Shields for the starship Enterprise     

Ruth Bamford  Robert Bingham  Mike Hapgood 《Astronomy& Geophysics》2007,48(6):6.18-6.23

Ruth Bamford, Robert Bingham and Mike Hapgood discuss the physics behind shielding spacecraft from solar and cosmic radiation with mini-magnetospheres.  相似文献   

Kiglapait geochemistry VI: Oxygen isotopes     

Ruth I. Kalamarides 《Geochimica et cosmochimica acta》1984,48(9):1827-1836

The Kiglapait layered intrusion is the first major intrusion found to have all whole rock and calculated liquid δ¹⁸O values close to a normal uncontaminated gabbroic value of 6.0. The intrusion experienced no detectable oxygen isotope exchange with its surrounding rocks and cooling of the magma was conductive. The δ¹⁸O values of average whole rocks vary smoothly from 6.0 at the base of the Lower Zone to 6.3 at the top of the Upper Zone. The calculated liquid δ¹⁸O values lie practically superimposed on the whole rock trend. The whole-rock data and the modelled δ¹⁸O of the magma and cumulates rigorously demonstrate that the effect of incoming cumulus phases such as magnetite and augite on the δ¹⁸O of the liquid and rocks during fractional crystallization is negligible. The cancelling effects of complementary modal variations among the mafic mineral phases and feldspar, keep the δ¹⁸O of the whole rocks constant to within ±0.1 %.. The minor change in δ¹⁸O that does occur with fractionation is consistent with the enrichment of residual liquids in feldspar component and the increasing fractionation factor δ Liquid-Fsp with falling temperature.The δ¹⁸O values of the country rocks bracket the estimated δ¹⁸O of the Kiglapait magma. Modelling with oxygen isotopes indicates that contamination of the intrusion, indicated by published radiogenic Sr and Nd isotopic data, was minor. The most probable contaminant had δ¹⁸O?7.7 and the contamination most likely occurred at >99% solidified. Subsolidus oxygen isotope exchange with an external source appears to have been very minor.  相似文献   

Shaping and Sharing Responsibility: Social Memory and Social Learning in the Australian Rural Bushfire Landscape     

Karen Reid  Ruth Beilin  Jim McLennan 《社会与自然资源》2018,31(4):442-456

Responding to increased frequency and severity of bushfires, Australian governments called for “shared responsibility” for bushfire preparation and mitigation. This requires engagement between all sectors of community—government agencies, businesses, not-for-profit, and residents. Fire management agencies remain concerned about whether all communities in fire-prone landscapes are equally equipped to participate in sharing responsibility. A related question is how experience of bushfire influences subsequent community fire management practices. This paper addresses social learning and social memory in a landscape that has experienced repeat bushfires between 2006 and 2013. It examines the relationships between memory, learning and practice among a farming community in western Victoria and government agencies with bushfire management responsibility. Findings suggest that social learning and social memory interact and new practices emerge as the participants embrace “shared responsibility.” However, ambiguities remain about “what” is being shared and what being “responsible” means at different points in preparation and response.  相似文献   

Exploring “Deep Roots”: Politics of Place and Groundwater Management Practices in the Pajaro Valley,California     

Kirsten Rudestam  Abigail Brown  Ruth Langridge 《社会与自然资源》2018,31(3):291-305

Groundwater is one of the most critical natural resources in an era of climate change, yet groundwater depletion is extensive in many parts of the world. The Pajaro Valley, an agricultural region in Central California, exemplifies the common challenges to sustainably manage a groundwater basin. This article draws on materialist conceptions of power and political economy, and humanist conceptions of place identity and dependence, to illuminate how both can influence groundwater management practices. Through ethnographic observation and interviews with self-identified groundwater users, we find that social character, economic interactions, and dominant understandings of culture and community all work together to define personal and collective meanings of and attachments to place. We suggest that using a “politics of place” approach can provide a deeper understanding of why particular groundwater management practices occur, and that this can aid in shaping future sustainability efforts.  相似文献   

Sedimentary macrofossil records reveal ecological change in English lakes: implications for conservation     

Helen Bennion  Carl D. Sayer  Stewart J. Clarke  Thomas A. Davidson  Neil L. Rose  Ben Goldsmith  Ruth Rawcliffe  Amy Burgess  Gina Clarke  Simon Turner  Emma Wiik 《Journal of Paleolimnology》2018,60(2):329-348

Aquatic macrophytes play a key role in providing habitat, refuge and food for a range of biota in shallow lakes. However, many shallow lakes have experienced declines in macrophyte vegetation in recent decades, principally due to eutrophication. As changes in macrophyte composition and abundance can affect overall ecological structure and function of a lake, an assessment of the timing and nature of such changes is crucial to our understanding of the wider lake ecosystem. In the typical absence of historical plant records, the macro-remains of macrophytes preserved in lake sediments can be used to assess long-term changes in aquatic vegetation. We generated recent (150–200 years) plant macrofossil records for six English lakes subject to conservation protection to define past macrophyte communities, assess trajectories of ecological change and consider the implications of our findings for conservation targets and strategies. The data for all six lakes reveal a diverse submerged macrophyte community, with charophytes as a key component, in the early part of the sedimentary records. The stratigraphies indicate considerable change to the aquatic vegetation over the last two centuries with a general shift towards species more typically associated with eutrophic conditions. A common feature is the decline in abundance of low-growing charophytes and an increase in tall canopy-forming angiosperms such as fine-leaved Potamogeton species, Zannichellia palustris and Callitriche species. We hypothesise, based on findings from long-term datasets and palaeoecological records from enriched shallow lakes where plants are now absent, that the observed shifts provide a warning to managers that the lakes are on a pathway to complete macrophyte loss such that nutrient load reduction is urgently needed. It is the sound understanding of present-day plant ecology that affords such reliable interpretation of the fossil data which, in turn, provide valuable context for current conservation decisions.  相似文献   

