Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Impact of different initial soil moisture fields on Eta model weather forecasts for South America

[1] Two 7-day weather simulations were made for South America in July 2003 and January 2004 (in the Southern Hemisphere summer and winter) to investigate the impacts of using different soil moisture initialization fields in the Eta model coupled to the Simplified Simple Biosphere (SSiB) land surface model. The alternative initial soil moisture fields were (1) the soil moisture climatology used operationally by the Centro de Previsao do Tempo e Estudos Climaticos in Brazil and (2) the soil moisture fields generated by a South American Land Data Assimilation System (SALDAS) based on SSiB. When the SALDAS soil moisture fields were used, there was an increase in the model performance relative to climatology in the equitable threat score calculated with respect to observed surface precipitation fields and a decrease (up to 53%) in the root-mean-square error relative to the NCEP analysis of the modeled geopotential height at 500 hPa and mean sea level pressure. However, there was small change in the model skill in positioning the primary South American weather systems because of a change in the upper troposphere circulation caused by SALDAS initialization, most noticeably in the South Atlantic Convergence Zone.
6248 Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000 s The Cases of Argentina , Brazil , and Mexico

The Policy Research Working Paper Series disseminates the findings of work in progress to encourage the exchange of ideas about development issues. An objective of the series is to get the findings out quickly, even if the presentations are less than fully polished. The papers carry the names of the authors and should be cited accordingly. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper are entirely those of the authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/World Bank and its affiliated organizations, or those of the Executive Directors of the World Bank or the governments they represent. Between 2000 and 2010, the Gini coefficient declined in 13 of 17 Latin American countries. The decline was statistically significant and robust to changes in the time interval, inequality measures, and data sources. In-depth country studies for Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico suggest two main phenomena underlie this trend: a fall This paper is a product of the Poverty, Equity and Gender Unit, Latin America and the Caribbean Region. It is part of a larger effort by the World Bank to provide open access to its research and make a contribution to development policy discussions around the world. Policy Research Working Papers are also posted on the Web at in the premium to skilled labor and more progressive government transfers. The fall in the premium to skills resulted from a combination of supply, demand, and institutional factors. Their relative importance depends on the country. 1 Forthcoming in World Development. This article draws from the original UNDP-sponsored project " Markets, the State and the Dynamics of Inequality in Latin America " coordinated by Luis F. Lopez-Calva and Nora Lustig. The authors are grateful to Francisco Ferreira for his comments on an earlier draft, participants at the workshop organized by Augusto de la Torre, Latin America Chief Economist at The World Bank, and to Andres Castañeda, Samantha Greenspun and Sean Higgins for their valuable research assistance. The authors are also very grateful to anonymous referees for their very helpful comments. The views expressed here may not represent that of the institutions with which the authors are or were associated. Errors and omissions remain the authors' responsibility.
Apatite fission track thermochronometry from central Alberta : implications for the thermal history of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

Apatite separated from 47 Cretaceous and Tertiary drill core and surface samples from the foreland basin strata of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB) have been analyzed for their apatite fission track (AFT) age and confined track length distribution. Thermal histories of the fission track data were then estimated using a constrained random search inversion technique based on the Durango apatite annealing model. Most importantly, this technique provides an estimate of the peak postdepositional temperature experienced by each sample with error bounds determined by the precision of the fission track data. Most apatite samples retain at least some tracks that formed prior to the time of maximum Cenozoic burial, assumed to be coincident with maximum temperature. Seven apatite samples were fully annealed during burial, during or following the Laramide Orogeny, and provide a minimum age of 42 Ma for heating. Lower Cretaceous samples from near the deformation front were fully annealed and attained temperatures of at least 119°–138°C during maximum burial. In contrast, stratigraphically equivalent samples at the northeastern end of the transect near the Cold Lake heavy oil and tar sand deposits did not exceed 80°C. Paleogeothermal gradients calculated using bounded estimates of the peak temperatures experienced by the samples, together with maximum burial estimates from coal moisture studies, range from ∼20°C/km near the deformation front to as high as 60°C/km near the cratonic edge of the basin. This variation has the same trend as present geothermal gradients, which range from ∼30°C/km to 45°C/km, but indicates a greater contrast at the end of the Laramide. The results are consistent with the concept of heat transport by basinal scale fluid flow.
Some physical and socio-economic aspects of climate change in Central America

