Sample records for abu rhamada island

  1. Destruction of a Holothuria scabra population by overfishing at Abu Rhamada Island in the Red Sea.

    PubMed

    Hasan, Mohamed Hamza

    2005-10-01

    Populations of Holothuria scabra at Abu Rhamada Island were investigated during 52 months, from July 1999 to October 2003. During the first 23 months (July, 1999-May, 2001) the Island had a robust population with a tri-modal size frequency distribution curve, very high densities (85.7-95.1 ind./100 m2 at the sandy habitat), high abundance (3362-3110 individuals) and biomass (46.7-34.3 kg/100 m2). Also, during this period most individuals were at depths between 4 and 6m and no individuals were recorded deeper than 15m. The population declined after harvesting began (June, 2001) and by March, 2002 the size frequency distribution showed a bimodal pattern with an obvious decrease in abundance of large individuals. There was also a slight reduction in densities (73.2-60.1 ind./100 m2 at the sandy habitat), abundance (2292-1682 individuals) and biomass (21.6-11.3 kg/100 m2), and a marked shift towards deeper waters. Overfishing reached its maximum during the final 19 months of the study, and by October, 2003, density (30.7-0.4 ind./100 m2 at the sandy habitat), abundance (802-10 individuals) and biomass (6.9-0.1 kg/100 m2) were all greatly reduced. The size frequency distribution of the population became unimodal, large animals disappeared and no recruits were seen. During this period, individuals were found at very deep depths (30 to >40 m). The study also showed that sandy substrate was the preferred habitat for H. scabra, accommodating the largest number of individuals. The population of H. scabra at Abu Rhamada Island was found to spawn biannually from 1999 to 2001, then only once during 2002 when high fishing pressure occurred, and ceased completely in 2003. The sex ratio was not significantly different from 1:1 before fishing begun, but shifted to an increasing male bias reaching 93% males by January 2003. None of the small animals remaining after January, 2003 could be sexed. Size at sexual maturity decreased from prefishing (185 mm for females and 160 mm for

  2. STS-45 Earth observation of the Persian Gulf and the island of Abu Ali

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    STS-45 Earth observation taken aboard Atlantis, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 104, is of the northern reaches of the Persian Gulf with the sunglint pattern centered on the Saudi Arabian island of Abu Ali. Bright features along the coast are thought to be deposits of oil, released from a terminal offshore of Kuwait during the recent Persian Gulf War. Further up the coast, in Kuwait, the black, oil-soaked desert surrounding the site of the oil well fires is clearly visible. View was taken from an altitude of 160 nautical miles with OV-104 located at 28 degrees north and 52.8 degrees east. During the STS-45 mission, an international survey team focused on oil contamination of the shallow-water habitants in the area north of Abu Ali Island. Crewmembers contacted the NOAA survey vessel, the R/V Mt. Mitchell, several times and photographed water color and sunglint within the study area and throughout the entire Persian Gulf. These photographic data are expected to aid the Persian Gulf researchers in

  3. Change detection analysis of multi-temporal imagery to assess environmental development on AL Sammalyah Island, Abu-Dhabi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Essa, Salem M.; Loughland, R.; Khogali, Mohamed E.

    2005-10-01

    AL Sammalyah Island is considered an important protected area in Abu Dhabi Emirate. The island has witnessed high rates of change in land use in the past few years starting from the early 1990s. Change detection analysis is conducted to monitor rate and spatial distribution of change occurring on the island. A three-phase research project has been implemented, an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) database for the Island is the focus; the current phase main objective was to assess rate and spatial distribution of the change on the island using multi-date large scale aerial photos. Results of the current study demonstrated that total vegetation cover extent has increased from 3.742 km2 in 1994 to 5.101 km2 in 2005, an increase of 36.3% between 1994 and 2005. The study also showed that this increase in vegetation extent is mostly attributed to the increase in mangrove planted areas with an increase from 2.256 km2 in 1994 to 3.568 km2 in 2005, an increase of 58.2% in ten years. Remote sensing and GIS have been successfully used to quantify change extent, distribution and trajectories of change. The next step will be to complete the GIS database for AL Sammalyah Island.

  4. Philippine Terrorism and Insurgency: What to do About the Abu Sayyaf Group

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-04-01

    rewarding kidnapping venture, and other terrorist activities. A proper perspective on the Abu Sayyaf Group can be more clearly appreciated if there is an...34Batch 90", that trained in Pulao Pangkor Island in Sabah, Malaysia .21 Aside from providing the sanctuary and training base, Malaysian...denominators. More evident is the dispute between the Philippine and the Malaysian government over the ownership of Sabah, an island in Malaysia . From this

  5. The Question of Iranian Occupation of the Islands, Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa Belonging to the United Arab Emirates

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1994-05-17

    ln r ýIni d le, e- s o Mh ..- rianlM’’ion ’-n cmn,entsr Naor qjai iris vturden Mi~"’ ,e .jr iv )ther aspe(? t )f hi o~e1 2 r’n’~i~.,rUd,’ uqgt~ii~ons...DATES COVERED 117 May 1994 Study Project 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE S . FUNDING NUMBERS The Question of Iranian Occupation of the Islands, Greater Tunb...Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa Belonaing to the United Arab Emirates 6. AUTHOR( S ) B.Gen Mohamad Hilal Al-Kaabi United Arab Emirates 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION

  6. The stratigraphic record of Khawr Al Maqta, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lokier, S. W.; Herrmann, S.

    2012-04-01

    Well-constrained modern depositional analogues are vital to the development of accurate geological reservoir models. The development of realistic hydrocarbon reservoir models requires the application of high-precision, well-constrained outcrop and sub-surface data sets with accurately-documented facies geometries and depositional sequence architectures. The Abu Dhabi coastline provides the best modern analogue for the study of ramp-style carbonate depositional facies akin to those observed in the sub-surface reservoirs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). However, all previous studies have relied on temporally limited surface datasets. This study employed thirty five shallow subsurface cores spanning the width of the Khawr Al Maqta - the narrow shallow tidal channel that separates Abu Dhabi Island from the mainland. The cores were taken over a transect measuring 1.2 km in length by 50 m wide thus providing a high-resolution record of sub-surface facies geometries in a stratigraphically complex setting. Geometries in these Pleistocene to Holocene facies are complex with interdigitating, laterally heterogeneous carbonate, siliciclastic and evaporite units represented throughout the area of the study. Carbonate facies range from molluscan rudstones to marls and are all indicative of deposition in a shallow, relatively low energy marine setting akin to that seen in the environs of Abu Dhabi Island today. Texturally mature quartz sands occur as thin lenses and as thin cross bedded or laminated horizons up to twenty five centimetres thick. Glauconitic mudstones are common and locally exhibit evidence of rootlets and desiccation cracks. Evaporites are present in the form of gypsum occurring as isolated crystals and nodules or as massive chicken-wire units in excess of three metres thick. All of these textures are consistent with evaporite development in the shallow subsurface. Early, shallow-burial diagenesis has been important. Bioclasts are pervasively leached throughout

  7. Looking Back: Understanding Abu Ghraib

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-01-01

    The Lucifer Effect (New York: Random House, 2007). 8 Steven Strasser and... the origin of the abuses at Abu Ghraib is not persuasive. As explicated in Dr. Phillip Zimbardo’s book The Lucifer Effect , the abuses were a nearly...Clemens, The Secrets of Abu Ghraib Revealed; Strasser and Whitney, The Abu Ghraib Investigations. 23 Zimbardo, The Lucifer Effect . 24

  8. 75 FR 2920 - In the Matter of the Designation of Nasir al-Wahishi, Also Known as Abu Basir, Also Known as Abu...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-19

    ..., Also Known as Abu Basir, Also Known as Abu Basir Nasir al-Wahishi, Also Known as Naser Abdel Karim al-Wahishi, Also Known as Nasir Abd al-Karim al- Wuhayshi, Also Known as Abu Basir Nasir al-Wuhayshi, Also Known as Nasser Abdul-karim Abdullah al-Wouhichi, Also Known as Abu Baseer al- Wehaishi, Also Known as...

  9. Torture in Abu Ghraib.

    PubMed

    Keller, Allen S

    2006-01-01

    Iraqi detainees subjected to torture and mistreatment at Abu Ghraib prison may continue to suffer from significant physical and psychological consequences of their abuse. This article reports two cases of Iraqi individuals allegedly tortured at Abu Ghraib. Detailed forensic evaluations were conducted approximately one year after their abuse in accordance with international guidelines. The findings of these evaluations substantiate their allegations of torture and confirm the profound health consequences of torture. Furthermore, these cases support assertions that abuse of prisoners was not limited to being perpetrated by guards, but also occurred systematically in the context of interrogations. These cases also raise concerns about inadequate medical care for Iraqi detainees.

  10. Balik Terrorism: The Return of the Abu Sayyaf

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-09-01

    Hudaibiyah," to work with the ASG. The JI operative, Rohmat (aka Zaki), had been a JI trainer at Camp Hudaibiyah in Camp Abu Bakar in 2000, and then in...brothers traveled to Camp Abu Bakar in August 1999 to meet with MILF leaders; and in December 2001, Santos underwent military and explosives training...More Davao Bombers Nabbed in Davao Norte," Sun-Star, November 19, 2004. 68. Camp Hudaibiyah was the portion of the MILF base, Camp Abu Bakar es

  11. Examining the health care payment reforms in Abu Dhabi.

    PubMed

    Hamidi, Samer; Akinci, Fevzi

    2015-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the current health care payment reforms in Abu Dhabi and discuss the potential impact of these reforms on health care consumers and providers as we all as long-term sustainability of the mandatory health care insurance system. A focused literature review was conducted to systematically identify and summarize relevant literature published on the recent payments reforms in Abu Dhabi along with a secondary review and analysis of existing related government documents, technical reports, and press releases by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi (HAAD) and other relevant research groups. The implementation of the mandatory health insurance system allowed all UAE nationals and foreign workings in Abu Dhabi to have access to medical care insurance and access to care. Prospective payment reforms represent critical sustainability interventions for health care funding in Abu Dhabi. The full impact of payment reforms on affordability, system efficiency, and patient outcomes is yet to be documented. Given the Government of Abu Dhabi has identified the sustainability of healthcare funding as a key governmental policy, more research is needed to systematically examine the impact of the current payment reforms on multiple stakeholders. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  12. Recent benthic foraminifera assemblages from mangrove swamp and channels of Abu Dhabi (UAE)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fiorini, Flavia; Lokier, Stephen W.; Odeh, Weaam A. S. Al; Paul, Andreas; Song, Jianfeng; Freeman, Mark; Michel, Françoise

    2017-04-01

    Zonation of Recent mangrove environments can be defined using benthic foraminifera, however, little is known about foraminifera from mangrove environments of the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The objective of this study is to produce a detailed micropaleontological and sedimentological analysis to identify foraminiferal associations from mangrove swamps and channels located on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island (UAE). Detailed sediment sampling collection in mangal environments of Eastern Abu Dhabi was carried out to assess the distribution of benthic foraminifera in different sedimentary facies in the mangal and in the surrounding natural environments of the upper and lower intertidal area (mud flats and channels). A 100 m transect across a natural channel in a mangal on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island was sampled in detail for sedimentological and foraminiferal analysis. Forty-seven samples were collected at 2 meter intervals along the transect in a number of different sedimentary facies including; fine sediment in areas exposed during low tide and close to mangrove trees (Avicennia marina), fine sediment rich in leaf material, coarse sediment in channels, and coarse sediments with a shell lag. At each sampling location environmental parameters were recorded, including water depth, salinity, temperature and pH. Samples collected for foraminiferal analysis were stained in rose Bengal in order to identify living specimens. Samples collected on the mud flat at the margin of the channel show a living foraminiferal assemblage characterised by abundant foraminifera belonging to the genera Ammonia, Elphidium, Cribroelphidium, Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Sigmoilinita, Spiroloculina, Peneroplis and Spirolina. Samples collected in the lower (wet) intertidal area close to Avicennia marina roots, presented a low-diversity assemblage mostly comprising small-sized opportunistic foraminifera of the genera Ammonia and Cribroelphidium along with rare Triloculina and

  13. Stratigraphy, facies analysis and depositional environments of the Upper Unit of Abu Roash "E" member in the Abu Gharadig field, Western Desert, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hewaidy, Abdel Galil; Elshahat, O. R.; Kamal, Samy

    2018-03-01

    Abu Roach "E" member is of an important hydrocarbon reservoir-producing horizon in the Abu Gharadig Field (north Western Desert, Egypt). This study is used to build facies analysis and depositional environments model for the Upper Unit of the Abu Roash "E" member in Abu Gharadig Field. This target has been achieved throughout the sedimentological, wire line logs, lithostratigraphic and biostratigraphic analyses of more than 528 feet cores. The high-resolution biostratigraphic analysis provides a calibration for the paleo-bathymetry and depositional environmental interpretations. Biozonation and lithostratigraphic markers are used to constrain stratigraphic correlation. Integration between the core description and petorographic microfacies analysis by microscope examination provide an excellent indication for the rock types and depositional environments. Five depositional facies types are detected including carbonate inner ramp, tidal flats, tidal channels, supra-tidal and tide dominated delta facies. This model helps in the understanding of the Upper Unit of Abu Roash "E" member reservoir distribution as well as lateral and vertical facies changes that contribute to the development strategy for the remaining hydrocarbon reserves for this important oil reservoir.

  14. Investigation of Intelligence Activities At Abu Ghraib

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-08-23

    detainees" within Abu Ghraib. It is clear that the interrogation practices of other government agencies led to a loss of accountability at Abu Ghraib. DoD...must document and enforce adherence by other government agencies with established DoD practices and procedures while conducting detainee interrogation...misinterpretation as to accepted practices or confusion occurred due to the proliferation of guidance and information from other theaters of operation

  15. Abu Sayyaf

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    Islamiyah (JI), a Southeast Asian militant Islamist group widely known and associated with the Bali nightclub bombing in 2002. 45 The new and... industry has been afflicted by natural disasters such as volcano eruptions as well as higher fuel costs making travel more expensive. In spite of these...occurrences, tourism receipts peaked in 1997 at close to $3 billion but by 2000 had dropped to less than $2 billion. Abu Sayyaf . . .9 Tourism is

  16. Documentation and Monitoring of Built Heritage in Abu Dhabi, Uae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muhammad, S.

    2013-07-01

    The ancient oasis-city of Al Ain in Abu Dhabi Emirate still retains the most important and outstanding cultural heritage of United Arab Emirates (UAE). The larger area of Abu Dhabi Emirate comprised of archaeological sites, cultural landscapes and historic buildings dating back to 3rd millennium to the recent pre-oil era. Traditional materials like stone, earth and palm wood were used in combination with local construction methods. For the last seven years the newly formed Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi)1 has been actively involved in conservation of built heritage in Abu Dhabi Emirate with the help of its Conservation Section. Documentation prior to any conservation and restoration works is considered as a basic pre-requisite for understanding an historic building or site. It is a process which continues during the conservation of any monument and is the only accurate tool for recording information in order to understand the structure, ultimately leading to the management of cultural heritage. Application and use of tools, ranging from basic manual techniques to 3D laser scanning, based on the best practices and international guidelines the exercise will help in establishing a documentation lab with standard procedures, specifications and tools for the documentation and monitoring the built heritage of Abu Dhabi Emirate. This paper will discuss a range of case studies and will demonstrate how documentation and monitoring of the built heritage has augmented the various conservation initiatives on a variety of building types.

  17. Gis-Based Wind Farm Site Selection Model Offshore Abu Dhabi Emirate, Uae

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saleous, N.; Issa, S.; Mazrouei, J. Al

    2016-06-01

    The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has declared the increased use of alternative energy a strategic goal and has invested in identifying and developing various sources of such energy. This study aimed at assessing the viability of establishing wind farms offshore the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE and to identify favourable sites for such farms using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) procedures and algorithms. Based on previous studies and on local requirements, a set of suitability criteria was developed including ocean currents, reserved areas, seabed topography, and wind speed. GIS layers were created and a weighted overlay GIS model based on the above mentioned criteria was built to identify suitable sites for hosting a new offshore wind energy farm. Results showed that most of Abu Dhabi offshore areas were unsuitable, largely due to the presence of restricted zones (marine protected areas, oil extraction platforms and oil pipelines in particular). However, some suitable sites could be identified, especially around Delma Island and North of Jabal Barakah in the Western Region. The environmental impact of potential wind farm locations and associated cables on the marine ecology was examined to ensure minimal disturbance to marine life. Further research is needed to specify wind mills characteristics that suit the study area especially with the presence of heavy traffic due to many oil production and shipping activities in the Arabian Gulf most of the year.

  18. 77 FR 5291 - The Designation of Yassin Chouka, Also Known as Yasin Chouka, Also Known as Abu Ibrahim, Also...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-02

    ... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7784] The Designation of Yassin Chouka, Also Known as Yasin Chouka, Also Known as Abu Ibrahim, Also Known as Abu Ibraheem the German, also Known as Abu Ibrahim al... Chouka, also known as Abu Ibrahim, also known as Abu Ibraheem the German, also known as Abu Ibrahim al...

  19. ABU MANSUR ON AYURVEDA

    PubMed Central

    Fatimi, S. O.

    1981-01-01

    Abu Mansur's Al-Abniya a pioneering work on pharmacological treatise in Persian language, has not received the attention that it richly deserves. This work provides as a starting point to probe into the hitherto neglected field of study regarding the relationship of medical systems prevalent in Central, West and South Asia-Greco-Syriac, Iranian and Ayurvedic medical sciences. PMID:22556459

  20. 77 FR 5291 - The Designation of Monir Chouka, also Known as Mounir Chouka, Also Known as Abu Adam, Also Known...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-02-02

    ... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice: 7783] The Designation of Monir Chouka, also Known as Mounir Chouka, Also Known as Abu Adam, Also Known as Abu Adam From Germany, also Known as Abu Adam aus... Chouka, also known as Abu Adam from Germany, also known as Abu Adam aus Deutschland, committed, or poses...

  1. Radiological assessment of Abu-Tartur phosphate, Western Desert Egypt.

    PubMed

    Uosif, M A M; El-Taher, A

    2008-01-01

    The contents of natural radionuclides ((226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K) were measured in sedimentary phosphate rock samples (Abu-Tartur phosphate, Western Desert Egypt) by using gamma spectrometry (NaI (Tl) 3"x 3"). Phosphate and environmental samples were collected from Abu-Tartur phosphate mine and the surrounding region. The results are discussed and compared with the levels in phosphate rocks from different countries. The activities of (226)Ra, (232)Th series and (40)K are between (14.9 +/- 0.8 and 302.4 +/- 15.2), (2.6 +/- 1.0 and 154.9 +/- 7.8) and (10.0 +/- 0.5 and 368.4 +/- 18.4) Bq kg(-1), respectively. The Abu-Tartur phosphate deposit was found to have lower activity than many others exploited phosphate sedimentary deposits, with its average total annual dose being only 114.6 microSv y(-1). This value is about 11.46% of the 1.0 mSv y(-1) recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP-60, 1990) as the maximum annual dose to members of the public.

  2. Introduction of an Emergency Response Plan for flood loading of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in Malaysia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Said, N. F. Md; Sidek, L. M.; Basri, H.; Muda, R. S.; Razad, A. Z. Abdul

    2016-03-01

    Sultan Abu Bakar Dam Emergency Response Plan (ERP) is designed to assist employees for identifying, monitoring, responding and mitigation dam safety emergencies. This paper is outlined to identification of an organization chart, responsibility for emergency management team and triggering level in Sultan Abu Bakar Dam ERP. ERP is a plan that guides responsibilities for proper operation of Sultan Abu Bakar Dam in respond to emergency incidents affecting the dam. Based on this study four major responsibilities are needed for Abu Bakar Dam owing to protect any probable risk for downstream which they can be Incident Commander, Deputy Incident Commander, On-Scene Commander, Civil Engineer. In conclusion, having organization charts based on ERP studies can be helpful for decreasing the probable risks in any projects such as Abu Bakar Dam and it is a way to identify and suspected and actual dam safety emergencies.

  3. Recent carbonate firm- to hardgrounds in the Abu Dhabi lagoon: Environmental controls and petrography

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Immenhauser, Adrian; Lokier, Stephen W.; Kwiecien, Ola; Riechelmann, Sylvia; Buhl, Dieter

    2017-04-01

    Marine carbonate firm- and hardgrounds have been described from the Precambrian to the recent sedimentary archive. In comparison to the numerous publications dealing with fossil case examples, well-constrained studies of shoalwater hardground formation from modern (sub)tropical seas are comparably scarce. This comes as a surprise as only modern depositional environments offer direct insight into the plethora of environmental, geochemical, kinetic, and biological parameters that affect these features at formation and during diagenetic pathways. Here, we present the first results of a combined field and laboratory study with focus on firm- to hardgrounds (also termed "discontinuity" in the sense of a catch-it-all term) forming both in the shallow inner lagoon and the outer lagoon ooid shoals of the Abu Dhabi barrier-island complex. Essentially, the discontinuities found represent sub-grounds in the sense that they form a few centimetres beneath the sediment surface. Sub-grounds in the outer lagoon ooid shoals are cemented by characteristic needle-shaped aragonite crystals and essentially represent lithified crab burrows. In contrast, sub-grounds in the inner lagoon of Abu Dhabi form brittle intervals, perhaps 5 cm in thickness, that are cemented by platy aragonitic crystals that show uncommon morphologies. Botryoids are abundant and generally seem to affect crystal morphologies. First evidence suggests that these features form below the uppermost oxic layer of pore fluids in the shallow sedimentary column. These findings are placed in context with temporally-resolved data on sea and porewater chemistry.

  4. Crimes of obedience: "groupthink" at abu ghraib.

    PubMed

    Post, Jerrold M; Panis, Lara K

    2011-01-01

    Clear evidence of authorization at the highest levels belies administration statements to the effect that the torture at Abu Ghraib was an aberration and simply unauthorized actions by rogue soldiers. The administration reflected a "group mind," demonstrating many qualities of "groupthink." Whatever was necessary, including torture and violation of the Geneva accords, the system in effect authorized, because of the perceived danger to the system and the desperate requirement to get the information out of "them" by whatever means necessary, information that could save lives. The sanctioned violence demonstrated the qualities identified by Kelman and Hamilton (1989) in their study of the Mylai massacre as characteristic of sanctioned massacres: authorization, routinization, and dehumanization. It would seem that officials and participants exhibited all of these characteristics in the decision to conduct extreme interrogation on the "unlawful combatants" imprisoned at Abu Ghraib.

  5. Oil Spill Detection and Monitoring of Abu Dhabi Coastal Zone Using KOMPSAT-5 SAR Imagery

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harahsheh, H. A.

    2016-06-01

    Abu Dhabi Government endorsed vision for its Maritime Strategy `A safe, secure and sustainable maritime domain for Abu Dhabi'. This research study share this vision using the concept of monitoring as tool for marine protection against any possible oil pollution. The best technology to detect and monitor oil pollution and in particularly oil spill is SAR imagery In this case study we chose KOMPSAT-5 SAR. KOMPSAT-5 carries X-band SAR for earth observation, and is capable of day-and-night imaging under all weather condition. It provides three operation modes: High Resolution Mode to provide 1 m resolution, Standard Mode to provide 3 m resolution and Wide Swath Mode to provide 20 m resolution with 100 km swath at 550 km altitude, with four modes of polarization. KOMPSAT-5 provides products for various applications; security and defense, mapping, and natural resource management, environmental monitoring, disaster monitoring and more. For our case study we chose to work with Wide Swath mode (WS) with Vertical polarization (VV) to cover a wide area of interest located to the north west of Abu Dhabi including some important islands like "Zirku Island", and areas with oil production activities. The results of data acquired on 4th May 2015 show some spot of oil spill with length estimated about 3 KM, and the daily satellite data acquisition over the period July 24 through July 31 shows serious and many oil spill events some are small, but many others are considered to be big with area size around 20 km2. In the context of oil spill pollution in the seas, we have to consider the development and increase of overseas transportation, which is an important factor for both social and economic sectors. The harmful effects of marine pollution are numerous, from the damage of marine life to the damage of the aquatic ecosystem as whole. As such, the need for oil slick detection is crucial, for the location of polluted areas and to evaluate slick drift to protect the coastline

  6. 76 FR 58853 - In the Matter of the Designation of Muhammad Hisham Muhammad Isma'il Abu Ghazala, Also Known as...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-09-22

    ... Abu Layth, Also Known as Abu Layth al-Filistini, Also Known as 'Ali 'Abd Al-Rahman Isma'il, Also Known as 'Ali 'Abd Al-Rahman Abu Suwaywin, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist Pursuant to Section 1...

  7. Coincident Observations of Surface Ozone and NMVOCs over Abu Dhabi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abbasi, Naveed; Majeed, Tariq; Iqbal, Mazhar; Tarasick, David; Davies, Jonathan; Riemer, Daniel; Apel, Eric

    2016-07-01

    The vertical profiles of ozone are measured coincidently with non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) at the meteorological site located at the Abu Dhabi international airport (latitude 24.45N; longitude 54.22E) during the years 2012 - 2014. Some of the profiles show elevated surface ozone >95 ppbv during the winter months (December, January and February). The ground-level NMVOCs obtained from the gas chromatography-flame ionization detection/mass spectrometry system also show elevated values of acetylene, ethane, propane, butane, pentane, benzene, and toluene. NMVOCs and ozone abundances in other seasons are much lower than the values in winter season. NMVOCs are emitted from an extensive number of sources in urban environments including fuel production, distribution, and consumption, and serve as precursor of ozone. Transport sources contribute a substantial portion of the NMVOC burden to the urban atmosphere in developed regions. Abu Dhabi is located at the edge of the Arabian Gulf and is highly affected by emissions from petrochemical industries in the neighboring Gulf region. The preliminary results indicate that wintertime enhancement in ozone is associated with large values of NMVOCs at Abu Dhabi. The domestic production of surface ozone is estimated from the combination of oxygen recombination and NMVOCs and compared with the data. It is estimated that about 40-50% of ozone in Abu Dhabi is transported from the neighbouring petrochemical industries. We will present ozone sounding and NMVOCs data and our model estimates of surface ozone, including a discussion on the high levels of the tropospheric ozone responsible for contaminating the air quality in the UAE. This work is supported by National Research Foundation, UAE.

  8. Al Jirab Island, United Arab Emirates, Persian Gulf

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1991-05-06

    STS039-71-088 (28 April-6 May 1991) --- A handheld 70mm frame of the southern Persian Gulf area. The island in the middle of the frame is Al Jirab, 30 miles west of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. On the mainland beaches opposite the island, a thick and continuous black fringe of oil can be seen as a line. Photo experts studying the STS 39 photography have not yet ascertained the source of the oil. They disclosed that if the oil does in fact stem from damaged Kuwaiti offshore oil fields, the slick has been blown southward at least 460 miles. The city of Tarif is visible in the affected area. Lighter brown slicks can be seen offshore. A causeway joins Al Jirab to the mainland and a dredged ship channel with its associated islands can be seen west of the causeway.

  9. Abu Dhabi Basemap Update Using the LiDAR Mobile Mapping Technology

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alshaiba, Omar; Amparo Núñez-Andrés, M.; Lantada, Nieves

    2016-04-01

    Mobile LiDAR system provides a new technology which can be used to update geospatial information by direct and rapid data collection. This technology is faster than the traditional survey ways and has lower cost. Abu Dhabi Municipal System aims to update its geospatial system frequently as the government entities have invested heavily in GIS technology and geospatial data to meet the repaid growth in the infrastructure and construction projects in recent years. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has witnessed a huge growth in infrastructure and construction projects in recent years. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and update its basemap system frequently to meet their own organizational needs. Currently, the traditional ways are used to update basemap system such as human surveyors, GPS receivers and controller (GPS assigned computer). Then the surveyed data are downloaded, edited and reviewed manually before it is merged to the basemap system. Traditional surveying ways may not be applicable in some conditions such as; bad weather, difficult topographic area and boundary area. This paper presents a proposed methodology which uses the Mobile LiDAR system to update basemap in Abu Dhabi by using daily transactions services. It aims to use and integrate the mobile LiDAR technology into the municipality's daily workflow such that it becomes the new standard cost efficiency operating procedure for updating the base-map in Abu Dhabi Municipal System. On another note, the paper will demonstrate the results of the innovated workflow for the base-map update using the mobile LiDAR point cloud and few processing algorithms.

  10. Designing Professional Development for Principals in a Context of Change: The Case of Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blaik Hourani, Rida; Stringer, Patricia

    2015-01-01

    Schools in Abu Dhabi are going through a period of transformation and reform. The Abu Dhabi Education Council commenced a professional development plan for principals to enhance their capabilities to manage and initiate change in light of the reforms. This study was conducted to explore principals' perspectives on professional development…

  11. Islamic Terrorism in Southeast Asia: An Effects-Based U.S. Regional Strategy Against Jemaah Islamiyah and Abu Sayyaf

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2005-05-26

    the following year, including the detention of Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and his associated Abdullah Sungkar, passionate followers of Darul Islam. Ba’asyir...rhetoric of the group’s reported leader, Abu Bakar Ba’asyir: Brothers and sisters, according to the examples of the Prophet Mohammed, Islam must...organized a series of bombings across the country, sanctioned and approved by Abu Bakar Ba’asyir and carried out by operatives of JI and Al-Qaeda.”35

  12. The Ecology of Al-Samaliah Island, U.A.E.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zahran, M. A.; Al-Ansari, F. M.

    1999-08-01

    Al-Samaliah Island is one of the inshore islands of U.A.E. located at about 12 km north-east of Abu Dhabi in the Arabian Gulf. It has a flat undulating surface with neither sand dunes nor rocky hills. Its sandy soil is generally salt-affected with variable percentages of salts. The vegetation of Al-Samaliah Island is essentially halophytic and may be categorized as: seagrasses, mangal and littoral saltmarsh types. The main species include: Cymodocea ciliata, Halophila spp. and Halodula univervis (seagrasses), some algae, Avicennia marina (mangrove), Arthrocnemum macrostachyum, Seidlitzia rosmarinus, and Suaeda vermiculata (salt marsh). Other halophytes commonly present are: Anabasis setifera, Halocnemum strobilaeum, Halopeplis perfoliata, Salsola imbricata and Zygophyllum gatarense in addition to two annuals: Schangenia aegyptiaca and Zygophyllum simplex. Phoenix dactylifera is cultivated in local areas covered with sandy sheets. Between the date palm trees there is a thin growth of Cyperus conglomeratus. Some plant species have been analysed chemically to determine their main constituents. The relationships between the environmental factors and the plant life of the islands are discussed.

  13. Communication and Collaboration in Library Technical Services: A Case Study of New York University in Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Parrott, Justin

    2016-01-01

    New York University Abu Dhabi Library has developed new strategies to increase efficiency in technical services processing between units based in New York and Abu Dhabi. This case study discusses the challenges specific to the international context and the methods used to overcome them, increase speed processing, and ultimately improve patron…

  14. Educational Leaders and the Prospective Responsiveness to the Vast Drastic Educational Changes in the Abu Dhabi Emirate

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Al-Zyoud, Mohammad Sayel

    2015-01-01

    This study examines the prospective responsiveness of school leaders to the drastic educational changes currently being instituted in Abu Dhabi. The study utilizes a qualitative research approach by using a focused group interview with twenty-five teachers selected by purposive sampling from Abu Dhabi Emirate schools. The study revealed that…

  15. Weqaya: A Population-Wide Cardiovascular Screening Program in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    PubMed Central

    Harrison, Oliver; Al Siksek, Zaid

    2012-01-01

    Objectives. We sought to determine cardiovascular risk factor prevalence rates among adults in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Methods. We used self-reported indicators, anthropometric measures, and blood tests to screen 50 138 adults aged 18 years or older taking part in a population-wide cardiovascular screening program. Results. Participants’ mean age was 36.82 years (SD = 14.3); 43% were men. Risk factor prevalence rates were as follows: obesity, 35%; overweight, 32%; central obesity, 55%; diabetes, 18%; prediabetes, 27%; dyslipidemia, 44%; and hypertension, 23.1%. In addition, 26% of men were smokers, compared with 0.8% of women. Age-standardized diabetes and prediabetes rates were 25% and 30%, respectively, and age-standardized rates of obesity and overweight were 41% and 34%. Conclusions. This population-wide cardiovascular screening program demonstrated a high cardiovascular burden for our small sample in Abu Dhabi. The data form a baseline against which interventions can be implemented and progress monitored as part of the population-wide Abu Dhabi Cardiovascular Disease Program. PMID:21940918

  16. Recent benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies from mangrove swamps and channels of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fiorini, Flavia; Odeh, Weaam A. S. Al; Lokier, Stephen W.; Paul, Andreas

    2016-04-01

    Zonation of Recent mangrove environments can be defined using benthic foraminifera, however, little is known about foraminifera from mangrove environments of the Arabian Gulf. The objective of this study is to produce a detailed micropaleontological and sedimentological analysis to identify foraminiferal associations in several coastline environments (mangrove swamps and channels) located on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island (UAE). Detailed sediment sampling collection in mangal environments of Eastern Abu Dhabi was carried out to assess the distribution of living and dead benthic foraminifera in different sedimentary facies in the mangal and in the surrounding area comprising natural environments of the upper and lower intertidal area (mud flats and channels) and areas modified by anthropogenic activities (dredged channels). The fine-grain sediments collected near mangrove (Avicenna marina) roots presented a high abundance of living and dead foraminifera tests. The assemblages in these samples show very low diversity and are almost entirely constituted of small-sized opportunistic species belonging to the genera Ammonia and Elphidium. In particular: • Samples collected on the mud flat and in ponds at the margin of the channel show a foraminiferal assemblage characterised by abundant foraminifera belonging to the genera Ammonia, Elphidium, Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Peneroplis and Spirolina. • Samples collected in the lower (wet) intertidal area close to Avicenna marina roots, presented a low-diversity assemblage mostly comprising opportunistic foraminifera of the genera Ammonia and Elphidium along with rare miliolidae. • Samples from the upper intertidal area (dry) close to Avicenna marina roots, produced an assemblage exclusively composed of small-sized opportunistic Ammonia and Elphidium, together with abundant specimens belonging to the genera Trochammina. Throchammina specimens have not been previously recorded from Recent sedimentary samples of

  17. Reflections on the Reggio Emilia Approach as Inspiration for Early Childhood Teacher Education in Abu Dhabi, UAE

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Fiona S.

    2015-01-01

    This article discusses a teacher educator's reflections on her participation in an international study group and visits to the infant-toddler and pre-schools of Reggio Emilia, Italy, as inspiration for early childhood teacher education in Abu Dhabi, UAE. The following five themes are reflected on, for teacher education in the context of Abu Dhabi:…

  18. Science as Interests but Not for Career: Understanding High School Students' Engagement in Science in Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Guang; Badri, Masood; Al-Mazroui, Karima; Al-Rashedi, Asma; Nai, Peng

    2017-01-01

    Understanding high school students' engagement in science is important for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Drawing on data from the ROSE Survey conducted in Abu Dhabi schools in 2013, this paper used a multi-dimensional framework to explore associations between high school students' engagement in science and a range of student psychosocial and…

  19. Genesis of the Abu Marawat gold deposit, central Eastern Desert of Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zoheir, Basem A.; Akawy, Ahmed

    2010-06-01

    Gold mineralisation at the Abu Marawat mine, central Eastern Desert of Egypt, is related to a system of massive and sheared, milky quartz veins cutting a sequence of Neoproterozoic island arc metavolcanic/volcaniclastic rocks and related banded iron formation (BIF). Sulphide-bearing quartz veins and related hydrothermal breccia bodies display a range of textures including sheared, boudinaged and recrystallised quartz, open space filling and microbreccia. These variable textures imply a complex history of crack-seal mechanism characterising the relation between mineral deposition and a major N-S-trending shear zone, during a late brittle-ductile deformation event which affected the area at about 550 Ma. Gold-base metal mineralisation is associated with brecciation and fracturing of the iron ore bands, close to silicified shears and related quartz veins. The auriferous quartz lodes are characterised by the occurrence of visible pyrite-chalcopyrite ± pyrrhotite ± sphalerite ± galena mineralisation. Gold is refractory in pyrite and chalcopyrite, but rare visible gold/electrum and telluride specks were observed in a few samples. Hydrothermal alteration includes pervasive silicification, pyritisation, sericitisation, carbonatisation confined to a delicate set of veins and altered shears, and a more widespread propylitic alteration assemblage (quartz + chlorite + pyrite + calcite ± epidote). Fluid inclusion petrography and microthermometric studies suggest heterogeneous trapping of a low-salinity (1.4-6.7 wt.% eq. NaCl) aqueous solution and a carbonic fluid. Evidence for fluid immiscibility during ore formation includes variable liquid/vapour ratios in inclusions along individual trails and bulk inclusion homogenisation into liquid and occasionally to vapour at comparable temperatures. The trapping conditions of intragranular aqueous-carbonic inclusions approximate 264-378 °C at 700-1300 bar. Similar temperature estimates have been obtained from Al

  20. DefenseLink Special: Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi Killed in Air Strike

    Science.gov Websites

    DefenseLink.mil Jun. 11, 2015 War on Terror Transformation News Products Press Resources Images Websites Contact , June 8, 2006 - The death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al Zarqawi is a victory in the war on terror and

  1. Migration of P-12 Education from Its Current State to One of High Quality: The Aspirations of Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badri, Masood; Al Khaili, Mugheer

    2014-01-01

    Key system challenges identified by the Abu Dhabi Education Council provided the impetus for an aggressive strategic plan as necessary guidance and support for the development of the P-12 education system to contribute to advancing its positioning in the global knowledge economy. For the Abu Dhabi Education Council, the analysis served as a tool…

  2. Countering the Lingering Threat of the Abu Sayyaf Group

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2007-09-01

    EXERCISES AND OPERATIONS FROM 2002-2003 ........................ 39 C. MALAYSIAN SPONSORED CEASEFIRE......................................... 42 D...to best deal with the remaining Abu Sayyaf threat, the U.S. must continue to assist in the Malaysian -sponsored peace talks between the Government of...stop here as yet more MILF members conducted another attack on a cinema in Iligan, Mindanao which resulted in the deaths of another 14 people.38

  3. Distribution of heavy metals in the coastal area of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

    PubMed

    Al Rashdi, Saeed; Arabi, Alya A; Howari, Fares M; Siad, Abdi

    2015-08-15

    Fifty-seven sediment samples were collected from Abu Dhabi coastal area, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The concentrations of heavy metals including antimony, arsenic, barium, cadmium, cobalt, copper, mercury, lead, molybdenum, nickel and zinc were obtained using Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectroscopy (ICP-MS) and X-ray fluorescence. Heavy metal contaminations in Abu Dhabi had increased since 2004. Nevertheless, the enrichment factors, geoaccumulation indices and the pollution load index of 0.3 showed no pollution with any of the measured metals except arsenic. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Human brucellosis in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2010-2015.

    PubMed

    Al Shehhi, Nawal; Aziz, Faisal; Al Hosani, Farida; Aden, Bashir; Blair, Iain

    2016-10-12

    Worldwide, human brucellosis remains an important and widespread infection. In the past, there were limited data on the occurrence of human brucellosis in the United Arab Emirates and the reported incidence appeared to be low compared with similar areas. In 2009, a new web-based infectious disease surveillance system was introduced in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. This paper reports data from this new system on human brucellosis for the 6 years 2010 to 2015. A dataset was extracted for each case of human brucellosis reported to the notification system for the 6 year period January 2010 to December 2015. Annual brucellosis rates by age-group, gender, nationality and, geographical region were calculated and compared. A total of 480 cases of brucellosis were reported. The overall crude notification rate was 3 · 3 per 100,000 population but higher rates were seen in certain population subgroups notably expatriate males of working age in the Eastern Region (approximately 10 per 100,000) and UAE nationals of all ages and both genders in Abu Dhabi (between 4 -- 24 per 100,000). These findings reflect environmental and behavioral factors linked to occupation and leisure time activities associated with the large number of small non-commercial livestock farms in Abu Dhabi. Controlling human brucellosis in these circumstances will be challenging.

  5. Over-the-counter sales of antibiotics from community pharmacies in Abu Dhabi.

    PubMed

    Dameh, Majd; Green, James; Norris, Pauline

    2010-10-01

    The aim of this study is to investigate over-the-counter sale of antibiotics from community pharmacies in Abu Dhabi city, focusing on the extent, demographic and socioeconomic determinants of this practice. The study was conducted in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, and involved 17 randomly selected private pharmacies. A cross-sectional design using structured observations of 30 clients purchasing antibiotics from a pharmacy staff (either a pharmacist or pharmacy assistant) at each selected pharmacy. A total of 510 interactions were observed. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS. The extent and types of antibiotics sold over-the-counter in Abu Dhabi city as observed in the selected sample of community pharmacies, and the demographic and socioeconomic factors that contributed to this practice. Sixty eight percent (68.4%) of the observed antibiotic sales were sold over-the-counter without prescriptions. Injection antibiotics constituted 2.2% of the antibiotics sold, 45.5% of which were sold over-the-counter. Combination of penicillins including β-lactamase inhibitors (34.0%), penicillins with extended spectrum (22.3%) and second generation cephalosporins (11.2%) were the mostly commonly sold antibiotic groups. Respiratory conditions (63.1%) were the most frequent reason for purchasing antibiotics. Over-the-counter sales of antibiotics were related to client ethnicity and age, gender of pharmacy staff and health complaint. Our study revealed high sales of over-the-counter antibiotics, despite this being illegal. The ineffectiveness of antibiotics in treating respiratory conditions of viral origin and effects of such practice on the emergence of bacterial resistance necessitates prompt action.

  6. 78 FR 6172 - In the Matter of the Designation of Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al-Khazmari al-Zahrani Also Known as Abu...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-01-29

    ... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 8168] In the Matter of the Designation of Ahmed Abdullah Saleh al- Khazmari al-Zahrani Also Known as Abu Maryam al-Saudi Also Known as Ahmed Abdullah S al-Zahrani... Abu Maryam al-Saudi; also known as Ahmed Abdullah S al-Zahrani, also known as Ahmad Abdullah Salih Al...

  7. Recent benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies distribution of the Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates) coastline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fiorini, Flavia; Lokier, Stephen W.

    2014-05-01

    The distribution of benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies from Recent coastline environments adjacent to the coastline of Abu Dhabi (UAE) was studied in detail with the aim to: 1) provide reliable analogs for understanding and interpreting the depositional environment of ancient shallow-marine sediments from the UAE; 2) assess any modifications in the distribution of benthic environments and sedimentary facies in an area affected by significant anthropogenic activities - particular construction and land reclamation. A total of 100 sea-floor sediment samples were collected in different shallow-marine sedimentary environments (nearshore shelf, beach-front, channels, ooid shoals, lagoon and mangals) close to the coastline of Abu Dhabi Island. Where possible, we revisited the sampling sites used in several studies conducted in the middle of last century (prior to any significant anthropogenic activities) to assess temporal changes in Recent benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies distribution during the last 50 years. Five foraminiferal assemblages were recognized in the studied area. Species with a porcellaneous test mainly belonging to the genera Quinqueloculina, Triloculina, Spiroloculina, Sigmoilinita are common in all studied areas. Larger benthic foraminifera Peneroplis and Spirolina are particularly abundant in samples collected on seaweed. Hyaline foraminifera mostly belonging to the genera Elphidium, Ammonia, Bolivina and Rosalina are also common together with Miliolidae in the nearshore shelf and beach front. Agglutinated foraminifera (Clavulina, Textularia, Ammobaculites and Reophax) are present in low percentages. The species belonging to the genera Ammobaculites and Reophax are present only in the finest grain samples particularly in lagoons and mangal environments and have not been reported previously in the studied area. The majority of the ooid shoal sediments, the coarser sediments of the beach-front and samples collected in dredged channels

  8. Wrench tectonics in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Ibrahim, M.; Mohamed, A.S.

    1995-08-01

    Recent studies of the geodynamics and tectonic history of the Arabian plate throughout geologic time have revealed that Wrench forces played an important role in the structural generation and deformation of Petroleum basins and reservoirs of the United Arab Emirates. The tectonic analysis of Abu Dhabi revealed that basin facies evolution were controlled by wrench tectonics, examples are the Pre-Cambrian salt basin, the Permo-Triassic and Jurassic basins. In addition, several sedimentary patterns were strongly influenced by wrench tectonics, the Lower Cretaceous Shuaiba platform margin and associated reservoirs is a good example. Wrench faults, difficult to identify by conventional methods, weremore » examined from a regional perspective and through careful observation and assessment of many factors. Subsurface structural mapping and geoseismic cross-sections supported by outcrop studies and geomorphological features revealed a network of strike slip faults in Abu Dhabi. Structural modelling of these wench forces including the use of strain ellipses was applied both on regional and local scales. This effort has helped in reinterpreting some structural settings, some oil fields were interpreted as En Echelon buckle folds associated with NE/SW dextral wrench faults. Several flower structures were interpreted along NW/SE sinistral wrench faults which have significant hydrocarbon potential. Synthetic and Antithetic strike slip faults and associated fracture systems have played a significant role in field development and reservoir management studies. Four field examples were discussed.« less

  9. Perceptions of the School Self-Evaluation Process: The Case of Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Blaik Hourani, Rida; Litz, David

    2016-01-01

    The Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has initiated educational change and school improvements. As part of the school reform agenda, ADEC has introduced school self-evaluation-Irtiqaa (SSE-Irtiqaa). This research probes the effectiveness of school administrators (SAs), including principals, vice principals, academic principals, and heads of…

  10. Variation by Gender in Abu Dhabi High School Students' Interests in Physics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Badri, Masood; Mazroui, Karima Al; Al Rashedi, Asma; Yang, Guang

    2016-04-01

    Abu Dhabi high school students' interest in physics in different contexts was investigated with a survey conducted in connection with the international project, The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE). The sample consisted of 2248 students in public and private schools. Means of most items that belong to the school physics context for both girls and boys were below the score of (3.0). The most interesting topics for both genders were connected with fantasy items. The least interesting items (particularly for girls) were connected with artifacts and technological processes. Girls assigned the highest scores for "why we dream" and "life and death." Boys assigned the highest scores for "inventions and discoveries" and "life outside of earth." The main message of the study is that new curricular approaches and textbooks can be developed through combining technological and human contexts. The implications for curriculum development, teacher professional development programs, and other education strategies in Abu Dhabi are discussed in light of the ROSE survey.

  11. Health insurance reform and the development of health insurance plans: the case of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE.

    PubMed

    Hamidi, Samer; Shaban, Sami; Mahate, Ashraf A; Younis, Mustafa Z

    2014-01-01

    The Emirate of Abu Dhabi has taken concrete steps to reform health insurance by improving the access to health providers as well as freedom of choice. The growing cost of health care and the impact of the global financial crisis have meant that countries are no longer able to solely bear the cost. As a result many countries have sought to overhaul their health care system so as to share the burden of provision with the private sector whether it is health care plan providers or employers. This article explores and discusses how the policy issues inherent in private health care schemes have been dealt with by the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Data was collected in early 2013 on health care plans in Abu Dhabi from government sources. The Abu Dhabi model has private sector involvement but the government sets prices and benefits. The Abu Dhabi model adequately deals with the problem of adverse selection through making insurance coverage a mandatory requirement. There are issues with moral hazards, which are a combination of individual and medical practitioner behavior that might affect the efficiency of the system. Over time there is a general increase in the usage of medical services, which may be reflective of greater awareness of the policy and its benefits as well as lifestyle change. Although the current health care system level of usage is adequate for the current population, as the level of usage increases, the government may face a financial burden. Therefore, the government needs to place safeguards in order to limit its exposure. The market for medical treatment needs to be made more competitive to reduce monopolistic behavior. The government needs to make individuals aware of a healthier lifestyle and encourage precautionary actions.

  12. A pushing chronic care forward in Abu Dhabi by identifying priorities and addressing barriers: a modified Delphi technique

    PubMed Central

    Loney, Tom; Lapão, Luis V

    2018-01-01

    Objective This study aimed to elucidate the top five key priorities and barriers to chronic care in the health system of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design A modified Delphi study was performed to reach consensus on priority areas and barriers to the development of the Chronic Care Model in the health system of Abu Dhabi. Individual wireless audience response devices (keypads) linked to a computer were used to reduce 28 priorities and 20 barriers to the top five during three iterative rounds over three consecutive days. Setting Chronic care services for patients with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer, in both private and publicly funded healthcare services in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Participants A purposive sample of 20 health systems’ experts were recruited. They were front-line healthcare workers from the public and private sector working in the delivery of care for patients with diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Results The ‘overall organizational leadership in chronic illness care’ was ranked as the most important priority to address (26.3%) and ‘patient compliance’ was ranked as the most important barrier (36.8%) to the development of the Chronic Care Model. Conclusions This study has identified the current priorities and barriers to improving chronic care within Abu Dhabi’s healthcare system. Our paper addresses the UAE’s 2021 Agenda of achieving a world-class healthcare system, and findings may help inform strategic changes required to achieve this mission. PMID:29866724

  13. Transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Infections in Healthcare Settings, Abu Dhabi

    PubMed Central

    Nguyen, Duc; Aden, Bashir; Al Bandar, Zyad; Al Dhaheri, Wafa; Abu Elkheir, Kheir; Khudair, Ahmed; Al Mulla, Mariam; El Saleh, Feda; Imambaccus, Hala; Al Kaabi, Nawal; Sheikh, Farrukh Amin; Sasse, Jurgen; Turner, Andrew; Abdel Wareth, Laila; Weber, Stefan; Al Ameri, Asma; Abu Amer, Wesal; Alami, Negar N.; Bunga, Sudhir; Haynes, Lia M.; Hall, Aron J.; Kallen, Alexander J.; Kuhar, David; Pham, Huong; Pringle, Kimberly; Tong, Suxiang; Whitaker, Brett L.; Gerber, Susan I.; Al Hosani, Farida Ismail

    2016-01-01

    Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infections sharply increased in the Arabian Peninsula during spring 2014. In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, these infections occurred primarily among healthcare workers and patients. To identify and describe epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of persons with healthcare-associated infection, we reviewed laboratory-confirmed MERS-CoV cases reported to the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi during January 1, 2013–May 9, 2014. Of 65 case-patients identified with MERS-CoV infection, 27 (42%) had healthcare-associated cases. Epidemiologic and genetic sequencing findings suggest that 3 healthcare clusters of MERS-CoV infection occurred, including 1 that resulted in 20 infected persons in 1 hospital. MERS-CoV in healthcare settings spread predominantly before MERS-CoV infection was diagnosed, underscoring the importance of increasing awareness and infection control measures at first points of entry to healthcare facilities. PMID:26981708

  14. Integration of seismic interpretation and well logging analysis of Abu Roash D Member, Gindi Basin, Egypt: Implication for detecting and evaluating fractured carbonate reservoirs

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarhan, Mohammad Abdelfattah; Basal, A. M. K.; Ibrahim, Ibrahim Mohamed

    2017-11-01

    Based on seismic interpretation, the time structure map on top of the Abu Roash D Member in the area of study within the Gindi Basin displays an NE-SW anticline plunging toward the NE intersected by two NE-SW reverse faults. This faulted anticline has been interpreted to have formed by the Late Cretaceous tectonic inversion resulting from the NW movement of the African Plate relative to Laurasia. This anticline creates a distinctive closure which may represent a possible structural hydrocarbon trap in the fractured limestone of the Abu Roash D Member in this area. Through well-logging analysis, the variable cementation exponent ;m; has been calculated using the Pickett Plot for the available wells in order to examine the presence of fractures within the entire carbonate Abu Roash D Member. The calculated ;m; for Abu Roash D in the two studied wells are 1.56 and 1.34 for SWQ-21 and SWQ-25; respectively which is indicative of the fractured limestone nature. The application of the correct ;m; (1.56) instead of 2 (traditional for the intergranular carbonate) for SWQ-21 well has revealed that, the water saturation for the uppermost part of Abu Roash D Member is lower than 50% (normal cut off for carbonate) possessing high porosity and reflecting good reservoir quality. The cross-plot between Archie water saturation (Sw) and neutron porosity (ΦN) for the uppermost part of this Member follows hyperbola with low BVW (Φ*Sw) value (0.06) which means that the reservoir is at irreducible state. The visual inspection for the log curve shapes in addition to the application of the presented technique in SWQ-25 well shows that the entire carbonate of Abu Roash D Member is water producing (Sw>50%). These results indicate that the upperpost part of the Abu Roash D Member in well SWQ-21 is fractured limestone and highly promising for hydrocarbon exploration within the Gindi Basin.

  15. Variation by Gender in Abu Dhabi High School Students' Interests in Physics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badri, Masood; Mazroui, Karima Al; Al Rashedi, Asma; Yang, Guang

    2016-01-01

    Abu Dhabi high school students' interest in physics in different contexts was investigated with a survey conducted in connection with the international project, The Relevance of Science Education (ROSE). The sample consisted of 2248 students in public and private schools. Means of most items that belong to the school physics context for both girls…

  16. School Improvements in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Asking the "Expert Witnesses"

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dickson, Martina

    2013-01-01

    Government schools in Abu Dhabi, as part of wide-scale educational reforms undertaken in the whole of the United Arab Emirates, have undergone massive school improvement developments over the past seven years. Over the course of these years, the reality of student life for those in government schools has been widely altered. This research explores…

  17. Geological heritage under strong urbanization pressure: El-Mokattam and Abu Roash as examples from Cairo, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    AbdelMaksoud, Kholoud M.; Al-Metwaly, Wael M.; Ruban, Dmitry A.; Yashalova, Natalia N.

    2018-05-01

    Urban geological heritage is prone to anthropogenic pressure linked to urbanization. In order to understand the necessity of conservation of such a heritage located in two areas of Cairo (Egypt), namely El-Mokattam and Abu Roash, their assessment is undertaken. It is established that the both areas possess geological heritage. As much as five types of the latter are represented in each of them. The most important in El-Mokattam is geomorphological type (the Mokattam Mountain itself), and the most important in Abu Roash are palaeogeographical (facies and palaeoecosystems) and structural (outcrop-scale fold and faults) types. In the both areas, the geological heritage is destroyed because of rapid and often uncontrolled (even illegal) urbanization. According to the results of the satellite images interpretation, the urban area has grown by 1.4 times in El-Mokattam and 3.4 times in Abu Roash during the period of 2000-2017 when many unique objects were damaged and destroyed. Some aesthetic properties have been also lost, which has decreased the important of these objects to tourists, as well as many students and researchers. Assigning official protected status and possible geopark creation can facilitate efficient conservation of the urban geological heritage of Cairo.

  18. "Where Is the Love?": The Ethics of Empathy in Abu Ghraib

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Sturgeon, Elizabeth M.

    2007-01-01

    Abu Ghraib. The name conjures horrifying images of abuse, torture, and man's inhumanity to man. In one photograph, a pyramid of naked detainees huddles outside a jail cell; in another, a soldier holds the end of a dog leash which is attached at the neck to a prostrate prisoner; in another, a soldier gives the thumbs-up sign in front of a line of…

  19. Molecular adjuvants based on nonpyrogenic lipophilic derivatives of norAbuMDP/GMDP formulated in nanoliposomes: stimulation of innate and adaptive immunity.

    PubMed

    Knotigová, Pavlína Turánek; Zyka, Daniel; Mašek, Josef; Kovalová, Anna; Křupka, Michal; Bartheldyová, Eliška; Kulich, Pavel; Koudelka, Štěpán; Lukáč, Róbert; Kauerová, Zuzana; Vacek, Antonín; Horynová, Milada Stuchlová; Kozubík, Alois; Miller, Andrew D; Fekete, Ladislav; Kratochvílová, Irena; Ježek, Jan; Ledvina, Miroslav; Raška, Milan; Turánek, Jaroslav

    2015-04-01

    The aim of this work was to demonstrate an immunostimulatory and adjuvant effect of new apyrogenic lipophilic derivatives of norAbuMDP and norAbuGMDP formulated in nanoliposomes. Nanoliposomes and metallochelating nanoliposomes were prepared by lipid film hydration and extrusion methods. The structure of the liposomal formulation was studied by electron microscopy, AF microscopy, and dynamic light scattering. Sublethal and lethal γ-irradiation mice models were used to demonstrate stimulation of innate immune system. Recombinant Hsp90 antigen (Candida albicans) bound onto metallochelating nanoliposomes was used for immunisation of mice to demonstrate adjuvant activities of tested compounds. Safety and stimulation of innate and adaptive immunity were demonstrated on rabbits and mice. The liposomal formulation of norAbuMDP/GMDP was apyrogenic in rabbit test and lacking any side effect in vivo. Recovery of bone marrow after sublethal γ-irradiation as well as increased survival of mice after lethal irradiation was demonstrated. Enhancement of specific immune response was demonstrated for some derivatives incorporated in metallochelating nanoliposomes with recombinant Hsp90 protein antigen. Liposomal formulations of new lipophilic derivatives of norAbuMDP/GMDP proved themselves as promising adjuvants for recombinant vaccines as well as immunomodulators for stimulation of innate immunity and bone-marrow recovery after chemo/radio therapy of cancer.

