental organization (NGOs) and new legislation in closing the gaps is presented. Abandonment is usually a direct result of poverty, but it can also be caused by mental or physical handicaps or illegitimacy. The numbers of abandoned children may reach 2 million. 40-60% of abandoned infants die during monsoons and summers. The legal categories are privately abandoned, children on remand, or court-committed children. The cottage system emphasizes deinstitutionalization, but there remains a great demand for care. Sponsorship aims to strengthen the family unit to prevent abandonment. Foster care provides an alternative family substitute, but is known only theoretically. Childcare may involve instant hospitalization, care is an institution, or foster care with a suitable family. Nursery care requires discipline in hygiene, sanitation, maintenance of individual medical records, and a general cheerful atmosphere. Records are important for the child in later life and for adoption. Rehabilitation is a sociolegal process which must be done properly or it can jeopardize a child's future security. Despite the Supreme Court guidelines of 1984, there is no uniform system of adoption practices, and the child's interests are overlooked when adoptions are promoted. NGOs play an important role in making social welfare programs work. However their efforts are of limited help without government support and legislation. There is a lack of proper legislation which is outside the control of political and religious interests; e.g., Hindu law only permits adoption of one child of

Ocean abandonment of radioactive waste. 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kouyama, Hiroaki

1994-01-01

Now, the nuclear powered submarines armed with ballistic missiles have become the main strength of navy. In Russia, eight nuclear powered icebreakers are operated. Mainly PWRs are used for these nuclear ships. The fuel exchange for nuclear powered submarines is carried out after the use for nearly ten years, therefore, the degree of enrichment of U-235 in fuel seems considerably high. So far, the sinking accidents of five nuclear powered submarines were reported. Former USSR began the ocean abandonment of radioactive waste in 1959, and continued it up to recent date. The northern sea area where the abandonment was carried out and the abandoned amount of radioactivity are shown. Also those in Far East sea area are shown. The management system for radioactive waste in Russia, the course after the abandonment of liquid waste in Japan Sea by Russian navy, the response of Japan regarding the ocean abandonment of radioactive waste and so on are described. (K.I.)

Brownian Motion of 2D Vacancy Islands by Adatom Terrace Diffusion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morgenstern, Karina; Laegsgaard, Erik; Besenbacher, Flemming

2001-01-01

We have studied the Brownian motion of two-dimensional (2D) vacancy islands on Ag(110) at temperatures between 175 and 215K. While the detachment of adatoms from the island and their diffusion on the terrace are permitted in this temperature range, the periphery diffusion of single adatoms is prohibited. The present scanning tunneling microscopy results provide the first direct experimental proof that the Brownian motion of the islands follows a simple scaling law with terrace diffusion being the rate limiting process. The activation energy of the vacancy island motion is determined to 0.41eV

30 CFR 57.4011 - Abandoned electric circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Abandoned electric circuits. 57.4011 Section 57.4011 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL... and Control § 57.4011 Abandoned electric circuits. Abandoned electric circuits shall be deenergized...

30 CFR 77.215-4 - Refuse piles; abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Refuse piles; abandonment. 77.215-4 Section 77... MINES Surface Installations § 77.215-4 Refuse piles; abandonment. When a refuse pile is to be abandoned... refuse pile shall be abandoned in accordance with a plan submitted by the operator and approved by the...

The evolution of crop cultivation and paleoenvironment in the Longji Terraces, southern China: Organic geochemical evidence from paleosols.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yongjian; Li, Shijie; Chen, Wei; Cai, Desuo; Liu, Yan

2017-11-01

The Longji ancient agricultural terraces in the Longji Mountain area (Guilin, southern China), which still remain in use, are famous for their magnificent terraced landscape with a mix of ecosystem and human inhabitation. Previous research has revealed the genesis and preliminary paleoenvironmental record of the agricultural terraces, but little is known about variations in crop cultivation over time. In this study, organic geochemical analyses and radiocarbon dating of an aggradational cultivated soil from a terrace profile were used to explore crop type variation and relevant paleoenvironmental change during the period of cultivation on the Longji Terraces. Hydroponic farming with rice (C 3 ) planting has been the dominant cultivation mode since the initial construction of the terraces. Warm-dry climate contributed to the growth of drought-tolerant crop (C 4 ) cultivation in the late 15th century. Temperature deterioration during the Little Ice Age had a negative impact on dry and hydroponic farming activities from the late 15th century to the late 19th century, while climate warming after the Little Ice Age promoted the redevelopment of hydroponic farming. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

History of the great Kanto earthquakes inferred from the ages of Holocene marine terraces revealed by a comprehensive drilling survey

Science.gov (United States)

Komori, Junki; Shishikura, Masanobu; Ando, Ryosuke; Yokoyama, Yusuke; Miyairi, Yosuke

2017-08-01

We measured the emergence ages of four marine terraces in the Chikura lowland, which lies to the southeast of the Boso Peninsula, in eastern Japan, to reevaluate the history of the great earthquake occurrences along the Sagami Trough over the past 10,000 years. The dates of the marine terraces are measured via radiocarbon dating of shell fossils obtained from the marine deposits. The sampling method employed in this study collects core samples using a dense and systematic drilling survey, which increased the reliability when correlating shell fossils with marine terraces. In addition, radiocarbon dating was performed with accelerator mass spectrometry, which produces more highly accurate measurements than those measured in previous studies. Moreover, we explored the surface profiles of the terraces with detailed digital elevation model (DEM) data obtained using LiDAR. The maximum emergence ages of the marine terraces were dated at 6300 cal yBP, 3000 cal yBP, and 2200 cal yBP from the top terrace excepting the lowest terrace (which was estimated at AD1703). In addition, another previously unrecognized terrace was detected between the highest and the second terrace in both the dating and the geomorphological analyses and was dated at 5800 cal yBP. The newly obtained ages are nearly a thousand of years younger than previously estimated ages; consequently, the intervals of the great earthquakes that occurred along the Sagami Trough are estimated to be much shorter and more varied than those of previous estimations. This result revises the data used in the current assessment of the probabilities of earthquakes along the Sagami Trough, which could devastate the Tokyo metropolitan area. Furthermore, it demonstrates that the current approach could be a powerful tool to increase the accuracy of assessments of the other areas with depositional marine terraces.

Processes of Terrace Formation on the Piedmont of the Santa Cruz River Valley During Quaternary Time, Green Valley-Tubac Area, Southeastern Arizona

Science.gov (United States)

Lindsey, David A.; Van Gosen, Bradley S.

2010-01-01

In this report we describe a series of stepped Quaternary terraces on some piedmont tributaries of the Santa Cruz River valley in southeastern Arizona. These terraces began to form in early Pleistocene time, after major basin-and-range faulting ceased, with lateral planation of basin fill and deposition of thin fans of alluvium. At the end of this cycle of erosion and deposition, tributaries of the Santa Cruz River began the process of dissection and terrace formation that continues to the present. Vertical cutting alternated with periods of equilibrium, during which streams cut laterally and left thin deposits of channel fill. The distribution of terraces was mapped and compiled with adjacent mapping to produce a regional picture of piedmont stream history in the middle part of the Santa Cruz River valley. For selected tributaries, the thickness of terrace fill was measured, particle size and lithology of gravel were determined, and sedimentary features were photographed and described. Mapping of terrace stratigraphy revealed that on two tributaries, Madera Canyon Wash and Montosa Canyon Wash, stream piracy has played an important role in piedmont landscape development. On two other tributaries, Cottonwood Canyon Wash and Josephine Canyon Wash, rapid downcutting preempted piracy. Two types of terraces are recognized: erosional and depositional. Gravel in thin erosional terraces has Trask sorting coefficients and sedimentary structures typical of streamflood deposits, replete with bar-and-swale surface topography on young terraces. Erosional-terrace fill represents the channel fill of the stream that cuts the terrace; the thickness of the fill indicates the depth of channel scour. In contrast to erosional terraces, depositional terraces show evidence of repeated deposition and net aggradation, as indicated by their thickness (as much as 20+ m) and weakly bedded structure. Depositional terraces are common below mountain-front canyon mouths where streams drop their

A Review of Heat Transfer in Terraced Houses of Tropical Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azzmi Norazura Mizal

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Heat is the process of energy circulation and replacement of air from hot to cold. In tropical climates, more heat is received because of the location of Malaysia of the equatorial line. Excessive heat in buildings causes discomfort to the occupants in tropical climate. Tropical rainforest climate receives higher solar radiation and terrestrial radiation reaching the building envelopes contributes to this problem. The design of the building should be more concern on reducing this heat. This paper provides a review of heat contribution in a terraced house indoor environment for tropical climate. A good comfortable home is part of the sustainable development agenda to improve the quality of life. Terraced houses are the most living quarters in mass living scheme for urban areas. The incoming solar energy from the sun into the building surface cannot be changed, therefore a consideration of passive building design need to be applied in terraced house design. Data collection gathered from this literature survey will assist to identify problems of discomfort occupant. This strategy would assist in improving the building industry in promoting sustainable development in Malaysia.

Spatial patterns of (137)Cs inventories and soil erosion from earth-banked terraces in the Yimeng Mountains, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yunqi; Long, Yi; An, Juan; Yu, Xingxiu; Wang, Xiaoli

2014-10-01

The Yimeng Mountains is one of China's most susceptible regions to soil erosion. In this region, slopes are composed of granite- or gneiss-derived soils that are commonly cultivated using earth-banked terraces. Based on the (137)Cs measurement for nine reference cores, the present study analysed the spatial patterns of (137)Cs inventory and soil erosion using 105 sampling points in a seven-level earth-banked terrace system. The mean (137)Cs inventory, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, and allowable error for the nine reference cores were 987 Bq m(-2), 71 Bq m(-2), 7%, and 6%, respectively, values that may reflect the heterogeneity of the initial (137)Cs fallout deposit. Within each terrace, the (137)Cs inventory generally increases from the rear edge to the front edge, accompanied by a decrease in the erosion rate. This results from planation by tillage and rainfall runoff during the development of the earth-banked terraces. Across the entire seven-level terrace system, (137)Cs inventories decrease from the highest terrace downwards, but increase in the lower terraces, whereas erosion rate displays the opposite trend. These trends are the result of the combined effects of the earth-bank segmented hillslope, the limited protection of the earth banks, and rainfall runoff in combination with tillage. The high coefficients of variation of (137)Cs inventories for the 21 sampling rows, with a mean value of 44%, demonstrate the combined effects of variations in original microtopography, anthropogenic disturbance, the incohesive soils weathered from underlying granite, and the warm climate. Although earth-banked terraces can reduce soil erosion to some extent, the estimated erosion rates for the study area are still very high. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extraction of Terraces on the Loess Plateau from High-Resolution DEMs and Imagery Utilizing Object-Based Image Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hanqing Zhao

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Terraces are typical artificial landforms on the Loess Plateau, with ecological functions in water and soil conservation, agricultural production, and biodiversity. Recording the spatial distribution of terraces is the basis of monitoring their extent and understanding their ecological effects. The current terrace extraction method mainly relies on high-resolution imagery, but its accuracy is limited due to vegetation coverage distorting the features of terraces in imagery. High-resolution topographic data reflecting the morphology of true terrace surfaces are needed. Terraces extraction on the Loess Plateau is challenging because of the complex terrain and diverse vegetation after the implementation of “vegetation recovery”. This study presents an automatic method of extracting terraces based on 1 m resolution digital elevation models (DEMs and 0.3 m resolution Worldview-3 imagery as auxiliary information used for object-based image analysis (OBIA. A multi-resolution segmentation method was used where slope, positive and negative terrain index (PN, accumulative curvature slope (AC, and slope of slope (SOS were determined as input layers for image segmentation by correlation analysis and Sheffield entropy method. The main classification features based on DEMs were chosen from the terrain features derived from terrain factors and texture features by gray-level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM analysis; subsequently, these features were determined by the importance analysis on classification and regression tree (CART analysis. Extraction rules based on DEMs were generated from the classification features with a total classification accuracy of 89.96%. The red band and near-infrared band of images were used to exclude construction land, which is easily confused with small-size terraces. As a result, the total classification accuracy was increased to 94%. The proposed method ensures comprehensive consideration of terrain, texture, shape, and

THE INFLUENCE OF PRIVACY REGULATION ON URBAN MALAY FAMILIES LIVING IN TERRACE HOUSING

OpenAIRE

Ahmad Hariza Hashim; Zaiton Abdul Rahim

2008-01-01

This paper reports on behavioral norms and territoriality as part of behavioral and environmental mechanisms used to regulate privacy among urban Malay families living in terrace housing. In-depth interview was employed involving 11 case studies of Malay families living in three-bedroom two-storey terrace housings in the urban areas. Findings indicate that while most of the behavioral norms employed to regulate privacy are consistent with Malay cultural norms and religious belief, there are a...

Chronology of fluvial terrace sequences for large Atlantic rivers in the Iberian Peninsula (Upper Tagus and Duero drainage basins, Central Spain)

Science.gov (United States)

Silva, Pablo G.; Roquero, Elvira; López-Recio, Mario; Huerta, Pedro; Martínez-Graña, Antonio M.

2017-06-01

This work analyses the chronology of fluvial terrace sequences of the two most important fluvial basins from central Spain draining to the Atlantic Ocean (Upper Tagus and Duero drainage basins). Both basins evolved under similar Mediterranean climatic conditions throughout the Pleistocene and present comparable number of fluvial terraces (16-17) after excluding the higher terrace levels of the Tagus (T1-T5) entrenched in the Raña surface. These higher ;rañizo terraces; was formed in response to fan-head trenching in this high alluvial piedmont (+220 m) and therefore not properly controlled by Quaternary fluvial downcutting. The study accomplishes the implementation of multiple regression analyses for terrace height-age relationships. To transform relative terrace heights above the present river thalwegs (i.e. +100 m) in numerical ages a ;height-age transference function; has been developed on the basis of preliminary statistical geochronological approaches proposed for Central Spain. The resultant height-age transference function gather 73 published geochronological data for terrace sequences, featuring a 3rd Order Polynomial Function (R2 0.90). This function describes the overall trend of valley downcutting for the last c. 2.3 Ma in Central Spain and is used to assign numerical ages to terrace levels at different relative elevation.

Getting cold feet?: Why health care mergers are abandoned.

Science.gov (United States)

Roos, Anne-Fleur; Postma, Jeroen

2016-01-01

Despite the frequent occurrence and sizeable consequences of merger abandonment in other sectors, there is no thorough understanding of merger abandonment in health care. The purpose of this study is to improve the understanding of determinants of health care merger abandonment. On the basis of the literature on merger abandonment, we formulated a framework on potential determinants of health care merger abandonment. We then constructed a survey that was sent to 70% of all executives of Dutch health care organizations (response rate = 35%, n = 291). We provide descriptive overviews of open, multiple-response, and multiple-choice questions on merger abandonment and use chi-square tests and Fisher's exact tests to test whether abandoned and completed merger processes differ. About 62% of the respondents were involved in at least one merger process during the period of 2005-2012. Thirty-eight percent of these respondents reported that their last merger case ended prematurely (n = 53). The most frequently mentioned determinants of merger abandonment are changing insights on the desirability and feasibility during merger processes, incompatibilities between executives, and insufficient support for the merger from internal stakeholders. We did not find significant relationships between merger abandonment and executives' previous merger experience, degree of organizational diversification, health care sector, size differences, or other organizational differences. Our findings partially confirm results from previous studies, especially with regard to the importance of changing insights and incompatibilities between the involved executives in merger abandonment. We also find that pressure from internal stakeholders, particularly nonexecutive directors, and distrust, fear, and animosity play an important role in merger abandonment. To minimize the organizational and societal costs of abandoned mergers, we advise executives who engage in mergers to construct backup plans with

Assessing the Reliability of Land-Use Data in Slovenia: A Case Study of Terraced Landscapes

Science.gov (United States)

Ažman Momirski, Lucija

2017-10-01

Land use relates to the exploitation of land through human activity in the landscape. Land use is also one of the best indicators of a landscape’s structure and processes. Land cover comprises manmade surfaces, agricultural areas, forest and semi-natural areas, wetlands, and bodies of water. In Slovenia more than half of the land (63%) is forested. Manmade surfaces represent less than 5%. A large proportion of relatively inaccessible forest is the main reason why society had a less critical impact on forests in the past in Slovenia in comparison to the majority of central European countries. Regarding the high-quality landscape in the country, Slovenia’s natural features are characterized by a mix of forest and farmland. These land categories (i.e., complex cultivation patterns and land principally used for agriculture with significant areas of natural vegetation) cover 23% of Slovenia. Land-use data for farmland are gathered and provided to the relevant institutions by landowners, who are not specialists in land-use data. In addition, land use is only a two-dimensional tool, which does not recognize elevation differences and terraced slopes. Terraced areas are either omitted from the inventory of land-use data because landowners do not report them, or they are included in the inventory because landowners do not realize that their land is not terraced. Consequently, the differences between the official data on vineyards, orchards, and olive groves on terraces and actual terraced slopes with such land use may differ significantly.

A 30000 yr record of erosion rates from cosmogenic 10Be in middle European river terraces

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schaller, M.; Blanckenburg, von F.; Veldkamp, A.; Tebbens, L.A.; Hovius, N.; Kubik, P.W.

2002-01-01

Cosmogenic 10Be in river-borne quartz sand records a time-integrated erosion rate representative of an entire drainage basin. When sequestered in a terrace of known age, paleo-erosion rates may be recovered from the nuclide content of the terrace material. Paleo-erosion rates between 30 and 80

Terrace system of the middle and lower Sázava River

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Balatka, B.; Štěpančíková, Petra

2006-01-01

Roč. 6, č. 1 (2006), s. 69-81 ISSN 1335-9541 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z30460519 Keywords : fluvial terrace system * geomorphological evolution * Sázava River Subject RIV: DB - Geology ; Mineralogy

The rail abandonment process: A southern perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-12-01

One factor in evaluating the desirability of rail transport for high-level radioactive wastes or spent fuels is the frequency, or lack thereof, with which railroad and railroad lines have been, and are, abandoned. If DOE makes a decision to use the rail option and a line is subsequently abandoned, the choice results in increased cost, time delays and possibly safety problems: Information is therefore needed prior to the decision-making process to evaluate the desirability of the rail shipping option. One result of the abandonments mentioned herein, as well as other later abandonments, is the creation of a US rail system undergoing an evolutionary process in the 1980s as far-reaching as the changes that occurred when the industry was in its infancy a century and-a-half ago. The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors leading to some of these changes by tracing the historical development of the rail abandonment process, with particular emphasis on the rise of regional railroads, their problems in the modern era and current trends in rail abandonments as well as their effects on the southeastern United States

Transformation on Abandonment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krag, Mo Michelsen Stochholm

2016-01-01

This paper outlines a research project on the increasing quantity of abandoned houses in the depopulating rural villages, and it reports on how an attempt is made to establish a counter-practice of radical preservation based on a series of full-scale transformations of abandoned buildings. The aim...... of the transformations is to reveal and preserve material and immaterial values such as aspects of cultural heritage, local narratives, and building density. The responses of local people are used as a feedback mechanism and considered an important impact indicator. Eleven transformations of varying strategies have...... houses. Transformation prototypes are tested as present manifestations in rural villages as an alternative way to preserve buildings as well as memories....

Conceptual Design of Fertilizer Applicator for Oil Palm on Terrace Cultivation

Science.gov (United States)

Hermawan, W.

2018-05-01

The mechanical application of fertilizer for oil palm planted on terraces is still constrained by the narrow path which is difficult to pass by a power spreader. The objective of this research was to develop a conceptual design of fertilizer applicator for oil palm planted on terraces. The design requirements were developed based on a) terrace and track conditions, b) fertilizers and fertilization conditions, c) available prime movers, and d) user needs. Five design concepts were obtained: 1) an applicator with left and right arms to distribute the fertilizer, 2) an all-terrain vehicle equipped with a manually operated fertilizer injector, 3) an applicator equipped with a hole digger, 4) an applicator equipped with a shovel, and 5) an applicator equipped with a rotary tiller. The concepts were evaluated and compared with the current power spreader. The evaluation results showed that the applicator equipped with a rotary tiller had the most advantages on the expected criteria. The final design concept uses a 110 cm wide mini crawler tractor as the prime mover and is equipped with a hopper and a spinner disk for metering and conveying the fertilizer, and a 20 cm wide rotary tiller in the front of the machine.

Trade-offs of European agricultural abandonment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zanden, Emma H.; Verburg, Peter H.; Schulp, Catharina J E; Verkerk, Pieter Johannes

2017-01-01

Agricultural land abandonment is a policy challenge, especially for areas with unfavorable conditions for agriculture and remote and mountainous areas. Agricultural abandonment is an important land use process in many world regions and one of the dominant land use change processes in Europe.

Single-grain and multi-grain OSL dating of river terrace sediments in the Tabernas Basin, SE Spain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Geach, M.R.; Thomsen, Kristina Jørkov; Buylaert, Jan-Pieter

2015-01-01

River terraces represent important records of landscape response to e.g. base-level change and tectonicmovement. Both these driving forces are important in the southern Iberian Peninsula. In this study,Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating was used to date two principal river terraces...

Effects of Weather Variability on Crop Abandonment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kelvin Mulungu

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In Zambia, every year some parts of the maize fields are abandoned post-planting. Reasons for this are not clearly known. In this paper, we examine the influence of soil and climatic factors on crop abandonment using a six-year (2007–2012 panel data by modeling the planted-to-harvested ratio (a good indicator of crop abandonment using a fractional and linear approach. Therefore, for the first time, our study appropriately (as supported by the model specification tests that favour fractional probit over linear models the fractional nature of crop abandonment. Regression results, which are not very different between the two specifications, indicate that, more than anything, high rainfall immediately after planting and inadequate fertilizer are the leading determinants of crop abandonment. In the agro-ecological region where dry planting takes place, low temperature during planting months negatively affects the harvested area. The results have implications on the sustainability of farming systems in the face of a changing climate.

Fingerprinting the main erosion processes delivering sediment to hillside reservoirs: Case of Kamech catchment in Cape Bon, Tunisia

Science.gov (United States)

Ben Slimane, A.; Raclot, D.; Evrard, O.; Sanaa, M.; Lefèvre, I.; Ahmadi, M.; Le Bissonnais, Y.

2011-12-01

About 74% of agricultural soils are affected by water erosion in Tunisia. This intense soil degradation threatens the sustainability of food production in the country. It also leads to the siltation of the numerous hillslide reservoirs that were constructed in the 1990s to protect downstream villages against floods and provide a source of water in cultivated areas. Very dense gully systems are observed in Tunisian agricultural land and in other Mediterranean regions, but their contribution to contemporary sediment supply to hillside reservoirs has not been quantified yet. Still, there is a need to quantify the sediment sources in this region in order to guide the implementation of erosion control measures. Sediment can be supplied by gully systems but it can also be provided by erosion of the superficial layer of cultivated soil. We propose a methodology to estimate the relative contribution of gully erosion vs. interrill erosion to the sediment accumulated in hillside reservoirs. This work was conducted in a pilot catchment (i.e., Kamech catchment, 263ha, Cape Bon, Tunisia) to define guidelines on the number and the location of sediment core samples to collect in the reservoirs, in order to provide relevant information on the evolution of sediment sources throughout the last two decades. Once validated, this methodology will be applied to other catchments of the Tunisian Ridge. We applied the sediment fingerprinting method, which consists in measuring conservative and stable properties in both sources and sinks of sediment to outline their origin. Sampling efforts were concentrated on the field surface (cropland and grassland), gullies and channel banks. Thirteen sediment cores were collected along an upstream-downstream transect across Kamech hillside reservoir, in order to estimate the contribution of each potential sediment source to the material accumulated at the outlet, and to investigate the potential spatial differences of sediment origin across the

32 CFR 644.494 - Donation, abandonment or destruction.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Donation, abandonment or destruction. 644.494 Section 644.494 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) REAL... Land) § 644.494 Donation, abandonment or destruction. (a) General. Improvements may be abandoned...

Who abandons embryos after IVF?

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Walsh, A P H

2010-04-01

This investigation describes features of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) patients who never returned to claim their embryos following cryopreservation. Frozen embryo data were reviewed to establish communication patterns between patient and clinic; embryos were considered abandoned when 1) an IVF patient with frozen embryo\\/s stored at our facility failed to make contact with our clinic for > 2 yrs and 2) the patient could not be located after a multi-modal outreach effort was undertaken. For these patients, telephone numbers had been disconnected and no forwarding address was available. Patient, spouse and emergency family contact\\/s all escaped detection efforts despite an exhaustive public database search including death records and Internet directory portals. From 3244 IVF cycles completed from 2000 to 2008, > or = 1 embryo was frozen in 1159 cases (35.7%). Those without correspondence for > 2 yrs accounted for 292 (25.2%) patients with frozen embryos; 281 were contacted by methods including registered (signature involving abandoned embryos did not differ substantially from other patients. The goal of having a baby was achieved by 10\\/11 patients either by spontaneous conception, adoption or IVF. One patient moved away with conception status unconfirmed. The overall rate of embryo abandonment was 11\\/1159 (< 1%) in this IVF population. Pre-IVF counselling minimises, but does not totally eliminate, the problem of abandoned embryos. As the number of abandoned embryos from IVF accumulates, their fate urgently requires clarification. We propose that clinicians develop a policy consistent with relevant Irish Constitutional provisions to address this medical dilemma.

37 CFR 2.66 - Revival of abandoned applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... Applicants § 2.66 Revival of abandoned applications. (a) The applicant may file a petition to revive an... for filing a petition to revive an application abandoned because the applicant did not timely respond... proposed response. (c) The requirements for filing a petition to revive an application abandoned because...

Middel Pleistocene to Holocene fluvial terrace development and uplift-driven valley incision in the SE Carpathians, Romania

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Necea, D.; Fielitz, W.; Andriessen, P.A.M.; Dinu, C.

2013-01-01

This study reveals that in the SE Carpathians terrace development and fluvial incision during the Middle Pleistocene-Holocene are predominantly controlled by tectonic uplift as shown by terrace distributions and uplift amounts and rates. The work focuses on a transect from the internal nappes and

Effect of Coffee Pulp Compost and Terrace on Erosion, Run off and Nutrients Loss from Coffee Plantation in Lahat Regency, South Sumatra

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Siti Masreah Bernas

2011-05-01

Full Text Available On some coffee plantations in Lahat Regency South Sumatra, in some places the farmers did not apply agricultural practices, such as tillage, conservation practices, and fertilizers. Many researches have been done to study about effects of organic fertilizer on soil nutrients content and plant growth as well as and the impacts of terrace on soil water content, run-off and erosion. However, there was less research in the highland area. Whereas the possibility of run off, erosion and nutrient leaching the high land area was high. Thus, it was important to apply terrace and organic coffee pulp in this farm. The aims of this research were to determine the effect of terrace and organic fertilizer on run off and soil erosion, nutrients loss and nutrient content in coffee leaves. Terrace system and organic fertilizer were applied on a one year old coffee plantation in Lahat Regency. Before the treatment applied, coffee pulp as organic fertilizer was decomposed in the chamber for about 2 months. The experiment was conducted in factorial in a Randomized Block Design with two factors. The first factor was coffee pulp compost (0, 3, and 6 Mg ha-1, and the second factor was type of terrace (without, individual, and bund terraces. The size of each plot was 2 m width and 10 m length. Data was analysed by using LSD (Least Significant Different test. The result shows that bund terrace reduced runoff and erosion significantly up to 79% (for run off water and 78% (for eroded soil compared to without terrace. Organic fertilizer did not affect run off and soil erosion. This may be caused by properties of coffee pulp compost which were fine particulates and the dosages of application were too low to cover soil suface. Bund terrace decreased significantly N, P, K nutrients in soil loss (sediment. The amount of N loss was reduced from 3.37 kg ha-1 per four months (without terrace to about 0.75 kg ha-1 per four months (bund terrace. Terrace and organic fertilizer did

Linking terrace geomorphology and canopy characteristics in the Peruvian Amazon using high resolution airborne remote sensing (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Chadwick, K.; Asner, G. P.

2013-12-01

The Peruvian Amazon is home to over half a million square kilometers of forest, nearly three quarters of which is supported by terrace landforms with variable histories. Characteristics of these terrace ecosystems have been contrasted with neighboring floodplain systems along riverine transportation corridors, but the ecological complexity within these terrace landscapes has remained largely unexplored. Airborne remote measurements provide an opportunity to consider the relationship between forest canopy characteristics and geomorphic gradients at high resolution over large spatial extents. In 2011 the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO) was used to map a large section of intact lowland humid tropical forest in the southwestern Peruvian Amazon, including over nine thousand hectares of terrace forest. The CAO collected high-fidelity imaging spectroscopy data with its Visible-Shortwave Imaging Spectrometer (VSWIR) and digital elevation and canopy structure data with its high-resolution dual waveform LiDAR. These data, supplemented with field data collection, were used to quantify relationships between forest canopy traits and geomorphic gradients. Results suggest that both spectral properties of the canopy with known relationships to canopy chemistry, including pigment and nutrient concentrations, and canopy structural traits, including vegetation height and leaf area, are associated with geomorphic characteristics of this terrace landscape.

River terrace development in the NE Mediterranean region (Syria and Turkey): Patterns in relation to crustal type

Science.gov (United States)

Bridgland, David R.; Demir, Tuncer; Seyrek, Ali; Daoud, Mohamad; Abou Romieh, Mohammad; Westaway, Rob

2017-06-01

It is widely recognized that the optimal development of river terraces globally has been in the temperate latitudes, with NW and Central Europe being areas of particular importance for the preservation of such archives of Quaternary environmental change. There is also a growing consensus that the principal drivers of terrace formation have been climatic fluctuation against a background of progressive (but variable) uplift. Nonetheless river terraces are widely preserved in the Mediterranean region, where they have often been attributed to the effects of neotectonic activity, with a continuing debate about the relative significance of fluctuating temperature (glacials-interglacials) and precipitation (pluvials-interpluvials). Research in Syria and southern-central Turkey (specifically in the valleys of the Tigris and Ceyhan in Turkey, the Kebir in Syria and the trans-border rivers Orontes and Euphrates) has underlined the importance of uplift rates in dictating the preservation pattern of fluvial archives and has revealed different patterns that can be related to crustal type. The NE Mediterranean coastal region has experienced unusually rapid uplift in the Late Quaternary. The relation between the Kebir terraces and the staircase of interglacial raised beaches preserved along the Mediterranean coastline of NW Syria reinforces previous conclusions that the emplacement of the fluvial terrace deposits in the Mediterranean has occurred during colder climatic episodes.

Porosity prediction from seismic inversion, Lavrans Field, Halten Terrace

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dolberg, David M.

1998-12-31

This presentation relates to porosity prediction from seismic inversion. The porosity prediction concerns the Lavrans Field of the Halten Terrace on the Norwegian continental shelf. The main themes discussed here cover seismic inversion, rock physics, statistical analysis - verification of well trends, upscaling/sculpting, and implementation. 2 refs., 6 figs.

Refurbishment and extension of the terrace of Restaurant No.1

CERN Multimedia

2009-01-01

Work to refurbish and extend part of the terrace of Restaurant No.1 started in the first week of October and should last about two months. This is just a small part of the wide-ranging site infrastructure consolidation programme that began in April 2009. The new terrace, covering a surface area of 1770 m2 (compared with 1650 m2 today), is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2010 and will run all the way around the Restaurant No.1 extension. Work on the latter will affect part of Building 501 during the period from April to October 2010. The new dining room will seat some 275 additional customers (see picture). Part of the Cedars car-park will remain closed until some time in December to provide site access for trucks transporting construction materials, plant, etc. CERN Bulletin

Shading Performance on Terraced House Facades in Putrajaya, Malaysia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassan Ahmad Sanusi

2015-01-01

Full Text Available This study evaluates shading performance on house facades of selected three terraced houses in Putrajaya, Malaysia as the case studies. Terraced house type is selected for the case study because it is the most popular house type built in this country to house an increase of the urban population. Its total number built in urban area increases from 27% of the total dwellings in 1980 to 40% in 1990, and to slightly more than 60 per cent in 2000. The Case Study A, B, and C are atypical style of terraced house facade designs built in Putrajaya. These postmodern designs exhibit a range of complex geometric elements blending of colonial and traditional elements with colorful styles on the house facade. In this study, the time at which the sun path perpendicular to the house facade will be used to gain the results of shading performances when the house facades have their maximum exposure to the direct sunlight. The house facade was divided into two main parts which are opaque and glazing surface elements. The amount of shading area on the opaque and glazing surface was simulated using the SunTool program. In conclusion, the Case Study C had the highest average percentage of the shading area, which is 64.43%, followed by the Case Study A 60.41% and Case Study B 56.29%. These results showed that the facade designs had excellent horizontal shading elements with roof overhangs for high angle sunlight but they had weak vertical shading elements due to a lack of considerations of louvered elements to block low angle sunlight.

Magnetic surveys for locating abandoned wells

Science.gov (United States)

,

1995-01-01

Abandoned and unrecorded wells may act as conduits for the contamination of groundwater supplies by oil field brines and other pollutants. The casings of abandoned wells eventually develop leaks, which, if not properly plugged, can allow pollutants to reach freshwater aquifers that supply drinking water. Sources of pollutants include brine ponds, landfill sites, agricultural activities, industrial activities, illegal disposal sites, or accidental spills. The problem is particularly acute in regions where there are old petroleum fields or where water wells have been extensively used for agricultural irrigation. Even urban areas can contain wells that were abandoned and concealed during development. Carefully designed ground magnetic or aeromagnetic surveys can be used to locate abandoned wells by mapping the magnetic disturbances or "anomalies" produced by their steel well casings. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) can, at the request of other Federal, State, or local agencies, conduct, process, and interpret such surveys, or it can aid in the design and monitoring of contracts for such surveys.

Methane dissociation on the steps and terraces of Pt(211) resolved by quantum state and impact site

Science.gov (United States)

Chadwick, Helen; Guo, Han; Gutiérrez-González, Ana; Menzel, Jan Paul; Jackson, Bret; Beck, Rainer D.

2018-01-01

Methane dissociation on the step and terrace sites of a Pt(211) single crystal was studied by reflection absorption infrared spectroscopy (RAIRS) at a surface temperature of 120 K. The C—H stretch RAIRS signal of the chemisorbed methyl product species was used to distinguish between adsorption on step and terrace sites allowing methyl uptake to be monitored as a function of incident kinetic energy for both sites. Our results indicate a direct dissociation mechanism on both sites with higher reactivity on steps than on terraces consistent with a difference in an activation barrier height of at least 30 kJ/mol. State-specific preparation of incident CH4 with one quantum of antisymmetric (ν3) stretch vibration further increases the CH4 reactivity enabling comparison between translational and vibrational activation on both steps and terraces. The reaction is modeled with first principles quantum theory that accurately describes dissociative chemisorption at different sites on the surface.

Soil Conservation Techniques for Hillside Farms. A Guide for Peace Corps Volunteers. Appropriate Technologies for Development. Peace Corps Information Collection & Exchange Reprint Series No. R-62.

Science.gov (United States)

Crozier, Carl

This guide provides agricultural extensionists with basic information that will help them design plans for the conservation of soils and the management of water runoff in specific agricultural plots. It is based on experiences with small hillside farms in Honduras and takes into account the resources and constraints commonly encountered there.…

Exploring Controls on Sinuousity, Terraces and River Capture in the Upper Dajia River, Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Belliveau, L. C.; Ouimet, W. B.; Chan, Y. C.; Byrne, T. B.

2015-12-01

Taiwan is one of the most tectonically active regions in the world and is prone to landslides due to steep topography, large earthquakes and frequent typhoons. Landslides often affect and alter the river valleys beneath them, producing knickpoints on longitudinal river profiles, segmenting valleys into mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers and affecting river incision for tens to thousands of years. This study investigates the origin and evolution of complex channel morphologies, terraces and river capture along a 20km stretch of the Upper Da-Jia River in the Heping area of Taiwan. Through GIS analysis and field studies, we explore controls on river channel sinuousity, terrace development and river capture in relation to tectonic and climatic forcing, rock erodibility and landslides. High channel sinuousity is proposed as the result of a coupling between bank erosion and landslides. We discuss three types of landslide-induced meanders and increased sinuousity: (a) depositional-push meanders, (b) failure-zone erosional meanders, and (c) complex-erosional meanders. We also investigate spatial variation in channel morphology (slope, width) and the distribution and heights of river terraces within the Upper Da-Jia watershed associated with periods of widespread valley filling from landslide activity. Examples of river capture provide further evidence of the dynamic interactions between river incision, landslides and associated changes in channel morphology and terrace development within steep rapidly uplift, eroding and evolving mountain belts.

Soil physical ambient and its relation ships with the earthworm's biomass in some Colombian Andean hillsides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feijoo, Alexander; Ochoa, W A; Amezquita, E; Knapp, E B

1999-01-01

The work presented here describes on the one hand the relationship between diversity, density and biomass of the earthworm's side and humidity, total porosity and resistance to penetration in the hillsides soils (secondary forest, Inceptisol and Pennsisetum clandestinum pastured, Andisol) on the other hand side. Results indicate that there were significant differences between sites for density and biomass of earthworms, and that their presence was affected by the physical parameters. Resistance to soil penetrability and humidity were significantly different only in the first 20 cm; while in deeper soil layers these were no such difference between sites, this is of importance, since the surface of the soil suffers changes due to the management, thus affecting the conditions that regulate the earthworm populations

Multi-scale tectonic controls on fluvial terrace formation in a glacioeustatically-dominated river system: inference from the lower Min¿o terrace record

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Viveen, W.

2013-01-01

The general aim of this thesis is to untangle the interacting effects of climate, glacioeustacy, and regional, and local tectonics on fluvial terrace formation. The NW Iberian lower Miño River valley was chosen as a study site, because for this region, a very detailed, long-term,

Monitoring tectonic uplift and paleo-environmental reconstruction for marine terraces near Magaracik and Samandag, Hatay Province, Turkey

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Florentin, Jonathan A.; Blackwell, Bonnie A.B.; Blickstein, Joel I.B.; Skinner, Anne R.; Tueysuez, Okan; Tari, Ufuk; Can Genc, S.; Imren, Caner; Mo, Shirley; Huang, Yiwen E.W.; Kim, Maria

2014-01-01

Near Hatay, the Antakya-Samandag-Cyprus Fault (ASCF), East Anatolian and Dead Sea Fault Zones, the large faults that form the edges of the African, Anatolian, Cyprus and Arabian Plates, all produce large earthquakes, which have decimated Hatay repeatedly. Near Samandag, Hatay, differential vertical displacement on the ASCF has uplifted the southeastern side relative to northwestern side, producing large fault scarps that parallel the Asi (Orontes) River. Tectonic uplift coupled with Quaternary sea level fluctuations has produced several stacked marine terraces stranded above current sea level. This study dated 24 mollusc samples from 10 outcrops on six marine terraces near Samandag electron spin resonance (ESR). Ages were calculated using time-averaged and volumetrically averaged external dose rates, modelled by assuming typical water depths for the individual species and sediment thicknesses estimated from geological criteria. Uplift rates were then calculated for each fault block. At all the Magaracik terraces, the dates suggest that many shells were likely reworked. On the 30 m terrace at Magaracik IV (UTM 766588-3999880), Lithophagus burrows with in situ shells cross the unconformity. One such shell dated to 62 ± 6 ka, setting the minimum possible age for the terrace. For all the Magaracik terraces at ∼30 m above mean sea level (amsl), the youngest ages for the reworked shells, which averaged 60 ± 3 ka for six separate analyses, sets the maximum possible age for this unit. Thus, the terrace must date to 60-62 ± 3 ka, at the MIS 3/4 boundary when temperatures and sea levels were fluctuating rapidly. Older units dating to MIS 7, 6, and 5 likely were being eroded to supply some fossils found in this terrace. At Magaracik Dump (UTM 765391-4001048), ∼103 m amsl, Ostrea and other shells were found cemented in growth position to the limestone boulders outcropping there -1 , since MIS 5c. At Samandag Kurt Stream at 38 m amsl, molluscs were deposited fine sandy

Water pollution from abandoned mines

OpenAIRE

Iversen, E.; Johannessen, M.

1987-01-01

The report provides a country-wide overview of abandoned pyrite mines where operations have been fairly extensive. The water pollution situation is assessed on the basis of reported investigations, inspections and chemical analyses from the individual areas. In cases where larger watercourses (Orkla, Gaula), and the upper stretch of the Glåma are affected the situation appears to be adequately described. However abandoned mine areas may also cause local pollution problems, and here documentat...

Abandoned Shipwreck Act

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This data represents the extent of the Abandoned Shipwreck Act (ASA). The ASA allows states to manage a broad range of resources within submerged lands, including...

Preliminary Data about Vertical Deformation of the eastern part of the Anatolian Scholle: Insight from Pülümür River Terraces

Science.gov (United States)

Sançar, Taylan; Sunal, Gürsel; Korhan Erturaç, M.

2017-04-01

segments of the NSZ. The highest terrace (T3) level at 60 to 150 m above the both side of the current river are important morphologic indicator of the active tectonic related base level change in the region. The abandonment ages of the terrace levels and the long-term incision rate of the Pülümür River as a proxy for the rock uplift will calculate based on ongoing isochron-burial dating with cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al. Our observations strongly suggest that the internal deformation of the eastern An is characterized by not only lateral but also important amount of vertical uplift. This study is supported by TÜBİTAK project no: 115Y684.

Causes, outcome and prevention of abandonment in retinoblastoma in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Archana; Moulik, Nirmalya Roy; Mishra, Ravi Krishna; Kumar, Dipak

2013-05-01

The high-cure rates of 90% in retinoblastoma are not replicated in developing countries due to late presentation and poor compliance to treatment. The present study takes a closer look at causes of abandonment of therapy and effectiveness of counselling in reducing abandonment. A retrospective study of children with retinoblastoma registered at our centre from March 2008 through August 2011. Fifty (49.50%) of 101 children registered for treatment abandoned therapy. Abandonment rates were significantly higher in rural as compared to urban children (P = 0.02). There was no significant difference in rate of abandonment between stages or laterality of disease and other socio-demographic factors. Telephone calls were more effective than letters in tracing patients (31.2% vs. 2.4%). Major reasons cited behind abandonment were financial problems (30%) and unwillingness to enucleate (20%). Of the 12 children who returned and were retreated 6 (50%) died of progressive disease. Nineteen (73%) of those who did not return died at home. Abandonment rates steadily declined from 71.42% in 2008 to 16.66% in 2011 (P = 0.01) due to effective pre-abandonment counselling by a support team under the National Retinoblastoma Registry of India from 2009. Abandonment rates for children with retinoblastoma continue to be unacceptably high. Rural background, financial constraints and hesitancy to enucleate were important causes behind abandonment. Outcome of patients who abandoned treatment was uniformly dismal. Inclusion of support team and intensified initial counselling helped in improving compliance. Copyright © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Optically stimulated luminescence dating of the Huanghe river terrace in Lanzhou basin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Ping; Yuan Daoyang; Liu Xinwang; Jiang Hanchao

2007-01-01

In this paper, profile observation and geologic strata structure analysis on the third level terrace at Fanjiaping on the south bank of the Huanghe River in the Lanzhou basin were reported, and systemically collected samples of fluvial sediments and the overlying diluvium and aeolian loess were analyzed by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL). The granulometric and magnetic susceptibility samples from the fine grain sedimentary layer at the middle of the profile were collected at a 2.5 cm interval. According to simplified multiple aliquot dating on fine grain quartz of 16 optically stimulated luminescence samples and electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of the underlying early fluvial layer, the following chronology results of the strata profile of the third terrace were obtained. The under- lying early fluvial layer is of gravels that belong to Fanjiaping formation in early and middle Pleistogene. The river-bed sedimentation of the Huanghe River started about 80,000 years ago. The accumulation of mainly proluvial sediments started about 70,000 years ago. And the continuous loess accumulation began about 55,000 years ago. The age of formation of the third terrace of Huanghe River was estimated at about 70,000 years, corresponding to the time between the last interglacial period and the last glacial period in the late Pleistocene. (authors)

THE ESTIMATION OF DIMENSION AND FACTORS OF SCHOOL ABANDON

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Iluzia IACOB

2011-12-01

Full Text Available During the transition period, in Romania, the dimension of school abandon had risen. The main goals of the study are: to estimate the school abandon rate by each educational level in Romania, to identify the factors which affect school abandon on urban and rural areas and at development regions level; to analyze the causes of earlier school abandon. In the same time, the analysis had also followed the temporal component, by including in the database the last decade statistical information. The school abandon was measured as the difference between the numbers of pupils/students found at the end of the school year and the same category enrolled at the beginning of the same year.

Decommissioning and abandonment of offshore installations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Side, J.C.

1992-01-01

To the onlooker surprising little thought was given at the project planning stage to the fate of offshore facilities once their production lifetimes had come to an end. Throughout the 1970s at least, international law required the complete removal of all structures and installations one disused or abandoned. Fishermen's organisations were led to believe that such installations would be entirely removed yet many of the designs of these show that removal was not much in the minds of the engineers or project management during the design stages. Changes in the text of the United Nations' Convention on the Law of the Sea and (by their widespread legal adoption) in customary international law may now permit partial removal of installations subject to important safeguards for navigation, the environment and other users of the sea. Of the North Sea states at least one has adopted policies that will minimise the cost associated with offshore decommissioning and abandonment and both the UK and Norway are adopting legislation which will provide for a case by case approach to the decommissioning and abandonment of offshore facilities and allow partial removal options. There has thus been a recent and significant change in approach to the abandonment of offshore oil and gas installations. This chapter reviews the development of abandonment laws and policies, outlines the available removal options, and provides a consideration of the environmental and fishery implications of these for the North Sea. (Author)

Emergent Marine Terraces in Cebu Island, Philippines and Their Implications for Relative Sea Level Changes in the Late Quaternary

Science.gov (United States)

Ramos, N. T.; Sarmiento, K. J. S.; Maxwell, K. V.; Soberano, O. B.; Dimalanta, C. B.

