The use of fractal geometry to determine the impact of inlet migration on the dynamics of a seagrass landscape     

A.H. Cunha  R.P. Santos 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2009,84(4):584-590

The use of fractal geometry to evaluate seagrass scaling behavior and the persistence of seagrass landscape patterns in relation to a disturbance is presented in this paper.Ria Formosa is a dynamic barrier-island system with a migrating inlet that creates a cyclic disturbance in a seagrass landscape. Seagrass patches which develop in the intertidal and shallow subtidal areas of Ria Formosa were digitized from a temporal sequence of aerial photographs, from 1980 to 1998. The methodology used to evaluate seagrass scaling behavior was proposed by Meltzer and Hastings (1992), and relates the frequency distribution of patch size with the existence of patch size-related patterns. The Hurst exponent was calculated to assess the temporal persistence of the seagrass landscape. Univariate regression was used to investigate relations between temporal persistence and disturbance. The existence of patch size-related patterns was identified for all years suggesting shifts in generating processes occurring at different domains of scales in the seagrass landscape. The results enforces the idea that it is important to recognize the existence of diverse processes occurring at different domains of scales and, emphasizes the importance of evaluating issues of temporal and spatial scale while trying to understand changes in seagrass landscapes. The Hurst exponent estimates show that although the migration and relocation of the inlet affected this system the evolutionary trajectory of the seagrass landscape is persistent, i.e., the patch dynamics observed is stable. Furthermore, persistence values were different for differently sized patches, small patches having lower persistence then larger patches.  相似文献   

Colony growth in the harvested octocoral Pseudopterogorgia acerosa in a Caribbean coral reef     

Nini Johana Cadena  Juan Armando Sánchez 《Marine Ecology》2010,31(4):566-573

Pseudopterogorgia acerosa is the tallest gorgonian octocoral found in the Caribbean. In the Cartagena area, Colombia, P. acerosa is commonly harvested as raw material for handicrafts, rendering important the study of its growth and population dynamics. Growth measurements of branches from multiple colonies at two different reefs during 1 year revealed that the main growth was due to rapid elongation of the main (‘mother’) branch and production of daughter branches from the same (or just a few) mother branch(es). Some small colonies doubled their original size in a year. The branches’ absolute growth rate was weakly correlated with size, with no significant relationships between branch size and percent growth. While the pinnate branching pattern in P. acerosa is similar to its congeners Pseudopterogorgia elisabethae and Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata, it produces taller colonies due to the faster growth rate in the primordial mother branch. This growth mode seems advantageous as it augments exposure to light and higher fluxes of suspended food in the benthic boundary layer. Post‐harvesting, clipped colonies exhibited clear signs of regeneration, even in cases where only the holdfast remained. Pseudopterogorgia acerosa seems to have similar regeneration capabilities respect to other Pseudopterogorgia species, where regenerating colonies may grow faster than intact ones.  相似文献   

Granulometric selectivity in Liza ramado and potential contamination resulting from heavy metal load in feeding areas     

Sílvia Pedro  Vera Canastreiro  Isabel Caçador  Eduarda Pereira  Armando C. Duarte  Pedro Raposo de Almeida 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2008

The stomach contents of thin-lipped grey mullets Liza ramado were analysed in terms of granulometric composition and compared to the sediment of potential feeding areas in the Tagus estuary. Total organic matter (TOM) content and heavy metal content were determined in the surface sediment of three areas and eight trace elements were quantified: Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn. The three sampled areas did not differ in TOM; and the heavy metal content was below Effects Range-Low level for most elements. The mean observed concentrations were present in the following sequence: Zn > Pb > Cr > Cu ≈ Ni > Co > Cd > Hg. Stomach contents granulometric composition provided information about the feeding selectivity of the mullets. Sediment fractions with particle size between 20 and 50 μm are preferred, independently of the fishes' length. Smaller standard length (SL) fishes have a higher positive selection of fine grained sediments than those with a larger SL. Finer fractions usually have higher concentration of heavy metals, which makes younger specimens of the thin-lipped grey mullet potentially more exposed to heavy metal load in the estuary. Metal concentration was not independent from the sampling point, presenting higher values near the margins and the estuary tidal drainage system. This means that during the first period of each tidal cycle, the mullets will feed first on the most contaminated areas, as a consequence of their movement following the rising tide to feed on previously exposed areas.  相似文献   

