Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Evidence for an OH(υ) excitation mechanism of CO2 4.3 μm nighttime emission from SABER/TIMED measurements

[1] The SABER instrument on board the TIMED satellite, successfully launched on 7 December 2001, measures the CO2 4.3 μm atmospheric emission at day and night, from the troposphere up to the thermosphere, with a near global latitude coverage and with a very high signal-to-noise ratio. SABER has also three channels near 15 μm for the measurements of the pressure-temperature structure and two channels around 2.0 and 1.6 μm, mainly sensitive to the OH(υ ≤ 9) overtone radiation from levels υ = 8–9 and υ = 3–5, respectively. In this paper we analyze the measurements of SABER in channel 7, centered near 4.3 μm, taken at night in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere under quiet (nonauroral) conditions. The measurements of the 4.3 μm radiance in this region are much larger than expected under local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) and show a strong correlation with the OH channel signal. It was proposed by Kumer et al. [1978] that the CO2(υ3) levels, responsible for the emission at 4.3 μm, were excited from OH(υ) via vibrational-vibrational energy transfer with N2(1) and hence to CO2(υ3). SABER data (measuring simultaneously pressure, temperature, CO2 4.3 μm emission, and OH(υ) near-IR emission) offer an unprecedented data set for understanding the non-LTE excitation mechanisms of CO2(υ3) in the nighttime mesosphere. We have investigated the SABER 4.3 μm radiances with the help of a non-LTE radiative transfer model for CO2 and found that the large radiances can be explained by a fast and efficient energy transfer rate from OH(υ) to N2(1) to CO2(υ3), whereby, on average, 2.8–3 N2(1) vibrational quanta are excited after quenching of one OH(υ) molecule. A series of alternative excitation mechanisms that may enhance the nighttime 4.3 μm limb radiance were considered and found to be insignificant. The mechanism(s) whereby the energy is transferred from OH(υ) to N2(υ) is (are) still uncertain. The populations of OH(υ) are not significantly affected by incorporation of this fast transfer since N2 quenching of OH(υ) is negligible when compared to O2 quenching.
Impacts of Climate Change and Sea-Level Rise: A Preliminary Case Study of Mombasa, Kenya

Abstract Mombasa is the second largest city in Kenya and the largest international seaport in East Africa, with over 650,000 inhabitants. The city has a history of natural disasters associated with extreme climatic events, most recently, the severe rain-induced flooding in October 2006, which affected about 60,000 people and caused damage to important infrastructure. Because the city is expected to continue to experience rapid growth, the future impacts of such events can only increase. Changes in sea level and storm surges are components of climate change that have the potential to further increase the threats of flooding within the city. This geographic information system–based study provides a first quantitative estimate, both now and through the twenty-first century, of the number of people and associated economic assets potentially exposed to coastal flooding due to sea-level rise and storm surges in Mombasa. The current exposure to a 1 ∶ 100 y extreme water level for the Mombasa district is estimated at 190,000 people and US$470 million in assets. About 60% of this exposure is concentrated in the Mombasa Island division of the city, where about 117,000 people (2005 estimate) live below 10 m elevation. By 2080, exposure could grow to over 380,000 people and US$15 billion in assets, assuming the well-known A1B sea-level and socioeconomic scenario. Future exposure is more sensitive to socioeconomic than climate scenarios. However, there is significant scope within the city limits to steer future development to areas that are not threatened by sea-level rise. Hence, forward planning to focus population and asset growth in less vulnerable areas could be an important part of a strategic response to sea-level rise. The methods used here could be applied more widely to other coastal cities in Africa and elsewhere to better understand present and future exposure and worst-case risks due to climate change and rising sea levels.
Last hunters - first farmers : new perspectives on the prehistoric transition to agriculture