  20. Sequence stratigraphic controls on reservoir characterization and architecture: case study of the Messinian Abu Madi incised-valley fill, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed I.; Slatt, Roger M.

    2013-12-01

    Understanding sequence stratigraphy architecture in the incised-valley is a crucial step to understanding the effect of relative sea level changes on reservoir characterization and architecture. This paper presents a sequence stratigraphic framework of the incised-valley strata within the late Messinian Abu Madi Formation based on seismic and borehole data. Analysis of sand-body distribution reveals that fluvial channel sandstones in the Abu Madi Formation in the Baltim Fields, offshore Nile Delta, Egypt, are not randomly distributed but are predictable in their spatial and stratigraphic position. Elucidation of the distribution of sandstones in the Abu Madi incised-valley fill within a sequence stratigraphic framework allows a better understanding of their characterization and architecture during burial. Strata of the Abu Madi Formation are interpreted to comprise two sequences, which are the most complex stratigraphically; their deposits comprise a complex incised valley fill. The lower sequence (SQ1) consists of a thick incised valley-fill of a Lowstand Systems Tract (LST1)) overlain by a Transgressive Systems Tract (TST1) and Highstand Systems Tract (HST1). The upper sequence (SQ2) contains channel-fill and is interpreted as a LST2 which has a thin sandstone channel deposits. Above this, channel-fill sandstone and related strata with tidal influence delineates the base of TST2, which is overlain by a HST2. Gas reservoirs of the Abu Madi Formation (present-day depth ˜3552 m), the Baltim Fields, Egypt, consist of fluvial lowstand systems tract (LST) sandstones deposited in an incised valley. LST sandstones have a wide range of porosity (15 to 28%) and permeability (1 to 5080mD), which reflect both depositional facies and diagenetic controls. This work demonstrates the value of constraining and evaluating the impact of sequence stratigraphic distribution on reservoir characterization and architecture in incised-valley deposits, and thus has an important impact on

  1. Response to Emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013-2014.

    PubMed

    Al Hosani, Farida Ismail; Pringle, Kimberly; Al Mulla, Mariam; Kim, Lindsay; Pham, Huong; Alami, Negar N; Khudhair, Ahmed; Hall, Aron J; Aden, Bashir; El Saleh, Feda; Al Dhaheri, Wafa; Al Bandar, Zyad; Bunga, Sudhir; Abou Elkheir, Kheir; Tao, Ying; Hunter, Jennifer C; Nguyen, Duc; Turner, Andrew; Pradeep, Krishna; Sasse, Jurgen; Weber, Stefan; Tong, Suxiang; Whitaker, Brett L; Haynes, Lia M; Curns, Aaron; Gerber, Susan I

    2016-07-01

    In January 2013, several months after Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, began surveillance for MERS-CoV. We analyzed medical chart and laboratory data collected by the Health Authority-Abu Dhabi during January 2013-May 2014. Using real-time reverse transcription PCR, we tested respiratory tract samples for MERS-CoV and identified 65 case-patients. Of these patients, 23 (35%) were asymptomatic at the time of testing, and 4 (6%) showed positive test results for >3 weeks (1 had severe symptoms and 3 had mild symptoms). We also identified 6 clusters of MERS-CoV cases. This report highlights the potential for virus shedding by mildly ill and asymptomatic case-patients. These findings will be useful for MERS-CoV management and infection prevention strategies.

  2. Patterns of Global Terrorism 2001

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2002-05-01

    security response from the steps against terrorist operations within its bor- Indonesian military. ders. Police interviewed Abu Bakar Baasyir, leader of...other foreign interests in Singapore and the arrest Indonesian authorities questioned Abu Bakar of suspects with ties to other countries under...on 27 May from a resort on Palawan Island in the southern Philippines by the Abu Sayyaf Group, was subsequently murdered by his captors. . On 29 May

  3. The Westernization of Arab Pedagogies: Abu Dhabi Attempts to Move towards a Knowledge Economy

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Chrystall, Steve

    2014-01-01

    As the oil reserves in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) are forecast to become depleted over the next 50 to 150 years, the emirate of Abu Dhabi has set a vision to develop a knowledge economy in order to develop alternative sources of revenue in areas such as tourism, alternative energy and innovative business enterprises. Reformation of its…

  4. A Review of the Water and Energy Sectors and the Use of a Nexus Approach in Abu Dhabi.

    PubMed

    Paul, Parneet; Al Tenaiji, Ameena Kulaib; Braimah, Nuhu

    2016-03-25

    Rapid population increase coupled with urbanization and industrialization has resulted in shortages of water in the Middle East. This situation is further exacerbated by global climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research advocates that solutions to the global water security and scarcity crisis must involve water-energy nexus approaches. This means adopting policies and strategies that harmonize these inter-related sectors to minimize environmental impact while maximizing human benefit. In the case of Abu Dhabi, when designing and locating oil/gas refineries and associated power generation facilities, previous relevant decisions were based on simple economic and geographical grounds, such as nearness to oil rigs, pipelines, existing industries and port facilities, etc. The subsequent design and location of water abstraction and treatment works operated by the waste heat from these refining and/or power generation processes was catered for as an afterthought, meaning that there is now a mismatch between the water and energy supplies and demands. This review study was carried out to show how Abu Dhabi is trying now to integrate its water-energy sectors using a nexus approach so that future water/power infrastructure is designed optimally and operated in harmony, especially in regard to future demand. Based upon this review work, some recommendations are made for designers and policy makers alike to bolster the nexus approach that Abu Dhabi is pursuing.

  5. A Review of the Water and Energy Sectors and the Use of a Nexus Approach in Abu Dhabi

    PubMed Central

    Paul, Parneet; Al Tenaiji, Ameena Kulaib; Braimah, Nuhu

    2016-01-01

    Rapid population increase coupled with urbanization and industrialization has resulted in shortages of water in the Middle East. This situation is further exacerbated by global climate change due to greenhouse gas emissions. Recent research advocates that solutions to the global water security and scarcity crisis must involve water–energy nexus approaches. This means adopting policies and strategies that harmonize these inter-related sectors to minimize environmental impact while maximizing human benefit. In the case of Abu Dhabi, when designing and locating oil/gas refineries and associated power generation facilities, previous relevant decisions were based on simple economic and geographical grounds, such as nearness to oil rigs, pipelines, existing industries and port facilities, etc. The subsequent design and location of water abstraction and treatment works operated by the waste heat from these refining and/or power generation processes was catered for as an afterthought, meaning that there is now a mismatch between the water and energy supplies and demands. This review study was carried out to show how Abu Dhabi is trying now to integrate its water–energy sectors using a nexus approach so that future water/power infrastructure is designed optimally and operated in harmony, especially in regard to future demand. Based upon this review work, some recommendations are made for designers and policy makers alike to bolster the nexus approach that Abu Dhabi is pursuing. PMID:27023583

  6. Response to Emergence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 2013–2014

    PubMed Central

    Al Hosani, Farida Ismail; Al Mulla, Mariam; Kim, Lindsay; Pham, Huong; Alami, Negar N.; Khudhair, Ahmed; Hall, Aron J.; Aden, Bashir; El Saleh, Feda; Al Dhaheri, Wafa; Al Bandar, Zyad; Bunga, Sudhir; Abou Elkheir, Kheir; Tao, Ying; Hunter, Jennifer C.; Nguyen, Duc; Turner, Andrew; Pradeep, Krishna; Sasse, Jurgen; Weber, Stefan; Tong, Suxiang; Whitaker, Brett L.; Haynes, Lia M.; Curns, Aaron; Gerber, Susan I.

    2016-01-01

    In January 2013, several months after Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) was first identified in Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, began surveillance for MERS-CoV. We analyzed medical chart and laboratory data collected by the Health Authority–Abu Dhabi during January 2013–May 2014. Using real-time reverse transcription PCR, we tested respiratory tract samples for MERS-CoV and identified 65 case-patients. Of these patients, 23 (35%) were asymptomatic at the time of testing, and 4 (6%) showed positive test results for >3 weeks (1 had severe symptoms and 3 had mild symptoms). We also identified 6 clusters of MERS-CoV cases. This report highlights the potential for virus shedding by mildly ill and asymptomatic case-patients. These findings will be useful for MERS-CoV management and infection prevention strategies. PMID:27314227

  7. Paving the road for hydraulic fracturing in Paleozoic tight gas reservoirs in Abu Dhabi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alzarouni, Asim

    This study contributes to the ongoing efforts of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to improve gas production and supply in view of increasing demand and diminishing conventional gas reservoirs in the region. The conditions of most gas reservoirs with potentially economical volumes of gas in Abu Dhabi are tight abrasive deep sand reservoirs at high temperature and pressures. Thus it inevitably tests the limit of both conventional thinking and technology. Accurate prediction of well performance is a major challenge that arises during planning phase. The primary aim is to determine technical feasibility for the implementation of the hydraulic fracture technology in a new area. The ultimate goal is to make economical production curves possible and pave the road to tap new resource of clean hydrocarbon energy source. The formation targeted in this study is characterized by quartzitic sandstone layers and variably colored shale and siltstones with thin layers of anhydrites. It dates back from late Permian to Carboniferous age. It forms rocks at the lower reservoir permeability ranging from 0.2 to less than 1 millidarcy (mD). When fractured, the expected well flow in Abu Dhabi offshore deep gas wells will be close to similar tight gas reservoir in the region. In other words, gas production can be described as transient initially with high rates and rapidly declining towards a pseudo-steady sustainable flow. The study results estimated fracturing gradient range from 0.85 psi/ft to 0.91 psi/ft. In other words, the technology can be implemented successfully to the expected rating without highly weighted brine. Hence, it would be a remarkable step to conduct the first hydraulic fracturing successfully in Abu Dhabi which can pave the road to tapping on a clean energy resource. The models predicted a remarkable conductivity enhancement and an increase of production between 3 to 4 times after fracturing. Moreover, a sustainable rate above 25 MMSCFD between 6 to 10 years is

  8. The operation, products and promotion of waterpipe businesses in New York City, Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

    PubMed

    Joudrey, P J; Jasie, K A; Pykalo, L; Singer, S T; Woodin, M B; Sherman, S

    2016-07-10

    We evaluated the customers, operations, products and advertising of these businesses to explore the unique policy challenges created by the suppliers of waterpipes. We completed a cross-sectional survey consisting of structured site observations and in-person interviews of businesses in New York City, Abu Dhabi and Dubai identified using Google, Yelp, Timeout Dubai and Timeout Abu Dhabi and neighbourhood visits in 2014. Regular customers made up 59% of customers. Franchises or chains were 28% of businesses. Waterpipes made up 39% of sales with 87% of businesses offering food within their menu. Flavoured tobacco made up 94% of sales. Discounts were offered by 47% of businesses and 94% of businesses used advertising, often through social media. The market consists of largely independent businesses, with a large regular customer base, frequently offering diversified services beyond waterpipes. These businesses advertise using both traditional and social media. The economics of waterpipe businesses is very different from the economics of cigarettes, and unique regulatory strategies are needed to control this epidemic.

  9. CTC Sentinel. Volume 1, Issue 3, Feb 2008. Counter-Terrorism Issues for the Next President

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-02-01

    that a Indonesia,” Boston Globe, October 17, 2002. 7 Cited in Scott Atran, “The Emir: An Interview with Abu Bakar Ba’asyir, Alleged Leader of the...JI). Although several extremist entities exist in the southern Philippines, it is the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG, or “Bearer of the Sword”) that...met with some relatively significant results. The Abu Sayyaf Group The ASG was founded on Basilan Island in 1991 under the leadership of Ustadz

  10. Poisoned social climate, collective responsibility, and the abuse at Abu Ghraib--Or, the establishment of "rule that is lack of rule".

    PubMed

    Mestrovic, Stjepan G; Romero, Rachel

    2012-01-01

    The authors draw upon the experiences of one of the co-authors as an expert witness in sociology for mitigation at three of the courts-martial pertaining to the abuse at Abu Ghraib that were held at Ft. Hood, Texas in the year 2005 (for Javal Davis, Sabrina Harman, and Lynndie England). In addition, this paper is based upon the thousands of pages of affidavits, testimony, and U.S. Government reports concerning Abu Ghraib. These internal government reports, as well as the Levin-McCain report, point to collective responsibility and the responsibility of individuals high in the chain of command for establishing unlawful techniques. We review the shortcomings of a purely psychological approach for understanding the abuse, and turn to Durkheim's original understanding of anomie as a state of social derangement or rule by lack of rule to introduce the ideas of the social origins of and social responsibility for the abuse. We conclude with sociological suggestions for reforming some of the legal, medical, psychiatric, and other professional complicity in the abuse at Abu Ghraib. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Age Specific Cytological Abnormalities in Women Screened for Cervical Cancer in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

    PubMed

    Al Zaabi, Muna; Al Muqbali, Shaikha; Al Sayadi, Thekra; Al Ameeri, Suhaila; Coetsee, Karin; Balayah, Zuhur; Ortashi, Osman

    2015-01-01

    Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer in women worldwide, with about 500,000 new cases and 270,000 deaths each year. Globally, it is estimated that over one million women currently have cervical cancer, most of whom have not been diagnosed, or have no access to treatment that could cure them or prolong their lives. In the United Arab Emirates (UAE) cervical cancer is the third most common cancer in women. A population-based cross-sectional retrospective survey of cervical smear abnormalities was conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE, from January 2013 to December 2013 by collecting consecutive liquid-based cytology samples from the Department of Pathology at the SKMC Hospital in Abu Dhabi city. The total number of women screened for cervical cancer for the year 2013 at SKMC was 4,593, with 225 (4.89%) abnormal smears. The majority of the abnormal smear results were atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (ASCUS) 114 (2.48%). This study showed 60% increase in the rate of abnormal cervical smears in the UAE over the last 10 years. In this study the highest incidence of high grade abnormalities were seen in women above the age of 61 years (1.73%), this might be due to the fact that this group of women missed the chance of screening of cervical cancer earlier in their lives or could be explained by the well-known second peak of HPV infection seen in many prevalence studies. We conclude that the rate of abnormal cervical smear in the screened Abu Dhabi women is not different from the rate in developed countries. A notable increase in both low and high grade abnormalities has occurred within the last decade.

  12. Economic risk and efficiency assessment of fisheries in Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE): A stochastic approach

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The fishing industry in Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) plays an important role in diversifying food sources in order to enhance national food security. The fishing industry is facing increasing risk that may impact the sustainability (i.e., quantity and quality) of the fish caught and consume...

  13. The Cretaceous glauconitic sandstones of Abu Tartur, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pestitschek, Brigitte; Gier, Susanne; Essa, Mahmoud; Kurzweil, Johannes

    2010-05-01

    The Abu Tartur mine is located in the Western Desert of Egypt, 50 km west of El Kharga City. Geologically, the Abu Tartur plateau is built by a sequence of Upper Cretaceous (Campanian - Maastrichtian) phosphorites, black shales and glauconitic sandstones. The phosphate deposits are of great economic importance and have been mined since their discovery in 1967. Outcrop sections were measured, sampled, sedimentologically characterized and described. One specific glaucony layer was investigated mineralogically and chemically in detail and compared to a subsurface sample from the mine. Two depositional regimes can be interpreted based on sedimentary architecture and structures: 1) a deeper-water hemipelagic environment, where phosphorites and organic carbon-rich shales were deposited and 2) a shallower, prograding higher energy shelf environment with glauconies. From a sequence stratigraphic perspective 1) was deposited during the transgressive systems tract and the early highstand while 2) was deposited during the remaining highstand and a lowstand prograding wedge (Glenn & Arthur, 1990). Petrographic and SEM investigations show that the glaucony grains are of authochtonous origin. XRF, EMPA and thin-section analyses show that the glaucony grains from the outcrop differ significantly in their chemical composition, morphology and color from the grains of the mine sample. The fresh glauconies are enriched in Fe2O3 and K2O compared to the surface samples. XRD analyses of the clay fraction of the six outcrop samples and the mine sample show that the grains consist of illite(glauconite)/smectite mixed-layers, with more illite layers (80 %) in the mine sample. The charge distribution diagram muscovite-pyrophyllite-celadonite shows a clear trend from smectitic glaucony to illitic glaucony, the mine sample plots exactly in the field for glauconites. All these features indicate that the surface samples are strongly altered by weathering and that glauconite progressively

  14. Sedimentologic and reservoir characteristics under the tectono-sequence stratigraphic framework: A case study from the Early Cretaceous, upper Abu Gabra sandstones, Sufyan Sub-basin, Muglad Basin, Sudan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yassin, Mohamed A.; Hariri, Mustafa M.; Abdullatif, Osman M.; Makkawi, M.; Bertotti, G.; Kaminski, Michael A.

    2018-06-01

    The Sufyan Sub-basin is an east-west trending Sub-basin located in the northwestern part of the Muglad Basin, in the eastern extension of the West and Central Africa Rift System (WCARS). Exploration results showed the occurrence of accumulations of hydrocarbon. The source rock for these hydrocarbons is believed to be the lacustrine shale of the Abu Gabra Formation. Fluvio-deltaic sandstones within the Abu Gabra Formation represent the primary reservoir. Depositional and post-depositional processes influence reservoir heterogeneity, quality, and architecture. This study investigates different scales of reservoir heterogeneities from basin to micro scale and discusses the impact of depositional facies and diagenesis on reservoir quality. Approaches include seismic interpretation, seismic attribute analysis, well log analysis, thin sections and scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the Abu Gabra Formation. Sedimentologic interpretation in this study was performed based on core cuttings, well logs, and seismic data. Subsurface facies analysis was analyzed based on the description of six conventional cores from two wells. Seven lithofacies in Abu Gabra Formation are identified. Four types of depositional systems are identified in the studied succession. These are braided delta, fan delta, sublacustrine fan, and lacustrine systems. The sandstone is medium to coarse-grained, poorly to moderately sorted and sub-angular to sub-rounded, sub-feldspathic arenite to quartz arenite. At the basin scale, the Abu Gabra Formation showed different sandstone bodies thickness, geometry, and architecture and are ascribed to different depositional systems. At macro and meso-scales, reservoir quality varies within the Abu Gabra reservoir where it shows progressive coarsening upward tendencies with different degrees of connectivity. The upper part of the reservoir is well connected with amalgamated sandstone bodies, however, the middle

  15. Sedimentology and Reservoir Characteristics of Early Cretaceous Fluvio-Deltaic and Lacustrine Deposits, Upper Abu Gabra Formation, Sufyan Sub-basin, Muglad Rift Basin, Sudan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yassin, Mohamed; Abdullatif, Osman; Hariri, Mustafa

    2017-04-01

    Sufyan Sub-basin is an East-West trending Sub-basin located in the northwestern part of the Muglad Basin (Sudan), in the eastern extension of the West and Central Africa Rift System (WCARS). The Early Cretaceous Abu Gabra Formation considered as the main source rock in the Muglad Basin. In Sufyan Sub-basin the Early Cretaceous Upper Abu Gabra Formation is the main oil-producing reservoir. It is dominated by sandstone and shales deposited in fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine environment during the first rift cycle in the basin. Depositional and post-depositional processes highly influenced the reservoir quality and architecture. This study investigates different scales of reservoir heterogeneities from macro to micro scale. Subsurface facies analysis was analyzed based on the description of six conventional cores from two wells. Approaches include well log analysis, thin sections and scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations, grain-size, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the Abu Gabra sandstone. The cores and well logs analyses revealed six lithofacies representing fluvio-deltaic and lacustrine depositional environment. The sandstone is medium to coarse-grained, poorly to moderately sorted and sub-angular to subrounded, Sub-feldspathic arenite to quartz arenite. On macro-scale, reservoir quality varies within Abu Gabra reservoir where it shows progressive coarsening upward tendencies with different degrees of connectivity. The upper part of the reservoir showed well connected and amalgamated sandstone bodies, the middle to lower parts, however, have moderate to low sandstone bodies' connectivity and amalgamation. On micro-scale, sandstone reservoir quality is directly affected by textures and diagenesis.The XRD and SEM analyses show that kaolinite and chlorite clay are the common clay minerals in the studied samples. Clay matrix and quartz overgrowth have significantly reduced the reservoir porosity and permeability, while the dissolution of feldspars

  16. Solostamenides paucitesticulatus n. sp. (Monogenoidea: Mazocraeidea: Microcotylidae) from the freshwater mullet Liza abu (Heckel) (Mugiliformes: Mugilidae) from Atatürk Reservoir on the Euphrates River in southern Turkey.

    PubMed

    Kritsky, Delane C; Öktener, Ahmet

    2015-06-01

    Solostamenides paucitesticulatus n. sp. (Monogenoidea: Microcotylidae) from the gills of the abu mullet Liza abu (Heckel) in Atatürk Reservoir in southern Turkey is described. Among other features, the new species is easily distinguished from its three congeners, Solostamenides mugilis (Vogt, 1879), Solostamenides pseudomugilis (Hargis, 1956) and Solostamenides polyorchis Zhang & Yang, 2001, by having fewer hooks on the male copulatory organ (11 to 14), testes (5 to 9), and haptoral clamps (31 to 47).

  17. Visibility Modeling and Forecasting for Abu Dhabi using Time Series Analysis Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eibedingil, I. G.; Abula, B.; Afshari, A.; Temimi, M.

    2015-12-01

    Land-Atmosphere interactions-their strength, directionality and evolution-are one of the main sources of uncertainty in contemporary climate modeling. A particularly crucial role in sustaining and modulating land-atmosphere interaction is the one of aerosols and dusts. Aerosols are tiny particles suspended in the air ranging from a few nanometers to a few hundred micrometers in diameter. Furthermore, the amount of dust and fog in the atmosphere is an important measure of visibility, which is another dimension of land-atmosphere interactions. Visibility affects all form of traffic, aviation, land and sailing. Being able to predict the change of visibility in the air in advance enables relevant authorities to take necessary actions before the disaster falls. Time Series Analysis (TAS) method is an emerging technique for modeling and forecasting the behavior of land-atmosphere interactions, including visibility. This research assess the dynamics and evolution of visibility around Abu Dhabi International Airport (+24.4320 latitude, +54.6510 longitude, and 27m elevation) using mean daily visibility and mean daily wind speed. TAS has been first used to model and forecast the visibility, and then the Transfer Function Model has been applied, considering the wind speed as an exogenous variable. By considering the Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) and Mean Absolute Percentage Error (MAPE) as a statistical criteria, two forecasting models namely univarite time series model and transfer function model, were developed to forecast the visibility around Abu Dhabi International Airport for three weeks. Transfer function model improved the MAPE of the forecast significantly.

  18. On thinking and not being able to think: reflections on viewing the Abu Ghraib photos.

    PubMed

    Moss, Donald B

    2007-04-01

    Using experiences from childhood, from encounters with contemporary art, from clinical experience, and, most elaborately, from an initial viewing of the Abu Ghraib photos, the author argues that the interpretability of experience depends upon its being legible. This legibility, in turn, depends upon the interpreter maintaining contact with his/her own capacities for thought, and, more fundamentally, with the vitally necessary community of others with whom he/she shares those capacities.

  19. Physician perceptions and recommendations about pre-hospital emergency medical services for patients with ST-elevation acute myocardial infarction in Abu Dhabi

    PubMed Central

    Callachan, Edward L.; Alsheikh-Ali, Alawi A.; Bruijns, Stevan; Wallis, Lee A.

    2015-01-01

    Introduction Physician perceptions about emergency medical services (EMS) are important determinants of improving pre-hospital care for cardiac emergencies. No data exist on physician attitudes towards EMS care of patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Objectives To describe the perceptions towards EMS among physicians caring for patients with STEMI in Abu Dhabi. Methods We surveyed a convenience sample of physicians involved in the care of patients with STEMI (emergency medicine, cardiology, cardiothoracic surgery and intensive care) in four government facilities with 24/7 Primary PCI in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Surveys were distributed using dedicated email links, and used 5-point Likert scales to assess perceptions and attitudes to EMS. Results Of 106 physician respondents, most were male (82%), practicing in emergency medicine (47%) or cardiology (44%) and the majority (63%) had been in practice for >10 years. Less than half of the responders (42%) were “Somewhat Satisfied” (35%) or “Very Satisfied” (7%) with current EMS level of care for STEMI patients. Most respondents were “Very Likely” (67%) to advise a patient with a cardiac emergency to use EMS, but only 39% felt the same for themselves or their family. Most responders were supportive (i.e. “Strongly Agree”) of the following steps to improve EMS care: 12-lead ECG and telemetry to ED by EMS (69%), EMS triage of STEMI to PCI facilities (65%), and activation of PCI teams by EMS (58%). Only 19% were supportive of pre-hospital fibrinolytics by EMS. There were no significant differences in the responses among the specialties. Conclusions Most physicians involved in STEMI care in Abu Dhabi are very likely to advise patients to use EMS for a cardiac emergency, but less likely to do so for themselves or their families. Different specialties had concordant opinions regarding steps to improve pre-hospital EMS care for STEMI. PMID:26778900

  20. Source of solutes to the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wood, W.W.; Sanford, W.E.; Al Habshi, A.R.S.

    2002-01-01

    An ascending-brine model is proposed to address the observed isotope geochemistry, solute composition, and solute and water fluxes in the coastal sabkha of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Mass-balance measurements document that >95% of the solutes are derived from ascending continental brines; minor amounts are derived from rainfall and from groundwater entering from upgradient areas. Nearly 100% of the annual water loss is from evaporation and not lateral discharge. Direct rainfall on the sabkha and subsequent recharge to the underlying aquifer account for ~ 90% of the annual water input to the system; the remaining 10% comes from both lateral and ascending groundwater flow. Thus, the water and solutes in this system are from different sources. Solute concentrations of conservative (i.e., nonreactive) elements in the coastal, sabkha-covered aquifer are consistent with the fluid pore volumes of ascending brine calculated from hydrologic properties. Calcium to sulfate ratios and sulfur isotopes are consistent with this source of solute from the underlying Tertiary formations. Recharging rainwater dissolves halite and other soluble minerals on the surface, causing the solution to become more dense and sink to the bottom of the aquifer where it vertically mixes with less dense ascending brines. Solutes are returned to the surface by capillary forces and recycled or lost from the system by eolian or fluvial processes. Thus, the system becomes vertically mixed, consistent with the presence of tritium throughout the aquifer; but there is essentially no horizontal mixing of seawater with groundwater. The observed seawater solutes in the supratidal zone come from interstitial seawater trapped by the rapid progradation of the sediments into the Arabian Gulf and are not refluxed or laterally mixed. The ascending-brine model contrasts significantly with both the seawater-flooding and evaporative-pumping models previously proposed as a source of solutes to the coastal sabkha of the

  1. Challenges Presented to Personal Theories, Beliefs and Practices of Play in Abu Dhabi Kindergartens: The English Medium Teacher Perspective

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Baker, Fiona S.

    2015-01-01

    Abu Dhabi Education Council's new school model recognizes the value of play, although anecdotal evidence suggests that there are challenges to play in the preschool context. This article reports on challenges from the English Medium teacher perspective. Findings show that challenges are related to: (a) children meeting teacher expectations for…

  2. Electromagnetic mapping of buried paleochannels in eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate, U.A.E.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fitterman, D.V.; Menges, C.M.; Al Kamali, A.M.; Essa, Jama F.

    1991-01-01

    Transient electromagnetic soundings and terrain conductivity meter measurements were used to map paleochannel geometry in the Al Jaww Plain of eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate, U.A.E. as part of an integrated hydrogeologic study of the Quaternary alluvial aquifer system. Initial interpretation of the data without benefit of well log information was able to map the depth to a conductive clay layer of Tertiary age that forms the base of the aquifer. Comparison of the results with induction logs reveals that a resistive zone exists that was incorporated into the interpretation and its lateral extent mapped with the transient electromagnetic sounding data. ?? 1991.

  3. Object-based change detection: dimension of damage in residential areas of Abu Suruj, Sudan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Demharter, Timo; Michel, Ulrich; Ehlers, Manfred; Reinartz, Peter

    2011-11-01

    Given the importance of Change Detection, especially in the field of crisis management, this paper discusses the advantage of object-based Change Detection. This project and the used methods give an opportunity to coordinate relief actions strategically. The principal objective of this project was to develop an algorithm which allows to detect rapidly damaged and destroyed buildings in the area of Abu Suruj. This Sudanese village is located in West-Darfur and has become the victim of civil war. The software eCognition Developer was used to per-form an object-based Change Detection on two panchromatic Quickbird 2 images from two different time slots. The first image shows the area before, the second image shows the area after the massacres in this region. Seeking a classification for the huts of the Sudanese town Abu Suruj was reached by first segmenting the huts and then classifying them on the basis of geo-metrical and brightness-related values. The huts were classified as "new", "destroyed" and "preserved" with the help of a automated algorithm. Finally the results were presented in the form of a map which displays the different conditions of the huts. The accuracy of the project is validated by an accuracy assessment resulting in an Overall Classification Accuracy of 90.50 percent. These change detection results allow aid organizations to provide quick and efficient help where it is needed the most.

  4. An ethnozoological study in the adjoining areas of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, India

    PubMed Central

    2010-01-01

    Background There is evidence that human beings are familiar with use of animals for food, cloth, medicine, etc. since ancient times. Enormous work has been done on ethnobotany and traditional medicine. Like plants, animal and their products are also possessing medicinal properties that can be exploited for the benefit of human beings. In India, many ethnic communities are dispersed all over the country and these people are still totally depended on local traditional medicinal system for their health care. India is gifted with faunal and floral biodiversity, Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary is also one of them, and thus the aim of this work was to take an ethnozoological field survey among Garasiya people (main tribal group of this area) in the adjoining areas of this sanctuary. Method In order to document the ethnozoological information about animal and their products prevalent among these people in the adjoining area of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, a study was carried out from January, 2008 to April, 2008. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaire and open interview with 25 (16 male and 9 female) selected Garasiya people. The name of animal and other ethnozoological information were documented. Photographs and discussion were also recorded with the help of camera and voice recorder. Result A total of 24 animal species were used in 35 different medicinal purposes including asthma, weakness, tuberculosis, cough, paralysis and blister and for other religious purposes. It has been find out that animal used by Garasiya, consist of fourteen mammals, five birds, three reptiles, one arthropods and one amphibian. The meat of Cynopterus sphinx used to relieved fever and cough has the highest FL (96%) although flesh of Sus scrofa and tooth of Elephas maximus have the lowest FL (12%). Some protected species such as Elephas maximus (elephant), Semnopithecus priam (monkey), Cervus unicolor (sambhar) were also mentioned as important medicinal resources. We also

  5. An ethnozoological study in the adjoining areas of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, India.

    PubMed

    Jaroli, D P; Mahawar, Madan Mohan; Vyas, Nitin

    2010-02-10

    There is evidence that human beings are familiar with use of animals for food, cloth, medicine, etc. since ancient times. Enormous work has been done on ethnobotany and traditional medicine. Like plants, animal and their products are also possessing medicinal properties that can be exploited for the benefit of human beings. In India, many ethnic communities are dispersed all over the country and these people are still totally depended on local traditional medicinal system for their health care. India is gifted with faunal and floral biodiversity, Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary is also one of them, and thus the aim of this work was to take an ethnozoological field survey among Garasiya people (main tribal group of this area) in the adjoining areas of this sanctuary. In order to document the ethnozoological information about animal and their products prevalent among these people in the adjoining area of Mount Abu wildlife sanctuary, a study was carried out from January, 2008 to April, 2008. Data were collected through semi-structured questionnaire and open interview with 25 (16 male and 9 female) selected Garasiya people. The name of animal and other ethnozoological information were documented. Photographs and discussion were also recorded with the help of camera and voice recorder. A total of 24 animal species were used in 35 different medicinal purposes including asthma, weakness, tuberculosis, cough, paralysis and blister and for other religious purposes. It has been find out that animal used by Garasiya, consist of fourteen mammals, five birds, three reptiles, one arthropods and one amphibian. The meat of Cynopterus sphinx used to relieved fever and cough has the highest FL (96%) although flesh of Sus scrofa and tooth of Elephas maximus have the lowest FL (12%). Some protected species such as Elephas maximus (elephant), Semnopithecus priam (monkey), Cervus unicolor (sambhar) were also mentioned as important medicinal resources. We also found that cough, asthma and

  6. My Science Class and Expected Career Choices--A Structural Equation Model of Determinants Involving Abu Dhabi High School Students

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badri, Masood; Alnuaimi, Ali; Mohaidat, Jihad; Al Rashedi, Asma; Yang, Guang; Al Mazroui, Karima

    2016-01-01

    Background: This study is about Abu Dhabi high school students' interest in science in different contexts. The survey was conducted in connection with the international project, the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE). The sample consists of 5650 students in public and private schools. A structural equation model (SEM) is developed to capture…

  7. Critical Success Factors in the Curriculum Alignment Process: The Case of the College of Business at Abu Dhabi University

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Camba, Pitzel; Krotov, Vlad

    2015-01-01

    The main goals of this article are to (a) assist business schools in understanding the curriculum alignment process, and (b) uncover critical success factors in curriculum alignment. Based on a case study conducted at the College of Business at Abu Dhabi University, a detailed curriculum alignment process description is provided. The process…

  8. A GIS-BASED MULTI-CRITERIA EVALUATION SYSTEM FOR SELECTION OF LANDFILL SITES: a case study from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Issa, S. M.; Shehhi, B. Al

    2012-07-01

    Landfill sites receive 92% of total annual solid waste produced by municipalities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. In this study, candidate sites for an appropriate landfill location for the Abu Dhabi municipal area are determined by integrating geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria evaluation (MCE) analysis. To identify appropriate landfill sites, eight input map layers including proximity to urban areas, proximity to wells and water table depth, geology and topography, proximity to touristic and archeological sites, distance from roads network, distance from drainage networks, and land slope are used in constraint mapping. A final map was generated which identified potential areas showing suitability for the location of the landfill site. Results revealed that 30% of the study area was identified as highly suitable, 25% as suitable, and 45% as unsuitable. The selection of the final landfill site, however, requires further field research.

  9. Preliminary crustal deformation model deduced from GPS and earthquakes’ data at Abu-Dabbab area, Eastern Desert, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mohamed, Abdel-Monem S.; Hosny, A.; Abou-Aly, N.; Saleh, M.; Rayan, A.

    2013-06-01

    A local geodetic network consisting of eleven benchmarks has been established to study the recent crustal deformation in the Abu-Dabbab area. Seven campaigns of GPS measurements have been collected started from October 2008 and ended in March 2012. The collected data were processed using Bernese version 5.0, and the result values were adjusted to get the more accurate positions of the GPS stations. The magnitudes of horizontal displacements are variable from one epoch to another and in the range of 1-3 (±0.2) mm/yr. Due to the differences in rates of the horizontal displacement; the area is divided into two main blocks. The first one, moves to the east direction of about 3 mm/yr, while the second block, moves to the SW direction of about 6 mm/yr. According to the strain fields that were calculated for the different epochs of measurement, the main force is compression force and is taken the NW-SE to NWW-SEE direction. This force could be because of local and regional tectonic processes affecting on the study area. The maximum values of compression stress are found in the southern central and western part of study area. Estimated accumulation of this strain energy may be considered as an indicator of the possibility of earthquake occurrence. From the seismic tomography study, the 3D Vp and Vp/Vs crustal models indicate high Vp/Vs values forms an elongated anomaly, in the central part of the study area, that extends from a depth of 12 km to about 1-2 km of depth is obtained. By using this crustal model in relocations all seismicity informed that most of the seismicity strongly tend to occur in a cluster manner exactly above the southern part of the study area. Based on the conducted source mechanism study, it is noticed that shallow earthquakes are associated by a high CLVD ratio (up to 40%). Furthermore, initiation of a high level seismic activity, without a large seismic main shock is observed in the Abu-Dabbab area. The distribution of micro-earthquakes tends to

  10. Utilizations and Perceptions of Emergency Medical Services by Patients with ST-Segments Elevation Acute Myocardial Infarction in Abu Dhabi: A Multicenter Study

    PubMed Central

    Callachan, Edward Lance; Alsheikh-Ali, Alawi A.; Nair, Satish Chandrasekhar; Bruijns, Stevan; Wallis, Lee A.

    2016-01-01

    Background: Data on the use of emergency medical services (EMS) by patients with cardiac conditions in the Gulf region are scarce, and prior studies have suggested underutilization. Patient perception and knowledge of EMS care is critical to proper utilization of such services. Objectives: To estimate utilization, knowledge, and perceptions of EMS among patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Methods: We conducted a multicenter prospective study of consecutive patients admitted with STEMI in four government-operated hospitals in Abu Dhabi. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with patients to assess the rationale for choosing their prehospital mode of transport and their knowledge of EMS services. Results: Of 587 patients with STEMI (age 51 ± 11 years, male 95%), only 15% presented through EMS, and the remainder came via private transport. Over half of the participants (55%) stated that they did not know the telephone number for EMS. The most common reasons stated for not using EMS were that private transport was quicker (40%) or easier (11%). A small percentage of participants (7%) did not use EMS because they did not think their symptoms were cardiac-related or warranted an EMS call. Stated reasons for not using EMS did not significantly differ by age, gender, or primary language of the patients. Conclusions: EMS care for STEMI is grossly underutilized in Abu Dhabi. Patient knowledge and perceptions may contribute to underutilization, and public education efforts are needed to raise their perception and knowledge of EMS. PMID:27512532

  11. School Children's Use of Digital Devices, Social Media and Parental Knowledge and Involvement--The Case of Abu Dhabi

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badri, Masood; Alnuaimi, Ali; Al Rashedi, Asma; Yang, Guang; Temsah, Khaled

    2017-01-01

    This paper looks at the usage of social media devices and applications, and parental knowledge and involvement among Abu Dhabi children in Grade 6 or higher. It examines the young children's usage of personal computers, mobile phones and tablet PCs, and social media related apps. The paper tries to understand the reasons for joining or not joining…

  12. Oligocene lacustrine tuff facies, Abu Treifeya, Cairo-Suez Road, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Abdel-Motelib, Ali; Kabesh, Mona; El Manawi, Abdel Hamid; Said, Amir

    2015-02-01

    Field investigations in the Abu Treifeya area, Cairo-Suez District, revealed the presence of Oligocene lacustrine volcaniclastic deposits of lacustrine sequences associated with an Oligocene rift regime. The present study represents a new record of lacustrine zeolite deposits associated with saponite clay minerals contained within reworked clastic vitric tuffs. The different lithofacies associations of these clastic sequences are identified and described: volcaniclastic sedimentary facies represent episodic volcaniclastic reworking, redistribution and redeposition in a lacustrine environment and these deposits are subdivided into proximal and medial facies. Zeolite and smectite minerals are mainly found as authigenic crystals formed in vugs or crusts due to the reaction of volcanic glasses with saline-alkaline water or as alteration products of feldspars. The presence of abundant smectite (saponite) may be attributed to a warm climate, with alternating humid and dry conditions characterised by the existence of kaolinite. Reddish iron-rich paleosols record periods of non-deposition intercalated with the volcaniclastic tuff sequence.

  13. Medical ethics at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib: the problem of dual loyalty.

    PubMed

    Clark, Peter A

    2006-01-01

    Although knowledge of torture and physical and psychological abuse was widespread at both the Guantanamo Bay detention facility and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, and known to medical personnel, there was no official report before the January 2004 Army investigation of military health personnel reporting abuse, degradation or signs of torture. Military medical personnel are placed in a position of a "dual loyalty" conflict. They have to balance the medical needs of their patients, who happen to be detainees, with their military duty to their employer. The United States military medical system failed to protect detainee's human rights, violated the basic principles of medical ethics and ignored the basic tenets of medical professionalism.

  14. Hydrogeochemical analysis and evaluation of groundwater in the reclaimed small basin of Abu Mina, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salem, Zenhom E.; Atwia, Mohamed G.; El-Horiny, Mohamed M.

    2015-12-01

    Agricultural reclamation activities during the last few decades in the Western Nile Delta have led to great changes in the groundwater levels and quality. In Egypt, changing the desert land into agricultural land has been done using transferred Nile water (through irrigation canal systems) or/and groundwater. This research investigates the hydrogeochemical changes accompanying the reclamation processes in the small basin of Abu Mina, which is part of the Western Nile Delta region. In summer 2008, 23 groundwater samples were collected and groundwater levels were measured in 40 observation wells. Comparing the groundwater data of the pre-reclamation (1974) and the post-reclamation (2008) periods, groundwater seems to have been subjected to many changes: rise in water level, modification of the flow system, improvement of water quality, and addition of new salts through dissolution processes. Generally, Abu Mina basin is subdivided into two areas, recharge and discharge. The dissolution and mixing were recognized in the recharge areas, while the groundwater of the discharge region carries the signature of the diluted pre-reclamation groundwater. The salts of soil and aquifer deposits play an important role in the salt content of the post and pre-reclamation groundwater. NaCl was the predominant water type in the pre-reclamation groundwater, while CaSO4, NaCl and MgSO4 are the common chemical facies in the post-reclamation groundwater. The post-reclamation groundwater mostly indicates mixing between the pre-reclamation groundwater and the infiltrated freshwater with addition of some ions due to interaction with soil and sediments.

  15. Cigarette, Water-pipe, and Medwakh Smoking Prevalence Among Applicants to Abu Dhabi's Pre-marital Screening Program, 2011

    PubMed Central

    Aden, Bashir; Karrar, Sara; Shafey, Omar; Al Hosni, Farida

    2013-01-01

    Background: This study assesses self-reported tobacco use prevalence (cigarette, water-pipe, and medwakh) among applicants to Abu Dhabi's Premarital Screening program during 2011. Methods: Premarital Screening data reported to the Health Authority – Abu Dhabi from April to December 2011 were utilized to estimate tobacco use prevalence among applicants. Smoking prevalence was examined by nationality, age group and gender. Results: Overall, 24.7% of Premarital Screening Program applicants were current smokers; 11.5% smoked cigarettes, 5.9% smoked medwakh (hand-held pipe), 4.8% smoked water-pipe and 2.5% smoked a combination (more than one type). Men (19.2%) were more likely than women (3.5%) to be current cigarette smokers. Women were much less likely to smoke medwakh (0.1%) than men (11.5%), with male UAE Nationals having the highest medwakh smoking prevalence (16.1%). The overall prevalence of water-pipe smoking was 6.8% among men and 2.8% for women with the highest water-pipe smoking prevalence (10.2%) among Arab expatriate men. Conclusions: Variations in tobacco use prevalence among Premarital Screening Program applicants reflect preferences for different modes of tobacco consumption by nationality, age group and gender. Enforcement of tobacco control laws, including implementation of clean indoor air laws and tobacco tax increases, and targeted health education programs are required to reduce tobacco consumption and concomitant tobacco-related morbidity and mortality. PMID:24404364

  16. Out-of-School Experience Categories Influencing Interest in Biology of Secondary School Students by Gender: Exploration on an Abu Dhabi Sample

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Badri, Masood; Yang, Guang; Al Mazroui, Karima; Mohaidat, Jihad; Al Rashedi, Asma; Al Housani, Najwa

    2017-01-01

    This study employed the international Relevance of Science Education questionnaire to survey the interest in biology and the out-of-school experiences of Abu Dhabi secondary school students (median age 17, mean age 17.53 and mode age of 16) in the third semester of 2014. It included 3100 participants. An exploratory factor analysis was used to…

  17. The Effects of Classroom and School Environments on Student Engagement: The Case of High School Students in Abu Dhabi Public Schools

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Yang, Guang; Badri, Masood; Al Rashedi, Asma; Almazroui, Karima; Qalyoubi, Rula; Nai, Peng

    2017-01-01

    Drawing on data from a merged data set from a student survey and a parent survey that were conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2013, this article uses a multilevel framework to investigate the effects of individual characteristics and the classroom and school environments on high school students' school engagement in a modernising education…

  18. The development of stromatolitic features from laminated microbial mats in the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi (UAE)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paul, Andreas; Lessa Andrade, Luiza; Dutton, Kirsten E.; Sherry, Angela; Court, Wesley M.; Van der Land, Cees; Lokier, Stephen W.; Head, Ian M.

    2017-04-01

    Stromatolitic features are documented from both marine and terrestrial environments worldwide. These features form through a combination of trapping and binding of allochthonous grains, and through microbially mediated and/or controlled precipitation of carbonate minerals. The combined effects of these processes result in the continuous vertical and lateral growth of stromatolites. While the Abu Dhabi coastal sabkha is well known for a vast microbial mat belt that is dominated by continuous polygonal and internally-laminated microbial mats, no stromatolitic features have been reported from this area so far. In this study, we report evidence for stromatolitic features from the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi, based on observations in an intertidal but permanently submerged pool. This pool lies embedded within the laminated microbial mat zone, and is marked by the development of true laminated stromatolite at its margins and microbial build-ups at its centre. In order to characterise processes that lead to the formation of these stromatolitic features, and to develop a conceptual model that describes their development in the context of variations in sea level, tidal energy and other environmental factors, we employ a multitude of environmental, sedimentological, mineralogical and geochemical methods. These methods include the analysis of water data in terms of temporal variations in temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and water level, the analysis of petrographic thin sections of both lithified and unlithified features as well as an analysis of the stromatolites' mineralogical composition, and the amounts of incorporated organic carbon and calcium carbonate. Initial results suggest that the development of the observed stromatolitic features in the coastal sabkha of Abu Dhabi is the result of a complex interplay between simultaneous erosion of laminated microbial mat, and biotic/abiotic lithification processes. Initially, the location of this pool was characterised by

  19. Prevalence of pulmonary tuberculosis among expatriates subjected to medical visa screening in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

    PubMed

    Al Hosani, Farida I; Yahia, Ghada A

    2013-03-01

    All applicants for work and/or residence in Abu Dhabi are screened for tuberculosis at the time of issuing or renewing their residence visa. The purpose of this study is to assess the prevalence of TB among visa applicants and the likelihood of testing positive among different subgroups. Data from the electronic visa screening system was used for a total of 948,504 applicants screened for residence in Abu Dhabi from January to December 2010. The screening identified 4577 suspected cases of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB); 1558 people with chest X-ray findings suggestive of prior PTB; 235 smear-positives; and 132 culture-positive cases. The prevalence of active PTB was 39/100,000, with new applicants significantly more likely to test positive compared with renewals (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.5-2.7, P<.001). People coming from African countries had the highest prevalence of TB compared with people from other regions (OR: 21.25, 95% CI: 6.72-67.17, P<.001). The number of active PTB cases among applicants for visa screening is still of a real concern. Without a rigorous screening system, the disease can spread to the community and hit other people. Certain subgroups were more likely to have the disease; this could provide the scientific foundation for future amendments in the screening requirements. Copyright © 2012 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Imperative to consider multiple initiatives to maximize prescribing efficiency from generic availability: case history from Abu Dhabi.

    PubMed

    Abuelkhair, Mohammed; Abdu, Shajahan; Godman, Brian; Fahmy, Sahar; Malmström, Rickard E; Gustafsson, Lars L

    2012-02-01

    Pharmaceutical expenditure has risen rapidly in Abu Dhabi, resulting in policies surrounding generics. However, various circumstances will reduce potential savings, including pharmacists still being free to dispense either originator or branded generics and be fully reimbursed. To research the changes in utilization patterns of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) and lipid-lowering drugs before and after combined reforms on generics; and subsequently, calculate potential savings based on 'best practices' among Western European countries. An uncontrolled before-and-after observational study of utilization and expenditure of PPIs, statins and ezetimibe between 2004 and 2010, as well as up to 12 months before the first generic policy, to 1 year after the second generic policy, was carried out. Utilization was converted to defined daily doses (DDDs; 2011 DDDs) and DDDs/1000 inhabitants per day. Expenditure/DDD was calculated for omeprazole and simvastatin. PPI utilization rose by 6.5-fold from 2004 to 2010, principally driven by increased utilization of patent-protected PPIs, although more recently stabilization in esomperazole utilization has occurred. Similar changes were seen for statins. Introduction of best practices would reduce PPI expenditure in 2010 by 32.8 million United Arab Emirates dirham (AED; €6.26 million) and statins by over 27 million AED (€5.15 million). Limited demand-side measures led to increased utilization of patent-protected products in Abu Dhabi following the generic reforms. Successful measures will release considerable resources.

  1. 75 FR 2921 - In the Matter of the Designation of Said Ali al-Shihri, Also Known as Abu-Sayyaf, Also Known as...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-01-19

    ... DEPARTMENT OF STATE [Public Notice 6872] In the Matter of the Designation of Said Ali al-Shihri... Known as Abu Sufian Kadhdhaab Matrook, Also Known as Sa'id Ali Jabir al-Khathim al-Shihri, Also Known as... January 23, 2003, I hereby determine that the individual known as Said Ali al- Shihri, and also known as...

  2. Geochemistry and microprobe investigations of Abu Tartur REE-bearing phosphorite, Western Desert, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Awadalla, Gamal S.

    2010-07-01

    Phosphorites in Egypt occur in the Eastern Desert, the Nile Valley and the Western Desert at Abu Tartur area and present in Duwi Formation as a part of the Middle Eastern to North African phosphogenic province of Late Cretaceous to Paleogene age (Campanian-Maastrichtian). The Maghrabi-Liffiya phosphorite sector is considered as the most important phosphorite deposits in the Abu Tartur area due to its large reserve thickness and high-grade of lower phosphorite bed beside high content of REE. Back scattered electron (BSE) images show framboidal pyrite filling the pores of the phosphatic grains, suggesting diagenetic reducing conditions during phosphorites formation. Electron Probe Micro Analyzer (EPMA) chemical mapping was conducted to examine the variation and distributions of selected elements (P, F, La, Fe, Yb, Si, Ce, W, Eu, S, Ca, Y and Er) within the shark teeth, coprolites and bone fragments. In the teeth W, S, Fe are concentrated along the axis of the teeth, the bone fragments show high concentration of W, Yb, Er and Eu, whereas coprolites are nearly homogenous in composition contains S, Er with some Si as micro-inclusions. Fluorapatite is considered as main phosphate mineral whereas pyrite occurs as pore-filling within the phosphatic grains and cement materials. Maghrabi-Liffiya samples show a wide range in the P 2O 5 content, between 19.8 wt.% and 29.8 wt.% with an average of 24.6 wt.% and shows low U content ranging from 15 ppm to 34 ppm with an average of 22 ppm. The total REE content in nine samples representing the Maghrabi-Liffiya ranges from 519 to 1139 ppm with an average of about 879 ppm. The calculation of LREE (La-Gd) show indeed a marked enrichment relative to the HREE (Tb-Lu) where LREE/HREE ratio attains 8.4 indicating a strong fractionation between the LREE and HREE. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the studied phosphorite samples show a negative Eu anomaly.

  3. CTC Sentinel. Volume 1, Issue 6, May 2008. Abu Yahya al-Libi’s Human Shields in Modern Jihad

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2008-05-01

    own include The Healing of the Believers’ Chests and The Exoneration. 7 Although the essay is dated January 6, 2006, it was not published and widely...Yahya’s small essay on al-Tatarrus is nothing short of a religious revolution. Early Islamic thinkers typically used three general forms of shielding...traditional Islamic discussions in that it simplifies mat- ters considerably. MAY 2008 . VoL 1 . IssUE 6 “Abu Yahya’s small essay on al-Tatarrus is nothing

  4. Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1996-01-20

    STS072-732-072 (11-20 Jan. 1996) --- Three of the nineteen Galapagos Islands are visible in this image, photographed from the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Endeavour. The Galapagos Islands are located 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) to the west of Ecuador. The largest of the islands, Isabela, is at center (north is toward the upper right corner). The numerous circular features on the island, highlighted by clouds, are volcanoes. The Galapagos Islands owe their existence to a hot spot, or persistent heat source in the mantle, which also is located over a rift, or place where plates are separating and new crust is being created. The rift is located between the Cocos and Nazca Plates. The dark linear features on the islands are lava flows from past eruptions. The island to the left of Isabela is Fernandina, while the island to the right is San Salvador. The Galapagos Islands were visited by the English naturalist Charles Darwin in 1835.

  5. Depositional environments and sequence architecture of the Raha and Abu Qada formations (Cenomanian-Turonian), west central Sinai, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anan, Tarek I.; El-Shahat, Adam; Genedi, Adel; Grammer, Michael

    2013-06-01

    Cenomanian-Turonian deposits are important reservoirs for many oil fields in the Western Desert and the Gulf of Suez region of Egypt. Study of the Raha and Abu Qada formations (Cenomanian-Turonian), from five dip-oriented outcrop locations in west central Sinai; indicates deposition of a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate system on a ramp setting. The inner ramp facies (bivalve and benthonic foraminiferal wackestone) grades northward to the mid ramp facies (echinoderm calcisphere packstone, and oyster floatstone), and outer ramp facies (planktonic foraminiferal wackestone and calcisphere wackestone). The two studied formations comprise one second-order depositional sequence (duration of approximately 10 Million years). This large scale sequence includes four third-order depositional sequences, three of which are observed in the Raha Formation, with the other one recorded in the Abu Qada Formation. Because west central Sinai was tectonically stable during the Cenomanian and Turonian, the main factor controlling the lateral and vertical distribution of facies tracts is likely due to changes in the relative sea level. The Cenomanian-Turonian boundary event is known as the largest oceanic anoxic event during the Cretaceous. This global event has been documented in three of the studied sections. The recorded δ13C excursions range from +3.04‰ to +5.24‰. These high positive excursions in δ13C are associated with highly negative values of δ18O (values range from -6.01‰ to -1.38‰).

  6. Radioactivity of phosphate ore, superphosphate, and phosphogypsum in Abu-Zaabal phosphate plant, Egypt

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hussein, E.M.

    1994-09-01

    A measurement of the radioactivity content of phosphate ore material, phosphatic fertilizer (superphosphate), and by-product phosphogypsum in the Abu-Zaabal phosphate plant, Egypt, has been carried out. According to the results of gamma-ray spectroscopy analysis, {sup 238}U was found in concentrations of 523, 473, and 134 Bq kg{sup {minus}1}; {sup 226}Ra in concentrations of 514, 301, and 411 Bq kg{sup {minus}1}; {sup 232}Th in concentrations of 37, 24, and 19 Bq kg{sup {minus}1}; and {sup 40}K in concentrations of 19, 3, and 16 Bq kg{sup {minus}1} for the analyzed materials, respectively. The data are discussed and compared with those given inmore » the literature for some other countries in light of permissible radiation dose rates. 11 refs., 3 tabs.« less

  7. A reservoir optimization study--El Bunduq Field, Abu Dhabi, Qatar

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Blashbush, J.L.; Nagai, R.B.; Ogimoto, T.

    El Bunduq reservoir is located in the offshore area of Abu Dhabi and Qatar. The field was shut-in in July 1979 due to production with high gas-oil ratios. Pressure differences of 200-400 psi between the flanks and the central part of the reservoir were still present almost four years after the field was shut-in. A comprehensive reservoir engineering study determined that the reasons for this behavior were the deteriorating qualities of the reservoir rock downstructure and the presence of a tar mat around the field. After the field behavior was history matched, model studies of a representative sector of themore » field indicated that peripheral waterflooding would recover less than 15 percent of the OOIP in a period of 30 years. However, pattern injection recoveries were calculated to be at least twice as high. Several full field alternatives were investigated to optimize the development of the reservoir under a pattern waterflood. This paper summarizes the various studies that led to the acceptance of the idea of pattern development over peripheral injection, as a result of the unique characteristics of this field.« less

  8. Interruption of Onchocerca volvulus Transmission in the Abu Hamed Focus, Sudan

    PubMed Central

    Higazi, Tarig B.; Zarroug, Isam M. A.; Mohamed, Hanan A.; ElMubark, Wigdan A.; Deran, Tong Chor M.; Aziz, Nabil; Katabarwa, Moses; Hassan, Hassan K.; Unnasch, Thomas R.; Mackenzie, Charles D.; Richards, Frank; Hashim, Kamal

    2013-01-01

    Abu Hamed, Sudan, the northernmost location of onchocerciasis in the world, began community-directed treatment with ivermectin (CDTI) in 1998, with annual treatments enhanced to semiannual in 2007. We assessed the status of the parasite transmission in 2011 entomologically, parasitologically, and serologically. O-150 pool screening showed no parasite DNA in 17,537 black flies collected in 2011 (95% confidence interval upper limit [95% CI UL] = 0.023). Skin microfilariae, nodules, and signs of skin disease were absent in 536 individuals in seven local communities. Similarly, no evidence of Onchocerca volvulus Ov16 antibodies was found in 6,756 school children ≤ 10 years (95% CI UL = 0.03%). Because this assessment of the focus meets the 2001 World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for interrupted transmission, treatment was halted in 2012, and a post-treatment surveillance period was initiated in anticipation of declaration of disease elimination in this area. We provide the first evidence in East Africa that long-term CDTI alone can interrupt transmission of onchocerciasis. PMID:23690554

  9. Atmospheric bromine flux from the coastal Abu Dhabi sabkhat: A ground-water mass-balance investigation

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Wood, W.W.; Sanford, W.E.