2017-12-01

The remarkable preservation and extensive distribution of emergent marine terraces in the Philippines allow us to study relative sea level changes and tectonic processes during the Late Quaternary. While higher uplift rates and possible prehistoric coseismic events are recorded by emergent coral reefs facing subduction zones, the central Philippine islands are reported to reflect vertical tectonic stability as they are distant from trenches. To constrain the coastal tectonics of the central Philippine region, we studied emergent sea level indicators along the coasts of northern Cebu Island in Tabuelan, San Remigio, and Bogo City. Upper steps of marine terraces were interpreted from IFSAR-derived DEMs, in which at least two and seven steps were identified along the west (Tabuelan) and east (Bogo) coasts, respectively. In Tabuelan, two extensive terrace steps (TPT) were interpreted with TPT1 at 5-13 m above mean sea level (amsl) and TPT2 at 27-44 m amsl. Five to possibly seven terrace steps (BPT) were delineated in Bogo City with elevations from lowest (BPT1) to highest (BPT7) at BPT1: 4-6 m, BPT2: 12-18 m, BPT3: 27-33 m, BPT4: 39-46 m, BPT5: 59-71 m, BPT6: 80-92 m, and BPT7: 103-108 m amsl. These upper terraces are inferred to be Late Pleistocene in age based on an initial MIS 5e age reported for a 5-m-high terrace in Mactan Island. At some sites, even lower and narrower terrace surfaces were observed, consisting of cemented coral rubble that surround eroded and attached corals. These lower carbonate steps, with elevations ranging from 1 to 3 m amsl, further provide clues on relative sea level changes and long-term tectonic deformation across Cebu Island.

Impacts of terracing on soil erosion control and crop yield in two agro-ecological zones of Rwanda

Science.gov (United States)

Rutebuka, Jules; Ryken, Nick; Uwimanzi, Aline; Nkundwakazi, Olive; Verdoodt, Ann

2017-04-01

Soil erosion remains a serious limiting factor to the agricultural production in Rwanda. Terracing has been widely adopted in many parts of the country in the past years, but its effectiveness is not yet known. Besides the standard radical (bench) terraces promoted by the government, also progressive terraces (with living hedges) become adopted mainly by the farmers. The aim of this study was to measure short-term (two consecutive rainy seasons 2016A and 2016B) run-off and soil losses for existing radical (RT) and progressive (PT) terraces versus non-protected (NP) fields using erosion plots installed in two agro-ecological zones, i.e. Buberuka highlands (site Tangata) and Eastern plateau (site Murehe) and determine their impacts on soil fertility and crop production. The erosion plot experiment started with a topsoil fertility assessment and during the experiment, maize was grown as farmer's cropping preference in the area. Runoff data were captured after each rainfall event and the collected water samples were dried to determine soil loss. Both erosion control measures reduced soil losses in Tangata, with effectiveness indices ranging from 43 to 100% when compared to the NP plots. RT showed the highest effectiveness, especially in season A. In Murehe, RT minimized runoff and soil losses in both seasons. Yet, the PT were largely inefficient, leading to soil losses exceeding those on the NP plots (ineffectiveness index of -78% and -65% in season A and B, respectively). Though topsoil fertility assessment in the erosion plots showed that the soil quality parameters were significantly higher in RT and NP plots compared to the PT plots on both sites, maize grain yield was not correlated with the physical effectiveness of the erosion control measures. Finally, the effectiveness of soil erosion control measures as well as their positive impacts on soil fertility and production differ not only by terracing type but also by agro-ecological zone and the management or

Morphotectonic architecture of an India–Madagascar breakup related anomalous submarine terrace complex on the southwest continental margin of India

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Yatheesh, V.; Kurian, P.J.; Bhattacharya, G.C.; Rajan, S.

, larger ‘Trivandrum Terrace (TT)’ and northerly, smaller Alleppey Terrace (AT). The multichannel seismic reflection data suggests a block-faulted basement and presence of a nearly N–S trending wide basement high in the central part of the Trivandrum...

Uplift rates of the marine terraces in the south coast of Japan deduced from in situ cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al

Science.gov (United States)

Yokoyama, Y.; Nagano, G.; Nakamura, A.; Maemoku, H.; Miyairi, Y.; Matsuzaki, H.

2015-12-01

Marine terraces are low-relief platforms located along coastal areas. They are formed by waves action with the changes in the relative sea level (RSL) that is affected by combined effects of the eustatic sea level (ESL) and the tectonic movements (e.g. uplift, subsidence and isostatic effect). Therefore, determining the ages and the elevations of the marine terraces allows us to reconstruct the ESL and/or the tectonic history of the study area. The Kii Peninsula and the southern coast of the Shikoku Island are located along the Nankai Trough where the Philippine Sea Plate is subducting under the Eurasian plate. There exist relatively well-preserved marine terraces along the coastal line with the elevation of ca. 50 -100 m. Because of this unique tectonic setting, the terraces are regarded as the suitable counterparts to reconstruct uplift history of the south coast of Japan. However, the ages of these terraces are poorly understood due to the lack of the ash layers that is suitable for the tephrochronology. In this study, we determine the age of the marine terraces using terrestrial in-situ cosmogenic radionuclides (TCN), 10Be and 26Al. This is the first age estimation of the marine terraces in Japan using TCN, allowing us to determine the uplift rates and the seismic history of the region.

Abandonment of nicotine dependence treatment: A cohort study

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Maritza Muzzi Cardozo Pawlina

Full Text Available CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVE: Non-adherence to treatment is one of the hindering factors in the process of smoking cessation. This study aimed to compare sociodemographic characteristics, smoking status and motivation among smokers who maintained or abandoned treatment to stop smoking, and to analyze associations between sociodemographic factors and smoking. DESIGN AND SETTING: Cohort study on 216 smokers who were attended at healthcare units in Cuiabá, Mato Grosso. METHODS: The instruments used were the Fagerström, URICA and CAGE questionnaires. Data from the initial evaluation was analyzed using the two-proportion test (α < 0.05. The patients were monitored for six months and those who abandoned treatment were accounted for. Bivariate analysis was conducted, using crude prevalence ratios and 5% significance level (P < 0.05, with abandonment of treatment as the outcome variable. Associations with P < 0.20 were selected for multiple robust Poisson regression (RPa. RESULTS: The abandonment rate was 34.26%. Males and individuals in the 20-39 age group, in employment, with low motivation, with shorter time smoking and lower tobacco intake predominated in the dropout group. In the final model, gender (RPa 1.47; 95% CI: 1.03-2.10 and age group (RPa 3.77; 95% CI: 1.47-9.67 remained associated with abandonment. CONCLUSION: Males and individuals in the 20-39 age group, in employment, with low motivation, with shorter time smoking and lower tobacco intake more frequently abandoned the treatment. Male gender and younger age group were associated with abandonment of nicotine dependence treatment.

The Abandonment of an Active Lifestyle Within University Students: Reasons for Abandonment and Expectations of Re-Engagement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Gómez-López

2011-08-01

Full Text Available The objective of this research is to analyse in detail the barriers that make university students abandon the practice of physical activity and adopt a sedentary lifestyle. In order to do so, a questionnaire on the analysis of sports habits and lifestyles was administered to 795 students who stated not having done any physical and/or sports activity for at least one year at the moment of the field-work. A factorial, descriptive and correlation analysis was carried out. The results reveal that university students abandon a healthy lifestyle mainly due to external barriers particularly because of lack of time. On the one hand, women appear to be the ones who, to a great extent, adopt a sedentary lifestyle. On the other hand, men are the ones who refer more to abandoning the practice of physical activity due to internal barriers. The majority of the university students gave up practicing sport before entering university alluding to external barriers as their reason for the abandonment. A greater part of the sedentary university students expressing that they will be active in the future, left the practice of sport due to internal barriers.

Cultural Meanings and Consumers’ Discourses about Their Brand Abandonment

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Filipe Diniz

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Although we know a lot about how brand meanings are created and perpetuated in relation to and through cultural discourses, remarkably little work has been done in the marketing field to develop a better comprehension as to how brand meanings are enacted through distancing behaviors, such as brand abandonment. In the marketing literature, abandonment has usually been associated with relationship crises, most commonly as the result of consumer dissatisfaction. This study investigates consumers who abandoned previously consumed brands in two distinct product categories, soft drinks and automobiles. Through investigation of two emblematic brands – CocaCola and Fiat - the analysis illustrates cultural discourses that consumers use to give meanings and socially negotiate their brand abandonment. Considering the repertoire of meanings attached to both the brands and consumers’ commitment to their distancing behavior, the analysis presents three types of brand abandonment: (a contingent, (b balanced and (c aversive. This paper also presents brand abandonment as an enabler of social distinctions, highlighting two discrete discourses promulgated and perpetuated by consumers: (a Life evolution, and (b Rationality, self-control and sovereignty.

Raised marine terraces in the Northern Calabrian Arc (Southern Italy: a ~ 600 kyr-long geological record of regional uplift

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Cucci

2004-06-01

Full Text Available The Sibari Plain in the Northeastern Calabrian Arc displays a well-developed suite of marine terraces. This paper deals with i the identification and correlation of the terraces; ii their age assignment and a tentative reconstruction of the uplift history of the area; iii the relationships between terraces and major faults in the study area and between uplift in the Plain and pattern of Quaternary uplift throughout the Calabrian Arc. Identifying wavecut platforms and inner-edge fragments over a linear extent of ~ 100 km was achieved by photo interpretation, 1:25 000 scale map analyses and field survey. Morphological evidence led to the correlation of the identified fragments into five complete strandlines (numbered #1 to #5 lowest to highest, at elevations ranging from 60 m to ~ 650 m. Analysis of two parameters of the emerged platform-cliff systems, namely the platform-cliff ratio and the dissection percentage, further testifies that the two lowest terraces are strongly correlative. A 130 kyr AAR age of in situ fossil samples of Glycymeris collected at 114 m elevation within the deposit of Terrace #2 indicates a key correlation of T#2 with MIS 5.5 (the peak of the last interglacial, 124 kyr, i.e. an uplift rate of ~ 0.98 mm/yr for this strandline. The other four terraces have been tentatively associated with MIS 5.3, 7, 9 and 15. Geological observations independent of geochronological evidence provide consistent lower age boundaries for the terraces and supply further constraints to this interpretation. Investigating the relations between setting of the terraces and location of major tectonic structures in the region is suggestive of no recent activity of two previously recognized faults, the «Sangineto Line» and the «Corigliano-Rossano Line». Instead, some limited anomalies that affect the terraces are tentatively associated with the activity of the Castrovillari Fault. Therefore, sustained uplift has been the long-term dominant

Infanticide and illegal infant abandonment in Malaysia.

Science.gov (United States)

Razali, Salmi; Kirkman, Maggie; Ahmad, S Hassan; Fisher, Jane

2014-10-01

Infant abandonment and infanticide are poorly understood in Malaysia. The information available in the public arena comes predominantly from anecdotal sources. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence and characteristics of infanticide and illegal infant abandonment in Malaysia and to estimate annual rates for the most recent decade. Summaries of data about infanticide and illegal infant abandonment were gathered from police records; the annual number of live births was ascertained from the national registry. The estimated inferred infanticide rates for Malaysia were compared with the infanticide rates among countries of very high, high, medium, and low rankings on the Human Development, Gender Inequality, and Gini indices. From 1999 to 2011, 1,069 cases of illegal infant abandonment were recorded and 1,147 people were arrested as suspected perpetrators. The estimated inferred infanticide rate fluctuated between 4.82 and 9.11 per 100,000 live births, a moderate rate relative to the infanticide rates of other countries. There are substantial missing data, with details undocumented for about 78-87% of cases and suspected perpetrators. Of the documented cases, it appeared that more boys than girls were victims and that suspected perpetrators were predominantly Malays who were women, usually mothers of the victim; the possibility of arrest bias must be acknowledged. Economic and social inequality, particularly gender inequality, might contribute to the phenomena of infanticide and abandonment. Strategies to reduce rates of infanticide and illegal infant abandonment in Malaysia will require strengthening of the surveillance system and attention to the gender-based inequalities that underpin human development. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improvement in treatment abandonment in pediatric patients with cancer in Guatemala.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Elysia; Seppa, Midori; Rivas, Silvia; Fuentes, Lucia; Valverde, Patricia; Antillón-Klussmann, Federico; Castellanos, Mauricio; Sweet-Cordero, E Alejandro; Messacar, Kevin; Kurap, John; Bustamante, Marisol; Howard, Scott C; Efron, Bradley; Luna-Fineman, Sandra

2017-10-01

Treatment refusal and abandonment are major causes of treatment failure for children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), like Guatemala. This study identified risk factors for and described the intervention that decreased abandonment. This was a retrospective study of Guatemalan children (0-18 years) with cancer treated at the Unidad Nacional de Oncología Pediátrica (UNOP), 2001-2008, using the Pediatric Oncology Network Database. Treatment refusal was a failure to begin treatment and treatment abandonment was a lapse of 4 weeks or longer in treatment. The impact of medicina integral, a multidisciplinary psychosocial intervention team at UNOP was evaluated. Cox proportional hazards analysis identified the effect of demographic and clinical factors on abandonment. Kaplan-Meier analysis estimated the survival. Of 1,789 patients, 21% refused or abandoned treatment. Abandonment decreased from 27% in 2001 to 7% in 2008 following the implementation of medicina integral. Factors associated with increased risk of refusal and abandonment: greater distance to the centre (P < 0.001), younger age (P = 0.017) and earlier year of diagnosis (P < 0.001). Indigenous race/ethnicity (P = 0.002) was associated with increased risk of abandonment alone. Abandonment correlated with decreased overall survival: 0.57 ± 0.02 (survival ± standard error) for those who completed therapy versus 0.06 ± 0.02 for those who abandoned treatment (P < 0.001) at 8.3 years. This study identified distance, age, year of diagnosis and indigenous race/ethnicity as risk factors for abandonment. A multidisciplinary intervention reduced abandonment and can be replicated in other LMICs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Hillslope terracing effects on the spatial variability of plant development as assessed by NDVI in vineyards of the Priorat region (NE Spain).

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez-Casasnovas, José A; Ramos, María Concepción; Espinal-Utgés, Sílvia

2010-04-01

The availability of heavy machinery and the vineyard restructuring and conversion plans of the European Union Common Agricultural Policy (Commission Regulation EC no. 1227/2000 of 31 May 2000) have encouraged the restructuring of many vineyards on hillslopes of Mediterranean Europe, through the creation of terraces to favor the mechanization of agricultural work. Terrace construction requires cutting and filling operations that create soil spatial variability, which affects soil properties and plant development. In the present paper, we study the effects of hillslope terracing on the spatial variability of the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in fields of the Priorat region (NE Spain) during 2004, 2005, and 2006. This index was computed from high-resolution remote sensing data (Quickbird-2). Detailed digital terrain models before and after terrace construction were used to assess the earth movements. The results indicate that terracing by heavy machinery induced high variability on the NDVI values over the years, showing significant differences as effect of the cut and fill operations.

Pipeline abandonment: a discussion paper on technical and environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Etherington, K.

1996-01-01

Formation of government/industry joint steering committee to oversee a review of pipeline abandonment and preparation of a discussion paper was reported. The review became urgent in view of the fact that many of the pipeline systems are nearing the end of their useful life, and the current absence of guidelines in Canada to deal with pipeline abandonment, or to offer guidance on ways of assessing abandonment costs and funding. In view of this situation the safety and the environmental, financial, and legal implications of abandoned pipelines have become an increasing concern to regulatory authorities and the oil and gas industry. Issues to be dealt with in the discussion paper include subsidence, contamination, water crossing, erosion, land management, restoration, utility and pipeline crossings, creation of water conduits, the cost of abandonment, operator choice of abandonment options, and the level of surface disturbance associated with such options

The relationship between Holocene cultural site distribution and marine terrace uplift on the coast fringing Coastal Range, Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Hsiaochin; Chen, Wenshan

2013-04-01

According to the collision of Philippine Sea plate and Eurasia plate, a series of left-lateral active faults with reverse sense exists in the Longitudinal Valley of east Taiwan. The Holocene marine terraces along the east coast of the Coastal Range in Taiwan are well known for their very rapid uplift and record tectonic history of this active collision boundary. The Holocene marine terrace sequence resulting from successive sea level change and tectonic activation is subdivided into several steps where the highest and oldest terrace, back to ca 13,000yr BP, reaches up to ca 80 m above sea level, and the lower terraces are mostly erosional ones, overlain by less than 1m thick coral beds in situ. The uplift of the coast is very high, ranging from 5 to 10 m/ka. According to the fabrics of potsherds and geochronological data, the prehistoric cultures in eastern Taiwan could be classified into three stages: Fushan (ca 5000-3500yr BP), Peinan/Chilin (ca3500-2000yr BP), Kweishan (ca2000-1000 yr BP) and Jinpu (ca 1000-400yr BP) cultural assemblages respectively. A great difference exists between the various cultural stage, not only the pottery making techniques, but also the distributions of archaeological sites. Combined with the dynamic geomorphic evolution of marine terraces and the distribution of prehistoric culture sites on the east coast of the Coastal Range, a coastal migration trend could be established.

Meanings of Consumption and Abandonment: Understanding Smoking Cessation Symbolism

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Maribel Carvalho Suarez

2014-04-01

Full Text Available In consumption studies, very little attention has been focused on investigating abandonment and, more specifically, its symbolic dimension. The present study aims to investigate how meanings are created and negotiated through the abandonment of cigarettes. This study used a qualitative methodology to collect and analyze the data generated by one-on-one semi-structured in-depth interviews with 15 Brazilian ex-smokers. Results suggest that abandonment of cigarettes can be offered as a connection, gift, or sacrifice that makes relations special and even magical. As regards abandonment, the present study evidences the interactions and movements of positive and negative meanings related to the consumption and non-consumption of a category. The study proposes a framework that highlights the cooling, decontamination, reinforcement and defensive symbolical movements, thus constructing a tool for analyzing abandonment, offering possible paths of intervention for organizations that are interested in this issue.

Preliminary characterization of abandoned septic tank systems. Volume 1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-12-01

This report documents the activities and findings of the Phase I Preliminary Characterization of Abandoned Septic Tank Systems. The purpose of the preliminary characterization activity was to investigate the Tiger Team abandoned septic systems (tanks and associated leachfields) for the purpose of identifying waste streams for closure at a later date. The work performed was not to fully characterize or remediate the sites. The abandoned systems potentially received wastes or effluent from buildings which could have discharged non-domestic, petroleum hydrocarbons, hazardous, radioactive and/or mixed wastes. A total of 20 sites were investigated for the preliminary characterization of identified abandoned septic systems. Of the 20 sites, 19 were located and characterized through samples collected from each tank(s) and, where applicable, associated leachfields. The abandoned septic tank systems are located in Areas 5, 12, 15, 25, and 26 on the Nevada Test Site

Location-Related Differences in Weathering Behaviors and Populations of Culturable Rock-Weathering Bacteria Along a Hillside of a Rock Mountain.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qi; Wang, Rongrong; He, Linyan; Sheng, Xiafang

2017-05-01

Bacteria play important roles in rock weathering, elemental cycling, and soil formation. However, little is known about the weathering potential and population of bacteria inhabiting surfaces of rocks. In this study, we isolated bacteria from the top, middle, and bottom rock samples along a hillside of a rock (trachyte) mountain as well as adjacent soils and characterized rock-weathering behaviors and populations of the bacteria. Per gram of rock or surface soil, 10 6 -10 7 colony forming units were obtained and total 192 bacteria were isolated. Laboratory rock dissolution experiments indicated that the proportions of the highly effective Fe (ranging from 67 to 92 %), Al (ranging from 40 to 48 %), and Cu (ranging from 54 to 81 %) solubilizers were significantly higher in the top rock and soil samples, while the proportion of the highly effective Si (56 %) solubilizers was significantly higher in the middle rock samples. Furthermore, 78, 96, and 6 % of bacteria from the top rocks, soils, and middle rocks, respectively, significantly acidified the culture medium (pH bacteria (79 %) from the rocks were different to those from the soils and most of them (species level) have not been previously reported. Furthermore, location-specific rock-weathering bacterial populations were found and Bacillus species were the most (66 %) frequently isolated rock-weathering bacteria in the rocks based on cultivation methods. Notably, the top rocks and soils had the highest and lowest diversity of rock-weathering bacterial populations, respectively. The results suggested location-related differences in element (Si, Al, Fe, and Cu) releasing effectiveness and communities of rock-weathering bacteria along the hillside of the rock mountain.

Possible schemes for solar-powered air-conditioning in 2-storey terrace houses

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chu, C.M.; Bono, A.; Prabhakar, A.

2006-01-01

Space cooling is required all year round in the tropics, and probably accounts for a considerable proportion of the cost of electricity. Solar radiation can be channeled into cooling by photovoltaic powered systems and through the relatively new adsorption cycle technology. Two-storey terrace housing appear to have the greatest potential of introducing solar-powered cooling to residential homes. There are two schemes to cool a two-storey terrace housing: 1) By spraying water down the roof a tank, circulated by a pump powered by PV panels on the roof or 2) By replacing the roof with solar hot water collectors and use adsorption cooling chillers to produce air-conditioning for the entire block of terrace houses. In scheme number 1, a preliminary, rough technical evaluation showed that it is possible to pump water to the roof to flow down as a thin film and cool the roof by evaporation to about 40 degree C from about 70 degree C if without water evaporation at the highest insolation rate of the day. Scheme number 2, which uses adsorption chilling technology, requires communal sharing of the air-conditioning facility. The effect of collecting solar heat using the roof is two fold: to absorb solar energy for producing hot water and reducing excess heat input to the house. Preliminary costing demonstrates that solar-powered air-conditioning is within reach of commercialisation, bearing in mind that bulk purchases will dramatically lower the price of a product

Biologic origin of iron nodules in a marine terrace chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California

Science.gov (United States)

Schulz, M.S.; Vivit, D.; Schulz, C.; Fitzpatrick, J.; White, A.

2010-01-01

The distribution, chemistry, and morphology of Fe nodules were studied in a marine terrace soil chronosequence northwest of Santa Cruz, California. The Fe nodules are found at depths hyphae throughout the nodules, including organic structures incorporating fine-grained Fe oxides. The fine-grained nature of the Fe oxides was substantiated by M??ssbauer spectroscopy. Our microscopic observations led to the hypothesis that the nodules in the Santa Cruz terrace soils are precipitated by fungi, perhaps as a strategy to sequester primary mineral grains for nutrient extraction. The fungal structures are fixed by the seasonal wetting and dry cycles and rounded through bioturbation. The organic structures are compacted by the degradation of fungal C with time. ?? Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

41 CFR 109-45.901 - Authority to abandon or destroy.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... AND DISPOSAL 45-SALE, ABANDONMENT, OR DESTRUCTION OF PERSONAL PROPERTY 45.9-Abandonment or Destruction of Personal Property § 109-45.901 Authority to abandon or destroy. Personal property in the... determination has been made by the OPMO that property has no commercial value or the estimated cost of its...

Environmental Effects of Abandoned Properties in Ogbomoso and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... reptiles, accident and vagrancy. The brunt of abandonment is found to be more in the medium residential density. The study thus recommends an aggressive environmental management that offsets blighted conditions in the environment. Keywords: Effects, Buildings, Lots, Abandonment, Landed Properties, Environment ...

Abandoned floodplain plant communities along a regulated dryland river

Science.gov (United States)

Reynolds, L. V.; Shafroth, Patrick B.; House, P. K.

2014-01-01

Rivers and their floodplains worldwide have changed dramatically over the last century because of regulation by dams, flow diversions and channel stabilization. Floodplains no longer inundated by river flows following dam-induced flood reduction comprise large areas of bottomland habitat, but the effects of abandonment on plant communities are not well understood. Using a hydraulic flow model, geomorphic mapping and field surveys, we addressed the following questions along the Bill Williams River, Arizona: (i) What per cent of the bottomland do abandoned floodplains comprise? and (ii) Are abandoned floodplains quantitatively different from adjacent xeric and riparian surfaces in terms of vegetation composition and surface sediment? We found that nearly 70% of active channel and floodplain area was abandoned following dam installation. Abandoned floodplains along the Bill Williams River tend to be similar to each other yet distinct from neighbouring habitats: they have been altered physically from their historic state, leading to distinct combinations of surface sediments, hydrology and plant communities. Abandoned floodplains may transition to xeric communities over time but are likely to retain some riparian qualities as long as there is access to relatively shallow ground water. With expected increases in water demand and drying climatic conditions in many regions, these surfaces and associated vegetation will continue to be extensive in riparian landscapes worldwide

The legal framework for wellsite abandonment and reclamation in Alberta

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gilmour, B.S.

1997-01-01

The legislative framework for wellsite reclamation in Alberta was discussed. The legal requirements that impact on wellsite abandonment and reclamation, with emphasis on the Oil and Gas Conservation Act (OGCA) and the Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act (EPEA) were described. In 1994, the Orphan Well fund was established to ensure that wells are properly abandoned in those cases where participants are insolvent. The fund is financed by the petroleum industry. The regulatory requirements for wellsite abandonment are found in the OGCA and the Well Abandonment Guide 20 which provides explicit procedures for both open-hole and cased-hole abandonment. Liability for contaminated sites exists under the contaminated sites provision of the EPEA. Amendments to the OGCA provide for more supervision over licence transfers and the granting of licences to first-time licensees

Best practices for the abandonment of pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mackean, M; Reed, R; Snow, B [Nabors Canada, Calgary, AB (Canada). Abandonrite Service

2006-07-01

Pipeline regulations implemented in 2006 require that licensees register all pipelines. Training must also be provided for ground disturbance supervisors. In addition, signage must be maintained on abandoned pipelines, and discontinued pipelines must be properly isolated. Corrosion control and internal inhibition is required for discontinued lines. However, pipelines are often neglected during the well abandonment process. This presentation provided recommendations for coordinating well and pipeline abandonment processes. Pipeline ends can be located, depressurized, flushed and purged while wells are being abandoned. Contaminated soils around the wells can also be identified prior to reclamation activities. Administrative reviews must be conducted in order to provide accurate information on pipeline location, reclamation certification, and line break history. Field operation files must be reviewed before preliminary field work is conducted. Site inspections should be used to determine if all ends of the line are accessible. Landowners and occupants near the line must also be notified, and relevant documentation must be obtained. Skilled technicians must be used to assess the lines for obstructions as well as to cut and cap the lines after removing risers. The presentation also examined issues related to pressure change, movement, cold tapping, and live dead legs. tabs., figs.

Podnikatelský plán - River Terrace Bar

OpenAIRE

Řezníček, Petr

2011-01-01

Even though it is often forgotten, the meaning of a business plan is of great importance to hospitality facilities and it should be created during an early stage of entrepreneurial activity. I focused on the operation of a 30s-style cabaret bar which is to be built as a part of prospective River Terrace hotel in Smichov, Prague. I analyse procedures that lead to the successful business plan in the theoretical part of my thesis. The practical part of my thesis contains a suitable plan for my c...

Two-Dimensional Nucleation on the Terrace of Colloidal Crystals with Added Polymers.

Science.gov (United States)

Nozawa, Jun; Uda, Satoshi; Guo, Suxia; Hu, Sumeng; Toyotama, Akiko; Yamanaka, Junpei; Okada, Junpei; Koizumi, Haruhiko

2017-04-04

Understanding nucleation dynamics is important both fundamentally and technologically in materials science and other scientific fields. Two-dimensional (2D) nucleation is the predominant growth mechanism in colloidal crystallization, in which the particle interaction is attractive, and has recently been regarded as a promising method to fabricate varieties of complex nanostructures possessing innovative functionality. Here, polymers are added to a colloidal suspension to generate a depletion attractive force, and the detailed 2D nucleation process on the terrace of the colloidal crystals is investigated. In the system, we first measured the nucleation rate at various area fractions of particles on the terrace, ϕ area . In situ observations at single-particle resolution revealed that nucleation behavior follows the framework of classical nucleation theory (CNT), such as single-step nucleation pathway and existence of critical size. Characteristic nucleation behavior is observed in that the nucleation and growth stage are clearly differentiated. When many nuclei form in a small area of the terrace, a high density of kink sites of once formed islands makes growth more likely to occur than further nucleation because nucleation has a higher energy barrier than growth. The steady-state homogeneous 2D nucleation rate, J, and the critical size of nuclei, r*, are measured by in situ observations based on the CNT, which enable us to obtain the step free energy, γ, which is an important parameter for characterizing the nucleation process. The γ value is found to change according to the strength of attraction, which is tuned by the concentration of the polymer as a depletant.

Localized Detection of Abandoned Luggage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jing-Ying Chang

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Abandoned luggage represents a potential threat to public safety. Identifying objects as luggage, identifying the owners of such objects, and identifying whether owners have left luggage behind are the three main problems requiring solution. This paper proposes two techniques which are “foreground-mask sampling” to detect luggage with arbitrary appearance and “selective tracking” to locate and to track owners based solely on looking only at the neighborhood of the luggage. Experimental results demonstrate that once an owner abandons luggage and leaves the scene, the alarm fires within few seconds. The average processing speed of the approach is 17.37 frames per second, which is sufficient for real world applications.

The activity of the Ulsan fault system based on marine terrace age study at the southeastern part of Korean peninsula

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Inoue, Daiei; Weon-Hack, Choi

2006-01-01

The activity evaluation of the Ulsan fault system (UFS) based on marine terrace age study in the southeastern part of Korean peninsula has been carried out. (1) The marine terrace distribution map along the southeastern coast of Korean peninsula has been distributed three wide terraces and several sub-terraces. The age of the above three terraces was determined by the discovery of wide tephras to be MIS5e, 7 and 9 from the lowest, respectively. (2) The active fault map along UFS was constructed. There will be the possibility that the UFS will be divided into three segments by the feature of lineaments. (3) The fault bounds between mountain at the eastern side, and plain at the western side in the most part of fault. It is interpreted that the UFS builds up the eastern mountain as a reverse movement fault. The latest activity of this fault system was clarified at the two localities by outcrop and trench investigation. The latest activity at Galgok-ri located in the northern part of the fault was occurred between 2,840 and 1,440 yBP. It was found to be between 7,470 and 2,990 yBP at Gaegok-ri, located in the central part of the fault. The latest activity at the Wangsan, which is between Galgok-ri and Gaegok-ri, was older than 7,000 yBP. The latest activity of the UFS differs between studied points. (4) The vertical slip rate of the UFS was calculated from the amount of vertical deformation and the age of terraces. Its range was between several cm to 20 cm in the 1000 years. This value corresponds to lower B and C class activity defined in Japan. (author)

Pipeline abandonment - a discussion paper on technical and environmental issues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-11-01

The technical and environmental issues associated with pipeline abandonment were reviewed to provide a basis for the development of guidelines that companies could follow in order to abandon oil and gas pipelines in an environmentally safe and economic manner. Some of the topics discussed include land use management, ground subsidence, soil and groundwater contamination, erosion and the potential to create water conduits. A major issue still to be resolved, i.e., the legal and financial aspects of pipeline abandonment, was addressed. An industry-financed fund has been created to cover the cost of reclamation and abandonment of orphaned pipelines and certain associated pipeline facilities. 30 refs., 4 tabs., 3 figs

12 CFR 563g.11 - Withdrawal or abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 12 Banks and Banking 5 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Withdrawal or abandonment. 563g.11 Section 563g.11 Banks and Banking OFFICE OF THRIFT SUPERVISION, DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY SECURITIES OFFERINGS § 563g.11 Withdrawal or abandonment. (a) Any offering circular, amendment, or exhibit may be withdrawn...

Maximizing profits associated with abandonment decisions and options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antia, D.D.J.

1994-01-01

Economic strategies which are designed to maximize profits associated with abandonment decisions and options focus on: extending field life; offsetting of economic risks onto a third party; reuse of facilities and infrastructure; expansion of associated secondary processing and distribution capabilities and usage; and the sale of abandonment units to a third party

Global synthesis of the classifications, distributions, benefits and issues of terracing

Science.gov (United States)

Wei Wei; Die Chen; Lixin Wang; Stefani Daryanto; Liding Chen; Yang Yu; Yonglong Lu; Ge Sun; Tianjiao Feng

2016-01-01

For thousands of years, humans have created different types of terraces in different sloping conditions, meant to mitigate flood risks, reduce soil erosion and conserve water. These anthropogenic landscapes can be found in tropical and subtropical rainforests, deserts, and arid and semiarid mountains across the globe. Despite the long history, the roles of and the...

10Be and 26Al dating of river terraces and quaternary incision rates in the Ardenne massif (eastern Belgium)

Science.gov (United States)

Rixhon, G.; Braucher, R.; Siame, L.; Bourlès, D.; Demoulin, A.

2009-04-01

Because of the lack of reliable chronological data, the Quaternary evolution of the hydrographic network of the Ardennes (western continuation of the Rhenish shield, western Europe) remains still poorly known. Therefore, we measured the cosmogenic nuclides content (10Be and 26Al) of terrace sediments of Ardennian rivers (Meuse, Ourthe & Amblève) in order to date several terrace levels and to better constrain the Quaternary incision of the network. Though these dating methods are successfully used to determine ages of superficial (e.g., glacial) deposits, dating of fluvial terraces remains difficult. Possible predepositional exposures of the sampled material (inherited 10Be and 26Al) may indeed bias the measurements towards higher nuclide concentrations while several postdepositional processes (burial, erosion) may cause a lowering of the 10Be and 26Al concentrations. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, the selected fluvial deposits (six locations) were sampled using a profiling technique on as thick as possible sections (more than 3 m). While previous studies assigned an early middle Pleistocene age (around 800 ka) to the main terrace level in the Rhine-Meuse system, our 10Be dates for the same terrace level (according to geometrical correlation) in the Amblève River, a Meuse subtributary, are much younger (upper Pleistocene). To explain this age discrepancy, we suggest that the incision was strongly diachronous from the Meuse valley towards its Ardennian headwaters, as a result of a delayed upstream propagation of the incision wave when it passes tributary junctions.

Time series modeling of soil moisture dynamics on a steep mountainous hillside

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sanghyun

2016-05-01

The response of soil moisture to rainfall events along hillslope transects is an important hydrologic process and a critical component of interactions between soil vegetation and the atmosphere. In this context, the research described in this article addresses the spatial distribution of soil moisture as a function of topography. In order to characterize the temporal variation in soil moisture on a steep mountainous hillside, a transfer function, including a model for noise, was introduced. Soil moisture time series with similar rainfall amounts, but different wetness gradients were measured in the spring and fall. Water flux near the soil moisture sensors was modeled and mathematical expressions were developed to provide a basis for input-output modeling of rainfall and soil moisture using hydrological processes such as infiltration, exfiltration and downslope lateral flow. The characteristics of soil moisture response can be expressed in terms of model structure. A seasonal comparison of models reveals differences in soil moisture response to rainfall, possibly associated with eco-hydrological process and evapotranspiration. Modeling results along the hillslope indicate that the spatial structure of the soil moisture response patterns mainly appears in deeper layers. Similarities between topographic attributes and stochastic model structures are spatially organized. The impact of temporal and spatial discretization scales on parameter expression is addressed in the context of modeling results that link rainfall events and soil moisture.

A Novel Abandoned Object Detection System Based on Three-Dimensional Image Information

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yiliang Zeng

2015-03-01

Full Text Available A new idea of an abandoned object detection system for road traffic surveillance systems based on three-dimensional image information is proposed in this paper to prevent traffic accidents. A novel Binocular Information Reconstruction and Recognition (BIRR algorithm is presented to implement the new idea. As initial detection, suspected abandoned objects are detected by the proposed static foreground region segmentation algorithm based on surveillance video from a monocular camera. After detection of suspected abandoned objects, three-dimensional (3D information of the suspected abandoned object is reconstructed by the proposed theory about 3D object information reconstruction with images from a binocular camera. To determine whether the detected object is hazardous to normal road traffic, road plane equation and height of suspected-abandoned object are calculated based on the three-dimensional information. Experimental results show that this system implements fast detection of abandoned objects and this abandoned object system can be used for road traffic monitoring and public area surveillance.

18 CFR 284.285 - Pregrant of abandonment of unbundled sales services.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Pregrant of abandonment of unbundled sales services. 284.285 Section 284.285 Conservation of Power and Water Resources... Sales by Interstate Pipelines § 284.285 Pregrant of abandonment of unbundled sales services. Abandonment...

Quaternary landscape evolution of the Helmand Basin, Afghanistan: Insights from staircase terraces, deltas, and paleoshorelines using high-resolution remote sensing analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Evenstar, L. A.; Sparks, R. S. J.; Cooper, F. J.; Lawton, M. N.

2018-06-01

The Helmand Basin in southern Afghanistan is a large (310,000 km2), structurally controlled, endorheically drained basin with a hyperarid climate. The basin hosts a high elevation ( 200 m) plateau (the Dasht-i Margo), 11 fluvial staircase terraces (T11 to T1), 7 delta systems (D1 to D7), and 6 paleolake shorelines (SL1 to SL6) within the Sistan Depression on the western side of the basin. Mapping and surveying of these features by remote sensing is integrated with geological observations to reconstruct Quaternary landscape evolution of the basin. The fluvial systems, deltas, and paleolake shorelines are correlated with one another and with the younger terraces (T7 to T1). The shape of fluvial longitudinal profiles changes depending on whether they formed pre-, syn-, or post-growth of the Koh-i Khannesin volcano on the southern margin of the Helmand River. The age of the volcano ( 0.6 Ma) and correlation of the terraces with the global history of glacial-interglacial cycles constrain the age of the younger terraces to the late Pleistocene and indicates that the older terraces are middle Pleistocene (dating back to 800 ka). The Helmand Basin once hosted a large lake, called here the Sistan paleolake, which at SL6 times and before had a surface area >50,000 km2. Since that time the lake elevation and area have decreased, evolving to the present-day dried out Sistan Depression with small ephemeral playa lakes. Episodic formation of terraces, deltas, and paleolake shorelines is attributed to changes in base level modulated by climate change related to Milankovitch cycles.

Luminescence dated Late Pleistocene wave-built terraces in northeastern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenitiro Suguio

2011-09-01

Full Text Available This study presents field and chronological investigations along the coast of northeastern Brazil from ~4°S to 9°S latitude, which corresponds to ~700 km of coastline under a semi-diurnal mesotidal regime. We investigated wave-built terrace deposits and dated sediments using the optically stimulated luminescence and thermoluminescence methods on quartz grains. The wave-built terraces yielded two main age groups: 200-230 ka and 100-130 ka, which we interpreted as depositional ages. We correlated these age groups with oxygen-isotope stages 7c and 5e, respectively. These events correspond to the antepenultimate and penultimate transgressions along the Brazilian coast. The deposits occur mainly in patches on low-lying flat plateaus along the littoral zone and incision valleys that cut across coastal tablelands. The altitude of the base of the 200-230 ka terraces ranges from 10 m above mean sea level (asl to -2m asl, whereas the base of the 100-130 ka varies from 12 m asl to -2 m asl. Both terraces were deposited in the foreshore and upper shoreface zones. We noted a coincidence between sea-level highstand chronologies in northeastern Brazil and those in the Bahamas and Bermuda.Este estudo apresenta uma investigação de campo e geocronológica realizada ao longo da costa nordeste do Brasil entre ~4°S e 9°S de latitude, o que corresponde a ~700 km de costa submetida a um regime de meso-maré. Nós investigamos terraços marinhos construídos por ondas e datamos sedimentos usando luminescência oticamente estimulada e termoluminescência em grãos de quartzo. Os terraços marinhos forneceram dois grupos de idades: 200-230 ka e 100-130 ka, que interpretamos como idades de deposição. Nós correlacionamos estas idades com idades do estágio isotópico do oxigênio 7c e 5e, respectivamente. Estes eventos correspondem a antepenúltima e penúltima transgressões que ocorreram ao longo da costa brasileira. Os depósitos ocorrem predominantemente em

The Quaternary uplift history of central southern England: evidence from the terraces of the Solent River system and nearby raised beaches

Science.gov (United States)

Westaway, Rob; Bridgland, David; White, Mark

2006-09-01

We have used fluvial (Solent River system) and marine terraces to reconstruct the uplift history of central southern England. In the case of the former, we make the assumption that fluvial incision has been a direct response to surface uplift, with its precise timing controlled by climatic forcing of fluvial activity, such that height of terrace gravel above modern river is a consequence of uplift since deposition. In the case of the marine sequence, we take the height of interglacial raised beaches above a calculated contemporaneous sea-level as a measure of uplift, the calculation involving an adjustment from modern sea-level using the deep oceanic oxygen isotope signal as an indication of global ice volume at the time of deposition. This exercise requires some degree of dating constraint, which is problematic for both environments. The Solent terraces have yielded little biostratigraphical evidence, whereas the south coast raised beaches have either been poorly exposed in recent years or their ages have been controversial because of disputes between biostratigraphy and geochronological data. We have supplemented the evidence available from these sources by using key aspects of the archaeological record as dating constraints, in particular the first appearances of Levallois technique (a marker for MIS 9-8) and of bout coupé handaxes (MIS 3). The first of these has been particularly useful in modelling of the Middle Pleistocene parts of the river terrace staircases of the Solent system. In undertaking this reappraisal, we have noted several inconsistencies and disagreements between past correlation schemes for the terraces of the Solent and its various tributaries. We find that versions involving shallower downstream gradients in the main Solent River are most likely to be correct and that revisions on this basis solve a number of problems in interpretation encountered previously. Our results show that most of this region has uplifted by ˜70 m since the late

Multilocus phylogeny of arvicoline voles (Arvicolini, Rodentia) shows small tree terrace size

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Martínková, Natália; Moravec, J.

2012-01-01

Roč. 61, 3-4 (2012), s. 254-267 ISSN 0139-7893 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930609 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : divergence * evolutionary history * supertree * supermatrix * phylogenetic tree terrace * Microtus * Arvicolinae Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 0.494, year: 2012

Water pollution - control of pollution regulations: water pollution from abandoned mines; pre-notification of mine abandonment consultation paper and draft regulations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-02-01

The paper contains proposals to specify the content of the pre-abandonment notices which UK mine operators will be required to give in the future. The proposals are designed to enhance the Environment Agency`s ability to tackle water pollution from abandoned mines. They set out the precise contents of the notification, which mine operators will have to send to the Agency at least six months in advance of any intended abandonment. The regulations will cover coal and non-coal mines. Estimated compliance costs to business have been drawn up following consultation with the Department of Trade and Industry, the Health and Safety Executive, the Coal Authority and the Environment Agency. The regulations are due in late spring 1998.

An examination of the abandonment of applications for energy efficiency retrofit grants in Ireland

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Collins, Matthew; Curtis, John

2017-01-01

The Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) operates the Better Energy Homes (BEH) grant scheme to incentivise residential energy efficiency retrofits, an ongoing scheme which was implemented in 2009. This scheme provides a financial incentive for home owners to engage in energy efficiency retrofits, provided the upgrades meet appropriate energy efficiency standards. This study analyses the BEH data, which is comprised of all applications from March 2009 to October 2015, in order to examine the extent to which applications are abandoned and the determinants thereof. We find that more complicated retrofits are more likely to be abandoned, with variation across certain combinations of retrofit measure. We find lower probabilities of abandonment among certain obligated parties, who are energy retailers obliged by the State to reduce energy consumption in Ireland, while others possess greater likelihoods of abandonment, relative to private retrofits. We find that newer homes are less likely to abandon an application than older homes, as are applications made for apartments, relative to houses. Regional variations exist in abandonment, with rural households more likely to abandon than urban households. A seasonal trend in abandonment is also present, with higher likelihoods of abandonment among applications made during winter. - Highlights: • We use a stated preference approach to model the abandonment of grant applications. • Deeper retrofits are more likely to be abandoned, with variation across measures. • Abandonment is less likely in applications made via obligated energy suppliers. • Regional and Seasonal variations exist in abandonment.

Life form and species diversity on abandoned croplands, Roggeveld ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The Roggeveld consists of an island of Mountain Renosterveld (Fynbos biome) surrounded by Succulent Karoo biome vegetation. Since management of abandoned croplands depends on a better understanding of their succession sequences, vegetation recovery on abandoned croplands in the Roggeveld was studied ...

Controls on dryland mountain landscape development along the NW Saharan desert margin: Insights from Quaternary river terrace sequences (Dadès River, south-central High Atlas, Morocco)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stokes, M.; Mather, A.E.; Belfoul, M.

2017-01-01

between 50 and 140 m. The rock strength, stratigraphy and structure of the mountain belt influences terrace distribution. Terraces are absent in river gorges of structurally thickened limestone; whilst well-developed, laterally continuous terraces (T1-T4) form along wide valleys occupying syncline...... sands and colluvium. This sequence with some OSL/IRSL age control, suggests terrace formation over a 100 ka climate cycle with valley floor aggradation during full glacials and incision during glacial-interglacial transitions. This integrates with other archives (e.g. lakes, glaciers, dunes), appearing...... typical of landscape development along the NW Saharan margin south of the High Atlas, and similar to patterns in the western-southern Mediterranean. The 100 ka climate cycle relationship suggests that the terrace sequence documents Late-Middle Pleistocene landscape development. Consistent altitudinal...

The hillsides would allow to produce electric power from renewable source; Les flancs de montagne pourraient permettre de produire de l'electricite d'origine renouvelable

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laby, F

2006-09-15

A solar tower is a renewable energy plant, designed to channel the air warmed by the sun, in order to produce electric power by the use of turbines. It is composed of a giant greenhouse with a chimney in its center. The capacity of this system is proportional to the chimney high. That is the reason why french engineers proposed to use the hillsides to build chimneys of many kilometers high. The project and some technical informations are provided in this paper. (A.L.B.)

Late Quaternary stream piracy and strath terrace formation along the Belle Fourche and lower Cheyenne Rivers, South Dakota and Wyoming

Science.gov (United States)

Stamm, John F.; Hendricks, Robert R.; Sawyer, J. Foster; Mahan, Shannon A.; Zaprowski, Brent J.; Geibel, Nicholas M.; Azzolini, David C.

