Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
The Blackwater Draw Formation (Quaternary): A 1-4-plus-m.y. record of eolian sedimentation and soil formation on the Southern High Plains

The Southern High Plains of northwestern Texas and eastern New Mexico are mantled by a vast (>100,000 km 2 ) sheet of Quaternary eolian sediment locally as much as 27 m thick and termed the "Blackwater Draw Formation. " These sediments generally fine from southwest to northeast, exhibiting a linear relationship of decreasing sand content and sand size and increasing silt content with increasing distance, indicating the source area to be the Pecos River valley. As many as six well-developed buried soils (2.5YR to 5YR hues, Bt horizons 1-2 m thick, Stage II-III calcic horizons), similar to the regional Paleustalf and Paleustoll surface soils, occur in the formation. The buried soils indicate episodic sedimentation separated by long periods of landscape stability. Eolian sedimentation probably occurred during prolonged aridity, and stability and pedogenesis likely obtained during subhumid to semiarid conditions, similar to those of the late Quaternary. The presence of the 0.62-m.y. Lava Creek B Ash and the 1.4-m.y. Guaje Ash in the formation shows that the deposit accumulated throughout most of the Quaternary. Data from paleomagnetic, thermoluminescence, and radiocarbon studies suggest that each cycle of sedimentation-stability lasted for several hundred thousand years and that the last depositional event occurred at least several tens of thousands of years ago.
THE BILTMORE MOUND AND HOPEWELLIAN MOUND USE IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

Abstract Biltmore Mound, located on the Swannanoa River in Asheville, North Carolina, was constructed over a Connestee phase habitation, the earliest evidence dating to about A.D. 300. Mound construction began sometime between A.D. 400 and 550, with the second to last mound stage constructed about A.D. 580–600. Because of the diverse contexts and the excellent preservation of faunal remains, we are able to provide some insights into Connestee ritualism at Biltmore Mound. The Biltmore Mound was a platform used to support large public structures for ritual and ceremonial activities. It was constructed of varying colored and textured soils from a variety of source areas that arguably had symbolic importance. The mound was primarily built out (rather than up) with several mantles that may have comprised a complete ritual cycle of mound construction.
Model ozone photochemistry on the basis of Solar Mesosphere Explorer mesospheric observations

Morning and afternoon mesospheric ozone profiles (50–90 km) measured by the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) satellite are analyzed with one-dimensional photochemical models. The observed ozone abundances are 40% and 100% greater than the model ozone abundances at 50 and 80 km, respectively, assuming standard chemistry and rate coefficients. A Monte Carlo analysis for model ozone abundances that includes uncertainties in kinetic rate coefficients indicates that the model-data disagreement exceeds 2 standard deviations. The majority of the disagreement must be due to errors in the rate of odd-hydrogen catalytic destruction of ozone, unless the rate coefficient for O + O2 + M → O3 + M is significantly (>50%) in error. Diurnal model calculations are compared with SME observations of ozone profiles at ∼0400 and 1400 LT for high northern summer latitudes. Analysis of the ratios of these early morning and midafternoon ozone profiles provides the additional constraint that larger odd-oxygen production rates are required if lower odd-hydrogen activity is invoked to increase model O3 abundances. The increase in odd-oxygen production must be solar zenith angle independent in the mesosphere, ruling out significant changes in the Schumann-Runge band O2 opacities from Allen and Frederick (1982). However, an increase in three-body formation of O3 is also consistent with the observed morning/afternoon ratios. Any of the above changes are consistent with an improvement in model ozone comparisons with stratospheric observations. Finally, we find evidence for diurnal variations in mesospheric ozone above 80-km altitude, which are likely related to diurnal variations in vertical transport.
Changes of Pacific decadal variability in the twentieth century driven by internal variability, greenhouse gases, and aerosols