The relative magnitude of precipitation and temperature changes obtained from 21st-century climate change projections from general circulation models (GCMs) is compared to the changes in a selection of socio-economic indicators from countries in Central America. The objectives of the study are: (1) to determine the relative influence of climatic and socio-economic variables for different 21st-century scenarios; and (2) to compare the relative situation of each of the countries of Central America, considering climate and socio-economic variables during present and future scenarios. Each socio-economic variable along with the projected changes in precipitation and temperature are used to produce red-green-blue (RGB) composite maps during the historical, mid-century, and end-of-21st-century horizon scenarios. The most consistent result is that the current north–south socio-economic contrast between the countries (in which the southern countries of Panama and Costa Rica present better living conditions than the rest of the Central American countries), is not diminished in the future; and for some combination of scenarios this contrast is exacerbated by future socio-economic differences and climate change impacts. Moreover, Panama and Costa Rica are the only countries that present improved living conditions at the end of the century when considering increases in gross domestic product (GDP) and the effects of climate change. It is worrisome that the north–south differences in the living standards will keep growing in the region, and attention should be given to socio-economic and physical aspects that may play a role in increasing these differences.
Eruption of Lassen Peak, Cascade Range, California, in 1915: Example of Mixed Magmas

The pumice of the 1915 eruption of Lassen Peak is conspicuously banded. Light bands are dacite; dark bands are andesite. They represent two distinct magmas which were imperfectly mixed at the time of eruption; the portions of different composition were drawn out into bands by flowage. Similar, but less obvious and possibly less extreme, inhomogeneity exists in the lava flow of the same eruption. In both lava flow and pumice, the phenocrysts were out of equilibrium with the enclosing magma and were reacting with it. Numerous feldspar phenocrysts that originated in the dacite portion show clouding, which resulted from fritting of their outer parts, and a more calcic outer zone; however this appears to be related only in small part to the addition of the basic magma, represented by the dark streaks in the pumice. These feldspars probably are remnants of remelted granitic rocks of the underlying sialic basement admixed with basaltic magma rising from still greater depth. Phreatic explosions in 1914 probably resulted from distension of the Lassen dome by the rise of new magma.
Thermal structure and basal sliding parametrisation at Pine Island Glacier – a 3-D full-Stokes model study

Abstract. Pine Island Glacier is one of the fastest changing glaciers of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and therefore of scientific interest. The glacier holds enough ice to raise the global sea level significantly (~ 0.5 m) when fully melted. The question addressed by numerous modelling studies of the glacier focuses on whether the observed changes are a start of an uncontrolled and accelerating retreat. The movement of the glacier is, in the fast-flowing areas, dominated by basal motion. In modelling studies the parametrisation of the basal motion is therefore crucial. Inversion methods are commonly applied to reproduce the complex surface flow structure of Pine Island Glacier by using information of the observed surface velocity field to constrain, among other things, basal sliding. We introduce two different approaches of combining a physical parameter, the basal roughness, with basal sliding parametrisations. This way basal sliding is again connected closer to its original formulation. We show that the basal roughness is an important and helpful parameter to consider and that many features of the flow structure can be reproduced with these approaches.
Effect of crop duration and soil type on the ability of soil sulfur tests to predict plant response to sulfur