Frequency of tidal storm surge at New York harbor (New York) and Newark bay (New Jersey)     

Armando Balloffet  Michael L. Scheffler  Thomas F. Sergi 《Coastal Engineering》1982,6(3):281-298

A joint probability analysis of storm tides is made for the Battery, New York (U.S.A.), and Newark Bay, New Jersey (U.S.A.). Storm tides are caused by either low-pressure coastal storms (northeasters) or hurricanes. The analysis uses existing gage data at the Battery to construct frequency/probability curves of peak surge elevations and tidal amplitudes. These are used in a computer program to combine standard storm surge stages and tidal stage curves to produce an artificial storm tide with given peak elevation and incremental frequency. These peak elevations and incremental frequencies are ranked to produce cumulative frequency curves for northeasters and hurricanes. A frequency curve is obtained for Newark Bay via correlation.  相似文献   

Performance of the veto detector incorporated into the ZEPLIN-III experiment     

C. Ghag  D.Yu. AkimovH.M. Araújo  E.J. BarnesV.A. Belov  A.A. BurenkovV. Chepel  A. CurrieL. DeViveiros  B. EdwardsV. Francis  A. HollingsworthM. Horn  G.E. KalmusA.S. Kobyakin  A.G. KovalenkoV.N. Lebedenko  A. Lindote  M.I. LopesR. Lüscher  K. LyonsP. Majewski  A.St J. MurphyF. Neves  S.M. PalingJ. Pinto da Cunha  R. PreeceJ.J. Quenby  L. ReichhartP.R. Scovell  C. SilvaV.N. Solovov  N.J.T. SmithP.F. Smith  V.N. StekhanovT.J. Sumner  C. ThorneR.J. Walker 《Astroparticle Physics》2011,35(2):76-86

The ZEPLIN-III experiment is operating in its second phase at the Boulby Underground Laboratory in search of dark matter WIMPs. The major upgrades to the instrument over its first science run include lower background photomultiplier tubes and installation of a plastic scintillator veto system. Performance results from the veto detector using calibration and science data in its first six months of operation in coincidence with ZEPLIN-III are presented. With fully automated operation and calibration, the veto system has maintained high stability and achieves near unity live time relative to ZEPLIN-III. Calibrations with a neutron source demonstrate a rejection of 60% of neutron-induced nuclear recoils in ZEPLIN-III that might otherwise be misidentified as WIMPs. This tagging efficiency reduces the expected untagged nuclear recoil background from neutrons during science data taking to a very low rate of ?0.2 events per year in the WIMP acceptance region. Additionally, the veto detector provides rejection of 28% of γ-ray induced background events, allowing the sampling of the dominant source of background in ZEPLIN-III - multiple scatter γ-rays with rare topologies. Since WIMPs will not be tagged by the veto detector, and tags due to γ-rays and neutrons are separable, this population of multiple scatter events may be characterised without biasing the analysis of candidate WIMP signals in the data.  相似文献   

Leaching and dilution of fertilizers in the Yucatan karstic aquifer     

Roger Gonzalez-Herrera  Eden Martinez-Santibañez  Julia Pacheco-Avila  Armando Cabrera-Sansores 《Environmental Earth Sciences》2014,72(8):2879-2886

The application of agrochemicals in crops can cause pollution of aquifers, especially those with a shallow water table and covered by thin soils; such is the case of Yucatan, Mexico. Information about the requirements and application of fertilizers to major irrigation and rainfed crops as well as the volume of water consumed in growing were used to determine the potential amount of nitrate delivered to groundwater. The research reported in this paper was conducted in the metropolitan area of the city of Merida, in Yucatán, Mexico, where groundwater plays an important role since it is the main source of supply, due to the lack of surface water in the region. In addition, the vulnerability of this aquifer is threatened by the various activities taking place in the municipalities, which emphasize agriculture, located within the groundwater basin. This activity is analyzed as a source of contamination given the concentration of NO₃ ^? present in groundwater intended for human consumption. The results show that the contribution of farming that enriches the presence of nitrates in the aquifer is different for each municipality in the study area. For the ZMM, the average nutrient leaching is 44 % of the original mass applied; it could be diluted approximately 12 times, in the groundwater.  相似文献   

Geoarchaeology of Pleistocene open-air sites in the Vila Nova da Barquinha-Santa Cita area (Lower Tejo River basin, central Portugal)     