During virtually the entire four-million-year history of our habitation on this planet, humans have been hunters and gatherers, dependent for nourishment on the availability of wild plants and animals. Beginning about 10,000 years ago, however, the most remarkable phenomenon in the course of human prehistory was set in motion. At locations around the world, over a period of about 5000 years, hunters became farmers. The implications of this revolution in human activity and social organization reverberate down to the present day. In case studies ranging from the Far East to the American Southwest, the authors of Last Hunters-First Farmers provide a global perspective on contemporary research into the origins of agriculture. Downplaying more traditional explanations of the turn to agriculture, such as the influence of marginal environments and population pressures, the authors emphasize instead the importance of the resource-rich areas in which agriculture began, the complex social organizations already in place, the role of sedentism, and, in some locales, the advent of economic intensification and competition.
Plio‐Quaternary vertical motion of the Northern Apennines: Insights from dynamic modeling

We test the effects of different geodynamic mechanisms on the Pliocene to present‐day dynamics, and in particular on the vertical motions, of the Northern Apennines system by means of two‐dimensional finite element models. We show that the Pliocene features of the Northern Apennines (exhumation of deep rocks in western Italy and fast subsidence rates in the Adriatic foredeep) can be adequately reproduced by a model (SLAB) characterized by the passive sinking of a negatively buoyant Adriatic slab and by the upwelling of buoyant asthenosphere beneath western Italy. Model SLAB is, however, not able to account for the Quaternary and present‐day pattern of vertical motion of eastern Italy and of the Adriatic basin. A deep configuration of the system characterized by a detached slab (model DETACH) may explain the vertical motions of these areas, constrained by uplift of the eastern portions of the Apenninic chain, by an eastward shift of the foredeep depocenter and by lower subsidence rates in the Adriatic basin. The tectonic and stratigraphic data showing major differences between the Tertiary and the Quaternary evolution of the Northern Apennines are discussed.
Geology of Hopen, Svalbard

Summary Hopen (Hope Island) in the Svalbard archipelago is difficult of access and only recently has reliable geological information become available. Published information is reviewed and combined with new observations. The island, 37 km long and no more than 2.5 km wide or 370 m high is structurally simple with flat-lying arenaceous strata which are described with three measured sections. Three new local stratal units are defined: Iversenfjellet Formation (325 m, base not seen); Flatsalen Shale Formation (55 m); and Lyngefjellet Sandstone Formation (80 m, top not seen). From a few ammonite, bivalve, saurian and plant megafossil occurrences and 30 palynomorph taxa (newly recorded) the marine and fluviatile facies range in age from possibly late Karnian, through Norian, Rhaetian and possibly into early Jurassic. The Rhaetian flora, well established palynologically, is the first clear evidence of rocks of this age in Svalbard. Associated Sirenites extends the range of this ammonite and suggests that Svalbard may yield significant new evidence for this span of Earth history.
Exposure to Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Residential Indoor Air and Outdoor Air near a Superfund Site

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) concentrations were measured in indoor and outdoor air at 34 homes surrounding New Bedford Harbor during dredging of highly contaminated harbor sediments. PCB volatilization from harbor sediments and water leads to inhalation exposure for nearby residents. On each sampling day, 24 h indoor and outdoor air samples were collected simultaneously and analyzed for 65 PCB congeners to evaluate the relative importance of the harbor and indoor sources for human inhalation exposure. Outdoor air concentrations were higher in neighborhoods closest to the harbor (0.4-53 ng/m 3 ) relative to comparison neighborhoods (0.1-8.2 ng/m 3 ) and contained slightly greater proportions of volatile PCB congeners. Outdoor air concentrations near the harbor are some of the highest measured in recent years. Indoor air concentrations in homes near the most contaminated part of the harbor (7.9-61 ng/ m 3 ) were slightly higher than concentrations in homes distant from this area (5.2-51 ng/m 3 ). In all neighborhoods, indoor concentrations exceed corresponding outdoor concentrations (mean ratio=32), suggesting the importance of indoor PCB sources even near a highly contaminated waste site.
Physical And Digital Reading Habits Of Adult Singaporeans