Soil testing for sulfur (S) is becoming increasingly important as soils become more S-deficient due to lower S inputs in fertiliser and higher offtake in product. Because of the differing rates of S supply required by a range of crops, the relative importance of the soil sulfate and organic S pools could be expected to vary between crops. A glasshouse experiment was conducted using an Aquic Haplustalf of granitic origin and an Ultic Haplustalf of basaltic origin collected from unfertilised pasture sites on the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales from Uralla and Walcha, respectively. The soil was labelled with 35S. The experiment consisted of 2 rates of S fertiliser (0 and 17·7 mg/kg soil, equivalent to 0 and 30 kg S/ha), 3 crop species (radish, corn, ryegrass), and 2 soils (granite and basalt). S was extracted using 2 extracts, mono-calcium phosphate (MCP) and 0·25 M KCl heated at 40°C (KCl-40), termed primary extracts, and the components of S in the extracts were determined. The relationship between the amount of S removed from the extract (S before planting – S after cropping) by the 2 test extractants in the – S treatment and plant S uptake was also determined. A higher S concentration was found in the KCl-40 extract than in the MCP extract in the granite soil. Conversely, the MCP extract had a higher S concentration in the basalt soil because of the relative size of the adsorbed S and ester-S pools in this soil. More than 33% of the 35S was recovered in the extracted S pool, and <11% from the organic S pool in both extractants and in both soils. Data showed a lower specific activity (SA) of the S in the MCP extract as measured by ICP than in KCl-40 in both soils and all crops. The specific activity ratio of the extractants, as measured by ICP, was closest to 1·00 for the KCl-40 extract in both soils for each crop. The removal of S from the MCP extractant during cropping was lower than plant uptake in all treatments except ryegrass in the basalt soil. The KCl-40 extract tended to underestimate S supply at low uptake and overestimate at higher uptake. The results reported in this experiment showed that the KCl-40 extract generally performed well for all 3 crops and on both soils. The data showed that the KCl-40 extract removed S from pools similar to those reached by the crops.
Dynamic temporal evolution of polar cap tongue of ionization during magnetic storm

[1] During a magnetic storm on 14–16 December 2006, a polar cap tongue of ionization (TOI) was detected by an all-sky imager (ASI) at Resolute Bay, Canada (74.73°N, 265.07°E). We investigate the temporal evolution and spatial structure of the TOI in detail by combining the optical data with other observations (e.g., solar wind, GPS total electron content, SuperDARN, and DMSP and NOAA POES satellites). The TOI was observed as a bright and elongated 630 nm airglow plume for 4 h during the main phase of the storm. This interval corresponded to a period of prolonged stable large-amplitude southward IMF during a coronal mass ejection (CME). One to one and a half hours before the appearance of TOI, the polar cap boundary expanded rapidly far equatorward, and a positive ionospheric storm occurred. This implies that both the “expansion of the high-latitude plasma convection” and “build up of the source plasma in the midlatitudes” are necessary conditions for the formation of a TOI. Because both of them were triggered by a major southward turning of the IMF, the prolonged large-amplitude southward IMF orientation in the trailing part of the CME was primarily responsible for the generation of TOI. After its appearance, the TOI exhibited dynamic motion in the dawn to dusk direction. Simultaneous SuperDARN data suggest that a longitudinal progression of subauroral polarization stream controlled this dynamic motion. The optical TOI was found to be a continuous stream elongated in the noon-midnight direction although it contained some mesoscale patterns. Absence of large-scale temporal changes in the cusp plasma flow during the stable IMF period allowed the TOI to remain continuous without being broken into polar cap patches. The mesoscale structures within the TOI were probably produced by small-scale velocity fluctuations in the cusp plasma flow. The TOI as visualized with the all-sky airglow imager was found to be much more dynamic and much more complicated than we ever thought. The current study indicates that such a behavior of the TOI was presumably caused by a combination of temporal variations in the global-scale plasma circulation system, expansion and contraction of the polar cap area, and plasma density changes in the dayside low to midlatitudes.
Seasonal transport variability of the Deep Western Boundary Current in the equatorial Atlantic