António A. Martins  Pedro P. Cunha  Luiz Osterbeek  Stefano Grimaldi  Jan-Pieter Buylaert  João Matos 《Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association》2010,121(2):128-140

This paper aims to provide insight into human occupation and landscape change during the Pleistocene in a central area of the Lower Tejo basin (Portugal). Detailed geomorphological mapping, coupled with lithostratigraphy, sedimentology and luminescence dating, supports the identification of a complete terrace staircase sequence. It consists of six gravely terraces located below the culminant (Pliocene) basin unit. A chronological framework for the sedimentary sequences and associated human industries is proposed and correlated with marine oxygen isotope stages (MIS): T1 terrace, not dated; T2, not dated; T3, >300 ka; T4, ∼300-160 ka (MIS8, MIS7 and MIS6); T5, ∼136-75 ka (MIS5); T6, ∼62-30 ka (MIS3); colluvium and aeolian sands, ∼30-14 ka (MIS2); valley fill deposits, ∼14 ka to present (MIS1). The oldest artefacts were found at the base of the T4 terrace, with the local stratigraphic level dated to ≥175 ± 6 ka (Middle Pleistocene). The lithic assemblages collected from distinct stratigraphic levels (T4, T5 top, T6 terraces and colluvium) are characterized by the predominance of opportunistic technological choices, a feature that can be attributed partly to the preferential exploitation of the available raw material, dominated by local-sourced quartzites and quartz pebbles. The adaptation to local raw material (texture and volume), together with subsistence patterns and behaviours, could explain the rarity of Acheulian types (handaxes and cleavers) and picks in the T4 terraces of the Tejo tributaries; this is in contrast to the same terrace of the Tejo valley, in which these types are found. Interpretation of the environmental conditions (controlled by climate and glacio-eustatic sea-level changes) affecting the hunter-gatherer human groups is also presented.  相似文献   

Cosmological implications of APM 08279+5255, an old quasar at z= 3.91     

J. S. Alcaniz  J. A. S. Lima  J. V. Cunha 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2003,340(4):L39-L42

  相似文献   

On the excitation mechanism in roAp stars     

N. J. Balmforth  M. S. Cunha  N. Dolez  D. O. Gough  S. Vauclair 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2001,323(2):362-372

We investigate a model for the excitation of high-order oscillations in roAp stars. In this model we assume that the strong concentration of magnetic field about the magnetic poles is enough to suppress convection. Thus the model considered is composed of two polar regions, in which convection is presumed to be suppressed totally, and an equatorial region, where the convection is unaffected. This model is generated by building pairs of locally spherically symmetrical equilibria to represent the polar and equatorial regions of the star, which are patched together below the base of the convection zone. Gravitational settling of heavy elements is taken into account by choosing appropriate chemical composition profiles for both the polar and equatorial regions. Our results indicate that the composite model is unstable against axisymmetric non-radial high-order modes of pulsation that are aligned with the magnetic poles. The oscillations are excited by the κ mechanism acting principally in the hydrogen ionization zones of the polar regions. The effect of the lateral inhomogeneity on the second frequency differences is also investigated; we find that the perturbation to them by the inhomogeneity is of the same order as the second differences themselves, thereby hindering potential attempts to use such differences to identify the degrees of the modes in a straightforward way.  相似文献   

HD 172189, a Cluster Member Binary System with a δ Scuti Component in the Field of View of COROT     

Pedro J. Amado  Susana Martín-Ruíz  Juan Carlos Suárez  Armando Arellano Ferro  Andrés Moya  Ignasi Ribas  Ennio Poretti 《Astrophysics and Space Science》2006,304(1-4):173-175

Photometric and spectroscopic results for the star HD 172189, member of the open cluster IC 4756 in the summer field of the space mission COROT, are presented. From photometric observations in the Strömgren system carried out at various epochs, its binary nature as well as the presence of a δ Scuti-type pulsating component have been discovered. The frequency analysis of the whole dataset confirms a dominant frequency of 19.5974 c d^?1 with a maximum amplitude near 0.02 mag plus other frequencies in the range 18–20 c d^?1. A preliminary orbital solution from the light curve and from four FEROS spectra reveals two similar components of around 1.5 M _⊙ orbiting with a period of 5.702 d.  相似文献