ABSTRACT. Global outlook on library visitorship and loans point to a downward trend in physical visits and loans, whilst digital visits and loans are trending up. Singapore’s network of public libraries has not been spared and has been experiencing the same phenomenon of either declining or slow growth in visitorship and loans in the recent years. An inaugural nation-wide population study was launched in 2016 to comprehensively understand the state of reading in Singapore, reading motivation, and barriers to reading, lifestyle mapping, media technology habits, and Information- and knowledge-seeking habits. This article focuses on Singaporeans’ reading habits in physical and digital format. The findings shed light on ways Singapore libraries can attract the general public to make use of library content and services and can regain market share and remain relevant in the longer run.
P‐V‐T equation of state of MgSiO3 perovskite based on the MgO pressure scale: A comprehensive reference for mineralogy of the lower mantle

[1] In situ P-V-T measurements of MgSiO3 perovskite were carried out up to 110 GPa and 2500 K, using a sintered-diamond multianvil apparatus and a laser-heated diamond anvil cell together with synchrotron radiation. The P-V-T data sets obtained by multianvil experiments (28–63 GPa and 300–1500 K) and diamond anvil cell experiments (52–108 GPa and 300, 1500–2430 K) are consistent with each other. The equation of state of MgSiO3 perovskite was subsequently represented by a Mie-Gruneisen-Debye model, using the equation of state of MgO as reference for pressure determination. In this study, we provide mutually consistent and precise P-V-T equations of state of MgSiO3 perovskite and MgO applicable to the bottom of the Earth's lower mantle. These P-V-T equations of state and derivative thermodynamic and elastic properties are essential for mineralogy of the lower mantle as a comprehensive reference.
Early-Holocene afforestation processes in the lower subalpine belt of the Central Swiss Alps as inferred from macrofossil and pollen records

To reconstruct the vegetation history of the Upper Engadine, continuous sediment cores covering the past 11 800 years from Lej da Champfer and Lej da San Murezzan (Upper Engadine Valley, c. 1800 m a.s.l., southeastern Switzerland) have been analysed for pollen and plant macrofossils. The chronologies of the cores are based on 16 and 22 radiocarbon dates, respectively. The palaeobotanical records of both lakes are in agreement for the Holocene, but remarkable differences exist between the sites during the period 11 100 to 10 500 cal. BP, when Lej da Champfer was affected by re-sedimentation processes. Macrofossil data suggest that Holocene afforestation began at around 11400 cal. BP. A climatic deterioration, the Preboreal Oscillation, stopped and subsequently delayed the establishment of trees until c. 11000 cal. BP, when first Betula, then Pinus sylvestrislmugo, then Larix 300 years later, and finally Pinus cembra expanded within the lake catchment. Treeline was at c. 1500 m during the Younger Dryas (12 542- 11 550 cal. BP) in the Central Alps. Our results, along with other macrofossil studies from the Alps, suggest a nearly simultaneous afforestation (e.g., by Pinus sylvestris in the lower subalpine belt) between 1500 and 2340 m a.s. l. at around 11 400 to 11 300 cal. BP. We suggest that forest-limit species (e.g., Pinus cembra, Larix decidua) could expand faster at today's treeline (c. 2350 m a.s.l.), than 550 m lower. Earlier expansions at higher altitudes probably resulted from reduced competition with low-altitude trees (e.g. Pinus sylvestris) and herbaceous species. Comparison with other proxies such as oxygen isotopes, residual A14C, glacier fluctuations, and alpine climatic cooling phases suggests climatic sensitivity of vegetation during the early Holocene.
Seasonal variability of skid resistance in paved roadways