Dietary greenhouse gas emissions of meat-eaters,fish-eaters,vegetarians and vegans in the UK   总被引：2，自引：1，他引：1  

Peter Scarborough  Paul N. Appleby  Anja Mizdrak  Adam D. M. Briggs  Ruth C. Travis  Kathryn E. Bradbury  Timothy J. Key 《Climatic change》2014,125(2):179-192

The production of animal-based foods is associated with higher greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions than plant-based foods. The objective of this study was to estimate the difference in dietary GHG emissions between self-selected meat-eaters, fish-eaters, vegetarians and vegans in the UK. Subjects were participants in the EPIC-Oxford cohort study. The diets of 2,041 vegans, 15,751 vegetarians, 8,123 fish-eaters and 29,589 meat-eaters aged 20–79 were assessed using a validated food frequency questionnaire. Comparable GHG emissions parameters were developed for the underlying food codes using a dataset of GHG emissions for 94 food commodities in the UK, with a weighting for the global warming potential of each component gas. The average GHG emissions associated with a standard 2,000 kcal diet were estimated for all subjects. ANOVA was used to estimate average dietary GHG emissions by diet group adjusted for sex and age. The age-and-sex-adjusted mean (95 % confidence interval) GHG emissions in kilograms of carbon dioxide equivalents per day (kgCO₂e/day) were 7.19 (7.16, 7.22) for high meat-eaters (?>?=?100 g/d), 5.63 (5.61, 5.65) for medium meat-eaters (50-99 g/d), 4.67 (4.65, 4.70) for low meat-eaters (?<?50 g/d), 3.91 (3.88, 3.94) for fish-eaters, 3.81 (3.79, 3.83) for vegetarians and 2.89 (2.83, 2.94) for vegans. In conclusion, dietary GHG emissions in self-selected meat-eaters are approximately twice as high as those in vegans. It is likely that reductions in meat consumption would lead to reductions in dietary GHG emissions.  相似文献   

Cut-off Lows in the South Africa region and their contribution to precipitation   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：0  

Alice Favre  Bruce Hewitson  Christopher Lennard  Ruth Cerezo-Mota  Mark Tadross 《Climate Dynamics》2013,41(9-10):2331-2351

The contribution of Cut-off Lows (CoLs) to precipitation and extreme rainfall frequency in South Africa has been quantified from 402 station records over the period 1979–2006. Firstly, 500 hPa CoL trajectories over Southern Africa and surrounding oceans were determined and their features thoroughly analyzed. In a second step, using daily precipitable water, outgoing long wave radiation data and station rainfall records, an area was defined where the occurrence of CoLs is associated with rainfall over South Africa. CoLs transiting in the 2.5°E–32.5°E/20°S–45°S are more likely to produce precipitation over the country. When 500 hPa CoLs are centered just off the west coast of the country (around 15°E/32.5°S) their impact is substantial in term of daily rainfall intensity and spatial coverage. CoL rainy days have been studied and it is shown that they significantly contribute to precipitation in South Africa, more strongly along the south and east coasts as well as inland, over the transition zone between the summer and winter rainfall domains where they contribute between 25 to more than 35 % of annual accumulation. At the country scale, CoL rainfall is more intense and widespread in spring than during other seasons. Over the analyzed period, a significant trend in annual CoLs’ frequency shows an increase of about 25 %. This increase is mainly realized in spring and in a lesser extent in summer. This trend is accompanied by a significant increase in the frequency of CoL rainy days specifically along the south coast and over the East of the country during the spring–summer period. In parallel, it is shown that from late spring until summer CoLs’ frequency varies significantly accordingly with large scale circulation modes of the Southern Hemisphere such as the Pacific South American pattern (PSA). This positive trend in CoLs’ frequency may be related with the positive trend in the PSA during the spring–summer period over the three last decades.  相似文献   

Can well-being between Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries converge?     

Peter Adamu  Shivee Ranjanee Kaliappan  Abdalla Sirag  Ruth John Chenbap 《GeoJournal》2017,82(2):369-377

This study investigates the convergence of well-being between Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries during the period 1980–2014. The gap in living standard was examined from a steady state represented by the average income of OECD countries. Applying the unit root estimation technique to test for convergence with and without structural breaks, the result shows that; among a total of 43 countries studied, about 14 % are converging towards the average of OECD average. When the shock caused by the economic crisis of 2008 was factored into the analysis, the gains of about five countries out of the six converging disappeared. These results are disturbing owing to the fact that countries in the Asian region that started almost at the same level with SSA have converged to form a convergence club. Therefore, a lot more effort is needed from the government and stake holders in most countries in SSA to improve on the determinants of growth like good health care, quality institutions, better education and commitments to pursue developmental programmes which will boost the income of an average African to acquire better life.  相似文献   

Spektrographische Untersuchungen des magnetischen Sterns α2CVn     

Lore Oetken  Erich Bartl  Ruth Orwert 《Astronomische Nachrichten》1970,292(1):1-8

The main purpose of this paper was the examination of the Cassegrain-spectrograph of the 2-m-universaltelescope at Tautenburg for investigations of magnetic stars. Therefore from 26 spectrograms of the well known magnetically variable star α²CVn taken with a reciprocal linear dispersion of 10 Å/mm variations of radial velocity and magnetic field strength for some lines of Eu II, Cr II, Si II, Mg II were determined. The results agree well with those of Babcock [5] and Struve and Swings [2], derived from spectrograms of higher dispersion. The large variation in the radial velocity of Eu II and Cr II is confirmed. In the oblique rotator model this requires a very strong concentration of Eu II at the poles and of Cr II at the equator.  相似文献