2013-09-01

Stream piracy substantially affected the geomorphic evolution of the Missouri River watershed and drainages within, including the Little Missouri, Cheyenne, Belle Fourche, Bad, and White Rivers. The ancestral Cheyenne River eroded headward in an annular pattern around the eastern and southern Black Hills and pirated the headwaters of the ancestral Bad and White Rivers after ~ 660 ka. The headwaters of the ancestral Little Missouri River were pirated by the ancestral Belle Fourche River, a tributary to the Cheyenne River that currently drains much of the northern Black Hills. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques were used to estimate the timing of this piracy event at ~ 22-21 ka. The geomorphic evolution of the Cheyenne and Belle Fourche Rivers is also expressed by regionally recognized strath terraces that include (from oldest to youngest) the Sturgis, Bear Butte, and Farmingdale terraces. Radiocarbon and OSL dates from fluvial deposits on these terraces indicate incision to the level of the Bear Butte terrace by ~ 63 ka, incision to the level of the Farmingdale terrace at ~ 40 ka, and incision to the level of the modern channel after ~ 12-9 ka. Similar dates of terrace incision have been reported for the Laramie and Wind River Ranges. Hypothesized causes of incision are the onset of colder climate during the middle Wisconsinan and the transition to the full-glacial climate of the late-Wisconsinan/Pinedale glaciation. Incision during the Holocene of the lower Cheyenne River is as much as ~ 80 m and is 3 to 4 times the magnitude of incision at ~ 63 ka and ~ 40 ka. The magnitude of incision during the Holocene might be due to a combined effect of three geomorphic processes acting in concert: glacial isostatic rebound in lower reaches (~ 40 m), a change from glacial to interglacial climate, and adjustments to increased watershed area resulting from piracy of the ancestral headwaters of the Little Missouri River.

The strategies of local farmers' water management and the eco-hydrological effects of irrigation-drainage engineering systems in world heritage of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Xuan

2017-04-01

Terraces are built in mountainous regions to provide larger area for cultivation,in which the hydrological and geomorphological processes are impacted by local farmers' water management strategies and are modified by manmade irrigation-drainage engineering systems.The Honghe Hani Rice Terraces is a 1300a history of traditional agricultural landscape that was inscribed in the 2013 World Heritage List.The local farmers had developed systematic water management strategies and built perfect irrigation-drainage engineering systems to adapt the local rainfall pattern and rice farming activities.Through field investigation,interviews,combined with Geographic Information Systems,Remote Sensing images and Global Positioning Systems technology,the water management strategies as well as the irrigation-drainage systems and their impacts on eco-hydrological process were studied,the results indicate:Firstly,the local people created and maintained an unique woodcarving allocating management system of irrigating water over hundreds years,which aids distributing water and natural nutrition to each terrace field evenly,and regularly according to cultivation schedule.Secondly,the management of local people play an essential role in effective irrigation-drainage engineering system.A ditch leader takes charge of managing the ditch of their village,keeping ample amount of irrigation water,repairing broken parts of ditches,dealing with unfair water using issues,and so on.Meanwhile,some traditional leaders of minority also take part in.Thus, this traditional way of irrigation-drainage engineering has bringed Hani people around 1300 years of rice harvest for its eco-hydrological effects.Lastly we discuss the future of Honghe Hani Rice Terraces,the traditional cultivation pattern has been influenced by the rapid development of modern civilization,in which some related changes such as the new equipment of county roads and plastic channels and the water overusing by tourism are not totally

Determinants of tuberculosis transmission and treatment abandonment in Fortaleza, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guy Harling

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Tuberculosis (TB remains a public health problem, despite recent achievements in reducing incidence and mortality rates. In Brazil, these achievements were above the worldwide average, but marked by large regional heterogeneities. In Fortaleza (5th largest city in Brazil, the tuberculosis cure rate has been declining and treatment abandonment has been increasing in the past decade, despite a reduction in incidence and an increase in directly observed therapy (DOT. These trends put efforts to eliminate tuberculosis at risk. We therefore sought to determine social and programmatic determinants of tuberculosis incidence and treatment abandonment in Fortaleza. Methods We analyzed sociodemographic and clinical data for all new tuberculosis cases notified in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN from Fortaleza between 2007 and 2014. We calculated incidence rates for 117 neighborhoods in Fortaleza, assessed their spatial clustering, and used spatial regression models to quantify associations between neighborhood-level covariates and incidence rates. We used hierarchical logistic regression models to evaluate how individual- and neighborhood-level covariates predicted tuberculosis treatment abandonment. Results There were 12,338 new cases reported during the study period. Case rates across neighborhoods were significantly positively clustered in two low-income areas close to the city center. In an adjusted model, tuberculosis rates were significantly higher in neighborhoods with lower literacy, higher sewerage access and homicide rates, and a greater proportion of self-reported black residents. Treatment was abandoned in 1901 cases (15.4%, a rate that rose by 71% between 2007 and 2014. Abandonment was significantly associated with many individual sociodemographic and clinical factors. Notably, being recommended for DOT was protective for those who completed DOT, but associated with abandonment for those who did not

Determinants of tuberculosis transmission and treatment abandonment in Fortaleza, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Harling, Guy; Lima Neto, Antonio S; Sousa, Geziel S; Machado, Marcia M T; Castro, Marcia C

2017-05-25

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a public health problem, despite recent achievements in reducing incidence and mortality rates. In Brazil, these achievements were above the worldwide average, but marked by large regional heterogeneities. In Fortaleza (5th largest city in Brazil), the tuberculosis cure rate has been declining and treatment abandonment has been increasing in the past decade, despite a reduction in incidence and an increase in directly observed therapy (DOT). These trends put efforts to eliminate tuberculosis at risk. We therefore sought to determine social and programmatic determinants of tuberculosis incidence and treatment abandonment in Fortaleza. We analyzed sociodemographic and clinical data for all new tuberculosis cases notified in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) from Fortaleza between 2007 and 2014. We calculated incidence rates for 117 neighborhoods in Fortaleza, assessed their spatial clustering, and used spatial regression models to quantify associations between neighborhood-level covariates and incidence rates. We used hierarchical logistic regression models to evaluate how individual- and neighborhood-level covariates predicted tuberculosis treatment abandonment. There were 12,338 new cases reported during the study period. Case rates across neighborhoods were significantly positively clustered in two low-income areas close to the city center. In an adjusted model, tuberculosis rates were significantly higher in neighborhoods with lower literacy, higher sewerage access and homicide rates, and a greater proportion of self-reported black residents. Treatment was abandoned in 1901 cases (15.4%), a rate that rose by 71% between 2007 and 2014. Abandonment was significantly associated with many individual sociodemographic and clinical factors. Notably, being recommended for DOT was protective for those who completed DOT, but associated with abandonment for those who did not. Low socioeconomic status areas have higher tuberculosis

77 FR 74063 - Amendments to the Abandoned Plan Regulations

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-12

... individual account plans may be considered ``abandoned'' and procedures by which financial institutions (so... the United States Code on the theory that such plans are effectively being abandoned by the sponsor as...) of Sec. 2578.1 that allows only large financial institutions and other asset custodians described in...

Cleaning-up abandoned uranium mines in Saskatchewan's North

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schramm, L.L.

2012-01-01

Thirty-six now-abandoned uranium mine and mill sites were developed and operated on or near Lake Athabasca, in Northern Saskatchewan, Canada, from approximately 1957 through 1964. During their operating lifetimes these mines produced large quantities of ore and tailings. After closure in the 1960's, these mine and mill sites were abandoned with little remediation and no reclamation being done. The governments of Canada and Saskatchewan are now funding the cleanup of these abandoned northern uranium mine and mill sites and have contracted the management of the project to the Saskatchewan Research Council (SRC). The clean-up activity is underway, with work at many of the smaller sites largely completed, work at the Gunnar site well underway, and a beginning made at the Lorado site. This lecture presents an overview of these operations. (author)

Evaluation of 3D Ground Penetrating Radar Efficiency for Abandoned Tailings Pond Internal Structure Analysis and Risk Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Cortada, Unai; Martínez, Julián; Hidalgo, Mª Carmen; Rey, Javier

2017-04-01

Evaluation of 3D Ground Penetrating Radar Efficiency for Abandoned Tailings Pond Internal Structure Analysis and Risk Assessment Abandoned tailings ponds constitute a severe environmental problem in old Pb mining districts due to their high contents in metallic and semi-metallic elements. In most of the cases, there is a lack of information about the construction procedures and the previous environmental situation, which hinders the environmental risk evaluation. In these cases, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) could be an interesting technique to analyze the internal structure of the tailings ponds and detect vulnerable zones for leaching processes. Consequently, the GPR could help in the abandoned tailings ponds environmental risk assessment. In this study, a GPR 3D campaign was carried out with a 250 MHz frequency antenna in order to evaluate the efficiency of this technique in both the analysis of internal structures and the environmental risk assessment. Subsequently, 2D and 3D models were undertaken to represent graphically the obtained results. The studied tailings pond is located in the Guadiel river bank, a water course draining the mining district of Linares, Spain. The dam is 150 m length and 80 m width. The GPR 3D was done in a selected area near the central part of the pond. The analyzed grid was 25x50 m and the spacing of the slides was 1 m. The study revealed that the contact between the tailings and the substratum is located at 2.5 m. No intermediate layer was found, which means that the tailings pond was heightened on the fluvial terrace without any insulation system. Inside the first meter of the pond, a cross stratification was identified. The orientation of those laminations changed with the depth, which means that the stockpiling was performed from the different sides of the tailings pond. Furthermore, the direction of these stratifications is slightly concentric to the middle of the dam which could be associated with a central drainage system

Analyzing the Risk of Well Plug Failure after Abandonment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mainguy, M.; Longuemare, P.; Audibert, A.; Lecolier, E.

2007-01-01

All oil and gas wells will have to be plugged and abandoned at some time. The plugging and abandonment procedure must provide an effective isolation of the well fluids all along the well to reduce environmental risks of contamination and prevent from costly remedial jobs. Previous works have analyzed the plug behavior when submitted to local pressure or thermal changes but no work has looked to the effects of external pressure, thermal and stress changes resulting from a global equilibrium restoration in a hydrocarbon reservoir once production has stopped. This work estimates those changes after abandonment on a reservoir field case using a reservoir simulator in conjunction with a geomechanical simulator. Such simulations provide the pressure and thermal changes and the maximum effective stress changes in the reservoir cap rock where critical plugs are put in place for isolating the production intervals. These changes are used as loads in a well bore stress model that explicitly models an injector well and predict stress rearrangements in the plug after abandonment. Results obtained with the well bore stress model for a conventional class G cement plug show that the main risk of failure is tensile failure because of the low tensile strength of the cement. Actually, soft sealing materials or initially pre-stressed plug appears to be more adapted to the downhole conditions changes that may occurs after well plugging and abandonment. (authors)

Late Quaternary uplift rate inferred from marine terraces, Muroto Peninsula, southwest Japan: Forearc deformation in an oblique subduction zone

Science.gov (United States)

Matsu'ura, Tabito

2015-04-01

Tectonic uplift rates across the Muroto Peninsula, in the southwest Japan forearc (the overriding plate in the southwest Japan oblique subduction zone), were estimated by mapping the elevations of the inner edges of marine terrace surfaces. The uplift rates inferred from marine terraces M1 and M2, which were correlated by tephrochronology with marine isotope stages (MIS) 5e and 5c, respectively, include some vertical offset by local faults but generally decrease northwestward from 1.2-1.6 m ky- 1 on Cape Muroto to 0.3-0.7 m ky- 1 in the Kochi Plain. The vertical deformation of the Muroto Peninsula since MIS 5e and 5c was interpreted as a combination of regional uplift and folding related to the arc-normal offshore Muroto-Misaki fault. A regional uplift rate of 0.46 m ky- 1 was estimated from terraces on the Muroto Peninsula, and the residual deformation of these terraces was attributed to fault-related folding. A mass-balance calculation yielded a shortening rate of 0.71-0.77 m ky- 1 for the Muroto Peninsula, with the Muroto-Misaki fault accounting for 0.60-0.71 m ky- 1, but these rates may be overestimated by as much as 10% given variations of several meters in the elevation difference between the buried shoreline angles and terrace inner edges in the study area. A thrust fault model with flat (5-10° dip) and ramp (60° dip) components is proposed to explain the shortening rate and uplift rate of the Muroto-Misaki fault since MIS 5e. Bedrock deformation also indicates that the northern extension of this fault corresponds to the older Muroto Flexure.

32 CFR 635.31 - Lost, abandoned, or unclaimed property.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 32 National Defense 4 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 true Lost, abandoned, or unclaimed property. 635.31 Section 635.31 National Defense Department of Defense (Continued) DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY (CONTINUED) LAW ENFORCEMENT AND CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTING Offense Reporting § 635.31 Lost, abandoned, or unclaimed property. This is...

Millipede succession in abandoned fields

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Tajovský, Karel

2000-01-01

Roč. 43, - (2000), s. 361-370 ISSN 0015-9301 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA526/97/0631 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z6066911 Keywords : Millipedes * abandoned field * fallow Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour

Fluvial terrace formation in the northern Upper Rhine Graben during the last 20 000 years as a result of allogenic controls and autogenic evolution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Erkens, G.; Dambeck, R.; Volleberg, K.P.; Bouman, M.I.T.J.; Bos, J.A.A.; Cohen, K.M.; Hoek, W.Z.

2009-01-01

The northern Upper Rhine Graben hosts a well-preserved Late Weichselian and Holocene fluvial terrace sequence. Terraces differ in elevation, morphology, and overbank sediment characteristics. The purpose of this study was to determine the relative importance of allogenic controlling factors versus

Economic and fiscal aspects of oil and gas field abandonment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kemp, A.G.

1992-01-01

The abandonment of fields in the North Sea raises a number of physical, environmental, and economic issues. Key economic aspects are (a) the costs incurred in the abandonment operations: (b), the criteria to be employed in determining the optimal timing of field abandonment; (c), the fiscal reliefs available for the expenditures incurred; and, (d) the (financial) security aspects relating to the activity. These topics are discussed in this paper with particular reference to the UK Continental Shelf (UKCS). Comparisons with Norway and the Netherlands are made on the fiscal aspects. (Author)

A descriptive and quantitative approach regarding erosion and development of landforms on abandoned mine tailings: New insights and environmental implications from SE Spain

Science.gov (United States)

Martín Duque, J. F.; Zapico, I.; Oyarzun, R.; López García, J. A.; Cubas, P.

2015-06-01

The San Cristóbal-Perules mining site in Mazarrón in southeast Spain was subjected to about a hundred years of intense mining activity for lead, silver, and zinc. Metallurgical operations (smelting, calcination, gravity concentration) carried out during the late nineteenth century-early twentieth century induced significant land transformation, and the most conspicuous wastes of this period consist of a chaotic piling of 'old' tailing deposits. Later on, during the mid-twentieth century, 'modern' tailings resulting from froth flotation were accumulated filling small valleys; these latter valley-fill tailings rose sequentially according to the upstream construction method, progressively raising the level of the dam during the process. Once abandoned, both types of tailing deposits underwent severe erosion, resulting in a mosaic of erosional and sedimentary landforms developed upon (e.g., gully formation) and within them (e.g., piping). We made an inventory and classification of these landforms. Our study shows the geomorphic work to reestablish a new steady state between the tailings deposits and the local erosive conditions. This scenario implies several hazards related to the extremely high heavy metal contents of these tailings and the geomorphic instability of the deposits. We also quantified the tailings tonnage and erosion that occurred at one of the tailings dams (El Roble). As shown by an oblique aerial photograph taken in 1968, this dam had a terraced topography, whereas in 2013 this morphology had evolved into a badland-type relief with deep parallel gullies. By recognizing and surveying specific, remnant points along the benches and outslopes of the older terraced topography, we were able to build up a first digital elevation model (DEM1) reflecting the initial topography. A second DEM, this time showing the present topography, allowed quantification of erosion via Material Loss = DEM1 - DEM2. This yields an erosion rate (1968-2009) of 151.8 Mg (MT) ha

Abandonment, Ecological Assembly and Public Health Risks in Counter-Urbanizing Cities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Gulachenski

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Urban landscapes can be transformed by widespread abandonment from population and economic decline. Ecological assembly, sometimes referred to as “greening”, following abandonment can yield valuable ecosystem services, but also can pose a risk to public health. Abandonment can elevate zoonotic vector-borne disease risk by favoring the hyperabundance of commensal pests and pathogen vectors. Though greater biodiversity in abandoned areas can potentially dilute vector-borne pathogen transmission, “greening” can elevate transmission risk by increasing movement of pathogen vectors between fragmented areas and by giving rise to novel human-wildlife interfaces. Idled and derelict infrastructure can further elevate disease risk from vector-borne and water-borne pathogens, which can build up in stagnant and unprotected water that maintenance and routine use of delivery or sanitation systems would otherwise eliminate. Thus, framing “greening” as inherently positive could result in policies and actions that unintentionally exacerbate inequalities by elevating risks rather than delivering benefits. As counter-urbanism is neither a minor pattern of urban development, nor a short-term departure from urban growth, homeowner and municipal management of abandoned areas should account for potential hazards to reduce health risks. Further socioecological assessments of public health risks following abandonment could better ensure the resilience and well-being of communities in shrinking cities.

Microbial Nitrogen-Cycle Gene Abundance in Soil of Cropland Abandoned for Different Periods.

Science.gov (United States)

Huhe; Borjigin, Shinchilelt; Buhebaoyin; Wu, Yanpei; Li, Minquan; Cheng, Yunxiang

2016-01-01

In Inner Mongolia, steppe grasslands face desertification or degradation because of human overuse and abandonment after inappropriate agricultural management. The soils in these abandoned croplands exist in heterogeneous environments characterized by widely fluctuating microbial growth. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of microbial genes encoding proteins involved in the nitrogen cycle was used to study Azotobacter species, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers in the soils from steppe grasslands and croplands abandoned for 2, 6, and 26 years. Except for nitrifying archaea and nitrous oxide-reducing bacteria, the relative genotypic abundance of microbial communities involved in nitrogen metabolism differed by approximately 2- to 10-fold between abandoned cropland and steppe grassland soils. Although nitrogen-cycle gene abundances varied with abandonment time, the abundance patterns of nitrogen-cycle genes separated distinctly into abandoned cropland versus light-grazing steppe grassland, despite the lack of any cultivation for over a quarter-century. Plant biomass and plant diversity exerted a significant effect on the abundance of microbial communities that mediate the nitrogen cycle (P nitrogen cycle in recently abandoned croplands.

The role of the macro-invertebrates, like indicators of fertility and perturbation of hillsides soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feijoo M, Alexander; Knapp, Edwjn B

1998-01-01

Species diversity and activity of soil fauna have been identified as making important contribution to the functioning of tropical agro-ecosystems through diverse processes. This study to compared and contrasted, from April-September of 1994, macrofauna density total, biomass and the species diversity of earthworms across a range of land use types in a typical Andean hillside watershed with the eventual goal of managing soil macrofauna to improve soil health. The methodology used is that re-commended by the TSBF project. Results indicate macrofauna density, biomass and species diversity of earthworm vary considerably across LUT both with respect to sampling depth and date. This is an important finding because variable sampling periods will add variability to survey results in the event a soil quality indicator based on macrofauna index would be a possibility. Initial factor analysis (principle components) resulted in 3 factors accounting for 71.83% of the total variance in macrofauna density. Extreme values for diversity are presented: in the Andean forest 60 taxonomic units were observed while in land pasture (28, 17 and 13) and in land farm (31, 18) they decreased dramatically

Blasting as a method for abandoned mine land reclamation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Workman, J.L.; Fletcher, L.R.

1991-01-01

Blasting methods have been proposed for reclaiming abandoned underground coal mine sites having unstable conditions. The objective of blasting is twofold: the permanent stabilization of an area by the collapse of underground workings to prevent any future subsidence, and the use of blasting to close existing sinkholes. This paper presents the results of two research projects funded by the Bureau of Mines Abandoned Mine Land Research Program to investigate the feasibility of blasting to assist in the reclamation of shallow abandoned coal mine sites. Blasting tests were conducted at Beulah, North Dakota and at Scobey, Montana, involving different configurations. The first test was a 10-acre site where blasting was used to collapse regular room and pillar panels for which good mine layout information was available. The second test involved a one acre site containing very irregular workings for which there was little available information. Finally, blasting techniques were used to close 13 individual vertical openings. The depths to the coal seams were 60 feet or less at all sites. When blasting for Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation, material must be cast downward into the abandoned developments or laterally into the sinkhole. Designs based on cratering concepts and spherical charges worked well. The blasting techniques successfully collapsed and stabilized the test areas. Cost of reclamation for the two test sites are presented. Data from blast vibration monitoring are presented because control of vibrations is of concern when mitigation efforts are conducted near homes

Seasonal energy storage using bioenergy production from abandoned croplands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elliott Campbell, J; Zumkehr, Andrew; Lobell, David B; Genova, Robert C; Field, Christopher B

2013-01-01

Bioenergy has the unique potential to provide a dispatchable and carbon-negative component to renewable energy portfolios. However, the sustainability, spatial distribution, and capacity for bioenergy are critically dependent on highly uncertain land-use impacts of biomass agriculture. Biomass cultivation on abandoned agriculture lands is thought to reduce land-use impacts relative to biomass production on currently used croplands. While coarse global estimates of abandoned agriculture lands have been used for large-scale bioenergy assessments, more practical technological and policy applications will require regional, high-resolution information on land availability. Here, we present US county-level estimates of the magnitude and distribution of abandoned cropland and potential bioenergy production on this land using remote sensing data, agriculture inventories, and land-use modeling. These abandoned land estimates are 61% larger than previous estimates for the US, mainly due to the coarse resolution of data applied in previous studies. We apply the land availability results to consider the capacity of biomass electricity to meet the seasonal energy storage requirement in a national energy system that is dominated by wind and solar electricity production. Bioenergy from abandoned croplands can supply most of the seasonal storage needs for a range of energy production scenarios, regions, and biomass yield estimates. These data provide the basis for further down-scaling using models of spatially gridded land-use areas as well as a range of applications for the exploration of bioenergy sustainability. (letter)

Timing and nature of alluvial fan and strath terrace formation in the Eastern Precordillera of Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Hedrick, Kathryn; Owen, Lewis A.; Rockwell, Thomas K.; Meigs, Andrew; Costa, Carlos; Caffee, Marc W.; Masana, Eulalia; Ahumada, Emilio

2013-11-01

Sixty-eight 10Be terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) surface exposure ages are presented to define the timing of alluvial fan and strath terrace formation in the hyper-arid San Juan region of the Argentine Precordillera. This region is tectonically active, and numerous fault scarps traverse Quaternary landforms. The three study sites, Marquesado strath complex, Loma Negra alluvial fan and Carpintería strath complex reveal a history of alluvial fan and strath terrace development over the past ˜225 ka. The Marquesado complex Q3m surface dates to ˜17 ± 3 ka, whereas the Loma Negra Q1ln, Q2ln, Q3ln, Q4ln, and Q5ln surfaces date to ˜24 ± 3 ka, ˜48 ± 2 ka, ˜65 ± 13 ka, ˜105 ± 21 ka, and ˜181 ± 29 ka, respectively. The Carpintería complex comprises eight surfaces that have been dated and include the Q1c (˜23 ± 3 ka), Q2c (˜5 ± 5 ka), Q3ac (˜25 ± 12 ka), Q3bc (˜29 ± 15 ka), Q4c (˜61 ± 12 ka), Q5c (˜98 ± 18 ka), Q6c (˜93 ± 18 ka), and Q7c (˜212 ± 37 ka). 10Be TCN depth profile data for the Loma Negra alluvial fan complex and Carpintería strath terrace complex, as well as OSL ages on some Carpintería deposits, aid in refining surface ages for comparison with local and global climate proxies, and additionally offer insights into inheritance and erosion rate values for TCNs (˜10 × 10410Be atoms/g of SiO2 and ˜5 m Ma-1, respectively). Comparison with other alluvial fan studies in the region show that less dynamic and older preserved surfaces occur in the Carpintería and Loma Negra areas with only younger alluvial fan surfaces preserved both to the north and south. These data in combination with that of other studies illustrate broad regional agreement between alluvial fan and strath terrace ages, which suggests that climate is the dominant forcing agent in the timing of terrace formation in this region.

Coal Mines, Abandoned - AML Polygons Feature

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Education | GIS Inventory — This data set portrays the approximate location of Abandoned Mine Land Problem Areas containing public health, safety, and public welfare problems created by past...

Coal Mines, Abandoned - AML Points Feature

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Education | GIS Inventory — This data set portrays the approximate location of Abandoned Mine Land Problem Areas containing public health, safety, and public welfare problems created by past...

Radioactive pollution investigation and disposal of abandoned uranium mines in Jiangsu province

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Qihong; Zhao Fuxiang; Wang Lihua

2008-01-01

The environment influence of five abandoned uranium mines in Jiangsu province from 1950s to 1960s is introduced. By monitoring air absorbed dose rate of external exposure γ radiation, it is found that the pollution scope of No.1 abandoned uranium mine is the biggest in five abandoned uranium mines. The No. 2 and No. 3 mine areas has achieved the limit use after they were desposed. The radioactivity and the gamma nuclein in solid samples(slag, soil, silt) and liquid samples (the surface water, the well water)of No. 1 abandoned uranium mine were further analyzed and measured, the measured values are higher. The pollution of abandoned uranium mines still exists and diffuses after 30 years. According to the monitoring results and the analysis of pollution present situation, suggestions and measures are proposed for the pollution control. (authors)

Brent spar experience haunts N. Sea platform abandonments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knott, D.

1996-01-01

This paper reviews the environmental conflicts that oil and gas industry officials have recently encountered in their attempts to abandon offshore platforms. It reviews the various governmental policies which are in effect in the North Sea area and the effect these policies have had on removal or deepsea disposal of these facilities. It provides a prospectus of soon to be abandoned facilities in the North Sea countries and a summary of removal operations in recent history

Soils on raised marine terraces in the Metaponto area, S Italy: not a simple chronosequence

Science.gov (United States)

Sauer, Daniela; Al-Sharif, Riyad; Wagner, Stephen; Scarciglia, Fabio; Deffontaines, Benoît; Benvenuti, Marco; Carnicelli, Stefano; Brückner, Helmut

2015-04-01

A sequence of Middle and Late Pleistocene raised marine terraces stretches along the Gulf of Taranto, S Italy, for more than 65 km from Rocca Imperiale, Calabria, in the SW to Taranto, Apulia, in the NE, in an approximately 25 km wide belt. The terraces formed as a result of the interplay between sea-level fluctuations and regional tectonic uplift over a time-span of ca. 780 ka. They were selected for establishing a soil chronosequence, in order to analyse rates of soil-forming processes in the central Mediterranean region. Indeed, several general trends of soil formation with terrace age were identified. For example, soil thickness and Fed/Fet ratios increase, while the weathering ratio (Ca+Mg+K+Na)/Al decreases with assumed terrace age. These changes could be best described by power functions (R2 = 0.88 for soil thickness, R2 = 0.87 for Fed/Fet, and R2 = 0.96 for (Ca+Mg+K+Na)/Al). However, closer examination revealed that the soils did not simply form in the marine gravel bodies but in various kinds of sediments. The development of the landscape along the Gulf of Taranto turned out to be much more complex than previously expected. Sediment-soil successions exposed in several gravel quarries reveal that each terrace, after its original formation, was exposed to changing conditions in terms of climate, vegetation, level of erosion base (related to sea-level oscillations and/or tectonics), and other environmental factors during the Pleistocene and Holocene periods. As a result, it was subject to (i) further geomorphological and sedimentological evolution, including incision, denudation, deposition of alluvial sediments, and accumulation of colluvial deposits, in parts due to natural processes and in parts due to human activity; (ii) various directions and rates of soil development, corresponding to changing environmental conditions during glacial and interglacial periods. In some cases, there is evidence for a period of soil formation in the marine deposits prior to

Determinants of the exclusive breastfeeding abandonment: psychosocial factors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mariana Campos Martins Machado

2014-12-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE To assess the determinants of exclusive breastfeeding abandonment. METHODS Longitudinal study based on a birth cohort in Viçosa, MG, Southeastern Brazil. In 2011/2012, 168 new mothers accessing the public health network were followed. Three interviews, at 30, 60, and 120 days postpartum, with the new mothers were conducted. Exclusive breastfeeding abandonment was analyzed in the first, second, and fourth months after childbirth. The Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale was applied to identify depressive symptoms in the first and second meetings, with a score of ≥ 12 considered as the cutoff point. Socioeconomic, demographic, and obstetric variables were investigated, along with emotional conditions and the new mothers’ social network during pregnancy and the postpartum period. RESULTS The prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding abandonment at 30, 60, and 120 days postpartum was 53.6% (n = 90, 47.6% (n = 80, and 69.6% (n = 117, respectively, and its incidence in the fourth month compared with the first was 48.7%. Depressive symptoms and traumatic delivery were associated with exclusive breastfeeding abandonment in the second month after childbirth. In the fourth month, the following variables were significant: lower maternal education levels, lack of homeownership, returning to work, not receiving guidance on breastfeeding in the postpartum period, mother’s negative reaction to the news of pregnancy, and not receiving assistance from their partners for infant care. CONCLUSIONS Psychosocial and sociodemographic factors were strong predictors of early exclusive breastfeeding abandonment. Therefore, it is necessary to identify and provide early treatment to nursing mothers with depressive symptoms, decreasing the associated morbidity and promoting greater duration of exclusive breastfeeding. Support from health professionals, as well as that received at home and at work, can assist in this process.

Factors associated with abandonment of therapy by children diagnosed with solid tumors in Peru.

Science.gov (United States)

Vasquez, Liliana; Diaz, Rosdali; Chavez, Sharon; Tarrillo, Fanny; Maza, Ivan; Hernandez, Eddy; Oscanoa, Monica; García, Juan; Geronimo, Jenny; Rossell, Nuria

2018-06-01

Abandonment of treatment is a major cause of treatment failure and poor survival in children with cancer in low- and middle-income countries. The incidence of treatment abandonment in Peru has not been reported. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence of and factors associated with treatment abandonment by pediatric patients with solid tumors in Peru. We retrospectively reviewed the sociodemographic and clinical data of children referred between January 2012 and December 2014 to the two main tertiary centers for childhood cancer in Peru. The definition of treatment abandonment followed the International Society of Paediatric Oncology, Paediatric Oncology in Developing Countries, Abandonment of Treatment recommendation. Data from 1135 children diagnosed with malignant solid tumors were analyzed, of which 209 (18.4%) abandoned treatment. Bivariate logistic regression analysis showed significantly higher abandonment rates in children living outside the capital city, Lima (forest; odds ratio [OR] 3.25; P < 0.001), those living in a rural setting (OR 3.44; P < 0.001), and those whose parent(s) lacked formal employment (OR 4.39; P = 0.001). According to cancer diagnosis, children with retinoblastoma were more likely to abandon treatment compared to children with other solid tumors (OR 1.79; P = 0.02). In multivariate regression analyses, rural origin (OR 2.02; P = 0.001) and lack of formal parental employment (OR 2.88; P = 0.001) were independently predictive of abandonment. Treatment abandonment prevalence of solid tumors in Peru is high and closely related to sociodemographical factors. Treatment outcomes could be substantially improved by strategies that help prevent abandonment of therapy based on these results. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Quaternary river incision in the uplifted Rhenish massif (Ardennes, Belgium) - Insights from 10Be/26Al dating of river terraces

Science.gov (United States)

Rixhon, Gilles; Bourlès, Didier; Braucher, Régis; Siame, Lionel; Bovy, Benoît.; Demoulin, Alain

2010-05-01

Although it constitutes the main tool to unravel the regional recent tectonics, the chronology of the Pleistocene river incision is still poorly constrained within the uplifted Rhenish-Ardennes massif (Belgium, western Europe). Here, we measure cosmogenic nuclides concentrations (10Be and 26Al) in terrace quartz or quartzite sediments of several Ardennian rivers (Meuse, Ourthe and Amblève) in order to date the so-called Younger Main Terrace (YMT), a key-level in the network evolution. Though these dating methods are successfully used to determine ages of superficial (e.g., glacial) deposits, dating of fluvial terraces remains difficult. Possible predepositional exposures of the sampled material (inherited 10Be and 26Al) may indeed bias the measurements towards higher nuclide concentrations while several postdepositional processes (burial, erosion) may cause a lowering of the 10Be and 26Al concentrations. In an attempt to overcome these difficulties, the selected fluvial deposits (five locations) were sampled using a profiling technique on as thick as possible sections (more than 3 m). We present the first absolute dating of the YMT in the lower Meuse valley (nearby the Dutch boundary), where we obtained an age of 630 ka for a terrace deposit buried beneath 3 m of Weichselian loess. This age is consistent with some previously published estimates based on paleomagnetic data and MIS correlations. However, our ages for the same terrace level within the Ardennes are significantly younger: >400 ka in the lower Ourthe, and only ~220 ka still farther upstream, in the lower Amblève. We thus demonstrate that the post-YMT incision occurred diachronically in NE Ardennes. The ~0.5 Ma timespan needed by the erosion wave to propagate from the lower Meuse towards the Ardennian headwaters contradicts the long-held statement of a climatically driven incision that would have been synchronous throughout the catchment.

Post-tectonic landscape evolution in NE Iberia using staircase terraces: Combined effects of uplift and climate

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Claudia J.; Sancho, Carlos; McDonald, Eric V.; Peña-Monné, José Luis; Pueyo, Emilio L.; Rhodes, Edward; Calle, Mikel; Soto, Ruth

2017-09-01

River incision into bedrock resulting from the combined effects of tectonic uplift and climate governs long-term regional landscape evolution. We determined spatial and temporal patterns of post-orogenic stream incision from a sequence of well-preserved staircase terraces developed over the last 1 Ma in the Central Pyrenees and its southern foreland Ebro basin (NE Spain). Extensive remnants of ten vertically separated terraces (Qt1 to Qt10, from oldest to youngest) were mapped along 170 km of the Cinca River valley, transverse to the Pyrenean mountain belt. Multiple outcrops appear in the upper reach of the valley (Ainsa sector, 50 km from headwaters) as well as in the lower reach (Albalate sector, 125 km from headwaters). Fluvial incision into bedrock was calculated using (i) differentially corrected GPS measurements of the altitude of straths and (ii) numerical dating of alluvial sediments from the lower terraces (Qt5 to Qt9) by Optically Stimulated Luminescence, previously reported by Lewis et al. (2009), and supplemented with new dates for the upper terraces (Qt1, Qt2 and Qt3) based on paleomagnetism and supported by soil development. Considering altitude differences and the elapsed time between successive well preserved terrace couples (Qt3-Qt7, Qt7-Qt9 and Qt9-Active channel), mean bedrock incision rates ranged from 0.76 to 0.38 m ka- 1, at the upper reach of the valley (Ainsa section), and from 0.61 to 0.20 m ka- 1, at the lower reach (Albalate section). River incision along the valley produced vertically separated, near-parallel longitudinal terrace profiles evidencing a rapid near-uniform regional uplift as response to (i) the tectonic lithospheric thickening in NE Iberia and (ii) the erosional download rebound related to the Ebro basin exorheism. Moreover, a subtle upstream divergence of strath profiles may have been a consequence of an increase in uplift rate toward the head of the valley. Additionally, incision rates changed over time as indicate

Microbial Nitrogen-Cycle Gene Abundance in Soil of Cropland Abandoned for Different Periods.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Huhe

Full Text Available In Inner Mongolia, steppe grasslands face desertification or degradation because of human overuse and abandonment after inappropriate agricultural management. The soils in these abandoned croplands exist in heterogeneous environments characterized by widely fluctuating microbial growth. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction analysis of microbial genes encoding proteins involved in the nitrogen cycle was used to study Azotobacter species, nitrifiers, and denitrifiers in the soils from steppe grasslands and croplands abandoned for 2, 6, and 26 years. Except for nitrifying archaea and nitrous oxide-reducing bacteria, the relative genotypic abundance of microbial communities involved in nitrogen metabolism differed by approximately 2- to 10-fold between abandoned cropland and steppe grassland soils. Although nitrogen-cycle gene abundances varied with abandonment time, the abundance patterns of nitrogen-cycle genes separated distinctly into abandoned cropland versus light-grazing steppe grassland, despite the lack of any cultivation for over a quarter-century. Plant biomass and plant diversity exerted a significant effect on the abundance of microbial communities that mediate the nitrogen cycle (P < 0.002 and P < 0.03, respectively. The present study elucidates the ecology of bacteria that mediate the nitrogen cycle in recently abandoned croplands.

76 FR 1211 - Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-In Wright County, IA

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-07

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 293X)] Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--In Wright County, IA Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to abandon a line...

Sucessão vegetal em uma encosta reflorestada com leguminosas arbóreas em Angra dos Reis, RJ Natural succession under a nitrogen-fixing legume trees stand in a hillside at Angra dos Reis - RJ, Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sylvia de Souza Chada

2004-12-01

Full Text Available Em uma encosta reflorestada há sete anos com leguminosas arbóreas (Acacia auriculiformis, A. mangium e Mimosa tenuiflora em Angra dos Reis, RJ, foi avaliada a composição florística e fitossociológica da regeneração natural, comparando-as com as de um fragmento de Mata Secundária situado a 200 m de distância. Foram considerados os três terços da encosta, com declividades decrescentes. Em 12 parcelas de 200 m², quatro em cada terço da encosta, foram amostrados 699 indivíduos vegetais a partir de 40 cm de altura, distribuídos em 25 famílias e 50 espécies. As famílias com maior nº de indivíduos foram Meliaceae (298, Euphorbiaceae (70, Piperaceae (64 e Lauraceae (41. Já as famílias com maior nº de espécies foram Solanaceae (7, Melastomataceae (5 e Myrtaceae (5. As leguminosas plantadas não estavam regenerando na própria área. A evolução da sucessão natural apresentou um gradiente de desenvolvimento em razão da menor declividade e menor distância dos remanescentes florestais, com maior densidade de indivíduos e maior riqueza de espécies na área de menor declividade.The floristic composition and natural regeneration under a 7-year-old legume tree plantation (Acacia auriculiformis, A. mangium e Mimosa tenuiflora was investigated in comparing with a secondary forest 200 m away at Angra dos Reis, RJ. The hillside was divided in 3 parts following the slope. The lower part of the hillside was the nearest to the natural forest remnant. In 12 plots with 200 m² each, 4 of them in each section of the hillside, 699 plants larger then 40 cm height were observed, distributed in 25 families and 50 species. The families with the most individuals were Meliaceae (298, Euphorbiaceae (70, Piperaceae (64 and Lauraceae (41. The families with the most species were Solanaceae (7, Melastomataceae (5 and Myrtaceae (5. None of the legume species introduced in the area had produced natural regeneration. The evolution of natural succession

The hillsides would allow to produce electric power from renewable source; Les flancs de montagne pourraient permettre de produire de l'electricite d'origine renouvelable

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Laby, F

2006-09-15

A solar tower is a renewable energy plant, designed to channel the air warmed by the sun, in order to produce electric power by the use of turbines. It is composed of a giant greenhouse with a chimney in its center. The capacity of this system is proportional to the chimney high. That is the reason why french engineers proposed to use the hillsides to build chimneys of many kilometers high. The project and some technical informations are provided in this paper. (A.L.B.)

Metodologia para obtenção do hidrograma de escoamento superficial em encostas e canais. Parte I: desenvolvimento e avaliação Methodology for obtention of superficial flow hydrograph in hillsides and canals. Part I: development and evaluation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José M. A. Silva

2006-12-01

Full Text Available Desenvolveu-se uma metodologia que permite obter o hidrograma de escoamento superficial e a vazão máxima para qualquer posição ao longo de uma encosta e para seções transversais de canais utilizando o modelo de ondas cinemáticas. A área da encosta é dividida num sistema matricial composto por 100 linhas e 100 colunas. Na encosta, considera-se que o escoamento ocorre na direção da declividade e que a vazão de cada pixel é a soma da vazão produzida nesse com a vazão advinda dos pixels que contribuem com o escoamento superficial para o pixel em análise. No canal, a vazão é calculada pela soma dos hidrogramas advindos das colunas do sistema reticulado. A comparação entre os valores de lâmina e vazão máxima de escoamento superficial obtidas experimentalmente e calculadas em duas condições (encosta e bacia permitiu evidenciar que a metodologia, comparada aos métodos Racional e do Número da Curva, ofereceu boas estimativas tanto da lâmina quanto da vazão máxima de escoamento superficial.It was developed a methodology that allows obtaining the hydrograph of superficial flow and maxim flow of any position along a hillside and transversal sections of canals. The area of the hillside is divided in a matrix system having 100 lines and 100 columns. It was considered that the flux occurs in the direction of the hillside's slope and the flow of each pixel is the addition between its own flow and the flows that come from the pixels that contribute to the superficial flow in the pixel under analysis. In the canal the flow is taken as the addition of the hydrographs that come from the columns in the reticular system. By the new methodology the comparison of the total volume and maximum surface runoff flow values, obtained in two experimental conditions (hillside and hydrographic basin, allowed to conclude that the new model provided good performance when compared to the Rational Method and the Curve Number Method.

Characterization of seven United States coal regions. The development of optimal terrace pit coal mining systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wimer, R.L.; Adams, M.A.; Jurich, D.M.

1981-02-01

This report characterizes seven United State coal regions in the Northern Great Plains, Rocky Mountain, Interior, and Gulf Coast coal provinces. Descriptions include those of the Fort Union, Powder River, Green River, Four Corners, Lower Missouri, Illinois Basin, and Texas Gulf coal resource regions. The resource characterizations describe geologic, geographic, hydrologic, environmental and climatological conditions of each region, coal ranks and qualities, extent of reserves, reclamation requirements, and current mining activities. The report was compiled as a basis for the development of hypothetical coal mining situations for comparison of conventional and terrace pit surface mining methods, under contract to the Department of Energy, Contract No. DE-AC01-79ET10023, entitled The Development of Optimal Terrace Pit Coal Mining Systems.

Wind Power Potential at Abandoned Mines in Korea

Science.gov (United States)

jang, M.; Choi, Y.; Park, H.; Go, W.

2013-12-01

This study performed an assessment of wind power potential at abandoned mines in the Kangwon province by analyzing gross energy production, greenhouse gas emission reduction and economic effects estimated from a 600 kW wind turbine. Wind resources maps collected from the renewable energy data center in Korea Institute of Energy Research(KIER) were used to determine the average wind speed, temperature and atmospheric pressure at hub height(50 m) for each abandoned mine. RETScreen software developed by Natural Resources Canada(NRC) was utilized for the energy, emission and financial analyses of wind power systems. Based on the results from 5 representative mining sites, we could know that the average wind speed at hub height is the most critical factor for assessing the wind power potential. Finally, 47 abandoned mines that have the average wind speed faster than 6.5 m/s were analyzed, and top 10 mines were suggested as relatively favorable sites with high wind power potential in the Kangwon province.

Preliminary characterization of abandoned septic tank systems. Volume 2: Appendix D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-12-01

In an effort to support remedial investigations of abandoned septic tanks by US DOE, this report contains the results of chemical analyses of the contents of these abandoned tanks. Analytical data are presented for the following: volatile/TCLP volatile organics; semivolatile/TCLP semivolatile organics; PCB organics; total petroleum hydrocarbons; and total metals. The abandoned systems potentially received wastes or effluent from buildings which could have discharged non-domestic, petroleum hydrocarbons, hazardous, radioactive and/or mixed wastes. The 20 sites investigated are located on the Nevada Test Site

Technical standardization of oil well abandonment: a review of current standards and technologies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Suzart, J. Walter P.; Pessoa, Laudemar; Paiva, Maria [Halliburton Energy Services (HES), Duncan, OK (United States)

2008-07-01

The objective of this study is to provide a new methodology for well abandonment. This practice is becoming more and more important because of the increasing number of production fields being abandoned. We strongly recommend a study of cement slurries properties for specific use in temporary and permanent abandonment plugs based on the estimation of the cement slurry hardened when placed in the well. By using specific additives, it is possible to achieve very stable slurries. For example, when permeability is reduced, formation fluid migration can be blocked and chemical reactions between the fluid and the slurry may be inhibited. With this objective, we present a laboratory investigation model and an example of slurry testing recommendation. During the abandonment operation, all records of the well characteristics should be maintained to include the reason for the abandonment, and location of fresh water, brine, and hydrocarbon zones that may exist. This documentation will also allow the analysis of solutions for the problems that originally caused the abandonment of the well. This data could be important for future use by environmental protection commissions to reopen or to drill an adjacent well. Given the high price of oil, it may now be economically feasible to reopen the well, if the reason for abandonment was low productivity. This way, a critical analysis of the current conditions of well and field abandonment in the country is presented. Based on this information, a review of the current standards is suggested. (author)

Quantifying Ancient Maya Land Use Legacy Effects on Contemporary Rainforest Canopy Structure

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jessica N. Hightower

2014-11-01

Full Text Available Human land use legacies have significant and long-lasting ecological impacts across landscapes. Investigating ancient (>400 years legacy effects can be problematic due to the difficulty in detecting specific, historic land uses, especially those hidden beneath dense canopies. Caracol, the largest (~200 km2 Maya archaeological site in Belize, was abandoned ca. A.D. 900, leaving behind myriad structures, causeways, and an extensive network of agricultural terraces that persist beneath the architecturally complex tropical forest canopy. Airborne LiDAR enables the detection of these below-canopy archaeological features while simultaneously providing a detailed record of the aboveground 3-dimensional canopy organization, which is indicative of a forest’s ecological function. Here, this remote sensing technology is used to determine the effects of ancient land use legacies on contemporary forest structure. Canopy morphology was assessed by extracting LiDAR point clouds (0.25 ha plots from LiDAR-identified terraced (n = 150 and non-terraced (n = 150 areas on low (0°–10°, medium (10°–20°, and high (>20° slopes. We calculated the average canopy height, canopy openness, and vertical diversity from the LiDAR returns, with topographic features (i.e., slope, elevation, and aspect as covariates. Using a PerMANOVA procedure, we determined that forests growing on agricultural terraces exhibited significantly different canopy structure from those growing on non-terraced land. Terraces appear to mediate the effect of slope, resulting in less structural variation between slope and non-sloped land and yielding taller, more closed, more vertically diverse forests. These human land uses abandoned >1000 years ago continue to impact contemporary tropical rainforests having implications related to arboreal habitat and carbon storage.

