Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The landscape of Titan as witness to its climate evolution

We investigated the range of Titan climate evolution hypotheses regulated by the role, sources, and availability of methane. We analyzed all available image data (principally synthetic aperture radar (SAR)) of Titan's landscape through the T‐86 encounter, starting with focused examinations of terrains that carry the markers of climate evolution. Traditional geologic and geomorphic landscape analysis was used to perform morphometric characterization, establish time‐stratigraphic relationships, and interpret local and regional geologic process‐oriented evolutionary histories. We then assayed the distribution of terrains we identified with respect to both their latitudinal and altimetric occurrence. Our analysis of the terrain types and distributions was used to evaluate and rank the various climate evolution scenarios. We favor progressive hypotheses, which include a relatively brief period in which precipitation was able to affect geomorphic change in low latitudes at scales perceivable in SAR data, with subsequent gradual decline of precipitation intensity coupled with an increasing poleward restriction.
Non-climate influences on stable isotopes at Taylor Mouth, Antarctica

Abstract The late-Holocene trends in δ18O differ significantly in two ice cores (30 km apart) from the area of Taylor Dome, Antarctica. It is unlikely that the trend in the core from Taylor Mouth (the flank site) is due to a standard δ18O–surface temperature relationship. Assuming that the Taylor Dome (nearsummit) core records local climate variations common to both cores, we assess two leading possible causes for the observed differences: (1) Relative to Taylor Dome, Taylor Mouth may collect snow from more sources with distinct isotopic compositions. (2) Vapor motion during prolonged near-surface exposure may cause post-depositional isotope enrichment at Taylor Mouth, where the accumulation rate is low. Our model of firn pore-space vapor and sublimating ice grains suggests that post-depositional processes can modify δ18O values by several ‰. Isotopic samples from areas with significantly different accumulation rates near Taylor Mouth could differentiate between possibilities (1) and (2).
Load-Settlement Response of Rectangular and Circular Piles in Multilayered Soil

Traditionally, analyses developed for circular piles have also been used for rectangular piles by replacing in calculations the rectangular pile with a circular pile of equivalent area. In this paper, we present a settlement analysis that applies to piles with either rectangular or circular cross sections installed in multilayered soil deposits. The analysis follows from the solution of the differential equations governing the displacements of the pile-soil system obtained using variational principles. The input parameters needed for the analysis are the pile geometry and the elastic constants of the soil and pile. Pile displacements and vertical soil displacements calculated using this analysis match well those from finite-element analysis. A parametric study highlights some important insights for rectangular and circular piles in multilayered soil. A user-friendly spreadsheet program (ALPAXL) was developed to facilitate the use of the analysis. Examples illustrate the use of the analysis in design.
40Ar‐39Ar and cosmic‐ray exposure ages of nakhlites—Nakhla, Lafayette, Governador Valadares—and Chassigny

Abstract– We present 40Ar‐39Ar dating results of handpicked mineral separates and whole‐rock samples of Nakhla, Lafayette, and Chassigny. Our data on Nakhla and Lafayette and recently reported ages for some nakhlites and Chassigny ( Misawa et al. 2006 ; Park et al. 2009 ) point to formation ages of approximately 1.4 Ga rather than 1.3 Ga that is consistent with previous suggestions of close‐in‐time formation of nakhlites and Chassigny. In Lafayette mesostasis, we detected a secondary degassing event at approximately 1.1 Ga, which is not related to iddingsite formation. It may have been caused by a medium‐grade thermal event resetting the mesostasis age but not influencing the K‐Ar system of magmatic inclusions and the original igneous texture of this rock. Cosmic‐ray exposure ages for these meteorites and for Governador Valadares were calculated from bulk rock concentrations of cosmogenic nuclides 3He, 21Ne, and 38Ar. Individual results are similar to literature data. The considerable scatter of T3, T21, and T38 ages is due to systematic uncertainties related to bulk rock and target element chemistry, production rates, and shielding effects. This hampers efforts to better constrain the hypothesis of a single ejection event for all nakhlites and Chassigny from a confined Martian surface terrain ( Eugster 2003 ; Garrison and Bogard 2005 ). Cosmic‐ray exposure ages from stepwise release age spectra using 38Ar and neutron induced 37Ar from Ca in irradiated samples can eliminate errors induced by bulk chemistry on production rates, although not from shielding conditions.
Satellite wind resource mapping: state-of-the-art on method and results