    2007-01-01

    A solute mass-balance study of ground water of the 3000 km2 coastal sabkhat (salt flats) of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, documents an annual bromide loss of approximately 255 metric tons (0.0032 Gmoles), or 85 kg/km2. This value is an order of magnitude greater than previously published direct measurements from the atmosphere over an evaporative environment of a salar in Bolivia. Laboratory evidence, consistent with published reports, suggests that this loss is by vapor transport to the atmosphere. If this bromine flux to the atmosphere is representative of the total earth area of active salt flats then it is a significant, and generally under recognized, input to the global atmospheric bromide flux.

  10. Seismicity, arrival time delays of the seismic phases and slowness characteristics study in Abu Dabbab area, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sami, Mahmoud; Hassoup, Awad; Hosny, Ahmed; Mohamed, Gadelkarem A.

    2013-12-01

    The temporal variations of seismicity from the Abu Dabbab area, 25 km west of the Red Sea coast, are collected from the Egyptian national seismic network (ENSN), which has magnified the detection capability in that area to ML < 1 earthquakes. These data show a sequence of the micro earthquake swarm during 2003-2011. This area has experienced larger shocks up to M = 6 during the 20th century and its seismicity is concentrated in a narrow spatial volume. We analyze the digital waveform data of about 1000 seismograms, recorded by portable network of 10 vertical component seismographs that are employed in a temporary survey experiment in the Abu Dabbab area in 2004, and the results indicate: firstly, there are similar waveform seismograms, which are classified into three groups. In each group a master event is identified. Then, the arrival time delays of the P and S phases (Δtp and Δts, respectively) are measured between the master event and its slave events. Δtp and Δts range between -0.01 and 0.02 s, respectively. These values are used to relocate the studied events. Secondly, the slowness vector (Δs) in 3-dimensional pattern, which is estimated using the genetic algorithms, is found Δsx = 0.0153, Δsy = 0.00093 and Δsz = 0.2086 s/km in the three spatial coordinates (X, Y and Z), respectively. These analyses demonstrate the inhomogeneities within the upper crust of the study area. Also, Δs shows little dependence of lateral distances and reasonably high slowness along the depth extent, which is consistent with the seismic velocity structure variations.

  11. "That's Not the Way I Was Taught Science at School!" How Preservice Primary Teachers in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Are Affected by Their Own Schooling Experiences

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dickson, M.; Kadbey, H.

    2014-01-01

    Government schools in Abu Dhabi, as part of widescale educational reforms undertaken in the whole of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), have undergone significant change since 2007 across cycles and across subjects including science. Science had been taught historically in the UAE using fairly traditional "chalk and talk", teacher-centered…

  12. A model for migration and accumulation of hydrocarbons in the Thamama and Arab reservoirs in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hawas, M.F.; Takezaki, H.

    1995-08-01

    The distribution of hydrocarbons in the Lower Cretaceous Thamama Group and Upper Jurassic Arab Formation in Abu Dhabi is influenced by the development of the intervening Hith anhydrites. The geochemical analysis of Thamama and Arab hydrocarbons indicate that they were generated from a common source rock: the Upper Jurassic Diyab Formation. Studies carried out on the Miocene sabkha anhydrites in the coastal flat west of Abu Dhabi supported a model for vertical migration through the Hith anhydrites under certain conditions. The established model implies that the Diyab oil and gas had migrated essentially vertically and individually which means that themore » oil migrated prior to the gas and their distribution is controlled by the differential sealing potential of the anhydrites at each migration phase: a Hith anhydrite bed of more than 30 feet (ft.) thick was a perfect seal for hydrocarbon migration into the Arab reservoirs. In this case, oils could not break through to the overlying Thamama group. But where the anhydride bed thicknesses dropped below 30 ft. thick, this permitted oil migration through to the overlying Thamama reservoirs during the oil generation phase in the Turonian time. At a later stage, with additional depth of burial and progressive diagenesis anhydrite beds as thin as 8 ft. thick became effective seals. These controlled the distribution of the gas during the gas generation phase in the Eocene time.« less

  13. Optical and radiative properties of aerosols over Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Beegum, S. Naseema; Romdhane, Haifa Ben; Ali, Mohammed Tauha; Armstrong, Peter; Ghedira, Hosni

    2016-12-01

    The present study is on the aerosol optical and radiative properties in the short-wave radiation and its climate implications at the arid city of Abu Dhabi (24.42 ∘N, 54.61 ∘E, 4.5 m MSL), in the United Arab Emirates. The direct aerosol radiative forcings (ARF) in the short-wave region at the top (TOA) and bottom of the atmosphere (BOA) are estimated using a hybrid approach, making use of discrete ordinate radiative transfer method in conjunction with the short-wave flux and spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD) measurements, over a period of 3 years (June 2012-July 2015), at Abu Dhabi located at the south-west coast of the Arabian Gulf. The inferred microphysical properties of aerosols at the measurement site indicate strong seasonal variations from the dominance of coarse mode mineral dust aerosols during spring (March-May) and summer (June-September), to the abundance of fine/accumulation mode aerosols mainly from combustion of fossil-fuel and bio-fuel during autumn (October-November) and winter (December-February) seasons. The monthly mean diurnally averaged ARF at the BOA (TOA) varies from -13.2 Wm-2 (˜-0.96 Wm-2) in November to -39.4 Wm-2 (-11.4 Wm-2) in August with higher magnitudes of the forcing values during spring/summer seasons and lower values during autumn/winter seasons. The atmospheric aerosol forcing varies from + 12.2 Wm-2 (November) to 28.2 Wm-2 (June) with higher values throughout the spring and summer seasons, suggesting the importance of mineral dust aerosols towards the solar dimming. Seasonally, highest values of the forcing efficiency at the surface are observed in spring (-85.0 ± 4.1 W m-2 τ -1) followed closely by winter (-79.2 ± 7.1 W m-2 τ -1) and the lowest values during autumn season (-54 ± 4.3 W m-2 τ -1). The study concludes with the variations of the atmospheric heating rates induced by the forcing. Highest heating rate is observed in June (0.39 K day -1) and the lowest in November (0.17 K day -1) and the temporal

  14. Petroleum developments in Middle East countries in 1969

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mason, J.F.; Moore, Q.M.

    1970-08-01

    Petroleum production in Middle East countries in 1969 totaled 4,525,475,000 bbl at an average rate of 12,398,561 bpd, compared with 4,113,838,000 bbl or 11,239,995 bpd in 1968. The principal production increases were in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Oman. New fields were found in Iraq, Iran, and Abu Dhabi. There were no exploratory activities in Bahrain, Qatar, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al Qawain, Dhofar, Hadhramaut, Aden-Kamaran islands, Yemen, or Lebanon. The main areas of exploratory work were in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia-Red Sea, and the S. Gulf (both on shore and off shore). (67 refs.)

  15. Molecular Analysis of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Escherichia coli Strain VR50 Reveals Adaptation to the Urinary Tract by Gene Acquisition

    PubMed Central

    Ben Zakour, Nouri L.; Totsika, Makrina; Forde, Brian M.; Watts, Rebecca E.; Mabbett, Amanda N.; Szubert, Jan M.; Sarkar, Sohinee; Phan, Minh-Duy; Peters, Kate M.; Petty, Nicola K.; Alikhan, Nabil-Fareed; Sullivan, Mitchell J.; Gawthorne, Jayde A.; Stanton-Cook, Mitchell; Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh; Chong, Teik Min; Yin, Wai-Fong; Chan, Kok-Gan; Hancock, Viktoria; Ussery, David W.; Ulett, Glen C.

    2015-01-01

    Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli responsible for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. To understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABU E. coli strain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resembles E. coli K-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50-pheV has a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a number of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50-pheV deleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTI in vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants. E. coli VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50-pheV mutant. Our study suggests that E. coli VR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder. PMID:25667270

  16. Observations of the atmospheric boundary layer height over Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Investigating boundary layer climatology in arid regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marzooqi, Mohamed Al; Basha, Ghouse; Ouarda, Taha B. M. J.; Armstrong, Peter; Molini, Annalisa

    2014-05-01

    Strong sensible heat fluxes and deep turbulent mixing - together with marked dustiness and a low substrate water content - represent a characteristic signature in the boundary layer over hot deserts, resulting in "thicker" mixing layers and peculiar optical properties. Beside these main features however, desert ABLs present extremely complex local structures that have been scarcely addressed in the literature, and whose understanding is essential in modeling processes such as the transport of dust and pollutants, and turbulent fluxes of momentum, heat and water vapor in hyper-arid regions. In this study, we analyze a continuous record of observations of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) height from a single lens LiDAR ceilometer operated at Masdar Institute Field Station (24.4oN, 54.6o E, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates), starting March 2013. We compare different methods for the estimation of the ABL height from Ceilometer data such as, classic variance-, gradient-, log gradient- and second derivation-methods as well as recently developed techniques such as the Bayesian Method and Wavelet covariance transform. Our goal is to select the most suited technique for describing the climatology of the ABL in desert environments. Comparison of our results with radiosonde observations collected at the nearby airport of Abu Dhabi indicate that the WCT and the Bayesian method are the most suitable tools to accurately identify the ABL height in all weather conditions. These two methods are used for the definition of diurnal and seasonal climatologies of the boundary layer conditional to different atmospheric stability classes.

  17. Seismic data interpretation for hydrocarbon potential, for Safwa/Sabbar field, East Ghazalat onshore area, Abu Gharadig basin, Western Desert, Egypt

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hameed El Redini, Naser A.; Ali Bakr, Ali M.; Dahroug, Said M.

    2017-12-01

    Safwa/Sabbar oil field located in the East Ghazalat Concession in the proven and prolific Abu Gharadig basin, Western Desert, Egypt, and about 250 km to the southwest of Cairo, it's located in the vicinity of several producing oil fields ranging from small to large size hydrocarbon accumulation, adjacent to the NW-SE trending major Abu Gharadig fault which is throwing to the Southwest. All the geological, "structure and stratigraphic" elements, have been identified after interpreting the recent high quality 3D seismic survey for prospect generation, evaluation and their relation to the hydrocarbon exploration. Synthetic seismograms have been carried out for all available wells to tie horizons to seismic data and to define the lateral variation characters of the beds. The analysis has been done using the suitable seismic attributes to understand the characteristics of different types of the reservoir formations, type of trap system, identify channels and faults, and delineating the stratigraphic plays of good reservoirs such as Eocene Apollonia Limestone, AR "F", AR "G" members, Upper Bahariya, Jurassic Khatatba Sandstone, upper Safa and Lower Safa Sandstone. The top Cenomanian Bahariya level is the main oil reservoir in the Study area, which consist of Sandstone, Siltstone and Shale, the thickness is varying from 1 to 50 ft along the study area. In addition to Upper-Bahariya there are a good accessibility of hydrocarbon potential within the Jurassic Khatatba Sandstone and the Eocene Apollonia Limestone. More exploring of these reservoirs are important to increase productivity of Oil and/or Gas in the study area.

  18. Hydrology of the coastal sabkhas of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sanford, Ward E.; Wood, Warren W.

    2001-01-01

    Water fluxes were estimated and a water budget developed for the land surface and a surficial 10-m-deep section of the coastal sabkhas that extend from the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, west to the border with Saudi Arabia. The fluxes were estimated on the basis of water levels and hydraulic conductivities measured in wells and evaporation rates measured with a humidity chamber. In contrast with conceptual models proposed in earlier studies, groundwater inflow is estimated to be small, whereas the largest components of the water budget are recharge from rainfall and evaporation from the water table. Estimates within a rectilinear volume of sabkha, defined as 1 m wide by 10 km long by 10 m deep, indicate that about 1 m3/year of water enters and exits by lateral groundwater flow; 40–50 m3/year enters by upward leakage; and 640 m3/year enters by recharge from rainfall. Based on the water and solute fluxes estimated for the upward leakage into the sabkha, 7–8 pore volumes of brine have entered the sabkha from below since the time the sabkha became saturated (7,000 years ago) as a result of the last global sea-level rise.

  19. Ober's Island: The Mallard Ober's Island, One of the ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Ober's Island: The Mallard - Ober's Island, One of the Review Islands on Rainy Lake, bounded on the south by The Hawk Island and on the north by The Crow Island. These islands are located seven miles east of Ranier, Minnesota, three miles west of Voyageur National Park, and one mile south of the international border of the United States of America and Canada. The legal description of Mallard Island is Lot 6, Section 19, T-17-N, R-22-W, Koochiching County, Minnesota, Ranier, Koochiching County, MN

  20. Island Formation: Constructing a Coral Island

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Austin, Heather; Edd, Amelia

    2009-01-01

    The process of coral island formation is often difficult for middle school students to comprehend. Coral island formation is a dynamic process, and students should have the opportunity to experience this process in a synergistic context. The authors provide instructional guidelines for constructing a coral island. Students play an interactive role…

  1. Burials from Wadi Mudayfa'at and Wadi Abu Khasharif, Southern Jordan - Results of a Survey and Salvage Excavations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salameen, Zeyad al; Falahat, Hani

    This paper presents the preliminary results of a survey and excavation conducted in 2006 on small cemeteries at Wadi Mudayfa'at and Wadi Abu Khasharif, which are located c. 30 km southeast of the village of al-Hussayniah on the Desert Highway in southern Jordan. In total five graves were excavated. Preservation was excellent including human and other organic materials (hair, leather, textiles). Preliminary scientific dating points to the period between the second and fourth centuries AD. The research questions discussed are: - the date, the relationship between the cemeteries and surrounding sites, the significance of this area, the identity of the groups buried, the burial techniques and practices adopted and what influenced them and the funerary gifts included with the dead.

  2. Habitat and environment of islands: primary and supplemental island sets

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Matalas, Nicholas C.; Grossling, Bernardo F.

    2002-01-01

    The original intent of the study was to develop a first-order synopsis of island hydrology with an integrated geologic basis on a global scale. As the study progressed, the aim was broadened to provide a framework for subsequent assessments on large regional or global scales of island resources and impacts on those resources that are derived from global changes. Fundamental to the study was the development of a comprehensive framework?a wide range of parameters that describe a set of 'saltwater' islands sufficiently large to Characterize the spatial distribution of the world?s islands; Account for all major archipelagos; Account for almost all oceanically isolated islands, and Account collectively for a very large proportion of the total area of the world?s islands whereby additional islands would only marginally contribute to the representativeness and accountability of the island set. The comprehensive framework, which is referred to as the ?Primary Island Set,? is built on 122 parameters that describe 1,000 islands. To complement the investigations based on the Primary Island Set, two supplemental island sets, Set A?Other Islands (not in the Primary Island Set) and Set B?Lagoonal Atolls, are included in the study. The Primary Island Set, together with the Supplemental Island Sets A and B, provides a framework that can be used in various scientific disciplines for their island-based studies on broad regional or global scales. The study uses an informal, coherent, geophysical organization of the islands that belong to the three island sets. The organization is in the form of a global island chain, which is a particular sequential ordering of the islands referred to as the 'Alisida.' The Alisida was developed through a trial-and-error procedure by seeking to strike a balance between 'minimizing the length of the global chain' and 'maximizing the chain?s geophysical coherence.' The fact that an objective function cannot be minimized and maximized simultaneously

  3. Molecular Analysis of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Escherichia coli Strain VR50 Reveals Adaptation to the Urinary Tract by Gene Acquisition

    DOE PAGES

    Beatson, Scott A.; Ben Zakour, Nouri L.; Totsika, Makrina; ...

    2015-05-01

    Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. Here, to understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABU E. coli strain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resembles E. coli K-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50- pheV has a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a numbermore » of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50- pheV deleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTI in vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants. E. coli VR50 afa and VR50 afaE displayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50 afa and VR50 afaE displayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50- pheV mutant. In conlusion, our study suggests that E. coli VR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder.« less

  4. Molecular Analysis of Asymptomatic Bacteriuria Escherichia coli Strain VR50 Reveals Adaptation to the Urinary Tract by Gene Acquisition

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Beatson, Scott A.; Ben Zakour, Nouri L.; Totsika, Makrina

    Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. Here, to understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABU E. coli strain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resembles E. coli K-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50- pheV has a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a numbermore » of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50- pheV deleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTI in vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants. E. coli VR50 afa and VR50 afaE displayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50 afa and VR50 afaE displayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50- pheV mutant. In conlusion, our study suggests that E. coli VR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder.« less

  5. Molecular analysis of asymptomatic bacteriuria Escherichia coli strain VR50 reveals adaptation to the urinary tract by gene acquisition.

    PubMed

    Beatson, Scott A; Ben Zakour, Nouri L; Totsika, Makrina; Forde, Brian M; Watts, Rebecca E; Mabbett, Amanda N; Szubert, Jan M; Sarkar, Sohinee; Phan, Minh-Duy; Peters, Kate M; Petty, Nicola K; Alikhan, Nabil-Fareed; Sullivan, Mitchell J; Gawthorne, Jayde A; Stanton-Cook, Mitchell; Nhu, Nguyen Thi Khanh; Chong, Teik Min; Yin, Wai-Fong; Chan, Kok-Gan; Hancock, Viktoria; Ussery, David W; Ulett, Glen C; Schembri, Mark A

    2015-05-01

    Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli responsible for >80% of all cases. One extreme of UTI is asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU), which occurs as an asymptomatic carrier state that resembles commensalism. To understand the evolution and molecular mechanisms that underpin ABU, the genome of the ABU E. coli strain VR50 was sequenced. Analysis of the complete genome indicated that it most resembles E. coli K-12, with the addition of a 94-kb genomic island (GI-VR50-pheV), eight prophages, and multiple plasmids. GI-VR50-pheV has a mosaic structure and contains genes encoding a number of UTI-associated virulence factors, namely, Afa (afimbrial adhesin), two autotransporter proteins (Ag43 and Sat), and aerobactin. We demonstrated that the presence of this island in VR50 confers its ability to colonize the murine bladder, as a VR50 mutant with GI-VR50-pheV deleted was attenuated in a mouse model of UTI in vivo. We established that Afa is the island-encoded factor responsible for this phenotype using two independent deletion (Afa operon and AfaE adhesin) mutants. E. coli VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed significantly decreased ability to adhere to human bladder epithelial cells. In the mouse model of UTI, VR50afa and VR50afaE displayed reduced bladder colonization compared to wild-type VR50, similar to the colonization level of the GI-VR50-pheV mutant. Our study suggests that E. coli VR50 is a commensal-like strain that has acquired fitness factors that facilitate colonization of the human bladder. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  6. Heat Islands

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    EPA's Heat Island Effect Site provides information on heat islands, their impacts, mitigation strategies, related research, a directory of heat island reduction initiatives in U.S. communities, and EPA's Heat Island Reduction Program.

  7. Application of uphole data from petroleum seismic surveys to groundwater investigations, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Woodward, D.; Menges, C.M.

    1991-01-01

    Velocity data from uphole surveys were used to map the water table and the contact at the base dune sand/top alluvium as part of a joint National Drilling Company-United States Geological Survey Ground Water Research Project in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. During 1981-1983, a reconnaissance seismic survey was conducted for petroleum exploration in the eastern region of Abu Dhabi. Approximately 2800 kilometers of seismic data, consisting of 92 lines, were acquired in the 2500 km2 concession area near Al Ain. Uphole surveys were conducted about 2 km apart along each seismic line, and were used to calculate weathering corrections required to further process in the seismic data. Approximately 1300 uphole surveys were completed in the concession area between March 1981 and June 1983. Reinterpretation of the velocity profiles derived from the uphole surveys provided data for determining the following subsurface layers, listed in descending order: (1) a surficial, unconsolidated weathering layer with a velocity from 300 to 450 m/s; (2) surficial dune sand, from 750 to 900 m/s; (3) unsaturated, unconsolidated alluvium, from 1000 to 1300 m/s; and (4) saturated, unconsolidated alluvium, from 1900 to 2200 m/s. Two interfaces-the water table and the base dune sand/top alluvium - were identified and mapped from boundaries between these velocity layers. Although the regional water table can fluctuate naturally as much as 3 m per year in this area and the water-table determinations from the uphole data span a 27-month period, an extremely consistent and interpretable water-table map was derived from the uphole data throughout the entire concession area. In the northern part of the area, unconfined groundwater moves northward and northwestward toward the Arabian Gulf; and in the central and southern parts of the area, groundwater moves westward away from the Oman Mountains. In the extreme southern area east of Jabal Hafit, groundwater moves southward into Oman. The map of the base

  8. Aleutian Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-21

    Remote, rugged and extraordinarily beautiful, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands are best known for wildlife reserves, military bases, fishing, furs and fog. The sprawling volcanic archipelago was brought into the spotlight by the Russian-supported expedition of Alexey Chirikov and Vitus Bering in 1741, and soon became controlled by the Russian-American Fur Company. In 1867 the United States purchased Alaska, including the Aleutian Islands, from Russia. By 1900 the port in Unalaska was well established as a shipping port for Alaska gold. The archipelago sweeps about 1,200 miles (1,800 km) from the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula to Attu, the most westward island. Four major island groups hold 14 large islands, about 55 smaller islands, and a large number of islets, adding up to roughly 150 islands/islets in total. This chain separates the Bering Sea (north) from the Pacific Ocean (south) and the islands are connected by the Marine Highway Ferry – at least as far as Unalaska. For the most remote islands, such as birding paradise of Attu, the western-most Aleutian Island, travel becomes trickier and relies primarily on custom charter. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flew over the region and captured this spectacular true-color image of the eastern Aleutian Islands on May 15, 2014. In this image, the Alaskan Peninsula protrudes from the mainland and sweeps to the southwest. The first set of islands are called the Fox Island group. Unalaska Island is part of this group and can be identified, with some imagination, as an island formed in the shape of a flying cherub, with two arms (peninsulas) outstretched towards the northeast, seemingly reaching for the round “balls” of Akutan and Akun Islands. The smallest islands in the west of the image belong to the group known as the Islands of Four Mountains. The Aleutians continue far to the west of this image. Fog surrounds the Aleutians, stretching from just off the southwestern Alaska mainland to the

  9. Tenarife Island, Canary Island Archipelago, Atlantic Ocean

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    Tenarife Island is one of the most volcanically active of the Canary Island archipelago, Atlantic Ocean, just off the NW coast of Africa, (28.5N, 16.5W). The old central caldera, nearly filled in by successive volcanic activity culminating in two stratocones. From those two peaks, a line of smaller cinder cones extend to the point of the island. Extensive gullies dissect the west side of the island and some forests still remain on the east side.

  10. Tenarife Island, Canary Island Archipelago, Atlantic Ocean

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1991-08-11

    Tenarife Island is one of the most volcanically active of the Canary Island archipelago, Atlantic Ocean, just off the NW coast of Africa, (28.5N, 16.5W). The old central caldera, nearly filled in by successive volcanic activity culminating in two stratocones. From those two peaks, a line of smaller cinder cones extend to the point of the island. Extensive gullies dissect the west side of the island and some forests still remain on the east side.

  11. Canary Islands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    This easterly looking view shows the seven major volcanic islands of the Canary Island chain (28.0N, 16.5W) and offers a unique view of the islands that have become a frequent vacation spot for Europeans. The northwest coastline of Africa, (Morocco and Western Sahara), is visible in the background. Frequently, these islands create an impact on local weather (cloud formations) and ocean currents (island wakes) as seen in this photo.

  12. Island-Trapped Waves, Internal Waves, and Island Circulation

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2014-09-30

    from the government of Palau to allow us to deliver some water and food to the officers. Governor Patris of Hatohobei State and the Coral Reef ...Island-trapped waves , internal waves , and island circulation T. M. Shaun Johnston Scripps Institution of Oceanography University of California...large islands (Godfrey, 1989; Firing et al., 1999); • Westward propagating eddies and/or Rossby waves encounter large islands and produce boundary

  13. Eco-geomorphic processes that maintain a small coral reef island: Ballast Island in the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kayanne, Hajime; Aoki, Kenji; Suzuki, Takuya; Hongo, Chuki; Yamano, Hiroya; Ide, Yoichi; Iwatsuka, Yuudai; Takahashi, Kenya; Katayama, Hiroyuki; Sekimoto, Tsunehiro; Isobe, Masahiko

    2016-10-01

    Landform changes in Ballast Island, a small coral reef island in the Ryukyu Islands, were investigated by remote sensing analysis and a field survey. The area of the island almost doubled after a mass coral bleaching event in 1998. Coral branches generated by the mass mortality and broken by waves were delivered and stocked on a reef flat and accumulated to expand the area of the island. In 2012 high waves generated by typhoons also changed the island's topography. Overall, the island moved in the downdrift direction of the higher waves. Waves impacting both sides of the island piled up a large volume of coral gravels above the high-tide level. Eco-geomorphic processes, including a supply of calcareous materials from the corals on the same reef especially during stormy wave conditions, were key factors in maintaining the dynamic topographic features of this small coral reef island.

  14. Galapagos Islands

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    This true-color image of the Galapagos Islands was acquired on March 12, 2002, by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA's Terra satellite. The Galapagos Islands, which are part of Ecuador, sit in the Pacific Ocean about 1000 km (620 miles) west of South America. As the three craters on the largest island (Isabela Island) suggest, the archipelago was created by volcanic eruptions, which took place millions of years ago. Unlike most remote islands in the Pacific, the Galapagos have gone relatively untouched by humans over the past few millennia. As a result, many unique species have continued to thrive on the islands. Over 95 percent of the islands' reptile species and nearly three quarters of its land bird species cannot be found anywhere else in the world. Two of the more well known are the Galapagos giant tortoise and marine iguanas. The unhindered evolutionary development of the islands' species inspired Charles Darwin to begin The Origin of Species eight years after his visit there. To preserve the unique wildlife on the islands, the Ecuadorian government made the entire archipelago a national park in 1959. Each year roughly 60,000 tourists visit these islands to experience what Darwin did over a century and a half ago. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC

  15. Temporal variability of air-pollutants over Abu Dhabi, UAE

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ghedira, H.; Ben Romdhane, H.; Beegum S, N.

    2013-12-01

    Air quality, the measure of the concentrations of gaseous pollutants and size or number of particulate matter, is one of the most important problems worldwide and has strong implications on human health, ecosystems, as well as regional and global climate. The levels of air pollutants such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), particulate matters (PM10, PM2.5), Ozone (O3), Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Carbon monoxide (CO), etc. show an alarming increase in urban cities across the world and in many cases, the concentrations have grown well above the World Health Organization's guidelines for ambient air-quality standards. Here, we present the periodic fluctuations observed in the concentrations of air pollutants such as SO2, NO2, O3, CO, H2S, NMHC (Non methane Hydro Carbon) and VOC (volatile organic compounds) based on the measurements collected during the period 2008-2010 at Masdar City, Abu Dhabi (24.42oN, 54.61oE, 7m MSL). The measurements were carried out using an Air Quality Monitoring System (AQM60). All these pollutant species showed statistical periodic: diurnal, monthly, seasonal and annual variations. Diurnally, all the species, except ozone, depicted an afternoon low and nighttime/early morning high, attributed to the dynamics of the local atmospheric boundary layer. Whereas, an opposite pattern with daytime high and nighttime low was observed for O3, as the species is formed in the troposphere by catalytic photochemical reactions of NOx with CO, CH4 and other VOCs. Seasonally, the pollutants depicted higher values during summer and relatively lower values during winter, associated with changes in synoptic airmass types and/or removal processes. Concentrations of all the gaseous pollutants are within the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) throughout the year, whereas the PM10 often exceeded the limits, especially during dust storm episodes.

  16. Ober's Island, One of the Review Islands on Rainy Lake, ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Ober's Island, One of the Review Islands on Rainy Lake, bounded on the south by The Hawk Island and on the north by The Crow Island. These islands are located seven miles east of Ranier, Minnesota, three miles west of Voyageur National Park, and one mile south of the international border of the United States of America and Canada. The legal description of Mallard Island is Lot 6, Section 19, T-17-N, R-22-W, Koochiching County, Minnesota, Ranier, Koochiching County, MN

  17. Multidecadal shoreline changes of atoll islands in the Marshall Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ford, M.

    2012-12-01

    Atoll islands are considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of continued sea level rise. One of the most commonly predicted outcomes of continued sea level rise is widespread and chronic shoreline erosion. Despite the widespread implications of predicted erosion, the decadal scale changes of atoll island shorelines are poorly resolved. The Marshall Islands is one of only four countries where the majority of inhabited land is comprised of reef and atoll islands. Consisting of 29 atolls and 5 mid-ocean reef islands, the Marshall Islands are considered highly vulnerable to the impacts of sea level rise. A detailed analysis of shoreline change on over 300 islands on 10 atolls was undertaken using historic aerial photos (1945-1978) and modern high resolution satellite imagery (2004-2012). Results highlight the complex and dynamic nature of atoll islands, with significant shifts in shoreline position observed over the period of analysis. Results suggest shoreline accretion is the dominant mode of change on the islands studied, often associated with a net increase in vegetated island area. However, considerable inter- and intra-atoll variability exists with regards to shoreline stability. Findings are discussed with respect to island morphodynamics and potential hazard mitigation and planning responses within atoll settings.

  18. C. G. Doris participation in the development of Abu-Al-Bu Koosh Field (in English and French)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    On behalf of the total-ABK group, the company, C.G. Doris, has taken an active part in the development of the gas-lift and water injection installations in the Abu-Al-Bu Koosh Fields. The gas lift platform is a 4-legged jacket in 30 m of water with 2 deck levels. It is joined by a bridge to the production platform. Total load of the new platform is 1000 tons of steel plus 200 tons of piles. The 2 water injection tripods in 41 and 27 m of water also are pile-supported jackets with the vertical and 2 inclined legs. Also, the 2 workovermore » platforms have been thoroughly rechecked by C.G. Doris. Furthermore, a living quarters platform was designed and contracted by the company on a turn-key basis. Capacity is 60 people, with a possibility of expansion.« less

  19. Foundation Investigation for Ground Based Radar Project-Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1990-04-01

    iL_ COPY MISCELLANEOUS PAPER GL-90-5 i iFOUNDATION INVESTIGATION FOR GROUND BASED RADAR PROJECT--KWAJALEIN ISLAND, MARSHALL ISLANDS by Donald E...C!assification) Foundatioa Investigation for Ground Based Radar Project -- Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands 12. PERSONAL AUTHOR(S) Yule, Donald E...investigation for the Ground Based Radar Project -- Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands , are presented.- eophysical tests comprised of surface refrac- tion

  20. Investigations of the middle atmospheric thermal structure and oscillations over sub-tropical regions in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sharma, Som; Kumar, Prashant; Jethva, Chintan; Vaishnav, Rajesh; Bencherif, Hassan

    2017-06-01

    The temperature retrieved from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) onboard Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite during January 2002 to September 2015 are used in this study to delineate the differences of middle atmospheric thermal structure in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and Southern Hemisphere (SH). Two stations namely Mt. Abu (24.59°N, 72.70°E) in NH and Reunion Island (21.11°S, 55.53°E) in SH are chosen over sub-tropical regions. Temperature climatology from SABER observations suggests that stratopause is warmer, and upper mesosphere is cooler in NH as compared to SH. Three atmospheric models are used to understand the monthly thermal structure differences for different altitudes. Moreover, semi-annual, annual and quasi-biennial oscillations are studied using Lomb Scargle Periodogram and Wavelet transform techniques. Over NH, summer and winter season are warmer ( 4 K) and cooler ( 3 K) respectively in stratosphere as compared to SH. It is important to note here that Mt. Abu temperature is warmer ( 9 K) than Reunion Island in winter but in summer season Mt. Abu temperature is cooler in upper mesosphere and above mesosphere NH shows warming. Results show that annual oscillations are dominated in both hemisphere as compared to semi-annual and quasi-biennial oscillations. In upper mesosphere, strength of annual oscillations is substantial in NH, while semi-annual oscillations are stronger in SH. Wavelet analyses found that annual oscillations are significant in NH near mesopause, while semi-annual oscillations are strengthening in SH.

  1. Kerguelen Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-05-27

    This image from NASA Terra spacecraft shows the Kerguelen Islands also known as the Desolation Islands, which are part of the French Southern and Antarctic lands. The islands are among the most isolated places on Earth.

  2. Landscapes of Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schumann, R. Randall; Minor, Scott A.; Muhs, Daniel R.; Pigati, Jeffery S.

    2014-01-01

    Santa Rosa Island (SRI) is the second-largest of the California Channel Islands. It is one of 4 east–west aligned islands forming the northern Channel Islands chain, and one of the 5 islands in Channel Islands National Park. The landforms, and collections of landforms called landscapes, of Santa Rosa Island have been created by tectonic uplift and faulting, rising and falling sea level, landslides, erosion and deposition, floods, and droughts. Landscape features, and areas delineating groups of related features on Santa Rosa Island, are mapped, classified, and described in this paper. Notable landscapes on the island include beaches, coastal plains formed on marine terraces, sand dunes, and sand sheets. In this study, the inland physiography has been classified into 4 areas based on relief and degree of fluvial dissection. Most of the larger streams on the island occupy broad valleys that have been filled with alluvium and later incised to form steep- to vertical-walled arroyos, or barrancas, leaving a relict floodplain above the present channel. A better understanding of the processes and mechanisms that created these landscapes enhances visitors’ enjoyment of their surroundings and contributes to improving land and resource management strategies in order to optimize and balance the multiple goals of conservation, preservation, restoration, and visitor experience.

  3. Adolescents’ perception of substance use and factors influencing its use: a qualitative study in Abu Dhabi

    PubMed Central

    Al Ozaibi, Naseeba; Elarabi, Hisham; El-Kashef, Ahmed; Wanigaratne, Shamil; Almarzouqi, Amna; Alhosani, Ayesha; Al Ghaferi, Hamad

    2015-01-01

    Summary Objective The objective of this article is to gain a deeper understanding of the attitudes and perceptions of adolescents in the United Arab Emirates regarding substance and to identify factors that, in their view, may influence the risk of substance use and suggest possible interventions. Design This was a qualitative study that used a focus group approach. Setting The study was carried out in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Participants Male and female teenagers aged 13-18 years residing in the emirate of Abu Dhabi. Main outcome measures Adolescents’ awareness of substance use, patterns of use and associated harm; Adolescents' perceptions about the factors associated with substance use. Results Six focus groups were carried out, and a total of 41 adolescents (20 males and 21 females) participated. Data analysis identified three main themes: (1) adolescents’ awareness of substance use and associated harm; (2) gender role and image and (3) perceived factors affecting substance use among adolescents. Knowledge of substances and related consequences of use varied between groups but was compatible with participants’ age and school years. Factors that participants believed influenced substance use were classified into: (1) parent–adolescent relationship, (2) peer pressure, (3) substance accessibility, (4) religiosity and (5) others. Many factors were believed to increase the risk of substance use among adolescents such as peer pressure, inadequate knowledge of the harmful consequences of drug use, family-related factors (e.g. low monitoring and poor parent–adolescents relationship), affordability and availability of substances, boredom and affluence. On the other hand, religiosity was as a shield against substance use, especially alcohol. Other identified protective factors included carrying out schools- and communities-based educational campaigns, enhancing social workers’ ability to raise awareness and detect early signs of addiction and

  4. Arctic ice islands

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Sackinger, W.M.; Jeffries, M.O.; Lu, M.C.

    1988-01-01

    The development of offshore oil and gas resources in the Arctic waters of Alaska requires offshore structures which successfully resist the lateral forces due to moving, drifting ice. Ice islands are floating, a tabular icebergs, up to 60 meters thick, of solid ice throughout their thickness. The ice islands are thus regarded as the strongest ice features in the Arctic; fixed offshore structures which can directly withstand the impact of ice islands are possible but in some locations may be so expensive as to make oilfield development uneconomic. The resolution of the ice island problem requires two research steps: (1)more » calculation of the probability of interaction between an ice island and an offshore structure in a given region; and (2) if the probability if sufficiently large, then the study of possible interactions between ice island and structure, to discover mitigative measures to deal with the moving ice island. The ice island research conducted during the 1983-1988 interval, which is summarized in this report, was concerned with the first step. Monte Carlo simulations of ice island generation and movement suggest that ice island lifetimes range from 0 to 70 years, and that 85% of the lifetimes are less then 35 years. The simulation shows a mean value of 18 ice islands present at any time in the Arctic Ocean, with a 90% probability of less than 30 ice islands. At this time, approximately 34 ice islands are known, from observations, to exist in the Arctic Ocean, not including the 10-meter thick class of ice islands. Return interval plots from the simulation show that coastal zones of the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas, already leased for oil development, have ice island recurrences of 10 to 100 years. This implies that the ice island hazard must be considered thoroughly, and appropriate safety measures adopted, when offshore oil production plans are formulated for the Alaskan Arctic offshore. 132 refs., 161 figs., 17 tabs.« less

  5. Gravity study of the Central African Rift system: A model of continental disruption 1. The Ngaoundere and Abu Gabra Rifts

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Browne, S. E.; Fairhead, J. D.

    1983-05-01

    A regional compilation of published and unpublished gravity data for Central Africa is presented and reveals the presence of a major rift system, called here, the Central African Rift System. It is proposed that the junction area between the Ngaoundere and Abu Gabra rift arms in Western Sudan forms an incipient intraplate, triple-junction with the as yet unfractured, but domally uplifted and volcanically active, Darfur swell. It is only the Darfur swell that shows any similarities to the uplift and rift history of East Africa. The other two rifts arms are considered to be structurally similar to the early stages of passive margin development and thus reflect more closely the initial processes of continental fragmentation than the structures associated with rifting in East Africa.

  6. Perspective View of Umnak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska #2

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2001-11-04

    This image is a perspective view acquired by NASA Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar AIRSAR in 2001, is of Umnak Island, one of Alaska Aleutian Islands. The active Okmok volcano appears in the center of the island.

  7. Perspective View of Umnak Island, Aleutian Islands, Alaska #1

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2001-11-04

    This image is a perspective view acquired by NASA Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar AIRSAR in 2001, is of Umnak Island, one of Alaska Aleutian Islands. The active Okmok volcano appears in the center of the island.

  8. Microbial community of cyanobacteria mats in the intertidal zone of oil-polluted coast of Saudi Arabia.

    PubMed

    Al-Thukair, A A; Abed, R M M; Mohamed, L

    2007-02-01

    Cyanobacterial mats are found at various locations along the coast of the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Those mats were affected by severe oil pollution following 1991 oil spill. In this study, samples from Abu Ali Island were collected at three selected sampling sites across the intertidal zone (Lower, Middle, and Upper) in order to understand the effect of extreme environmental conditions of high salinity, temperature and desiccation on distribution of cyanobacteria along the oil polluted intertidal zone. Our investigation of composition of cyanobacteria and diatoms was carried out using light microscopy, and Denaturant Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (DGGE) technique. Light microscopy identification revealed dominant cyanobacteria to be affiliated with genera Phormidium, Microcoleus, and Schizothrix, and to a lesser extent with Oscillatoria, Halothece, and various diatom species. The analysis of DGGE of PCR-amplified 16S rRNA fragments showed that the diversity of cyanobacteria decreases as we proceed from the lower to the upper intertidal zone. Accordingly, the tidal regime, salinity, elevated ambient air temperature, and desiccation periods have a great influence on the distribution of cyanobacterial community in the oil polluted intertidal zone of Abu Ali Island.

  9. 75 FR 51098 - Protection Island and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuges, Jefferson, Island, San Juan...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-08-18

    ..., Washington Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Complex, 715 Holgerson Drive, Sequim, WA 98382. FOR FURTHER...] Protection Island and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuges, Jefferson, Island, San Juan, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties, WA AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of availability: draft...

  10. Barrier island vulnerability to breaching: a case study on Dauphin Island, Alabama

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hansen, Mark; Sallenger, Asbury H.

    2007-01-01

    Breaching of barrier islands can adversely impact society by severing infrastructure, destroying private properties, and altering water quality in back bays and estuaries. This study provides a scheme that assesses the relative vulnerability of a barrier island to breach during storms. Dauphin Island, Alabama was selected for this study because it has a well documented history of island breaches and extensive geological and geomorphic data. To assess the vulnerability of the island, we defined several variables contributing to the risk of breaching: island geology, breaching history, and island topography and geomorphology. These variables were combined to form a breaching index (BI) value for cross island computational bins, each bin every 50 m in the alongshore direction. Results suggest the eastern section of Dauphin Island has the lowest risk of breaching with the remaining portion of the island having a moderate to high risk of breaching. Two reaches in the western section of the island were found to be particularly vulnerable due primarily to their minimal cross-sectional dimensions.

  11. 78 FR 48668 - PSEG Long Island LLC, Long Island Electric Utility Servco LLC, Long Island Power Authority, Long...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-09

    ... DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Federal Energy Regulatory Commission [ Docket No. EL13-81-000] PSEG Long Island LLC, Long Island Electric Utility Servco LLC, Long Island Power Authority, Long Island Lighting Company; Notice of Petition for Declaratory Order Take notice that on August 1, 2013, pursuant to Rule 207 of the Federal Energy Regulatory...

  12. Christmas Island, Line Island Group, Pacific Ocean

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1990-01-01

    Christmas Island (2.0N,158.0W), mid central Pacific Ocean, is considered to be the largest atoll in the world, about 25 km in diameter, and is part of the Line Island Group, a northwest-southeast trending chain of volcanic islands on some of the oldest ocean crust in the Pacific. The lagoon is nearly filled with reef growth leaving only a narrow entrance from the sea and large cocoanut groves are found along the fringes of the lagoon.

  13. Akpatok Island

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-08

    January 1st, 2001: Description: Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walrus and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for native Inuit people. Source: Landsat 7 To learn more about the Landsat satellite go to: landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/

  14. Hawaiian Island Archipelago

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1985-06-24

    The entire Hawaiian Island Archipelago (21.5N, 158.0W) is seen in this single view. The islands are a favorite international resort and tourist attraction drawing visitors from all over the world to enjoy the tropical climate, year round beaches and lush island flora. Being volcanic in origin, the islands' offer a rugged landscape and on the big island of Hawaii, there is still an occasional volcanic eruption of lava flows and steam vents.

  15. Contributions to a shallow aquifer study by reprocessed seismic sections from petroleum exploration surveys, eastern Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Woodward, D.

    1994-01-01

    The US Geological Survey, in cooperation with the National Drilling Company of Abu Dhabi, is conducting a 4-year study of the fresh and slightly saline groundwater resources of the eastern Abu Dhabi Emirate. Most of this water occurs in a shallow aquifer, generally less than 150 m deep, in the Al Ain area. A critical part of the Al Ain area coincides with a former petroleum concession area where about 2780 km of vibroseis data were collected along 94 seismic lines during 1981-1983. Field methods, acquistion parameters, and section processing were originally designed to enhance reflections expected at depths ranging from 5000 to 6000 m, and subsurface features directly associated with the shallow aquifer system were deleted from the original seismic sections. The original field tapes from the vibroseis survey were reprocessed in an attempt to extract shallow subsurface information (depths less than 550 m) for investigating the shallow aquifer. A unique sequence of reproccessing parameters was established after reviewing the results from many experimental tests. Many enhancements to the resolution of shallow seismic reflections resulted from: (1) application of a 20-Hz, low-cut filter; (2) recomputation of static corrections to a datum nearer the land surface; (3) intensive velocity analyses; and (4) near-trace muting analyses. The number, resolution, and lateral continuity of shallow reflections were greatly enhanced on the reprocessed sections, as was the delineation of shallow, major faults. Reflections on a synthetic seismogram, created from a borehole drilled to a depth of 786 m on seismic line IQS-11, matcheddprecisely with shallow reflections on the reprocessed section. The 33 reprocessed sections were instrumental in preparing a map showing the major structural features that affect the shallow aquifer system. Analysis of the map provides a better understanding of the effect of these shallow features on the regional occurrence, movement, and quality of

  16. 33 CFR 80.712 - Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Island. (d) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted in approximate position..., SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the easternmost tip of Folley Island to the... Island. (b) A straight line drawn from the seaward tangent of Folly Island through Folly River Daybeacon...

  17. 33 CFR 80.712 - Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Island. (d) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted in approximate position..., SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the easternmost tip of Folley Island to the... Island. (b) A straight line drawn from the seaward tangent of Folly Island through Folly River Daybeacon...

  18. Sedimentological context of the continental sabkhas of Abu Dhabi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lokier, Stephen; Paul, Andreas; Bixiao, Xin

    2017-04-01

    For more than half a century, the coastal sabkhas of Abu Dhabi have been the focus of intensive research focusing on deposition, early diagenesis and the role of microbial communities. Given all of this activity, it is somewhat surprising that their continental counterparts have been largely neglected with only a brief mention in larger-scale regional studies. This study redresses this imbalance by documenting the sedimentological, mineralogical and early diagenetic characteristics of continental sabkhas that are hosted in the Rub al Khali desert of the United Arab Emirates. During reconnaissance surveys it has been established that organic-rich microbial mats and evaporite minerals, both similar to those observed in the coastal sabkha, also occur in these continental sabkha settings. Satellite imagery was utilised to identify potential field locations for surface and shallow sub surface investigation; subsequent field reconnaissance established the validity of sites in terms of anthropogenic disruption and accessibility. At each site, surface features were described in detail, particularly with reference to any microbial communities or evaporite crusts; sample pits were dug in order to document sub-surface facies geometries and to recover both sediment and pore water samples for subsequent analysis. In each pit, a range of environmental parameters was measured over a prolonged period, including surface and sub-surface temperatures, ground water salinity and dissolved oxygen. Sediment samples were subjected to a range of analyses in order to establish and quantify primary sediment composition and any early diagenetic mineral phases. The results of this study are used to build an atlas of sedimentary structures and textures that are associated with continental sabkha settings. These observations allow us to establish the defining sedimentological and early diagenetic characteristics that can be employed to identify similar depositional environments in ancient

  19. 33 CFR 80.717 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Tybee Island 255° true across Tybee Inlet to the shore of Little Tybee Island south of the entrance to... Island to the seaward tangent of Bradley Point on Ossabaw Island. (d) A north-south line (longitude 81°8...-south line (longitude 81°10.6′ W.) drawn from the southernmost extremity of St. Catherines Island to...

  20. 33 CFR 80.717 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Tybee Island 255° true across Tybee Inlet to the shore of Little Tybee Island south of the entrance to... Island to the seaward tangent of Bradley Point on Ossabaw Island. (d) A north-south line (longitude 81°8...-south line (longitude 81°10.6′ W.) drawn from the southernmost extremity of St. Catherines Island to...

  1. 46 CFR 7.80 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... Tybee Island south of the entrance to Buck Hammock Creek. (b) A line drawn from the southernmost... 46 Shipping 1 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. 7.80 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.80 Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the...

  2. 33 CFR 80.717 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Tybee Island 255° true across Tybee Inlet to the shore of Little Tybee Island south of the entrance to... Island to the seaward tangent of Bradley Point on Ossabaw Island. (d) A north-south line (longitude 81°08...-south line (longitude 81°10.6′ W.) drawn from the southernmost extremity of St. Catherines Island to...

  3. 46 CFR 7.80 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ... Tybee Island south of the entrance to Buck Hammock Creek. (b) A line drawn from the southernmost... 46 Shipping 1 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. 7.80 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.80 Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the...

  4. 46 CFR 7.80 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ... Tybee Island south of the entrance to Buck Hammock Creek. (b) A line drawn from the southernmost... 46 Shipping 1 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. 7.80 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.80 Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the...

  5. 46 CFR 7.80 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ... Tybee Island south of the entrance to Buck Hammock Creek. (b) A line drawn from the southernmost... 46 Shipping 1 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. 7.80 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.80 Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the...

  6. 33 CFR 80.717 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Tybee Island 255° true across Tybee Inlet to the shore of Little Tybee Island south of the entrance to... Island to the seaward tangent of Bradley Point on Ossabaw Island. (d) A north-south line (longitude 81°08...-south line (longitude 81°10.6′ W.) drawn from the southernmost extremity of St. Catherines Island to...

  7. Hawaiian Island Archipelago

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1988-01-01

    In this view of the entire Hawaiian Island Archipelago (21.0N, 157.0W), the islands perturb the prevailing northeastewrly winds producing extensive cloud wakes in the lee of the islands. The atmospheric haze within the wake is a result of the near continuous eruptions of Kilauea volcano on the southeast coast of the big island of Hawaii.

  8. Akpatok Island

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    Akpatok Island lies in Ungava Bay in northern Quebec, Canada. Accessible only by air, Akpatok Island rises out of the water as sheer cliffs that soar 500 to 800 feet (150 to 243 m) above the sea surface. The island is an important sanctuary for cliff-nesting seabirds. Numerous ice floes around the island attract walrus and whales, making Akpatok a traditional hunting ground for native Inuit people. This image was acquired by Landsat 7's Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) sensor on January 22, 2001. Image provided by the USGS EROS Data Center Satellite Systems Branch

  9. Sequence stratigraphy of the Hith/Upper Arab formations offshore Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Azer, S.R.; Peebles, R.G.

    1995-11-01

    The Kimmeridgian Upper Arab zones A, B, and C, are prolific hydrocarbon bearing reservoirs in central and western Offshore Abu Dhabi (OAD). They were deposited in an arid climate which dominated the Arabian peninsula during Late Jurassic times. The Berriasian to Tithonian Hith Formation which overlies the Arab reservoirs constitute the cap rock, which just to the east of central OAD gradually pinches out and forms a N-S feather edge. The Hith and Upper Arab zones A, B, and C form 450 to over 600 feet of massive to interbedded anhydrites with varying proportions of limestones and dolomites in centralmore » and western OAD. The Arab Formation in OAD is a major regressive unit which was deposited on a broad carbonate platform and prograded eastwards into an open marine shelf environment. The objectives of this paper are to develop a sequence stratigraphic framework, emphasizing cyclicity, facies architecture and diagenesis. Core and well log data geared with various inorganic geochemical analyses from four wells are used to constrain the current uncertainties in age dating and integrate the diagenetic signatures in the patterns of relative sea level change which considerably control the formation of those parasequences. This effort will help in better understanding and possible prediction of porosity in such prospective reservoirs.« less

  10. Diomede Islands, Bering Straight

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    The Diomede Islands consisting of the western island Big Diomede (also known as Imaqliq, Nunarbuk or Ratmanov Island), and the eastern island Little Diomede (also known as Krusenstern Island or Inaliq), are two rocky islands located in the middle of the Bering Strait between Russia and Alaska. The islands are separated by an international border and the International Date Line which is approximately 1.5 km from each island; you can look from Alaska into tomorrow in Russia. At the closest land approach between the United States, which controls Little Diomede, and Russia, which controls Big Diomede, they are 3 km apart. Little Diomede Island constitutes the Alaskan City of Diomede, while Big Diomede Island is Russia's easternmost point. The first European to reach the islands was the Russian explorer Semyon Dezhnev in 1648. The text of the 1867 treaty finalizing the sale of Alaska uses the islands to designate the border between the two nations.

    The image was acquired July 8, 2000, covers an area of 13.5 x 10.8 km, and is located at 65.8 degrees north latitude, 169 degrees west longitude.

    The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

  11. Norfolk Island, Australia

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-05-13

    Situated 1670 km northeast of Sydney, Norfolk Island is an Australian Territory. It was permanently settled in 1856 by Pitcairn Islanders who were descendants of Tahitians and HMS Bounty mutineers. In 1979 Norfolk was granted limited self-government: the island elects a government that runs most of the island's affairs. In March, a local council replaced the local government, and the island was given closer financial ties to Australia. The image was acquired November 12, 2009, covers an area of 9 x 11 km, and is located at 29 degrees south, 168 degrees east. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19463

  12. Hydrologic data for Block Island, Rhode Island

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Burns, Emily

    1993-01-01

    This report was compiled as part of a study to assess the hydrogeology and the quality and quantity of fresh ground water on Block Island, Rhode Island. Hydrologic data were collected on Block Island during 1988-91. The data are pre- sented in illustrations and tables. Data collec- ted include precipitation, surfae-water, ground- water, lithologic, and well-construction and dis- charge information. Precipitation data include total monthly precipitation values from 11 rain gages and water-quality analyses of 14 precipi- tation samples from one station. Surface-water data include water-level measurements at 12 ponds, water-quality data for five ponds, and field specific-conductance measurements at 56 surface- water sites (streams, ponds, and springs). Ground- water data include water-level measurements at 159 wells, water-quality data at 150 wells, and field specific-conductance data at 52 wells. Lithologic logs for 375 wells and test borings, and construc- tion and location data for 570 wells, springs, and test borings are included. In addition, the data set contains data on water quality of water samples, collected by the Rhode Island Department of Health during 1976-91, from Fresh and Sands Ponds and from wells at the Block Island Water Company well field north of Sands Pond.

  13. Inverter Anti-Islanding with Advanced Grid Support in Single- and Multi-Inverter Islands

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hoke, Andy

    As PV and other DER systems are connected to the grid at increased penetration levels, island detection may become more challenging for two reasons: 1. In islands containing many DERs, active inverter-based anti-islanding methods may have more difficulty detecting islands because each individual inverter's efforts to detect the island may be interfered with by the other inverters in the island. 2. The increasing numbers of DERs are leading to new requirements that DERs ride through grid disturbances and even actively try to regulate grid voltage and frequency back towards nominal operating conditions. These new grid support requirements may directly ormore » indirectly interfere with anti-islanding controls. This report describes a series of tests designed to examine the impacts of both grid support functions and multi-inverter islands on anti-islanding effectiveness.« less

  14. Island wake produced by Antipodes Islands south of New Zealand

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1973-12-16

    SL4-137-3655 (16 Dec. 1973) --- An island wake produced by the Antipodes Islands in the ocean current south of New Zealand is seen in this photograph taken from the Skylab space station in Earth orbit. A Skylab 4 crewmen took the picture with a hand-held 70mm Hasselblad camera. The bow wave pattern is quite evident and can be used to determine the current speed from the angle of the bow wave if the propagation speed of the surface wave is known. Also, evident is the darker band extending downstream from the island tens of miles. This is the actual wake of the island. The existence of water color differences from within to outside a turbulent island wake may indicate a temperature difference, with cooler water being stirred to the surface in the wake. This temperature difference could be used to drive a thermo-electric type generator to reduce small islands' dependence on imported oil for power generation. Photo credit: NASA

  15. Ogasawara Islands, Japan

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-11-12

    This image, acquired by NASA Terra spacecraft, is of the volcanic Ogasawara Islands. The islands were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, in recognition of an outstanding example of ongoing evolutionary processes in oceanic island ecosystems.

  16. Southeast Asia: The Third Front in the Long War

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-05-04

    of 2002 (a significant blow to the tourism industry ). Another Friend of Our Enemy: The Abu Sayyaf Group The Filipino Muslim population...1998, Jemaah Islamiyah entered into phase two and began limited attacks against government entities. Most notable to date has been the Bali bombings...island of Bali . 59 Most were foreigners, mainly Australian tourists. It was preceded by a blast at the U.S. consulate in nearby Denspasar. The

  17. 78 FR 63860 - Amendment of Class D Airspace; Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands, RMI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-10-25

    ...This action amends the Kwajalein Island Class D airspace description by amending the geographic coordinates for Bucholz Army Airfield (AAF), Kwajalein Island, Marshall Islands, RMI. The Bucholz AAF geographic coordinates information was updated in the Kwajalein Island Class E airspace descriptions in 2011, but was inadvertently overlooked in the Kwajalein Island Class D airspace description. This action ensures the safety of aircraft operating in the Kwajalein Island airspace area. This is an administrative action and does not affect the operating requirements of the airspace.