Step dynamics and terrace-width distribution on flame-annealed gold films: The effect of step-step interaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shimoni, Nira; Ayal, Shai; Millo, Oded

2000-01-01

Dynamics of atomic steps and the terrace-width distribution within step bunches on flame-annealed gold films are studied using scanning tunneling microscopy. The distribution is narrower than commonly observed for vicinal planes and has a Gaussian shape, indicating a short-range repulsive interaction between the steps, with an apparently large interaction constant. The dynamics of the atomic steps, on the other hand, appear to be influenced, in addition to these short-range interactions, also by a longer-range attraction of steps towards step bunches. Both types of interactions promote self-ordering of terrace structures on the surface. When current is driven through the films a step-fingering instability sets in, reminiscent of the Bales-Zangwill instability

Scope of current abandonment issues in the oil and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scott, I.F.H.

1997-01-01

Abandonment issues in the oil and gas industry, such as well sites, batteries, gas plants, compressor stations, and pipelines, were discussed. Responsibilities of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) for informing the Canadian public about energy and environmental issues on behalf of the upstream petroleum industry were reviewed. Industry regulators and those who have jurisdiction over the abandonment of facilities were identified. In Alberta, the main agencies are the Alberta Energy and Utilities Board, Alberta Environmental Protection, and Alberta Food and Rural Development in addition to the National Energy Board and Indian Oil and Gas Canada. At the end of 1995, 160,000 wells had been drilled in Alberta of which 60,000 are still active, 35,000 are suspended and 70,000 wells have been abandoned. The industry-financed Orphan Well Program was established to provide funds for facility abandonment, decontamination and surface reclamation costs associated with orphaned facilities. CAPP agrees that operators of oil and gas facilities must be held responsible and accountable for the abandonment of their facilities. CAPP is looking for support from government to ensure that enforcement actions limit the number of orphan facilities. tabs., figs

Spatial variations in vegetation as related to the soil moisture regime over an arid limestone hillside, northern Negev, Israel.

Science.gov (United States)

Yair, A; Danin, A

1980-01-01

A detailed study of the distribution of plant communities was conducted in an experimental site, located in the arid northern Negev of Israel, where the spatial variation in rainfall, runoff and soil moisture regime are currently being studied. Phytogeographical methods of analysis usually used for studies on a regional scale were applied for a small area extending over 11,325 m 2 of a north-facing hillside. Data obtained indicate that the best water regime and a high diversity of plant species are characteristic of a massive limestone rock unit; whereas worse water regimes characterize densely jointed and thinly bedded limestones. Over slopes, developed in a uniform lithology, whose lower part is composed of a colluvial mantle, a gradual downslope worsening of the soil moisture regime is recorded within the colluvium. These changes are well expressed in the distribution of the plant communities and their phytogeographical affinities along the slopes.

Shot to Death: The Fate of Abandoned Places in the Hands of Artists

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nezaket Tekin

2015-08-01

Full Text Available This essay discusses the use of abandoned places by photographers. I review this subject from a perspective of remembering and forgetting. Giving examples of artists, especially photographer’s works whose subjects are abandoned places in Izmir and Detroit, I interpret photographs of abandoned places in the context of hauntology and ghost-metaphors.

The impact of episodic fault-related folding on Late Holocene degradation terraces along Waipara River, New Zealand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nicol, A.; Campbell, J.K.

2001-01-01

The Waipara River flows eastwards through growing folds in the tectonically active foothills of New Zealand's Southern Alps. In the middle Waipara region, flights of degradation terraces are widespread and rise to 55 m above river channels. Ages of terrace surfaces and paleoearthquakes on four faults are constrained by radiocarbon samples and weathering-rind dates from surface cobbles of Torlesse Group sandstone. Terrace ages indicate rapid incision (c. 30-100 mm/yr) of Waipara River and three tributaries during the Late Holocene. Cumulative-incision curves suggest a 15-25 m lowering of regional base level over the last thousand years and an additional 20-25 m of local incision 200-600 yr BP along Waipara River where it crosses Doctors Anticline. Rapid river incision was strongly influenced by rock uplift on the anticline associated with fault rupture during an earthquake 300-400 yr BP. From incision data we infer that the earthquake was preceded and followed by aseismic fold growth. Tectonic uplift during folding was probably, at most, one-third of local river incision; this discrepancy may relate to the short sample period and to locally elevated stream erosive power due in part to a reduction in floodplain width. (author). 41 refs., 12 figs., 2 tabs

Uplift rates of marine terraces as a constraint on fault-propagation fold kinematics: Examples from the Hawkswood and Kate anticlines, North Canterbury, New Zealand

Science.gov (United States)

Oakley, David O. S.; Fisher, Donald M.; Gardner, Thomas W.; Stewart, Mary Kate

2018-01-01

Marine terraces on growing fault-propagation folds provide valuable insight into the relationship between fold kinematics and uplift rates, providing a means to distinguish among otherwise non-unique kinematic model solutions. Here, we investigate this relationship at two locations in North Canterbury, New Zealand: the Kate anticline and Haumuri Bluff, at the northern end of the Hawkswood anticline. At both locations, we calculate uplift rates of previously dated marine terraces, using DGPS surveys to estimate terrace inner edge elevations. We then use Markov chain Monte Carlo methods to fit fault-propagation fold kinematic models to structural geologic data, and we incorporate marine terrace uplift into the models as an additional constraint. At Haumuri Bluff, we find that marine terraces, when restored to originally horizontal surfaces, can help to eliminate certain trishear models that would fit the geologic data alone. At Kate anticline, we compare uplift rates at different structural positions and find that the spatial pattern of uplift rates is more consistent with trishear than with a parallel-fault propagation fold kink-band model. Finally, we use our model results to compute new estimates for fault slip rates ( 1-2 m/ka at Kate anticline and 1-4 m/ka at Haumuri Bluff) and ages of the folds ( 1 Ma), which are consistent with previous estimates for the onset of folding in this region. These results are consistent with previous work on the age of onset of folding in this region, provide revised estimates of fault slip rates necessary to understand the seismic hazard posed by these faults, and demonstrate the value of incorporating marine terraces in inverse fold kinematic models as a means to distinguish among non-unique solutions.

Development of a portable field rainfall simulator for use in hillside vineyard runoff and erosion studies

Science.gov (United States)

Battany, M. C.; Grismer, M. E.

2000-04-01

An inexpensive, mobile field rainfall simulator and runoff plot frame were developed for use on hillside vineyards. The simulator framework and components were lightweight, readily available and easily manageable such that they can be handled by one person during transport, set-up and operation. The vineyard rainfall simulator was simpler than many of the machines in recent use for similar studies, yet offered equal or improved performance for small-plot studies. The system developed consistent sized 2·58 mm raindrops at intensities ranging from 20 to 90 mm/h. The average distribution uniformity coefficient at an intensity of 60 mm/h was 91·7%, with a deviation of only 2·2%. This coefficient was similar to the range reported for a more complex rotating disk simulator, and was notably greater than that obtained for other similar devices. The system water capacity of 40 l allowed for 1-h storm durations at 60 mm/h, usually sufficient time for commencement of erosion and runoff. The runoff plot frame was designed to be quickly installed, and to discourage sediment deposition in the routing of runoff to collect containers.

Fiscal year 1993 well plugging and abandonment program, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1993-09-01

This report is a synopsis of the progress of the well plugging and abandonment program at the Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from December 1992 through August 20, 1993. A total of 70 wells and borings were plugged and abandoned during the period of time covered in this report. All wells and borings were plugged and abandoned in accordance with the Monitoring Well Plugging and Abandonment Plan for the US Department of Energy, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (HSW, Inc. 1991).

19 CFR 127.41 - Government title to unclaimed and abandoned merchandise.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... SECURITY; DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY GENERAL ORDER, UNCLAIMED, AND ABANDONED MERCHANDISE Title to Unclaimed... part, at which time merchandise having thus remained in Customs custody is considered as unclaimed and abandoned, the port director, with the concurrence of the Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations...

Rail abandonments in the South and their effect on NWPA rail shipments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-02-01

The railroad industry will have a very critical role in the eventual shipping of commercial spent fuel and defense high-level waste as provided under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and the 1987 amendments. The transport of spent fuel is expected to be accomplished by rail from 19 of the South's 27 reactor sites to the proposed Yucca Mountain repository or possible monitored retrievable storage facility. The decline in total track availability, however, could significantly impact the federal government's transportation program. Particularly the situation of continuing abandonments may limit rail opportunities at numerous reactor locations. Commercial nuclear reactor sites have the unfortunate problem of not being located on Class I railroad mainline tracks. The reactor sites are generally located in areas with limited rail traffic and thus vulnerable to rail abandonment procedures. The general deregulation of the railroad industry under the Staggers Act of 1980 also assisted in making rail abandonment, through the Interstate Commerce Commission, a rather simple and quick process. The effects of deregulation, however, have provided alternatives to abandonment. In particular, the Staggers Act has led to an enormous surge in the growth of short line and regional railroads. Such railroads have been able to effectively operate rail lines which Class I railroads found unprofitable. The short lines and regionals were also encouraged to competitively negotiate contracts directly with shippers. While these railroads may help reduce the number of abandonment applications, they may also represent higher shipping costs. The South has experienced a great number of abandonments since the 1960's. Many of the abandonments have been significant in length and have affected areas near nuclear plants expected to ship by rail

Setting plug & abandonment barriers with minimum removal of tubulars

OpenAIRE

Nessa, Jon Olav

2012-01-01

Master's thesis in Petroleum engineering The useful life of an offshore well is determined by the reserves which it contacts, the pressure support within the reservoir and the continued integrity of the wellbore. When a well has reached the end of its lifetime, plugging operations have to be conducted before permanent abandonment. Conventional Plug and Abandonment (P&A) operations will often require removing a section of the casing in order to create cross sectional barriers for well aband...

Fiscal year 1996 well plugging and abandonment program Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-04-01

This report is a synopsis of the progress of the well plugging and abandonment program at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from August 1995 through August 1996. A total of 27 wells, piezometers, and borings were plugged and abandoned during the period of time covered in this report. All wells and borings were plugged and abandoned in accordance with the Monitoring Well Plugging and Abandonment Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee (HSW, Inc. 1991).

Independent Verification Survey Of The SPRU Lower Level Hillside Area At The Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory Niskayuna, New York

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Harpenau, Evan M.; Weaver, Phyllis C.

2012-01-01

During August 10, 2011 through August 19, 2011, and October 23, 2011 through November 4, 2011, ORAU/ORISE conducted verification survey activities at the Separations Process Research Unit (SPRU) site that included in-process inspections, surface scans, and soil sampling of the Lower Level Hillside Area. According to the Type-B Investigation Report, Sr-90 was the primary contributor to the majority of the activity (60 times greater than the Cs-137 activity). The evaluation of the scan data and sample results obtained during verification activities determined that the primary radionuclide of concern, Sr-90, was well below the agreed upon soil cleanup objective (SCO) of 30 pCi/g for the site. However, the concentration of Cs-137 in the four judgmental samples collected in final status survey (FSS) Units A and B was greater than the SCO. Both ORAU and aRc surveys identified higher Cs-137 concentrations in FSS Units A and B; the greatest concentrations were indentified in FSS Unit A

Coal Mines, Abandoned - AML Inventory Sites 201601

Data.gov (United States)

NSGIC Education | GIS Inventory — This data set portrays the approximate location of Abandoned Mine Land Problem Areas containing public health, safety, and public welfare problems created by past...

THE SCENIC VALUE OF ABANDONED MINING AREAS IN POLAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

URSZULA MYGA-PIĄTEK

2008-12-01

Full Text Available Abandoned Polish mining areas are commonly heavily transformed so that they endanger no longer the environment. A disadvantage is that the newly created areas commonly contribute to the monotonous urban-industrial landscape, rather than providing additional value. This is partly due to legislation that hampers a more diversified management of abandoned mining areas as potentially valuable landforms. One of the legal barriers that restricts the possibilities of making these areas more attractive, regards the utilization of remaining exploitation holes (i.e. land depressions of at least 2 m deep, formed as a result of open-pit mining of energy, chemical, building or metallurgical resources and waste heaps as important cultural and scenic elements. Such a new use of these old mininginduced phenomena is important if it is intended not only to involve the regional population in the process of exploring and exploiting the earth’s resources, but also to confront them with some negative consequences of these activities, including shaping the landscape in which these objects are situated. The current attitude towards a new architecture for abandoned mining areas should be reconsidered; particularly the present-day approach based on narrow specializations – for instance of experts in mineral exploitation, spatial planning or environmental protection – should be replaced by interdisciplinary action regarding shaping the landscape of abandoned mining areas.

Resilience and adaptability of rice terrace social-ecological systems: a case study of a local community's perception in Banaue, Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adam C. Castonguay

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The social-ecological systems of rice terraces across Southeast Asia are the result of centuries of long-term interactions between human communities and their surrounding ecosystems. Processes and structures in these systems have evolved to provide a diversity of ecosystem services and benefits to human societies. However, as Southeast Asian countries experience rapid economic growth and related land-use changes, the remaining extensive rice cultivation systems are increasingly under pressure. We investigated the long-term development of ecosystem services and the adaptive capacity of the social-ecological system of rice terrace landscapes using a case study of Banaue (Ifugao Province, Northern-Luzon, Philippines. A set of indicators was used to describe and assess changes in the social-ecological state of the study system. The resilience of the rice terraces and the human communities that maintain them was examined by comparing the current state of the system with results from the literature. Our findings indicate that, although the social-ecological system has not yet shifted to an alternative state, pressures are increasing and some cultural ecosystem services have already been lost.

Pilot abandonment test of a very deep gas storage salt cavern

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Durup, J.G.; Vidal, F.; Rolin, C.

2007-01-01

As a result of knowledge gained initially from a series of succinct sealed well and cavern field tests performed in the late 1980's and early 1990's by Gaz de France (EZ58; EZ53), issues related to the long term abandonment of salt caverns became more focused. The tests were performed in cooperation with Ecole Polytechnique (France) and were partially funded by the Solution Mining Research Institute (USA). The long-term abandonment (sealing or plugging) of a solution-mined cavern in a salt formation that has been used for mineral production, hydrocarbon storage, or waste disposal has been a contemporary topic for many years. Sealing and abandonment of caverns in salt formations differs from sealing of an oil and gas well principally for two reasons: - cavern wells are generally completed with much larger casings than oil and gas exploration and production wells; - the cavern fluid pressure rises after sealing. The first difference is not a significant deterrent to effective cavern sealing and abandonment. Essentially all of the uncertainties and complexities associated with cavern sealing and abandonment are a direct result of the second difference - the fact that the cavern fluid pressure rises through time. After a short introduction to solution mining of salt caverns and their use as underground gas storages, the paper will first discuss the factors affecting cavern fluid pressure increase after sealing. The second part of the paper will highlight the practical impacts of these factors on a deep salt cavern abandonment experiment (Cavern TE02; 1500 meters deep), currently being performed on the natural gas storage of Tersanne operated for over 35 years by Gaz de France. (authors)

Investigation on factors that contribute to the abandonment of building in construction industry in Malaysia

Science.gov (United States)

Farhayu Ariffin, Nur; Jaafar, Mohd Faizal Md; Idris Ali, Mohamad; Irwan Ramli, Noram; Muthusamy, Khairunisa; Shukor Lim, Nor Hasanah Abdul

2018-03-01

In Malaysia, the construction sector is one of the important sectors that contribute to economic growth and employments. However, a major concern facing the construction industry is the growing rate of delays in project delivery. In the worse cases, the projects were abandoned due to some reasons when the contract period ended. Abandoned building defines as construction work that has been continuously stalled for 6 months or more, during the project completion period or beyond the scheduled date of completion. When the projects become abandoned, it gives an adverse effect on many parties such as the developer, contractor, consultant and also client. According to previous researchers, the abandonment of building causes a serious problem and need some mitigation plan to avoid this problem from occurring. This study will investigate the fundamental factors that contribute to the abandonment of building and projects in Malaysia based on the current data of the abandoned building in most states in Malaysia. The data was collected from the respondents who is in the construction industry and had experience working with abandoned housing project. Form the respondents perspective, it shows that the main factor contribute to the building abandonment is due to the financial problem facing by the developer company.

A refined model of Quaternary valley downcutting emphasizing the interplay between tectonically triggered regressive erosion and climatic cyclicity

Science.gov (United States)

Demoulin, A.; Beckers, A.; Rixhon, G.; Braucher, R.; Bourlès, D.; Siame, L.

2012-04-01

While climatic models of valley downcutting discuss the origin of terrace staircases in valleys of middle Europe within the frame of alternating cold and temperate periods of the Quaternary, other models, starting from a base level fall imposed by an initial tectonic signal, describe the response of the drainage network mainly as the propagation of an erosion wave from the place of base level fall (the margin of the uplifted region) toward the headwaters, the two types of model being rarely confronted. In the Ardennes (West Europe), cosmogenic 10Be and 26Al ages have recently been calculated for the abandonment of the Younger Main Terrace (YMT) level (Rixhon et al., 2011), a prominent feature at mid-height of the valleysides marking the starting point of the mid-Pleistocene phase of deep river incision in the massif. These ages show that the terrace has been abandoned diachronically as the result of a migrating erosion wave that started at 0.73 Ma in the Meuse catchment just north of the massif, soon entered the latter, and is still visible in the current long profiles of the Ardennian Ourthe tributaries as knickpoints disturbing their upper reaches. At first glance, these new findings are incompatible with the common belief that the terraces of the Ardennian rivers were generated by a climatically triggered stepwise general incision of the river profiles. However, several details of the terrace staircases (larger than average vertical spacing between the YMT and the next younger terrace, varying number of post-YMT terraces in trunk stream, tributaries and subtributaries) show that a combination of the climatic and tectonic models of river incision is able to satisfactorily account for all available data. The cosmogenic ages of the YMT also point out a particular behaviour of the migrating knickpoints, which apparently propagated on average more slowly in the main rivers than in the tributaries, in contradiction with the relation that makes knickpoint celerity

Implications from Sedimentary records in Fluvial Terraces for Geomorphological Evolution in the Puli Basin, Taiwan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tseng, C.H.; Wenske, D.; Böse, M.; Reimann, T.; Lüthgens, C.; Frechen, Manfred

2013-01-01

Fluvial terraces play an important role for research on previous geomorphic processes as their sediments can record various sedimentation stages. In the mountains of central Taiwan, however, the formation time of sediments in the Puli Basin is still unclear. In this study, we investigate the fluvial

Agricultural land abandonment in Mediterranean environment provides ecosystem services via soil carbon sequestration.

Science.gov (United States)

Novara, Agata; Gristina, Luciano; Sala, Giovanna; Galati, Antonino; Crescimanno, Maria; Cerdà, Artemi; Badalamenti, Emilio; La Mantia, Tommaso

2017-01-15

Abandonment of agricultural land leads to several consequences for ecosystem functions. Agricultural abandonment may be a significant and low cost strategy for carbon sequestration and mitigation of anthropogenic CO 2 emissions due to the vegetation recovery and increase in soil organic matter. The aim of this study was to: (i) estimate the influence of different Soil Regions (areas characterized by a typical climate and parent material association) and Bioclimates (zones with homogeneous climatic regions and thermotype indices) on soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics after agricultural land abandonment; and (ii) to analyse the efficiency of the agri-environment policy (agri-environment measures) suggested by the European Commission in relation to potential SOC stock ability in the Sicilian Region (Italy). In order to quantify the effects of agricultural abandonment on SOC, a dataset with original data that was sampled in Sicily and existing data from the literature were analysed according to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) methodology. Results showed that abandonment of cropland soils increased SOC stock by 9.03MgCha -1 on average, ranging from 5.4MgCha -1 to 26.7MgCha -1 in relation to the Soil Region and Bioclimate. The estimation of SOC change after agricultural use permitted calculation of the payments for ecosystem service (PES) of C sequestration after agricultural land abandonment in relation to environmental benefits, increasing in this way the efficiency of PES. Considering the 14,337ha of abandoned lands in Sicily, the CO 2 emission as a whole was reduced by 887,745Mg CO 2 . Therefore, it could be concluded that abandoned agricultural fields represents a valid opportunity to mitigate agriculture sector emissions in Sicily. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Properties of anthropogenic soils in ancient run-off capturing agricultural terraces in the Central Negev desert (Israel) and related effects of biochar and ash on crop growth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Asperen, van H.L.; Bor, A.M.C.; Sonneveld, M.P.W.; Bruins, H.J.; Lazarovitch, N.

2014-01-01

In the Central Negev hills (Israel) many ancient terraced wadis exist, which captured run-off and caused gradual soil aggradation, which enabled agricultural practices. In these terraces, dark colored soil horizons were observed, containing charcoal, as can be found in Terra Preta soils, suggesting

Reconstructing the interacting effects of base level, climate, and tectonic uplift in the lower Miño River terrace record: A gradient modelling evaluation/ March 2013

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Viveen, W.; Schoorl, J.M.; Veldkamp, A.; Balen, van R.T.; Desprat, S.; Vidal-Romani, J.R.

2013-01-01

The origin of the lower Miño River terraces in the NW Iberian Peninsula has been a topic of debate since the 1940s. Various hypotheses about their main controlling factors have been put forward, but general consensus is still lacking. Field studies of terrace distribution and the weathering of

The Effects of Abandonment Options on Investment Timing and Profit Sharing of FDI

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weiwei Zhang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The paper incorporates cooperative game theory into a real option method in a foreign direct investment setting and examines the operational decisions of a multinational corporation in a cooperative framework, where the corporation is endowed with an abandonment option and shares its profit with the host country. In particular, we investigate how the abandonment options affect the optimal investment timing and the optimal profit share of a foreign direct investment using a real option game method. We show that the flexibility of the abandonment option induces the corporation to investment earlier, which indicates the negative effects on investment trigger. The result is consistent with intuition since the abandonment option provides insurance and thus reduces the overall risk of the project. We also find that the introduction of the abandonment option reduces the optimal profit share in a cooperative framework and in turn the lower profit share increases the investment trigger, thereby having a positive effect on the investment threshold to hinder the investment. By numerical analysis, we find that the overall effect of the abandonment options is inversely related to the investment trigger. These findings provide quantitative analysis about the decisions regarding cooperation in international investment extraction projects.

Impact of land-use change on soil degradation by establishment of terraces with subtropical orchards in sloping areas (Granada, SE Spain)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rodriguez Pleguezuelo, C. R.; Duran Zuzo, V. H.; Martin Peinado, F. J.; Franco Tarifa, D.

2009-01-01

In the coast of Granada, an intensive irrigated agriculture based on subtropical crops has been established. These trees have been planted in highly sloped areas, by the construction of terraces. In this fragile Mediterranean agroecosystem, the removal of native spontaneous vegetation cover and substitution by orchards, increase the susceptibility to soil degradation and eventually brings up the destruction of these structures by rainfall events. To study this net change, we monitored the soil loss and runoff over a two-year period in the taluses of terraces with a mature mango (Mangifera indica L.) orchard. The studied treatments were bare soil (BS) and spontaneous vegetation (NSV), each twice replicated. The erosion plots were 4 m x 4 m in area and were located in the taluses of orchard in the taluses of orchard terraces (65 degree centigrade slope). The average annual soil loss by erosion for BS and NSV was 2.5 and 0.3 Mg ha - 1 yr - 1, and for runoff 34.1 and 6.8 mm yr - 1, respectively. Therefore, soil erosion and runoff from BS plot were 8- and 5-times higher than in NSV, showing the importance of plant covers in the taluses of terraces in reducing this impact. Thus, the removal of plant cover from the taluses under these conditions, represent a high risk of slump and collapse, causing serious environmental and economic problems for farmers of subtropical crops. (Author) 11 refs.

Impact of land-use change on soil degradation by establishment of terraces with subtropical orchards in sloping areas (Granada, SE Spain)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodriguez Pleguezuelo, C. R.; Duran Zuzo, V. H.; Martin Peinado, F. J.; Franco Tarifa, D.

2009-07-01

In the coast of Granada, an intensive irrigated agriculture based on subtropical crops has been established. These trees have been planted in highly sloped areas, by the construction of terraces. In this fragile Mediterranean agroecosystem, the removal of native spontaneous vegetation cover and substitution by orchards, increase the susceptibility to soil degradation and eventually brings up the destruction of these structures by rainfall events. To study this net change, we monitored the soil loss and runoff over a two-year period in the taluses of terraces with a mature mango (Mangifera indica L.) orchard. The studied treatments were bare soil (BS) and spontaneous vegetation (NSV), each twice replicated. The erosion plots were 4 m x 4 m in area and were located in the taluses of orchard in the taluses of orchard terraces (65 degree centigrade slope). The average annual soil loss by erosion for BS and NSV was 2.5 and 0.3 Mg ha{sup -}1 yr{sup -}1, and for runoff 34.1 and 6.8 mm yr{sup -}1, respectively. Therefore, soil erosion and runoff from BS plot were 8- and 5-times higher than in NSV, showing the importance of plant covers in the taluses of terraces in reducing this impact. Thus, the removal of plant cover from the taluses under these conditions, represent a high risk of slump and collapse, causing serious environmental and economic problems for farmers of subtropical crops. (Author) 11 refs.

7 CFR 767.51 - Property abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) FARM SERVICE AGENCY, DEPARTMENT OF..., manage, and operate the abandoned security property, including marketing perishable security property on behalf of the borrower when such action is in the Agency's financial interest. If the security is in...

Association of prescription abandonment with cost share for high-cost specialty pharmacy medications.

Science.gov (United States)

Gleason, Patrick P; Starner, Catherine I; Gunderson, Brent W; Schafer, Jeremy A; Sarran, H Scott

2009-10-01

In 2008, specialty medications accounted for 15.1% of total pharmacy benefit medication spending, and per member expenditures have increased by 11.1% annually from 2004 to 2008 within a commercially insured population of 8 million members. Insurers face increasing pressure to control specialty medication expenditures and to rely on increasing member cost share through creation of a fourth copayment tier within the incentive-based formulary pharmacy benefit system. Data are needed on the influence that member out-of-pocket (OOP) expense may have on prescription abandonment (defined as the patient never actually taking possession of the medication despite evidence of a written prescription generated by a prescriber). To explore the relationship between prescription abandonment and OOP expense among individuals newly initiating high-cost medication therapy with a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker or multiple sclerosis (MS) biologic agent. This observational cross-sectional study queried a midwestern and southern U.S. database of 13,172,480 commercially insured individuals to find members with a pharmacy benefit-adjudicated claim for a TNF blocker or MS specialty medication during the period from July 2006 through June 2008. Prescription abandonment was assessed among continuously enrolled members newly initiating TNF blocker or MS therapy. Prescription abandonment was defined as reversal of the adjudicated claim with no evidence of a subsequent additional adjudicated paid claim in the ensuing 90 days. Separate analyses for MS and TNF blocker therapy were performed to assess the association between member OOP expense and abandonment rate using the Cochran-Armitage test for trend and multivariate logistic regression. Members were placed into 1 of the 7 following OOP expense groups per claim: $0-$100, $101-$150, $151-$200, $201-$250, $251-$350, $351-$500, or more than $500. The association of MS or TNF blocker abandonment rate with OOP expense was tested with logistic

Sixth-Year Results Following Partial Cutting For Timber and Wildlife Habitat in a Mixed Oak-Sweetgum-Pine Stand on a Minor Creek Terrace in Southeast Louisiana

Science.gov (United States)

Brian Roy Lockhart; Norwin E. Linnartz

2002-01-01

Hardwood management has primarily focused on highly productive river bottom and upland sites. Less is known about hardwood growth and development on terrace sites. Such sites are usually converted to other uses, especially pine plantations. The objectives of this study, implemented in a minor creek terrace in southeast Louisiana, were to describe changes in stand...

[Abandonment of nursing courses: a survey regarding the motivations which lead the students to the abandonment of the nursing degree course].

Science.gov (United States)

Destrobecq, Anne; Destefani, Chiara; Sponton, Anna

2008-01-01

The Authors made a survey regarding the motivations which make the students leave the nursing degree course (NDC). The statistical data regarding the abandonment of university courses in Italy say that a 19/20% of the students leave the courses. As regards the whole University of Milan, the amount of those students (18,3%) lays under the national average. The authors made a survey about the motivations which lead the students of nursing to the abandonment of their academic path; via the offices of the nursing schools they collected the telephone numbers of the students enroled between 2000 and 2006, then they made a structured telephonic interview. An 87,7% of the interviewed students said that he/she had abandoned during the first year; the motivations are the following, in order of frequency: Too much engagement (30.1%), Other (26%), this item offers several answers, for example pregnancy, emotive problems, personal problems, Change of the academic path (23,3%) Expectations Disappointment (12,4%), Economic problems (8.2%). The survey is qualitative; it wants to be a first-step study to deeply analyze a topic of major interest in the field of nursing courses management.

Flora, life form characteristics, and plan for the promotion of biodiversity in South Korea's Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the traditional Gudeuljang irrigated rice terraces in Cheongsando

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Hong Chul PARK; Choong Hyeon OH

2017-01-01

The objectives of this study were to analyze the biodiversity of the Traditional Gudeuljang Irrigated Rice Terraces in Cheongsando,South Korea's representative GIAHS (Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System) site,with reference to position and land-use features,and to develop a plan to promote agricultural biodiversity in the region.We confirmed approximately 54,000 m2 of Gudeuljang paddy fields by an on-site survey.Of the Traditional Gudeuljang Irrigated Rice Terraces confirmed by onsite inspection,our survey showed that approximately 24,000 m2 are currently being used as paddy fields,approximately 15,000 m2 are being used as dry fields,and approximately 14,000 m2 are fallow.In terms of other non-agricultural land use,there was grassland,including graveyards;artificial arboreal land,such as orchards,rivers and wetlands,and man-made facilities,such as roads and residences.We also confirmed that the Traditional Gudeuljang Irrigated Rice Terraces had higher plant species diversity than conventional terraced rice paddies,and there was a difference in life form characteristics between the two types.Although the superficial topsoil structure is the same for the Traditional Gudeuljang Irrigated Rice Terraces (TGIRTs) and conventional terraced rice paddies,it is thought that the differences in the subsurface structure of the TGIRTs contribute greatly to species and habitat diversity.However,the TGIRTs in Cheongsando are facing degeneration,due to damage and reduction in agricultural activity.The main cause is the reduction in the number of farming households due to an aging population in Cheongsando.In order to address this problem,we proposed a management plan,related to fallow paddy fields in South Korea,to initiate voluntary activities in the TGIRTs.

77 FR 55430 - Arkansas Regulatory Program and Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Plan

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-10

... of its regulatory program and abandoned mine land reclamation plan, make grammatical changes, correct... portions of its regulatory program and abandoned mine land reclamation plan, make grammatical changes... Streams. PART 785--REQUIREMENTS FOR PERMITS FOR SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF MINING 785.13, 785.14, 785.15...

78 FR 75958 - CSX Transportation, Inc.-Abandonment Exemption-in Washington County, Md

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-13

... employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line Railroad.... 91 (1979). To address whether this condition adequately protects affected employees, a petition for... report that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources...

Effect Analysis of Early Warning for Abandoned Object on Highway Based on Internet-of-Vehicles CA Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juan Bao

2018-01-01

Full Text Available An early warning on the highway will effectively reduce traffic accidents. Considering the influence of an abandoned object on driving behavior, a Visual-based Asymmetric Two-lane Cellular Automata model with Abandoned Object (V-ATCA-AO and an Internet-of-Vehicles-based Asymmetric Two-lane Cellular Automata model with Abandoned Object (IoV-ATCA-AO are proposed. Based on the two models, two types of traffic accidents caused by an abandoned object are analyzed: rear-end collision caused by the abandoned object ahead and collision of the vehicle with the abandoned object. Simulation results show the following: (1 the accidents occur when the road density is smaller, while the accidents will not occur when the density is larger. The results are different from the rear-end collision rate curve without abandoned object in a single lane. (2 Compared with the visual-based avoidance pattern in V-ATCA-AO, the Internet-of-Vehicles-based avoidance pattern in IoV-ATCA-AO can create an early warning for the abandoned object and tell the vehicle to make an earlier lane change and decelerate in advance, thereby significantly reducing the accident rate. (3 Spatiotemporal characteristics in front of the abandoned object directly affect the accident rate: the less the “stability” of a traffic jam in front of the abandoned object, the higher the accident rate.

Prevalence and predictors of abandonment of therapy among children with cancer in El Salvador.

Science.gov (United States)

Bonilla, Miguel; Rossell, Nuria; Salaverria, Carmen; Gupta, Sumit; Barr, Ronald; Sala, Alessandra; Metzger, Monika L; Sung, Lillian

2009-11-01

Abandonment of therapy is one of the most common causes of treatment failure among children with cancer in low-income countries. Our objectives were to describe the prevalence and predictors of abandonment among such children with cancer in El Salvador. We analyzed data on patients younger than 16 years, diagnosed with any malignancy between January 2001 and December 2003 at the Benjamin Bloom National Children's Hospital, San Salvador. Among 612 patients, 353 were male (58%); the median age at diagnosis was 5.1 years; 59% of patients were diagnosed with leukemia/lymphoma, 28% with solid tumors and 13% with brain tumors. The prevalence of abandonment was 13%. Median time to abandonment was 2.0 (range 0-36) months. In univariate analyses, paternal illiteracy [odds ratio (OR) 3.8, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.0-7.2; p = 0.001]; maternal illiteracy (OR = 5.1, 95% CI 2.5-10; p El Salvador, despite the provision of free treatment, socioeconomic variables significantly predict increased risk of abandonment of therapy. Understanding the pathways through which socioeconomic status affects abandonment may allow the design of effective interventions. (c) 2009 UICC.

Fiscal year 1995 well plugging and abandonment program Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-09-01

This report is a synopsis of the progress of the well plugging and abandonment program at the Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from September 1994 through August 1995. A total of 67 wells, piezometers, and borings were plugged and abandoned during the period of time covered in this report. All wells and borings were plugged and abandoned if (1) its construction did not meet current standards (substandard construction); (2) it was irreparably damaged or had deteriorated beyond practical repair; (3) its location interfered with or otherwise impeded site operations, construction, or closure activities; or (4) special circumstances existed as defined on a case-by-case basis and approved by the Y-12 Plant Groundwater Protection Program (GWPP) Manager. This summary report contains: general geologic setting of the Y-12 Plant and vicinity; discussion of well plugging and abandonment methods, grouting procedures, and waste management practices (a Waste Management Plan for Drilling Activities is included in Appendix C); summaries of plugging and abandonment activities at each site; and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and health and safety protocols used during the FY 1995 Plugging and Abandonment Program

Fiscal year 1995 well plugging and abandonment program Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-09-01

This report is a synopsis of the progress of the well plugging and abandonment program at the Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from September 1994 through August 1995. A total of 67 wells, piezometers, and borings were plugged and abandoned during the period of time covered in this report. All wells and borings were plugged and abandoned if (1) its construction did not meet current standards (substandard construction); (2) it was irreparably damaged or had deteriorated beyond practical repair; (3) its location interfered with or otherwise impeded site operations, construction, or closure activities; or (4) special circumstances existed as defined on a case-by-case basis and approved by the Y-12 Plant Groundwater Protection Program (GWPP) Manager. This summary report contains: general geologic setting of the Y-12 Plant and vicinity; discussion of well plugging and abandonment methods, grouting procedures, and waste management practices (a Waste Management Plan for Drilling Activities is included in Appendix C); summaries of plugging and abandonment activities at each site; and quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) and health and safety protocols used during the FY 1995 Plugging and Abandonment Program.

Heavy Metal Content in Terraced Rice Fields at Sruwen Tengaran Semarang - Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Hindarwati, Yulis; Soeprobowati, Tri Retnaningsih; Sudarno

2018-02-01

The presence of heavy metal on agricultural soils can be caused not only natural factors but also due to human intervention. Differences in management and lack of understanding of farmers in the production input of fertilizers and pesticides ensued in land ravaged. Periodic testing of paddy fields is necessary to minimize the contaminants from being absorbed by plants that will have an impact on health decline. The purpose of the assessment was to identify the heavy metal content in the terraced rice field in Sruwen Village, Tengaran District, Semarang Regency. Survey was conducted in February 2017. Sampling on terraced rice fields of different heights consisted of upper, middle, and upper down. Taken as many as eight single points and composed at a depth of 0-20 cm and 20-40 cm. The identification results showed that heavy metal content of Pb, Cd, and Cu were present at all altitudes. Heavy Metals Pb and Cd at a depth of 0-20 cm were higher from 20-40 cm in the upper and lower rice fields but lower in the middle rice field. Cu heavy metal at a depth of 0-20 cm was higher than 20-40 cm in all altitude land. The heavy metal content of Pb, Cd, and Cu was still below the heavy metal standard set by the European Union and India.

Mapping the extent of abandoned farmland in Central and Eastern Europe using MODIS time series satellite data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alcantara, Camilo; Kuemmerle, Tobias; Griffiths, Patrick; Hostert, Patrick; Knorn, Jan; Müller, Daniel; Sieber, Anika; Baumann, Matthias; Bragina, Eugenia V; Radeloff, Volker C; Prishchepov, Alexander V; Schierhorn, Florian

2013-01-01

The demand for agricultural products continues to grow rapidly, but further agricultural expansion entails substantial environmental costs, making recultivating currently unused farmland an interesting alternative. The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to widespread abandonment of agricultural lands, but the extent and spatial patterns of abandonment are unclear. We quantified the extent of abandoned farmland, both croplands and pastures, across the region using MODIS NDVI satellite image time series from 2004 to 2006 and support vector machine classifications. Abandoned farmland was widespread, totaling 52.5 Mha, particularly in temperate European Russia (32 Mha), northern and western Ukraine, and Belarus. Differences in abandonment rates among countries were striking, suggesting that institutional and socio-economic factors were more important in determining the amount of abandonment than biophysical conditions. Indeed, much abandoned farmland occurred in areas without major constraints for agriculture. Our map provides a basis for assessing the potential of Central and Eastern Europe’s abandoned agricultural lands to contribute to food or bioenergy production, or carbon storage, as well as the environmental trade-offs and social constraints of recultivation. (letter)

Exploring the Factors Driving Seasonal Farmland Abandonment: A Case Study at the Regional Level in Hunan Province, Central China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhonglei Yu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Farmland abandonment, including perennial and seasonal abandonment, is an important process of land use change that matters most to food security. Although there is a great deal of studies on farmland abandonment, seasonal abandonment, which is as serious as perennial abandonment, has attracted little academic attention. This paper takes Hunan Province in central China as its study area and uses a spatial regression model to examine the driving factors of seasonal farmland abandonment at the county level. Our results show that farmland abandonment has striking spatial relativity, and there are two clustering zones with a high index of farmland abandonment (IFA in the Dongting plain and the basin in south-central Hunan, while a clustering zone of low IFA can be found in the mountains of southwest Hunan. Farmland abandonment at the regional level is negatively affected by the land productive potentialities, proportion of mechanized planting, ratio of effective irrigation, and distance to provincial capital, while it is positively associated with the variables mountainous terrain, per capita farmland area, and labor shortage. Additionally, farmland abandonment is also affected by adjacent areas through its spatial dependence. In short, seasonal farmland abandonment is also driven integratedly by the socioeconomic and environmental dimensions and spatial interaction of farm abandonment.

7 CFR 97.22 - Revival of an application abandoned for failure to reply.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... regulations in this part, may be revived as a pending application within 3 months of such abandonment, upon a.... A request to revive an abandoned application shall be accompanied by a written statement showing the...

Exploring the Factors Driving Seasonal Farmland Abandonment: A Case Study at the Regional Level in Hunan Province, Central China

OpenAIRE

Yu, Zhonglei; Liu, Lei; Zhang, Hua; Liang, Jinshe

2017-01-01

Farmland abandonment, including perennial and seasonal abandonment, is an important process of land use change that matters most to food security. Although there is a great deal of studies on farmland abandonment, seasonal abandonment, which is as serious as perennial abandonment, has attracted little academic attention. This paper takes Hunan Province in central China as its study area and uses a spatial regression model to examine the driving factors of seasonal farmland abandonment at the ...

No evidence of increased fire risk due to agricultural land abandonment in Sardinia (Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Ricotta

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Different land cover types are related to different levels of fire hazard through their vegetation structure and fuel load composition. Therefore, understanding the relationships between landscape changes and fire behavior is of crucial importance for developing adequate fire fighting and fire prevention strategies for a changing world. In the last decades the abandonment of agricultural lands and pastoral activities has been the major driver of landscape transformations in Mediterranean Europe. As agricultural land abandonment typically promotes an increase in plant biomass (fuel load, a number of authors argue that vegetation succession in abandoned fields and pastures is expected to increase fire hazard. In this short paper, based on 28 493 fires in Sardinia (Italy in the period 2001–2010, we show that there is no evidence of increased probability of fire ignition in abandoned rural areas. To the contrary, in Sardinia the decreased human impact associated with agricultural land abandonment leads to a statistically significant decrease of fire ignition probability.

77 FR 59451 - Pickens Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Pickens County, SC

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-27

...). As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be... protects affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed... abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental assessment (EA) by...

Laurentide ice sheet meltwater routing along the Iro-Mohawk River, eastern New York, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Porreca, Charles; Briner, Jason P.; Kozlowski, Andrew

2018-02-01

The rerouting of meltwater as the configuration of ice sheets evolved during the last deglaciation is thought to have led to some of the most significant perturbations to the climate system in the late Quaternary. However, the complex pattern of ice sheet meltwater drainage off the continents, and the timing of rerouting events, remains to be fully resolved. As the Laurentide Ice Sheet (LIS) retreated north of the Adirondack Uplands of northeastern New York State during the last deglaciation, a large proglacial lake, Lake Iroquois, found a lower outlet that resulted in a significant flood event. This meltwater rerouting event, from outflow via the Iro-Mohawk River valley (southern Adirondack Mountains) to the spillway at Covey Hill (northeastern Adirondack Mountains), is hypothesized to have taken place 13.2 ka and disturbed meridional circulation in the North Atlantic Ocean. However, the timing of the rerouting event is not certain because the event has not been directly dated. With improving the history of Lake Iroquois drainage in mind, we obtained cosmogenic 10Be exposure ages on a strath terrace on Moss Island, along the Iro-Mohawk River spillway. We hypothesize that Moss Island's strath terrace became abandoned during the rerouting event. Six 10Be ages from the strath surface average 14.8 ± 1.3 ka, which predates the previously published bracketing radiocarbon ages of 13.2 ka. Several possibilities for the discrepancy exist: (1) the 10Be age accurately represents the timing of a decrease in discharge through the Iro-Mohawk River spillway; (2) the age is influenced by inheritance. The 10Be ages from glacially sculpted surfaces on Moss Island above the strath terrace predate the deglaciation of the site by 5 to 35 ky; and (3) the abandonment of the Moss Island strath terrace relates to knickpoint migration and not the final abandonment of the Iro-Mohawk River as the Lake Iroquois spillway. Further study and application of cosmogenic 10Be exposure dating in the

Assessing the effect of agricultural land abandonment on bird communities in southern-eastern Europe.

Science.gov (United States)

Zakkak, Sylvia; Radovic, Andreja; Nikolov, Stoyan C; Shumka, Spase; Kakalis, Lefteris; Kati, Vassiliki

2015-12-01

Agricultural land abandonment is recognized as a major environmental threat in Europe, being particularly pronounced in south-eastern Europe, where knowledge on its effects is limited. Taking the Balkan Peninsula as a case study, we investigated agricultural abandonment impact on passerine communities at regional level. We set up a standard methodology for site selection (70 sites) and data collection, along a well-defined forest-encroachment gradient that reflects land abandonment in four countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Greece. Regardless the different socio-economic and political histories in the Balkans that led to diverse land abandonment patterns in space and time, rural abandonment had a consistent negative effect on bird communities, while regional-level analysis revealed patterns that were hidden at local level. The general trends were an increase of forest-dwelling bird species at the expense of farmland birds, the decline of overall bird species richness, as well as the decline of Species of European Conservation Concern (SPECs) richness and abundance. Many farmland bird species declined with land abandonment, whereas few forest species benefited from the process. In conclusion, our results support CAP towards hampering rural land abandonment and preserving semi-open rural mosaics in remote upland areas, using a suite of management measures carefully tailored to local needs. The maintenance of traditional rural landscapes should be prioritized in the Balkans, through the timely identification of HNV farmland that is most prone to abandonment. We also suggest that coordinated transnational research is needed, for a better assessment of conservation options in remote rural landscapes at European scale, including the enhancement of wild grazers' populations as an alternative in areas where traditional land management is rather unlikely to be re-established. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Holocene submarine terraces on the western continental shelf of India; implications for sea-level changes

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Wagle, B.G.; Vora, K.H.; Karisiddaiah, S.M.; Veerayya, M.; Almeida, F.

and the shelf break, being more common between 11~' and 20~'N. The terraces are prominent between water depths of 50 and 115 m and occur at six distinct levels: (1) 55-60 m, (2) 65-70 m, (3) 75-80 m, (4) 85-90 m, (5) 95-100 m and (6) 110-115 m...