Offshore wind resource maps based on satellite images are calculated and presented for the Danish Seas. One type of satellite data are included in the study. It is Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR) Wide-Swath-Mode (WSM) images from the European Space Agency (ESA). The purpose of the work is to provide wind resource maps useful for feasibility studies in offshore regions. The wind resource maps are of potential interest for screening the offshore wind energy potential in larger areas in the initial phase as well as for local siting of meteorological masts in the planning phase. Wind maps from Envisat are retrieved using the John Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory method. Each wind map is first calibrated. Then the wind direction is taken from the NOGAPS atmospheric model and used as input to the CMOD-4 geophysical model function. The outputs are maps of wind speed and wind direction. This information is then analysed in the RWT software at Riso, and the wind statistical outputs include maps of mean wind speed, Weibull scale and shape parameters (A and k), energy density and the statistical uncertainties. Also wind roses and WASP tab-files for further analysis are produced. Examples of mean wind speed maps from Envisat for the Danish Seas are presented and discussed. The major finding is significant spatial gradients in mean wind speed in the Danish Seas.
Lateglacial and Holocene environmental changes in Portuguese coastal lagoons 2: microfossil multiproxy reconstruction of the Santo André coastal area

Benthic foraminiferal, ostracod, calcareous nannoplankton and diatom assemblages have been analysed from the 25.45 sedimentary succession of a borehole drilled in the Santo André lagoon (southwestern Portugal). The zones and subzones recognized according to their microfossil content have been used to define six palaeoenvironmental stages extending from the Lateglacial to the present. Stage A and the lower part of stage B (14.2 to 10.0 ka) represent a postglacial terrestrial environment when sea level was below present. Following eustatic sea-level rise, a normal marine, open-bay environment established during the upper part of stage B (10.0 to 5.4 ka). Before 5.4 ka, a coastal lagoon developed as a consequence of a sandy barrier formation. Since then, natural variation in the permeability of the detrital barrier through time has been the primary control of the physical, chemical and biological features of the lagoonal environment: during stage C (5.4 to 3.6 ka) as a freshwater-dominated lagoon, stage D (3.6 to 1.6 ka) as a brackish lagoonal environment, and stage E (1.6 to 0.5 ka) as a return to a freshwater-dominated lagoon. Finally, in the last 400 years (stage F), human intervention on the sandy barrier (artificial open- and closed-inlet conditions) has provoked rapid and dramatic environmental changes in Santo André.
A Trophic Model of a Sandy Barrier Lagoon at Chiku in Southwestern Taiwan

Abstract Using the ECOPATH 3.0 software system, a balanced trophic model of a sandy barrier lagoon with intensive fishery activities at Chiku in tropical Taiwan was constructed. The lagoon model comprised 13 compartments. Trophic levels of the compartments varied from 1·0 for primary producers and detritus to 3·6 for piscivorous fish. Hanging-cultured oysters accounted for 39% of the harvestable fishery biomass and were the most important fishery species. The most prominent group in terms of biomass and energy flow in the lagoon was herbivorous zooplankton. Manipulations of the biomass of herbivorous zooplankton would have a marked impact on most compartments. Both total system throughput and fishery yield per unit area were high when compared to other reported marine ecosystems. This appears mainly due to high planktonic primary production, which is probably promoted by enriched river discharges draining mangroves and aquaculture ponds. Consequently, more than half of the total system throughput originates from primary producers in the lagoon. Although half of the primary production was not immediately used by upper trophic levels and flowed into the detrital pool, most of the detritus was directly consumed, passed up the food web and was exported to the fishery. Thus only a small proportion of energy was recycled through detritus pathways. This mechanism produces short pathways with high trophic efficiencies at higher trophic levels. The high fishery yield in the lagoon is due to high primary production and short pathways. This is the first model of a tropical sandy barrier lagoon with intensive fishery activities and thus may serve as a basis for future comparisons and ecosystem management.
A Prospective Cohort Study of Medical Decision-Making Roles and Their Associations with Patient Characteristics and Patient-Reported Outcomes among Patients with Heart Failure