  18. Canary Island Archipelago

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1989-01-01

    This nearly vertical view of the Canary Archipelago (28.5N, 16.5W) shows five of the seven islands: Grand Canary, Tenerife, Gomera, Hierro and La Palma. The largest island in view is Tenerife. Island cloud wakes evident in this photo are the result of southerly winds giving rise to cloud banks on the lee side especially on Tenerife which has the highest volcanic peaks. Island water wakes and internal waves are also evident but not as apparent.

  19. Falkland Islands, UK

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1991-01-01

    This view of the Falkland Islands (52.0S, 58.5W) was taken with a dual camera mount. Compare this scene with STS048-109-043 to analyze the unique properties of each film type. Seldom seen cloud free, the Falkland Islands lie off the southern coast of Argentina. The cold Falklands Ocean Current keeps the islands chilly, ideal for sheep herding and fishing, the two main industries. Colonies of seals and penguins also thrive on the islands.

  20. Infant Feeding Practices of Emirati Women in the Rapidly Developing City of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

    PubMed

    Gardner, Hazel; Green, Katherine; Gardner, Andrew

    2015-09-02

    Rapid economic and cultural transition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother's education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods.

  1. Infant Feeding Practices of Emirati Women in the Rapidly Developing City of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    PubMed Central

    Gardner, Hazel; Green, Katherine; Gardner, Andrew

    2015-01-01

    Rapid economic and cultural transition in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been accompanied by new challenges to public health; most notably a rapid rise in chronic disease. Breastfeeding is known to improve health outcomes in adulthood, is associated with reduced risk of developing chronic disease, and is therefore an important public health issue for this rapidly increasing population. Factors associated with infant feeding practices were examined in a cohort of 125 Emirati women and their infants, with data collected at birth and 3, 6 and 15 months postpartum by questionnaires and interviews. Participants were recruited in the Corniche Hospital, the main maternity hospital in the city of Abu Dhabi. Factors affecting the duration of breastfeeding and the introduction of complementary foods were investigated using univariate and multivariate statistics. Recommended infant feeding practices, such as exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and timely introduction of appropriate complementary foods, were poorly adhered to. Factors implicated in early cessation of breastfeeding included: time to first breastfeed, mother’s education level, employment status and early introduction of complementary foods. PMID:26404348

  2. 33 CFR 80.717 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons..., GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the southernmost extremity of Savannah Beach on....4′ W.) drawn from the southernmost extremity of Ossabaw Island to St. Catherines Island. (e) A north...

  3. Energy Transition Initiative: Island Energy Snapshot - U.S. Virgin Islands (Fact Sheet)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    2015-03-01

    This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) - St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix. The Virgin Islands archipelago makes up the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles and the western island group of the Leeward Islands, forming the border between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea.

  4. Contextual view of Treasure Island from Yerba Buena Island, showing ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Contextual view of Treasure Island from Yerba Buena Island, showing Palace of Fine and Decorative Arts (Building 3), far right, Hall of Transportation (Building 2), middle, and The Administration Building (Building 1), far left, Port of Trade Winds is in foreground, camera facing northwest - Golden Gate International Exposition, Treasure Island, San Francisco, San Francisco County, CA

  5. Vegetation Monitoring by Remote Sensing Technology for Uninhabited Islands of the Xisha Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, L.; Guo, Y.; Wu, X.

    2018-04-01

    The Xisha islands are tropical coral islands in the south sea of China, with special ecological environment. As far away from the inland, they are more sensitive to climate change than inland, and are looked as the window to reflect global environment changes. Since Sansha city established, some of islands were developed. The uninhabited islands are decreasing. To discover the changes of uninhabited islands become more impending. In order to find out the natural status of uninhabited islands, monitoring four years vegetation change of 2002, 2010, 2013 and 2016. In addition, monitoring the typical uninhabited island and sandbar vegetation by making the most of existed high resolution remote sensing data, nine years from 2002 to 2013 and six months in 2012. The results show that the sandbars are in stable growth stage, especially after 2010, the vegetation start appeared. Meanwhile, analysis the vegetation variation of the uninhabited islands and sandbars.

  6. Offshore oil platforms and fouling communities in the southern Arabian Gulf (Abu Dhabi).

    PubMed

    Stachowitsch, Michael; Kikinger, Reinhard; Herler, Jürgen; Zolda, Pamela; Geutebrück, Ernst

    2002-09-01

    This study examined the fouling organisms on the legs of offshore oil platforms at two sites in the southern Arabian Gulf (offshore Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates). 100% of the metal structures was colonized by encrusting organisms. Both the number of individuals and the total biomass tended to decrease with depth. The total weight of dead shells always exceeded that of living organisms. Sessile filter feeders dominated the biomass, whereas small mobile forms had the largest number of individuals. The biomass at the deeper platform (22 m) was dominated by bivalves, barnacles and bryozoans, while polychaetes and amphipods had the greatest number of individuals. Biomass values here ranged from 1 g/0.1 m2 at 20 m to 147 g/0.1 m2 at 5 m; the corresponding individual numbers were 266 (20 m) and 11,814 indiv./0.1 m2 (5 m). The results at the shallower platform (11 m) differed in several respects: barnacles clearly dominated over bivalves, and sponges exceeded byrozoans, while total individual numbers fell due to a decline in polychaete dominance. Biomass values here ranged from 84 g/0.1 m2 at 10 m to 153 g/0.1 m2 at 0 m; the corresponding individual numbers were 695 (10 m) and 3,125 indiv./0.1 m2 (0 m). The potential role of such fouling communities on artificial structures in the Gulf is discussed.

  7. The status of island scrub oak (Quercus pacifica on Catalina Island, California

    Treesearch

    Denise A. Knapp

    2002-01-01

    The island scrub oak is characterized by a shrubby (to 2 meters) or arborescent (to 5 meters or taller) growth form. It is the dominant species of the scrub oak chaparral community on Catalina Island, which occupies approximately 25 percent of the 76 square-mile island, primarily on north-facing slopes. The Santa Catalina Island Conservancy, which owns and manages 88...

  8. 46 CFR 7.70 - Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. 7.70 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.70 Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the...′ W. (Port Royal Sound Lighted Whistle Buoy “2PR”); thence to the easternmost extremity of Hilton Head...

  9. Habitat islands and the equilibrium theory of island biogeography: testing some predictions

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Brown, M.; Dinsmore, J.J.

    1988-01-01

    Species-area data from a study of marsh birds are used to test five predictions generated by the equilibrium theory of island biogeography. Three predictions are supported: we found a significant species-area relationship, a non-zero level of turnover, and a variance-mean ratio of 0.5. One prediction is rejected: the extinction rates were not greater on small islands. The results of one test are equivocal: the number of species on each island was not always the same. As Gilbert (1980) suggests, a strong species-area relationship alone does not validate the theory. The avian communities we studied were on habitat islands, not true islands, and underwent complete extinction annually. Thus caution must be used before applying the theory to these and other habitat islands.

  10. Abu-Sahl al-Masihi (died circa 1010 AD): The Persian physician in the early medieval era.

    PubMed

    Taghavi-Shirazi, Maryam; Ghods, Roshanak; Hashem-Dabaghian, Fataneh; Zargaran, Arman

    2018-01-01

    In the early medieval era, in the time which is called the Islamic Golden Age, medicine flourished through the practice of Persian physicians (9th to 12th century AD). Abu-Sahl al-Masihi (died circa 1010 AD) was one of the physicians in that period who had great influence on the progress of medicine by his own writings as well as his influence on great scholars like Biruni and Avicenna as their teacher. He was a polymath and had many writings in various fields of science, in particular medical sciences. Some of his manuscripts in medicine were Al-Mia fil-Tibb (Book of the Hundred), Kitab al-Teb al-Koli (The General Medicine), Ezhar al-Hekmat Allah Ta'ala fi Khalgh al-Ensan (God's Mystery on the Creation of Man), Resalat al-Adwiya (Treatise of Drugs), Osool Elm Nabz (the Principles of Pulse), and Resala f ī Taḥqiq Amral-Waba' (On the determination of the matter of infectious diseases). As a sign of his impact in Persian medicine, many later physicians (until 19th century) referred to and cited his works in their manuscripts several times.

  11. 50 CFR Appendix E to Part 622 - Caribbean Island/Island Group Management Areas

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ..., AND SOUTH ATLANTIC Pt. 622, App. E Appendix E to Part 622—Caribbean Island/Island Group Management... 50 Wildlife and Fisheries 12 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Caribbean Island/Island Group Management... St. Thomas/St. John island group to Point C C 18°13′59.0606″ 65°05′33.058″ D 18°01′16.9636″ 64°57′38...

  12. Microbial communities inhabiting hypersaline microbial mats from the Abu Dhabi sabkha

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Andrade, Luiza; Dutton, Kirsten; Paul, Andreas; van der Land, Cees; Sherry, Angela; Lokier, Stephen; Head, Ian

    2017-04-01

    Microbial mats are organo-sedimentary structures that are typically found in areas with extreme environmental conditions. Since these ecosystems are considered to be representative of the oldest forms of life on Earth, the study of microbial mats can inform our understanding of the development of life early in the history of our planet. In this study, we used hypersaline microbial mats from the Abu Dhabi sabkha (coastal salt flats). Cores of microbial mats (ca. 90 mm depth) were collected within an intertidal region. The cores were sliced into layers 2-3 mm thick and genomic DNA was extracted from each layer. A fragment of the 16S rRNA encoding gene was amplified in all DNA extracts, using barcoded primers, and the amplicons sequenced with the Ion Torrent platform to investigate the composition of the microbial communities down the depth of the cores. Preliminary results revealed a high proportion of Archaea (15.5-40.8% abundance) in all layers, with Halobacteria appearing to be more significant in the first 40 mm (0.4-10.3% of the total microbial community). Members of the Deltaproteobacteria were dominant in almost all layers of the microbial mat (≤ 48.6% relative abundance); however this dominance was not reflected in the first 8 mm, where the abundance was less than 2%. Chloroflexi and Anaerolinea, representing 93% of bacterial abundance, dominated the first 8 mm depth and decreased at greater depth (≤ 3% relative abundance). Cyanobacteria were found only in the top 10 mm, with unexpected low abundance (≤ 3% of the total number of reads). These results show a vertical zonation of microbial communities and processes in the microbial mats. Further analyses are underway to investigate if these patterns are repeated at other sites along a transect of the sabkha, and to relate the microbial composition to the physical-chemical conditions of the sites.

  13. Benefits of a single payment system: case study of Abu Dhabi health system reforms.

    PubMed

    Vetter, Philipp; Boecker, Klaus

    2012-12-01

    In 2005 leaders in the wealthy Emirate of Abu Dhabi inherited an health system from their predecessors that was well-intentioned in its historic design, but that did not live up to aspirations in any dimension. First, the Emirate defined a vision to deliver "world-class" quality care in response to citizen's needs. It has since introduced tiered mandatory health insurance for all inhabitants linked to a single standard payment system, which generates accurate data as an invaluable by-product. A newly created independent health system regulator monitors these data and licenses, audits, and inspects all health service professionals, facilities, and insurers accordingly. We analyse these health system reforms using the "Getting Health Reform Right" framework. Our analysis suggests that an integrated set of reforms addressing all reform levers is critical to achieving the outcomes observed. The reform programme has improved access, by giving all residents health cards. The approximate doubling of demand has been matched by flexible supply, with the private sector adding 5 new hospitals and 93 clinics to the health system infrastructure since 2006. The focus on reliable raw-data flows through the single standard payment system functions as a motor for improvement services, innovation, and investment, for instance by allowing payers to 'pay for quality', which may well be applicable in other contexts. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Maintenance of biodiversity on islands.

    PubMed

    Chisholm, Ryan A; Fung, Tak; Chimalakonda, Deepthi; O'Dwyer, James P

    2016-04-27

    MacArthur and Wilson's theory of island biogeography predicts that island species richness should increase with island area. This prediction generally holds among large islands, but among small islands species richness often varies independently of island area, producing the so-called 'small-island effect' and an overall biphasic species-area relationship (SAR). Here, we develop a unified theory that explains the biphasic island SAR. Our theory's key postulate is that as island area increases, the total number of immigrants increases faster than niche diversity. A parsimonious mechanistic model approximating these processes reproduces a biphasic SAR and provides excellent fits to 100 archipelago datasets. In the light of our theory, the biphasic island SAR can be interpreted as arising from a transition from a niche-structured regime on small islands to a colonization-extinction balance regime on large islands. The first regime is characteristic of classic deterministic niche theories; the second regime is characteristic of stochastic theories including the theory of island biogeography and neutral theory. The data furthermore confirm our theory's key prediction that the transition between the two SAR regimes should occur at smaller areas, where immigration is stronger (i.e. for taxa that are better dispersers and for archipelagos that are less isolated). © 2016 The Author(s).

  15. Volcano-sedimentary characteristics in the Abu Treifiya Basin, Cairo-Suez District, Egypt: Example of dynamics and fluidization over sedimentary and volcaniclastic beds by emplacement of syn-volcanic basaltic rocks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khalaf, E. A.; Abdel Motelib, A.; Hammed, M. S.; El Manawi, A. H.

    2015-12-01

    This paper describes the Neogene lava-sediment mingling from the Abu Treifiya Basin, Cairo-Suez district, Egypt. The lava-sediment interactions as peperites have been identified for the first time at the study area and can be used as paleoenvironmental indicators. The identification of peperite reflects contemporaneous time relationship between volcanism and sedimentation and this finding is of primary importance to address the evolutional reconstruction of the Abu Treifiya Basin. Characterization of the facies architecture and textural framework of peperites was carried out through detailed description and interpretation of their outcrops. The peperites and sedimentary rocks are up to 350 m thick and form a distinct stratigraphic framework of diverse lithology that is widespread over several kilometers at the study area. Lateral and vertical facies of the peperites vary from sediment intercalated with the extrusive/intrusive basaltic rocks forming peperitic breccias to lava-sediment contacts at a large to small scales, respectively. Peperites encompass five main facies types ascribed to: (i) carbonate sediments-hosted fluidal and blocky peperites, (ii) lava flow-hosted blocky peperites, (iii) volcaniclastics-hosted fluidal and blocky peperites, (iv) sandstone/siltstone rocks-hosted blocky peperites, and (iv) debris-flows-hosted blocky peperites. Soft sediment deformation structures, vesiculated sediments, sediments filled-vesicles, and fractures in lava flows indicate that lava flows mingled with unconsolidated wet sediments. All the peperites in this study could be described as blocky or fluidal, but mixtures of different clast shapes occur regardless of the host sediment. The presence of fluidal and blocky juvenile clasts elucidates different eruptive styles, reflecting a ductile and brittle fragmentation. The gradual variation from fluidal to blocky peperite texture, producing the vertical grading is affected by influencing factors, e.g., the viscosity, magma

  16. Implementation of improved underbalanced drilling in AbuDhabi onshore field

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alhammadi, Adel Mohammed

    Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (ADCO) is considering Underbalanced Drilling (UBD) as a means to develop lower permeability units in its fields. In addition to productivity and recovery gains, ADCO also expects reservoir characterization benefits from UBD. Reservoir screening studies were carried out on all of ADCO's reservoirs to determine their applicability for UBD. The primary business benefits of UBD were determined to be reservoir characterization, damage Mitigation, and rate of Penetration "ROP" Improvement. Apart from the primary benefits, some of the secondary benefits of UBD that were identified beforehand included rig performance. Since it's a trial wells, the challenge was to drill these wells safely, efficiently and of course meeting well objectives. Many operators worldwide drill these well in underbalanced mode but complete it overbalanced. In our case the plan was to drill and complete these wells in underbalanced condition. But we had to challenge most operators and come up with special and unique casing hanger design to ensure well control barriers exists while fishing the control line of the Downhole Deployment Valve "DDV". After intensive studies and planning, the hanger was designed as per our recommendations and found to be effective equipment that optimized the operational time and the cost as well. This report will provide better understanding of UBD technique in general and shade on the special designed casing hanger compared to conventional or what's most used worldwide. Even thought there were some issues while running the casing hanger prior drilling but managed to capture the learning's from each well and re-modified the hanger and come up with better deign for the future wells. Finally, the new design perform a good performance of saving the operation time and assisting the project to be done in a safe and an easy way without a major impact on the well cost. This design helped to drill and complete these wells safely with

  17. Modeling Catastrophic Barrier Island Dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Whitley, J. W.; McNamara, D.

    2012-12-01

    Barrier islands, thin strips of sand lying parallel to the mainland coastline, along the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts appear to have maintained their form for thousands of years in the face of rising sea level. The mechanisms that allow barrier islands to remain robust are transport of sediment from the ocean side of barriers to the top and backside during storms, termed island overwash, and the growth and alongshore propagation of tidal deltas near barrier island inlets. Dynamically these processes provide the necessary feedbacks to maintain a barrier island in an attractor that withstands rising sea level within a phase space of barrier island geometrical characteristics. Current barrier island configurations along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts exist among a wide range of storm climate and underlying geologic conditions and therefore the environment that forces overwash and tidal delta dynamics varies considerably. It has been suggested that barrier islands in certain locations such as those between Avon and Buxton (losing 76% of island width since 1852) and Chandeleur islands (losing 85% of its surface area since 2005) along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, respectively, may be subject to a catastrophic shift in barrier island attractor states - more numerous inlets cutting barriers in some locations and the complete disappearance of barrier islands in other locations. In contrast to common models for barrier islands that neglect storm dynamics and often only consider cross-shore response, we use an alongshore extended model for barrier island dynamics including beach erosion, island overwash and inlet cutting during storms, and beach accretion, tidal delta growth and dune and vegetation growth between storms to explore the response of barrier islands to a wide range of environmental forcing. Results will be presented that show how barrier island attractor states are altered with variations in the rate of sea level rise, storminess, and underlying geology. We will

  18. 46 CFR 7.80 - Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. 7.80 Section... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.80 Tybee Island, GA to St. Simons Island, GA. (a) A line drawn from the...′ N. longitude 81°02.3′ W. (St. Catherines Sound Buoy “St. C.”); thence to latitude 31°31.2′ N...

  19. Bardsey Island, Wales

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2016-12-01

    Lying 3 km off the Llyn peninsula of Wales, the Bardsey Island is known as the Island of 20,000 saints. While today's permanent population numbers only four, the island was once an important religious site, with a 6th century monastery. It is the legendary burial site of King Arthur. Another legend holds that anyone who died on the island would not go to hell. The image was acquired April 4, 2006, covers an area of 6 by 10 km, and is located at 52.7 degrees north, 4.8 degrees west. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21182

  20. The Soldier Must be Trained Not to Fight the Jungle: Preparing the U.S. Army for Future Operations in a Jungle Environment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-06-09

    force in 19418 and continued to plague units in the Pacific theater of operations until well into the Solomon Islands campaign in late 1942. Why is...NORTHCOM, and SOUTHCOM AOR’s conducted by the Asymmetric Warfare Group and Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory observed that “the 25th...Special Operations Task Force (JSOTF) with the mission of assisting Philippine security forces in countering the Abu Sayyaf Group , Al Qaida, and

  1. Coastal management strategy for small island: ecotourism potency development in Karimata Island, West Kalimantan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rudiastuti, A. W.; Munawaroh; Setyawan, I. E.; Pramono, G. H.

    2018-04-01

    Sustainable coastal management is playing an important role in coastal resources conservation, particularly on small islands. Karimata archipelago has unique characteristics and great potential to be developed as a tourism object, one of which is Karimata Island as the largest island and also reserve area. The concept of ecotourism focuses on the ecology conservation, economic benefits, and social life. Ecotourism aims to build sustainable tourism that provides economically viable and social benefits to the community. This study aims to develop coastal management strategy based on ecotourism at Karimata Island. Spatial approaching through coastal type was done. Qualitative descriptive analysis and SWOT are used to develop sustainable management strategies for the coast of Karimata Island, where the opportunities and challenges to the development of coastal ecotourism Karimata Island also included. If this potential is optimally utilized, it can be relied as an economic opportunity for local communities. Structurally shaped coast, marine depositional coast and coast build by organism are several of coastal types found at Karimata Island. Coastal ecosystems inhabited Karimata Island are mangroves, coral reefs, and macro-algae. Karimata Island have not been optimally utilized for tourist destinations. The biggest obstacle encountered is the accessibility from Kalimantan or other island at Karimata islands. Several problems related to the utilization of coastal resources were found such as mangrove and coral reef damage, also regulation that less supportive. The results of this study are expected to provide an overview of solutions for the development of coastal tourism potentials in Karimata Island.

  2. Canary Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2012-01-03

    NASA image acquired December 21, 2011 The rugged landscape of the Canary Islands stood out in sharp contrast to the smooth blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean and the flat tan land of northwestern Africa on December 21, 2011, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image. The Canary Islands are a group of seven large islands and several smaller islets, all volcanic in origin. The eastern edge of the chain lies only 100 kilometers from the coasts of Morocco and Western Sahara, and the chain stretches for about 500 kilometers across the Atlantic. All the islands are mountainous, and Tenerife, the central island in this image is home to Pico de Teinde, the highest peak, which rises 12,198 feet (3,718 meters) above sea level. From east to west, the islands are named Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palmera and El Hierro. A bright swirl of peacock blue marks the ocean south of El Hierro, a stain on the sea from an ongoing eruption of a volcano under the waters. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  3. Disturbed island ecology.

    PubMed

    Whittaker, R J

    1995-10-01

    The natural occurrence of significant disturbances to the operation of insular ecosystems has tended to be downplayed in the development of island ecological theory. Despite the importance of events such as Hurricane Hugo, which in 1989 affected islands in the Caribbean, islands that are disturbed tend to be viewed as deviants from the `true path' described by equilibrium models. However, particularly with organisms of long generation times, it is questionable whether such models are applicable. This may be as important for wildlife managers to take account of as for theorists. Disturbance regime should be incorporated into island ecological models alongside other ecological factors structuring colonization patterns and turnover.

  4. Islander: A database of precisely mapped genomic islands in tRNA and tmRNA genes

    DOE PAGES

    Hudson, Corey M.; Lau, Britney Y.; Williams, Kelly P.

    2014-11-05

    Genomic islands are mobile DNAs that are major agents of bacterial and archaeal evolution. Integration into prokaryotic chromosomes usually occurs site-specifically at tRNA or tmRNA gene (together, tDNA) targets, catalyzed by tyrosine integrases. This splits the target gene, yet sequences within the island restore the disrupted gene; the regenerated target and its displaced fragment precisely mark the endpoints of the island. We applied this principle to search for islands in genomic DNA sequences. Our algorithm identifies tDNAs, finds fragments of those tDNAs in the same replicon and removes unlikely candidate islands through a series of filters. A search for islandsmore » in 2168 whole prokaryotic genomes produced 3919 candidates. The website Islander (recently moved to http://bioinformatics.sandia.gov/islander/) presents these precisely mapped candidate islands, the gene content and the island sequence. The algorithm further insists that each island encode an integrase, and attachment site sequence identity is carefully noted; therefore, the database also serves in the study of integrase site-specificity and its evolution.« less

  5. 46 CFR 7.85 - St. Simons Island, GA to Little Talbot Island, FL.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 46 Shipping 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false St. Simons Island, GA to Little Talbot Island, FL. 7.85... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.85 St. Simons Island, GA to Little Talbot Island, FL. (a) A line drawn from latitude 31°04.1′ N. longitude 81°16.7′ W. (St. Simons Lighted Whistle Buoy “ST S”) to latitude 30...

  6. Heron Island, Australia

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    Heron Island is located at the sourthern end of Australia's 2,050 km-long Great Barrier Reef. Surrounded by coral reef and home to over 1000 species of fish, scuba divers and scientists alike are drawn to the island's resort and research station. The true-color image above was taken by Space Imaging's Ikonos satellite with a resolution of 4 meters per pixel-high enough to see individual boats tied up at the small marina. The narrow channel leading from the marina to the ocean was blasted and dredged decades ago, before the island became a national park. Since then the Australian government has implemented conservation measures, such as limiting the number of tourists and removing or recycling, instead of incinerating, all trash. One of the applications of remote sensing data from Ikonos is environmental monitoring, including studies of coral reef health. For more information about the island, read Heron Island. Image by Robert Simmon, based on data copyright Space Imaging

  7. Belcher Islands, Canada

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2008-01-01

    The Belcher Islands are an archipelago in Hudson Bay in Canada, belonging to the territory of Nunavit. The hamlet of Sanikiluaq is on the north coast of Flaherty Island. Over 1500 islands make up the archipelago. The folded sedimentary and volcanic rocks making up the islands are Proterozoic in age between 0.5 and 2.5 billion years old.

    The image mosaic was acquired 18 September 2006, covers an area of 45.7 x 113.3 km, and is located near 56.1 degrees north latitude, 79.4 degrees west longitude.

    The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

  8. Formation and adjustment of typhoon-impacted reef islands interpreted from remote imagery: Nadikdik Atoll, Marshall Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ford, Murray R.; Kench, Paul S.

    2014-06-01

    In 1905, a devastating typhoon hit Nadikdik Atoll (5°54‧ N and 172°09‧ E) in the southern Marshall Islands. Evidence suggests that large sections of reef islands on Nadikdik were overwashed and destroyed. Comparison of aerial photographs taken in 1945 and modern satellite imagery provides a unique record of the geomorphic adjustment of islands after the typhoon. Between 1945 and 2010 the vegetated area of islands on Nadikdik grew from 0.74 to 0.90 km2. Observed changes to Nadikdik reef islands manifested through a range of styles and were largely accretionary. Of note, the formation of a new island was tracked from an embryonic deposit to a fully vegetated and stable island over a 61 year period. Similarly, a number of previously discrete islands have agglomerated and formed a single larger island. These changes were rapid and indicate that reef island formation can occur quickly. Evidence suggests that despite the typhoon occurring over a century ago the geomorphic adjustment of islands is still on-going.

  9. 33 CFR 80.720 - St. Simons Island, GA to Amelia Island, FL.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false St. Simons Island, GA to Amelia... SECURITY INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Seventh District § 80.720 St. Simons Island, GA to Amelia Island, FL. (a) A line drawn from St. Simons Light to the northernmost tank on...

  10. Island of Timor, Indonesia

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1989-11-27

    This almost totally cloud free, photo of the island of Timor, Indonesia (9.0S, 125.0E) illustrates the volcanic origin of the over 1500 islands of Indonesia. Close examination of the photo reveals several eroded volcanoes on the Island of Timor and several of the adjacent islands. The linear alignment of the volcanoes, as seen from space, indicates the edges of the tectonic plates of the Earth's crust where volcanic activity is most common.

  11. Geomorphology of Dra Abu el-Naga (Egypt): The basis of the funerary sacred landscape

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bardají, T.; Martínez-Graña, A.; Sánchez-Moral, S.; Pethen, H.; García-González, D.; Cuezva, S.; Cañaveras, J. C.; Jiménez-Higueras, A.

    2017-07-01

    A geological and geomorphological analysis has been performed in the necropolis of Dra Abu el-Naga in order to understand the role played by these two factors in the development of the sacred landscape. The investigation focuses upon two aspects of the development of the necropolis, the selection criteria for tomb location and the reconstruction of the ancient funerary landscape. Around 50 tombs were surveyed, analysing the characteristics of their host rock and classifying them according to a modified Rock Mass Rating Index, in order to understand how rock quality affected tomb construction. This analysis resulted in the definition of five rock-quality classes (I to V) from very good to very poor rock. The geological study also resulted in a proposed geological-geomorphological model for the evolution of this zone of the Theban necropolis that complements previous works by other authors. Due to the lack of precise dating evidence this chronology is a relative one and is based on the chronology given by other authors for similar deposits and events. Two catastrophic events, represented by mega-landslides, have been identified, the first one predates the deposition of early Pleistocene fluvial deposits, and the second one possibly occurred during the middle-late Pleistocene. Two weathering surfaces developed under wetter than present climatic conditions and have been tentatively correlated to the mid-late Pleistocene humid period and the African-Humid Period (early-mid Holocene).

  12. 11. VIEW NORTH, WOODLYNNE AVENUE ISLAND FROM 130 SOUTH ISLAND ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    11. VIEW NORTH, WOODLYNNE AVENUE ISLAND FROM 130 SOUTH ISLAND - White Horse Pike Rond Point, Intersection of Crescent Boulevard (U.S. Route 130), White Horse Pike (U.S. Route 30), & Clay Avenue, Collingswood, Camden County, NJ

  13. 33 CFR 80.712 - Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Edisto River Entrance to the shore of Botany Bay Island. (d) A line drawn from the microwave antenna..., SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A straight line drawn from the seaward tangent of Folly Island through across Stono River to the shoreline of Sandy Point. (b) A straight line drawn from the seaward...

  14. 33 CFR 80.712 - Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Edisto River Entrance to the shore of Botany Bay Island. (d) A line drawn from the microwave antenna..., SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A straight line drawn from the seaward tangent of Folly Island through across Stono River to the shoreline of Sandy Point. (b) A straight line drawn from the seaward...

  15. 77 FR 51473 - Safety Zone; Bostock 50th Anniversary Fireworks, Long Island Sound; Manursing Island, NY

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-08-24

    ... 1625-AA00 Safety Zone; Bostock 50th Anniversary Fireworks, Long Island Sound; Manursing Island, NY... zone on the navigable waters of Long Island Sound in the vicinity of Manursing Island, NY for a... of Long Island Sound before, during, and immediately after the fireworks event. DATES: This rule is...

  16. Bryophytes from Simeonof Island in the Shumagin Islands, southwestern Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schofield, W.B.; Talbot, S. S.; Talbot, S.L.

    2004-01-01

    Simeonof Island is located south of the Alaska Peninsula in the hyperoceanic sector of the middle boreal subzone. We examined the bryoflora of Simeonof Island to determine species composition in an area where no previous collections had been reported. This field study was conducted in sites selected to represent the spectrum of environmental variation within Simeonof Island. Data were analyzed using published reports to compare bryophyte distribution patterns at three levels, the Northern Hemisphere, North America, and Alaska. A total of 271 bryophytes were identified: 202 mosses and 69 liverworts. The annotated list of species for Simeonof Island expands the known range for many species and fills distribution gaps within Hulte??n's Western Pacific Coast district. Maps and notes on the distribution of 14 significant distribution records are presented. Compared with bryophyte distribution in the Northern Hemisphere, the bryoflora of Simeonof Island primarily includes taxa of boreal (55%), temperate (20%), arctic (10%), and cosmopolitan (8%) distribution; 6% of the moss flora are western North America endemics. A description of the bryophytes present in the vegetation and habitat types is provided as is a quantitative analysis of the most frequently occurring bryophytes in crowberry heath.

  17. Canary Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2013-12-30

    On December 10, 2013 the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite flew across the central Atlantic Ocean and captured a true-color image of the Canary Islands. Lying off of the coast of Western Sahara and Morocco, the islands were created by successive submarine volcanic eruptions which raised the ocean floor vertically until some of land rose above sea level. The oldest islands lie in the east and the youngest in the west. From east to west, the major islands seen in this image are: Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, La Gomera, La Palmera and El Hierro. While the creation of the islands began in the Late Cretaceous Period (70 – 80 million years ago), active volcanic activity continues. In 2011, a spectacular submarine eruption occurred just off the shore of El Hierro. The volcano became quiet again, but very recently increasing earthquakes and changing height of El Hierro suggested the volcano may again be entering an active eruptive phase. On December 27 the island’s volcano monitoring agency had raised the volcanic eruption risk for El Hierro to “yellow” – a code that means increasing activity but no eruption imminent. That afternoon a magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck offshore at El Hierro. The epicenter was 9 miles (15 km) deep, and it was one of the largest quakes ever recorded at the island. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Jeff Schmaltz/MODIS Land Rapid Response Team NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  18. 78 FR 35135 - Special Local Regulation; Kelley's Island Swim, Lake Erie; Kelley's Island, Lakeside, OH

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-06-12

    ...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Kelley's Island Swim, Lake Erie; Kelley's Island, Lakeside, OH AGENCY... vessel movement in portions of Lake Erie during the annual Kelley's Island Swim from. This special local... special local regulations listed in 33 CFR 100.921 Special Local Regulation; Kelley's Island Swim, Lake...

  19. 46 CFR 7.70 - Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ...′ N. longitude 80°12.7′ W. (c) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted... 80°26.5′ W. (d) A line drawn from the abandoned lighthouse on Hunting Island in approximate position... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.70 Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the...

  20. 46 CFR 7.70 - Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-10-01

    ...′ N. longitude 80°12.7′ W. (c) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted... 80°26.5′ W. (d) A line drawn from the abandoned lighthouse on Hunting Island in approximate position... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.70 Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the...

  1. 46 CFR 7.70 - Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-10-01

    ...′ N. longitude 80°12.7′ W. (c) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted... 80°26.5′ W. (d) A line drawn from the abandoned lighthouse on Hunting Island in approximate position... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.70 Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the...

  2. 46 CFR 7.70 - Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-10-01

    ...′ N. longitude 80°12.7′ W. (c) A line drawn from the microwave antenna tower on Edisto Beach charted... 80°26.5′ W. (d) A line drawn from the abandoned lighthouse on Hunting Island in approximate position... BOUNDARY LINES Atlantic Coast § 7.70 Folly Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the...

  3. Hawaiian Island Archipelago

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1988-10-03

    STS026-43-082 (29 Sept. - 3 Oct. 1988) --- This 70mm northerly oriented frame over the Pacific Ocean features the Hawaiian Islands chain. The islands perturb the prevailing northeasterly winds producing extensive cloud wakes in the lee of the islands. Photo experts feel that atmospheric haze in the Hawaii wake is probably a result of the continuing eruptions of Kilauea volcano on the southeast coast. From the lower right corner in a diagonal directed upward to the north are the islands of Nihau, Kauai, Oahu, Molokai, Lanai, Maui, Kahoolawe, and Hawaii. This photo was shown during the post-flight press conference on October 11, 1988 by the STS-26 astronauts, who at one time during the flight wore Hawaiian attire to pay tribute to the working staff of the Hawaii tracking station.

  4. U.S. Virgin Islands Analysis Brief

    EIA Publications

    2016-01-01

    The U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI), part of the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, is a U.S. territory located in the Caribbean Sea, about 600 miles southeast of Miami, Florida.1 The USVI has a total area of 134 square miles, about twice the size of Washington, DC. The islands are hilly and forested, with limited arable areas, and most food is imported.2 The largest island is St. Croix. It lies about 40 miles south of the three other inhabited islands: St. John, St. Thomas, and Water Island. Those islands are located between the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico on the west and the British Virgin Islands on the east.

  5. Typologi of Island City in Indonesia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Maulana, Alvaryan; Benita, Tania

    2017-07-01

    As an archipelagic country, Indonesia consist of thousands of island. Some of them are big enough to contain growth and become the center of settlement and activity in Indonesia. However, growth and habitation are not only mushrooming in main island. Several small island also experience growth and become densely population places and simply become a city within island. This study aims to identify island city in Indonesia and creating the typology of the island city. This study is using exploratory approach and heavily rely on statistical figure of every single autonomous region as data sources. Eventually, this study found twelve (12) island cities in Indonesia, and three distinctive typology of island cities.

  6. Coastal Erosion in a Coral Reef Island, Taiping Island, South China Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, S.; Ma, G.; Liang, M.; Chu, J.

    2011-12-01

    Reef flats surrounding islands are known to dissipate much offshore wave energy, and thereby protect beaches from erosion. Taiping Island, the largest coral reef islands of the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, has been observed the shorelines erosion on the southwest coast over past decades. It is recognized that wave and current processes across coral reefs affect reef-island development and morphology. A number of studies suggest effects of climate changes, sea-level rise and storm-intensity increase, determine the magnitude of wave energy on the reef platform and will likely intensify the erosion. The topographical change in the local region, the southwest reef flat was dredged a channel for navigation, may be a significant factor in influencing current characteristics. Numerical modeling is used to describe both hydrodynamics and sediment dynamics because there are no field measurements available around the reef flat. Field observations off the island conducted in August 2004 and November 2005 provides offshore wave characteristics of the predominant wind seasons. Numerical simulations perform the spatial and temporal variation of waves and current patterns and coastal erosion potential on the reef platform.

  7. 33 CFR 165.152 - Coast Guard Station Fire Island, Long Island, New York-safety zone.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Coast Guard Station Fire Island, Long Island, New York-safety zone. 165.152 Section 165.152 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD... § 165.152 Coast Guard Station Fire Island, Long Island, New York—safety zone. (a) Location. The...

  8. Island biogeography of the Anthropocene.

    PubMed

    Helmus, Matthew R; Mahler, D Luke; Losos, Jonathan B

    2014-09-25

    For centuries, biogeographers have examined the factors that produce patterns of biodiversity across regions. The study of islands has proved particularly fruitful and has led to the theory that geographic area and isolation influence species colonization, extinction and speciation such that larger islands have more species and isolated islands have fewer species (that is, positive species-area and negative species-isolation relationships). However, experimental tests of this theory have been limited, owing to the difficulty in experimental manipulation of islands at the scales at which speciation and long-distance colonization are relevant. Here we have used the human-aided transport of exotic anole lizards among Caribbean islands as such a test at an appropriate scale. In accord with theory, as anole colonizations have increased, islands impoverished in native species have gained the most exotic species, the past influence of speciation on island biogeography has been obscured, and the species-area relationship has strengthened while the species-isolation relationship has weakened. Moreover, anole biogeography increasingly reflects anthropogenic rather than geographic processes. Unlike the island biogeography of the past that was determined by geographic area and isolation, in the Anthropocene--an epoch proposed for the present time interval--island biogeography is dominated by the economic isolation of human populations.

  9. Barrier island habitat map and vegetation survey—Dauphin Island, Alabama, 2015

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Enwright, Nicholas M.; Borchert, Sinéad M.; Day, Richard H.; Feher, Laura C.; Osland, Michael J.; Wang, Lei; Wang, Hongqing

    2017-08-04

    Barrier islands are dynamic environments due to their position at the land-sea interface. Storms, waves, tides, currents, and relative sea-level rise are powerful forces that shape barrier island geomorphology and habitats (for example, beach, dune, marsh, and forest). Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill in 2010 are two major events that have affected habitats and natural resources on Dauphin Island, Alabama. The latter event prompted a collaborative effort between the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the State of Alabama funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to investigate viable, sustainable restoration options that protect and restore the natural resources of Dauphin Island, Alabama.In order to understand the feasibility and sustainability of various restoration scenarios, it is important to understand current conditions on Dauphin Island. To further this understanding, a detailed 19-class habitat map for Dauphin Island was produced from 1-foot aerial infrared photography collected on December 4, 2015, and lidar data collected in January 2015. We also conducted a ground survey of habitat types, vegetation community structure, and elevations in November and December 2015. These products provide baseline data regarding the ecological and general geomorphological attributes of the area, which can be compared with observations from other dates for tracking changes over time.

  10. 33 CFR 80.712 - Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head Island, SC.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Morris Island, SC to Hilton Head..., SC to Hilton Head Island, SC. (a) A line drawn from the easternmost tip of Folley Island to the... easternmost extremity of Hilton Head at latitude 32°13.0′ N. longitude 80°40.1′ W. [CGD 77-118a, 42 FR 35784...

  11. Plant communities of Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Clark, Ronilee A.; Halvorson, William L.; Sawdo, Andell A.; Danielsen, Karen C.

    1990-01-01

    A survey of the plant communities on Santa Rosa Island, Channel Islands National Park, was conducted from January through July 1988.  Vegetation data were collected at 296 sites using a releve technique.  The plant communities described include: grassland, coastal marsh, caliche scrub, coastal sage scrub, lupine scrub, baccharis scrub, coastal bluff scrub, coastal dune scrub, mixed chaparral, mixed woodland, torrey pine woodland, closed-cone pine woodland, island oak woodland, riparian woodland, and riparian herbaceous vegetation. The areal extent of each community was mapper on USGS 7.5' topographic maps, and digitized for GIS manipulation.

  12. Vegetation assessment of forests of Pagan Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pratt, Linda W.

    2011-01-01

    During vegetation surveys in June–July 2010, 215 vascular plant species were observed on Pagan; 21 new island records of alien plants and 12 new island records of native plants were documented. Many of the new and recently sighted alien plants of the northern section of the island appeared to be in the incipient stage of invasion. Most of the new native plant sightings and a number of other rare tree and shrub species of Pagan were limited to forests of the rugged southern half of the island.

  13. Japan: Shikoku Island

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2016-08-24

    ... and island stations in the waters surrounding Japan and Korea. They characterized meteorological conditions, measured the atmospheric ... flew overhead. These MISR images, centered just north of Shikoku Island in southwest Japan, were acquired on April 13, 2001 ...

  14. Is heterostyly rare on oceanic islands?

    PubMed Central

    Watanabe, Kenta; Sugawara, Takashi

    2015-01-01

    Heterostyly has been considered rare or absent on oceanic islands. However, there has been no comprehensive review on this issue. Is heterostyly truly rare on oceanic islands? What makes heterostyly rare on such islands? To answer these questions, we review the reproductive studies on heterostyly on oceanic islands, with special emphasis on the heterostylous genus Psychotria in the Pacific Ocean as a model system. Overall, not many reproductive studies have been performed on heterostylous species on oceanic islands. In Hawaiian Psychotria, all 11 species are thought to have evolved dioecy from distyly. In the West Pacific, three species on the oceanic Bonin and Lanyu Islands are distylous (Psychotria homalosperma, P. boninensis and P. cephalophora), whereas three species on the continental Ryukyu Islands show various breeding systems, such as distyly (P. serpens), dioecy (P. rubra) and monoecy (P. manillensis). On some other Pacific oceanic islands, possibilities of monomorphy have been reported. For many Psychotria species, breeding systems are unknown, although recent studies indicate that heterostylous species may occur on some oceanic islands. A shift from heterostyly to other sexual systems may occur on some oceanic islands. This tendency may also contribute to the rarity of heterostyly, in addition to the difficulty in colonization/autochthonous evolution of heterostylous species on oceanic islands. Further investigation of reproductive systems of Psychotria on oceanic islands using robust phylogenetic frameworks would provide new insights into plant reproduction on oceanic islands. PMID:26199401

  15. 33 CFR 165.152 - Coast Guard Station Fire Island, Long Island, New York-safety zone.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... § 165.152 Coast Guard Station Fire Island, Long Island, New York—safety zone. (a) Location. The following waters of Fire Island Inlet are a safety zone: Beginning at a point on shore at 40°37.523′ N, 073... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 2 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Coast Guard Station Fire Island...

  16. Barrier Island Failure During Hurricane Katrina

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sallenger, A.; Howd, P.; Stockdon, H.; Wright, C. W.; Fauver, L.; Guy, K.

    2006-12-01

    Classical models of barrier-island response to storms predict that wave runup can periodically overtop an island and transport sand from its seaside to its bayside, forcing the island to migrate landward. While this process can destroy fixed human developments, the island survives with little net change in form or dimensions. In contrast, we find that Louisiana's Chandeleur Islands during Hurricane Katrina were not periodically overtopped by waves, but were continuously inundated by storm surge. When such inundation occurs locally on a barrier island, it can force the erosion of a narrow breach that connects sea and bay. However, little is known about the response of a barrier island when it is entirely submerged. Here, we show that the Chandeleur Islands approached complete failure, losing 84% of their surface area. Their Gulf of Mexico shorelines retreated landward an average of 268 m, the largest retreat ever reported for a storm. Sand was stripped from the islands, reducing their peak elevation from >6 m to <3 m and exposing them to further degradation and potential failure by future hurricanes of less intensity than Katrina. Further, the islands that survived Katrina were marsh remnants composed of mud and vegetation that relatively small waves diminished following the storm. The Chandeleur Islands are prone to failure because of their location on the Mississippi delta where small sand supply and large sea-level rise (induced locally by land subsidence) limit natural rebuilding of the islands following a storm. The response of the delta's barrier islands during Hurricane Katrina provides a warning of how the world's barrier islands might respond to storm-surge inundation should predictions of accelerated global sea level rise prove accurate.

  17. Energy Transition Initiative, Island Energy Snapshot - British Virgin Islands (Fact Sheet)

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Not Available

    2015-03-01

    This profile provides a snapshot of the energy landscape of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), one of three sets of the Virgin Island territories in an archipelago making up the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles.

  18. Resurrection Peninsula and Knight Island ophiolites and recent faulting on Montague Island, southern Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Nelson, Steven W.; Miller, Marti L.; Dumoulin, Julie A.

    1987-01-01

    The Resurrection Peninsula forms the east side of Resurrection Bay (Fig. 1). The city of Seward is located at the head of the bay and can be reached from Anchorage by highway (127 mi;204 km). Relief ranges from 1,434 ft (437 m) at the southern end of the peninsula to more than 4,800 ft (1,463 m) 17 mi (28 km) to the north. All rock units composing the informally named Resurrection Peninsula ophiolite are visible and (or) accessible by boat.The eastern half of the peninsula is located within the Chugach National Forest; the western half is mainly state land, but there is some private land with recreational cabins. The Seward A6 and A7 and Blying Sound D6 and D7 maps at 1:63,360 scale (mile-to-the-inch) cover the entire Resurrection Peninsula.Knight Island is located 53 mi (85 km) east of Seward (Fig. 1). Numerous fiords indent the 31-mi-long (50 km) by 7.4-mi-wide (12 km) island and offer excellent bedrock exposures. The island is rugged and has a maximum elevation of 3,000 ft (914 m). It has numerous mineral prospects (Tysdal, 1978; Nelson and others, 1984; Jansons and others, 1984; Koski and others, 1985), and several abandoned canneries are located on the island. Knight Island lies entirely within the Chugach National Forest—state and private inholdings constitute less than five percent of its total land area. The Seward A2, A3, B2, B3, and C2, 1:63,360-scale U.S. Geological Survey topographic maps cover the entire island.Montague Island, 50 mi (80 km) long and up to 11 mi (18 km) wide, lies 10.6 mi (17 km) southeast of Knight Island. It belongs to an island group that forms the southern margin of Prince William Sound (Fig. 1). Montague Island is less rugged and less heavily vegetated than either the Resurrection Peninsula or Knight Island. Rock exposures are excellent along the beaches, and ground disruption due to recent fault movements is clearly visible. The Seward Al and A2 and Blying Sound Dl, D2, and D3 maps cover the areas of interest on Montague Island

  19. 76 FR 19781 - Protection Island and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuges, Jefferson, San Juan, Skagit...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-04-08

    ...., Lopez Island, WA 98261. North Olympic Public Library..... 630 N. Sequim Ave., 360-683-1161 Sequim, WA...] Protection Island and San Juan Islands National Wildlife Refuges, Jefferson, San Juan, Skagit, Island, and Whatcom Counties, WA; Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan, Wilderness Stewardship Plan, and Finding of...

  20. Improving our understanding of hydraulic-electrical relations: A case study of the surficial aquifer in Emirate Abu Dhabi

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ikard, Scott; Kress, Wade

    2016-01-01

    Transmissivity is a bulk hydraulic property that can be correlated with bulk electrical properties of an aquifer. In aquifers that are electrically-resistive relative to adjacent layers in a horizontally stratified sequence, transmissivity has been shown to correlate with bulk transverse resistance. Conversely, in aquifers that are electrically-conductive relative to adjacent layers, transmissivity has been shown to correlate with bulk longitudinal conductance. In both cases, previous investigations have relied on small datasets (on average less than eight observations) that have yielded coefficients of determination (R2) that are typically in the range of 0.6 to 0.7 to substantiate these relations. Compared to previous investigations, this paper explores hydraulic-electrical relations using a much larger dataset. Geophysical data collected from 26 boreholes in Emirate Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, are used to correlate transmissivity modeled from neutron porosity logs to the bulk electrical properties of the surficial aquifer that are computed from deep-induction logs. Transmissivity is found to be highly correlated with longitudinal conductance. An R2 value of 0.853 is obtained when electrical effects caused by variations in pore-fluid salinity are taken into consideration.

  1. Cognitive Constraints and Island Effects

    PubMed Central

    Hofmeister, Philip; Sag, Ivan A.

    2012-01-01

    Competence-based theories of island effects play a central role in generative grammar, yet the graded nature of many syntactic islands has never been properly accounted for. Categorical syntactic accounts of island effects have persisted in spite of a wealth of data suggesting that island effects are not categorical in nature and that non-structural manipulations that leave island structures intact can radically alter judgments of island violations. We argue here, building on work by Deane, Kluender, and others, that processing factors have the potential to account for this otherwise unexplained variation in acceptability judgments. We report the results of self-paced reading experiments and controlled acceptability studies which explore the relationship between processing costs and judgments of acceptability. In each of the three self-paced reading studies, the data indicate that the processing cost of different types of island violations can be significantly reduced to a degree comparable to that of non-island filler-gap constructions by manipulating a single non-structural factor. Moreover, this reduction in processing cost is accompanied by significant improvements in acceptability. This evidence favors the hypothesis that island-violating constructions involve numerous processing pressures that aggregate to drive processing difficulty above a threshold so that a perception of unacceptability ensues. We examine the implications of these findings for the grammar of filler-gap dependencies.* PMID:22661792

  2. Population size of island loggerhead shrikes on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stanley, Thomas R.; Teel, Susan; Hall, Linnea S.; Dye, Linda C.; Laughrin, Lyndal L.

    2012-01-01

    Island loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus anthonyi) are an endemic, genetically distinct subspecies of loggerhead shrike on California's Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and Santa Catalina Islands (USA). This subspecies is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Game and has been petitioned for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. The combination of suspected low numbers and the possibility of federal listing, prompted us to undertake a study to rigorously estimate the number of remaining individuals on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands. During the 2009 and 2010 breeding seasons, we surveyed sample units on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands using a double-observer method with independent observers to estimate joint detection probabilities (p), where we selected units under a stratified random sampling design. We estimated shrike abundance to be 169 in 2009 (p = 0.476) and 240 in 2010 (p = 0.825) for Santa Rosa Island, and 35 in 2009 (p = 0.816) and 42 in 2010 (p = 0.710) for Santa Cruz Island. These numbers, especially for Santa Rosa Island, are higher than previously reported but nevertheless are still low. Rapid vegetation change on both islands due to recent removal of nonnative herbivores may threaten the habitat and status of this subspecies and, therefore, we suggest that intensive demographic and habitat use research be initiated immediately to obtain additional information vital for the management of this subspecies. Published 2012. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

  3. Terrestrial bird population trends on Aguiguan (Goat Island), Mariana Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Amidon, Fred; Camp, Richard J.; Marshall, Ann P.; Pratt, Thane K.; Williams, Laura; Radley, Paul; Cruz, Justine B.

    2014-01-01

    The island of Aguiguan is part of the Mariana archipelago and currently supports populations of four endemic species, including one endemic genus, Cleptornis. Bird population trends since 1982 were recently assessed on the neighbouring islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota indicating declines in some native species. Point-transect surveys were conducted in 2008 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to assess population densities and trends on Aguiguan. Densities for six of the nine native birds—White-throated Ground-dove Gallicolumba xanthonura, Collared Kingfisher Todiramphus chloris, Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons, Golden White-eye Cleptornis marchei, Bridled White-eye Zosterops conspicillatus and Micronesian Starling Aplonis opaca—and the non-native bird—Island Collared-dove Streptopelia bitorquata—were significantly greater in 2008 than in 1982. No differences in densities were detected among the surveys for Mariana Fruit-dove Ptilinopus roseicapilla, and Micronesian MyzomelaMyzomela rubratra. Three federally and locally listed endangered birds—Nightingale Reed-warbler Acrocephalus luscinius, Mariana Swiftlet Collocalia bartschi, and Micronesian Megapode Megapodius laperous)—were either not detected during the point-transect counts, the surveys were not appropriate for the species, or the numbers of birds detected were too small to estimate densities. The factors behind the increasing trends for some species are unknown but may be related to increased forest cover on the island since 1982. With declining trends for some native species on neighbouring islands, the increasing and stable trends on Aguiguan is good news for forest bird populations in the region, as Aguiguan populations can help support conservation efforts on other islands in the archipelago.

  4. Genetic and phylogenetic consequences of island biogeography.

    PubMed

    Johnson, K P; Adler, F R; Cherry, J L

    2000-04-01

    Island biogeography theory predicts that the number of species on an island should increase with island size and decrease with island distance to the mainland. These predictions are generally well supported in comparative and experimental studies. These ecological, equilibrium predictions arise as a result of colonization and extinction processes. Because colonization and extinction are also important processes in evolution, we develop methods to test evolutionary predictions of island biogeography. We derive a population genetic model of island biogeography that incorporates island colonization, migration of individuals from the mainland, and extinction of island populations. The model provides a means of estimating the rates of migration and extinction from population genetic data. This model predicts that within an island population the distribution of genetic divergences with respect to the mainland source population should be bimodal, with much of the divergence dating to the colonization event. Across islands, this model predicts that populations on large islands should be on average more genetically divergent from mainland source populations than those on small islands. Likewise, populations on distant islands should be more divergent than those on close islands. Published observations of a larger proportion of endemic species on large and distant islands support these predictions.

  5. Hydrocarbon potential evaluation of the source rocks from the Abu Gabra Formation in the Sufyan Sag, Muglad Basin, Sudan

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qiao, Jinqi; Liu, Luofu; An, Fuli; Xiao, Fei; Wang, Ying; Wu, Kangjun; Zhao, Yuanyuan

    2016-06-01

    The Sufyan Sag is one of the low-exploration areas in the Muglad Basin (Sudan), and hydrocarbon potential evaluation of source rocks is the basis for its further exploration. The Abu Gabra Formation consisting of three members (AG3, AG2 and AG1 from bottom to top) was thought to be the main source rock formation, but detailed studies on its petroleum geology and geochemical characteristics are still insufficient. Through systematic analysis on distribution, organic matter abundance, organic matter type, organic matter maturity and characteristics of hydrocarbon generation and expulsion of the source rocks from the Abu Gabra Formation, the main source rock members were determined and the petroleum resource extent was estimated in the study area. The results show that dark mudstones are the thickest in the AG2 member while the thinnest in the AG1 member, and the thickness of the AG3 dark mudstone is not small either. The AG3 member have developed good-excellent source rock mainly with Type I kerogen. In the Southern Sub-sag, the AG3 source rock began to generate hydrocarbons in the middle period of Bentiu. In the early period of Darfur, it reached the hydrocarbon generation and expulsion peak. It is in late mature stage currently. The AG2 member developed good-excellent source rock mainly with Types II1 and I kerogen, and has lower organic matter abundance than the AG3 member. In the Southern Sub-sag, the AG2 source rock began to generate hydrocarbons in the late period of Bentiu. In the late period of Darfur, it reached the peak of hydrocarbon generation and its expulsion. It is in middle mature stage currently. The AG1 member developed fair-good source rock mainly with Types II and III kerogen. Throughout the geological evolution history, the AG1 source rock has no effective hydrocarbon generation or expulsion processes. Combined with basin modeling results, we have concluded that the AG3 and AG2 members are the main source rock layers and the Southern Sub-sag is

  6. 33 CFR 334.515 - Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island; Jacksonville, Florida...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Blount Island Command and Marine... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.515 Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility... identified as Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island (MCSF-BI). The three...

  7. 33 CFR 334.515 - Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island; Jacksonville, Florida...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Blount Island Command and Marine... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.515 Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility... identified as Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island (MCSF-BI). The three...

  8. 33 CFR 334.515 - Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island; Jacksonville, Florida...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Blount Island Command and Marine... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.515 Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility... identified as Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island (MCSF-BI). The three...

  9. 33 CFR 334.515 - Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island; Jacksonville, Florida...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Blount Island Command and Marine... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.515 Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility... identified as Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island (MCSF-BI). The three...

  10. 33 CFR 334.515 - Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island; Jacksonville, Florida...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Blount Island Command and Marine... AND RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.515 Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility... identified as Blount Island Command and Marine Corps Support Facility-Blount Island (MCSF-BI). The three...

  11. Carbonate-evaporite cycles in the Miocene to Holocene of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Whittle, G.L.; Alsharhan, A.S.; Takezaki, H.