Skid resistance is relevant for road safety. Past research studies have shown that in the long term, skid resistance oscillates around a trend value. Weather conditions, traffic, microtexture, macrotexture and polishing aggregate susceptibility are factors that contribute to this behaviour. Present models simulate this oscillatory pattern by considering a fixed wavelength adjusted to a calendar year, for a limited number of test sections and considering only heavy traffic. In the present study, an analysis of the long-term fluctuations of skid resistance was performed. Seventeen models were calibrated with different macrotexture levels, traffic and types of pavement surface. The investigation applied the concept of a polishing equivalence factor for traffic modelling in order to evaluate a truck as an equivalent car in terms of polishing. Models were based on a survey of skid resistance and macrotexture developed in the Chilean paved road network. It was concluded that asphalt surfaces were highly sensiti.
Pb–Pb age, stable isotope and chemical composition of Archaean magnesite, Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa

Abstract: Trace-element, carbon, oxygen and lead-isotope analyses were carried out to determine the formation mode and crystallization age of magnesite from the Budd ultramafic complex of the Archaean Barberton Greenstone Belt, South Africa. Its significantly high Ti contents probably relate to a soluble Ti-rich accessory mineral, probably dissolved during magnesite precipitation. Primitive mantle-normalized REE patterns of the magnesite show negative Ce and Eu anomalies induced by two events: (1) the Eu anomaly indicates reducing conditions probably induced by the emplacement of the ultramafic source rock; (2) the Ce anomaly implies oxidizing conditions, probably during a hydrothermal event that favoured the precipitation of magnesite in veins of the rock. This Ce anomaly is among the oldest in Earth history. Negative δ13C (−2.9 to −3.3‰ PDB) and high δ18O (30.5–31.2‰ SMOW) suggest low-temperature precipitation in a near-surface Kraubath-type epithermal system. The magnesite contains considerable amounts of radiogenic lead (206Pb/204Pb is 125.5–153.7 and 207Pb/204Pb is 41.3–47.7). The resulting Pb–Pb age of 3043 ± 59 Ma is interpreted as dating a hydrothermal event related to the extensive plutonism episode that has been reported in the Barberton area at about 3.1 Ga. Previous models that proposed formation of the magnesite under recent climatic conditions can be discarded.
Species distribution models

The main goal of species distribution modeling is to identify important underlying factors related to broad-scale ecological patterns in order to make meaningful explanations or accurate predictions. When standard statistical methods such as regression are used to formulate these models, assumptions about the spatial structure of the data and the model parameters are often violated. Autocorrelation and non-stationarity are characteristics of spatial data and models, respectively, and if present and unaccounted for in model development, they can result in poorly specified models as well as inappropriate spatial inference and prediction. While these spatial issues are addressed here in an ecological context using species distribution models, they are broadly relevant to any statistical modeling applications using spatial data.
The gravity terrain correction - practical considerations

The revival in gravity methods stimulated by the availability of reliable positioning and, more importantly, elevation estimation, using relatively low cost GPS methods has transferred the focus on survey accuracy and precision from elevation errors to those implicit in the complete topographic correction. The terrain correction has normally been ignored in low relief terrain since the error in doing so has usually been much less than that related to errors in elevation accuracy. It is now possible to specify and observe gravity surveys that can yield a precision of 0.01 to 0.03 mGal in the Bouguer anomaly in production practice. Unfortunately even quite minor aberrations in local topography near the gravity meter may generate errors in excess of 0.1 mGal and no tight specification is justified unless it also demands detailed description of the local terrain, outlines how to avoid problems, and requires calculation of such corrections as are necessary. This will require a change in observer culture and some suggestions of the scale of the problem and means for avoiding it are given in this paper. There is no doubt that the terrain correction is now the major source of deficiency in gravity survey data bases. The methods used for calculation of the terrain correction also need review and care since digital terrain models are not necessarily of adequate precision or reliability for calculation of the effects close to the observation point.
A mid‐shelf, mean wave direction climatology for southeastern Australia, and its relationship to the El Niño—Southern Oscillation since 1878 A.D.