Fiscal Year 1993 Well Plugging and Abandonment Program Summary Report Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1994-09-01

This report is a synopsis of the progress of the well plugging and abandonment program at the Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, from October 1993 through August 1994. A total of 57 wells and borings were plugged and abandoned during the period of time covered in this report. All wells and borings were plugged and abandoned in accordance with the Monitoring Well Plugging and Abandonment Plan for the U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 Plant, Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

Active folding of fluvial terraces across a `blind' Himalayan deformation front in the Kashmir Himalaya, northwest India.

Science.gov (United States)

Gavillot, Y. G.; Meigs, A.; Rittenour, T. M.; Malik, M. O. A.

2016-12-01

In Kashmir, the Himalayan Frontal thrust (HFT) is blind, characterized by a broad fold, the Suruin-Mastargh anticline, and displays no emergent faults cutting either limb. A lack of knowledge of the rate of shortening and structural framework of the Suruin-Mastargh anticline hampers quantifying the earthquake potential for the deformation front. Our study utilized the geomorphic expression of dated deformed terraces on the Ujh River in Kashmir. Six terraces are recognized, and four yield multiple optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and depth profiles terrigenous cosmogenic nuclides (TCN) ages between 53 ka and 0.4 ka. Vector fold restoration of long terrace profiles indicates a deformation pattern characterized by regional uplift across the anticlinal axis and back-limb, and by fold limb rotation on the forelimb. Differential uplift across the fold trace suggests localized deformation. Dip data and stratigraphic thicknesses suggest that a duplex structure is emplaced at depth along the basal décollement, folding the overlying roof thrust and Siwalik-Murree strata into a detachment-like fold. Localized faulting at the fold axis explains the asymmetrical fold geometry. Folding of the oldest dated terrace, suggests rock uplift rates across the Suruin-Mastargh anticline range between 1.8-2.5 mm/yr. Assuming a 25° dipping ramp for the blind structure on the basis of dip data constraints, the shortening rates across the Suruin-Mastargh anticline range between 3.8-5.4 mm/yr since 53 ka. Geodetic data indicate that an 11-12 mm/yr arc-normal shortening rate characterizes the interseismic strain accumulation across the plate boundary due to India-Tibet convergence. These data combined with rates of other active internal faults in the Kashmir Himalaya indicate that the Riasi fault accounts for the remainder 60% of the convergence not taken up by the Suruin-Mastargh anticline. We attribute a non-emergent thrust at the deformation front to reflect deformation controlled

46 CFR 185.520 - Abandon ship and man overboard drills and training.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 7 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Abandon ship and man overboard drills and training. 185... VESSELS (UNDER 100 GROSS TONS) OPERATIONS Preparations for Emergencies § 185.520 Abandon ship and man... the water as if during an actual man overboard situation: (1) Once each month, if reasonable and...

Environmental factors influencing the distribution of agricultural terraces: Case study of Horny Tisovnik, Slovakia

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Slámová, M.; Krčmářová, Jana; Hrončiek, P.; Kaštierová, M.

2017-01-01

Roč. 25, č. 1 (2017), s. 34-45 ISSN 1210-8812 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA16-15716S Institutional support: RVO:68378076 Keywords : agricultural terraces * traditional landscapes * environmental history * multivariate analysis * Slovakia Subject RIV: AC - Archeology, Anthropology, Ethnology OBOR OECD: Cultural and economic geography Impact factor: 2.149, year: 2016 http://www.geonika.cz/EN/research/ENMGRClanky/2017_1_SLAMOVA.pdf

Sea-level history and tectonic uplift during the last-interglacial period (LIG): Inferred from the Bab al-Mandab coral reef terraces, southern Red Sea

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mikhlafi, Ahmed Saif; Edwards, Lawrence R.; Cheng, Hai

2018-02-01

Results of U-series dating of late Pleistocene raised coral reef terraces from the Bab al-Mandab area, define two distinct groups: (1) well-preserved aragonitic fossil corals recorded from the Al-Hajaja terrace (Tr3) yield ages for last-interglacial period (LIG); and (2) calcitic fossil corals recovered from Perim Island terrace (Tr1) show varying degrees of U-series open system behavior and yield coral assemblage ages of LIG and older ages. Fossil corals from Tr1 are recrystallized corals, have anomalously high initial δ234U ranged from (152 ± 2‰ to 287 ± 7‰), corresponding to ages of ∼120 ka and ∼406 ka, respectively. Applying age reliability criteria on the current data suggest majority of the ages cannot be considered reliable and all are suspected for open system behavior associated with U loss/addition that significantly affects the 230Th/U ages. The diagenesis shown by these corals occurred probably due to extensive interaction of fossil corals with freshwater during the wet periods prevailed in southern Arabia coeval with the African monsoon, which led to U loss. Post-depositional U loss suggest (230Th/238U) increase, which shift the U-Th ages to unexpectedly higher levels as it is shown here. Measured elevation at the Al-Hajaja terrace (Tr3) is ∼4 ± 2 m above present sea level (apsl) consistent with eustatic sea level changes and indicates that the Bab al-Mandab area is stable at least since the LIG period. The Perim Island terrace (Tr1) is at elevation of 7 ± 2 m apsl; its reef yields diageneticaly-altered corals of multiple ages and cannot be used for sea level reconstructions.

Faulted terrace risers place new constraints on the late Quaternary slip rate for the central Altyn Tagh fault, northwest Tibet

Science.gov (United States)

Gold, R.D.; Cowgill, E.; Arrowsmith, J.R.; Chen, X.; Sharp, W.D.; Cooper, K.M.; Wang, X.-F.

2011-01-01

The active, left-lateral Altyn Tagh fault defines the northwestern margin of the Tibetan Plateau in western China. To clarify late Quaternary temporal and spatial variations in slip rate along the central portion of this fault system (85??-90??E), we have more than doubled the number of dated offset markers along the central Altyn Tagh fault. In particular, we determined offset-age relations for seven left-laterally faulted terrace risers at three sites (Kelutelage, Yukuang, and Keke Qiapu) spanning a 140-km-long fault reach by integrating surficial geologic mapping, topographic surveys (total station and tripod-light detection and ranging [T-LiDAR]), and geochronology (radiocarbon dating of organic samples, 230Th/U dating of pedogenic carbonate coatings on buried clasts, and terrestrial cosmogenic radionuclide exposure age dating applied to quartz-rich gravels). At Kelutelage, which is the westernmost site (37.72??N, 86.67??E), two faulted terrace risers are offset 58 ?? 3 m and 48 ?? 4 m, and formed at 6.2-6.1 ka and 5.9-3.7 ka, respectively. At the Yukuang site (38.00??N, 87.87??E), four faulted terrace risers are offset 92 ?? 12 m, 68 ?? 6 m, 55 ?? 13 m, and 59 ?? 9 m and formed at 24.2-9.5 ka, 6.4-5.0 ka, 5.1-3.9 ka, and 24.2-6.4 ka, respectively. At the easternmost site, Keke Qiapu (38.08??N, 88.12??E), a faulted terrace riser is offset 33 ?? 6 m and has an age of 17.1-2.2 ka. The displacement-age relationships derived from these markers can be satisfied by an approximately uniform slip rate of 8-12 mm/yr. However, additional analysis is required to test how much temporal variability in slip rate is permitted by this data set. ?? 2011 Geological Society of America.

46 CFR 122.520 - Abandon ship and man overboard drills and training.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-01

... 46 Shipping 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Abandon ship and man overboard drills and training. 122... OPERATIONS Preparations for Emergencies § 122.520 Abandon ship and man overboard drills and training. (a) The... launched with its assigned crew aboard and maneuvered in the water as if during the actual man overboard...

Abandonment landscapes: user attitudes, alternative futures and land management in Castro Laboreiro, Portugal

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Zanden, Emma H.; Carvalho-Ribeiro, Sónia M.; Verburg, P.H.

2018-01-01

Land abandonment is an important process for the European Union, which primarily occurs in less productive, remote and mountainous areas with unfavourable conditions for agriculture. Future management directions of these abandonment areas are under debate, with increasing calls to adjust policies to

Identification of vulnerable areas for gully erosion under different scenarios of land abandonment in Southeast Spain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lesschen, J.P.; Kok, K.; Verburg, P.H.; Cammeraat, L.H.

2007-01-01

Abandonment of agricultural land is one of the main changes in Mediterranean land use. To mitigate runoff and erosion from abandoned land, it is necessary to identify locations that are vulnerable to erosion as a result of land abandonment. The objective of our study was to identify vulnerable areas

37 CFR 1.138 - Express abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... before the date of issue or publication unless it is actually received by appropriate officials in time... application to avoid publication of the application (see § 1.211(a)(1)) must submit a declaration of express abandonment by way of a petition under this paragraph including the fee set forth in § 1.17(h) in sufficient...

77 FR 24561 - Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment of Freight Easement Exemption-in Alameda and Santa...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-04-24

... Authority--Abandonment of Residual Common Carrier Obligation Exemption--in Alameda and Santa Clara Counties... freight operating easement on, and for VTA, the owner of the line, to abandon its residual common carrier... abandoned for freight rail service, but will be retained and rebuilt for future inclusion in the Bay Area...

On the long-lasting sequences of coral reef terraces from SE Sulawesi (Indonesia): Distribution, formation, and global significance

Science.gov (United States)

Pedoja, Kevin; Husson, Laurent; Bezos, Antoine; Pastier, Anne-Morwenn; Imran, Andy Muhammad; Arias-Ruiz, Camilo; Sarr, Anta-Clarisse; Elliot, Mary; Pons-Branchu, Edwige; Nexer, Maëlle; Regard, Vincent; Hafidz, Abdul; Robert, Xavier; Benoit, Laurent; Delcaillau, Bernard; Authemayou, Christine; Dumoulin, Caroline; Choblet, Gaël

2018-05-01

Many islands of the eastern Indonesian Archipelago exhibit Late Cenozoic sequences of coral reef terraces. In SE Sulawesi, on the Tukang Besi and Buton archipelagos, we identified 23 islands bearing such sequences. Remote sensing imagery and field mapping combined to U/Th and 14C dating enable to establish a chronologic framework of the reef terrace sequences from Wangi-Wangi, Buton as well as on the neighbouring, smaller islands of Ular, Siumpu and Kadatua. We identified the terraces from the last interglacial maximum (MIS 5e) at elevations lower than 20 m except on W Kadatua where it is raised at 34 ± 5 m. Such elevations yield low to moderate Upper Pleistocene uplift rates (<0.3 mm yr-1). On SE Buton Island, a sequence culminates at 650 m and includes at least 40 undated strandlines. Next to this exceptional sequence, on the Sampolawa Peninsula, 18 strandlines culminate at 430 m. Dated samples at the base of this sequence (<40 m) yield mean Middle Pleistocene uplift rates of 0.14 ± 0.09 mm yr-1. Extrapolation of these uplift rates compared to the geological setting suggests that the sequences of the Sampolawa Peninsula provide a record of sea-level high-stands for the last 3.8 ± 0.6 Ma. The sequences on SE Buton Island therefore constitute the best preserved long-lasting geomorphic record of Plio-Quaternary sea-level stands worldwide.

77 FR 40147 - Boston and Maine Corporation-Abandonment Exemption-in Worcester County, MA

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-06

... employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line Railroad.... 91 (1979). To address whether this condition adequately protects affected employees, a petition for... addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue...

The chemical composition of precipitation and runoff water on an arid limestone hillside, northern Negev, Israel

Science.gov (United States)

Yair, Aaron; Karnieli, Arnon; Issar, Arie

1991-12-01

The study deals with the chemistry of precipitation and runoff water on an arid limestone hillside (467 m 2) the upper part of which is rocky and the lower part soil covered. Rainfall was measured with a rain recorder and sampled with a sequential collector which samples consecutive fractions of 2 mm. Runoff rate was measured with a stage recorder and runoff water was collected immediately after each flow from a collecting tank. Rain and runoff samples were analysed for their major constituents: Na +, K +, Ca 2+, Mg 2+, Cl -, SO 2-4 and HCO -3. Rainfall during the study year (1981/1982) amounted to 75 mm. The salt input by rainfall was 8 g m -2. The salt output by runoff was 1.2 g m -2 for the rocky area and 0.5 g m -2 for the soil-covered area, indicating a substantial net gain for the different areas. Both rainwater and runoff water have a calcium bicarbonate composition. These two ions represent some 55% of the dissolved ions. Runoff water is enriched by a factor of 2 in comparison with rainwater. Finally, the chemistry of runoff water from very small hillslope areas is quite similar to that of flood waters in the major channels of the Negev, pointing to a very limited chemical enrichment with increasing drainage area.

77 FR 51107 - Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Pocahontas County, IA

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-23

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 304X)] Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Pocahontas County, IA Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to...

77 FR 51614 - Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Polk County, IA

Science.gov (United States)

2012-08-24

... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. AB 33 (Sub-No. 310X)] Union Pacific Railroad Company--Abandonment Exemption--in Polk County, IA Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR part 1152 subpart F--Exempt Abandonments to...

The Age of the 20 Meter Solo River Terrace, Java, Indonesia and the Survival of Homo erectus in Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Indriati, Etty; Swisher, Carl C.; Lepre, Christopher; Quinn, Rhonda L.; Suriyanto, Rusyad A.; Hascaryo, Agus T.; Grün, Rainer; Feibel, Craig S.; Pobiner, Briana L.; Aubert, Maxime; Lees, Wendy; Antón, Susan C.

2011-01-01

Homo erectus was the first human lineage to disperse widely throughout the Old World, the only hominin in Asia through much of the Pleistocene, and was likely ancestral to H. sapiens. The demise of this taxon remains obscure because of uncertainties regarding the geological age of its youngest populations. In 1996, some of us co-published electron spin resonance (ESR) and uranium series (U-series) results indicating an age as young as 35–50 ka for the late H. erectus sites of Ngandong and Sambungmacan and the faunal site of Jigar (Indonesia). If correct, these ages favor an African origin for recent humans who would overlap with H. erectus in time and space. Here, we report 40Ar/39Ar incremental heating analyses and new ESR/U-series age estimates from the “20 m terrace" at Ngandong and Jigar. Both data sets are internally consistent and provide no evidence for reworking, yet they are inconsistent with one another. The 40Ar/39Ar analyses give an average age of 546±12 ka (sd±5 se) for both sites, the first reliable radiometric indications of a middle Pleistocene component for the terrace. Given the technical accuracy and consistency of the analyses, the argon ages represent either the actual age or the maximum age for the terrace and are significantly older than previous estimates. Most of the ESR/U-series results are older as well, but the oldest that meets all modeling criteria is 143 ka+20/−17. Most samples indicated leaching of uranium and likely represent either the actual or the minimum age of the terrace. Given known sources of error, the U-series results could be consistent with a middle Pleistocene age. However, the ESR and 40Ar/39Ar ages preclude one another. Regardless, the age of the sites and hominins is at least bracketed between these estimates and is older than currently accepted. PMID:21738710

30 CFR 906.25 - Approval of Colorado abandoned mine land reclamation plan amendments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Approval of Colorado abandoned mine land reclamation plan amendments. 906.25 Section 906.25 Mineral Resources OFFICE OF SURFACE MINING RECLAMATION AND... STATE COLORADO § 906.25 Approval of Colorado abandoned mine land reclamation plan amendments. The...

Explosives remain preferred methods for platform abandonment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pulsipher, A.; Daniel, W. IV; Kiesler, J.E.; Mackey, V. III

1996-01-01

Economics and safety concerns indicate that methods involving explosives remain the most practical and cost-effective means for abandoning oil and gas structures in the Gulf of Mexico. A decade has passed since 51 dead sea turtles, many endangered Kemp's Ridleys, washed ashore on the Texas coast shortly after explosives helped remove several offshore platforms. Although no relationship between the explosions and the dead turtles was ever established, in response to widespread public concern, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) and National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) implemented regulations limiting the size and timing of explosive charges. Also, more importantly, they required that operators pay for observers to survey waters surrounding platforms scheduled for removal for 48 hr before any detonations. If observers spot sea turtles or marine mammals within the danger zone, the platform abandonment is delayed until the turtles leave or are removed. However, concern about the effects of explosives on marine life remains

Abandoned vehicles

CERN Multimedia

Relations with the Host States Service

2004-01-01

The services in charge of managing the CERN site have recently noted an increase in the number of abandoned vehicles. This poses a risk from the point of view of safety and security and, on the eve of several important events in honour of CERN's fiftieth anniversary, is detrimental to the Organization's image. Owners of vehicles that have been left immobile for some time on the CERN site, including on the external car park by the flags, are therefore invited to contact the Reception and Access Control Service (service-parking-longterm@cern.ch) before 1st October 2004 and, where appropriate, move their vehicle to a designated long-term parking area. After this date, any vehicle whose owner has failed to respond to this request and which is without a number plate, has been stationary for several weeks or is out of service, may be impounded at the owner's risk and expense. Relations with the Host States Service Tel. 72848

Management of mining-related damages in abandoned underground coal mine areas using GIS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, U.J.; Kim, J.A.; Kim, S.S.; Kim, W.K.; Yoon, S.H.; Choi, J.K.

2005-01-01

The mining-related damages such as ground subsidence, acid mine drainage (AMD), and deforestation in the abandoned underground coal mine areas become an object of public concern. Therefore, the system to manage the mining-related damages is needed for the effective drive of rehabilitation activities. The management system for Abandoned Underground Coal Mine using GIS includes the database about mining record and information associated with the mining-related damages and application programs to support mine damage prevention business. Also, this system would support decision-making policy for rehabilitation and provide basic geological data for regional construction works in abandoned underground coal mine areas. (authors)

77 FR 43656 - BNSF Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Los Angeles County, CA

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-25

... been met. As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be... adequately protects affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be... report that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources...

30 CFR 56.4011 - Abandoned electric circuits.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... 30 Mineral Resources 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Abandoned electric circuits. 56.4011 Section 56.4011 Mineral Resources MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF LABOR METAL AND NONMETAL MINE SAFETY AND HEALTH SAFETY AND HEALTH STANDARDS-SURFACE METAL AND NONMETAL MINES Fire Prevention and...

Luminescence characteristics of quartz and feldspar from tectonically uplifted terraces in Kashmir Basin, Jammu and Kashmir, India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jaiswal, Manoj K.; Bhat, M.I.; Bali, B.S.; Ahmad, Shabir; Chen, Y.G.

2009-01-01

The Kashmir Valley or the Jhelum basin is an intermontane-basin in NW Himalaya bounded by the Pir Panjal Range in the south and southwest and the Great Himalayan Range in the north and northeast. The valley is marked by active major thrust boundaries in its south and southwestern parts. Remote sensing studies and morphometric analysis suggest neo-tectonic activities and the formation of tectonic terraces due to uplift on the major thrust boundaries in NW Himalayas. The quartz from freshly eroded mountain belts is usually found to show very poor luminescence sensitivity and thus not suitable for optical dating. Similar problems occurred with the quartz from the Srinagar Basin. Due to this, feldspar was selected as a natural dose meter for dating tectonically uplifted terraces in an active and dynamic belt of the NW Himalayas. We report here for the first time the luminescence characteristics of quartz and feldspar minerals from the study area. However, feldspar also shows poor luminescence sensitivity, although enough to perform optical dating. Athermal fading was observed in all the feldspar samples, which was corrected using 'g' values; a large scatter was found in the g values, probably due to intermixing of feldspar grains from varying source rock types and also due to poor luminescence sensitivity. An average g value correction to the mean paleodose was found to agree if compared with the thermo-luminescence date of loess deposit dated earlier. The ages show that the terrace formation started taking place at ∼100 ka in the southwestern part of the Jhelum basin and continued with pulses at 50 ka and 11 ka towards the northwestern part.

7 CFR 97.104 - Application or certificate abandoned.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... 97.104 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture (Continued) AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE (Standards, Inspections, Marketing Practices), DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) COMMODITY... abandoned certificates shall be published in the Official Journal, indicating that the variety has become...

Soil erosion as a consequence of wildfires on recently abandoned citrus orchards in eastern Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.Cerdà

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Fire is a natural factor in the evolution of Earth ecosystems. Due to land abandonment wildfire are widespread in Mediterranean Type Ecosystems, which contribute to increase the soil erosion rates. Fire is also found in recently abandoned citrus orchards due to the quick vegetation recovery and the dry biomass found after 2 years of abandonment. Rainfall simulation experiments (1 hour at 45 mm h-1 in a plot of 0.25 m2 show that although land abandonment on irrigated citrus orchards reduces the soil losses to very low values, the fire increase runoff and soil erosion. Water and soil losses are much lower in the fire-affected plots than on the cultivated ones due to the use of herbicides.

Long-term controls on continental-scale bedrock river terrace deposition from integrated clast and heavy mineral assemblage analysis: An example from the lower Orange River, Namibia

Science.gov (United States)

Nakashole, Albertina N.; Hodgson, David M.; Chapman, Robert J.; Morgan, Dan J.; Jacob, Roger J.

2018-02-01

Establishing relationships between the long-term landscape evolution of drainage basins and the fill of sedimentary basins benefits from analysis of bedrock river terrace deposits. These fragmented detrital archives help to constrain changes in river system character and provenance during sediment transfer from continents (source) to oceans (sink). Thick diamondiferous gravel terrace deposits along the lower Orange River, southern Namibia, provide a rare opportunity to investigate controls on the incision history of a continental-scale bedrock river. Clast assemblage and heavy mineral data from seven localities permit detailed characterisation of the lower Orange River gravel terrace deposits. Two distinct fining-upward gravel terrace deposits are recognised, primarily based on mapped stratigraphic relationships (cross-cutting relationships) and strath and terrace top elevations, and secondarily on the proportion of exotic clasts, referred to as Proto Orange River deposits and Meso Orange River deposits. The older early to middle Miocene Proto Orange River gravels are thick (up to 50 m) and characterised by a dominance of Karoo Supergroup shale and sandstone clasts, whereas the younger Plio-Pleistocene Meso Orange River gravels (6-23 m thick) are characterised by more banded iron formation clasts. Mapping of the downstepping terraces indicates that the Proto gravels were deposited by a higher sinuosity river, and are strongly discordant to the modern Orange River course, whereas the Meso deposits were deposited by a lower sinuosity river. The heavy minerals present in both units comprise magnetite, garnet, amphibole, epidote and ilmenite, with rare titanite and zircon grains. The concentration of amphibole-epidote in the heavy minerals fraction increases from the Proto to the Meso deposits. The decrease in incision depths, recorded by deposit thicknesses above strath terraces, and the differences in clast character (size and roundness) and type between the two

Safety problems with abandoned explosive facilities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtright, W.C.

1969-01-01

Procedures were developed for the safe removal of explosive and radioactive contaminated materials structures and drains from abandoned sites, including explosives processing and service buildings with a goal to return the entire area to its natural state and to permit public access. The safety problems encountered in the cleanup and their solutions are applicable to modification and maintenance work in operating explosive facilities. (U.S.)

Regimes of mini black hole abandoned to accretion

Science.gov (United States)

Paik, Biplab

2018-01-01

Being inspired by the Eddington’s idea, along with other auxiliary arguments, it is unveiled that there exist regimes of a black hole that would prohibit accretion of ordinary energy. In explicit words, there exists a lower bound to black hole mass below which matter accretion process does not run for black holes. Not merely the baryonic matter, but, in regimes, also the massless photons could get prohibited from rushing into a black hole. However, unlike the baryon accretion abandoned black hole regime, the mass-regime of a black hole prohibiting accretion of radiation could vary along with its ambient temperature. For example, we discuss that earlier to 10‑8 s after the big-bang, as the cosmological temperature of the Universe grew above ˜ 1014 K, the mass range of black hole designating the radiation accretion abandoned regime, had to be in varying state being connected with the instantaneous age of the evolving Universe by an “one half” power law. It happens to be a fact that a black hole holding regimes prohibiting accretion of energy is gigantic by its size in comparison to the Planck length-scale. Hence the emergence of these regimes demands mini black holes for not being viable as profound suckers of energy. Consideration of accretion abandoned regimes could be crucial for constraining or judging the evolution of primordial black holes over the age of the Universe.

Application of geophysical methods to the study of pollution associated with abandoned and injection wells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frischknecht, F.C.

1990-01-01

This paper reports on contamination of ground-water supplies by brine and other pollutants which is a serious problem in some oil-producing and industrial areas. Abandoned petroleum and water wells and active injection wells are often major elements in the contamination process. The casings of abandoned wells develop leaks, and, if not properly plugged, such wells sometimes serve as conduits for pollutants to reach freshwater aquifiers. Pollutants from waste-disposal sites or accidental spills may migrate down abandoned wells. Brines or other wastes injected into deep horizons may migrate up abandoned wells and reach aquifers containing potable water. Injection wells sometimes develop leaks and, if not carefully monitored, can pollute large volumes of earth materials before the effect is noted in production wells or at the surface. As a first step in the mitigation of these problems, methods of locating abandoned wells and mapping brine contamination from injection wells have been studied by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

Choosing a miracle: Impoverishment, mistrust, and discordant views in abandonment of treatment of children with cancer in El Salvador.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossell, Nuria; Challinor, Julia; Gigengack, Roy; Reis, Ria

2017-09-01

In El Salvador, at the only hospital offering pediatric oncology care, the number of children abandoning treatment for cancer has decreased in recent years (13%-3%). An investigation of caregivers' motives for abandonment was performed over 15 months from 2012 to 2014. Caregiver and health team perspectives on abandonment are reported using the explanatory model (EM) framework. Semistructured in-depth interviews and in hospital participant observations were conducted with caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer, who abandoned their child's treatment or were considering abandoning, and with members of the medical team. Of the 41 caregivers interviewed, 26 caregivers (of 19 children) abandoned their child's treatment, returned from a series of missed appointments, or showed a risk of abandoning. Caregivers of 8 children stated that a miraculous cure was the main reason for abandoning; increasing impoverishment and misgivings toward treatment and outcomes were also mentioned. The responses of the medical team demonstrated a discordant EM for the child's cancer and treatment effects and that only biomedical treatment was effective for cure. The caregivers' increasing impoverishment (not only financial) and misgivings about the child's treatment caused them to reconsider their therapeutic choices and rely on their belief in a miraculous cure, thus abandoning. The caregivers and medical team's discordant EM about the child's cancer and treatment must be acknowledged and shared decision making considered, together with consistency in the strategies that currently demonstrate to be effective decreasing abandonment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cheetah do not abandon hunts because they overheat

Science.gov (United States)

Hetem, Robyn S.; Mitchell, Duncan; de Witt, Brenda A.; Fick, Linda G.; Meyer, Leith C. R.; Maloney, Shane K.; Fuller, Andrea

2013-01-01

Hunting cheetah reportedly store metabolic heat during the chase and abandon chases because they overheat. Using biologging to remotely measure the body temperature (every minute) and locomotor activity (every 5 min) of four free-living cheetah, hunting spontaneously, we found that cheetah abandoned hunts, but not because they overheated. Body temperature averaged 38.4°C when the chase was terminated. Storage of metabolic heat did not compromise hunts. The increase in body temperature following a successful hunt was double that of an unsuccessful hunt (1.3°C ± 0.2°C versus 0.5°C ± 0.1°C), even though the level of activity during the hunts was similar. We propose that the increase in body temperature following a successful hunt is a stress hyperthermia, rather than an exercise-induced hyperthermia. PMID:23883578

Cheetah do not abandon hunts because they overheat.

Science.gov (United States)

Hetem, Robyn S; Mitchell, Duncan; de Witt, Brenda A; Fick, Linda G; Meyer, Leith C R; Maloney, Shane K; Fuller, Andrea

2013-10-23

Hunting cheetah reportedly store metabolic heat during the chase and abandon chases because they overheat. Using biologging to remotely measure the body temperature (every minute) and locomotor activity (every 5 min) of four free-living cheetah, hunting spontaneously, we found that cheetah abandoned hunts, but not because they overheated. Body temperature averaged 38.4°C when the chase was terminated. Storage of metabolic heat did not compromise hunts. The increase in body temperature following a successful hunt was double that of an unsuccessful hunt (1.3°C ± 0.2°C versus 0.5°C ± 0.1°C), even though the level of activity during the hunts was similar. We propose that the increase in body temperature following a successful hunt is a stress hyperthermia, rather than an exercise-induced hyperthermia.

Factors of land abandonment in mountainous Mediterranean areas: the case of Montenegrin settlements.

Science.gov (United States)

Kerckhof, Annelies; Spalevic, Velibor; Van Eetvelde, Veerle; Nyssen, Jan

2016-01-01

Land use changes have been investigated in the surroundings of 14 rural Montenegrin settlements in order to get specific information about trends in land abandonment since around 1950. Permanently, seasonally and less inhabited settlements with different geographic conditions were studied. This was done by interviewing local inhabitants, which enabled a holistic approach to reveal the underlying processes of land abandonment. According to the observed patterns of land use change, the study sites can be categorized into intensified, urbanized, extensified, overgrown and forested cases. The category of extensified settlements is characterized by a highly reduced agricultural management intensity, resulting in an increase in grasslands and fruit trees at the expense of cropland. This land use change is mainly related to emigrating and aging inhabitants, having less livestock. Such extensive land use is found in both permanently inhabited and abandoned villages. Only some studied settlements became largely overgrown by bushes and forest. The steep average slope gradients and a large distance to the nearest city are explanatory factors of such land abandonment. Land use intensification takes place in low-lying areas located nearby towns.

Risk factors associated with treatment abandonment by overweight or obese children and adolescents.

Science.gov (United States)

Soares Mariz, Larissa; Campos Muniz Medeiros, Carla; Cruz Enders, Bertha; Nascimento Kluczynik Vieira, Caroline Evelin; Aires Silva Medeiros, Kaio Keomma; Silva Coura, Alexsandro

2016-06-01

To evaluate the risk factors associated with treatment abandonment by overweight or obese children and adolescents. A cross-sectional study, conducted in 2011, at the Childhood Obesity Center, in Campina Grande, Brazil, with the records of 208 children and adolescents, between three and 18 years of age, divided into two groups: Group I included those who abandoned treatment, and Group II included those who did not abandon treatment. Non-adherence was significantly associated with higher income (OR=5.8), high maternal education (OR=2.4), white skin color (OR=2.9), and obesity (OR=3.6). Despite the new academic-care approach, the non-adherence to treatment rate was high, and was associated with sociodemographic and nutritional factors.

Evolution of the morphology of the river Dragonja (SW Slovenia) due to land-use changes

Science.gov (United States)

Keesstra, S. D.; van Huissteden, J.; Vandenberghe, J.; Van Dam, O.; de Gier, J.; Pleizier, I. D.

2005-07-01

The effects of increasing agricultural land use on fluvial morphology have received much attention in fluvial research. However, in several regions in Europe, a reversing trend of decreasing agricultural activity and land abandonment, followed by reforestation, is observed. The response of fluvial morphology deserves attention because of its large impacts on landscape and riverine habitats. With the help of geomorphological mapping, multi-date aerial photography and a range of dating techniques, we reconstructed the evolution of the morphology of the riverbed and the floodplain of the Dragonja river in southwestern Slovenia. The results of this study show that the fluvial morphology in this Mediterranean catchment has changed considerably as a result of shifts in agricultural land use, in particular large-scale land abandonment in the second half of the 20th century. Until the first half of the 19th century, floodplain aggradation prevailed. Probably around 1870, a large erosion event occurred from which the floodplain did not fully recover. A terrace standing 2.5 m above the present floodplain was formed. Natural reforestation, due to depopulation since World War II, caused a reduction in discharge and sediment supply to the river. The decreased intensity and frequency of floods allowed invasion of the riverbed by vegetation, causing narrowing and incision of the riverbed. This resulted in the formation of a terrace, which now stands 1.5 m above the present-day river. This terrace is about 60 years old. However, the largest increase in forest area occurred since 1975, which intensified this process of riverbed narrowing and incision, creating a local terrace at 0.5 m at 0.5 m above the presently meandering river.

Soil microbial community of abandoned sand fields

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Elhottová, Dana; Szili-Kovács, T.; Tříska, Jan

2002-01-01

Roč. 47, č. 4 (2002), s. 435-440 ISSN 0015-5632 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA526/99/P033 Grant - others:OTKA(HU) T25739 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z6066911 Keywords : microbial community * abandoned fields Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.979, year: 2002

Water quality and possible sources of nitrate in the Cimarron Terrace Aquifer, Oklahoma, 2003

Science.gov (United States)

Masoner, Jason R.; Mashburn, Shana L.

2004-01-01

Water from the Cimarron terrace aquifer in northwest Oklahoma commonly has nitrate concentrations that exceed the maximum contaminant level of 10 milligrams per liter of nitrite plus nitrate as nitrogen (referred to as nitrate) set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for public drinking water supplies. Starting in July 2003, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality, conducted a study in the Cimarron terrace aquifer to assess the water quality and possible sources of nitrate. A qualitative and quantitative approach based on multiple lines of evidence from chemical analysis of nitrate, nitrogen isotopes in nitrate, pesticides (indicative of cropland fertilizer application), and wastewater compounds (indicative of animal or human wastewater) were used to indicate possible sources of nitrate in the Cimarron terrace aquifer. Nitrate was detected in 44 of 45 ground-water samples and had the greatest median concentration (8.03 milligrams per liter) of any nutrient analyzed. Nitrate concentrations ranged from chemicals, 3 compounds were hydrocarbons, 2 compounds were industrial chemicals, 2 compounds were pesticides, 1 compound was of animal source, and 1 compound was a detergent compound. The most frequently detected wastewater compound was phenol, which was detected in 23 wells. N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) was detected in water samples from 5 wells. Benzophenone, ethanol- 2-butoxy-phosphate, and tributylphosphate were detected in water samples from 3 wells. Fertilizer was determined to be the possible source of nitrate in samples from 13 of 45 wells sampled, with a15N values ranging from 0.43 to 3.46 permil. The possible source of nitrate for samples from the greatest number of wells (22 wells) was from mixed sources of nitrate from fertilizer, septic or manure, or natural sources. Mixed nitrate sources had a 15N values ranging from 0.25 to 9.83 permil. Septic or manure was determined as the possible

Chemical, Biochemical, and Microbiological Properties of Soils from Abandoned and Extensively Cultivated Olive Orchards

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. M. Palese

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The abandonment of olive orchards is a phenomenon of great importance triggered mainly by economic and social causes. The aim of this study was to investigate some chemical, biochemical, and microbiological properties in a soil of a southern olive grove abandoned for 25 years. In order to define the effect of the long-term land abandonment on soil properties, an adjacent olive grove managed according to extensive practices was taken as reference (essentially minimum tillage and no fertilization. Soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and pH were significantly higher in the abandoned olive grove due to the absence of tillage and the natural inputs of organic matter at high C/N ratio which, inter alia, increased the number of cellulolytic bacteria and stimulated the activity of β-glucosidase, an indicator of a more advanced stage of soil evolution. The soil of the abandoned olive orchard showed a lower number of total bacteria and fungi and a lower microbial diversity, measured by means of the Biolog method, as a result of a sort of specialization trend towards low quality organic substrates. From this point of view, the extensive cultivation management seemed to not induce a disturbance to microbiological communities.

Chemical, Biochemical, and Microbiological Properties of Soils from Abandoned and Extensively Cultivated Olive Orchards

Science.gov (United States)

Palese, A. M.; Magno, R.; Casacchia, T.; Curci, M.; Baronti, S.; Miglietta, F.; Crecchio, C.; Xiloyannis, C.; Sofo, A.

2013-01-01

The abandonment of olive orchards is a phenomenon of great importance triggered mainly by economic and social causes. The aim of this study was to investigate some chemical, biochemical, and microbiological properties in a soil of a southern olive grove abandoned for 25 years. In order to define the effect of the long-term land abandonment on soil properties, an adjacent olive grove managed according to extensive practices was taken as reference (essentially minimum tillage and no fertilization). Soil organic matter, total nitrogen, and pH were significantly higher in the abandoned olive grove due to the absence of tillage and the natural inputs of organic matter at high C/N ratio which, inter alia, increased the number of cellulolytic bacteria and stimulated the activity of β-glucosidase, an indicator of a more advanced stage of soil evolution. The soil of the abandoned olive orchard showed a lower number of total bacteria and fungi and a lower microbial diversity, measured by means of the Biolog method, as a result of a sort of specialization trend towards low quality organic substrates. From this point of view, the extensive cultivation management seemed to not induce a disturbance to microbiological communities. PMID:24348166

Potentials and pitfalls of depth profile (10Be), burial isochron (26Al/10Be) and palaeomagnetic techniques for dating Early Pleistocene terrace deposits of the Moselle valley (Germany)

Science.gov (United States)

Rixhon, Gilles; Cordier, Stéphane; May, Simon Matthias; Kelterbaum, Daniel; Szemkus, Nina; Keulertz, Rebecca; Dunai, Tibor; Binnie, Steven; Hambach, Ulrich; Scheidt, Stephanie; Brueckner, Helmut

2016-04-01

Throughout the river network of the Rhenish Massif the so-called main terraces complex (MTC) forms the morphological transition between a wide upper palaeovalley and a deeply incised lower valley. The youngest level of this complex (YMT), directly located at the edge of the incised valley, represents a dominant geomorphic feature; it is often used as a reference level to identify the beginning of the main middle Pleistocene incision episode (Demoulin & Hallot, 2009). Although the main terraces are particularly well preserved in the lower Moselle valley, a questionable age of ca. 800 ka is assumed for the YMT, mainly based on the uncertain extrapolation of controversially interpreted palaeomagnetic data obtained in the Rhine valley. In this study, we applied terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) dating (10Be/26Al) and palaeomagnetic dating to Moselle fluvial sediments of the MTC. To unravel the spatio-temporal characteristics of the Pleistocene evolution of the valley, several sites along the lower Moselle were sampled following two distinct TCN dating strategies: depth profiles where the original terrace (palaeo-) surface is well preserved and did not experience a major post-depositional burial (e.g., loess cover); and the isochron technique, where the sediment thickness exceeds 4.5-5 m. One terrace deposit was sampled for both approaches (reference site). In addition, palaeomagnetic sampling was systematically performed in each terrace sampled for TCN measurements. The TCN dating techniques show contrasting results for our reference site. Three main issues are observed for the depth profile method: (i) an inability of the modeled profile to constrain the 10Be concentration of the uppermost sample; (ii) an overestimated density value as model output; and (iii) a probable concentration steady state of the terrace deposits. By contrast, the isochron method yields a burial age estimate of 1.26 +0.29/-0.25 Ma, although one sample showed a depleted 26Al/10Be ratio

Geothermal properties and groundwater flow estimated with a three-dimensional geological model in a late Pleistocene terrace area, central Japan

Science.gov (United States)

Funabiki, A.; Takemura, T.; Hamamoto, S.; Komatsu, T.

2012-12-01

1. Introduction The ground source heat pump (GSHP) is a highly efficient and renewable energy technology for space heating and cooling, with benefits that include energy conservation and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. One result of the huge Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent nuclear disasters is that GSHPs are receiving more attention from the media and they are being introduced by some local governments. Heat generated by underground GSHP installation, however, can pollute the geothermal environment or change groundwater flow patterns . In this study, we estimated possible effects from the use of GSHPs in the Tokyo area with a three-dimensional (3D) geological model. 2. Geological model The Tokyo Metropolitan Area is surrounded by the Late Pleistocene terraces called the Musashino uplands. The terrace surfaces are densely populated residential areas. One of these surfaces, the Shimosueyohi surface, formed along the Tama River during the last deglacial period. The CRE-NUCHS-1 core (Funabiki et al., 2011) was obtained from this surface, and the lithology, heat transfer coefficients, and chemical characteristics of the sediments were analyzed. In this study, we used borehole log data from a 5 km2 area surrounding the CRE-NUCHS-1 core site to create a 3D geological model. In this area, the Pleistocene Kazusa Group is overlain by terrace gravels and a volcanic ash layer called the Kanto Loam. The terrace gravels occur mainly beneath the Kanda, Kitazawa, and Karasuyama rivers , which flow parallel to the Tama River, whereas away from the rivers , the Kanto Loam directly overlies the Kazusa Group sediments. 3. Geothermal disturbance and groundwater flow Using the geological model, we calculated the heat transfer coefficients and groundwater flow velocities in the sediments. Within the thick terrace gravels, which are at relatively shallow depth (8-20 m), heat transfer coefficients were high and groundwater flow was relatively fast. The amount

Planning Method of Eco-environment Restoration Based on Enlarging Terrace and De-farming in Loess Hilly Region——A Case Study of Yangou Catchment

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Lijuan; DANG; Yong; XU

2013-01-01

After expatiating the guiding ideology,contents,standards and principles of eco-environment restoration based on enlarging terrace and de-farming,this paper discussed the planning method and technical flow of enlarging terrace and garden plot in a small catchment of loess hilly region by means of GIS spatial analysis technology,and then the planning method was applied in Yangou catchment.The result showed that it is practicabl,and the areas of newly-built terrace and garden plot in Yangou catchment are at least 295.06 and 4.61 hm2,so that the areas of basic farmland and garden plot reach 359.23 and 622.69 hm2.After the land use structure is regulated,the forest coverage is 48.87%,and the permanent vegetation coverage is about 75% in Yangou catchment,while sediment reduction benefit is above 80% in slope land.In agricultural development,Yangou catchment can yield 1 645.13 tons of food supplies,above 9 340 tons of apples,and can feed 7 500 sheep every year.

Exogenous corticosterone and nest abandonment: a study in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin.

Science.gov (United States)

Spée, Marion; Marchal, Lorène; Lazin, David; Le Maho, Yvon; Chastel, Olivier; Beaulieu, Michaël; Raclot, Thierry

2011-09-01

Breeding individuals enter an emergency life-history stage when their body reserves reach a minimum threshold. Consequently, they redirect current activity toward survival, leading to egg abandonment in birds. Corticosterone (CORT) is known to promote this stage. How and to what extent CORT triggers egg abandonment when breeding is associated with prolonged fasting, however, requires further investigation. We manipulated free-living male Adélie penguins with CORT-pellets before their laying period. We then examined their behavioral response with respect to nest abandonment in parallel with their prolactin levels (regulating parental care), and the subsequent effects of treatment on breeding success in relieved birds. Exogenous CORT triggered nest abandonment in 60% of the treated penguins ~14 days after treatment and induced a concomitant decline in prolactin levels. Interestingly, prolactin levels in treated penguins that did not abandon their nest were higher at the point of implantation and also after being relieved by females, when compared with abandoning penguins. Among successful birds, the treatment did not affect the number of chicks, nor the brood mass. Our results show the involvement of CORT in the decision-making process regarding egg abandonment in Adélie penguins when incubation is associated with a natural long fast. However, we suggest that CORT alone is not sufficient to trigger nest abandonment but that 1) prolactin levels need to reach a low threshold value, and 2) a rise in proteolysis (i.e. utilization of protein as main energy substrate) seems also to be required. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Economic valuation of a toll road concession with traffic guarantees and the abandonment option

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Frances Fischberg Blank

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Governments worldwide have been encouraging private participation in transportation infrastructure. To increase the feasibility of a project, public-private partnership (PPP may include guarantees or other support to reduce the risks for private investors. It is necessary to value these opportunities under a real options framework and thereby analyze the project's economic feasibility and risk allocation. However, within this structure, sponsors have an implicit option to abandon the project that should be simultaneously valued. Thus, this article proposes a hypothetical toll road concession in Brazil with a minimum traffic guarantee, a maximum traffic ceiling, and an implicit abandonment option. Different combinations of the minimum and maximum levels are presented, resulting in very high or even negative value added to the net present value (NPV. The abandonment option impacts the level of guarantee to be given. Governments should calibrate an optimal level of guarantees to avoid unnecessarily high costs, protect the returns of the sponsor, and lower the probability of abandonment.

Roots, a collective process for the recovery of the Historical memory of the commune, the district and Hillside Raises collective process of recuperation of history Memory of commune, barrio and ladder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Cardenas Avendaño

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Roots: collective historical memory of the Commune 3, Manrique. It is an initiative of Community Action Research, which was consolidated from the research process “collective reconstruction of the historical memory of the neighborhood Cruz Bello Honda and east of the city of Medellin, period 1980- 2010” held in the slope of the Commune between 2012 - 2013 by the Department of Sociology at the University of Antioquia and hillside communities, in an attempt to rescue the historical memory of the neighborhood, but also the memory of those who integrate and give life spaces, places, territories, its people

DYNAMICS OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION IN ABANDONED GRASSLANDS OF NORTHEASTERN MEXICO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Israel Yerena Yamallel

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Livestock activities due to the improper handling of the load capacity, suffer from low productivity in their grasslands, which are abandoned giving rise to the appearance of species considered invasive and undesirable for producers, without knowing the qualities of these as mitigating of climate change. The objective of the present study was to estimate the carbon content in tamaulipan thornscrub and three abandoned grasslands with a time of abandonment of 10, 20 and 30 years. For the estimation of the carbon content was used a systematic sampling design, in each area were established four sampling sites of 1,600 m2. The primary scrub is the system that resulted in the largest value of carbon content of 14.25 Mg ha-1, followed by the grasslands of 30, 20 and 10 years with 8.03, 7.33 and 4.13 Mg ha-1 respectively. It was concluded that recovering the initial state of the primary scrub take many years, as can be seen in the grasslands system 30 years reaching only 56% of what it had in reserves of primary scrub.

Can terraced pond wetland systems improve urban watershed water quality?

Science.gov (United States)

Li, S.; Ho, M.; Flanagan, N. E.; Richardson, C. J.