    1995-08-01

    The coastal sabkhas of the United Arab Emirates provide a Holocene analog for the study of evaporite formation. Carbonate-evaporite sequences are common throughout geologic history and, in the Arabian Gulf region in particular, create the reservoir-seal relationship of some of the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoirs in the world. Detailed core description, thin section study and geochemical analysis of Miocene to Holocene cores from the sabkha of Abu Dhabi have been performed in order to characterize modern sabkha diagenetic patterns. Two primary lithologies, dolomite and anhydrite were identified and subdivided into lithofacies. Based on these lithofacies, deposition is interpreted to havemore » occurred in shallow open marine, lagoonal, tidal channel, tidal/algal flats and supratidal sabkha settings. The primary diagenetic effects are dolomitization, anhydritc formation and leaching. As anhydrite precipitated (in the form of gypsum), the Mg:Ca ratio increased to the point where rapid dolomitization of original limestone occurred. Leaching was pervasive, as subaerial exposure led to the formation of moldic porosity in dolomitized packstones and grainstones. Dolomitic cements in these pores, and leached zones in some of these crystals suggests that leaching continued after dolomitization. By comparing the Holocene sabkha sediments to ancient ones, insight may be gained into the extent of dolomilization both with depth and distance for in the high water mark, the zonation of the stratigraphy from upper supratidal to shallow shelf, the preservation potential of algal mats after burial, the compaction effects after shallow burial, and other diagenetic alterations.« less

  12. 77 FR 34894 - Safety Zone; Bostock 50th Anniversary Fireworks, Long Island Sound; Manursing Island, NY

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-06-12

    ... 1625-AA00 Safety Zone; Bostock 50th Anniversary Fireworks, Long Island Sound; Manursing Island, NY... establish a temporary safety zone on the navigable waters of Long Island Sound in the vicinity of Manursing... from a portion of Long Island Sound before, during, and immediately after the fireworks event. DATES...

  13. Henderson Island, South Pacific

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-06-15

    Uninhabited Henderson Island is part of the United Kingdom's Pitcairn Islands group in the South Pacific. According to a study by the University of Tasmania published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, the island has the highest density of plastic waste anywhere in the world, an estimated 38 million pieces of rubbish. The island is near the center of an ocean current, so it collects rubbish from boats and South America. The image was acquired February 7, 2012, covers an area of 10.3 by 12.3 km, and is located at 24.3 degrees south, 128.3 degrees west. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21691

  14. Marquesas Islands, Pacific Ocean

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1993-01-01

    As with most small island groups around the world, the Marquesas Island group 9.0S, 140.0W) is usually concealed by heavy cloud cover throughout the day making them very difficult to photograph in their entirety. Located in the south central Pacific Ocean, just north of the Tuamotu Archipelago, the islands partially seen in this view are: Nuku Hiva, Ua Huka and Ua Pu.

  15. Escherichia coli isolates causing asymptomatic bacteriuria in catheterized and noncatheterized individuals possess similar virulence properties.

    PubMed

    Watts, Rebecca E; Hancock, Viktoria; Ong, Cheryl-Lynn Y; Vejborg, Rebecca Munk; Mabbett, Amanda N; Totsika, Makrina; Looke, David F; Nimmo, Graeme R; Klemm, Per; Schembri, Mark A

    2010-07-01

    Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are among the most common infectious diseases of humans, with Escherichia coli being responsible for >80% of all cases. Asymptomatic bacteriuria (ABU) occurs when bacteria colonize the urinary tract without causing clinical symptoms and can affect both catheterized patients (catheter-associated ABU [CA-ABU]) and noncatheterized patients. Here, we compared the virulence properties of a collection of ABU and CA-ABU nosocomial E. coli isolates in terms of antibiotic resistance, phylogenetic grouping, specific UTI-associated virulence genes, hemagglutination characteristics, and biofilm formation. CA-ABU isolates were similar to ABU isolates with regard to the majority of these characteristics; exceptions were that CA-ABU isolates had a higher prevalence of the polysaccharide capsule marker genes kpsMT II and kpsMT K1, while more ABU strains were capable of mannose-resistant hemagglutination. To examine biofilm growth in detail, we performed a global gene expression analysis with two CA-ABU strains that formed a strong biofilm and that possessed a limited adhesin repertoire. The gene expression profile of the CA-ABU strains during biofilm growth showed considerable overlap with that previously described for the prototype ABU E. coli strain, 83972. This is the first global gene expression analysis of E. coli CA-ABU strains. Overall, our data suggest that nosocomial ABU and CA-ABU E. coli isolates possess similar virulence profiles.

  16. Multivariate Linear Regression and CART Regression Analysis of TBM Performance at Abu Hamour Phase-I Tunnel

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jakubowski, J.; Stypulkowski, J. B.; Bernardeau, F. G.

    2017-12-01

    The first phase of the Abu Hamour drainage and storm tunnel was completed in early 2017. The 9.5 km long, 3.7 m diameter tunnel was excavated with two Earth Pressure Balance (EPB) Tunnel Boring Machines from Herrenknecht. TBM operation processes were monitored and recorded by Data Acquisition and Evaluation System. The authors coupled collected TBM drive data with available information on rock mass properties, cleansed, completed with secondary variables and aggregated by weeks and shifts. Correlations and descriptive statistics charts were examined. Multivariate Linear Regression and CART regression tree models linking TBM penetration rate (PR), penetration per revolution (PPR) and field penetration index (FPI) with TBM operational and geotechnical characteristics were performed for the conditions of the weak/soft rock of Doha. Both regression methods are interpretable and the data were screened with different computational approaches allowing enriched insight. The primary goal of the analysis was to investigate empirical relations between multiple explanatory and responding variables, to search for best subsets of explanatory variables and to evaluate the strength of linear and non-linear relations. For each of the penetration indices, a predictive model coupling both regression methods was built and validated. The resultant models appeared to be stronger than constituent ones and indicated an opportunity for more accurate and robust TBM performance predictions.

  17. Run Island, Indonesia

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-11-28

    In 1667, the Dutch exchanged Run Island (left-most in the image) with the British for Manhattan (renamed from New Amsterdam to New York). Run Island is one of the smallest, and western-most, of the Banda Islands, part of the Malukus, Indonesia. At the time it was the only source of the incredibly valuable spices nutmeg and mace. The image was acquired January 5, 2016, covers an area of 15.7 by 34.8 kilometers, and is located at 4.5 degrees south, 129.7 degrees east. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22133

  18. Barrier island facies models and recognition criteria

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mulhern, J.; Johnson, C. L.

    2017-12-01

    Barrier island outcrops record transgressive shoreline motion at geologic timescales, providing integral clues to understanding how coastlines respond to rising sea levels. However, barrier island deposits are difficult to recognize. While significant progress has been made in understanding the modern coastal morphodynamics, this insight is not fully leveraged in existing barrier island facies models. Excellent outcrop exposures of the paralic Upper Cretaceous Straight Cliffs Formation of southern Utah provide an opportunity to revise facies models and recognition criteria for barrier island deposits. Preserved barrier islands are composed of three main architectural elements (shorefaces, tidal inlets, and tidal channels) which occur independently or in combination to create larger-scale barrier island deposits. Barrier island shorefaces record progradation, while barrier island tidal inlets record lateral migration, and barrier island tidal channels record aggradation within the tidal inlet. Four facies associations are used to describe and characterize these barrier island architectural elements. Barrier islands occur in association with backarrier fill and internally contain lower and upper shoreface, high-energy upper shoreface, and tidal channel facies. Barrier islands bound lagoons or estuaries, and are distinguished from other shoreface deposits by their internal facies and geometry, association with backbarrier facies, and position within transgressive successions. Tidal processes, in particular tidal inlet migration and reworking of the upper shoreface, also distinguish barrier island deposits. Existing barrier island models highlight the short term heterogeneous and dynamic nature of barrier island systems, yet overlook processes tied to geologic time scales, such as multi-directional motion, erosion, and reworking, and their expressions in preserved barrier island strata. This study uses characteristic outcrop expressions of barrier island successions to

  19. Excess density compensation of island herpetofaunal assemblages

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Rodda, G.H.; Dean-Bradley, K.

    2002-01-01

    Aim Some species reach extraordinary densities on islands. Island assemblages have fewer species, however, and it is possible that island species differ from their mainland counterparts in average mass. Island assemblages could be partitioned differently (fewer species or smaller individuals) from mainland sites without differing in aggregate biomass (density compensation). Our objective was to determine the generality of excess density compensation in island herpetofaunal assemblages.Location Our bounded removal plot data were obtained from Pacific Island sites (Guam, Saipan and Rota), the West Indies (British Virgin Islands), and the Indian Ocean (Ile aux Aigrettes off Mauritius). The literature values were taken from several locales. Other island locations included Barro Colorado Island, Bonaire, Borneo, Philippine Islands, Seychelle Islands, Barrow Island (Australia), North Brother Island (New Zealand), Dominica and Puerto Rico. Mainland sites included Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Australia, Thailand, Peru, Brazil, Panama and the USA.Method We added our thirty-nine bounded total removal plots from sixteen island habitats to fifteen literature records to obtain seventy-five venues with estimable density and biomass of arboreal or terrestrial herpetofaunal assemblages. These biomass estimates were evaluated geographically and in relation to sampling method, insularity, latitude, disturbance regime, seasonality, community richness, vegetative structure and climate. Direct data on trophic interactions (food availability, parasitism and predation pressure) were generally unavailable. Sampling problems were frequent for arboreal, cryptic and evasive species.Results and main conclusions We found strong evidence that herpetofaunal assemblages on small islands (mostly lizards) exhibit a much greater aggregate density of biomass (kg ha−1) than those of larger islands or mainland assemblages (small islands show excess density compensation). High aggregate biomass

  20. Island biology: looking towards the future

    PubMed Central

    Kueffer, Christoph; Drake, Donald R.; Fernández-Palacios, José María

    2014-01-01

    Oceanic islands are renowned for the profound scientific insights that their fascinating biotas have provided to biologists during the past two centuries. Research presented at Island Biology 2014—an international conference, held in Honolulu, Hawaii (7–11 July 2014), which attracted 253 presenters and 430 participants from at least 35 countries1—demonstrated that islands are reclaiming a leading role in ecology and evolution, especially for synthetic studies at the intersections of macroecology, evolution, community ecology and applied ecology. New dynamics in island biology are stimulated by four major developments. We are experiencing the emergence of a truly global and comprehensive island research community incorporating previously neglected islands and taxa. Macroecology and big-data analyses yield a wealth of global-scale synthetic studies and detailed multi-island comparisons, while other modern research approaches such as genomics, phylogenetic and functional ecology, and palaeoecology, are also dispersing to islands. And, increasingly tight collaborations between basic research and conservation management make islands places where new conservation solutions for the twenty-first century are being tested. Islands are home to a disproportionate share of the world's rare (and extinct) species, and there is an urgent need to develop increasingly collaborative and innovative research to address their conservation requirements. PMID:25339655

  1. Experimental Evaluation of PV Inverter Anti-Islanding with Grid Support Functions in Multi-Inverter Island Scenarios

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hoke, Anderson; Nelson, Austin; Miller, Brian

    As PV and other DER systems are connected to the grid at increased penetration levels, island detection may become more challenging for two reasons: 1.) In islands containing many DERs, active inverter-based anti-islanding methods may have more difficulty detecting islands because each individual inverter's efforts to detect the island may be interfered with by the other inverters in the island. 2.) The increasing numbers of DERs are leading to new requirements that DERs ride through grid disturbances and even actively try to regulate grid voltage and frequency back towards nominal operating conditions. These new grid support requirements may directly ormore » indirectly interfere with anti-islanding controls. This report describes a series of tests designed to examine the impacts of both grid support functions and multi-inverter islands on anti-islanding effectiveness. Crucially, the multi-inverter anti-islanding tests described in this report examine scenarios with multiple inverters connected to multiple different points on the grid. While this so-called 'solar subdivision' scenario has been examined to some extent through simulation, this is the first known work to test it using hardware inverters. This was accomplished through the use of power hardware-in-the-loop (PHIL) simulation, which allows the hardware inverters to be connected to a real-time transient simulation of an electric power system that can be easily reconfigured to test various distribution circuit scenarios. The anti-islanding test design was a modified version of the unintentional islanding test in IEEE Standard 1547.1, which creates a balanced, resonant island with the intent of creating a highly challenging condition for island detection. Three common, commercially available single-phase PV inverters from three different manufacturers were tested. The first part of this work examined each inverter individually using a series of pure hardware resistive-inductive-capacitive (RLC) resonant

  2. Jamestown IslandHog IslandCaptain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail District, ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    Jamestown Island-Hog Island-Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail District, James River plus the land 0.5 miles inland, roughly from Swann's Point to Pagan River, Jamestown, James City County, VA

  3. Island biogeography of marine organisms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pinheiro, Hudson T.; Bernardi, Giacomo; Simon, Thiony; Joyeux, Jean-Christophe; Macieira, Raphael M.; Gasparini, João Luiz; Rocha, Claudia; Rocha, Luiz A.

    2017-09-01

    Studies on the distribution and evolution of organisms on oceanic islands have advanced towards a dynamic perspective, where terrestrial endemicity results from island geographical aspects and geological history intertwined with sea-level fluctuations. Diversification on these islands may follow neutral models, decreasing over time as niches are filled, or disequilibrium states and progression rules, where richness and endemism rise with the age of the archipelago owing to the splitting of ancestral lineages (cladogenesis). However, marine organisms have received comparatively little scientific attention. Therefore, island and seamount evolutionary processes in the aquatic environment remain unclear. Here we analyse the evolutionary history of reef fishes that are endemic to a volcanic ridge of seamounts and islands to understand their relations to island evolution and sea-level fluctuations. We also test how this evolutionary history fits island biogeography theory. We found that most endemic species have evolved recently (Pleistocene epoch), during a period of recurrent sea-level changes and intermittent connectivity caused by repeated aerial exposure of seamounts, a finding that is consistent with an ephemeral ecological speciation process. Similar to findings for terrestrial biodiversity, our data suggest that the marine speciation rate on islands is negatively correlated with immigration rate. However, because marine species disperse better than terrestrial species, most niches are filled by immigration: speciation increases with the random accumulation of species with low dispersal ability, with few opportunities for in situ cladogenesis and adaptive radiation. Moreover, we confirm that sea-level fluctuations and seamount location play a critical role in marine evolution, mainly by intermittently providing stepping stones for island colonization.

  4. 75 FR 26316 - In the Matter of the Designation of Qasim al-Rimi, Also Known as Qasim Yahya Mahda `abd al-Rimi...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-05-11

    ... Abu Harayrah, Also Known as Abu Hurayrah al-San'ai, Also Known as Abu `Ammar, as a Specially... Harayrah, also known as Abu Hurayrah al-San'ai, also known as Abu `Ammar committed, or poses a significant...

  5. Water resources of the Palau Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van der Brug, Otto

    1984-01-01

    The Palau Islands are a group of 350 islands, ranging in size from a few hundred square feet to the 153-square-mile island of Babelthuap. Babelthuap is the second largest island in the Western Pacific and comprises more than 80 percent of the total land area of the Palau Islands. Most of the islands are uninhabited limestone ridges covered with dense vegetation. These islands have no freshwater resources and are not included in this report. The island of Koror with an area of 3.6 square miles is the administrative, commercial, and population center of Palau and has an annual average rainfall of 148 inches. Short-term rainfall records at other locations in the islands indicate little variation in annual rainfall throughout the Palau Islands. Runoff-to-rainfall ratios for streams on Babelthuap show that about 70 percent of the rain falling on the island runs off to the ocean. The uniformity of rainfall and basin characteristics is shown by the excellent correlation between mean annual rainfall on Koror and streamflow on Babelthuap and by the close correlations between discharge at gaging stations and partial-record sites. Surface water quality is generally very good as shown by 55 chemical analyses of water from 18 sources. The dissolved solids concentration of water samples did not exceed 66 milligrams per liter. This report summarizes in one volume hydrologic data collection in a 14-year period of study and provides interpretations of the data than can be used by planners and public works officials as a basis for making decisions on the development and management of the islands ' water resources.

  6. Introduction to the Special Issue: Advances in island plant biology since Sherwin Carlquist's Island Biology

    PubMed Central

    Traveset, Anna; Fernández-Palacios, José María; Kueffer, Christoph; Bellingham, Peter J.; Morden, Clifford; Drake, Donald R.

    2016-01-01

    Sherwin Carlquist's seminal publications—in particular his classic Island Biology, published in 1974—formulated hypotheses specific to island biology that remain valuable today. This special issue brings together some of the most interesting contributions presented at the First Island Biology Symposium hosted in Honolulu on 7–11 July 2014. We compiled a total of 18 contributions that present data from multiple archipelagos across the world and from different disciplines within the plant sciences. In this introductory paper, we first provide a short overview of Carlquist's life and work and then summarize the main findings of the collated papers. A first group of papers deals with issues to which Carlquist notably contributed: long-distance dispersal, adaptive radiation and plant reproductive biology. The findings of such studies demonstrate the extent to which the field has advanced thanks to (i) the increasing availability and richness of island data, covering many taxonomic groups and islands; (ii) new information from the geosciences, phylogenetics and palaeoecology, which allows us a more realistic understanding of the geological and biological development of islands and their biotas; and (iii) the new theoretical and methodological advances that allow us to assess patterns of abundance, diversity and distribution of island biota over large spatial scales. Most other papers in the issue cover a range of topics related to plant conservation on islands, such as causes and consequences of mutualistic disruptions (due to pollinator or disperser losses, introduction of alien predators, etc.). Island biologists are increasingly considering reintroducing ecologically important species to suitable habitats within their historic range and to neighbouring islands with depauperate communities of vertebrate seed dispersers, and an instructive example is given here. Finally, contributions on ecological networks demonstrate the usefulness of this methodological tool to

  7. Lanzarote, Canary Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-01-06

    Lanzarote is the easternmost of the Canary Islands, 125 km off the coast of Africa, and is the fourth largest of the archipelago, with an area of 846 square kilometers. Like all of the Canary Islands, its volcanic origin dates to about 15 million years ago. The largest historic eruption occurred in the 1730s. The island was first recorded by Pliny the Elder, though it may have been originally settled by the Phoenicians (Wikipedia). The image was acquired 12 March 2015, covers an area of 50.5 by 55.1 km, and is located near 29 degrees north, 13.6 degrees west. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA21284

  8. 27 CFR 9.68 - Merritt Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... Merritt Island viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California, six miles south of the City of... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Merritt Island. 9.68... Merritt Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Merritt Island...

  9. 27 CFR 9.68 - Merritt Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... Merritt Island viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California, six miles south of the City of... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Merritt Island. 9.68... Merritt Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Merritt Island...

  10. 27 CFR 9.68 - Merritt Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... Merritt Island viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California, six miles south of the City of... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Merritt Island. 9.68... Merritt Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Merritt Island...

  11. 27 CFR 9.68 - Merritt Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... Merritt Island viticultural area is located in Yolo County, California, six miles south of the City of... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Merritt Island. 9.68... Merritt Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Merritt Island...

  12. Late Quaternary climate change shapes island biodiversity.

    PubMed

    Weigelt, Patrick; Steinbauer, Manuel Jonas; Cabral, Juliano Sarmento; Kreft, Holger

    2016-04-07

    Island biogeographical models consider islands either as geologically static with biodiversity resulting from ecologically neutral immigration-extinction dynamics, or as geologically dynamic with biodiversity resulting from immigration-speciation-extinction dynamics influenced by changes in island characteristics over millions of years. Present climate and spatial arrangement of islands, however, are rather exceptional compared to most of the Late Quaternary, which is characterized by recurrent cooler and drier glacial periods. These climatic oscillations over short geological timescales strongly affected sea levels and caused massive changes in island area, isolation and connectivity, orders of magnitude faster than the geological processes of island formation, subsidence and erosion considered in island theory. Consequences of these oscillations for present biodiversity remain unassessed. Here we analyse the effects of present and Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) island area, isolation, elevation and climate on key components of angiosperm diversity on islands worldwide. We find that post-LGM changes in island characteristics, especially in area, have left a strong imprint on present diversity of endemic species. Specifically, the number and proportion of endemic species today is significantly higher on islands that were larger during the LGM. Native species richness, in turn, is mostly determined by present island characteristics. We conclude that an appreciation of Late Quaternary environmental change is essential to understand patterns of island endemism and its underlying evolutionary dynamics.

  13. 33 CFR 334.1070 - San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. 334.1070 Section 334.1070 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.1070 San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. (a) The area. All the water of the cove bounded by the south shore of Treasure...

  14. 33 CFR 334.1070 - San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. 334.1070 Section 334.1070 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.1070 San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. (a) The area. All the water of the cove bounded by the south shore of Treasure...

  15. 33 CFR 334.1070 - San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. 334.1070 Section 334.1070 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.1070 San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. (a) The area. All the water of the cove bounded by the south shore of Treasure...

  16. 33 CFR 334.1070 - San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. 334.1070 Section 334.1070 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.1070 San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. (a) The area. All the water of the cove bounded by the south shore of Treasure...

  17. 33 CFR 334.1070 - San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. 334.1070 Section 334.1070 Navigation and... RESTRICTED AREA REGULATIONS § 334.1070 San Francisco Bay between Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island; naval restricted area. (a) The area. All the water of the cove bounded by the south shore of Treasure...

  18. 27 CFR 9.170 - Long Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ...) Boundaries. The Long Island viticultural area includes approximately 1,170 square miles or 749,146 acres and... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Long Island. 9.170 Section... Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Long Island.” (b...

  19. 27 CFR 9.170 - Long Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ...) Boundaries. The Long Island viticultural area includes approximately 1,170 square miles or 749,146 acres and... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Long Island. 9.170 Section... Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Long Island.” (b...

  20. 27 CFR 9.170 - Long Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ...) Boundaries. The Long Island viticultural area includes approximately 1,170 square miles or 749,146 acres and... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Long Island. 9.170 Section... Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Long Island.” (b...

  1. 27 CFR 9.170 - Long Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ...) Boundaries. The Long Island viticultural area includes approximately 1,170 square miles or 749,146 acres and... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Long Island. 9.170 Section... Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Long Island.” (b...

  2. 27 CFR 9.170 - Long Island.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ...) Boundaries. The Long Island viticultural area includes approximately 1,170 square miles or 749,146 acres and... 27 Alcohol, Tobacco Products and Firearms 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Long Island. 9.170 Section... Island. (a) Name. The name of the viticultural area described in this section is “Long Island.” (b...

  3. Characterizing barrier-island response to storm and human impact: a century of observations from Breton Island, Louisiana

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Flocks, J. G.; Terrano, J.; Dalyander, S.

    2016-12-01

    Breton Island, a barrier-island located adjacent to the Mississippi River Delta in the Northern Gulf of Mexico, is recognized as a globally important bird habitat, hosting one of largest pelican nesting colonies in Louisiana. Over the past century extensive loss of island acreage has been documented, but the history of change has not been linked to physical drivers. In this study, high-resolution topo-bathymetric lidar and acoustic bathymetry are combined to create digital elevation models (DEMs) that are compared to historical datasets extending to the late 1800s. This analysis reveals shoreline and seafloor change patterns, most notably that island area has decreased by 85% since the early 1900s. This loss is attributed to a decrease in littoral sediment delivery across a shipping channel dredged adjacent to the island in the 1950s and an increase in storm frequency and intensity since the 1990s. In contrast to this long-term decline, island area has doubled in size since 2005, corresponding to a reduction in both storm and dredging activity. The study links island change to erosional processes and demonstrates the influence of short-term change events, both natural and man-made, on long-term barrier-island evolution. Because Breton Island itself has not been altered appreciably by restoration activities, these observations can be applied to natural barrier island systems elsewhere where sufficient monitoring data is not available.

  4. 75 FR 34379 - Safety Zone; Mackinac Island 4th of July Fireworks, Lake Huron, Mackinac Island, MI

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2010-06-17

    ...-AA00 Safety Zone; Mackinac Island 4th of July Fireworks, Lake Huron, Mackinac Island, MI AGENCY: Coast... of Lake Huron during the Mackinac Island 4th of July Fireworks display on July 4, 2010. This... and vessels during the setup, and launching of fireworks in conjunction with the Mackinac Island 4th...

  5. Biological invasions on oceanic islands: Implications for island ecosystems and avifauna

    Treesearch

    Dean E. Pearson

    2009-01-01

    Biological invasions present a global threat to biodiversity, but oceanic islands are the systems hardest hit by invasions. Islands are generally depauperate in species richness, trophic complexity, and functional diversity relative to comparable mainland ecosystems. This situation results in low biotic resistance to invasion and many empty niches for invaders to...

  6. Oak restoration trials: Santa Catalina Island

    Treesearch

    Lisa Stratton

    2002-01-01

    Two restoration trials involving four oak species have been implemented as part of a larger restoration program for Catalina Island. In 1997 the Catalina Island Conservancy began an active program of restoration after 50 years of ranching and farming activities on the island. The restoration program includes removing feral goats and pigs island-wide and converting 80...

  7. Montague Island vole: a conservation assessment.

    Treesearch

    Ellen Weintraub Lance

    2002-01-01

    Montague Island tundra voles were first described in the early 1900s. Based on their large size and dark coloration relative to other island and mainland populations, tundra voles from Montague Island were classified as a distinct subspecies. Research conducted in the 1990s revealed significant differences in the size and shape of Montague Island voles, but not...

  8. Enhanced sensitivity of CpG island search and primer design based on predicted CpG island position.

    PubMed

    Park, Hyun-Chul; Ahn, Eu-Ree; Jung, Ju Yeon; Park, Ji-Hye; Lee, Jee Won; Lim, Si-Keun; Kim, Won

    2018-05-01

    DNA methylation has important biological roles, such as gene expression regulation, as well as practical applications in forensics, such as in body fluid identification and age estimation. DNA methylation often occurs in the CpG site, and methylation within the CpG islands affects various cellular functions and is related to tissue-specific identification. Several programs have been developed to identify CpG islands; however, the size, location, and number of predicted CpG islands are not identical due to different search algorithms. In addition, they only provide structural information for predicted CpG islands without experimental information, such as primer design. We developed an analysis pipeline package, CpGPNP, to integrate CpG island prediction and primer design. CpGPNP predicts CpG islands more accurately and sensitively than other programs, and designs primers easily based on the predicted CpG island locations. The primer design function included standard, bisulfite, and methylation-specific PCR to identify the methylation of particular CpG sites. In this study, we performed CpG island prediction on all chromosomes and compared CpG island search performance of CpGPNP with other CpG island prediction programs. In addition, we compared the position of primers designed for a specific region within the predicted CpG island using other bisulfite PCR primer programs. The primers designed by CpGPNP were used to experimentally verify the amplification of the target region of markers for body fluid identification and age estimation. CpGPNP is freely available at http://forensicdna.kr/cpgpnp/. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Biodiversity on island chains: Neutral model simulations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Warren, Patrick B.

    2010-11-01

    A neutral ecology model is simulated on an island chain, in which neighboring islands can exchange individuals but only the first island is able to receive immigrants from a metacommunity. It is found by several measures that α -diversity decreases along the chain. Subtle changes in taxon abundance distributions can be detected when islands in the chain are compared to diversity-matched single islands. The island chain is found to have unexpectedly rich dynamics. Significant β -diversity correlations are found between islands in the chain, which are absent between diversity-matched single islands. The results potentially apply to human microbial biodiversity and biogeography and suggest that measurements of interindividual and intraindividual β -diversity may give insights into microbial community assembly mechanisms.

  10. Thermal island destabilization and the Greenwald limit

    DOE PAGES

    White, R. B.; Gates, D. A.; Brennan, D. P.

    2015-02-24

    Magnetic reconnection is ubiquitous in the magnetosphere, the solar corona, and in toroidal fusion research discharges. A magnetic island saturates at a width which produces a minimum in the magnetic energy of the configuration is evident in a fusion device. At saturation, the modified current density profile, a function of the flux in the island, is essentially flat, the growth rate proportional to the difference in the current at the O-point and the X-point. Furthermore, modification of the current density profile in the island interior causes a change in the island stability and additional growth or contraction of the saturatedmore » island. Because field lines in an island are isolated from the outside plasma, an island can heat or cool preferentially depending on the balance of Ohmic heating and radiation loss in the interior, changing the resistivity and hence the current in the island. A simple model of island destabilization due to radiation cooling of the island is constructed, and the effect of modification of the current within an island is calculated. In addition destabilization effect is described, and it is shown that a small imbalance of heating can lead to exponential growth of the island. A destabilized magnetic island near the plasma edge can lead to plasma loss, and because the radiation is proportional to plasma density and charge, this effect can cause an impurity dependent density limit.« less

  11. Thermal island destabilization and the Greenwald limit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    White, R. B.; Gates, D. A.; Brennan, D. P.

    Magnetic reconnection is ubiquitous in the magnetosphere, the solar corona, and in toroidal fusion research discharges. A magnetic island saturates at a width which produces a minimum in the magnetic energy of the configuration is evident in a fusion device. At saturation, the modified current density profile, a function of the flux in the island, is essentially flat, the growth rate proportional to the difference in the current at the O-point and the X-point. Furthermore, modification of the current density profile in the island interior causes a change in the island stability and additional growth or contraction of the saturatedmore » island. Because field lines in an island are isolated from the outside plasma, an island can heat or cool preferentially depending on the balance of Ohmic heating and radiation loss in the interior, changing the resistivity and hence the current in the island. A simple model of island destabilization due to radiation cooling of the island is constructed, and the effect of modification of the current within an island is calculated. In addition destabilization effect is described, and it is shown that a small imbalance of heating can lead to exponential growth of the island. A destabilized magnetic island near the plasma edge can lead to plasma loss, and because the radiation is proportional to plasma density and charge, this effect can cause an impurity dependent density limit.« less

  12. Thermal island destabilization and the Greenwald limit

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    White, R. B.; Gates, D. A.; Brennan, D. P.

    Magnetic reconnection is ubiquitous in the magnetosphere, the solar corona, and in toroidal fusion research discharges. In a fusion device, a magnetic island saturates at a width which produces a minimum in the magnetic energy of the configuration. At saturation, the modified current density profile, a function of the flux in the island, is essentially flat, the growth rate proportional to the difference in the current at the O-point and the X-point. Further modification of the current density profile in the island interior causes a change in the island stability and additional growth or contraction of the saturated island. Becausemore » field lines in an island are isolated from the outside plasma, an island can heat or cool preferentially depending on the balance of Ohmic heating and radiation loss in the interior, changing the resistivity and hence the current in the island. A simple model of island destabilization due to radiation cooling of the island is constructed, and the effect of modification of the current within an island is calculated. An additional destabilization effect is described, and it is shown that a small imbalance of heating can lead to exponential growth of the island. A destabilized magnetic island near the plasma edge can lead to plasma loss, and because the radiation is proportional to plasma density and charge, this effect can cause an impurity dependent density limit.« less

  13. Island history affects faunal composition: the treeshrews (Mammalia: Scandentia: Tupaiidae) from the Mentawai and Batu Islands, Indonesia

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sargis, Eric J.; Woodman, Neal; Morningstar, Natalie C.; Reese, Aspen T.; Olson, Link E.

    2014-01-01

    The Mentawai and Batu Island groups off the west coast of Sumatra have a complicated geological and biogeographical history. The Batu Islands have shared a connection with the Sumatran ‘mainland’ during periods of lowered sea level, whereas the Mentawai Islands, despite being a similar distance from Sumatra, have remained isolated from Sumatra, and probably from the Batu Islands as well. These contrasting historical relationships to Sumatra have influenced the compositions of the respective mammalian faunas of these island groups. Treeshrews (Scandentia, Tupaiidae) from these islands have, at various times in their history, been recognized as geographically circumscribed populations of a broadly distributed Tupaia glis, subspecies, or distinct species. We used multivariate analyses of measurements from the skull and hands to compare the island populations from Siberut (Mentawai Islands) and Tanahbala (Batu Islands) with the geographically adjacent species from the southern Mentawai Islands (T. chrysogaster) and Sumatra (T. ferruginea). Results from both the skull and manus of the Siberut population show that it is most similar to T. chrysogaster, whereas the Tanahbala population is more similar to T. ferruginea, confirming predictions based on island history. These results are further corroborated by mammae counts. Based on these lines of evidence, we include the Siberut population in T. chrysogaster and the Tanahbala population in T. ferruginea. Our conclusions expand the known distributions of both the Mentawai and Sumatran species. The larger geographical range of the endangered T. chrysogaster has conservation implications for this Mentawai endemic, so populations and habitat should be re-evaluated on each of the islands it inhabits. However, until such a re-evaluation is conducted, we recommend that the IUCN Red List status of this species be changed from ‘Endangered’ to ‘Data Deficient’.

  14. Strategic Environmental Assessment practices in European small islands: Insights from Azores and Orkney islands

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Polido, Alexandra, E-mail: a.polido@campus.fct.unl.pt; João, Elsa, E-mail: elsa.joao@strath.ac.uk; Ramos, Tomás B., E-mail: tabr@fct.unl.pt

    The literature concerning Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) often refers to the importance of context-specific approaches. However, there is a lack of systematised and consistent studies that enhance tailor-made SEA practices and procedures. Small islands are bounded units of study which may help explore SEA theory and practice in special territories. Small islands present particular features and unique values, such as, small size and population, geographic isolation, limited resources and vulnerable ecosystems. Hence, the main goal of this research was to profile SEA practices and procedures in European small islands and provide a background for future research aiming to improve context-specificmore » SEA applications. To achieve this goal, an exploratory case study was developed using Azores (Portugal) and Orkney (Scotland) archipelagos. An analysis of the corresponding mainland was also carried out to contextualise both case studies. The data collection was achieved through a qualitative content analysis of 43 Environmental Reports. The research found that there is not an SEA context-specific approach used within these European small islands, including guidelines, assessment topics, assessment techniques, follow-up and stakeholders engagement. The debate concerning specific approaches to small islands must be re-focused on the enhancement of SEA capacity-building amongst different stakeholders (including decision-makers), on the development and implementation of collaborative approaches, and on the exchange of knowledge and experiences between small islands networks. - Highlights: • Reviewed the differences between the Portuguese and Scottish SEA system • Showed a low integration of SEA specific features in reports of European small islands • Provides background for future SEA research for small islands approaches.« less

  15. Coastal groundwater exchange on a small Pacific atoll island: Roi Namur, Republic of the Marshall Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oberle, Ferdinand K. J.; Swarzenski, Peter W.; Storlazzi, Curt

    2017-04-01

    Atoll islands, most of which only average 1-2 meters above today's sea level, provide a tremendous natural laboratory in which to study and better understand the intensifying impacts of high rates of sea-level rise on tropical reef-lined islands globally due to their unique geologic structure and limited water supply. Groundwater resources of atolls are typically minimal due to the low elevation and small surface area of the islands and are also subject to recurring droughts, and more frequent, storm-driven seawater overwash events. Although groundwater is the principal means of freshwater storage on atoll islands and is a major factor in determining the overall sustainability of island communities, hydrological data on how an aquifer will response to changes in sea-level rise or storm-driven overwash remain limited. We here present high-resolution time series hydrogeological and geochemical data to determine the role of the atoll's carbonate geology, land use, and atmospheric and oceanographic forcing in driving coastal groundwater exchange on the island of Roi Namur on Kwajalein Atoll in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. This information can provide new estimates on the recovery and resilience of coastal groundwater resources on such islands to expected climate change-driven perturbations.

  16. Interactions between sea-level rise and wave exposure on reef island dynamics in the Solomon Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Albert, Simon; Leon, Javier X.; Grinham, Alistair R.; Church, John A.; Gibbes, Badin R.; Woodroffe, Colin D.

    2016-05-01

    Low-lying reef islands in the Solomon Islands provide a valuable window into the future impacts of global sea-level rise. Sea-level rise has been predicted to cause widespread erosion and inundation of low-lying atolls in the central Pacific. However, the limited research on reef islands in the western Pacific indicates the majority of shoreline changes and inundation to date result from extreme events, seawalls and inappropriate development rather than sea-level rise alone. Here, we present the first analysis of coastal dynamics from a sea-level rise hotspot in the Solomon Islands. Using time series aerial and satellite imagery from 1947 to 2014 of 33 islands, along with historical insight from local knowledge, we have identified five vegetated reef islands that have vanished over this time period and a further six islands experiencing severe shoreline recession. Shoreline recession at two sites has destroyed villages that have existed since at least 1935, leading to community relocations. Rates of shoreline recession are substantially higher in areas exposed to high wave energy, indicating a synergistic interaction between sea-level rise and waves. Understanding these local factors that increase the susceptibility of islands to coastal erosion is critical to guide adaptation responses for these remote Pacific communities.

  17. Palm Islands, Dubai, UAE

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2009-03-02

    The Palm Islands are artificial islands in Dubai, United Arab emirates on which major commercial and residential structures are being built. NASA Terra spacecraft acquired this image on November 17 and December 10, 2008.

  18. The coastline remote sensing survey for Zhao Shu Island in Xisha Islands based on WorldView-2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Li, Li; Zhong, Chang; Kong, Fanping

    2014-11-01

    Due to diastrophism, tide action and human activities, the coastline is always in flux. There are lots of coral islands in the south sea of China. Remote sensing survey for the coastline not only can reassert the necessity and importance of coral protection, but also can provide basic data and scientific basis for island ecologic protection, reasonable utilization of land resources. The study area named Zhao Shu Island lies in Jintong Islands of Xisha. It is a coral island which has people inhabited. Using WorldView-2 satellite remote sensing images as data sources we carry out three phases of coastline investigation and monitoring. The satellite data phases are 2002, 2010 and 2013. Firstly, affirm the bands valuable for color composition on the basis of spectral and correlation analysis. Then extract the coastline by a series of image process, such as image correction, fusion, waterline extraction and coastline revision. Finally determine the coastline types and length by artificial interpretation. The results show that the island length is gradually smaller, which means the island area is reducing. The beach bedrock coast in northern island was eroded seriously especially during the period between 2010 and 2013. In addition, the shoal head shape in the western island changed a lot.

  19. Instep island flaps.

    PubMed

    Reading, G

    1984-12-01

    The instep island flap is safe and useful. It is based on branches of the posterior tibial artery and can be a musculocutaneous or a direct fasciocutaneous island flap. Sensory branches of the digital nerves may be transposed with the flap. There is a wide arc of transposition and the flap has survived even in very difficult circumstances.

  20. Water resources of the Yap Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van der Brug, Otto

    1984-01-01

    The Yap Islands consist of four major islands, Yap, Gagil-Tamil, Maap, and Rumung. Of these, Yap Island has more than half the total land area, most of the population, and almost all of the economic development. The islands of Maap and Rumung together compose only 15 percent of the land area and population. Average annual rainfall over the Yap Islands amounts to 122 inches. Rainfall-runoff comparisons indicate that about half of the annual rainfall runs off to the ocean on Yap Island and Gagil-Tamil. Streams on Gagil-Tamil are perennial but streams on Yap Island are dry an average of 3 months per year due to geologic differences. Analyses of water samples from 23 sources show the good quality and the chemical similarity of surface and ground water. This report summarizes the hydrologic data collected and provides interpretations that can be used by the planning and public works officials of Yap to make decisions concerning development and management of their water resources.

  1. Shams 1 - Design and operational experiences of the 100MW - 540°C CSP plant in Abu Dhabi

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Alobaidli, Abdulaziz; Sanz, Borja; Behnke, Klaus; Witt, Thomas; Viereck, Detlef; Schwarz, Mark André

    2017-06-01

    SHAMS 1 ("Shams" means "Sun" in Arabic) Concentrated Solar Power plant is a very successful example of a modern plant, which combines the known configuration of a parabolic trough technology with the well-established power generation technologies operated at 540°C live steam temperature while respecting the specific requirement of the daily starts and shutdowns. In addition to the high live steam temperature challenge and being located in the middle of the desert approx. 120 km south west of the city of Abu Dhabi, the plant has to face, the plant has to fact several atmospheric challenges like the high dust concentration, wind storms, and high ambient temperature. This paper, written jointly by Shams Power Company - the project and operating company and MAN Diesel & Turbo - the steam turbine original manufacturer, describes the challenges in optimizing the design of the steam turbine to fulfill the requirement of fast start up while operating the plant on daily transient pattern for minimum 30 years. It also addresses the several atmospheric challenges and how the project and operating company has overcame them. Finally, the paper gives a snap shot on the operational experience and record of the plant showing that despite the very challenging environment, the budgeted target has been exceeded in the first two years of operation.

  2. Autumn monitoring of resident avifauna on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands

    Treesearch

    C.W. Boal; J.M. Wunderle Jr.; W.J. Arendt

    2013-01-01

    Although the Caribbean region is considered a biodiversity hotspot and a priority for ecological conservation efforts, little information exists on population trends of West Indian landbirds. We combined avian survey data collected from three studies spanning a 16-year period on a small island with a minimal human presence in the British Virgin Islands. Although...

  3. The Pacific Island Health Care Project

    PubMed Central

    Person, Donald Ames

    2014-01-01

    Introduction/Background: US Associated/Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) include three freely associated states: Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and three Territories: American Samoa, Guam, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Objective: The Pacific Island Health Care Project (PIHCP) provides humanitarian medical referral/consultation/care to >500,000 indigenous people of these remote islands. Methods: In the mid-1990s, we developed a simple store-and-forward program to link the USAPI with Tripler Army Medical Center. This application allowed image attachment to email consultations. Results: More than 8000 Pacific Islanders have benefited from the program. Three thousand Pacific Islanders prior to telemedicine (1990–1997) and since store-and-forward telemedicine (1997-present), the PIHCP has helped an additional 5000. Records post dynamically and are stored in an archival database. Conclusion: The PIHCP is the longest running telemedicine program in the world delivering humanitarian medical care. It has bridged the Developing World of the remote Pacific Islands with advanced medical and surgical care available at a major US military teaching hospital. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author and not that of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.) PMID:25353012

  4. The pacific island health care project.

    PubMed

    Person, Donald Ames

    2014-01-01

    US Associated/Affiliated Pacific Islands (USAPI) include three freely associated states: Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, and three Territories: American Samoa, Guam, and Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. The Pacific Island Health Care Project (PIHCP) provides humanitarian medical referral/consultation/care to >500,000 indigenous people of these remote islands. In the mid-1990s, we developed a simple store-and-forward program to link the USAPI with Tripler Army Medical Center. This application allowed image attachment to email consultations. More than 8000 Pacific Islanders have benefited from the program. Three thousand Pacific Islanders prior to telemedicine (1990-1997) and since store-and-forward telemedicine (1997-present), the PIHCP has helped an additional 5000. Records post dynamically and are stored in an archival database. The PIHCP is the longest running telemedicine program in the world delivering humanitarian medical care. It has bridged the Developing World of the remote Pacific Islands with advanced medical and surgical care available at a major US military teaching hospital. (The opinions expressed here are those of the author and not that of the Army, Department of Defense, or the US Government.).

  5. Tao-Rusyr Caldera, Onekotan Island, Kuril Islands

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-08

    More than 9,000 years ago, a catastrophic volcanic eruption created a huge caldera on the southern end of Onekotan Island, one of the Kuril Islands, located off the southern tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Today, the ancient Tao-Rusyr Caldera is filled by the deep blue waters of Kal’tsevoe Lake. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this true-color image of southern Onekotan on June 10, 2009. In this late-spring shot, snow or ice lingers on the land, forming white streaks on a brown-and-green land surface. In the northwest quadrant of the caldera is Krenitzyn Peak, which rises to a height of 1,325 meters (4,347 feet). Like the other Kuril Islands, Onekotan lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire.” The Kuril Island volcanoes are fueled by magma generated by the subduction of the Pacific Plate under the Eurasian Plate, which takes place along a deep trench about 200 kilometers (120 miles) to the islands’ east. The only historical eruption at Krenitzyn Peak occurred in 1952, a week after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake along the subduction fault. NASA Earth Observatory image created by Robert Simmon, using EO-1 ALI data provided courtesy of the NASA EO-1 team. Caption by Michon Scott and Rebecca Lindsey. NASA image use policy. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission. Follow us on Twitter Like us on Facebook Find us on Instagram

  6. Antioxidant activity and mineral composition of three Mediterranean common seaweeds from Abu-Qir Bay, Egypt

    PubMed Central

    Khairy, Hanan M.; El-Sheikh, Mohamed A.

    2015-01-01

    Antioxidant activity and mineral composition were evaluated seasonally from spring to autumn 2010 in the three common seaweeds Ulva lactuca Linnaeus (Chlorophyta), Jania rubens (Linnaeus) J.V. Lamouroux and Pterocladia capillacea (S.G. Gmelin) Bornet (Rhodophyta). The antioxidant activity was measured with β-carotene, total phenol content and DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). Seaweeds were collected from the rocky site near Boughaz El-Maadya Abu-Qir Bay of Alexandria, Egypt. The results showed maximum increase of β-carotene in P. capillacea during summer. A significant increase in total phenolic content at P ⩽ 0.05 was found in the red alga (J. rubens) during summer. Also, U. lactuca showed the maximum antioxidant scavenging activity especially during summer. Minerals in all investigated samples were higher than those in conventional edible vegetables. Na/K ratio ranged between 0.78 and 2.4 mg/100 g, which is a favorable value. All trace metals exceeded the recommended doses by Reference Nutrient Intake (RNI). During summer season, it was found that Cu = 2.02 ± 0.13 and Cr = 0.46 ± 0.14 mg/100 g in U. lactuca and Fe had a suitable concentration (18.37 ± 0.5 mg/100 g) in P. capillacea. The studied species were rich in carotenoids, phenolic compounds, DPPH free radicals and minerals, therefore, they can be used as potential source of health food in human diets and may be of use to food industry. PMID:26288568

  7. Chronostratigraphy and hydrocarbon habitat associated with the Jurassic carbonates of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Alsharahan, A.S.; Whittle, G.L.

    1995-08-01

    Deposition of Jurassic epeiric shelf carbonates and evaporates were controlled by epeirogenic movement and sea level fluctuations which formed an excellent combination of source rocks, reservoirs and seats in Abu Dhabi. At the end of the Triassic, a relative drop in sea level, caused by eustatic sea level lowering in conjunction with minor tectonic uplift, resulted in non-deposition or erosion. In the Toarcian, deposition of carbonates and terrigenous, clastics produced the Marrat Formation. In the mid-Aalenian, a drop in sea level eroded much of the Marrat and some of the Triassic in offshore U.A.E. The deposition of the Hamlah Formationmore » followed, under neritic, well-oxygenated conditions. The Middle Jurassic was characterized by widespread, normal marine shelf carbonates which formed the cyclic Izhara and Araej formations (reservoirs). In the Upper Jurassic, the carbonate shelf became differentiated into a broad shelf with a kerogen-rich intrashelf basin, formed in response to a eustatic rise coupled with epeirogenic downwarping and marine flooding. The intrashelf basin fill of muddy carbonate sediments constitutes the Diyab Formation and its onshore equivalent, the Dukhan Formation (source rocks). In the late Upper Jurassic, the climate became more arid and cyclic deposition of carbonates and evaporates prevailed, forming alternating peritidal anhydrite, dolomite and limestone in the Arab Formation (reservoir). Arid conditions continued into the Tithonian, fostering the extensive anhydrite of the Hith Formation (seal) in a sabkha/lagoonal setting on the shallow peritidal platform, the final regressive supratidal stage of this major depositional cycle.« less

  8. The first paleomagnetic data on dolerites from Jeannette Island (New Siberian Islands, Arctic)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhdanova, A. I.; Metelkin, D. V.; Vernikovsky, V. A.; Matushkin, N. Yu.

    2016-06-01

    The first paleomagnetic data on dolerite dikes from the volcanogenic-sedimentary section of Jeannette Island (De Long Archipelago, New Siberian Islands) are discussed. The petromagnetic data and results of the baked contact and fold tests are used to substantiate the nature of the characteristic magnetization component, which in combination with the 40Ar/39Ar dates implies its likely Late Precambrian-Early Paleozoic age. The calculated paleomagnetic pole makes it possible to extend the trajectory of the apparent polar movement for the New Siberian Islands block and confirms the assumption that this structural element of the Arctic shelf evolved as a terrane. Two variants of paleotectonic interpretation of the obtained data and their consistency with the available data on the geology and tectonics of the New Siberian Islands are considered.

  9. Magic C60 islands forming due to moiré interference between islands and substrate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Olyanich, D. A.; Mararov, V. V.; Utas, T. V.; Utas, O. A.; Gruznev, D. V.; Zotov, A. V.; Saranin, A. A.

    2015-05-01

    Recently proposed mechanism for self-organized formation of magic islands [Nat.Comm. 4(2013)1679] has received a new experimental confirmation. According to this mechanism, self-assembly is mediated by the moiré interference between an island and underlying substrate lattice. It was first detected at C60 island growth on In-adsorbed Si(111)√{ 3} ×√{ 3}-Au surface. Changing In adsorbate for Tl results in lowering the corrugations of the surface potential relief due to a greater surface metallization. This allows formation of the C60 arrays with novel moiré pattern. As a result, a new set of magic C60 islands is formed on Tl-adsorbed Au/Si(111) surface differing from that observed on In-adsorbed surface. For example, the 19-C60 magic island which has a non-compact boomerang shape on In-adsorbed Au/Si(111) surfaces adopts a shape of a regular hexagon on Tl-adsorbed surface.

  10. Population Size and Decadal Trends of Three Penguin Species Nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands.

    PubMed

    Dunn, Michael J; Jackson, Jennifer A; Adlard, Stacey; Lynnes, Amanda S; Briggs, Dirk R; Fox, Derren; Waluda, Claire M

    2016-01-01

    We report long-term changes in population size of three species of sympatrically breeding pygoscelid penguins: Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii) over a 38 year period at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, based on annual counts from selected colonies and decadal all-island systematic counts of occupied nests. Comparing total numbers of breeding pairs over the whole island from 1978/79 to 2015/16 revealed varying fortunes: gentoo penguin pairs increased by 255%, (3.5% per annum), chinstrap penguins declined by 68% (-3.6% per annum) and Adélie penguins declined by 42% (-1.5% per annum). The chinstrap population has declined steadily over the last four decades. In contrast, Adélie and gentoo penguins have experienced phases of population increase and decline. Annual surveys of selected chinstrap and Adélie colonies produced similar trends from those revealed by island-wide surveys, allowing total island population trends to be inferred relatively well. However, while the annual colony counts of chinstrap and Adélie penguins showed a trend consistent in direction with the results from all-island surveys, the magnitude of estimated population change was markedly different between colony wide and all island counts. Annual population patterns suggest that pair numbers in the study areas partly reflect immigration and emigration of nesting birds between different parts of the island. Breeding success for all three species remained broadly stable over time in the annually monitored colonies. Breeding success rates in gentoo and chinstrap penguins were strongly correlated, despite the differing trends in population size. This study shows the importance of effective, standardised monitoring to accurately determine long-term population trajectories. Our results indicate significant declines in the Adélie and chinstrap penguin populations at Signy Island over the last five decades, and a gradual

  11. Tsunami damage along the Andaman Islands coasts

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2005-01-01

    Among the first places to be affected by the massive tidal wave that ripped across the Indian Ocean on December 26, 2004, were the Andaman Islands. Located approximately 850 kilometers north of the epicenter of the earthquake that triggered the tsunami, the islands were not only among the first land masses to be swept under the wave, they have also been rattled by a series of aftershocks. Administrated by the Indian government, about 300,000 people live on the remote island chain, including several indigenous tribes. As of January 3, over 6,000 were confirmed dead or missing in the Andaman Islands. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image shows the Andaman Islands on January 3, 2005. Compared to previous images of the islands, the beaches along the west side of the islands have been stripped bare, leaving a strip of bright tan land along the coast. The change is most notable on North Sentinel Island, home of the Sentinelese aboriginals, and on Interview Island, where the formerly green coastline has been replaced with an abnormally bright ring of bare sand. The large image reveals additional damage along all the islands of the Andaman chain.

  12. TDAP: Island versus propeller.

    PubMed

    Angrigiani, Claudio; Rancati, Alberto; Artero, Guillermo; Escudero, Ezequiel; Khouri, Roger K

    2016-04-01

    Thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP) island flap is a safe and reliable method for breast reconstruction. TDAP propeller flap has been described as a modification of the conventional island technique that saves time and does not require microsurgical skills. However, a substantial portion of the propeller flap remains under the axilla and is not used for breast augmentation. The aim of this study is to identify the differences in the reaching distances between the propeller and island TDAP flaps. In five cadaveric specimens and 10 breast reconstruction patients, an initial propeller flap was harvested and rotated to the anterior thorax; the distance from the tip of the flap to the anterior midline was recorded as the "midline-reaching deficit;" the flap was then converted into a conventional island flap, and the new midline-reaching deficit was recorded. Differences between groups were compared with paired two-tailed t-tests (α = 0.05). In the cadaveric specimens, the mean midline-reaching deficit was 4.8 ± 2.4 cm with the propeller TDAP and -0.6 ± 2.0 cm with the conventional island TDAP (P < 0.001). In the clinical cases, the mean midline-reaching deficit was 8.1 ± 1.0 cm with the propeller TDAP and -0.3 ± 1.1 cm with the island TDAP (P < 0.000000001). We observed that the midline-reaching deficit could be reduced by 7-9 cm with the conventional island TDAP in comparison to the propeller TDAP. This should be considered when reconstructing the medial inner part of the breast. Copyright © 2015 British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Concepts for Functional Restoration of Barrier Islands

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2009-09-01

    percent. Restoration of the islands also delayed the peak of the surge by 2 hr as calculated landward of the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana. Calculations... Chandeleur Islands. Wamsley et al. (2009) conducted similar simulations with coupled wave and circulation models for the Chandeleur Islands for two...simulations indicated that degradation of the Chandeleur Islands increased the peak storm surge slightly (less than 1.6 ft) at the hurricane

  14. Eleuthera Island, Bahamas

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1981-01-01

    Eleuthera Island, (24.5N, 76.0W) Bahamas Island Group, is one of several within the archipelago surrounded by shallow seas, visible here as light blue. Mosaic patterns of sand waves built by sea bottom currents in the shallows stand out in stark contrast to the deep blue of the ocean depths of a thousand feet in the Exuma Sound.

  15. Estimating the population size of island loggerhead shrikes on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands, USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stanley, Thomas R.; Teel, Susan; Hall, Linnea S.; Dye, Linda C.; Laughrin, Lyndal L.

    2012-01-01

    Island loggerhead shrikes (Lanius ludovicianus anthonyi) are an endemic, genetically distinct subspecies of loggerhead shrike on California’s Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands. This subspecies is listed as a Species of Special Concern by the California Department of Fish and Game and has been petitioned for federal listing under the Endangered Species Act. Because of suspected low numbers and the possibility of federal listing, there was an urgent need to rigorously estimate the number of remaining individuals on the Islands. In 2009 and 2010, biologists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Park Service surveyed sample units on Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Islands using a double-observer method with independent observers, where units were selected under a stratified random sampling design. Shrike abundance was estimated to be 169 in 2009 and 240 in 2010 for Santa Rosa Island, and 35 in 2009 and 42 in 2010 for Santa Cruz Island. These numbers, especially for Santa Rosa Island, are higher than previously reported but nevertheless are still low. Rapid vegetation change on both islands due to recent removal of non-native herbivores may threaten the habitat and status of this subspecies. In view of this circumstance and the still-low numbers of shrikes, additional intensive demographic and habitat-use studies are critical for obtaining information vital for the perpetuation of this subspecies.

  16. Converting the organic fraction of solid waste from the city of Abu Dhabi to valuable products via dark fermentation--Economic and energy assessment.

    PubMed

    Bonk, Fabian; Bastidas-Oyanedel, Juan-Rodrigo; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

    2015-06-01

    Landfilling the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW) leads to greenhouse gas emissions and loss of valuable resources. Sustainable and cost efficient solutions need to be developed to solve this problem. This study evaluates the feasibility of using dark fermentation (DF) to convert the OFMSW to volatile fatty acids (VFAs), fertilizer and H2. The VFAs in the DF effluent can be used directly as substrate for subsequent bioprocesses or purified from the effluent for industrial use. DF of the OFMSW in Abu Dhabi will be economically sustainable once VFA purification can be accomplished on large scale for less than 15USD/m(3)(effluent). With a VFA minimum selling price of 330 USD/tCOD, DF provides a competitive carbon source to sugar. Furthermore, DF is likely to use less energy than conventional processes that produce VFAs, fertilizer and H2. This makes DF of OFMSW a promising waste treatment technology and biorefinery platform. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Seafloor character and sedimentary processes in eastern Long Island Sound and western Block Island Sound

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Poppe, Lawrence J.; Cohen-DiGiacomo, M. L.; Smith, S.M.; Stewart, H.F.; Forfinski, N.A.

    2006-01-01

    Multibeam bathymetric data and seismic-reflection profiles collected in eastern Long Island Sound and western Block Island Sound reveal previously unrecognized glacial features and modern bedforms. Glacial features include an ice-sculptured bedrock surface, a newly identified recessional moraine, exposed glaciolacustrine sediments, and remnants of stagnant-ice-contact deposits. Modern bedforms include fields of transverse sand waves, barchanoid waves, giant scour depressions, and pockmarks. Bedform asymmetry and scour around obstructions indicate that net sediment transport is westward across the northern part of the study area near Fishers Island, and eastward across the southern part near Great Gull Island.