This paper explores the contributions of internal variability, greenhouse gases (GHGs), and anthropogenic aerosols (AAs) in driving the magnitude and evolution of Pacific Decadal Variability (PDV) during the twentieth century by analyzing 129 Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 model realizations. Evidence shows that PDV phase transition is dominated by internal variability, but it is also significantly affected by external forcing agents such as GHGs and aerosols. The combined effects of GHGs and AAs favor the positive phase of PDV with stronger ocean warming in the tropics than the extratropical Pacific. The GHG forcing induces the increased surface downward longwave radiation, especially over the tropical Pacific, and results in stronger warming in that area. The AA forcing results in a stronger cooling in the North Pacific region, due to the reduced surface downward shortwave radiation via cloud‐aerosol interaction: this offsets the substantial warming caused by GHG forcing.
Impact of Land-Use Patterns on Chemical Properties of Trace Elements in Soils of Rural, Semi-Urban, and Urban Zones of the Niger Delta, Nigeria

The study of the concentrations of Cr, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Cu in soils under different land uses in rural, semi-urban, and urban zones in the Niger Delta was carried out with a view to providing information on the effects of the different land uses on the concentrations of trace elements in soils. Our results indicate significant variability in concentrations of these metals in soils under different land uses in rural, semi-urban, and urban zones. The maximum concentrations of metals in the examined soil samples were 707.5 mg.kg−1, 161.0 mg.kg−1, 2.6 mg.kg−1, 59.6 mg.kg−1, 1061.3 mg.kg−1, and 189.2 mg.kg−1 for Cr, Zn, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Cu, respectively. In the rural zone, the cassava processing mill is a potent source of Ni, Cr, Cu, and Zn while agricultural activities are a source of Cd, and automobile emissions and the use of lead oxide batteries constitute the major sources of Pb. In the urban zone, soils around the wood processing mill showed elevated concentrations of Cu, Cr, Zn, and Ni, while soils around automobile mechanic works and motor parks showed elevated levels of Pb. Elevated Cd concentrations were observed in soils under the following land uses: urban motor park, playground, welding and fabrication sheds, and metallic scrap dump. The contamination/pollution index of metals in the soil follows the order: Ni > Cd > Cr > Zn > Cu > Pb. The multiple pollution index of metals at different sites were greater than 1, indicating that these soils fit into “slight pollution” to “excessive pollution” ranges with significant contributions from Cr, Zn, Cd, Ni, and Cu.
On the spatial distribution of ocean bubbles

Clouds of bubbles generated by breaking waves were detected with a vertically directed high-frequency echo sounder mounted on a submarine. Bubble concentration was inferred from a simple model of the bubble size distribution. The vertical and horizontal distribution of clouds is discussed in terms of wave-breaking processes, air-sea temperature differences, and subsurface motions which are thought to modulate the bubble concentration. Mean vertical profiles of bubble concentration decreased roughly exponentially with depth, with e-folding depths between 0.7 m and 1.5 m. The mean bubble concentration at the surface, N–0, was found to increase with the wind speed measured at 10 m above the surface, U10, as N–0∼U103.0±0.3. Various upper ocean dynamical processes are discussed in terms of their effects on the shapes and spacing of bubble plumes. The observations provide only weak evidence to support relationships between plume spacing and surface wave-breaking events and between plume spacing and the expected scale of Langmuir circulation.
Statistics between mainshocks and foreshocks in Italy and Southern California

The most used and accepted models for daily forecasts are based on short‐term space and time earthquake clustering for occurrence rates and on the Gutenberg‐Richter law for the frequency‐magnitude. These models have been demonstrated to produce reliable prospective space‐time‐magnitude forecasts during an aftershock sequence, but their skill in forecasting mainshocks is still under discussion. This paper studies the foreshock statistics of the Italian and Californian seismicity in two ways: i) we compare the foreshock activity observed in real seismic catalogs and in synthetic catalogs derived from a pure Epidemic‐Type Aftershock Sequence (ETAS) model; ii) we analyze the triggering capability of earthquakes using different ETAS parameterizations, in order to check whether large events are triggered in the same way as regular earthquakes. The results indicate that the foreshock activity observed in the real catalogs is compatible with what is expected by the ETAS model. Moreover, we find that the empirical foreshock rates have an intrinsic variability due to limited sampling that may explain most of the differences found so far in different seismic catalogs.
Storm-time electric-field penetration observed at mid-latitude