2017-12-01

Properly built constructed wetlands are a more economic and efficient way of wastewater treatment compared with traditional methods, although their mechanisms are far from completely understood. As part of the Stream and Wetland Assessment Management Park (SWAMP), which is aimed to improve the water quality of downstream and thereby enhance watershed ecosystem services, a terraced three-pond wetland system was created near Duke University in 2014. This project is expected to promote the retention and settling of pollutants and sediment before runoffs enter downstream flow. The goal of this study is to examine: (1) whether a terraced pond wetland system improves water quality, during both baseline (low flow) and storm events (high flow), which increases pollutant inputs; and (2) how this system functions to remove pollutants, namely what components of this system (plant, soil or water) increase or decrease the level of pollutants. By analyzing a dataset consisting of more than four-year monthly samplings from Pond 1 (first pond in the system) and Pond 3 (last pond in the system), we found that the pond system has reduced total suspended solids (TSS) but only when elevated inputs occur. Dissolved oxygen (DO) is closely related to temperature and macrophytes growth; whereas acidity (pH), total nitrogen (TN), and total phosphorus (TP) did not show retention in the early stages of the system development. This system reaches its optimum for reducing TSS at the second pond, but the third pond has important effects on DO, pH, TN and TP. A monitoring in 2017 shows this pond system significantly reduces TSS while increasing dissolved oxygen and neutralizing pH after a storm event; although greater variations incurred within the system as time progresses after storm, overall retention function remained valid. Retention of the pollutants is primarily accomplished by the settling process, which occurs in stilled waterbody of the ponds and by the filtration of macrophytes. We

Risk factors associated with treatment abandonment by overweight or obese children and adolescents

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Larissa Soares Mariz

Full Text Available Objective.To evaluate the risk factors associated with treatment abandonment by overweight or obese children and adolescents. Methods. A cross-sectional study, conducted in 2011, at the Childhood Obesity Center, in Campina Grande, Brazil, with the records of 208 children and adolescents, between three and 18 years of age, divided into two groups: Group I included those who abandoned treatment, and Group II included those who did not abandon treatment. Results. Non-adherence was significantly associated with higher income (OR=5.8, high maternal education (OR=2.4, white skin color (OR=2.9, and obesity (OR=3.6. Conclusion. Despite the new academic-care approach, the non-adherence to treatment rate was high, and was associated with sociodemographic and nutritional factors.

Underlying drivers and spatial determinants of post-Soviet agricultural land abandonment in temperate Eastern Europe

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Prishchepov, Alexander; Müller, Daniel; Baumann, Matthias

2016-01-01

Our goal was to understand the underlying drivers and spatial determinants of agricultural land abandonment following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the subsequent transition from state-command to market-driven economies from 1990 to 2000. We brought an example of agricultural land-use change...... in one agro-climatic zone stretching across Lithuania, Belarus, and Russia. Here, we provide an overview of the agricultural changes for the studied countries. We estimated the rates and patterns of agricultural land abandonment based on Landsat TM/ETM+ satellite images and linked these data...... %), and the differences in land abandonment rates reflected the contrasting strategies for transitioning toward a market economy. The spatial patterns of agricultural land abandonment across Lithuania and Russia corresponded to the land rent theory of von Thünen, as sites with low crop yields that were distant from...

The public health effects of abandoned coal mine workings on residents in South Wellington, Nanaimo

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Biagioni, K [Victoria Univ., BC (Canada)

2005-07-01

Abandoned coal mine groundwater frequently contains depressed pH levels and elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide, iron, aluminium and nitrates. Abandoned coal mine groundwater is also usually high in copper, zinc, mercury, and lead. Groundwater from abandoned mines can seriously affect public health through the discharge of non-point source pollution. This paper presents information on a research project regarding the possible impacts of abandoned coal mines and its effects on groundwater as it relates to the health of residents in South Wellington, Nanaimo, British Columbia. The purpose of the project is to determine which illnesses are more common in South Wellington, Nanaimo and in the control area. The paper provides a discussion of the Nanaimo coal field and three major seams; the Wellington, Newcastle and Douglas which are most likely to have a significant impact on groundwater in South Wellington. 27 refs.

The public health effects of abandoned coal mine workings on residents in South Wellington, Nanaimo

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biagioni, K.

2005-01-01

Abandoned coal mine groundwater frequently contains depressed pH levels and elevated levels of hydrogen sulphide, iron, aluminium and nitrates. Abandoned coal mine groundwater is also usually high in copper, zinc, mercury, and lead. Groundwater from abandoned mines can seriously affect public health through the discharge of non-point source pollution. This paper presents information on a research project regarding the possible impacts of abandoned coal mines and its effects on groundwater as it relates to the health of residents in South Wellington, Nanaimo, British Columbia. The purpose of the project is to determine which illnesses are more common in South Wellington, Nanaimo and in the control area. The paper provides a discussion of the Nanaimo coal field and three major seams; the Wellington, Newcastle and Douglas which are most likely to have a significant impact on groundwater in South Wellington. 27 refs

Polarization signatures for abandoned agricultural fields in the Manix Basin area of the Mojave Desert

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Terrill W.; Farr, Tom G.; Vanzyl, Jakob J.

1991-01-01

Polarimetric signatures from abandoned circular alfalfa fields in the Manix Basin area of the Mojave desert show systematic changes with length of abandonment. The obliteration of circular planting rows by surface processes could account for the disappearance of bright 'spokes', which seems to be reflection patterns from remnants of the planting rows, with increasing length of abandonment. An observed shift in the location of the maximum L-band copolarization return away from VV, as well as an increase in surface roughness, both occurring with increasing age of abandonment, seems to be attributable to the formation of wind ripple on the relatively vegetationless fields. A Late Pleistocene/Holocene sand bar deposit, which can be identified in the radar images, is probably responsible for the failure of three fields to match the age sequence patterns in roughness and peak shift.

Splitting Terraced Houses Into Single Units Using Oblique Aerial Imagery

Science.gov (United States)

Dahlke, D.

2017-05-01

This paper introduces a method to subdivide complex building structures like terraced houses into single house units comparable to units available in a cadastral map. 3D line segments are detected with sub-pixel accuracy in traditional vertical true orthomosaics as well as in innovative oblique true orthomosaics and their respective surface models. Hereby high gradient strengths on roofs as well as façades are taken into account. By investigating the coplanarity and frequencies within a set of 3D line segments, individual cut lines for a building complex are found. The resulting regions ideally describe single houses and thus the object complexity is reduced for subsequent topological, semantical or geometrical considerations. For the chosen study area with 70 buidling outlines a hit rate of 80% for cut lines is achieved.

Palaeoenvironmental implication of grain-size compositions of terrace deposits on the western Chinese Loess Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xingxing; Sun, Youbin; Vandenberghe, Jef; Li, Ying; An, Zhisheng

2018-06-01

Sedimentary sequences that developed on river terraces have been widely investigated to reconstruct high-resolution palaeoclimatic changes since the last deglaciation. However, frequent changes in sedimentary facies make palaeoenvironmental interpretation of grain-size variations relatively complicated. In this paper, we employed multiple grain-size parameters to discriminate the sedimentary characteristics of aeolian and fluvial facies in the Dadiwan (DDW) section on the western Chinese Loess Plateau. We found that wind and fluvial dynamics have quite different impacts on the grain-size compositions, with distinctive imprints on the distribution pattern. By using a lognormal distribution fitting approach, two major grain-size components sensitive to aeolian and fluvial processes, respectively, were distinguished from the grain-size compositions of the DDW terrace deposits. The fine grain-size component (GSC2) represents mixing of long-distance aeolian and short-distance fluvial inputs, whilst the coarse grain-size component (GSC3) is mainly transported by wind from short-distance sources. Thus GSC3 can be used to infer the wind intensity. Grain-size variations reveal that the wind intensity experienced a stepwise shift from large-amplitude variations during the last deglaciation to small-amplitude oscillations in the Holocene, corresponding well to climate changes from regional to global context.

77 FR 58218 - BNSF Railway Company-Abandonment Exemption-in McKinley County, N.M.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-09-19

... condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under... affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed. Provided no... report that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources...

78 FR 65040 - Chicago Central & Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Linn County, Iowa

Science.gov (United States)

2013-10-30

... been met. As a condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be... protects affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed... effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA issued an environmental...

Abandonment and expansion of arable land in Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hatna, E.; Bakker, M.M.

2011-01-01

Abandonment of arable land is often assumed to happen mostly in marginal areas where the conditions for arable cultivation are relatively unfavorable, whereas arable expansion is expected to occur mostly in areas with favorable conditions. This assumption, used in many land-use change forecasts, was

Direct measurements of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania.

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Mary; Kanno, Cynthia M; Reid, Matthew C; Zhang, Xin; Mauzerall, Denise L; Celia, Michael A; Chen, Yuheng; Onstott, Tullis C

2014-12-23

Abandoned oil and gas wells provide a potential pathway for subsurface migration and emissions of methane and other fluids to the atmosphere. Little is known about methane fluxes from the millions of abandoned wells that exist in the United States. Here, we report direct measurements of methane fluxes from abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania, using static flux chambers. A total of 42 and 52 direct measurements were made at wells and at locations near the wells ("controls") in forested, wetland, grassland, and river areas in July, August, October 2013 and January 2014, respectively. The mean methane flow rates at these well locations were 0.27 kg/d/well, and the mean methane flow rate at the control locations was 4.5 × 10(-6) kg/d/location. Three out of the 19 measured wells were high emitters that had methane flow rates that were three orders of magnitude larger than the median flow rate of 1.3 × 10(-3) kg/d/well. Assuming the mean flow rate found here is representative of all abandoned wells in Pennsylvania, we scaled the methane emissions to be 4-7% of estimated total anthropogenic methane emissions in Pennsylvania. The presence of ethane, propane, and n-butane, along with the methane isotopic composition, indicate that the emitted methane is predominantly of thermogenic origin. These measurements show that methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells can be significant. The research required to quantify these emissions nationally should be undertaken so they can be accurately described and included in greenhouse gas emissions inventories.

Providing assistive technology in Italy: the perceived delivery process quality as affecting abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

Federici, Stefano; Borsci, Simone

2016-01-01

The study brings together three aspects rarely observed at once in assistive technology (AT) surveys: (i) the assessment of user interaction/satisfaction with AT and service delivery, (ii) the motivational analysis of AT abandonment, and (iii) the management/design evaluation of AT delivery services. 15 health professionals and 4 AT experts were involved in modelling and assessing four AT Local Health Delivery Service (Centres) in Italy through a SWOT analysis and a Cognitive Walkthrough. In addition 558 users of the same Centres were interviewed in a telephone survey to rate their satisfaction and AT use. The overall AT abandonment was equal to 19.09%. Different Centres' management strategies resulted in different percentages of AT disuse, with a range from 12.61% to 24.26%. A significant difference between the declared abandonment and the Centres' management strategies (p = 0.012) was identified. A strong effect on abandonment was also found due to professionals' procedures (p = 0.005) and follow-up systems (p = 0.002). The user experience of an AT is affected not only by the quality of the interaction with the AT, but also by the perceived quality of the Centres in support and follow-up. Implications for Rehabilitation AT abandonment surveys provide useful information for modelling AT assessment and delivery process. SWOT and Cognitive Walkthrough analyses have shown suitable methods for exploring limits and advantages in AT service delivery systems. The study confirms the relevance of person centredness for a successful AT assessment and delivery process.

Users’ Perceptions on Pedestrian Prioritized Neighborhoods: a study on Terrace Row Housing Estates in Malaysia

OpenAIRE

Tareef Hayat Khan; Abubakar Danladi Isah; Elahe Anjomshoaa; Soheil Sabri

2015-01-01

Malaysia is currently enjoying an overhang of housing supply. The focus is gradually shifting from providing just a mere shelter to something more socially. Terrace row housing estates in Malaysia is the major prototype of housing in the country. Pedestrian activities are catalyst to social interaction, but have been ignored in this model. During the last century, motor age established the supremacy of car prioritized models over that of pedestrians around the world, Malaysia has ...

Environmental impact of introducing plant covers in the taluses of orchard terraces: implications for erosion and agricultural runoff control

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rodriguez Pleguezuelo, C.R.; Duran Zuazo, V.H.; Francia Martinez, J.R.; Martin Peinado, F.J.; Graaff, de J.; Muriel Fernandez, J.L.

2011-01-01

South-eastern Spain, and in particular the coastal areas of Granada and Malaga, feature a large area under subtropical crops, with orchards established on terraces built along the slopes of the mountainous areas. The climate, characterized by periodically heavy rainfall, variable in space and time,

Mitigating soil contamination at abandoned Moroccan mine sites ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2018-02-09

Feb 9, 2018 ... Abandoned mines are putting people and ecosystems at risk in ... environmental and health concerns to surrounding communities. .... carbon-rich phosphate mine waste from the neighboring Youssoufia ... The research team is testing the development of lightweight ceramics by mixing the coal tailings with ...

Assessment of abandoned agricultural land resource for bio-energy production in Estonia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kukk, Liia; Astover, Alar; Roostalu, Hugo; Suuster, Elsa; Noormets, Merrit; Sepp, Kalev (Estonian Univ. of Life Sciences, Inst. of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Tartu (Estonia)); Muiste, Peeter (Estonian Univ. of Life Sciences, Inst. of Forestry and Rural Engineering, Tartu (Estonia))

2010-03-15

The current study locates and quantifies abandoned agricultural areas using the Geographic Information System (GIS) and evaluates the suitability of abandoned fields for bio-energy production in Tartumaa (Tartu County) in Estonia. Soils of abandoned areas are generally of low quality and thereby limited suitability for crop production; as a result soil-crop suitability analyses could form the basis of knowledge-based bio-energy planning. The study estimated suitable areas for bio-energy production using willow (Salix sp), grey alder [Alnus incana (L.) Moench], hybrid aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.Populus tremula L.), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and Caucasian goat's rue (Galega orientalis Lam.) in separate plantations. A combined land-use strategy is also presented as these crops are partially suitable to the same areas. Reed canary grass and grey alder have the highest energy potentials and each would re-use more than 80% of the available abandoned agricultural land. Energy grasses and short-rotation forestry in combined land-use strategy represents the opportunity of covering approximately a quarter of county's annual energy demand. The study estimates only agronomic potential, so further bio-energy analysis should take into account technical and economic limitations. Developed framework supports knowledge-based decision-making processes from field to regional scale to achieve sustainable bio-energy production

Soil carbon sequestration due to post-Soviet cropland abandonment: estimates from a large-scale soil organic carbon field inventory.

Science.gov (United States)

Wertebach, Tim-Martin; Hölzel, Norbert; Kämpf, Immo; Yurtaev, Andrey; Tupitsin, Sergey; Kiehl, Kathrin; Kamp, Johannes; Kleinebecker, Till

2017-09-01

The break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991 triggered cropland abandonment on a continental scale, which in turn led to carbon accumulation on abandoned land across Eurasia. Previous studies have estimated carbon accumulation rates across Russia based on large-scale modelling. Studies that assess carbon sequestration on abandoned land based on robust field sampling are rare. We investigated soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks using a randomized sampling design along a climatic gradient from forest steppe to Sub-Taiga in Western Siberia (Tyumen Province). In total, SOC contents were sampled on 470 plots across different soil and land-use types. The effect of land use on changes in SOC stock was evaluated, and carbon sequestration rates were calculated for different age stages of abandoned cropland. While land-use type had an effect on carbon accumulation in the topsoil (0-5 cm), no independent land-use effects were found for deeper SOC stocks. Topsoil carbon stocks of grasslands and forests were significantly higher than those of soils managed for crops and under abandoned cropland. SOC increased significantly with time since abandonment. The average carbon sequestration rate for soils of abandoned cropland was 0.66 Mg C ha -1  yr -1 (1-20 years old, 0-5 cm soil depth), which is at the lower end of published estimates for Russia and Siberia. There was a tendency towards SOC saturation on abandoned land as sequestration rates were much higher for recently abandoned (1-10 years old, 1.04 Mg C ha -1  yr -1 ) compared to earlier abandoned crop fields (11-20 years old, 0.26 Mg C ha -1  yr -1 ). Our study confirms the global significance of abandoned cropland in Russia for carbon sequestration. Our findings also suggest that robust regional surveys based on a large number of samples advance model-based continent-wide SOC prediction. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Childhood Sexual Abuse and Fear of Abandonment Moderate the Relation of Intimate Partner Violence to Severity of Dissociation.

Science.gov (United States)

Zerubavel, Noga; Messman-Moore, Terri L; DiLillo, David; Gratz, Kim L

2018-01-01

Betrayal trauma theory proposes a relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and dissociation, suggesting that dissociation among victims of IPV may function to restrict awareness of abuse in order to preserve attachments perceived as vital. We investigated two factors that may moderate the relation between IPV and dissociation-childhood sexual abuse (CSA) severity and fear of abandonment-among 348 women currently in a relationship. The relation between frequency of IPV (sexual and physical) and dissociation (amnesia and depersonalization) was moderated by CSA severity and fear of abandonment. Specifically, among women with clinically relevant fear of abandonment, the strength of the relation between IPV and dissociation became stronger as CSA severity increased. This study is the first to demonstrate the moderating roles of fear of abandonment and CSA history in the relation between IPV and dissociation among women. Findings suggest that it may be important to target fear of abandonment in interventions with IPV victims who have a CSA history. Results suggest that fear of abandonment warrants greater attention in research on IPV revictimization.

78 FR 57680 - Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Allegheny County, PA

Science.gov (United States)

2013-09-19

... employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line Railroad.... 91 (1979). To address whether this condition adequately protects affected employees, a petition for..., if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental...

Correlations of cave levels, stream terraces and planation surfaces along the River Mur-Timing of landscape evolution along the eastern margin of the Alps.

Science.gov (United States)

Wagner, Thomas; Fritz, Harald; Stüwe, Kurt; Nestroy, Othmar; Rodnight, Helena; Hellstrom, John; Benischke, Ralf

2011-11-01

The transition zone of the Eastern Alps to the Pannonian Basin provides one of the best sources of information on landscape evolution of the Eastern Alpine mountain range. The region was non-glaciated during the entire Pleistocene. Thus, direct influence of glacial carving as a landscape forming process can be excluded and relics of landforms are preserved that date back to at least the Late Neogene. In this study, we provide a correlation between various planation surfaces across the orogen-basin transition. In particular, we use stream terraces, planation surfaces and cave levels that cover a vertical spread of some 700 m. Our correlation is used to show that both sides of the transition zone uplifted together starting at least about 5 Ma ago. For our correlation we use recently published terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide (TCN) burial ages from cave sediments, new optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages of a stream terrace and U-Th ages from speleothems. Minimum age constraints of cave levels from burial ages of cave sediments covering the last ~ 4 Ma are used to place age constraints on surface features by parallelizing cave levels with planation surfaces. The OSL results for the top section of the type locality of the Helfbrunn terrace suggest an Early Würm development (80.5 ± 3.7 to 68.7 ± 4.0 ka). The terrace origin as a penultimate gravel deposit (in classical Alpine terminology Riss) is therefore questioned. U-series speleothem ages from caves nearby indicate formation during Marine Isotope Stages (MIS) 5c and 5a which are both interstadial warm periods. As OSL ages from the terrace also show a time of deposition during MIS 5a ending at the MIS 5/4 transition, this supports the idea of temperate climatic conditions at the time of deposition. In general, tectonic activity is interpreted to be the main driving force for the formation and evolution of these landforms, whilst climate change is suggested to be of minor importance. Obvious hiatuses

17 CFR 230.155 - Integration of abandoned offerings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... offering disclose information about the abandoned private offering, including: (i) The size and nature of... were (or who the issuer reasonably believes were): (i) Accredited investors (as that term is defined in... document used in the private offering discloses any changes in the issuer's business or financial condition...

Abandonment of the Road Accident Place: Legal Aspects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Polyakov D. N.

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In this article the legal aspects of drivers’ behavior are considered, of those ones who abandon places of road accidents. The author separates the cases when leaving the place of the road accident is allowed and the cases when such actions bring to administrative punishment.

A Lower Rhine flood chronology based on the sedimentary record of an abandoned channel fill

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Toonen, W.H.J.; Winkels, T.G.; Prins, M.A.; de Groot, L.V.; Bunnik, F.P.; Cohen, K.M.

2012-01-01

The Bienener Altrhein is an abandoned channel of the Lower Rhine (Germany). Following a late 16th century abandonment event, the channel was disconnected from the main stream and the oxbow lake gradually filled with 8 meters of flood deposits. This process still continues today. During annual

Assessing degradation of abandoned farmlands for conservation of the Monte Desert biome in Argentina.

Science.gov (United States)

Yannelli, Florencia A; Tabeni, Solana; Mastrantonio, Leandro E; Vezzani, Nazareth

2014-01-01

Land abandonment is a major issue worldwide. In Argentina, the Monte Desert is the most arid rangeland, where the traditional conservation practices are based on successional management of areas excluded to disturbances or abandoned. Some areas subjected to this kind of management may be too degraded, and thus require active restoration. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess whether passive succession-based management is a suitable approach by evaluating the status of land degradation in a protected area after 17-41 years of farming abandonment. Soil traits and plant growth forms were quantified and compared between sites according to time since abandonment and former land use (cultivation and grazing). Two variables were calculated using the CORINE-CEC method, i.e., potential (PSER) and actual (ASER) soil erosion risk. PSER indicates the erosion risk when no vegetation is present, while ASER includes the protective role of vegetation cover. Results showed that land use history had no significant effect on plant growth forms or soil traits (p > 0.05). After more than 25 years since abandonment of farming activities, soil conditions and vegetation cover had improved, thus having a lower ASER. Nevertheless, the present soil physical crusts may have delayed the full development of vegetation, enhancing erosion processes. Overall, this study indicates that succession-based management may not be the best practice in terms of conservation. Therefore, any effort for conservation in the Monte Desert should contemplate the current status of land degradation and potential vegetation recovery.

Secondary Forests from Agricultural Abandonment in Amazonia 2000-2009

Science.gov (United States)

Morton, Douglas

2010-01-01

Ongoing negotiations to include reducing emissions from tropical deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) in a post-Kyoto climate agreement highlight the critical role of satellite data for accurate and transparent accounting of forest cover changes. In addition to deforestation and degradation, knowledge of secondary forest dynamics is essential for full carbon accounting under REDD+. Land abandonment to secondary forests also frames one of the key tradeoffs for agricultural production in tropical forest countries-whether to incentivize secondary forest growth (for carbon sequestration and biodiversity conservation) or low-carbon expansion of agriculture or biofuels production in areas of secondary forests. We examined patterns of land abandonment to secondary forest across the arc of deforestation in Brazil and Bolivia using time series of annual Landsat and MODIS data from 2000-2009. Rates of land abandonment to secondary forest during 2002-2006 were less than 5% of deforestation rates in these years. Small areas of new secondary forest were scattered across the entire arc of deforestation, rather than concentrated in any specific region of the basin. Taken together, our analysis of the satellite data record emphasizes the difficulties of addressing the pool of new secondary forests in the context of REDD+ in Amazonia. Due to the small total area of secondary forests, land sparing through agricultural intensification will be an important element of efforts to reduce deforestation rates under REDD+ while improving agricultural productivity in Amazonia.

76 FR 71125 - Caddo Valley Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Clark, Pike, and Montgomery Counties, AR

Science.gov (United States)

2011-11-16

... Abandonments to abandon the portion of the Norman Branch Line extending between milepost 447, near Antoine, to... feeder line statute at 49 U.S.C. 10907. See Caddo Antoine & Little Mo. R.R.--Feeder Line Acquis.--Ark...

The problem of abandoned uranium tailings in northern Saskatchewan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swanson, S.; Abouguendia, Z.

1981-11-01

Two Saskatchewan tailings sites, Lorado and Gunnar, covering approximately 89 ha., were abandoned in the early 1960s leaving untreated tailings in lakes and depressions. This report reviews the literature on environmental conditions in abandoned uranium tailings and available managmenet and mitigation options, and identifies research requirements essential for proper treatment of these two sites. The recommended management plan includes isolation of the exposed tailings area from surface waters, stabilization of the exposed tailings surfaces, diversion of runoff around tailings, treatment of overflow water before release, and implementation of an environmental monitoring program. Revegetation appears to be a promising stabilization measure, but research is needed into propagation methods of appropriate native species. Studies of the existing geological and hydrological conditions at both sites, detailed characterization of the wastes, field testing of different surface treatment methods, and nutrient cycling investigations are also needed

A Critique of Block on Abortion and Child Abandonment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jakub Bożydar Wiśniewski

2010-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper offers a critique of Block on the issues of abortion and child abandonment. Block regards aborting a fetus or abandoning a child as an instance of exercising one’s libertarian right of expelling trespassers from one’s private property. I argue that the above reasoning is flawed due to the lack of the appreciation of the fact that if one voluntarily initiates the causal chain which leads to someone else ending up on his property, the latter person cannot be considered a trespasser. Furthermore, in the light of the above observation, any direct effects resulting from that person’s eviction should be considered the responsibility of the property’s owner. All of this follows from the simple logical fact that in all links of the causal chain under consideration the owner is the ultimate causal agent.

Disentangling Values in the Interrelations between Cultural Ecosystem Services and Landscape Conservation—A Case Study of the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bianca Tilliger

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In the past few years, there has been a growing amount of research on economic quantifications and valuations of ecosystem services (ES in agricultural systems. However, little attention has been given to cultural ESs (CES in general and their link to the landscape in particular. This paper tries to tackle this gap with a case study on the Ifugao Rice Terraces of the Philippines. The study aims to understand the interrelations between the different CESs and their relationships with the landscape. Besides contributing to knowledge about the degradation of the rice terraces, this study was conducted in order to discuss at a theoretical level how CESs and their relationship with the landscape must be addressed in ES management and policy decisions. The methodological approach includes a combination of semi-structured interviews (n = 60 and a perception survey (n = 66. The results reveal that CESs, apart from being interrelated, are also responsible for and affected by the degradation of the rice terraces, which is why they are important factors to consider in ecosystem conservation. This paper finally provides policy recommendations for the empirical case and demonstrates the importance of connecting CES analysis with landscape studies looking at agricultural systems.

Mitigating soil contamination at abandoned Moroccan mine sites ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2018-02-09

Feb 9, 2018 ... Photo credit: Flickr Abandoned mines are putting people and ecosystems at risk in Morocco Since the advent of modern excavation techniques in the ... For example, principal investigators Benzaazoua and Hakkou had a key opportunity to influence practice when they were asked to prepare a course on ...

Reflection on the efficiency criteria for a long duration disposal with respect to temporary abandonment situations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heriard-Dubreuil, G.; Gadbois, S.; Chieber, C.; Schneider, Th.

2002-08-01

A study carried out by Mutadis and CEPN, on request of the CEA, aimed at supplying some elements allowing to elaborate some performance criteria for a long-term management system in front of situations of temporary abandonment of radioactive waste disposal facilities. The first part of the study has been the identification of case studies illustrating situations of loss of maintenance or temporary abandonment. The second phase has been the selection and analysis of 4 case studies (the ancient underground cavities in Ile-de-France, the regulation relative to new underground quarries, the abandoned mines in Loraine basin, and Unesco's approach for the protection of mankind world patrimony). These cases have been analysed with respect to various aspects: actors involved, construction management and memory preservation, liabilities in time and space, prevention means, scheduling, and resumption strategies. The concepts of abandonment, scheduling and resumption have been precised and analysed in a third part according to the case studies. Three goals - avoiding abandonment, encouraging scheduling and resumption - and eight characteristics are drawn from this analysis, which are indicators of the robustness of the system implemented to fulfill these 3 goals. These characteristics appear as strongly interdependent. (J.S.)

Price, Weather, and `Acreage Abandonment' in Western Great Plains Wheat Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Michaels, Patrick J.

1983-07-01

Multivariate analyses of acreage abandonment patterns in the U.S. Great Plains winter wheat region indicate that the major mode of variation is an in-phase oscillation confined to the western half of the overall area, which is also the area with lowest average yields. This is one of the more agroclimatically marginal environments in the United States, with wide interannual fluctuations in both climate and profitability.We developed a multiple regression model to determine the relative roles of weather and expected price in the decision not to harvest. The overall model explained 77% of the spatial and temporal variation in abandonment. The 36.5% of the non-spatial variation was explained by two simple transformations of climatic data from three monthly aggregates-September-October, November-February and March-April. Price factors, expressed as indexed future delivery quotations,were barely significant, with only between 3 and 5% of the non-spatial variation explained, depending upon the model.The model was based upon weather, climate and price data from 1932 through 1975. It was tested by sequentially withholding three-year blocks of data, and using the respecified regression coefficients, along with observed weather and price, to estimate abandonment in the withheld years. Error analyses indicate no loss of model fidelity in the test mode. Also, prediction errors in the 1970-75 period, characterized by widely fluctuating prices, were not different from those in the rest of the model.The overall results suggest that the perceived quality of the crop, as influenced by weather, is a much more important determinant of the abandonment decision than are expected returns based upon price considerations.

Abandoning Peracetic Acid-Based Dialyzer Reuse Is Associated with Improved Survival

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Weiling; Mooney, Ann; Ofsthun, Norma; Lazarus, J. Michael; Hakim, Raymond M.

2011-01-01

Summary Background and objectives Higher mortality risk reported with reuse versus single use of dialyzers is potentially related to reuse reagents that modify membrane surface characteristics and the blood-membrane interface. A key mechanism may involve stimulation of an inflammatory response. Design, setting, participants, & measurements In a prospective crossover design, laboratory markers and mortality from 23 hemodialysis facilities abandoning reuse with peracetic acid mixture were tracked. C-reactive protein (CRP), white blood cell (WBC) count, albumin, and prealbumin were measured for 2 consecutive months before abandoning reuse and subsequently within 3 and 6 months on single use. Survival models were utilized to compare the 6-month period before abandoning reuse (baseline) and the 6-month period on single use of dialyzers after a 3-month “washout period.” Results Patients from baseline and single-use periods had a mean age of approximately 63 years; 44% were female, 54% were diabetic, 60% were white, and the mean vintage was approximately 3.2 years. The unadjusted hazard ratio for death was 0.70 and after case-mix adjustment was 0.74 for single use compared with reuse. Patients with CRP ≥ 5 mg/L during reuse (mean CRP = 26.6 mg/ml in April) declined on single use to 20.2 mg/L by August and 20.4 mg/L by November. WBC count declined slightly during single use, but nutritional markers were unchanged. Conclusions Abandonment of peracetic-acid-based reuse was associated with improved survival and lower levels of inflammatory but not nutritional markers. Further study is needed to evaluate a potential link between dialyzer reuse, inflammation, and mortality. PMID:20947788

78 FR 67216 - The New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway Corporation-Abandonment Exemption-Passaic and...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-11-08

... condition to this exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under... affected employees, a petition for partial revocation under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) must be filed. Provided no... that addresses the effects, if any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA...

Eco-environment Restoration and Regional Differentiation Characteristics Based on “Building Terrace and Returning Slope Farmland to Forests and Grass”

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yanhua; LIU; Yong; XU

2013-01-01

Based on the scientific and technological achievements in the past decade in the Loess Hilly-gully Region and the successful demonstration experience in Yan’an Yangou watershed, we summarize the characteristics of eco-environment restoration pattern based on "building terrace and returning slope farmland to forests and grass". According to the data on land use, slope farmland and the agricultural population in 1999, we calculate the area of new terrace that needs to be built, the area of garden plot that needs to be extended, vegetation restoration area and investment demand in counties (cities, districts). Establishing and using some indicators, such as basic farmland extension indicator, garden plot extension indicator, vegetation restoration index and investment demand density, we conduct type classification and analysis of regional differentiation characteristics in 55 counties (cities, districts). The results show that in the Loess Hilly-gully Region, 691 600 hm2 of new terrace needs to be built, 792 000 hm2 of economic forests and orchards need to be extended, 5 410 200 hm2 of vegetation needs to be restored, and the total investment demand is 15.82 billion yuan; in terms of geographical distribution, obviously there are two key areas for eco-environment restoration (one is located in the border area between northern Shaanxi and northwestern Shanxi, and the other is located in the eastern Gansu and southern Ningxia area); the classified regional guidance policies should be formulated as soon as possible, and the limited funds should be concentrated in the key areas.

Complete abandonment of nuclear power and aggregate consequences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heilemann, U.; Weiss, T.

1986-01-01

The aggregate social and economic consequences of a complete abandonment of nuclear power very often are pushed to the background in discussions about the MCA. But backing out of nuclear energy will not be achieved or left without costs. The authors present an analysis of the short-term aggregate consequences. (orig./UA) [de

Comparison between Urea and Goat Manure as Sources of Nitrogen for Napier Grass Grown on Terraced Hill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahman, M.M.

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Effects of two nitrogen (N sources on dry matter (DM yield and nutritive value of Napier grass were evaluated. The nitrogen (N fertiliser (at rate of 300 kg N ha?1 year?1 was applied by dividing the terraces of a hill under two treatments: T1 (urea and T2 (goat manure. There were three replicates of each treatment arranged within three blocks in a completely randomised design. Grass was cut at about 60?day interval. In the first to fourth harvests, grass receiving manure had higher plant height than those with urea application. Grass receiving manure had higher DM yield than urea in almost all of the cuttings. In the fourth harvest, grass receiving urea contained higher DM and organic matter (OM than manure. Similar result was found for fifth harvest where urea gave higher crude protein (CP than manure. Irrespective of harvesting frequencies, average DM, OM, CP and neutral detergent fibre contents were not significantly different between grasses fertilised with manure and urea. In conclusion, manure is recommended for economical cultivation of Napier grass on terrace of hill.

The Monte Carlo simulation of the neutron-induced prompt gamma ray spectroscopy of the CW abandoned by Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bairong; Yang Zhongping; Zhan Wenzhong

2003-01-01

This paper introduced the principle of identifying the chemical weapon abandoned by Japan by neutron-induced prompt gamma ray. Using the MCNP-4C Monte Carlo program, this paper simulated and analyzed the neutron-induced prompt gamma ray spectroscopy of chemical weapon abandoned by Japan, whereby supply important datum and reference for the aftertime deeper research and disposal of Japan-abandoned chemical weapon. (authors)

Geohydrologic units and water-level conditions in the Terrace alluvial aquifer and Paluxy Aquifer, May 1993 and February 1994, near Air Force Plant 4, Fort Worth area, Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Rivers, Glen A.; Baker, Ernest T.; Coplin, L.S.

1996-01-01

The terrace alluvial aquifer underlying Air Force Plant 4 and the adjacent Naval Air Station (formerly Carswell Air Force Base) in the Fort Worth area, Texas, is contaminated locally with organic and metal compounds. Residents south and west of Air Force Plant 4 and the Naval Air Station are concerned that contaminants might enter the underlying Paluxy aquifer, which provides water to the city of White Settlement, south of Air Force Plant 4, and to residents west of Air Force Plant 4. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has qualified Air Force Plant 4 for Superfund cleanup. The pertinent geologic units include -A~rom oldest to youngest the Glen Rose, Paluxy, and Walnut Formations, Goodland Limestone, and terrace alluvial deposits. Except for the Glen Rose Formation, all units crop out at or near Air Force Plant 4 and the Naval Air Station. The terrace alluvial deposits, which nearly everywhere form the land surface, range from 0 to about 60 feet thick. These deposits comprise a mostly unconsolidated mixture of gravel, sand, silt, and clay. Mudstone and sandstone of the Paluxy Formation crop out north, west, and southwest of Lake Worth and total between about 130 and about 175 feet thick. The terrace alluvial deposits and the Paluxy Formation comprise the terrace alluvial aquifer and the Paluxy aquifer, respectively. These aquifers are separated by the Goodland-Walnut confining unit, composed of the Goodland Limestone and (or) Walnut Formation. Below the Paluxy aquifer, the Glen Rose Formation forms the Glen Rose confining unit. Water-level measurements during May 1993 and February 1994 from wells in the terrace alluvial aquifer indicate that, regionally, ground water flows toward the east-southeast beneath Air Force Plant 4 and the Naval Air Station. Locally, water appears to flow outward from ground-water mounds maintained by the localized infiltration of precipitation and reportedly by leaking water pipes and sanitary and (or) storm sewer lines beneath the

Abandonned vehicles - REMINDER

CERN Multimedia

Relations with the Host States Service

2004-01-01

The services in charge of managing the CERN site have recently noted an increase in the number of abandoned vehicles. This poses a risk from the point of view of safety and security and, on the eve of several important events in honour of CERN's fiftieth anniversary, is detrimental to the Organization's image. Owners of vehicles that have been left immobile for some time on the CERN site, including on the external car park by the flags, are therefore invited to contact the Reception and Access Control Service (service-parking-longterm@cern.ch) before 1st October 2004 and, where appropriate, move their vehicle to a designated long-term parking area. After this date, any vehicle whose owner has failed to respond to this request and which is without a number plate, has been stationary for several weeks or is out of service, may be impounded at the owner's risk and expense. Relations with the Host States Service Tel. 72848

Abandoned vehicles REMINDER

CERN Multimedia

Relations with the Host States Service

2004-01-01

The services in charge of managing the CERN site have recently noted an increase in the number of abandoned vehicles. This poses a risk from the point of view of safety and security and, on the eve of several important events in honour of CERN's fiftieth anniversary, is detrimental to the Organization's image. Owners of vehicles that have been left immobile for some time on the CERN site, including on the external car park by the flags, are therefore invited to contact the Reception and Access Control Service (service-parking-longterm@cern.ch) before 1st October 2004 and, where appropriate, move their vehicle to a designated long-term parking area. After this date, any vehicle whose owner has failed to respond to this request and which is without a number plate, has been stationary for several weeks or is out of service, may be impounded at the owner's risk and expense. Relations with the Host States Service Tel. 72848

Abandoned vehicles - Reminder

CERN Multimedia

Relations with the Host States Service

2004-01-01

The services in charge of managing the CERN site have recently noted an increase in the number of abandoned vehicles. This poses a risk from the point of view of safety and security and, on the eve of several important events in honour of CERN's fiftieth anniversary, is detrimental to the Organization's image. Owners of vehicles that have been left immobile for some time on the CERN site, including on the external car park by the flags, are therefore invited to contact the Reception and Access Control Service (service-parking-longterm@cern.ch) before 1st October 2004 and, where appropriate, move their vehicle to a designated long-term parking area. After this date, any vehicle whose owner has failed to respond to this request and which is without a number plate, has been stationary for several weeks or is out of service, may be impounded at the owner's risk and expense. Relations with the Host States Service Tel. 72848

Laminae development in opal-A precipitates associated with seasonal growth of the form-genus Calothrix (Cyanobacteria), Rehai geothermal area, Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Brian; Peng, Xiaotong

2015-04-01

The western discharge apron at Meinuquan (Rehai geothermal area, Yunnan Province, China), which incorporates the upper terrace, terrace front, and lower terrace, is covered with laminated opal-A precipitates that have formed from the spring waters that flow across its surface. Laminae are formed of silicified Calothrix mats or featureless opal-A that contains no microbes, scattered spherical and rod-shaped microbes, and/or rare Calothrix. Rapid silicification of the Calothrix led to preservation of their basal heterocysts, vegetative cells, trichomes, tapering filaments, and laminated and splayed sheaths. The Calothrix mats grew during the dry season when there was maximum sunlight because of low cloud cover. During this time, the mats grew under stable conditions because the water that flowed across the discharge apron was sourced from the springs, and temperature and water geochemistry was more or less constant. Growth of the Calothrix mats decreased during the wet season (April to late September) when sunlight is reduced due to the extensive cloud cover associated with the monsoonal rains. During the wet season, water flowing over the discharge apron is a mixture of rainwater, runoff from the surrounding hillsides, and spring water. Such variable flow conditions, water temperatures, and water geochemistry curtailed microbe growth and impacted silica precipitation. The precipitates at Meinuquan are like those associated with some Icelandic hot springs. Although growth of Calothrix is controlled by sunlight in both settings, the periods of maximum sunlight in China (October-March) and Iceland (June-August) are at different times of the year because of their geographic locations.

Childhood cancer in El Salvador: A preliminary exploration of parental concerns in the abandonment of treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Rossell, Nuria; Gigengack, Roy; Blume, Stuart

2015-08-01

In El Salvador, children under 12 diagnosed with cancer have access to free treatment at a specialized national facility. Until recently, 13 percent of patients annually abandoned therapy--a serious loss of lives and scarce resources. This qualitative study explores how some parents perceived their child's cancer and treatment, and what led them to stop bringing their child for chemotherapy. In in-depth interviews, parents of six children who abandoned their child's cancer treatment discussed sickness and life circumstances during the course of treatment. Poverty, effects of treatment, mistrust, emotions and religious convictions all figured in the parents' explanation of their actions. However, each family weighed these concerns differently. It was the interaction of the concerns, and not the concern per se, that represented the explanatory frameworks the families used to explain stopping their child's treatment. This finding illustrates the parents' navigation among a collection of variable concerns, rather than exposing one fixed cause for their behavior. For example, poverty affects a parent's worldview as well as concrete living conditions, and therefore has a complex relationship with abandonment of treatment. Thus, it follows that strategies to reduce treatment abandonment (and increase a child's chance for survival) must be multidimensional. Qualitative studies of how families perceive childhood cancer and treatment can illuminate the processes and relationships involved in abandonment of treatment. This approach can also show how families' living circumstances frame their perceptions and inform strategies to improve how medical services are provided, thus reducing abandonment of treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The impact of land abandonment on species richness and abundance in the Mediterranean Basin

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Plieninger, Tobias; Hui, Cang; Gaertner, Mirijam

2014-01-01

species richness and abundance in agroforestry, arable land, pastures, and permanent crops of the Mediterranean Basin. In particular, we investigated (1) which taxonomic groups (arthropods, birds, lichen, vascular plants) are more affected by land abandonment; (2) at which spatial and temporal scales.......0001) plant and animal species richness and abundance overall, though results were heterogeneous, with differences in effect size between taxa, spatial-temporal scales, land uses, landforms, and climate. In conclusion, there is no "one-size-fits-all" conservation approach that applies to the diverse contexts......Land abandonment is common in the Mediterranean Basin, a global biodiversity hotspot, but little is known about its impacts on biodiversity. To upscale existing case-study insights to the Pan-Mediterranean level, we conducted a metaanalysis of the effects of land abandonment on plant and animal...

Late Quaternary offset of alluvial fan surfaces along the Central Sierra Madre Fault, southern California

Science.gov (United States)

Burgette, Reed J.; Hanson, Austin; Scharer, Katherine M.; Midttun, Nikolas

2016-01-01

The Sierra Madre Fault is a reverse fault system along the southern flank of the San Gabriel Mountains near Los Angeles, California. This study focuses on the Central Sierra Madre Fault (CSMF) in an effort to provide numeric dating on surfaces with ages previously estimated from soil development alone. We have refined previous geomorphic mapping conducted in the western portion of the CSMF near Pasadena, CA, with the aid of new lidar data. This progress report focuses on our geochronology strategy employed in collecting samples and interpreting data to determine a robust suite of terrace surface ages. Sample sites for terrestrial cosmogenic nuclide and luminescence dating techniques were selected to be redundant and to be validated through relative geomorphic relationships between inset terrace levels. Additional sample sites were selected to evaluate the post-abandonment histories of terrace surfaces. We will combine lidar-derived displacement data with surface ages to estimate slip rates for the CSMF.

77 FR 32714 - Jackson, Gordonville and Delta Railroad Company-Abandonment Exemption-in Cape Girardeau County, MO

Science.gov (United States)

2012-06-01

... exemption, any employee adversely affected by the abandonment shall be protected under Oregon Short Line..., 360 I.C.C. 91 (1979). To address whether this condition adequately protects affected employees, a... any, of the abandonment on the environment and historic resources. OEA will issue an environmental...

37 CFR 1.137 - Revival of abandoned application, terminated or limited reexamination prosecution, or lapsed patent.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... petition may be filed pursuant to this paragraph to revive an abandoned application, a reexamination... unintentional, a petition may be filed pursuant to this paragraph to revive an abandoned application, a... fee. (d) Terminal disclaimer. (1) Any petition to revive pursuant to this section in a design...

Adaptation of bird communities to farmland abandonment in a mountain landscape.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Lopes Guilherme

Full Text Available Widespread farmland abandonment has led to significant landscape transformations of many European mountain areas. These semi-natural multi-habitat landscapes are important reservoirs of biodiversity and their abandonment has important conservation implications. In multi-habitat landscapes the adaptation of communities depends on the differential affinity of the species to the available habitats. We use nested species-area relationships (SAR to model species richness patterns of bird communities across scales in a mountain landscape, in NW Portugal. We compare the performance of the classic-SAR and the countryside-SAR (i.e. multi-habitat models at the landscape scale, and compare species similarity decay (SSD at the regional scale. We find a considerable overlap of bird communities in the different land-uses (farmland, shrubland and oak forest at the landscape scale. Analysis of the classic and countryside SAR show that specialist species are strongly related to their favourite habitat. Farmland and shrubland have higher regional SSD compared to oak forests. However, this is due to the opportunistic use of farmlands by generalist birds. Forest specialists display significant regional turnover in oak forest. Overall, the countryside-SAR model had a better fit to the data showing that habitat composition determines species richness across scales. Finally, we use the countryside-SAR model to forecast bird diversity under four scenarios of land-use change. Farmland abandonment scenarios show little impact on bird diversity as the model predicts that the complete loss of farmland is less dramatic, in terms of species diversity loss, than the disappearance of native Galicio-Portuguese oak forest. The affinities of species to non-preferred habitats suggest that bird communities can adapt to land-use changes derived from farmland abandonment. Based on model predictions we argue that rewilding may be a suitable management option for many European mountain

Recovery of Forest and Phylogenetic Structure in Abandoned Cocoa Agroforestry in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Rolim, Samir Gonçalves; Sambuichi, Regina Helena Rosa; Schroth, Götz; Nascimento, Marcelo Trindade; Gomes, José Manoel Lucio

2017-03-01

Cocoa agroforests like the cabrucas of Brazil's Atlantic forest are among the agro-ecosystems with greatest potential for biodiversity conservation. Despite a global trend for their intensification, cocoa agroforests are also being abandoned for socioeconomic reasons especially on marginal sites, because they are incorporated in public or private protected areas, or are part of mandatory set-asides under Brazilian environmental legislation. However, little is known about phylogenetic structure, the processes of forest regeneration after abandonment and the conservation value of former cabruca sites. Here we compare the vegetation structure and composition of a former cabruca 30-40 years after abandonment with a managed cabruca and mature forest in the Atlantic forest region of Espirito Santo, Brazil. The forest in the abandoned cabruca had recovered a substantial part of its original structure. Abandoned cabruca have a higher density (mean ± CI95 %: 525.0 ± 40.3 stems per ha), basal area (34.0 ± 6.5 m 2 per ha) and species richness (148 ± 11.5 species) than managed cabruca (96.0 ± 17.7; 24.15 ± 3.9 and 114.5 ± 16.0, respectively) but no significant differences to mature forest in density (581.0 ± 42.2), basal area (29.9.0 ± 3.3) and species richness (162.6 ± 15.5 species). Thinning (understory removal) changes phylogenetic structure from evenness in mature forest to clustering in managed cabruca, but after 30-40 years abandoned cabruca had a random phylogenetic structure, probably due to a balance between biotic and abiotic filters at this age. We conclude that abandoned cocoa agroforests present highly favorable conditions for the regeneration of Atlantic forest and could contribute to the formation of an interconnected network of forest habitat in this biodiversity hotspot.