  18. Status of the Island Night Lizard and Two Non-Native Lizards on Outlying Landing Field San Nicolas Island, California

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fellers, Gary M.; Drost, Charles A.; Murphey, Thomas G.

    2008-01-01

    More than 900 individually marked island night lizards (Xantusia riversiana) were captured on San Nicolas Island, California, between 1984 and 2007 as part of an ongoing study to monitor the status of this threatened species. Our data suggest that at least a few lizards are probably more than 20 years old, and one lizard would be 31.5 years old if it grew at an average rate for the population. Ages of 20 and 30 years seem reasonable given the remarkably slow growth during capture intervals of more than a decade for five of the lizards which we estimated to be 20 or more years old. Like other lizards, island night lizard growth rates vary by size, with larger lizards growing more slowly. In general, growth rates were somewhat greater on San Nicolas Island (compared with Santa Barbara Island), and this increase was sustained through all of the intermediate size classes. The higher growth rate may account for the somewhat larger lizards present on San Nicolas Island, although we cannot discount the possibility that night lizards on San Nicolas are merely living longer. The high percentage of small lizards in the Eucalyptus habitat might seem to reflect a healthy population in that habitat, but the high proportion of small lizards appears to be caused by good reproduction in the 1900s and substantially poorer reproduction in subsequent years. The Eucalyptus habitat has dried quite a bit in recent years. Night lizards in the Haplopappus/Grassland habitat have shown an increase in the proportion of larger lizards since 2000. There has also been an increase in the proportion of large lizards in the Rock Cobble habitat at Redeye Beach. However, there are has been some change in habitat with more elephant seals occupying the same area just above the high tide as do the night lizards. Southern alligator lizards and side-blotched lizards are both non-native on San Nicolas Island. Neither lizard causes obvious harm to island night lizards, and management time and effort should

  19. Predicting aberrant CpG island methylation

    PubMed Central

    Feltus, F. A.; Lee, E. K.; Costello, J. F.; Plass, C.; Vertino, P. M.

    2003-01-01

    Epigenetic silencing associated with aberrant methylation of promoter region CpG islands is one mechanism leading to loss of tumor suppressor function in human cancer. Profiling of CpG island methylation indicates that some genes are more frequently methylated than others, and that each tumor type is associated with a unique set of methylated genes. However, little is known about why certain genes succumb to this aberrant event. To address this question, we used Restriction Landmark Genome Scanning to analyze the susceptibility of 1,749 unselected CpG islands to de novo methylation driven by overexpression of DNA cytosine-5-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). We found that although the overall incidence of CpG island methylation was increased in cells overexpressing DNMT1, not all loci were equally affected. The majority of CpG islands (69.9%) were resistant to de novo methylation, regardless of DNMT1 overexpression. In contrast, we identified a subset of methylation-prone CpG islands (3.8%) that were consistently hypermethylated in multiple DNMT1 overexpressing clones. Methylation-prone and methylation-resistant CpG islands were not significantly different with respect to size, C+G content, CpG frequency, chromosomal location, or promoter association. We used DNA pattern recognition and supervised learning techniques to derive a classification function based on the frequency of seven novel sequence patterns that was capable of discriminating methylation-prone from methylation-resistant CpG islands with 82% accuracy. The data indicate that CpG islands differ in their intrinsic susceptibility to de novo methylation, and suggest that the propensity for a CpG island to become aberrantly methylated can be predicted based on its sequence context. PMID:14519846

  20. Predicting aberrant CpG island methylation.

    PubMed

    Feltus, F A; Lee, E K; Costello, J F; Plass, C; Vertino, P M

    2003-10-14

    Epigenetic silencing associated with aberrant methylation of promoter region CpG islands is one mechanism leading to loss of tumor suppressor function in human cancer. Profiling of CpG island methylation indicates that some genes are more frequently methylated than others, and that each tumor type is associated with a unique set of methylated genes. However, little is known about why certain genes succumb to this aberrant event. To address this question, we used Restriction Landmark Genome Scanning to analyze the susceptibility of 1,749 unselected CpG islands to de novo methylation driven by overexpression of DNA cytosine-5-methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1). We found that although the overall incidence of CpG island methylation was increased in cells overexpressing DNMT1, not all loci were equally affected. The majority of CpG islands (69.9%) were resistant to de novo methylation, regardless of DNMT1 overexpression. In contrast, we identified a subset of methylation-prone CpG islands (3.8%) that were consistently hypermethylated in multiple DNMT1 overexpressing clones. Methylation-prone and methylation-resistant CpG islands were not significantly different with respect to size, C+G content, CpG frequency, chromosomal location, or promoter association. We used DNA pattern recognition and supervised learning techniques to derive a classification function based on the frequency of seven novel sequence patterns that was capable of discriminating methylation-prone from methylation-resistant CpG islands with 82% accuracy. The data indicate that CpG islands differ in their intrinsic susceptibility to de novo methylation, and suggest that the propensity for a CpG island to become aberrantly methylated can be predicted based on its sequence context.

  1. Saturated Widths of Magnetic Islands in Tokamak Discharges

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Halpern, F.; Pankin, A. Y.

    2005-10-01

    The new ISLAND module described in reference [1] implements a quasi-linear model to compute the widths of multiple magnetic islands driven by saturated tearing modes in toroidal plasmas of arbitrary aspect ratio and cross sectional shape. The distortion of the island shape caused by the radial variation in the perturbation is computed in the new module. In transport simulations, the enhanced transport caused by the magnetic islands has the effect of flattening the pressure and current density profiles. This self consistent treatment of the magnetic islands alters the development of the plasma profiles. In addition, it is found that islands closer to the magnetic axis influence the evolution of islands further out in the plasma. In order to investigate such phenomena, the ISLAND module is used within the BALDUR predictive modeling code to compute the widths of multiple magnetic islands in tokamak discharges. The interaction between the islands and sawtooth crashes is examined in simulations of DIII-D and JET discharges. The module is used to compute saturated neoclassical tearing mode island widths for multiple modes in ITER. Preliminary results for island widths in ITER are consistent with those presented [2] by Hegna. [1] F.D. Halpern, G. Bateman, A.H. Kritz and A.Y. Pankin, ``The ISLAND Module for Computing Magnetic Island Widths in Tokamaks,'' submitted to J. Plasma Physics (2005). [2] C.C. Hegna, 2002 Fusion Snowmass Meeting.

  2. Dendrochronology of strain-relaxed islands.

    PubMed

    Merdzhanova, T; Kiravittaya, S; Rastelli, A; Stoffel, M; Denker, U; Schmidt, O G

    2006-06-09

    We report on the observation and study of tree-ring structures below dislocated SiGe islands (superdomes) grown on Si(001) substrates. Analogous to the study of tree rings (dendrochronology), these footprints enable us to gain unambiguous information on the growth and evolution of superdomes and their neighboring islands. The temperature dependence of the critical volume for dislocation introduction is measured and related to the composition of the islands. We show clearly that island coalescence is the dominant pathway towards dislocation nucleation at low temperatures, while at higher temperatures anomalous coarsening is effective and leads to the formation of a depletion region around superdomes.

  3. 9 CFR 72.3 - Areas quarantined in the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ... Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the..., the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Island of Guam. The entire Territories of the Virgin Islands... Puerto Rico are quarantined. [43 FR 60864, Dec. 29, 1978] ...

  4. The potential for sea-level-rise-induced barrier island loss: Insights from the Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana, USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Moore, Laura J.; Patsch, Kiki; List, Jeffrey H.; Williams, S. Jeffress

    2014-01-01

    As sea level rises and hurricanes become more intense, barrier islands around the world become increasingly vulnerable to conversion from self-sustaining migrating landforms to submerging or subaqueous sand bodies. To explore the mechanism by which such state changes occur and to assess the factors leading to island disintegration, we develop a suite of numerical simulations for the Chandeleur Islands in Louisiana, U.S.A., which appear to be on the verge of this transition. Our results suggest that the Chandeleurs are likely poised to change state, leading to their demise, within decades depending on future storm history. Contributing factors include high rates of relative sea level rise, limited sediment supply, muddy substrate, current island position relative to former Mississippi River distributary channels, and the effects of changes in island morphology on sediment transport pathways. Although deltaic barrier islands are most sensitive to disintegration because of their muddy substrate, the importance of relative sea level rise rate in determining the timing of threshold crossing suggests that the conceptual models for deltaic barrier island formation and disintegration may apply more broadly in the future.

  5. The imprint of geologic history on within-island diversification of woodlouse-hunter spiders (Araneae, Dysderidae) in the Canary Islands.

    PubMed

    Macías-Hernández, Nuria; Bidegaray-Batista, Leticia; Emerson, Brent C; Oromí, Pedro; Arnedo, Miquel

    2013-01-01

    Geological processes and ecological adaptation are major drivers of diversification on oceanic islands. Although diversification in these islands is often interpreted as resulting from dispersal or island hopping rather than vicariance, this may not be the case in islands with complex geological histories. The island of Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, emerged in the late Miocene as 3 precursor islands that were subsequently connected and reisolated by volcanic cycles. The spider Dysdera verneaui is endemic to the island of Tenerife, where it is widely distributed throughout most island habitats, providing an excellent model to investigate the role of physical barriers and ecological adaptation in shaping within-island diversity. Here, we present evidence that the phylogeographic patterns of this species trace back to the independent emergence of the protoislands. Molecular markers (mitochondrial genes cox1, 16S, and nad1 and the nuclear genes ITS-2 and 28S) analyzed from 100 specimens (including a thorough sampling of D. verneaui populations and additional outgroups) identify 2 distinct evolutionary lineages that correspond to 2 precursor islands, each with diagnostic genital characters indicative of separate species status. Episodic introgression events between these 2 main evolutionary lineages explain the observed incongruence between mitochondrial and nuclear markers, probably as a result of the homogenization of their ITS-2 sequence types. The most widespread lineage exhibits a complex population structure, which is compatible with either secondary contact, following connection of deeply divergent lineages, or alternatively, a back colonization from 1 precursor island to another.

  6. Global Collembola on Deception Island

    PubMed Central

    Greenslade, Penelope; Potapov, Mikhail; Russell, David; Convey, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Three new non-indigenous springtail species are recorded in recent collections made on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, maritime Antarctic: Deuteraphorura (Deuteraphorura) cebennaria (Gisin) (Collembola: Onychiuridae), Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek (Tullbergiidae), and Proisotoma minuta Axelson (Isotomidae). One of these, D. (D.) cebennaria, is described. Additionally, two new indigenous species, Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek and Proisotoma minuta Axelson, are also recorded. The total number of Collembola species now known from the island is 14, comprised of eight native species and six non-indigenous species. This number of non-indigenous species recorded at Deception Island compares with only a single non-indigenous springtail recorded at any other maritime or continental Antarctic location. The reason underlying this high level of occurrence of non-indigenous species on Deception Island is likely to be a combination of the island's high level of human visitation and the presence of relatively benign terrestrial habitats associated with areas of geothermal activity. Two of the new records represent species recently assessed as being of the highest risk to become invaders in the less extreme environments of the subantarctic, thereby emphasising the importance and urgency of adopting and applying effective biosecurity measures to protect the unique and vulnerable ecosystems of this region. Also documented are the impacts on the soil fauna of the island from human trampling, which drastically reduced densities of both native and non-indigenous species to 1% of the abundance typical of non-trampled sites. PMID:23438196

  7. Global Collembola on Deception Island.

    PubMed

    Greenslade, Penelope; Potapov, Mikhail; Russell, David; Convey, Peter

    2012-01-01

    Three new non-indigenous springtail species are recorded in recent collections made on Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, maritime Antarctic: Deuteraphorura (Deuteraphorura) cebennaria (Gisin) (Collembola: Onychiuridae), Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek (Tullbergiidae), and Proisotoma minuta Axelson (Isotomidae). One of these, D. (D.) cebennaria, is described. Additionally, two new indigenous species, Mesaphorura macrochaeta Rusek and Proisotoma minuta Axelson, are also recorded. The total number of Collembola species now known from the island is 14, comprised of eight native species and six non-indigenous species. This number of non-indigenous species recorded at Deception Island compares with only a single non-indigenous springtail recorded at any other maritime or continental Antarctic location. The reason underlying this high level of occurrence of non-indigenous species on Deception Island is likely to be a combination of the island's high level of human visitation and the presence of relatively benign terrestrial habitats associated with areas of geothermal activity. Two of the new records represent species recently assessed as being of the highest risk to become invaders in the less extreme environments of the subantarctic, thereby emphasising the importance and urgency of adopting and applying effective biosecurity measures to protect the unique and vulnerable ecosystems of this region. Also documented are the impacts on the soil fauna of the island from human trampling, which drastically reduced densities of both native and non-indigenous species to 1% of the abundance typical of non-trampled sites.

  8. Effects of magnetic islands on drift wave instability

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jiang, P., E-mail: jiangp@pku.edu.cn; Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of California, Irvine, California 92697; Lin, Z., E-mail: zhihongl@uci.edu

    2014-12-15

    Magnetic islands have been implemented in the gyrokinetic toroidal code to study the effects of the islands on microturbulence. The pressure profile flattening is verified in the simulation with the islands. Simulations of ion temperature gradient instability find that different toroidal modes are linearly coupled together and that toroidal spectra become broader when the island width increases. The real frequencies and growth rates of different toroidal modes approach each other with the averaged value independent of the island width. The linear mode structures are enhanced at the island separatrices and weakened at the island centers, consistent with the flattening ofmore » the pressure profile inside the islands.« less

  9. 9 CFR 72.3 - Areas quarantined in the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ... Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the... Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Island of Guam. The entire Territories of the... Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are quarantined. [43 FR 60864, Dec. 29, 1978] ...

  10. 9 CFR 72.3 - Areas quarantined in the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ... Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the... Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Island of Guam. The entire Territories of the... Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are quarantined. [43 FR 60864, Dec. 29, 1978] ...

  11. 9 CFR 72.3 - Areas quarantined in the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ... Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the... Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Island of Guam. The entire Territories of the... Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are quarantined. [43 FR 60864, Dec. 29, 1978] ...

  12. 9 CFR 72.3 - Areas quarantined in the Virgin Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the...

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ... Islands of the United States, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the... Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the Island of Guam. The entire Territories of the... Commonwealth of Puerto Rico are quarantined. [43 FR 60864, Dec. 29, 1978] ...

  13. 33 CFR 117.615 - Plum Island River.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Massachusetts § 117.615 Plum Island River. The draw of the Plum Island Turnpike Bridge, mile 3.3 between Newburyport and Plum Island, shall operate as... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Plum Island River. 117.615...

  14. 33 CFR 117.615 - Plum Island River.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Massachusetts § 117.615 Plum Island River. The draw of the Plum Island Turnpike Bridge, mile 3.3 between Newburyport and Plum Island, shall operate as... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Plum Island River. 117.615...

  15. 33 CFR 117.615 - Plum Island River.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Massachusetts § 117.615 Plum Island River. The draw of the Plum Island Turnpike Bridge, mile 3.3 between Newburyport and Plum Island, shall operate as... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Plum Island River. 117.615...

  16. 33 CFR 117.615 - Plum Island River.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Massachusetts § 117.615 Plum Island River. The draw of the Plum Island Turnpike Bridge, mile 3.3 between Newburyport and Plum Island, shall operate as... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Plum Island River. 117.615...

  17. 33 CFR 117.615 - Plum Island River.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... DRAWBRIDGE OPERATION REGULATIONS Specific Requirements Massachusetts § 117.615 Plum Island River. The draw of the Plum Island Turnpike Bridge, mile 3.3 between Newburyport and Plum Island, shall operate as... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Plum Island River. 117.615...

  18. The Solomon Islands tsunami of 6 February 2013 field survey in the Santa Cruz Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fritz, H. M.; Papantoniou, A.; Biukoto, L.; Albert, G.

    2013-12-01

    On February 6, 2013 at 01:12:27 UTC (local time: UTC+11), a magnitude Mw 8.0 earthquake occurred 70 km to the west of Ndendo Island (Santa Cruz Island) in the Solomon Islands. The under-thrusting earthquake near a 90° bend, where the Australian plate subducts beneath the Pacific plate generated a locally focused tsunami in the Coral Sea and the South Pacific Ocean. The tsunami claimed the lives of 10 people and injured 15, destroyed 588 houses and partially damaged 478 houses, affecting 4,509 people in 1,066 households corresponding to an estimated 37% of the population of Santa Cruz Island. A multi-disciplinary international tsunami survey team (ITST) was deployed within days of the event to document flow depths, runup heights, inundation distances, sediment and coral boulder depositions, land level changes, damage patterns at various scales, performance of the man-made infrastructure and impact on the natural environment. The 19 to 23 February 2013 ITST covered 30 locations on 4 Islands: Ndendo (Santa Cruz), Tomotu Noi (Lord Howe), Nea Tomotu (Trevanion, Malo) and Tinakula. The reconnaissance completely circling Ndendo and Tinakula logged 240 km by small boat and additionally covered 20 km of Ndendo's hard hit western coastline by vehicle. The collected survey data includes more than 80 tsunami runup and flow depth measurements. The tsunami impact peaked at Manoputi on Ndendo's densely populated west coast with maximum tsunami height exceeding 11 m and local flow depths above ground exceeding 7 m. A fast tide-like positive amplitude of 1 m was recorded at Lata wharf inside Graciosa Bay on Ndendo Island and misleadingly reported in the media as representative tsunami height. The stark contrast between the field observations on exposed coastlines and the Lata tide gauge recording highlights the importance of rapid tsunami reconnaissance surveys. Inundation distance and damage more than 500 m inland were recorded at Lata airport on Ndendo Island. Landslides were

  19. [Freshwater macroinvertebrates from Cocos Island, Costa Rica: species and comparison with other islands of the Eastern Tropical Pacific].

    PubMed

    Gutiérrez-Fonseca, Pablo E; Ramírez, Alonso; Umaña, Gerardo; Springer, Monika

    2013-06-01

    Freshwater macroinvertebrates from Cocos Island, Costa Rica: species and comparison with other islands of the Eastern Tropical Pacific. Cocos Island is an oceanic island in the Eastern Pacific, at 496km from Cabo Blanco, Costa Rica. This 24 km2 island is surrounded by a protected marine area of 9640 km2. it was declared National Park in 1978 and a World Heritage by UNESCO in 1997. Freshwater macroinvertebrate fauna was collected in 20 sites covering three rivers (Genio, Chatam and Sucio) and two creeks (Minuto and an unnamed creek behind the park rangers' house). Tank bromeliads or phytotelmata were also examined for aquatic macroinvertebrates. Physicochemical parameters were determined in 13 study sites. Additionally, a comparison with other islands in the Eastern Tropical Pacific was conducted to determine the most important factors controlling the diversity in Tropical Pacific islands. A total of 455 individuals were collected belonging to 20 taxa (mostly identified to genus level) from 15 families of aquatic insects. Other macroinvertebrates such as Palaemonid shrimps, Hidrachnida and Oligochaeta were also collected. The family Staphylinidae (Coleoptera) was the most abundant, followed by Chironomidae (Diptera). Diptera was the order of insects with the highest taxonomic richness. A relationship between distance and the number of families was observed supporting the premises of the Theory of island Biogeography. This relationship was improved by correcting area by island elevation, indicating that mountainous islands had the richest faunas, potentially due to high cloud interception that feeds freshwater environments favoring the establishment of aquatic fauna. Physicochemical variables were similar in all sites, possibly due to the geology and the absence of significant sources of pollution on the island.

  20. Island biodiversity conservation needs palaeoecology.

    PubMed

    Nogué, Sandra; de Nascimento, Lea; Froyd, Cynthia A; Wilmshurst, Janet M; de Boer, Erik J; Coffey, Emily E D; Whittaker, Robert J; Fernández-Palacios, José María; Willis, Kathy J

    2017-06-22

    The discovery and colonization of islands by humans has invariably resulted in their widespread ecological transformation. The small and isolated populations of many island taxa, and their evolution in the absence of humans and their introduced taxa, mean that they are particularly vulnerable to human activities. Consequently, even the most degraded islands are a focus for restoration, eradication, and monitoring programmes to protect the remaining endemic and/or relict populations. Here, we build a framework that incorporates an assessment of the degree of change from multiple baseline reference periods using long-term ecological data. The use of multiple reference points may provide information on both the variability of natural systems and responses to successive waves of cultural transformation of island ecosystems, involving, for example, the alteration of fire and grazing regimes and the introduction of non-native species. We provide exemplification of how such approaches can provide valuable information for biodiversity conservation managers of island ecosystems.

  1. Preliminary Geologic Map of Mount Pagan Volcano, Pagan Island, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Trusdell, Frank A.; Moore, Richard B.; Sako, Maurice K.

    2006-01-01

    Pagan Island is the subaerial portion of two adjoining Quaternary stratovolcanoes near the middle of the active Mariana Arc, [FAT1]north of Saipan. Pagan and the other volcanic islands that constitute part of the Arc form the northern half of the East Mariana Ridge[FAT2], which extends about 2-4 km above the ocean floor. The > 6-km-deep Mariana Trench adjoins the East Mariana Ridge on the east, and the Mariana Trough, partly filled with young lava flows and volcaniclastic sediment, lies on the west of the Northern Mariana Islands (East Mariana Ridge. The submarine West Mariana Ridge, Tertiary in age, bounds the western side of the Mariana Trough. The Mariana Trench and Northern Mariana Islands (East Mariana Ridge) overlie an active subduction zone where the Pacific Plate, moving northwest at about 10.3 cm/year, is passing beneath the Philippine Plate, moving west-northwest at 6.8 cm/year. Beneath the Northern Mariana Islands, earthquake hypocenters at depths of 50-250 km identify the location of the west-dipping subduction zone, which farther west becomes nearly vertical and extends to 700 km depth. During the past century, more than 40 earthquakes of magnitude 6.5-8.1 have shaken the Mariana Trench. The Mariana Islands form two sub-parallel, concentric, concave-west arcs. The southern islands comprise the outer arc and extend north from Guam to Farallon de Medinilla. They consist of Eocene to Miocene volcanic rocks and uplifted Tertiary and Quaternary limestone. The nine northern islands extend from Anatahan to Farallon de Pajaros and form part of the inner arc. The active inner arc extends south from Anatahan, where volcanoes, some of which are active, form seamounts west of the older outer arc. Other volcanic seamounts of the active arc surmount the East Mariana Ridge in the vicinity of Anatahan and Sarigan and north and south of Farallon de Pajaros. Six volcanoes (Farallon de Pajaros, Asuncion, Agrigan, Mount Pagan, Guguan, and Anatahan) in the northern islands

  2. Population Size and Decadal Trends of Three Penguin Species Nesting at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands

    PubMed Central

    Dunn, Michael J.; Jackson, Jennifer A.; Adlard, Stacey; Lynnes, Amanda S.; Briggs, Dirk R.; Fox, Derren; Waluda, Claire M.

    2016-01-01

    We report long-term changes in population size of three species of sympatrically breeding pygoscelid penguins: Adélie (Pygoscelis adeliae), chinstrap (Pygoscelis antarctica) and gentoo (Pygoscelis papua ellsworthii) over a 38 year period at Signy Island, South Orkney Islands, based on annual counts from selected colonies and decadal all-island systematic counts of occupied nests. Comparing total numbers of breeding pairs over the whole island from 1978/79 to 2015/16 revealed varying fortunes: gentoo penguin pairs increased by 255%, (3.5% per annum), chinstrap penguins declined by 68% (-3.6% per annum) and Adélie penguins declined by 42% (-1.5% per annum). The chinstrap population has declined steadily over the last four decades. In contrast, Adélie and gentoo penguins have experienced phases of population increase and decline. Annual surveys of selected chinstrap and Adélie colonies produced similar trends from those revealed by island-wide surveys, allowing total island population trends to be inferred relatively well. However, while the annual colony counts of chinstrap and Adélie penguins showed a trend consistent in direction with the results from all-island surveys, the magnitude of estimated population change was markedly different between colony wide and all island counts. Annual population patterns suggest that pair numbers in the study areas partly reflect immigration and emigration of nesting birds between different parts of the island. Breeding success for all three species remained broadly stable over time in the annually monitored colonies. Breeding success rates in gentoo and chinstrap penguins were strongly correlated, despite the differing trends in population size. This study shows the importance of effective, standardised monitoring to accurately determine long-term population trajectories. Our results indicate significant declines in the Adélie and chinstrap penguin populations at Signy Island over the last five decades, and a gradual

  3. CpG island mapping by epigenome prediction.

    PubMed

    Bock, Christoph; Walter, Jörn; Paulsen, Martina; Lengauer, Thomas

    2007-06-01

    CpG islands were originally identified by epigenetic and functional properties, namely, absence of DNA methylation and frequent promoter association. However, this concept was quickly replaced by simple DNA sequence criteria, which allowed for genome-wide annotation of CpG islands in the absence of large-scale epigenetic datasets. Although widely used, the current CpG island criteria incur significant disadvantages: (1) reliance on arbitrary threshold parameters that bear little biological justification, (2) failure to account for widespread heterogeneity among CpG islands, and (3) apparent lack of specificity when applied to the human genome. This study is driven by the idea that a quantitative score of "CpG island strength" that incorporates epigenetic and functional aspects can help resolve these issues. We construct an epigenome prediction pipeline that links the DNA sequence of CpG islands to their epigenetic states, including DNA methylation, histone modifications, and chromatin accessibility. By training support vector machines on epigenetic data for CpG islands on human Chromosomes 21 and 22, we identify informative DNA attributes that correlate with open versus compact chromatin structures. These DNA attributes are used to predict the epigenetic states of all CpG islands genome-wide. Combining predictions for multiple epigenetic features, we estimate the inherent CpG island strength for each CpG island in the human genome, i.e., its inherent tendency to exhibit an open and transcriptionally competent chromatin structure. We extensively validate our results on independent datasets, showing that the CpG island strength predictions are applicable and informative across different tissues and cell types, and we derive improved maps of predicted "bona fide" CpG islands. The mapping of CpG islands by epigenome prediction is conceptually superior to identifying CpG islands by widely used sequence criteria since it links CpG island detection to their characteristic

  4. Equilibrium theory of island biogeography: A review

    Treesearch

    Angela D. Yu; Simon A. Lei

    2001-01-01

    The topography, climatic pattern, location, and origin of islands generate unique patterns of species distribution. The equilibrium theory of island biogeography creates a general framework in which the study of taxon distribution and broad island trends may be conducted. Critical components of the equilibrium theory include the species-area relationship, island-...

  5. Island Fox Veterinary And Pathology Services On San Clemente Island, California

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-02-01

    conservation and management efforts by attempting to mitigate anthropogenic-related injuries or illnesses. We utilized our mobile veterinary hospital...the U.S. Navy. The Island Fox Veterinary and Pathology Services project was designed to assist the Navy in island fox conservation and management ...the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CAHFS), at the University of California, Davis, to be necropsied. Necropsy reports

  6. Control of barrier island shape by inlet sediment bypassing: East Frisian Islands, West Germany

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    FitzGerald, D.M.; Penland, S.; Nummedal, D.

    1984-01-01

    A study of the East Frisian Islands has shown that the plan form of these islands can be explained by processes of inlet sediment bypassing. This island chain is located on a high wave energy, high tide range shoreline where the average deep-water significant wave height exceeds 1.0 m and the spring tidal range varies from 2.7 m at Juist to 2.9 m at Wangerooge. An abundant sediment supply and a strong eastward component of wave power (4.4 ?? 103 W m-1) have caused a persistent eastward growth of the barrier islands. The eastward extension of the barriers has been accommodated more by inlet narrowing, than by inlet migration. It is estimated from morphological evidence that a minimum of 2.7 ?? 105 m3 of sand is delivered to the inlets each year via the easterly longshore transport system. Much of this sand ultimately bypasses the inlets in the form of large, migrating swash bars. The location where the swash bars attach to the beach is controlled by the amount of overlap of the ebb-tidal delta along the downdrift inlet shoreline. The configuration of the ebbtidal delta, in turn, is a function of inlet size and position of the main ebb channel. The swash bar welding process has caused preferential beach nourishment and historical shoreline progradation. Along the East Frisian Islands this process has produced barrier islands with humpbacked, bulbous updrift and bulbous downdrift shapes. The model of barrier island development presented in this paper not only explains well the configuration of the German barriers but also the morphology of barriers along many other mixed energy coasts. ?? 1984.

  7. Nearshore coastal bathymetry data collected in 2016 from West Ship Island to Horn Island, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    DeWitt, Nancy T.; Stalk, Chelsea A.; Fredericks, Jake J.; Flocks, James G.; Kelso, Kyle W.; Farmer, Andrew S.; Tuten, Thomas M.; Buster, Noreen A.

    2018-04-13

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District, conducted bathymetric surveys of the nearshore waters surrounding Ship and Horn Islands, Gulf Islands National Seashore, Mississippi. The objective of this study was to establish base-level elevation conditions around West Ship, East Ship, and Horn Islands and their associated active littoral system prior to restoration activities. These activities include the closure of Camille Cut and the placement of sediment in the littoral zone of East Ship Island. These surveys can be compared with future surveys to monitor sediment migration patterns post-restoration and can also be measured against historic bathymetric datasets to further our understanding of island evolution.The USGS collected 667 line-kilometers (km) of single-beam bathymetry data and 844 line-km of interferometric swath bathymetry data in July 2016 under Field Activity Number 2016-347-FA. Data are provided in three datums: (1) the International Terrestrial Reference Frame of 2000 (ellipsoid height); (2) the North American Datum of 1983 (NAD83) CORS96 realization and the North American Vertical Datum of 1988 with respect to the GEOID12B model (orthometric height); and (3) NAD83 (CORS96) and Mean Lower Low Water (tidal datum). Data products, including x,y,zpoint datasets, trackline shapefiles, digital and handwritten Field Activity Collection Systems logs, 50-meter digital elevation model, and formal Federal Geographic Data Committee metadata, are available for download.

  8. Morphological controls on barrier-island response and recovery following natural and anthropogenic perturbations, northern Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bernier, J.; Miselis, J. L.

    2016-02-01

    Prevailing oceanographic climate, sediment supply, the magnitude and frequency of storm events, and anthropogenic modifications interact to drive the geomorphic evolution of barrier systems at varying spatial and temporal scales. The Chandeleur Islands east of the Louisiana mainland receive little external sediment input, and alongshore currents generally transport sediment away from the nearshore and littoral system to flanking depositional centers. We analyzed Landsat satellite imagery and lidar datasets from the northern Chandeleur Islands to quantify morphological changes that resulted from storm impacts and human-induced sediment input at intra-annual to decadal time scales. Since 2001, the study area was impacted by multiple tropical systems, including Hurricanes Lili (2002), Katrina (2005), and Isaac (2012). Additionally, between June 2010 and April 2011, in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the State of Louisiana constructed a 2-m high sand berm extending more than 12 km along the northern Chandeleur Islands platform. Berm emplacement provided a unique opportunity to study how anthropogenic sediment input affects the morphologic response of a naturally evolving barrier system. Land-cover and elevation metrics were utilized to test the hypotheses that (1) island geomorphology, in particular marsh extent, significantly influenced both "instantaneous" and longer term morphologic change and recovery following storm events and (2) redistribution of berm sediment depended on both antecedent morphologic controls as well as spatial variability in berm placement relative to the island platform. Despite the rapid post-construction degradation of the berm, imagery and elevation data suggest that some berm sediment remained in the system. Where the barrier-island was backed by healthy marsh platform, shoreward translation of the berm crest and increased elevations landward of the berm provide evidence of berm sand redistribution onto the emergent island. At

  9. Globally threatened vertebrates on islands with invasive species

    PubMed Central

    Spatz, Dena R.; Zilliacus, Kelly M.; Holmes, Nick D.; Butchart, Stuart H. M.; Genovesi, Piero; Ceballos, Gerardo; Tershy, Bernie R.; Croll, Donald A.

    2017-01-01

    Global biodiversity loss is disproportionately rapid on islands, where invasive species are a major driver of extinctions. To inform conservation planning aimed at preventing extinctions, we identify the distribution and biogeographic patterns of highly threatened terrestrial vertebrates (classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature) and invasive vertebrates on ~465,000 islands worldwide by conducting a comprehensive literature review and interviews with more than 500 experts. We found that 1189 highly threatened vertebrate species (319 amphibians, 282 reptiles, 296 birds, and 292 mammals) breed on 1288 islands. These taxa represent only 5% of Earth’s terrestrial vertebrates and 41% of all highly threatened terrestrial vertebrates, which occur in <1% of islands worldwide. Information about invasive vertebrates was available for 1030 islands (80% of islands with highly threatened vertebrates). Invasive vertebrates were absent from 24% of these islands, where biosecurity to prevent invasions is a critical management tool. On the 76% of islands where invasive vertebrates were present, management could benefit 39% of Earth’s highly threatened vertebrates. Invasive mammals occurred in 97% of these islands, with Rattus sp. as the most common invasive vertebrate (78%; 609 islands). Our results provide an important baseline for identifying islands for invasive species eradication and other island conservation actions that reduce biodiversity loss. PMID:29075662

  10. Globally threatened vertebrates on islands with invasive species.

    PubMed

    Spatz, Dena R; Zilliacus, Kelly M; Holmes, Nick D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Genovesi, Piero; Ceballos, Gerardo; Tershy, Bernie R; Croll, Donald A

    2017-10-01

    Global biodiversity loss is disproportionately rapid on islands, where invasive species are a major driver of extinctions. To inform conservation planning aimed at preventing extinctions, we identify the distribution and biogeographic patterns of highly threatened terrestrial vertebrates (classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature) and invasive vertebrates on ~465,000 islands worldwide by conducting a comprehensive literature review and interviews with more than 500 experts. We found that 1189 highly threatened vertebrate species (319 amphibians, 282 reptiles, 296 birds, and 292 mammals) breed on 1288 islands. These taxa represent only 5% of Earth's terrestrial vertebrates and 41% of all highly threatened terrestrial vertebrates, which occur in <1% of islands worldwide. Information about invasive vertebrates was available for 1030 islands (80% of islands with highly threatened vertebrates). Invasive vertebrates were absent from 24% of these islands, where biosecurity to prevent invasions is a critical management tool. On the 76% of islands where invasive vertebrates were present, management could benefit 39% of Earth's highly threatened vertebrates. Invasive mammals occurred in 97% of these islands, with Rattus sp. as the most common invasive vertebrate (78%; 609 islands). Our results provide an important baseline for identifying islands for invasive species eradication and other island conservation actions that reduce biodiversity loss.

  11. Ecology and Evolution: Islands of Change.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Benz, Richard

    This book was designed for middle and junior high school science classes and focuses on island biogeography, ecology, and evolution. Sections include: (1) "Galapagos: Frame of Reference"; (2) "Ecology and Islands"; and (3) "Evolution." Nineteen standards-based activities use the Galapagos Islands as a running theme…

  12. [Dengue fever in the Reunion Island and in South Western islands of the Indian Ocean].

    PubMed

    D'Ortenzio, E; Balleydier, E; Baville, M; Filleul, L; Renault, P

    2011-09-01

    South Western islands of the Indian Ocean are permanently threatened by dengue fever outbreaks. On the Reunion Island, two dengue outbreaks were biologically documented (1977-1978 and 2004). And since July 2004 there has been an inter-epidemic period for the island with sporadic cases and clusters. Between January 1, 2007 and October 5, 2009, the epidemiologic surveillance system detected five confirmed autochthonous cases, five confirmed imported cases (South-East Asia), and 71 probable cases. All the five autochthonous confirmed cases occurred in Saint-Louis during two consecutive clusters. In other South Western islands of the Indian Ocean, several dengue fever outbreaks have been reported. Importation of dengue virus from South-East Asia is a major risk for a new outbreak on the island. The introduction of a new serotype could lead to the emergence of new and severe clinical forms, including dengue hemorrhagic fever. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  13. Early hominin biogeography in Island Southeast Asia.

    PubMed

    Larick, Roy; Ciochon, Russell L

    2015-01-01

    Island Southeast Asia covers Eurasia's tropical expanse of continental shelf and active subduction zones. Cutting between island landmasses, Wallace's Line separates Sunda and the Eastern Island Arc (the Arc) into distinct tectonic and faunal provinces. West of the line, on Sunda, Java Island yields many fossils of Homo erectus. East of the line, on the Arc, Flores Island provides one skeleton and isolated remains of Homo floresiensis. Luzon Island in the Philippines has another fossil hominin. Sulawesi preserves early hominin archeology. This insular divergence sets up a unique regional context for early hominin dispersal, isolation, and extinction. The evidence is reviewed across three Pleistocene climate periods. Patterns are discussed in relation to the pulse of global sea-level shifts, as well as regional geo-tectonics, catastrophes, stegodon dispersal, and paleogenomics. Several patterns imply evolutionary processes typical of oceanic islands. Early hominins apparently responded to changing island conditions for a million-and-a-half years, likely becoming extinct during the period in which Homo sapiens colonized the region. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Nonlinear saturation of tearing mode islands.

    PubMed

    Hastie, R J; Militello, F; Porcelli, F

    2005-08-05

    New, rigorous results for the tearing island saturation problem are presented. These results are valid for the realistic case where the magnetic island structure is non-symmetric about the reconnection surface and the electron temperature, on which the electrical resistivity depends, is evolved self-consistently with the island growth.

  15. Intersectional gene flow between insular endemics of Ilex (Aquifoliaceae) on the Bonin Islands and the Ryukyu Islands.

    PubMed

    Setoguchi, H; Watanabe, I

    2000-06-01

    Hybridization and introgression play important roles in plant evolution, and their occurrence on the oceanic islands provides good examples of plant speciation and diversification. Restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLPs) and trnL (UAA) 3'exon-trnF (GAA) intergenic spacer (IGS) sequences of chloroplast DNA (cpDNA), and the sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS) of nuclear ribosomal DNA were examined to investigate the occurrence of gene transfer in Ilex species on the Bonin Islands and the Ryukyu Islands in Japan. A gene phylogeny for the plastid genome is in agreement with the morphologically based taxonomy, whereas the nuclear genome phylogeny clusters putatively unrelated endemics both on the Bonin and the Ryukyu Islands. Intersectional hybridization and nuclear gene flow were independently observed in insular endemics of Ilex on both sets of islands without evidence of plastid introgression. Gene flow observed in these island systems can be explained by ecological features of insular endemics, i.e., limits of distribution range or sympatric distribution in a small land area.

  16. Seed islands driven by turbulence and NTM dynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Muraglia, M.; Agullo, O.; Poye, A.; Benkadda, S.; Horton, W.; Dubuit, N.; Garbet, X.; Sen, A.

    2014-10-01

    Magnetic reconnection is an issue for tokamak plasmas. Growing magnetic islands expel energetic particles from the plasma core leading to high energy fluxes in the SOL and may cause damage to the plasma facing components. The islands grow from seeds from the bootstrap current effects that oppose the negative delta-prime producing nonlinear island growth. Experimentally, the onset of NTM is quantified in terms of the beta parameter and the sawtooth period. Indeed, in experiments, (3;2) NTM magnetic islands are often triggered by sawtooth precursors. However (2;1) magnetic islands can appear without noticeable MHD event and the seed islands origin for the NTM growth is still an open question. Macroscale MHD instabilities (magnetic islands) coexist with micro-scale turbulent fluctuations and zonal flows which impact island dynamics. Nonlinear simulations show that the nonlinear beating of the fastest growing small-scale ballooning interchange modes on a low order rational surface drive a magnetic islands located on the same surface. The island size is found to be controlled by the turbulence level and modifies the NTM threshold and dynamics.

  17. Melville Island, Australia

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1992-01-01

    Melville Island, just off the coast of Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia (11.5S, 131.0E) is a sparsely inhabited tropical island with heavy woodland concentrations. The widespread and prominant smoke plumes were most likely set to renew pasture under open canopy woodland. Soil erosion is almost non- existant as can be seen by the clear and clean river flow. The offshore sediments are coastal current borne deposits from King Sound to the west.

  18. Montague Island marmot: a conservation assessment.

    Treesearch

    Ellen Weintraub. Lance

    2002-01-01

    The hoary marmot, from Montague Island, south-central Alaska, was classified as a distinct subspecies based on smaller size and skull characteristics relative to other island and mainland populations. The taxonomic validity of the Montague Island marmot (Marmota caligata sheldoni) is questionable, as conclusions were based on the analysis of no...

  19. Tristan da Cunha Island

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2018-05-25

    Tristan da Cunha is both a remote group of volcanic islands in the south Atlantic, and the main island. It is the most remote inhabited island group in the world, 2400 km from the nearest inhabited land. Tristan has a population of about 250 inhabitants, and is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. In 1961 the eruption of Queen Mary's Peak forced the evacuation of the entire population for two years. The image was acquired October 7, 2017, and is located at 37.1 degrees south, 12.3 degrees west. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22506

  20. Islands within an island: repeated adaptive divergence in a single population.

    PubMed

    Langin, Kathryn M; Sillett, T Scott; Funk, W Chris; Morrison, Scott A; Desrosiers, Michelle A; Ghalambor, Cameron K

    2015-03-01

    Physical barriers to gene flow were once viewed as prerequisites for adaptive evolutionary divergence. However, a growing body of theoretical and empirical work suggests that divergence can proceed within a single population. Here we document genetic structure and spatially replicated patterns of phenotypic divergence within a bird species endemic to 250 km(2) Santa Cruz Island, California, USA. Island scrub-jays (Aphelocoma insularis) in three separate stands of pine habitat had longer, shallower bills than jays in oak habitat, a pattern that mirrors adaptive differences between allopatric populations of the species' mainland congener. Variation in both bill measurements was heritable, and island scrub-jays mated nonrandomly with respect to bill morphology. The population was not panmictic; instead, we found a continuous pattern of isolation by distance across the east-west axis of the island, as well as a subtle genetic discontinuity across the boundary between the largest pine stand and adjacent oak habitat. The ecological factors that appear to have facilitated adaptive differentiation at such a fine scale--environmental heterogeneity and localized dispersal--are ubiquitous in nature. These findings support recent arguments that microgeographic patterns of adaptive divergence may be more common than currently appreciated, even in mobile taxonomic groups like birds. © 2015 The Author(s).

  1. Modeling the Response of Human Altered Natural Barrier Island Dynamics Along Assateague Island National Seashore to Climate Change

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carroll, A.; McNamara, D.; Schupp, C.

    2009-12-01

    Assateague Island National Seashore comprises a long barrier island located off the coasts of Maryland and Virginia. Geological evidence suggests that over recent centuries Assateague Island has steadily transgressed up the continental shelf in response to rising sea level. More recently, the natural barrier island dynamics governing Assateague’s evolution have been altered by human activity in three ways: the construction of a jetty and the subsequent interruption of alongshore sediment transport on the north end of Assateague and both the ongoing and abandoned maintenance of a continuous dune system along portions of Assateague with the concomitant modification to overwash dynamics. It is unclear how these varied human alterations to the natural barrier island dynamics will influence the response of Assateague to climate change induced shifts in forcing such as increased rates of sea level rise and changing storm patterns. We use LIDAR detected morphological data of Assateague Island as initial conditions in an alongshore extended model for barrier island dynamics including beach erosion, island overwash and inlet cutting during storms, and beach accretion, tidal delta growth and dune and vegetation growth between storms to explore the response of the various human altered segments of Assateague Island to forcing changes. Traditional models exploring barrier island evolution contain only cross-shore dynamics therefore lacking important alongshore-spatial dynamics in aeolian and surf zone sediment transport. Results show that including alongshore dynamics alter the steady state of Assateague relative to simulations that only include cross-shore dynamics. Results will also be presented exploring the potential for regime shifts in steady state behavior under various scenarios for the rate of sea level rise and storm climate and varying management strategies.

  2. 3D stratigraphic forward modelling of Shu'aiba Platform stratigraphy in the Bu Hasa Field, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hu, J.; Lokier, S. W.

    2012-04-01

    This paper presents the results of three dimensional sequence stratigraphic forward modelling of the Aptian age Shu'aiba Formation from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Shu'aiba Formation lies within the uppermost part of the Lower Cretaceous Thamama Group and forms one of the most prolific hydrocarbon reservoir intervals of the Middle East with production dating back to the 1960's. The Shu'aiba Formation developed as a series of laterally-extensive shallow-water carbonate platforms in an epeiric sea that extended over the northern margin of the African-Arabian Plate. This shallow sea was bounded by the Arabian Shield to the west and the passive margin with the Neo-Tethys Ocean towards the north and east (Droste, 2010). The exposed Arabian Shield acted as a source of siliciclastic sediments to westernmost regions, however, more offshore areas were dominated by shallow-water carbonate deposition. Carbonate production was variously dominated by Lithocodium-Baccinella, orbitolinid foraminifera and rudist bivalves depending on local conditions. While there have been numerous studies of this important stratigraphic interval (for examples see van Buchem et al., 2010), there has been little attempt to simulate the sequence stratigraphic development of the formation. During the present study modelling was undertaken utilising the CARBONATE-3D stratigraphic forward modelling software (Warrlich et al., 2008; Warrlich et al., 2002)) thus allowing for the control of a diverse range of internal and external parameters on carbonate sequence development. This study focuses on platform development in the onshore Bu Hasa Field - the first giant oilfield to produce from the Shu'aiba Formation in Abu Dhabi. The carbonates of the Bu Hasa field were deposited on the southwest slope of the intra-shelf Bab Basin, siliciclastic content is minor. Initially these carbonates were algal dominated with rudist mounds becoming increasingly important over time (Alsharhan, 1987

  3. Frog size on continental islands of the coast of Rio de Janeiro and the generality of the Island Rule

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    Island Rule postulated that individuals on islands tend to dwarfism when individuals from mainland populations are large and to gigantism when mainland populations present small individuals. There has been much discussion about this rule, but only few studies were carried out aiming to reveal this pattern for anurans. Our study focused on measuring the size of individuals on islands and to find a possible pattern of size modification for insular anurans. Individuals were collected on continental islands, measured and compared to mainland populations. We selected four species with different natural history aspects during these analyses. Island parameters were compared to size of individuals in order to find an explanation to size modification. Three of the four species presented size shifting on islands. Ololygon trapicheiroi and Adenomera marmorata showed dwarfism, Boana albomarginata showed gigantism and in Thoropa miliaris there was no evident size modification. Allometric analysis also revealed differential modification, which might be a result of different selective pressures on islands in respect of mainland populations. Regression model explained most of the size modification in B. albomarginata, but not for the other species. Our results indicate that previous assumptions, usually proposed for mammals from older islands, do not fit to the anurans studied here. We support the assumption that size modification on islands are population-specific. Hence, in B. albomarginata some factor associated to competition, living area and isolation time might likely be responsible for gigantism on islands. PMID:29324790

  4. Spatial and temporal controls of atoll island inundation: implications for urbanized atolls in the Marshall Islands.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ford, M.; Becker, J. M.; Merrifield, M. A.

    2012-12-01

    Atoll islands are highly vulnerable to a range of inundation hazards. The impacts of such hazards are expected to be magnified as a result of continued sea-level rise. Both recent and historic inundation events provide unique insights into the requisite conditions necessary to initiate island inundation. A number of recent and historic inundation events are presented in order to examine the oceanographic and meteorological conditions driving inundation of a densely populated, urbanized atoll in the central Pacific. Analysis of inundation events suggests that a number of key drivers contribute to the spatial and temporal extent of island inundation, with unique degrees of predictability and resultant impact signatures apparent on island geomorphology and local anthropogenic activities. Results indicate three distinct drivers of inundation hazards exist. Firstly, tropical storms and typhoons elevate sea level through inverse barometric setup, wind setup and a range of wave driven processes and have caused considerable impact on atolls within the Marshall Islands. Secondly, super-elevated sea level conditions resulting from the combination of seasonal high tides and quasi-cyclical La Nina conditions drive inundation of low-lying lagoon facing coastal areas. Thirdly, long period swell conditions, typically generated by distant storms, can elevate reef-flat water levels through wave setup and infragravity wave oscillations. Such wave conditions can over wash the ocean-facing island ridge, often inundating large sections of the island. Reef-flat wave conditions are tidally modulated, with inundation events typically occurring around high tide. However, the two most recent destructive swell-driven inundation events have occurred while tide levels were significantly lower than spring tide levels, suggesting high water levels are not a necessary prerequisite for wave-driven inundation. The different modes of inundation are discussed and grounded within recent and historic

  5. 76 FR 72369 - Safety Zone; Marco Island Marriott Charity Fireworks Display, Gulf of Mexico, Marco Island, FL

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-11-23

    ...-AA00 Safety Zone; Marco Island Marriott Charity Fireworks Display, Gulf of Mexico, Marco Island, FL... establish a temporary safety zone on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico in the vicinity of Marco Island... reached the Facility, please enclose a stamped, self-addressed postcard or envelope. We will consider all...

  6. Alternative energy technologies for the Caribbean islands

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pytlinski, J.T.

    1992-01-01

    All islands in the Caribbean except Puerto Rico can be classified as developing islands. Of these islands, all except Trinidad and Tobago are oil importers. Uncertainties concerning uninterrupted oil supply and increasing oil prices causes economic, social and political instability and jeopardizes further development of these islands. The paper discusses the energy situation of the Caribbean islands and presents alternative energy options. Several alternative energy projects financed by local, federal and international organizations are presented. Present and future uses of alternative energy technologies are described in different islands. Barrier which handicap developing and implementing alternative energy sources in the Caribbeanmore » are discussed. The potential and possible applications of alternative energy technologies such as: solar-thermal energy, photovoltaics, wind energy, ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), ocean currents and tides energy, biomass, peat energy, municipal solid wastes, bioconversion, hydropower, geothermal energy, nuclear energy and energy conservation are discussed in detail as means to alleviate the energy situation in the Caribbean islands.« less

  7. Worldwide patterns of bird colouration on islands.

    PubMed

    Doutrelant, Claire; Paquet, Matthieu; Renoult, Julien P; Grégoire, Arnaud; Crochet, Pierre-André; Covas, Rita

    2016-05-01

    Island environments share distinctive characteristics that offer unique opportunities to investigate parallel evolution. Previous research has produced evidence of an island syndrome for morphological traits, life-history strategies and ecological niches, but little is known about the response to insularity of other important traits such as animal signals. Here, we tested whether birds' plumage colouration is part of the island syndrome. We analysed with spectrophotometry the colouration of 116 species endemic to islands and their 116 closest mainland relatives. We found a pattern of reduced brightness and colour intensity for both sexes on islands. In addition, we found a decrease in the number of colour patches on islands that, in males, was associated with a decrease in the number of same-family sympatric species. These results demonstrate a worldwide pattern of parallel colour changes on islands and suggest that a relaxation of selection on species recognition may be one of the mechanisms involved. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd/CNRS.

  8. The island rule: made to be broken?

    PubMed Central

    Meiri, Shai; Cooper, Natalie; Purvis, Andy

    2007-01-01

    The island rule is a hypothesis whereby small mammals evolve larger size on islands while large insular mammals dwarf. The rule is believed to emanate from small mammals growing larger to control more resources and enhance metabolic efficiency, while large mammals evolve smaller size to reduce resource requirements and increase reproductive output. We show that there is no evidence for the existence of the island rule when phylogenetic comparative methods are applied to a large, high-quality dataset. Rather, there are just a few clade-specific patterns: carnivores; heteromyid rodents; and artiodactyls typically evolve smaller size on islands whereas murid rodents usually grow larger. The island rule is probably an artefact of comparing distantly related groups showing clade-specific responses to insularity. Instead of a rule, size evolution on islands is likely to be governed by the biotic and abiotic characteristics of different islands, the biology of the species in question and contingency. PMID:17986433

  9. Morphologic-anthropological investigations in tomb K93.12 at Dra' Abu el-Naga (Western Thebes, Egypt).

    PubMed

    Lösch, Sandra; Moghaddam, Negahnaz; Paladin, Alice; Rummel, Ute; Hower-Tilmann, Estelle; Zink, Albert

    2014-01-01

    In this study we present the analysis of the human remains from tomb K93.12 in the Ancient Egyptian necropolis of Dra' Abu el-Naga, located opposite the modern city of Luxor in Upper Egypt on the western bank of the Nile. Archaeological findings indicate that the rock tomb was originally built in the early 18th dynasty. Remains of two tomb-temples of the 20th dynasty and the looted burial of the High Priest of Amun Amenhotep have been identified. After the New Kingdom the tomb was reused as a burial place until the 26th dynasty. The skeletal and mummified material of the different tomb areas underwent a detailed anthropological and paleopathological analysis. The human remains were mostly damaged and scattered due to extensive grave robberies. In total, 79 individuals could be partly reconstructed and investigated. The age and sex distribution revealed a male predominance and a high percentage of young children (< 6 years) and adults in the range of 20 to 40 years. The paleopathological analysis showed a high prevalence of stress markers such as cribra orbitalia in the younger individuals, and other pathological conditions such as dental diseases, degenerative diseases and a possible case of ankylosing spondylitis. Additionally, 13 mummies of an intrusive waste pit could be attributed to three different groups belonging to earlier time periods based on their style of mummification and materials used. The study revealed important information on the age and sex distribution and diseases of the individuals buried in tomb K93.12.

  10. Revisiting the Metaphor of the Island: Challenging "World Culture" from an Island Misunderstood

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rappleye, Jeremy

    2015-01-01

    This article revisits the newly "discovered" island that world culture theorists have repeatedly utilised to explain their theoretical stance, conceptual preferences and methodological approach. Yet, it seeks to (re)connect world culture with the real world by replacing their imagined atoll with a real one--the island-nation of Japan. In…

  11. A new species of iguana Brachylophus Cuvier 1829 (Sauria: Iguania: Iguanidae) from Gau Island, Fiji Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Fisher, Robert N.; Niukula, Jone; Watling, Dick; Harlow, Peter S.

    2017-01-01

    The south Pacific iguanas (Brachylophus) currently have three recognized living species in Fiji.  Recent surveys have uncovered more specific variation (morphological and genetic) within the genus and have better defined the geographic ranges of the named species.  One of these recent discoveries is a strikingly different iguana from all other island populations in Fiji which is restricted to Gau Island of the Lomaiviti Province.  Gau is the fifth largest island in Fiji and maintains excellent upland forests in the higher elevations.  We describe this population from Gau Island as a new species, Brachylophus gau sp. nov., in recognition of its type locality.

  12. Early guenon from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, with implications for cercopithecoid biogeography and evolution.

    PubMed

    Gilbert, Christopher C; Bibi, Faysal; Hill, Andrew; Beech, Mark J

    2014-07-15

    A newly discovered fossil monkey (AUH 1321) from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is important in a number of distinct ways. At ∼ 6.5-8.0 Ma, it represents the earliest known member of the primate subfamily Cercopithecinae found outside of Africa, and it may also be the earliest cercopithecine in the fossil record. In addition, the fossil appears to represent the earliest member of the cercopithecine tribe Cercopithecini (guenons) to be found anywhere, adding between 2 and 3.5 million y (∼ 50-70%) to the previous first-appearance datum of the crown guenon clade. It is the only guenon--fossil or extant--known outside the continent of Africa, and it is only the second fossil monkey specimen so far found in the whole of Arabia. This discovery suggests that identifiable crown guenons extend back into the Miocene epoch, thereby refuting hypotheses that they are a recent radiation first appearing in the Pliocene or Pleistocene. Finally, the new monkey is a member of a unique fauna that had dispersed from Africa and southern Asia into Arabia by this time, suggesting that the Arabian Peninsula was a potential filter for cross-continental faunal exchange. Thus, the presence of early cercopithecines on the Arabian Peninsula during the late Miocene reinforces the probability of a cercopithecoid dispersal route out of Africa through southwest Asia before Messinian dispersal routes over the Mediterranean Basin or Straits of Gibraltar.

  13. Early guenon from the late Miocene Baynunah Formation, Abu Dhabi, with implications for cercopithecoid biogeography and evolution

    PubMed Central

    Gilbert, Christopher C.; Bibi, Faysal; Hill, Andrew; Beech, Mark J.