Objective Among patients with heart failure (HF), we examined 1) the evolution of patient involvement in decision making over 2 y, 2) the association of patient characteristics with decision-making roles, and 3) the association of decision-making roles with distress, spiritual well-being, and quality of physician communication. Methods We administered the survey every 4 mo over 24 mo to patients with New York Heart Association class 3/4 symptoms recruited from inpatient clinics. The decision-making roles were categorized as no patient involvement, physician/family-led, joint (with family and/or physicians), patient-led, or patient-alone decision making. The associations between patient characteristics and decision-making roles were assessed using a mixed-effects ordered logistic regression, whereas those between patient outcomes and decision-making roles were investigated using mixed-effects linear regressions. Results Of the 557 patients invited, 251 participated in the study. The most common roles in decision making at baseline assessment were “no involvement” (27.53%) and “patient-alone decision making” (25.10%). The proportions of different decision-making roles did not change over 2 y (P = 0.37). Older age (odds ratio [OR] = 0.97; P = 0.003) and being married (OR = 0.63; P = 0.035) were associated with lower involvement in decision making. Chinese ethnicity (OR = 1.91; P = 0.003), higher education (OR = 1.87; P = 0.003), awareness of terminal condition (OR = 2.00; P < 0.001), and adequate self-care confidence (OR = 1.74; P < 0.001) were associated with greater involvement. Compared with no patient involvement, joint (β = −0.58; P = 0.026) and patient-led (β = −0.59; P = 0.014) decision making were associated with lower distress, while family/physician-led (β = 4.37; P = 0.001), joint (β = 3.86; P < 0.001), patient-led (β = 3.46; P < 0.001), and patient-alone (β = 3.99; P < 0.001) decision making were associated with better spiritual well-being. Conclusion A substantial proportion of patients was not involved in decision making. Patients should be encouraged to participate in decision making since it is associated with lower distress and better spiritual well-being. Highlights The level of involvement in medical decision making did not change over time among patients with heart failure. A substantial proportion of patients were not involved in decision making throughout the 24-mo study period. Patients’ involvement in decision making varied by age, ethnicity, education level, marital status, awareness of the terminal condition, and confidence in self-care. Compared with no patient involvement in decision making, joint and patient-led decision making were associated with lower distress, and any level of patient involvement in decision making was associated with better spiritual well-being.
Performance of an Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) Treating High-Strength Food Industrial Wastewater with Fluctuating pH

As awareness of the variable nature of food industrial wastewater and its environmental impact grows, a more stable treatment reactor is needed to treat such wastewater. In this paper, a performance of 5-compartment lab-scale Anaerobic Baffled Reactor (ABR) treating high strength wastewater with high pH variation was studied under three organic loading rates (OLRs). The reactor showed high COD removal efficiencies: 92.67, 97.44, and 98.19% corresponding to OLRs of 2.0, 3.0, and 4.8 KgCOD/md, respectively. The first compartment showed a good buffering capacity and a distinct phase separation occurred in the ABR. Keywords—anaerobic baffled reactor, food industrial wastewater, high strength wastewater, organic loading , pH
Thermal evolution of Mercury as constrained by MESSENGER observations