During the height of the February 8-9, 1986, magnetic storm the Millstone Hill radar was in the evening local time sector (1600-2200 MLT). Radar observations indicate that high speed (>1,000 m s{sup {minus}1}) westward ion flow penetrated deeply below 50{degree} invariant latitude ({Lambda}) and persisted for 6 hours between 2100 UT on February 8 and 0300 UT on February 9. The double-peaked ion convection feature was pronounced throughout the period, and the separation in the dual maxima ranged from 4{degree} to 10{degree}. The latitude positions of the high-latitude ion drift peak and the convection reversal varied in unison. The low-latitude ion drift peak ({approximately}49{degree}{Lambda} or L =2.3) did not show significant universal time/magnetic local time (UT/MLT) variation in its latitude location but showed a decrease in magnitude during the initial recovery phase of the storm. Using simultaneous particle (30 eV-30 keV) precipitation data from the DMSP F6 and F7 satellites, the authors find the high-latitude ion drift peak to coincide with the boundary plasma sheet/central plasma sheet transition in the high ionospheric conductivity (>15 mho) region. The low-latitude ion drift peak lay between the equatorward edges of the electron and soft (< 1 keV) ion precipitation in the low conductivitymore » region ({approximately}1 mho). A comparison between the low-altitude observations and simultaneous ring current observations from the high-altitude AMPTE satellite further suggests that the low-altitude ion drift peak is closely related to the maximum of the O{sup +} dominated ring current energy density in magnetic latitude. The low-latitude ion drift peak is the low-altitude signature of the electric field shielding effect associated with ring current penetration into the outer layer of the storm time plasmasphere. « less
Sedimentology and Avulsion Patterns of the Anabranching Baghmati River in the Himalayan Foreland Basin, India

The Baghmati River, a foothills-fed system in the Himalayan foreland basin of north Bihar, has an anabranching mid-stream reach and floodplains that aggraded rapidly during the late Holocene. The river is characterized by variable discharge, frequent and widespread overbank flooding, and high sediment load. Changes in river course on a decadal time-scale have resulted in temporarily abandoned reaches that are periodically reoccupied. Chute and neck cutoffs, and crevasse splays are also prominent. Borehole logs show that the anabranching reach is underlain by sandy channel bodies up to 25 m thick, separated by mudstone units up to 30 m thick. Extrapolation of floodplain accumulation rates to the mudstones suggests that channels were stably positioned for thousands to tens of thousands of years, allowing thick muds to accumulate. Repeated reoccupation of pre-existing drainage lines may have promoted the creation of thick, narrow channel bodies. Stacked overbank deposits probably form the bulk of the floodplain sediments, but channels that avulse into floodplain lakes (tals) may generate associated avulsion deposits. The Baghmati River sediments are a modern analogue for the deposits of rapidly subsiding extensional and foreland basins in the ancient record. Spec. Publs int. Ass. Sediment. (2005), 35, 181–196
Nitrogen Fixation in Tropical Cropping Systems

Tropical environments - climates, soils and cropping systems nitrogen fixing organisms in the tropics nitrogen fixation process and its role in the tropics tropical crops and cropping systems - cereal crops and grasses, wetland rice, grain legumes, legumes as animal fodder, plantation crops, agroforestry optimizing contributions from nitrogen fixation - mixed farming systems, environmental constraints, past approaches, realizing potential benefits.
Strong landfall typhoons in Korea and Japan in a recent decade