    2014-01-01

    A newly discovered fossil monkey (AUH 1321) from the Baynunah Formation, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, is important in a number of distinct ways. At ∼6.5–8.0 Ma, it represents the earliest known member of the primate subfamily Cercopithecinae found outside of Africa, and it may also be the earliest cercopithecine in the fossil record. In addition, the fossil appears to represent the earliest member of the cercopithecine tribe Cercopithecini (guenons) to be found anywhere, adding between 2 and 3.5 million y (∼50–70%) to the previous first-appearance datum of the crown guenon clade. It is the only guenon—fossil or extant—known outside the continent of Africa, and it is only the second fossil monkey specimen so far found in the whole of Arabia. This discovery suggests that identifiable crown guenons extend back into the Miocene epoch, thereby refuting hypotheses that they are a recent radiation first appearing in the Pliocene or Pleistocene. Finally, the new monkey is a member of a unique fauna that had dispersed from Africa and southern Asia into Arabia by this time, suggesting that the Arabian Peninsula was a potential filter for cross-continental faunal exchange. Thus, the presence of early cercopithecines on the Arabian Peninsula during the late Miocene reinforces the probability of a cercopithecoid dispersal route out of Africa through southwest Asia before Messinian dispersal routes over the Mediterranean Basin or Straits of Gibraltar. PMID:24982136

  14. Serologic follow-up of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus Cases and Contacts - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

    PubMed

    Al Hosani, Farida Ismail; Kim, Lindsay; Khudhair, Ahmed; Pham, Huong; Al Mulla, Mariam; Al Bandar, Zyad; Pradeep, Krishna; Elkheir, Kheir Abou; Weber, Stefan; Khoury, Mary; Donnelly, George; Younis, Naima; El Saleh, Feda; Abdalla, Muna; Imambaccus, Hala; Haynes, Lia M; Thornburg, Natalie J; Harcourt, Jennifer L; Miao, Congrong; Tamin, Azaibi; Hall, Aron J; Russell, Elizabeth S; Harris, Aaron M; Kiebler, Craig; Mir, Roger A; Pringle, Kimberly; Alami, Negar N; Abedi, Glen R; Gerber, Susan I

    2018-06-13

    Although there is evidence of person-to-person transmission of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) in household and healthcare settings, more data are needed to describe and better understand the risk factors and transmission routes in both settings, as well as the extent that disease severity affects transmission. A sero-epidemiological investigation was conducted among Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) case-patients and their household contacts to investigate transmission risk in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Cases diagnosed between January 1, 2013-May 9, 2014 and their household contacts were approached for enrollment. Demographic, clinical, and exposure history data were collected. Sera were screened by MERS-CoV nucleocapsid protein (N) ELISA and indirect immunofluorescence, with results confirmed by microneutralization assay. Ninety-one percent (n=31/34) of case-patients were asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and did not require oxygen during hospitalization. MERS-CoV antibodies were detected in 13 of 24 (54%) cases with available sera, including 3 asymptomatic, 9 mildly symptomatic, and 1 severely symptomatic case-patient. No serologic evidence of MERS-CoV transmission was found among 105 household contacts with available sera. Transmission of MERS-CoV was not documented in this investigation of mostly asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases and their household contacts. These results have implications for clinical management of cases and formulation of isolation policies to reduce the risk of transmission.

  15. Island forming processes in the Okavango Delta, Botswana

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McCarthy, T. S.; Humphries, M. S.; Mahomed, I.; Le Roux, P.; Verhagen, B. Th.

    2012-12-01

    The Okavango Delta in Botswana is a large (40,000 km2) alluvial fan that is characterised by the presence of numerous tree-covered islands. Thought to originate from the mound-building activities of termites or through fluvial processes associated with development of scroll bars and inverted channels, islands have been shown to play an important role in the structure and functioning of the Delta through the creation of habitat diversity, focusing of nutrients, and disposal of toxic salts. This study investigates the processes responsible for the maintenance and growth of two such islands in the seasonal swamps. Transpiration by vegetation is shown to result in substantial increases in groundwater salinity beneath the islands, contributing to their growth through chemical precipitation. Detailed chemical analyses revealed that the precipitation of magnesian calcite and silica within the island soils contributes 30-40% of the total island volume. Isotopic analyses of carbonate samples show that vegetation plays an important role in providing carbon for carbonate precipitation. Variations in δ13C carbonate values appear to reflect the relative proportion of C3 to C4 plants on the island, with C4 species becoming more dominant toward island centres in response to increases in groundwater salinity. The study suggests that continued island growth is also related to the deposition of aerosols and the accumulation of dust preferentially on islands and possibly to ongoing termite activity. Tall trees that characterise the island margins trap dust carried from the floodplains, resulting particularly in the lateral growth of islands. Islands in the Okavango are considered to be the product of long-term aggradation processes, with the two islands studied estimated to be in the order of tens of thousands of years old.

  16. Geologic Map of Baranof Island, southeastern Alaska

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Karl, Susan M.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Himmelberg, Glen R.; Zumsteg, Cathy L.; Layer, Paul W.; Friedman, Richard M.; Roeske, Sarah M.; Snee, Lawrence W.

    2015-01-01

    This map updates the geology of Baranof Island based on fieldwork, petrographic analyses, paleontologic ages, and isotopic ages. These new data provide constraints on depositional and metamorphic ages of lithostratigraphic rock units and the timing of structures that separate them. Kinematic analyses and thermobarometric calculations provide insights on the regional tectonic processes that affected the rocks on Baranof Island. The rocks on Baranof Island are components of a Paleozoic to Early Tertiary oceanic volcanic arc complex, including sedimentary and volcanic rocks that were deposited on and adjacent to the arc complex, deformed, and accreted. The arc complex consists of greenschist to amphibolite facies Paleozoic metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks overlain by lower-grade Triassic metasedimentary and metavolcanic rocks and intruded by Jurassic calc-alkaline plutons. The Paleozoic rocks correlate well in age and lithology with rocks of the Sicker and Buttle Lake Groups of the Wrangellia terrane on Vancouver Island and differ from rocks of the Skolai Group that constitute basement to type-Wrangellia in the Wrangell Mountains. The Jurassic intrusive rocks are correlative with plutons that intrude the Wrangellia terrane on Vancouver Island but are lacking in the Wrangell Mountains. The rocks accreted beneath the arc complex are referred to as the Baranof Accretionary Complex in this report and are correlated with the Chugach Accretionary Complex of southern and southeastern Alaska and with the Pacific Rim Complex on Vancouver Island. Stratigraphic correlations between upper- and lower-plate rocks on Baranof Island and western Chichagof Island with rocks on Haida Gwaii and Vancouver Island, in addition to correlative ages of intrusive rocks and restorations of the Fairweather-Queen Charlotte, Chatham Strait, and Peril Strait Faults that define the Baranof-Chichagof block, suggest Baranof Island was near Vancouver Island at the time of initiation of arc

  17. Modeling potential tsunami sources for deposits near Unalaska Island, Aleutian Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    La Selle, S.; Gelfenbaum, G. R.

    2013-12-01

    In regions with little seismic data and short historical records of earthquakes, we can use preserved tsunami deposits and tsunami modeling to infer if, when and where tsunamigenic earthquakes have occurred. The Aleutian-Alaska subduction zone in the region offshore of Unalaska Island is one such region where the historical and paleo-seismicity is poorly understood. This section of the subduction zone is not thought to have ruptured historically in a large earthquake, leading some to designate the region as a seismic gap. By modeling various historical and synthetic earthquake sources, we investigate whether or not tsunamis that left deposits near Unalaska Island were generated by earthquakes rupturing through Unalaska Gap. Preliminary field investigations near the eastern end of Unalaska Island have identified paleotsunami deposits well above sea level, suggesting that multiple tsunamis in the last 5,000 years have flooded low-lying areas over 1 km inland. Other indicators of tsunami inundation, such as a breached cobble beach berm and driftwood logs stranded far inland, were tentatively attributed to the March 9, 1957 tsunami, which had reported runup of 13 to 22 meters on Umnak and Unimak Islands, to the west and east of Unalaska. In order to determine if tsunami inundation could have reached the runup markers observed on Unalaska, we modeled the 1957 tsunami using GeoCLAW, a numerical model that simulates tsunami generation, propagation, and inundation. The published rupture orientation and slip distribution for the MW 8.6, 1957 earthquake (Johnson et al., 1994) was used as the tsunami source, which delineates a 1200 km long rupture zone along the Aleutian trench from Delarof Island to Unimak Island. Model results indicate that runup and inundation from this particular source are too low to account for the runup markers observed in the field, because slip is concentrated in the western half of the rupture zone, far from Unalaska. To ascertain if any realistic

  18. Emergence and evolution of Santa Maria Island (Azores)—The conundrum of uplifted islands revisited

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ramalho, Ricardo; Helffrich, George; Madeira, Jose; Cosca, Michael A.; Thomas, Christine; Quartau, Rui; Hipolito, Ana; Rovere, Alessio; Hearty, Paul; Avila, Sergio

    2017-01-01

    The growth and decay of ocean-island volcanoes are intrinsically linked to vertical movements. While the causes for subsidence are better understood, uplift mechanisms remain enigmatic. Santa Maria Island in the Azores Archipelago is an ocean-island volcano resting on top of young lithosphere, barely 480 km away from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Like most other Azorean islands, Santa Maria should be experiencing subsidence. Yet, several features indicate an uplift trend instead. In this paper, we reconstruct the evolutionary history of Santa Maria with respect to the timing and magnitude of its vertical movements, using detailed field work and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology. Our investigations revealed a complex evolutionary history spanning ∼6 m.y., with subsidence up to ca. 3.5 Ma followed by uplift extending to the present day. The fact that an island located in young lithosphere experienced a pronounced uplift trend is remarkable and raises important questions concerning possible uplift mechanisms. Localized uplift in response to the tectonic regime affecting the southeastern tip of the Azores Plateau is unlikely, since the area is under transtension. Our analysis shows that the only viable mechanism able to explain the uplift is crustal thickening by basal intrusions, suggesting that intrusive processes play a significant role even on islands standing on young lithosphere, such as in the Azores.

  19. Disparities in Adverse Perinatal Outcomes Among Pacific Islanders in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

    PubMed

    Dela Cruz, Rica; Grant, Jeanolivia; Heck, Julia E; Cash, Haley L

    2018-03-08

    Although other studies have found evidence for perinatal health disparities among Pacific Islanders in other regions, no studies have evaluated racial/ethnic disparities in adverse perinatal health outcomes in the small US island territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). We used retrospective cohort data on 8,427 singleton births from 2007 to 2014 at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC), the only hospital in the CNMI. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate risk for preterm birth (<37 weeks) and macrosomia (>4,000 g) among the racial/ethnic groups in the CNMI. Indigenous CNMI mothers (Chamorros and Carolinians, hereinafter Chamorro/Carolinian) and other Pacific Islander mothers were significantly more likely to have a preterm birth than Chinese mothers (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0-3.6 for Chamorro/Carolinians and AOR = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.1-4.1 for other Pacific Islanders). Additionally, Chamorro/Carolinian mothers and other Pacific Islander mothers were also significantly more likely to deliver babies with macrosomia (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7-3.5 and 2.3; 95% CI 1.4-3.6 respectively) than Filipino mothers. Although underlying causes for these disparities are still unknown, these findings add to the limited knowledge on maternal and neonatal health among Pacific Islanders and provide support for further research and intervention development to aid in reducing racial/ethnic disparities of perinatal health in the CNMI.

  20. 76 FR 79765 - Supplemental Identification Information for Two Individuals Designated Pursuant to Executive...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-12-22

    ... SUWAYWIN, 'Ali 'Abd Al-Rahman; a.k.a. ABU- GHAZALAH, Muhammad Hisham Isma'il; a.k.a. ABU-GHAZALAH, Muhammad Hisham Muhammad; a.k.a. AL-FILISTINI, Abu Layth; a.k.a. ISMA'IL, 'Ali 'Abd Al- Rahman; a.k.a. ``ABU...

  1. Nauru Island Effect Detection Data Set

    DOE Data Explorer

    Long, Chuck

    2010-07-15

    During Nauru99 it was noted that the island was producing small clouds that advected over the ARM site. The Nauru Island Effect Study was run for 1.5 years and the methodology developed to detect the occurrence. Nauru ACRF downwelling SW, wind direction, and air temperature data are used, along with downwelling SW data from Licor radiometers located on the southern end of the island near the airport landing strip. A statistical analysis and comparison of data from the two locations is used to detect the likely occurrence of an island influence on the Nauru ACRF site data

  2. Assessing qualitative long-term volcanic hazards at Lanzarote Island (Canary Islands)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Becerril, Laura; Martí, Joan; Bartolini, Stefania; Geyer, Adelina

    2017-07-01

    Conducting long-term hazard assessment in active volcanic areas is of primary importance for land-use planning and defining emergency plans able to be applied in case of a crisis. A definition of scenario hazard maps helps to mitigate the consequences of future eruptions by anticipating the events that may occur. Lanzarote is an active volcanic island that has hosted the largest (> 1.5 km3 DRE) and longest (6 years) eruption, the Timanfaya eruption (1730-1736), on the Canary Islands in historical times (last 600 years). This eruption brought severe economic losses and forced local people to migrate. In spite of all these facts, no comprehensive hazard assessment or hazard maps have been developed for the island. In this work, we present an integrated long-term volcanic hazard evaluation using a systematic methodology that includes spatial analysis and simulations of the most probable eruptive scenarios.

  3. Spatio-Temporal Dynamics of a Coastal Island Using Geospatial Techniques: A Case in Hatiya Island, Bangladesh

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramjan, S.; Mahmud, M. S.; Hossain, M. A.; Hasan, M.; Ashrafi, Z. M.

    2016-12-01

    Bangladesh is recognized for its high vulnerability to sea level rise (SLR). SLR directly and indirectly (by altering morphology of river estuary) accelerates erosion processes, washes out the loose materials of the coast and coastal islands. Hatiya, highly populated coastal island, located in Meghna river estuary is under severe threat of coastal erosion, which has not been quantified yet. The accurate mapping of the shoreline and coastal changes are very important for adopting conservation measures e.g. protection of human life, property and the natural environment. The objectives of the present study are to use remote sensing and Geographical Information System techniques to evaluate spatial and temporal changes in the shoreline and coastal land area of the Hatiya Island between the year of 1985 and 2016 from multi-temporal satellite images, i.e. assessing shifting of the shoreline position through digital shoreline analysis besides the erosion-accretion measurements. Study reveals that about 67 square kilometer areas has been lost between 1985 and 2016 which was about 17 percent of original area (1985). Erosion mainly took place in northern, north-western banks of the island. In these areas, the landward movement and rate of the shoreline were higher with a highest value of the net shoreline movement (NSM) around 6.2 km. Erosion rate is significant in exposed part of the island where tidal water pressure, shoreline configuration, loose bank materials and steep slope were observed. However, the accretion was noticed in recent years (2010-2016) in southern part of the island where slopes were gentle, perhaps due to backwash sediment deposition. As erosion process is prominent in this island, significant amounnt of usable land was lost. Therefore, local livelihood pattern has changed that has noticable effect on local economy. By quantifying the erosion-accretion rate, livelihood planning can be initiated in climatically threated vulnerable islands.

  4. Forest statistics for Rhode Island

    Treesearch

    John R. Peters; Teresa M. Bowers

    1977-01-01

    This report contains data from the second inventory of the forest resources of Rhode Island. The inventory was completed in 1971 by the Northeastern Forest Experiment Station in cooperation with the Rhode Island Department of Natural Resources.

  5. Introduction to Sea Island Folklife.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Twining, Mary A.; Baird, Keith E.

    1980-01-01

    Examines the economic activity, language, world view, kinship patterns, and religion of contemporary Sea Islanders in order to illustrate the Islands' cultural conservatism and, thus, their appropriateness for the study of Africanism in the United States. (GC)

  6. Impact of soil and groundwater corrosion on the Hierakonpolis Temple Town archaeological site, Wadi Abu Sufian, Idfu, Egypt.

    PubMed

    El-Shishtawy, A M; Atwia, M G; El-Gohary, A; Parizek, R R

    2013-06-01

    Hierakonpolis, Greek for City of the Hawk, nearly 25 km NW of Idfu (Egypt), is an important and extensive archaeological discovery covering a large area. Its richness in archaeological artifacts makes it a valuable site. It has a valid claim to be the first nation state, as indicated by the Palette of Narmer discovered in its main mound. Geological and hydrogeological investigations at the Hierakonpolis Temple Town site documented nearly a 4.0-m water table rise from as early as 1892 to the present. In addition to the rising water levels, the increase of both subsoil water salinity and humidity threatens and damages fragile carvings and paintings within tombs in Kingdom Hill, the foundation stability of the site, and the known and still to be discovered artifact that recent pottery finds dates at least 4,000 BCE. Representative rock and soil samples obtained from drilled cores in the study area were chosen for conducting detailed grain size and X-ray analysis, light and heavy mineral occurrences, distribution of moisture and total organic matter, and scanning electron microscopy investigations. Mineralogical analysis of clays indicated that the soil samples are composed of smectite/illite mixed layers with varying proportions of smectite to illite. Kaolinite is the second dominant clay constituent, besides occasional chlorite. Swelling of the clay portion of the soil, due to the presence of capillary groundwater, in contact with buried mudbrick walls expands and causes severe damage to important exposed and buried mudbrick structures, including the massive ancient "fort" believed to date from the Second Dynasty (from 2,890 to 2,686 BC). The "fort" is 1.0 km south of the Temple Town mounds near to confluence of Wadi Abu Sufian. Groundwater samples from the shallow aquifer close by the intersection of Wadi Abu Sufian and the Nile flood plain were analyzed for chemical composition and stable isotope ratios. The groundwater in the upper zone (subsoil water) within fine

  7. Checklist of the ants (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) of the Solomon Islands and a new survey of Makira Island

    PubMed Central

    Sarnat, Eli M.; Blanchard, Benjamin; Guénard, Benoit; John Fasi;  Evan P. Economo

    2013-01-01

    Abstract The intent of this paper is to facilitate future research of the Solomon Islands ant fauna by providing the first comprehensively researched species inventory in over 75 years. The species list presented here includes the names of all ant species recorded from the islands that are available in the literature together with specimen records from several museum collections and new records from our 2008 Makira field expedition. All the names of described species presented are valid in accordance with the most recent Formicidae classification. In total, the checklist is composed of 237 species and subspecies (including 30 morphospecies) in 59 genera representing nine subfamilies. We report that the recent field expedition added 67 new species records to Makira and 28 new species records to the Solomon Islands. Our research recovered species occurrence records for 32 individual islands and five island groups. The five islands with the highest number of recorded species are: Makira (142 spp.), Guadalcanal (107 spp.), Malaita (70 spp.), Santa Isabel (68 spp.), and Rennell (66 spp.). Based on our results, we discuss the taxonomic composition of the archipelago’s ant fauna, which islands are most in need of additional sampling, and the importance of establishing biodiversity baselines before environmental threats such as the invasive ant Wasmannia auropunctata cause irrevocable harm to the native biodiversity. PMID:23653494

  8. Oloketa Tingting Fo Apem Education Long Solomon Islands: Issues in Solomon Islands Education

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Alcorn, Noeline

    2010-01-01

    This book makes available to a wider audience for the first time material based on fieldwork carried out by the Solomon Island researchers in their own country. The findings will have vital relevance to policy makers, teachers and students. Over the past four years the School of Education, Solomon Islands College of Higher Education and the…

  9. Functional and phylogenetic structure of island bird communities.

    PubMed

    Si, Xingfeng; Cadotte, Marc W; Zeng, Di; Baselga, Andrés; Zhao, Yuhao; Li, Jiaqi; Wu, Yiru; Wang, Siyu; Ding, Ping

    2017-05-01

    Biodiversity change in anthropogenically transformed habitats is often nonrandom, yet the nature and importance of the different mechanisms shaping community structure are unclear. Here, we extend the classic Theory of Island Biogeography (TIB) to account for nonrandom processes by incorporating species traits and phylogenetic relationships into a study of faunal relaxation following habitat loss and fragmentation. Two possible mechanisms can create nonrandom community patterns on fragment islands. First, small and isolated islands might consist of similar or closely related species because they are environmentally homogeneous or select for certain shared traits, such as dispersal ability. Alternatively, communities on small islands might contain more dissimilar or distantly related species than on large islands because limited space and resource availability result in greater competitive exclusion among species with high niche overlap. Breeding birds were surveyed on 36 islands and two mainland sites annually from 2010 to 2014 in the Thousand Island Lake region, China. We assessed community structure of breeding birds on these subtropical land-bridge islands by integrating species' trait and evolutionary distances. We additionally analysed habitat heterogeneity and variance in size ratios to distinguish biotic and abiotic processes of community assembly. Results showed that functional-phylogenetic diversity increased with island area, and decreased with isolation. Bird communities on the mainland were more diverse and generally less clustered than island bird communities and not different than randomly assembled communities. Bird communities on islands tend to be functionally similar and phylogenetically clustered, especially on small and isolated islands. The nonrandom decline in species diversity and change in bird community structure with island area and isolation, along with the relatively homogeneous habitats on small islands, support the environmental

  10. FLANDERS FIELDS MEMORIAL IN TRAFFIC ISLAND ON EAST DRIVE. VIEW ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    FLANDERS FIELDS MEMORIAL IN TRAFFIC ISLAND ON EAST DRIVE. VIEW TO NORTHEAST. - Rock Island National Cemetery, Rock Island Arsenal, 0.25 mile north of southern tip of Rock Island, Rock Island, Rock Island County, IL

  11. Water resources of the Truk Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van der Brug, Otto

    1983-01-01

    The Truk Islands, part of the Caroline Islands in the western Pacific, consist of 19 volcanic islands and about 65 coral islets. The volcanic islands and some of the coral islets are scattered in an 820-square-mile lagoon enclosed by a 125-mile long barrier reef. Moen, although not the largest, is by far the most developed island and is the adminstrative, commercial, educational, and transporation center of the islands. Monthly rainfall records for most years are available since 1903. Rainfall-runoff comparisons show that about half the annual rainfall runs off as surface water into Truk Lagoon. Flow characteristics of the major streams, based on more than 11 years of record, are provided and the application of data for possible use in the design of reservoirs and rain catchments is included. Historical and present development of all water sources is given. The chemical analyses of surface and ground water on Moen, with the exception of water from well 9, show the good quality of the water sources. This report summarizes all hydrologic data collected and provides interpretations that can be used for development and management of the water resources. (USGS)

  12. Towards an Ontology for Reef Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Duce, Stephanie

    Reef islands are complex, dynamic and vulnerable environments with a diverse range of stake holders. Communication and data sharing between these different groups of stake holders is often difficult. An ontology for the reef island domain would improve the understanding of reef island geomorphology and improve communication between stake holders as well as forming a platform from which to move towards interoperability and the application of Information Technology to forecast and monitor these environments. This paper develops a small, prototypical reef island domain ontology, based on informal, natural language relations, aligned to the DOLCE upper-level ontology, for 20 fundamental terms within the domain. A subset of these terms and their relations are discussed in detail. This approach reveals and discusses challenges which must be overcome in the creation of a reef island domain ontology and which could be relevant to other ontologies in dynamic geospatial domains.

  13. 33 CFR 80.1495 - U.S. Pacific Island Possessions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... Island Possessions of American Samoa, Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnson, Palmyra, Swains and Wake Islands... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false U.S. Pacific Island Possessions... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Islands § 80.1495 U.S. Pacific Island...

  14. 33 CFR 80.1495 - U.S. Pacific Island Possessions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... Island Possessions of American Samoa, Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnson, Palmyra, Swains and Wake Islands... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false U.S. Pacific Island Possessions... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Islands § 80.1495 U.S. Pacific Island...

  15. 33 CFR 80.1495 - U.S. Pacific Island Possessions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... Island Possessions of American Samoa, Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnson, Palmyra, Swains and Wake Islands... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false U.S. Pacific Island Possessions... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Islands § 80.1495 U.S. Pacific Island...

  16. 33 CFR 80.1495 - U.S. Pacific Island Possessions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... Island Possessions of American Samoa, Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnson, Palmyra, Swains and Wake Islands... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false U.S. Pacific Island Possessions... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Islands § 80.1495 U.S. Pacific Island...

  17. 33 CFR 80.1495 - U.S. Pacific Island Possessions.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... Island Possessions of American Samoa, Baker, Howland, Jarvis, Johnson, Palmyra, Swains and Wake Islands... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false U.S. Pacific Island Possessions... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Islands § 80.1495 U.S. Pacific Island...

  18. Disparities in Adverse Perinatal Outcomes Among Pacific Islanders in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

    PubMed Central

    Grant, Jeanolivia; Heck, Julia E.; Cash, Haley L.

    2018-01-01

    Introduction Although other studies have found evidence for perinatal health disparities among Pacific Islanders in other regions, no studies have evaluated racial/ethnic disparities in adverse perinatal health outcomes in the small US island territory of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Methods We used retrospective cohort data on 8,427 singleton births from 2007 to 2014 at the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation (CHCC), the only hospital in the CNMI. We used multivariate logistic regression to estimate risk for preterm birth (<37 weeks) and macrosomia (>4,000 g) among the racial/ethnic groups in the CNMI. Results Indigenous CNMI mothers (Chamorros and Carolinians, hereinafter Chamorro/Carolinian) and other Pacific Islander mothers were significantly more likely to have a preterm birth than Chinese mothers (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 2.7; 95% confidence interval [CI], 2.0–3.6 for Chamorro/Carolinians and AOR = 2.9; 95% CI, 2.1–4.1 for other Pacific Islanders). Additionally, Chamorro/Carolinian mothers and other Pacific Islander mothers were also significantly more likely to deliver babies with macrosomia (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI, 1.7–3.5 and 2.3; 95% CI 1.4–3.6 respectively) than Filipino mothers. Conclusion Although underlying causes for these disparities are still unknown, these findings add to the limited knowledge on maternal and neonatal health among Pacific Islanders and provide support for further research and intervention development to aid in reducing racial/ethnic disparities of perinatal health in the CNMI. PMID:29522702

  19. Deer Island Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2015-07-01

    across the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) requires that a broad base of EWN understanding and support be built . The Deer Island Aquatic...USACE) requires that a broad base of EWN understanding and support be built . The Deer Island Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project (Deer Island AERP...Mississippi Wetlands Restoration Projects). The project received additional funding through several public laws in response to hurricane damages

  20. Wave forecasting and longshore sediment transport gradients along a transgressive barrier island: Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Georgiou, Ioannis Y.; Schindler, Jennifer K.

    2009-12-01

    Louisiana barrier islands, such as the chain surrounding the southeast region of the state, are experiencing rapid loss of land area, shoreline erosion, and landward migration due to transgression and in-place drowning, and the landfall of several major hurricanes in the last decade. Observations of migration rates and overall impacts to these barrier islands are poorly understood since they do not respond in a traditional way, such as barrier rollover. This paper aims to verify how wave energy and potential longshore sediment transport trends have influenced the recent evolution of the Chandeleur Islands, by direct comparison with recent observations of migration and erosion trends. The Chandeleur Islands are characterized by a bidirectional transport system, with material moving from the central arc to the flanks. The longshore sediment transport along the barrier islands was calculated after propagation and transformation of waves to breaking (generated using observed winds), and through the use of a common longshore sediment transport formula. Seasonal variations in wind climate produced changes in the transport trends and gradients that agree with migration and rotation patterns observed for this barrier island system. Results suggest that wind dominance produces seasonal oscillations that cause an imbalance in the resulting transport gradients that over time are responsible for higher rates of transport in the northward direction. These results and data from other works verify the evolutionary model previously suggested, and qualitatively confirm the recent observations in asymmetric shoreline erosion.

  1. Vector-borne diseases on Fire Island, New York (Fire Island National Seashore Science Synthesis Paper)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ginsberg, H.S.

    2005-01-01

    This paper discusses eleven tick-borne and five mosquito-borne pathogens that are known to occur at FIlS, or could potentially occur. The potential for future occurrence, and ecological factors that influence occurrence, are assessed for each disease. Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne disease on Fire Island. The Lyme spirochete, Borrelia burgdorferi, is endemic in local tick and wildlife populations. Public education, personal precautions against tick bite, and prompt treatment of early-stage infections can help manage the risk of Lyme disease on Fire Island. The pathogens that cause Human Monocytic Ehrlichiosis and Tularemia have been isolated from ticks or wildlife on Fire Island, and conditions suggest that other tickborne diseases (including Babesiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, and Human Granulocytic Ehrlichiosis) might also occur, but these are far less common than Lyme disease, if present. West Nile Virus (WNV) is the primary mosquito- borne human pathogen that is known to occur on Fire Island. Ecological conditions and recent epizootiological events suggest that WNV occurs in foci that can shift from year to year. Therefore, a surveillance program with appropriate responses to increasing epizootic activity can help manage the risk of WNV transmission on Fire Island.

  2. 33 CFR 80.150 - Block Island, RI.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Block Island, RI. 80.150 Section... NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Atlantic Coast § 80.150 Block Island, RI. The 72 COLREGS shall apply on the harbors of Block Island. ...

  3. 33 CFR 80.1122 - Channel Islands Harbor, CA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Coast § 80.1122 Channel Islands Harbor, CA. (a) A line drawn from Channel Islands Harbor South Jetty Light 2 to Channel Islands Harbor Breakwater... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Channel Islands Harbor, CA. 80...

  4. 33 CFR 80.1122 - Channel Islands Harbor, CA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Coast § 80.1122 Channel Islands Harbor, CA. (a) A line drawn from Channel Islands Harbor South Jetty Light 2 to Channel Islands Harbor Breakwater... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Channel Islands Harbor, CA. 80...

  5. 33 CFR 80.1122 - Channel Islands Harbor, CA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Coast § 80.1122 Channel Islands Harbor, CA. (a) A line drawn from Channel Islands Harbor South Jetty Light 2 to Channel Islands Harbor Breakwater... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Channel Islands Harbor, CA. 80...

  6. 33 CFR 80.1122 - Channel Islands Harbor, CA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Coast § 80.1122 Channel Islands Harbor, CA. (a) A line drawn from Channel Islands Harbor South Jetty Light 2 to Channel Islands Harbor Breakwater... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Channel Islands Harbor, CA. 80...

  7. 33 CFR 80.1122 - Channel Islands Harbor, CA.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... INTERNATIONAL NAVIGATION RULES COLREGS DEMARCATION LINES Pacific Coast § 80.1122 Channel Islands Harbor, CA. (a) A line drawn from Channel Islands Harbor South Jetty Light 2 to Channel Islands Harbor Breakwater... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Channel Islands Harbor, CA. 80...

  8. The geomorphology of the Chandeleur Island Wetlands

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Debusschere, K.; Penland, S.; Westphal, K.

    1990-09-01

    The Chandeleur Islands represent the largest and oldest transgressive barrier island arc in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Generated by the transgressive submergence of the St. Bernard delta complex, the Chandeleur Islands form the protective geologic framework for one of the richest areas of salt marsh and seagrass flats in Louisiana. The Chandeleur barrier island arc is 60 km long and consists of five individual islands backed by a linear, multiple bar system enclosing a shallow basin floored by extensive seagrass flats. The northern part of the Chandeleur chain is the highest in relief, elevation, width, and habitat diversity. Nonstormmore » morphology is predominantly a combination of continuous dunes and dune terraces. Numerous washover channels and large washover fans extend into the backbarrier environment. Further south, the island width decreases and washover flats and terraces dominate the shoreline morphology In the southernmost section, the island arc is fragmented into a series of small islands and shoals separated by tidal inlets. Between 1984 and 1989, aerial videotape, aerial photographic, and bathymetric surveys were used to map and monitor the geomorphic changes occurring along the shoreline and in backbarrier areas. The aerial videotape mapping surveys focused on the impacts of hurricanes Danny, Elena, and Juan on the geomorphology of the islands. Videotape imagery was acquired in July 1984 and in July (prestorm), August (post-Danny), September (post-Elena), and November (post-Juan) 1985. A coastal geomorphic classification was developed to map the spatial and temporal landscape changes between surveys.« less

  9. Impact of stylolitization on diagenesis of a Lower Cretaceous carbonate reservoir from a giant oilfield, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Paganoni, Matteo; Al Harthi, Amena; Morad, Daniel; Morad, Sadoon; Ceriani, Andrea; Mansurbeg, Howri; Al Suwaidi, Aisha; Al-Aasm, Ihsan S.; Ehrenberg, Stephen N.; Sirat, Manhal

    2016-04-01

    Bed-parallel stylolites are a widespread diagenetic feature in Lower Cretaceous limestone reservoirs, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Diagenetic calcite, dolomite, kaolin and small amounts of pyrite, fluorite, anhydrite and sphalerite occur along and in the vicinity of the stylolites. Petrographic observations, negative δ18OVPDB, fluid inclusion microthermometry, and enrichment in 87Sr suggest that these cements have precipitated from hot basinal brines, which migrated along the stylolites and genetically related microfractures (tension gashes). Fluid migration was presumably related to lateral tectonic compression events related to the foreland basin formation. The low solubility of Al3 + in formation waters suggests that kaolin precipitation was linked to derivation of organic acids during organic matter maturation, probably in siliciclastic source rocks. The mass released from stylolitization was presumably re-precipitated as macro- and microcrystalline calcite cement in the host limestones. The flanks of the oilfield (water zone) display more frequent presence and higher amplitude of stylolites, lower porosity and permeability, higher homogenization temperatures and more radiogenic composition of carbonates compared to the crest (oil zone). This indicates that oil emplacement retards diagenesis. This study demonstrates that stylolitization plays a crucial role in fluid flow and diagenesis of carbonate reservoirs during basin evolution.

  10. Hydrogeology and water resources of Block Island, Rhode Island

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Veeger, A.I.; Johnston, H.E.

    1994-01-01

    Ground water is present on Block Island as a lens of freshwater that overlies saltwater. Yields of 2 to 5 gallons per minute are obtainable throughout the island, and yields of 25 gallons per minute are possible at many wells. Annual water use during 1990 is estimated to have been 53 million gallons, of which approximately 17 million gallons was delivered from a water company at Sands Pond. Demand by water company customers from May through October averages 74,000 gallons per day. The sustainable yield of Sands Pond during the drought years estimated to be only 45,000 gallons per day. Withdrawal of the remaining 29,000 gallons per day from Fresh Pond, proposed as an alternative source, would produce an estimated water-level decline of less than 1 foot. Block Island consists of a Pleistocene moraine deposit that includes meltwater deposits, till, sediment-flow deposits, and glacially transported blocks of Cretaceous strata and pre-Late Wisconsinan glacial deposits. The water table is a subdued reflection of the land-surface topography and flow is generally from the central, topographic highs toward the coast. Layers of low hydraulic- conductivity material impede vertical flow, creating steep vertical gradients. No evidence of widespread ground-water contamination was found during this study. Nitrate concentrations were below Federal Maximum Contaminant Levels at each of the 83 sites sampled. No evidence of dissolved organic constituents was found in groundwater at the 10 sites sampled, and ground-water samples collected near the landfill showed no evidence of contamination from landfill leachate. Dissolved-iron concentrations exceeded the Federal Secondary Maximum Contaminant Level in groundwater at 26 of 76 wells sampled. High iron concentrations were found predominantly in the eastern and northern parts of the island and are attributed to the presence of iron-bearing minerals and organic matter in the aquifer.

  11. Bats of the Western Indian Ocean Islands

    PubMed Central

    O'Brien, John

    2011-01-01

    Simple Summary The purpose of this paper is to review the literature pertaining to the bat faunas of the western Indian Ocean islands, particularly in light of the identification of many new species on Madagascar and the taxonomic reassignment of others, and to summarise details of their general biology, feeding ecology, reproduction and conservation. Abstract The natural colonisation of many remote oceanic islands by bats, including those of the western Indian Ocean, has been facilitated by their unique capability among mammals for powered flight. In the western Indian Ocean region, only the Malagasy islands of Madagascar and the Comoros archipelago have been naturally colonised by non-volant mammals. Despite their greater potential for inter-island dispersal, and thus gene transfer, endemicity of Chiroptera in the western Indian Ocean islands is high. Given their vulnerability to stochastic and anthropogenic disturbances, greater focus needs to be placed on investigating the demographic and ecological history of bats on Western Indian Ocean islands to safeguard not only their future, but also the ecosystem functioning on these islands, for which they are undoubtedly such an integral part. Here, I summarise the taxonomic and life history information available on bats from Western Indian Ocean islands and highlight knowledge gaps and conservation issues that threaten the continued persistence of some species. PMID:26486500

  12. Streamlined Islands in Ares Valles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    (Released 10 June 2002) The Science Although liquid water is not stable on the surface of Mars today, there is substantial geologic evidence that large quantities of water once flowed across the surface in the distant past. Streamlined islands, shown here, are one piece of evidence for this ancient water. The tremendous force of moving water, possibly from a catastrophic flood, carved these teardrop-shaped islands within a much larger channel called Ares Valles. The orientation of the islands can be used as an indicator of the direction the water flowed. The islands have a blunt end that is usually associated with an obstacle, commonly an impact crater. The crater is resistant to erosion and creates a geologic barrier around which the water must flow. As the water flows past the obstacle, its erosive power is directed outward, leaving the area in the lee of the obstacle relatively uneroded. However, some scientists have also argued that the area in the lee of the obstacle might be a depositional zone, where material is dropped out of the water as it briefly slows. The ridges observed on the high-standing terrain in the leeward parts of the islands may be benches carved into the rock that mark the height of the water at various times during the flood, or they might be indicative of layering in the leeward rock. As the water makes its way downstream, the interference of the water flow by the obstacle is reduced, and the water that was diverted around the obstacle rejoins itself at the narrow end of the island. Therefore, the direction of the water flow is parallel to the orientation of the island, and the narrow end of the island points downstream. In addition to the streamlined islands, the channel floor exhibits fluting that is also suggestive of flowing water. The flutes (also known as longitudinal grooves) are also parallel to the direction of flow, indicating that the water flow was turbulent and probably quite fast, which is consistent with the hypothesized

  13. Effects of insularity on digestion: living on islands induces shifts in physiological and morphological traits in island reptiles

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sagonas, Kostas; Pafilis, Panayiotis; Valakos, Efstratios D.

    2015-10-01

    Living on islands entails numerous challenges for animals, among which resource scarcity stands out. In order to survive, animals have to optimize energy acquisition. We examined the impact of insularity on digestion comparing a series of physiological and morphological traits of adult males between insular and mainland populations of the Balkan green lizard. Island lizards had longer gastrointestinal tracts and gut passage times and higher digestive efficiencies. The dissection of the hindgut revealed an unexpected finding, the presence of cecal valves that were more frequent in island lizards. Thanks to all above islanders retain food for longer periods and thus maximize energy income and increase the amount of the extracted nutrients. That way, they secure energy income from the limited, in time and quantity, food resources of the islands.

  14. Bioclimatic and physical characterization of the world’s islands

    PubMed Central

    Weigelt, Patrick; Jetz, Walter; Kreft, Holger

    2013-01-01

    The Earth’s islands harbor a distinct, yet highly threatened, biological and cultural diversity that has been shaped by geographic isolation and unique environments. Island systems are key natural laboratories for testing theory in ecology and evolution. However, despite their potential usefulness for research, a quantitative description of island environments and an environmental classification are still lacking. Here, we prepare a standardized dataset and perform a comprehensive global environmental characterization for 17,883 of the world’s marine islands >1 km2 (∼98% of total island area). We consider area, temperature, precipitation, seasonality in temperature and precipitation, past climate change velocity, elevation, isolation, and past connectivity—key island characteristics and drivers of ecosystem processes. We find that islands are significantly cooler, wetter, and less seasonal than mainlands. Constrained by their limited area, they show less elevational heterogeneity. Wet temperate climates are more prevalent on islands, whereas desert climates are comparatively rare. We use ordination and clustering to characterize islands in multidimensional environmental space and to delimit island ecoregions, which provides unique insights into the environmental configuration and diversity of the world’s islands. Combining ordination and classification together with global environmental data in a common framework opens up avenues for a more integrative use of islands in biogeography, macroecology, and conservation. To showcase possible applications of the presented data, we predict vascular plant species richness for all 17,883 islands based on statistically derived environment–richness relationships. PMID:24003123

  15. Barrier island arcs along abandoned Mississippi River deltas

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Penland, S.; Suter, J.R.; Boyd, Ron

    1985-01-01

    Generation of transgressive barrier island arcs along the Mississippi River delta plain and preservation of barrier shoreline facies in their retreat paths on the inner shelf is controlled by: (1) shoreface translation; (2) age of the transgression; and (3) the thickness of the barrier island arc sediment package. Barrier island arcs experience an average relative sea level rise of 0.50-1.00 cm yr-1 and shoreface retreat rates range from 5-15 m yr-1. Young barrier island arc sediment packages (Isles Dernieres) are thin and have experienced limited landward retreat of the shoreface. Older barrier island arcs (Chandeleur Islands) are thicker and have experienced significant landward movement of the shoreface because of the greater time available for retreat. If the transgressed barrier shoreline sediment package lies above the advancing ravinement surface, the entire sequence is truncated. A thin reworked sand sheet marks the shoreface retreat path. The base of the transgressive sediment package can lie below the ravinement surface in older barrier shorelines. In this setting, the superstructure of the barrier shoreline is truncated, leaving the basal portion of the transgressive sequence preserved on the inner shelf. A variety of transgressive stratigraphic sequences from sand sheets to truncated barrier islands to sand-filled tidal inlet scars have been identified by high resolution seismic profiling across the shoreface retreat paths of Mississippi delta barrier island arcs. One of these examples, the Isles Dernieres, represents a recently detached barrier island arc in the early stages of transgression. An older example, the Chandeleur Islands, represents a barrier island arc experiencing long-term shoreface retreat. This paper describes the stratigraphic character and preserved transgressive facies for the Isles Dernieres and Chandeleur Islands. ?? 1985.

  16. Leadership in Context: Observations from Two Island Communities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Billot, Jennie

    2005-01-01

    This article refers to just one example of specificity of context, the small island community. Islands can be viewed as well-bounded communities, often with an identity that seeks to be one step removed from being the politically dependent neighbour. Two islands serve to exemplify the significance of context: The Island of Jersey (Channel…

  17. Ecology of Great Salt Pond, Block Island

    EPA Science Inventory

    Great Salt Pond is an island of estuarine water on Block Island, which sits in the middle of the Northwest Atlantic Continental Shelf. When the last continental glaciers retreated, they left a high spot on a terminal moraine. The rising sea from melting glaciers formed two island...

  18. MARINE BOTTOM COMMUNITIES OF BLOCK ISLAND WATERS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The sea has long been an integral part of Block Island's natural history, beginning when the rising sea surrounded the high spot on a Pleistocene terminal moraine that became Block Island. The southern New England continental shelf, which lies around Block Island, and the Great S...

  19. Surficial geology of the sea floor in Long Island Sound offshore of Plum Island, New York

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McMullen, K.Y.; Poppe, L.J.; Danforth, W.W.; Blackwood, D.S.; Schaer, J.D.; Ostapenko, A.J.; Glomb, K.A.; Doran, E.F.

    2010-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have been working cooperatively to interpret surficial sea-floor geology along the coast of the Northeastern United States. NOAA survey H11445 in eastern Long Island Sound, offshore of Plum Island, New York, covers an area of about 12 square kilometers. Multibeam bathymetry and sidescan-sonar imagery from the survey, as well as sediment and photographic data from 13 stations occupied during a USGS verification cruise are used to delineate sea-floor features and characterize the environment. Bathymetry gradually deepens offshore to over 100 meters in a depression in the northwest part of the study area and reaches 60 meters in Plum Gut, a channel between Plum Island and Orient Point. Sand waves are present on a shoal north of Plum Island and in several smaller areas around the basin. Sand-wave asymmetry indicates that counter-clockwise net sediment transport maintains the shoal. Sand is prevalent where there is low backscatter in the sidescan-sonar imagery. Gravel and boulder areas are submerged lag deposits produced from the Harbor Hill-Orient Point-Fishers Island moraine segment and are found adjacent to the shorelines and just north of Plum Island, where high backscatter is present in the sidescan-sonar imagery.

  20. Stratigraphic evolution of Chandeleur Islands, Louisiana

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Suter, J.R.; Penland, S.; Williams, S.J.

    1988-09-01

    Analyses of over 3000 km of high-resolution seismic profiles, supplemented by vibracores and soil borings, illustrate the evolution of the Chandeleur Islands through transgressive processes associated with the abandonment of the St. Bernard complex of the Mississippi delta some 1500 years ago. Historical maps show that the system has been eroding, migrating landward, and losing area for the last 100 years. At current rates, the subaerial integrity of the islands will be terminated in about 200 years. Hurricane impacts accelerate erosion and segment the islands, followed by limited recovery during fair weather periods. Relative sea level rise from both subsidencemore » and possible eustatic factors contributes to the loss of island area.« less

  1. From 3D to 4D seismic tomography at El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Garcia-Yeguas, A.; Koulakov, I.; Jakovlev, A.; Ibáñez, J. M.

    2012-04-01

    In this work we are going to show the advantages of a dynamic tomography 4D, versus a static image 3D related with a volcanic reactivation and eruption at El Hierro island (Canary Islands, Spain). In this process a high number of earthquakes before and during the eruptive processes have been registered. We are going to show a 3D image as an average of the velocity structure and then the characteristics and physical properties on the medium, including the presence or not of magma. This image will be complemented with its evolution along the time, observing its volcanic dynamic and its influence over the medium properties, including its power as an important element on early warnings protocols. After more than forty years of quiet at Canary Islands, since 1971 with Teneguía eruption at La Palma Island, and more than 200 years on El Hierro Island (The last eruption known at El Hierro took place in 1793, volcán de Lomo Negro), on 19th July on 2011 the Spanish seismic national network, administered by IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional), detected an increase of local seismic activity below El Hierro island (Canary Islands, Spain). Since this moment an intense swarm took place, with more than 11000 events, until 11th December, with magnitudes (MLg) from 0.2 to 4.4. In this period two eruptive processes have been declared in front of the South coast of El Hierro island, and they have not finished yet. This seismic swarm has allowed carrying out a 3D seismic tomography, using P and S waves traveltimes. It has showed a low velocity from the North to the South. On the other hand, we have performed a 4D seismic tomography, taking the events occurred at different intervals of time. We can observe the evolution of the negative anomaly along the time, from the North to the South, where has taken place La Restinga submarine eruption. 4D seismic tomography is an innovative and powerful tool able to show the evolution in time of a volcanic process.

  2. Hydrology of the coastal sabkhas of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sanford, Ward; Wood, Warren

    2001-05-01

    Water fluxes were estimated and a water budget developed for the land surface and a surficial 10-m-deep section of the coastal sabkhas that extend from the city of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, west to the border with Saudi Arabia. The fluxes were estimated on the basis of water levels and hydraulic conductivities measured in wells and evaporation rates measured with a humidity chamber. In contrast with conceptual models proposed in earlier studies, groundwater inflow is estimated to be small, whereas the largest components of the water budget are recharge from rainfall and evaporation from the water table. Estimates within a rectilinear volume of sabkha, defined as 1 m wide by 10 km long by 10 m deep, indicate that about 1 m3/year of water enters and exits by lateral groundwater flow; 40-50 m3/year enters by upward leakage; and 640 m3/year enters by recharge from rainfall. Based on the water and solute fluxes estimated for the upward leakage into the sabkha, 7-8 pore volumes of brine have entered the sabkha from below since the time the sabkha became saturated (7,000 years ago) as a result of the last global sea-level rise. Résumé. Les flux d'eau ont été estimés et le bilan hydrique a été réalisé pour la surface et les dix premiers mètres sous la surface de sebkhas littorales qui s'étendent à partir de la ville d'Abou Dhabi (Émirats Arabes Unis) à l'ouest de la frontière avec l'Arabie Saoudite. Les flux ont été estimés à partir des niveaux piézométriques et des conductivités hydrauliques mesurés dans les puits et à partir de mesures d'évaporation au moyen de capteurs d'humidité. En opposition avec les modèles conceptuels proposés dans les premières études, on estime que les apports par les eaux souterraines sont faibles, alors que les termes du bilan hydrique les plus importants sont la recharge par la pluie et l'évaporation à partir de la nappe. Les estimations dans un parallélépipède rectangle de sebkha, d'1 m de large, de

  3. Prince Patrick Island, Canada

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2015-02-26

    This image from NASA Terra spacecraft shows Prince Patrick Island, which is located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, and is the westernmost Elizabeth Island in the Northwest Territories of Canada. The island is underlain by sedimentary rocks, cut by still-active faults. The streams follow a dendritic drainage system: there are many contributing streams (analogous to the twigs of a tree), which are then joined together into the tributaries of the main river (the branches and the trunk of the tree, respectively). They develop where the river channel follows the slope of the terrain. The image covers an area of 22 by 27 km, was acquired July 2, 2011, and is located at 76.9 degrees north, 118.9 degrees west. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA19222

  4. 33 CFR 110.146 - Long Island Sound.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Long Island Sound. 110.146... ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Anchorage Grounds § 110.146 Long Island Sound. (a) Anchorage grounds. (1) Bridgeport Anchorage Ground. That portion of Long Island Sound enclosed by a line connecting the following points...

  5. 33 CFR 110.146 - Long Island Sound.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Long Island Sound. 110.146... ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Anchorage Grounds § 110.146 Long Island Sound. (a) Anchorage grounds. (1) Bridgeport Anchorage Ground. That portion of Long Island Sound enclosed by a line connecting the following points...

  6. 33 CFR 110.146 - Long Island Sound.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Long Island Sound. 110.146... ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Anchorage Grounds § 110.146 Long Island Sound. (a) Anchorage grounds. (1) Bridgeport Anchorage Ground. That portion of Long Island Sound enclosed by a line connecting the following points...

  7. 33 CFR 110.146 - Long Island Sound.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Long Island Sound. 110.146... ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Anchorage Grounds § 110.146 Long Island Sound. (a) Anchorage grounds. (1) Bridgeport Anchorage Ground. That portion of Long Island Sound enclosed by a line connecting the following points...

  8. Estimation of seismic attenuation in carbonate rocks using three different methods: Application on VSP data from Abu Dhabi oilfield

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bouchaala, F.; Ali, M. Y.; Matsushima, J.

    2016-06-01

    In this study a relationship between the seismic wavelength and the scale of heterogeneity in the propagating medium has been examined. The relationship estimates the size of heterogeneity that significantly affects the wave propagation at a specific frequency, and enables a decrease in the calculation time of wave scattering estimation. The relationship was applied in analyzing synthetic and Vertical Seismic Profiling (VSP) data obtained from an onshore oilfield in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Prior to estimation of the attenuation, a robust processing workflow was applied to both synthetic and recorded data to increase the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR). Two conventional methods of spectral ratio and centroid frequency shift methods were applied to estimate the attenuation from the extracted seismic waveforms in addition to a new method based on seismic interferometry. The attenuation profiles derived from the three approaches demonstrated similar variation, however the interferometry method resulted in greater depth resolution, differences in attenuation magnitude. Furthermore, the attenuation profiles revealed significant contribution of scattering on seismic wave attenuation. The results obtained from the seismic interferometry method revealed estimated scattering attenuation ranges from 0 to 0.1 and estimated intrinsic attenuation can reach 0.2. The subsurface of the studied zones is known to be highly porous and permeable, which suggest that the mechanism of the intrinsic attenuation is probably the interactions between pore fluids and solids.

  9. Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds

    PubMed Central

    Wright, Natalie A.; Steadman, David W.; Witt, Christopher C.

    2016-01-01

    Birds are prolific colonists of islands, where they readily evolve distinct forms. Identifying predictable, directional patterns of evolutionary change in island birds, however, has proved challenging. The “island rule” predicts that island species evolve toward intermediate sizes, but its general applicability to birds is questionable. However, convergent evolution has clearly occurred in the island bird lineages that have undergone transitions to secondary flightlessness, a process involving drastic reduction of the flight muscles and enlargement of the hindlimbs. Here, we investigated whether volant island bird populations tend to change shape in a way that converges subtly on the flightless form. We found that island bird species have evolved smaller flight muscles than their continental relatives. Furthermore, in 366 populations of Caribbean and Pacific birds, smaller flight muscles and longer legs evolved in response to increasing insularity and, strikingly, the scarcity of avian and mammalian predators. On smaller islands with fewer predators, birds exhibited shifts in investment from forelimbs to hindlimbs that were qualitatively similar to anatomical rearrangements observed in flightless birds. These findings suggest that island bird populations tend to evolve on a trajectory toward flightlessness, even if most remain volant. This pattern was consistent across nine families and four orders that vary in lifestyle, foraging behavior, flight style, and body size. These predictable shifts in avian morphology may reduce the physical capacity for escape via flight and diminish the potential for small-island taxa to diversify via dispersal. PMID:27071105

  10. Predictable evolution toward flightlessness in volant island birds.

    PubMed

    Wright, Natalie A; Steadman, David W; Witt, Christopher C

    2016-04-26

    Birds are prolific colonists of islands, where they readily evolve distinct forms. Identifying predictable, directional patterns of evolutionary change in island birds, however, has proved challenging. The "island rule" predicts that island species evolve toward intermediate sizes, but its general applicability to birds is questionable. However, convergent evolution has clearly occurred in the island bird lineages that have undergone transitions to secondary flightlessness, a process involving drastic reduction of the flight muscles and enlargement of the hindlimbs. Here, we investigated whether volant island bird populations tend to change shape in a way that converges subtly on the flightless form. We found that island bird species have evolved smaller flight muscles than their continental relatives. Furthermore, in 366 populations of Caribbean and Pacific birds, smaller flight muscles and longer legs evolved in response to increasing insularity and, strikingly, the scarcity of avian and mammalian predators. On smaller islands with fewer predators, birds exhibited shifts in investment from forelimbs to hindlimbs that were qualitatively similar to anatomical rearrangements observed in flightless birds. These findings suggest that island bird populations tend to evolve on a trajectory toward flightlessness, even if most remain volant. This pattern was consistent across nine families and four orders that vary in lifestyle, foraging behavior, flight style, and body size. These predictable shifts in avian morphology may reduce the physical capacity for escape via flight and diminish the potential for small-island taxa to diversify via dispersal.

  11. Recovering endemic plants of the Channel Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McEachern, A. Kathryn

    2008-01-01

    At the California Channel Islands, off the state’s southern coast, cold waters from the north mix with warmer waters from the south. Each of the eight Channel Islands, which were never connected to the mainland, developed unique floras as colonizing plants adapted to their new island homes. This part of California is one of only five Mediterranean climate regions in the world, characterized by hot, dry summers and cool, wet winters. Thus, the islands support a truly unusual assemblage of plants and animals found nowhere else.

  12. 3. Light tower, view northwest, south side Ram Island ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    3. Light tower, view northwest, south side - Ram Island Light Station, Ram Island, south of Ocean Point & just north of Fisherman Island, marking south side of Fisherman Island Passage, Ocean Point, Lincoln County, ME

  13. Streamlined Island

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2003-01-01

    MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-514, 15 October 2003

    This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows a streamlined island in Marte Vallis, a large outflow channel system that crosses the 180oW meridian between the Elysium and Amazonis regions of Mars. The flow patterns on the floor of Marte Vallis might be the remains of lava flows or mud flows. Marte is the Spanish word for Mars. Most of the largest valleys on the red planet are named for 'Mars' in various languages. This island is located near 21.8oN, 175.3oW. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left.

  14. Climate Change in the Pacific Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hamnett, Michael P.

    Climate change have been a major concern among Pacific Islanders since the late 1990s. During that period, Time Magazine featured a cover story that read: Say Goodbye to the Marshall Islands, Kiribati, and Tuvalu from sea level rise. Since that time, the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme, UN and government agencies and academic researchers have been assessing the impacts of long-term climate change and seasonal to inter-annual climate variability on the Pacific Islands. The consensus is that long-term climate change will result in more extreme weather and tidal events including droughts, floods, tropical cyclones, coastal erosion, and salt water inundation. Extreme weather events already occur in the Pacific Islands and they are patterned. El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events impact rainfall, tropical cyclone and tidal patterns. In 2000, the first National Assessment of the Consequences of Climate Variability and Change concluded that long-term climate change will result in more El Niño events or a more El Niño like climate every year. The bad news is that will mean more natural disasters. The good news is that El Niño events can be predicted and people can prepare for them. The reallly bad news is that some Pacific Islands are already becoming uninhabitable because of erosion of land or the loss of fresh water from droughts and salt water intrusion. Many of the most vulnerable countries already overseas populations in New Zealand, the US, or larger Pacific Island countries. For some Pacific Islander abandoning their home countries will be their only option.