Orbital observations of Mercury by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft provide new constraints on that planet's thermal and interior evolution. Specifically, MESSENGER observations have constrained the rate of radiogenic heat production via measurement of uranium, thorium, and potassium at the surface, and identified a range of surface compositions consistent with high‐temperature, high‐degree partial melts of the mantle. Additionally, MESSENGER data have placed new limits on the spatial and temporal variation in volcanic and tectonic activity and enabled determination that the planet's core is larger than previously estimated. Because Mercury's mantle layer is also thinner than previously thought, this result gives greater likelihood to the possibility that mantle convection is marginally supercritical or even that the mantle is not convecting. We simulate mantle convection and magma generation within Mercury's mantle under two‐dimensional axisymmetry and a broad range of conditions to understand the implications of MESSENGER observations for the thermal evolution of the planet. These models demonstrate that mantle convection can persist in such a thin mantle for a substantial portion of Mercury's history, and often to the present, as long as the mantle is thicker than ~300 km. We also find that magma generation in Mercury's convecting mantle is capable of producing widespread magmas by large‐degree partial melting, consistent with MESSENGER observations of the planet's surface chemistry and geology.
RESERVOIR SILTATION AND SEDIMENT YIELD IN THE KRUGER NATIONAL PARK, SOUTH AFRICA: A FIRST ASSESSMENT

Human‐induced soil erosion is a widespread phenomenon in South Africa, and soil erosion rates reported are among the highest in the world. In addition to human disturbance, unfavourable environmental conditions are mentioned to explain the situation. But data on ‘natural’ erosion from undisturbed sites are rare. This paper presents the first assessment of sediment yield as an integrate measure of erosion, deposition and sediment transport from five catchments located entirely within Kruger National Park (KNP). KNP has been spared from agricultural development for a century and represents a near to natural geo‐ecosystem in the semi‐arid savanna biome. Sediment yield estimates are based on a survey of post‐dam deposits in five reservoirs located in the south‐eastern part of KNP. Reservoir lifetime ranges from 40 to 60 years and the size of the catchments from 8 to 100 km2. The results show distinct relations of long‐term average sediment yield (SY) and area‐specific sediment yield (SSY) with catchment size. Despite the unfavourable semi‐arid environmental conditions, SY is comparatively low. SY varies from 130 ± 45 t y−1 for the 8 km2 catchment to 1130 ± 230 t y−1 for the 100 km2 catchment. SSY is 55 ± 15 t km−2 y−1 for catchments of 12 ± 3 km2 and 11 ± 2·4 t km−2 y−1 for the 100 km2 catchment. The latter finding suggests that decrease of SSY with increasing catchment size is not attributable to human disturbance only. However, further research is necessary to improve and enlarge the database and to verify first results and hypothetical conclusions. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Northland ophiolite, New Zealand, and implications for plate- tectonic evolution of the southwest Pacific

The Northland ophiolite and coeval ocean-floor sedimentary rock form the Northland allochthon obducted from the northeast onto New Zealand in the late Oligocene. The ophiolite was probably emplaced as a single sheet and separated into individual massifs during subse quent movement of the allochthon. Chemically, the bulk of the igneous rocks are normal mid-ocean-ridge basalts, but the ophiolite also includes a younger suite of hornblende modal within-plate alkalic rocks believed to represent seamounts. Two alternative models, one involving a subduction flip, the other involving continuous westward subduction, are proposed to account for the obduction of the upper part of the Northland ophiolite. The oceanic crust from which the ophiolite originated was formed simultaneously with Tasman Sea spreading on the western rim of a once much larger South Fiji plate assemblage.
Implementation of a multivariate data assimilation scheme for isopycnic coordinate ocean models: Application to a 1993–1996 hindcast of the North Atlantic Ocean circulation