The Abandoned Ice Sheet Base at Camp Century, Greenland, in a Warming Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Colgan, William; Machguth, Horst; Macferrin, Mike; Colgan, Jeff D.; Van As, Dirk; Macgregor, Joseph A.

2016-01-01

In 1959 the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century beneath the surface of the northwestern Greenland Ice Sheet. There they studied the feasibility of deploying ballistic missiles within the ice sheet. The base and its wastes were abandoned with minimal decommissioning in 1967, under the assumption they would be preserved for eternity by perpetually accumulating snowfall. Here we show that a transition in ice sheet surface mass balance at Camp Century from net accumulation to net ablation is plausible within the next 75years, under a business-as-usual anthropogenic emissions scenario (Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5). Net ablation would guarantee the eventual remobilization of physical, chemical, biological, and radiological wastes abandoned at the site. While Camp Century and four other contemporaneous ice sheet bases were legally established under a Danish-U.S. treaty, the potential remobilization of their abandoned wastes, previously regarded as sequestered, represents an entirely new pathway of political dispute resulting from climate change.

Drivers, Constraints and Trade-Offs Associated with Recultivating Abandoned Cropland in Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrick Meyfroidt

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Further cropland expansion might be unavoidable to satisfy the growing demand for land- based products and ecosystem services. A crucial issue is thus to assess the trade-offs between social and ecological impacts and the benefits of converting additional land to cropland. In the former Soviet Union countries, where the transition from state-command to market-driven economies resulted in widespread agricultural land abandonment, cropland expansion may incur relatively low costs, especially compared with tropical regions. Our objectives were to quantify the drivers, constraints and trade-offs associated with recultivating abandoned cropland to assess the potentially available cropland in European Russia, western Siberia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan - the region where the vast majority of post- Soviet cropland abandonment took place. Using spatial panel regressions, we characterized the socio-economic determinants of cropland abandonment and recultivation. We then used recent maps of changes in cropland to 1 spatially characterize the socio-economic, accessibility and soil constraints associated with the recultivation of abandoned croplands and 2 investigate the environmental trade-offs regarding carbon stocks and habitat for biodiversity. Less cropland abandonment and more recultivation after 2000 occurred in areas with an increasing rural population and a younger labor force, but also improved yields. Synergies were observed between cropland recultivation and intensification over the 2000s. From 47.3 million hectares (Mha of cropland abandoned in 2009, we identified only 8.5 (7.1-17.4 Mha of potentially available cropland with low environmental tradeoffs and low to moderate socio-economic or accessibility constraints that were located on high-quality soils (Chernozems. These areas represented an annual wheat production potential of 14.3 (9.6-19.5 million tons (Mt. Conversely, 8.5 (4.2-12.4 Mha had high carbon or biodiversity trade-offs, of which 10

Phase-in, abandonment, and cost disallowances

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caldwell, L.S.

1986-01-01

The major regulatory challenge to the electric utility industry appears to be coming from the financial side with its bookkeeping and financial reporting requirements. The author describes the accounting procedures and problems associated with straightforward phase-in rate treatment, abandonment, excess capacity, cost allowances, etc. She concludes that the available options to the Financial Accounting Standards Board are to adopt either the proposed exposure draft or a modification of the draft, to drop the proposed draft of amendments to Statement No. 71, or issue a whole new exposure draft

An iron-age cultural hiatus enigma: mega-flooding and human settlement abandonment over the last millennium in the Lanyang Drainage System, northeastern Taiwan

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Jyh-Jaan; Wei, Kuo-Yen; Löwemark, Ludvig; Song, Sheng-Rong; Huh, Chih-An; Chuang, Chih-Kai; Yang, Tien-Nan; Lee, Meng-Yang; Chen, Yu-Be; Lee, Teh-Quei

2015-04-01

Active tectonic activities and frequent typhoon landfalls make Taiwan unique in having very high rates of uplift, precipitation, denudation and sedimentation. Particularly, intense rainfall associated with typhoons often causes flooding, large-scale landslides, and debris flows in river systems. Such natural disasters have affected human societies both at present and in the past; the Typhoon Morakot in 2009 may serve as a modern example of such events. Kiwulan is a newly discovered archaeological site from the Iron Age situated on the Lanyang Plain in NE Taiwan. In the deposits from this society, a cultural hiatus centered around 1200-1500 cal. yr AD is found, suggesting that the settlement was abandoned for a period of a few hundred years before being recolonized. Until now it has remained a mystery what caused this cultural hiatus. This study assembles radiocarbon dates of upland river terraces, organic proxies in flood plain lake sediments, and content of wood shreds in nearby marine sediments from the continental slope off NE Taiwan. These records are synthesized to infer the frequency and magnitude of ancient flood events over the past 1250 years in the Lanyang Drainage System in northeastern Taiwan. Alluvial fan terraces distributed along the banks of the upper Lanyang River are considered to be the results of ancient debris flow events, and their radiocarbon dates fall in two time ranges: 850-1100 and 1400-1600 cal. yr AD. Organic proxies which representing terrestrial organic input were measured from bulk sediments of Lake Dahu and Lake Meihua in the Lanyang Plain. Peak values of TOC, C/N ratio and organic indicator (inc/coh) from Itrax-XRF core scanner measurements are conspicuous during 900-950, and 1400-1500 cal. yr AD, implying frequent flood events. Moreover, abundance peaks of wood shreds and peaks in the C/N ratio in marine box core ORI-801-7A from the continental slope SE of the Lanyang Plain are dated to about 950-1050 and 1450-1550 cal. yr AD

Mutualism Persistence and Abandonment during the Evolution of the Mycorrhizal Symbiosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Maherali, Hafiz; Oberle, Brad; Stevens, Peter F; Cornwell, William K; McGlinn, Daniel J

2016-11-01

Mutualistic symbioses with mycorrhizal fungi are widespread in plants. The majority of plant species associate with arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi. By contrast, the minority associate with ectomycorrhizal (EM) fungi, have abandoned the symbiosis and are nonmycorrhizal (NM), or engage in an intermediate, weakly AM symbiosis (AMNM). To understand the processes that maintain the mycorrhizal symbiosis or cause its loss, we reconstructed its evolution using a ∼3,000-species seed plant phylogeny integrated with mycorrhizal state information. Reconstruction indicated that the common ancestor of seed plants most likely associated with AM fungi and that the EM, NM, and AMNM states descended from the AM state. Direct transitions from the AM state to the EM and NM states were infrequent and generally irreversible, implying that natural selection or genetic constraint could promote stasis once a particular state evolved. However, the evolution of the NM state was more frequent via an indirect pathway through the AMNM state, suggesting that weakening of the AM symbiosis is a necessary precursor to mutualism abandonment. Nevertheless, reversions from the AMNM state back to the AM state were an order of magnitude more likely than transitions to the NM state, suggesting that natural selection favors the AM symbiosis over mutualism abandonment.

Assessing the Option to Abandon an Investment Project by the Binomial Options Pricing Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Salvador Cruz Rambaud

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Usually, traditional methods for investment project appraisal such as the net present value (hereinafter NPV do not incorporate in their values the operational flexibility offered by including a real option included in the project. In this paper, real options, and more specifically the option to abandon, are analysed as a complement to cash flow sequence which quantifies the project. In this way, by considering the existing analogy with financial options, a mathematical expression is derived by using the binomial options pricing model. This methodology provides the value of the option to abandon the project within one, two, and in general n periods. Therefore, this paper aims to be a useful tool in determining the value of the option to abandon according to its residual value, thus making easier the control of the uncertainty element within the project.

Correlating sea level rise still-stands to marine terraces and undiscovered submerged shoreline features in the Channel Islands (USA) using autonomous and remotely operated systems

Science.gov (United States)

Raineault, N.; Ballard, R. D.; Fahy, J.; Mayer, L. A.; Heffron, E.; Krasnosky, K.; Roman, C.; Schmidt, V. E.; McLeod, A.; Bursek, J.; Broad, K.

2017-12-01

In 2017, the Ocean Exploration Trust aggregated onboard and autonomous mapping technologies to identify and explore paleo shorelines and discover previously undocumented submerged shoreline features in and around the Channel Islands offshore of California. Broad area mapping was conducted with the hull mounted multibeam echosounder aboard the E/V Nautilus. This Kongsberg EM302 provided maps at 2-10 m resolution, at depths generally greater than 50 m. From this data marine terraces were identified for higher resolution mapping via an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV). The precision data from the ASV's Kongsberg EM2040p echosounder allowed identification of the knickpoints associated with cliffs on the landward extent of each terrace. Sub-sea cave targets were identified using backscatter and slope maps from a combination of both the broad area and high resolution multibeam data. To ground-truth the targets identified through mapping, remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and a highly specialized team of cave divers explored these targets. The results from the visual inspection were then fed back into the analysis fostering the rapid iteration of the onboard identification criteria and resulted in locating submerged shorelines containing numerous large caves, arches, and concretions. Caves were found at still-stands at 8, 33, 66, and 103 m depth at Santa Cruz Island, Santa Barbara Island platform, and Osborn Bank, along the vertical escarpment at the cliff-face and aligned with the strike of fractures in the volcanic rock. These terraces correspond to different sea level still-stands. ROV grab samples of fossiliferous marine terraces will provide ages and aid in reconstructions of sea level change and tectonic history for each location. Finally, caves were mapped in sub-cm resolution using a Kongsberg M3 sonar mounted vertically on the front of the ROV to test the capabilities of the system to provide accurate information about exterior dimensions and morphology.

Quantitative Study of Green Area for Climate Sensitive Terraced Housing Area Design in Malaysia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yeo, O T S; Saito, K; Said, I

2014-01-01

Neighbourhood plays a significant role in peoples' daily lives. Nowadays, terraced housing is common in Malaysia, and green areas in the neighborhood are not used to their maximum. The aim of the research is to quantify the types of green area that are most efficient for cooling the environment for thermal comfort and mitigation of Urban Heat Island. Spatial and environmental inputs are manipulated for the simulation using Geographic Information System (GIS) integrated with computational microclimate simulation. The outcome of this research is a climate sensitive housing environment model framework on the green area to solve the problem of Urban Heat Island

Counting the opportunity cost of abandoning the omnibus Health ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Counting the opportunity cost of abandoning the omnibus Health Professions Authority ... Twenty two years of civil war ruined the healthcare system in South Sudan. Government provides only ... This regulatory vacuum is best resolved by establishing a Health Professions Authority to set the standards, and to supervise and ...

Q fever outbreak in the terraced vineyards of Lavaux, Switzerland

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Bellini

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Coxiella burnetii infection (Q fever is a widespread zoonosis with low endemicity in Switzerland, therefore no mandatory public report was required. A cluster of initially ten human cases of acute Q fever infections characterized by prolonged fever, asthenia and mild hepatitis occurred in 2012 in the terraced vineyard of Lavaux. Epidemiological investigations based on patients’ interviews and veterinary investigations included environmental sampling as well as Coxiella-specific serological assay and molecular examinations (real-time PCR in vaginal secretions of suspected sheep. These investigations demonstrated that 43% of sheep carried the bacteria whereas 30% exhibited anti-Coxiella antibodies. Mitigation measures, including limiting human contacts with the flock, hygiene measures, flock vaccination and a public official alert, have permitted the detection of four additional human cases and the avoidance of a much larger outbreak. Since November 2012, mandatory reporting of Q fever to Swiss public health authorities has been reintroduced. A close follow up of human cases will be necessary to identify chronic Q fever.

Development of spatial heterogeneity in vegetation and soil properties after land abandonment in a semi-arid ecosystem

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lesschen, J.P.; Cammeraat, L.H.; Kooijman, A.M.; van Wesemael, B.

2008-01-01

To mitigate erosion on abandoned fields in semi-arid ecosystems, it is important to understand how vegetation and soil properties and patterns develop after land abandonment. Our objective was to investigate the development of spatial heterogeneity in vegetation and soil properties after land

Commentary on Baddeley and Larsen (2007). The phonological store abandoned.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Dylan M; Hughes, Robert W; Macken, William J

2007-04-01

Baddeley and Larsen (2007) argue that a number of key findings reported by Jones, Macken, and Nicholls (2004) and Jones, Hughes, and Macken (2006) pointing to shortcomings of the phonological store construct arise from the store being abandoned with long lists. In our rejoinder we point out that Baddeley and Larsen use a procedure in which retrieval from the supposed phonological storage would not--according to their own theory--have been possible, and we present theoretical, empirical, and logical problems with their "store abandonment" argument and highlight a number of difficulties associated with the interpretation of suffix and prefix effects. We conclude that our data are still problematic for the phonological store construct and suggest that a reformulation of short-term memory theory needs to embody (or indeed focus exclusively upon) perceptual and effector systems rather than bespoke storage modules.

Polarization signatures for abandoned agricultural fields in the Manix Basin area of the Mojave Desert - Can polarimetric SAR detect desertification?

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Terrill W.; Farr, Tom G.; Van Zyl, Jakob J.

1992-01-01

Radar backscatter from abandoned circular alfalfa fields in the Manix Basin area of the Mojave desert shows systematic changes with length of abandonment. The obliteration of circular planting rows by surface processes could account for the disappearance of bright spokes, which seem to be reflection patterns from remnants of the planting rows, with increasing length of abandonment. An observed shift in the location of the maximum L-band copolarization return away from VV, as well as an increase in surface roughness, both occurring with increasing age of abandonment, seems to be attributable to the formation of wind ripples on the relatively vegetationless fields.

Tailor-made ultrathin manganese oxide nanostripes: ‘magic widths’ on Pd(1 1 N) terraces

Science.gov (United States)

Franchini, C.; Li, F.; Surnev, S.; Podloucky, R.; Allegretti, F.; Netzer, F. P.

2012-02-01

The growth of ultrathin two-dimensional manganese oxide nanostripes on vicinal Pd(1 1 N) surfaces leads to particular stable configurations for certain combinations of oxide stripe and substrate terrace widths. Scanning tunneling microscopy and high-resolution low-energy electron diffraction measurements reveal highly ordered nanostructured surfaces with excellent local and long-range order. Density functional theory calculations provide the physical origin of the stabilization mechanism of ‘magic width’ stripes in terms of a finite-size effect, caused by the significant relaxations observed at the stripe boundaries.

The remediation of abandoned workings of a mining area in Ningxiang uranium mine

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu Yaochi; Zhou Xinghuo; Liu Bing

2004-01-01

The typical mining under buildings and river was used in a mining area of Ningxiang uranium mine. After the mining ended, 32.1% of the 2.68 m 3 abandoned workings did not fill because of limitation of the cut-and-fill mining method at that time. To remedy this, the mine used new filling methods. After the remedial action, the filling coefficient of pits reached 100%, and that of tunnels reached 86%. It can be proved by the monitoring data that the subsiding of surface has been effectively controlled at the abandoned workings

Plug and abandonment operations and tool positioning

OpenAIRE

Saad, Idrees

2014-01-01

Master's thesis in Petroleum engineering With aging oil fields, the Norwegian petroleum authorities are focusing on Plug and Abandonment (P&A) plans. Therefore efforts are being made, by relevant authorities, to improve standards and procedures for the P&A operations. Regulations for UK part of the North Sea define the P&A operation plans and execution phases in a way that may help improve the standards on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Halliburton like its competitors is focusing on ...

Abandoned Pb−Zn mining wastes and their mobility as proxy to toxicity: A review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gutiérrez, Mélida, E-mail: mgutierrez@missouristate.edu [Department of Geography, Geology and Planning, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65897 (United States); Mickus, Kevin, E-mail: kevinmickus@missouristate.edu [Department of Geography, Geology and Planning, Missouri State University, Springfield, MO 65897 (United States); Camacho, Lucy Mar, E-mail: lucy.camacho@tamuk.edu [Department of Environmental Engineering, Texas & M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX 78363 (United States)

2016-09-15

Lead and zinc (Pb−Zn) mines are a common occurrence worldwide; and while approximately 240 mines are active, the vast majority have been abandoned for decades. Abandoned mining wastes represent a serious environmental hazard, as Pb, Zn and associated metals are continuously released into the environment, threatening the health of humans and affecting ecosystems. Iron sulfide minerals, when present, can form acid mine drainage and increase the toxicity by mobilizing the metals into more bioavailable forms. Remediation of the metal waste is costly and, in the case of abandoned wastes, the responsible party(ies) for the cleanup can be difficult to determine, which makes remediation a complex and lengthy process. In this review, we provide a common ground from a wide variety of investigations about concentrations, chemical associations, and potential mobility of Pb, Zn and cadmium (Cd) near abandoned Pb−Zn mines. Comparing mobility results is a challenging task, as instead of one standard methodology, there are 4–5 different methods reported. Results show that, as a general consensus, the metal content of soils and sediments vary roughly around 1000 mg/kg for Zn, 100 for Pb and 10 for Cd, and mobilities of Cd > Zn > Pb. Also, mobility is a function of pH, particle size, and formation of secondary minerals. New and novel remediation techniques continue to be developed in laboratories but have seldom been applied to the field. Remediation at most of the sites has consisted of neutralization (e.g. lime,) for acid mine discharge, and leveling followed by phytostabilization. In the latter, amendments (e.g. biochar, fertilizers) are added to boost the efficiency of the treatment. Any remediation method has to be tested before being implemented as the best treatment is site-specific. Potential treatments are described and compared. - Highlights: • Abandoned Pb−Zn mine wastes represent a hazard to the environment. • Cd is a toxic metal closely associated to Zn and

Abandoned Pb−Zn mining wastes and their mobility as proxy to toxicity: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutiérrez, Mélida; Mickus, Kevin; Camacho, Lucy Mar

2016-01-01

Lead and zinc (Pb−Zn) mines are a common occurrence worldwide; and while approximately 240 mines are active, the vast majority have been abandoned for decades. Abandoned mining wastes represent a serious environmental hazard, as Pb, Zn and associated metals are continuously released into the environment, threatening the health of humans and affecting ecosystems. Iron sulfide minerals, when present, can form acid mine drainage and increase the toxicity by mobilizing the metals into more bioavailable forms. Remediation of the metal waste is costly and, in the case of abandoned wastes, the responsible party(ies) for the cleanup can be difficult to determine, which makes remediation a complex and lengthy process. In this review, we provide a common ground from a wide variety of investigations about concentrations, chemical associations, and potential mobility of Pb, Zn and cadmium (Cd) near abandoned Pb−Zn mines. Comparing mobility results is a challenging task, as instead of one standard methodology, there are 4–5 different methods reported. Results show that, as a general consensus, the metal content of soils and sediments vary roughly around 1000 mg/kg for Zn, 100 for Pb and 10 for Cd, and mobilities of Cd > Zn > Pb. Also, mobility is a function of pH, particle size, and formation of secondary minerals. New and novel remediation techniques continue to be developed in laboratories but have seldom been applied to the field. Remediation at most of the sites has consisted of neutralization (e.g. lime,) for acid mine discharge, and leveling followed by phytostabilization. In the latter, amendments (e.g. biochar, fertilizers) are added to boost the efficiency of the treatment. Any remediation method has to be tested before being implemented as the best treatment is site-specific. Potential treatments are described and compared. - Highlights: • Abandoned Pb−Zn mine wastes represent a hazard to the environment. • Cd is a toxic metal closely associated to Zn and

Some examples of the cavity filling along transportation routes above abandoned room and pillar lignite Mines in Tokai Region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sakamoto, A.; Yamada, N.; Sugiura, K.; Kawamoto, T.

2005-01-01

The authors describe the applications of the integrated cavity filling technique to abandoned lignite mines in Tokai region. These abandoned lignite mines were in operation until 1960's and the routes of Tokai By-Pass Expressway and the linear motor car railway line for Aichi Exposition pass over these abandoned mines. Since the size of abandoned mines were much larger than the route of the expressway and the elevated monorail, limited areas relevant to their stability had to be only filled. This article describe the details of cavity filling operations in these two projects, which may be some valuable examples for assessing the methods how to deal problems associated with mine closures in long term. (authors)

Abandonment and dislocation in the border line to United States of America

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Echavarría Canto

2017-04-01

Full Text Available From psychoanalitic categories of abandonment (Grinberg, 1996, subject missing (Lacan, 1964; Zizek, 1998 and dislocated subject (Laclau 1993, 2001 testimonies from illegal mexican migrants are analyzed with respect to leaving a country of origin, meaning a symbolic abandon of a protective land, which besides the very dangerous border crossing creates a traumatic dislocative situation of subjectivities and make deep feelings of abandonment happen. Such feeling gets deeper on the subject of the border crossing, which could be explained by the search of a minimun level of economic welfare, which would operate as the irruption of the Lacanian Real that generates processes of dislocation in the subject, dislocation that represents the structural failure of the symbolic order and its constitutive incompletiveness, but also involves an imaginary migrant of ideals of plenitude. (In Lacan, Real threats, denies and questions the simbolic order, shows the failure of the identity, makes visible its dislocation, creating the need for new identifications through which it is intended once more to suture the structure. In this context, the role-impact of the so called american dream in the migrant subjectivity, is also profoundly analysed.

Towards a conceptual model of hydrological change on an abandoned cutover bog, Quebec

Science.gov (United States)

van Seters, Tim E.; Price, Jonathan S.

2002-07-01

Cutover bogs do not return to functional peatland ecosystems after abandonment because re-establishment of peat-forming mosses is poor. This paper presents a conceptual model of bog disturbance caused by peat harvesting (1942-1972), and the hydrological evolution that occurred after abandonment (1973-1998). Two adjacent bogs of similar size and origin, one harvested and the other essentially undisturbed, provide the basis for understanding what changes occurred. The model is based on historical trends evident from previous surveys of land-use, bog ecology and resource mapping; and from recent hydrological and ecological data that characterize the current condition. Water balance data and historical information suggest that runoff increased and evapotranspiration decreased following drainage, but tended towards pre-disturbance levels following abandonment, as vegetation recolonized the surface and drainage became less efficient over time. Dewatering of soil pores after drainage caused shrinkage and oxidation of the peat and surface subsidence of approximately 80 cm over 57 years. Comparisons with a nearby natural bog suggest that bulk density in the upper 50 cm of cutover peat increased from 0·07 to 0·13 g cm-3, specific yield declined from 0·14 to 0·07, water table fluctuations were 67% greater, and mean saturated hydraulic conductivity declined from 4·1 × 10-5 to 1·3 × 10-5 cm s-1. More than 25 years after abandonment, Sphagnum mosses were distributed over broad areas but covered less than 15% of the surface. Areas with good Sphagnum regeneration (>10% cover) were strongly correlated with high water tables (mean -22 cm), especially in zones of seasonal groundwater discharge, artefacts of the extraction history. Forest cover expanded from 5 to 20% of the study area following abandonment. The effect of forest growth (transpiration and interception) and drainage on lowering water levels eventually will be countered by slower water movement through the

Using Local Data to Address Abandoned Property: Lessons Learned From a Community Health Partnership.

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Samantha; Kolke, Demi

A growing body of research highlights the role of the built environment in promoting or impeding health. This research suggests that environmental issues like abandoned properties exact a toll on physical and mental health. We describe a community partnership aimed at improving community health through equitable land use policies and blight remediation. A collaboration between the University of Pittsburgh and Operation Better Block, Inc. (OBB), a community development corporation in Pittsburgh, was formed. We implemented an intervention to address property abandonment using data-driven techniques. In addition to successful advocacy for city-wide policies addressing abandonment, 80% of the properties that were part of our intervention were improved or addressed by the city. Balancing the needs of community and academic partners can be challenging, but our experiences suggest that community health partnerships to address built environmental issues may be an important conduit to health promotion.

77 FR 77183 - Union Pacific Railroad Company-Abandonment of Freight Easement Exemption-in Alameda County, Cal...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-12-31

...--Abandonment of Residual Common Carrier Obligation Exemption--in Alameda County, Cal. (San Jose Industrial Lead... easement on, and for SCVTA, the owner of the line, to abandon its residual common carrier obligation for, a portion of the San Jose Industrial Lead between mileposts 5.38 and 7.35 near the Warm Springs freight rail...

Community-led approaches and interventions for the regeneration of abandoned towns in Southern Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

May East

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Defined as towns or villages that have been abandoned by their original inhabitants, the so-called ‘ghost towns’ are a sub-product of the opposing conditions of excessive urban growth in one hand and decline of rural regions on the other. Natural disasters, economic and demographic decline, armed conflict, disease and environmental contamination are repeatedly the drivers for their abandonment.  An increasing large concentration of these abandoned small villages is found in the impoverished Southern regions of Italy.  To investigate this problem and identify conservation approaches that could generate new dynamics to the abandoned historic villages, the paper starts by identifying the linkages between globalisation, rapid urbanisation and ghost towns. This is followed by an analysis of the root causes of ghost towns in an attempt to define a ghost town typology. With this in mind, this paper investigates integrated conservation approaches, which could promote the restoration of abandoned towns, strengthening their local identity and enhancing resource-efficient local economies. Based on these considerations, the paper focus the attention on three scenarios of rehabilitation: a community-led approach to conservation demonstrated by the medieval village Torri Superiore embedded in ecovillage principles; the hospitality concept albergo diffuso demonstrated by Albergo Diffuso Borgo di Castelvetere, acting as social, cultural and economic stimuli to depopulated villages; the Riace village humanitarian approach which has integrated migrants in the social fabric of its aging population. The paper ends by reflecting if Torri Superiore and Riace’s approaches offer a potential solution to the housing crises currently engulfing southern Europe. As a result of imaginative housing and food production practices, these villages have made significantly more progress than mainstream government approaches towards the realisation of sustainable communities

Impact of vineyard abandonment and natural recolonization on metal content and availability in Mediterranean soils

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Santiago-Martín, Ana de; Vaquero-Perea, Cristina; Valverde-Asenjo, Inmaculada; Quintana Nieto, Jose R.; González-Huecas, Concepción; Lafuente, Antonio L.; Vázquez de la Cueva, Antonio

2016-01-01

Abandonment of vineyards after uprooting has dramatically increased in last decades in Mediterranean countries, often followed by vegetation expansion processes. Inadequate management strategies can have negative consequences on soil quality. We studied how the age and type of vegetation cover and several environmental characteristics (lithology, soil properties, vineyard slope and so on) after vineyard uprooting and abandonment contribute to the variation patterns in total, HAc (acetic acid-method, HAc) and EDTA-extractable (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-method) concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils. We sampled 141 points from vineyards and abandoned vineyard Mediterranean soils recolonized by natural vegetation in recent decades. The contribution of several environmental variables (e.g. age and type of vegetation cover, lithology, soil properties and vineyard slope) to the total and extractable concentrations of metals was evaluated by canonical ordination based on redundancy analysis, considering the interaction between both environmental and response variables. The ranges of total metal contents were: 0.01–0.15 (Cd), 2.6–34 (Cu), 6.6–30 (Pb), and 29–92 mg kg −1 (Zn). Cadmium (11–100%) had the highest relative extractability with both extractants, and Zn and Pb the lowest. The total and EDTA-extractable of Cd, Pb and Zn were positively related to the age of abandonment, to the presence of Agrostis castellana and Retama sphaerocarpa, and to the contents of Fe-oxides, clay and organic matter (OM). A different pattern was noted for Cu, positively related to vineyard soils. Soil properties successfully explained HAc-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn but the age and type of vegetation cover lost significance. Clay content was negatively related to HAc-extractable Cu and Pb; and OM was positively related to HAc-Cd and Zn. In conclusion, the time elapsed after vineyard uprooting, and subsequent land abandonment, affects the soil content and

Impact of vineyard abandonment and natural recolonization on metal content and availability in Mediterranean soils

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Santiago-Martín, Ana de, E-mail: anasanti@ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); Vaquero-Perea, Cristina, E-mail: crvaquer@farm.ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); Valverde-Asenjo, Inmaculada, E-mail: inma.valverde@farm.ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); Quintana Nieto, Jose R., E-mail: jrquinta@farm.ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); González-Huecas, Concepción, E-mail: chuecas@farm.ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); Lafuente, Antonio L., E-mail: lopezlafuente@farm.ucm.es [Department of Soil Science, Faculty of Pharmacy, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid (Spain); Vázquez de la Cueva, Antonio, E-mail: vazquez@inia.es [INIA, Forest Research Centre, Carretera de A Coruña km 7.5, 28040, Madrid (Spain)

2016-05-01

Abandonment of vineyards after uprooting has dramatically increased in last decades in Mediterranean countries, often followed by vegetation expansion processes. Inadequate management strategies can have negative consequences on soil quality. We studied how the age and type of vegetation cover and several environmental characteristics (lithology, soil properties, vineyard slope and so on) after vineyard uprooting and abandonment contribute to the variation patterns in total, HAc (acetic acid-method, HAc) and EDTA-extractable (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid-method) concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in soils. We sampled 141 points from vineyards and abandoned vineyard Mediterranean soils recolonized by natural vegetation in recent decades. The contribution of several environmental variables (e.g. age and type of vegetation cover, lithology, soil properties and vineyard slope) to the total and extractable concentrations of metals was evaluated by canonical ordination based on redundancy analysis, considering the interaction between both environmental and response variables. The ranges of total metal contents were: 0.01–0.15 (Cd), 2.6–34 (Cu), 6.6–30 (Pb), and 29–92 mg kg{sup −1} (Zn). Cadmium (11–100%) had the highest relative extractability with both extractants, and Zn and Pb the lowest. The total and EDTA-extractable of Cd, Pb and Zn were positively related to the age of abandonment, to the presence of Agrostis castellana and Retama sphaerocarpa, and to the contents of Fe-oxides, clay and organic matter (OM). A different pattern was noted for Cu, positively related to vineyard soils. Soil properties successfully explained HAc-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn but the age and type of vegetation cover lost significance. Clay content was negatively related to HAc-extractable Cu and Pb; and OM was positively related to HAc-Cd and Zn. In conclusion, the time elapsed after vineyard uprooting, and subsequent land abandonment, affects the soil content and

Using Curved Crystals to Study Terrace-Width Distributions.

Science.gov (United States)

Einstein, Theodore L.

Recent experiments on curved crystals of noble and late transition metals (Ortega and Juurlink groups) have renewed interest in terrace width distributions (TWD) for vicinal surfaces. Thus, it is timely to discuss refinements of TWD analysis that are absent from the standard reviews. Rather than by Gaussians, TWDs are better described by the generalized Wigner surmise, with a power-law rise and a Gaussian decay, thereby including effects evident for weak step repulsion: skewness and peak shifts down from the mean spacing. Curved crystals allow analysis of several mean spacings with the same substrate, so that one can check the scaling with the mean width. This is important since such scaling confirms well-established theory. Failure to scale also can provide significant insights. Complicating factors can include step touching (local double-height steps), oscillatory step interactions mediated by metallic (but not topological) surface states, short-range corrections to the inverse-square step repulsion, and accounting for the offset between adjacent layers of almost all surfaces. We discuss how to deal with these issues. For in-plane misoriented steps there are formulas to describe the stiffness but not yet the strength of the elastic interstep repulsion. Supported in part by NSF-CHE 13-05892.

Records of human occupation from Pleistocene river terrace and aeolian sediments in the Arneiro depression (Lower Tejo River, central eastern Portugal)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cunha, Pedro P.; Almeida, Nelson A.C.; Aubry, Thierry

2012-01-01

In the uppermost reach of the Lower Tejo River (eastern central Portugal), where the river crosses two quartzite ridges that separate the Ródão (upstream) and Arneiro (downstream) depressions, Palaeolithic artefacts have been recovered from three lower river terrace levels and a cover unit of aeo...

Technical development concerning abandonment of low level radioactive wastes into ocean

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hitomi, Seiichi

1981-01-01

The amount of radioactive wastes generated in nuclear power stations has increased year by year, and the measures to treat and dispose them safely and surely have become urgent problem. In October, 1976, the Atomic Energy Commission presented the basic policy with ''On the countermeasures to radioactive wastes'', and the necessity of establishing a corporation undertaking the execution of trial disposal was mentioned. The foundation ''Atomic Energy Environment Conditioning Center'' was established accordingly, and it is making the preparation of the required tests and researches and the trial disposal in ocean. Four sea areas were selected as the possible areas for the disposal in ocean, and the survey on the environment of these sea areas was carried out for three years. Since 1977, the detailed survey has been made about the B sea area which seemed to be most desirable. In order to execute the trial disposal in ocean safely and surely, the soundness of solidified bodies, the preparation of a ship for abandonment, the works of transport and abandonment, and the pressurizing test of the drums for abandonment in a high pressure tank were studied. The survey of four sea areas and the evaluation of safety in ocean environment are described. The relevant laws were revised so as to accord with international treaties. The international relations concerning this problem are explained. (Kako, I.)

A real-time monitoring system for the assessment of stability and performance of in abandoned room and pillar lignite mines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aydan, O.; Tano, H.; Sakamoto, A.; Yamada, N.; Sugiura, K.

2005-01-01

The authors have been involved with the stability of abandoned mines beneath urbanized residential areas in Tokai region. These abandoned lignite mines were in operation until 1960's. There is a great concern about the stability of these abandoned mines during large earthquakes. The 2003 Miyagi Hokubu earthquake caused great damage to abandoned mines and resulted in collapses. The authors describe an integrated real-time monitoring system and they report some measured data up to now. The responses of monitoring system during a large roof collapse under gravitational condition as well as during and after two earthquakes are presented and their implications are discussed. (authors)

A real-time monitoring system for the assessment of stability and performance of in abandoned room and pillar lignite mines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aydan, O. [Tokai Univ., Dept.of Marine Civil Engineering, Shizuoka (Japan); Tano, H. [Nihon Univ., Dept. of Civil Engineering, Koriyama (Japan); Sakamoto, A.; Yamada, N.; Sugiura, K. [Tobishima Construction Company, Nagoya Branch (Japan)

2005-07-01

The authors have been involved with the stability of abandoned mines beneath urbanized residential areas in Tokai region. These abandoned lignite mines were in operation until 1960's. There is a great concern about the stability of these abandoned mines during large earthquakes. The 2003 Miyagi Hokubu earthquake caused great damage to abandoned mines and resulted in collapses. The authors describe an integrated real-time monitoring system and they report some measured data up to now. The responses of monitoring system during a large roof collapse under gravitational condition as well as during and after two earthquakes are presented and their implications are discussed. (authors)

Study on the quality of site in the mining district gangue of abandoned place

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

LU Guo-bin; LI Ying; WU Xiang-yun

2008-01-01

Being as an example of Fuxin, gangue abandoned place was classified gangue hill and dump. It was built 68 piece of temporary standard fields, which physical and chemical character of soil were researched and analyzed. The quality of district site was estimated, and five type abandoned place were gotten. Stopping draining cash less than 7 a and draining cash gangue hill was regarded as Ⅰ gangue hill. Stopping draining gangue age limit 7-15 a and herbage abundance being CO1p level was regarded as Ⅱ gangue hill.Stopping draining gangue age limit 15～25 a and herbage abundance CO2p level was re-garded as Ⅲ gangue hill. Stopping draining cash gangue age limit over 25 a and herbage abundance CO3p level was regarded as Ⅳ gangue hill. Dump being formed the under-ground layer dug up and stacked in the course of mining was regarded asVgangue hill.The results show that every typical abandoned place can plant vegetable.

Exploring the Dynamic Mechanisms of Farmland Abandonment Based on a Spatially Explicit Economic Model for Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study in Jiangxi Province, China

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hualin Xie

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Farmland abandonment has important impacts on biodiversity and ecosystem recovery, as well as food security and rural sustainable development. Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, farmland abandonment has become an increasingly important problem in many countries, particularly in China. To promote sustainable land-use management and environmental sustainability, it is important to understand the socioeconomic causes and spatial patterns of farmland abandonment. In this study, we explored the dynamic mechanisms of farmland abandonment in Jiangxi province of China using a spatially explicit economical model. The results show that the variables associated with the agricultural products yield are significantly correlated with farmland abandonment. The increasing opportunity cost of farming labor is the main factor in farmland abandonment in conjunction with a rural labor shortage due to rural-to-urban population migration and regional industrialization. Farmlands are more likely to be abandoned in areas located far from the villages and towns due to higher transportation costs. Additionally, farmers with more land but lower net income are more likely to abandon poor-quality farmland. Our results support the hypothesis that farmland abandonment takes place in locations in which the costs of cultivation are high and the potential crop yield is low. In addition, our study also demonstrates that a spatially explicit economic model is necessary to distinguish between the main driving forces of farmland abandonment. Policy implications are also provided for potential future policy decisions.

Acute and chronic toxicity of effluent water from an abandoned uranium mine.

Science.gov (United States)

Antunes, S C; Pereira, R; Gonçalves, F

2007-08-01

Inactive or abandoned mines represent a significant source of environmental, chemical, physical, and aesthetic impact. Among concerning situations, the occurrence of abandoned or semi-abandoned mine-associated ponds (for sedimentation of solids, for effluent neutralization, or for washing the ore) is a common feature in this type of system. These ponds are a source of contamination for the groundwater resources and adjacent soils, because they lack appropriate impermeabilization. The use of this water for agriculture may also pose chronic risks to humans. In Portugal, these problems have been diagnosed and some remediation projects have been developed. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the acute and chronic toxicity of water samples collected from the aquatic system surrounding an abandoned uranium mine (Cunha Baixa, Mangualde, Central Portugal). The present study focuses on the water compartment, whose toxicity was evaluated by means of standard toxicity assays using two Daphnia species (D. longispina and D. magna). Three different ponds were used in the characterization of the aquatic system from Cunha Baixa mine: a reference pond (Ref), a mine effluent treatment pond (T), and a mine pit pond (M). Metal analyses performed in the water samples from these ponds showed values that, in some cases, were much higher than maximum recommendable values established (especially Al, Mn) by Portuguese legislation for waters for crop irrigation. Acute toxicity was only observed in the mine pit pond, with EC(50) values of 28.4% and 50.4% for D. longispina and D. magna, respectively. The significant impairment of chronic endpoints, translated in reductions in the population growth rate for both species, gives rise to concerns regarding the potential risks for aquatic zooplanktonic communities, from local receiving waters, potentially exposed to point source discharges of the treated and nontreated effluent from Cunha Baixa uranium mine.

Comparison of reactivity on step and terrace sites of Pd (3 3 2) surface for the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen: A quantum chemical molecular dynamics study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, Farouq; Nagumo, Ryo; Miura, Ryuji; Ai, Suzuki; Tsuboi, Hideyuki; Hatakeyama, Nozomu; Endou, Akira; Takaba, Hiromitsu; Kubo, Momoji; Miyamoto, Akira

2011-01-01

The notion of 'active sites' is fundamental to heterogeneous catalysis. However, the exact nature of the active sites, and hence the mechanism by which they act, are still largely a matter of speculation. In this study, we have presented a systematic quantum chemical molecular dynamics (QCMD) calculations for the interaction of hydrogen on different step and terrace sites of the Pd (3 3 2) surface. Finally the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen on step and terrace as well as the influence of surface hydrogen vacancy for the dissociative adsorption of hydrogen has been investigated through QCMD. This is a state-of-the-art method for calculating the interaction of atoms and molecules with metal surfaces. It is found that fully hydrogen covered (saturated) step sites can dissociate hydrogen moderately and that a monovacancy surface is suitable for significant dissociative adsorption of hydrogen. However in terrace site of the surface we have found that dissociation of hydrogen takes place only on Pd sites where the metal atom is not bound to any pre-adsorbed hydrogen atoms. Furthermore, from the molecular dynamics and electronic structure calculations, we identify a number of consequences for the interpretation and modeling of diffusion experiments demonstrating the coverage and directional dependence of atomic hydrogen diffusion on stepped palladium surface.

Zaraščanje kmetijskih zemljišč v slovenskem alpskem svetu = Abandoning of agricultural land in the Slovenian Alps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tomaž Cunder

1998-01-01

Full Text Available Abandoning of agricultural land belongs to the most prominent indicators of partial disintegration of cultivated landscape. The Slovenian Alps are undoubtedly among those regions in which the abandoning is the most intensive and widely extended. The stagnation of agriculture, which is going on at present, is influenced by natural and social and demographic conditions which also affect the extensification of the most unfavourable areas followed by permanent abandoning of production. If the reasons for this situation are considered, the abandoning of agricultural land can be defined as a reflection of a disturbed balance between the socio-economic situation of agricultural population and the natural disposition for agricultural production. Areas with the most severe degradation of cultured landscape are, as a rule, the most prominent depopulation and deagrarisation areas in the Alps. Revitalisation of agricultural land in the process of abandoning is not only important from the productionally strategic point of view but also from the regional and ecological one.

Using Landscape metrics to analyze the landscape evolution under land abandonment

Science.gov (United States)

Pelorosso, Raffaele; Della Chiesa, Stefano; Gobattoni, Federica; Leone, Antonio

2010-05-01

The human actions and the human-linked land use changes are the main responsible of the present landscapes and vegetation patterns (Antrop, 2005; Pelorosso et al., 2009). Hence, revised concept of potential natural vegetation has been developed in landscape ecology. In fact, it cannot more be considered as the optimum for a certain landscape, but only as a general indication never widely reached. In particular Ingegnoli and Pignatti (2007) introduced the concept of fittest vegetation as "the most suitable or suited vegetation for the specific climate and geomorphic conditions, in a limited period of time and in a certain defined place with a particular range of incorporable disturbances (including man's) under natural or not natural conditions". Anthropic exploitation of land and its resources to obtain goods and services (Willemen et al, 2008) can be considered therefore the main cause of landscape change as an integrant part of nature, not external. The abandon of the land by farmers or other users it is one of the more felt problems for the marginal territories of Mediterranean basin. It is therefore caused by socio-economic changes of last decades and cause several impact on biodiversity (Geri et al. 2010) and hydro-geological assessment. A mountain landscape has however the capacity to provide goods like timber and services like aesthetic pleasure or regulation of water system. The necessity of a conservation strategy and the development of sustainable socio-economic management plan play a very important role in governing land and quality of life for people and ecosystems also for marginal territory. After a land abandonment, soil conditions and several climatic and orographic characteristic plus human disturbance affect the length of time required by secondary succession, throwing the establishment of vegetation with different association, structure and composition until a (stable or meta-stable) equilibrium is reached (Ingegnoli and Pignatti, 2007). In this

Occupants’ Utilization of Natural Ventilation: A Study of Selected Terrace House Designs in Hot-humid Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibiyeye AI

2015-05-01

Full Text Available With increased time spent indoors and demand for enhanced comfort levels, energy consumption in homes is rising mostly for cooling, particularly in hot-humid regions. Natural ventilation is seen as an alternative to mechanical cooling as it is totally independent on energy and has been reported to be of high potential. However, little information is available on the utilization of natural ventilation in individual living spaces in different house designs. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate occupants’ utilization of natural ventilation in living spaces under different terrace house designs in hot-humid climate and also the relationship between the openings and occupants’ satisfaction with natural ventilation. Five (5 different terrace house types in Putrajaya, Malaysia with different opening design characteristics were selected for the study. A total of 298 households from these house types were surveyed and results show that occupants mostly open their windows during the daytime to capture breeze from outside despite the fact that they owned air-conditioners. In terms of occupants’ level of satisfaction with indoor ventilation when utilizing natural ventilation, majority rated neither satisfied nor unsatisfied. Further regression analysis reveals that this level of satisfaction is significantly related to opening sizes that are in accordance with the law, duration of opening windows and AC ownership. Findings from this study will shed more light on behavioural pattern of occupants of residential buildings towards natural ventilation provisions and highlight the importance of conforming to the law governing them.

Regulatory acceptance of the proposed well abandonment program for the present landfill, Operable Unit 7, Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, Golden, Colorado

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wood, M.R.

1995-01-01

The regulatory agencies approved a well abandonment program for the Present Landfill, Operable Unit (OU) 7 at the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, only three months after preparation. The proposed well abandonment program consists of abandoning 26 of the 54 existing monitoring wells in OU 7 that are currently sampled quarterly as Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) compliance wells or sitewide groundwater protection wells. Well abandonment was proposed on the basis that the purpose of each well has been fulfilled, the wells fall under the footprint of the landfill cap, the presence of the wells would compromise the integrity of the cap because holes would have to be cut in the synthetic liner, and unequal compaction of the fill material around the wells would potentially cause differential settlement of the cap. The proposal provided the technical justification to abandon the wells in place. The timely approval of the proposal by the regulatory agencies will allow the abandonment of the wells during fiscal year 1995 under the sitewide Well Abandonment and Replacement Program (WARP). Cost savings resulting from a decrease in the number of wells to be sampled under the groundwater monitoring program are estimated at $416,000 per year. This paper presents a summary of the well abandonment program, discusses the timely approvals required for implementation, and present the potential cost savings that can be achieved through implementation of the program

Scheduling of multi-class multi-server queueing systems with abandonments

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Ayesta, U.; Jacko, P.; Novák, Vladimír

2017-01-01

Roč. 20, č. 2 (2017), s. 129-145 ISSN 1094-6136 R&D Projects: GA MŠk(CZ) SVV260475 Institutional support: Progres-Q24 Keywords : stochastic scheduling * abandonment * restless bandits Subject RIV: AH - Economics OBOR OECD: Economic Theory Impact factor: 1.281, year: 2016

Viniční terasy jako refugia pro výskyt xerotermních druhů pavouků (Araneae) a jejich bioindikační využití v hodnocení kvality životního prostředí a úrovně biodiverzity

OpenAIRE

Košulič, Ondřej

2014-01-01

The large-scale decline of traditionally managed early-successional habitats caused by the joint effects of agricultural intensification and abandonment of marginal lands has resulted in a critical reduction of xerophilous arthopods throughout Europe. The question is whether newly generated early-successional sites of human-made habitats (in this case vineyard terraces) may partially compensate this habitat loss. My research, therefore, focusses on spiders as model organisms to determine the ...