[1] Long-term changes in tropical cyclones (TCs) that made landfall in Korea and Japan during the TC seasons (June–October) are examined for the period 1977–2008. The TC activity is characterized by four parameters: power dissipation index (PDI), TC-induced rainfall, number of landfall TCs, and TC duration. The analysis period is divided into 2 decades (1977–1988 and 1997–2008). The PDI and TC-induced rainfall increase significantly in the later decade. This enhancement in the TC activity is because of the increase in the number of landfall TCs and the longer duration of the TCs over the two countries. The increase in the number of landfall TCs is associated with the enhanced northward steering flows over the East China Sea. The longer TC duration is mainly due to the high intensity of the approaching TCs prior to landfall. The other factors (i.e., tracks, translational speeds, mean drift lengths, and weakening rates of TCs) could also affect the TC duration, but they are found to be not significant. The results of our study reveal that the recent intensification of TCs is attributable to the changes observed in the later decade in the large-scale environments in the vicinity of the two countries. These changes include warmer sea surface temperature, highly humid midtroposphere, and weaker vertical wind shear over the region. In addition, another responsible factor is the anomalous upward motion driven by the relocation of secondary circulation near the jet entrance, which is highly related with weaker upper tropospheric jet stream in the recent decade.
Environmental Regime Effectiveness: Confronting Theory with Evidence

This book examines why some international environmental regimes succeed while others fail. Confronting theory with evidence, and combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, it compares fourteen case studies of international regimes. It considers what effectiveness in a regime would look like, what factors might contribute to effectiveness, and how to measure the variables. It determines that environmental regimes actually do better than the collective model of the book predicts. The effective regimes examined involve the End of Dumping in the North Sea, Sea Dumping of Low-Level Radioactive Waste, Management of Tuna Fisheries in the Pacific, and the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol on Ozone Layer Depletion. Mixed-performance regimes include Land-Based Pollution Control in the North Sea, the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution, Satellite Telecommunication, and Management of High Seas Salmon in the North Pacific. Ineffective regimes are the Mediterranean Action Plan, Oil Pollution from Ships at Sea, International Trade in Endangered Species, the International Whaling Commission, and the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.
Nonlinear viscoelastic behavior of sedimentary rocks; Part II, Hysteresis effects and influence of type of fluid on elastic moduli

Uniaxial stress cycling experiments were conducted on dry, brine saturated and hexadecane saturated Berea sandstone samples to observe in detail the hysteresis in stress-strain diagrams and to understand the influence of different fluids on the strain amplitude dependence of elastic moduli and attenuation. Cycling experiments were also conducted with sandstone samples saturated with CTAB, a cationic surfactant that renders the mineral surfaces hydrophobic. Hexadecane and CTAB were selected so as to investigate the relative contributions of adhesion hysteresis and stick-slip sliding on attenuation in sedimentary granular rocks. Young's moduli and Poisson's ratios obtained from the cycling tests show a significant dependence on strain amplitude on dry as well as water and hexadecane saturated samples. Bow-tie-shaped diagrams are obtained when loading and unloading tangent moduli are plotted against strain. The type of fluid in the pore space and at the grain contacts has a large influence on the hysteresis observed in the stress-strain diagrams.
Landslide-triggering rainfall thresholds: a conceptual framework

Abstract Rainfall-triggered landslides pose a major threat to Central America and other landslide-prone regions. The development of new tools to understand and characterize landslide-triggering rainfall is a key aspect in the context of hazard assessment and risk mitigation strategies. The purpose of this study is to present a new conceptual framework in which a connection is established between rainfall thresholds and landslide susceptibility, and to suggest three potential applications of this framework: (1) an empirical estimation of the probability of landslide-triggering rainfall; (2) a threshold-based time-trend analysis of rainfall series; (3) a susceptibility-based early warning system. The applications are illustrated with cases and data from tropical climates, with particular emphasis on cases with climatological and geological settings comparable with those in Central America.
AMS 14C Dates for Extinct Lemurs from Caves in the Ankarana Massif, Northern Madagascar