[1] A 1993–1996 hindcast of the North Atlantic circulation is presented and analyzed. Multivariate satellite observations (sea surface height and sea surface temperature) are assimilated into an isopycnic coordinate ocean model (Miami Isopycnic Coordinate Ocean Model [MICOM]) using a reduced order Kalman filter (the SEEK filter). The objective is to validate the assimilation system in hindcast mode before running a near real-time exercise as part of the European DIADEM project. The analysis scheme is upgraded to make the statistical parameterization as realistic as possible, and this is shown to be particularly important as soon as a multivariate data set is used. Second, the paper describes the modifications to the SEEK filter that are necessary to meet the requirements of a layered model and to benefit from the advantages of the isopycnic coordinate. In particular, the need for an initialization procedure is explained, and this dynamical adjustment is shown to be more natural and robust in the context of the isopycnic coordinate. The hindcast experiment is validated by comparisons with observations, by studying innovation statistics, and by comparing the results with independent observations (expendable bathythermograph [XBT] profiles).
Financial Intermediation, Savings Mobilization, and Entrepreneurial Development: The African Experience

En este trabajo se trata de determinar hasta que punto ha progresado la intermediacion financiera con el crecimiento economico de una seleccion de paises africanos y si ha sido decisiva en el fomento del desarrollo. En el plano analitico se alega que si bien las politicas financieras agregativas pueden promover en el mejor de los casos la movilizacion de recursos a traves de la intermediacion financiera, pueden no ser instrumentos adecuados para garantizar la utilizacion optima de los recursos movilizados. Con ello no se trata de arguir en contra de la politica que aliente la intermediacion financiera en si sino mas bien de recalcar que tal politica debe complementarse con toda una gama de medidas encaminadas a minimizar tanto el riesgo como el costo de administracion de los prestamos otorgados a los nuevos empresarios. Una politica como esta supone el uso de un enfoque mas selectivo de asignacion de recursos que el que pueden ofrecer por si solas las instituciones financieras existentes. En el plano empirico, sobre la base de la experiencia de algunos paises africanos se deduce que si bien no se discierne en ellos ninguna relacion definida entre la intermediacion financiera y el crecimiento, no es posible detectar ninguna base logica firme para explicar este hecho, sean tecnicas fiscales alternativas o fugas del ahorro o imperfecciones del mercado las que inhiben la empresa productiva, aunque en las condiciones imperantes en Africa el ultimo elemento enumerado parece mas plausible que los demas. La falta de relacion positiva entre la intermediacion financiera y el crecimiento tal vez pueda explicarse en funcion del bajo nivel de intermediacion financiera en los paises africanos.
New classification system for mass transport complexes in offshore Trinidad

This paper delineates our use of 10 708 km2 of three‐dimensional (3D) seismic data from the continental margin of Trinidad and Tobago West Indies to describe a series of mass transport complexes (MTCs) that were deposited during the Plio‐Pleistocene. This area, situated along the obliquely converging boundary of the Caribbean/South American plates and proximal to the Orinoco Delta, is characterized by catastrophic shelf‐margin processes, intrusive/extrusive mobile shales and active tectonism. Extensive mapping of different stratigraphic intervals of the 3D seismic survey reveals several MTCs that range in area from 11.3 to 2017 km2. Three types of MTCs are identified: (1) shelf‐attached systems that were fed by shelf‐edge deltas whose sediment input is controlled by sea‐level fluctuations and sedimentation rates; (2) slope‐attached systems, which occur when upper‐slope sediments catastrophically fail owing to gas‐hydrate disruptions and/or earthquakes and (3) locally detached systems, formed when local instabilities in the seafloor trigger relatively small collapses. Such classification of the relationship between slope mass failures and sourcing regions enables a better understanding of the nature of initiation, length of development history and petrography of such MTCs. 3D seismic enables more accurate calculation of deposit volumes, improves deposit imaging, and, thus, increases the accuracy of physical and computer simulations of mass failure processes.