Abandoned Uranium Mine (AUM) Regions, Navajo Nation, 2016, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains polygon features representing the boundaries of the six Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUM) Regions, including the: Central, Eastern, Northern,...

Review of the book: Neuropsychology of infantile abandonment and mistreatment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alfonso Barca

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Review of: Fernández, R.M. (Coord. (2014. Neuropsychology of infantile abandonment and mistreatment. Barcelona: Hilo Rojo. 207 pp. ISBN: 978-84-941620-7-7. Depósito legal: B 4535-2014. This book deals with an important current topic: the mistreatment and/or abandonment of children who have been adopeted, mostly from abroad. There are 14 chapters and 15 authors.  The central problem revolves around childhood abuse and the authors have focused on a neuro-bio-psychological explanation to understand what happens in the brain of a child who is abused, and, most importantly, their behavior during and after physical or psychological abuse or mistreatment.  Toward the end of the book the main measures that should be taken in this kind of situation are presented.  Generally, the authors cover the essence of the topics brought up and the presentation is always done with extreme scientific rigor and terminological and conceptual precision.

Effects of Grazing Abandoned Grassland on Herbage Production and Utilization, and Sheep Preference and Performance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Håvard Steinshamn

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Large areas of farmland are abandoned in Norway, which for various reasons are regarded as undesirable. Loss of farmland may have negative implications for biodiversity and ecosystem function and food production potential. The objectives of this study were to assess forage mass production and utilization, botanical composition, lamb performance, and grazing distribution pattern when reintroducing livestock grazing to an abandoned grassland. The study area was located in Central Norway, unmanaged for 12 years. Sheep grazed the area for 10 weeks in 2013 and 4 weeks in spring and autumn, respectively, in 2014 and 2015. During the summer of 2014 and 2015, the area was subjected to the following replicated treatments: (1 No grazing, (2 grazing with heifers, and (3 grazing with ewes and their offspring. The stocking rate was similar in the grazed treatments. Forage biomass production and animal intake were estimated using grazing exclosure cages and botanical composition by visual assessment. Effect on lamb performance was evaluated by live weight gain and slaughter traits in sheep subjected to three treatments: (1 Common farm procedure with summer range pasturing, (2 spring grazing period extended by 1 month on the abandoned grassland before summer range pasturing, and (3 spring and summer grazing on the abandoned grassland. Grazing distribution patterns were studied using GPS position collars on ewes. Total annual biomass production was on average 72% higher with summer grazing than without. Annual consumption and utilization was on average 218 g DM/m2 and 70% when summer grazed, and 25 g DM/m2 and 18% without grazing, respectively. Botanical composition did not differ between treatments. Live weight gain was higher in lambs subjected to an extended spring grazing period (255 g/d compared to common farm practice (228 g/d and spring and summer grazing on the abandoned grassland (203 g/d, and carcass value was 14% higher in lambs on extended spring

Ti and N adatom descent pathways to the terrace from atop two-dimensional TiN/TiN(001) islands

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Edström, D., E-mail: daned@ifm.liu.se [Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping (Sweden); Sangiovanni, D.G.; Hultman, L.; Chirita, V. [Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping (Sweden); Petrov, I.; Greene, J.E. [Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology (IFM), Linköping University, SE-58183 Linköping (Sweden); Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory and the Materials Science Department, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801 (United States)

2014-05-02

We use classical molecular dynamics and the modified embedded atom method to determine residence times and descent pathways of Ti and N adatoms on square, single-atom-high, TiN islands on TiN(001). Simulations are carried out at 1000 K, which is within the optimal range for TiN(001) epitaxial growth. Results show that the frequency of descent events, and overall adatom residence times, depend strongly on both the TiN(001) diffusion barrier for each species as well as the adatom island-edge location immediately prior to descent. Ti adatoms, with a low diffusion barrier, rapidly move toward the island periphery, via funneling, where they diffuse along upper island edges. The primary descent mechanism for Ti adatoms is via push-out/exchange with Ti island-edge atoms, a process in which the adatom replaces an island edge atom by moving down while pushing the edge atom out onto the terrace to occupy an epitaxial position along the island edge. Double push-out events are also observed for Ti adatoms descending at N corner positions. N adatoms, with a considerably higher diffusion barrier on TiN(001), require much longer times to reach island edges and, consequently, have significantly longer residence times. N adatoms are found to descend onto the terrace by direct hopping over island edges and corner atoms, as well as by concerted push-out/exchange with N atoms adjacent to Ti corners. For both adspecies, we also observe several complex adatom/island interactions, before and after descent onto the terrace, including two instances of Ti island-atom ascent onto the island surface. - Highlights: • We use classical molecular dynamics to model Ti and N adatom migration on TiN(001) islands. • N adatoms remain on islands significantly longer than Ti adatoms. • Ti adatoms descend via push-out/exchange, N adatoms primarily by direct hops. • N adatoms act as precursors for multilayer formation and surface roughening.

Ti and N adatom descent pathways to the terrace from atop two-dimensional TiN/TiN(001) islands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Edström, D.; Sangiovanni, D.G.; Hultman, L.; Chirita, V.; Petrov, I.; Greene, J.E.

2014-01-01

We use classical molecular dynamics and the modified embedded atom method to determine residence times and descent pathways of Ti and N adatoms on square, single-atom-high, TiN islands on TiN(001). Simulations are carried out at 1000 K, which is within the optimal range for TiN(001) epitaxial growth. Results show that the frequency of descent events, and overall adatom residence times, depend strongly on both the TiN(001) diffusion barrier for each species as well as the adatom island-edge location immediately prior to descent. Ti adatoms, with a low diffusion barrier, rapidly move toward the island periphery, via funneling, where they diffuse along upper island edges. The primary descent mechanism for Ti adatoms is via push-out/exchange with Ti island-edge atoms, a process in which the adatom replaces an island edge atom by moving down while pushing the edge atom out onto the terrace to occupy an epitaxial position along the island edge. Double push-out events are also observed for Ti adatoms descending at N corner positions. N adatoms, with a considerably higher diffusion barrier on TiN(001), require much longer times to reach island edges and, consequently, have significantly longer residence times. N adatoms are found to descend onto the terrace by direct hopping over island edges and corner atoms, as well as by concerted push-out/exchange with N atoms adjacent to Ti corners. For both adspecies, we also observe several complex adatom/island interactions, before and after descent onto the terrace, including two instances of Ti island-atom ascent onto the island surface. - Highlights: • We use classical molecular dynamics to model Ti and N adatom migration on TiN(001) islands. • N adatoms remain on islands significantly longer than Ti adatoms. • Ti adatoms descend via push-out/exchange, N adatoms primarily by direct hops. • N adatoms act as precursors for multilayer formation and surface roughening

Abandonment: Technological, organisational and environmental challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Twomey, B.G. [Reverse Engineering Ltd., (United Kingdom)

1996-12-31

The paper deals with the abandonment of offshore wells. Decommissioning of offshore installations is a complex multi-disciplined issue, which raises a number of technical, organisational and environmental challenges. The success of a planned decommissioning operation depends on the development of a clear understanding of the complex blend of drivers which control the decommissioning process and their inter-relationship. Due to the complexity of the inter-relationship between the primary drivers one cannot separate the technological, organisational and environmental issues raised by the decommissioning of offshore installations. The optimal solution will be a compromise between all the decommissioning drivers mentioned in this paper. 5 figs., 3 tabs.

Abandonment: Technological, organisational and environmental challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Twomey, B.G.

1996-01-01

The paper deals with the abandonment of offshore wells. Decommissioning of offshore installations is a complex multi-disciplined issue, which raises a number of technical, organisational and environmental challenges. The success of a planned decommissioning operation depends on the development of a clear understanding of the complex blend of drivers which control the decommissioning process and their inter-relationship. Due to the complexity of the inter-relationship between the primary drivers one cannot separate the technological, organisational and environmental issues raised by the decommissioning of offshore installations. The optimal solution will be a compromise between all the decommissioning drivers mentioned in this paper. 5 figs., 3 tabs

Requalification of Abandoned Tunnels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gianluca Derosa

2014-12-01

Full Text Available In a vision of regeneration of the abandoned highway stretch close to Vado (Bologna, the galleries, theme of the project, are planned to be part of a footpath network, since the position of the galleries make them reachable both from the small town of Vado and from the new highway. The project’s aim is to offer a space to the community, hence the considered functions are thought as useful both for inhabitants and for tourists. Three galleries, three different characteristics, three different destinations and uses: The first gallery, with only one entrance, is planned to be the identity of the system. The second gallery is a more flexible space, where many functions take place. The third galleryis thought as a fast link to the naturalistic path for who’s arriving from the highway. This flexible wooden structure also creates an entrance and open space out of the galleries giving continuity to the project.

19 CFR 19.9 - General order, abandoned, and seized merchandise.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... Merchandise for Public Auction (Sale)), and an approved copy of Customs Form 6043 (Delivery Ticket). The...) 6043 (Delivery Ticket), or other similar Customs document as designated by the port director or an..., voluntarily abandoned, or seized and forfeited may be released for transfer to the place of sale upon...

A Difference-In-Differences Study of the Effects of a New Abandoned Building Remediation Strategy on Safety

Science.gov (United States)

Michelle C. Kondo; Danya Keene; Bernadette C. Hohl; John M. MacDonald; Charles C. Branas

2015-01-01

Vacant and abandoned buildings pose significant challenges to the health and safety of communities. In 2011 the City of Philadelphia began enforcing a Doors and Windows Ordinance that required property owners of abandoned buildings to install working doors and windows in all structural openings or face significant fines. We tested the effects of the new ordinance on...

Abandoned Vessels and Barges, Geographic NAD83, LOSCO (1996) [barge_LOSCO_1996

Data.gov (United States)

Louisiana Geographic Information Center — This is a point dataset with two accompanying 'sample tables' [vabfldsmpap96] and [vablabsmpap96] that summarize the results of the study to inventory abandoned...

Estuarine abandoned channel sedimentation rates record peak fluvial discharge magnitudes

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, A. B.; Pasternack, G. B.; Watson, E. B.

2018-04-01

Fluvial sediment deposits can provide useful records of integrated watershed expressions including flood event magnitudes. However, floodplain and estuarine sediment deposits evolve through the interaction of watershed/marine sediment supply and transport characteristics with the local depositional environment. Thus extraction of watershed scale signals depends upon accounting for local scale effects on sediment deposition rates and character. This study presents an examination of the balance of fluvial sediment dynamics and local scale hydro-geomorphic controls on alluviation of an abandoned channel in the Salinas River Lagoon, CA. A set of three sediment cores contained discrete flood deposits that corresponded to the largest flood events over the period of accretion from 1969 to 2007. Sedimentation rates scaled with peak flood discharge and event scale sediment flux, but were not influenced by longer scale hydro-meteorological activities such as annual precipitation and water yield. Furthermore, the particle size distributions of flood deposits showed no relationship to event magnitudes. Both the responsiveness of sedimentation and unresponsiveness of particle size distributions to hydro-sedimentological event magnitudes appear to be controlled by aspects of local geomorphology that influence the connectivity of the abandoned channel to the Salinas River mainstem. Well-developed upstream plug bar formation precluded the entrainment of coarser bedload into the abandoned channel, while Salinas River mouth conditions (open/closed) in conjunction with tidal and storm surge conditions may play a role in influencing the delivery of coarser suspended load fractions. Channel adjacent sediment deposition can be valuable records of hydro-meteorological and sedimentological regimes, but local depositional settings may dominate the character of short term (interdecadal) signatures.

Evaluation of Integration Degree of the ASG-EUPOS Polish Reference Networks With Ukrainian GeoTerrace Network Stations in the Border Area

Science.gov (United States)

Siejka, Zbigniew

2017-09-01

GNSS systems are currently the basic tools for determination of the highest precision station coordinates (e.g. basic control network stations or stations used in the networks for geodynamic studies) as well as for land, maritime and air navigation. All of these tasks are carried out using active, large scale, satellite geodetic networks which are complex, intelligent teleinformatic systems offering post processing services along with corrections delivered in real-time for kinematic measurements. Many countries in the world, also in Europe, have built their own multifunctional networks and enhance them with their own GNSS augmentation systems. Nowadays however, in the era of international integration, there is a necessity to consider collective actions in order to build a unified system, covering e.g. the whole Europe or at least some of its regions. Such actions have already been undertaken in many regions of the world. In Europe such an example is the development for EUPOS which consists of active national networks built in central eastern European countries. So far experience and research show, that the critical areas for connecting these networks are border areas, in which the positioning accuracy decreases (Krzeszowski and Bosy, 2011). This study attempts to evaluate the border area compatibility of Polish ASG-EUPOS (European Position Determination System) reference stations and Ukrainian GeoTerrace system reference stations in the context of their future incorporation into the EUPOS. The two networks analyzed in work feature similar hardware parameters. In the ASG-EUPOS reference stations network, during the analyzed period, 2 stations (WLDW and CHEL) used only one system (GPS), while, in the GeoTerrace network, all the stations were equipped with both GPS and GLONASS receivers. The ASG EUPOS reference station network (95.6%) has its average completeness greater by about 6% when compared to the GeoTerrace network (89.8%).

Inventory of Tank Farm equipment stored or abandoned aboveground

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hines, S.C.; Lakes, M.E.

1994-01-01

This document provides an inventory of Tank Farm equipment stored or abandoned aboveground and potentially subject to regulation. This inventory was conducted in part to ensure that Westinghouse Hanford Company (WHC) does not violate dangerous waste laws concerning storage of potentially contaminated equipment/debris that has been in contact with dangerous waste. The report identifies areas inventoried and provides photographs of equipment

Asymptotic inference for waiting times and patiences in queues with abandonment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorst-Rasmussen, Anders; Hansen, Martin Bøgsted

2009-01-01

Motivated by applications in call center management, we propose a framework based on empirical process techniques for inference about waiting time and patience distributions in multiserver queues with abandonment. The framework rigorises heuristics based on survival analysis of independent...

A coupled distributed hydrological-stability analysis on a terraced slope of Valtellina (northern Italy)

Science.gov (United States)

Camera, C.; Apuani, T.; Masetti, M.

2013-02-01

The aim of this work was to understand and reproduce the hydrological dynamics of a slope, which was terraced using dry-stone retaining walls and its response to these processes in terms of stability at the slope scale. The slope studied is located in Valtellina (northern Italy), near the village of Tresenda, and in the last 30 yr has experienced several soil slip/debris flow events. In 1983 alone, such events caused the death of 18 people. Direct observation of the events of 1983 enabled the principal triggering cause of these events to be recognized in the formation of an overpressure at the base of a dry-stone wall, which caused its failure. To perform the analyses it is necessary to include the presence of dry-stone walls, considering the importance they have in influencing hydrological and geotechnical processes at the slope scale. This requires a very high resolution DEM (1 m × 1 m because the walls are from 0.60 m to 1.0 m wide) that has been appositely derived. A hydrogeological raster-based model, which takes into account both the unsaturated and saturated flux components, was applied. This was able to identify preferential infiltration zones and was rather precise in the prediction of maximum groundwater levels, providing valid input for the distributed stability analysis. Results of the hydrogeological model were used for the successive stability analysis. Sections of terrace were identified from the downslope base of a retaining wall to the top of the next downslope retaining wall. Within each section a global method of equilibrium was applied to determine its safety factor. The stability model showed a general tendency to overestimate the amount of unstable areas. An investigation of the causes of this unexpected behavior was, therefore, also performed in order to progressively improve the reliability of the model.

Asymptotic inference for waiting times and patiences in queues with abandonment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gorst-Rasmussen, Anders; Hansen, Martin Bøgsted

Motivated by applications in call center management, we propose a framework based on empirical process techniques for inference about the waiting time and patience distribution in multiserver queues with abandonment. The framework rigorises heuristics based on survival analysis of independent...

25 CFR 226.28 - Shutdown, abandonment, and plugging of wells.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... OSAGE RESERVATION LANDS FOR OIL AND GAS MINING Cessation of Operations § 226.28 Shutdown, abandonment... production of oil and/or gas has been demonstrated to the satisfaction of the Superintendent. Lessee shall... the means by which the well bore is to be protected, and the contemplated eventual disposition of the...

Monte Carlo simulation of the neutron-induced prompt γ ray spectroscopy of the CW abandoned by Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Bairong; Yang Zhongping; Zhang Wenzhong

2005-01-01

This paper introduced the principle of identifying the chemical weapon by neutron-induced prompt γ ray, simulated and analyzed the neutron-induced prompt γ ray spectroscopy of chemical weapon abandoned by Japan in the different condition, using the MCNP-4C Monte Carlo program, whereby supply important datum and reference for the aftertime deeper research and disposal of Japan-abandoned chemical weapon. (authors)

Agricultural terraces montoring and modeling: a field survey in Chianti region, Firenze, Italy - First part

Science.gov (United States)

Preti, Federico; Caruso, Marco; Dani, Andrea; Errico, Alessandro; Guastini, Enrico; Trucchi, Paolo

2015-04-01

The two abstracts present the design and set-up of an experimental field plant whose aim is the study and modeling of water circulation in a terraced slope together with its influence on the stability of the retaining dry stone walls. The pilot plant is located at "Fattoria di Lamole" (Greve in Chianti, Firenze, Italy) where both ancient and recently restored or rebuilt dry stone retaining walls are present. The intense vineyards cultivation makes it very representative in terms of range of external stresses that affect both hillslopes and walls. The research is developed within a bigger framework of landscape preservation as a way to prevent hydrogeological instabilities and landslide risks. First Part A first/preliminary field survey was carried out in order to estimate the hydraulic and mechanical soil characteristics. Field saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements with the Simplified Falling Head (SFH) method on a terrace along an alignment were performed. Infiltrometer tests with a double ring device and soil texture determinations with both fine particle-size and skeleton fraction distributions were also performed. The Direct shear test on undisturbed and reconstituted soil samples will offer an estimation of the Mohr-Coulomb failure envelope parameters (friction angle and cohesion). A reference portion of a dry stone wall will be also monitored. Lateral earth pressure at backfill-retaining wall interface (compared to temperature and air pressure measured values), backfill volumetric water content (both in saturated and unsaturated states) and ground-water level are measured. Acknowledgements Italian Research Project of Relevant Interest (PRIN2010-2011), prot. 20104ALME4, National network for monitoring, modeling, and sustainable management of erosion processes in agricultural land and hilly-mountainous area

30 CFR 904.25 - Approval of Arkansas abandoned mine land reclamation plan amendments.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-07-01

... participation; Organizational structure; Personnel and staffing policies; Purchasing and procurement systems; Management accounting; and Abandoned mine land problem description. September 22, 1999 January 14, 2000...

Soil Organic Carbon Fractions and Stocks Respond to Restoration Measures in Degraded Lands by Water Erosion

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Xiaodong; Li, Zhongwu; Huang, Jinquan; Huang, Bin; Xiao, Haibing; Zeng, Guangming

2017-05-01

Assessing the degree to which degraded soils can be recovered is essential for evaluating the effects of adopted restoration measures. The objective of this study was to determine the restoration of soil organic carbon under the impact of terracing and reforestation. A small watershed with four typical restored plots (terracing and reforestation (four different local plants)) and two reference plots (slope land with natural forest (carbon-depleted) and abandoned depositional land (carbon-enriched)) in subtropical China was studied. The results showed that soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon concentrations in the surface soil (10 cm) of restored lands were close to that in abandoned depositional land and higher than that in natural forest land. There was no significant difference in soil organic carbon content among different topographic positions of the restored lands. Furthermore, the soil organic carbon stocks in the upper 60 cm soils of restored lands, which were varied between 50.08 and 62.21 Mg C ha-1, were higher than 45.90 Mg C ha-1 in natural forest land. Our results indicated that the terracing and reforestation could greatly increase carbon sequestration and accumulation and decrease carbon loss induced by water erosion. And the combination measures can accelerate the restoration of degraded soils when compared to natural forest only. Forest species almost have no impact on the total amount of soil organic carbon during restoration processes, but can significantly influence the activity and stability of soil organic carbon. Combination measures which can provide suitable topography and continuous soil organic carbon supply could be considered in treating degraded soils caused by water erosion.

Soil Organic Carbon Fractions and Stocks Respond to Restoration Measures in Degraded Lands by Water Erosion.

Science.gov (United States)

Nie, Xiaodong; Li, Zhongwu; Huang, Jinquan; Huang, Bin; Xiao, Haibing; Zeng, Guangming

2017-05-01

Assessing the degree to which degraded soils can be recovered is essential for evaluating the effects of adopted restoration measures. The objective of this study was to determine the restoration of soil organic carbon under the impact of terracing and reforestation. A small watershed with four typical restored plots (terracing and reforestation (four different local plants)) and two reference plots (slope land with natural forest (carbon-depleted) and abandoned depositional land (carbon-enriched)) in subtropical China was studied. The results showed that soil organic carbon, dissolved organic carbon and microbial biomass carbon concentrations in the surface soil (10 cm) of restored lands were close to that in abandoned depositional land and higher than that in natural forest land. There was no significant difference in soil organic carbon content among different topographic positions of the restored lands. Furthermore, the soil organic carbon stocks in the upper 60 cm soils of restored lands, which were varied between 50.08 and 62.21 Mg C ha -1 , were higher than 45.90 Mg C ha -1 in natural forest land. Our results indicated that the terracing and reforestation could greatly increase carbon sequestration and accumulation and decrease carbon loss induced by water erosion. And the combination measures can accelerate the restoration of degraded soils when compared to natural forest only. Forest species almost have no impact on the total amount of soil organic carbon during restoration processes, but can significantly influence the activity and stability of soil organic carbon. Combination measures which can provide suitable topography and continuous soil organic carbon supply could be considered in treating degraded soils caused by water erosion.

Abandoned Uranium Mine (AUM) Points, Navajo Nation, 2016, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains point features of all Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUMs) on or within one mile of the Navajo Nation. Points are centroids developed from the...

Adoption and Abandonment of Decision-Making Principles: Evidence from Cournot Experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jiao, Peiran; Nax, Heinrich

2017-01-01

We conducted a controlled laboratory experiment to understand how and what kind of information triggers adoption and abandonment of different decision-making principles in games. We consider three types of decision-making principles: best-response, payoff-based learning, and imitation. Our focus is

A WebGIS Decision Support System for Management of Abandoned Mines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ranka Stanković

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the development of a WebGIS application aimed at providing safe and reliable data needed for reclamation of abandoned mines in national parks and other protected areas in Vojvodina in compliance with existing legal regulations. The geodatabase model for this application has been developed using UML and the CASE tool Microsoft Visio featuring an interface with ArcGIS. The WebGIS application was developed using GeoServer, an open source tool in the Java programming language, with integrated PostgreSQL DB and the possibility of generating and publishing WMS, WFS and KML services. The WebGIS application is publicly available, based on an appropriate central database, which for the first time encompasses all available data on abandoned mines in Vojvodina, and as such may serve as a model for similar databases on the territory of the Republic of Serbia.

Chemical weathering of a marine terrace chronosequence, Santa Cruz, California I: Interpreting rates and controls based on soil concentration-depth profiles

Science.gov (United States)

White, A.F.; Schulz, M.S.; Vivit, D.V.; Blum, A.E.; Stonestrom, David A.; Anderson, S.P.

2008-01-01

The spatial and temporal changes in element and mineral concentrations in regolith profiles in a chronosequence developed on marine terraces along coastal California are interpreted in terms of chemical weathering rates and processes. In regoliths up to 15 m deep and 226 kyrs old, quartz-normalized mass transfer coefficients indicate non-stoichiometric preferential release of Sr > Ca > Na from plagioclase along with lesser amounts of K, Rb and Ba derived from K-feldspar. Smectite weathering results in the loss of Mg and concurrent incorporation of Al and Fe into secondary kaolinite and Fe-oxides in shallow argillic horizons. Elemental losses from weathering of the Santa Cruz terraces fall within the range of those for other marine terraces along the Pacific Coast of North America. Residual amounts of plagioclase and K-feldspar decrease with terrace depth and increasing age. The gradient of the weathering profile bs is defined by the ratio of the weathering rate, R to the velocity at which the profile penetrates into the protolith. A spreadsheet calculator further refines profile geometries, demonstrating that the non-linear regions at low residual feldspar concentrations at shallow depth are dominated by exponential changes in mineral surface-to-volume ratios and at high residual feldspar concentrations, at greater depth, by the approach to thermodynamic saturation. These parameters are of secondary importance to the fluid flux qh, which in thermodynamically saturated pore water, controls the weathering velocity and mineral losses from the profiles. Long-term fluid fluxes required to reproduce the feldspar weathering profiles are in agreement with contemporary values based on solute Cl balances (qh = 0.025-0.17 m yr-1). During saturation-controlled and solute-limited weathering, the greater loss of plagioclase relative to K-feldspar is dependent on the large difference in their respective solubilities instead of the small difference between their respective

Fish scale terrace GaInN/GaN light-emitting diodes with enhanced light extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Stark, Christoph J. M.; Detchprohm, Theeradetch; Zhao, Liang; Paskova, Tanya; Preble, Edward A.; Wetzel, Christian

2012-12-01

Non-planar GaInN/GaN light-emitting diodes were epitaxially grown to exhibit steps for enhanced light emission. By means of a large off-cut of the epitaxial growth plane from the c-plane (0.06° to 2.24°), surface morphologies of steps and inclined terraces that resemble fish scale patterns could controllably be achieved. These patterns penetrate the active region without deteriorating the electrical device performance. We find conditions leading to a large increase in light-output power over the virtually on-axis device and over planar sapphire references. The process is found suitable to enhance light extraction even without post-growth processing.

En torno a la singularidad de Sewell (Chile. / Around the singularity of Sewell (Chile.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gómez L., Luis.

2003-06-01

Full Text Available La imagen de Sewell, campamento residencial-industrial de montaña, con una organización espacial escalonada en el cerro, en un territorio reducido que fue densamente poblado, y con una tipología arquitectónica resuelta en altura, de gran homogeneidad, entrelazando industria con vivienda, da una imagen particular e irrepetible de un asentamiento de excepcional valor sobre el cual hoy se tiene conciencia por lo que se promueve como un Sitio del Patrimonio Mundial UNESCO./Sewell was a residential-industrial settlement in the mountains organized in terraces on a hillside in a very reduced site. Sewell achieved high densities due to the several storied buildings, which mixed housing and industry harmoniously. The unique image of this settlement is very valuable and that is why it is being presented to be in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Economic incentives for abandoning or expanding gum arabic production in Sudan

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rahim, A.; Ierland, van E.C.; Wesseler, J.H.H.

2007-01-01

In this paper we use a real options approach to analyze farmers' economic incentives to abandon gum production or expand by creating new plantations. Our results indicate that agricultural crops currently provide higher economic benefits as compared to gum agroforestry. However, we show that the

Choosing a miracle: Impoverishment, mistrust, and discordant views in abandonment of treatment of children with cancer in El Salvador

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rossell, Nuria; Challinor, Julia; Gigengack, Roy; Reis, Ria

2017-01-01

Objective: In El Salvador, at the only hospital offering pediatric oncology care, the number of children abandoning treatment for cancer has decreased in recent years (13%-3%). An investigation of caregivers' motives for abandonment was performed over 15 months from 2012 to 2014. Caregiver and

Choosing a miracle: Impoverishment, Mistrust, and Discordant Views in Abandonment of Treatment of Children with Cancer in El Salvador

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rossell, N.; Chalinor, J.; Gigengack, R.; Reis, R.

Objective In El Salvador, at the only hospital offering pediatric oncology care, the number of children abandoning treatment for cancer has decreased in recent years (13%‐3%). An investigation of caregivers' motives for abandonment was performed over 15 months from 2012 to 2014. Caregiver and health

A multiple dating approach (luminescence and electron spin resonance) to assess rates of crustal deformation using Quaternary fluvial terraces of the lower Moulouya River (NE Morocco)

Science.gov (United States)

Bartz, Melanie; Rixhon, Gilles; Duval, Mathieu; King, Georgina; Brückner, Helmut

2017-04-01

The Moulouya River, the largest catchment in Morocco, drains an area characterized by active crustal deformation during the Late Cenozoic due to the convergence between the African and Eurasian plates. Our study focuses on the lowermost reach of the river in NE Morocco, where a thrust zone associated with N-S compressive shortening in this region was identified (Barcos et al., 2014; Rixhon et al., 2017). New geomorphological results demonstrate contrasting fluvial environments on each side of the thrust: long-lasting fluvial aggradation, materialized by >37 m-thick stacked fill terraces, and the development of a well-preserved terrace staircase, with three Pleistocene terrace levels, occurred in the footwall and the hanging wall, respectively (Rixhon et al., 2017). Here, we present a preliminary geochronological background for these contrasting terrace systems based on a multiple dating approach. Samples for (i) luminescence (pIRIR225 and pIRIR290 dating of coarse-grained K-feldspars) and (ii) electron spin resonance (ESR dating of coarse-grained quartz) from four different profiles were collected. (i) Due to the application of the athermal detrapping model by Huntley (2006) (modified after Kars et al., 2008), it appears that the feldspar signals are in sample specific field saturation. Our results yielded minimum ages of 0.9 Ma and 0.7 Ma for the footwall and hanging wall, respectively. (ii) Using the multiple centre approach with ESR dating (Duval et al., 2015), we measured both the aluminium (Al) and the titanium (Ti) centres in order to evaluate whether they would provide consistent results. Results indicate that De values of the Al centre are either slightly higher compared to those of the Ti centre or they agree within a 1σ-error range, which may simply be due to the slower bleaching kinetics of the Al centre. Thus, the ESR ages were inferred from the Ti centre. Ages between 1.35±0.10 and 1.17±0.10 Ma in the footwall show sediment aggradation between MIS

Use of a geomorphological transfer function to model design floods in small hillside catchments in semiarid Tunisia

Science.gov (United States)

Nasri, S.; Cudennec, C.; Albergel, J.; Berndtsson, R.

2004-02-01

In the beginning of the 1990s, the Tunisian Ministry of Agriculture launched an ambitious program for constructing small hillside reservoirs in the northern and central region of the country. At present, more than 720 reservoirs have been created. They consist of small compacted earth dams supplied with a horizontal overflow weir. Due to lack of hydrological data and the area's extreme floods, however, it is very difficult to design the overflow weirs. Also, catchments are very sensitive to erosion and the reservoirs are rapidly silted up. Consequently, prediction of flood volumes for important rainfall events becomes crucial. Few hydrological observations, however, exist for the catchment areas. For this purpose a geomorphological model methodology is presented to predict shape and volume of hydrographs for important floods. This model is built around a production function that defines the net storm rainfall (portion of rainfall during a storm which reaches a stream channel as direct runoff) from the total rainfall (observed rainfall in the catchment) and a transfer function based on the most complete possible definition of the surface drainage system. Observed rainfall during 5-min time steps was used in the model. The model runoff generation is based on surface drainage characteristics which can be easily extracted from maps. The model was applied to two representative experimental catchments in central Tunisia. The conceptual rainfall-runoff model based on surface topography and drainage network was seen to reproduce observed runoff satisfactory. The calibrated model was used to estimate runoff from 5, 10, 20, and 50 year rainfall return periods regarding runoff volume, maximum runoff, as well as the general shape of the runoff hydrograph. Practical conclusions to design hill reservoirs and to extrapolate results using this model methodology for ungauged small catchments in semiarid Tunisia are made.

Carbohydrates and thermal analysis reflects changes in soil organic matter stability after forest expansion on abandoned grassland

Science.gov (United States)

Guidi, Claudia; Vesterdal, Lars; Cannella, David; Leifeld, Jens; Gianelle, Damiano; Rodeghiero, Mirco

2014-05-01

Grassland abandonment, followed by progressive forest expansion, is the dominant land-use change in the Southern Alps, Europe. Land-use change can affect not only the amount of organic matter (OM) in soil but also its composition and stability. Our objective was to investigate changes in organic matter properties after forest expansion on abandoned grasslands, combining analysis of carbohydrates, indicative of labile OM compounds with prevalent plant or microbial origin, with thermal analysis. Thermal analysis was used as a rapid assessment method for the characterization of SOM stability. A land-use gradient was investigated in four land-use types in the subalpine area of Trentino region, Italy: i) managed grassland, mown and fertilized for the past 100 years; ii) grassland abandoned since 10 years, with sparse shrubs and Picea abies saplings; iii) early-stage forest, dominated by P. abies and established on a grassland abandoned around 1970; iv) old forest, dominated by Fagus sylvatica and P. abies. Mineral soil was sampled at three subplots in each land use type with eight soil cores, which were subsequently pooled by depth (0-5 cm, 5-10 cm, 10-20 cm). Sugars were extracted from bulk soil samples through acid hydrolysis with H2SO4 (0.5 M). The analytical composition of sugar monomers was performed with HPAEC technology (Dionex ICS5000), equipped with PAD-detection. Thermal stability was assessed with a differential scanning calorimeter DSC100, heating soil samples up to 600°C at a heating rate of 10°C min-1 in synthetic air. Peak height (W g OC-1) of 1st DSC exotherm, dominated by burning of labile OM compounds, was used as thermal stability index. In the abandoned grassland, carbohydrates compounds accounted for a greater proportion of soil OC than in other land use types. Microbially derived sugars, as rhamnose and galactose, were more abundant in managed and abandoned grasslands compared with early-stage and old forest. The amount of thermally labile sugars

Reopening abandoned forest roads in northern Idaho, USA: Quantification of runoff, sediment concentration, infiltration, and interrill erosion parameters

Science.gov (United States)

R. B. Foltz; N. S. Copeland; W. J. Elliot

2009-01-01

This study measured runoff and sediment concentration from the tire track and from the non-tire track to determine infiltration, interrill erodibility, and vegetative cover impacts of reopening an abandoned forest road. Runoff was lowest on the non-track portion of the abandoned road and highest on the reopened road. Sediment concentrations were significantly higher on...

Virginia big-eared bats (Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus) roosting in abandoned coal mines in West Virginia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Johnson, J.B.; Edwards, J.W.; Wood, P.B. [West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV (US). Wildlife & Fisheries Resources Programme

2005-07-01

We surveyed bats at 36 abandoned coal mines during summer 2002 and 47 mines during fall 2002 at New River Gorge National River and Gauley River National Recreation Area, WV. During summer, we captured three federally endangered Virginia big-eared bats at two mine entrances, and 25 were captured at 12 mine entrances during fall. These represent the first documented captures of this species at coal mines in West Virginia. Future survey efforts conducted throughout the range of the Virginia big-eared bat should include abandoned coal mines.

Abandoned Uranium Mine (AUM) Region Polygons, Navajo Nation, 2016, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains polygon features representing the boundaries of the six Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUM) Regions, including the: Central, Eastern, Northern,...

Guidelines for the abandonment operations in the petroleum and gas industry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bedoya V, Julio Cesar; Zapata S, Carmen Elena

2003-01-01

Decommission operations, in the hydrocarbons sector, are essential to maintain a clean environment. We propose a guidelines to provide a methodology to standardize the decommission procedures establishing a logical structure in the operations. It shows the generations of possible decommission alternatives. They are picked up in three types, abandonment that is to leave the infrastructure in the place, dismantlement that is the total dismounts of the pieces that compose it, reutilization that will be the new use that will be given to the things. Finally, through an appropriate environmental management, to select the best decommission alternatives that mitigate the impacts and the generation of environmental passives. A project can be presented the abandonment, the reutilization and the dismantlement simultaneously. Also, there are forms to organize and to evaluate the process of decommission. The interdisciplinary work has great importance in this process, as well as an appropriate social management with the affected communities

The greener, the happier? The effects of urban green and abandoned areas on residential well-being

OpenAIRE

Krekel, Christian; Kolbe, Jens; Wüstemann, Henry

2015-01-01

This paper investigates the effects of urban green and abandoned areas on residential well-being in major German cities, using panel data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) for the time period between 2000 and 2012 and cross-section data from the European Urban Atlas (EUA) for the year 2006. Using a Geographical Information System (GIS), it calculates the distance to urban green and abandoned areas, measured as the Euclidean distance in 100 metres between households and the border of...

LiDAR derived high resolution topography: the next challenge for the analysis of terraces stability and vineyard soil erosion

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Federico Preti

2013-09-01

Full Text Available The soil erosion in the vineyards is a critical issue that could affect their productivity, but also, when the cultivation is organized in terraces, increase the risk due to derived slope failure processes. If terraces are not correctly designed or maintained, a progressively increasing of gully erosion affects the structure of the walls. The results of this process is the increasing of connectivity and runoff. In order to overcome such issues it is really important to recognize in detail all the surface drainage paths, thus providing a basis upon which develop a suitable drainage system or provide structural measures for the soil erosion risk mitigation. In the last few years, the airborne LiDAR technology led to a dramatic increase in terrain information. Airborne LiDAR and Terrestrial Laser Scanner derived high-resolution Digital Terrain Models (DTMs have opened avenues for hydrologic and geomorphologic studies (Tarolli et al., 2009. In general, all the main surface process signatures are correctly recognized using a DTM with cell sizes of 1 m. However sub-meter grid sizes may be more suitable in those situations where the analysis of micro topography related to micro changes is critical for slope failures risk assessment or for the design of detailed drainage flow paths. The Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS has been proven to be an useful tool for such detailed field survey. In this work, we test the effectiveness of high resolution topography derived by airborne LiDAR and TLS for the recognition of areas subject to soil erosion risk in a typical terraced vineyard landscape of “Chianti Classico” (Tuscany, Italy. The algorithm proposed by Tarolli et al. (2013, for the automatic recognition of anthropic feature induced flow direction changes, has been tested. The results underline the effectiveness of LiDAR and TLS data in the analysis of soil erosion signatures in vineyards, and indicate the high resolution topography as a useful tool to

High School Renewal in South Carolina: An Angry Response to Abandonment.

Science.gov (United States)

Hicks, Anna T.; Anderson, Lorin W.

1998-01-01

Feeling angry and abandoned over losing a cooperative training center, South Carolina high school educators began a series of "what next?" conversations. Following two information-sharing conferences, 17 high schools and the University of South Carolina formed a school-university partnership called the South Carolina High School Renewal…

Should I stay or should I go? Hormonal control of nest abandonment in a long-lived bird, the Adélie penguin.

Science.gov (United States)

Spée, Marion; Beaulieu, Michaël; Dervaux, Antoine; Chastel, Olivier; Le Maho, Yvon; Raclot, Thierry

2010-11-01

According to life-history theory, long-lived birds should favor their survival over the current reproductive attempt, when breeding becomes too costly. In seabirds, incubation is often associated with spontaneous long-term fasting. Below a threshold in body reserves, hormonal and metabolic shift characteristics of a switch from lipid to protein utilization (phase III, PIII) occur. These metabolic changes are paralleled by nest abandonment and stimulation of refeeding behavior. Parental behavior is then under control of two hormones with opposite effects: corticosterone (CORT) and prolactin which stimulate foraging and incubation behavior, respectively. The aim of this study was to determine the respective role of these two hormones in nest abandonment by Adélie penguins. To this end, plasma hormone levels were measured before egg-laying and at departure from the colony (i.e. when birds were relieved by their partner or abandoned their nest), and related to nutritional state and incubation success. We found that males abandoning their nest in PIII presented high CORT levels and low prolactin levels. Interestingly, males which presented high plasma levels of prolactin in PIII did not abandon. We show that although CORT is the first hormone to be affected by prolonged energy constraints, the combined effects of high CORT and low prolactin levels are necessary for parents to favor self-maintenance and abandon the nest. We provide insights into time-course changes of the endocrine profile as PIII proceeds and report that reaching proteolytic late fasting is not sufficient to induce nest abandonment in a long-lived bird. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of cancer support groups on childhood cancer treatment and abandonment in a private pediatric oncology centre

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arathi Srinivasan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Aims: To analyze the impact of two cancer support groups in the treatment and abandonment of childhood cancer. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective review of children with cancer funded and non-funded who were treated at Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital from 2010 to 2013. A total of 100 patients were funded, 57 by Ray of Light Foundation and 43 by Pediatric Lymphoma Project and 70 non-funded. Results: The total current survival of 80%, including those who have completed treatment and those currently undergoing treatment, is comparable in both the groups. Abandonment of treatment after initiating therapy was not seen in the financially supported group whereas abandonment of treatment after initiation was seen in one child in the non-funded group. Conclusions: Besides intensive treatment with good supportive care, financial support also has an important impact on compliance and abandonment in all socioeconomic strata of society. Financial support from private cancer support groups also has its impact beyond the patient and family, in reducing the burden on government institutions by non-governmental funding in private sector. Improvement in the delivery of pediatric oncology care in developing countries could be done by financial support from the private sector.

Abandoned Uranium Mine (AUM) Surface Areas, Navajo Nation, 2016, US EPA Region 9

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This GIS dataset contains polygon features that represent all Abandoned Uranium Mines (AUMs) on or within one mile of the Navajo Nation. Attributes include mine...

Proceedings: An international workshop on offshore lease abandonment and platform disposal: Technology, regulation, and environmental effects

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pulsipher, A. [ed.] [Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge, LA (United States). Center for Energy Studies

1997-03-01

This Proceedings volume includes papers prepared for an international workshop on lease abandonment and offshore platform disposal. The workshop was held April 15, 16, and 17, 1996, in New Orleans, Louisiana. Included in the volume are several plenary speeches and issue papers. prepared by six working groups, who discussed: Abandoning Wells; Abandoning Pipelines; Removing Facilities; Site Clearance; Habitat Management, Maintenance, and Planning; and Regulation and Policy. Also included are an introduction, an afterword (reprinted with the permission of its author, John Lohrenz), and, as Appendix C, the complete report of the National Research Council Marine Boards An Assessment of Techniques for Removing Fixed Offshore Structures, around which much of the discussion at the workshop was organized. Short biographies of many speakers, organizers, and chairpersons are included as Appendix A. Appendix B is a list of conference participants. Selected papers have been processes separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology database.

Abandonment of antiretroviral therapy among HIV-positive patients attended at the reference center for HIV/AIDS in Vitória, Brazil.

Science.gov (United States)

Zago, Adriana Marchon; Morelato, Paola; Endringer, Emmanuele de Angeli; Dan, Germano de Freitas; Ribeiro, Evanira Mendes; Miranda, Angelica Espinosa

2012-01-01

This study evaluates the risk factors for the abandonment of antiretroviral therapy (ART) among patients receiving care in an AIDS clinic in Vitória, Brazil. We conducted a case-control study of patients with AIDS attending a reference center for sexually transmitted disease (STD)/AIDS. A total of 62 patients, who abandoned therapy in 2008, and 188 HIV-infected patients answered an interview including demographic, social, and clinical characteristics. Risk factors associated with abandon in univariate analysis were entered into logistic regression models. A total of 250 patients were included in the study. Groups were similar regarding age, gender, and monthly income. In the final multivariate model, illicit drug use (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.3; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.03-5.07), previous abandon of medication (AOR 38.6; 95% CI 10.49-142.25), last CD4 count <200 cells/mm(3) (AOR 1.5; 95% CI 1.03-2.10), and viral load higher than 1000 copies/mL (AOR 2.0 (95% CI 1.34-3.09) were independent predictors of abandonment of ART. In addition to the clinical indicators, behavioral factors remained important throughout the multivariate analysis in our study.

Reclamation planning for abandoned mining subsidence lands in eastern China: a case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hu, Z.; Gu, H.

1995-01-01

China has a long history of coal mining and more than 96% of coal output is taken from underground mines each year. With the excavation of coal from underground, severe subsidence often results, which produces many subsidence lands. This paper explores the principle and methods of reclamation planning for abandoned mining subsidence lands and presents a case study in eastern China. A 373 ha of abandoned mining subsidence land in Anhui province was selected as an experiment site. Since China is a developing country and land shortage is severe in this area, the high economic benefits from the reclaimed land was the final reclamation goal. Based on the topography of subsidence lands, some parts of the abandoned lands were lands or lake-like troughs, restoring farmlands and fishponds were chosen as post-reclamation land uses. The elevation of reclaimed lands was the key for restoring farmland successfully because of the high underground water level in this area, and the optimum fishpond size and side-slope design were the keys to reach high reclamation income. The HDP (Hydraulic Dredge Pump) reclamation technique was used for restoring farmland and creating fishpond. A farming and aquaculture plan for high economic benefits was also designed. This project will make farmers, who own the lands, richer through reclamation. 3 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

The development of the strategy and plan for the decommissioning and abandonment of 36'' offshore oil export pipelines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Matthews, Richard J. [PIMS of London Ltd, London, (United Kingdom); Galvez Reyes, Marco Antonio [PEMEX Refinacion, Veracruz, (Mexico)

2010-07-01

The decommissioning and abandonment of platforms and pipelines are big challenges for the pipeline industry. This paper presents a review of the decommissioning and abandonment processes based on a study case, the Rabon Grande pipeline system. First, the applicable international codes, standards and regulations associated with the decommissioning of pipelines are discussed. Next, this paper presents a review of the decommissioning and abandonment options and considerations available for the study case. The Rabon Grande pipeline system, which was shut down and isolated in 1990 pending decommissioning, is used as an example of applying decommissioning and abandonment best practice and establishing a realistic scope of work. A decommissioning plan is developed in light of these previous studies, followed by an environmental impact assessment. It is found that contrary to what was done in the case of the Rabon Grande pipeline, when a pipeline is to be shutdown, the best practice methodology is to temporally or fully decommission the system as soon as possible.