A total of 21 about year-long current meter records in the depth range of the upper and middle North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW) were analyzed to determine the mean and the fluctuations of the upper Deep Western Boundary Current (DWBC) in the equatorial Atlantic. The investigation was based on moored arrays at 44°W from three different deployment periods, 1989/1990, 1990/1991 and 1992/1994, and was supplemented by current profiling along 44°W and 35°W. The approximately 100-km-wide DWBC at 44°W, just north of the equator, was attached to the topography with the current maximum exceeding 70 cm s−1. Currents within the DWBC core followed the topography, and the close agreement between the mean current direction and the direction of maximum variance indicated that the major contribution to the DWBC variability near the equator was due to pulsing rather than meandering. For mean transports of upper and middle NADW, the current meter records were averaged over their deployment duration yielding a best estimate of 13 Sv in the depth range 1000 to 3100 m. The mean transport appeared robust, as subsets of the data from two different years yielded about the same mean transport, namely, 12.4 and 13.6 Sv. The DWBC transport time series showed a definite seasonal cycle, ranging from less than 7 Sv during September/October to about 25 Sv during January/February. Annual and semiannual transport harmonics had similar amplitudes, at about 6 Sv each, and together they explained about two thirds of the total transport variability. After crossing the equator, the DWBC splits into two cores with the major flow along a chain of seamounts near 3.5°S, near 35°W. Magnitudes and phases of the transport variability at 35°W, south of approximately 1.5°S, were similar to that at 44°W. Further, for the flow of lower NADW which was detached from the upper DWBC core, similar periodicity and phases were observed in the deep records at 44°W.
Weathering sequences of rock-forming minerals in a serpentinite: Influence of microsystems on clay mineralogy

Under closed geochemical conditions, the weathering of a serpentinite rock composed of serpentine (70–85%) and magnesian chlorite (10–15%) associated with magnetite and chromite leads to the complete replacement of serpentine and chlorite by 2:1 layer silicates and produces new Fe oxides. The serpentine minerals crystallize under different habits issued from the serpentinization processes: mesh and hourglass pseudomorphic textures were formed from olivine, and thin-bladed pseudomorphic textures from pyroxene and amphibole crystals. Serpentine veins crosscut the whole rock with locally non-pseudomorphic interpenetrating and interlocking serpentines.Specific weathering microsystem habits with specific clay mineral crystallizations originate from these different habits: a poorly aluminous saponite in thin-bladed textures, two Fe-rich montmorillonites in mesh and hourglass (MH) textures, and in veins (V) which differentiate on Al, Mg and Fe contents. Magnesian chlorites, isolated from serpentine by hand-picking under a stereomicroscope, are found to weather to trioctahedral vermiculite. Magnetite and chromite extracted from the bulk samples are replaced by newly formed Fe oxides, maghemite, goethite and hematite, which give way to specific Fe accumulation habits in the regolith zone of the weathering profile.
Tree coexistence on a slope: an adaptive significance of trunk inclination

Under storey trees on slopes often incline their trunks downward. The adaptive significance of this conspicuous phenomenon has, however, remained elusive. Here we present a theoretical model for the growth of under storey trees on a slope, which shows that the maximum rate of tree survival, and the optimal degree of trunk inclination, increase as the slope gets steeper, clearly indicating an adaptive significance of trunk inclination on slopes. Close examination of the results reveals that the advantage of trunk inclination on a slope is in shortening the distance from the canopy surface, and that this effect is enhanced the steeper the slope. Furthermore, the model predicts that the maximum tree survival rate increases with the slope angle more sharply under poorer light conditions. The predictions of the model are supported by an under storey species, Rhododendron tashiroi, which grows in evergreen forests on the Japanese island of Yakushima. R. tashiroi exhibits sharper trunk inclination and coexists more successfully on steeper slopes with the dominant canopy species, Distylium racemosum, and sustains itself even under poor light conditions where the slope is sufficiently steep. This also suggests that trunk inclination is a mechanism used by under storey species to coexist with the dominant canopy species.
High temperature stability of maghemite (γ‐Fe2O3)