Coastal systems behave on timescales from days to centuries. Shelf and coastal wave climatological data from the Tasman Sea are only available for the past few decades. Hence, the records are too short to investigate inter‐ and multidecadal variability and their impact on coastal systems. A method is presented to hindcast monthly mid‐shelf mean wave direction (MWD) for southeastern Australia, based on the monthly, trans‐Tasman mean sea‐level pressure (MSLP) difference between northern NSW (Yamba) and the north island of New Zealand (Auckland). The MSLP index is calibrated to instrumental (Waverider buoy) MWD data for the Sydney shelf and coast. Positive/negative trans‐Tasman MSLP difference is significantly correlated to southerly/easterly Sydney MWD, and to long/short mean wave periods. The 124‐year Sydney annual (MWD) time series displays multidecadal variability, and identifies a significant period of more southerly annual MWD during 1884 to 1914 than in the period since 1915. The Sydney MWD is significantly correlated to the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI). The correlation with the SOI is enhanced during periods when the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO) is in its negative state and warm SST anomalies occur in the southwest Pacific region. The Sydney MWD was found to be associated with Pacific basin‐wide climate fluctuations associated with the El Niño‐Southern Oscillation (ENSO). Southerly/easterly Sydney MWD is correlated with low/high MSLP anomalies over New Zealand and the central Pacific Ocean. Southerly/easterly Sydney MWD is also correlated with cool/warm SST anomalies in the southwest Pacific, particularly in the eastern Coral Sea and Tasman Sea. Copyright © 2005 Royal Meteorological Society.
Effect of permeability on foam-model parameters - an integrated approach from coreflood experiments through to foam diversion calculations

Foam reservoir simulations commonly suffer from poor foam parameter definition which makes their predictions ambiguous. To reduce uncertainty in foam parameter estimation, extensive core-flood experiments under variable experimental and physical conditions are required. A principal physical property which can influence foam parameters is permeability. We present a set of steady-state foam-flood experimental data for four sandstones with different permeabilities, ranging between 6 and 1900 mD, and with similar porosity. We derive permeability-dependent foam parameters with two modelling approaches, those of Boeije and Rossen (2013) and a non-linear least-square minimization approach (Eftekhari et al., 2015). The two approaches can yield significantly different foam parameters. Thus we critically assess their ability in deriving reliable foam parameter estimates. In particular, the way the two approaches treat shear-thinning foam behavior and foam coalescence is discussed. The foam parameter set acquired from the latter approach is further used as input in foam diversion calculations: this serves to evaluate mobility predictions in non-communicating reservoir layers to the foam parameters. This study aims to provide a framework to integrate experimental work, modelling and simple qualitative diversion calculations to provide a background for the upscaling of foam studies, with particular focus to heterogeneous systems.
Siderophile and chalcophile element abundances in shergottites: Implications for Martian core formation

Elemental abundances for volatile siderophile and chalcophile elements for Mars inform us about processes of accretion and core formation. Such data are few for Martian meteorites, and are often lacking in the growing number of desert finds. In this study, we employed laser ablation inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (LA‐ICP‐MS) to analyze polished slabs of 15 Martian meteorites for the abundances of about 70 elements. This technique has high sensitivity, excellent precision, and is generally accurate as determined by comparisons of elements for which literature abundances are known. However, in some meteorites, the analyzed surface is not representative of the bulk composition due to the over‐ or underrepresentation of a key host mineral, e.g., phosphate for rare earth elements (REE). For other meteorites, the range of variation in bulk rastered analyses of REE is within the range of variation reported among bulk REE analyses in the literature. An unexpected benefit has been the determination of the abundances of Ir and Os with a precision and accuracy comparable to the isotope dilution technique. Overall, the speed and small sample consumption afforded by this technique makes it an important tool widely applicable to small or rare meteorites for which a polished sample was prepared. The new volatile siderophile and chalcophile element abundances have been employed to determine Ge and Sb abundances, and revise Zn, As, and Bi abundances for the Martian mantle. The new estimates of Martian mantle composition support core formation at intermediate pressures (14 ± 3 GPa) in a magma ocean on Mars.