Abstract An extensive late Quaternary fauna, including many extinct giant lemurs, has been collected recently in a 110+-km system of caves in the Ankarana Massif of northern Madagascar. AMS 14C dates for the acid-insoluble (collagen/gelatin) fraction of bones of the giant lemur Megaladapis (26,150 ± 400 and 12,760 ± 70 yr B.P.) confirm its presence in the area during the late Pleistocene and provide the first Pleistocene 14 C ages from bones of the extinct megafauna of the island. The first date from bones of the recently described extinct Babakotia radofilai (4400 ± 60 yr B.P.) shows that it was present in northern Madagascar in mid-Holocene times. A comparatively recent age of 1020 ± 50 yr B.P. for the extinct Archaeolemur indicates survival of this genus for at least a millennium after the first direct evidence for humans in Madagascar. This suggests that the island's "extinction window" may have represented a longer time span than would have been expected under the Blitzkrieg model of late Quaternary extinctions. A mid-Holocene age (4560 ± 70 yr B.P.) for a bone sample of the small extant lemur Hapalemur simus indicates that the disappearance of this now-restricted species from the Ankarana occurred after this date. New data from the Ankarana and other sites on the island add to the consensus that major biotic changes occurred on Madagascar in the late Holocene.
A study of dayside auroral bright spots seen by the Viking Auroral Imager

Instantaneous Viking optical images at UV Lyman-Birge-Hopfield wavelength are used to study the occurrence of dayside auroral bright spots versus the upstream solar wind parameters observed by the IMP 8 spacecraft. A survey study of 68 passes indicates that dayside auroral bright spots are most likely observed in the afternoon sector, most commonly have one to four spots simultaneously, and most commonly are separated by 0.25-0.75 MLT. They also occur most commonly with the following solar wind conditions: high speed (>500 km/s), low density, By < 0, and interplanetary magnetic field in the radial direction; but they have no dependence on Bz, Bx, or solar wind pressure. This suggests that dayside auroral bright spots are caused by alternating field-aligned current regions that map to plasma vortices formed in the magnetospheric boundary layer by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
Simulating the Potential Effects of Climate Change in Two Colorado Basins and at Two Colorado Ski Areas

AbstractThe mountainous areas of Colorado are used for tourism and recreation, and they provide water storage and supply for municipalities, industries, and agriculture. Recent studies suggest that water supply and tourist industries such as skiing are at risk from climate change. In this study, a distributed-parameter watershed model, the Precipitation-Runoff Modeling System (PRMS), is used to identify the potential effects of future climate on hydrologic conditions for two Colorado basins, the East River at Almont and the Yampa River at Steamboat Springs, and at the subbasin scale for two ski areas within those basins.Climate-change input files for PRMS were generated by modifying daily PRMS precipitation and temperature inputs with mean monthly climate-change fields of precipitation and temperature derived from five general circulation model (GCM) simulations using one current and three future carbon emission scenarios. All GCM simulations of mean daily minimum and maximum air temperature for the East .
Thirsty downstream : the provision of clean water in Jakarta, Indonesia

The challenge of water provision in third world cities is to maintain the supply in the context of inadequate and inefficient piped water infrastructure and dimMshing raw resources. In order to exajnine the role of governance in this, I utilize a range of theoretical positions: the welfare orientation, rational choice paradigm, common goods theory and regime theory, and present them as ways to explore the subjective dimension of water provision. Using the city of Jakarta, Indonesia as a case study, this dissertation explores the issues using different perspectives on a single principal focus, the roles of the government and its relations to non-governmental actors. This research used data from secondary materials such as management reports, policy and academic reports, and scientific studies. The major source of primary data were interviews conducted with about 40 key actors. Qualitative analysis used a system of information coding and trianggulation. The conclusion reached is that the approach to managing clean water provision needs to be redefined in relation to the water management regimes found in situated research. In Jakarta, one may define three regimes: piped water, surface and shallow groundwater, and deep groundwater. Accessing water from greater urban watershed, treatment plants and a "manufacturing process" results in the delivery of a product. Such a system reduces the possibility of the tragedy of the commons, that is, the over-extraction of groundwater by individuals. But a more inclusive and enforced regulatory system must be established for groundwater, as it remains a needed source of supply. Local and low-technology solutions, international agency assistance, the policies of privatization and decentralization, and better land use planning, all hold out the promise of movement towards a solution. But, as the case study demonstrates, success has so far been mixed. Many options do not address water scarcity at the city level and problems of inequitable service. It is only the prospect government reform towards a better allocation of roles, new management ideas and greater co-operation within and among the water regimes that will lead to better provision of clean water.