  15. Oil Slick Around Mississippi Barrier Islands [detail

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2017-12-08

    NASA image acquired June 26, 2010 As of June 27, 2010, the entire gulf-facing beachfront of several barrier islands in eastern Mississippi (offshore of Pascagoula) had received a designation of at least “lightly oiled” by the interagency Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Team that is responding to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. A few small stretches of Petit Bois Island had been labeled heavily or moderately oiled. (To view this image without a description go to: This high-resolution image shows Petit Bois Island (top right) and the eastern end of Horn Island (top left) on June 26. In general, oil-covered waters are silvery and cleaner waters are blue-gray. This pattern is especially consistent farther from the islands. The intensely bright patches of water directly offshore of the barrier islands, however, may be from a combination of factors, including sediment and organic material, coastal currents and surf, and oil. The islands provide a sense of scale for the ribbons of oil swirling into the area from the south. Petit Bois Island is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) long. It is one of seven barrier islands that, along with some mainland areas of Mississippi and Florida, make up the Gulf Islands National Seashore. According to the National Park Service Gulf Islands National Seashore Website, all the islands remained open to the public as of June 28, 2010, and clean-up crews were on hand to respond to any oil coming ashore. The large version of this image, which was captured by the Advanced Land Imager on NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite, shows a larger area, including the Mississippi Sound and parts of mainland Mississippi. Although oil has been observed in the Sound, it is unlikely that all the bright patches of water in that area are thickly oil-covered. Differences in brightness in coastal area waters may be due to other factors, including freshwater runoff, strong currents, and water depth and clarity. NASA Earth Observatory image created by

  16. Escape from the Island: Grammaticality and (Reduced) Acceptability of "Wh"-Island Violations in Danish

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Christensen, Ken Ramshoj; Kizach, Johannes; Nyvad, Anne Mette

    2013-01-01

    In the syntax literature, it is commonly assumed that a constraint on linguistic competence blocks extraction of "wh-"expressions (e.g. "what" or "which book") from embedded questions, referred to as "wh-"islands. Furthermore, it is assumed that there is an argument/adjunct asymmetry in extraction from "wh-"islands. We report results from two…

  17. Potential distribution dataset of honeybees in Indian Ocean Islands: Case study of Zanzibar Island.

    PubMed

    Mwalusepo, Sizah; Muli, Eliud; Nkoba, Kiatoko; Nguku, Everlyn; Kilonzo, Joseph; Abdel-Rahman, Elfatih M; Landmann, Tobias; Fakih, Asha; Raina, Suresh

    2017-10-01

    Honeybees ( Apis mellifera ) are principal insect pollinators, whose worldwide distribution and abundance is known to largely depend on climatic conditions. However, the presence records dataset on potential distribution of honeybees in Indian Ocean Islands remain less documented. Presence records in shape format and probability of occurrence of honeybees with different temperature change scenarios is provided in this article across Zanzibar Island. Maximum entropy (Maxent) package was used to analyse the potential distribution of honeybees. The dataset provides information on the current and future distribution of the honey bees in Zanzibar Island. The dataset is of great importance for improving stakeholders understanding of the role of temperature change on the spatial distribution of honeybees.

  18. Petroleum developments in Middle East countries in 1967

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Mason, J.F.; Moore, Q.M.

    1968-08-01

    Petroleum production in Middle East countries in 1967 totaled 3,679,506,000 bbl at an average rate of 10,080,838 bpd. This compares with 3,407,666,000 bbl or 9,336,071 bpd in 1966. The principal production increases were in Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar offshore, Abu Dhabi, and Oman (first production). New fields were found in offshore Iran, Neutral Zone, and Saudi Arabia. There were no exploration activities in Iraq, Aden, Kamaran Islands, Yeman, Hadramaut, and Cyprus. The main areas of exploratory work were in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Neutral Zone, and the southern Gulf (both onshore and offshore).

  19. New plant records from Hawai'i Island

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pratt, Linda W.; Bio, Keali'i F.

    2012-01-01

    The following plant records from the island of Hawai'i include 2 new state records, 6 new island records, 3 new records of naturalized species previously known to be present on the island, and 1 range extension of an orchid recently reported as naturalized. All cited voucher specimens are deposited at BISH.

  20. 77 FR 71531 - Special Local Regulation; Kelley's Island Swim, Lake Erie; Kelley's Island, Lakeside, OH

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2012-12-03

    ...-AA08 Special Local Regulation; Kelley's Island Swim, Lake Erie; Kelley's Island, Lakeside, OH AGENCY... part 100 by adding a Special Local Regulation within the Captain of the Port Detroit Zone. This... Swim. This special local regulated area is necessary to protect swimmers from vessel traffic. DATES...

  1. Operation Ward's Island, A Guide to the Trees and Other Features of Ward's Island.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York City Board of Education, Brooklyn, NY. Bureau of Curriculum Development.

    This guide for teachers, students, and adults illustrates how it is possible to use Ward's Island as an outdoor laboratory. It contains a guide to 30 kinds of trees on the island, along with clearly drawn maps and illustrations. The guide helps the user to locate these trees along two nature trails. A section called "Ward's Island…

  2. The transport characteristics of passing fast ions produced by nonlocal overlapping of drift island surfaces and magnetic island surfaces

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Cao, Jinjia; Gong, Xueyu, E-mail: gongxueyu-usc@163.com; Xiang, Dong

    The structure of the drift-island surface of passing fast ions (PFIs) is investigated in the presence of the resonant interaction with a magnetic island. Two overlapping regions of the drift-island surface and the magnetic island surface are found, one corresponding to local overlapping region and the other to non-local one. Here, the word “nonlocal” denotes that the resonances in the core plasma can have effects on the PFIs near the plasma boundary, while the “local” represents that the PFIs just near the resonant location are influenced. The nonlocal overlapping constructs a transport path along which the PFIs can become losses.more » There are three kinds of drift-island surfaces to join in forming the transport paths. A pitch angle region, which is called pitch angle gap, is found near the plasma boundary, where the drift-island surface cannot be formed and few PFIs are lost. The pitch-angle selective features of PFI losses are obtained by analyzing the three kinds of drift-island surfaces. The coupling between the crowd drift island surfaces and the collision can induce the prompt losses of PFIs and rapidly slowing down of PFI energy. The time of the prompt losses and the slowing down rate are calculated. Qualitatively, the theoretical results are in well agreement with the experimental observations in ASDEX Upgrade [M. García-Muñoz et al., Nucl. Fusion 47, L10 (2007)].« less

  3. Response of Everglades tree islands to environmental change

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Willard, Debra A.; Bernhardt, Christopher E.; Holmes, Charles W.; Landacre, Bryan; Marot, Marci E.

    2006-01-01

    Tree islands are centers of biodiversity within the Florida Everglades, USA, but the factors controlling their distribution, formation, and development are poorly understood. We use pollen assemblages from tree islands throughout the greater Everglades ecosystem to reconstruct the timing of tree island formation, patterns of development, and response to specific climatic and environmental stressors. These data indicate that fixed (teardrop-shaped) and strand tree islands developed well before substantial human alteration of the system, with initial tree island vegetation in place between 3500 and 500 calibrated years before present (cal yr BP), depending on the location in the Everglades wetland. Tree island development appears to have been triggered by regional- to global-scale climatic events at 2800 cal yr BP, 1600–1500 cal yr BP, 1200–1000 cal yr BP (early Medieval Warm Period), and 500–200 cal yr BP (Little Ice Age). These periods correspond to drought intervals documented in Central and South America and periods of southward displacement of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The records indicate a coherence of climate patterns in both subtropical North America and the Northern Hemisphere Neotropics. Water management practices of the 20th century altered plant communities and size of tree islands throughout the Everglades. Responses range from loss of tree islands due to artificially long hydroperiods and deep water to expansion of tree islands after flow reductions. These data provide evidence for the rapidity of tree island response to specific hydrologic change and facilitate prediction of the response to future changes associated with Everglades restoration plans.

  4. Coastal Change on Gulf Islands National Seashore during Hurricane Gustav: West Ship, East Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stockdon, Hilary F.; Doran, Kara S.; Serafin, Katherine A.

    2010-01-01

    INTRODUCTION Hurricane Gustav made landfall on September 1, 2008, near Cocodrie, Louisiana, as a category 2 storm, with maximum sustained winds near 170 km/hr. Hurricane-force winds, with speeds in excess of 119 km/hr, extended along 270 km of the Louisiana coastline, from Marsh Island to the central barrier islands. Tropical-storm-force winds (speeds > 63 km/hr) were felt across the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama. Within this area of high wind and associated storm surge and waves lie the Mississippi barrier islands of West Ship, East Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois, part of the National Park Service (NPS) Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS). These east-west trending islands form a barrier between the Mississippi Sound to the north and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. The islands are generally less than 1 km wide with dune elevations ranging generally between 2 and 3 m, but reaching 6 m on Horn Island. The interaction of waves and currents with the low, sandy beaches forces a range of dynamic responses, such as dune erosion, overwash deposition, spit elongation, and island breaching. The passage of strong hurricanes (such as Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005), combined with a background signal of long-term shoreline retreat, has caused significant coastal changes on the Mississippi barrier islands, presenting management challenges for State and Federal officials, including NPS resource managers. At the request of the NPS, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has processed, analyzed, and interpreted pre- and post-Hurricane-Gustav lidar topographic data for West Ship, East Ship, Horn, and Petit Bois. These data and analyses can be used to better assess the storm vulnerability of portions of GUIS by characterizing the magnitude and spatial variability of hurricane-induced coastal changes, such as shoreline retreat, dune erosion, and beach volume change. This information will provide park managers with a greater understanding of the long-term evolution of these islands

  5. 2. Light tower, view west towards Squirrel Island, south and ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    2. Light tower, view west towards Squirrel Island, south and east sides - Ram Island Light Station, Ram Island, south of Ocean Point & just north of Fisherman Island, marking south side of Fisherman Island Passage, Ocean Point, Lincoln County, ME

  6. Insular and migrant species, longevity records, and new species records on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Boal, C.W.; Sibley, F.C.; Estabrook, T.S.; Lazell, J.

    2006-01-01

    We conducted mist netting each October from 1994 to 2004 on Guana Island, British Virgin Islands, and recorded bird sightings to develop a more complete inventory of the island's resident and migrant species. During our study, we recorded four new species for the British Virgin Islands: Magnolia Warbler (Dendroica magnolia; 1996), Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera; 1997), Swainson's Thrush (Catharus ustulatus; 2000), and Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus; 2004). Blackpoll Warbler (Dendroica striata) was the most frequently captured Neotropical migrant landbird, despite only being first detected in the region in 1989. Captures and detections of other Neotropical migrant landbirds suggest that many species may be more common in the region than previously believed, or, as speculated by other researchers, that migrant routes may be shifting eastward due to habitat degradation on western Caribbean islands. We also used recapture data to establish longevity records of resident species, including Caribbean Elaenia (Elaenia martinica; ??? 7 years), Bananaquit (Coereba flaveola; 7 years), Black-faced Grassquit (Tiaris bicolor; ???9 years), and Zenaida Dove (Zenaida aurita; 5 years). Longevities of other resident species were similar to, or slightly less than, those reported elsewhere.

  7. Anatahan Island

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-19

    ...     View Larger Image This natural-color image of Anatahan Island from the Multi-angle ... (Acro Service Corporation/Jet Propulsion Laboratory), David J. Diner (Jet Propulsion Laboratory). Other formats available at JPL ...

  8. The CpG island searcher: a new WWW resource.

    PubMed

    Takai, Daiya; Jones, Peter A

    2003-01-01

    Clusters of CpG dinucleotides in GC rich regions of the genome called "CpG islands" frequently occur in the 5' ends of genes. Methylation of CpG islands plays a role in transcriptional silencing in higher organisms in certain situations. We have established a CpG-island-extraction algorithm, which we previously developed [Takai and Jones, 2002], on a web site which has a simple user interface to identify CpG islands from submitted sequences of up to 50kb. The web site determines the locations of CpG islands using parameters (lower limit of %GC, ObsCpG/ExpCpG, length) set by the user, to display the value of parameters on each CpG island, and provides a graphical map of CpG dinucleotide distribution and borders of CpG islands. A command-line version of the CpG islands searcher has also been developed for larger sequences. The CpG Island Searcher was applied to the latest sequence and mapping information of human chromosomes 20, 21 and 22, and a total of 2345 CpG islands were extracted and 534 (23%) of them contained first coding exons and 650 (28%) contained other exons. The CpG Island Searcher is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.cpgislands.com or http://www.uscnorris.com/cpgislands/cpg.cgi.

  9. Climate change vulnerability to agrarian ecosystem of small Island: evidence from Sagar Island, India

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mandal, S.; Satpati, L. N.; Choudhury, B. U.; Sadhu, S.

    2018-04-01

    The present study assessed climate change vulnerability in agricultural sector of low-lying Sagar Island of Bay of Bengal. Vulnerability indices were estimated using spatially aggregated biophysical and socio-economic parameters by applying principal component analysis and equal weight method. The similarities and differences of outputs of these two methods were analysed across the island. From the integration of outputs and based on the severity of vulnerability, explicit vulnerable zones were demarcated spatially. Results revealed that life subsistence agriculture in 11.8% geographical area (2829 ha) of the island along the western coast falls under very high vulnerable zone (VHVZ VI of 84-99%) to climate change. Comparatively higher values of exposure (0.53 ± 0.26) and sensitivity (0.78 ± 0.14) subindices affirmed that the VHV zone is highly exposed to climate stressor with very low adaptive capacity (ADI= 0.24 ± 0.16) to combat vulnerability to climate change. Hence, food security for a population of >22 thousands comprising >3.7 thousand agrarian households are highly exposed to climate change. Another 17% area comprising 17.5% population covering 20% villages in north-western and eastern parts of the island also falls under high vulnerable (VI= 61%-77%) zone. Findings revealed large spatial heterogeneity in the degree of vulnerability across the island and thus, demands devising area specific planning (adaptation and mitigation strategies) to address the climate change impact implications both at macro and micro levels.

  10. Diet patterns of island foxes on San Nicolas Island relative to feral cat removal

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cypher, Brian L.; Kelly, Erica C.; Ferrara, Francesca J.; Drost, Charles A.; Westall, Tory L.; Hudgens, Brian

    2017-01-01

    Island foxes (Urocyon littoralis) are a species of conservation concern that occur on six of the Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. We analysed island fox diet on San Nicolas Island during 2006–12 to assess the influence of the removal of feral cats (Felis catus) on the food use by foxes. Our objective was to determine whether fox diet patterns shifted in response to the cat removal conducted during 2009–10, thus indicating that cats were competing with foxes for food items. We also examined the influence of annual precipitation patterns and fox abundance on fox diet. On the basis of an analysis of 1975 fox scats, use of vertebrate prey – deer mice (Peromyscus maniculatus), birds, and lizards – increased significantly during and after the complete removal of cats (n = 66) from the island. Deer mouse abundance increased markedly during and after cat removal and use of mice by foxes was significantly related to mouse abundance. The increase in mice and shift in item use by the foxes was consistent with a reduction in exploitative competition associated with the cat removal. However, fox abundance declined markedly coincident with the removal of cats and deer mouse abundance was negatively related to fox numbers. Also, annual precipitation increased markedly during and after cat removal and deer mouse abundance closely tracked precipitation. Thus, our results indicate that other confounding factors, particularly precipitation, may have had a greater influence on fox diet patterns.

  11. Composition of island arcs and continental growth.

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jakes, P.; White, A. J. R.

    1971-01-01

    Island arc volcanism has contributed and is still contributing to continental growth, but the composition of island arcs differs from that of the upper continental crust in its lower abundance of Si, K, Rb, Ba, Sr and light rare earth elements. In their advanced stage of evolution, island arcs contain more than 80% of tholeiitic and 15% of ?island arc' calc-alkaline rocks with varied SiO2 contents. The larger proportion of tholeiitic rocks is in the lower crustal levels. The high stratigraphical levels of the island arcs are composed of tholeiitic plus calc-alkaline and/or high potash (shoshonitic) associations with higher abundances of K, Rb, Sr, and Ba. Stratification of the island arc crust is accentuated by another type of calc-alkaline volcanism (Andean type) originating at a late stage of arc evolution, probably by partial melting at the base of the crust. This causes enrichment of the upper crust in K, Rb, Ba and REE and accounts for upper crustal abundances of these elements as well as of SiO2.

  12. A new species of iguana Brachylophus Cuvier 1829 (Sauria: Iguania: Iguanidae) from Gau Island, Fiji Islands.

    PubMed

    Fisher, Robert N; Niukula, Jone; Watling, Dick; Harlow, Peter S

    2017-06-06

    The south Pacific iguanas (Brachylophus) currently have three recognized living species in Fiji.  Recent surveys have uncovered more specific variation (morphological and genetic) within the genus and have better defined the geographic ranges of the named species.  One of these recent discoveries is a strikingly different iguana from all other island populations in Fiji which is restricted to Gau Island of the Lomaiviti Province.  Gau is the fifth largest island in Fiji and maintains excellent upland forests in the higher elevations.  We describe this population from Gau Island as a new species, Brachylophus gau sp. nov., in recognition of its type locality.

  13. Regressive and transgressive barrier islands on the North-Central Gulf Coast — Contrasts in evolution, sediment delivery, and island vulnerability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Otvos, Ervin G.; Carter, Gregory A.

    2013-09-01

    Basic differences between non-deltaic regressive and deltaic transgressive barrier islands reflect major contrasts in geological settings and sediment sources. Two island groups on the N. Gulf of Mexico provide unique perspectives of genetic and geomorphic contrasts applicable in a worldwide context. The near-extinction of the deltaic transgressive Chandeleur barriers and reduction of the sturdier prograded Mississippi-Alabama (MS-AL) chain are related to differences in sediment sources, storm, and anthropogenic impact. 160 years of documentary evidence points to contrasting geological settings, development history, sediment sources, and island morphology as responsible for different island erodibility and life spans. The non-deltaic chain received larger volumes of coarser, less erodible medium sand from the NE Gulf coast. Onshore sand flux from reworked delta deposits received from the retreating delta shoreface initiated the fragile, thin, and isolated transgressive Chandeleur islands. Fine-grained sand from unconsolidated muds of abandoned Mississippi-St. Bernard delta lobes maintained two distinct transgressive barrier island categories. In the absence of quantitative data on cross-shore transport, discrepancies between estimated littoral drift volumes and sand reserves for nourishment remain unexplained. Medium-sandy MS-AL barriers have resisted storm events far better than delta barriers. However, even the former chain did undergo 26 to 53% area reduction since 1848. Anthropogenic intervention stymied island growth. Emerging intertidal berm-basins formed on sandy shoal platforms in storm-eliminated sectors have contributed to partial island recovery. Delta attrition by wave erosion, tectonic, and compactional subsidence had accelerated delta lobe and barrier island decay. Intensive storm erosion culminating in and following Hurricane Katrina came close to eradicate the highly vulnerable Chandeleur barrier chain. Lacking adequate nourishment, after

  14. Molecular and mathematical modeling analyses of inter-island transmission of rabies into a previously rabies-free island in the Philippines.

    PubMed

    Tohma, Kentaro; Saito, Mariko; Demetria, Catalino S; Manalo, Daria L; Quiambao, Beatriz P; Kamigaki, Taro; Oshitani, Hitoshi

    2016-03-01

    Rabies is endemic in the Philippines and dog bites are a major cause of rabies cases in humans. The rabies control program has not been successful in eliminating rabies because of low vaccination coverage among dogs. Therefore, more effective and feasible strategies for rabies control are urgently required in the country. To control rabies, it is very important to know if inter-island transmission can occur because rabies can become endemic once the virus is introduced in areas that previously had no reported cases. Our molecular epidemiological study suggests that inter-island transmission events can occur; therefore, we further investigated these inter-island transmission using phylogenetic and modeling approaches. We investigate inter-island transmission between Luzon and Tablas Islands in the Philippines. Phylogenetic analysis and mathematical modeling demonstrate that there was a time lag of several months to a year from rabies introduction to initial case detection, indicating the difficulties in recognizing the initial rabies introductory event. There had been no rabies cases reported in Tablas Island; however, transmission chain was sustained on this island after the introduction of rabies virus because of low vaccination coverage among dogs. Across the islands, a rabies control program should include control of inter-island dog transportation and rabies vaccination to avoid viral introduction from the outside and to break transmission chains after viral introduction. However, this program has not yet been completely implemented and transmission chains following inter-island virus transmission are still observed. Local government units try to control dog transport; however, it should be more strictly controlled, and a continuous rabies control program should be implemented to prevent rabies spread even in rabies-free areas. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Marine Benthic Communities of Block Island and Rhode Island Sounds and What they're Good For

    EPA Science Inventory

    The benthic invertebrates of Block Island and Rhode Island Sounds include those adapted to near-shore habitats with variable temperature and salinity, mid-shelf species with narrower requirements, and boreal species that avoid elevated temperatures. Studies of benthic fauna in th...

  16. Volcanic Island Appears Near Tonga

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zielinski, Sarah

    2006-11-01

    A volcano known as Home Reef is now believed to be the source of a small island that appeared recently in Tonga, accordingto scientists from the Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program who had initially placed the location of the eruption and resulting island at nearby Metis Shoal. Mariners onboard the yacht Maiken

  17. Obesity and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders

    MedlinePlus

    ... Population Profiles > Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander > Obesity Obesity and Native Hawaiians/Pacific Islanders Native Hawaiians/Pacific ... youthonline . [Accessed 08/18/2017] HEALTH IMPACT OF OBESITY People who are overweight are more likely to ...

  18. Control of paleoshorelines by trench forebulge uplift, Loyalty Islands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dickinson, William R.

    2013-07-01

    Unlike most tropical Pacific islands, which lie along island arcs or hotspot chains, the Loyalty Islands between New Caledonia and Vanuatu owe their existence and morphology to the uplift of pre-existing atolls on the flexural forebulge of the New Hebrides Trench. The configuration and topography of each island is a function of distance from the crest of the uplifted forebulge. Both Maré and Lifou are fully emergent paleoatolls upon which ancient barrier reefs form highstanding annular ridges that enclose interior plateaus representing paleolagoon floors, whereas the partially emergent Ouvea paleoatoll rim flanks a drowned remnant lagoon. Emergent paleoshoreline features exposed by island uplift include paleoreef flats constructed as ancient fringing reefs built to past low tide levels and emergent tidal notches incised at past high tide levels. Present paleoshoreline elevations record uplift rates of the islands since last-interglacial and mid-Holocene highstands in global and regional sea levels, respectively, and paleoreef stratigraphy reflects net Quaternary island emergence. The empirical uplift rates vary in harmony with theoretical uplift rates inferred from the different positions of the islands in transit across the trench forebulge at the trench subduction rate. The Loyalty Islands provide a case study of island environments controlled primarily by neotectonics.

  19. Barrier island morphodynamic classification based on lidar metrics for north Assateague Island, Maryland

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Brock, John C.; Krabill, William; Sallenger, Asbury H.

    2004-01-01

    In order to reap the potential of airborne lidar surveys to provide geological information useful in understanding coastal sedimentary processes acting on various time scales, a new set of analysis methods are needed. This paper presents a multi-temporal lidar analysis of north Assateague Island, Maryland, and demonstrates the calculation of lidar metrics that condense barrier island morphology and morphological change into attributed linear features that may be used to analyze trends in coastal evolution. The new methods proposed in this paper are also of significant practical value, because lidar metric analysis reduces large volumes of point elevations into linear features attributed with essential morphological variables that are ideally suited for inclusion in Geographic Information Systems. A morphodynamic classification of north Assategue Island for a recent 10 month time period that is based on the recognition of simple patterns described by lidar change metrics is presented. Such morphodynamic classification reveals the relative magnitude and the fine scale alongshore variation in the importance of coastal changes over the study area during a defined time period. More generally, through the presentation of this morphodynamic classification of north Assateague Island, the value of lidar metrics in both examining large lidar data sets for coherent trends and in building hypotheses regarding processes driving barrier evolution is demonstrated

  20. 76 FR 27253 - Safety Zone; Catawba Island Club Fireworks, Catawba Island Club, Port Clinton, OH

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2011-05-11

    ...-AA00 Safety Zone; Catawba Island Club Fireworks, Catawba Island Club, Port Clinton, OH AGENCY: Coast... zone in the Captain of the Port Detroit Zone on Lake Erie, Port Clinton, Ohio. This zone is intended to... temporary safety zone is necessary to protect spectators and vessels from the hazards associated with...

  1. Islands on the edge: housing development and other threats to America's Pacific and Caribbean Island forests: a Forests on the Edge report

    Treesearch

    Susan M. Stein; Mary A. Carr; Greg C. Liknes; Sara J. Comas

    2014-01-01

    This report provides an overview of expected housing density changes and related impacts to private forests on America's islands in the Pacific and Caribbean, specifically Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. We discuss the vulnerability of island forests to conversion for housing...

  2. Maps Showing Geology and Shallow Structure of Western Rhode Island Sound, Rhode Island

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Needell, Sally W.; O'Hara, Charles J.; Knebel, Harley J.

    1983-01-01

    This report presents the results of a high-resolution, seismic-reflection, and sidescan-sonar survey conducted in western Rhode Island Sound south of Narragansett Bay (fig. 1 inset) by the U.S. Geological Survey in 1980. The study defines the geologic framework of the Atlantic Inner Continental Shelf between lat. 41 deg 09' and 41 deg 32'N and long. 71 deg 07' and 71 deg 37'W. A total of 580 kilometers (km) of seismic-reflection profiles and 580 km of sidescan sonographs was collected aboard the RV Neecho. Trackline spacing was 1 to 2 km at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, and dip lines were 2 km apart with widely spaced strike lines in Rhode Island Sound (fig. 1). The maps in this report adjoin those for eastern Rhode Island Sound and Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts, of O'Hara and Oldale (1980).

  3. Examples of storm impacts on barrier islands: Chapter 4

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Plant, Nathaniel G.; Doran, Kara; Stockdon, Hilary F.

    2017-01-01

    This chapter focuses on the morphologic variability of barrier islands and on the differences in storm response. It describes different types of barrier island response to individual storms, as well as the integrated response of barrier islands to many storms. The chapter considers case study on the Chandeleur Island chain, where a decadal time series of island elevation measurements have documented a wide range of barrier island responses to storms and long-term processes that are representative of barrier island behaviour at many other locations. These islands are low elevation, extremely vulnerable to storms and exhibit a diversity of storm responses. Additionally, this location experiences a moderately high rate of relative sea-level rise, increasing its vulnerability to the combined impacts of storms and long-term erosional processes. Understanding how natural processes, including storm impacts and intervening recovery periods interact with man-made restoration processes is also broadly relevant to understand the natural and human response to future storms.

  4. 5. Photograph of a photograph in possession of Rock Island ...

    Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

    5. Photograph of a photograph in possession of Rock Island Arsenal Historical Office. WEST AND SOUTH ELEVATIONS, BEFORE REMOVAL OF CHIMNEY, FINIALS, GINGERBREAD, AND VARIEGATED SLATE ROOFING. DATED C. 1876. - Rock Island Arsenal, Building No. 321, Rodman Avenue & Rock Island Avenue, Rock Island, Rock Island County, IL

  5. Researching Pacific island livelihoods: mobility, natural resource management and nissology.

    PubMed

    Christensen, Andreas E; Mertz, Ole

    2010-01-01

    Small island literature is vast in focus and aim, and is rooted in many different disciplines. The challenge is to find common grounds for researching small islands conceptually and theoretically. The aim of this article is to comment on how to research small islands, including a discussion on contemporary theories of nissology and conceptual analytical frameworks for island research. Through a review of selected case-study-based island literature on changing livelihoods coming out of the South Pacific, we wish to illustrate and discuss advantages of finding common grounds for small island studies. The focus is on two dimensions of island livelihood, migration and natural resource management, both of which are significant contributors in making island livelihoods and shaping Pacific seascapes. We argue that there is still a substantial lack of studies targeting small island dynamics that are empirical and interdisciplinary in focus and link socio-economic and ecological processes of small island societies at temporal and analytical scales.

  6. The Big Island of Hawaii

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    Boasting snow-covered mountain peaks and tropical forest, the Island of Hawaii, the largest of the Hawaiian Islands, is stunning at any altitude. This false-color composite (processed to simulate true color) image of Hawaii was constructed from data gathered between 1999 and 2001 by the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) instrument, flying aboard the Landsat 7 satellite. The Landsat data were processed by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to develop a landcover map. This map will be used as a baseline to chart changes in land use on the islands. Types of change include the construction of resorts along the coastal areas, and the conversion of sugar plantations to other crop types. Hawaii was created by a 'hotspot' beneath the ocean floor. Hotspots form in areas where superheated magma in the Earth's mantle breaks through the Earth's crust. Over the course of millions of years, the Pacific Tectonic Plate has slowly moved over this hotspot to form the entire Hawaiian Island archipelago. The black areas on the island (in this scene) that resemble a pair of sun-baked palm fronds are hardened lava flows formed by the active Mauna Loa Volcano. Just to the north of Mauna Loa is the dormant grayish Mauna Kea Volcano, which hasn't erupted in an estimated 3,500 years. A thin greyish plume of smoke is visible near the island's southeastern shore, rising from Kilauea-the most active volcano on Earth. Heavy rainfall and fertile volcanic soil have given rise to Hawaii's lush tropical forests, which appear as solid dark green areas in the image. The light green, patchy areas near the coasts are likely sugar cane plantations, pineapple farms, and human settlements. Courtesy of the NOAA Coastal Services Center Hawaii Land Cover Analysis project

  7. Island biogeography: Taking the long view of nature's laboratories.

    PubMed

    Whittaker, Robert J; Fernández-Palacios, José María; Matthews, Thomas J; Borregaard, Michael K; Triantis, Kostas A

    2017-09-01

    Islands provide classic model biological systems. We review how growing appreciation of geoenvironmental dynamics of marine islands has led to advances in island biogeographic theory accommodating both evolutionary and ecological phenomena. Recognition of distinct island geodynamics permits general models to be developed and modified to account for patterns of diversity, diversification, lineage development, and trait evolution within and across island archipelagos. Emergent patterns of diversity include predictable variation in island species-area relationships, progression rule colonization from older to younger land masses, and syndromes including loss of dispersability and secondary woodiness in herbaceous plant lineages. Further developments in Earth system science, molecular biology, and trait data for islands hold continued promise for unlocking many of the unresolved questions in evolutionary biology and biogeography. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  8. Past, Present, Future Erosion at Locke Island

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bjornstad, Bruce N.

    2006-08-08

    This report describes and documents the erosion that has occurred along the northeast side of Locke Island over the last 10 to 20 years. The principal cause of this erosion is the massive Locke Island landslide complex opposite the Columbia River along the White Bluffs, which constricts the flow of the river and deflects the river's thalweg southward against the island.

  9. Streamlined Island

    NASA Image and Video Library

    2014-04-15

    This image from NASA 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a streamlined island in a broad channel in Chryse Planitia. The channel is part of the outflow region of Lobo Vallis, a northern branch of Kasei Valles.

  10. Prevention of Unintentional Islands in Power Systems with Distributed

    Science.gov Websites

    Islands in Power Systems with Distributed Resources Webinar Prevention of Unintentional Islands in Power Systems with Distributed Resources Webinar Learn about unintentional islanding in a webinar from NREL and following the presentation. Types of islands in power systems with distributed resources Issues with

  11. Benthic substrate classification map: Gulf Islands National Seashore

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Lavoie, Dawn; Flocks, James; Twichell, Dave; Rose, Kate

    2013-01-01

    The 2005 hurricane season was devastating for the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Hurricane Katrina caused significant degradation of the barrier islands that compose the Gulf Islands National Seashore (GUIS). Because of the ability of coastal barrier islands to help mitigate hurricane damage to the mainland, restoring these habitats prior to the onset of future storms will help protect the islands themselves and the surrounding habitats. During Hurricane Katrina, coastal barrier islands reduced storm surge by approximately 10 percent and moderated wave heights (Wamsley and others, 2009). Islands protected the mainland by preventing ocean waves from maintaining their size as they approached the mainland. In addition to storm protection, it is advantageous to restore these islands to preserve the cultural heritage present there (for example, Fort Massachusetts) and because of the influence that these islands have on marine ecology. For example, these islands help maintain a salinity regime favorable to oysters in the Mississippi Sound and provide critical habitats for many migratory birds and endangered species such as sea turtles (Chelonia mydas, Caretta caretta, and Dermochelys coriacea), Gulf sturgeon (Acipenser oxyrinchus desotoi), and piping plovers (Charadrius melodus) (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 2009a). As land manager for the GUIS, the National Park Service (NPS) has been working with the State of Mississippi and the Mobile District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to provide a set of recommendations to the Mississippi Coastal Improvements Program (MsCIP) that will guide restoration planning. The final set of recommendations includes directly renourishing both West Ship Island (to protect Fort Massachusetts) and East Ship Island (to restore the French Warehouse archaeological site); filling Camille Cut to recreate a continuous Ship Island; and restoring natural regional sediment transport processes by placing sand in the littoral zone just east of Petit Bois

  12. 33 CFR 110.6 - Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island). 110.6 Section 110.6 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage...

  13. 33 CFR 110.6 - Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island). 110.6 Section 110.6 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage...

  14. 33 CFR 110.6 - Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island). 110.6 Section 110.6 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage...

  15. 33 CFR 110.6 - Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island). 110.6 Section 110.6 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage...

  16. 33 CFR 110.6 - Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island).

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-07-01

    ... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 1 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false Portland Harbor, Portland, Maine (between Little Diamond Island and Great Diamond Island). 110.6 Section 110.6 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST GUARD, DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY ANCHORAGES ANCHORAGE REGULATIONS Special Anchorage...

  17. Stress in an Island kangaroo? The Barrow Island euro, Macropus robustus isabellinus.

    PubMed

    King, J M; Bradshaw, S D

    2010-05-15

    Selected physiological parameters were monitored over a 4-year period in the Barrow Island euro, Macropus robustus isabellinus, in Western Australia in a study of this species' homeostatic capabilities in an extremely arid habitat where individuals are exposed to high environmental temperatures and a lack of free water for much of the year. Evidence was found of a significant change in the animal's milieu intérieur on only one occasion on Barrow Island: in November 1994, following a protracted 8-month drought. Euros had significantly elevated levels of plasma osmolality, cortisol, anti-diuretic hormone (lysine vasopressin - LVP), and a reduced eosinophil count. This suggests that these animals may have been dehydrated, despite the operation of appropriate physiological responses to water deprivation. Lower eosinophil counts also suggest that immune function may have been suppressed as a result of the elevated corticosteroid levels. Comparisons with the mainland sub-species of the euro revealed the presence of a non-generative normocytic hypochromic anaemia in Barrow Island euros that potentially compromises their aerobic capacity. Barrow Island is Australia's most important A Class Reserve, harbouring 8 species of marsupials, 4 of which are now extinct, or virtually so, on the adjacent mainland. This study reveals the remarkable effectiveness of the euro's homeostatic capacities, however, its future conservation depends on ensuring that potential stress due to declining water availability and environmental change is avoided. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Runaway electrons and magnetic island confinement

    DOE PAGES

    Boozer, Allen H.

    2016-08-19

    The breakup of magnetic surfaces is a central feature of ITER planning for the avoidance of damage due to runaway electrons. Rapid thermal quenches, which lead to large accelerating voltages, are thought to be due to magnetic surface breakup. Impurity injection to avoid and to mitigate both halo and runaway electron currents utilizes massive gas injection or shattered pellets. The actual deposition is away from the plasma center, and the breakup of magnetic surfaces is thought to spread the effects of the impurities across the plasma cross section. The breakup of magnetic surfaces would prevent runaway electrons from reaching relativisticmore » energies were it not for the persistence of non-intercepting flux tubes. These are tubes of magnetic field lines that do not intercept the walls. In simulations and in magnetic field models, non-intercepting flux tubes are found to persist near the magnetic axis and in the cores of magnetic islands even when a large scale magnetic surface breakup occurs. As long as a few magnetic surfaces reform before all of the non-intercepting flux tubes dissipate, energetic electrons confined and accelerated in these flux tubes can serve as the seed electrons for a transfer of the overall plasma current from thermal to relativistic carriers. The acceleration of electrons is particularly strong because of the sudden changes in the poloidal flux that naturally occur in a rapid magnetic relaxation. Furthermore, the physics of magnetic islands as non-intercepting flux tubes is studied. Expressions are derived for (1) the size of islands required to confine energetic runaway electrons, (2) the accelerating electric field in an island, (3) the increase or reduction in the size of an island by the runaway electron current, (4) the approximate magnitude of the runaway current in an island, and (5) the time scale for the evolution of an island.« less

  19. Runaway electrons and magnetic island confinement

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Boozer, Allen H., E-mail: ahb17@columbia.edu

    The breakup of magnetic surfaces is a central feature of ITER planning for the avoidance of damage due to runaway electrons. Rapid thermal quenches, which lead to large accelerating voltages, are thought to be due to magnetic surface breakup. Impurity injection to avoid and to mitigate both halo and runaway electron currents utilizes massive gas injection or shattered pellets. The actual deposition is away from the plasma center, and the breakup of magnetic surfaces is thought to spread the effects of the impurities across the plasma cross section. The breakup of magnetic surfaces would prevent runaway electrons from reaching relativisticmore » energies were it not for the persistence of non-intercepting flux tubes. These are tubes of magnetic field lines that do not intercept the walls. In simulations and in magnetic field models, non-intercepting flux tubes are found to persist near the magnetic axis and in the cores of magnetic islands even when a large scale magnetic surface breakup occurs. As long as a few magnetic surfaces reform before all of the non-intercepting flux tubes dissipate, energetic electrons confined and accelerated in these flux tubes can serve as the seed electrons for a transfer of the overall plasma current from thermal to relativistic carriers. The acceleration of electrons is particularly strong because of the sudden changes in the poloidal flux that naturally occur in a rapid magnetic relaxation. The physics of magnetic islands as non-intercepting flux tubes is studied. Expressions are derived for (1) the size of islands required to confine energetic runaway electrons, (2) the accelerating electric field in an island, (3) the increase or reduction in the size of an island by the runaway electron current, (4) the approximate magnitude of the runaway current in an island, and (5) the time scale for the evolution of an island.« less

  20. Runaway electrons and magnetic island confinement

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Boozer, Allen H.

    The breakup of magnetic surfaces is a central feature of ITER planning for the avoidance of damage due to runaway electrons. Rapid thermal quenches, which lead to large accelerating voltages, are thought to be due to magnetic surface breakup. Impurity injection to avoid and to mitigate both halo and runaway electron currents utilizes massive gas injection or shattered pellets. The actual deposition is away from the plasma center, and the breakup of magnetic surfaces is thought to spread the effects of the impurities across the plasma cross section. The breakup of magnetic surfaces would prevent runaway electrons from reaching relativisticmore » energies were it not for the persistence of non-intercepting flux tubes. These are tubes of magnetic field lines that do not intercept the walls. In simulations and in magnetic field models, non-intercepting flux tubes are found to persist near the magnetic axis and in the cores of magnetic islands even when a large scale magnetic surface breakup occurs. As long as a few magnetic surfaces reform before all of the non-intercepting flux tubes dissipate, energetic electrons confined and accelerated in these flux tubes can serve as the seed electrons for a transfer of the overall plasma current from thermal to relativistic carriers. The acceleration of electrons is particularly strong because of the sudden changes in the poloidal flux that naturally occur in a rapid magnetic relaxation. Furthermore, the physics of magnetic islands as non-intercepting flux tubes is studied. Expressions are derived for (1) the size of islands required to confine energetic runaway electrons, (2) the accelerating electric field in an island, (3) the increase or reduction in the size of an island by the runaway electron current, (4) the approximate magnitude of the runaway current in an island, and (5) the time scale for the evolution of an island.« less

  1. Streamlined islands and the English Channel megaflood hypothesis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Collier, J. S.; Oggioni, F.; Gupta, S.; García-Moreno, D.; Trentesaux, A.; De Batist, M.

    2015-12-01

    Recognising ice-age catastrophic megafloods is important because they had significant impact on large-scale drainage evolution and patterns of water and sediment movement to the oceans, and likely induced very rapid, short-term effects on climate. It has been previously proposed that a drainage system on the floor of the English Channel was initiated by catastrophic flooding in the Pleistocene but this suggestion has remained controversial. Here we examine this hypothesis through an analysis of key landform features. We use a new compilation of multi- and single-beam bathymetry together with sub-bottom profiler data to establish the internal structure, planform geometry and hence origin of a set of 36 mid-channel islands. Whilst there is evidence of modern-day surficial sediment processes, the majority of the islands can be clearly demonstrated to be formed of bedrock, and are hence erosional remnants rather than depositional features. The islands display classic lemniscate or tear-drop outlines, with elongated tips pointing downstream, typical of streamlined islands formed during high-magnitude water flow. The length-to-width ratio for the entire island population is 3.4 ± 1.3 and the degree-of-elongation or k-value is 3.7 ± 1.4. These values are comparable to streamlined islands in other proven Pleistocene catastrophic flood terrains and are distinctly different to values found in modern-day rivers. The island geometries show a correlation with bedrock type: with those carved from Upper Cretaceous chalk having larger length-to-width ratios (3.2 ± 1.3) than those carved into more mixed Paleogene terrigenous sandstones, siltstones and mudstones (3.0 ± 1.5). We attribute these differences to the former rock unit having a lower skin friction which allowed longer island growth to achieve minimum drag. The Paleogene islands, although less numerous than the Chalk islands, also assume more perfect lemniscate shapes. These lithologies therefore reached island

  2. Youth lead youth in Marshall Islands.

    PubMed

    Johnson, G

    1988-01-01

    The promotion of family planning and birth control in Pacific countries is often frustrated by traditional and religious beliefs, if not deterred by tremendous funding and logistics problems. In the central Pacific republic of the Marshall Islands, however, youthful health workers are taking a unique approach to health promotion that has spurred acceptance of the once controversial subjects of family planning and birth control. A group known as Youth to Youth in Health is spearheading a family planning outreach drive in the schools and community in the Marshall Islands. Coupling health presentations with traditional island music and dance to produce lively health shows, the group's programs on family planning, birth control, nutrition, and cancer have struck a responsive chord in a culture known for its religious and traditional conservatism. The group makes creative use of puppet shows, skits, health songs, and pantomimes, interspersed with contemporary renditions of Marshall Islands music and traditional dances. These have rekindled pride in their culture among the group and sparked a sense of urgency about the need to improve health conditions in the islands. As evidence of the group's impact, family planning staff point to a nearly 4-fold rise in the number of youth clients under 19 years since the Youth to Youth started in mid-1986. Their combination of traditional custom with family planning and other health information has proved to be an innovative and needed program for the islands.

  3. The biogeography of globally threatened seabirds and island conservation opportunities.

    PubMed

    Spatz, Dena R; Newton, Kelly M; Heinz, Reina; Tershy, Bernie; Holmes, Nick D; Butchart, Stuart H M; Croll, Donald A

    2014-10-01

    Seabirds are the most threatened group of marine animals; 29% of species are at some risk of extinction. Significant threats to seabirds occur on islands where they breed, but in many cases, effective island conservation can mitigate these threats. To guide island-based seabird conservation actions, we identified all islands with extant or extirpated populations of the 98 globally threatened seabird species, as recognized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and quantified the presence of threatening invasive species, protected areas, and human populations. We matched these results with island attributes to highlight feasible island conservation opportunities. We identified 1362 threatened breeding seabird populations on 968 islands. On 803 (83%) of these islands, we identified threatening invasive species (20%), incomplete protected area coverage (23%), or both (40%). Most islands with threatened seabirds are amenable to island-wide conservation action because they are small (57% were <1 km(2) ), uninhabited (74%), and occur in high- or middle-income countries (96%). Collectively these attributes make islands with threatened seabirds a rare opportunity for effective conservation at scale. © 2014 Society for Conservation Biology.

  4. Space Radar Image of Reunion Island

    NASA Image and Video Library

    1999-04-15

    This radar image shows the volcanic island of Reunion, about 700 km 434 miles east of Madagascar in the southwest Indian Ocean. The southern half of the island is dominated by the active volcano, Piton de la Fournaise.

  5. Preliminary geologic map of the island of Saipan, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Weary, David J.; Burton, William C.

    2011-01-01

    This map provides an update and reinterpretation of the geology of the island of Saipan. The geology of the island was previously documented in 1956 in U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 280-A by Preston E. Cloud, Jr., and others. This report includes a geologic map at a scale of 1:20,000. The fieldwork for this project was performed in 2006 and 2007.

  6. Water resources of Kosrae, Caroline Islands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van der Brug, Otto

    1984-01-01

    Kosrae is a high volcanic island about 42 square miles in area and the easternmost of the Caroline Islands. Mount Finkol (Mt. Crozer), at 2,065 feet, is the highest point on the island. Mountainous ridges descend sharply to narrow coastal strips which support a population of 5,500 people. Many streams, some quite large relative to the size of the island, drain radially from the interior. The average annual discharge of surface water amounts to almost 7 million gallons per square mile per day. Annual rainfall for coastal areas on Kosrae averages about 200 inches, and is similar to the rainfall for coastal areas on the island of Ponape, about 340 statute miles to the northwest. Rainfall in the interior was estimated at 225 inches per year of which about two thirds runs off as streamflow. Surface-water quality is very good as shown by 42 chemical analyses of water from 12 streams. This report summarizes in one volume the hydrologic data collected and provides interpretations that can be used by planning and public works officials as a basis for making decisions on the development and management of their water resources. (USGS)

  7. Reversible island nucleation and growth with anomalous diffusion

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sabbar, Ehsan H.; Amar, Jacques G.

    2017-10-01

    Motivated by recent experiments on submonolayer organic film growth with anomalous diffusion, a general rate-equation (RE) theory of submonolayer island nucleation and growth was developed (Amar and Semaan, 2016) [23], which takes into account the critical island-size i, island fractal dimension df, substrate dimension d, and diffusion exponent μ, and good agreement with simulations was found for the case of irreversible growth corresponding to a critical island-size i = 1 with d = 2 . However, since many experiments correspond to a critical island-size larger than 1, it is of interest to determine if the RE predictions also hold in the case of reversible island nucleation with anomalous diffusion. Here we present the results of simulations of submonolayer growth with i = 2 (d = 2) which were carried out for both the case of superdiffusion (μ > 1) and subdiffusion (μ < 1) as well as for both ramified islands (df ≃ 2) and point-islands (df = ∞) . In the case of superdiffusion, corresponding to 'hot' freshly deposited monomers, excellent agreement is obtained with the predictions of the generalized RE theory for the exponents χ(μ) and χ1(μ) which describe the dependence of the island and monomer densities at fixed coverage on deposition rate F. In addition, the exponents do not depend on whether or not monomers remain superdiffusive or are thermalized (e.g. undergo regular diffusion) after detaching from a dimer. However, we also find that, as was previously found in the case of irreversible growth, the exponent χ only approaches its asymptotic value logarithmically with increasing 1/F. This result has important implications for the interpretation of experiments. Good agreement with the RE theory is also found in the case of subdiffusion for point-islands. However, in the case of ramified islands with subdiffusion and i = 2 , the exponents are significantly higher than predicted due to the fact that monomer capture dominates in the nucleation regime. A

  8. Electron acceleration via magnetic island coalescence

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shinohara, I.; Yumura, T.; Tanaka, K. G.; Fujimoto, M.

    2009-06-01

    Electron acceleration via fast magnetic island coalescence that happens as quick magnetic reconnection triggering (QMRT) proceeds has been studied. We have carried out a three-dimensional full kinetic simulation of the Harris current sheet with a large enough simulation run for two magnetic islands coalescence. Due to the strong inductive electric field associated with the non-linear evolution of the lower-hybrid-drift instability and the magnetic island coalescence process observed in the non-linear stage of the collisionless tearing mode, electrons are significantly accelerated at around the neutral sheet and the subsequent X-line. The accelerated meandering electrons generated by the non-linear evolution of the lower-hybrid-drift instability are resulted in QMRT, and QMRT leads to fast magnetic island coalescence. As a whole, the reconnection triggering and its transition to large-scale structure work as an effective electron accelerator.

  9. Kiritimati, Kiribati (Christmas Island)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    2002-01-01

    Pronounced 'Ki-ris-mas,' Kiritimati Island has a large infilled lagoon that gives it the largest land area (125 square miles, 321 square km) of any atoll in the world. Captain Cook named the atoll Christmas Island when he arrived on Christmas Eve in 1777. Used for nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s, the island is now valued for its marine and wildlife resources. It is particularly important as a seabird nesting site-with an estimated 6 million birds using or breeding on the island, including several million Sooty Terns. Rainfall on Kiritimati is linked to El Nino patterns, with long droughts experienced between the wetter El Nino years. This image is based on a mosaic of four digital photographs taken on 16 January 2002 from the Space Station Alpha as part of the Crew Earth Observations Project. The underlying data have 10 meter spatial resolution. Coral reefs are one of the areas selected as a scientific theme for this project (see also the recent Earth Observatory article, Mapping the Decline of Coral Reefs. The mosaic, based on images ISS004-ESC-6249 to 6252, was provided by the Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Laboratory at Johnson Space Center. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA-JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.

  10. Agreement between Rhode Island Board of Governors and University of Rhode Island Chapter, American Association of University Professors, 1987-1990.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rhode Island Univ., Kingston.

    The collective bargaining agreement between the Rhode Island Board of Governors and the University of Rhode Island Chapter of the American Association of University Professors covering the period of 1987-1990 is presented. The university is defined as the administration of the University of Rhode Island, including the president and other…

  11. 14 CFR 61.100 - Pilots based on small islands.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-01-01

    ..., “Passenger carrying prohibited on flights more than 10 nautical miles from (the appropriate island).” The... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Pilots based on small islands. 61.100....100 Pilots based on small islands. (a) An applicant located on an island from which the flight...

  12. 14 CFR 61.100 - Pilots based on small islands.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-01-01

    ..., “Passenger carrying prohibited on flights more than 10 nautical miles from (the appropriate island).” The... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Pilots based on small islands. 61.100....100 Pilots based on small islands. (a) An applicant located on an island from which the flight...

  13. 14 CFR 61.100 - Pilots based on small islands.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-01-01

    ..., “Passenger carrying prohibited on flights more than 10 nautical miles from (the appropriate island).” The... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Pilots based on small islands. 61.100....100 Pilots based on small islands. (a) An applicant located on an island from which the flight...

  14. 14 CFR 61.100 - Pilots based on small islands.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-01-01

    ..., “Passenger carrying prohibited on flights more than 10 nautical miles from (the appropriate island).” The... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Pilots based on small islands. 61.100....100 Pilots based on small islands. (a) An applicant located on an island from which the flight...

  15. 14 CFR 61.100 - Pilots based on small islands.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-01-01

    ..., “Passenger carrying prohibited on flights more than 10 nautical miles from (the appropriate island).” The... 14 Aeronautics and Space 2 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Pilots based on small islands. 61.100....100 Pilots based on small islands. (a) An applicant located on an island from which the flight...

  16. Isolation of thermotolerant Vermamoeba vermiformis strains from water sources in Lanzarote Island, Canary Islands, Spain.

    PubMed

    Reyes-Batlle, María; Wagner, Carolina; Zamora-Herrera, Jonadab; Vargas-Mesa, Alejandro; Sifaoui, Ines; González, Ana C; López-Arencibia, Atteneri; Valladares, Basilio; Martínez-Carretero, Enrique; Piñero, José E; Lorenzo-Morales, Jacob

    2016-09-01

    In this study, twenty water samples were collected in the island of Lanzarote, Canary Islands, Spain in order to check for the presence of V. vermiformis strains in these samples. Water samples were cultured on 2% Non-Nutrient Agar (NNA) plates covered with a thin layer of heat killed E. coli and checked daily for the presence of Vermamoeba. After a week, V. vermiformis amoebae were observed in 2 of the 20 processed samples (10%) incubated at room temperature and 37°C. Molecular characterization was carried out by amplifying the 18S rDNA gene and DNA sequencing in order to confirm the identity of the isolated amoebic strains. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the presence of FLA in environmental sources in Lanzarote Island and the first report of Vermamoeba vermiformis in water sources in this island. Furthermore, the two strains isolated in this study were collected in recreational areas with close contact with humans and thus awareness should be raised.

  17. Siberian Islands

    Atmospheric Science Data Center

    2013-04-16

    ... Distinguishing Clouds from Ice over the East Siberian Sea, Russia     View Larger Image ... snow and ice. The central portion of Russia's East Siberian Sea, including one of the New Siberian Islands, Novaya Sibir, are portrayed in ...

  18. Understanding groundwater dynamics on barrier islands using geochronological data: An example from North Stradbroke Island, South-east Queensland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hofmann, Harald; Newborn, Dean; Cartwright, Ian

    2017-04-01

    Freshwater lenses underneath barrier islands are dynamic systems affected by changing sea levels and groundwater use. They are vulnerable to contamination and over-abstraction. Residence times of fresh groundwater in barrier islands are poorly understood and have mostly been assessed by modelling approaches and estimates without fundamental validation with geochronological data. Assessing residence time and recharge rates will improve significantly our understanding of hydrological processes of coastal environments that will in turn allow us to make informed decisions on groundwater use and environmental protection. This project focused on groundwater recharge rates and residence times of the fresh water aquifer system of North Stradbroke Island, south-east Queensland, Australia. Groundwater bores, wetlands and submarine groundwater discharge points in the tidal areas (wonky holes) were sampled along a transect across the island and were analysed for major ion chemistry and stable isotopes (δ2H, δ18O, δ13C) in combination with 3H and 14C analysis. Calculated 3H using a 95% exponential-piston flow model and 14C ages range from 12 to >100 years and modern to 3770 years, respectively, indicating a highly heterogeneous aquifer system with mixing from low and high conductive areas. The major ion chemistry in combination with stable and radiogenic isotopes suggests that a significant groundwater component derives from the fractured rock basement and older sedimentary formations underlying the sand dunes of the island. The results help refining the conceptual and numerical groundwater flow model for North Stradbroke island in this particular case but also demonstrate the possible complexity of barrier island hydrogeology.

  19. Biocompatible Materials Based on Self-Assembling Peptides on Ti25Nb10Zr Alloy: Molecular Structure and Organization Investigated by Synchrotron Radiation Induced Techniques.

    PubMed

    Secchi, Valeria; Franchi, Stefano; Santi, Marta; Vladescu, Alina; Braic, Mariana; Skála, Tomáš; Nováková, Jaroslava; Dettin, Monica; Zamuner, Annj; Iucci, Giovanna; Battocchio, Chiara

    2018-03-07

    In this work, we applied advanced Synchrotron Radiation (SR) induced techniques to the study of the chemisorption of the Self Assembling Peptide EAbuK16, i.e., H-Abu-Glu-Abu-Glu-Abu-Lys-Abu-Lys-Abu-Glu-Abu-Glu-Abu-Lys-Abu-Lys-NH₂ that is able to spontaneously aggregate in anti-parallel β-sheet conformation, onto annealed Ti25Nb10Zr alloy surfaces. This synthetic amphiphilic oligopeptide is a good candidate to mimic extracellular matrix for bone prosthesis, since its β-sheets stack onto each other in a multilayer oriented nanostructure with internal pores of 5-200 nm size. To prepare the biomimetic material, Ti25Nb10Zr discs were treated with aqueous solutions of EAbuK16 at different pH values. Here we present the results achieved by performing SR-induced X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (SR-XPS), angle-dependent Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, FESEM and AFM imaging on Ti25Nb10Zr discs after incubation with self-assembling peptide solution at five different pH values, selected deliberately to investigate the best conditions for peptide immobilization.

  20. Biocompatible Materials Based on Self-Assembling Peptides on Ti25Nb10Zr Alloy: Molecular Structure and Organization Investigated by Synchrotron Radiation Induced Techniques

    PubMed Central

    Franchi, Stefano; Braic, Mariana; Skála, Tomáš; Nováková, Jaroslava; Zamuner, Annj

    2018-01-01

    In this work, we applied advanced Synchrotron Radiation (SR) induced techniques to the study of the chemisorption of the Self Assembling Peptide EAbuK16, i.e., H-Abu-Glu-Abu-Glu-Abu-Lys-Abu-Lys-Abu-Glu-Abu-Glu-Abu-Lys-Abu-Lys-NH2 that is able to spontaneously aggregate in anti-parallel β-sheet conformation, onto annealed Ti25Nb10Zr alloy surfaces. This synthetic amphiphilic oligopeptide is a good candidate to mimic extracellular matrix for bone prosthesis, since its β-sheets stack onto each other in a multilayer oriented nanostructure with internal pores of 5–200 nm size. To prepare the biomimetic material, Ti25Nb10Zr discs were treated with aqueous solutions of EAbuK16 at different pH values. Here we present the results achieved by performing SR-induced X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (SR-XPS), angle-dependent Near Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy, FESEM and AFM imaging on Ti25Nb10Zr discs after incubation with self-assembling peptide solution at five different pH values, selected deliberately to investigate the best conditions for peptide immobilization. PMID:29518968