The temperature stability of acicular maghemite (γ-Fe2O3) was studied between 20°C and 600°C by x-ray diffraction and magnetic measurements. Synthetic monodomain maghemite was found to be stable with respect to hematite (α-Fe2O3) at temperatures as high as 500°C, inverting to α-Fe2O3 between 510-660°C. However, a complete inversion of the γ to α form for the sample was not achieved even at 660°C, the final product was a two-phase mixture, with 65% of the original γ-Fe2O3 unchanged. Two conclusions are made: (a) the absence of maghemite in a natural sample cannot be proven if heating has been restricted to moderate temperatures (300°-400°C) and (b) the true Curie point of pure maghemite is close to 645°C.
Women's Leisure in a Resource Industry Town: Problems and Issues

Abstract The study reported seeks to provide a clearer picture of what it means to be a woman in a hinterland community. It also reveals inadequacies in malestream meanings of leisure, in discussions of the pleasures and difficulties that characterize women's lives in such communities. The study involved participant observation over a one year period in a resource industry town in the interior of British Columbia. It also involved individual and collective interviews with women contacted through the local college and a Women's Centre. The discussions revealed two different kinds of barriers to women's leisure in remote communities. At one level, there are the effects of ideologies of familism and patriarchy which work to the disadvantage of women everywhere. However, the evidence also suggests that there are problems that are particular to hinterland communities, or at least are sharper there. These include lack of public transportation or day care, frequent family mobility and poor job opportunities for .
The Surface Temperature of the Sun and Changes in the Solar Constant

The solar distortion telescope has been used to measure the limb shape and latitude dependence of the limb brightness during the summer months for a 5-year period - a time base sufficient to detect solar cycle trends in the data. Comparison of these observations with spaceborne measurements of the solar constant suggests that a significant part of the solar cycle variation in irradiance is a result of temporal changes in the latitude-dependent surface temperature of the sun.
The influence of Western Hemlock and Western Redcedar on soil properties.

Soils beneath very old western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg. ) and western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn) trees at three sites in Washington and Idaho were compared. The sites differed in climate and parent materials, but were similar to the extent that western hemlock and western redcedar dominated the overstory. The A2-B2 sequences were generally more strongly developed under hemlock than under cedar. At two of the three sites considerable mixing of the organic and mineral soil horizons had occurred under cedar, but much less so under hemlock. Below the top 15 cm of mineral soil no large morphological differences were observed between profiles under cedar and hemlock. Soil pH, “exchangeable” Ca, cation-exchange capacity, base saturation, and the total weight of organic horizons were greater under cedar than under hemlock. Soil N, C, Mg, and K were generally higher under cedar than under hemlock but the differences were not large. The differences between soil properties under hemlock and cedar, as well as the depth to which these differences occurred, varied from one property to another, and from site to site.
Sediment transport to the Arctic Ocean and adjoining cold oceans

This paper reviews and synthesises available information on sediment transport to the Arctic Ocean and adjoining seas with open contact to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Special emphasis is placed on calculation and estimation of the sediment flux from the mostly ungauged high Arctic areas on the American continent, in Greenland, and on islands in the Arctic Ocean, and from Russia. In the absence of reliable information on bedload fluxes for most rivers, attention is directed primarily to suspended sediment loads. By combining available monitoring data and estimates for ungauged areas, the total sediment transport to the Arctic Ocean is estimated to be 324 - 884 × 10 6 t yr -1 . Of this total, a maximum of about 56% can be considered as monitored, while the rest is based on different types of estimate. It is clearly demonstrated that the monitoring network in the high Arctic is inadequate and that there is a lack of knowledge concerning the proportion of the load that actually reaches the sea, as well as bedload.